I'm sorry for this long break in my story but it hasn't been much to tell lately. 

We left Mom's favorite island because of the strong wind and the changes and Mom was terrified driving over the long (6km) bridge to the mainland because of the wind that grabbed on to Lucy and pushed her all over the place.

We made it and went to Mom's puppy friend Lotta's house again and now we have been doing nothing to tell about for several days

Doing nothing like running in the woods and running on big fields is as far as I'm concerned the best "doing nothing" activities I know

One day we went to a fair and to Mom's surprise, they were not much different from the ones in America. Mom bought a homemade rag rug that may be unique to the states.

Then they ate potato pancakes with bacon and that was scrumptious (the bacon) Lotta don't eat the fat part of the bacon, so I say lucky me.

Mom sits around and doodles pictures from her memory

and we eat and drink, and drink and eat 

Mom picked a lot of little rocks at the beach and turned them all into ladybugs.

early mornings are magical here

we are parked by a historical narrow-gauge railway that's 71 km long, and only 891 mm. broad; it stretches from the forests of Småland in the west, past lakes, through small communities and agricultural areas out to the archipelago in the east. Along this line, trains have been running ever since 1879, despite many attempts to close it. Now, thanks to the determined efforts of residents and enthusiasts alike, the line is saved and is today regarded as one of Sweden’s top-10 industrial heritage artifacts.

Mom borrowed this picture from the web since hers was in the wrong format to upload?????

there are two cats living here too. The big boy is Elvis and he does not want to come close to me, but his Mom Selma is very curious about me and does not mind me checking her out but she will not cuddle like my Lilly.

Every day the folks play cards and eat and drink and eat and drink.

Maybe tomorrow we'll drive off for a new adventure as we are now well rested and fed.

It's much cooler now only in the 60ies but it's ok since that makes for great sleeping weather.

Mom is still disappointed about not getting to Barcelona as planned but from what we read in the news we should be grateful for not being there now. heat, draught, and fires is not fun

All is well here and I'm sending wet kisses to ya all

Henry

.

Heading to the German port of Travemunde, Mom totally miscalculated the time it'll take to get there, and she got tired so we looked for a place to park for the night.

We found an ok stop and there was this pizzeria close by so we went there for a bite. Mom ordered a Gyro............but what she got was this?  thinking it must be a language mixup she used the translate app. and was told

"Ja das ist eine Gyro". it tasted ok but was no Gyro for sure.

Europe has billions of roundabouts and many towns like to put some art in the middle often to represent the town in some way. This looks like something from space and Mom said she would love to have one in our garden ( A letter from HOA would be a sure thing)..............maybe it's a moonshine appliance.

We stayed two nights in Travemunde where the ferry would leave from and there was a fair at the dock so we went there for supper. Mom ordered fish and of course a beer.

The seagulls are enormous and very pushy begging for food. Mom doesn't mind them and even shared a few pieces of her fish but I could tell other guests weren't happy about it.

We walked up and down the dock a few times but knowing we had to get up early for the ferry we didn't stay out late.

Mom is never up late, but always up way before the rooster.

Our neighbor at the parking was a real snotty girl that snarled at me the minute she saw me. What did I do to deserve that?  All I wanted was little whiff off her butt, but nooooo

.

We got on the ferry at 9.30 am and this time Mom made a note of exactly where on the ship we parked. ( I don't think I told you, but last time Mom lost Lucy on the ship and had to get help to find her) 

When we got up five flights there was no place to sit in the dog area, and the cabins were $65 extra. 

As we were walking around the crew said we could sit anywhere we can find a seat don't worry about dog restrictions.

So I quickly looked around and, here's a spot I said and jumped up with a lady that was eating a waffle.

It turned out that this lady was extremely afraid of dogs, so as Mom is trying to apologize and remove me I had already charmed this lady into loving me. The lady showed a large scar on her knee from a dog attack in her youth. She took pictures and sent them to her family and they were all surprised that she petted a dog.

We became close buddies............

And I slept with her husband.

Ferry arrived in Sweden at 530 pm so we said goodbye to everyone and continued on our drive north.

