Between Reims and Rouen

This past Saturday we had a beautiful day for traveling.  The sky was beautiful.  But what caught my attention this time were the fields.  After having lived in Reims for 25 years with the fields of grape vines that circle the city, it is interesting to see the other kinds of fields that exist. 

In the short trip between Reims and Rouen (150 mi) I counted many different kinds of crops in different stages.  There were fields of wheat, corn, sunflowers, beets, potatoes, onions,  alfalfa, flax, colza (wild mustard), apple trees, and many different kinds of cows (brown, white, black and white, etc.)  in other fields. 

This is a very pretty time of year to be traveling with the harvest going on.  The colza is a fluorescent color when it is flowering which is in the spring.  By the time we started traveling it was dried up and now it has been harvested.  After they harvest the seeds, they cut the "grass" and make it into bales, but it also leaves a hard stalk in the fields.  It is so pretty.

The wheat is being harvested right now.  Combines, tractors, trailers full of the grain slow down traffic but are necessary to get the work done.  There again they roll the bales after the grain is harvested.  Which also is very pretty.  We have seen some big trucks that are piled high with bales of straw that are being taken to other parts of France because of the lack of grazing grass for the cows, sheep and goats.  In certain parts of France there has been a real lack of rain.

I took pictures.  But they just don't do justice to the beauty.

 

Sugar beets

Sunflowers (missed the picture when they were in full bloom:-( )

Corn

Apple trees

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Tomorrow we make the trip again.  But the sky isn't supposed to be blue.  Oh well.  It's still a very pretty drive.

Have a great weekend.