Norway, at the far end of Europe, the arctic odyssey

Anyway, from Norway I only had postcard shots in my head. So, summer or winter, it didn't really matter. So I took out a warm jacket, hat, gloves and lined boots, with dreams in my head. The trip was long: 3 planes (Basel-Paris / Paris-Oslo / Oslo-Evensen) then another 2 hours by bus.

But the excitement was stronger. First reward, a moose glimpsed by the side of the road! Icy and snowy roads, which would block all activity in France, do not prevent the driver from driving safely. His secret? Studded tires!

Arrival in Svolvaer, capital of the Lofoten Islands, dinner awaits us. On the menu: skrei, arctic cod from the Barents Sea to spawn in the waters of the Lofoten Islands. After a short stroll in the pub to taste the famous Mac beer, head to the hotel which overlooks the quays of the small fishing port. To see the small trawlers leave, you will have to get up early!

In the morning, when you draw the curtains, the view is amazing: above the small port, snow-capped peaks rise. Accompanied by clouds of seagulls, the boats leave the port while the light of the sun which rises very slowly, plunges the summits in a magical light. Wherever the eye rests, it is only white peaks above mirrors of translucent water.

Aboard a very comfortable coach, let's set off to explore the Lofoten Islands, linked by bridges, sometimes tunnels and, of course, boats, which remain the fastest way to get around.

On narrow, winding and always icy roads, our guide Yoann, makes us discover small fishing ports, small towns (no more than villages in fact), the history of its inhabitants, their life. It is about fish, trolls, Vikings, reindeer, Sami (the Lapps ...)
Impressive summits (however rarely exceeding 500 m) seem to emerge straight from the sea water that has risen engulfed in the narrow furrows left by the glaciers.

These fjords, some of which cover abysses more than 1000 meters deep, create breathtaking landscapes. At each bend in the road that follows this jagged coast, where only a few fishermen's huts on stilts bear witness to the human presence, the cameras are triggered. It is that these islands in the north of Norway, above the Arctic Circle and at the far end of Europe, are a world apart, of a beauty difficult to describe in words. It is not for nothing that the islands

Lofoten are among the three most beautiful archipelagos in the world. Countless black islets seem to swim in translucent seawater.
The visits follow one another. There are these small fishing ports with colorful houses and where the cod hauled up from the waters of the fjords are suspended on huge trays that stand near the ports.

For several months, the fish dry there, becoming stockfish.
On the Borg plateau, the identical reconstruction of a house of a Viking chief invites you to discover the life of these peasants and fishermen, who were not all pirates!

Plunging back towards the coast, at the end of the road, the small port of Mortsund is home to a whole set of "Rorbu", holiday cottages rebuilt on the model of the old fishermen's huts. In its restaurant, the owners serve fish-based cuisine and invite you to taste cod liver oil, from the morning catch.

So it is still warm when I test - before quickly biting into the orange slice to mask the taste ....
At the end of another winding road, looms Nusfjord, probably the most photographed village in Lofoten. If in summer an often compact crowd throngs on its quays, in winter, the village is ours. In a (free) museum, black and white films retrace the activity of yesteryear, when small boats set out in their hundreds to miraculously fish for Arctic cod.

Today, the trawler at the quayside only makes tourist trips: Nusfjord is too far from the large installations of the large fishing ports. In the delightfully retro shop, the grocer offers tasteful souvenirs, books, some culinary specialties, while willingly talking about the life of the few inhabitants on the spot.
It is time for us to get back to our bus to take the direction of Stamsund. This is where we will board one of the ships of the Coastal Express fleet for the rest of our journey to discover northern Norway, the North Cape and the Northern Lights. But that's another story. To be continued....