Germany plus a bit of France 2013

[OZDUCK]

We then headed towards Bad Homburg to stay a few nights with our friends who we had caught up with in Berlin earlier.

On the way we saw an interesting sign on the autobahn, just past Munster and took a detour to find this:-

Vischering Castle a " Münsterland moated castle"

It first began its life in the 12th century and has since been rebuilt and modified many times. There is a cafe and bakery on site which provides nice simple food. A visit to Muster and the surrounding castles was to be part of our doomed August trip this year.

 

[OZDUCK]

We didn't go back onto the motorway but decided to wander the back roads a bit more and then ran across this place:-

Nordkirchen Palace

"The schloss was largely built between 1703 and 1734 and is known as the "Versailles of Westphalia" since it is the largest of the fully or partly moated Wasserschlösser in that region. It was originally one of the residences of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster." Much of the interior of the Palace is "a state-run college specializing in the training of future tax inspectors."













It was a Sunday and there were crowds of locals wandering around.





The neo-Baroque style formal gardens



The neighboring Oranienburg Castle which is about 1 Km from the larger palace.

 

[OZDUCK]

We then arrived in Bad Homburg. We didn't take many photos on this trip as we had seen the "sights" in 2011.

Our friends back garden. Taken in early October. They are keen gardens and have lived there since the 1960,s.



They also have an 'allotment' a km or so away which gives them plenty of fruit and vegetables. We always had a choice of 2 or 3 different home made jams and preserves with breakfast. This is a photo of their allotment taken in late September 2011 so you can have an idea of how well their plot produces.



What they did do was to take us to Darmstadt, about 50 km away. They wanted to show us us the Mathildenhöhe Art Nouveau 'Artists Colony' buildings and museum. The area was founded around 1899 and sponsored by the 'Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine' - a grandson of Queen Victoria - descended from her Daughter, Princess Alice. One of his sisters was the ill-fated Alexandra, wife of Tsar Nicholas 11.

The buildings are ornamental works were completed in the Jugendstil mode.Those of you who read my Norway TR may remember that this is the style that was incorporated in the rebuilding of Alesund after much of it was destroyed by fire.

Darmstadt Artists' Colony - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The "Wedding Tower" - built to celebrate the Grand Duke's second marriage and built in 1908.





Cast Iron work detail



There are a number of interesting buildings on the site. There is an excellent museum with lots of smaller art nouveau creations. But once more missing photos - grumble grumble.

This set of furniture was on display in the museum and I had to take some very detailed photos of it as it was identical to that in our hosts childhood home



In the middle of this art nouveau area this Russian Orthodox Chapel strikes a very incongruous note. It was built in 1899 of Russian stone and used by the Tsar and Tsarina when they visited her family

 

[OZDUCK]

This marked the end of the German part of our trip. We drove towards Paris, stopping overnight at Reims again, and then spending a few days in Paris before flying home.

Paris

Dropping off our faithful Renault.



The obligatory photo of the Eiffel Tower.



The Luxembourg Palace.



One of the beautiful old arcades



The Canal Saint-Martin





View from our hotel room Hotel Porte Dorée on Avenue Daumesnil looking towards the Bois de Vincennes



Just a few more photos to come.

 

[RB]

This marked the end of the German part of our trip. We drove towards Paris, stopping overnight at Reims again, and then spending a few days in Paris before flying home.

Paris


View attachment 215296



Just a few more photos to come.

I am not a Sydney person but that photo got me going to look for photos of the Strand Arcade

 

[OZDUCK]

I am not a Sydney person but that photo got me going to look for photos of the Strand Arcade

I am not a Melbourne person but I think the Royal Arcade in Melbourne is a closer match.

I had a look on Google and the Paris one is the 'Passage du Grand Cerf'.

 

[OZDUCK]

The Army Museum (Musée de l'Armée) is located in Les Invalides . It is excellent for periods up to around the start of the 20th Century. WW! is reasonably treated but I guess that there are a number of other museums around France that cover WW1 in great detail. WW2 is poorly covered, in my opinion, but that is probably unsurprising.

