We spent 2 and half days
in the Châteaux de la Loire ending on Monday Morning in château de
Chenonceau under a grey and rainy day early morning. More pictures to
come on the Châteaux de la Loire.
enjoy
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Visit at the Mont Saint-Michel
We
left Paris with a weather forecast that was assuring us of sunny sky.
Well weather.com was not accurate at all. We visited the Mont
Saint-Michel under a grey sky unfortunately.
Mont
Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy,
France. It is located approximately one kilometre off the country's
north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near
Avranches. The population of the island is 44. The island has held
strategic fortifications since ancient times, and since the 8th
century AD been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its
name. The Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay are part of the UNESCO list
of World Heritage Sites. More than 3,000,000 people visit it each
year.
Tidal
island Mont Saint-Michel was previously connected to the mainland via
a tidal causeway. This connection has been altered over the
centuries. In 1879, the tidal causeway was converted into a raised or
dry causeway. This prevented the tide from scouring the silt around
the mount.
On
16 June 2006, the French prime minister and regional authorities
announced a €164 million project to build a hydraulic dam using the
waters of the river Couesnon and of tides to help remove the
accumulated silt deposited by the rising tides, and to make
Mont-Saint-Michel an island again. It was projected to be completed
by 2015.
The
construction of the dam began in 2009 and is now complete. The
project also included the removal of the causeway and its visitors
car-park. It will be replaced by a light bridge, allowing the waters
to flow freely around the island, which will improve the efficiency
of the now operational dam.
Bonne
visite.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Flame of Liberty and Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
Yesterday
Friday 31st of August was the 15th anniversary of the tragic accident
of Lady Diana. Believe it or not Flame of Liberty was still full of
people coming from everywhere to remember her memory.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Fort La Latte
Fort-la-Latte
or Castle of La Latte is a castle located about 4 km southeast
of Cap Fréhel and about 35 km west of Saint-Malo,
Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France. This impressive castle was built on
a small piece of land at the Baie de la Fresnaye in the 13th century.
The
house of the mighty Goyon-Matignon built at this sit a castle in the
13th century. In the year 1379 it was conquered by Bertrand du
Guesclin. It was besieged by the English in 1490 and by the holy
League in 1597. Garangeau under the reign of Louis XIV turned it into
a fortress, using Vauban's building plans. They used canon batteries,
stationed in Fort La Latte, to defend Saint-Malo against English and
Dutch attacks. In the year 1793, a melting furnace for cannon balls
was built and some counter-revolutionary suspects were imprisoned at
Fort la Latte. The last attack happened in 1815 during the Hundred
Days (French Cent-Jours) (also known as the Waterloo Campaign, it
describes Napoleons return to power between 20 March 1815 to 28 June
1815), when a few men from Saint-Malo unsuccessfully attacked the
castle.
Various
films have been shot at this site, including The Vikings (1958 by
Richard Fleischer) with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis.
Saint-Malo Walled city
Saint-Malo
the famous granite city,
is
a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English
Channel. Saint-Malo became notorious as the home of the corsairs,
French privateers and sometimes pirates. (The "corsair"
activities started in the Middle Ages)
The
corsairs of Saint-Malo not only forced English ships passing up the
Channel to pay tribute, but also brought wealth from further afield.
Jacques Cartier, who sailed the Saint Lawrence River and visited the
sites of Quebec City and Montreal – and is thus credited as the
discoverer of Canada, lived in and sailed from Saint-Malo, as did the
first colonists to settle the Falklands – hence the islands' French
name Îles Malouines, which gave rise to the Spanish name Islas
Malvinas.
Enjoy
Friday, August 17, 2012
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