We arrived, a friend and I, in Bergen last friday in the evening, after almost one week of travel  throught Germany and Danemark.  Here my trip report. You can access the concerned albums by clicking on the pics.

Saturday 21th: Paris > Solingen (Ger). Evening-hike in Solingen.



Sunday 22th: Solingen > Laboe (Near Kiel, Germany). Visit of the Laboe Memorial.



Monday 23th: Laboe > Jelling. We first stopped at Heikendorf near Laboe to see another memorial. Then we visited Kolding, Vejle and Jelling in Denmark.


Tuesday 24th: Jelling > Vigsø (near Hanstholm). I used only little roads. We stopped at the old Viking settlement, Fyrkat, near Hobro. Then we visited the old Viking graveyard called Lindholm Høje in Aalborg. Then we stopped at Aggersund to visit another Viking fortress, Aggersborg. We finally arrived in Vigsø where a complete battery of the Atlantic Wall is bathing into the North Sea.




Wednesday 25th: We stayed in Vigsø/Hansholm to visit a big fortress from WWII, again. This was the biggest European fortress at this time.



Thursday 26th: We  visited another battery  south to Hanstholm and waited for our ferry which was 4 hours late... he left Denmark at 4 AM the day after. Because of an engine problem we landed at Haugesund and drove until Bergen. We arrived at Fantoft, one of the Bergen student Hostels, friday 27th in the evening.

Thanks to the good Pierre (take a look to his blog Camembert in my links) we had somewhere to sleep: he hid is key in a secret place for us. Thanks to him again...

Heisann folks.
I spent a wunderbar week-end in the district of Hardanger. In Aga, on the shores of the Sørfjord, to be more accurate. I put four spanish girls in my wunderbar Renault Clio and we left Bergen on Saturday. We directly headed towards Odda to do a famous hike in the Buerdal, to reach the glacier Buer (Buerbreen), an arm of the Sør-Folgenfonna. We just stopped in Kvamskogen, Steindalfossen, Utne and Norheimsund for some photos.
After the hike we went north and spent the night in a hytte in Aga. Good night 5 meters from the fjord, French Crêpes by myself, fresh eggs and milk from the farm. Once again, wunderbar.


Sunday we headed north again til Utne to cross the fjord to Kinsarvik (pronounced Shyeenssarveek, hahaha). Then the wunderbar hike in Husedalen. Two kilometers of true and narrow gravel road toward Kinso Kravfverk at the feet of Tveitefossen, one of the four waterfalls of this valley. Well, the most pussy and shit waterfall of this valley... I didn't even take a pic of it. Of course, pussy compared to others. But big anyway. Because of the rain and of the lazyness of my comrades we stopped the hike at the top off the second watefall, the gorgeous and massive Nyastølfoss.

 
Up in the valley stands the narrow but powerful Nykkjesøyfoss and further, the massive, curved, loud and impressive Søtefoss. At the top of this one begins the Hardangervidda, the rawest, biggest and highest plateau in western Europe. Inhabited by reindeers, lemmings, trolls and bear-skins dressed nice Norwegian girls.


During our hike we crossed the path of three hunters who immediatly made me think to the crazy perverts of Delivrance: they really looked like white-thrash-autist-båååå dudes. And I didn't have my bow, lol.
Husedalen is a protected site and is supposed to remain what it is today: one of the rawest and most preserved valley of southern Norway.
After the hike we headed back to Bergen by the traditional (and only) road Kvanndal-Norheimsund-Kvamskogen-Indre Arna-Nesttun-Bergen. We stopped somewhere along the Hardangerfjord to buy good and cheap fruits from here (11kr/kilo).
As usual, click on the pics to get bigger ones and access my Flickr folders.

Long time without updates... so long job for me now to tell what happened here since December...
A trip in the Faroe Islands was planned since long by me but nobody wanted to join me. By coincidence other people I know had planned that on their side. We therefore decided to go together and planned that few days before the sailing. Smyril Line is a Faroean Company who sail with its boat Norröna making a loop Hanstholm (DK) - Bergen - Shetlands - Iceland... the boat is supposed to leave Bergen on Sundays and to end the loop - In Bergen - on sundays.
Because of the Christmas Schedule, the boat had to came back the next wednesday. We left on Sunday morning, arrived early monday morning in Tórshavn. We left the same city Wednesday in the afternoon. Whoch makes 2 days and a half on the islands. I took my car, it was a good decision because it only cost us 150 kr for each person + gas (shared fees), and because without it we would not have seen many things...
The first day was spent in Tórshavn the capital, Kirkjubøur and on Sornfelli.
In Tórshavn, we visited the city, the fortress, took photos, put our stuff in the Youth Hostel (Bládýpi).
Kirkjubøur is an old settlement approx. 10 kilometers south of the capital there you can find ruins of an old cathedral and the oldest inhabited wooded building in Europe.
Sornefelli is a mountain (approx 700masl) with a NATO Radar station on the top. We just drove there to enjoy the nice and well keeped local roads.
Then we went back to Tórshavn, ate at Burger King and went to the Youth Hostel.


The second day was time-counted.We headed up in another island, Esturoy. Before reaching Eiði, we stopped at and old whaling station abandoned in 1984, Við Áir. astonishing remains and low-orange sunlight.


Nice country, nice people (wondering why the hell tourists are coming at this period), nice sheeps and sheepdogs, roads in perfect status (Norway should learn on this side...).
Other pictures in the Flickr Føroyar folder. You can access it  by clicking on one of the pictures above.

Okay, my sister visiting me, I had to show her other things than Bergen! We left Bergen with 2 Belgian friends under heavy weather to the Sogn. Mountain roads (Rv 13) being closed, we took the E39, crossed the Sognefjord, and drove along the north shore of it until Balestrand. We stopped a bit there and then joined the place whe we rented a cabin: Sværen, by the Sværenfjorden, arm of the Fjærlandsfjorden, arm of the Sognefjorden. We had a nice walk in deep snow in the Sværendal, and then went back home to eat! The day after we [tried to] fish and went to the grocery with a boat, way shorter than by road (and less dangerous!). The afternoon we went to Dale, a farm on the other side of the fjord, just 5km to drive. And the massive snowfall started. And the massive snowfight started. The day after as quite hard, many driving on heavy and deep snow, no visibility on all the part Hella / Kaupanger. Shit. Then it was a wonderful weather and we went to Borgund where I'had been back in 2002. CLEAR blue sky, mass snow carpet, perfect to see the stavchurch ! Then, back to Bergen, with a stop at Aurland (Aurlandsvegen) and at Gudvangen. It was a good trip, for around 60€/person, all inclusive.