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Tagged With "Normandy"

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Re: Mont-Saint-Michel: Like no other (Pt. 1)

IslandMan ·
Thanks PH, great pictures and journey. This has been on my wish list for many years. Your informative article has pushed it up that little more....
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Re: Mont-Saint-Michel: Like no other (Pt. 1)

My Thatched Hut ·
This is definitely on my list of places to go within the next couple of years. Good story, thanks. Tom
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Re: Mont-Saint-Michel: Like no other (Pt. 1)

Jonathan L ·
These are great and Mt. St. Michel is deifnitly on my bucket list.
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Re: D-Day + 70 years: Normandy beaches are still an important destination

Travel Rob ·
My father was in D-Day plus 5. Like a lot in the greatest generation, he spoke little about the experience only to say that he did enough camping to last him his lifetime. I visited the Normandy beaches as a young man but I'd like to go back in better weather.
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Re: D-Day + 70 years: Normandy beaches are still an important destination

Paul Heymont ·
Funny...my father, who arrived a few months later, also had that feeling about camping. And then later, after 6 months as liaison to a South Korean corps commander, he swore off rice for many years...
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Re: Super-tide at Mont-Saint-Michel: High water and 30K viewers

GarryRF ·
It's amazing to see that nature can be predicted. We can prepare for it and enjoy its wonder.
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Re: Channel ferries: more than a nostalgia trip

Travel Rob ·
The buses ,like Megabus ,sometimes use the ferries as well and it's a great way to break up a bus trip. They make you disembark the bus for safety reasons while the ferry is moving and you can watch the view and get something to eat.
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Re: Channel ferries: more than a nostalgia trip

PortMoresby ·
A timely post, PHeymont. Trying to simplify a proposed trip to the UK and Portugal, and also slip in a bit of Spain along the way, I'm seriously considering the ferries from the south coast of England to Bilbao & environs, then train down to Portugal. I'm sure it will save me money, as opposed to trains, using the ferries, most of which I wasn't aware of until I took a good look at the broken lines showing ferry routes on Google maps.
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

arion ·
Thank you, thank you, for this, Dr. F. This is an excellent time (November 11, Remembrance Day tomorrow) to be reminded of the D-Day assault. We were in Normandy in 1994, when they were marking the 50th anniversary of D Day, and one night we were having dinner in a restaurant and struck up a conversation with a young couple. They were a bit rough looking, a couple of Brits who were starting on a tour of France on their motorcycle but they had stopped off in Normandy at the beaches to "pay...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

DrFumblefinger ·
Thanks for your comment, Arion. It's hard not to be moved by D-Day. The vastness of the assault, the staggering loss of life (civilian and military). What most impressed me is that the local people remember. Not French people away from the coast, but those whose relatives went through the assault make a point of teaching their children and grandchildren the price paid to liberate them from the Nazi fascists. The Juno Beach Center, built by the Canadian Beach, really did a great job of...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

Travel Rob ·
Thanks DrFumblefinger, It's been way too many years since I've seen the Normandy beaches. Your photos are very moving .
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

GarryRF ·
My Father received this from Dwight D Eisenhower at the start of D-Day:
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

DrFumblefinger ·
That's an interesting and historic document, GarryRF. Many of those who landed on the D-Day beaches never spoke of this with anyone -- so horrible was the experience, so many wounded and killed among them. I'm curious --did your dad ever share these experiences with you?
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

GarryRF ·
Yes - my Dad and lots of other guys told me their stories! My Dad was in the Royal Navy and was taking landing craft full of soldiers from ship to shore - several times - under heavy fire! A guy I was doing work for had lots of photos and souvenirs on the walls of his house. Medals and maps. Newspaper cuttings and Badges. All in frames. I asked him how much he remembered of D-Day. "Every minute of every hour. Me and my mate had been together since the outbreak of war. Nearly 5 years. We were...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

DrFumblefinger ·
Several vets I know say that the Normandy beach landings as portrayed in the movie "Saving Private Ryan" are the way they remember it. Madness, chaos, noise, death, fear, adrenaline, more fear. And yet they ran into the madness. It takes a type of courage that's hard for us to imagine in the 21st century. Thanks for sharing that story, Garry.
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

GarryRF ·
When I was a little nipper and hadn't started school we would visit family at the weekend. No TV. No money. 1950's -you get the picture. So socialising with Dad's 9 brothers and sisters was as good as it got ! If you mentioned the War in some homes you'd be out the front door quicker than a Rat up a Drain pipe ! Others would tell you tales to make your hair curl. Tails of unbelievable bravery, absurdity and stupidity. The Ladies would tell the tale of how the American and Canadian GI's would...
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Re: A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

Former Member ·
Thank you mr fumblefinger for your poignant description and photos. Our family lost my uncle at Omaha Beach. He was one of those young men caught up in the drama of war who did his best in a very bad situation. Several times during the 1980s and early 1990s, I made my way to northwestern France to visit the D-Day landing sites. At that time, I was struck by three things - the immaculate grounds and air of respect, the gratefulness of the French people and the fact that there were very few...
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Re: A Farm Visit in Normandy

Travel Rob ·
What a bargain for such a wonderful experience!
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Re: A Farm Visit in Normandy

DrFumblefinger ·
Did you bring that little gray cat back with you, PHeymont?
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Re: A Farm Visit in Normandy

Paul Heymont ·
Definitely no! Our kids are all grown, and we have no animal dependents to keep us off the road!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 4, 2015: Stairway to Heaven

