Denmark it is!

Hello my friends!

This morning, we arrived in a new part of our trip, namely Denmark! In three weeks, we go back home! So we have to enjoy our last visiting countries, don’t you think ;-) !

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It’s on the southwest of Sweden and on the south of Norway. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea. It has a population of more than 5,5 million people and a surface of 43,000 km².

When we arrived, the first thing we had to do was changing our money, because here in Denmark, they don’t even know the Euro, so we still have to pay in Danish krone (DKK). They also speak Danish, and none of us can speak that language, so we hope they will understand our English!

As Marlies told, the first city we visited was Aarhus, so now it’s time to go the capital and also the largest city of Denmark, Copenhagen!
The average temperature is Denmark is about 8.6°C, the highest monthly average high temperature is 22°C in July and the lowest monthly average low temperature is -3°C in February.

As we intended to go shopping in Denmark, we immediately asked the way to the largest shopping street, namely Strøget. Some residents told us, that we could find there some posh brands, like Burberry, Gucci and Louis Vuitton but also the Danish brands such as Bruuns Bazar, By Marlene Biger and Mads Nørgaard. Of course, we don’t have enough money to buy something of these brands, so we had to look after something a bit less pricy. A friendly woman told us to search for Vesterbro and Nørrebro. That’s where many upcoming designers sell their clothes. We were looking forward to discover some of these new brands!

After shopping the whole afternoon, we were very tired, so we went back to the hotel to eat something and then go to bed, because tomorrow, there’s another day! J

Today it’s our second day in Denmark and we bought a booklet about Copenhagen. Now we can find all the tourist places and things to do and to visit. So, the first thing we visited was “The King’s Gardens”. We read that Copenhagen has many parks and gardens that are perfect places to relax, sunbathe or have a picnic. This park is a popular spot for Copenhageners and during the summer their puppet theatre is a hit with the children.
Although, Fælledparken is Copenhagen’s largest park. Throughout summer, the park hosts several free events, so we’re actually a little bit too early.

The three most famous attractions in the city are:

The more than 100 year old amusement park Tivoli:

This park is way too big to visit for one day! To me, it seems like ‘Disneyland Paris’, so it’s rather huge!

The statue of The Little Mermaid:

We watched this statue, but of course, there’s not so much to see. It took us 5 minutes to take a picture and that was it.
So we left for The Freetown of Christiania:

It was a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood of about 850 residents, covering 34 hectares. Civic authorities  in Copenhagen regard Christiania as a large commune, but the area has a unique status in that it is regulated by a special law, the Christiania Law of 1989. It was closed by residents in April 2011, whilst discussions continue with the Danish government as to its future, but is now open again.

Copenhagen has to offer a world of wellness, like seaside hotels, spa stays, yoga, facials, massages and much more..  So we couldn’t left before having had a massage.
We planned our last day to visit a wellness-beauty farm.

O My God! That was soooo amazing! Really! I felt like new when I left the institute! J  

Now it’s time to move on!
Jihaaa! NORWAY, here we come!

Miss you guys!
Hear you soon, Charlotte xx

The D from Denmark!

Hi guys,

Last week I visited a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe, called Denmark. It is a peninsular north of Germany.

The first city we visited was Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark. The name originates from the city's location around the mouth of the stream Aarhus Å, Å being the Danish word for a small river. The city lies roughly at the geographical centre of Denmark.

 

We visited the Aarhus cathedral, the largest cathedral in Denmark and the second largest in all of northern Europe, only surpassed by the Trondheim Cathedral, by 1.5 m. We also visited the Aarhus university, one of the largest and oldest universities in Denmark.

For lunch, we had some Danish specialities, such as smørrebrød (a Danish sandwich), traditionally served for the mid-day meal, followed by a Rødgrød. The preparation of a Rødgrød is basically that of a pudding: The fruits are cooked briefly with sugar.The essential ingredients  are red summer berries such as redcurrant, blackcurrant, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries,....

