Saturday 24 January 2015

Grow Your Blog Party 2015 - la vie en Normandie

"Come party with us at the 3rd annual meet & greet blog party
 hosted by the delightful Miss Vicki @ 2 Bags Full"
Click here to see the full list of party goers!

2 Bags Full

Are you looking to expand your network of blogger friends,
 meet new people; travel to new places; discover new ideas and pastimes?
Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I'll begin........


First of all let me introduce myself to anyone visiting Normandy Life for the first time.
 My name is Maggie (that's me on the sidebar over on the right)
and I live here in rural Normandy, France with my husband (we've been married an awfully long time). 
On my blog I refer to him as "the Senior Partner or SP for short" 
simply because he's older than me!


We share our home with a beautiful, 4 year old, GSD - M'selle Fleur.


My first blog post saw the light of day 24/04/ 2008.
 Just words, no photos!


It was about the new vegetable garden that I was planning to start,
 it received 2 comments - both from friends of mine keen to show their support of my new ventures:
 creating a blog and creating a "potager".


Fast forward to now.
I've written almost 550 posts; the blog to date has had 226,148 page views.
 I'm thrilled to say that I have over 370 followers from around the world
 and it was one of those followers, a lady called Cheryl, who gave me the idea for today's post.
Cheryl emailed me recently to say that she and her husband would be visiting the UK later this year.
She also mentioned that they hoped to be able to make time to cross 
the English Channel and visit the WWII landing beaches.
She asked if I would be willing to answer their questions and I readily agreed.


 I always love to share our little corner of France with visitors,
 whether they come to le Presbytere as guests or arrive via cyberspace - it is my raison d'etre!


There is so much more to see and experience in the region
besides the D Day landing beaches and war cemeteries.


The city of Bayeux boasts the Cathedrale de Notre Dame which dates back to the 11th century.
Bayeux has many museums, my favourite is the Bayeux Tapestry Museum,
 a UNESCO World heritage site.
 If my visitors only have a short time to spend in the area the Catherdral and the Tapestry are the "must do" places to visit besides the landing beaches.

Sunday morning market @ Port en Bessin, Calvados region of Normandy and one of our favourites.
Each and every day of the week there are markets held in small towns and villages throughout Normandy, too many to mention but click here and you'll find a comprehensive list.

Normandy has long been a favourite destination for horse lovers,
click here for information on trekking holidays.


 So, I've gathered together some photographs of what Normandy means to me and scattered them throughout the post.


If you're already a follower you may have seen some of them before,
 to those who just might begin to follow me after visiting from the
 Grow Your Blog Party 2015,
I hope they might tempt you to come visit again soon, enjoy!

2 Bags Full

48 comments:

  1. Beautiful blog and it reminds me of my time spent in France. I was born in Beauvais and visited my grandparents often as a child. We spent may summer vacation in Cayeux-sur-Mer.

    CJ

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  2. Hi Maggie, thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving such a sweet comment. I have so looking forward to visiting your blog often since I am now going to follow it. I see we do have some things in common. I love the French decor and have my master bedroom done in French Country. Isn't it great to meet on Grow Your Blog. I hope you'll visit me again and become a follower.

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  3. Hi Maggie, wow your blog is lovely, great images, I want to visit Normandy it looks gorgeous. I'm following you now with Bloglovin. Enjoy the GYB party!
    Jill

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  4. Such a lovely post I'm stopping by on the blog hop and waving across the channel to you from the Kent Coast, where on a clear day we can see France, in fact I live nearer to France than London.
    Clare x

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  5. Hello there..what a lovely post! Nice to see across the ocean and how things are in your little corner of the world!

    Blessings
    Gert

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  6. Thanks for the views of Normandy today. It looks beautiful. One of my bucket list items is to see Juno beach, and then get some cheese! ☺

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  7. Such beautiful photos and collages! I've been following your blog for several years now! Someday I would love to visit there!
    Miss Bloomers

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  8. I love all your pictures! The area in which you live is stunning! Following you today.
    From one gardener to the next, thank you for the eye candy.
    Julie

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  9. Hi Maggie, I've just signed up to follow your blog. It's nice to find another Francophile, we're in Brittany and I blog about our life in France at Colours in the Breizh.

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  10. Hello Maggie,
    Lovely to meet you here :) We passed briefly through Normandy last year ... and my best friend here comes from Lisieux. You are so lucky living in that beautiful part of the world.
    This has been a brilliant day meeting new people.
    Best Wishes
    Fil
    Fil’s Place - Old songs and Memories

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  11. following up now. I am a quilter from Ga. USA and came over from Vicki's

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  12. Gorgeous photos! I'm going to try to figure out how to follow you, my google account always acts up and so I can't tell whether following on GFC worked or not. Look forward to seeing your little slice of France. I've always wanted to come to France, I'll live vicariously through you!

