Conwy Castle
Beaumaris Castle
Caernarfon Castle
Monday, September 26, 2016
Wales - Day 3
Today is castle marathon day! We're visiting at least three castles today, maybe more if time allows. We're going to wring every last bit of value out of that Explorer Pass that we can. ;-)
First up: Conwy Castle. Built where the River Conwy flows into the Irish Sea, this 13th century Castle commanded a strategic point at the port city of Conwy. We climbed up and down lots of stairs and towers and looked out at the medieval walls that surrounded the town. If we had more time, we would have walked the walls. It is super windy today and the wind is just blasting us on top of these towers. Another really bad hair day, oh well!
Second: Beaumaris Castle. This castle was really interesting because it was never completely finished but it has a complete set of outer walls surrounded by a moat, then a green space, and then an inner set of even taller walls and towers. We don't think we've seen a castle with two complete sets of walls and towers before. There were inside passages that ran all around the perimeter of the inside walls too, with archer's stations poisitioned along them. The inside of the castle was never finished according to plan as Edward I ran low on funds. It costs a lot of money to build a castle!
Outside Beaumaris Castle there was a small craft fair going on. There was an owl rescue group there and, for a small donation, you could hold one of the Owls on display. I got to hold a very nice owl named Mr. Cheeky-chips who liked to have his feathers stroked.
Third: Caernarfon Castle. This is the castle where the Prince of Wales is crowned. This is because Edward II, the first Prince of Wales was born here. We climbed to the top of the tallest tower and looked around a bit, but at this point we were getting "castled-out" and the wind was just so strong we decided to call it quits at three castles instead of trying to squeeze in a fourth. It was also 4pm and we had started at 9:30am, so time to head back to our B&B. We left the castle and headed toward the pier where we had parked. We turned the corner around a building and the wind quite literally stopped us in our tracks! We both looked at each other like "did that just happen to you too?" Mike even had one foot raised to take his next step! Anyway we made it to the car and out of that freakish wind.
Back at Betws-y-Coed, we strolled along the high street for a bit, had a bite to eat and headed back to the room to relax. Tomorrow we head to Manchester and fly home the day after that. We've seen a lot of great stuff but I'm ready for my own comfy bed and to see the family. It's always nice to come home. ☺️
First up: Conwy Castle. Built where the River Conwy flows into the Irish Sea, this 13th century Castle commanded a strategic point at the port city of Conwy. We climbed up and down lots of stairs and towers and looked out at the medieval walls that surrounded the town. If we had more time, we would have walked the walls. It is super windy today and the wind is just blasting us on top of these towers. Another really bad hair day, oh well!
Second: Beaumaris Castle. This castle was really interesting because it was never completely finished but it has a complete set of outer walls surrounded by a moat, then a green space, and then an inner set of even taller walls and towers. We don't think we've seen a castle with two complete sets of walls and towers before. There were inside passages that ran all around the perimeter of the inside walls too, with archer's stations poisitioned along them. The inside of the castle was never finished according to plan as Edward I ran low on funds. It costs a lot of money to build a castle!
Outside Beaumaris Castle there was a small craft fair going on. There was an owl rescue group there and, for a small donation, you could hold one of the Owls on display. I got to hold a very nice owl named Mr. Cheeky-chips who liked to have his feathers stroked.
Third: Caernarfon Castle. This is the castle where the Prince of Wales is crowned. This is because Edward II, the first Prince of Wales was born here. We climbed to the top of the tallest tower and looked around a bit, but at this point we were getting "castled-out" and the wind was just so strong we decided to call it quits at three castles instead of trying to squeeze in a fourth. It was also 4pm and we had started at 9:30am, so time to head back to our B&B. We left the castle and headed toward the pier where we had parked. We turned the corner around a building and the wind quite literally stopped us in our tracks! We both looked at each other like "did that just happen to you too?" Mike even had one foot raised to take his next step! Anyway we made it to the car and out of that freakish wind.
Back at Betws-y-Coed, we strolled along the high street for a bit, had a bite to eat and headed back to the room to relax. Tomorrow we head to Manchester and fly home the day after that. We've seen a lot of great stuff but I'm ready for my own comfy bed and to see the family. It's always nice to come home. ☺️
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Wales - Day 2
We have a long day planned today, driving from South to North Wales with a couple of stops along the way.
The first stop is Strata Florida Abbey. Another 12ty century Cistercian abbey. There is much less of this one to see as compared to Tintern Abbey yesterday. One arch and some partial walls, there is some interesting tilework in the remains of the chapels though. The very nice lady at the visitor center is happy to answer my questions about directions to our next stop and also a scenic drive that I had read about. Thanks to her excellent detailed directions, we get straight to our next destination, the Devil's Bridge.
The Devil's Bridge is an 11th century bridge with an 18th century bridge built above it, and a 20th century bridge above that one. There are two trails here. We took the first trail, the waterfall trail. It goes down into the gorge and back up again with views of a long beautiful series of waterfalls along the way. The trail has 675 steps and took us about 40 minutes to complete. We met some nice people from Cornwall who were also hiking the trail and chatted with them for a few minutes. Everyone we have met in Wales has been so nice and so friendly. The other section of the hike is above the falls and gives you a good look at the three bridges. We went down to see the bridges and then back up again. The day had started out cold and windy but we were definitely hot after all that climbing. We bought a couple of sodas and then headed back to the car for the scenic portion of the drive.
From Devil's Bridge, we took a small local road (recommended by someone on Tripadvisor and confirmed by the nice lady at Strata Florida this morning) to Cwnystwyth then on the mountain road above the Elan Valley. Wild and windy scenery, sheep and cattle loose on the road, it was a great drive and we both really enjoyed it. We kept stopping the car to jump out and take pictures. We made it to Rhayadar and joined up with a more major road (wide enough for two cars instead of one), and headed to Betws-y-Coed for our final destination and home base for the next two nights.
The first stop is Strata Florida Abbey. Another 12ty century Cistercian abbey. There is much less of this one to see as compared to Tintern Abbey yesterday. One arch and some partial walls, there is some interesting tilework in the remains of the chapels though. The very nice lady at the visitor center is happy to answer my questions about directions to our next stop and also a scenic drive that I had read about. Thanks to her excellent detailed directions, we get straight to our next destination, the Devil's Bridge.
The Devil's Bridge is an 11th century bridge with an 18th century bridge built above it, and a 20th century bridge above that one. There are two trails here. We took the first trail, the waterfall trail. It goes down into the gorge and back up again with views of a long beautiful series of waterfalls along the way. The trail has 675 steps and took us about 40 minutes to complete. We met some nice people from Cornwall who were also hiking the trail and chatted with them for a few minutes. Everyone we have met in Wales has been so nice and so friendly. The other section of the hike is above the falls and gives you a good look at the three bridges. We went down to see the bridges and then back up again. The day had started out cold and windy but we were definitely hot after all that climbing. We bought a couple of sodas and then headed back to the car for the scenic portion of the drive.
From Devil's Bridge, we took a small local road (recommended by someone on Tripadvisor and confirmed by the nice lady at Strata Florida this morning) to Cwnystwyth then on the mountain road above the Elan Valley. Wild and windy scenery, sheep and cattle loose on the road, it was a great drive and we both really enjoyed it. We kept stopping the car to jump out and take pictures. We made it to Rhayadar and joined up with a more major road (wide enough for two cars instead of one), and headed to Betws-y-Coed for our final destination and home base for the next two nights.
Wales 2016 - Day 1
Today we're heading to Wales! I've really been looking forward to this part of the trip, I've heard Wales is an awesome scenic place.