During the first evening we have spent the night out in a kind of pub where they had all kind of beers. We had drunk several beers and had a lot of fun, until we received the bill. As it was over 6 euros for one "special" beer, we had to pay 42 euros! Fortunately we had met some guys that night who saw our faces when we received the bill. They paid for it ;)

The 3 of us were very suprised to find out that Denmark is the home from "Lego"! (you know, the colorful interlocking plastic bricks for kids) Did you guys knew that? We have visited the theme park, called Lego Land in Billund. The Park is located next to the original LEGO factory and Denmark's second busiest airport Billund Airport. It was the first Leg oLand every built. The Lego Land parks that have since been built are modelled upon the one in Billund, most noticeably the Miniland area, which serves as the heart of the park.

So, that was it again... Soon I'll be back home! I'm looking forward to it, because I miss my friends and I miss the great belgian kitchen :(     It's been ages since I have eaten some descent french fries!

A lot of Kisses,

Marlies

Last three days in Germany (by Leen)

Hello darlings! The next couple of days we are going to visit cities in northern region of Germany. But first of all I am going to share some general information, history, culture, … with you.

Friday 29 April 2011: visiting Berlin

Berlin, located in north-eastern Germany, is the capital and also the largest city of the country. The city is one of the sixteen states and has a population of 3.4 million people. Approximately one third of the city's territory consists of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.

Berlin has a temperate climate, which means that changes between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate. Summers are warm with average high temperatures of 22–
25 °C and lows of 12–14 °C. Winters are cold with average high temperatures of 4 °C and lows of -2 to 0 °C. Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild.

Now I am going to tell you something about Berlin’s history to refresh the worst things that happened.

On 30 January 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community. The Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) was a series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9 and 10 November 1938. After that night thousands of German Jews were put behind bars in the nearby “Sachsenhausen concentration camp” and in early 1943, they were transported to death camps, such as Auschwitz in Poland.

During the Second World War, large parts of Berlin were destroyed. At the end of the War, victorious powers divided the city into four sectors. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin. The tensions between East and West culminated in the construction of the Berlin Wall between on 13 August 1961. The Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) that completely cut off West Berlin. The Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc officially said that it was built to prevent the "will of the people". However, in practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that characterized Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post–World War II period.

In 1989, a radical series of political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc and after several weeks of civil unrest, the government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. An euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which formally took place on 3 October 1990.

I guess that’s enough history about Berlin, so now I am going to describe our day. Today we visited the Brandenburg Gate, “Under the linden trees”, the Reichstag building and Charlottenburg Palace.

The Brandenburg Gate ( : “Brandenburger Tor”) is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany. The Gate is located west of the city center and is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered. One block to the north stands the Reichstag building, which we visited too. The Brandenburg Gate is the monumental entry to “Under the linden trees” (in German: “Unter den Linden”), the renowned boulevard of linden trees which formerly led directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs.

The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, renovated in the 1950s after severe World War II damage. At the very top of the building there is standing the large glass “Reichstag Dome”. The dome has a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The main hall of the parliament below can also be seen from the cupola and natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor. Construction work was finished in 1999 and the seat of parliament was transferred in April of that year. The dome is open for visitors but the waiting queues can be very long, especially in summertime. So luckily we hadn’t had to wait long.

At the end of the day, before we went to our hotel to have dinner and get ready for a party in town, we went to Charlottenburg Palace.

Charlottenburg Palace (in German: “Schloss Charlottenburg”) is the largest palace in Berlin and was built at the end of the 17^th century. During the 18^th century the palace was greatly expanded. A large formal garden surrounded by woodland was constructed behind the palace. In its grounds there are various buildings, such as a mausoleum, a theatre and a pavilion. To the south of the palace there are two more museums, the “Bröhan Museum”, which contains art nouveau and art deco articles, and the “Berggruen Museum”, which houses modern art, in particular works by Picasso and Klee.

Now let’s party & goodnight for you!!

