Afternoon of Day 7 of our family holiday to Pas de Calais, France.

Well after our photo session around the church and castle in Arques I posted about yesterday we decided that we would spend the afternoon on a river cruise.

We joined a river excursion around the Saint-Omer marshes in the Audomarois  region. The region boasts 160 kilometres of rivers covering 3400 hectares.

The boat left from the wharf  joining Au Bon Accueil a restaurant near the village of Salperwick  near Saint-Omer in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

The boat we had was a long open-topped river cruiser, with big picture windows through which to view the scenery.

I managed to get a seat at the very front of the boat thus enabling me to take some photos straight forward without any glass in the way.

The views as we journeyed around the waterways were quite stunning.

The banks were lined with birds�

fishermen�.

and immaculately presented homes and gardens.

Some of the homes were obviously only holiday homes, though from the looks of this garden they must spend a lot of time here.

Other property along the banks were more like garden summer houses a place to stay whilst fishing the river, from the looks of the keep net on the right of the photograph.

Other homes along the banks were much more substantial. A commonality between them all though was that they all had a waterside letterbox.

Obviously the postman for these home-owners delivers their post by boat.

It had been a great cruise, the weather was great the view superb and the company brilliant. A perfect way to spend an afternoon. Oh and I got to take lots of pictures too gets even better.

Although the commentary for the cruise had only been in French, and my French is terrible at best, that didn�t detract from the enjoyment of the excursion around the waterways of Pas de Calais.

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Day 7 of our family holiday to Pas de Calais, France.

Day 7 of our holiday  in Pas de Calais, France and we were still having breakfasts bought from the local boulangerie, lots of croissants and pain au chocolate yummy!

The morning broke bright and sunny, lots of beautiful blue skies, perfect weather for exploring and taking pictures.

So whilst some of the family went swimming my eldest daughter and I went down into Arques for another look around and a quick photo session. Our main area that we wanted to visit, was the beautiful white church we had been passing each time we drove into Arques.

Its bright white limestone facade shone in the morning sunshine.

Unusually inside had been painted in quite a modern style with bright colours and crisp paintwork, it looked really good and inviting. 

Miniature relief carvings of scenes from the bible were interspersed around the walls of the church.

The church organ, although not as large a scale as the on in Saint-Omer�s cathedral, was still impressive, filling the rear wall of the nave.

Coming back outside we walked out of the church yard and across the road to take pictures of the neighbouring Arques castle.

The castles origins are said to date back to the roman times, though much demolition and reconstruction has been done since then leaving little if not nothing of the original. It is still quite a striking building standing at the end of the high street with its large octagonal tower.

Arques is quite a pretty place to visit. They have flower displays everywhere and the streets always seemed clean and tidy.

Even the white paint on the little bridges seemed bright and fresh.

Come back tomorrow and we will go on our afternoons adventure a beautiful river cruise.

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Afternoon of Day 6 of our family holiday in Pas de Calais, France.

Continuing on from my Day 6 post, where we visited the abbey and windmill near Watten in Pas de Calais France on the morning of day 6, we drove south from Watten to visit the town of Saint-Omer.

Situated in the Pas de Calais region of France, Saint-Omer is named after Saint Audomar who first bought Christianity to the area.

The Town hall is situated in a large square and is home to a theatre, picture gallery and record collection. The square is surrounded by cafe�s and bars, it was in one of these we stopped for a very enjoyable lunch. We were persuaded by the girls to follow this lunch with cakes from the local boulangerie, also to be found on the square.

Picture courtesy of  Wikimedia Commons.

The main landmark feature in the town though is not its town hall and square but its cathedral.

The Notre Dame cathedral (cathedral of Our Lady) is a classic example of gothic architecture of the 13th, 14th and early 15th centuries.

Built from local limestone the building shines in the sunlight.

The inside of the cathedral is just as stunning as the exterior.

The nave above, and the beautiful arches forming a gracious aisle down the edge of the cathedral interior.

The high Clerestory windows were all beautiful stained glass.

As were all the windows and they were quite exquisite.

Everywhere we looked care and attention had been put into the construction of the building. A marvel when you think that they had no mechanical machines to help them construct it, just master craftsmen and a lot of hard work. The detail was evident in everything including the myriad of carvings all around the building�.

on door panels and indeed on the whole of the pulpit.

 

The piece de resistance of the cathedral though must be the ornate organ.

 

It stands floor to ceiling, intricately carved with gold and coloured inlays. Truly a work of art I�m sure you will agree.

It had been a really nice day out, exploring the surrounding towns and villages and seeing what they had to offer.

