dimanche 30 juillet 2017

Le Havre

Bonsoir !

Last stop before Rouen and catching up with my family: Le Havre

The city was heavily bombed during World War II, and was fully rebuilt according to the plans of the architect Auguste Perret between 1945 and 1964. Only the town hall and the Church of Saint Joseph were personally designed by Auguste Perret. In commending the reconstruction work UNESCO listed the city of Le Havre on 15 July 2005 as a World Heritage Site. This area of 133 hectares is one of the few inscribed contemporary sites in Europe. The architecture of the area is characterized by the use of precast concrete.





 
 


From Midsomer to Portsmouth

Before leaving Oxfordshire, a few stops in the middle of Midsomer

- Great Milton


- Little Milton



 - Dorchester-on-Thames






 
 

- Goring


But unfortunately, I didn't see any Inpector Barnaby...

Only 24 more hours until I return the car and, so far, the weather has not been too bad. Yes, I know, I have complained a couple of times about the heavy rain and fog since the beginning of the trip but, generally speaking, it has not impacted my planning too badly (apart from the total failure approaching Cape Cornwall). And now is the moment when England gets flooded. By the time I get to Avebury Stone Circle, most of the roads are coveres with more than 10 centimeters of water, which prevents from driving faster than 5 or 10 km/h, and starts worrying me seriously. You could imagine that English would be pretty good at drainage, but it does not seem to be the case.


I will eventually reach my accommodation for tonight with a delay of one hour and a half, extremely relieved (and so was my host, who was pretty sure I would not make it). According to what people say, they have seldom seen such a rain, and trust me, English know a lot about heavy rains...

On the following day, I am supposed to be in Stonehenge at 11:00 (you have to book tickets in advance, with a fixed time) but it will take me 52 minutes to cover the last 3 miles. No problem, everyone is late this morning...






Last stop before returning the car, it is still raining cats and dogs, and the roads are still flooded, so the visit of Salisbury will be limited to the cathedral.

 
 
 




By the time I reach Portsmouth, it is 17:30, and absolutely everything is closed (shops, museums, even the restaurants are about to close), so I will only see Charles Dickens' birthplace from the outside.


Bye bye UK, I am happy that I didn't drowned during the last day... Looking forward to seeing Normandy, which is currently suffering from a historical drought.

Blenheim Palace and Oxford

Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock.
It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace.

The building of the palace was originally intended to be a reward to John Churchill (yes, from the same family as Winston Churchill, who was born there and proposed to his future wife by the way), 1st Duke of Marlborough, from a grateful nation for the duke's military triumphs against the French and Bavarians during the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the 1704 Battle of Blenheim.



 



 













And now, welcome to Hogwarts. Sorry, I meant Oxford!
This city is absolutely incredible, no wonder that so many people want to study there (in addition to the fact that its university is part of the best ones in the world, of course...). It is like walking in a giant open-air museum, where every single building is amazing.

 
 
 
 
 

 

Wherever you go, our favorite wizard is never far away...



 
 



 
 


 

 


 


I don't know how many times I heard teenagers (mostly French and Spanish) tell their parents during a visit "I want to study in THAT college when I am older". May be someone should explain them that in UK you don't study in a college, before they get seriously disappointed...

Anyway, here is Christchurch, the college which is supposed to have been the model for Hogwarts.
In addition to hosting a cathedral instead of the traditional chapel which can found in all the colleges, you can actually see there a staircase and the Hall (aka the refectory) which have been recreated in studios for the movies.





 

Apart from dozens of young wizards and a few weird teachers, you could almost believe you are there...