-xx-

Saturday 30 April 2011: visiting Hamburg

Hamburg, situated in Northern Germany, is the second-largest city in the country and the eighth-largest city in the European Union. The city’s official name is the “Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg” (in German: “Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg”). The port of Hamburg is the third-largest port in Europe, after the Port of Antwerp and Rotterdam. It is also the eighth largest in the world. The harbour is located 110 kilometres from the mouth of the Elbe into the North Sea. Although the port is situated so far from the Elbe, it is considered as a sea port due to its ability to handle large ocean-going vessels.

The Port is also one of Hamburg's largest attractions, both as a living, industrial and logistics center but also as a backdrop for modern culture and the ports history.

Furthermore Hamburg organises several festivals and regular events. Some of them are street festivals, such as the “gay pride”, “Christopher Street Day festival”, the “Alster fair” and the “Hamburger DOM”. The last one is the biggest fun fair which is held three times a year. “Birth of the Harbour” (in German: “Hafengeburtstag”) is also a funfair but this one is to honour the birthday of the port of Hamburg with a party and a ship parade.

Besides getting to know the city, we also enjoyed a typical Hamburg visit with a sightseeing bus. This visit included a tour of the city hall, the grand church St. Michaelis (in German “Michel”), visiting the old warehouse district (in German: “Speicherstadt”) and the harbour promenade (in German: “Landungsbrücken”). Additionally to the sightseeing tour, we took one of the harbour boats tours. Fortunately for us it did not rain and we had quite nice weather.

Tomorrow, before leaving to Denmark, we are going to visit the last city Kiel.

Good night and sleep tight! Kizzz !!

-xx-

Sunday 1 May 2011: visiting Kiel

Kiel is the capital city and most populous city of northern state Schleswig-Holstein. This state borders Denmark on the north, the North Sea on the west, the Baltic Sea on the east and the German states of Lower Saxony, Hamburg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the south.

The city is known for a variety of international sailing events, including the annual Kiel Week, which is the biggest sailing event in the world. In English it is known as the Kiel Regatta and it always takes place in the last week of June. Many thousands of boats and ships of all kinds take part in this parade. Besides the Keel Week, The Olympic sailing competitions of 1936 and the Summer Olympics of 1972 were held here.

 Likewise Kiel is known for its opera houses. The Kiel Opera House (in German: “Opernhaus Kiel”) is the city's major venue for opera, ballet, and orchestral performances. The first performance at the house was Beethoven's Fidelio on 1 October 1907.

Furthermore this capital city has a major shopping district, with the Holsten Street (in German “Holstenstrasse”) as one of the longest shopping miles in Germany. Here we spent the afternoon before going back to the hotel to pack our bags.

Tomorrow we will post another message on our blog when we are in Denmark.

Bye bye! Have a nice day! –xx-

link: http://www.auschwitz.dk/auschwitz.htm

Welcome to Germany!

Monday 25/4/2011

Hi everybody!

Today we arrived again in another country, namely Germany. It’s already the seventh country of our trip and after two months of travelling, I’m really starting to miss home. We’re so close to Belgium and it’s really tempting to change our route, just to see our family again. But on the other hand, in a few weeks our trip ends so it’s really not that long anymore. I’m certainly going to enjoy these last few weeks because I’m having the time of my life!

At 10.30 A.M., we landed at the airport of München and after a short drive, we arrived at our hotel in the centre of this beautiful city. Münich is a very important political centre because it’s the capital of the Free State of Bavaria and there’s also the Bavarian State Parliament.

All four of us were impressed by the city. On the one hand, all the ruins of historic buildings are reconstructed and on the other hand, there are a lot of modern buildings with a very impressive architecture. It's really the perfect mix!

Our first destination was the “Deutsches Museum”, which is one of the oldest and largest science museums in the world. We already visited a lot of museums on our trip but this one was really interesting. At the museum, you can try out different things at workshops and, assisted by young scientists, you can do your own experiments in the DNA visitor’s laboratory! But to make sure that the museum didn’t explode, we wisely stayed out of the lab and took part in a guided tour. This tour was very interesting and we got to know some of the key exhibitions in the museum.