We're back in Sweden and now Mom's beer sampling has turned into this. I don't know about that white stuff, but the cinnamon buns are ok

Again Mom had a place in mind for us to visit which was about a six-hour drive to get to which meant we again slept at a rest stop. A very quiet and peaceful place I may add.

Öland is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 square kilometers and is located in the Baltic Sea. The island has 26,000 inhabitants. It is separated from the mainland by the Kalmar Strait and connected to it by the 6-km Öland Bridge, which opened on 30 September 1972.

Mom has been here every year except the last three (because of Covid)since she bought Lucy and was really looking forward to first washing her at that place with a high enough roof and then seeing the people at the small marina on the southern tip of the island.

DISAPPOINTED is the word.

the small familiar place is gone, instead, a new gravel space has been built for RVers and the cozy home feeling is gone. You can't even see the ocean from your window anymore .............

Mom had planned to stay here several nights like always but I'm pretty sure that changed now.

Walking on the beach it was so windy I could hardly walk because the wind was pushing me in all different directions.

Mom was laughing as I'm laying down holding on the rocks with everything I got 

The old mill where we get "fika" is still here 

I'm not sure where we'll go in the morning, but I'm pretty sure we aren't staying here, not even sure we'll stay on the island.

To me, it doesn't matter but I can tell Mom is glad to be back on smooth roads, that are smooth even in places where the asphalt is patched. Less traffic and no more grey stone houses with windows boarded up.

Mom used to complain about how dirty her puppy country has become but in comparison to where we have been Sweden is still super clean.

It's 9pm and time for my evening walk and then I'm pretty sure it's bedtime.

All is good

Wet kisses for ya all 

Henry

We are in Travemunde now getting ready to take the ferry to Sweden on Monday. As usual, we started early because Mom knows how the RV parking places get filled up very early, so to ensure we'll get a spot we were going to be there at 10.30 am. 

Did not happen, we were stuck in traffic around Hamburg for almost 4 hours so when we arrived all places were taken.

The parking lot next to it is also crowded but Mom squeezed Lucy into a spot and hopefully, we'll get a real space in the morning.

It has been raining all night and on most of our drive but now it's sunny and hot again. Mom is longing to get back to Sweden because we're out of lingonberries and her favorite cheese.

Yesterday's adventure in Kassel was something else, I'm surprised Mom made it out of bed..................

we went to see the Wilhelmsmöe castle and the "waterkuenste" which is an astonishing feat of hydraulic engineering, with Hercules watching from the top.

The first part walking from the parking lot to the castle was nice, with big trees but the grass is in much need of water.

Nice flower arrangements here and there

 Beginning in the 12th century the site was used as a monastery. Under Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse 1504-1567 it was secularised and used as a castle. This castle was replaced by a new one from 1606 to 1610 by Landgrave Moritz. The current Neoclassical Schloss Wilhelmshöhe was designed by architects Simon Louis du Ry and Heinrich Christoph Jussow from 1786 to 1798 for Landgrave William IX of Hesse.

From 1899 to 1918, Wilhelmshöhe was the summer residence of the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1918, after the armistice ended World War I, the Oberste Heeresleitung, the High Command of the German Army under Paul von Hindenburg was moved here from Spa (Belgium) to organize and lead the withdrawal and demobilization of the German troops. It remained at Wilhelmshöhe until February 1919, when it moved to Kolberg. 

The middle tract of the castle was mostly destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. The first reconstruction was made in 1968-1974 by the functionalist architect Paul Friedrich Posenenske. He completely reconstructed the exterior but changed the structure of the interior for its new function as an art museum. From 1994 to 2000 another renovation was made to bring it closer to the original structure. One wing was covered in scaffold so repairs are still going on.

the plan is to go up there to see Hercules....................that green thing on top...........

off we go through a magnificent park on a steep hill. 

