I´m currently in Batz sur Mer in the northern part of France at the Atlantic coast. Batz sur Mer is a beautiful little village, and on the coast line many fortunate people have wonderful, amazing summer houses. Many of them in the traditional breton style. It is a place of calmness and relaxation for the urban french, dutch, belgian people. So far I have only heard the french language spoken. My language deficit frustrates me quite a bit. I can´t wait to begin learning in Paris! The sun is hot, but the constant breeze from the sea keeps the temperature just perfect for a girl from the far North like me. The coast is wild and natural. There are no major tourist areas with large swimming pools or the like. No loud music from clubs and bars. But all this is not far away. I have been told that there is a lot to get up to in La Baule, the most popular town near by. In my case, the peaceful serenity of Batz sur Mer was just what I was looking for. I am expecting my two weeks in Paris to be filled with enough culture, noise and entertainment to balance the score.
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The Hotel Le Lichen de la Mer has 17 rooms, and I have now tried three of them. I must say, not surprisingly, I liked the one with the big terrace the best. Having a private terrace with a view that takes your breath away for three nights was fantastic. Unfortunately that was not the room I had booked… The manager just kindly offered it to me since it was available for the first three nights. Then I had to move down to the first floor (to the room I had actually booked) for one night, only to be back on top in a nice room today with a very nice view from the window this time. It is a charming little hotel that, as mentioned, has a magnificent view of the ocean. Both the manager and the owner of the hotel have been most friendly and helpful during my stay.
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Oh, to be so lucky to have a little house with a sea view in Batz sur Mer…
MORE PHOTOS:
Beach shots Street shots The church of Saint-Guénolé
Back in Paris two years after my first visit. I love this city! It is gorgeous. The beautiful architecture, the language, the sophistication, the food, the art, the music, the history – everything. Three days is too little time, so I´ve decided to go back in July for two weeks! Two weeks of strolling along the streets of Paris and of learning the language. Can´t wait!
The source of the inspiration to the name of my blog, the delicious caramel (made by La Bretagne En Boite) I tasted i St Brevin Les Pins, France, July last summer has launched a webshop for their caramel products! Highly recommended ♥
http://labretagneenboite.wizishop.com/
“Mountain of the martyr”, once home and workplace for the great artists Monet, Dali, Modigliani, Picasso and Van Gogh. Apparently it was outside city limits during the 19th century, and there were a lot of nuns making a lot of wine in the area, making it a popular place for drinking and decadent entertainment in the cabaret Moulin Rouge and Le Chat Noir. Montmartre is the artists’ and bohemian quarter of the capital and is situated in the 18th district. It is a vibrant place full of art, little bistro´s, stores and charm. The Basilica of the Sacré Coeur on top of the hill is impressing, and holds a magnificent view of the city. The area is much calmer than central Paris, and still holds the charm of the bohemian history. I did not do much shopping in Paris, but here I found a lovely store called Roxan, and bought the cutest ear rings, and a bracelet. I am just so in love with them. Listen to the lovely piano piece! (second below)
Filed under: Events, Music, Photo, Travel | Tags: Concerts, France, Lucinda Williams, Music, Paris, Photo
Kaja had the great idea of getting us tickets for the Lucinda Williams concert at a venue called Alhambra, on the 23. July in Paris. She is one of Kaja´s favorites, but I had not heard much of her songs, or much about her at all. I must say I really liked her voice. It was rough and fragile at the same time. She seemed a little nervous and stiff on stage, but the shyness was kind of cute in combination with the rock´n roll country songs. Her band consisted of some very talented musicians which on their own were called Buick 6. They did the warm up with an acoustic performance. The closing song was a very nice solo acoustic version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Angel.”
Filed under: Architecture, Art, Photo, Travel | Tags: Architecture, Art, France, Musée d´Orsay, Paris, Photo
The Musée d´Orsay is also an obligatory visit when in Paris. A great collection of mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. The museum holds an extensive collection of impressionist masterpieces by painters such as Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Cezanne. The building is a former train station, and is amazingly beautiful. I would recommend not doing the Louvre and Musée d´Orsay on the same day as I did. Unfortunately the last hour of the visit was with out taking anything in. I guess there is a limit to the amount of input in one day, but I did enjoy it a lot. Especially the light and airy paintings by Monet.