We start with Tintern Abbey, a 12th century Cistercian abbey ruin. This is another one of those things where you drive along and think "we should be able to see it now" and then Bam! it's right in front of you. The early morning light is perfect for some really good photos. Lots of the arches and walls are still standing and it's easy to picture what it must have looked like. The nice young woman in the gift shop sells me a 3day Explorer Pass which will save us on admission fees at most of the places we'll be visiting. She's very helpful and friendly and helps me with Welsh pronunciation too.
Next we're off to Caerphilly to see the big moated castle there. We find the car parking and get our "pay and display" ticket on the dash. We immediately notice that one of the castle towers looks to be in imminent danger of falling over. Cool! Across the street, over the moat and into the castle we go. The man at the counter tells us to start with the great hall because there's a wedding in a just a little while and the great hall will be closed for that. We take his advice and head into the hall, the chairs and flowers are set up for the wedding and I'm thinking it would be a pretty cool thing to be married in an old castle. We climb towers, up and down lots of narrow spiral stairs. They're making a movie here tomorrow and they have props already set up. There's a dockside set of props to make it look like a market day. In the center courtyard there's a platform set up with a block! Like for chopping off someone's head! Yikes!
We return to the car park to find the local parking enforcement guy standing in front of our car with his little tablet device. Uh-oh! We ask him if we're ok cuz our ticket still shows an hour of time left and he says no, but then tells us he's just "pokin' at us". It turns out this guy is super funny and friendly and we have a nice conversation about his vacation to America about 5 years ago. When he finds out we're from California, he's jealous because in Wales they get 350 days of rain each year.
The next destination is Carreg Cennan, a ruined castle that sits high up on a hill out in the middle of nowhere. Our car navigation is very faithful to take us the fastest route but her choice of roads is somewhat questionable. We find ourselves on a "road" that is solid hedgerow on both sides of the car, so narrow that we pull the side mirrors in and stick our heads out the window to make sure we don't scrape anything. At one point, it even becomes an unpaved road. Yep! Just muddy dirt and no end in sight. So stressful! Thankfully we finally reach a small but paved road and I wonder out loud "why couldn't we have taken this road in the first place?". We turn down another little road and get our first glimpse of the castle. Mike is always saying that a proper castle should sit atop a hill and this one certainly would fit that ideal.
We stop at the admission counter to show our Explorer pass and pick up a flashlight because this castle also has a cave! 😳 It's a bit of a hike up the hill, past the sheep and cattle, to reach the castle. Once inside there isn't a lot left of anything but the walls, but the view is fantastic. We tromp around a bit and look over the edge to the valley waaaayyyy down below us. Then we decide to check out the cave. This is when it becomes less fun for me. The passage was small, narrow, dark and spooky with an uneven rocky floor and the whole thing gave me the creeps. I couldn't wait to get back up into the light and fresh air! I don't know what the castle inhabitants used it for, and I don't want to know. We walk around the outside of the castle walls and take a few more photos and then head back down the hill, past the same sheep and cattle who didn't seem to care about us one bit.
We start with Tintern Abbey, a 12th century Cistercian abbey ruin. This is another one of those things where you drive along and think "we should be able to see it now" and then Bam! it's right in front of you. The early morning light is perfect for some really good photos. Lots of the arches and walls are still standing and it's easy to picture what it must have looked like. The nice young woman in the gift shop sells me a 3day Explorer Pass which will save us on admission fees at most of the places we'll be visiting. She's very helpful and friendly and helps me with Welsh pronunciation too.
Next we're off to Caerphilly to see the big moated castle there. We find the car parking and get our "pay and display" ticket on the dash. We immediately notice that one of the castle towers looks to be in imminent danger of falling over. Cool! Across the street, over the moat and into the castle we go. The man at the counter tells us to start with the great hall because there's a wedding in a just a little while and the great hall will be closed for that. We take his advice and head into the hall, the chairs and flowers are set up for the wedding and I'm thinking it would be a pretty cool thing to be married in an old castle. We climb towers, up and down lots of narrow spiral stairs. They're making a movie here tomorrow and they have props already set up. There's a dockside set of props to make it look like a market day. In the center courtyard there's a platform set up with a block! Like for chopping off someone's head! Yikes!
We return to the car park to find the local parking enforcement guy standing in front of our car with his little tablet device. Uh-oh! We ask him if we're ok cuz our ticket still shows an hour of time left and he says no, but then tells us he's just "pokin' at us". It turns out this guy is super funny and friendly and we have a nice conversation about his vacation to America about 5 years ago. When he finds out we're from California, he's jealous because in Wales they get 350 days of rain each year.
The next destination is Carreg Cennan, a ruined castle that sits high up on a hill out in the middle of nowhere. Our car navigation is very faithful to take us the fastest route but her choice of roads is somewhat questionable. We find ourselves on a "road" that is solid hedgerow on both sides of the car, so narrow that we pull the side mirrors in and stick our heads out the window to make sure we don't scrape anything. At one point, it even becomes an unpaved road. Yep! Just muddy dirt and no end in sight. So stressful! Thankfully we finally reach a small but paved road and I wonder out loud "why couldn't we have taken this road in the first place?". We turn down another little road and get our first glimpse of the castle. Mike is always saying that a proper castle should sit atop a hill and this one certainly would fit that ideal.
We stop at the admission counter to show our Explorer pass and pick up a flashlight because this castle also has a cave! 😳 It's a bit of a hike up the hill, past the sheep and cattle, to reach the castle. Once inside there isn't a lot left of anything but the walls, but the view is fantastic. We tromp around a bit and look over the edge to the valley waaaayyyy down below us. Then we decide to check out the cave. This is when it becomes less fun for me. The passage was small, narrow, dark and spooky with an uneven rocky floor and the whole thing gave me the creeps. I couldn't wait to get back up into the light and fresh air! I don't know what the castle inhabitants used it for, and I don't want to know. We walk around the outside of the castle walls and take a few more photos and then head back down the hill, past the same sheep and cattle who didn't seem to care about us one bit.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
The Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are an area with pretty stone houses, rock walls, and lots of sheep. We have 3 nights here as a relaxing break from all the museums and running around that we've been doing up to this point.
I booked what looked like a lovely room on the Internet, but when we arrived it was not as clean as I like and the pictures on the website must have been taken a while ago. I looked around that room and immediately began searching the Internet for an alternative. It was late at this point so we decided to stay the night and leave the next day, which we did though we took a big hit to the budget.
The next day we moved to a much nicer hotel and it was definitely worth moving. The nice hotel is in a place called Lower Slaughter (slaughter is a modification of an old word meaning swampy), and it's much nicer than the name implies. The tour buses don't come here since it's just a couple of hotels and some houses, no shops to speak of. This means it's nice and quiet and you can stroll around the village just enjoying the scenery.
Bourton-on-the-Water is a very nice town nearby with a small river running through it and lots of little stone bridges crossing the river. We had lunch here one day and I bought a Christmas ornament to take home. I always try to buy an ornament from each place we've traveled. Stow-on-the-Wold is another town nearby with lots of old stone buildings and we also visited Moreton-in-Marsh.
The next day we visited Sudeley Castle and its gardens which meant a very scenic backroads drive. The gardens and the ruins of the tithe barn were very picturesque. The family who owns the place is very proud to say that their estate is the only private estate to have a queen buried there. Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII lived and died there and is buried in the small church on the estate.
We also went to see the Broadway Tower which stands on the second-highest point of land in the Cotswolds. We climbed up to the top and enjoyed the views of all the surrounding countryside. The day had started out with rain but ended up being gloriously sunny.
