Where in the World are Bill and Mary

Busy Month

2011-12-14T15:11:00.000Z

Before I attempt to finish our stay in Nice, here's an update on what's been happening at the Dillon-Willmon household.

All but two of the group. Eric, Don, Jenn, Jen, Amy, Dan, Victoria, Thomas and Robin's arm.

Thanksgiving was our usual gathering of friends, except this year I did most of the cooking. Amy had surgery on her foot the day before, so she sat on the barstool with her foot propped up on the other stool and supervised. She also arrainged the potatoes for the cheesy potato casserole. Dinner was delicious. Desserts were decadent. A good time was had by all!

Different view. Eric, Don, Jenn, Jen, Amy, Dan Victoria, (Thomas is hiding), Robin, Bill.

Amy's birthday was next on the agenda. Lovely dinner out, with some of the best cocktails I've had in years! Then it was time to buy the Christmas tree and decorate the house. During this we experienced our first cold winter weather, so plants had to be moved inside. The delicate ones planted in the ground had to have lights put on them, then be covered for protection from any frost.

It has warmed up again, but still rainy. Snow on the mountains, but not down here. That's the way to have it!

Snow on the Santa Catalina Mountains taken from our back porch.

Technological Frustration

2011-12-13T15:49:00.002Z

It has been a frustrating few weeks trying to blog. Bill spent days editing the pictures from Nice, only to have the hard drive he saved them to go bonkers. Another few days spent trying to get said hard drive to talk to him, then all it could say, "would you like to reformat?"

Blogger hasn't been helpful either. I gave up trying to post pictures, but it wouldn't post just words! Part of the problem may be out internet connection which is just faster than dial-up, but not all of it. So I just gave up, until today when I will try again. Keep your fingers crossed.

If All Else Fails

2011-11-16T22:47:00.000Z

The policeman keeping an eye on Bill.

While taking pictures in Vieux Nice, Bill wandered into a courtyard with several large sculptures in front of the building; the offices of the Police Nationale. It was not a restricted area, but the officer on duty took a lot of interest in this big hairy guy taking photos. Then I entered the courtyard, saw the officer looking suspiciously at Bill and did the only thing I could to diffuse the situation. Act Crazy.

Whistle to get Bill's attention, as well as the policeman. Imagine that, Bill's taking my picture.

Fast step to the right and hide behind the sculpture. Catch me if you can!

Peek-a-boo!

All three of us were laughing. The policeman nodded at me, with a big smile on his face, then went back inside. With a crazy wife, the big hairy guy didn't look so suspicious.

Where's Nicolas?

2011-11-14T15:02:00.000Z

One day while wandering through Vieux Nice, we were met with blockades manned by many police, all in dress uniforms. Something special was happening, but what? We finally walked up to a policewoman and asked. "The President of the Republic is coming!" She wasn't really sure when, maybe around noon? We went on to the flower market, then the chateau. But, on our return trip, we walked right into where Sarkozy was to be. We didn't have anywhere else to go and the rain was holding off, so why not wait for the man himself to show up. We had seen him near the start of our adventures in Paris in July. We could see him near the end of our adventures in Nice in October. Kind of bookend Nicolas'!

A lot of commotion, so we think he has arrived.

We waited and waited and waited. There were people coming up to security with embossed invitations. They were searched and pointed in the correct direction, depending on what the invite said. Some were left on the street, but in a restricted area right in front of the Hotel d'Ville. Others went inside the Opera House, which is opposite.

Where's Nicolas?

Finally there was a big rush of people, we were let out from behind our barrier to rush up to the next barrier. We never saw the man. Too many people were in the same area and he is very short. If you can't make out his big head of hair, you're out of luck in finding him. Oh well. We had a good time watching the crowd, critiqueing the police presence (which didn't seem very concerned) and listening to all the conversations in multiple languages. Ah, France!

That evening on the news, we found out why the President of the Republic was in town. He didn't come for an important meeting concerning all the financial problems in the EU. He didn't come to solve any social issues of the day. He came (drum roll please!) to pull a poster off the wall in the Opera House! It was a poster demanding the return of the young Israeli solder who was held captive for 5 years and had just been released. France helped in the negotiations. So, the President of the Republic flew to Nice, blocked traffic for several hours, had every police from city to national level working, all to pull a poster off the wall for a photo op! Ah, politics!

Bear with us.

2011-11-10T14:19:00.000Z

We are having technical difficulties uploading pictures to Blogger. I think it is Blogger's problem instead of our slow internet, but, who knows!
Stay tuned.

Art

2011-11-08T16:34:00.000Z

This guy kept an eye on us whenever we were on the terrace. He is a beautiful porcelain hominid.
We both would have loved him in our home!

There's a game we play when housesitting, especially when the home is one we fall in love with. "What one item would you take home if you could?" We are only allowed to choose on, but in this home it was very difficult. There is no limit to size, or ability to get it home; it's all fantasy.

Bill's favorite: The Devil with Insects. This guy was sitting on the edge of the terrace wall.
Bill would have put him in our garden as well.

We have always had art in our homes. Paintings, photographs, carvings, weavings, and lots of baskets, not to mentions antiques and other pretties. Still, we were overwhelmed by the amount of art in the apartment in Nice. This only made our choices harder! We don't play easy games.

Unfortunately, the piece I liked the best didn't show up well in any of the photos, so I'll describe it for you. It's a Toad head made of cast iron with a very fierce expression, as only toads can have. The head is mounted on an Egyptian-like stele with engraved toad hieroglyphs. It would have been fabulous in the entry way!

Just What We Need!

2011-11-07T00:17:00.000Z

At our home in Tucson, we have a problem with packrats. Not little old ladies who hoard things in their homes, but the furry little creatures who hoard things in their nests. Packrats are so good at what they do, that archeaologists love to find there nests when doing a dig. Some have been found that date back 50,000 years! This year the packrats came and stole most of the vegies just as they were getting ripe. How do we know it was the packrats? We could track them to the "door" of their nest, and there would be the vegie. Most of the vegies were too big to haul inside. In one case, they pulled all the leaves off a plant and "decorated" the outside of their nest.

Now what does this have to do with Nice? Well, we found the perfect pot to use in our garden. It is totally packrat proof, as well as rabbit, mice and snake. We will need a ladder, however, but isn't it pretty? Now if we could just figure out how to get it home!

Chagall Musee with a Side of Matisse

2011-11-04T19:24:00.000Z

Moses and the burning bush.

The morning was beautiful, so we walked to the Chagall Musee. Bib told us it was only .7 k, but we sometimes forget that Bib calculates in "as the crow flies" mileage, and we ain't crows. 3 k later, we find the musee. We also forgot that Nice is built on hills that run down to the beach, so we were walking up a couple of steep streets. We tried to stay on the shady side, since it was a warm day. (No complaints about the warm!)

The longer you look at these, the more you see painted into them.

Stained Glass windows in the auditorium. It was very distracting trying to watch a movie when THESE were in the room!

A window Chagall designed for a cathedral. Even though he was a Jew, there are hundreds of his windows in Cathedrals throughout Europe. There is one in Germany where the cathedral was designed around his windows. It is breathtaking!

The building was designed specifically for Chagall's paintings. The auditorium, where we were shown a short film, has four of his stained glass windows. The central section displays a changing selection of visiting artists, then you come to a huge room that is totally Chagall. I have loved his paintings since the first one I saw as a child. I was not sure what it all meant, but the color, the movement, the overall joy spoke to my heart. One cannot feel sad while looking at a Chagall painting. Visiting here gave us more understanding of his work. Since he was a Jew, most of the painting tell the story from right to left, like reading Hebrew. He also painted in the round, with the central character in the middle and the rest of the story revolving around the center.

Most of his painting have religious themes.

Aaron and Isaac

A different way of looking at the cruxificion.

On leaving the museum, we decided to find the bus stop to go on up the hills to Musee Matisse. We ended up going on stop too far, but a nice woman on the bus pointed out our mistake, and also showed up we could stop for a bite to eat or a drink at the local market. It did sound like a good idea. Into the market we went; Bill heading to the deli to pick up mini quiches and me going to find the bottled water. Then we walked to the gardens where several museums are housed, as well as a Roman ruin, found a bench in the shade and had lunch.

The temporary show currently on exhibit.

A crocheted wall hanging from the exhibit.

You take two 8 x 12 wall painted white, stand them up, then you let paint in your favorite colors run down the inside and puddle on the ground. Viola!
We really liked this!

Musee Matisse is house in an old building that a very modern wing added on. The collection seemed to us to be things he had left to his family, or had been stored in an attic. Working drawings, works in progress, models, but very little finished art work, except for some of his very early pieces, well before he became famous for his "modern" drawings. While it was interesting to see the way he worked and his progression as an artist, it was a bit disappointing. On the plus side, there was no entrance fee.

The older building is to the right rear. This was built as the entrance, but the day we visited, it was the exit.

Jack and Tess

2011-11-03T17:02:00.000Z

Jack doing what he does best, napping.

Tess with the yellow eyes.

Our hosts in Nice were Jack and Tess, British Blues, a breed of cat with intense yellow eyes as well as lovely blue/gray fur. Jack is the older, being 10 and Tess is 4. ( Sorry you two if I've remembered wrong.) They are both friendly and well mannered; no hissing, no scratching, no biting.

"This is MY ottoman and I'm NOT sharing!"

"Wake me up when Tess gets off the ottoman."

Jack is a true gentleman. When he wants to eat, he will sit by the bowl patiently waiting. If you aren't around, he will come and sit until he gets your attention, then lead you to the kitchen. Tess is, well, a terror. (Her mom's description, not mine, but I came to agree.) Tess will talk to you, rub on you, dance for you, do anything to get your attention because SHE NEEDS TO BE FED!!!

Tess opening the sliding door on the tansu while balancing on a narrow wooden chair. Sorry for the blur, we almost didn't get the camera out in time!

Peeking out to make sure we saw her go in.

One morning we awoke to find every sliding door in the entire house opened. We weren't sure which one had done it. Or even what they were looking for. Or even if they found it. Then a couple of evening later, Tess gets on top of a chair and works until she opens the sliding door on the tanzu chest, promptly jumping in. I think we found the door sliding culprit!

Tess pausing on top of the tanzu before jumping up to the airconditioner. With all the artwork, she looks like a statue.