We rounded the day off back at the cottage, with a couple of family games and a DVD, Avatar I think It was. A really great film at the end of a really great day.

 

 

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Day 6 of our family holiday to Pas de Calais, France.

Day 6 of our holiday broke bright and sunny. We hadn�t planned anywhere particularly to visit today, we thought we would just go out in the car and see where we got to. Looking on the map there seemed to be a ruin of an abbey near the village of Watten situated a little north of Saint-Omer, so we thought that sounded a good starting point.

When we arrived at Watten we called in at a little tourist information office in the village and found there was a windmill nearby too. So, back in the car and up the hill to the abbey first. Typically the ruins are now closed to the public and mostly hidden from view behind a high stone wall and mature trees.

This was the best photo from our viewpoint that I could get. The original abbey was built in the 11th century. Evidently today only the tower remains of the original abbey, the rest having been demolished and sold during the French revolution. The tower was left as a navigational aid for sailors. I hope they had a better view of it than we did.

The windmill was much nicer and just down the hill from the Abbey.

We decided to stop and relax by the windmill. The girls went off to explore, Mel and her mum found a bench in the sunshine and I went for a look around with my Canon camera.

It gave me chance for a few artistic shots of the windmill.

 

The  windmill was built from the reclaimed stone of the abbey and is still in working order, although it is only open on Sunday�s, so we weren�t able to view the inside.

Above is the working mechanism that allows the top of the windmill and sails to be turned to face the wind.

The views from the hill on which the windmill stands are fantastic, although it was a little hazy on the day we were there.

It was whilst we were here, that I found the frog in the grass that I showed you last week, as part of the macro header post.

Here's another view of him.

The afternoon was spent looking around Saint-Omer. I will show you more of that in tomorrows blog post.

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Day 5 of our family holiday to Pas de Calais, France.

Day 5 of our holiday, and the swimming pool at our little cottage is still in high demand. Our daughters are still going swimming before breakfast and they are loving it, which is why we chose this particular cottage. Personally rather them than me, too much energy needed at that time of the morning, especially when on holiday.

We decided that today we would venture across to Boulogne, on the northern coast of France. Boulogne is only 25 miles across the English channel to Dover.  When we got there I was surprised to find that the white cliffs of Dover were clearly visible from the seafront.

We had found, whilst looking in some tourist brochures left in our cottage for us, that there is a Sea world museum called Nausicaa in Boulogne, so we thought we would give it a visit.

Unfortunately it�s not cheap, but, it is big. You will need at least 3hrs to go around it all and that doesn�t count stopping in the restaurant or the gift shop.

Nausicaa sets out to explore all aspects of the sea. Its aim is to educate about the creatures that live in it�

and those who rely on it, to survive.

The exhibits are wide ranging and of course that meant I took a lot of pictures, oh well good job its a digital camera.

Some fish seemed curious�

others pretty.

I even found Nemo�

and friend.

There were lots of these�

I wouldn�t want to mess with them.

There were tanks were you could stroke the inhabitants though, in the form of various types of rays, they felt very velvety.

There was lots to see and do including hands on exhibits showing what man is doing to the ocean, both to care for it and shamefully, to destroy it. There was instruction on how we can save the oceans and the creatures that live in it and depend on it for their survival.

Coming back out there was just enough time for the girls to play on the beach whilst others of us rested in the sunshine.

Boulogne had been a great day out, all the family enjoyed it, even the mother in law.

Come on you knew camera shy or not, I was going to get a photo of you up here one of these days.

Come back tomorrow for more fun from France.

You can also click on the Camera Critters banner to link to more pictures of Critters caught on camera from around the world.

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Day 4 of our family holiday to Pas de Calais, France.

Well after all the rushing about on the third day of our holiday, when we explored Ypres, we thought we would have a quieter day next. So our fourth day in the Pas de Calais region of France was a more leisurely day, spent around the cottage and exploring the town of Arques, in which we were staying.

So after our now regular breakfast of pain au chocolat�s and croissants bought fresh from the local boulangerie, Mel and her mum went for a walk into town, whilst the girls went for a dip in the pool and I relaxed in the sunshine, in our little secluded garden area, with a good book.

We all decided to go back out after lunch, as we were running low on food and needed to drop in at the supermarket in the town. So we took the car, parked up in the supermarket car park, and walked over the bridge into the town centre.

Now Arques isn�t very big and when I say town centre that may be somewhat of an exaggeration. It does however have a market square and town hall but not a lot else.

There are a few shops lining the main street but not many. To do more shopping you need to go to the neighbouring town of Saint-Omer.

Through the middle of Arques runs a lovely picturesque river called the Aa (yes that is the correct spelling).