I think Bourton-on-the-Water was my favorite town, it was very nice with the river running through it. Lower Slaughter was my favorite village because it was a picturesque area and there were sheep and horses and pheasants to see. We even saw a fox! He ran right along the stone wall by our cottage one evening.
I booked what looked like a lovely room on the Internet, but when we arrived it was not as clean as I like and the pictures on the website must have been taken a while ago. I looked around that room and immediately began searching the Internet for an alternative. It was late at this point so we decided to stay the night and leave the next day, which we did though we took a big hit to the budget.
The next day we moved to a much nicer hotel and it was definitely worth moving. The nice hotel is in a place called Lower Slaughter (slaughter is a modification of an old word meaning swampy), and it's much nicer than the name implies. The tour buses don't come here since it's just a couple of hotels and some houses, no shops to speak of. This means it's nice and quiet and you can stroll around the village just enjoying the scenery.
Bourton-on-the-Water is a very nice town nearby with a small river running through it and lots of little stone bridges crossing the river. We had lunch here one day and I bought a Christmas ornament to take home. I always try to buy an ornament from each place we've traveled. Stow-on-the-Wold is another town nearby with lots of old stone buildings and we also visited Moreton-in-Marsh.
The next day we visited Sudeley Castle and its gardens which meant a very scenic backroads drive. The gardens and the ruins of the tithe barn were very picturesque. The family who owns the place is very proud to say that their estate is the only private estate to have a queen buried there. Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII lived and died there and is buried in the small church on the estate.
We also went to see the Broadway Tower which stands on the second-highest point of land in the Cotswolds. We climbed up to the top and enjoyed the views of all the surrounding countryside. The day had started out with rain but ended up being gloriously sunny.
Bourton-on-the-Water
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Stonehenge and the Cheddar Gorge
We left Portsmouth and headed for Stonhenge to see the circle of stones. I knew the stones themselves were roped off so people couldn't get close enough to touch them, but we didn't really have a desire to touch them anyway. What we didn't expect was that the road from the visitor center was closed to traffic and was a 2 mile walk to reach the stones if you didn't want to take the shuttle bus. Well, they wanted £36 for entrance and then there was a long line for the shuttle and I knew you were supposed to be able to see it from a road somewhere. So with a little help from Google maps, we were able to find a little dirt road that took us right to the same spot where the shuttle lets people out.
Now the only problem was that we couldn't get into the roped-off area without a ticket. As we were standing there pondering what to do next, one of the shuttle drivers actually told us there was a gate into the neighboring sheep pasture that you could use. Thank you mister shuttle driver! We walked about 100 feet down the fence line and found the gate. Luckily, farmers in the UK don't care if you cross their field as long as you close the gates behind you. We went through the gate and made sure it closed behind us, then walked past the sheep (and all the sheep poo) to a place where we could get a look at the stones. We were about 20 feet further back than the people who had paid the £18 each, but it was definitely good enough for us. A few photos and then back to the car. I have to note that were a lot of camper-type vans here and I think people stay out there and then sneak in after hours to do who-knows-what out there after dark. 😳
Next stop: Cheddar Gorge. This was something I had seen in a guidebook that looked like it might be fun but turned out to be a big nothing in my opinion. The gorge itself is not deep at all compared to many (most) others and was not very long either. Definitely not worth the time.
Oh well, live and learn!
Now the only problem was that we couldn't get into the roped-off area without a ticket. As we were standing there pondering what to do next, one of the shuttle drivers actually told us there was a gate into the neighboring sheep pasture that you could use. Thank you mister shuttle driver! We walked about 100 feet down the fence line and found the gate. Luckily, farmers in the UK don't care if you cross their field as long as you close the gates behind you. We went through the gate and made sure it closed behind us, then walked past the sheep (and all the sheep poo) to a place where we could get a look at the stones. We were about 20 feet further back than the people who had paid the £18 each, but it was definitely good enough for us. A few photos and then back to the car. I have to note that were a lot of camper-type vans here and I think people stay out there and then sneak in after hours to do who-knows-what out there after dark. 😳
Next stop: Cheddar Gorge. This was something I had seen in a guidebook that looked like it might be fun but turned out to be a big nothing in my opinion. The gorge itself is not deep at all compared to many (most) others and was not very long either. Definitely not worth the time.
Oh well, live and learn!
Portsmouth Historic Dockyards
The biggest attraction here is the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's warship that sank nearby during a battle in 1545. It was found again in 1982 and the part of the ship that had been buried in silt was raised and transported to Portsmouth where it has been undergoing restoration for 30 years. The Mary Rose has now been open to visitors for the last few months in a spectacular display that is controlled by airlock doors so you can see her without any glass or other barrier in the way (on the third level of the display).
You start the tour by walking through a couple of displays that talk about the ship, the circumstances of her sinking, and the loss of most of the men on board. Then you pass into an area with a sensor controlled door and - there she is! The remaining portion of the ship that was not reclaimed by the sea stretches out in front of you and elicits a "Wow!" reaction. To know that you're looking at a ship that is over 450 years old, and to see the timbers, the gun portals, the place in the hull where the main mast was seated - it's just incredible.
There are loads of items that were brought up with the ship as well. Long bows, arrows, tools, knives, cannon, personal effects of the crew, even the master carpenter's dog (skeleton) is on display. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating. We spent about an hour here on Sunday afternoon and then came back again Monday morning and spent another hour and a half just in the Mary Rose museum. It's displayed really well and you can see the ship from three different levels which gives you a perspective of the activities that went on at the various levels of the ship. There is glass separating you from the ship on the lower two levels but the third level is open except for a half wall of glass. This is good because if you fell off, it's a quite a distance to the ground! It's just really incredible to stand there in the same space as a ship that was built in the 16th century.
There are also some displays about how they raised her without breaking her apart. Amazing job by lots of scientists, engineers, and divers.
We also enjoyed the HMS Warrior. This is an 1860's warship and it was a really good self-guided tour throughout the ship. We really liked seeing the different decks and the coal burners that created steam. The Warrior could use steam or sail power. It had an ingenious method of lifting the long rudder when they needed to, and a nice docent explained how that was accomplished. It was all very well done and we enjoyed it.
We also toured the HMS Victory, Admiral Nelson's warship and the ship on which he died during the Battle of Trafalgar. It was not as interesting as the Warrior in our opinion but maybe that's because we're not British, so Admiral Nelson is simply a historical figure to us while he is a great naval hero to the British.
There is a harbor tour that was included in our admission so we went out on the tour boat to see all the various ships and points of interest in the harbor. Portsmouth is still the home of a naval base, so lots of Navy ships to see. We also found out that Portsmouth Dockyard was used as the setting in Les Miserables where Jean Valjean is pulling the ship in to dock.
A very interesting day capped off with a little shopping at the nearby outlets, a good dinner, then back to our private rooftop terrace at the B&B for a little relaxation.
You start the tour by walking through a couple of displays that talk about the ship, the circumstances of her sinking, and the loss of most of the men on board. Then you pass into an area with a sensor controlled door and - there she is! The remaining portion of the ship that was not reclaimed by the sea stretches out in front of you and elicits a "Wow!" reaction. To know that you're looking at a ship that is over 450 years old, and to see the timbers, the gun portals, the place in the hull where the main mast was seated - it's just incredible.
There are loads of items that were brought up with the ship as well. Long bows, arrows, tools, knives, cannon, personal effects of the crew, even the master carpenter's dog (skeleton) is on display. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating. We spent about an hour here on Sunday afternoon and then came back again Monday morning and spent another hour and a half just in the Mary Rose museum. It's displayed really well and you can see the ship from three different levels which gives you a perspective of the activities that went on at the various levels of the ship. There is glass separating you from the ship on the lower two levels but the third level is open except for a half wall of glass. This is good because if you fell off, it's a quite a distance to the ground! It's just really incredible to stand there in the same space as a ship that was built in the 16th century.