The layout was devised at the end of the 17th century by Landgrave Carl (1677–1730), who in 1701 commissioned the Italian architect and water engineer Giovanni Francesco Guerriero (1665–1745) to refine and implement the design. Guerriero remained in charge of the project up to its completion in 1717. The Hercules statue was created by Augsburg goldsmith Johann Jacob Anthon, one of the earliest copper-wrought monumental statues in the world

To Landgrave, the structure represented the triumph of art over nature and the omnipotence of human ingenuity. Hercules is the mythological paragon of strength, courage, and resourcefulness. Consequently, the entire layout consisting of the Hercules Monument, the grottoes at its foot, and the water features are a perfect example of a Baroque »architecture of power«. This show of strength by a ruling prince, which is also reflected in the monumental layout of the park, is unique in the world.

this is too pretty to be called "the devil's bridge"  an arched pedestrian bridge that was built in 1826. Its name comes from the cave below, where the underground god supposedly lived 

getting only halfway through winding paths it started to rain so we stopped under a canopy of trees to stay almost dry.

All of a sudden we heard a flute playing, could that be from the underground? so we had to find the music

This man comes up here often to practice because he likes the acoustic he said.

Here's another flute player, but no pretty sound came out from him. Looking at his eyes he looked pretty "stoned"

Of course, Poseidon should have a room here too

There were so many "nooks and crannies" to look into and statues everywhere, some of them really mean looking

as you can see one part of the octagon is under repair 

Ok, Mom so we are halfway up now, here come the 520 steps................there's no backing out now

This gorgeous place and people do this???? smokers suck 

surprised they even made it this far.

. 

we're not at the top yet but Mom needed to stop for a minute but didn't want to admit she was tired so as an excuse she had to "look around" and take pictures

Here we are at the top and feeling good

 The statue of Hercules is located at the top of a pyramid that stands on top of the octagon; the statue and the other parts of the monument were constructed at different times. The monument is the highest point in the Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark.

 It was built in an artificial dell of the Karlsberg (526 m (1,726 ft) above sea level) 

On 23 June 2013, the Mountain park and the Hercules were proclaimed World Heritage sites during the UNESCO meeting in Phnom Penh

Mom could help thinking as she looks up at Hercules "he's going to pee on me" ..................

Unfortunately, the waterfalls are only turned on Wednesdays and Sundays so we didn't get to enjoy that. there's a YouTube video that shows how it works. Quite an impressive ending looking like the"Old Faithful" in Yellowstone

The Wasserkünste (‘water features’) might just take the cake, a gorgeous cascade that runs from the monument all the to the grand fountain. The water runs in stages, allowing visitors the opportunity to amble down alongside, taking many a picture as they go. The waterfalls are lit up in summer, a stunning image that ranks among the most beautiful in Kassel. 

Down half way, Mom felt she deserved a good lunch and she ordered this? 

What's in there for me? guess I had to like tomatoes 

After a nice rest we walked through the forest back to the castle

I was let loose to run because I had lots of energy left.............needless to say Mom was pooped

Here Mom is sitting resting with her back on a pillar looking up at the place we just were and she's already thinking about the pain she'll feel in the morning.

No that's not what I'm thinking about she says. She really really wanted to go inside to see the biggest art collection of Rembrant but no dogs were allowed it says. 

I wait in Lucy I said, but the thought of walking all the way down to the parking and then up again didn't appeal to Mom at all, so we said goodbye to Kassel for this time and continued on the road north.

 Now we're ready for a walk around the harbor and then a nap

all is well 

Henry

Yepp, we ended up staying at Kassel campsite for two nights while Mom is searching for a new place to look into.

Its lower course of the Mosel" twists and turns its way between Trier and Koblenz along one of Germany's most beautiful river valleys. The river flows through a region that was cultivated by the Romans. Today, its hillsides are covered by terraced vineyards where "some of the best Rieslings grow".Many castle ruins sit on the hilltops above wine villages and towns along the slopes. Traben-Trarbach with its art nouveau architecture and Bernkastel-Kues with its traditional market square are two of the many tourist attractions on the Moselle(what the Germans call it) river, and we stopped at both "again" Mom said

Here's a typical river cruise boat, doesn't look like the passengers are up yet, but not many are as early in the morning as Mom is.

Traben-Trarbach bridge 

This really confused me, I checked all three and it was the same water in all ????

