London and Home

Saturday, William and Gavin took us to the Essex Agricultural Show. I held an owl, saw work horses, donkeys, flower displays, fruit, vegetables, and all the variety of things one sees at an Agricultural fair. There was even an antique car exhibit that William and Roger enjoyed.

Later, we took a train up to London where we spent two nights with Larry and Lorraine Shearer and their two sons, Sam and Tom. We went to the Victoria and Albert Museum on Sunday, had some great Indian take-away, and watched the final game in the World Cup.

Monday it was time to leave. We had an uneventful flight home, were picked up by Austin Limo, that was really a treat to come home in style. The best part of the whole trip was coming home to find that while we were gone our children had totally redone the living room!!! Freshly painted walls, professionally finished floor, new bookcase, sofas, a new rug on the floor and curtains on the windows. Oh, were we ever happy! No one has children has wonderful as ours are!!!

The Butt and Oyster and Barn Owl

Friday, we went with William to Pin Mill, another setting from Arther Ransome, Pin Mill is featured in We Didn't Mean to Go to See. After lunch we drove down to Shotley where one of Gavin's garden clients, Simon Bullimore, keeps his 50 foot, shoal draft, schooner Barn Owl. Roger was delighted to have a chance to go aboard this Phil Bolger designed ship. It was very impressive.

The Norfolk Broads

We spent three days in Essex with my cousin William and his partner Gavin. Great fun. On Thursday, William took us up to the Norfolk Broads, the setting of some of my favorite Arthur Ransome books including Coot Club. We had lunch at the Swan Inn on the Quay at Horning and later visited the nature center at Ranworth Broad.

The White Cliffs of Dover

We said goodbye to France and watched it recede in the distance from the aft deck of the P&O Ferry that took us across La Manche or the English Channel. It was a pleasant ride, sunny but breezy.

At last, the white cliffs of Dover. We were back in England where they drive on "the wrong side of the road" at least according to Americans!

Driving through northern France on our way from Mont St. Michel to Calais we saw a number of wind farms on the ridges and even as this picture shows by the side of the road.

Paddling Around Mont St. Michel

Mont St. Michel was another place I had always wanted to see. We stayed in a small, very French hotel that had a Small Planet recommendation. Walking across the causeway and then up the tiny medieval street of the village was like walking into a picture book. I climbed up what seemed like hundreds of steps to get to the entrance to the Abbey. Then there were more steps up to a stone terrace with an amazing view of the surrounding sands and the distant English Channel. Excuse me, the French call it La Manche or the sleeve. The inside of the Abbey was impressive especially when one considers the site, high up on what is essentially a rock, and the time of the building (the 6th century through the 18th century). Blocks of granite were brought from another island to build the imposing structure. From the Abby one walks out to a cloister that seems suspend in air, It was truly magical a place of peace and quiet, with a lovely garden in the middle, surrounded by closistered walks and with views of the blue-green sea. I coiuld have sat there for days just absorbing the beauty.

Monet's Garden

Visiting Monet's House and Garden at Giverney was a real highlight. The gardens were amazing and it was inspiring to see the scenes that feature in so many of his paintings. We spent the night in a small hotel about 200 yards from Monet's house and garden. It was serene and peaceful, the food was excellent and so was the wine. After a visit to the Impressionist Museum we went on our way to Mont St. Michel.

Paris in Pictures

Waddling into Paris

We finally arrived back in Paris! We spent two nights there with Lise and saw all sorts of things. Carolyn meet us on Saturday and we went to a museum, had lunch at a small brasserie and went with Lise to a cooking store and a knitting store. The next day Carolyn, her husband and two children met us at the boat and we took a trip on the Seine before having lunch and then seeing some more of Paris. Look for photos of these two amazing days on the next post.

En Route to Paris

On our way up to Paris we drove through beautiful farm land. There was one amazing vista after another. We stopped in the Bordeaux region to visit Chateauneuf. It was a Medieval Chateau or fortress surrounded by an equally ancient village. It was a fairy tale picture, the chateau on a hilltop dominating the countryside with the village huddled around it.






In one of the ancient homes near the gateway to the Chateau was a restaurant where we had a delicious lunch. One of the best parts of lunch was my dessert a tarte aux pommes with creme fraiche. Yummy!!!








After lunch we crossed the wooden drawbridge and entered the Chateau through the great arched stone entryway. Once inside we explored the courtyard, the great hall, the turrets, and the living quarters that were furnished in the style of different centuries. From the windows there was a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside. It was easy to see why a fortress was built in this spot.