There are also some displays about how they raised her without breaking her apart. Amazing job by lots of scientists, engineers, and divers.
We also enjoyed the HMS Warrior. This is an 1860's warship and it was a really good self-guided tour throughout the ship. We really liked seeing the different decks and the coal burners that created steam. The Warrior could use steam or sail power. It had an ingenious method of lifting the long rudder when they needed to, and a nice docent explained how that was accomplished. It was all very well done and we enjoyed it.
We also toured the HMS Victory, Admiral Nelson's warship and the ship on which he died during the Battle of Trafalgar. It was not as interesting as the Warrior in our opinion but maybe that's because we're not British, so Admiral Nelson is simply a historical figure to us while he is a great naval hero to the British.
There is a harbor tour that was included in our admission so we went out on the tour boat to see all the various ships and points of interest in the harbor. Portsmouth is still the home of a naval base, so lots of Navy ships to see. We also found out that Portsmouth Dockyard was used as the setting in Les Miserables where Jean Valjean is pulling the ship in to dock.
A very interesting day capped off with a little shopping at the nearby outlets, a good dinner, then back to our private rooftop terrace at the B&B for a little relaxation.
Monday, September 19, 2016
London - Hampton Court Palace - Portsmouth
Driving in London is not for the faint of heart- not even on a Sunday. We picked up the car from St. Pancras Station and make our way out of town. Mike does a great job of remembering to stay to the left but has a tendency to hug the left shoulder due to the narrow lanes which makes me very nervous to say the least, so we spend a number of tense minutes navigating out of the city to Hampton Court Palace.
We both give a huge sigh of relief once we've parked the car and are ready to do a little walking instead. Hampton Court Palace was one of Henry VIII's palaces and is set in a huge park, originally over 700 acres. Inside the palace there are royal apartments and kitchens to see, the Chapel Royal and the gardens. We view the Henry VIII apartments and kitchens, the kitchens were pretty cool and huge with massive fireplaces and spits for roasting the meat. The Chapel Royal was closed due to a service that was in progress, so we went out into the gardens. According to the visitor guide, there had originally been many fountains in the gardens but in later times Queen Anne had most of the fountains removed. Shame on her! I love fountains in a garden. The gardens were nice but not super extensive, there was a lot of lawn area. I always compare palace gardens to the ones at Schonnbrunn in Vienna, which I love.
With a little trepidation, we head back to the car to continue on our way to Portsmouth. Our main objective there is the Historic Dockyards. Once out of the Hampton Court area, we have nice easy freeway all the way to Portsmouth. Woo-hoo!
We both give a huge sigh of relief once we've parked the car and are ready to do a little walking instead. Hampton Court Palace was one of Henry VIII's palaces and is set in a huge park, originally over 700 acres. Inside the palace there are royal apartments and kitchens to see, the Chapel Royal and the gardens. We view the Henry VIII apartments and kitchens, the kitchens were pretty cool and huge with massive fireplaces and spits for roasting the meat. The Chapel Royal was closed due to a service that was in progress, so we went out into the gardens. According to the visitor guide, there had originally been many fountains in the gardens but in later times Queen Anne had most of the fountains removed. Shame on her! I love fountains in a garden. The gardens were nice but not super extensive, there was a lot of lawn area. I always compare palace gardens to the ones at Schonnbrunn in Vienna, which I love.
With a little trepidation, we head back to the car to continue on our way to Portsmouth. Our main objective there is the Historic Dockyards. Once out of the Hampton Court area, we have nice easy freeway all the way to Portsmouth. Woo-hoo!
London - Day 3
Well the weather has gone from hot and humid to cool and windy almost overnight, but it's a welcome change to all the hot weather we've had so far.
We take off walking on blissfully empty sidewalks since it's now Saturday morning at 8 am. We're staying in an area where there are lots of big banks and law offices so it's super crowded on weekdays. We walked past a metro station entrance the other day around 5pm and I remember thinking it was a bit like watching water go down a drain. The people just poured down the station entrance like a flood. There are some really interesting buildings and things in the area that we hadn't noticed before because we've been too busy navigating our way through all the people to just look around very much.
As we walk down the Victoria Embankment, we can't help but notice the number of memorials everywhere. Memorials to the various branches of service in different wars and even a memorial to the service animals used in wartime.
We walk about a mile and arrive at Parliament and Big Ben. You can't go up the clock tower and we can't get into Parliament either, so we just snap some pictures and a selfie from the outside.
Around the corner, we arrive at Westminster Abbey. Once inside, we gather our audio guides and start our tour. The Abbey is quite crowded even though we're here just after opening. There are lots things to see here. I'm not very knowledgeable about English history but I do know a little. We see the tomb of Edward the Confessor, Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, and Mary I. We see the coronation platform where kings and queens are crowned and royal babies are baptized. The Lady Chapel is, in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the Abbey. The ceiling in this chapel is beautifully detailed and looks like delicate lace but in 3D form. It was built by order of King Henry VII in the 16th century. No photography is allowed inside, so I can't share a picture of it.
Nearby are the Churchill War Rooms, another attraction on our 2-4-1 deal, so we walk over there to have a look. If you're really into Churchill, you would love this place. We look at the underground rooms where Churchill and his advisors worked out their strategy for the war. Most of the people who worked there, lived there during the war. That was pretty interesting. The rest of the attraction is basically about Churchill's life from childhood through his death.
Once we're done at the War Rooms, we walk through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. There is no Changing of the Guard ceremony today, but we knew that in advance. We just thought we'd have a look since we were close by. It's a long walk back to the hotel from here so we hail a cab. There are some road closures due to a protest by "left wing radicals" according to our taxi driver. Our driver starts to talk about politics and soon he and Mike are engaged in conversation. The cab driver is really nice and has that dry British humor so it's a pleasant cab ride in spite of the crazy traffic.
Speaking of crazy traffic, we'll be picking up a car tomorrow and heading to Portsmouth. At least it's a Sunday so hopefully we can get out of London without losing our minds.
We take off walking on blissfully empty sidewalks since it's now Saturday morning at 8 am. We're staying in an area where there are lots of big banks and law offices so it's super crowded on weekdays. We walked past a metro station entrance the other day around 5pm and I remember thinking it was a bit like watching water go down a drain. The people just poured down the station entrance like a flood. There are some really interesting buildings and things in the area that we hadn't noticed before because we've been too busy navigating our way through all the people to just look around very much.
As we walk down the Victoria Embankment, we can't help but notice the number of memorials everywhere. Memorials to the various branches of service in different wars and even a memorial to the service animals used in wartime.
We walk about a mile and arrive at Parliament and Big Ben. You can't go up the clock tower and we can't get into Parliament either, so we just snap some pictures and a selfie from the outside.
Around the corner, we arrive at Westminster Abbey. Once inside, we gather our audio guides and start our tour. The Abbey is quite crowded even though we're here just after opening. There are lots things to see here. I'm not very knowledgeable about English history but I do know a little. We see the tomb of Edward the Confessor, Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, and Mary I. We see the coronation platform where kings and queens are crowned and royal babies are baptized. The Lady Chapel is, in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the Abbey. The ceiling in this chapel is beautifully detailed and looks like delicate lace but in 3D form. It was built by order of King Henry VII in the 16th century. No photography is allowed inside, so I can't share a picture of it.
