Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Thursday 9 July 2020

Le Passage du Gois, France

The Le Passage du Gois is a natural, periodically flooded passage that is leading to the beautiful island of Noirmoutier in France. The European country is famous for its beautiful beaches, mountains, architecture, and culture. Here in Passage du Gois has a fascinating road that is truly unique, hidden treasure, and a national monument of France.
The beauty of Le Passage du Gois is that when the path is flooded twice a day by high tide. It is located between Île de Noirmoutier and Beauvoir-sur-Mer, in the department of Vendée. The track is 2.5 miles long. Every year, a foot race – the Foulées du Gois – is held across it, starting at the onset of the high tide. This beautiful road of France is only accessible during the low tide and only 1 ½ hour before the tide and 1 ½ hour afterward.

Tourist Spot

This stunning occurrence gathers thousands of visitors each year to see the “miracle”, while several in busy collecting clams and oysters. Due to flooded water, the road conditions deteriorate and paved many times. If you go there then you should be very careful in observing the disappearance of the road, as the water level reaches more than 15 feet. However, safety signboards are displayed on both sides of the passage. Whenever you go to France, then Le passage du Gois is a must-see lifetime experience. Indeed this causeway is so distinctive, that you cannot encounter it anywhere else in the world.

History of Le Passage du Gois

In the 9th century, Passage du Gois was first mentioned. However, in 1701, it appeared on the map. People faced a lot of difficulties in the 18th century and they went on foot over the sand-banks to the island of Noirmoutier. Eventually, an official road constructed in 1832. Its importance was converted secondary when a bridge was build between the mainland and Noirmoutier in 1971.

Tour de France

According to Wikipedia France famous tour, de France bicycle race was held during stage 2 in Passage du Gois. Therefore, the bicycles face a lot of difficulties in cop the slippery surface. A fall took place and the crash created a 6 minute split in the peloton which finished the hopes of several bicycles to win the race like Alex Zulle. Who would eventually finish second overall, seven minutes after Lance Armstrong? After 12 years, the Passage du Gois was again used as the starting point of the first stage.
Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

Le Passage du Gois, France

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Friday 12 April 2019

Great Dune of Pilat, France

Most of you heard about Asian or African deserts. But have you ever heard about the Desert in France? There is a little piece of natural phenomena found on the soul of Europe. The Great Dune of Pyla is a rare geological phenomenon and a very popular tourist attraction, being the tallest sand dune in France. Europe's tallest sand dune nestled between the Atlantic Ocean, an enormous pine forest, the Arcachon Bay, a sandbank and a peninsula!
The Great Dune of Pilat, located in the municipality of La Teste-de-Buch 60 km from Bordeaux in the Arcachon Bay area, is the tallest sand dune in Europe. Great Dune of Pyla is also called “Great Dune of Pilat”. The sand dune is huge about 500 meters in width, 3 km in length and rising to a height of 107 meters above sea level.
The dune is considered a foredune, meaning a dune that runs parallel to a shoreline, behind the high tide line of a beach. Every year, more than one million visitors come to see this unexpected beauty. The interesting part of the dune is relentlessly moving inwards, gradually pushing the forest back to cover houses, roads and Atlantic Wall.
At some times, it was moving back 10 meters in a year, but after that rate of movement is discontinuous. In the last 60 years, the great dunes have moved around 280 meters giving an annual displacement of 4.9 meters per year. The endless dune landscapes you find in desert Arab countries, the contrast between the sand and forest makes this European sand dune an even more striking sight.
So, moving Great Dune covered about 22 private properties. Even a road of North East part was overlapped in 1987 after an avalanche of sand, the buried in 1991. A house was buried over the dune is referenced in a newspaper on September 19, 1936. The South East of the dune, a Bordeaux family had decided to build a villa in 1928.
However, after 20 years, the sands started to invade the house had completely disappeared over the sands. This Desert in France is famed for the exceptional scenery it offers from its peak. You can see on one side the huge pine forest and on the other the Atlantic, the headland.
This slope is really a challenge for everyone. The only athletic person can be climbing up in an efficient way. For the others, a staircase makes the ascent a little easier. The Man-made stairs protrude to top view which majestic. The seacoast and vast pine forest of Les Landes is more enjoyable when the weather is clear, the Pyrennees range.
Due to its exposed location along the sea and steep angle, the Dune of Pilat is a famous paragliding spot with great soaring conditions. These special ingredients make it a unique landscape probably throughout the world. It is sometimes described as a "menacing sand wall" or even called a "sand monster" swallowing up "parts of France".
The Desert in France is a magical place; one can climb it, jump in it, run up and down, take photos, stay and wait for the sunset for astonishing. If someone feels energetic than you can scramble up the dune freestyle! Source: CP