Today was really a cultural day because after a delicious lunch, we visited the Nymphenburg Palace. We went to the Great Hall, the Queens Bedroom, the Blue Salon and the North Antechamber. But after these four places we had enough of history and paintings so we decided to go outside, to the Nymphenburg Park which is the “garden” of the palace. But actually, I don’t think you can really call it a garden if you know that there’s a lake in it and it has several fountains! We walked in the park for two hours and afterwards, we went back to our hotel where we had a delicious dinner.

Lieze

Tuesday 26/4/2011

Today, we went to the Hellabrunn Zoo, which was founded in 1911. There are more than 5000 animals which all live according to their geographic distribution in complex communities. The zoo is really gigantic and after a whole day, we still hadn’t seen everything!

First, we visited the “Jungle Tent”, the habitat of the wild cats and other animals who live in the jungle. It was really impressive! Other units we’ve visited are “Australia” and “Asia”. In that way, our journey doesn’t just lead us from Nigeria to Norway, but also a bit through these two continentsJ

Today was a very beautiful day with nice weather and we took advantage of it by picnicking outside. It was just lovely!

After this long day, we still had to travel. We took the train at Hauptbahnhof to Nürnburg and now I’m really tired so I’m off to bed!

Talk to you soon!

Wednesday 27/4/2011

Hi!

We decided that today we wouldn’t visit any more museums or palaces, but we would discover the city ourselves. This morning we took the underground railway to the Hesperides Gardens. We found the name of these baroque gardens really strange and a gardener told us that they are named after the “Hesperides”, the daughters of Hesperos. They guarded the golded apples in Greek mythology.

In these gardens, you can find almost 50 different varieties of citrus plants and also a remarkable sundial. We just kept walking around from one place to another and we completely forgot the time! It was already 1.30 P.M. when we started looking for a place to eat and we just entered the first restaurant we encountered, the Goldenes Posthorn. But perhaps it would have been better if we just looked a bit longer… The servers were disoriented and they carried out the dishes separately. So, I finished my main course when the others had to wait another 15 minutes to get theirs. Not to mention that they forgot to bring me they salads that I had ordered! Besides, the prices were rather high although the food wasn't very tasty.

After this bad meal, we didn’t feel like visiting another important place so we just went to a football game! We got tickets for FC Nürnberg – SC Karlsruhe at the EasyCredit Stadium. And although I’m not really fond of football, I really had a great time!

Thursday 28/4/2011

Hello everybody

This morning, around 6 A.M., we arrived at our hotel in Frankfurt and although we’re all very tired, we managed to get up at 9 A.M., after only two hours sleep.

After breakfast, we decided to do something completely different than cultural visits. As Frankfurt is one of the leading financial centers in Europe, we adjusted our stay in this city completely to finances. I know that may sound boring, but actually we really enjoyed it.

The city is often named “Bankfurt” and when you walk through Frankfurt, you understand immediately why. There are the “Deutsche Bank Twin Towers” which are visible from almost everywhere. And when I stood in front of them, I felt soooo small! You really can’t imagine how high they are until the moment you stand next to them. It’s incredible!

Further, we also saw the Eurotower. In that building, you can find the headquarters of the European Central Bank. And the last important financial building we saw was the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In front of that building there are the statues of a bear and a bull and I absolutely didn’t know what there was so special about them, let alone that they had to do something with finance. But from a local inhabitant we’ve heard that these statues refer to market situations: bull market and bear market. When there’s a bull market, there’s an increasing investor confidence and with a bear market, there’s a general decline in the stock market over a period of time.

So today was really a different day compared to the others, I even learned something about economy! It's a pity we didn’t have more time, but at 6 P.M. we had to leave for the next part of our trip.

See you soon,

Lieze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df-GT0_Hw2Y  (This is a link to a short movie, made at the Great Hall at the Nymphenburg Palace)

The city of Nancy

Dearest friends,


This week we passed through Nancy, in the North of France. Compared to last week, where we were passing through the South and visited cities such as Orléans, Nice, Bordeaux and others, it was quite chilly in Nancy. But, look at it from the brind side: that's again a reason for doing some shopping! :) We very lucky because we found some enormously big shopping malls!


