When Visited
- May 1-19, 2011
Deborah and I took a trip to France in early May of 2011. I think that she will agree that it was one of the most interesting trips we have taken, although she did have a few health issues during the trip which I know prevented her from enjoying it as fully as she might have.
We began by flying into Paris, renting a car, and then driving to the west coast and visiting Normandy. Visiting Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery and Memorial was quite moving.
Before leaving the Normandy area, we drove down to visit the very unusual Mont Saint-Michel. It is a walled village and cathedral, situated on an island that, when the tide is in, can become completely surrounded by water. As you enter the structure, there is a narrow street, with quaint venders and restaurants on both sides, that winds up to the cathedral situated at the top. The sky was quite overcast, and the tide was out when we visited, so our pictures are not the best. To see what it really can look like, via some time-lapse photography, you might try following this internet link …
We then made our way back toward Paris, stopping for a night in the city of Reims and visiting their beautiful cathedral
While in Reims, which is in the Champagne region, we visited one of the major champagne wineries, Tattinger. While there, we enjoyed one of the best champagnes we have ever tasted – the Tattinger Special Reserve.
We also sought out and visited a small, local champagne winery, Champagne Tribaut, located in the very small village of Hautvillers France. That proved to be one of the unexpected pleasures of our trip.
We then continued our drive back to Paris and returned our rental car before taking the train from Paris to Strasbourg. We boarded a wonderful, rather small river cruise ship and took a trip up the Rhine River between France and Germany. We sailed up to Koblenz Germany and then turned around and sailed back to Strassbourg. That portion of the Rhine is famous for all of its castles and we were able to take many pictures of them. Here are a couple of those pictures. The rest may be seen by going out to our Photobucket picture site. Instructions on how to do that are included at the end of this post.
After completing the cruise, we took the train back to Paris, spent a few days there, and then returned home to the United States.
Picture Locations on the Internet – Photobucket.com
Pictures from the Rhine River Cruise …
Pictures from Paris …
http://s937.photobucket.com/user/rwkoehler/slideshow/France%20-%20May%202011/Paris?sort=9
Pictures from Normandy …
http://s937.photobucket.com/user/rwkoehler/slideshow/France%20-%20May%202011/Normandy?sort=9
Pictures from Champagne …
http://s937.photobucket.com/user/rwkoehler/slideshow/France%20-%20May%202011/Champagne?sort=9
Tips when Using Photobucket
- The previous links will take you directly to a slideshow of pictures and collages, related to the locations, which reside on the internet on the Photobucket.com website.
- Once the slideshow begins, the display begins showing slides at a Medium speed.
- Slow displays each slide for 10 seconds
- Medium displays each slide for 6 seconds
- Fast displays each slide for 3 seconds
- To change the display speed, click on the word Slow, Medium or Fast at the bottom right of the Photobucket screen.
- To non-display the bottom toolbar, and thereby maximize the picture on your screen, click on the
icon at the bottom right of the Photobucket screen. - To display, or to redisplay a specific slide, you may click on the thumbnail at the bottom of the Photobucket screen.
- To Pause the display at a specific picture, click on the
icon at the lower left of the Photobucket screen.
