Northern France | FindPenguins

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Trip start
October 24, 2025
Northern France
France 🍂 🍁
October 23, 2025 in Wales ⋅ 🌧 9 °C
Not breaking with tradition — we’re rushing for tonight’s ferry, it’s raining (of course), and just like last time… the ferry’s cancelled. We’re officially stuck in a loop! ☔️⛴️
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Northern France
Disembarking.
October 24, 2025 in France ⋅ 🌬 9 °C
Good night's sleep, only moderate seas. Off to Mont Saint-Michel.
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Northern France
Mont Saint-Michel
Oct 24–26, 2025 in France ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C
Dominates from all angles!
TravelerStunning photos and hope you are having a lovely time xx
10/27/25Reply
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Northern France
Dol - de - Bretagne - Mont - St - Michel
October 24, 2025 in France ⋅ 🌬 13 °C
We spent a brilliant day wandering the charming streets of Dol-de-Bretagne, then continued on to Mont-Saint-Michel. It’s like stepping onto a movie set — medieval stone buildings, twisting alleyways, and M. C. Escher-esque staircases and steps. This place is also extremely popular… so we, along with a few thousand new friends, shuffled our way through this breathtaking fortress-island. Today, we’re braving the climb to the Abbey for the full experience, apparently the views are worth every zigzag. 😂Read more
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Northern France
2nd day Mont Saint Michel.
October 25, 2025 in France ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
No signal to reach the outside world, hopefully can catch up on our ‘Find Penguins’ travels…
We visited the Abbey at Mont Saint-Michel and, according to my judgmental Apple Watch, climbed thirty flights of steps in a single day. The Abbey did not disappoint — it’s extraordinary to think how this rocky island grew from a 9th century humble chapel into the inspiring masterpiece it is today. By the time we’d explored every turret, terrace, and with legs starting to grumble we were more than ready for supper. We each ordered a bowl of Moules Marinières which never tasted so good — and for once, we could eat guilt-free, safe in the knowledge we had already done our stair training for the week!Read more
TravelerLooks beautiful.
10/28/25Reply
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Northern France
Ardevon
October 26, 2025 in France ⋅ 🌬 12 °C
Today we left beautiful Mont Saint-Michel behind and made our way to the charming town of Bayeux. Once off the causeway, we stopped to take some lovely photos of the Mont in the distance — it looked just as enchanting from afar as it did up close.
After checking into our hotel in Bayeux, and a little tired, we set off to explore the town and find somewhere for supper. We stumbled upon a lovely restaurant and decided to start the evening with a Calvados cocktail, made from the region’s famous apples. The food was excellent — so good, in fact, that we returned the following night!Read more
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Northern France
Ver-sur-Mer
October 27, 2025 in France ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
Catching up on our posts now that we’ve got better WiFi!
Here’s a little video from Monday’s visit — we went to Bayeux Cemetery, Arromanches, the new British Normandy Memorial, and finally to Ranville – Pegasus Bridge and Cemetery. Sound on.

It was a deeply sobering day.Read more
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Northern France
Bayeux to Giverny
October 28, 2025 in France ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
Bayeux to Giverny

The morning was bright, and we wandered into town in search of breakfast. We stumbled across the most gorgeous old café and bakery — apparently the oldest in Bayeux!

If you’re ever here, we can highly recommend La Reine Mathilde (Queen Matilda). It’s named after William the Conqueror’s wife and has so much charm — chandeliers, antique wrought-iron garden furniture, and crisp white walls that make it feel like stepping back into the 1800s. The coffee and pastries were wonderful too.

After breakfast we wandered a bit through the old streets before driving on to Giverny. We stayed here last year, and it’s still just as quaint and beautiful as we remembered.

Dinner at the hotel was delicious — great food, lovely wine — and we went to bed feeling excited to see Monet’s house and gardens again the next day.Read more
TravelerAmazing photos 🤗
10/30/25Reply
TravelerYou seem to be having great weather!
10/31/25Reply
TravelerWe are! 🙏 ☁️ ☀️ 😃
10/31/25Reply
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Northern France
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Giverny
October 29, 2025 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
After a lovely breakfast, where we finally managed to boil our eggs properly (unlike at Mont Saint-Michel, where they were practically running off the plate 🤢)
we made our way to Monet’s house and gardens.

We spent over two hours just wandering and soaking it all in. The planting is genius , layers of colour and texture that make you stop every few steps to say “wow.” I loved gathering visual ideas for future paintings, while Mark was in his element taking photos (he’s already turned them into a brilliant little video). I took plenty of shots on my iPhone too, you can never have too many!

The gift shop was irresistible, We came away with two landscape watercolour sketchpads and some lovely placemats.