I am going to tell you something more about the city of Nancy, not the arrondissement. (Just to meak clear)

Place Stanislas by night! What a sight!

The city is known for its world heritage buildings: The Place Stanislas (named after the king of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and duke of Lorraine Stanisław Leszczyński), the cathedral of Nancy, the Triumphal Arch and the Place de la Carriere (which are fine examples of 18th century architecture), further there is also a major botanical garden in Nancy, the Jardin botanique du Montet, if you want to take a walk.


Nancy also possesses many museums, but we didn't have a lot of time for visiting them, too bad! 
As Nancy is only a couple hours driving from Ghent, so if I'm feeling like visiting a museum when we're back home, I know just the place!


The European University Centre is also located in Nancy, France. Bordered with the countries of Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. The European Centre is a historical institute for European Studies. It was created in 1950 and it celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2000.


Nancy is in the heart of the four European main cities: Brussels, Frankfurt, Strasbourg and Luxembourg, a very strategic place.


The trip from Paris to Nancy was very smooth, because Nancy is very well served by the high-speed train line called ‘TGV East Europe’, which connects the city to Paris in less than 1:30 hours!


So, this was it for this week


Bye mates! Take care


xx
Marlies

BONJOUR PARIS !

Aaaaah! It’s time to discover Paris!

We have been here before, but we did not had the time to visit everything! So now we will do our best to visit all the other monuments of Paris! We are looking forward to it! J

                                                                      PARIS BY NIGHT

First, I’ll give you some extra information..

Paris is the capital and also the largest city in France, which metropolitan area has a population of more than 11,800,000. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of Île-de-France region.

Today, Paris is considered to be one of the most beautiful and vibrant cities in Europe. The name Paris derives from that of its earliest inhabitants, the Gaulish tribe, known as the Parisii. The city was called Lutetia, during the Roman era of the first to the sixth century.

Paris has the typical Western European oceanic climate which is affected by the North Atlantic Current. Over a year, Paris’ climate can be described as mild and moderately wet.In summer, temperatures are usually warm and pleasant, between 15 and 25°C. Each year, there are also some days where the temperature rises above 32°C.
In spring and autumn, nights are average mild and fresh.
In winter, days are cold but generally above freezing with temperatures around 7°C.

Now it’s time to visit this wonderful city!

Yesterday evening, when we arrived, we decided to point out our route, because we had to plan our three days in Paris. The first day, we will start with Avenue des Champs-Élysées. There are some lovely and posh shops, so I think we will spent some time over there. When we walk along this Avenue, we will pass ‘Place de la Concorde’ and ‘Jardin des Tuileries’ to end at  ‘Musée Du Louvre’.
I have never visited this big museum before, so I hope my mates will go inside with me, today.

                                                            PLACE DE LA CONCORDE       

                                                              JARDIN DES TUILERIES

The Louvre Museum is one of the world’s largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and also a historic monument. It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1 arrondissement. Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19^th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 m².

                                                                LOUVRE MUSEUM

So, this will be the first day. I hope we have enough time! The second day, we will visit the other side of the city, namely Montmartre, the highest point in the city. I would like to see ‘The Moulin Rouge’, because I really like the movie! J We will also pass by ‘Basillique du Sacré Coeur’, that’s a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The huge basilica is built from 1876 – 1914 and has a height of 83 meters  and a width of 85 meters. When you stand in front of the ‘Sacré Coeur’, you have a great view onto the city, you can also see the Eiffel Tower, it’s amazing!

The third and also our last day in Paris, we will visit the Eiffel Tower and ‘La Défense’. The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower of 324 meters, located on the Champ de Mars. The Tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world. It is built in 1887 – 1889 by Gustave Eiffel and has become a global icon of France.

      THE EIFFEL TOWER                                                           LA DÉFENSE

PARIS WAS AMAZING ! I really recommend you this fantastic city! I wish we could stay here another three days, but we have to move forward with our trip!

Sunny kiss, Charlotte!

