Chateau de Balleroy (7-5-2008)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

I love castles! I like them all equally: small, big, ruined, medieval, Baroque, sand..they are all great!

Balleroy has a 17th century (1631) castle with an interesting history. You can only visit it with a guide so you'll hear all about it when you do (or just read it at the site http://www.chateau-balleroy.com/).
We almost had a personal guide (just 2 other persons joined) so we had a great tour with loads of information in English and French.

Noteworthy is that the castle was bought by none other than Malcolm S. Forbes and is still owned and visited by the Forbes family nowadays.
The inside is not all original 17th century but combines several periods and styles. It's impressive none the less!

A great extra to this castle is the "Musée des Ballons" which is in one of the old stables. Mister Forbes was fascinated by hot air balloons and therefor this small museum has a great collection!
There is a hot air balloon race / festival too here (not sure what date). And there's also a nice shop with cool gifts and hot air balloon posters ;-)

Tapisserie de Bayeux (7-5-2008)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Well, this THE reason to visit Bayeux and it is very well worth it!
Tapestry is in itself not always that interesting but the history (real and alleged) of this piece is so special!

Some facts:
First of all it's not tapestry but embroidery. And the quality of it is just perfect!
Secondly the piece is 70 metres long! That is a whole lot of cloth right?
And lastly: it's really old (11th century).

What? You don't know what's on it? Well, it's an account of the history preceding the battle of Hastings in 1066 and the battle itself.
I'm pretty sure you have seen images of it somewhere because it's really really famous (it's on the Unesco heritage-list).

Seeing it live is really special because there is so much detail to be seen, so many interesting scenes and the audio-guide is perfect.
So visit this museum when you've got a chance!

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux (7-5-2008)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Another magnificent piece of medieval architecture with an interesting history!
Read some more (in English).

What is very special about this church are the decorated walls in the nave of the church (see Normandie-album). I have never seen such perfect stone decorations on walls before!

Abbaye Saint-Vigor de Cerisy-la-Forêt (6-5-2008)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

A unique Romanesque abbey in Normandy. Founded by Duke Robert the Magnificent, the father of William the Conqueror, in 1032! And most of this abbey is still there and you can visit it for free!
Read more (in French) here.

If you are interested in Romanesque art&architecture (early Middle Ages) you should definitely visit this abbey once. It really is magnificent!
And the forest (see name of the village) is still mostly there too, not around the abbey but still close ;-)

See more pictures in Normandie-album!

Maison de Jules Verne (Amiens, 5-5-2008)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Every lover of Science Fiction will know this man but for every-one who doesn't (or needs to know more): Jules Verne

Jules Verne really used to live in this house in Amiens and entering it is like walking into a scene in one of his books.
It's a brilliant house with beautifully decorated rooms. It has the same atmosphere of old and futuristic as in Jules Verne's stories. I especially loved the cast-iron spiral staircase between the floors.

All the information was in English and French. Inside the rooms were a lot of extremely cool book-covers, posters and miniatures (of boats etc.).
If it wasn't a museum we would certainly like to live here ;-)

Visit the site of the house here (English and French)
See picture in Normandie-album. The picture here is the "winter-garden", the first room you'll enter visiting the museum.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens (5-5-2008)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

A must see Gothic cathedral in France.

What to see?

- The east entrance: very impressive statues everywhere! In the summer there is a special light-show at night showing the statues in their original colours. We didn't see it but the pictures look amazing.
There's a nice big square in front of the church so you always have a great view of the cathedral.

- The head of St-John the Baptist: they do not only own a piece of it but also his whole skull! They used to have much better souvenirs in the old days!

- The impressive Gothic arches: so high and mighty!

- The Labyrinth on the church floor: see pic. A very contemplative walk!

A virtual visit: http://www.learn.columbia.edu/Mcahweb/index-frame.html
Also see pics in Normandie-album.

Normandie

Day 1: Amiens, Pont de Normandie
Day 2: the sea at Arromanches-les-bains, batterie de Longues-sur-mer, Abbaye Saint-Vigor de Cerisy-la-Forêt
Day 3: Bayeux, Balleroy
Day 4: Pointe du Hoc, Abbaye de Mondaye, yummy dinner in Bayeux
Day 5: Rouen and home again