It has been a very busy three weeks travelling south from England through France to find some warmth and a bit of dry weather, without much success so far.  We did get a little bit of sunshine along the way (two whole days in the Loire plus some sunny intervals), but it has been a pretty wet May all told, and a cold wind blowing most of the time.

We left Portsmouth on 17^th May after a quick skip around the naval port the day before to see HMS Warrior and HMS Victory, although the latter had the masts missing, and half the hull under restoration, so not very photogenic at present.

HMS Victory, Portsmouth

HMS Victory, minus top masts

HMS Warrior, Portsmouth (first iron clad warship)

After spending the night parked on the wharf, we got the fast ferry to Le Havre at 7.00am, arriving at lunch time, then a short drive to Honfleur, although Emily Garmin decided to take us the long way around the Seine estuary instead of over the big bridge (we realised after it was to avoid the toll), but she added 45km to the trip to save €3.50 !

We posted plenty of photos of Honfleur last September, so won’t bother this time.
Next stop was towards the D-Day invasion beaches in Normandy, firstly with a visit to Pegasus Bridge near Ouistreham, where a big museum commemorates the British 6^th Airborne Division who landed in the early hours of 6^th June 1944 to secure the bridges on the left flank of the invasion beaches, and also capture the German heavy gun batteries nearby which threatened the landings too.

The original Pegasus Bridge

Note 20mm cannon shell holes in steel & concrete structure

Memorial plaque

Replica Horsa paratroop glider

20mm shell damage

Pegasus Bridge memorial park Normandy

We had a very interesting guided tour by an English chap who was very knowledgeable on the whole invasion history.

Then it was on to Arromanches, where the British forces built the enormous Mulberry Harbour out of floating concrete caissons they towed over from England, then sank to make breakwaters, and built ship docking quays and ramps to supply all the invasion troops. An amazing feat of engineering and remnants of the harbour still exist today.  The excellent displays in the museum show the extent of the achievements.

Arromanches, with remains of Mulberry Harbour in the bay

Arromanches, with remains of Mulberry Harbour in the bay

We headed south after that to Mont St Michel, one of France’s outstanding places to visit.  The Abbey/Monastery on the top of the island dates in part from pre-Roman times, but most was built in the 12^th to 14^th century.  It is still a working Abbey today, with the medieval (tourist) town winding up the hill from the causeway to the top – dozens of souvenir shops and café/restaurants all the way.

Mont St Michel – as it should look

Mont St Michel – as we saw it

Mont St Michel – at the top of the town

A tap on the head should cure it!

Mont St Michel – Abbey of St Michael 12-13th century

Abbey cloisters

Treadmill for hoisting supplies up the cliff-face

Medieval Mont St Michel – tourist mecca

Mont St Michel – shop signs

Mont St Michel – artistic photo (copy)

It was time then to move further south to find some warmth if possible, with a few days in Nantes, at the mouth for the River Loire.  A nice old town, with many interesting buildings which lean over at quite alarming angles. These date from when the wise burghers of the town decided to fill in some of the canals which ran through the city and connected the rivers. As a result the foundations of the buildings along the old canal routes dried out and started to subside.  A few fell down, but most are just held up by their neighbours, and the doors and windows have been adjusted to stay upright within the frames, which are now at odd angles, as are the balconies and floors.

Nantes – sloping buildings

Nantes – Place du Change, 15th, 17th and 20th century buidings

Nantes – Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne

Nantes Cathedral

Nantes Cathedral interior – 400 yrs to complete

We met a nice young Australian couple in the campsite at Nantes – Gary & Nicole from Brisbane, and their four young children.  The kids are all under 5 years old – a girl of 4, a boy of 2 and twins who are only 10 months old.  They plan to bike from Nantes all the way to Budapest in Hungary over the next 10 weeks – 1,550 km!  They each have a bike and a trailer, with the kids in/on behind and all their tentage and clothes packed all around them.  Some people think we are nuts in our tin sheds on wheels, but these guys take the cake, and we wished them luck, especially with all the rain we’ve been having.

