Blogs from Upper Normandy, France, Europe - page 12

A brief history of 7 weeks in France Firstly, we never made it to Croatia or any other part of Europe except France. Wet weather in the east of Europe and hot sunny weather in the Mediterranean kept us in the south of France for most of the time. Highlights of the trip have been cycling in the Camargue and Aquitaine regions where the flat salt marshes with lots of exotic birdlife and the gentle pace of life made for a great time. We now have a small brown dog who is super fit as most days he would run along side for an average of 15kms punctuated by hurling himself into the sea to cool down , he will miss the cycling when we get home. Cap Antibes was memorable as the old city is ... read more

The most beautiful place I saw this year so far was definitely Giverny, to wit, Claude Monet’s house and gardens. The idea of visiting the house came unexpectedly – at first I planned a trip to Chantilly for me and Luda, but then I learned that they were closed on Tuesday – and it was our last day in the French capital. So, Chantilly was left aside for the time being. I browsed here and there and finally decided on Giverny. To get to Chantilly, one takes the train from Gare St. Lazare (we Russians are most often excited about European trains because they are quite different from our own ones) to Vernon and then the bus to Giverny. Bus departure time is synchronized with the arrival of trains and the road takes about 15 minutes, ... read more

Today’s blog will not have a Today’s eats section, not because we didn’t eat, but because the food truly deserves to be blogged about in its entirety. We awoke in side the walls of Mont-St. Michel to a beautiful cloud free bright sunny day. We showered, packed and headed to breakfast. I have previously blogged that breakfast in France and many European countries is not a big affair, typically croissants, fruit and coffee (hence the term continental breakfast in the United States). Today however was much more. Yes there were the croissants, half baguettes, juice, yogurt, but there was so much more. There was, as in Chateau Criessel, the ham and cheese platter, scrambled eggs and bacon, freshly made crepes to stuff with your choice of fillings, granola, cereals, bread for toast, fresh fruit and my ... read more

so frustrated! i wrote such a long and happy entry and its got deleted! We love Normandy! this place is seriously beautiful and we are living 5 minutes away from a beach, i feel so much closer to home here (which of course I am) english speaking people which we can communicate with, share stories, ask questions and laugh with is perfect. I do feel ready to come home aswell though, no home, no money and no job but England is where all the people I love are and so thats where I wanna be, not long now! and then i can see everyone and bore you all with my hundreds of photos and stories of Austrains, Germans and French people until you all think 'please go back there and shut up'... read more

Parijs 5 oktober 2011 We hadden al een paar maanden op voorhand onze tickets geboekt met de bus naar Parijs. Opstap in Gent Dampoort. Onze tickets kosten 12€ per persoon (3€ extra administratieve kosten). De rit duurde een goeie 4 uur want de bus had wat vertraging. Busmaatschappij: Eurolines (de bus heeft verschillende opstapplaatsen) Bij de stophalte van Eurolines moet je de metro nemen. Alles staat goed aangeduid. Ofwel betaal je cash of met je visakaart. Tip: neem genoeg cash geld mee! Een ticketje kost €1,70 (enkele rit). We moesten overstappen en namen dan metro nummer 4 richting Defert – Rochereau. Onze jeugdhostel lag op 10 minuten wandelen van de metro. Naam jeugdhostel: FIAP Zeker 3 *** waard voor een jeugdhotel te zijn! De kamers zijn recentelijk vernieuwd, zeer modern gebouw vanbinnen (vanbuiten lijkt het op ... read more