Normandy - Omaha Beach
26 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Omaha Beach is one of the beaches where Allied forces led by the 1st United States Infantry Division landed on D-Day. It is the setting for movies 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'The Longest Day', so theЧитать далее
Normandy - U.S Cemetery
26 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
There are 9387 graves of American soldiers in this cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. The average age of those buried here is 24.
60% of the bodies have since been repatriated, after families were givenЧитать далее
Normandy - Arromanches
26 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Arromanches played a strategically important role in the landings and the subsequent invasion.
It was here that the Allies built the artificial harbour ordered by Winston Churchill, which they namedЧитать далее
Mont Saint-Michel
27 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Today, we arrived in Brittany, on the French coast.
Mont St-Michel is the second most visited site in France and France is the most visited country in the world. So it's popular - getting an averageЧитать далее
Saint-Malo
27 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
80% of the old city of Saint-Malo on the English Channel coast of Brittany was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944, as it was held strongly by the Germans. It didn't return to allied hands until theЧитать далее
Cancale
27 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We had dinner tonight at the famous coastal fishing village of Cancale. It was a pretty drive there along the coast and through the wheat fields and then back as the sun was setting.
The seafood wasЧитать далее
Путешественник
Mmm they are yummy. Glad it was good. Nothing beats your BBQ seafood.
The Loire Valley
28 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We left Brittany today and headed for the Loire Valley.
Our first stop was at Angers on the Maine River. It has a large walled chateau and is yet another ancient town.
It was then a drive along theЧитать далее
ПутешественникYou can understand why the French might be tempted to stay at home rather than travel when everywhere you turn is so beautiful.
Chateau de Villandry
28 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Chateau de Villandry is famous for its gardens, considered to be the best in the Loire Valley and possibly all of France.
Finished in 1536, it was the last great Renaissance chateau built on theЧитать далее
Chateau de Rochecotte
28 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
The Chateau de Rochecotte was our home for two nights. Who wouldn't want to stay in a French chateau in the Loire Valley?
It is a 4-star hotel in the village of Saint-Patrice and overlooks the LoireЧитать далее
Chateau de Chenonceau
29 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Chateau de Chenonceau is the toast of the Loire Valley. A 16th-century Renaissance palace, it arches over the Cher River and has large and magnificent gardens. It is one of the most-visited chateausЧитать далее
Chateau d'Azay-le-Rideau
29 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
This 16th-century chateau is on an island in the Indre River. With no defensive purpose, it was built between 1518 and 1527 simply for luxurious living in a luxurious setting by the treasurer to theЧитать далее
Chartres
30 июня 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Today we headed back to Paris and the end of our Insight tour of France.
On the way, we stopped at
Chartres, which has what is regarded as Europe’s best example of a pure Gothic cathedral -Читать далее
Incredible history you both are seeing- as much as I dislike the hypocritical French their architecture is something to be admired- their influence is World wide- the early engineering in so many ways is beyond belief - graeme [Graeme Maher]
The Louvre
1 июля 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Today, we braved the crowds at the Louvre.
The Louvre is Europes biggest, greatest and second most crowded museum, after the Vatican. It has more than 30,000 works of art on display.
It isЧитать далее
Les Invalides
1 июля 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Napoleon Bonaparte lies majestically dead inside six coffins under the golden dome of Les Invalides church, a former veterans’ hospital built by Louis XIV.
It also houses the Army Museum, whichЧитать далее
Fromelles
2 июля 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Today we joined our tour of the WWI Battlefields of the Western Front with Matt McLachlan's Battlefields Tours.
We left Paris and headed north towards Belgium, crossing the Somme and making our wayЧитать далее
Ypres
2 июля 2023 г., Бельгия ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We crossed into Belgium and the town of Ypres. It was completely flattened in the war and rebuilt by the end of the 1920's. Its destruction was used as a symbol of the devastation of war. It wasЧитать далее
Hill 60
3 июля 2023 г., Бельгия ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Hill 60 was a strategic high point in the German lines. In June 1917, Australian and British tunnelers and miners exploded 19 mines beneath it and other hills along the Messines Ridge with devastatingЧитать далее
ПутешественникWhen you see the rows and rows of graves and the wall of names at Menin Gate it gives you an understanding of the terrible loss of mainly young lives.
Passchendaele Museum
3 июля 2023 г., Бельгия ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
The Passchendaele Museum tells the story of the Battles of Ypres and Passchendaele. It is well done.
ПутешественникWe found visiting the battlefields and museums an incredibly moving experience. The magnitude of it all is mind blowing. Such devastation.
Polygon Wood
3 июля 2023 г., Бельгия ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
The Battle of Polygon Wood began on 26 September. 1917.
The 4th and 5th Australian Divisions attacked the German lines with huge losses. The battle ended with victory on October 3 1917.
After theЧитать далее
Tyne Cot Cemetery
4 июля 2023 г., Бельгия ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Tyne Cot is the largest Commonweath war grave cemetery in the world. There are 950 in France and Belgium. It is on the site of the Battle of Broodseinde, which involved Australian and allied troops inЧитать далее
ПутешественникThe cemeteries are sobering and overwhelming in the scope and magnitude of the battlefields.
The Somme
4 июля 2023 г., Франция ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We travelled around the Somme battlefields today where the Australians fought and thousands died. Seeing the terrain and hearing the information from our expert guide, a military historian, reallyЧитать далее
ПутешественникIt certainly is depressingly sad. A very sobering experience.
Villers-Bretonneux
5 июля 2023 г., Франция ⋅ 🌬 15 °C
Our last day in the battlefields (and France) was spent in the areas around Villers-Bretonneux and Le Hamel, where the Australians had great success, despite heavy casualties.
We visited theЧитать далее
ПутешественникYou will have lasting wonderful memories of your time in France. Hope the good weather continues in Italy.
Paris to Rome
6 июля 2023 г., Италия ⋅ 🌙 27 °C
Today we arrived in Rome. We travelled on the Frecciorossa - the very fast train.
Unfortunately, it wasn't as fast as it was advertised, despite reaching speeds of 299kmh at one stage. It arrived inЧитать далее
ПутешественникAt least you got there safely and not too disadvantaged by time.
Rome
7 июля 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Today we explored Rome and loved it. When you see and hear about what is here and realise how much of what we do and know had its origins here, it becomes quite overwhelming as you try and take it allЧитать далее
The Vatican
8 июля 2023 г., Ватикан ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Along with thousands of others, we went to the Vatican today, where we saw the Sistine Chapel (no photos allowed) St.Peters Basilica and the changing of the Swiss Guards. It's all pretty spectacular,Читать далее
ПутешественникOn one of our Amicus offshore conferences with AMP in Rome we had a private tour of the Sistine chapel just after it was restored. They turned the lights on for us and I think allowed photos. Wayne hung back when we were being ushered out and managed to get a photo of the empty chapel. It is an amazing place.