Maybe you aren't the only dog served water here, Mom said

The German towns are so much more colorful compared to the French and that makes for a more cheerful atmosphere we think

Old winepresses are everywhere filled with flowers since they are using a different method to press the grapes now

The grape vines that grow everywhere are super nice and it's giving Mom ideas about her own garden 

It would have been super cool to hear these bells ring, and we were hoping they would do so every hour so we waited for a little while.

it never did.

Mom has become a real expert on finding parking for Lucy and sometimes I'm not sure it's a legal spot.

and In this case, someone else followed her cue

There may be two parking tickets for the police to write.

Mom says she doesn't think they write tickets here because people park everywhere, even on the sidewalks, and double-parking is the norm, which makes it really hard for Mom to navigate Lucy around.

On one of our walks, Mom found wild blackberries so she picked them and had them for supper with buttermilk and a cracker with prosciutto..............just like a Swedish breakfast.

The Mosel is gorgeous with steep hills where the rows of grapes grow so high and steep we wonder how they harvest them.

Lavender was smelling so strong and was so sticky I got several stuck on me

Makes you smell good Mom said

Driving around here can be a little exciting sometimes, especially when the road hugs the house corners and we could stop in the street and reach into their kitchens. Often there's no way to meet side by side, one or the other has to stop and let the other go first.

German are great drivers and flash their lights if they want you to go first, and are excellent at using blinkers all the time.

It's when they get on a bike they get vicious.

We left the Mosel and continued on North to a new adventure which I'll tell you about tomorrow because right now we're both exhausted from today's hike.

Gute Nacht 

and wet kisses to ya all

So we stayed at that place we couldn't pronounce for 2 nights. Mom's disappointment of not making it to Barcelona put a little damper on things for a while, but looking at the weather seeing 100-degree temperatures we would have been very uncomfortable.

Now Mom is having trouble finding places that look interesting but being tired of France and the same old villages gray and closed up, we continued North.

Belgium here we are again, and yes it was raining

We are now driving through beautiful area called the Ardennes, which is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills, and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France

the elevations range from 1,150 to 1,640 ft [350 to 500 m]

As we were driving along Mom noticed a castle on a ridge and decided to turn around to explore. The towns name is Boullion..........

We came into town on this road just wide enough for Lucy. Luckily it was a one-way street.

There was the direction to an RV parking and after a few very narrow turns we finally made it through a tunnel and over an old cobblestone bridge and parked. Sometimes Mom isn't convinced that Lucy will fit on these streets and maybe not be allowed but so far we've done ok.................as far as I know

This turned out to be a cute little town so we parked for the night and went bike riding back to the town.

The most famous of the Lords of Bouillon was Godfrey of Bouillon, (must be a saucy guy)a leader of the First Crusade and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He sold the Bouillon estate to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. The prince-bishops started to call themselves Dukes of Bouillon, and the town emerged as the capital of a sovereign duchy by 1678, when it was captured from the prince by the French army and given to the La Tour d'Auvergne family. The duchy was prized for its strategic location as "the key to the Ardennes" and hence to France itself. It remained a quasi-independent protectorate, like Orange and Monaco, until 1795, when the Republican Army annexed it to France.

Unfortunately, there were no dogs in the castle allowed? 

I think Mom was a little relieved because the hike up there would have been quite strenuous.

After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, the city was given to the Netherlands in the 1815 Treaty of Paris. It has been part of Belgium since the Revolution of 1830.

the castle is mostly the work of French military engineer Vauban during Louis XIV’s wars of expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries.

  Instead of hiking Mom though we should pedal in the river on one of these things

She asked if it was possible for one person to maneuver and yes they said. Hahaha Mom really struggled to keep us going and especially against the stream. The hike up the castle would have been easier.

The pink flamingos are following us everywhere

The name of the river is the Semois and the total length is 210 kilometers (130 mi) it's very popular for kayaking, which we should have done instead of the paddleboat
This shows the twists and turns of the river

 After all the pedaling we decided to try out the local brew, we both thought it was a little too bitter

We finally got back to Lucy and made supper a lady came on a bike selling homemade icecream .............what great timing we could use some dessert.

