A fortnight in Ireland with our French friends August 2017

From August 3rd to 17th Emmanuelle, Jade and William were with us. The evening they arrived we went up to Grianan of Aileach for the view - fantastic. On 4th August we took off for  Holywood Co. Down on a weekend home exchange. We went via the Antrim Coast to see some Game of Thrones film locations. We stopped at Downhill beach to see The Mussenden Temple. They took some  photos of Dunluce and Dunseverick. Then we went to The Red Door on the way to Ballintoy Harbour for lunch. We had a delicious chowder, William a burger and Jade cake! They loved Ballintoy Harbour.
Rachel and Will’s house had the wow factor - huge! In fact I thought it was too big but the French really loved the games room. From the living room and balcony there was a great view of Strangford Lough. Rachel had left a chilli con carne which went down well.  The following day we did the Mournes and went on the ferry. We had a picnic in a very nice location from where we could watch the boats.. We got a Chinese takeaway that evening. The following day we did Cushendun where we got to see the cave which is a location in Game of Thrones. Then we went to Ward Castle - another Game of Thrones location. I cooked a chicken as it is one of the easiest meals to prepare when in an unfamiliar kitchen.On Monday we cleaned up and went home via the Giant’s Causeway which they loved. On Tuesday we prepared a party for Emmanuelle’s 40th birthday. Jim brought them to Derry while I prepared the fondue. We had a good night despite the oily hassle. On Wednesday we went to Inishowen - Mamore Gap, Gleneevin Waterfall. We had lunch at Glen House. On Thursday we did a drive to Rathmullan and Knockalla and Fanad - it was a beautiful day and I was struck by the thought of all our travels looking for scenic places when on our doorstep is one of the most beautiful!
On Friday Brian and Mairead came and on Saturday Brian and Mairead brought them to Glenveigh which they thoroughly enjoyed. They finished the day with a trip past the Poisoned Glen and around Bloody Foreland. We had a quiet day on Sunday - I think they went out to the Stone Circle. On Monday - their last day -  we brought them to Cruit Island and again we all loved the beautiful scenery.

Because, for us, all our trips were mainly revisiting places we knew, Jim took only a few photos some of which are below.

This is The Dark Hedges - location from The Game of Thrones. We also enjoyed the grounds of The Hedges Hotel which had tree stumps decorated as fairy dwellings.

We visited the Dunlop Memorial Garden in Ballymoney commemorating both Joey and Robert Dunlop.

The sunset on Belfast Lough seen from Will and Rachel's house.

The Red Door Cafe near Ballintoy Harbour.

Ward Castle - a Game of Thrones location. We did a really long walk here.

Not the Dark Hedges but quite a pretty corridor.

Some of the nice views during our walk in the grounds of Castle Ward.

Gleneevin Waterfall - since then the whole area has been destroyed by the flood late August.