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Thursday 3 August 2017

Catacombes de Paris, France


In 2004, Parisian police were transferred to complete a training exercise in an uncharted part of the Catacombs of Paris beneath the Palais de Chaillot. Entering the catacombs through a drain, officers first came across a sign that read “Building site, no access,” and move ahead a camera that actively recorded images of those who passed. The police descended deeper into the tunnels and discovered a 500-square-meter cavern with a fully equipped giant cinema screen, projection equipment, chairs and a handful of films, from film noir classics to recent thrillers. Someone had turned this abandoned underground cavern into a secret amphitheater. Moreover, in the next “room,” police discovered a fully-stocked bar and restaurant, with tables and chairs. This discovery left police perplexed, not to mention the professional installation of electricity and three phone lines.
Thus, police returned with specialists from the French Board of Electricity to try and find out where the power was coming from. The cables had been cut and a note lying on the floor read, “Do not try and find us.” The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of the ancient Mines of Paris tunnel network. The bones of around six million people lie beneath the streets of Paris in 280km of dank passageways. The officials were pushed to move bones into the catacombs because the cemeteries above ran out of room for the dead.
The limestone quarries tunnels have existed on the outskirts of Paris since Roman times built Paris and eventually, abetted the city expand to the point where the quarries were directly underneath the busy metropolis. About 200 miles of labyrinthine tunnels are believed to exist. Despite the vast length of the tunneled, underground world, only a small section of it is open to the public. This minute portion, identified as Denfert-Rochereau Ossuary, or more commonly, “The Catacombs,” has become one of the top tourist attractions in Paris on a small scale from the early 19th century, and has been open to the public on a regular basis since 1874 with surface access from a building at Place Denfert-Rochereau in the extreme southern part of the city of Paris. This is easily called Paris’ most macabre sight is its underground tunnels lined with skulls and bones. In 1785 it was decided to rectify the hygiene problems of Paris’ overflowing cemeteries by exhuming the bones and storing them in disused quarry tunnels and the Catacombes were created in 1810.
The popular place houses the skeletal remains of some six to seven million former Parisians, however not all areas of the Catacombs are open to the public. Back in the late 18th century, cemeteries were becoming over-populated, such as Les Innocents were so stuffed with the dead that it led to improper burials, open graves, and unearthed corpses. Neighbors began getting sick with infectious diseases due to the unhealthy conditions of the cemetery. Les Innocents was not the only cemetery that was condemned. Several other graveyards were becoming overpopulated, causing glitches for the inhabitants of Paris. As tons of empty quarries, police and priests similar discreetly moved the bones over the period of a few decades to the renovated section of the tunnel. The Catacombs became a favorite attraction for royal families and in 1867; the area was opened to the general public.
The Catacombs are among the 14 City of Paris Museums managed by Paris Musées since January 1, 2013. The catacombs are called "The World's Largest Grave" due to the number of remains buried. Although the ossuary comprises only a small section of the underground "carrières de Paris" Parisians presently often refer to the entire tunnel network as "the catacombs". Due to their old age, the quarries not part of the official Catacombs have been deemed unsafe by Parisian officials. Yet, the size and length of the tunnels make it problematic to keep secret societies, thieves, artists and the inquisitive public from entering the unsafe network. In the 1980s, a movement was steadfast to the exploration of the tunnels.
After the discovery of the secret cinema, Patrick Alk, a photographer close to the group responsible said the discovery “was a shame, but not the end of the world.” There are dozens of other meeting places just like the one the police discovered in the mysterious labyrinth. He concluded, saying, “You guys have no idea what’s down there.” Due to vandalism and the theft of numerous skulls, the catacombs were closed in Oct 2009 till December of the same year. With the reopening of the site comes an additional security and bag check upon exiting. During WWII these tunnels were used as a headquarters by the Resistance; however now a days, thrill-seeking cataphiles are often caught (and fined) roaming the tunnels at night.












