Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 65 Saturday - Stratford upon Avon

Peter Bate · October 5, 2019

What would a trip to the UK be without a visit to Stratford upon Avon

Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 63 - Thursday - Saint Malo to Coventry

Peter Bate · October 3, 2019

Thursday is ferry day, leaving continental Europe behind and heading for Portsmouth, but first a quick visit to the Tour Solidor, the Solidor Tower another ancient battlement of Saint Malo, a two minute drive from our apartment.
Then on to the “Bretague” the Brittainy Ferries boat for our journey to Portsmouth, cabin 8317 with a view to the bow, and our own toilet…..!
A very smooth voyage up the west coast of France past the Channel Islands and into the English Channel and back to driving on the left .

One of the Forts at high tide, no walking across now

Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 62 Wednesday - Mount St Michel

Peter Bate · October 2, 2019

Last time we went to Mount St Michel there was rain and no sun so we went back for sunny pictures.
Walking along causeway to the town we saw a guy in a white shirt using a drone, that was until armed troops passing in a truck got out and spoke to him, he quickly put away the offending aerial photographic system.
In the town we went and had a drink and some of the local speciality, crepes. Mount St Michel still busy and buzzy with plenty of tourists even in October.

Then back to Saint Malo and a walk around the ramparts to see things we hadn’t seen before, including a salt water swimming pool. Interesting because tides here can range up to 40 feet and all the area between the inner islands and the town walls are covered with water, at low tide you can walk to the nearby forts but not later.

Saint Malo surrounds from the town ramparts

Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 61 Saint Malo & Dinan

Peter Bate · October 1, 2019

Saint Malo: One of the forts overlooking the city, thick concrete blockhouses and gun emplacements. The Germans here were under a tough bombardment from the Americans as can be seen from damage to one of the pill boxes, must have been tough inside, several holes and one shell stuck in the metal. The Americans succeeded in taking the fort and set up their own artillery there.
Saint Malo was virtually undamaged until August 1944 apart from the Cathedral spire that was shelled by a German minesweeper and fell into roof, the German military commander Colonel von Auloch tore a strip off the local naval captain saying how did expect the local people to respect the German forces. The Americans surrounded the city and were anxious to capture the harbour, however their military “intelligence” estimated that the number of Germans inside the walled city was around 10,000 , two local people escaped through the city walls and made contact with the Americans they told them that there was only two AA batteries manned by 100 soldiers. Of course the Americans believed their own intelligence and decided to bombard the city into submission which they promptly did beginning with a incendiary bombing run which set the place on fire. Two thirds of the houses in the city were destroyed mostly medieval and from the 17th century. Typical yanks, forget the historical significance and destroy it with bad intelligence. Sounds familiar………
After 14 days the German commander Colonel von Auloch finally surrendered and emerged from his underground bunker to a devastated town, after the war he was so appalled at the damage he spent time and money on restoring the town and became best friends with the mayor. The town was completely rebuilt in the style that had been destroyed.

Dinan

Saint Malo

Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 60 Monday - Saint Malo - Saint Cast Le Giuldo - Fort La Latte

Peter Bate · September 30, 2019

A day of sight seeing from Saint Malo, we drove west and ended up at Saint Cast Le Guido where the beach is known as “The Golden Beach” and it truly was in colour and the fact that there was nobody there. Up on the headland were some gun emplacements, probably German from WWII, which had a sweeping vista over several bays and reaching to Saint Malo.
A little further west was Fort La Latte, a castle that was started in the 13th century and sits perched atop of another headland. The views again were spectacular and from the very top of the keep you can see for miles, although it was not used defensively during the war the chapel was shelled and destroyed.

Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 57 Friday - Bordeaux

Peter Bate · September 27, 2019

In a trip of beautiful places Bordeaux ranks up there, some far sighted city fathers in the 1700’s built many buildings with wide avenues and trees to create an elegant place to live. As I said on facebook I’d live there…..!
In the dark days of the occupation in WWII an Italian submarine flotilla was based here until their change of sides and the German U-Boats took over. The base is still there and even the numbers above each pen are still visible, one of those erie places when you think of the history.
On the river they have a huge opening bridge, tall enough to allow cruise ships to dock and disgorge hundreds of tourist ! but of course they are only there during the day and miss the buzzy nightime atmosphere. There are several other bridges including the Peter Bridge !
The collection of buildings known as the Bourse has a reflective fountain in front and gives a brilliant night time view.

Even the numbers are still there -Twelve pens in all.

City with trams, great way to get around

Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 56 Thursday - Bezier and the Nine Locks

Peter Bate · September 26, 2019

On the way to Bordeaux our next port of call we make a stop in the town of Bezier, another surprise on our trip, not a huge amounts of touristy things but enough to make the stop enjoyable, a cathedral that stands above the city, and close by, the Canal Midi with nine locks.

I apologise for the lateness of these posts but due to poor internet and a technical problem with the laptop but now all is sorted (:-)

Galerie Shiraz on Tour 2019 : Day 55 Wednesday - Sete

Peter Bate · September 25, 2019

A day of rest in Sete, first a visit to the local markets which were rather large and buzzing and then back to the apartment and the swimming pool. The weather has been kind and the temperature warm and sunny. After the pool we walked to the seafront for a meal, I had curried moules and frites and I have to say very nice they were too!