France

Spent the week travelling around the Normandy region of France. Seen some awesome things and learnt some french too. Thanks to Kelly and Vaughan for taking me with them!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008
So day 1. We drove for 2 hours to Giverny to see the Monet gardens.
Claude Monet was an impressionist who in 1883 rented a house in the small village of Giverny and here he painted the famous water lilly.

Im not much of an arty person myself but walking around the gardens was pretty cool and got to see what he painted.

It was a nice day today too, but overcast but not too cold.

Also went to the French supermarket... was AWESOME! haha. they are so big and there is so much stuff, i spent ages browsing, not even knowing what i was looking at!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Day 2, The Normandy Beaches.

We travelled 2 hours up to Normandy along the coast. We went to the fish market first where we got fresh fish, scallops and oysters for our dinner that night.

The invasion to liberate northwest Europe began on June 6, 1944.
The Normandy beaches were chosen by planners because they lay within
range of air cover, and were less heavily defended.
US troops landed on Utah and Omaha beaches in the west whule British and Canadian troops landed at Gold, Juno and Sword beaches. These names are the code names for the beaches and are still used today

By the end of D-Day over 135,000 men had been bought ashore, with losses totalling around 10,000.

We then went on to see the American cemetry where over 9000 american soliders are buried. It was a huge cemetry and really well done.

We spent the afternoon looking around the cemetry and looking at all the grave stones.
Was a nice day. No rain today.

Thursday, September 4, 2008
Day 3.... Drove 3 hours to Mont Saint Micheal.
The history of Mont-Saint Micheal is thought to date back to 708, when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, had a sanctury built on Mont-Tombe in honour of the Archangel.
Mont-Saint Micheal is a rocky tidal island in Normandy. At high tide the carparks next to the road are covered in sea water. The road is the only thing visible.

if you want to read more history on this huge castle go to
http://useit.vn/content/view/1362/336/lang,english/

We went to the neighbouring town of Orbec for dinner there was only 2 resturants open, we went to the Italian Pizzarier. Although it was Italian resturant the waiters were very much French.

When we got home this evening, we had some 8 legged visitors. 6 large light brown creepy spiders. Vaughan went on a mad mission to eradicate the buggers. Kelly and I were freaking out! SO GROSS!!!

Friday, September 5, 2008
Day 4... We drove to the outskirts of Paris to see the huge castle thats Versailles.
The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, France.
In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. When the château was built, Versailles was a country village; today, however, it is a suburb of Paris. From 1682, when King Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the Court of Versailles was the centre of power in Ancien Régime France. Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy that Louis XIV espoused.
futher reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles#History

We walked through the gardens.... which are huge! we spent all day there!

We went out for dinner this night, in Versailles. And i tried Escargot... snails. They were done in garlic butter and were really yummy.

Saturday, September 6, 2008
Drove 2 hours South To the Loire valley to visit a small town of Chartres.
Which has the greatest Gothic cathedral in Europe.
It was built in 1020
The cathedral was the most important building in the town of Chartres. It was the centre of the economy, the most famous landmark and the focal point of almost every activity that is provided by civic buildings in towns today
The cathedral has three large rose windows: one on the west front with a theme of The Last Judgment, one on the north transept with a theme of the Glorification of the Virgin, and one on the south transept with a theme of the Glorification of Christ.
Statistics
length: 130 m
width: 32/46 m
nave: height 37 meters;
width 16.4 m
Ground area: 10,875
Height of south-west tower: 105 meters
Height of north-west tower: 113 meters.
176 stained-glass windows

We had a look around the town, and had lunch, and i had escargots for lunch. On the way there i we stopped so i could post my postcards i had to test out my french as the lady spoke no english. so i hope they arrive ok.




Sunday, September 7, 2008
So today was our last day on France, we drove to the town of Rouen on our way to the ferry.

In France, between the hours of 2.30 and 4.30pm most shops are closed for siesta., and the resturants dont re-open until 7pm. And being Sunday no shops were open. so we went and had a look at another church, then went and had mussels for lunch, i was quickly put off my lunch after finding many small crabs throughout my mussels. I couldnt eat anymore after that.

The ferry ride home was ok, bit rough getting out of the harbour but smooth most of the way.
We arrived home about 7.30pm