recently, I have been exploring the northern part of France.
First, I went on a pilgrimage to Normandy with a youth group from my hometown in Leinefelde. We were following in the footsteps of Saint Maria Magdalena Postel. Despite speaking little French and most of the sisters not speaking English, we were warmly welcomed by the sisters who still live in the places associated with Saint S.M.M.P.
After these interesting days in Normandy, I headed to the northernmost part of the country and to the next historical place related to the war, namely Dunkirk. Since Dunkirk did not have much to offer in terms of sights, I spent a few hours in Bergues, which was nearby. Bergues is still surrounded by the well-preserved city fortifications. I believe that Bergues was spared from bombs during the war due to its location next to Dunkirk. In the evening, I returned to Dunkirk where I spent most of my time strolling on the beach. Unfortunately, there is not much left of the old city center, most likely due to its history in the Second World War. However, the beach and promenade are really amazing. For the weekend, I went to the "European metropolis" Lille. I finally found a Couchsurfing host there. I didn't know that we would sleep in a room with six people. But in the end, it was not so bad because I got to meet many new people, such as Brazilians, Portuguese, French, Ukrainians... It was great to be part of such a big community. They showed us many things in the city that I probably wouldn't have found on my own. We did everything together, from building Lego in a children's corner of a museum to taking a roller coaster ride for children. In the evening, we went to a vintage bar where they played a lot of 70s and 80s music. After not getting much sleep that night, I continued to Reims the next day. In the summer, a spectacular light show is projected onto the facade of the cathedral in Reims. The show depicts the history of the cathedral, where most of the French kings were crowned. It was worth visiting the city just for that. Impressed by that evening, I headed to Metz the next day. I found my accommodation there through Couchsurfing in Lille. I slept in a shared living room in a flat share. In the north, Metz is also called the yellow city because many houses in the city center, including the cathedral, are built from a yellowish stone. It is quite special to stroll through a "yellow city" as we are not used to seeing yellow facades very often. Through the flat share, I also got to know new people from the city in the evening. It is possible to get by with German there as many people work in Saarbrücken, which is about a 45-minute drive away. After these two nights in Metz, I headed an hour south to Nancy. I was glad to be traveling alone again as the two days with many new people in Metz and little English had taken a toll on me. It seems to be quite normal in the region to have light shows everywhere in the summer. In Metz, the cathedral is also illuminated, but I missed that by just one day. In Nancy, the central Place Stanislas with the opera house and city hall is also lit up at night. The city itself is relatively small for me, but still really beautiful, especially the central square. The evening show was also well done, as the buildings on the left and right of the square were included and it felt like standing in a larger space. Two days ago, I moved on/back to my first host Philippe in Burgundy, where Janka (the German WWOOFer I lived with here in January) and I are taking care of the property for a few days. It's pretty cool to see this place in the summer and not just when it's always gray and cold.