Several times while were reading or at the computer in the evening, Tess would work her way up to lay on the top of the airconditioner. I'm sure it gave her an excellent view of the livingroom and entry, maybe even down the hall towards the bedrooms. She could probably even see out the balcony doors onto the neighboring buildings. Tess does like to keep an eye on things.

When there aren't house sitters to take care of, Jack and Tess keep Roxanne and Bruce in line.

Getting Around in Nice

2011-11-02T13:18:00.000Z

This guy was guarding an entranceway.

We did not have a car in Nice. We did not need a car in Nice. The city buses run frequently, go everywhere, and are only 1 euro. Tickets may be purchased from the driver, a machine near some stops or you can go to an office and by a card good for 10 rides. All the tickets are good for the bus or the tram. If you live here, you can buy a pass that lowers the price considerably. If you are really daring, you can ride without a ticket and risk the fine. We never saw anyone checking tickets, though we did see lots of rider not using a ticket. We bought a card of 10.

The buses are clean, comfortable, airconditioned and have large windows.

The tram system is new, maybe one of the newer ones in France. It runs very quietly on a rail with rubber pads so there is little jarring to damage the surrounding buildings. If they didn't use a horn, it would be easy for the thing to sneak up on unsuspecting tourists. Not us, of course.

Very sleek looking.

The other way to go from point A to point B is walking. We walked a lot. Walking means we are able to eat and drink well without gaining enormous amounts of weight. When we went grocery shopping, we brought a little trolley cart with us, as well as shopping bags. I think one of the reasons the French, for the most part, are not overweight, is all the walking they do.

If we had been in a car, we would have missed seeing these animals on the window of a small animal clinic.

It's Nice to be in Nice!

2011-11-01T13:28:00.000Z

Looking out over Nice, the black glass building is the Holiday Inn. It is totally out of character with the surrounding city, but works great as a landmark to find where you are. The apartment is just around the corner, so we could always find our way home.

The morning we left Cagnes-Sur-Mer, we were up early, as the car had to be returned to the train station in Nice by 10AM. The drive was not long, but we were concerned about traffic; Monday morning rush hour. There was traffic. BIB said it would take 17 minutes, but with the slow moving cars all around us, it was more like 35. We had already scoped out the train station, so knew where to enter and park. I jumped out to find the car return office. As has happened before, there were signs, but no where telling you exactly where to take the car! The woman in the office was very helpful, telling me to pull down into the parking garage, then drive up to the 6th floor where their people were, but we might have to drive back down to the 5th floor, as they were very full this morning. I walked outside, found the down ramp, but for the life of me couldn't see a 7 story building to drive up into. Back inside, where she laughed and explained that we would be driving under her building and up into the building behind. Who thinks of these things?

We did go to the 6th and back down to the 5th. Unloaded our stuff and found the elevator, only to discover it stopped 3 floor short of the bottom. We lugged our luggage down to the ground floor. Bill waited outside while I returned the key and signed the papers. When I showed her all the additional damage that had been recorded in Montpellier, she just shrugged and smiled, no problem.

Another view of Nice.

Outside, we waited for the homeowner to show up. We had not heard from him, and I must admit we were a little concerned. But, not to worry, at 10:05, up he walked; introduced himself, and surprise! he's American! It was a short way to their apartment building, with Bruce giving us a small tour. "This is a lovely garden you can visit." "This building was Nazi headquarters in WWII." "I think this is one of the most beautiful old buildings in Nice."

Arriving at the apartment, Bruce squishes us all into the tiny elevator, commenting on how it is very dependable having only become stuck once several years ago. Their apartment in on the top floor, #7. Well, wouldn't you know, between 3 and 4 we come to a screeching halt! Bruce pushed the emergency button, then every button, cursing under his breath. Finally an elderly gentleman comes and talks to us, but we aren't sure he understands. I pull out my phone and we call Roxanne who is waiting at the apartment. Then we call the Pompiers, followed by the elevator company.

Don't clang the metal doors on the elevator!!!

Roxanne comes down the stairs, which wind around the elevator cage, says Hi, then continues on to let the Pompiers in the front door. Other neighbors come by, but proceed on down the stairs. After a short while, the Pompiers arrive. 5 minutes later, the door is opened and we are lifted down. Now there is a bit of laughter, as not only us, but all our luggage and shopping bags come out. I think France must have a rule that not only do all the Pompiers have to be in excellent condition, they must be good looking too. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture!

The apartment landing with the elevator on the right. The elevator is an old fashioned style with an outer door that swings open and an inner accordian door that pulls back.

Now we only have 3 1/2 flights of stairs to haul our luggage up. Thank goodness for rollers, but it was still a chore and very noisy. Arriving at their floor, we are met by Roxanne and the two very curious cats, Jack and Tess. Welcome to our Nice Housesit!

On the penthouse terrace.

Home Again!

2011-10-30T17:18:00.000Z

At the Nice Airport, there is a parking lot for Depose minute; Kiss and Fly.

It took 19 hours from the time we left the hotel in Roissy until we walked through our front door in Tucson, which is pretty amazing when you thing about it. The flight was over clouds from the time we left Paris until we landed in Dallas, except for flying over Greenland!

The east coast of Greenland with the first glacier to be seen.

This glacier is huge! I loved the way everything looked so pristine. The sun made the ice and snow sparkle.

Even though it was midday, the sun is so far south, the mountains cast long shadows.

It feels good to be home. It will feel even better when we adjust to the time change! There are still two weeks worth of posts to do on our wonderful house sit in Nice, so stay tuned.

Thanks to American Airlines AAirmiles, our round trip was only $199.20 for BOTH of us!

Monaco

2011-10-29T16:46:00.000+01:00

The hills of Monaco are built up with ugly highrise apartment buildings.

The road to Monaco is a spectacular drive along the coast with steep cliffs on one side and steep drops to the sea, on the other. After parking the car and taking the elevator to the sunshine, Bill asked me what I thought. "This has to be one of the ugliest cities I've ever seen!" Monaco looks like a crazy person was in charge of the building permit department. The hills are a jumble of big, ugly highrises piled one on top of the other. No interesting architecture, not continuity of design, just ugly. Fortunately, we were by the harbor which is very nice and full of beautiful yachts.

The setting is spectacular, but unfortunately, they let building happen with what looks like no prior planning.

We saw more expensive cars per square meter than anywhere else we have ever visited.

The Grimaldi's palace overlooks it all. It's good to be King, ok, Prince.

Walking to the casino, we came across an area called the star. It's a garden built on top of a hotel, facing the sea. The plants are beautiful and well maintained, but since this is one of the riches countries in the world, all 2 square kilometers of it, that is to be expected. If you are a resident of Monaco, you pay no taxes on anything, but the majority of people who live here are not official residents.

The Casino at Monte Carlo is quite a lovely building surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Adam and Eve in the garden in Monte Carlo.

The Casino reflected in an art piece entitled, Sky Disc. This is the view of the back of the disc, the front focuses on the sky and is not rippled.

If you don't want to gamble ( and they charge you 10 euro to enter the gambling part of the casino!), then you can go window shopping. They have all the big buck names. We especially enjoyed Cartier's windows.

A Cartier watch with a few diamonds and rubies thrown in for good measure. I don't know why Bill wouldn't buy this for me, after all, rubies are my birthstone.

After walking all around and up, Monaco is built in a bowl, so there is a lot of up, we decided to sit down and enjoy a cold brew. The Cafe de Paris had a wonderful undershade area on the front where we found a table and ordered two tall ones. We did not ask the price, deciding it would be the only time we would visit Monaco. The beer was tasty and very cold. Relaxing in the shade was very refreshing. When the bill came it was 13 euro each for the drinks. We enjoyed it very much.

This necklace also had a matching ring and earrings. We did not ask the prices of these, either.

Beautiful gardens with fountains surround the casino area.

With a boat this size, you could bring all your family and friends. This is just the outdoor area, wonder what the inside looks like?

Leaving Monaco, the road went over the mountain via switchbacks; extremely sharp, steep switchbacks. There was one so sharp, I couldn't turn the wheels with one hand, but I also needed to shift the gears at the same time. That was an interesting sensation. I would have felt like I was in a James Bond movie, except our little deisel Opal was not an Aston Martin!

Perched Villages

2011-10-28T22:04:00.000+01:00

The view across the valley from Gourdon.

In this part of France there are several perched villages, meaning they are built on top and around the top of a mountain. It makes them very difficult to get to, impossible to attack, and rarely were they able to be defeated in battle, as long as they had water. Gourdon is one of the more spectacular sited ones. The road up is full of switchbacks and very steep. When you arrive, there is parking lot, as cars are not allowed in the village. The roads in the village are too narrow for car, anyway!

It really is perched on the side of the mountain.

The day we visited, the combination of fog and smog made the views not as good. You could still see enough to know it was an amazing vista. There were several hang gliders floating around enjoying the updrafts. They certainly looked to be having a great time!

This guy kept flying on the main square showing off for the tourists.

The second village was St Paul en Vence. It isn't on as high a mountain, or as difficult to drive to. St Paul is also much bigger. There was a large church and lots of shopping. The walk ways were neatly paved and easy to walk. This village was really geared for tourists to come and spend their money. Even so, it's a cool place to be.

St Paul en Vence is a larger village and not on as high a hill.

St Paul keeping watch.

Musee Renoir

2011-10-26T05:23:00.000+01:00

Renoir's olive orchard.

The house where Renoir spent the last years of his life is now the Musee Renoir. The land was a producing olive orchard, a working farm, not like Monet's flower gardens. Renoir suffered from rhumatoid arthritis. He painted by taping the brush to his hand. The sculptures you see, were designed by him, but another artist did the actual work, with Renoir sitting by him, saying move this, more here, less here. It must have been frustrating for him and the other artist as well. There was no picture taking allowed inside the house, although we couldn't see any reason why. The house is not in very good repair, maybe that's why no pictures.

Renoir mentored young artists. There were always several living with the family, some for so long the rooms are named after them. When they were putting the museum together, these same artists donated their works that were finished at the house, or pictures they did of Renoir, or even items he had given them. Renoir does come across as one of the good guys of art.

The walkway from the back of the house into the gardens.

The museum closed from noon to 2. We had left the house and were wandering around the gardens, when a woman came and told us we had to leave. We didn't realize they closed the gardens as well! So, where we could take pictures, there wasn't time to take pictures. Oh well.

