Visit to Keukenhof (2 May 08)

Keukenhof Gardens

Last Friday, we visited Keukenhof at Lisse. It's been 3 years since I last visited the gardens and i remember massive traffic jams and parking problems due to the volume of visitors on a weekend. So this year, we decided to go on a weekday since i was on leave anyway.

Keukenhoff is considered the 'Garden of Europe' and holds the world's largest spring garden exhibition. You probably need to spend at least half a day there to cover the 70 acres park. It is open for 9 weeks every spring (from 20 March to 18 May for 2008), and draws more than 750,000 visitors annually. There are more than 7 million bulbs planted including some 1,000 varieties of tulips alone. The best time to visit the gardens is in the later part of April when all the flowers - daffodils, crocus, narcissi, tulips, hyacinths etc are blooming.

It was a smooth drive there when we went on Friday early afternoon and parking was also not a problem although we had to walk quite a distance to the entrance gate. There were a lot of visitors there already. We spent around 4 hours walking the gardens and taking photos of the flowers and beautiful scenery. It is really an amazing place, a paradise of flowers on earth. There's even a windmill and a mini walk-in zoo with some exotic hens, rabbits, goats and sheep.

Almost all the visitors were taking photos intermittently, and some looked like professionals with their tripods and long lenses. There were also some who brought along their pets and picnic baskets to enjoy the lovely afternoon outdoors.

We left around 5.30pm but unfortunately took a turn to the wrong parking lot. It was only later that we discovered there were 3 parking fields to the north, south and north-west of the gardens. The parking fields were enormous - probably the size of 3-4 football fields, and to me they all looked alike, being open fields in the countryside. It took a while walking and searching for the car before we realised that we were not in the right place. Luckily we were able to re-enter the gardens and walked across to the right parking area. It was after the 6pm closing time, but the park was still lively with what looked like a senior citizens' cycling event with some bands playing as well.

Here is a link to the official Keukenhof website:-

http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/english.html

and below are some pictures that we took during our visit.

****the lovely well planned layouts..

****flowers galore..

****Orchid exhibition at the Beatrix Pavillion

****lake views on the western side of the park

****the windmill ..

**** the mini walk-in zoo....

****the glorious tulip fields just next to the gardens.

Trip to Normandie - Day 5 (30 Apr 08)

From St Malo to Boulogne-Sur Mer

We stayed at St Malo for 2 nights before starting our journey back home on Wed 30 Apr. We plan to break the journey at Boulogne-Sur-Mer which is 5.5 hours away. On the way there, we made a quick detour to Plergeur which is about 20 minutes from St Malo to buy some apple cider from an award-winning orchard recommended by some friends.

It was raining rather heavily during the long drive to Boulogne. However the roads were clear and we made it to Boulogne around 8pm on Wed night. We stayed at the hotel Alexandra which is right in the center of town. It faces the main road but the room was well insulated from the noise. The room was very clean and seems to be recently renovated; however the bathroom was really tiny and you could'nt really use the wash basin without splashing the water all over the place.

****a rainbow along the highway

****a lovely moat right behind the Shell station at Somme Bay.

****ducks in the cold waters

Boulogne-Sur-Mer

Boulogne which is located at the mouth of the river Riane is the biggest fishing port in France and supplies 1/4 of France's fish consumption. On first arriving in the town, the place did not look particularly attractive in comparison to the other places that we visited earlier.

Upon further exploration the next day, we found that the most lovely parts of the town were in the walled old town on top of the hill which has the Cathedral Notre-Dame and Roman old fort. The area around the National Sea Center Nausicaa is also lovely with parks and a nice beach by the harbour.

We took a walk along Quay Gambetta to visit the daily fish market before heading to Nausicaa. There are some interesting exhibitions in Nausicaa on marine life in the tropics, sharks and seals. After the visit to Nausicaa, it was time for lunch and we decided to go to the old town at Rue de Lille for lunch before heading back home to the Hague.

We found a nice little restaurant La Petite Auberge in the old town which serves traditional regional cuisine. The owner who is also the chef is a very friendly lady. I had scallop flambee with whiskey - the scallops were large and very fresh and the sauce was creamy with a tangy whisky taste. It's probably the best scallop dish i've ever tasted and the accompanying french fries were excellent as well.

****Quay Gambetta at the fishing harbour

**** tropical fishes at Nausicaa sea center

****sunning seals at Nausicaa

****The old town in Boulogne with its many shops and restaurants

****lunch at La Petite Auberge with its traditional cooking

Trip to Normandie - Day 4 (29 Apr 2008)

St Malo

We arrived in St Malo around 4pm on 28 Apr after driving about an hour from Mont St Michel. St Malo is a small coastal town in Brittany, once a feared base of pirates but now a major tourist destination in Brittany. We stayed at La Rance in Quay Sebastopol, a charming 12-room hotel overlooking the mouth of the river Rance. The views of the quay and river from the hotel were as pretty as a postcard.

****arriving at hotel La Rance - 2nd building from the right.


****view of river Rance in front of the hotel

****river Rance at Quay Sebastopol

Next to the hotel, there is a tower guarding the harbour which has lovely exhibits of miniature boats and yatchs and other marine paraphernalia.