It was absolutely delicious............

Following morning we left Belgium and now we are in Germany

We are now driving along the Mosel river and since Mom had a hard time finding a place she and Lucy haven't been to already we finally settled on staying at a place she knew in Bernkastel-Kues a campsite overlooking the river.

It's very nice here and the beer is 10000 times better............

Until Mom can figure out where to go next there may be a two-nighter here too and that's ok because it's very pretty here 

Wet kisses to ya all

Henry

Good morning in Guignicourt, ............yes you try to pronounce that city name

We were supposed to stay in Reims, the Champagne capital, but because of the Tour de France, there's no available spot to be found. We tried Epernay a town close by where they wanted to squeeze us in but Mom declined so now we're here in Guignicourt.................

Paris was preparing for the arrival of the bikers so we wanted to make sure we left before all the crowds arrived.

Mom sure has a way of choosing the wrong dates for visiting Paris. The last time she was here was July 14 many years ago, and that's the French national day, and needless to say, the streets will be packed with people.

So, since Paris has all these environmental zones we parked Lucy in Versailles 

Another place where I wasn't allowed to put as much as a paw inside the gates? What happened to the dog-loving French people?

Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623 and replaced it with a small château in 1631–34. Louis XIV expanded the château into a palace in several phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favorite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France. This state of affairs was continued by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, who primarily made interior alterations to the palace, but in 1789 the royal family and capital of France returned to Paris. For the rest of the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned and emptied of its contents, and the population of the surrounding city plummeted.

Napoleon Bonaparte, following his takeover of France, used Versailles as a summer residence from 1810 to 1814 but did not restore it. When the French Monarchy was restored, it remained in Paris and it was not until the 1830s that meaningful repairs were made to the palace. A museum of French history was installed within it, replacing the apartments of the southern wing. Mom zoomed in with her camera to see how incredibly ornate this is

we were told we could visit the park if we walked around the palace, Thank You but no thank you ............if we aren't good enough to visit....................oh well 

The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for their importance as the center of power, art, and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries. 

Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in history.

We know a guy in America that would be green with jealousy, but he's no sun king because he's faking the tan

Across from the palace were the Royal stables which were built in anticipation of the move of the Court and government to Versailles. The project was managed by architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart and was executed by an army of laborers in record time: in just three years, from 1679 to 1682. Louis XIV’s contemporaries were amazed by the scale and majesty of the stables, whose location, opposite the Palace, testifies to the important role of horses in the representation of power during the Ancien Régime

So we left Lucy in Versailles and took the train to Paris

I heard that Paris is the "city of romance" and sure enough, I just made it off the train when I met a gorgeous girl and we could have hit it off if it wasn't for Mom dragging me away

‘Je t’aime’ .......what could have been

For centuries Paris has been one of the world’s most important and attractive cities. It is appreciated for the opportunities it offers for business and commerce, study, culture, and entertainment; its gastronomy, haute couture, painting, literature, and intellectual community especially enjoy an enviable reputation. Its sobriquet “the City of Light” earned during the Enlightenment, remains appropriate, for Paris has retained its importance as a center for education and intellectual pursuits.

We walked along the Seine  (777-kilometre-long (483 mi) long river) and there were so many statues and ornate buildings we don't know how to keep them all apart.

rejected for the 1900 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair), the Grand Palais is topped by a huge 8.5-tonne art nouveau glass roof. It hosts some of Paris’ biggest art exhibitions, but its role as a 2024 Olympic venue will see it close for renovations from January 2021 to mid-2024.

.The best-known structure in Paris must be the Eiffel tower named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, it was built in 1889 for the World's Fair. It took 300 workers, 2.5 million rivets, and two years of nonstop labor to assemble. Upon completion, the tower became the tallest human-made structure in the world (324m) – a record held until the 1930 completion of New York's Chrysler Building. A symbol of the modern age, it faced opposition from Paris’ artistic and literary elite, and the ‘metal asparagus’, as some snidely called it. The French people can be a little snobbish.........