From this waterway leads a canal lift that used to lift boats from the lower level of the river Aa up to the Neuffoss�e canal.

This lift built in 1888 moved the barges the 13.13 meters between the two waterways removing the need for the 5 earlier locks built in the 18th century. It remained in use for 80 years before being replaced by a large gauge lock further upstream. It now only operates as a working museum.

It had been a restful day but still enjoyable, getting to know a little bit more about the place we were staying in.

_____________________________________________

Moving from the holiday to the present we have just been out to an evening of Celebration and Achievement for Sport, Drama and Music laid on by our daughters school.

Keziah our eldest daughter was being awarded a Silver Achievement Award for her contributions to school choir and Billy Elliot where she played Billy's brother Tony.

I�m sure you would join me in saying well done Kez we are proud of you.

Results are in for this weeks header challenge and this weeks winner is Tom-fishing Guy with me getting the Silver, thanks everyone. If you haven�t already looked at the other entrants then why not follow the links at the top of the right column.

Don�t forget to pop back tomorrow for the continuing journey around Pas de Calais, France.

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Day 3 of our family holiday to Pas de Calais, France.

 

Well day 3 of our holiday has arrived. The girls were up early, 07:30 just so they could go out and get us all fresh croissants and pain au chocolat from the local boulongerie. All I had to do was leave the money out for them and wait for the call for breakfast, can�t be bad.

Well following breakfast our eldest daughter Keziah chose our day trip today, we are going to visit Ypres just across the border into Belgium. She had been there before as part of a school trip and loved it so much, she wanted to show the whole family.

We decided to stop on route at an Abbey that was said to have spectacular views looking down across the valley from where it stood.

Its true it did, although the weather was a little overcast to show the scene off at its best. It did however give me a chance to try out my new lens again.

In the group of cows you can just see at the right of the above photograph was a lone horse.

I couldn�t get him to smile for the camera but then he probably didn't know I was there at the top of the hill photographing him.

The Mounts de Cats abbey is near the town of Godewaersvelde in the Flanders region of France. The monastery founded in 1650 by the Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony, although it is now run by Trappists monks known in the region for their cheese making.

Unfortunately we had arrived on a morning when the monastery was closed to the public. We could have waited until the afternoon to visit but that would mean missing out on our visit to Ypres. So we had an early lunch looking out across the valley, before heading across the border into Belgium.

Upon arriving in Ypres (sometimes spelt Ieper) you can�t help but marvel at the Cloth Hall that dominates the � rote Markt� Town square.

The Cloth Hall that stands today is a complete replica of the original 13th century building, known to be one of the largest commercial buildings of the middle ages. This replica was built following the complete destruction of the original building by Artillery fire during the First world war, where all of Ypres was flattened to the ground.

The Cloth hall is now home to the �In Flanders Fields Museum� of which the entrance is in the above photo. We will leave the inside of the museum to another post.

Looking around the square there was lots of restaurants or Brasseries with their colourful awnings and outdoor seating areas.

There was so many of them we just had to stop for afternoon coffee!

The Brasserie we visited had these great ceiling decorations.

Looking out across the square whilst we enjoyed our drinks, I was amazed to think that everything you could see had only been built since the end of the first world war.

The architecture looked so much older.

But then I suppose that was the idea.

There is a wonderful fountain so I just had to try and get my daughters wet�

Well as we were in Belgium and they are famous for� �chocolate� we thought we had better find some.

It wasn�t hard, there are a number of chocolate shops around the town centre.

Well upon entering the shop and seeing the large display of chocolate before us�

and with having a family who all seem to appreciate good chocolate, we left the shop considerably lighter in the wallet and probably a few pounds heavier.

One of the events Ypres is famous for is the Last Post played by the Ypres fire brigade every night under the Menin Gate.

The Menin Gate was constructed in 1927 and designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. It stands as a memorial to all those who fell, officers and soldiers, of the commonwealth forces, who died in the Ypres Salient area and who have no known graves, between 1914 and 15th August, 1917.

The Menin gate as you can see is a main thoroughfare into the centre of Ypres, but even so, every night no matter the weather, the road is closed at 8pm and the last post is sounded by the men of the Ypres Fire brigade.

They sound it as a mark of honour to all those from around the world who lost their lives in defence of the town.

A poignant ceremony follows including the laying of poppy wreaths in remembrance to those fallen.

Our day in Ypres draws to a close with lots to think about and many happy memories.

Tomorrow on my blog is header challenge with this weeks theme being �Macro� chosen by imac so I will return to France after that, but still come and see me and my fellow headbangers, imac, Tom-fishing guy, Gailsman and Lanny attempt to create a header and post on the theme macro.

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