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Author:

Ms (Leigh) Bella St John aka Luxurious Nomad ~ https://ElegantisVitae.com/

Ireland’s Copper Coast, Castles, and more…

Starting with a morning coffee pot…

…and along the Copper Coast Road…

…to the old mining settlement of Tankardstown…

(ref sign below) Hmmmm – OK, I’m up for a challenge!  My Fiesta rental car can go just about anywhere…

I guess these guys were sharing…

Lismore Castle…

There were no signs saying one wasn’t allowed to venture down the lanes through the back of the castle property, so…

These are incredible – they look like tree stumps, but are actually huge vines!  One can only ponder as to their age…

…and then home again to my lovely hotel…

A glorious day!

~ Bella

Ireland’s Rock of Cashel

It was a gloriously sun shiny day, so I went out exploring…

…and discovered the Rock of Cashel…

The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion, and has been constructed in various phases over several hundred years…

..and back home again.  See the turrets on the right?  That is my glorious accommodation!  I am treated every bit the princess here – and loving every minute of it!

~ Bella

 

 

Healy Pass, Ireland

It was a lovely day, so I decided to go for a drive to find Healy Pass…

Once I took this turn, I saw a total of four cars in the space of well over an hour…

Apart from the goats, one felt totally alone up there…

~ Bella

Cherbourg to Ireland

I was in Cherbourg for almost a week…

…and while these closer photos look quite clear, for the first couple of days, the air was such that you could even taste it…  ick…

…made for great sunsets, though…

…and finally off to the terminal to board the boat to Ireland…

It is a little difficult to make out, but this man was taking AWAY the life preservers…

…and even walking off with the hooked stick thingummy that fishes stuff (and people) out of the water…  Doesn’t exactly instill one with confidence!  🙂

After a restful night’s crossing, I awoke to fresh air, blue skies, and land in sight…

Welcome to Ireland!

~ Bella

 

Next day – and still headed to Cherbourg…

Well, this is obviously not my hotel 🙂 but rather a military installation…

THIS is my hotel, however when I arrived, I discovered it was CLOSED!  Thankfully, there was a member of staff nearby who told me that I should have an email from them…  Well, actually, it was more of a pantomime in that they didn’t speak a word of English and my French is not very good – but we managed…

So, upon checking my email, I found that they had sent me a code to let myself in, that my room key was on the front desk, and that the staff would be back tomorrow… ???  I managed to ask the person with whom I was speaking where I could get something to eat – since I decided to skip breakfast and have a largish late lunch that would also suffice for dinner…

Unfortunately, being Sunday, apparently everywhere except major metro centres are CLOSED!  The nearest place I could get something to eat..?

Thank you to American capitalism!  It was about a half an hour away, but at least it gave me a choice of two places that were open – Buffalo Grill and McDonalds.  🙂

The next morning, I headed off for Cherbourg…

Somehow I don’t think this railway line has been used for a while…

Brown horizon…

Welcome to the not-so-clean air of Cherbourg…

~ Bella

 

 

Next day – still headed to Cherbourg…

…further along this road, I arrived at my lodgings for the night…

Formerly a command post for the Knights Templar…

From their website:

Moulin Banal: former name of the Moulin des Templiers

  • In 1167 next to the river is located the Moulin Banal (attached to the Commandery of Knights Templar Island) and the chapel of St Jean Baptiste. Donation of a lord of Avallon the Templars.
  • 1506 the pastor of Pontaubert is still reading the Mass in the chapel
  • 1569 The Huguenot family, masters of Vézelay burned the Moulin Banal of Pontaubert and the small chapel.
  • 1910 Its last function was ice blocks making.
  • 1925 It was converted into a hotel.

 

Waking up to the sounds of birds chirping and water dancing along the riverbed…

…and according to the GPS…

…this is my hotel..???  🙂

…did I eventually find my hotel?  🙂

~ Bella

 

 

Next day – headed to Cherbourg…

A beautiful morning to head off yet again through the French countryside – that, by the way, smells continually like hot, squished grapes in the sun…

…and down this small lane is my accommodation for the night…  A medieval water mill and command post of the Knights Templar…

~ Bella

Goodbye Munich – hello Autobahn and more…

Finally, my time comes to leave Munich and I get a car to the airport where I collect my rental…

Meet Clio – my companion for the next few days…

Dear Clio did her best, but anything over 150 she felt decidedly unstable…  I did however manage to get to 185 for a brief moment…  Hey, it’s the Autobahn!  One needs to do these things!

Our first stop was an abbey that supposedly has an incredibly library, however it was closed…

Not to worry – it was fun wandering through the grounds…

In case you haven’t guessed by now, I didn’t exactly take the straightest route from Munich to Cherbourg, but rather meandered through the French countryside…

Time to stop for the night and I found a delightful hotel where from my window I could hear birds happily twittering away…

…and off again in the morning…

~ Bella

 

Terrorist Drills in Munich

Upon arriving back to the hotel after dinner, the streets were all cordoned off…  however we were eventually able to make our way back to the hotel… and I had a front row seat from my room…

Never a dull day/evening…

~ Bella