It was originally slated to be torn down in 1909. It was spared only because it proved an ideal platform for the transmitting antennas needed for the newfangled science of radiotelegraphy.

Sporting six different colors throughout its lifetime, the tower has been painted red and bronze since 1968. Work is underway to strip the previous 19 coats and apply the yellow-brown shade originally conceived by Gustave Eiffel, giving it a new golden hue in time for the 2024 Olympics

Again no dog is allowed to go up in the tower.............what happened to the dog-friendly French people?

A beautiful bride having her pictures taken by the river.

The Pont Alexandre III is a deck arch bridge that spans the Seine. It connects the Champs-Élysées quarter with those of the Invalides and Eiffel Tower. The bridge is widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in the city, and has been classified as a French monument history since 1975.

In the background are The Invalides

Ornate is an understatement there are so many statues and figurines everywhere, even a Florida lizard in gold

Four gilt-bronze statues watch over the bridge, supported on massive 17 meters (56 ft) masonry socles that provide stabilizing counterweight for the arch, without interfering with monumental views. The socles are crowned by restraining Pegasus.

The nymph reliefs are at the centers of the arches and memorials to the Franco-Russian Alliance. They are both executed in hammered copper over forms.

there were so many statues on this bridge to admire

Les Invalides ( "House of the disabled"), is a building containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose. The complex also includes the former hospital chapel, now the national cathedral of the French military, and the adjacent former Royal Chapel known as the Dôme des Invalides, the tallest church building in Paris at a height of 107 meters. The latter has been converted into a shrine of some of France's leading military figures, most notably the tomb of Napoleon

on a pillar under a different bridge stood this guy. Not sure what he's up to, but he looks a little spooky.

Trying to hide a construction site with tarps that have pictures of trees is genius we thought.

If anything rivals the Eiffel Tower as the symbol of Paris, it’s this magnificent 1836 monument to Napoléon’s victory at Austerlitz (1805), which he commissioned the following year.

It was his intent to honor the great French army in some way; a force that he deemed invincible considering they had conquered most of Europe.

It’s interesting to note that the day its commission was ordered was also Napoleon’s birthday. A secret gift to himself, perhaps

This intricately sculpted triumphal arch stands sentinel in the center of the Etoile roundabout - arguably one of Europe’s most chaotic traffic spots. Lucy isn't allowed here now but it would have been interesting to try it out again...........Mom did drive through here in 1980 something and she told me it takes no fear just go with it and hope for the best.

Today the Tour de France bicyclist should be arriving here..............so glad we aren't there

This mighty lion is my favorite so far

The petite palace, we didn't think there was anything "petite" about it.

It's an art museum but most likely no dogs allowed so we didn't even bother to go up the steps.

It's starting to rain and it's getting late, we're both tired so even if we only covered a little drop of what Paris has to offer we decided to call it quits and took a taxi back to Versailles and Lucy. 

We were both sound asleep within minutes .

As I mentioned, we are now relaxing in Guignicourt.............maybe even two nights just to recoup from the big city

The temperature is in the eighties at night and nighties during the day so we're ok now.

Wet kisses to ya all

Henry

We woke up in a parking lot in Versailles very early (4am) Mom stayed up, and I went back to sleep. Some trucks and street cleaning machines are making too much noise for sleeping Mom said.

Now I'm getting ahead of the story again. 

The fridge was getting empty so Mom went to do some grocery shopping. French people really suck at English, but Mom's French is even worse so I guess that even things out. Mom loved supermarkets where everything is foreign but not everything she brings home turns out to be all that tasty. She does use a translation app. so we're saved from the really weird stuff.

Driving along country roads are getting old, the same little villages, same great fields of crop, and everything seem gray. Every house is built of stone and windows are very small and most with their shutters closed. I think it's to keep the heat out, but it must be pretty dark inside then? I know Mom would hate it.

French farmers are hard-working 7 days a week and we often meet or have to pass loads like this

Anyway, we arrived in LeMans and found a great parking spot for the night close to the old town. By now all these towns start looking the same. Cobblestone streets and gigantic amazing buildings.