The great hall was not only where the feasts were served but also where the lord of the manner sat to hear cases and mete out judgements. Roger admired the throne like seat. Everything about the hall was larger than life scale, the room itself, the ceiling, the table, and the lord's seat.











In one of the upstairs chambers we saw a bath ready to be filled for the lady of the manor to have a bath. It was a huge wooden tub lined with canvas type fabric. There were tapestries hanging everywhere upstairs.













We liked this poster advertising a "Pirate Race" on a nearby canal. The canals were one way to move goods in earlier centuries.

















We decided that this was a nice little piece of real estate. We could just see ourselves standing here and welcoming our friends to a great feast in the Chateau!!!














Leaving the Chateau we passed all the picturesque houses of the village. Apparently there is a contest each year for the village in France with the best displays of flowers and this village has won that award in the past. I'm not surprised. It was magnificent!!!

Then it was time to hit the road again and head to Paris.

Quaking Around France -- Lyons

After leaving the Chartreuse Mountains we headed down to Lyon. The Traffic was horrible. We finally made it there and checked into our hotel, which was in a building built in the 1500s during the Renaissance. Roger asked if there was air conditioning and the man at the reception desk looked at him and said "Monsieur, this is a building from the Renaissance. We do not need air conditioning! The stones keep us cool." However, we did find a 2010 fan in our 1500s room and we used it!

As soon as we checked in we raced out go to the concert that JP had gotten tickets to. It was a concert of Opera music in a Roman Amphitheater. We went up the hill in another funicular, and got there just in time. However, there were no seats left. So we were at the very top which was pretty breathtaking. We were perched high above where the orchestra and performers were listening to beautiful music and seeing the lights of Lyon spread out beyond the amphitheater. Up in the sky, in the distance there was heat lighting. The whole effect was magical.

After the concert we got a bite to eat in a tiny brasserie and then returned to our hotel to go to bed.

The next morning after a petite dejunier with Lise we set off to explore the old courtyards of Lyon. JP had returned to Grenoble but Lise was going on to Paris with us.

We spent about an hour going in and out of ancient courtyards, marveling over the architecture. I expected to see a Romeo and Juliet look alike on the balconies.

We then returned for our baggage, went to the car and were on our way back to Paris.

Quacking Around France Chartreuse Mountains

To get to Lyons we drove through the Chartruse Mountains because Lise and JP wanted to take us to a museum of the monastary of the moks who lived there and made the famous Chartruse liquor. The mountains were amazing, green, rocky, with twisting, winding roads. It rained while we went through. It seemed like another world. The monastary museum provided a glimpse of another way of life, an ancient ordered way of going through a day and going through a year. The monk's gardens were lovely peaceful places and the beauty of the surrounding mountains made it understandable why men would want to withdraw to this place to pray and meditate.

Quacking Around France

We slept in a bit after our fabulous meal and what ended up being a rather late night. The next day (Wednesday, June 30) after a petite dejuner Lise drove us further into the Belledonne Mountains above her house. We went to a beautiful mountain pond that was green from the reflections of the pine trees around it in the still waters. We walked around it admiring the alpine scenery.

Next was lunch followed by a trip to the mountains on the other side of Grenoble, the Chartreuse Mountains. There we took a ride up the side of the mountain in the funicular. It was fun and scarey at the same time. We basically traveled straight up th emountain on a narrow track. The funicular opperates on a pulley system. As one car is going down another is coming up and they meet exactly in the middle. It is the kind of ride that makes the bottom sort of fall out of one's stomach.


The views on the way up the mountain were breathtaking as you can see. At the top there was a flat, green area where parasailers run and jump of the mountain to go sailing in the air before landing in a field below. I think that is one sport that I will give a miss to! We sat on the patio of the hotel up there and had a drink while admiring the view of the valley below.

Going down the mountain we had an even better view of the waterfall that comes out of the mountain rocks than we did going up. It was truly an amazing sight.

Thursday we went to a market in Grenoble in the morning. It was a very sensory experience. We the first thing we saw (and smelled) was the poultry stand where live chickens were in cages on the side. There was also eggs, and some of the live chicken's less fortunate bretheren neatly packaged in plastic. There was a meat man with every kind of meat laid out in a traveling case including horse (gross). The vegetables and fruit looked wonderful and fresh. We bought some for lunch. There were vendors selling clothes, lace, cloth, knives, dishes, fish, cheeses, and breads. Just about anything you could want was in this open air market.

After lunch we left for Lyons.