The only stature we had time to take a picture of.

Our Apartment in Cagnes-sur-Mer

2011-10-25T15:13:00.000+01:00

Apero time on the balcony.

View across the street.

Looking west down the beach.

We really did not want to stay in a hotel. There were no gites nearby, so we rented an apartment for the week for 250 euros. It was on the second floor (3rd in American) with a balcony over looking the sea. Ok, there was a road between us and the sea, but we chose to ignore it. The main room was combo living/dining, with a tiny little kitchen to one side. Behind sliding doors was the bedroom with a big closet. The bathroom was also large, with a seperate WC, where the washing machine was hooked up.

Dining area. The dishes were stored in the small buffet.

The coin cuisine (small kitchen) in an alcove off the living room.

It was a very comfortable place to stay. The only bad thing was no internet, but we survived. They did have a coffee pot!

On The Road to Cagnes-sur-Mer

2011-10-24T11:21:00.000+01:00

On the center divider for Cours Mirabeau, the prettiest thing about the street.

A very traditional French style fountain.

Built on a shady corner, a fountain that cascades.

Locals enjoying a fountain.

On the road from Arles to Cagnes-sur-Mer, there are two interesting towns to visit. Aix-en-Provence is known as the town of fountains. Every square, most intersections, and sometimes just for fun, there is a fountain. Some are very old, some extremely modern. The disappointment of Aix was how dirty it was. In most French town the sidewalks are washed on a daily basis. Aix's haven't been washed in ages. The Cours Maribeau, which is described as one of the most beautiful streets anywhere, is covered in bird poop and doggie bombs. Even the cafes are dirty looking. We didn't stay as long as we thought we would.

It's not a particularly pretty building, but......

...the organ is spectacular!

We stopped along the way at St-Maximin-la-Ste-Baume. The cathedral is not very pretty to my eyes, but it's considered the best example of a Northern Gothic building in France. It's old, 13th century, with several "remodels" along the way. It's main claim to fame is Mary Magdalene, yes, that one. After she moved from Israel to France with the other Marys (see past post on Ste. Maries de la Mer), she and Maximus moved to this area. Her bones were found in 1279. Now her skull is kept in the crypt of the church, resplendent in a golden crown.

Down in the crypt, behind a beautiful gilded door you will find her.

The skull of Mary Magdalean in her golden crown-like helmet.

Cote d'Azur

2011-10-23T09:50:00.000+01:00

The beach at Cagnes-sur-Mer

This isn't the best of pictures, but it does show the line of color change from light to deeper blue.

Lovely ladies on the beach. They didn't seem to mind the rocks.

Azur is the color of the sea here. It changes from a light blue near the shore, to varying shades of deeper blue the farther out you look. The beaches are not sandy, but rocky. There are still folks sitting and sunbathing on them, but I don't see how it can be comfortable, it's even hard to walk on!

Optis in a row, follow the leader.

Hobie 16

The French government subsidizing sailing schools for youths. There is a very active one in Gagnes-sur-Mer, with boats from small optis for the little kids to bigger catamarans for the teenagers. They were out sailing most days. I don't know if it's considered a sport for school credit or and extra curricular activity. Either way, France is turning out a lot of sailors.

I planted these same hibiscus in our front yard in New Orleans.

The climate here is mediterranean, which means it's hot and dry in the summers and rains in the winter. The plants are gorgeous! Even in October, the bougainvillas and hibiscus are in full glory, such vibrant colors.
Other plants that we think of as potted plants are growing huge outside, even the banana has fruit!

Euphorbia in front of a building in our apartment complex.

Nimes

2011-10-22T09:53:00.001+01:00

Maison Carree at sunrise.

Nimes has the most impressive collection of Roman buildings still standing anywhere, including the most complete Roman arena. The city is in the middle of rebuilding it's roads into town, as well as turning the entire old town into more pedestrianised areas. What used to be a parking lot next to the arena is now paved with huge stone blocks. Most of the parking areas have been moved underground. When they finally finish, it will be amazing.

Maison Carree is beautiful symetrical, and while a small temple by Roman standards, is quite large. If you look closely, Bill is standing by the front column.

We started our day in the dark, as Bill wanted to be at the Maison Carree just as the sun came up. Due to all the construction, bad signage, and a confused BIB, there were a few tense moments, but we made it in time. The Maison Carre is a small white temple, twice as long as it is wide, beautifully symetrical columns, and set in a square that has been paved again with those huge blocks of stone. The steps are are quite steep.

The carving on the top of one of the columns.

Walking on through town, we arrive at the Arena. The French are in the process of looking at each stone to see how they are surviving. There is concern that several have stress fractures that are new. Seems to me it's all the cars and people who daily use it. Maybe even those concerts that have?

The arena is still used for bullfighting. The statue is one of the famous toreadors who was born in Nimes.

Nimes coat of arms is a crocodile with a rope around it's neck, under a palm tree. I don't believe he was a native.

While we are standing in the square near the old clock tower, which is full of people enjoying their morning coffee and crossaint, a small boy runs up to Bill. "Excusez-moi Monsieur, ete-vous Pere Noel?" His face was full of hope and excitement, could this really be Pere Noel? Bill looked down at him, smiled and simply answered, "Oui!" Pure joy! The smile suddenly brightened to a million watts, he jumped up and down a bit then ran back to his parents shouting, "Oui, Oui, Pere Noel!" Everyone at the cafes looked in our direction and smiled or laughed.

Pere Noel sighted in Nimes!

The Romans Were Everywhere.....

2011-10-21T14:18:00.000+01:00

Glanum. Bill loves doing panoramas.

......and they left a lot of things behind. In France, everywhere you turn, there's something the Romans built. A lot of the time, it was built on what the Greeks had left. Glanum is such a place. A thriving town under the Greeks, it was expanded by the Romans. The town was under several feet of dirt when excavations started in the late 1800. They knew to start looking here because of the Mauseleum and Arc de Triomphe, they were right out in plain sight. In the 1700's they replaced the roof on the Arc. They weren't sure what it was, but knew it should be saved from further deterioration.

The Mausoleum de Jouls built in 400 AD.

Arc de Triomphe built in 4 BC.

VanGogh's painting with the two holes in the rock was done where Glanum now is uncovered. He wouldn't recognize the place, except the two holes are still in the rock.

The main street in Glanum leading toward the Forum.

A portion of the temple that has been restored.

The rock with two holes, when Van Gogh painted it there were olive trees in the foreground, now there is archaeological site of Glanum.

We really enjoyed the visit to Glanum, except the part where a wasp bit me on the arm, for no good reason. We of course, killed him dead, then ground his little wasp body in the dirt. Ouch, that hurt!

The aquaduc spans the River Sorgue. The part that carried the water is on the very top and originally was covered. The rest of the span was to hold up the water and allow for the correct height and angle for the flow.

A little closer to Nimes, there is Pont du Gard, the remains of an aquaduc that carried water to Nimes. Built in 19BC it carried 20,000 cubic meters (1,020,000 gallons) of water per day. It ran 50 km and was in use for 1000 years, 500 of it without maintnance. The aquaduc has survived in near intact condition. The bridge attached has always been use, but was rebuilt in 1829 by local stonemasons who left their marks for posterity.

To get an idea of how tall this is, make the picture larger and you will see people walking across the bridge.

There were several tour buses on the day we visited. Most were English, but there were a few Americans, including a man from Tucson. I think he saw my MMM cap, which has Southern Arizona RoadRunners, embroidered on the back. He was having a fun trip, too.

Both of us in the same picture, amazing.

Arles

2011-10-19T14:52:00.003+01:00

The Arena de Arles. They have recently cleaned and repaired the stones, so it will stand another 2000 years, hopefully.

Arles is a very old city, originally settled by the Greeks, then expanded by the Romans, who also used it as a place to retire. Not a bad idea, really. Everywhere you look there are bits of old and in some cases, huge chunks! Take the arena. A coloseum still in excellent condition and used regularly for bull fights. Around the corner is the theatre, which has been extensively rebuilt, now with a marvelous sound system and comfortable seating. One the main square near the Maire is a portion of wall that is left from the Forum, now a parfum shop.

The Romans were here.

Looking over the rooftops of old town Arles.

The church is here also, but in recent years, since we were here in 2005, it has had it's history painted over. The church is nicely lighted, brighter paints, but the markings of the Knights Templar, with they symbols used by the Masons, are gone. If we didn't have pictures from our visit, we might think we were remembering wrong. I guess it didn't fit in with the current Catholic views. Too bad, it was really an interesting thing to see and wonder about. Also, the Knights Templar were the ones who originally built the church.

There were a lot of people waiting for the church to open after lunch.

This fountain in square was in use during Roman times, but has been rebuilt several times since.

The Treasury has more reliquaries than most. There is quite a collection of bones, hair and skulls in beautiful gold boxes, along with your usual candlesticks and incense burners.

I enjoy being in Arles. I looked at a few shops, but mainly, I either found a place to sit or stand and just looked at the town. When we were here in 2005 while New Orleans was still flooded, two men in the market place, when realizing we were from New Orleans, invited us to move to Arles. "We would welcome you with open arms. And we don't flood here, either." Except for the flooding part, that seems to be the way alot of French feel.

The reliquary of Ste Triomph. She and her brother who has the same name in the masculine form are the patrons of the church.

The inside is much lighter and brighter than our last visit.

If you haven't seen enough, then go to the museum romain. We have been to hundreds of museums, from small county ones in Texas to the Louvre, and this one ranks up there with the big boys. The displays are perfect, the signage good and the lighting, magnificent! And, most important of all, there is space enough to see and appreciate the displays. While looking at one of the artifacts recovered from the river, the man standing next to us started talking to another in English, instead of French. Turns out he was the one who had found this particular item, as well as many others! We think they were speaking English to keep the French people at arms length, and since we were the only English speakers we ran into all day, it worked.

This head was from a tomb, don't you just love the hair?

This was the bronze lady that was found in the river. She is a work of art.

Arles Marche Emil Combes

2011-10-19T14:27:00.000+01:00

Paella, one of our favorites. They always put it together so beautifully.