But Le Mans is most known for the 24 Hours endurance-focused sports car race held annually, and It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track can go up to 405 km/h (251mph)

There's also an old Steve McQueen movie filmed here.

Consisting of both a permanent track and public roads, spectators have the unique experience of being able to drive part of the course before it is closed off for the race (although at a much slower and safer pace). Lucy wasn't up to it

Here's hand and footprint of some of the winners

We strolled the streets early as usual so there were no big crowds.

    so 

I'm getting much more used to city noise and Mom is really proud of me for walking along without making a fuzz.

Many big dogs really hate me for some reason and I have been launched at several times, so I'm always kept on a short lead when passing the big guys.

This guy looked very docile where he was laying, but he went stir crazy when he saw me and barked and pulled on his lead. I barked back with everything I have, if it wasn't for Mom holding me back I would have jumped that beast and sunk my teeth into his neck ....................I never back down for anybody.............Yes Mom says that could be the end of the cutest puppy she knows 

It's interesting how many small figures are on walls everywhere, it must mean something ?

Oh sure, here's the pope making a lewd gesture?.............well, that's what we see 

This garden had the biggest snail we ever seen

That's why they need garden tools to match 

This is weird, stick your head in and a tape starts and tells you what you're looking at

At lunchtime, we found a place that was open. (in France most places close between noon and 3)  Mom ordered coffee and a melon salad and water for me.

Mom ended up chatting with a couple at the table next to us (via the translate app) so I got a well-deserved nap

Here's Wilbur Wrights' tunnel which is a tunnel without a roof?

It is also called the four-season tunnel because they plant flowers and change them for the seasons. The tunnel was built between 1873 and 1877. 

Mom says we have to walk through it??? She's trying to imagine how it was used in the very beginning. there was shops and homes where the flowers are now.

The tunnel was named after Wilbur after his air show

The crowd cheered as Wilbur flew towards a row of tall poplars, where Wilbur banked left and turned in a graceful curve, and started flying back to the grandstand. Wilbur maneuvered to fly another full circle at an altitude of 30-35 feet before coming down for a landing only 50 feet from where he had taken off. Wilbur flew for 2 minutes and covered 2 miles; the crowd was hardly able to believe what they had just witnessed. It wasn't the duration of the flight that excited the crowd, but what Wilbur did during the flight that amazed them..
Wilbur, much to his dismay, experienced a mini Lindbergh-like reception by many in the crowd, but even Wilbur was swept up in the post-flight euphoria. After a bit, Wilbur, very calmly, but with a beaming smile, put his hands in his pockets and walked off whistling. In less than 24 hours, Wilbur's flight was headline news everywhere. Even Archdeacon, the vocal critic in the crowd before the flight, publicly admitted that he was wrong. Despite the clamoring requests, Wilbur refused to fly the next day, which was a Sunday.

 On 13 August 1908, Wilbur circled the field several times in his longest flight yet at Le Mans. And, before the largest crowd assembled to that point, Wilbur flew at 100 feet altitude to lessen distractions for himself. Ironically, Wilbur then made a mistake (basically he was showing off) and flew far too low, and the left wing hit the ground. The result was a pretty nasty smash-up, but Wilbur was uninjured. The crowd screamed in delight all the same; one French aircraft designer told a New York Herald reporter that Wilbur was as superb in his accidents as he was in his flights.

The Cathedral of Saint Julien, the seat of the Diocese of Le Mans, is one of the finest examples of Gothic-Roman architecture in all of France. The current cathedral was built gradually over the course of the 11th through 15th centuries. Seems like we seen so many of these Mom is getting them all mixed up

It has beautiful stained glass windows it said in the brochure, but we didn't bother going up there since we pretty much know we wouldn't be allowed in any way..still very impressive or our wiev

Look, someone from Florida is living here??? must be, why else this decoration in their window?

In the afternoon we continued on North but this time Mom decided to get on the toll road, which was a nice wide, and smooth fast drive. When we got off 3 hours later it cost 35 Euros??? Mom thought that was awfully expensive so we'll stay off them in the future. As a matter of fact, Mom is so ready to get out of France, but we still have Paris.

