France - day 14

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Before returning to Amsterdam we had quite some time in Paris left so we explored a little more while we could! I think we came out of metro station Clichy...

Accidentally we ended up here.

I had googled the day before if there were any model train shops in Paris. I found this blog that explained where to find 4 model railroad stores in ONE! street right next to Montmartre where we wanted to have another look!

I had to buy a model of course and Marjolein found one of the train we drove yesterday! Not very cheap but a lovely reminder of this trip :-)

We went to the Cimetière de Montmartre. This has got to be the most beautiful grave I've ever seen.

Marjolein walking between the stones.

Some of these (family) graves are very old and are almost like mini chapels. Some have very pretty lead glass windows in them.

This is the grave of André-Marie Ampère and his son.

And then it was back to Amsterdam on the Thalys. End of holiday.

It was a lovely vacation! :-)

France - day 13

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And then it was time to leave Perros Guirec and travel to Paris again for our last night in France...

We first spent 15 minutes on this little diesel train of which I now also have a model ;-) After a short changeover we sat on a TGV for 3.5 hours and ended up in Paris later afternoon.

We took the metro to Montmartre for a Blitz visit (but not after a stop at a Thai restaurant to inhale some vegetables). First on the list was the Sacre coeur.

Later we visited the famous painter's square of which I forgot the name. Since we're not here on a daily basis I wanted to sit down and have a coffee here. I knew it would be expensive. And it was: E7.50. At least we had some very nice, live jazz music to enjoy.

France - day 12

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Today was a bit of a bummer. We wanted to go on another boat trip to an island where we could walk and check out birds but the trip got cancelled due to a lack of interest. I have to admit that the weather was pretty shit.

So we ended up at some science park...

First we visited a replica of a gallic village. You remember Asterix and Obelix, right? We expected something a bit more serious, unfortunately it turned out to be a kids amusement park kind of village. At least we got this funny picture out of it ;-)

The next bus wouldn't be there for another 2 hours so we also went to a planetarium and watched a movie about ehm.. about ehm... something to do with space travel etc. It didn't even have real fragments, it was all animated.

France - day 11

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We were going on another walk today. The second part of the "Sentier des douaniers" trail. First things first though. Lunch! We ended up getting lunch somewhere else actually because the bakers don't have anything to put on your baguette... We found another place where they made wonderful baguettes and would put on it exactly what we wanted :-)

Harbour.

You can find lots of shells like this on the Britanny coast.

Marjolein climbing rocks again. She loves it :-)

We spotted this aigrette (Dutch: "Zilverreiger") which you do not often see.

More rocks.

France - day 10

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Dora the hotel dog came to sit with us during breakfast.

Then it was off to the beach because we were going on a boat trip! Yes :-)

On this boat to be exactly. We did a tour around the 7 islands (Les sept iles).

These islands are home to a few bird colonies. One of them is gannets. You wouldn't believe how many gannets fit on one hill-top!

Gannet ("Jan van gent" in Dutch).

From the boat we could see sites that we walked past the previous day.

France - day 9

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Today we walked a part of the "Sentier des Douaniers" trail. It's the dark blue path along the coast. We did actually start on the right and ended on the left of the map.

Gr34 (white-red). At times it was a bit hard figuring out where to go.

Marjolein enjoying the view.

The path takes you along beautiful parts of the pink granite coast.

A seagull came to say hello during lunch.

This was an old douanier hide-out.

Strong winds made for pretty big waves.

Turtle or hippo? All along the coast you find funny shaped rocks. Quite amazing how they got their shape.

This was a little seafarer's chapel.

The back of it was intriguing. What happened here? I haven't been able to find out about it on the internet...

The lighthouse (Phare de Mean Ruz ou de Ploumanach) from the next rock.

France - Day 8

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Two days based in St Malo went by much too quick. During the morning before heading off to our fourth destination we went to explore another of St Malo's beaches. There is also another fortress of interest but we had no time.

I photographed birds while Marjolein looked for shells.

Part of the old town's gate.

Early arvo it was time to leave for Lannion, where we would be picked up by the mother of a friend of ours. She then drove us to our destination du jour; Perros Guirec.

The harbour of Perros Guirec. It's a tiny village but it's smack bang in the middle of the Côte de Granit Rose (pink granite coast) where we would explore the next 4 full days.

France - Day 7

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Mont Saint Michel. We took a bus from St Malo here which took about 1.5 hours. We got there around 11AM and it was already getting busy. Tip of the day: Take the first little alley or whatever you find off of the main street! When you leave the beaten track you'll find views so much more interesting and you'll get to the entry of the monastery just as fine.

So, centuries ago, monks founded a small monastery on top of the mountain. It wasn't more than a few rectangular buildings. Through time it expanded in to what it is now and a tiny village emerged at the foot of the mountain as well.

Mont Saint Michel is very, very picturesque and it offers stunning views. You can get in to the monastery which is very much worth a visit.

Off the beaten track you'll find tiny stairways leading up. You will leave the masses and the tourist shops behind and slowly work your way up and come across more tiny hidden streets and alleys and parks and also a graveyard. Stunning views will be yours to find :-)

Little courtyards build on top desolate parts of the monastery that can be entered only from underneath.

A little hidden path that leads to a tiny shed build on the edge of a cliff.

The view down on to the village from within the monastery.

If you are ever in the neighbourhood, Mont Saint Michel is very much worth your time!

We returned to St Malo early evening, had a shower and went for a walk again. So much to see, so little time! This is the little chapel of Saint Aaron who was a hermit that lived close to St Malo.

France - Day 6

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Behold, for I present you; A tourist!

Marjolein walking on the old city wall. The wall includes all of the old town. You have many interesting and beautiful views from up here.

A tiny ladder-thing sticks out of the sea.

It's the diving board of the sea-side swimming pool! The difference between low and high tide must be at least 9 metres!

When the tide is low paved pathways emerge and you can walk to the 2 islands directly in front of St Malo.

From the first island you can continue walking to the second islanf called "Petit Bé" on which is one of the many fortresses which were used to defend St Malo from sea attacks.