Last four days of the first week in France (Leen)

Dear family and friends, after a wonderful week in Italy we are now staying two weeks in France, which is situated close to home. I would like to go to Belgium and visit you all but unfortunately this is not possible. Despite that I am missing you so much I am having a great time with my group members Charlotte, Lieze and Marlies.

From Thursday until Sunday we are going to visit several cities in central France.

Thursday 31 March: visiting Tours

Today we are visiting Tours, the other days we are also going to visit Blois, Orléans and Auxerre.

Tours is the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department. It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Tours is the largest city in the Centre region of France, although it is not the regional capital, which is the regions second-largest city: Orléans.

“Saint Gatien's Cathedral” is the Roman Catholic cathedral which was built between 1170 and 1547. It has been a classified as “Monument historique” since 1862. The total length of the cathedral is 97 meters and its width is 28 meters. Its treasures are the organ, which was donated by Archbishop Martin de Beaune in the 16^th century and the tomb of the children of Charles VIII and Anne of Brittany, who died as infants.

Around the church, on the north side a small cloister is built. This cloister is known as the “cloître de la Psalette”, in reference to its function as a school of psalms (religious chants). On the south side of the cathedral stands the former archbishop's palace, which was built in the early 18^th century, and which has now become the “Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours”.

It was an interesting day, certainly when we visited Saint Gatien's Cathedral because it is very breathtaking, like most cathedrals in France.

Now we are going to a restaurant and have dinner, afterwards we are going straight to bed because tomorrow we are leaving for Blois.

Good night and sleep tight –xx-

Friday 1 April: visiting Blois

We slept in a nice B&B in Tours yesterday evening but today we had to get up early because we had to go to Blois, which is about 40 minutes driving.

Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department and is situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Tours and Orléans, which we will visit tomorrow.

Blois is known for its beautiful countryside, its temperate climate and its refined way of life. The main sights here are the famous “Château de Blois” and the 18^th century stone bridge spanning the Loire. The “Château de Blois” is a Renaissance château which was once occupied by King Louis XII and it is located in the centre of the city. It also comprises several buildings constructed from the 13^th to the 17^th century around the main courtyard. Its most famous piece of architecture is the magnificent spiral staircase in the François I wing which is brilliantly decorated with gold, carved pillars and stained glass. This château is unique in the Loire and because of that Blois is often called the “Versailles of the Renaissance”.

Notwithstanding it was a day filled with history about the city, which I normally do not like, I pretty enjoyed it because I have learnt a lot of new things that I did not know before. I am also looking forward to tomorrow when we will visit Orléans.

Good night everybody ! –xx-

Saturday 2 April: visiting Orléans

As we told you yesterday we are now going to visit Orléans, a city in north-central France, about 130 kilometers southwest of Paris. It is the capital of the Loiret department and of the Centre region.

Today we visited the “Le Parc Floral de la Source”. This park is a French garden situated to the south of the River Loire, in the “La Source” neighborhood. With more than 150,000 visitors in 2007, it is the most visited site in Loiret. Therefore the park has been awarded the status of “Jardin remarquable” by the French Ministry of Culture and the national council of parks and gardens.

In 1967, the “Floralies internationales d'Orléans”, which was held in the park, attracted 2,300,000 visitors in six months. The global budget was more than one million francs (152,618 euro). From April to October the city became the world capital of horticulture thanks to the 330 exhibitors and 700 producers from 11 countries. To house successive exhibitions they especially constructed 13,000 m² of glasshouses.

I must admit that it is indeed a wonderful park thanks to its beautiful flowers, trees and gardens.

Now we are going to enjoy our dinner and we will post another message on our blog tomorrow.

Have a nice evening! Lots of tots!

Sunday 3 April: visiting Auxerre

Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department and it has a commercial and industrial centre, with industries including food production, woodworking and batteries. Auxerre is also world-famous for the wine produced in the neighborhood, including the renowned Chablis.

Before we explored the town we asked for a map at Auxerre Tourist Office. There they gave us a free map which we used to follow a route that shows the highlights of Auxerre.

Historically seen, the town owes its position to its importance on the river, and also on the once important trade route between the Mediterranean and the North Sea.

