Frosty winter sunrise over the files above Titchwell, Norfolk around Choseley Rd.

Tags:   Norfolk Winter Winter Sunrise Sunrise Frosty Sunrise Landscape UK Landscape Winter Landscape Frost Sunrise over Norfolk Titchwell, Norfolk Titchwell Place of Interest Nature Reserve

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Looking towards Pont de Saint-Goustan, from Port de Saint-Goustan, Auray.

During the Middle Ages - due to it position at the mouth of the river- the port collected duties from boats passing through. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the wine and grain trade made this place the third most important port in Brittany and in 1776 Benjamin Franklin landed here to meet King Louis XVI to asked for assistance from the French in the American War of Independence.

Auray is a commune in the Morbihan department, in the Bretagne region of northwestern France.

47.666003, -2.978851

Tags:   Building River Urban Landscape Bretagne/Brittany Golfe du Morbihan/Gulf of Morbihan France Family Holiday Holiday Landmark Auray, Morbihan Morbihan, Bretagne Place of Interest

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Crillon-le-Brave, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - from Place de la Mairie towards the Hôtel Crillon-le-Brave and Église St-Romain.

The village is perched 363 above sea level and offers magnificent views to Mont Ventoux in the north and the Provence to the south. The village is situated 12 km (7.5 mi) from Carpentras, and about 2 km (1.2 mi) from Bédoin.

The village takes its full name of Crillon-le-Brave from the most legendary of its dukes: Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon or "Le Brave Crillon" (1541–1615) was one of Henri IV's fiercest and most valiant generals during the French Wars of Religion in the late 16th century.

Like most of the buildings surrounding the church at the top of the village, the houses that form the core of the Hostellerie have their origins in the 16th and 17th centuries and played an important part in village life. The Maison Roche was originally the presbytère - the priest's home, and at the same time the village school.

At the end of the 19th century Crillon-le-Brave was a prosperous village of 800 inhabitants served by several cafés, bars and stores, but by the beginning of the 20th century, the village began a long slow decline and was largely abandoned with many of its houses falling into ruins due to a failing water supply and two world wars. But since the early 1970s the villages has been bought back to life.

Tags:   Crillon-le-Brave Vaucluse Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur France Village Building Buildings Architecture Place of Interest Hotel Accommodation Grounds

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Carrelets (fishing cabins ) on Tharon-plage, Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef.

Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in the region of the Pays de la Loire in western France.

47°09'49.0"N 2°10'10.0"W
47.163611, -2.169444

Tags:   Carrelets France Holiday Coastline Landscape Seascape Pays de Retz Place of Interest Landmark French Landscape Coastal View Beach Coast Loire-Atlantique Pays de la Loire French Coastline Côte de Jade/Jade Coast

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Views from the stoep of our accommodation at African Game Lodge, Montague, Little Karoo, South Africa

We spent 2 nights at this isolated lodge just outside Montagu nestled in the Langeberg Mountains in the Klein Karoo/Little Karoo, between the Slagkloof, Gatskraal and Gannaleegte Mountain Range.

Situated at an altitude of 800m above sea level, the lodge, which is dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation, awareness and preserving bio-diversity, sits in a private reserve of about 4300ha.

The low-rainfall, sensitive vegetation and seasonal grasses cannot sustain large herds of grazers and so careful management is needed to preserve the veld. The reserve is game-fenced and stocked with Eland, Oryx, Kudu, Springbok, Wildebeest, Cape Rhebok and endemic species such as Klip Springer, Duiker.

The adventure started as we drove up the 30km un-made road (easily negotiated by our hire car - in dry conditions). We crossed lots of dry water courses, which I can image must cause problems in wet weather.

As you sit on the stoep of your comfortable (off-grid) cottage overlooking the Langeberg mountains in a wonderfully pristine valley, you can watch Eland and other antelope grazing close-by. There are some interesting scrub birds for the keen birdwatcher.

We stayed in Springbok - a comfortable and well equipped one-bedroom cottage furthest away from the main lodge and like the other cottages offering plenty of privacy and with stunning views towards the mountains from the secluded stoep. This is a great place to sit and relax with a book, drink and a pair of binoculars and appreciate the silence on offer. We would get frequent visits from the lodge mongoose (Maggie) who decided she like to chew my hair as she took up position on the back of my chair on the stoep, we were warned not to allow her into the cottage.

If you don't want to self-cater meals can be taken at the main lodge, where there is also a swimming pool. You can also take one of the guided drives around the reserve.

At night it was wonderful to enjoy the dark skies and abundance of stars due to the property's isolated location.

#montagu #westerncape #littlekaroo #southafrica #westerncape #landscape #southafricanlandscape

Tags:   Garden Route, Western Cape, South Africa South Africa Trip 2014 South Africa Western Cape Montague, Little Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa Mountains Hills Landscape South African Landscape Place of Interest Big Sky

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