Chateau d'Hambye Dining

I hope you enjoy this short slide show of the dinner preparation at Chateau d`Hambye.
Both teams, Tuesday and Thursday, made our stay at the Chateau a wonderfully unique experience.
Many thanks to Anna and Rob for sharing their beautiful home and hospitality during our stay.
Hope to post the Paris adventure soon.

Monet's Garden

Almost ten years were necessary to restore the garden and the house to their former magnificence. Not much was left. The greenhouse panes and the windows in the house were reduced to shards after the bombings. Floors and ceiling beams had rotted away, a staircase had collapsed. Three trees were even growing in the big studio.  

The pond had to be dug again. The soil was removed to find the original ground level. Then the same flower species as those discovered by Monet in his time were planted.

Thanks to generous donors, mostly from the USA ,the house was given a face lift. The ancient furniture and the Japanese prints were restored. Then the visitor areas were fitted out.

The property has been open to the public since September 1980.

                                             Enjoy the views.

 

WATER GARDEN

Great Cafe

Welcome to the garden.

The garden is located in the heart of the village.

A most informative tour guide did a professional presentation of the entire site.

Monet's bridge appears in almost two hundred of his paintings.

One of many garden paths.

These benches were used by the Monet family.

Interesting "cigar plant".

The family home was restored with loving detail.
Pictures were not permitted in the home.

A wonderful visit.

Honfleur France

Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. Its inhabitants are called Honfleurais. It is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind, forming the école de Honfleur (Honfleur school) which contributed to the appearance of the Impressionist movement. The Sainte-Catherine church, which has a bell tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France.

Hotel in the square.

Harbour Entrance

Out door cafes line the waterfront.

A busy area for all forms of boating.

Waterfront Markets

Great cheese is always available.

Duck Plate

Many churches welcome visitors.

Artist at work.

Private Residence

"Foodie Haven"

Seafood Plate

We are surely blessed.

AMEN!!

TOUR OF DINAN FRANCE

Its geographical setting is exceptional. Instead of nestling on the valley floor like Morlaix, most urban development has been on the hillside, overlooking the river Rance. The area alongside the River Rance is known as the port of Dinan and is connected to the town by the steep streets Rue Jerzual and its continuation outside the walls the Rue de Petit Fort. This river has moderate turbidity and its brownish water is somewhat low in velocity due to the slight gradient of the watercourse.For many years, the bridge over the River Rance at Dinan was the most northerly crossing point on the river, but the tidal power station at the mouth of the estuary, constructed in the 1960s downstream from Dinan, incorporates a 750 metre long tidal barrage which doubles as a crossing point nearer to the sea.

Wondering through the city, we are off towards the River Rance.

Heading upward hoping for over views of the city.

Water drainage creatures

Interesting walls surround the city.

Beautiful Views

Journey down to the water front area.

Art in the Park

Romeo Romeo where art thou!!

RIVER RANCE

Water front dining.

Local Fisherman

Town Centre