Filed under: Architecture, Art, Photo, Travel | Tags: Architecture, Art, Centre Pompidou, France, Paris, Photo
On the first day in Paris we went to the Centre Georges Pompidou which accommodates the leading collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. It also holds a large public reference library, performance spaces and cinemas as well as an institute for musical research and creation. The architecture of the place is quite interesting with most of the technical installations out in the open marked with different colors. It stands out though quite harshly in comparison to the surrounding historic architecture. In front of the building is a big square which is eagerly used by people sitting on the ground reading, talking, playing music and so on. From the upper floors you can observe the activity on the ground from a birds perspective. Here are some photos from the collection and the museum, and a few artworks by two of my favorite artists Mark Rothko and Gerhard Richter, that I got on post cards.
Filed under: Architecture, Art, Photo, Travel | Tags: Architecture, Art, France, Louvre, Paris, Photo
Early in the morning on wednesday 22.7, I went by metro to the station of Palais Royal Musée du Louvre. It was a tip in the Lonely Planet France to go to the museum trough the metro station to avoid the line at the main entrance by the pyramid. There was a bit of a line for tickets at the counter though there as well, but it went pretty fast, and I could by tickets for the Musée d´Orsay at the same time.
Musée du Louvre is the national museum of France and is housed in the Palais du Louvre. It is an enormous museum where 35,000 objects from the 6th century BC to the 19th century are exhibited. The collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; and Prints and Drawings.
It has been said that it would take nine months (!) to have look at every piece of art in the collection, so you just have to choose some part of the museum, and leave the rest for another visit. I decided to go for the Mona Lisa first, and went to the Denon wing on the 1st floor. On my way to the most famous painting in the world, I passed all the french and italian paintings from the 13th – 15th century. I must say the sight of these masterpieces hanging on the walls of this amazing palace is quite impressing. All though I was at the museum when it opened, the place was already packed with people. When I arrived at the Mona Lisa, there was a big crowd in front of it taking pictures. Pictures of Mona Lisa, of themselves with Mona Lisa, of their mother,sister, girlfriend with the Mona Lisa… puh… What a fuzz there is over this painting. It is quite small, and to be looked at from a bit of a distance since there is a rope holding you back. I think it is hard to point out the superior greatness of this painting to the others of the same time. I had a few other favourites.
From there I went on to the Napoleon III apartments in the Richilieu wing. The rooms are an explosion of gold, crystal and velvet. The Louvre was still being added to by Napoleon III. The new wing of 1852-1857, represents the Second Empire‘s version of Neo-baroque. Oh I wish I could close my eyes and when I´d open them I would see how people were moving around in these incredibly pompous surroundings. I am thinking the same thing walking around in the streets of Paris. The beauty of the architecture inevitably diminishes somewhat in combination with the signs, traffic and trash of the modern times.
Paris, the city of love and noise! What an amazing place. On every street corner a new magnificent historic building. Art museums to drown in forever. Energy is given and taken from you in waves. On my fourth day here I feel both exhausted and incredibly inspired. I met my friend Kaja here on Monday. She had already been in Paris for a few days, and had checked in to the hotel Villa Opera Drout, which I had pre booked. I thought I had booked a hotel in the 3rd district, which is supposed to be one of the nicest. By some kind of misunderstanding I had booked one in the 9th district. It is a nice 4 star, charming Parisian hotel, but it is extremely noisy. The air condition is not working, and it has been really hot, so when it rained last night I was quite relieved. Luckily my ear plugs are helping me sleep at night. We have been working our way through the city by Metro and Taxi. The Metro system is very good, and you can by a day pass for only 5,70 eur. We had one uncomfortable experience down there though, when the station was over crowded with police on a mission to fish out the illegal immigrants. They were lining up everyone with a darker tone of skin to the wall asking for papers. I felt the hairs raise on my back seeing this, and thinking about the humiliation they cause, and the hatred that follows…
Here are some photos of the city and the people:
Another great meal! The fish Red mullet, which I´ve never heard about before (apparently a specie of goatfish…), tasted delicious on a bed of vegetables and some kind of crusty pastry underneath.
So this is my last day here in St Brevin. I spent in relaxing and reading on the beach. The weather has been quite shifty during my stay, so I was lucky it was really great today. Poor little Twingo has been forgotten, and is all sad and bored on the parking lot… They should have picked him up at 09:00, but never came. I bet he is standing out there thinking “this would never happen to the big expensive cars! hrmf!”