Nearby are the Churchill War Rooms, another attraction on our 2-4-1 deal, so we walk over there to have a look. If you're really into Churchill, you would love this place. We look at the underground rooms where Churchill and his advisors worked out their strategy for the war. Most of the people who worked there, lived there during the war. That was pretty interesting. The rest of the attraction is basically about Churchill's life from childhood through his death.
Once we're done at the War Rooms, we walk through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. There is no Changing of the Guard ceremony today, but we knew that in advance. We just thought we'd have a look since we were close by. It's a long walk back to the hotel from here so we hail a cab. There are some road closures due to a protest by "left wing radicals" according to our taxi driver. Our driver starts to talk about politics and soon he and Mike are engaged in conversation. The cab driver is really nice and has that dry British humor so it's a pleasant cab ride in spite of the crazy traffic.
Speaking of crazy traffic, we'll be picking up a car tomorrow and heading to Portsmouth. At least it's a Sunday so hopefully we can get out of London without losing our minds.
London - Day 2
St. Paul's Cathedral was a short walk from our hotel so we got there ahead of most of the crowds. I had to have a short Mary Poppins moment on the steps, softly singing a couple of lines from "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag". Anyway, I got a kick out of it. We went inside and found it wasn't too crowded. They had an excellent audioguide that directed you around the cathedral. I'm not normally a fan of audio guides but this one actually gave you options to learn a little or a lot about each item. I liked that because sometimes I just want the brief explanation. No photos are allowed inside, not even without flash, which always disappoints me. Even the Vatican lets you take pictures everywhere except in the Sistine Chapel.
We climbed the 200 plus steps to the Whispering Gallery but it was quite warm inside so we decided not to climb up to the next two galleries (each one over 100 more steps). We didn't try the whispering trick because several others were trying and I think you have to be the only one whispering in order to be heard on the opposite side of the gallery.
Next up was the British Museum. I think I actually liked it a bit more than the Louvre. We saw the Rosetta Stone, a large bust of Pharoah Ramesses II, lots of mummies (cool), and a whole lot of Greek and Roman antiquities. There is a large reconstruction of pieces of the Nereid Monument which was a tomb in present-day Turkey. You walk in the room and Bam!- you think you just walked into Athens or something. We also saw several reliefs from ancient Assyria. Lots of things to see here and wasn't too terribly crowded except around the Rosetta Stone.
We climbed the 200 plus steps to the Whispering Gallery but it was quite warm inside so we decided not to climb up to the next two galleries (each one over 100 more steps). We didn't try the whispering trick because several others were trying and I think you have to be the only one whispering in order to be heard on the opposite side of the gallery.
Next up was the British Museum. I think I actually liked it a bit more than the Louvre. We saw the Rosetta Stone, a large bust of Pharoah Ramesses II, lots of mummies (cool), and a whole lot of Greek and Roman antiquities. There is a large reconstruction of pieces of the Nereid Monument which was a tomb in present-day Turkey. You walk in the room and Bam!- you think you just walked into Athens or something. We also saw several reliefs from ancient Assyria. Lots of things to see here and wasn't too terribly crowded except around the Rosetta Stone.
London - Day 1
London is busy! Perhaps even busier than Paris. Like downtown San Francisco times five. Or maybe six. Or maybe ten!
First on our list today was the The Tower of London. Home of the Crown Jewels, the Bloody Tower and the place where many unfortunate people met their demise. We went straight in to see the Crown Jewels first as I've heard the line becomes pretty long if you wait til later in the morning. We saw some very impressive crowns, scepters and the golden orb. We also took a tour with a Yeoman Warder. It's an entertaining tour, pretty funny most of it. Most people don't know that the Yeoman Warders are actual military personnel, one of their jobs is bodyguard to the Queen. We went into the Bloody Tower but not much to see there really, just one room. The White Tower has some armor and weapons too, but it's tough to beat the collection we saw in Graz last year.
We debated about whether or not to do the Tower Bridge Tour and decided to go up because we had a 2-4-1 offer. I think we could have skipped it, to be honest. Not much of a wow factor and the only fun part was taking our picture on the glass floor over the river.
HMS Belfast was up next. It's a World War II ship that's now a museum and permanently docked in London. We climbed around the different decks and, when we got to the top decks, we were told we had to go to a higher deck as a ship was coming to dock alongside the Belfast. Oh! I forgot to say that we watched from the deck of the Belfast as the Tower Bridge raised its lower level to allow a tall sailing ship to pass through. Anyway, we watched now as a Brazilian naval vessel came in and docked next to the Belfast. We enjoyed watching the crews get the Brazilian ship tied up to the Belfast and all the interaction that went on. It seemed to take awhile as the dock guys on the Belfast were having some trouble deciding exactly where they wanted to tie up the ropes and there was a lot of dragging ropes back and forth. It was really hot outside too, about 85 degrees and a little humid so we were hoping they could get it together and get the boat tied off quickly. We were in need of a cool drink!
The 2-4-1 offer I found was a great deal, we saved over £100 in the three days we were in London and it only cost me £9.20! Yowza!
First on our list today was the The Tower of London. Home of the Crown Jewels, the Bloody Tower and the place where many unfortunate people met their demise. We went straight in to see the Crown Jewels first as I've heard the line becomes pretty long if you wait til later in the morning. We saw some very impressive crowns, scepters and the golden orb. We also took a tour with a Yeoman Warder. It's an entertaining tour, pretty funny most of it. Most people don't know that the Yeoman Warders are actual military personnel, one of their jobs is bodyguard to the Queen. We went into the Bloody Tower but not much to see there really, just one room. The White Tower has some armor and weapons too, but it's tough to beat the collection we saw in Graz last year.
We debated about whether or not to do the Tower Bridge Tour and decided to go up because we had a 2-4-1 offer. I think we could have skipped it, to be honest. Not much of a wow factor and the only fun part was taking our picture on the glass floor over the river.
HMS Belfast was up next. It's a World War II ship that's now a museum and permanently docked in London. We climbed around the different decks and, when we got to the top decks, we were told we had to go to a higher deck as a ship was coming to dock alongside the Belfast. Oh! I forgot to say that we watched from the deck of the Belfast as the Tower Bridge raised its lower level to allow a tall sailing ship to pass through. Anyway, we watched now as a Brazilian naval vessel came in and docked next to the Belfast. We enjoyed watching the crews get the Brazilian ship tied up to the Belfast and all the interaction that went on. It seemed to take awhile as the dock guys on the Belfast were having some trouble deciding exactly where they wanted to tie up the ropes and there was a lot of dragging ropes back and forth. It was really hot outside too, about 85 degrees and a little humid so we were hoping they could get it together and get the boat tied off quickly. We were in need of a cool drink!
The 2-4-1 offer I found was a great deal, we saved over £100 in the three days we were in London and it only cost me £9.20! Yowza!
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Paris to London
We got up bright and early this morning because we had to drive from Bayeux to Paris, turn in the rental car, and catch the Eurostar train to London. We left 5 hours before we needed to check in for the train, not knowing what the traffic would be like in Paris on a weekday morning. The traffic wasn't bad at all. We hit a bit of morning commute traffic jam at Caen, then some traffic in Paris but we drove right up to the car return entrance without any major glitches. We made it to the train station with an hour to spare, not bad! Rental car return was easy as could be. I have to say the Gare du Nord station in Paris is not a great place, lots of sketchy people around, but once you make it through security it's not so bad.
The train ride to London takes 2-1/2 hours which I didn't realize. I thought it was 1-1/2 but I didn't take into account the time difference between Paris and London. We went through the "Chunnel" under the English Channel. Rather anticlimactic I have to say, nothing but darkness. The St. Pancras station in London is really nice, lots of shops and restaurants.
