The Loire Valley and especially Blois
Our last day of holidays saw us in cycling in steady rain for 1 1/2 hours. We took the greenway from Sedan to Charleville-Mezières. The main attraction, the Place Ducale, built in 1606, was unfortunately marred by a beach installation. However I was impressed by the fact that a single person, René Dürrbach, was responsible …
Continue reading “Day #29 Postcard from France – Charleville-Mezières”
We cycled in the other direction today. The path followed the Lahn river so should have been flat but about halfway along the road acquired a lot of ups and downs again. Our destination was Bad Ems a spa town that seems to have run out of energy. Nous sommes partis à vélo dans l’autre …
Two steep climbs began our cycling route today but fortunately we then followed the Lahn River to Limburg, another delightful German town. We’re staying in a cute little German house which is like a museum. Il a fallu deux grosses montées en vélo pour démarrer la journée mais heureusement nous avons suivi ensuite la rivière …
Continue reading “Day #26 Postcard from Germany – Limburg An Der Lahn”
We’re gradually heading home to Blois. Today we drove to Laurenburg, our last 3-night stay in Germany, stopping off at Marburg An Der Lahn on the way, site of the first Gothic church in Germany. We don’t know what the horse connection is. Nous rentrons tout doucement en France. Aujourd’hui nous sommes allés à Laurenburg, …
Continue reading “Day #25 Postcard from Germany – Marburg An Der Lahn”
Today, because of the steep climbs on busy roads, we left our bikes on the back of the car and drove to three sites in the Harz mountain range: an early 20th century wooden church in Hahnenklee inspired by Norwegian stave churches, the surprising 16th century blue wooden church in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, the largest wooden church …
Goslar, 35 km south of Wolfenbüttel, is said to have 1000 Renaissance houses. When we arrived by bike today from Bad Harzburg where we are staying the town was teeming with people attending an enormous arts and crafts fair. There were three downpours while we were there but the sun came out again each time …
The beautiful little town of Wolfenbüttel with its wonderful collection of half-timbered houses built around 1600 is in the Harz region in the centre of Germany. We were caught in a shower but fortunately it didn’t last too long. La jolie petite ville de Wolfenbüttel avec ses belles maisons à colombages construites vers 1600 se …
Continue reading “Day #22 Postcard from Germany – Wolfenbüttel”
A very monotonous 25-km ride along the Elbe side canal took us to the very scenic Hanseatic town of Lüneburg with its many 16th century brick houses. The first photo shows the restaurant where we had lunch at the lower level while the second and third photos show the view from where we were sitting. …
Today we went to Aarhus in Jutland and saw what I’ve been expecting to see since we arrived – traditional houses. However they are not in the town but in an open-air museum called Den Gamle By (the old town) started by a teacher and translator, Peter Holm, in 1914, to save the mayor’s 16th …
Continue reading “Day #17 Postcard from Denmark – Historical Houses”
This is the castle in Helsingør on the tip of Sjaelland where Hamlet is said to have been set. It’s certainly in a choice spot and having Yorrick and Polonius interacting in the main courtyard was rather fun! Below are some photos of the inside of the castle followed by some delightful thatched cottages in …
Continue reading “Day #12 Postcard from Denmark – Elsinore Castle”