****Tower next to hotel La Rance

****view of river Rance from the tower ramparts

****Tower at Quay Sebastopol with the seagull mascot at the front

We visited the La Ville Intra-Muros (ancient walled city) in the evening. It is around 5 minutes drive from the hotel. The old town is enclosed within the wall and you can walk around the entire length of the wall with some great views of the ocean and countryside. We tried some savory crepes 'galettes' (Breton speciality) at one of the many creperies in the town.

****one of the gates in the wall leading to the old town

****My high tea - a savory crepe with egg, bacon and cheese

****a view from Intra-Muros

****another view from the wall

Dinan

The next day, we took a drive to Dinan, a medieval old town about 25 mins drive from St Malo. The old town is full of timbered buildings and cobbled streets. We had lunch at La Mere Pourcel which is housed in a 15th century timber building, and bought some biscuits and cider from the shop next door.

After lunch, we drove to Rue de Petite Fort and took a stroll down the steep hill to the old port at river Rance. There are local handicraft and souvenior shops along the way, and many cafes along the riverside.


****cobbled streets in the Dinan walled town

****walking down the hill at Rue de Petite Fort

****the narrow streets down the hill

****Riverside pattiserie selling Breton traditional butter cake (kouign amann)

****some boats on river Rance with little passengers

On the way back to St Malo from Dinan, we took a quick detour to Dinard, a resort town similar to St Malo with casinos and many hotels. Somehow, i felt it lacked the old-world charm of St Malo.

Trip to Normandie - Day 3 (28 Apr 2008)

Mont- St Michel

We left Ducey around 10.30am on Monday morning, and arrived at Mont St Michel around 20 mins later. The skies were progressively dark and ominous as we drove towards the place - from a distance, the bleak and majestic outline of the Mont can be seen. It was raining lightly when we arrived and the drizzle continued for the rest of the afternoon.

****arriving at Mont St Michel

**** there were already a lot of cars at the parking lot when we arrived


**** a closer view of the abbey

Some interesting background - the first sanctuary at the Mont was thought to have been built around 708 AD by the bishop of Avranches in honour of the archangel Michael. It became an important focus of pilgrimage and in the Middle Ages, it was regarded as a representation of Jerusalem on earth. Over the centuries in particular from the 11th to 16th centuries, various parts of the abbey was built on /wrapped around the huge lump of granite rock and a village grew within the walls at the foothill. Mont St Michel is also an example of military architecture and during the French Revolution until 1863, was used as a prison. Since 1874 it has been classified as a historical monument, and since 1979, listed as a Unesco heritage site.

Mont St Michel is considered a dangerous place - when the tide is out, there are quick sands around the place. There are daily notices on timing of tides and warnings on car parking safety.

****the area surrounding the Mont which could turn into quick sands

****western side of the abbey

****pretty courtyard which balances the austerity of the abbey




****statue of the Saint Michael

There are many tourist shops and restaurants at the foothill of the Mont. The most famous of the restaurants is La Mere Poulard which has been around for more than 100 years and still serve the local omelette speciality cooked in the traditional way. Would have loved to try it but the place was fully packed and the queque for lunch was more than an hour's wait.

****omelette cooked over woodfire at La Mere Poulard

****yum... pizza-like omelettes.

We finally left the place around 3pm and drove to our next destination in St Malo around 50km away.

Trip to Normandie -Day 2 (27 Apr 2008)

Dieppe

The next morning, we took a walk along the beach in front of the hotel. It was Sunday, the place was very quiet compared to when we arrived yesterday afternoon. Spotted a few ships and yatchts sailing in the horizon. The sea was very calm and serene.

****View of the sea (English Channel) from the hotel beach

****another view along the promenade

****the pebbly beach..

It was very cold and windy so we just took a short walk and then went for some coffee and croissants in the town before checking out of the hotel.

****the hotel cat - sweet and plump with a black moustache

Honfleur

On the way to Mont St Michel, we decided to stop by Honfleur for lunch. Honfleur is a very pretty little port, full of art galleries, cafes and restaurants. There were a lot of people there, i think a mixture of local and international tourists.

****Honfleur - St Catherine quay in the center of town

****another view of the pretty St Catherine quay

****Some artists painting from a church in town

We had lunch at one of the many restaurants around the quay. It was rather touristy fare- i think there are better restaurants further away from the quay near the old town area which we noticed when we took a stroll around the town after lunch.

****Lunch - seafood platter with mustard and sauerkraut

****Honfleur - a street in the old town

Bayeux

Our next stop was Bayeux - a beautiful historical town with a grand cathedral (Cathedrale Notre-Dame). The most famous attraction here is the Bayeux Tapestry which is almost a thousand years old and some say, is the world's oldest comic strip. It is about 230 feet long and sets out in continuous form the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England in 1066, culminating in the battle of Hastings and the subjugation of England to Normandy. After all these centuries, the linen tapestry is still in amazing form with the colours still vivid.

*****Centre Guillaume-le-Conque'rant which houses the tapestry

Ducey
We arrived in Ducey around 6pm. Ducey is a small village about 15 km from Mont St Michel. That will be our overnight stop for the day. The hotel that we booked used to be an old mill -it's very charming with views of the canal from the hotel room. All the shops in the village were closed; however we managed to have some dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hotel just 2 mins walk away.

*****Ducey hotel (building on right)