After taking a taxi to our hotel, we set out to check out the neighborhood a bit. Tomorrow's itinerary includes the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast.
The train ride to London takes 2-1/2 hours which I didn't realize. I thought it was 1-1/2 but I didn't take into account the time difference between Paris and London. We went through the "Chunnel" under the English Channel. Rather anticlimactic I have to say, nothing but darkness. The St. Pancras station in London is really nice, lots of shops and restaurants.
After taking a taxi to our hotel, we set out to check out the neighborhood a bit. Tomorrow's itinerary includes the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and HMS Belfast.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Normandy - day 3: D-Day tour
Mike has wanted to see the D-Day sites in Normandy for quite some time and so we scheduled a full day private tour. Our guide Jonathan picked us up at our hotel and took us first to the batteries at Longues-Sur-Mer. There are four big gun bunkers still there though one was blown up by a lucky hit that went directly into the front opening of the bunker. The explosion blew out the back of the bunker and threw pieces of the gun into the surrounding area. These bunkers fired on both Omaha and Utah Beach.
Next we headed to Omaha Beach, site of the fiercest landing battle the Americans faced. Today it's a beautiful sandy beach, on June 6, 1944 it became "Bloody Omaha". This is the battle scene portrayed in the opening scenes of "Saving Private Ryan". So very many young men lost their lives on this beach and I found myself unable to control the tears that were gathering in my eyes. I hadn't expected to react quite so strongly to the beach, I thought the cemetery would be the place where I would have difficulty controlling my emotions. Looking down that long sandy beach, Jonathan explained that the Allied landing happened at low tide. This was planned so that the soldiers could see the obstacles the Germans had placed in the water, they would have been underwater at high tide. What this meant though, was that the Americans had to cross a long (300 yards or so) stretch of beach under heavy fire just to reach the base of the bluffs and most of them didn't make it.
The Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer was next and I was still trying to dry my eyes after leaving Omaha. The cemetery is huge. Rows and rows and rows of crosses. Jonathan told us that only about 40% of the men who died at Omaha are buried here, the others were sent home at the request of their families. Forty percent and the number of dead is still almost 10,000 in that cemetery. We wandered through, looking at the various markers. There were about 100 other people there, some appeared to be looking for a specific marker but most were like us and paying their respects to these heroes. The average age of the dead is 24 years old. So young and so brave.
Pointe du Hoc is a sheer cliff face nearly 100 feet high. The Germans had gun emplacements there they could fire on Omaha Beach, Utah Beach and even part of the British landing area at Gold Beach. A group of US Army Rangers scaled the cliffs under fire and destroyed the German guns they found. They would spend the next few days fighting off the Germans and would ultimately lose 70% of their men before reinforcement could arrive. I looked over the edge of that cliff and thought "that cliff seems almost impossible to climb, especially with someone shooting at you".
Sainte-Mere-Eglise is a small town where members of the 82nd Airborne parachuted into and were spotted by the Germans due to a house on fire in the town. The fire made it easy for the Germans to see the parachutes and pick off the paratroopers before they could land.
Utah Beach was another American landing area guarded by German guns. Though the loss of life was lower than at Omaha, it was still a deadly battle.
At Angoville Au Plain, two American medics (aged 19 & 20) treated wounded soldiers in a church. They cared for American and German wounded which was helpful when the Germans overran the town. When they saw the medics had treated German soldiers as well as their own, they let them continue their work. The church even sustained a mortar hit. Those two medics cared for over 80 men with the most basic supplies and only lost two of them. The Americans eventually regained control of the town. One of the church's patron saints is St Damien, the patron saint of physicians. One has to wonder if it was more than chance that led those medics to that place.
Next we headed to Omaha Beach, site of the fiercest landing battle the Americans faced. Today it's a beautiful sandy beach, on June 6, 1944 it became "Bloody Omaha". This is the battle scene portrayed in the opening scenes of "Saving Private Ryan". So very many young men lost their lives on this beach and I found myself unable to control the tears that were gathering in my eyes. I hadn't expected to react quite so strongly to the beach, I thought the cemetery would be the place where I would have difficulty controlling my emotions. Looking down that long sandy beach, Jonathan explained that the Allied landing happened at low tide. This was planned so that the soldiers could see the obstacles the Germans had placed in the water, they would have been underwater at high tide. What this meant though, was that the Americans had to cross a long (300 yards or so) stretch of beach under heavy fire just to reach the base of the bluffs and most of them didn't make it.
The Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer was next and I was still trying to dry my eyes after leaving Omaha. The cemetery is huge. Rows and rows and rows of crosses. Jonathan told us that only about 40% of the men who died at Omaha are buried here, the others were sent home at the request of their families. Forty percent and the number of dead is still almost 10,000 in that cemetery. We wandered through, looking at the various markers. There were about 100 other people there, some appeared to be looking for a specific marker but most were like us and paying their respects to these heroes. The average age of the dead is 24 years old. So young and so brave.
Pointe du Hoc is a sheer cliff face nearly 100 feet high. The Germans had gun emplacements there they could fire on Omaha Beach, Utah Beach and even part of the British landing area at Gold Beach. A group of US Army Rangers scaled the cliffs under fire and destroyed the German guns they found. They would spend the next few days fighting off the Germans and would ultimately lose 70% of their men before reinforcement could arrive. I looked over the edge of that cliff and thought "that cliff seems almost impossible to climb, especially with someone shooting at you".
Sainte-Mere-Eglise is a small town where members of the 82nd Airborne parachuted into and were spotted by the Germans due to a house on fire in the town. The fire made it easy for the Germans to see the parachutes and pick off the paratroopers before they could land.
Utah Beach was another American landing area guarded by German guns. Though the loss of life was lower than at Omaha, it was still a deadly battle.
At Angoville Au Plain, two American medics (aged 19 & 20) treated wounded soldiers in a church. They cared for American and German wounded which was helpful when the Germans overran the town. When they saw the medics had treated German soldiers as well as their own, they let them continue their work. The church even sustained a mortar hit. Those two medics cared for over 80 men with the most basic supplies and only lost two of them. The Americans eventually regained control of the town. One of the church's patron saints is St Damien, the patron saint of physicians. One has to wonder if it was more than chance that led those medics to that place.
Normandy - day 2: Le Mont Saint-Michel
Since the very first time I saw a picture of Mont Saint-Michel, I have wanted to go there. The sight of that rock with the huge Abbey on top just sitting out in the bay always piqued my interest. Today was the day to fulfill my wish to see it in person. MSM is about an hour and a half drive from where we're staying in Bayeux, and the closer we get I find myself searching the landscape just hoping to get a glance of it.
Finally we turn a corner and there it is in the distance, sitting in the morning light with a little bit of a marine layer sitting around it. I can't believe we're finally here.
When the high tide is in, the Mont becomes an island. Today the tide is out but that's actually a good thing as we are able to go out onto the sand and take pictures from below. There are several groups of people there with guides who are walking across the bay. You need a guide because there are actually areas of quicksand out there. Not quite the "Princess Bride" type of quicksand but something to be avoided nonetheless.
We enter the gate of the city and start up the Grande Rue but it's quite crowded, mainly due to the street being only about 4 feet wide. We dive into a shop and pop out through the back door onto the ramparts and walk up the ramparts to the Abbey. We pick up a couple of audio guides and start our interesting tour of the large medieval Abbey. It always amazes me that such impressive buildings could be constructed without modern tools.
Once we finish our tour, we head back down the Grande Rue (which is still crowded) and find the post office so I can mail a postcard to the folks at work. We decide to walk back across the bridge to the parking area rather than taking the shuttle, affording us some different perspectives of the Mont.
