Blogs from Champagne-Ardenne, France, Europe

Feel Sorry for the French?... read more

I had to make a separate post for the Cathedral when I realized how many photos I had to share. I love history. I love cathedrals. I love detailed old art and stonework. This place had it all. You can see the Cathedral from all over the city in some way. The church was originally founded in the 5th century, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. About 70 years later, King Clovis I of the Franks was baptized here in 490AD by Saint Remigus. King Louis the Pious was crowned here in 816 and soon after began the construction of a larger church more befitting of such occasions as it became the traditional site to crown the Kings of France. The current cathedral was begun in about 1208 with various additions throughout the centuries, including reconstruction after ... read more

Langres is an amazing place. Fully fortified with a wall all the way round and lots of protective towers at intervals round the wall. A super view over the countryside below. It is entirely packed with old buildings. There are some new or at least newly renovated but all in keeping with the look of the place and nothing is over prettified as we find in so many places, like the Alsace and Dordogne tourist towns. Just plain old and interesting. We parked just outside and went in through one of the gates and quickly found ourselves on the ramparts so set off for a walk along them. Some fascinating buildings, all well labelled and in English which is always handy. Everywhere is just so old. Buildings which lean though the doors are straight. We found ... read more

I need to add that we are currently at Guingnicourt which is on the river Aisne but the town is not listed so can't select it for location of this blog.. Rather surprised when we woke up this morning. Our drop down bed (comes down from the ceiling to a comfy height so we can get in) is very comfy. Hadn't realised quite how comfy. Woke at 5am with my arthritic shoulder locked up so sorted it out, added a dollop of Voltarol and went back to sleep. Woke at 10am. Nudged Bob awake and he declared it was actually 11am .. as we hadn't got round to adjusting the clock time 😊. Oh well nothing pressing and we had planned a lazy day 😊. Fortunately the baguette and croissant I had ordered at campsite reception ... read more

I was up early today to run through my survival routine; shower, heat pack , Ibuprofen, and a shot on the TENS machine. I have new respect for women who rise early to go through their daily routine of cosmetic applications. I didn’t even look any better after my effort. We packed the car, bought a takeaway coffee at Babbo, and headed south east across the overcast Battlefields of World War One. It’s hard to picture the muddy destruction as we drove passed, but signs and landmarks point to areas of significance in the Verdun region. Much of the forest area we pass through are designated spoiled areas, where it is forbidden to engage in any building or development activity because of the contamination by artillery and armaments. It would be nice to think it is ... read more