Arles had a big marches on Wednesday and Sunday. The Wednesday one is really hard to find parking, but if you come really early on Sunday, you can easily find a spot. They close off one of the busiest streets around the base of the old town. The vendors put their goods out on either side of the street, along the sidewalks. The center of the street is used for walking or, in the event of an emergency, access for vehicles.

Provencal linens. I purchased gifts from this booth in 2005 and again this year.

Everyone needs sunglasses to keep out the Provencal sunlight. Tres chic!

Everything is for sale here. You can buy all your foods and wine. Don't forget about a new outfit or maybe you want to redecorate the house. The vendors all speak a bit of English, or are at least willing to deal with my painfully slow French.

Olives, peppers, onions and assorted mixes. There is one called Apero Mix , just for aperative time. In this part of France, some of these olives are very spicy.

Sausages.

Spices of every sort. We purchased a small bag of spices of Provence to take home and hopefully, be able to duplicate. Compared to the US, spices, even in the grocery store, are much less expensive.

We buy most of our produce, cheese, olives and a couple of gifts at the market. We also people watch. There is so much going on besides buying and selling.

Other birds in the Camargue

2011-10-18T06:46:00.000+01:00

There really were other birds in the Camargue, as well an odd animal or two. Storks, eagles, swans, egrets, ducks and herons were all around, they just don't flock like the Flamingos. On some of the outlying islands in the middle of the salt marsh, the storks had built their nests. In cities they build on chimney tops, here they have built stands for them, or they use some of the few trees that grow.

"I can see really well up here!"

They seemed to all get along.

Stork standing in a tree. They looked to big or the tree to small to hold their weight, but it did.

The tallest bird is a heron, with a stork in the background and other birds hanging around.. This was an area where they fed the birds.

Two kinds of ducks.

Swans, always elegant.

Grey Heron known for their fishing skills.

This eagle had a damaged wind, so was unable to fly.

Since there is so much water, there are water loving animals; rats, voles, nutrias. They are not concerned about the people walking around. Makes them much easier to photograph.

This little guy was too busy eating to pay any attention to us.

The parc has a path to follow through the salt marshes, with bird blinds and a raised platforms for viewing. The entire walk is over 10K, we took a shorter version of just over 6K, as the bugs were starting to bother Bill, even with repellent. It was still a long enough visit.

The Flamingos of the Camargue

2011-10-17T07:34:00.000+01:00

Flamingos marching.

The second largest group of Flamingos in the world live in the Camargue. The largest is in Africa. To see Flamingos in the wild is breathtaking. I've only seen them in zoos before this, and they were pretty amazing there, but to see thousands of them quietly eating or is it slurping, thrilling. We went to the Parc Ornithologic de Pont du Grau. It is a sanctuary for all birds who live in the Camargue, some of whom have been injured so are protected in enclosures. The majority just live in the area. .

When one wants to get ahead, simply flap your wings until you are on top of the water and then walk to the place you wish to be. Flamingos are amazing!

Walking on water.

When we first arrived at the parc, there were several other birds on an island across from where we stopped. Bill took pictures, we figured out what they were, when there was an odd noise off the right. Swishing of water combined with an odd gutteral sound. When we turned to look, there was a flock of Flamingos marching toward us! One was in the lead, the rest followed; like you would see a flock of geese flying, only these birds were literally marching!

Flamingos dip there beaks down into the muck, then filter out the little critters they eat.

I don't know if flamingos are protected from hunting, if not they are a very large bird that would provide a good deal of meat. However, they eat muck, so they might not be very flavorful. The only time we tried mud hens, a duck, they were inedible. Bill read in a book this evening that their only predator was zoo keepers. We laughed.

Their beaks look like they have painted on lipstick.

Standing on one foot, with the other tucked up under.

They eat by putting their bill into the muck and filtering out the algae they eat. When they come up for air, their heads are covered in the muck. Disgusting! But, the muck seems to fall away from them. None of the birds was dirty looking.

If we get a bit closer together, we can make a heart!

A Flamingo buffet line. Yumm, blue/green algae.

When we bought our tickets, I asked the man at the counter if there really were Flamingos. He replied, with a smile, "Oh yes, they will be here today, just for you!"

Augues Mortes

2011-10-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

The walls of the fort can still keep out invaders; as long as they don't fly.

Augues Mortes is the fortified seaport built for the Crusaders by Louis IX, who became St Louis, in the 13th century. Since that time, the port has silted up and no longer connected to the sea, but is surrounded by salt flats. Off in the distance are salt producing areas with large piles of the white stuff glistening in the sun.

Entering the square.

When we arrived, the place felt empty. We knew it couldn't be, from all the cars in the parking area. We walked down one deserted street after another, all the shops closed, until we came upon the square. It is easy to forget that in the smaller towns in France, everyone closes for lunch, except the places which serve food. The square in Agues Mortes was a bee hive of activity.

One of the street was alive as well, since every shop on it seemed to sell food. We picked a small place with shady seating which offered a sandwich/panini, a cold drink, and dessert for 6.50 euro. It was very good to sit and eat a bite. The day was hot and sunny, such a nice change from so much of this summer.

This young man was at the end of a group of school children. When he turned for Bill to take his picture, his teacher, off to the left, came over and turned him back around, marching him off.

Do you think it might be lunch time? While some of these folks were tourists, the majority were locals enjoying their lunch hours.

Piles of salt in the distance.

Augues Mortes is now one of the main salt producing areas in the world. It is a little strange to see huge piles of salt sitting in the sun. They look very similar to piles of dirt at a quarry, except for the color. Several of the places we have sat this summer have had multiple flavors of salt in their kitchens. The taste does change dramatically depending on where it was dried. In some cases, they have added flavors. The color varies widely, also.

Three of the famous Camargue Horses.

2011-10-15T08:24:00.000+01:00

The only reason to go to Tarascon is to see the castle. It is built high on the banks of the Rhone River. Castles have the best views! We have seen the inside before, but one lazy afternoon, Bill decided he wanted to photograph it with the last of the sun. He took several pictures from the bridge as the light kept changing.

The castle, with the church spire to the side.

The front tower of the castle, from moat to turret. The moat is full of water in the rainy season as it takes the runoff from the street.

Tarascon is also the home of the Tarasque legend; an evil monster who came from the river to steal and eat sheep and children. The people sought the aide of Martha sister of Lazarus of New Testament fame, who had immigrated to France from Israel after the crucifixion of Jesus. (She came with Mary Magdalean, Maximus, Mary the sister of the virgin Mary, Sarah a servant, Mary, mother of John and James, Lazarus, and a couple of others. Why stay in Israel when you can live in Provence!) Martha talked to the monster, made the sign of the cross, and it was never seen again! Except in June, when they have a big festival with a giant Tarasque dancing in the street and the new statue recently installed near the castle.

A modern version of the Tarasque.

Santons

2011-10-14T07:30:00.000+01:00

The people are about 5 inches tall.

Santons are a uniquely provencale item. When the manger scene is set up at Christmas, not only is there the usual crowd, but in Provence, all the locals come too. Little people made of clay, then painted, some are even dressed, to look like people who live and work in villages. All are placed around the manger to worship the baby Jesus. They are quite expensive, for such tiny bits, but very pretty too.

The wine makers house.

Village shops.

In the car park area of our gite there is a bulletin board with all sorts of information on places to see or eat. One poster really caught my eye, Santons de Provence. This was one of those times when knowing the language might have helped, as I read it to say there were 300 people making Santons. What it turned out
to be was a museum with 300 santons on display. I’m glad I read it wrong, because I probably wouldn’t have gone knowing it was a museum.

A moulin.

Bories, stacked stone houses.

L'isles sur le Sorgue

2011-10-13T09:18:00.000+01:00

The river Sorgue is split by the islands which give the town it's name.

There is a large mansion on the middle island.

L’isles sur le Sorgue, the islands in the River Sorgue; a beautiful town known for its brocant (antiques) market on Sunday mornings. Having nothing else on our schedules, we decided to go.

The cheese seller.

The sausage seller.

The soap seller.

There were many stalls selling antiques, from books, to linens, tables to dishes, and bits of everything else imagineable. But what was the biggest surprise was the market that was set up. It extended the entire length of the centreville, then turned down the river to encompass the entire town! Then you walked into the town streets, where merchants had their wares out as well, where there was another square, packed full. We’ve never been to a market as huge as this one!

Even the merchants pull their goods out onto the street, which make walking a bit of a challenge.

A little advertising painted on the side of a building.

Dinner over the river.

Lulu Shoes

2011-10-12T15:48:00.000+01:00

There are times a picture just jumps out at you and screams to be taken. This is for our dear friend Lulu who loves the New Orleans Saints, Sailing and Shoes, not necessarily in that order. Love you Lulu!

Wheel barrows full of shoes.

It even has it's own street name.

Gites du Lac

2011-10-11T15:12:00.001+01:00

Mas des Pins is the name of their home, which is also a successful greenhouse produce venture.

With no house sit scheduled, we decided to visit the Arles area again. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, we opted for a gite. There really isn't anything like gites in the US. They are basically furnished guesthouses built on peoples properties which they then rent out. Most like to rent for a week, especially in the high season, but in the low season, they are more relaxed about the rules.

While there are 4 gites in a row, ours was on the end with both a front patio and a side terrace.

This is where we ate most of our meals.

The kitchen was a galley, with the other side a higher bar to block the mess.

Lounge area, with the stairs to the two bedrooms. This gites was equipped for 5 people, even though there were only two of us. The cost was about 45 euros per day.

We found ours through Gites de France. Emailed to see if there was a vacancy, and Viola! We were there.
The owners, M & Mm Decla, were most welcoming, even though they spoke no English and, well you know about our French! This place has the best furnishedkitchen we have had in a long time. It was also impeccably clean, the furnishings comfortable and the local wonderfully relaxing. If we had come in the summer, there is a beautiful pool, but we satisfied ourselves playing pingpong. When we finished our 2 weeks there, Madam asked if I would give them "Beaucoup publicity?" Yes, they will get a wonderful review from us!

One of the resident cats, a beautiful calico.

Ducks on the small manmade lake which the gites get their name.

McDo's for internet

2011-10-10T08:44:00.001+01:00

If you need internet in France, this is the place to go.

Look for the sign WI-FI, pronounced, Weefee.

Bill checking his mail.