Lunch was at a small bistro café nearby. We both went for omelettes and frites, perfectly edible, if not particularly memorable, and the carafe of pink wine was, let’s just say, character-building! Mark’s face was a picture! 😂
Dinner, thankfully, was much better. We wandered across the road from our hotel to a cosy restaurant, where I had duck stew (yes, with frites again 😳) and Mark had a French burger. The wine was far more agreeable this time, dessert rounded things off, I had orange milk something 🤷‍♀️ , and ice cream for Mark. A lovely day.Read more
Traveler Stunning 🤩
10/31/25Reply
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Northern France
Travel day-Giverny to Cambrai
October 30, 2025 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Destination - Château de Mont Fenelon

Yesterday we left Giverny behind and travelled north to Cambrai, a lovely drive of about three hours. The weather was perfect, with autumn sunshine lighting up the countryside. The trees are turning every shade of gold and rust at the moment, and it made the journey feel quite magical. 🍂
We stopped along the way for a simple roadside lunch; fresh French bread with cheese and ham , the kind of meal that somehow tastes amazing when eaten outdoors (and probably wouldn’t be half as good at a table!).
We’re now staying for three nights at Château de Mont Fenelon, a place full of old French charm. It’s beautifully rustic, with that slightly timeworn elegance that makes you imagine all the stories the walls could tell. Apparently, it was occupied by German soldiers during both World Wars, so it’s fair to say these walls have seen a lot more action than our road trip!
Our room is very spacious and comfortable, and dinner last night in the cellars of the chateau was absolutely delicious.Read more
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Northern France
Le Cateau-Cambrésis
October 31, 2025 in France ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
From Matisse to the Somme.

A Day full of art, history, and contrast.

Today we went to Le Cateau-Cambrésis to visit the newly refurbished Matisse Museum — and if you’re ever passing through this part of France, I’d highly recommend it. What an incredible space! It’s absolutely packed with Matisse’s work, from his early resource sketches to his final, vibrant pieces.

I was floored by how much of his art is gathered under one roof. Alongside Matisse, there are some lovely works by other artists including Chagall, Giacometti and Miró (one of my all-time favourites), and Mark was delighted to see his favourite, Auguste Herbin, featured too. Such beautiful, inspiring work all around.
I can never resist a browse in an art gallery shop, and of course, I came away with a few precious souvenirs ❤️🎨
From there, we stopped for lunch at a lovely old converted brewery in the town, full of character and great atmosphere.
After lunch, we travelled on to the Thiepval Memorial … again, another very sobering experience. Thousands upon thousands of names are engraved on the walls, each one a soldier missing in action. We visited the museum too and came away truly stunned by the sheer scale of the loss in World War I.
We drove back to the château afterwards, deciding to skip dinner since lunch had been quite heavy. Picked up a few snacks instead and spent this evening relaxing… ready for tomorrow, All Saints’ Day, when everything in France closes. So, we’re hopping over the border for a little Belgian adventure! 🇧🇪✨Read more
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Northern France
Last Day Exploring
November 1, 2025 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Last Day Exploring – Tyne Cot & Menin Gate, Belgium 🇧🇪

Our last day exploring took us across the border into Belgium. The weather on the journey was awful, pouring rain and grey skies but, luckily, by the time we arrived at Tyne Cot, the rain stopped and we stayed dry for the rest of the day.

Today was a kind of a pilgrimage, visiting two of the most significant WWI memorials. Giants, really, because the memorial at Tyne Cot is not only vast, but truly humbling. As you approach the visitor centre, a voice calls out the names of the fallen, one by one. Inside, a roll of images appears alongside each name that’s read. The whole experience is beautifully and sensitively done. We spent some quiet time there, paying our respects.

From there, we travelled on to the Menin Gate in Ypres. Nothing could have prepared us for its sheer scale — 55,000 names listed, most of them soldiers still missing. Like the other memorials we’ve visited, it was comforting to see how carefully it’s maintained and how much it is still honoured.

By this time, it was well past lunch, so we ducked into a bar for a quick bite and a much-needed drink. Afterwards, we wandered the cobbled streets, naturally stopping for some Belgian chocolate, of course! 🍫

An hour and a half later, we were back at the château. Dinner, once again, was delicious. Tomorrow brings the long journey back to Cherbourg, and the last stretch of our northern France adventure. 🇫🇷✨Read more
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Northern France
Last day of travel
November 3, 2025 in Wales ⋅ 🌬 14 °C
Leaving beautiful France 🇫🇷

And just like that, our French adventure came to an end 🇫🇷✨
No cheese souvenirs this time (thanks, restrictions 🧀😢), but plenty of memories packed instead.
Until next time, France — you’ve been magnifique ❤️ 🇫🇷Read more
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Trip end
November 3, 2025