Categories
France

History trip to WW2 landing in Normandy

While waiting for favorable winds, we spend a nice week in Cherbourg and brushed up our knowledge of WW2 history in Utah Beach (Normandy). Then, we sailed to St-Quay-Portrieux (Brittany) where Fabule’s check-up will start with the engine maintenance. Deep water harbour – Cherbourg Located at the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula, Cherbourg features a […]

Categories
France La Manche / English Channel Netherlands North Sea

Playing hide and seek with the big boys (NL to FR)

This week, we covered 300 nautical miles along the coats of the Netherlands, Belgium and France to reach Cherbourg. During this journey, we kept a constant look out for big ships as we crossed the entrances leading to major european ports. Because their speed is 2 to 4 times faster then ours, these cargo carriers […]

Categories
Netherlands

Flat boats and wheels (Netherlands)

On our travel south to France, we made two stops in the Netherlands: Den Helder at the north tip of the mainland and Scheweningen near The Hague (Den Haag). It was a complete change of scenery for us. Not only had the lanscape changed to flat lands, sand and polders. The towns had a different […]

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Netherlands Norway

Sailing south to the Netherlands

Last stop in Norway (Mandal) For our last sailing along the Norwegian coast from Farsund to Mandal, the weather was overcast. We passed the notorious Lindesnes lighthouse in a foggy atmosphere. Located at the south tip of Norway along a river, Mandal initially developed around salmon fishing and the timber industry. With white-painted wooden houses […]

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Norway

At the crossroads (Farsund)

On our way to the south coast of Norway, we stopped in Farsund. Instead of a couple of nights, we ended up staying a week in this area rich in nature, history and amazing people. On top of Lista Lighthouse While sailing from Flekkefjord to Farsund, we passed Lista lighthouse. The peninsula of Lista is […]

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Norway

Welcome to small boat paradise (Flekkefjord)

While making our way from Egersund to Flekkefjord, we experienced again how the outside coast is exposed to wind and sea. But as you move behind an island or inside a fjord, it soon gets quiet. The tidal range is limited, and boats can be attached to any fixed pontoon. No wonder people established a […]

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Norway

Cycling to Trollpikken

This week we moved south after picking up our parcel in Stavanger. The labyrinth of islands and fjords in the Stavanger area provides protected waters that we had to leave in order to follow the more exposed coast toward Tananger and Egersund. Sailing in the Hogsfjord On a sunny day, we explored the islands in […]

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Norway

Intermezzo

During this rainy, cold and windy week, we stayed in Stavanger. It was time to took care of cleaning, provisioning and putting the affairs of daily life in order. In addition, Stavanger has good museums (really liked the Norsk Oljmuseum, Arkeologisk Museum and Norks Hermetikkmuseum) and a movie theather. Worth mentioning this week are the […]

Categories
Norway

Hiking in Lysefjord

We spent a week exploring Lysefjord. The name means “light fjord”, in reference to the coloured granite rock of its cliffs. Lysefjord is 42 km (26 nm) long and offers several impressive hiking opportunities. Getting to Lysefjord To get to Lysefjord, we passed under 2 bridges, one to leave Stavanger and another at the entrance […]

Categories
Norway

Summer music in Stavanger

Stavanger was our entry point to Norway. We stayed several days in this lively town. Coexistence of modern and old With around 230 000 habitants, Stavanger is the 3rd city of Norway (after Oslo and Bergen). It expanded a lot over the last 50 years, when oil was discovered in the North Sea. Stavanger became […]