Background: Although ultimately a victor in World Wars I and II, France suffered extensive losses in its empire, wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant nation-state. Nevertheless, France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. Since 1958, it has constructed a presidential democracy resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier parliamentary democracies. In recent years, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of a common exchange currency, the euro, in January 1999. At present, France is at the forefront of efforts to develop the EU's military capabilities to supplement progress toward an EU foreign policy.
July 8th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Bayeux Today we will begin our 19 day car journey through France. Our route will take us to Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley, Perigord, Gascony, Pyrenees, Toulouse-Montpellier, Provence and Marseille.
From ... 6 photos[full story]
June 27th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Bayeux Bayeax is another beautiful town which was lucky to remain unscathed by the war. It has a Notre Dame Cathedral I almost think more beautiful from the Parisian one inside if my memory servies me right ... 7 photos[full story]
June 27th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Mont Saint-Michel Everyone said to me you must go see Mont St Michel in Normandy. I had seen pictures of it but they do it no justice. If my memory serves me correctly it was first started in the 900's. It was a Ben ... 5 photos[full story]
June 21st 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Bayeux Said good bye to everyone in the morning then on the train to Bayeux, which took about 2 hours. Liked the town straight away, quiet little place, fair share of tourists but it was nice. Checked in the ... [full story]
June 11th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Arromanches-les-Bains We left Bagnoles by 08:00, surprisingly everyone was ready. We stopped for breakfast around 9, just stopped in a village on the road. Grabbed some croisants, then went to a bar to get some coffee. ... 15 photos[full story]
June 10th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Mont Saint-Michel Our road trip started saturday morning. We rented a car from Hertz outside the train station. The guy there was really helpful and we ended up being able to get a 7 person van, originally we had two ... 11 photos[full story]
May 26th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Caen The following morning I meet, Chris an American eating breakfast. He’s had a really rough time since arriving in Paris. He fronted up to Bastille Hotel on Saturday night at 23:30 and presented h ... [full story]
May 11th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Bayeux Sunday 11th May
The day began by driving through more French scenic countryside.
Navman got us to Bayeux efficiently, too efficiently in fact, because when we arrived our rooms had yet to be pre ... 6 photos[full story]
April 5th 2008Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Bayeux Apparently our wine cupboard was getting a little low so we hooked up with a few fellow Kiwis to do something incredibly tacky... a booze cruise.
For those not in the know, a booze cruise involve ... 12 photos[full story]
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