france

France Road Trip Day 4 – Nantes- Part One

/ bunnypudding / Leave a comment

So Day 4 we went to the “culture capital” of France, Nantes. It was amazing. I must go back, like post haste! We got there around noon and so went straight for the cathedral which was stunning-

Inside-

The castle-

Not my best  picture as the sun was in my eyes, but you can see the moat etc in the back ground, just lovely!-

Where’s Bunny?-

The view from inside the walls ( apologies a lot with the boy in so only a few to share) –

The castle had a museum inside, but we didn’t bother to go in as it was about WW2, and I won’t lie, pretty much saturated ourselves about that subject recently so we left it in the hope there would be a more historical one near by.

View from the castle wall, you can see the cathedral in the background too.-

Street performers outside-

There are quite a few street performers in Nantes as it is a place that thrives on creativity and wants to be known as a place of culture, which is right up my street!Rather tempted to run off and make my living as one, sadly I can’t play anything..like ANYTHING, so wouldn’t make much!

Our next stop off in the city was rather exciting  and funny..put it this way, never take a “surprise me! ” approach to a menu in France. Ever.)  That tale is certainly in my next post ( there a lot of fun stuff  occurred in this place!)

Sigh, anyway I am off to dream of France again…as the Beruit song says “It’s been a long time since I saw your smile” ..oh Nantes <3

BP Xx

France 2013 – St Michael and St Malo

/ bunnypudding / Leave a comment

Day two on my France road trip we went to St Malo but also had pit stop by St Michael, which was established around the 8th century. We got up after Rouen feeling a bit for wear ( damn you beautiful French vin!) and started the longest drive of the trip it the summer heat ( eurgh!) We didn’t go all the way to the island, but went as close as we could for in the car. Those who wish to set foot on the island please be prepared for a bit of trekking to get there there…but I am assured it’s worth it ( just look at the pictures!) Alas, we were on a tight schedule so could only manage looking from afar-

Moi by the island…

St Malo was a place where the boy had been as a child so it held a lot of memories for him. It was beautiful…just stunning, but very touristy, so imagine going to the beaches in Wales if you’re British…it’s very busy, but lots to enjoy. Also hard to park in the town but out side there are cars parks you can use.  The entrance to the port –

Just out side of the entrance, by the taxi rank, TIP- taxis are hard to get later in the evening, so make sure you have figured out how to use your phone abroad, luckily the taxi numbers are available on the signs by the taxi depo-

One of the ship museums by the port –

One of the building on islands out to sea by St Malo, you can actually walk to them when the sea is out, so if you want to pay a visit..get there early!

On the sea front promenade at St Malo, simply beautiful-

A shot of the houses from the walls of the port-

Shot from the sea front promenade walls-

Another sea island building –

A sea building in the tide ( about 6ish) –

Beach view from the walls-

One of the street performer there-

This one played music from paper sheets on his machine, but there was also acrobats, guitar players and other artists, It was great!

The only down side was the fact that I got sick the evening we arrived, so we had to stay two days. We ate in the town and it was ok, but I think we missed out on a much better restaurant, as it was touristy it was hard to find a place to eat at the time we needed too. Otherwise, I loved it here. I would go again, but it’s not at the to of the list quite like some of the places we visited. Great if you have children though, it’s made for families!

France Rouen 2013

/ bunnypudding / 1 Comment

I have recently returned from the most amazing holiday in France. I have always been a bit of a Francophile, so getting to spend a few weeks in a place I am slightly in love with was the best offer I’ve had in a loooong time!  I went with the boy ( he does not feature on this blog, hence why there aren’t too many pictures, he tends to appear in most of mine!) and we drove around all of  the country, and tried to hit as many cites and towns as we could. We started off With Rouen, famous for being the city where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake ( Booo!). I loved this city and it was a great place to start-

Me getting a bit bored at a gas station *sigh* just get me to the pub dammit!

Rouen-

Joan of Arc Artwork, she crops up everywhere-

Me by the Cathedral, it was stunning. Sadly, on my camera I didn’t get too many pictures of it without the boy featured! Doh!-

Me outside the Cathedral door, not being attacked by lightening…therefore we can consider the visit a success!-

Street shot- It was a lovely medieval style city. So nice to walk down the cobbled streets. As it was in the north of France it wasn’t TOO hot , the further south we went the hotter it got though, never good for a pale skinned gal like moi…eek!-

During our stay we met a lovely Anglophile who took us out and about in the city, which is always appreciated! One pub he took us too was called “Zooloo” . Basically, you just paid what you wanted at the bar and the landlord, who was a pretty cool chap, would make a crazy strong punch and you could pour it into your glass until you were content, ie- wankarded. You could also draw on the walls. I made sure to leave my mark…sadly, it features the boys name, so I can’t show it, but to give you an idea –

Me and our new friend, oh man he was lovely! Thank you good sir for making our first night grrreat-

In the evening we had a great meal of steak, it actually RARE,  just like I want it.  I tend to find trouble getting a good steak in the UK at times, but in France it was perfect every time.

There is one negative part of France though…the bloody one way road systems. Our first city trip was in Rouen, and it took us nearly an hour to get to our hotel, it was a NIGHTMARE! Esp when you can see the hotel but you’re not allowed to go down the street that it’s on…aggrh! Otherwise, I loved every minute of Rouen and fully intend to return. As we got there quite late and left very early the next day, we didn’t get too much of the city covered, so I am treating it as “unfinished” business.

The next morning we went to a cafe and had some sandwiches and made friends with the local birds, who thought nothing of coming and sitting on the table begging for my sandwich. They were so cute I may have given them far too much!  This does lead me to my first warning about France though, they have set dinner times etc, so if you want a larger lunch at a restaurant, try to eat lunch around 12- 2 as they tend to close up afterwards until about 6pm  when they re-open for dinner service.  You can eat at bistros all day though, so don’t panic!

The next stop was St Malo…and oh my that was a beautiful place, as you will see in the next post. It took us 4 hours to get there but my, the exciting roads made up for it!-

The French don’t half like a super bridge-

More to come in my next post…I am now off to cry about not being in France any more…sniffles.

Muchos love, BP Xx