De captivants à banals, les articles et photographies de “The Baguette” sont une tentative de publier un journal de ma vie dans la Manche et de proposer un forum de discussion pour tout ce qui touche à la Normandie.
My trip to Lyon over the Easter holiday was amazing. I must say it is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve had the pleasure to visit. It felt like I was visiting a much cleaner and less crowded version of Paris. On Friday morning, I left Cherbourg for...
After another beautiful day at sea, we reached our final destination, Venice, Italy where we stayed for three days at a bed and breakfast along the Grand Canal near Rialto Bridge. Venice was truly stunning ! I was amazed at how much I was able to see...
The forecast for Monday and Tuesday calls for snow, low temperatures and strong winds from the north. I'm certainly not looking forward to that since we've had such nice weather these last few days, especially on Saturday when the sun was out in full...
Starting from Bagnères-de-Luchon heading east is the famous Col du Portillon, a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees that connects Luchon to the town of Bossòst in the Val d'Aran of Spain. The climb from Luchon is 10.2 km long while the climb from Bossòst...
The village of La Roque-Gageac, huddled against a cliff which drops vertically to the River Dordogne, occupies a wonderful site—one of the finest in this part of the valley, in which Domme, Castelnaud and Beynac-et-Cazenac are all within a few kilometres...
Near the valley of the Dordogne as it makes a deep cut through the Gramat Causse, a series of caves was discovered in 1902 by Armand Viré, a student of the geographer and speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel, at the foot of the cliffs beside the river....
The port city of Le Havre was devastated in 1944 during the Battle of Normandy. 5,000 people were killed and over 12,000 homes destroyed, mainly by air attacks from the Allied forces. After the war, chief architect Auguste Perret rebuilt the city in the...
The Église paroissiale Notre-Dame in Montbazon was built between 1851 and 1862 under the direction of Gustave Guérin . Two artists named Jules Benard and Alexandre Ripault painted all of the décor including the spacious barrel-vaulted nave and its walls...
Last night we had snow in Querqueville! Sadly, it won't last very long since the temperatures are high and it is melting. My friend who works at the La Hague Reprocessing Plant couldn't leave work until 7:30PM. The journey home was full of car accidents...
As a child, I never played in ditches or along the sides of ponds. There were always too many mosquitoes and things that felt icky. Yesterday, look what came creeping into my small garden. How fascinating and strange to see a salamander so far from its...
The annual kermesse was held on Sunday at the Manoir de la Coquerie in Querqueville by the Parish of Saint-Clair. The manoir is owned by the city and dates from the 16th century. It is listed as a Historical Monument and is used as an exhibition hall...
Before arriving at les grottes de Lacave, I made a quick stop along the Dordogne via the small village of Bastit. The river itself is quite calm and the region famous for its good food and wines. Those seeking excellent accommodations in the area need...
Thursday, May 2, 2013 -- Porto to Lavra I slept very well last night even though I wasn’t very sleepy. Perhaps that is because I got a shower before turning in. We all got up around 06h30 and got our things together before heading downstairs for breakfast...
Friday, May 10, 2013 -- Caldas da Reis to Padrón It was a wonderful day for walking. I was full of energy and walked alone most of the day until reaching Padrón. In Carracedo we found a nice place called the Cafe Esperon where we had coffee and sandwiches....
It has been quite some time since I’ve posted anything here and I apologize for that to anyone who’s interested in reading what I have to say in my blog. Instead of doing my French homework or preparing for my English classes, I’m once again distracting...
Purchasing a City Pass allowed us to have unlimited access to all forms of city transportation, granted us entry into nearly all of the museums, join any guided tour sponsored by the tourist office and even allowed us to take a boat cruise along the Saône....
I’ve always enjoyed looking at this photograph of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. Everytime I see a magnolia in bloom, my thoughts go back to this picture of her taken at Vassar College in 1914. I have a beautiful reproduction in my first edition Book of...
Like so many religious buildings in the Cotentin, this church is consecrated to the Virgin Mary. In Normandy alone, more than a thousand are named in her honor. Built on the hillside town of Hainneville, the church stands in the middle of a cemetery....
The next day I drove my brother to the Calvados Department where the temperatures were almost freezing! The strong winds did not make things any better and so we had to bundle up like Eskimo babies just to keep warm. Our first stop was Arromanches-les-Bains,...
This town, in the Calvados department of Normandy, lies along the coast designated as Gold Beach during the D-Day landings. It was used by the British troops during the Allied invasion. Mainly a tourist town, it is known for its temporary harbor, called...
The Manoir de Grosmont is located in the countryside of La Hague along rue des Marettes just outside of Urville-Nacqueville. The building is typical of the Cotentin region and dates from the early 17th century. The current owners are involved with cattle...
Sixty kilometres south of Bordeaux is the Dune du Pilat. At 114 meters, the highest sand dune in Europe, it is 2.7 kilometers long and 500 meters wide. The west face slopes gently towards the Atlantic rollers, whereas the hollowed landward side to the...
The seaside resort of Arcachon is built on a lagoon and is quite famous for its oyster farms. For decades the town’s winter resort was the favorite haunt of celebrities from Alexandre Dumas to Jean Cocteau and Marilyn Monroe. In 1841, a new branch line...
One of the many small churches in the Marais du Cotentin that I had the fortune to explore during the Clochers en Fête last June was the eglise Notre-Dame de Cretteville. The church dates from the 13th to 15th centuries. A woman's head adorns the top...
Well, the weather predictions over the weekend proved to be true and 60cm (about 2 feet) of snow fell in 24 hours. What a mess it turned out to be. Météo-France used the color red to denote extreme snow and sleet for the first time in its history. And,...