Friday 11 March 2016

The Incredible illuminated Cave Pools in France



The incredible illuminated pools in France looks like something straight out of a fairytale but can be visited if you know where to find them. A hunter found the enchanting La Grotte de St Marcel d’Ardeche in 1836, actually lost his ferret into a cavity in the cave. The cave is located in the south of France near Saint-Remèze. The fascinating pool formation is known as gours and rimstone, made by accumulations of minerals and calcite. 

What captivated the early explorers were the guided tours, guests can wander through a series of lovely halls and water-basins which nestle within a 1,968-ft-long network. Therefore, diverse colored lit pools look like they're part of a movie set, so it comes as no amazement that they have been featured in two French films, Les Deux Mondes and L'âge de Raison. The entry is just 10€ for adults, and 7€ for kids and more information can be found on the website. 

The cave offers to walk along a botanical poth called “le chemin de la grosse pierre“  or discover the fauna and flora of the “Gorges de l’Ardèche” and a menhir and a dolmen. Indeed the cave is very impressive as lots of different forms of stalactites, stalagmites and delicate translucent limestone veils, and crystals like snowflakes The French definitely know how to make their natural landscape most attractive, as lighting and sound & light show makes the most impressive features of limestone cave. The cave of Saint Marcel d’Ardèche will leave you an unforgettable memory.


Tuesday 1 March 2016

The Amazing Staircase of King of Aragon



Well, the stunning staircase of The King of Aragon is a stony staircase carved into the vertical side of a limestone cliff in the commune of Bonifacio, in Corsica, France. In French it is called Escalier du Roi d’Aragon actually cuts across the face of the cliff at a near 45° angle and is encompassed of 187 steps. However, from the side of the sea, it looks like a dark slanted line, and from near it appears as a tube scooped out of stone. The staircase was dug by the troops of the King of Aragon Alfonso V in the course of a single night during the ineffective siege of Bonifacio in 1420. Although in reality, the staircase descends to a natural spring and a cave located at the bottom of the stairway, and is thought to have been dug by the Franciscan monks long before the troops of Alfonso V set their feet on Bonifacio. 

Moreover, some legends say the first steps were carved in Neolithic times, and it has been continually improved since. These days you can walk down the steps, stroll along the sea and hike back up again. The perplexing photograph while looking up the Stairway carved into a steep cliff face in Bonifacio, Corsica, France. Upon looking carefully half a dozen times and you’ll get confused as to which way is up or down. It is suggested to must visit the staircase, probably early in the day, as you may too tired at the end of day. Therefore, you’ll feel at every step the sound of the sea is nice and increased therapeutically forget stress.

Sunday 7 February 2016

Grotte de Lascaux: The Famous Prehistoric Cave Printing



Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves is the France most famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings.  The cave contains some of best known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are believed to be 18000 years old. The paintings primarily comprises of large images of animals. It is thought, these are best known fossil evidence to have lived in this area at that time. Therefore, in 1979 the cave was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley. The figures, which can be grouped into three main categories: animals, human figures, and abstract signs. Lascaux cave has often been referred to well-known for their artistry, more than 2000-strong menagerie of animal images are depicted in Technicolor shades of red, black, yellow and brown, ranging from reindeer, aurochs, mammoths and horses to a monumental 5.5m-long bull, the largest single cave drawing ever found. 

The cave was totally sealed and protected for ages; until 1940 it was discovered by four teenaged boys out searching for their lost dog. It comprises a massive network of chambers well decorated with the most complex prehistoric paintings ever found. In 1948, the original cave was opened for visitors, but within 15 years it became apparent that human breath, temperature changes and introduced elements were causing irrevocable damage, and the cave was closed in 1963. Carbon dating has shown that the paintings are still a mystery why the prehistoric painters consumed so much time and efforts to their creation, and why this specific site seems to have been so significant. Moreover, the most famous section of the cave is “The Great Hall of the Bulls” where bulls, equines, and stags are depicted.