What a welcome!

Schloss Eisenbach in winter.

They’re going south while we’re going north. Who has more sense?

Altenschlirf

Yes, they built the European Parliament building in the back garden of this little house.

It’s bigger than it looks.

No Union Jack!

Everyone’s in Brussels today.

This was the first MEP we randomly looked at with our free electronic finger pens, Nico Semsrott

In the old town.

An old role model.

Alain Séchas spider aka “The rich make their comeback”. Nice hat.

Use the building as your canvas.

By Ed Paschke.

Window made in Strasbourg.

COVID mask Carmen

https://www.operanationaldurhin.eu/en/spectacles/saison-2021-2022/opera/carmen

 

Even the singers wore masks, except Carmen.

https://www.camping-strasbourg.com/en/ – In the car park as the site was full.

Strasbourg celebrates its Christmasyness!

https://museedelimage.fr/

Here are a few things that took my fancy.

What to do on a rainy Sunday? Have a lie in and go to the art gallery.

But only after Gerhild ordered a Volkswagen Flammkuchen.

 

This Bill Viola video reminded us of the weather outside…

Looking out of the window at breakfast.

A village boulangerie looks promising.

Mmmmmmm. Who cares about the rain.

Besançon looks great.

Excellent aire pour camping car right next to the river and close to the old centre.

Don‘t want chewing gum on the floor? Hang up some funky picture and invite the chewers to become stickers.

https://www.leconsortium.fr/en/boilly

Great exhibition by Nicolas Party, reflecting on the work of Louis Léopold Boilly

A huge, expressionless blue head against a background of Boilly caricatures copied directly onto the wall.

Friendly guy explaining the work for us.

The original by Boilly. He‘s supposed to be the one who is smiling.

This looks like someone being inoculated, discreetly covered by a spiky tree picture. Very COVID!

.

Interesting work by Genesis Belanger.

Basilique Cathédrale Saint-Croix d‘Orléans was often visited by Joan of Arc while Orléans was under siege by the English in 1428.

Those were the days, when people thought their business would last as long as the building.

Someone has been playing with the street names here.

.

.

.

.

.

Beautiful start to the day in Piré sur Seiche.

Free parking spot in the village for the camper with option to empty the loo & fill up with water.

Free parking spot in Orléans, next to the Loire.

Château des Pères website

No, not a docking station for flying saucers, this will be a hotel.

This guy‘s in a real tizz.

The Improbable Couple by Lisa Vanho.

A Breton fool‘s head, by Michadu.

This poor penguin was frozen solid, so Gerhild lent her a scarf.

Kim decided that he‘d better not mess with this one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont-Saint-Michel

The push-me, pull-you bus that has a driver’s cab at both ends!

Pottering along the village street, up towards the abbey.

Tide‘s still out.

The château website.

The château’s mysterious guardian.

Her strange sister? (Beatrice Coron)

Wearing a hat worthy of Marie Antoinette.

The château.

The view.

Where does this go to?

Ever had that feeling that you’re being watched?

No, I‘m not imagining it!

Willow ready to harvest soon.

A great place to visit!

Delicious meal at La Maison Bleue. Cod with a chocolate sauce.

Tréguier

Something fishy going on here.

What can we buy here?

Bandes dessinées.

.

Welcome to Château de Kerguéhennec.

The kitchen needs a bit of work.

Beautiful day for a walk around the sculpture park.

Not forgetting the lake.

Fantastic bears holding up the world.

Work this one out!

On the way back to the camper.

In our 5-star camp site you can even stay in a Château.

Or by the river Erdre.

Or in the Théâtre Graslin.

And there’s a peaceful riverside walk which starts very close to the campsite.

There’s a bitter wind blowing today.

Best to be indoors, in the old biscuit factory, to see how people once imagined the future would look. https://www.sens-fiction.org/

The original caption read “Your personal flying carpet. Step into it, press a button, and off you go to market, to a friend’s home, or to your job. Take off and land anywhere, no parking problems. Plug in to any electric outlet for recharging. They’re working on it.”

This one is a bit older, but closer to the mark.

Groovy tram stops here.

Nantes is very bicycle-friendly.

5 star campsite in Nantes. https://www.nantes-camping.fr/en/

Pretty, autumnal colours in the Jardin today, but who’s that behind the bushes?

Lying down on the job!

Must be related to the first one.

Perhaps it’s a hippy family?

At least this one’s working hard.

Will you look at that sun, so late in the year.

Taking a cool dip is so relaxing.

The artist’s website.

Brrr, it’s cold today.