The best way to get a perspective of the churches in Auxerre is by walking onto the main bridge across the river. The “Pont Paul Bert” offers a very good view of the Auxerre’s 'skyline'. From here you can see three main churches the Church of Saint Peter, the Saint Etienne Cathedral, and the Saint Germain Abbey, which runs from south to north.

Much of the old centre of the town is now a region of protected development. There are attractive squares where you can take a rest in a cafe, which are joined by narrow medieval streets and a lot of attractive ancient houses.

I must say that Auxerre is a pretty town which is towered over by the cathedral, and by several churches. Although I also must say that it does have as well some less attractive parts that have not yet been renovated.

The first week in France has been great so far and I hope that the other week will be the same or maybe even better!

Cya tomorrow ! -xx-

First three days in France (Lieze)

Monday 28 March 2011

Hi everybody!

Today we arrived at the next country of our trip, which is France. We chose Nice to be our first stop because this beautiful city is only 30 kilometres away from the Italian border.

Nice is the capital city of the Alpes Maritimes department and also the second largest French city on the Mediterranean coast. So it is quite an important city!

As it is a very popular destination for tourists, we had no problem finding a place to have lunch. There are little restaurants everywhere and we chose to eat at “Chez Pipo”, a very pleasant little place at the port of Nice. The menu was so elaborate that is was difficult to make a choice, but eventually I picked a salad Niçoise, which is named after the city Nice. It was really delicious! I really love the French kitchen, which is known for its use of olive oil, fruit and vegetables.

After lunch, we decided to visit the port of Nice. We first went to the Garibaldi square, in the middle of the port, and we were immediately charmed by its beautiful architecture! The place is named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian hero who was born in Nice. It’s a pity you can’t visit his birthplace.

After our visit to the port, we went… shopping! Nice has some very beautiful shopping centres where you can shop for hours! But we didn’t want to spend all afternoon inside a building, so we also visited an open air market, which is typically French. At the market, you find clothes and food but especially souvenirs of the city.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach of Nice, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Lieze

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Bonjour!

I’m already completely adapted to the French way of living and today we continued our visit of Nice.

In the morning, we visited the “Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Chéret”, which opened in 1928. The museum is, as the name already tells, especially dedicated to the work of Jules Chéret. But next to his collection, the museum also houses work of other artists. The museum is rather small, but the collection of art is so beautiful! There are even some ceramic pieces, made by Picasso! At the museum, there were information boards at every piece of art, so it was a very interesting visit.

After our visit to the museum, we had a quick stop at the Botanic garden of Nice but then, we had to leave for Bordeaux. Around 1 p.m., we went to the train station of Nice to catch our train of 1.30 p.m. It is quite a long trip to Bordeaux and when we arrived, it was already 7.30 p.m. Fortunately, we easily found a youth hostel to spend the night so we still had some time to go for a short walk. Because it was already dark, we couldn’t see much of the city. I’m extremely looking forward to tomorrow to start our tour of Bordeaux!

Wednesday 30 March 2011

Hello every one,

Today we discovered BordeauxJ The city is the world’s major wine industry capital, so you can imagine that it’s a very important city for the economy.

Bordeaux has over 10,000 wine-producing “châteaux” and an annual production of about 850 million bottles of wine! But it’s not only the wine which makes Bordeaux important for the economy. There’s also the company “Laser Mégajoule”, one of the most powerful lasers in the world, and about 20,000 people found a job in the aeronautic industry at Bordeaux.

But of course we’re especially interested in the wine, so we visited a vineyard today. There, we got a lot of information about the production process of wine. Afterwards, we could taste three of three best wines and we had the opportunity to buy their products in a little shop at the vineyard.

In the afternoon, we had a quick stop at the “Basilique Saint-Michel”, which is located at a very colourful neighbourhood. The basilica has a very sharp and high tower which you can climb. I’d loved to do this but unfortunately we didn’t have the time. We had to leave Bordeaux in time to reach our next destination.

I’m really looking forward to discover the other cities of France!

Lots of love

Lieze