TRAVEL NOTEBOOKS
TONIC GETAWAY IN THE FJORDS OF NORWAY
OSLO GARDENMOEN airport. We board in an Airbus A320 from the NORWEGIAN
company which provides a daily flight with BERGEN when at the top of the access
gateway,the hostess on board greet us with a "Hello , How are you. Welcome on board"
before inviting us to join our respective assigned places. After 30 minutes of flight in
glorious weather, we begin our descent and observe through the porthole this beautiful
beautiful and rebellious land that is Norway through these distant mountains coupled
with a harmoniously cut wild coast.
Located on the southwestern part of the continent , a port city with 278 ,121 inhabitants and the second largest city in
in the country after OSLO, BERGEN is a shimmering city with a typical architecture integrating harmoniously distributed wooden houses which separate it in its major part by the fjords which are the Sorfjord and the Byfjord in the North and
the Raunefjord and the Grimstadfjord further west. It is when arriving at Oystesse located halfway between BERGEN and ULVIK when you see the first slopes of the Fjords that you really enter this charming country that is Norway.
Far from the hustle and bustle of the city and civilization, this fascinating territory made up of fjords that jut out into the
continent has earned it to remain protected from any excessive human presence or unfolds in a very wild setting of
contrasting landscapes integrating dark and silent mountains dominating very deep glacial valleys, narrow and steep
coasts called the Fjords.Located in the far north of Europe, Norway is a band of land made up of coasts cut by valleys
called Fjords including in land waters among the deepest in the world with a particularity which is that the water
on the surface is very little salty taking into account its origin from torrents and melting snow which makes the Fjord a
deep ravine where the sea goes far in land as we will see going further north towards Kaupanger at the Fjord of Sogne-
fjord which is the longest and most important of them.
In addition to the beauty and variety of the landscapes,
criss-crossing the Fjords in Norway also offer the oppor-
tunity to discover a rich and diversified fauna and flora
helped in this by the beneficial contribution of the Gulf
Stream current which provides a balanced microclimate
particularly favorable to presence of many mammals that
live on the steep mountain slopes bordering the Fjords in
supplement to the contribution of snow and ice which
provide them with water thus promoting the growth of the
vegetation. The characteristics of the Norwegian Fjords in
make an ideal environment for wildlife both for large sea-
birds than for other small species forests as on the Lofo-
ten islands including 365 birds species which is the lar-
gest bird sanctuary of Norway where one peacefully cros-
ses paths with the white-tailed eagle, the golden eagle or the northern gannet.
A paroxysm of magical and enchanting colors
During our journey which takes us further north towards Maley which is surrounded on both sides by the Nordfjord appears a more arid landscape embellished by a meteorology certainly temperate but also much fresher and which gives
theses places, by their shapes and their inclinations, a touch a little irrational morning of landscapes embellished with a
paroxysm of colors both magical and magical where wildlife reigns supreme. After a Canoe Kayak trip where the view in
the heart of the Nordfjord Fjord is absolutely superb, we meet salmon fishermen who know us read while waving at us
and proud of their cultural richness and very attached to ancestral values, the Norwegians want to preserve their tradi-
tions very often transmitted from generation to generation which go hand to hand with their sense of hospitality as are
all the peoples from the Scandinavian lands. One of the particularities of this fascinating Norway, it is the permanent
juxtaposition of breathtaking landscapes, integrating all that the nature at its most noble,with a rich history and a great
preserved heritage .The next morning when our plane takes off from Bergen airport in the direction of Oslo before rea-
ching France,we observe a last again,through the porthole,this beautiful and rebellious land that is Norway with its wide wild spaces punctuated bursts of magical lights that fascinated us with their natural beauty.
Report: Gabriel PAGE
Travel and Expedition: Patrick And Martine LECOINTRE June 2019
Photos credit: Gabriel PAGE- Patrcik LECOINTRE / Getty Images
