Blogs from Nord-Pas de Calais, France, Europe - page 8

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Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Lille December 20th 2013

Hey guys! Hope you're all well This is my latest blog that will detail everything in the last month since I got back from my world trip! Firstly, and most importantly, the week after I got back it was finally Graduation time! Although the night itself went far too quickly with just a couple of hours for the ceremony and drinks afterwards, we made the celebration last even longer by having a graduation night out on the Friday with almost all our Geography class! Although I clearly drank too much it was a brilliant night out and really topped off the celebrations! The following week I went with my family over to Towcester racecourse where I made £60 from my winning horse! And a couple of weeks later I went up to Birmingham to visit the ... read more
Graduation Celebration

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Vimy November 17th 2013

We went to Vimy Ridge. That is where a really big battle in World War One took place. My Great Grampa was in the battle. He was in the 42nd division. France has donated the land to Canada. They even have Parks Canada shirts and sweaters on. Even the workers are all university students from Canada. We took the tour there of the tunnels underground and the trenches that are still there. The trenches are where men would live for a small period of time, and the generals would live in the tunnels. We first went through the tunnels. We saw where the general would sleep. He got a rickety bed, an oil lamp, a stool, and a table. The men would go through the tunnels waiting to be sent out. They could wait as long ... read more
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Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Calais September 22nd 2013

A little disappointed when we set off from Les Andelys to find the sun had gone in. The glorious sunset over the River Seine of the previous evening had promised a lovely day but sadly, almost as soon as we set off, some heavy low cloud descended and hid all the lovely blue sky. No problem though, not as if we were planning to sit outside sunbathing, we had to drive North to the coast for our ferry. We took a cross-country route, avoiding motorways and big towns. Had a lucky break when we stopped at the Intermarche for fuel. I nipped into the store for bread and found the plates I had been looking for, for the last 3 weeks. Square, glass and they make desserts, any dessert, look brilliant. Bob made a good suggestion ... read more
Bob enjoyed his lunch in Le Crotoy
The famed game of Boules under almost autumnal trees in Le Crotoy
Le Crotoy harbour

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Boulogne-sur-Mer September 1st 2013

Day 2 and Suzy and the gang woke up early. The pidgeons had kept us awake through the early hours of the morning cooing and billing. Sion wanted to shoot them but we thought better of it. The first job of the day was the breakfast routine. Coffee with nothing else for me and croissants, marmalade and tea for Glenn. I then headed off to the ablutions block. A neat and tidy although old fashioned little building with ample shower, toilet and wash basin cubicles. The floor was covered with Ruabon heather brown tiles slightly unfashionable now, the walls a 70’s/80’s style peach tile. The cubicles were large with plenty of room for clothes and towels to be hung on hooks. And a seat to ponder the world going by. Water hot and plenty of it. ... read more
Is that England in the distance ?
The Germans were here

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Dunkerque August 26th 2013

The weather has improved back to its old self, clear skies, plenty of sun but a slightly cooler temperature. We are very comfortable in our apartment with plenty of room and we wish we had been able to arrange more of this type of accommodation during this adventure. The cats were back for breakfast but stayed their distance from each other. At one stage we thought there were two black and white cats as Gretchen looked out the window to see the cat on the wall only moments after having it at her feet.However,we are sure there is only one and he is a fast mover! We are only a short distance away from the combined TGV and Eurostar rail line and we hear them passing by at great speed with a quiet whooshing type sound ... read more
The ornate 'Hotel de Ville' Dunkirk
Malo,beach just a little north of Dunkirk city centre from where part of the evacuation took place
Memorial to the Dunkirk Evacuation at Malo Beach

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Arras August 25th 2013

The weather has improved from yesterday but we will still be in long trousers and jerseys as the temperature is not projected to rise above 20C and if there is any wind it will feel cooler.The rain however has gone although we will still be prepared just in case. We have two cats who visit us although not both at the same time as they are clearly rivals to each other.The black and white one doesn't belong to the household but appears from over the fence while the tabby is the owners cat.Its hard when you are cat lovers not to feed a cat that befriends you tid bids although as Gretchen said we could be creating problems for future guests who are not cat lovers. All that aside they have both been wonderful to have ... read more
Indian WW1 memorial
Portugese WW1 memorial
Canadian WW1 graves at Vimy Ridge,near Arras

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Saint-Omer August 24th 2013

It had to happen at some time although we probably would have preferred the drizzly rain to have occurred when we were driving between destinations. Never mind however because we have an indoor attraction to go to today and the tour of it will take a couple of hours at least.And what an absolutely amazing place it turned out to be and so well preserved and displayed.More about that in a minute. We have everything we could need in this apartment and we are already thinking that we shall be sorry to have to move on when the time comes. Romuald had told us that the nearest large town of St Omer had a very good market on a Saturday morning and so we headed for that first fearing that with the drizzle it might not ... read more
One of the uncompleted tunnels
Test rocket
V-2 rocket bomb

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Saint-Omer August 23rd 2013

Today would be the longest days drive we have had on the BBA V2,right across northern France, virtually one side to the other.Our apartment here had been OK from the point of view of facilities inside but we were a little disappointed with the location on the ground floor of three because we really didn't get any sun on the balcony because of the forest being so close and the tall trees.We have high hopes for our next apartment which is in a converted farmhouse in a very small village not far from Dunkirk. We plan to take all day to cross the country,well that is from 9.30am until probably 5pm or thereabouts and we will opt for the shortest route which is just on 400km.The fastest according to the GPS would have taken us well ... read more
Another one of those 'road' pictures and French farmland
Baled hay ready for storage
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Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Calais August 14th 2013

We decided to make it an early start so that there were no worries about catching the ferry and we should also have some time for some shopping when we got to Calais. We left on time, which is very, very unusual for us, despite the fact that we had a check-list of things to sort-out in the apartment before we left; each of which had a designated fine, which would be taken out of our deposit if they were not completed. It was a fantastic apartment, with what must be one of the best views in Europe (and I don't think I'm exaggerating), but that took the shine off it a bit. There what just one final photo opportunity as we passed a lake on the way out of Chamonix. Another photo of Mont Blanc ... read more
French Services
Observation Tower View

Europe » France » Nord-Pas de Calais » Dunkerque August 12th 2013

What do you do to celebrate your 39th wedding annniversary ? We decided to set sail from Boulogne to Dunkerque France. We normally prefer to get up and get going early but in the land of high tides and strong currents you travel with the current. This means heading out at 11:30 AM so we can catch the current going in our direction (a 1 to 2 knot push in the right direction) . The upside was that we had a nice leisurely breakfast, the downside was we got to our next port later than we like. When we left Boulogne, there was little wind so we motor sailed. The day was beautiful and the seas were gentle. During the afternoon there were even fewer clouds and the wind died but we were still able to ... read more
Some Differences/Some Similarities
Others Out Here With Us
More Industrialized Area




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