Tuesday, September 15, 2015

European Heritage Days September 19-20th, 2015

Each year, many listed and interesting buildings are opened to the public as part of the European Heritage Days or Journée du Patrimoine.  The dates for 2015 are the 19th and 20th of September and the national theme is "The heritage of the 20st century, the history of the future".



On September 19th and 20th more than 17,000 monuments all over the country will open their doors free of charge and offer different types of animations to entertain and educate the general public.  You can obtain details of specific events on your area on your local newspaper and tourist office.

As a family, we usually take advantage of these Journées du Patrimoine to visit the sites in our area.  Through the years, we have visited many sites and there are still many others that we haven't had the time yet to visit.  Most of the time we have been pleasantly surprised at our findings like when we visited Chateau Guillaume a magnificent castle in the near town of Lignac.  Other times, to be truthful, we were less than happy with the place we visited as it was either too small, uninteresting or just not welcoming.  Overall, I can say that this initiative to open monuments free of charge to the general public is fantastic.  We always wait eagerly for the next Journée du Patrimoine.

Chateau Guillaume

If you happen to be in Paris this weekend, for the Heritage Days, Paris’ City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) will exceptionally open its doors to the public. A chance to discover this building and have a look at the mayor’s office for free!







Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Hendaye To Hondarribia Maritime Shuttle



After a week in the French side of the Basque Country I feel renewed.
The Basque country is a place close to my heart, as my ancestors came from there.  For the past few years, I have been taking at least a week a year to visit this wonderful land where you can always find something fun to do regardless of the weather.  And if you are feeling lazy, well, there is no problem neither, why not enjoy a short boat trip and go to the Spanish side of the Basque Country for a tapas dinner and some lazing around.  The trip only costs 1 euro 80 cents per person and lasts about 5 minutes.  During the summer the service is available every 15 minutes until 1am.  So, there is no excuse to skip a trip to the Spanish side to visit the beautiful town of Hondarribia -also known as Fuenterrabía by the Spanish.

Hondarribia / Fuenterrabia seen from Hendaye in France.  

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Life On the Farm. Are we friends yet?






Ok, so I am slowly overcoming my fears and now I am trying to befriend one of our cows!!!!

I am not sure who was more nervous, her or me...  My biggest concern is that she might take a bad turn and kick me.  It doesn't happen very often -usually only if you annoy them- but they are sooo big that I am still very worried.