On my last day with Twingo, I took a ride to Guérande, a town about 50km north of St Brevin. The town has an impressive medieval architecture, with a great main entrance through the Saint Michael´s gate with two towers. This entrance gives the impression that it was a town of prestige and power during the Middle Ages. Inside the towers there is a museum now, showing furniture, clothes and other historical artefacts. The charming narrow streets of the old town is filled with crêperies, chocolateries, cafés, galleries and boutiques. The church Saint Aubin is breathtaking. When I am in such great enormous religious buildings, I can imagine that in those times, just being in a building like that, with all those strong symbols and words, could make you believe in something bigger, and greater than yourself because it makes you feel so small and human.
Today there was a market here close to the hotel. I stocked up on caramel, homemade by Sophie Gariou and her husband in Nantes. In about a month one should be able to purchase the “Karamel au beurre salé de Bretagne” online at www.labretagneenboite.com (the website isn´t working yet) I was told. They had the most delicious flavors mixed into the creamy caramel. Café, vanilla, apple, dark chocolate and more. Mmm… I bought 4 small jars with different flavors and a bigger one with “café”. They said to use it on for instance crepes, ice cream and for glacing fruit. Yum! Can´t wait!
Our trip yesterday went to La Rochelle. 220 km south of St Brevin, in the direction of Bordeaux. At first my plan was to do both La Rochelle and Bordeaux in one day, but I soon realized that unless I wanted to spend the whole day in the car, La Rochelle was enough. I will have to save Bordeaux for another time. The drive went through a lot of small villages, and the country side scenery is really beautiful. Some minor detours later I arrived in La Rochelle.
La Rochelle (pop 80,000) is known as La Ville Blanche (the white city), and was one of France´s foremost seaports from the 14th to the 17th centuries. The city is guarded by two 14th century stone towers which they pulled up a chain between to protect the harbor in times of war. I took a stroll thru the old town, visiting the church Eglise de Sauveur and the Eglise N.D. The last was unlit inside, which gave the church room a special mystical, abandoned atmosphere. Like people had forgotten about it. In the centre of the old town it was buzzing with life though. Much more tourists than the other places I´ve visited. But as soon as you got out of the shopping area, it was surprisingly quiet and empty, leaving you with a better view of the architecture. Before I turned back to the car I went by the Museé du Flacon á Parfum. Yes, a museum displaying old perfume bottles from the beginning of the century to our time. Luxury, beauty, extravagance and fashion was being portrayed in these small wonderful pieces of art.
I was looking at the sailboats in the harbor dreaming about arriving there someday by sails. Sailing the atlantic coast must be great. So much wind! I guess a major challenge as well though… Maybe next year ;)
This was so cute. I stopped at a gate to photograph a nice little kitchy back yard, not really noticing the two twin dogs right away. I had just gotten everything in focus, when the two dogs spotted me and came at me furiously barking, as if I was about to break in to their territory. I fled with haste just after pressing the button…
Both in Saint Brevin and Pornic I noticed a couple of stores selling flowers (fake and real) for funerals. The windows are massively decorated. It caught my attention I guess, since I´m not used to big bright colorful shop windows, advertising accessories for funerals. Maybe we´re just a little more uptight about death in the North. They make good photos though.
Let me present Twingo! My car for the holiday. He´s great. And red. He kind of reminds me of Lupo. Sigh…
Twingo and I went to Pornic yesterday! Pornic is a nice little town just 15 km south of St Brevin. The old medieval town is placed on the clifftops,overlooking both the Bay of Bourgneuf and the busy port. The port was a strange view at the time I was visiting, as 50 % of the boats were stranded on the bottom. Along the sea side are great villas, with coloured wooden balusters and friezes. Obviously built by wealthy Pornic citizens back in time. There is a warm cozy feeling to the streets of this town, and a calm and friendliness as well. The buildings are beautifully worn from time and weather, and there are endless motifs of doors, windows and other details. Sadly I am still a bit shy about taking photographs of people. I must get better at “sneak photography”. I managed a few ones this time though.
Mmmm!!! Plancha de saint jacques, écrasée de pommes de terre au chorizo, coulis de petit pois!
I really like the lightness of French Cuisine. The portions are modest, the ingredients fresh, not to much fat, not to much spice (sometimes that can make it a bit dull though). The dishes are presented in a very delicate and elegant way. The Lonely Planet is right when it writes that “A meal is an artistic and sensual delight to most people here, something to be savoured and enjoyed with a certain amount of style and savoire-vivre.”