Have to wrap up warm for some sightseeing in the harbour.

A great sculpture, hidden behind a wall.

There’s a little video too on the artist’s web site.

Delivering urgent messages pre-Internet.

Tide’s out.

Lighthouse.

The Automaton Museum in La Rochelle.

Today we visited Chateau d’Arsac With its combination of wine and art.

Plenty of space for our camper.

Absolutely enormous vineyards.

Kim had better watch out that this owl doesn’t fly away with him.

Stilthouse by Anne Quinze.

Crooked by Bernard Pagès.

No, Kim hasn’t been painting stones again, this is Chaos by Thomas Ryse.

Climax by Laurent Cerciat.

Gerhild is definitely for team red, not team blue.

A real friend for the birds – Bird’s Fountain by Jean-Michel Folon.

Oh yes, the wine too.

Grocer’s shop selling local food, specifying how far away each farmer is, in km. There’s a map in case your geography is a bit rusty.

This fellow doesn’t look like he walked far.

Here they use an entertaining word for 2nd hand clothing – friperie.

.

.

.

.

.

Wine is BIG in Bordeaux.

They like BIG here.

Not only does UNESCO like the building, this wisteria is „un arbre particulier“. Nice that the plants get a look-in too.

Bordeaux cityscape.

Autumnal Bordeaux.

Gerhild and her frippery trophies.

The Monument aux Girondists in the Place des Quinconces Is the first thing that grabs your attention when you get off of the tram.

Even with the water turned off for the winter, it’s very spectacular.

There’s plenty to laugh at.

Delicious cake and tea in Café Miremont.

Bordeaux is quite a beautiful place. We may have stay a while to see more of it.

https://www.yellohvillage.fr/camping/bordeaux_lac Attractive campsite at the periphery of Bordeaux.

Today we popped into Museo Chillida Leku

And who is Eduardo Chillida I hear you ask.

He’s the sculptor who decorated the garden in front of the Kanzleramt in Berlin.

He rescued a decrepit 16th century farmhouse to make it into a gallery. Nice wooden beams.

A huge piece of alabaster.

Quick trip to San Sebastián’s beach with cava and tapas on the way home.

https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en

Gerhild has no problems getting past this guard dog.

Look at those curves – and Anish Kapoor’s pile of balls.

Huh! Even more curves, courtesy of Richard Serra.

Delicious Pintxos and cava for lunch.

The Guggenheim is giving the girls a go. This is Georgiana Houghton’s curvy work from the 1860s. Victorian psychedelia!

This girl, Alexandra Exter, designed the costumes for a Russian science-fiction film Aelita, queen of Mars 1924 (Youtube)

Costume design for the theatre.

Nice work by a group of aboriginal women.

Some flowers for the girls – better late than never.

 
We popped into Azkuna Zentroa with its 43 different ways to hold the roof up. (All 43)

 
There was a small art exhibition too from an artists’ residency in Rome.

 

Even a nice frock for Gerhild

This in Bilbao.

So is this.

Rioja vineyards in November. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rioja_(wine)

The campsite in Bilbao has quite a view over the city. Camp site web site

Bilbao by night.

http://www.emoz.es/language/en/

In the Origami Museum in Zaragoza.

And then, in the basement Tweemuizen

 

Video chat between Zaragoza and London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaragoza

Amazing being greeted by these towers as you drive into the city.

A wine „cathedral“ by a Gaudi pupil in Falset.

You have to love their advertising for wine.

Now, can we fit a barrel in the back of the camper?

No, not a petrol pump, a little wine to taste in Celler Masroig.

The quick wine tasting.

The in-depth wine tasting.

Bye bye Mediterranean.

What are they looking at here in Tarragona?

A bronze Castell

Parking for the night in Falset, behind the sports centre.

Breakfast by the beach.

A happy girl and her dad.

Returning to the campers.

Bye bye beach.

A visitor this morning.

Kim tries to halt the waves, just like King Canute.

The waves won and Kim had to run for it – just like Canute.

Waves don‘t bother Gerhild.

Kim builds up his strength for the return trip along the beach.

Guaranteed to fly.

No, not THAT Miami.

Beach heffalump.

Paddling in the Med on the 4th November.

The stone family comes to life.

Grandpa is dragged along for a walk.

He took it in good humour.

Now parked side by side with the Reservation Natural Llaberia so clear in the distance.

Windy today.

Beautiful walk along the beach to the Ginger Café On Miami Beach for a delicious afternoon lunch.

Framed!

The sun‘s setting – time to head for home.