Once back in the car we start heading back toward Bayeux when suddenly- there it is! The perfect photo opportunity. A bunch of cattle in a field with the Mont rising up in the background. As we head back to Bayeux, I am one happy lady.
Finally we turn a corner and there it is in the distance, sitting in the morning light with a little bit of a marine layer sitting around it. I can't believe we're finally here.
When the high tide is in, the Mont becomes an island. Today the tide is out but that's actually a good thing as we are able to go out onto the sand and take pictures from below. There are several groups of people there with guides who are walking across the bay. You need a guide because there are actually areas of quicksand out there. Not quite the "Princess Bride" type of quicksand but something to be avoided nonetheless.
We enter the gate of the city and start up the Grande Rue but it's quite crowded, mainly due to the street being only about 4 feet wide. We dive into a shop and pop out through the back door onto the ramparts and walk up the ramparts to the Abbey. We pick up a couple of audio guides and start our interesting tour of the large medieval Abbey. It always amazes me that such impressive buildings could be constructed without modern tools.
Once we finish our tour, we head back down the Grande Rue (which is still crowded) and find the post office so I can mail a postcard to the folks at work. We decide to walk back across the bridge to the parking area rather than taking the shuttle, affording us some different perspectives of the Mont.
Once back in the car we start heading back toward Bayeux when suddenly- there it is! The perfect photo opportunity. A bunch of cattle in a field with the Mont rising up in the background. As we head back to Bayeux, I am one happy lady.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
France - Normandy
We left Paris this morning having picked up our rental car at the Gare du Nord train station. The pickup process wasn't too bad and it should have been easy to get on the freeway, but our Ms Garmin was having trouble locating a satellite. We ended up getting on the freeway but heading the wrong direction so there was a lot of confusing backtracking and driving down residential streets that was required. At any rate, we made it out of Paris and on our way to Bayeux where we will stay for the next three nights. We made a slight detour to a sweet little village called Beuvron-on-Auge for lunch and made it to Bayeux in the late afternoon. While we were driving along the back country roads to Beuvron, we stopped to take pictures of an old church and met a group of folks from Seattle who were on a backroad bicycle tour of France. Oh! And I finally got my macaroon.
Once we checked into our hotel, we went to see the Bayeux Tapestry. This is a 70 meter long (horizontally) tapestry from the 11th century depicting the Norman conquest of England. An amazing thing to see, very well preserved and an excellent audio guide came with the admission price. Mike and I both thought it was really interesting and we're glad we managed to see it. Our days in Bayeux will be pretty full as we're doing an all-day D-Day tour on Tuesday and we're also going to Mont St Michel tomorrow. We're really looking forward to both of those days and the D-Day tour was our primary reason for coming to France this year. Once I knew we would be coming to France I knew I absolutely had to see the Mont. I've been wanting to go there for quite some time.
Paris Day 3
We managed to get going earlier today than yesterday - which is good considering we have a lot on our list for today.
First we went back to Ile de Cite and took a couple of selfies on Pont Neuf. We laugh a little bit about all the places we've been that we see in the Jason Bourne movies. Then we walked down alongside Notre Dame so I could get some more pictures of the church's flying buttresses. Yes, buttresses- it's an architectural support- look it up. ;-)
Second stop was the Musee D'Orsay. This is a museum that's housed in a renovated railroad station and the architecture itself is worth the visit. The huge old clocks are still there and the outside facade is really nice. We looked at the Impressionist paintings - Monet, Cezanne, Degas, some Van Gogh paintings and several different sculptures by various artists.
Third stop - the Eiffel Tower! We walked there from the D'Orsay via Rue Cler, a pedestrianized street with market stalls and cafes. As we approached the tower we got some good photos and proceeded to the security line to have our bags checked and to be wanded with a metal detector. (We went through the same procedure at Notre Dame. They're being very careful about checking everyone because of the terrorist attacks this year.) We had pre-purchased our tickets for the tower which saved us some money and also secured a place for us on the elevator to the top. People who purchased their tickets on the spot could only go to the second level. I guess they limit the number of the 3rd floor tickets each day.
The tower is huge! It's hard to get a good perspective from photos, but this thing was bigger than I thought! The elevator to the 2nd floor runs up one of the legs of the tower and has a fairly impressive view but, holy moly, the elevator to the 3rd floor is really impressive. Paris just spreads out below you, seemingly for miles. The only downside is the constant warnings about pickpockets here so we made sure to keep our bag closed and right in front of us the whole time.
We have also seen three of the scams that I read about on the travel forums. First, the little petition girls tried to hit us up at Notre Dame. They want you to sign a petition for some supposedly worthy cause and then they insist you make a donation of 20 euro! Not 5 or 10 or whatever you feel like. Sometimes it's just a distraction tool so the others can pick your pockets. Then a man tried the gold ring scam on us. Someone passing you pretends to find a lost gold ring and asks if it's yours. Then they try to sell it to you for some ridiculous price. We just kept walking but shared a little chuckle about it because we couldn't believe someone tried to trick us with that scam. We also saw a large group of people outside the Eiffel Tower who were caught up in the stupid shell game. I can't believe people still get caught up in that one.
Next up: the Arc de Triomphe and a Seine River cruise at night.
First we went back to Ile de Cite and took a couple of selfies on Pont Neuf. We laugh a little bit about all the places we've been that we see in the Jason Bourne movies. Then we walked down alongside Notre Dame so I could get some more pictures of the church's flying buttresses. Yes, buttresses- it's an architectural support- look it up. ;-)
Second stop was the Musee D'Orsay. This is a museum that's housed in a renovated railroad station and the architecture itself is worth the visit. The huge old clocks are still there and the outside facade is really nice. We looked at the Impressionist paintings - Monet, Cezanne, Degas, some Van Gogh paintings and several different sculptures by various artists.
Third stop - the Eiffel Tower! We walked there from the D'Orsay via Rue Cler, a pedestrianized street with market stalls and cafes. As we approached the tower we got some good photos and proceeded to the security line to have our bags checked and to be wanded with a metal detector. (We went through the same procedure at Notre Dame. They're being very careful about checking everyone because of the terrorist attacks this year.) We had pre-purchased our tickets for the tower which saved us some money and also secured a place for us on the elevator to the top. People who purchased their tickets on the spot could only go to the second level. I guess they limit the number of the 3rd floor tickets each day.
The tower is huge! It's hard to get a good perspective from photos, but this thing was bigger than I thought! The elevator to the 2nd floor runs up one of the legs of the tower and has a fairly impressive view but, holy moly, the elevator to the 3rd floor is really impressive. Paris just spreads out below you, seemingly for miles. The only downside is the constant warnings about pickpockets here so we made sure to keep our bag closed and right in front of us the whole time.
We have also seen three of the scams that I read about on the travel forums. First, the little petition girls tried to hit us up at Notre Dame. They want you to sign a petition for some supposedly worthy cause and then they insist you make a donation of 20 euro! Not 5 or 10 or whatever you feel like. Sometimes it's just a distraction tool so the others can pick your pockets. Then a man tried the gold ring scam on us. Someone passing you pretends to find a lost gold ring and asks if it's yours. Then they try to sell it to you for some ridiculous price. We just kept walking but shared a little chuckle about it because we couldn't believe someone tried to trick us with that scam. We also saw a large group of people outside the Eiffel Tower who were caught up in the stupid shell game. I can't believe people still get caught up in that one.