IslandMan ·
Beautiful lighting, PH, well captured...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 4, 2015: Stairway to Heaven

Mac ·
Oooh I like that shot PH, strong lines and good lighting!! Nice one, thanks.
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Re: Agritourism Bed and Breakfast in Normandy

DrFumblefinger ·
I can't recommend an agrotourismo, but I'd suggest you consider staying in Bayeux. Very small town, charming medieval core, great cathedral and of course its famous tapestry. We stayed at a nice B&B which was near the heart of the historic town core, very convenient to everything. Owned by a wonderful couple who were great hosts and were fascinating to talk to. And they helped us outline highlights of what to see in the area. An elegant home -- maybe larger than you need and not quite...
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Re: Agritourism Bed and Breakfast in Normandy

Paul Heymont ·
Thanks! We thought of Bayeux, but we've decided in the end to look for a farm B&B in the Manche area of Normandy for one night; the second night will be either in, or very near Mont St-Michel. In fact, if there are no reasonable rooms available on the Mont, and if the B&B is near enough for us to spend the evening on the Mont, we might take the second night there. I've been advised that the experience on Mont St.-Michel is very different after the crowd leaves, so we'd like to stay...
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Re: Agritourism Bed and Breakfast in Normandy

DrFumblefinger ·
Definitely visit the Mont St. Michel (island) after the tour buses leave. So a great time to head out to the island is mid afternoon (ie. get there by mid afternoon, don't leave Bayeux at that time). By the time you get to the old island itself the crowds will be thinning. It's a bit of a climb up to the monastery, but the views are incredible as the great history and beauty of the place. Just be sure you don't delay visiting the monastery too long (believe it closes at 6 pm but double check...
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Re: Agritourism Bed and Breakfast in Normandy

PortMoresby ·
I imagine there's a real difference between staying on the Mont, compared to staying near the Mont. Yes, you'd give up the view but could always make the trek to get a photo at the appropriate hour, then go back. I was there some years ago and we had no plan regarding where we'd stay. It was off-season so we weren't worried. We found a very modest, friendly hotel on the main street as it begins it's climb, with a view of the cobblestones below and it was perfect. But then, under the...
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Super-tide at Mont-Saint-Michel: High water and 30K viewers

Paul Heymont ·
Last Saturday's "super-tide" at Mont-Saint-Michel, the island monument just off the coast at the border of Normandy and Brittany, drew over 30,000 spectators from all over the world, anxious to see the storied island as it seldom is...completely...
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Agritourism Bed and Breakfast in Normandy

Paul Heymont ·
I'm hoping someone can offer a recommendation...we are looking for an overnight at a farm B&B in Normandy in August. Could even be two nights... I'm plowing through an enormous list of bed-and-breakfast offers on farms in Normandy (here's the link to Bienvenue a la Ferme ) and many of them sound just wonderful...but it would be nice to have a recommendation from someone who's been. It could be either a suggestion of a place, or perhaps just as important, good advice on how...
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A visit to Normandy: Bayeux -- a tapestry, cathedral and D-Day

DrFumblefinger ·
(Detail of the Bayeux Tapestry, Bayeux, France) Bayeux is in the heart of Normandy, a town with a rich history that currently is best known for its ties with World War II.  Bayeux was the first non-coastal town liberate, one day after...
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A Farm Visit in Normandy

Paul Heymont ·
I lost my heart in Paris a long time ago, but every time we visit we plan some out-of-city experiences as well. Last summer, as part of our two weeks in Paris, we planned a two-day side-trip to Normandy, visiting Mont-Saint-Michel.   For our...
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D-Day + 70 years: Normandy beaches are still an important destination

Paul Heymont ·
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings on five beaches in Normandy by Allied forces, beginning the liberation of France and Northern Europe, and helping crush the Nazi war machine already being driven back to its own territory by the...
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Mont-Saint-Michel: Like no other (Pt. 1)

Paul Heymont ·
    The Island and Village Everyone told us that Mont-Saint-Michel is “special,” even friends who knew how many old churches and quaint villages we’ve been to, even those who usually are concerned with long drives for...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Jan. 4, 2015: Stairway to Heaven

Paul Heymont ·
  The unusual light in this shot invites the title, but the stairs actually rise not to heaven, but to the heavenly beauty of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. As you might imagine, a town and abbey on an island mountain feature plenty...
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Tour de France to start at Mont-Saint-Michel (where bikes are banned)

Paul Heymont ·
This year's Tour de France will kick off at a spectacular location, but some locals are upset because their own bikes are banned from the island.
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Apr. 30, 2016: Memories of Monet's Garden

Paul Heymont ·
One of my favorite, which I keep returning to, Monet's garden in Giverny, where each visit and season offers both familiar and differing views.
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A visit to Normandy: exploring the D-Day beaches

DrFumblefinger ·
True to its history, our visit to the coast of Normandy was cool, windy and wet -- but that's how it's been for thousands of years.  Many an armada was delayed in leaving or landing on these shores because of inclement weather, including the D-Day attack, which had to be postponed.
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A Visit to Normandy: Magnificient Mont St. Michel

DrFumblefinger ·
As we drive through the pretty farmland of Normandy, with its pleasing apple orchards and pastures dotted with sheep and dairy cows, it’s easy to forget this region’s turbulent past....
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Channel ferries: more than a nostalgia trip

Paul Heymont ·
Travel writer Nick Trend, in the Telegraph (UK) reminds readers that while air and Eurostar have become the most popular way for Brits to visit Europe, the ferries are still there and for good reasons.  
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