The other items of interest in Nantes were:

(1) a chocolatiére who had the most fantastic things on display made of chocolate (of course);

Chocolate Bambina Fiat 500

An Easter egg with a difference (French Super 14 semi-finals in town)

Chocolate wine bottle ?

Chocolate paradise

(2) a very old shopping arcade with ornate columns, stairs and statues;

Nantes – Passage Pomeraye (18th c)

Nantes – Passage Pomeraye (18th c)

(3) beautiful  Japanese Gardens on an island in the middle of the river we walked through one day;

Nantes – Japanese gardens

Nantes – Japanese gardens

Nantes – Haircut time

From Nantes we headed up the Loire valley to see some of the famous Chateaux built during the Renaissance by French royalty and nobility.

Chateau d’Azay le Rideau was first on the list, built on the banks of a small tributary of the Loire in the 16^th century by the wife of the finance minister to King Francois I.  Beautifully furnished throughout, it was only occupied in the summer, and deserted in the winter, i.e. just a summer home!  The village of the same name was also a very tranquil spot for lunch by the river.

Chateau d’Azay le Rideau, Loire Valley

The Chateau de Chenonceau was next stop, one of the prettiest chateaux of them all and very popular with visitors – it was crowded when we were there, even on a Monday with dozens of coach tours arriving and departing all day.  Built across the River Cher, and just reaching the far bank, it was built in the early 1500s, and later occupied by Diane de Poitiers (Henri II’s mistress), then Catherine de Medici (Henri II’s widow) when he died.  We actually had two fine days here, and enjoyed our first al fresco meals of the season, plus relaxing in the sun (not to mention getting the washing properly dry).

Chateau de Chenonceau, Loire Valley

Chateau de Chenonceau, Loire Valley

Chateau de Chenonceau, Loire Valley

Wash day at Chenonceaux (a fine day at last!)

The Chateau de Chambord was the last we visited, being the largest of them all.  It was intended to be a hunting lodge for Francois I, but the architect got carried away and, started in 1519, it was only partially completed in 1537 by 1800 workers and craftsmen, and not finally completed with 440 rooms until 1685.  It is completely over the top architecturally, with domes, turrets, spiral staircases, and interlinking galleries, and has hardly ever been lived in.  It is now an Historic National Monument (to the folly of man, perhaps).

Chateau de Chambord, Loire Valley

We stayed at Bourges next, further south, as this is an historic place as far as Jan’s family is concerned.  On her mother’s side the family tree can be traced back to the ‘de Berry’ family, and Bourges is the ancient seat of the Dukes of Berry (Ducs de Berry), and the tomb of the first Duc Jean de Berry (1340-1416), brother of King Charles V, is prominent in the crypt of the Cathedral of St Etiennne (St Stephen) in Bourges.  This classic Gothic cathedral is simply massive – 2^nd only in size to the Notre Dame in Paris, and we took a special tour of the crypt to get the photos shown here.

Tomb of Duc Jean de Berry 1340-1416

Tomb of Duc Jean de Berry 1340-1416

Bourges – Place Gordaine (15 c buildings)

Bourges Cathedral (being re-roofed)

We arrived in Lyon yesterday – more rain along the way, and a wet day in the town today too.   Not to be deterred, we celebrated Jan’s birthday in Vieux Lyon (old town) with a Veritable Bouchon Lyonnais lunch – menu du jour @ €15 each + wine, with our friends Dave and Trish.   The lovely waitress is Czech, with very good English, French and Spanish.  She presented Jan with a huge dessert of profiteroles, ice cream and cream, topped off with a Roman Candle, and led the staff and other guests in singing Happy Birthday.  A great day out, despite the rain.   Hey-ho though – the forecast is better for tomorrow, and may even get to 20^oC next week !

Lyon – Jan’s birthday lunch spot with Dave & Trish

Jan’s dessert – profiteroles a la Roman Candle !

We are parting company with Dave and Trish here for a while. They are heading east to the Alps, then down to the Mediterranean coast at Sete or Montpellier for a while, whilst we are going on down through Provence for a week or so.  We will probably meet up again before we head on together to Tuscany later in June.

So its “A bientot”, and Caio for now!