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  13. Thanks for coming by and visiting my blog earlier, Maggie. I love your photos, and your home is beautiful. I've always wanted to visit Normandy, and looking at your photos places it a bit higher on my list. :)

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  14. Hi Maggie, I am so glad that I came to visit you and now I am one of your followers. I have enjoyed my trip this afternoon in between ballgames. They won so we have another one yet to go. I loved visiting Normandy and seeing the beautiful countryside. Your pictures are awesome. My oldest two grandsons would love the horses that is for sure. The blog hop is so much fun. Shirley@shirleystitches

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  15. Bonsoir from the Côte d'Azur. I'm visiting from the blog hop and am also one of Vicki's helpers this year. Pleased to have found another Frenchie blog here. Normandy is one of my favourite regions in France - I own a small property in l'Orne which I don't get to often enough, but was there last October and took my kids to the Bayeux Tapestry! When the initial craziness of this hop calms down I'll be back for a good look around!

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  16. My daughter and I were in the Normandy region in July 2007 for a school educational tour. I feel in love with the area...Omaha Beach...too much for words. I would love to go back some day.

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  17. Hi, what a beautiful place! Your photographs are awesome and I would love to read more!

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  18. that is a place i have always wanted to visit. Perhaps I will get there one day. I am visiting from the grow your blog party and am a new follower of your blog.

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  19. Maggie, I visited Normandy (only a day) long before I discovered your blog. How I wish I'd known you then -- and what joy it would give me to return to France (this time when you weren't abroad!) and see your part of the world through the eyes of a local. I keep saying "someday." How I loved this post!

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  20. Your blog makes me want to visit more .But I can not find a way to fly there.I did contact a tour and will get back .Maybe they will know how. I love the water ,markets. I'm still working on it.
    will be back

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  21. Stopping by from Grow Your Blog, but I will keep returning for your beautiful pictures and to get to know you better. I've been to Normandy twice and loved it.

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  22. Hi Maggie! My name is Kelly and it's so nice to meet you! It was an absolute joy to read through your blog and to enjoy all of your lovely photos! I'm hoping someday my husband and I could visit Normandy. I would love to visit the WWII landing beaches.

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  23. oh Maggie what a delightful and informative post. Your pictures are so wonderful and makes me want to come back and learn more about you and Sp. I am from Washington State in the US. Three of my uncles landed at Normandy.

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  24. Hi Maggie! Thanks so much for coming to my blog and for the invitation to join you! It is my pleasure to visit I assure you! What a wonderful blog you have created and you are so blessed to live in a most picturesque part of the world which you have captured beautifully in photos! Thank you and I'm glad to be a new follower!

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  25. Hello fellow GYB participant! So loving your beautiful photos, Maggie, and definitely plan to return (to your blog at least, if not to France LOL)

    Following via GFC and Bloglovin :)

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  26. Visiting and following from GYB. You have shared so much beauty in your images.

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  27. Hi Maggie, I am visiting through the GYB event. I love your blog and I'd love to learn more about France. I am now following you via Google friend connect. I do hope you can stop by my blog Julie's Lifestyle and enter my giveaway. Thanks.
    Julie at Julie's Lifestyle

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  28. what beautiful photos; makes me feel as if I am there. thanks so much for visiting me Maggie; I am so enjoying the blogs this year.... great fun. hugs. Karen (Alaska Blue Moose - www.karendorcas.com)

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  29. I know I will never get to visit in person so it was great fun to visit through photos. Thank you for inviting us and enjoy the tour!

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  30. Hi Maggie, I love that I came across your blog! I love your photos and seeing a place I know from another perspective! I'll definitely be reading you

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  31. I just can't tell you how beautiful your home and surroundings are. I really have enjoyed your blog. Thank you for the opportunity to see it. Jo

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  32. Hi Maggie- waving Hello from snowy cold eastern Canada. We are awaiting a big storm, bringing us a foot or more of snow tomorrow... yuch. I would love to visit Normandy someday. Was last there in 1976.... Your photos are so beautiful. I'll be back to visit again, for sure. Hope you'll drop by to see me at Stitch Lines....

