Green nature

Some green to keep the spring spirit - isn't it the most beautiful color?

Common broom fruits

Green fern

Clover flower

Photo mash-up #57

Today's theme is: boats :-)

Happy boats day!

Chausey islands

Another very nice place to visit around Granville: the Chausey archipelago, which has long been used as a granite quarry in the region.

Yellow common broom

Wild grass fence

Elephant rock

Low tide archipelago

Carolles

One of my favourite strolls around Granville was the 'Valley of Painters' and the littoral path along the cliffs near Carolles. Such a beautiful discovery, both the sea and the country sides were gorgeous to look at!

Steady slope

Rock and turquoise waters

Green hills

Vauban guardhouse

Cliffs

A little panorama of Granville rock cliffs...

Cliffs by the sea

Lighthouse path

Granville seaside

Some animals

A few cute encounters from Normandy :-)

Balanced bumble bee

Fast forward

Hummingbird hawk-moth

Beach view

I must admit that whenever I go to the seaside, I can't but feel overwhelmed with joy at the beautiful contrast between the light beige color of the sand and the sparkling blue color of the sea. That is a sight that few other things can surpass in my eyes :-)

Prickly bush

Fence by the sea

Water and clouds

Sand treasures

Some flowers, seaweeds or paw prints on the sand... So many things to take pictures of while strolling on the beach :-)

Shadows

Black seweed

Paw on the sand

Take-off

A few pictures of gulls just before they fly away!

Take-off from the promenade walls

Take-off at low tide

Upper town

Some pictures from, and of, the upper town of Granville :-)

Hydrangea street

Seaside promenade

Rock cliffs

Dior gardens

On my first day at Granville, I visited the Christian Dior gardens. The museum was unfortunately closed to visit at that moment, but the beautiful flowers (especially the hydrangeas) were still very worth the trip!

Pink hydrangea

Rose tree garden

Eager to expand

Graham's sage

Hydrangea head

Trip to Granville

I was looking for a third place for my last week of summer holidays and was of course considering Brittany, when suddenly the idea of a little Normandy tour came to my mind. I had been very happy to discover Dieppe the previous year, so why not visit again this region? The city of Granville, with its historical upper-town and its schist cliffs, seemed very appealing to me. So I planned some holidays there, and never regretted my choice!

In some way, Granville reminded me a lot of Saint-Malo. Unlike Dieppe with its fragile chalk cliffs which make it impossible to stroll along the coast, Granville has stronger schist rocks beneath it that closely resemble those of Saint-Malo, and many small enchanting pathways allow you to walk very close to the sea and admire the landscape. Granville also has some ramparts, promenade, and old streets with granite buildings. The city is also directly by the sea and has some beautiful sand beaches :-)

One thing I especially appreciated in Granville is the beautiful countryside. On both sides of the city, you can visit absolutely wonderful places, which were even used as references by several famous painters. As it is slightly less 'touristy' than Saint-Malo, it seemed also much less crowded and I felt more at ease while walking and taking pictures. In a nutshell, a very nice discovery!

Rooftops and big wheel

Green shoots and church

Casino building and promenade