Sabine.se - Roadtrip June - August 2017

First stop in Moulins. Late check in at the Hotel de Paris where we spent a comforable night in their cosy beds.
Early next morning I discovered their Cathedral and then we were on the road again.

Next stop was in Saint Malo were we stayed at the very nice Hotel Alexandra

from where you have immediate access to the Grande Plage de Sillon

it was windy and a bit chilly

on our way to the walled port city Saint Malo

The beach is spiked with tree trunks to form natural water breakers

A windy walk along the Dyke or if you prefer to call it Plage du Sillon

to the fortified city Intramuros

on the way back we stopped at the La Brasserie du Sillon

Here we had a delicious risotto with lobster and some very aged Armagnac

Next day we continued to Mont San Michel

We took the horse-drawn carriage "la Maringote" which is much nicer than the bus

Mont San Michel here we come!

After check in at the Auberge St Pierre we went for a walk

Lunch at the La Croix Blanche - delicious

After lunch we continued to explore Mont San Michel

The new bridge linking the island to the mainland is 762 metres long.

Mont San Michel is visited by more than 3 million people each year!

Mont San Michel is famous for its tides.

Rush hour is over, the streets were not filled with tourists anymore

The famous Madame Poulard preparing her omelette

From Mont San Michel we drove to Cherbourg to take the ferry over to Rosslare. Is this the way to the harbour?

On board the Oscar Wilde in our luxury suite

Irish Ferries entertained us with a wild and crazy show during the crossing to Rosslare

After 1,5 hrs drive from Rosslare we arrived in Kilkenny and checked in at the Hibernian Hotel

Of course we had to inspect the castle

The Long Gallery with its beautiful hammerbeam roof impressed me the most

and secondly it was the well kept nursery room

or the Victorian kitchen where today there is a Tea room which serves tasty cookies

Me in front of the fountain in the rose garden of Kilkenny Castle

after the castle tour we went to the Smithwick´s brewery

were we joined a guided tour and tasting - really interesting and very good beer!

After the tour we went to the Cathedral St Canice which is famous for its unique tombstones
carved by the local stone masters The O´Tooneys

like this one of Piers Butler 8th. Earl of Ossory and Margaret Fitzerald who died in 1539 and 1542

Of course I had to go up in one of the only two round towers in Ireland that people may climb

The tower is 30 metres high, tapering from 4.5 to 3.3 metres in diameter

and the top is reached via a series of internal ladders comprising seven floors and 121 steps in total

If you want a taste of Kilkenny's pub history go to Tynan´s Bridge House Bar

16th of June - arrival in Dublin visiting Rose and Aiden

who took us to marvellous places - first Dollymount Beach from where we went and had

a delicious lunch at the Fishbone Restaurant after that we took a walk to Bulls Island and on our way back

we passed this amazing chainsawed tree sculpture created by Tommy Cragg out of a sick Monterey Cypress

In the evening we went to Vicar Street and enjoyed a wonderful concert performed by Jackson Brown

After a wonderful day with lots of walking we went to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre to enjoy Evita

which we did not appreciate so we escaped after the first act

and instead enjoyed ourselves by taking photos

of each other

On the 18th of June the weather was perfect for a cliff walk

on our way to

The Fingal Way

for a long walk along the cliffs

it is absolutely beautiful

Nice car!

Lunch at King Sitric Restaurant´s East Cafe Bar

Afternoon Folk Session with a pint at the O´Connells

another pint in another beer garden...

and finally we found our way home for Rose´s delicious food - cheers!

Next day - Shaving at the Knights of the Green

Unforgettable lunch at the Rustic Stone

afterwards a visit to the Gin Palace!

some sightseeing

The Chapel Royal and the Record Tower

King Brian Bory and Saint Patrick watching every movements outside the premises

some good wine at the Bull & Castle where they also serve

Dublin´s best F.X. Buckley steaks

Incredible! Serving the poor of Dublin and still serving - Dublin´s oldest charity

In the 18th century Temple Bar was the centre of prostitution in Dublin

He sang "Red is the Rose" for us

Supper with Connor

St Annes Rose Garden

Short and long...

Bye, bye Ireland

Boring crossing from Dublin to Holyhead

Crossing the Britannia Bridge

to go to LLandudno and meet the Mad Hatter

They have a nice kept Victorian pier

The long promenade along side the beautiful beach

We stayed at the Imperial Hotel - Perfect!

A last early morning walk in Llandudno discussing where the North is

On our way to Tetbury

A nice early morning walk in Preston Park

I was a bit nervous about this sign but the cattle were calm

and did not look like on the sign...

A nice walk from Tetbury to Cotswold for a beer at the Cat & Custard Pot

before we headed back to Tetbury through Cotswold

a stoned goat

a talk with Peter

a talk with Pernille about Max having fun in the water

and the sceptical Sam

famous still happy cookies from Tetbury

Nice car in front of Tetbury´s shopping mall

We left Tetbury and drove off to Bath

To prevent the history of the telephone boot to disappear - plant them with flowers

We went to the Roman Bath

and then to the Gainsborough Bath & Spa to treat ourselves! LOVELY

Next day off to

Stonehenge

a monument with no real explanation why it looks like it does

We were exhausted with three weeks on the road so we directly drove to Dover, took a ferry over to
Calais, spent one night in a small French village and then drove non-stop to Helsingborg