Giverny

We have done a lot of walking today.  This morning after a leisurely breakfast at our hotel, we went for a walk to make sure of the departure point of our Giverny  trip.  And on our walk, we came 

 this... Le Jardin de Tuileries complete with fountains and sculptures created by Queen Catherine of Medici in 1564.  It became a public park after the French Revolution for Parisians to enjoy, celebrate and relax....

So I did...I think they were onto something!!!!

Just beautiful.  We went for another stroll and came across this

...the Louvre.  Time did not permit us a visit, sadly.

Although just being able to sit down and soak up the atmosphere was pretty incredible.

It was then time to catch our bus for the trip to Giverny, where Monet's Garden is located.  It took about 1 1/2 hours to get there and we both agreed that this was a trip that included everything we wanted to see in France.  We went through Western Paris, past the Arc de Triomphe, having another look at the Eiffel Tower in the daytime, and then out to Normandy, seeing some beautiful French countryside on the way, similar to what you see on Tour de France.

Then we arrived at Monet's garden.  Just when I thought this trip couldn't get any better.

Have you seen this scene before?

And this.....  Just some of the plantings which caught my eye.

No really exotic plants, many are what we consider to be hardy plants in Australia, the humble geranium, Felicia, Salvia to name a few.  Also a few precious ones, at least when I have attempted to grow them such as azaleas.

This is Monet's house which we went through, it had recently been restored.

As I mentioned before with this trip, we also got to experience a small French village, and some homemade French ice cream !

Some more stunning sights on the way home.  Then dinner at a cafe next door to where we are staying.

This was Paul's meal.  Duck Fois gras and some preserved duck giblets.  I didn't point those out, I think he missed that when ordering, but he ate the lot.

Creme brûlée , which when I have had it before, it is usually served in a ramekin dish, so quite deep custard.  This however, was quite a shallow dish, so you got the sweet, caramelised sugar with each mouthful of custard.  Bon Appetit !

Eiffel Tower

Not sure about blogging protocol, but this deserves a separate post any way. Paul and I visited the Eiffel Tower last night. Our viewing time was 9.30 pm and we went there by taxi.  What an amazing sight and then being able to pick some of the important sights from there .  Spectacular!

We have not quite perfected the selfie !  But wait there is more....

The river behind me.  Still can't believe we were there.  Today we take a trip to Giverny and Monet's Garden.

Paris

We have made it across the English Channel  or should i say under in this case, on the Eurostar - a very comfortable ride.  We had a wonderfully leisurely morning this morning and just in the nick of time remembered not to put out our suitcases at 7.30 am.  Checkout time was a very generous 12.00, so after a late breakfast, we took a short stroll around the neighbourhood including through a farmers market (the photos are on the iphone so i cant access them) but produce included everything from organic venison in many different cuts, all sorts of salad and vegies, and clothes etc.

We walked our luggage down to St Pancras station, luckily for us downhill, and caught the train at 1.30 and got in to Paris at 1647, of course time moves forward one hour from London time.  This is  the  Eurostar lounge where you wait prior to boarding.

Welcome to Paris.  Outside the terminal, we had our first language misunderstanding.  We went out looking for a taxi, and a french gentleman approached me and asked if we would like a taxi, so i said yes please, or  "oui s'il vous plait", (I may have to correct that later) and he pointed us in the direction of "set price taxi" which is not quite the same thing, because they cost 90 euros to take you anywhere.  I understood him to say 19 euro.

Luckily the driver repeated the price, and allowed us to get out of his cab and look for alternate transport, which we only had to wait for about 5 minutes.  The fare was about 10 euro to where we are staying!!!!  Buyer Beware.

And so here we are in our Parisian hotel room, getting up the nerve to go out and find some food.  We have to figure this out quite quick, because we are due at the Eiffel Tower at 9.30 tonight.

Au Revoir.! and Bonne Chance to us , (means good luck).

Back in London

Today marked the end of our Britain and Ireland experience tour.  We left Warwick  and drove through the Cotswalds, picture book English rural living!  The Cotswalds are a wealthy area, with farming the main industry there, especially wool and also racehorses.

We then entered Oxfordshire and passed Bleinham Palace, an historical building buut royals do not live there.  We then made our way to the village of Bladon where Winston Churchill is buried.

Then came Oxford which has been a famous city of learning since the 1200's where people of learning gathered together.  Students have to be straight A achievers to even get a look in at these prestigious colleges.  There was an academic ceremony in progress while we were there.