Actually, we've done Paris already but that's a story for tomorrow. 

Now it's time to get on driving a bit

Wet kisses to ya all

Henry

Lazy days resting

The campsite turned out to be the best one we stayed at so far so we'll be here one more night. It rained last night and the temperature is now 85 which feels great and Mom is starting to wake up from her heat coma............

Because of the extreme heat last night we had an awful night and didn't get up early to do the bike ride to the castle and get back before the heat hit us. So change of plans we drove as far as we could and parked to walk the rest which as it turned out 2 km......It was already getting hot so we both started to dread the return walk. 

No worry, Mom said by the time we're ready to go back the buses have started to run..............ok great I thought.

Until this sign popped up....................Don't worry Mom said, we'll figure something out

Oh Noooo I hope it's not going to be a scene.

We are at the UNESCO-listed Mont-Saint-Michel.

It's looming dramatically on the horizon and defying some of the highest tides in Europe. It was for centuries one of Europe’s major pilgrimage destinations and today, 2.5 million tourists from around the world flock here every year and we're doing our best to beat all that

This was one long walk 2km (1.25miles) but the good part is no crowd, but .............8 am and it's already hot. Mom better figure this bus ride back out ,scene or no scene.

Through the medieval period, several other imposing monastic buildings were added to the site and the main abbey became a center of learning, attracting some of Europe’s greatest minds and manuscript illuminators. Scores of pilgrims visited but English forces were kept resolutely out by ramparts at sea level.

Mont-Saint-Michel is almost circular (about 3,000 feet [900 meters] in circumference) and consists of a granite outcrop rising sharply (to 256 feet [78 meters]) out of Mont-Saint-Michel Bay Most of the time it is surrounded by vast sandbanks and becomes an island only when the tides are very high. Before the construction of the 3,000-foot causeway that connects the island to land, it was particularly difficult to reach because of quicksand and very fast-rising tides. The causeway, however, has become a barrier to the removal of material by the tides, resulting in higher sandbanks between the islet and the coast.

We loved the narrow steep streets with restaurants and shops on each side but at this early hour, only coffee bars had opened

  two hours later this street was PACKED......

We continued walking up and up me pulling Mom of course   

and here it goes again the "No dog" sign to get into the abbey

The island was originally called Mont-Tombe but became known as Mont-Saint-Michel in the 8th century, when St. Aubert, a bishop built an oratory there after having a vision of the archangel St.Michael It rapidly became a pilgrimage center, and in 966 a Benedictine abbey was built there. In 1203 it was partly burned when King PhilipIIof France tried to capture the mount. He compensated the monks by paying for the construction of the monastery known as La Merveille (“The Wonder”).

The island, which was fortified in 1256, resisted sieges during the Hundred Years' war between England and France (1337–1453) and the French Wars of Religion (1562-98). The monastery declined in the 18th century, and only seven monks were living there when it was dissolved during the French Revolution (1787-99). It became a state prison under Napoleon (who reigned from 1804–15) and remained a prison until 1863. In 1874 it was classified as a historic monument and restored.

Well, we didn't get to see the abbey which was unfortunate so the only solace for that is to stop and eat something preferable sweets according to Mom  Me? anything goes

So many walkways to explore besides the abbey so we were ok with that after a coffee and a delicious sherbert and a liter of cold water 

Before all the tourists came Mom started to fantasize about how it would be living like this and then found out it has 

a population of at least 50 people.

there's a hotel here and it would have been really cool to stay overnight and experience the island at night

Some of the buildings in the village houses a community of nuns and monks.

It's 11 am and time to get back before the worst heat and there are the bus.............. let's see Mom work your magic now.

Oh no, don't ask THEM!

Here's the magic.............

Mom bought the biggest bag she could find in a store, and put me inside with a strict command about keeping still and quiet.

She put the bag on her shoulder and her hand on my head ready to push my head down if needed. 

I got it and stayed still and quiet to fool people I was a stuffed animal.................it worked splendidly

It's Wednesday afternoon just relaxing and making new plans for tomorrow.

Feeling good 

wet kisses Henry