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  33. Maggie I am so happy to meet you! My name is Jeanne and I live in Texas, but have visited France and Normandy which I just thought was amazing. i have had my blog, Butterfly Tales, for 4 years and have had such a great time with it. I have just joined your blog to follow and will be excited to learn more about you and the beautiful region that you live in! Hugs to you from the Lone Star State

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  34. Maggie, it's so nice to meet you!! I'm from Missouri, USA and have been to Paris twice. We'd love to visit other parts of France someday (Hubby is retiring this year!!) so I'll be excited to read your beautiful posts for ideas. Your photography is awesome! Thanks for visiting me - I'm looking forward to getting to know you through you lovely blog!

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  35. Greetings from Canada.
    So nice to meet you Maggie.
    Your blog photos are awesome!
    I look forward to following your blog.

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  36. Oh my goodness, Maggie, visiting your blog is like stepping into a dream! How I long to visit your beautiful part of the world. I can see it would be easy for me to become totally emerged in your lovely blog. Count me among your newest followers! And thanks so much for your lovely comment on mine! Cindy from TheCranesNest.com

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  37. You throw a great party. Thank you for inviting me!

    So that you know, I've become a Follower and when time permits, I'll be back to see what other beautiful things were made by your hands!

    What this party is all about is to GROW your blog and I'm hoping to do the same. When you get to Section One, check out A Country Chic Retreat and SuZeQ Creations, my personal blog, in Section Fifteen I'd love for you to follow and subscribe to.

    Happy crafting!
    SuZeQ

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  38. Hello and so nice to meet you and visit your beautiful blog - stopping by from Grow Your Blog Party. I am looking forward to following you and seeing more of your lovely part of France - I visited Normandy many years ago and fell in love with it.
    Have a wonderful day.
    Erin

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  39. Hi Maggie,
    Nice to meet you!
    Lovely blog! I 'm a new member, and I'm looking foward to following along.
    Enjoy...

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  40. Hi Maggie - Normandy really is beautiful. I've never been but would love to see the Bayeux Tapestry. Being an embroiderer I've read a lot about it. Enjoy the blog party! Susan

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  41. HI, I'm a textile artist, visiting, via GYB, from St. John's, NL Canada. Enjoyed my visit to your blog . Your photos are wonderful.

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  42. Happy day to you, Maggie! I am dropping in from the GYB party :)

    I had a lovely visit with you today and thoroughly enjoyed your photos. I am a happy new follower and eagerly look forward to visiting again. Hugs to you! Stephanie - The Enchanting Rose

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  43. Oh my! What a wonderful "get to know me" post! I loved the photographs of Normandy and your home and garden! I also started in 2008 and have almost 550 posts on my blog. At first we were living in North Carolina and then Virginia USA and then moved out to Arizona to be close to our daughter and her family, almost four years ago. My blog has changed in the course of time, not only in the photos I have been able to take, but in my focus. It is very nice meeting you! Oh, I meant to also tell you that part of my ancestors were Norman English (Barton) and I would love to visit Normandy someday as well as the rest of France, and England. I have been to Ireland (another family line comes from there) with my Mom on a great vacation for 10 days also in 2008. Normandy would be a dream come true! Have a wonderful week! I am now a follower.

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  44. Thank you for the list. I love Normandy-ok I love France. I am always looking for new places to visit in France. I agree Normandy is much more that the D-Day Beach-the Bayeaux Tapestry is unbelievable. Honfleur is also a lovely town. This is a beautiful description of Normandy that you have put together. Bon journee (I have forgotten how to do the accent on the Mac).

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  45. Hello Maggie, it's nice meeting you! Normandy is high on my wish list, I think it's such a beautiful place. And your photos and blog posts about it definitely increase my wish to visit. I'm a French girl and have some roots there, so I'd love to soak in the atmosphere. I'm going to follow your beautiful blog. And thank you so much for your sweet comment on my blog! Wishing you a beautiful day ~ Wendy of Apple and Apricot

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  46. So, I'm coming to Normandy because of your beautiful photos! Visiting via Vicki's GYBP and enjoying all your photos...absolutely lovely! You've packed a lot of beauty into each photo montage, many thanks.

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  47. Hi there! I come here from GYB !I just saw in Monique's (A half -baked notion) that you won her giveaway and thought of visiting your blog!I love Normandy although I have never been there! But I wish I will one day!And now you are to Cyprus!I am looking forward to your blogposts!AriadnefromGreece!

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  48. Oh my!! Your blog is so interesting, and I loved each and every photo!! Just beautiful there!! My name is Sandy and I am catching up, fell behind a bit due to switching blog hosts, things are back to normal now. I crochet and knit, love to sew and love my cats! I care for my elderly mother so always very busy and usually don't get to the things I have planned, but will eventually!! That is a positive!! Stop by and say hello! www.sanderellascrochet.com Sandy

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Thanks for stopping by, your visit just made my day!