Next up: the Arc de Triomphe and a Seine River cruise at night.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Paris day 3 continued
After leaving the Eiffel Tower we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. In hindsight, it might have been better to take a bus but we generally prefer to walk everywhere. The Arc is surrounded by this crazy roundabout that has about 10 lanes of traffic circling around it. I say "about" because there are no lane markings so it's kind of a free-for-all. Luckily you don't have to cross the street to reach the Arc, there's a tunnel under the road for access. So we went down the tunnel and popped up right under the Arc. Since we had purchased a 2-day museum pass, we got to skip the ticket line here (also at the Louvre and the D'Orsay). Sailed through security and headed up the spiral staircase to the top. I originally wanted to do the Arc at night when the Champs Elysee would be all lit up, but we were starting to get tired and didn't want to come all the way back again later. Nice views up there anyway. We saw a bride and groom having some photos done at the base of the Arc and we saw the memorial flame for the unknown soldier.
We headed back to the hotel to relax a bit and shower. We decided to order room service too and ate it on our balcony but there was no visit from Bob the bulldog tonight.
We were refreshed enough that we walked down to Pont Neuf and took a one hour river cruise past all the top sights, we even saw the lights on the Eiffel Tower twinkle at the top of the hour.
We saw so many people just sitting out along the banks of the river at night that there actually was very little empty space on the banks. Everyone was chatting and drinking and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Tomorrow we leave Paris for Normany and I realize I haven't even tried a macaron yet! Maybe they will have some at the train station.
We headed back to the hotel to relax a bit and shower. We decided to order room service too and ate it on our balcony but there was no visit from Bob the bulldog tonight.
We were refreshed enough that we walked down to Pont Neuf and took a one hour river cruise past all the top sights, we even saw the lights on the Eiffel Tower twinkle at the top of the hour.
We saw so many people just sitting out along the banks of the river at night that there actually was very little empty space on the banks. Everyone was chatting and drinking and seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Tomorrow we leave Paris for Normany and I realize I haven't even tried a macaron yet! Maybe they will have some at the train station.
A visitor :-)
Yesterday we met someone on the balcony next to ours. His name is Bob and he's the friendliest, most adorable English Bulldog. He came over to the railing and wanted his head scratched and then tried to come through to see us but his head was just too big! His owner says he has over 20,000 followers on Instagram- he's a celebrity, and a very cute one at that. 😎
Friday, September 9, 2016
Paris - day 2
Today's itinerary includes Notre Dame cathedral, St Chapelle church, and the Louvre museum. Now with an itinerary like that, you would think we'd be up and out pretty early, wouldn't you? Well we briefly woke up around 4:30 but then fell asleep again and slept in until 9am! Thank you blackout curtains for being so effective ;-) After getting up and ready and having a bite of breakfast, we finally left the hotel around 10:30. We walked over to Notre Dame and immediately got in line for the Tower. We waited just over an hour to get in, because they limit the number of people going at one time to prevent a big crowd up there at the same time. We appreciated that and didn't mind waiting. We had a nice conversation with a Canadian lady and her daughter while we waited.
Once up the tower (300+ tight spiral steps) we had a panoramic view of Paris and could see the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur. After some pictures, we climbed down the other set of stairs and went into the cathedral. They have a crown of thorns that is supposed to be the original that Jesus was forced to wear before His crucifixion. Is it truly the one? Who knows? They bring it out once a month for viewing but not while we were there. After taking some pictures outside the cathedral, we headed to St Chapelle via the flower market. I was expecting something like an open-air fresh cut flower market, similar to the one we saw in Amsterdam. The flower market here was just a group of wooden buildings with live plants for sale. Not quite what I expected.
People say you should go to St Chapelle for the stained glass and it was a bright sunny day, so the glass was definitely lit up. The glass is really all there is to see here, so we spent only about 15 minutes. They have some pretty strict security on the way in because there are also government courts in the same complex and we saw several judges coming out in their robes.
The Louvre is huge! I know everyone says that, but it really is so large that I had a short list of things (6) that I really wanted to see. Even with a map we still got turned around a couple of times as well as getting distracted by things we would see in other rooms. We finally finished after 6pm and had barely scratched the surface despite having been there for over 3 hours. We did see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and Code of Hammurabi among others.
Tomorrow: the Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe!
Once up the tower (300+ tight spiral steps) we had a panoramic view of Paris and could see the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Coeur. After some pictures, we climbed down the other set of stairs and went into the cathedral. They have a crown of thorns that is supposed to be the original that Jesus was forced to wear before His crucifixion. Is it truly the one? Who knows? They bring it out once a month for viewing but not while we were there. After taking some pictures outside the cathedral, we headed to St Chapelle via the flower market. I was expecting something like an open-air fresh cut flower market, similar to the one we saw in Amsterdam. The flower market here was just a group of wooden buildings with live plants for sale. Not quite what I expected.
People say you should go to St Chapelle for the stained glass and it was a bright sunny day, so the glass was definitely lit up. The glass is really all there is to see here, so we spent only about 15 minutes. They have some pretty strict security on the way in because there are also government courts in the same complex and we saw several judges coming out in their robes.
The Louvre is huge! I know everyone says that, but it really is so large that I had a short list of things (6) that I really wanted to see. Even with a map we still got turned around a couple of times as well as getting distracted by things we would see in other rooms. We finally finished after 6pm and had barely scratched the surface despite having been there for over 3 hours. We did see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and Code of Hammurabi among others.
Tomorrow: the Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe!
Thursday, September 8, 2016
France - Paris!
As I write this entry, I'm lying in a charming room in a hotel in....Paris! I'm enjoying some extra energy while Mike takes a little nap. We didn't get much sleep this time, I think we really got spoiled by flying first class on our last trip. We weren't that lucky this time - not enough frequent flyer miles. :-(
We flew into Paris around 11am and made it to our hotel around noon. Thankfully the room was ready for us. It's warm here so I needed to change clothes before we set out to find a snack and look around. We found a bakery and had a yummy baguette sandwich with ham and cheese and then walked to the Luxembourg Gardens. Loads of people there enjoying the afternoon, but it's a really big park so it didn't seem crowded at all.. We did notice that everyone, young and old, seemed to be reading a book. No phones, Kindles, iPads or anything electronic- just good old books.
We headed back to the hotel because Mike was getting a serious case of "the nods" by now. We saw a protest march on our way back, professors wanting more money I think, though my French is not great so it's possible I may be wrong. We also found a messenger bag at a little shop, I've been wanting one for the camera as an alternative to the backpack we usually carry. So even though I wasn't planning to shop in Paris, we didn't even make it one day without buying something. 👜
I'm starting to nod a little myself now, so I think I'll give in and just take a nap too. We have lots of stuff planned for tomorrow so we need to get some rest. :)
We flew into Paris around 11am and made it to our hotel around noon. Thankfully the room was ready for us. It's warm here so I needed to change clothes before we set out to find a snack and look around. We found a bakery and had a yummy baguette sandwich with ham and cheese and then walked to the Luxembourg Gardens. Loads of people there enjoying the afternoon, but it's a really big park so it didn't seem crowded at all.. We did notice that everyone, young and old, seemed to be reading a book. No phones, Kindles, iPads or anything electronic- just good old books.
We headed back to the hotel because Mike was getting a serious case of "the nods" by now. We saw a protest march on our way back, professors wanting more money I think, though my French is not great so it's possible I may be wrong. We also found a messenger bag at a little shop, I've been wanting one for the camera as an alternative to the backpack we usually carry. So even though I wasn't planning to shop in Paris, we didn't even make it one day without buying something. 👜
I'm starting to nod a little myself now, so I think I'll give in and just take a nap too. We have lots of stuff planned for tomorrow so we need to get some rest. :)
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, Cable ascent, Yosemite Valley from above
Vernal Falls
Nevada Falls
Cable ascent to summit
The valley below us. We started the hike down there.
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