Our gite in Arles did not have internet. It's going to be available in 2012. The apartment in Cagnes sur Mer didn't have internet, even though their ad said they did. What to do? Hello, McDo's! The internet is free, but not very fast, so we couldn't upload pictures, or even access our blog account. But we could check mail to make sure American had not changed our flight, again. Did we miss not having access 24/7? Well, not really. What we did miss was the news, since the tv is all in French. Imagine that? The house sit in Nice has a very good connections. Now to do catch up!

Nerac

2011-09-24T08:14:00.001+01:00

The staircase on the way to the market place.

We didn’t know what we were getting into going to Nerac, we just liked the sound of the name. (Talk through your nose, kinda squeeze your throat, then say Neewrack, sounding the wr deep in your throat.) It helps if you remember Billy Crystal talking like a French person in When Harry Met Sally. Anyway…..off we went to Nerac. It was a different direction out of La Romeiu than we had taken before. The land really opened up into rolling hills with lots of farming, though most of the fields were fallow for the fall. There was a large co-op for seed crops, newly built and very modern. Several new houses were being built along the way, although there was on which looked like it had been started last year and never gotten back

If you looked down from the top of the staircase, this was looking back at you. The French do such fun things with plants and flowers.

We entered the town through entirely new construction. Now we were getting concerned. A turn toward the centreville alleviated our fears. There in the middle of the road was a large staircase with a chateau off to the side. People were everywhere with market baskets; all headed toward the stairs. We found a park in the Credit Agricole lot. (Credit Agricole will be my bank if I ever live in France. They have never charged to use their ATM’s even before it was the law in the EU.) The market was busy. The largest one we had seen in the southwest. But this was Saturday and we were leaving on Tuesday morning, so we didn’t buy anything. Except the Paella in the posting before this. And my new basket.

Panarama of the Castle of Henry II

The chateau was built by Henry II. Turns out he was one of the better Kings of France, really looked out for his people. He built roads, schools, water works, allowed protestants to worship openly, didn’t start wars with his neighbors; all around nice guy. Unfortunately, a crazy assassinated him. Go figure.

After Bill downloaded this picture, he noticed the little boy peeking out from the back of the monument.

Being Saturday, everyone was out and about, including the circus. Round and round they went through the centreville, with loud speaker blaring. It must be a law that all circuses play the same BIG TOP music. Yeah, that one, you know which one I mean.

The circus is coming to town!

There will be Salsa dancing afterwards!

Castelnau-l'Avignon

2011-09-23T07:36:00.001+01:00

One of the towers of Castelnau-l'Avignon is all that remains of the castel.

Driving through the countryside admiring the lay of the land, the crops, the farmhouses, when we enter a small village; just a collection of houses, with what looks like the remains of a castle tower. When we follow the curve of the road, suddenly there is a large monument, totally out of place for such a small village. Of course, we had to stop.

The church in Castelnau, l'Avignon, with the memorial to the side.

After the Normandy invasion, a group of freedom fighters, French and Spanish, led by an American secret agent, used this place as a diversion to keep a rather large part of the German army from leaving to fight in Normandy. It was a bold move that worked. As the group was retreating from the town, they wired the old castle with explosive, so when the German forces arrived, it blew. Several of the FreeFrench fighters were killed or injured, but there were more German dead. In retaliation, the Germans destroyed the entire village.

The memorial to brave men and women.

As a rememberance to the brave men and women who fought here, the memorial was built. It is just one small story, in a tiny place that helped win the war in France and eventually, Europe.

La Marche de Nerac

2011-09-21T15:18:00.000+01:00

We have visited many marche this trip, but Nerac has been the busiest with the best selections. Fruits and vegetables, meats, seafood, cheeses, wines, ciders, clothing, housewares, plants, shoes, purses, hats, even furniture; it's a bit like Alice's Restaurants, you can get anything that you want!

The marche is also a social time for the locals. Lots of people meeting and bisou-bosou. Catching up on the latest gossip. Of course I don't speak the language well, but some things don't need translation!

This day, I even bought a shopping basket to use as my carry on for the plane ride to Paris, where EasyJet only allows one carryon, and then on to Tucson. Oo La La!

Fast Food, French Style

2011-09-20T06:27:00.000+01:00

We chose the paella in the last pan on the left. They had sold out of a couple of selections, but still had lots to choose from.

The owner dishing up our order, seafood paella. A dish made with rice, chicken thighs, shrimp, calamari, and clams; nice and spicy, Spanish style.

When you want food fast in France, you can always find a McDo's, but if you want good food fast, try the Marche. At the marche in nerac, a husband and wife team had several large pans of food ready to be boxed up. It is priced by the kilo, about 2.2 pounds. They sold out of some of their selections, notice the empty pans, but they still had the paella! That's what we had for lunch, just added bread and wine. Viola! Even adding in the cost of the wine and bread, it is was just 2 euro more than the hamburgers we had at McDo's in Aden.

We are traveling for the next couple of weeks, so I don't know how the internet connections will be. We may just have to go to McDo's to use their free wifi.

Getting Ready for Dinner

2011-09-19T08:22:00.000+01:00

The kitchen at La Romieu

The dining room. The glass door leads into the side entrance. I want a door similar to this for end of the hall in our house. It lets in light, but still provides privacy.

Table set for dinner on the patio. Oh no, where's the wine?

The patio seen from the upper garden.

A little nook with places to sit and read.

While dinner was simmering on the stove, I walked through and took pictures. What a wonderful place to cook, eat, sit. Simply enjoy living.

Sunset in La Romieu

2011-09-18T10:03:00.000+01:00

We have had some beautiful sunsets during our stay in La Romieu. I know it has something to do with dust or water vapor in the air; here probably both. Either way, we have enjoyed sitting on the patio, finishing our wine and watching the sun fade away.

A Roman Villa in the Gers

2011-09-17T14:16:00.000+01:00

A model of the villa when it was new.

Signposts are our downfall. We were headed to a very specific location when we noticed a signpost for Villa Romain. Now how often do you see one of those? Actually, in France, surprisingly often. But we are suckers for such things, so we followed the sign.

This villa had an exception number of tile mosaics.

Tile mosaics with circles of designs. They assume the large one in the middle was where a table would have been.

A long room with mosaic floors.

Part of the baths,

Most of the villas that have been found only had mosaic floors in the private quarters. This one had them all over the house.

A wave design; I really like this one!

This just proved to me why we put tile down in all our houses. When they are dug up in 1500 years, the tile will still be there. Cool!

A Drive in the Country

2011-09-16T07:43:00.000+01:00

We went to the market in St Cler. To get there we ending up driving though the horrible construction in Lectour. We surely didn't want to do that on a return trip, so off through the country for us. BIB did not appreciate our willingness to ignore her directions, but ignore we did. Driving along narrow country roads, between fields that have been harvested and plowed, next to ruins that look as old as time itself, we come over a small rise and find fields of sunflowers with an old farmhouse. I am glad we often take the road less traveled.

The field of sunflowers that stretched on and on. These were a smaller headed variety than we had been seeing.

Albi

2011-09-15T09:51:00.000+01:00

So you can get a feel for how tall the Cathedral is, that little person at the base is me.

Cathedral Sainte Cecile

Cathedral Sainte Cecile in Albi is one of the most beautiful buildings we've seen. The building of it took 100 years, mostly because it is made from handmade red brick. It is a huge building, described as a fortified cathedral. The inside is still painted with bright colors and interesting murals, unlike most of the churches in France.

The ceiling with part of the organ at one end.

Close up of one of the painted columns. The angels were originally naked, but at some point they were painted holding songbooks to cover themselves.

Painted columns with the organ above. What I don't like about the columns are the demons at the bottom, they are all female. Not very appropriate for a Cathedral in memory of a Sainte.

Sainte Cecile is one of my favorite saintes, because she is the patron sainte of musicians. Gotta love a gal who looks out for musicians! Of course, since I'm not Catholic, I never really knew about saints until I started coming to France. They have a saint for every day of the year.

Sainte Cecile

The Heats On

2011-09-13T18:10:00.001+01:00

Be careful what you wish for. We were too chilly in England, so to the southwest of France we came. Well, it's not chilly here! (That is not a complaint!) In the mornings, I put a light hoodie on over my gown, but no shoes. It's cool downstairs, especially after I open the doors. Daytime, we have been closing the house up. There are shutters to pull over the windows so the sun does not penatrate. It's amazing how they help. By 5 or 6 it has started to cool off enough, we open everything back up. It may not continue so easy, though. Friday is to be 95.

Tres Belle Maison a La Romieu

2011-09-13T15:19:00.000+01:00

Our latest house sit. Lucky us!

The Lord of the Manor, M Laurel, sitting on my map book.

Stretched out on the back terrace. Laurel is a very talkative cat, when he isn't sleeping.

Sometimes we drive up to a new housesit and have to catch our breath. Is this really where we get to stay now? The house at La Romieu is typical French, and we love it. The homeowner, Sarah, has lived here only 9 months, so there are still things she is working on to make it 'perfect'. We have changes we would make if it were ours, but it's not so we get to just enjoy!

The main reason we are here, other than to keep the garden and potted plants watered, is Laurel, a neutered male cat. Laurel loves to talk and sleep and get rubbed and have his hair combed with a fine toothed comb. A total Mr. Personality! Last night when I went upstairs to get ready for bed, he was sitting in the opened window of the bathroom keeping an eye on what was going on. This morning he was across the lane sitting on the neighbor's window sill. Most afternoons, he sleeps on the back terrace, either on a table with a cloth on it, or in a long wooden trough. Sarah bought it for another use, but Laurel has claimed it.

Cat in a window of the village square.

Pretty kitty!

La Romieu is a very old town. Walking around it feels like there is very little which is new. The Colliegial Church was built in the 1300's. The square has cat sculptures in memory of cats who saved the village from starving because the rats were eating everything, again in the 1300's. I love this place!

A small alley by the old city walls.

Take My Picture!

2011-09-12T15:12:00.000+01:00

Posing for his picture.

A more relaxed version.

This is what he really looks like, nice smile.

This young man offered to jump off the bridge into the cold water for a picture. We declined, he was already shivering.

Two buddies wanting their pictures taken.

We have had several people willing to pose for a picture, such as the owner of the restaurant in Sete. We have also had people say, "Take my picture!" So we do.

