Spring in Normandie

(Yes, that’s Normandie as in French, sorry but I cannot bring myself to write Normandy, I think the y removes all the French glamour immediately.)

I had been thinking about traveling to that region of North-West France since a few years now, after seeing pictures of Honfleur and Deauville in some travel article, and falling in love with the coloured front row houses and vintage beach changing rooms. I also wanted to see the disappearing Mount Saint-Michel, but didn’t have time for that this time. (They say every time you travel, it’s better to leave some things off for a future visit 🙂 )

Giverny or the impressionist dream

If you come from Paris, as me and my sister did, I would recommend making a first stop by Giverny before heading towards the beach and visiting the Fondation Claude Monet. Especially if you’re coming in Spring. Remember those marvellous huge Water Lilies paintings? They were painted here.

Monet, one of my favorite painters, built his own garden with flowers that would grow all year long in front of his house. Once I saw the scenery, I realized that 2 hour-drive and the 40-minute waiting in line under the sun to get in were well worth it. I will let my pictures speak for themselves.

The bright side of Lloret de Mar in Costa Brava

In terms of reputation, Lloret de Mar has definitely some work to do. What used to be a picturesque village in the southern part of the beautiful Costa Brava, has turned over the years into a popular destination among European youngsters looking for sun, beach and most of all fiesta. In fact, it’s quite common to describe as “Lloret tourism” all those low cost travelers who are only looking to get drunk and make party all night long (and who often provoke quarrels).

Fortunately not all of the town’s coast was ruined by tall hotel buildings looking to host as many tourists as possible. Sa caleta cove for instance still preserves some charm with all the fisherman’s boats.

The seaside path starting from this small bay offers what I consider some privileged views from the Mediterranean coast. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, judge yourself 🙂

Has the image you had of Lloret de Mar changed by these pictures?

Summertime by the sea in Barcelona

Usually I get a “How lucky!” as a response whenever I travel around and I’m asked where I’m from. Yes, I’m from Barcelona. I was born here and, a part from the short periods of time where I’ve lived abroad, I’ve always lived here. In the city.

Now we celebrate that 20 years ago the Olympics came to Barcelona. Though I was pretty young I remember being absolutely enthused by the occasion. Had the chance to attend the Opening ceremony and went to see some competitions ( I was kind of obsessed with Carl Lewis at the time and my father brought me to see a race. However, everything happened so fast I couldn’t really understand what was going on…).

The Olympics represented the opening of Barcelona to the World. They put the city on the map and since then its international popularity hasn’t stop increasing. One of the most important things were the improvements made to the coast and beaches and the creation of “La Villa Olímpica”.

Nowadays it’s impossible to conceive the landscape of the city without all these constructions and all the different beaches that mark its seaboard. Let’s take a look :

Barcelona Port Vell

Barceloneta Beach Avenue

Barceloneta Beach

Barceloneta Bicing Station