There are many  beautiful buildings in Oxford including churches and several colleges.  This one is

 

the Bodleian Library which aims to house every book published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

This building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and is made up of timber inside in such a way to replicate stone and marble.

This is a beautiful church we visited.  The stained glass was exquisite.

Also thriving market places.

We popped in and saw the oldest university in Oxford, Balliol College, in it's earliest beginnings in 1269.

and the wonderful gardens now.  

It was then time to leave Oxford and return to London, saying goodbye to new friends. 

Then we had the pleasure of saying hello to old friends from our Ballarat days.  We met them at Covent Garden, found a pub and had some dinner and a really great catch up, possibly planning our next trip overseas!  So great to see them.

So now we are back at the Hotel getting organised for the next leg of our trip.

 

 

 

Warwick

Well here we are, on the eve of the last night of our first tour, and about to head over to the pub for the farewell dinner.  We left Leeds but didn't get a tour of it as I thought we would, so I can't tell you anything about it except that 750,000 people live there.

So on we drove through Robin Hood country, not much of a Forrest left!  This is the general area, however.

Further on we drove, there is always some sort of castle or other impressive building to 

pop out at you.

On we drove to end up at Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.  This is Anne Hathaway 's cottage, the wife of Shakespeare.

Again, more impressive architecture.

As you can imagine, there is William Shakespeare everywhere!  After lunch here, our next destination was Warwick Castle.  This castle is kind of like a theme park, but the castle is genuine.  This is one view.

We got there about 2.30 so only had time for two "shows".  The first was the birds of prey in which they flew 3 different kinds of bird, flying the birds, telling us about their habits, what prey they aim for, and how the bird catches the wind currents to fly.

 

Before the next event, we found time to climb the various towers and admire the stunning views.

There were also in the castle, dioramas of the Battle of Barnett where the Houses Of York and Lancaster were fighting. These dioramas detailed preparations for battle by children, men and women, showing them in life size.

They showed the men making arrows, armour, and ammunition, and women doing such things as making the banners for battle.  Everyone had a job.  Sometimes small children as young as seven went into the battlefield to collect arrows, including pulling them out of dead bodies for recycling!

The final show was the firing of the trebuchet. This machine was used during castle siege and was able to fire huge stones approximately a kilometre away, depending on the size of the machine.  The machine was able to fire burning objects which was quite useful when their targets had wooden buildings and thatched roofs.  Two men ran  inside the inner wheels which raised the  wooden weight between the two wheels and lowered the arm of the catapult .  It was then loaded with the ammunition of choice, the stops were pulled out, the weight fell and the arm threw the missiles at the enemy. Today it was loaded with a burning ball. Very impressive!

Edinburgh to Leeds

The weather forecasters got it right today.  We had a near perfect day yesterday, this morning when we left, it was seriously raining and didnt stop until our second stop for lunch near Durham.  Our first stop was a quick " shopportunity" at Jedburgh.  The Scottish border ends just south of Jedburgh where you enter Northumbria in England.  

Just a bit further south at Newcastle upon Tyne,  where although we could not get out of the bus due to rain, we got our first glimpse of Hadrian's Wall.  This wall was commenced in 122AD and was built by the Romans to guard and protect the British Empire which ended at this wall.

Almost impossible to believe that this wall has 2000 years of history.  The Romans pulled down most of this wall when the Roman Empire broke up in 420 AD, so what is left is really just some of the foundation of the wall which was 3 metres wide at the base and 6 - 12 metres high and was about 73 kms long.

Still raining a bit, we headed to the city of York, another place rich with history.  There are many figures of cats in the streets of York.  It is believed that these were placed to provide protection against the rats which carried the Bubonic Plague, and hopefully scare the rats away.  Im not sure they were all that effective!

This is a photo of The Shambles, one of the best examples of a medieval street in Britain.  The upper storeys are almost within touching distance of each other due to movement of the old timbers.

 

This is the famous Newgate Market area, which must have been appalling in its day, with rotting produce and fish left to moulder on the cobblestones.

Such amazing old architecture!  Paul had clearly worked up a thirst after all this, so needed to try one of these, called The Guzzler, a local brew, at the pub called The Last Drop so named for its locality to the gallows!

Ahhh, wishful thinking!!!

This is the York Minster, which is a cathedral which is Anglo-Saxon, has the seat of a BIshop, and is a missionary teaching church.  It has a full history including Reformation and fire.  The present building was begun in 1230 and went until 1472, and it has never officially been completed. Inside looks like this.

Absolutely amazing.  Now we are in Leeds, although haven't seen much of it yet, so look forward to that.

Good night.