September 11

2011-09-11T12:42:00.000+01:00

My generation of Americans can remember where we were when JFK was assassinated. Our children's generation will always remember where they were when the planes flew into the World Trade Center, as will we. It's been 10 years, but there is still a lump in the throat when I think about that day and the days that followed.

Cordes sur Ciel

2011-09-11T10:20:00.001+01:00

Cordes-sur-Ciel, perched on top of a hill.

Built on the top of a hill as a bastide town, Cordes sur Ciel was one of the first shopping centers. The lord who controlled the area built the fortified town, charged folks to come and sell their wares, then protected anyone who lived nearby.

The market place now has outdoor seating for the restaurants that surround it.

It's easy to imagine stalls with merchants selling their goods.

Today it is much quieter, but there are still folks selling their wares. Now it's art glass, wood carvings, paintings, knives, antiques, and several shops full of local foods and wines.

The walkway to our hotel.

Entrance courtyard for Hotel de la Cite.

Our room with beamed ceiling and 8 foot windows that opened out onto the valley.

Our hotel is a half timbered building. We've stayed here before, but they've done some upgrading of the bathrooms, which was needed. Breakfast is an additional 12,50 euros each, so we pass and buy a couple of pan au chocolats and make coffee in our room. The view is better, too.

View from our windows.

Sunset.

The last time we were here, our house was under water in New Orleans. This little village felt like a safe haven. The first night, we went for dinner at another hotel. Just before we were finished, a neighboring table had their ice bucket knocked over, spilling water and ice under our table and blocking our exit. We waited a bit for someone to come, but no one did, so we just waded through the water. Another diner, English, said something about us wading, our response, "No big deal, we've from New Orleans, we're used to it." And we laughed. Like the old saying goes, 'If you don't laugh.........you'll kill someone.'

Le Viaduc de Millau

2011-09-10T08:41:00.000+01:00

Le Viaduc de Millau is the highest bridge in the world.

Have you even come across a structure that takes your breath away? Le Viaduc de Millau is such a place. Built over the Tarn river valley, it is the highest bridge in the world. We first saw the bridge when it was under construction. Thanks to the internet we were able to view pictures as it was finished. We knew we had to come see the completed structure for ourselves.

The viaduc was built across the Tarn valley as part of the A75 autoroute.

They needed to lessen the traffic on the small winding roads through the valley and the village of Millau. The A75 is the main route through France into Spain. There were other routes they could have chosen to build which would not have required a bridge this spectacular. I'm glad they chose this route and this bridge. We paid a toll to help off set the costs: 6,40 euro.

We brought the tripod up with us, so took our own picture with the timer button.

There is a large aire, a place for people to stop, rest, eat, and take a walk. They have built a trail up to the viewpoint. It was very busy, even a tour bus full of Italians stopped and walked to the top to view the bridge. One was a very well dressed young priest smoking a tiny black cigarette as he strode up the path. The rest appeared to be older folks (even older than us!) who walked much slower. We wondered if they were on a pilgrimage of sorts.

The Aire from atop the lookout point. They have it blocked so you can only continue the way your were going, no switching directions allowed!

People had stopped for lunch, usually packing their own. Some use the tables that are available, but many bring out their own chairs and small tables. They have cutlery, dishes, glasses and proceed to set a nice table. Even picnicing, the French relax and eat well.

Looking up river into the start of the Tarn Gorge. A beautiful place to drive through, but we would have more fun in a sports car than a put-put rental that doesn't corner well.

A Day in Sete

2011-09-09T18:51:00.000+01:00

A small portion of the boat harbor at Sete.

The first time we visited Sete was in 2001. Our son, John was with us that trip. There was an Americas Cup Sailboat being built in the boat yard. That boat went on to win the Cup. This year, there wasn't anything being built.

Cormorant waiting for a fish to swim by.

The shapes and colors of this house were very eye catching.

In the center plaza is a fountain with an octopus crawling over it.

We walked along the seawall, then up into town. When we stopped for lunch a funny thing happened. Our order was not what we thought it was going to be. This hasn't happened in a long time, but being France, we ate it and it was delicious! Turned out to be one of their specialties made with octopus and squid.

We didn't eat here, but when the man saw Bill taking the photo, he smiled and waved, then posed for the picture.

View of the harbor from the near the top of the hill.

After we walked back to our hotel, we took a rest and cooled off. Yes, that's right, it was warm enough that we had to use the air conditioner! Quite a change from England and Wales. Then we loaded up our dirty laundry and walked down the street to a laundramat. The owner came while we were there, and showed me (because neither of us spoke the others language well) how to dry the clothes the best way. Only half full in each dryer. Viola! We ate at the same restaurant as the afternoon before. Bill forced me to have moules AGAIN!

Fishermen enjoying the day.

A couple working on their tans.

The next morning we drove down the coastline to a beach for some shells and to gaze at the Mediterranean some more. The color of the water is the most beautiful blue. The crowds are mainly gone now.

Motorcycles in Sete

2011-09-08T17:35:00.004+01:00

We arrived in Sete on Sunday afternoon. We hadn't had much to eat, just toast and coffee at 4 am in Luton. Across from our hotel were several restaurants. I picked the one with the moules special for 9,50 euros. I do love moules.

Motor cycles coming down the street.

Sometimes the crowd was as much fun to watch as the motorcycles.

After the parade, some of the riders came back to the restaurant to eat.

Just as we were finishing our food, the roar of motorcycles drew our attention to the street. There must have been 1000 of them. Big Harleys, smaller scooters, some with side cars, some with 3 wheels and all with smiling riders.

The next day, we found a poster in the window.

A big display and poster in the window at the Tourist Information

Conwy, Wales

2011-09-07T16:47:00.001+01:00

Plas Mawr

We almost didn't go to Conwy, but the owner of the GuestHouse in Caernarfon insisted we would enjoy the Tudor house. The docent at the house insisted we would enjoy the Castle while we were there, so why not buy their special tickets and see both. We are so glad they insisted.

Fireplace with the decoration painted to the original colors. It was nice to see all the color used in the house.

The kitchen fireplace, much more utilitarian.

Plas Mawr is considered the best example of a Tudor House in the entire of England. It has been restored with great integrity and care. Furnished with approriate furniture and even the fabric used has been reproduced from original designs. It's just a fabulous place!

An attic room furnished as for a poor working family. After the original owners of the house died, it was divided into a rooming house.

The beams in the attic are too ornate to be there! They should have been seen.

The Great Room, where family meals were taken. The covering on the wall is woven wool.

The Castle was built by Edward I as the same time he was building the one Caernafon. It isn't as big, but the interior is in better shape as well as the entire city walls, except where they took it down to widen the road.

Part of the city walls of Conwy.

View of the Castle taken from the tower room at Plas Mawr.

The well still has water in it.

Most of the interior walls of the castle are still there.

Cast Iron Bridge

2011-09-06T16:14:00.004+01:00

We've seen cast iron skillets, table bases, decorative items, but never an entire bridge! Telford is considered to be the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The left overs of this revolution are an amazing bridge, as well as other cast iron works around the city, including cast iron curbs.

All the parts were individually sand cast, then assembled.

It's not just structurally sound, it is intricately beautiful, as well.

A very nice Japanese couple took our picture, after we took one of them on the other side of the bridge. I'm holding my finds of the day. Two French guide books from the used book store.

Round Caernafon Town

2011-09-05T15:59:00.002+01:00

The Masonic Lodge.

Caernafon is a fun place. It's old, so there are lots of unusual buildings. It's a walled city, so you are always walking through a huge gate or down a huge wall or tripping over the cobble stones. It's Welsh, so there are lots of friendly folks who are willing to talk to crazy Americans. And don't forget the big castle in the middle of it all!

Part of the wall that is around the old city, with one of the gates. Cars are parked outside the wall on the sea wall.

Looking down from the Castle on part of the wall and a wonderful building that just goes around the corner and continues at an angle.

First pub we were in, we met a young man who didn't understand why we would come there and actually spend 2 days! "There is nothing to see here." I suggested he needed to take another look around, as there were lots of things to see. "I guess you never appreciate your own town." Not us, we've always looked around every place we've ever lived, and that's a lot of places.

We were assured that this lovely lady is the best barmaid in Caernarfon.

We enjoyed the pubs, this one was the Uen Dertch. It is across from the castle moat hence the name, Above the Ditch.

A fountain in the Town Square full of playful children on a "blistering hot" day.

Next day, another pub for lunch and visited with an older gentleman who was making sure we were finding all the places to see. One thing they both had in common; Wales is not England or UK, it's Wales! They could have easily pounded the bar and added "Dammit!"

Love the colors on these buildings.

The gulls were always very noisy.

I am always amazed when I see wild swans.

Cartref Guest House, a great place to stay.

On the edge of town are the remains of a Roman Fort. It used to be in better condition until they ran the highway smack dab through the middle of it. The museum was not opened either and on closer inspection, had not been opened all year. Guess they didn't get enough visitors to pay for it.

Segontium, Roman Fort.

If you've wondered about the spelling of Caernarfon, this is Welsh. Carnarvon, is the English spelling.

Long Live Wales!

For Amy and John

2011-09-04T15:08:00.000+01:00

Look who we found hanging around in the main square of Carnarvon?

Guess what we walked around singing, humming, walking in step to? Every one, SING!
Lloyd George knew my Father, Father knew Lloyd George.
Lloyd George knew my Father, Father knew Lloyd George.
Lloyd George knew my Father, Father knew Lloyd George.
Lloyd George knew my Father, Father knew Lloyd George.
And on and on and on.....
Thank you to Uncle Don for that amazing song!

The Royal Welch Fusiliers Regimental Museum

2011-09-03T16:00:00.000+01:00

The Royal Welch Fusiliers started at Caernarvon Castle and still have their swearing in ceremonies for new recruits there. I was lost somewhere in the towers, but Bill witnessed it. The goat is not a mascot, but a member of the regiment, with full rights and honors. The original goat was a gift from Queen Victoria.

The start of the ceremony. The man in civilian clothing with the chain is the Mayor of Caernavon.

The officer in fatigues was some one well known in the Regiment.

Chatting after the ceremony. The white feathers are another tradition started when the Regiment was put white roses in their caps before a decisive battle against a much larger force, and won.

The Goat and the Goat Major.

