Two views of the Chateau de Blois
A bridge over the Loire at Blois
The Chateau de Chaumont
Two views of the River Loire at Chaumont
A traditionally designed trip boat (which wasn't working on the day!)
The Chateau D'Amboise
The Chateau de Close Luce, a 15th Century Manor House where Leonardo Da Vinci lived out the last few years of his life at the invitation of the French King. It is now a museum celebrating the life and works of Leonardo Da Vinci
A Tapestry inside Clos Luce
Anne Of Brittany's Chapel. Anne was a formidable woman who was also once resident at Clos Luce
To examples of canons invented/designed by Leonardo Da Vinci inside the House
In the gardens
A bridge designed by Leonardo
Some reproductions of the Mona Lisa
A Water Wheel
Another Suspension Bridge
A reconstruction of the aeroplane designed by Leonardo
Approaching the Chateau de Chambord
The Chateau de Chambord - A Royal Palace and home to the last serious contender for the French Crown - the Comte de Chambord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Chambord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri,_Count_of_Chambord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri,_Count_of_Chambord
Inside the main foyer featuring the grand staircase
Looking from the first floor to the courtyard
A bridge across an ornamental lake in the Gardens of the Chateau
The Chateu de Chinon - Medieval castle which was once home to King Henry II of England who was father to both Richard the Lionheart and King John. It was the setting for the Play (Later a film) A Lion In Winter.
The entrance to the Castle
In The Castle
Two views over the River Vienne (which flows into the Loire) from the castle ramparts
The Ramparts
Al showing off!
Two views of a Vineyard next to the castle
And some grapes!
The Estuary of the River Rance near St Malo in Brittany
Mont St Michel in France. The monastery built on St Michael's Mount in Cornwall was founded by Monks from this Abbey.
Mysterious white plastic caps placed over these lettuce plants near the Mont.
Pointe De Grouin looking across the Bay of Mont St Michel.
We were close to the end of our trip. Our plan was to have a quick visit to St Malo and then take a leisurely 2 hour drive to Roscoff in Brittany for a relaxing trip on the Brittany Derry back to Plymouth which was due to depart at 4.00pm. However, about hour before we arrived at our hotel which was near St Malo we received a text message from Brittany Ferries advising that our ferry crossing had been cancelled due to Industrial action taken by their crews.
Luckily Brittany Ferries had made an agreement with P & O Ferries that they would honour our tickets. The drawback was that we had to drive to Calais to take the ferry there to Dover. So we were faced with a Five hour drive to Calais and then another five hour drive back to Plymouth. We left St Malo at about 8.30am on the Thursday and finally got back to Plymouth at 2.30am on Friday morning.
So much for a relaxing end to our trip!
However we did get a chance to see a little of Normandy and the area around the mouth of the River Somme and passed through Rouen and Caen although we did not have time to stop and look.
Leaving Calais
Looking over the docks at Calais
More P & O ferries
Heading for the breakwater
The beach at Calais
Cap Gris Nez - the closest part of the French Coastline to England
Approaching Dover with the castle in the background
No comments:
Post a Comment