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Honfleur
Honfleur is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind, forming the école de Honfleur (Honfleur school) which contributed to the appearance of the Impressionist movement. The Sainte-Catherine church, which has ...
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Le Lion d’Or
This former 18th-century post office is now a charming hotel located in one of Bayeux’s oldest quarters, close to the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. My favourite part of the hotel is the lounge, where you can relax by the fireplace, sipping Calvados, while being surrounded by pictures of the celebrities the hotel has welcome over the ...
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La Cambe German War Cemetery
La Cambe is a military war grave cemetery, located close to Bayeux, France. Presently containing in excess of 21,000 German military personnel of World War II. La Cambe was originally the site of a battlefield cemetery, established by the United States Army Graves Registration Service during the war, where American and German soldiers, sailors and ...
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Mine à Charbon
Le Musée de la Mine du Molay-Littry, Normandie, France. L’histoire de la mine de Littry débute au XVIIIe Siècle, après la découverte en 1741 d’un affleurement de charbon à l’emplacement du bourg de la Mine. En 1747, naquit la Compagnie des Mines de Littry. A son apogée vers 1840, la mine comptait près de 950 ...
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Bayeux Medieval Festival
At the beginning of July and for almost 30 years, Bayeux transforms itself into the medieval town it used to be. The reenactment groups from France and all Europe set up their camps and recreate the daily life of the Vikings, Saxons and Normans. Historical dresses, traditional food of the Middle Ages, music performances, crafts, ...
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Bayeux Cathedral
Prime example of Roman and Gothic Architecture, right in the middle of my hometown in Normandy : The Notre-Dame Cathedral of Bayeux. It was consecrated on 14 July 1077 in the presence of William (Guillaume), Duke of Normandy and King of England himself. It was here that William forced Harold Godwinson to take the oath, ...
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Operating a Crossbow
Too bad this was only for kids ! Shot (pun intended) at the Bayeux Medieval Festival.
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Medieval Parade
The Parade from the Bayeux Medieval Festival : knights, troubadours, magicians, witches and people from the middle ages. Almost a hundred shots with my beloved 50mm :) Enjoy !
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Herbs and Spices
Bringing to your plate or cup, the flavours of far away kingdoms and long forgotten times.
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Sweets
Yom yom, all natural, all delicious ! PS : yes, I’m back to posting pictures from my last summer in France, I need to clear my backlog before travelling there again in July…
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Croissant Sign
Almost anything can look good at f/1.2 :)
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Citroën Méhari 4×4
A disappearing sight in French countryside : the Citroën Méhari. The Méhari had a body made of ABS plastic with a soft-top and employed the 602 cc flat twin gasoline engine shared with the 2CV6, producing such a distinct melody. This one is a rare 4×4 Mehari (only 1,300 were produced). When it was launched, ...
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Mondaye Abbey
Saint-Martin de Mondaye is a French Premonstratensian abbey in the Bessin countryside at Juaye-Mondaye, Calvados, nine miles to the south of Bayeux. Founded in 1200, it is the only canonial abbey still active in Normandy. The church is wholly as conceived by Eustache Restout, who also painted the paintings and designed the woodwork for the ...
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Nuclear Submarine
The Redoutable (S 611) was the lead ship of her class of ballistic missile submarine in the French Marine Nationale. Commissioned on 1 December 1971, she was the first French SNLE (Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d’Engins, “Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine”). She was fitted with 16 M1 ballistic missiles, delivering 450 kt at 2000 kilometres. In 1974, she ...
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Nez de Jobourg
This long, rocky and barren promontory surrounded by reefs, is the most impressive cape of the wild Hague coast in Normandy. Its most impressive aspects can be admired from the Nez de Voidries, which commands a view north of Écalgrain, the lighthouse off Cap de La Hague, and the Channel Islands. Further south, the Nez ...
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Wild Poppy Flowers
Wild poppy flowers groing among wheat crops in Normandy.
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SaQuaNa Honfleur
One of our very favourite restaurants on this earth, SaQuaNa in Honfleur : delectable food + excellent service, two well-deserved Michelin stars. Incidentally, during our last visit, we learnt that Alexandre Bourdas was Chef de Cuisine and Director of the 3 Michelin Stars Michel Bras Toya Restaurant in Hokkaido when we ate there in 2004 ...
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Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East and Ethiopian Highlands, but now cultivated worldwide. Wheat is grown on more land area than any other commercial crop and is the most important staple food for humans. World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined. Globally, ...
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Normandy Safari
Driving on the small side roads of Normandy. No particular destination, only avoiding main roads to explore the countryside and find nice photographic spots.
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Le Moulin à Vent
Contemporary decoration in an old house, amazing sea view. A cuisine that changes with the seasons and the produce available at the market. Seaweed salads, locally grown seafood, raw fish specials, half lobster, roast pigeon, steamed bass. Excellent food, and plenty of opportunities for digestive walks around Le Moulin à Vent in La Hague, Normandy.
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Normandy Lace
Brought together for the first time in Caen are some pieces of lace chosen from the finest textile collections in France and Europe. To show the splendour of Normandy lace, a rich iconography ranging from the court portrait to fashion engravings and photographs has been added to the display of large turn-down collars, pinners, crinoline ...