The courtyard


For some reason there were a lot of exhibits regarding Napoleon







His tomb in the Dôme des Invalides



Some more general exhibits





A light machine gun! Actually, a Montigny mitrailleuse. A hand cranked machine gun that was first introduced in the 1860's. Many articles I have read argue that if had been correctly utilised in the Franco - Prussian war of 1871 the course of the war may have been affected.



A Renault FT17 light tank of WW1

 

[OZDUCK]

And the final photos.

A few shots of the Bois de Vincennes just a short stroll from our hotel. We used to buy croissants etc from the bakery across the road from our hotel and stroll up here for breakfast.







The "African Biozone" in the Zoological Park of Paris . The zoo was closed in 2008 and re-opened in 2014. These structures are often shown from above when the Tour de France sweeps into Paris from this direction.



Recovering from our holiday. With, I suspect, the 'Michelin Green Guide' to Northern France on my lap




And that is it. Thanks for reading and commenting. In a couple of months if things remain much the same I will put another TR of a past trip.

 

[Major]

Thanks for posting. I have enjoyed the journey.

Please continue when ready

 

[craven morehead]

Very enjoyable TR thanks @OZDUCK

 

[VPS]

Thanks for some great photos and interesting diversions. So many people tend to stick to the big cities and there are so many gems out that that people have never even heard of

 

[RB]

I really enjoyed the report. There is certainly still plenty to see after you have covered the famous sites.

 

[OZDUCK]

I really enjoyed the report. There is certainly still plenty to see after you have covered the famous sites.

Actually, my wife complained that I left out the small town of Luckau. We have stopped there twice, for a few hours, driving from Berlin to Dresden and vice versa. It is not anything special but just a little German town near the Spreewald. Very little English is spoken there and it mainly services the surrounding farming areas. We had our lunch in the local cafe/bakery and the fare is mainly items like goulash and other items designed to stick to your ribs and then let you go out to work all day on the farm.

It has the remnants of a city wall and a small stream forms a moat around the old town.






The 14th C. Red Tower



A fairly mild claim to fame. The house where Napoleon slept for one night 20 July 1813. It belonged to the richest man in town and the copper bed-warming pan Napoleon used is now in the local museum.

 

[OATEK]

Actually, my wife complained that I left out the small town of Luckau. We have stopped there twice, for a few hours, driving from Berlin to Dresden and vice versa. It is not anything special but just a little German town near the Spreewald. Very little English is spoken there and it mainly services the surrounding farming areas. We had our lunch in the local cafe/bakery and the fare is mainly items like goulash and other items designed to stick to your ribs and then let you go out to work all day on the farm.

It has the remnants of a city wall and a small stream forms a moat around the old town.

View attachment 215484


View attachment 215485

The 14th C. Red Tower

View attachment 215486

A fairly mild claim to fame. The house where Napoleon slept for one night 20 July 1813. It belonged to the richest man in town and the copper bed-warming pan Napoleon used is now in the local museum.

View attachment 215487

I found quite a few towns in the old East Germany had few English speakers. We had a stop in Juterbog on our way to Dresden, where we had potato pancakes in this lovely cafe & gift shop. We managed to translate the menu ok, and had a lovely lunch. The cook made them fresh just near our table, and it was great to watch. It was only as we were about to depart that a friend of the owner came in who could translate, and so we had a Q&A (where are you from, why did you come here etc).

 

[OZDUCK]

I found quite a few towns in the old East Germany had few English speakers. We had a stop in Juterbog on our way to Dresden, where we had potato pancakes in this lovely cafe & gift shop. We managed to translate the menu ok, and had a lovely lunch. The cook made them fresh just near our table, and it was great to watch. It was only as we were about to depart that a friend of the owner came in who could translate, and so we had a Q&A (where are you from, why did you come here etc).
View attachment 215501

That looks like a very nice spot to have a light meal. The only person we ran across in Luckau who could speak a little English was the Cleric in charge of the huge 15th C. church. Among my many wishes is to wander around that area between Dresden and Berlin a bit more, especially around some of the lakes. Even Luckau had a few 'See's' around it.