The Fusiliers wear a "Flash", a grouping of 5 black ribbons attached to their collars that fall about 5 inches down their backs. At one time, there was an attempt by the War Department to have them remove the "Flash" as it would distinguish them to the enemy when seen from the rear. George V in 1932 remarked, "It is such a pleasure to see you all in you Flashes. They wanted to take the Flash. They said it was too conspicuous. I told them that the enemy would never see the Flashes on the backs of the Royal Welch!"

A battle flag from WWI.

Some of the medals received by members of the Regiment over the years. George V knew what he was talking about.

Caernarfon Castle

2011-09-02T15:08:00.003+01:00

Caernarfon Castle is built right next to the water. This is the back of the castle.

We spent the most amazing morning wandering in Caernarfon Castle. It has seven towers, all of which you can climb to see the view from the top. When you tire of medievel stairs, there is the Royal Welch Fusiliers Regimental Museum, a group who are renowned for their bravery. Or visit the displays on The Princes of Wales, this is the castle where they all started. There is even a history of Edward I, who built the castle, and why.

One of the many staircases to climb while exploring the castle. The rope at the center is the "hand rail".

A big lock for a big Castle. Actually it was on a door inside the castle to keep the tourists out.

The interior of the Castle. The round podium is where Charles Prince of Wales was invested in 1969. The past 4 Princes of Wales have been invested at Caernarfon.

View from the top of Eagle Tower, the tallest of the 7.

The map had the basic plan, but didn't show all the dead ends or rocked up walls.

Up in the tower, looking out to the bay.

Saying Good Bye

2011-09-01T16:57:00.000+01:00

The hardest part of any housesit is saying good bye to the animals. They know you are leaving, they saw you pack and haul it out to the car. Some of them go and hide. Others lay down and mope. The persistant ones follow you around just in case you happen to change your mind. And when you give them that last rub on the belly or head, you both know it's time to go.

Boy and Jazz

We will miss you Boy, Jazz, Bran-ddu, Ziggy and Bibi. You made Fos-y-Rhiew one of the best housesits ever!

Ziggy Starlight and Bibi

2011-08-31T07:27:00.000+01:00

What a pair! Ziggy is big, broad and black. Bred to be a work horse. Bibi is petite, red/brown and dainty. Bred to be a play horse. Ziggy is the leader. Bibi makes suggestions.

The day the hounds met over the hill, both horses were hyper. They thumped their stall doors. Didn't co-operate when we were feeding them. Whinnied repeatedly. On the walk up to their pasture, they pulled and shoved and generally were a pain. We had hardly gotten their harnesses off, when both of them took off running. Down to the barn, turn, back towards us at full tilt! Then Ziggy put all four feet down and slid on the wet grass. Complete halt, followed by a pirouette as graceful as any ballerina's. Looked briefly in our direction, and yes, I think she smiled, before taking off again. They were having a ball!

By time to let them out into the bigger pasture, they had calmed down. Both went to bed that night with no fuss and the next morning were their usual calm selves. That's what noisey dogs do to you!

Horses at the Knighton Fair

2011-08-30T07:43:00.000+01:00

They walked up the street to the start of the parade.

Their feet looked as if the hair had been blow dried.

Then they walked back down the street in the parade.

The First Place winner in the Big Horse Competition. Bill says they were called Shire Horses, but the horses were all really big.

The Reserve Champion of the entire competition.

The Grand Champion and winner of the Perpetual Cup.

The gray horse did not want to be loaded on the trailer. No one ever wants to leave the Fair early.

Knighton Fair

2011-08-29T22:43:00.001+01:00

The last of the summer Bank Holidays is a weekend for festivals and fairs. Knighton's Fair started with a parade. Knighton isn't very big, so everyone in the parade knew everyone watching the parade, except for us. Nothing fancy about the floats or costumes, but boy were they having fun!

First came the Band.

Little Princesses

Baby strollers, and babies, decorated for the different holidays.

Hawaii comes to Wales.

The pilots, Moms, with their airplanes. Each stroller was a different company.

Who are these guys?

This group reminded me of the Rodeo parades with Redding Co-op Preschool.

Arizona!

Drum corp.

How did that Saguaro Cactus get to Knighton?

This band had a militay insignia on their shirts.

More Saguaros!

I don't know what the theme of the parade was, or even if there was a theme. There did seem to be alot of Americana involved. Cowboys and Indians. Cowboys and Saloon Girls. Indians and Teepees. Hawaii. Walt Disney World. No matter, they were having a good time!

No Rain, No Rainbows

2011-08-28T21:36:00.001+01:00

The day had turned cold and wet. The horses came running, a first, when we called them to come in. Clarence and his hens had put themselves to roost. Inside, I shed my raincoat, removed the wet shoes and socks, then sat down at the computer. I looked out the window. Wow!

The sun was below the cloud cover and produced this magnificent rainbow. It filled the whole eastern sky, so Bill had to take two pictures and put them together.

Offa's Dyke

2011-08-27T18:16:00.001+01:00

Offa's Dyke from Springhill.

Offa's Dyke is Britain's longest archaeological monument. It is 80 miles long going from near Wrexham in North Wales to the Severn extuary near Chepstow. It was built by King Offa of Mercia in the late 8th century. They aren't sure why it was built. It may have served as a barrier between Mercia and the kingdoms that existed in Wales. Or maybe Offa just like to dig. Either way, it is quite a piece of work. There is a bank up to 25 ft in height with a western ditch.

We parked our car and Bill walked out to take the picture. The Dyke stretched off across the horizon.

If you are feeling energetic, there is a trail you can hike, Offa's Dyke path, that follows the ancient earthwork for about 30 miles. The entire trail is 177 miles, crossing the border more than 20 times, so one gets to see beautiful landscapes in both countries.

Bill Meets The Rayburn

2011-08-26T15:18:00.000+01:00

Bill and his newest toy, The Rayburn.

Everyone knows Bill loves to cook. Everyone knows Bill loves to cook over a fire, although it is usually charcoal in one of his Webers. Meet The Rayburn. A wonder really, as it cooks your food, warms your water and heats the house with radiators. It also burns wood, but can work with peat or coal, as well. A very versatile stove.

The cooktop with the cover down.
There is also a propane burner off ot the side for when you don't want to build a fire.
You know, on those blistering hot days!

Covers up, ready to cook.

We heated our house for 18 years with a wood stove, so hauling wood and building a fire was not a problem. What has taken getting use to is starting the fire early enough to get the stove to cooking temperature. We've had several loaves of bread that were done, but not browned. Oh Horrors!

Inside the oven. The firebox is the other door.

Last evening, we didn't use the Rayburn, since we had left overs that warmed on the burner. What did that mean? The water wasn't hot enough this morning to wash the breakfast dishes. No worries, they are rinsed and stacked waiting for this evening when Bill will cook something with the stove and there will be hot water.

They have a little firewood, just in case. This is only one very small section.

There are two other wood stoves in the house. One is in the dining room, the other in the lounge The lounge stove is connected to the radiators in the barn end of the house. Everything stays nice and cosy.

Oy Yea! Oy Yea! Oy Yea!

2011-08-25T20:50:00.000+01:00

A Town Cryer ready for the competition.

The Ancient and Honorable Guild of Town Cryers held a meeting and competition in Knighton, Wales last Saturday. Everyone was dressed in their best. The competition was fierce but friendly. One could tell where the Cryers lived by their closing statements. If from England, they ended their speech with "God save the Queen!". If they were from Wales, "God bless the Prince of Wales! God save the Queen!"

Many of the men were accompanied by their lovely Ladies.

"God Save The Queen!"

This gentleman was one of my favorites!

The competitors watching the competition.

This is a truely English happening. Where else would they have not only a Town Cryers Guild but a competiton to see who was the very best Town Cryer? I'm glad we were able to be there!

Powis Castle

2011-08-24T16:47:00.000+01:00

Powis Castle as seen from the Gardens. The building in front is a pavilion used for entertaining.

Built on the top of a hill, the first thing that struck me was the color, Red. Of course, it's a rusty red, but red none the less. Powis Castle started as a medieval fortress, then over time, thanks to the owners, the Herbert family, it became a home, albeit, very large and formidable.

The Herbert Coat of Arms, an elephant and a dragon.

Everyone should have a statue in the front lawn.

The gardens were the idea of the 1st Marquess of Powis in the 1680's. It is considered to be the best example of a Baroque garden in England, something the Welsh are very proud of. Violet, the Countess of Powis can be thanked for reviving the garden in the 1900's, while maintaining the original style.

The yew trees at the top are part of what make this such a unique garden. Most are original to the garden.

The second "layer" of the garden. They are terraced down to the playing fields.

The gardens just go on and on. A view of the lower gardens from the terraced area.

Inside the castle, while very elegant, was extremely dark. This is due to dark wood paneling, dark paintings on the walls instead of wall paper, and all the curtains being pulled to protect the dark paintings. All in all a bit gloomy. The Grand Staircase, which took 13 years to build, is off limits to our feet, but still very Grand to behold. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, even without a flash.

Entrance to the Castle.

The castle is also home to the Clive Museum, which houses the treasure that Clive of India brought back after subduing that nation for England. Clive worked on a percentage, so he made out very well. One hooka must have 400 rubies and emeralds decorating it. Clive wasn't a Herbert, but when he married the daughter, he brought his fortune with him, and was given a title, too.

The door knob on the main castle door is a dragon.

Fos-y-Rhiew Part 2

2011-08-23T11:25:00.000+01:00

Window into the dining room with beautiful roses blooming. There is something in bloom everywhere you look.

The house at Fos-y-Rheiw has ownership records going back to the early 1700's. Before that is was part of the Powis Castle lands, so they aren't really sure when the house was built. Let's just say it's very, very old. The kitchen has large stones for the floor, probably originally installed with dirt between, but now they are grouted. The focal point of the kitchen is the Rayburn stove. It will have a post of it's own. The walls are over a foot thick throughout the building.

The range side of the kitchen.

The rest of the kitchen. The stone floors show well in this photo.

The end of the house with the lounge, our bedroom, the back storage area and the shower room, and the loft and master bedroom, were originally the barn. House and barn were built under the same roof when this was new, now it's all house.

The dining room with the original fireplace where cooking was done. Now it has an efficient wood stove to keep us warm.

Stairs to the master bedroom and the loft with the lounge area underneath.

The lounge, the stairs lead to the dining room. The split door to the left goes to our bedroom.

