Wednesday 20 October 2010

Normandie in the rain!

Some weekends ago, we went to Normandie. Although we had been there years ago, Thom was only 3 years old by that time,  it was Thom who asked us to go there to visit the museums and to see all the battlefields much more conscient than when he was 3!
And thus, we went, on a rainy Friday morning, hoping for the best...

Our first stop was le Mont Saint Michel (for more info: Mont Saint Michel). It's a beautiful place, it even got a bit spooky with the rain, the dark grey sky and the strong wind.
Later I saw a placemat somewhere in a shop that stated: 'it only rains twice a week in Normandy, one time for 3 days and one time for 4 days'...

We saw 4 (!) musea at Le Mont Saint Michel in those few hours we spent there (a way to stay a bit dry!) and of course we visited the abbey on the top. In the pouring rain we drove back to Caen where we booked our hotel. Were we ready for a hot shower, a comfy hotelroom and a delicious meal... (Ivan Vautier)


A good night rest & a wonderful breakfast do wonders... Saturday morning we were all ready to go again, we even spotted a bit of sunlight between the clouds. First we went to the Memorial de Caen, very impressive! We spent 4 hours there... not even noticing the time! And then we picked up Senna from the hotel and drove along the coast via Ouistreham down until the Point de Hoc, it got rainier, windier & darker the more south we got...
I really like to show some pictures, but the light was not too good as you can imagine. Anyway, here are some:









After a long day re-living the 2nd World War, we were truly exhausted and instead of opting for another pretentious meal in our hotel, we had a quick 'poulet rôti & pommes frites' somewhere in Bayeux.
By the way, did you know that the French are very welcoming to dogs? Senna was allowed in the hotel (even in the restaurant) as well as in many of the musea we visited.
She definitely enjoyed her day at the beaches:



The next morning, we planned to drive via the coast up north, to Deauville and Trouville. But before arriving there, we passed a very nice seaside town called Cabourg. We all liked it, it was time for coffee, so we got out of the car and strolled around the little town with its market, its brocante and its charming cafes.
We did continue to Deauville, but as it started raining again, we decided to drive back to Versailles where it was gorgeous weather according to Méteo France. And it was!

So we enjoyed the rest of the Sunday afternoon in our own garden with sunshine, coffee & macarons!

Enjoy the week!!
Bisous!
P.S. It might be rather quiet here the coming weeks:
we have a lot of friends coming over to visit us & a week of school holidays too (Toussaint)!!

  

Sunday 17 October 2010

The Monet gardens in Giverny


Another outing this week: The Claude Monet gardens in Giverny!
Although I have been there about 7 years ago in summer, I couldn't wait to go back! It's such a beautiful place: peaceful, colourful, inspirational! And even now, that fall has started and leaves turn yellow, orange, red, the gardens are still stunning. Actually I think they are beautiful year round!
As pictures say more than a thousand words, I will shut my mouth and let the pictures do the talking ;)







For sure I will go back in spring! Can't wait to discover all the beauties then! And we were so lucky: it was a beautiful (chilly) sunny day!
As always we ended the day with a nice lunch & some fun:

It's pretty chilly & grey here today, so that means fireplace & candles
& a lamb couscous in preparation!

Enjoy your Sunday!
Bisous!


Tuesday 12 October 2010

La cueillette de Gally


One of the nice places to visit close to Versailles is a 'ferme' called Gally. Apart from a huge shop where you can find plants, flowers, cooking stuff, interior & exterior decoration & fresh produce from farmers in the neighbourhood, mainly organic, there also is the 'cueillette' (a picking field). Almost any time of year you can pick your own seasonal fruits, vegetables & flowers. In the weekend it's packed, whole families spend their Saturday or Sunday there, picking what they need. It's only 20 minutes from Paris so a very nice outing into the countryside.
Today, a very sunny afternoon, I finally went over there (it was on my to-do-list during the whole summer already) not picking anything I must admit, just capturing it into some images:

At the moment, there's a whole lot of vegetables ready to be picked, as you can see.

Apples...
Apples...

And even more apples...

Many varieties, this is only part of it.

And of course, very seasonal: a huge variety of Halloween decoration!

Should you live or be in the neighbourhood, make sure you visit this 'Cueillette de Gally',
absolutely worth it!
 Have a look at their website (only in French, sorry!): La cueillette de Gally

Wishing you all a wonderful & sunny week!

Monday 4 October 2010

My 'great' start of the week

Washing loads of clothes (where does it come from with only a family of 3? I really don't know!), finally cleaning the BBQ (used it 2 weeks ago for the last time...), booking our Christmas holidays, searching for a family to take care of our dog while we're away, ironing, dusting all rooms & sweeping or vaccuum cleaning the floors, walking the dog, finishing a sewing project, grocery shopping, catching up with administration... just a 'few' things I'm taking care of this rainy Monday in Versailles! But the office still looks like a mess, so does the guest room and the bathrooms desperately need a good cleaning too... still enough to do to keep me busy today!

So, no holiday pictures right now...just a glimpse of our Christmas holiday destination (keeps me going on this grey & miserable Monday!):


Have a nice week & fingers crossed for some more sun here :)
Bisous!
image credits: http://journeyfish.com

Sunday 3 October 2010

Nooooooooooooooo!!!

I haven't forgotten about this blog of mine... nooooooooooooo!! Just been too busy lately with all sorts of things and (to be honoust) not much of interest to you...
So I promise, I'll be back coming week with some more pictures of a few trips we've made lately!
Have a great start of the week!!

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