Pages visitted

Oct 18, 2015

Balearic Islands or the Mediterranean Paradise

From Oct 13, 2015 to Oct 17, 2015





What about flying just one hour and ten minutes 
to find one of the most wonderful places in the
Mediterranean?  The deep blue of Mediterranean
sea and the stunning scenery all around the 
island...














This group of islands is divided into Gimnesias 
(Mallorca, Menorca and Cabrera) in the North 
and Pitiusas (Ibiza and Formentera) in the 
South-West







Mallorca's

wonderful climate, beautiful 
landscapes, makes it a privileged holiday resort










  
We stayed in Magaluf 

well known for its nightlife during the summer season. 
But in mid-October we found the sun, the marvelous temperature without the summer noising activities….






From the window bedroom
From the room's balcony by night















Palma de Mallorca 

the island's capital city is located in the beautiful bay, Bahía de Palma, on the southern shores of Mallorca. Around 400.000 people live here, about half of the island's total population







The cathedral

called la Seo by the Mallorquines,was constructed from 
14th to 19th century, 

and the highly creative Antoni Gaudí 
designed its interior in 20th. Century. 





Castillo de Bellver  

A fortress located on top of a hill close to the historical center



It was originally constructed to defend Mallorca's inhabitants from their enemies
















From Palma’s port and for 16 km to the final destination El Arenal we can visit the beaches El Portixol, El Molinar, Coll d'En Rebassa and Can Pastilla







The Sierra de Tramuntana 

mountain in the North-East, parallel to the sea has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO under the Cultural Landscape category.








Several of its peaks have an altitude of over 1000m, and the highest is the Puig Major (1,443 m) 









Sóller

is an attractive town on Mallorca's north-west Coast




The Cap de Formentor

located northeast of the port of Pollença
 where the top end of the Sierra de Tramuntana meets the Mediterranean



Port of Pollenca

Pollenca






Located at the other extreme of the Bahía de

Pollença there is the medieval town Alcudia 








 Manacor

is the second town in size on Balearic Islands. In 1890, on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Majorica Pearls invented the unique and delicate production process of organic pearls. The Majorica pearl is made of an opaline crystal nucleus coated in multiple fine layers with the “pearl essence”, an extract obtained from the Majorica secret processing technique of natural organic elements of the Mediterranean Sea 


















Sineu, 

at the geographical center of Mallorca is a lively rural town best known for its weekly market









The coastline on the north of Mallorca 
with cliffs and mountains rising from the sea

Torre del Verger

is the small defensive tower built in 1579 on the cliffs between Banyalbufar and Estellencs 

Sep 15, 2015

Traveling to La Rochelle and l'île de Ré

Charentes et Poitou
Sep 6 and 7, 2015


Summer warm temperatures are now over…

Good time to spend two days at the Atlantic Ocean coast



Link here below

https://goo.gl/photos/55CMeqBVVvLesrtm6

Aug 20, 2015

The Dordogne river's Tidal Bore, le Mascaret

Saint Pardon on the Dordogne river - Aug 16, 2015


The Tidal Bore, also called Bore, is generally named un Mascaret in French


A bore is an unusual phenomenon, which arises in wide and shallow estuaries (around 2-4m deep) with a low tide and a high tidal coefficient (in the order of 100)


It occurs during exceptionally high sea tides



It is a twice a day tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave(s) of water that travels up a river against the direction of the river current. 












Around 60 sites are listed in the world. In France it's now only present in Aquitaine: Gironde : behind Ile Margaux (50cm) Garonne : behind Ile d'Arcins Right bank (80cm), between Langoiran and Podensac (2.5m) Dordogne : from St Pardon to Libourne (2.5m)

In Saint Pardon a ride, 10 to 20km/h for 1 kilometer (up to 20 minutes), can be experienced!




We went to the river’s port of Saint Pardon located in the commune of Vayres. 

Only 20 minutes from the city of Bordeaux, and 10 minutes from Saint-Emilion.







Tidal Bore Rafting


Both surfers and paddlers use the boat ramp
in the center of the village to enter the water


                    


For lot of surfers and kayakers, chasing, surfing and jumping this tidal surge is a very unique experience



A video of the tidal bore phenomenon the Aug 16, 2015


Two key features are the intense turbulence the sounds caused by the turbulence



Jul 11, 2015

Pyrénées hiking

Beginning of July was the dog days in France. 

So I took this opportunity, Jul 7, 2015, to make an hike in the Pyrénées mountains trying to find a colder place.


But I was wrong due to a temperature inversion. 

The GPS screen confirms the temperature inversion



First destination: the cirque de Troumouse








The Cirque de Troumouse is a cirque in the central Pyrenees, in south-western France.


It is located close the commune of Héas, 
department of Hautes-Pyrénées.
















On the way to the cirque you can see 
a beautiful waterfall 







It’s also very known for its summer pasture










A mountain road will bring you to the cirque with parking slot ...


Hiking loop made




...and start point for a number of short (30 mn) and long (04h00) walks in wild mountain nature















The Cirque de Troumouse is a large rock amphitheater formed at the head of a valley glacier by erosion.  Situated at the border of France and Spain, it extends for over 10 km, bordered by several peaks of over 3000m


17 peaks form the 270 degree "wall" of the cirque, all of them well over 2500 m and this wall also forms the French Spanish border. The culmination of summits reaches 3,000 meters.The highest, Pic de la Munia, is 3133 m




The French part of the cirque de Troumouse  is part of the Pyrenees National Park 

a UNESCO World Heritage Site














Major features of the cirque are la Vierge de Troumouse (Virgin of Tremouse) and the lac des Aires (lake of Aires) 

















Other destination:barrage des Gloriettes (Gloriettes dam)


Located not very far from Gavarnie
 and its famous Cirque


The Gloriettes dam, a concrete arch structure on the Gave d’Estaubé River, operated by Electricité de France (EDF) is located in the French Pyrenees. It was constructed between 1949 and 1951.




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Four Spillways: channels that carries excess water over the dam

                                               




A typical Pyrenean house built in stones with its roof covered with shingles


Two odd candidates for going back with me into my car


Don’t make a mistake for your next destination!





Behind me... 
the Lake Gloriettes Dam in the Pyrénées Mountain 

or 

its homonym in the USA: Lake Gloriette Dam, New Hampshire Latitude: 44.8667145   Longitude: -71.3028578 County: Coos Area: Dixville Notch Elevation: 564 meters - 1850 feet ?