One of my favorite rooms is the main bathroom. It has all the usual items of a bathroom except for that large slab of slate with the trough etched in it to drain the blood from when you slaughter the pigs. Did I forget to tell you it was originally the room where the pigs were butchered and salted? David, the homeowner, tell us it is difficult to keep paint looking good from all the salt content still in the walls. Now that's a problem I bet you've never had with a bathroom! There is also a small door with a large step down into the room. Look at the pictures to see what I mean.

Standing on the floor of the bathroom, with the large step in front of me.

Standing on the step, but behind the doorway. My head is up against the beam in the room and behind the doorsill.

Now I'm in the dining room, standing in front of the door. I'm about 5'7" so you can tell it's a very short doorway.

Jude, the homeowner, put pictures of the Dali Lama and Queen Elizabeth on the door. These are two people she admires. She jokingly says this is so you will remember to bow before you walk through, thus avoiding cracking your skull on the doorframe. Such a sense of humor!

At some point the house end was brick faced, leaving the barn end original stone. This was also done at Powis Castle, so maybe the brick was left overs from the Castle's facelift? Sounds like a good theory to me.

The brick end is the original house, with the stone end the old barn. That's a climbing rose on the wall. It smells really nice.

Between the wonderful house, all the animals and the beautiful country, this is going to be a fun housesit!

Fos-y-Rhiew Part 1

2011-08-22T11:26:00.000+01:00

The kitchen door to the house. The roof has new solar panels, which we are having great fun keeping track of how much energy they make and save.

We may be in Shropshire, but most of the words around us are in Welsh. Our new 'home' is an ancient farmhouse that has been renovated. The part where our bedroom is was orginally the barn. The main bathroom used to be where they slaughtered the pigs, then hung them to salt and dry.

Jazz going into one of the barns.

Fish waiting for us to throw the ball.

As we drove to the gate, we were greeted by 5 dogs, all barking and vigorously wiggling their tails. Boy and Jazz are fox terriers, and brothers. Bran-ddu (pronounced Brandy) is a spanielxlabrador, and visiting for a few days are Fox, a tiny fox terrier, with Fish a spaniel. Fox is the only female. She is very patient.

Ziggy and Bibi in their upper pasture.

We are soon introduced to the horses. Ziggy Stardust, a cob pony, and Bibi, a small pony. There is also Clarence the Cockerel and 5 hens, one of whom is named BadEye. We think this is going to be a wonderful place to stay!

There's a Party at Cardiff Castle

2011-08-21T13:03:00.000+01:00

The Keep at Cardiff Castle.

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff. One of those places you've always heard about, but never dreamed of being there. If the opportunity presents itself, go. Cardiff is amazing. The town doesn't feel like a big city, but a village. The castle is very well preserved, including the Keep. And, if you go in the summer, there just may be a party going on.

Stairs up into the tower of the Keep.

Ornate ceiling in the library of the Castle. The entire room was in this style.

The castle is an odd mixture of old and some of the past owners idea of what a castle should look like. The grounds are surrounded by ancient rock walls, remains of walls so one can see how the original layout was, as well as Roman walls from when it was first used 2000 years ago.

A Trebouche which really worked!

Knights charging up the hill!

Fearsome warriors ready to take on the English! ( Remember this is Wales!)

This weekend there was an encampment. You could sign up to learn to sword fight or use a bow and arrow.
Watch a team of 6 fire a trebouche'. Talk to the people in the encampment, who are actually reinactors, to learn more about the weapons, food, clothing and daily lives of the people of the time.

The encampment on the Castle Green.

This couple had baby dragons, one gold and the other red. They were very friendly little dragons, who enjoyed having their bellies rubbed.

Every party needs food. This man roasted a pig for all of us to eat. It was delicious.

The castle maintains several birds of prey, who are trained to keep the pigeons away, by whatever means necessary. This day, they also did a demonstration of their flying skills for us. Most of the birds were not native to the UK, one was from Africa and they had 3 Harris's Hawks, like the ones that nested in our tree in Tucson.

Here comes the Hector the Hawk on a fly over.

They could hear his wings beating as he came over them.

Cardiff is the capital of Wales. All the signs are in two languages, English and Welsh. (This is practice for going to the next house sit, which is on the border of Wales.) The castle is in the middle of town, near to the new Millinium Stadium, for you Rugby fans. It appears that Rugby is the main sport of Wales, not Football (soccer). The street across from the castle is pedestrian only. The buildings are old, with newer details.

Pedestian stree across from the Castle.

As we entered the castle, several men in period dress were standing on the bridge. They all nodded a greeting, then one said, with a big grin, "I've always wondered what he did the other 364 days of the year." I think he will be on the Good List.

We first met this man on the bridge into the castle.

The Red Dragon, the symbol of Wales, the Land of Dragons.

Pay Close Attention To All Signs

2011-08-20T21:29:00.000+01:00

And just what are you supposed to do?

Stonehenge, One More Time

2011-08-19T23:22:00.011+01:00

Stonehenge panorama from one side then,

the other side

Stonehenge. One of our favorite places. Impossible to say exactly why. Maybe the amazing feat of engineering. Maybe the hauling of these enormous stones over 200 miles to reach Salisbury Plains. Maybe the feeling of awe when gazing upon them. Maybe all three plus something else that is totally intangible. Stonehenge.

Cars, Cars, Cars

2011-08-18T18:25:00.000+01:00

Once the plant grows up this is going to be a very unique Mini.

In the little village of Bourton on the Water, is the Cotswold Motor Museum and Toy Collection. Started by an individual, then sold to CSMA, a motoring club, this museum is full of cars, motoring memorabilia, advertising items, everywhere you look there is something different.

I would have brought it home, but I couldn't figure out how to get it in my purse.

Advertising signs all the way to the ceiling.

Michelin Man ready to fill your tires with air.

Bill and I have owned, and enjoyed, several English cars, so this was a fun museum for us. They also had things to keep the kids occupied so their parents could look. I loved the jokes.

What do you call Batman and Robin when they been run over by a steamroller?
Flatman and Ribbon

Recognize this? The first model of BMW to use their now distinctive front grill.

These look like fun! The toy part of the collection.

This little car had actually been legally licensed to drive on the road. The garage that built it used it to pick up parts and make small deliveries.

The buildings are made from Cotswold Stone, a type of sandstone.

They thought it was warm enough to play in the water. I did go so far as to take off my sweater.

A little bridge across a little river.

The town of Bourton on the Water has a small river which runs right through the middle of town. The banks are grassed for picnicing or just lounging around. One side has restaurants and shops while the other is the main road, with shops on the far side. We weren't the only ones enjoying the weather.

Berkeley Castle

2011-08-17T18:41:00.000+01:00

Barkeley Castle seen from the river.

Berkeley Castle, pronounced Barkley, was built by the Normans after they invaded England. It's location protects the lands from invasion by sea up the inlet to Gloucester. The Berkeley family still owns the
castle along with 6800 acres of land and the right to hunt lands all the way to London! They seen to be one of the few Norman families, who held on to their properties through all the upheavals of the past 1000+ years. The current Mr. Barkeley is the oldest son of the last Lord Barkeley.

Looking into the center courtyard through the entry arch.

The castle is an imposing structure. Positioned on the very top of the hill, you can see off in all directions, so your enemies can't sneak up on you. The family remained Catholic, even though Henry VIII declared everyone to be Church of England. I don't know how they managed that, but Henry even came to visit with his wife Anne Boleyn. Maybe the Berkeley's were just awesome hosts!

An outside wall of the castle.

The Berkeley's were also good at supporting their locals. One of the most important was their doctor, Edward Jenner who first developed the idea of vaccinations, first with small pox. One of their parish priests wrote an amazing epithet to the last court jester in England, who died after a fall in the castle. The man went on to write several books including Gulliver's Travels. Ever heard of Jonathon Swift?

The design on the barrel of a cannon.

We first heard of the Berkeley's in Virginia at the Berkeley plantation, the first place that Thanksgiving was celebrated in America ( forget those old pilgrims in Massachusetts!). They supported it as a business venture, which turned out to be successful. We can also thank the Berkeley's for the first bourbon distilled in America.

Just as we were about to leave, the hunting hounds down the hill in their kennels started howling. I'm sure the neighbors love that!

Westbury Court Gardens

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The Water Gardens at Westbury Court.

This pool was full of Koi.

Westbury Court was a beautiful Manor House with gardens in the Dutch style. Unfortunately, the house is gone, but the gardens have been saved and renovated. The Dutch style of gardens were all the rage in the 1600, but in the 1700's they were ripped out to make way for the new style popularized by the landscape architect, Capability Brown. Fortunately for us, the owners of Westbury were not wealthy enough to go for the latest styles, so the Dutch garden remains. It includes several water features, a vegetable garden, formal gardens, orchard, and 3 of the oldest trees around. One of the main features of such a garden was the garden house; a two story building, with windows all around the second story so one could view the gardens to their best advantage.

A Holm Oak planted in 1580

As you can see, it is a very big tree.

Who knew that raspberries came in any color but raspberry?

When we arrived at the gardens, the woman in charge told us to be sure and visit the vegetable gardens. The plants were all from the 1700 or earlier. "Oh, and please try the golden raspberries, they are coming on strong!" So we did. She was right, they were delicious!

The Formal Flower Gardens

The Orchard had a diamond shape pattern mowed into it. The brown parts have bulbs that bloom in the spring.

The Garden House, for viewing ones garden away from the prying eyes of servants.

One of big concerns of the National Trust for Westbury Gardens are the yew hedges. With the warming of the climate, which means cooler, drier summers, the yews have developed a disease for which there is no known cure. There are scientists working on a cure, or at least a new strain of yew that is not affected byt the disease. The hedges are one of the main features of the garden. Also, the water table is rising, so the area has experienced major flooding for the first time ever. They are trying to come up with ways to protect the property.

Espaliered Apple tree on the garden wall.

The tallest Liquid Amber tree we have ever seen! They grow these in California as front yard trees because they don't get too big. Obviously, they've never grown one long enough!

The local church, which was once part of the manor, still is in use. It's old graveyard has headstones leaning in every direction The ground itself is very uneven, making walking difficult.

Gravestone with a beautiful angel.

Some of the stones are straight and some are crooked.

The Church at Westbury Court.