From chilly Normandy to the sun and sand of Corsica, I’ve had a great time exploring France. But after a relaxing break it’s time to return to Ukraine.
Mont-Saint-Michel, topped with an imposing Benedictine Abbey, is found in a bay split between the regions of Normandy and Brittany. So the story goes, the Archangel Michael put the hard word on a local bishop to build a church on the island. Needless to say, the bishop got right to it.
This amazing 15th century structure is a pigeonnier, or pigeon house, in the grounds of the Epoisses Chateau in Burgundy. The ladder is connected to a central pivoting pole, which can be rotated to allow access to any of the 3000 nesting boxes. Over the years I reckon the local kids must have snuck in a few times to swing around on the ladder at terminal velocity, thereby scaring the pigeons half way across Europe.
Every 25th April, ANZAC Day, the people of Villers-Bretonneux, Hauts-de-France, decorate their homes to remember the Australian troops who liberated their village in 1918.
With the Ukrainian counter-offensive underway, and the unconscionable destruction of the Nova Khakhovka Dam by Russia, there is plenty of humanitarian work to be done.
The east coast of Corsica is spectacular. Come to think of it, all of Corsica is spectacular.
Ajaccio on Corsica’s west coast is a top place for a bit of off-the-beach cat sailing
I’ll let you know how I get on, but ’til then, bear in mind this old French proverb:
