Travel. See. Do.

Home from a long weekend in Madrid - more to come

2012-01-19T06:50:00.005-05:00

Hola y buenos dias!

I had a whirlwind trip to Madrid, just three nights. Here are a few photos from the trip. Just a few.

Plaza de la Villa:

Plaza Mayor:

Looking down San Jeronimo, at the church of the same name:

Mercado San Miguel (two):

From a tapas walking tour with Andres Jarabo. The cheese is Tresviso-Bejar-Picon and the sherry is Pedro Ximenez-Bodegas Lustao.

My first ever trip to Spain. Three nights in the capital - I took advantage of the long holiday weekend.

Highlights, with details to follow:

I stayed at the AC Palacio del Retiro. This is a 5 star converted palace (prior owner was the family who owned Spain's high speed rail system)) bang across the street from Parque del Buen Retiro. It well deserves its stars. It isn't huge, I'd say maybe 50, 60 rooms and a cozy reception area (contrast that with the Westin Palace for instance). High high ceilings and lots of wrought iron. The rooms are sleek, modern, and huge. The people were so nice and helpful and the food/wine was fantastic.

Prado, and especially the Hermitage at the Prado. More on this later. It was so thrilling to me to see treasures from the Hermitage because who knows when I will make it there.

Reina Sofia - Picasso's Guernica.

Thyssen Bornemisza, and, as a special treat, when I set out Saturday the concierge let me know that the Thyssen had a special exhibit at their adjunct museum (which was not far from San Gines) which was just perfect. I am a huge Canaletto fan, and this exhibit was about him and his "rivals". My thoughts are that his rivals were all worthy, but seeing his work next to theirs reminded me of the difference between a regular photograph and then one taken with a polarizer. There is extra "pop" evident in his paintings that isn't quite there in the others.

Mercado San Miguel! LOVED IT. I wandered through all of it early, but as I had just eaten a late breakfast I didn't tarry. I went back around 4 PM and it was so crowded I couldn't find a place to even prop myself up. So many people enjoying the beautiful day and having food and drinks with their friends. Just lovely. So much fun. I'd love to go back with friends. Madrid (and I bet all of Spain?) seems like their people really enjoy the social life.

San Gines chocolateria. Of course. Gotta have churros and chocolate!

Palacio Real.

The wandering. I didn't wander as much as I would have liked, even though I did a LOT of walking. Wandering is aimless, my walking had aims for the most part (though some of it didn't). The perils of going for such a short trip.

The vino!

The sherry!

The queso!

The jamon! All of it!

The tapas! I wish I were there again. Somehow seems more fun when you combine "bar hopping" with some food too. More relaxed, less of a meat market feeling.

The Westin Palace. After the Thyssen (which was after the Reina Sofia) I decided just to plop. And plop I did, under the dome. A glass of vino tinto and a small meal.

Buen Retiro Park and the feral kitties I saw playing around the massive Monument to Alfonso XII. Also the police on horseback.

I had utterly no idea that they drank vermouth on tap.

Elizabeth Taylor had a lot of jewels, doo dah, doo dah

2011-12-11T09:55:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I made a quickie trip to Manhattan to view Elizabeth Taylor's mind-boggling collection of jewels, designer clothes, and all sorts of STUFF before they went on the auction block. I think today is the last day of the exhibit, as a matter of fact.

At any rate, here is a brief writeup on the exhibit:

Originally, I was going to take my Mom with me for this exhibit. My friend Colleen was interested too and in fact I bought three tickets. My Mom didn't go, and it's a bummer because she would definitely have appreciated this. She's a decade younger than Liz Taylor and Liz was "the it girl" during my Mom's younger years. She even has a coat very similar to the one Liz wore in Butterfield 8 (and now I have it).

I had hoped to get up early enough to make it back down to City Bakery for a care package of their pretzel croissants. I was going to take a half dozen home with me. Alas, I woke up about the time I had hoped to be walking out the door. Plenty of time to make it to Christie's, but not enough to go down to 18th street and then back up to Rockefeller Center.

When we got to Christie's (across from the Rainbow Room entrance at Rockefeller Center) the line was already starting to form. We were third in line but it quickly grew behind us. One lady a few steps behind us was all dolled up like Liz Taylor in her middle years. Not the caftan years, a bit slimmer than that. Bouffant hairdo, lots of makeup, and wearing a sort of evening gown with a black "mink" coat. Visions of a Star Trek convention briefly passed before my eyes...

The exhibit starts with all of her jewelry boxes (or rather, all the ones they were auctioning, no doubt there were many more). A LOT of jewelry boxes. She was much loved by a lot of wealthy people! As we waited to go upstairs to the start of the main exhibit, there was a continuous loop playing of snippets of her movies and a few of her gowns were on display in the lobby. Keep in mind - Christie's used ALL of its display space for this exhibit. This was museum quality. Very well lit, well spaced, descriptions for everything (which of course it had to be, this is the exhibit before the actual auction).

The exhibit then started upstairs with her many different gowns and some recognizable clothes. For instance, they had the daisy applique "hot pants" ensemble she wore on the plane when visiting her first grandchild for the first time (age 39). Yes, Hot Pants Gramma. I saw the photo (online) and she even had white go-go boots for the trip. No, the go-go boots were not there.

They grouped her clothes together, for instance, one room was for the "caftan era". Yes, I know she was not in the best shape during this time, with many health issues and overweight. These caftans were just stunning, and made by a variety of designers. I'd be more than happy to wear many of them. Some of her clothes in this exhibit were in appallingly bad taste (even though very expensive and "camp"), but most of them were fabulous. One set was a layering of a dress and other items, all in different flower prints. And pleated, IIRC. Just, ugh. But that was the exception rather than the rule I'd say. Oh yeah, and the sequined jacket with her Cleopatra face in various angles all over the back of it. Not her finest hour (and I think that jacket was from a famous designer, too). They had her two wedding dresses to each marriage to Richard Burton, for instance. GOR-GEOUS. Just beautiful. I wonder, now that I think about it, if I saw anything from the Larry Fortensky years. Shudder.

There was a small room which was designed to look like a replica of her walk in closet for her handbags. SOME of her handbags, correction. Just how big was her house? or houses? Where did she put all this stuff? What if she wanted to wear a certain pair of shoes and it turned out to be at her one coastal house and she was at the house on the other coast? Awk-ward!

There was a huge pile of her Louis Vuitton luggage. Many of them had her special luggage tags: lavender, with the word MINE! on each one. Wouldn't her steamer trunk look lovely in the living room?

There was a collection of her Chanel items - handbags, belts and suits. There was the outfit she wore when she was awarded her OBE. Yes, the one she wore before the Queen. A lavender pantsuit. One room had an assembling of a handful of her director's chairs. OK, I WANT a director's chair that says Elizabeth Taylor! There was even one that said Richard Burton.

Her jewelry went on for room after room. Mostly (if not all) bespoke jewelry - don't forget that. Van Cleef and Arpels. Bvlgari. Boucheron. Cartier. This was absolutely jewels fit for royalty and it's utterly amazing that one person owned all of this. I have to ask - is there ANY celebrity today who even comes close to this? That kind of glamour has gone out of style with celebs, hasn't it? Or not? And no, I'm not referring to the Kardashians (shudder). The friend who went with me has friends who work for auction houses and they told her that these jewels would disappear into the Persian Gulf, never to be seen again. I believe it, once they get bid up, who else could afford them?

There was yet another room with her various artwork. A Van Gogh (Vue de l’Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Rémy) was my favorite. I hope it doesn't go to a private collection, never to be seen again.

And I have to point out that a portion of the proceeds is going to her charity, ETAF. This isn't all for her estate.

I am so glad I went. This was the last chance to get even a glimpse of the life of one of Hollywood's legends - and I say that even though I'm not an E! watcher or a People magazine reader (OK, OK, except when the Sexiest Man Issue comes out). She had a hand in planning for this auction, and you felt somewhat like you were at her wake - but a happy wake, not one where everyone was sad and crying. A celebration of her life. She definitely Lived Life Large.

I only wish I could take a day off and head up to watch the actual auction. Talk about people watching extraordinaire. I should have mentioned one thing I wish I did: I didn't step back from the exhibit and just watch. I was so intent on viewing everything, and reading various placards, that I didn't just stop and watch the people. Obviously I saw the people hovering near me, and heard snippets of conversations... but I should have stepped back and let the room flow around me for a while.

And there you have it!

One photo from the weekend (none were allowed in the exhibit, of course):

Charleston in B&W

2011-11-26T09:46:00.001-05:00

I spent part of this week in the Low Country, visiting my house at the beach. It's time to "winterize" which means turning the settings from AC to heat (with a low threshold of course - 50 degrees before the heat will come on. Or would that be a high threshold?).

Incidentally, while I was in Charleston I had lunch at a very fine restaurant quite by accident. I called FIG during my commute to Charleston and they were closed for lunch but recommended Husk instead.

Husk serves Low Country cuisine and it is all locally sourced. Sean Brock, the chef, won the James Beard "Best Chef Southeast" in 2010. The restaurant is housed in a beautiful Queen Anne building which was built in the late 1800s. Below is the link about Sean, but click around and look at the photos of this pretty building, too.

http://www.huskrestaurant.com/sean-brock-2/

I found a NY Times article on Husk as well. What luck - I hadn't even heard of Husk just hours before I ate there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/dining/09notebook.html

At any rate, I spent the afternoon wandering around Charleston. I have fifteen web-worthy photos from that day, of which five I mirrored in B&W. Here they are:

And just one color one:

If you'd like to see all my photos from the week, here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157628158984655/

15 photos

2011-10-10T20:33:00.000-04:00

I got home from France a month ago. These are my favorite photos from the trip. There is no donkey in these photos!

It has been too long...

2011-10-02T12:50:00.000-04:00

Where did the summer go? Has it really been 2.5 months since my last post? Ouch. I wonder if anyone who used to follow me will notice I posted a new photo today.

It has been a busy summer! I got home from Norway in July and the summer flew until my trip to Annecy/Lyon/Paris in early September. Heck, I left a MONTH ago on that trip! How did your summer go?

I took this photo in the Opera Garnier (gift shop). Love Repetto. I hope my niece decides to dance, I will take her to Paris for her shoes. I myself bought three pairs at their store on Rue de la Paix.

Norway... or Switzerland?

2011-07-14T14:17:00.013-04:00

I'm so glad I finally visited Norway after putting off the trip for years. Something else always came up. "Next year", I'd say. This was the year and Backroads was the host. Hat tip to Matt and Lucia our fantastic fearless leaders (which I guess made the rest of us fearless followers).

And now I know what I'll find there: towering mountains cleaved by fjords; glaciers still crashing, slow motion, into the terrain; thundering waterfalls and shoe-soaking springs; ferries which dot the fjords and which are in turn dwarfed by the mountains - and don't forget all the sheep. Puffy clouds and blue skies, except when they are thick and heavy with rain or fog. Tiny red (or yellow, or green) clapboard summer homes mirrored in the clear green fjords. Ancient stave churches that were contemporaries of pre-Norman invasion England (!!) and, more recently, Victorian homes and English churches. Words that look suspiciously close to German. Friendly people with an enviable quality of life. Summer sun that just won't quit (except when it's, um, raining, or foggy). I am curious about the opposite effect of the midnight sun - now I'm thinking about a winter trip on the Hurtigruten to see the Northern Lights. Ooh, wouldn't that be fun.

Stunningly beautiful scenery and stunningly spendy costs. 900 NOK for cab fare between Oslo's airport and my hotel - each way! That's an anecdote that is going to have legs. Norway looks like Switzerland, kind of, but it's even more expensive. No mean feat.

I think I want to work for a Norwegian oil company - I met a guy on one of the flights who said employees get something like four weeks off for every two weeks you work.

Trolls?

2011-07-03T16:31:00.001-04:00

And now, Norway. Souvenirs, Vikings and Trolls. Don't forget the rain...

Magpie Moments #3

2011-07-01T11:41:00.003-04:00

Well, my weekly "feature" is somehow turning monthly... and I see I lost a follower! Bummer!

I have had two weeks of torture at work (EOQ panic) but now it's over and for my next trip I'm heading to the Land of the Midnight Sun. (AKA the Land of Ice and Snow...)

Have a seat in these chairs below, and enjoy a few of the links I like this week.

Thank you, World!

I will see three new UNESCO sites!

Check out these beautiful and colorful photos!

Practical writing tips from famous authors

Jonathan Spira of Executive Road Warrior has asked me if I'd like to write an article for his online magazine.

Some great ideas for charity.

Magpie Moments, #2

2011-06-04T21:04:00.003-04:00

I said this would be a new weekly feature. Sigh. I did make it ONE week... and now I'm late with the second one. First came the visit with family over a long Memorial Day weekend. My niece and nephew are 5 and 7, respectively and I want to have memories with them when they are little. Now that I am back home again, I'm in a big fat hurry to 1. cobble together a 160 page photo book, complete with text, in only THREE months and 2. get back in the saddle of training for my first century ride... neither of which are leaving me a lot of free time.

So without further ado, here are some links I've liked in the past few weeks. This week they are all about Paris.

But first, a photo from the Memorial Day weekend. Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania. Not a photo from Paris, I have plenty of time and material for that later!

A poignant post.. a reality that is coming to an end...

I found a cool website on Paris writers.

I like her creativity with photography, and her series of Parisian colors.

An eerie tale; could it be true?

I wish I had half of her talent!

I plan to see this movie as soon as it comes to town.

A pretty hike in Switzerland

2011-05-23T07:40:00.002-04:00

Last summer in July I took my parents to Italy and Switzerland. During our stay in Switzerland we stayed in Wengen which is in the Bernese Oberland.

We visited the Jungfraujoch early one morning and on the way back down to Wengen I departed from the train to hike the rest of the way. The trails are well marked and it was a beautiful day for hiking - sunny and pleasantly warm. The walk was maybe an hour, tops.

Magpie Moments

2011-05-16T20:20:00.004-04:00

I follow many blogs and when I returned home from my week abroad I had well over 1000 new blog posts waiting for me... so hard to keep up! As quickly as I read through them, many more multiply in their place.

While I have your attention, do you like the new name above? I am going to try (try hard, I promise) to make this a weekly feature and I tried to think of something catchy. It went from Blogging Bijoux Found (which isn't too bad I suppose) to Sparkly Bits (also not bad?) and the sparkly made me think of Magpie which made me think of the name. Feel free to comment. My previous post similar to this I called "This week I love" which sounds too gooey. My hope is that you might start to follow some of these blogs which I enjoy - or just get a kick out of the randomness of it all.

Here are a few (only a few, alas) which have caught my eye in the past week. I would love to put up many more but I meant to post this on the past Friday (my planned day for this) and here it is Monday. I know, I said I would try really hard and here I'm already late for my debut.

Here they are. Oh wait, a photo first, gotta have a photo! I took the below in Pisaq, Peru in November 2010.

Follow these for a healthy happy life.
I love lists, don't you?

I find this blog to be very inspiring on a few levels. Her first book is Number 2 on the WSJ list of books! Her name is Holly Becker and the book is called Decorate (decor8)
Check out her bad self!

What iPad apps do you favor?
Having just bought an iPad last month, I am collecting cool apps

If you need a Tuscany fix:
Will location-scout for food...

Living the dream! Check these guys out, I am so very very jealous. Very.
Now why didn't I think of this first?

I will close with exhibits currently showing in Paris. I saw the Caillebotte exhibit... and the pre-Raphaelites when they were in Washington DC. I dragged myself past the Hotel de Ville exhibit, too tired to wait in line for an hour (plus it was almost closing time by the time I got there...). I dearly wish I had seen the Chagall exhibit, because while in Amsterdam I bought an original lithograph of a study from a stained glass window Chagall made... from a collector's studio.
Is there another guerilla vacation in my near future?

Visiting the Jordaan (Amsterdam)

2011-05-15T11:08:00.001-04:00

I am spending the morning sorting photos and bouncing back and forth between my photo albums. I love the finished product but reviewing the hundreds if not thousands of photos is very time consuming!

I spent a morning last month walking in the Jordaan area of Amsterdam. Looks like they like red as much as the Parisians. This home was owned, once upon a time, by Pieter Adriaenszoon Raep (also known as P.A. Turnip).

Where in Paris?

2011-05-14T07:48:00.003-04:00

Paris-philes, where is this? Hints to come..

Shake your groove thang

2011-05-11T07:17:00.002-04:00

More from my recent visit to Paris. We are no longer in the 2ieme arrondissement, we have skipped up to Montmartre. I spent the entire day with a guide, Michael Osman, who is now a friend! We had a fantastic day. I saw the below outfit on a mannequin at the very start of our walk through Montmartre. Where fabric stores and naughty clubs collide.

I took a second photo of this where I stepped back for more details. The better to see the hot pink boa.

The Bourse

2011-05-09T20:37:00.003-04:00

More of my May 1 walk in the 2d Arrondissement.

Not exactly a red balloon...

2011-05-09T07:27:00.001-04:00

But the next best thing. Near Rue Reaumur, 2d Arrondissement, Paris.

On May 1 (the French labor day) I walked from Rue Montorgueil to the Opera Garnier. I spied this along my path.

Another "where am I"

2011-05-08T21:17:00.003-04:00

Only hint (right now): Paris.

The Red Hat Society (a teaser...)

2011-05-04T07:51:00.002-04:00

I visited Keukenhof on Monday of last week (end of April)... and in the queue to get tickets were ladies from Belgium who were members of the Red Hat Society! I happen to like the combination of Red and Purple (and Orange and Pink while we are at it...) so here are two photos. The first, some tulips I stumbled across, and second, the ladies of the Red Hats! My Mom is a Red Hat so I had to take their photo...

Where is this?

2011-05-02T23:10:00.001-04:00

I will give one hint (for now): I just got back from Paris.

Where am I?

Holland: glorious spring!

2011-04-24T17:47:00.002-04:00

It's midnight and I wanted to get to sleep by 10 PM because I have another full day tomorrow.

Here are some photos and I'll fill in the details later.

No Ordinary Monster

2011-04-17T09:15:00.000-04:00

This weekend we have had some crummy weather and so I spent a good amount of time finalizing the book I am making for my Mom. I am so far behind on my photo review and sorting, and fuhgeddabout all the books I have to draft. I make a photo book about different adventures using Blurb which is a fantastic resource. You make the book on your computer using your photos and text, and then submit it online to Blurb and a few weeks later you get a stunning bound book that looks quite professional.

I am currently working on a 2009 trip with my Mom to Provence and Paris. It is titled "Magic of Provence: Lavender, Sunflowers, and the Tour de France." This will be my fourth book. Not found on Amazon, alas, which would be part of my bucket-list - get published and sell a book on Amazon.

At any rate, in writing these books I don't just paste photos and talk about what we ate! I do research online while reviewing the photos and I tend to include historical tidbits. Sometimes I am amazed, like I am this morning. Included here is a photo of my Mom next to an interesting statue. We spent all of two minutes next to it and of course did not know the story. Here is the story!

This statue commemorates the Tarasque. The town is named after him and in fact he is found on their coat of arms. He was a fearsome and deadly monster in Provence who was tamed by Saint Martha (apparently a contemporary of Jesus). She brought her newly tamed monster to this town and the townspeople killed him. He offered no resistance, as he was tame. Saint Martha used this as a teaching moment and converted the town to Christianity. They were sorry for having killed the tame monster and thus the people named the town Tarascon. There is a play based on the Tarasque by a famous French playwright, Alphonse Daudet; there is a French anti-aircraft gun named the Tarasque; there is even a dinosaur named after him!

Think about it: a town, the coat of arms, a play, a military weapon, a dinosaur and finally UNESCO recognized him. This is no ordinary monster!

This week, I love...

2011-04-08T07:47:00.009-04:00

I am taking a cue from the various blogs I read and post some articles which interested me this week. I will have to come back later to edit my own views, but below are the posts. Enjoy!

Soon I am heading to Paris and you can be sure that the Musee Jacquemart-Andre is on my list to visit

What do I want to do when I re-invent my life? Here is a thought... The vagabond lifestyle - lawyer-style

Apropos of the trip to Paris coming up... Will visiting a writer's haunt draw you closer to that writer?

Another favorite city of mine... Donna Leon - an inspiration

and more on Paris! Peter talks up the Jacquemart-Andre

Peter talks about Montmartre

I have the first edition of David Downie's book and it is fantastic

I just don't know what to do with myself - check it out!
Can you believe my luck? A big Manet exhibit, just months after I saw the Monet exhibit in Paris.

What is a post without a photo. Rialto Fish Market, July 2010:

Coming around again: Meadowlark

2011-04-03T12:26:00.001-04:00

Good morning everyone! I joined my photo club at the too-early hour of 7 AM at Meadowlark Gardens. Each year our club arranges to have the park photographer (Bill Folsum - and check out his website! http://www.wfolsom.com/) meet us before it opens to let us in and wander. Typically the timing is good for the cherry blossoms. Each year I miss out (in part because htis would mean I have to get up before 6 AM on a Sunday, and I'm spoiled and lazy) in order to do this. This morning the alarm went off and I briefly thought of stabbing the alarm clock but I heaved myself out of bed anyway. Sigh.

Here is the result. Interestingly enough I have photos taken from one year ago (April 2, 2010) at a more godly hour - see the link far below. Last year at this time the blossoms were a little bit better but not hugely so. Of this set I think my favorite is the one that is second up from the bottom. The Blues...

Enjoy!

THE OLD SET FROM 2010 - ONE YEAR AGO ALMOST EXACTLY.

http://skywalkerbeth.blogspot.com/2010/04/two-more-weeks-have-gone-by.html

Happy birthday old girl!

2011-03-31T20:26:00.002-04:00

She was inaugurated on March 31, 1889.

What else happened in 1889?

In January Coca Cola Company was incorporated in Atlanta (it was a different name back then).
In February the Dakotas, Montana and Washington were admitted into the union.
Just two weeks before Dame Eiffel was inaugurated, a German by the name of van Zeppelin patented his "navigable balloon".
In April the George Washington Bridge linking NJ and NYC opened.
In May, Bayer Aspirin was introduced.
In June the Canadian Pacific Railway is completed from coast to coast.
In July the WSJ began publishing.
In August the first ship-to-shore wireless message received in the US.
In September Nintendo company was founded. It made playing cards.
In October the Moulin Rouge opened in Paris.
In November was the debut of the first jukebox (in San Francisco).
In December a Gilbert & Sullivan play opened in London.

The latest kitty escapade

2011-03-27T09:42:00.001-04:00

Yep, I know. Not a travel story, nor travel photos. But I think this was funny enough to share. Funny now, that is. Not so funny when it happened (Friday).

I have two kitties named Cecily and Ophelia. They are sisters and I got them as "rescue cats"; someone had left them as wee babies in a box at a veterinary hospital. Very sweet girls, I love them to bits.

Above: bravely looking to see what is outside. They are indoor cats only.

A few years ago, I discovered that Ophelia had CRF (Chronic Renal Failure). She has been on a special diet and special meds since that discovery. Six months after that, we discovered that she also had HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). She is now on heart meds. Young kitty - 7 years old only. Both diseases are incurable but if you are lucky they are manageable. This will shorten her life, but she is stable and comfortable and has already outlasted what is expected of this combination.

Miss Ophelia, ready for her closeup.

Very recently we found that her blood pressure was rising, which is a side effect of the kidney issues.
I can't begin to tell you the experiments with the RXs and the number of vet visits. She even has a cardiologist!

One med tried for a while. Too much, BP too low. Tried another. Another vet visit with BP check. THROUGH THE ROOF high. Ouch! I decided to have a home vet visit because it has to be less stressful than collecting her to go to the vet, right? I wanted a true and correct blood pressure reading, as we felt the vet visit was enough to cause stress and artificially raise her pressure. This sentence is key to the story.

Well.

The home vet and I plotted carefully what to do. I should mention here that this kitty is *very* gentle and friendly but painfully shy. Were she a person, you'd think of her as a Victorian grand dame. High maintenance and prone to fainting fits (OK, OK, not fainting, but under stress she will hide and won't come out). She has an uncanny sense when something is different and if it's time to go to the vet just one look in her direction and it's under the bed.

Da girls.

The plan was for me to arrive at home ten minutes before the vet, pretend that "nothing was going on" and once I picked her up I'd put her in my office. I'd let the vet in the house and Ophelia would be in my office with nowhere to run and hide.

Well.

It was all going perfectly. I got home from work, did my usual puttering around, kitties followed me. I casually reached down to pick her up and carried her into my office and closed the door. She was on alert because the door was closed but sat on my lap purring and preening. I saw the vet arrive and park and I got up to exit my office. Ophelia clearly wanted to follow me but I made it out without her.

I let the vet into the house.

I walked upstairs, vet following me (in retrospect I should have asked for her to remain out of sight until I got into the office myself). I opened the door. A moment of hesitation and I think my cat saw the vet. Were it not for that I think I would have been OK.

My cat shot between my legs like a greased eel, and made a beeline for the bedroom adjacent where she likes to hide under the bed. OH NO OH NO! I followed her. She ran all the way under the bed and into the hall. The vet was still standing there blocking the stairs. She ran back into the bedroom, wide-eyed and panicked. I was there. She ran back into the hallway and SAILED through the banister and landed on the stairwell. This was easily a 5 foot jump. Easily. She landed and didn't slow down. She raced through the house and finally his under the couch. Oh No!

Before following her downstairs I had the presence of mind to close both bedroom doors but I left the office door open. We both tried to coax her out, the vet on one side, me on the other. She ran into the kitchen. Then she ran upstairs. I expected this and was very glad the only open door was the office. Her sister had followed her up the stairs, also very confused. It was mayhem. Ophelia ran into the office and under my desk, her sister in hot pursuit but at the last minute Cecily turned around and left the office. I went in and closed the office door behind me. MY blood pressure was probably sky high as well!

I finally coaxed her out from under the desk and held her in my lap. I calmed her down a little and then called the vet to come in. As soon as she did, Ophelia started wriggling, her eyes bugging out. Nonetheless the door was closed, les jeux sont faits!

I let her down and she made a beeline for the desk. I didn't know a cat could become one with a computer tower.

Ophelia on my deck.

If you are wondering about her blood pressure, you are on the right track. After extracting her from the wedge between the wall and the tower, we were able to take her BP. The funny thing is, after all of that, once we got her out and she realized she was not going to be Kitty a l'orange or Kung Pao Kitty or anything, she calmed right down. No fighting the cuff, nothing. She was quite still and in fact I merely petted her as we did this, no holding. We took 6 readings, each one slightly lower. Her heart rate was in the normal range as well.

CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!

The funniest comment came from the vet. She said when Ophelia jumped from the hallway, through the banister, to the stairs below, it was "graceful and perfectly executed".

Ophelia NOT under stress.

Jour du Macaron - US Style

2011-03-20T08:45:00.004-04:00

Today is the day Pierre Herme in Paris has set aside at the International Macaron Day! In honor of that I will gobble some macarons. It is rough, but someone must do it. I made two pilgrimages yesterday so that I could do this today.

Yesterday was a busy day for me. First, the ritual "first pedi of the year" which I always do the weekend spring commences (I give my tootsies a rest all winter, no nail polish) Now, I have purple toes - and I walked around in flip flops all day yesterday!

Second: two separate visits to local macaron purveyors. This is not easy to find in metro Washington DC. As it happens, one outlet is near my salon, so before I got the pedi I wandered down to the Wine Cabinet and picked up a box of Michel Patisserie macarons.

Then, off to Patisserie Poupon on Wisconsin Avenue in DC. I had to park over 8 blocks away which was great as it was a beautiful day (and indeed, yesterday was the last day of winter wasn't it?). The flowers that are already blooming are a sight to behold. Magnolia trees, cherry blossoms in all their pink glory, a wide variety of flowers - not merely pansies - I was amazed at how pretty it all was, this last day of winter. I only bought a few macarons at the Patisserie. They didn't seem to have the selection that Michel Patisserie had.

I couldn't wait for today, I scarfed three of the eight yesterday (lemon, coffee, and raspberry). Today I have five left, and here are some photos. I also noted that Michel's had a much better presentation. The little pebbly green one is the one I bought at Patisserie Poupon. Not the same effect. Michel's macarons were also much, much better. Maybe Patisserie Poupon was having an off day but their macarons looked listless and just weren't all that tasty. The lemon one wasn't bad, but I am not even sure what the green one was. Not pistachio as I expected (unless it was so faint as to be undetectable). Not mint either.

While the Michel macarons are not quite Laduree or Gerard Mulot quality, they are nonetheless very good and a good compromise when you need a quick fix and are not in the middle of a quick weekend in Paris. See: http://skywalkerbeth.blogspot.com/2011/01/fueled-by-macarons.html

EDIT: I just bit into Michel's Passionfruit macaron. Just as good as the ones in Paris!

Green Day

2011-03-17T07:20:00.002-04:00

I don't actually have any photos of St. Patrick's Day parties or people dressed up like leprechauns or whatnot. So I searched my flickr photos for a few cheery photos which had a lot of green in them.

This one shows grapes before they will be made into wine. Not exactly an Irish kind of drink but what the heck.

A tulip photo, and how apropos is this - green AND orange!

Green door, in Provence (Isle s/Sorgue) and again, very apropos:

An awful lot of green with an orange Monarch!

And last but not least, oranges which have green leaves of course. This was taken at Mercato Centrale in Firenze. Also not Irish.

I did find a few Ireland photos, taken 11 years ago, that might be worth a look here.

This one was taken at a bar somewhere on the west coast. Probably Galway. I believe that was the path to the loo. It does have the requisite beer sign, so you know this is a true St. Patrick's Day post!

This was definitely Galway.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE!

And now, Japan

2011-03-11T22:01:00.000-05:00

In Japan, there are five classical elements. Earth, water, fire, air, and heaven or "void". Three of them have rebelled today (yesterday in Japan). Earth, water, and fire. It wasn't even a month ago and Christchurch suffered a devastating earthquake. And today I woke to the news of Japan's tragedy, of an even worse magnitude. Tsunamis to boot. The nuclear reactors of three plants may be at peril and with them countless more people.

Thinking of Japan today. The iris is the symbol of hope. In the days to come we can hope that they can contain the damage and that there are few aftershocks and that things do not get worse.

Where will they go from here?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_elements_(Japanese_philosophy)

Small and White, Clean and Bright...

2011-03-08T07:23:00.002-05:00

I spent a very rainy Sunday going through photos from last summer. Dad and I hiked at Schynige Platte and at the end of the hike (or the beginning, depending on which way to decide to go first) is an astounding Alpine garden. They have Alpine flowers from all various altitudes and care for them so that they thrive despite being "out of their element". While in the Berner Oberland we managed to spy some Edelweiss, which is a very elusive flower. We mostly saw it in flower boxes outside some restaurants, but this photo is taken in the garden. Here is the link to the garden, too.

http://www.alpengarten.ch/homeenglish

The sign relates to other flowers near the Edelweiss.

Blossoms of snow...

Random photos of March past

2011-03-04T07:49:00.002-05:00

Other photos taken in early March of previous years... nothing too exciting or colorful, just random. Early March is not a particularly colorful time of year but the buds are stirring! By late March things are picking up...

2005, Mom and Dad in Florida:

2007, Hilton Head, family and friends:

2008, Savannah, Georgia:

2010, Meadowlark Gardens:

To Fridays!

2011-02-25T07:17:00.000-05:00

This morning, I merely went to my flickr account and in the search box I typed "fun". A number of my photos came up, and here are two of them. In case you are wondering, that is an aeronautical chart and I was doing some flight planning for a flight lesson. That is my breakfast nook which doubles as a work station and kitty magnet (it might be the paper which is the kitty magnet). The first photo is much better composed, the second one was chaos when kitty number two decided to join the fun. Note that I've moved the cup of tea when the table became more crowded!

Have a fun Friday everyone!

Another church ceiling photo, and an APOLOGY!

2011-02-24T11:13:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone, two posts in one day - check it out.

I am posting this in response to Genie's admiration of Sainte Chappelle's jewel like ceiling. I'd also like to use this time to apologize to all my blog readers.

As I am usually logged in, when I do reply with comments I cannot see that I had that dreaded WORD VERIFICATION turned on! I found out by accident when I tried to reply to Genie and was logged out.

That word verification feature is such a pain in the arse (pardon my British-ism). I don't know how it came to be enabled, it must be a default. It was easy to turn off, and it makes the blog commenting experience so much easier and pleasant - take this from someone who comments a fair bit on other blogs (and sometimes refrains due to that feature, especially if I've already commented on several others that day).

If you happen to have a blog, it's not a bad idea to check that feature out and to consider turning it off (not to be pushy or anything).

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

2011-02-24T07:17:00.001-05:00

Taken randomly from my flickr account today. Just this morning someone "favorited" this photo I took of the ceiling of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi and I thought I'd share it with you. It was taken in Assisi shortly after the New Year three years ago. I had to add quite a bit of light in post processing. This was in no small part due to the fact that the original was taken without flash and quite surreptitously as I walked out the door! In the original you could see blues and greens but rather dark.

The Basilica, and in particular the ceiling, was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1997. They managed to restore it in record time and the Basilica was reopened only two years later.

Quake in New Zealand

2011-02-22T07:06:00.002-05:00

Yesterday (Tuesday in New Zealand) a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch - the second large quake in less than six months. They are saying this quake is an aftershock from the last one. News reports state that at least sixty-five people have died! I hope they are able to rescue people trapped in the rubble and that no more people die. I also learned this morning that the Christchurch Cathedral was severely damaged as well (photo below). I've visited New Zealand once, about five years ago. Christchurch is beautiful and the people are very friendly. This is a sad sad day.

Here is the link to the New Zealand Red Cross:

http://www.redcross.org.nz/cms_display.php

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow...

2011-02-18T07:46:00.000-05:00

This is where I will be parked tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone!

Wish me luck!

2011-02-15T07:32:00.000-05:00

I just entered a photo contest sponsored by Alaska Airways. The rules were that the photos must have been taken after Jan 1, 2010, and, must be taken in a locale where Alaska Airways flies - or the region.

Below were my choices. The prizes are airline tickets, of course!

1. My nephew Micah at Daytona Beach

2. Pebble Beach Wedding

3. Leesburg garden shed (used to be a house a very long time ago):

The cure for anything is salt water...

2011-02-11T20:26:00.000-05:00

The cure for anything is salt water... sweat, tears, or the sea. Isak Dinesen.

One of my all time favorite quotes. I can't wait for the time when I can be doing this:

or wandering here:

Keep the faith everyone, spring is nearly here...

Wintertime fun

2011-02-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

The National Gallery of Art has an ice rink. Last weekend on my way to visit the museum I stopped to watch the skaters for a while.

Fueled by Macarons

2011-01-25T07:46:00.025-05:00

And now, I am home. From Paris. Two nights, six museums, and countless macarons. Lots of walking, lots of metro and cab rides, and not nearly as many photos as I usually take. Yet again I was reminded of why Paris draws me back time and time again, despite the fact that there are so many other parts of the world I want to see.

This was also a slightly unusual trip in that Paris wasn't a starting point or end point - it was THE point. For some reason, when I go to the UK, what I am really doing is "going to London". I rarely leave London. I don't say "I'm going to Devon" and happen to stop in London - I start in London and usually stay there. With my visits to Paris, I'm usually on my way somewhere. Provence. Normandy. The Loire Valley. Paris starts and ends the trip. This time, I stayed, and now that I am home, I wish I had stayed longer.

This was a mission. A Monet mission. January 24th, 2011, was the very last day of the last weekend of the large, (nearly) unprecedented Monet exposition at the Grand Palais in Paris. In conjunction with the Musee d'Orsay (but NOT in conjunction with the Musee Marmottan, and more on that later), this exhibit gathered almost 200 Monet paintings from where they had scattered in the past 100 years. Museums from around the world, as well as some private collectors, lent their treasures to this exhibit. To handle the crowds during this last weekend the Grand Palais opened their doors 24/7 until Monday night.

What made this expo very special is that the organizers brought together paintings which were of the same locale only at different times of day or year, and placed them side by side so that you could more easily see Monet's genius with capturing light. I planned well in that I bought a Carte Sesame (year long pass to the Grand Palais) before leaving for Paris which meant I did not stand in line for five hours like many others did (including, apparently, Jody Foster - where were her planners??)

Also during this weekend I visited five other museums in addition to the Grand Palais. Only one was on Saturday (Musee Maillol - Treasures of the Medicis) and then on Sunday a total of five. Yes, it's as exhausting as it sounds. I had a lot of macarons on this trip for sugar jolts!

Most if not all of the photos were taken with my Canon 7D.

The day I arrived I plowed through my jet lag. I dropped my bags at my hotel and started walking and did not stop until dinner time at 730. I had mapped out a few places to shop in the 6th arrondissement before I left home and set out with those in mind. Gerard Mulot was the first stop (croissants and yes, macarons) and from there I just meandered. It was drizzly when I left the hotel so I only took my pocket camera along.

A quick word about my hotel: I stayed at the Hotel des Grands Hommes, 10 steps from the Pantheon (and you've seen AUX GRANDS HOMMES... on the Pantheon face, right?). This was my second stay here, and it's a fantastic choice. Three stars, and this time was 410 euros for the two nights. There was a big fashion show in town which is why winter prices rivaled summer prices. My room was a small double with a large bathroom. The bathroom easily would have matched a large double. Tile floors with plenty of room to move around, a spacious sink/counter, large tub, and almost-floor-to-ceiling "french windows" which opened inwards. Very light even without the lights on, in other words. The towel racks were heated - oh marvelous. The Boulevard St Michel is the border on the 6th arrondissement so you are just a few blocks from the 6th which makes it great for sightseeing and walking. I later learned that Andre Breton used to live in the building - nonetheless I would not call this hotel surreal (get it, get it?)

Here is a photo of a street just a block away from the hotel:

During my day's walk, I stumbled across the Musee Maillol on rue de Grenelle which was a happy chance. I knew about the Medicis exhibit and had it on my "list of options", but I'm not sure I would have made the point to go there otherwise as I was happy just bouncing from street to street. This tiny museum, founded in 1995, has numerous works of art from some pretty famous names. Cezanne. Degas. Matisse. Picasso. Raoul Dufy. Odilon Redon. Gauguin. Rodin. Now, this museum is directed by the Italian Renaissance expert Patrizzia Nitti. I wanted to see the "Treasures of the Medicis, Botticelli to Galileo" exhibit so I was glad I stumbled across the museum. If you know me at all, I am a Florence Freak and have been enamored of the Medicis ever since I read The Agony and the Ecstasy. Yes, the exhibit did have one Michaelangelo, on loan from the Bargello ("Apollo-David"). It is not surprising that there would be a Medici exhibit in Paris. Catherine de Medicis was the wife of King Henry II of France and was herself a patron of the arts. As an aside, you will see many Medicis references in Paris. Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Gardens (and a street outside the gardens). A hotel where Jim Morrison stayed. No doubt others.

After this museum I walked over to the rabbit's warren of streets near the Seine (still in the 6th) and eventually back to my hotel (but not before a Kir Royale and more macarons - Laduree this time). Dinner was at Le Petit Prince de Paris - a known quantity near the hotel because I was too tired to think at this point. Another Kir Royale. And a foie gras starter. And Bordeaux... Lights out at 11 PM.

Sunday I was up and at 'em at 7 AM! I had breakfast and in hindsight it would have been a good idea to have gone to the Monet expo right then as it was open 24/7. Get in early, still fresh, and then plan the rest of the day - instead of dragging myself around at my fifth museum stop that day as I did. Instead, I took a look at my options and decided to just GO FOR IT. I was going to hit all the Monets that I could that day. Monet, Monet, Monet! And in the end - another Monet to round it out. And not to be undone, the Petit Palais had a great exhibit that my friend Jody alerted me to. Because the Petit Palais is across the street from the Grand Palais I made a point to visit there as well.

BUT FIRST: markets. My hotel was not far from Rue Mouffetard which has a nice Sunday morning market. I was all of five minutes away from the Rue but when I got there (still early - barely daylight) I didn't see anything set up yet. I wandered down to Rue Monge and then back up to Place de la Contrescarpe.

Balzac, Hemingway, and Orwell once strode these narrow streets. Now they could indulge in a Haagen Dazs. How the Place de la Contrescarpe has changed!

I decided to walk down towards the Boulevard St Germain where I knew a market would be in progress.

Success! The Place Maubert market is one I visit on nearly every visit because I am always nearby. Here below is a photo of what I wish I had bought, but in the end I bought some pottery. The doorknobs would have been a lot easier to get home and in fact I think the pottery tipped the balance and I had to check both bags home. Or maybe it was the winter coat I bought. Or the big sweaters. Nah, it was the pottery.

Musee Marmottan first. They got into a spat with the Grand Palais (apparently the curator of the Grand Palais insulted the curator of the Marmottan - and it made it into print) and refused to lend their own collection. Yes, Impression Sunrise was not at this grand expo. The Marmottan had a dueling exhibit at which they cleared out their cupboards and put their own collection on display. They even opened the above ground floors of the mansion for this exhibit. It was quite crowded despite the opening of the entire mansion. The contrast between this one, and the one at the Grand Palais, was intriguing. For starters, every last item, painting, letter, object... belonged to the Marmottan (to my knowledge). They did not borrow anything. That alone is impressive. They had far more weeping willows (saule pleurer) and waterlilies (nympheas) than did the Grand Palais. They had, as mentioned, the very first painting which startled the world and which started Impressionism down its track (cynics would say the track to gracing dentists' offices and cheapo beachside art galleries in Florida, but not me!)

Musee Rodin was second and because I had heard that they were having a mini-exhibit. Rodin and Monet were contemporaries and friends. This museum showed their one Monet along with some letters the two had sent to each other. I hadn't been to the Rodin before so despite the one Monet it was worth it. I did find it amusing that they were trying to cash in on Monet fever - it worked on me, anyway. Ironic to think I had seen a great Rodin exhibit in Vienna only a few months ago. Rodin was also a contemporary of Klimt and the Lower Belvedere had an impressive retrospective of many of his famous works: the Bourgeois de Calais (Burghers of Calais), Eve, The Kiss... but not the Porte de l'Enfer (Gates of Hell). It was HUGE and I can see why they didn't even attempt to move them. The Upper Belvedere houses many Klimts in case you were wondering what the connection was. I was suitably impressed with the mansion and even took a photo of Les Invalides which you could see through the window.

The Musee d'Orsay offers a "passport" with the Rodin Museum and because it was only 2 euros more, I bought it and visited there next. Many of their Monets were at the expo, however, apparently the Orsay pulled several out of their attic that were not seen before and placed them on display. That was a treat. I also saw some paintings that were recently given to the Orsay, for instance, Bouguereau, whom I must now look up. I noticed that the Bouguereau which were highlighted were given to the Orsay "in lieu of taxes". I assume this means estate taxes.

Museum number four on Sunday was the Petit Palais which is across the street from the Grand Palais. The exhibit was Reporters without Borders which highlighted 100 photos by Pierre & Alexandra Boulat. Father and daughter photographers, and both well known and regarded in their own right. I read that she was roughly my age, but I didn't know until near the end of the exhibit that she died 3 years ago of a brain aneurysm. She was an award winning photographer who has graced Time and National Geographic. She was especially known for her war photography - Kosovo and Iraq for example. Her father, Pierre, was a Life photographer and was known for his photos of celebrities and fashion designers among others. He died in 1998. I read, just this morning (Jan 27) that new photos of Brigitte Bardot, taken by Pierre when she was just 17, have surfaced.

Last on my dance card for Sunday (but certainly far from least) was the Monet Expo at the Grand Palais. Note the photo I took - it was just a snippet of the crowd below. I am so glad I got the Carte Sesame before this trip! Talk about trip planning success. You are not allowed to take photos inside. Not that my photos would do any of them justice. Here is the website for it, which will tell the tale far better than I:

http://www.monet2010.com/

This Exposition was only four months in total, but it broke records for attendance. It was the most attended art exhibit in France in the past 40 years with nearly a million visitors (its visitors rivaled the Tutankhamen exhibit at the Petit Palais across the street, which attracted 1.2 million visitors in 1967). This was the first time since the '80s that this many diverse Monets were gathered all in one space.

I was impressed by the museums from all over the world who lent their artwork. A few shoutouts: National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (thank you very much) lent five which was more than the Art Institute in Chicago but one less than Boston MFA. In fact while I am on the topic, the top three donors for this event were the Musee d'Orsay, the Boston MFA, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Several came from London, but different galleries. Birmingham, Alabama. Fort Worth, Texas. Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio. There were a number of paintings from private collections, which was just mind-blowing. No names, the placard merely said, coyly, "collection particuliere". The one which was lent from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (Russia, not Florida, haha) I lingered a little longer. To think it would not have been that long ago and I simply would not have had the opportunity to even see that painting, ever (the Woman in the Garden in case you were wondering). Zurich. Stockholm. Budapest. Canberra. And on and on and on.

The paintings were arranged by theme and more or less followed the times of his life, from youth to old age. Normandy was well represented (he grew up there) as was his time in Argenteuil and Vetheuil with his family. He left Argenteuil because it was getting too crowded and commercialized in the late 1800s - how funny is that. At some point he was back to painting in Paris.

They showed numerous paintings of his winter scenes. When you think of Monet naturally you envision a riot of color and huge canvases. By contrast, many of these were relatively small and intimate - and shades of black, grey, white and brown. Simple, stunning and elegant. I especially liked the one titled "Ice floes on the Seine at Bougival". There were several portraits, and several paintings showing normal family life such as dinner time. Those too were darker and not lighthearted.

They showed several from his travels, for instance, London, Holland, Venice and the well-known Rouen cathedral series. Naturally there were several painting which depicted Giverny which was his home for the last half of his life. Most poignant of all were those of his wife Camille. She died so young, when Monet was only 39 years old. The last painting of this set was one from her deathbed. Very sad. You could feel his pain in the brushstrokes.

Near the end of the exhibit were the poppies... the water lilies... and the ladies with umbrellas.

A note about the presentation. I went on the final weekend which was open 24 hours. I would be curious to know if the crowd inside ever let up. The first few rooms were madness. Stifling and far too many people. I had no choice but to shuffle along the very front row, right up close to the paintings. At 5'4" I am far too short to see over people's shoulders had I given up my prized spot up front. That made for slow going at first, however, much like a long race, the wheat is separated from the chaff pretty quickly and by room four the herd had thinned just enough that I could stand back several feet from paintings. To my chagrin when I first arrived the audio guide ladies had completely run out of English audio guides. It was a 45 minute wait. I opted to go without. I probably coulda shoulda had a seat for a while and then started because the vestiaire had such a long line I also opted to wear my coat and carry my bags. A camera around the neck and heavy messenger bag will take its toll - remember I had been on my feet 12 hours at this point! Finally at the very end I waited in the crush of people to get my expo catalog which is marvelous (I decided against buying the official poster of the exhibit because of the jarring advertisements which ran across the bottom of it. To think Claude Monet left Argenteuil for being too commercial....indeed). I am excited to learn that Google has just started an art project online and I will be interested to see how many of these make it online eventually.

Whew. Whew, I say. I staggered back out into the fresh air and started walking. I finally hailed a taxi, and threw myself into the back seat and sunk down. Home, Jacques. After dropping my stuff at the hotel, I found myself sitting at Le Perraudin (an old favorite, three visits now) in short order and next to a really charming and fun couple from London. Two Kir Royales and a Bordeaux later (and foie gras, and boeuf bourguignon...) I made my way back to my room and collapsed.

The next morning I spent four hours wandering the streets again. Some significant damage was done at Gerard Darel (fantastic fashion boutique on Boulevard St Germain) and then over to Mariage Freres for some tea to take home. I had to buy another suitcase, no surprise there, and ended up checking two bags home, ay yi yi.

Too short. Always.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157625902863472/show/

Guess where I am going...

2011-01-20T20:29:00.000-05:00

See you soon, Oscar.

Where's Waldo?

2011-01-18T23:05:00.000-05:00

Do you see what I see?

Point Lobos, California. Canon 7D with 24-105 F4L lens.

Gondola Gondola Gondola

2011-01-17T22:35:00.003-05:00

For all that I adore Gondolas, and have taken probably close to a thousand pictures of them during a variety of visits to Venice.. other than taking a Traghetto across the Grand Canal (Why did the tourist take a Traghetto? To get to the other side) I have never had a Gondola ride. Is that so wrong?

I still love them. Gondola: the world renowned symbol of Venice. Count out the six sestiere, as depicted on the "ferro de prua" on the prow.

Here are some snaps. All with a Canon S90.

A quiet morning in Bellagio

2011-01-16T19:50:00.001-05:00

I am spending time on these cold winter days, reviewing and processing and sorting summer vacation photos. It brings a little bit of warmth not to mention wistfulness. Here were a few I took early one morning in July. We stayed in Lenno, across the lake from Bellagio. After breakfast we took the ferry to Bellagio and wandered through the alleys. Canon S90.

Sunset on Lake Como

2011-01-14T07:43:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

I am picking through some random photos I took last summer. This one was in Varenna, on Lake Como. It was so very hot in July, and we melted our way around the lake. Finally when the sun would start to go down over the mountains to the west it would cool slightly. I took this just after we sat down to eat at Vecchia Varenna. Canon S90.

Colors of Venice, 2010

2011-01-10T23:09:00.001-05:00

A few colorful photos I took this past July... and some reflections. Canon S90, all.

Which one do you like better?

2011-01-09T11:00:00.001-05:00

I rarely make B&W photos, and in some cases I really should. Venice is one such place that really lends itself to B&W. I would put this in a gold frame and wouldn't it look nice on a red wall?

Canon S90.

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

2011-01-05T19:26:00.002-05:00

I thought this was a much more interesting vantage point than an apocryphal balcony!

Bell Tower in Verona. Dad and I climbed up up up. This despite his hip surgery less than 4 months before.

I love my Canon 7D, this was set on 3200 ISO - not too bad huh? I did not use a flash and it was quite dark in there!

Johann Strauss waltzes into the twilight

2011-01-04T08:03:00.002-05:00

I just processed this photo last night. It too was from my Thanksgiving vacation visit to Vienna. I was reminded to look for it after seeing the Vienna New Year's Day concert on PBS. So many photos to process from 2010...

This was at his final resting place in the Zentralfriedhof. Canon 7D.

2010, we hardly knew ye...

2010-12-31T07:29:00.002-05:00

Once again it's New Year's Eve! Where did this year take you? Did you stick to your resolutions (even if it was to make no resolutions)? Did you get to travel, did you welcome new people into your life, did you pay off those credit cards?

Each December I take stock of the year that is being quietly ushered out the door - and abuse friends and family by sending the annual Xmas newsletter. I also look to the year ahead and wonder where it will take me. A friend recently put a bug into my ear about the "Seagull Century" because she and her husband completed it for her 50th birthday. This is an annual fall bike ride, 100 miles in length, and it starts in Salisbury Maryland. Apparently it's "easy" because it's spread over two days and as it is near the shore it's quite flat. In 2010 8100 riders biked; the youngest was 6 years old and the oldest, 88. You know, I think I can do this... ("can" and "will" are still not merged...)

I want to thank my readers for reading (and viewers for viewing, since my first MO was to make this a photo-blog). I know you're out there even though I don't know who you are in many cases, and maybe I don't hear from you so much. If you follow me, I will follow you (google-blog speak, but it sounds like a Phil Collins song doesn't it?). I have been watching my "google stats" and each year the blog has grown a little bit. I started posting occasionally in 2008 and that year only 861 individuals found me (2213 page views). In 2009 2030 people found me (3774 page views). In 2010, 3144 people found me - 7888 page views! Granted, it looks like most find me on google and then bounce away, but in the past three months the return visitors have outnumbered the ones who run screaming into the night. I hope this means I am slightly more interesting than I used to be!

So if you are out there, drop a line, post a comment, let's get to know each other! Happy New Year!

The photo selection today is where I'd really like to be... Lake Como in June.

Canon 7D.

Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus

2010-12-22T21:16:00.002-05:00

Just a few days now! I see that NORAD has its Santa Tracker warming up to start running tomorrow (those New Zealand kiddos start a day before those of us in the EST time zone!)... the neighborhoods are all decked out with lights... too many cookies and candy at work this week... and Merry Xmas all around (also hectic frantic year-end closings, but those memories will fade with time...)

Here are some photos from Xmas season past... most with my Canon 30D, but one with the Canon 7D.

My niece and nephew at my parents' house (2007):

December in Savannah, Georgia (2007):

Oh Tannenbaum... (parents' home 2007):

Bruges Belfort (2009):

Lisboa's Baixa district (2007):

Vienna's Graben (2010):

I wish I were in Paris

2010-12-20T07:52:00.001-05:00

Inspired by two fantastic Paris photo blogs I am now following, here are a few of my photos of Paris which were taken in June and July 2009. In June, I had taken my Dad to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day (not a vet, just a history buff) and in July I carted my Mom along to see the Lavender in Provence as well as the Tour de France.

We saw the last two days of the Tour - the Col des Abeilles on Saturday with a mad race to Avignon to catch the Eurostar to Paris, and, the very last etage in Paris. We stood on the Quai de Montebello and saw the riders on their way to the Champs Elysees. This worked out perfectly even though it was due to bad planning. Hint: don't have lunch on the Ile St. Louis the day of the Tour because you will be "stuck" on that side of Notre Dame for the duration. I am glad that we did that though because we had a tree shading us and were right in the front row.

Here are the two blogs I mentioned, and I urge you to take a look:

http://carlalovesphotography.blogspot.com/ She has numerous photography books and I can assure you the photography is even more stunning in a hard bound coffee table book with full bleed photos! I am waiting for "French Essence" to arrive in the post, and I have "My French Life" from a few years ago.

http://paristhroughmylens.blogspot.com/ Virginia visits Paris frequently and updates her photo blog almost every day. She has outstanding photographs and do take a look this Xmas season to see her banner photo of Galeries Lafeyette. I especially like her B&W photo from today's date.

Mostly Canon 30D, with one Canon SD800IS.

A very blustery day

2010-12-16T21:05:00.004-05:00

Today was the first snow of the 2010-2011 winter - in my neck of the woods, anyway. I am a little apprehensive because most years we simply don't get more than a dusting of snow all winter, and even then not until January sometime at the earliest. We have had cold cold cold days this month, and now snow. Just like last year... agh!

Here's hoping we hop back up into the 40s soon and stay there, for, oh, 10 weeks or so (the advent of spring). For my international readers, anything above 5 celsius with no winds would be grand for a winter, and 10 even better but not likely for a few months yet.

I took this photo one February day in London... this photo looks like how it feels today. Except that Boudicca seems to be saying "bring it on". No no no no no...

ps. I say this from the perch of a suburbanite with NO public transport options within miles of my house.

Canon 30D.

Working in the salt mines, going down down...

2010-12-15T07:45:00.003-05:00

My travel postings are all out of order. I never finished the tales of Italy and Switzerland, nor California. Why not through Peru into the mix now? This was the tail end of a trip/conference our entire team conducted in Peru. By entire team, I mean our colleagues in Latin America joined us as well.

Just hours before we left for the airport to head home, we visited a salt mine in Salinas, Peru. As an aside, I had just visited Salinas California (home of John Steinbeck) barely three weeks before this. What a coinky-dink.

Putting it on a map? Well, it's near the village of Maras, and just north of the mines the River Vilcanota runs east to west. We are still in the Sacred Valley, and apparently the Incans also mined salt here. Yes, I did bring some salt home with me.

I had never heard of Peruvian pink salt, but this is where is comes from. I don't think all of the salt is pink, however. The sun was relentless this day! I am glad I carried my umbrella, as dorky as it looked.

Canon 7D.

Kennedy Center Christmas Jazz Concert on NPR

2010-12-12T12:16:00.004-05:00

I had a nice evening with my brother and his wife attending a Xmas concert at the Kennedy Center. The last time I visited the Kennedy Center had to have been ten years ago. This is a shame because they always have beautiful Christmas productions. I mentioned to them that we should consider a "new family tradition" of going to a Kennedy Center show for Christmas. This isn't quite the same as the annual family trip to Vegas in late December, but I bet it's more Christmasy!

This particular show was the annual NPR Jazz Piano concert. This year it airs on December 14, so if you happen to hear it, I was there in the audience. Maybe you can hear me going woot-woot.

Before the show started, the emcee came out to talk to the crowd. He "prepped" us for applause, as this was a radio show. However, once the show got going there were no issues with prompting for applause! He also dedicated the concert to James Moody, sax legend, who just died on Thursday.

There were four pianists. I had never heard of any of them. However, when Freddy Cole was introduced I realized that his brother is incredibly famous. They were: Renee Rosnes, Kenny Barron, Helio Alves, and Freddy Cole. If you are into jazz, I bet you know their names already. If you do not, Freddy Cole should ring a bell. His brother was Nat King Cole.

I know very little about jazz, but I noticed that the performers had a lot in common. Renee and Kenny have played with Joe Henderson, James Moody, and Bobby Hutcherson. Helio has performed with Joe Henderson and Yo-Yo Ma.

They each played two or three holiday favorites with a jazz twist. The only person who sung during his performance was Freddy, and what a voice! He sounds quite a bit like his older brother. Freddy is apparently up for another Grammy this year.

During each break in performance, the emcee asked the pianists to talk about themselves a little. This was for the radio show, of course. What made me stifle a giggle is that each performer talked in the carefully modulated tones that are familiar if you have ever seen the old SNL clips about NPR. Ha!

At the very end they did a round-robin of Jingle Bells. That got the audience singing and clapping.

Photos? Well, you are not allowed to take them inside the theater. So, here is the photo I had recently blogged about. I had a "where am I" post which was apparently a stumper and with good reason. I'd have no clue where it was unless I visited the church! This is inside Santo Spirito in Florence. Brunelleschi was the architect of this church and he also built the Duomo in Florence.

This below was taken a few days after the New Year in 2008. We were back in Florence for the very end of the New Year's Jazz tour with Anne and Kirk Woodyard, of Music and Markets. Canon SD800IS.

Christmas Markets and Art - the magic of Vienna

2010-12-02T22:17:00.005-05:00

There are many Christkindlmarkts in Vienna. This particular one below was in between the KHM (one of the best art museums I've visited yet - the Hapsburgs were quite the collectors) and the NHM which I did not visit this time. At this market, I bought a beautiful ring. It looks like a Pomellato knockoff, with Swarovski crystals. After wandering around the market, I walked over to the the Leopold gallery... so delightful. That day the KHM and the Leopold were open late although I visited before it was too late in the day.

The first print is one of Kolo Moser's iconic posters. Kolo was a founder of Secessionism with Klimt. The second is Paul Klee, "Diana", from 1931, and the last is Claude Monet of course.

Only the Kolo piece is "native" to the museum, the other two were from the Beyeler Fondation in Basel Switzerland. The Leopold was hosting several important pieces of art from the Beyeler Fondation. What a stroke of luck to see them. I now feel I must go to Basel.

Canon 7D.

Where is this?

2010-12-02T07:33:00.002-05:00

Taking a small break from my usual travel and photography blogging... Below is a photo I took four years ago. Test your knowledge - where was I? This one might be tougher than the last one I posted. Hint: not Europe.

OK, the answer: Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City!

Thoughts of July during this November rain...

2010-11-30T21:16:00.002-05:00

Swallowtails are my second favorite Butterfly, behind the mighty Monarch.

All wrapped up and ready for Christmas...

2010-11-27T18:40:00.002-05:00

I liked this photo so much I decided to give it its own post. This be-ribboned package was found at Demel, and inside is a Sachertorte. The Viennese really know how to do Christmas right. Lights a-twinkle each afternoon, Christmas markets galore, and all that gluhwein.

Peace.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... in Wien

2010-11-26T14:23:00.003-05:00

Another Demel photograph.. I love that cafe. I will miss it I do miss it. What you see hanging are Xmas lights. You must see Kohlmarkt at night during Xmas!

The green dome is the tippy top of the Hofburg Palace. Not seen in the photo, but, below the dome and to the left is where the Lipizzan stallions practice to the soothing sounds of Mozart and Strauss.

A is for Austria

2010-11-24T17:02:00.006-05:00

B is for Baroque Architecture; and the Belvedere (once a Palace, now a spectacular art museum which houses many Klimts)
C is for all the Cafes mit Apfel Strudel und Sachertorte mmmm
D is for Deutsche Sprachen; and the Donau (which we Englische Lautsprecher call the Danube)
E is for Empress Elisabeth (known as Sisi, and quite a story she has; she was the 19th century's Princess Diana)
F is for Franz Josef I (hub of Sisi); also Franz Ferdinand
G is for the Graben (great place to shop, relax at a cafe, or ogle architecture)
H is for the Hofburgs, which had quite a dynasty going for 600-some years,
I is for the Imperial influence which lives on everywhere in Vienna despite the Habsburg ouster nearly 100 years ago
J is for Jugendstil, which was Vienna's answer to Art Nouveau
K is for Klimt, perhaps the most famous Kunstler (artist) of Vienna and a founder of Secessionism (art movement); also, the numerous Kunst museums including KHM (utterly astounding).
L is for Lipizzaners, those graceful stallions who perform ballet
M is for Maria Theresa, mother of Marie Antoinette; also let us not forget Mozart
N is for Napoleon, who had his foot on the neck of Austria for some years
O is for Opera
P is for the many palaces
Q is for the lovely Quartiers of Vienna
R is for Rococo; also the Romans who were in residence before all the others mentioned here!
S is for Strauss. The Lipizzaners practice their ballet to Strauss (and Schubert, and Mozart, and Brahms...)
T is for Trams, the many trams which will whisk you to various parts of the city in no time flat
U is for U-Bahn (see Trams). U-Bahn is underground, trams are street level (trams are also called S-bahn)
V is for Vindobona, the Roman settlement in Vienna. The Romans trafficked the Danube heavily....
W is for Wagner (Otto, famous Jugendstil architect); also, the famous Waltz; and don't forget Wienerschnitzel!
X is for Xmas Markets
Z is for Zentralfriedhof, where 2.5 million Viennese are buried, including many household-name composers... Z is also for Stefan Zweig, who wrote a good bio on Marie Antoinette (which I read in high school).

I couldn't really think of a good "Y" of Vienna. Oh well.

By now I think you've figured out where I am this week. Where is it on the map? Well, it's roughly the same latitude as Paris and Munich (within less than one degree), and it's roughly the same longitude as Zagreb and Split in Croatia. Pretty far east, in other words.

What have I done this week? Well, the above is a decent list - just about all of the above (for the historical figures, I've either visited their palace or saw a monument, etc).

I visited the Albertina which had a well executed Michelangelo exhibit (his drawings - to think they are 500+ years old in many cases) as well as a Picasso exhibit.

I visited the Belvedere (palace) which houses many Klimts (but you won't see Klimt's Bloch-Bauers, they are in NYC now); there was also a temporary Rodin exhibit there. Rodin was a contemporary of Klimt and in fact Klimt's The Kiss may have been inspired by Rodin's The Kiss.

I saw an opera (Rigoletto by Verdi) at the Wiener Staatsoper (the big opera house). I visited many Christkindlmarkts (Xmas Markets) which feature warm gluhwein to sip while wandering around the grounds and ogling the wares.

I saw the Lipizzaners go through their paces at the Spanish Riding School (and do you know there are Roman ruins right in the imperial quad where the horses are stabled?).

I visited the huge cemetery where 2.5 million Viennese are buried primarily to see the graves of the composers Beethoven, the Strausses, Brahms, Schubert (Mozart is not buried there). While there I was delighted to find a church built by a pupil of Otto Wagner; it is in the Jugendstil style and check out the photo of the dome below - stunning.

My favored cafe is Demel, which was founded in the late 1700s (1786, which was not long before Marie Antoinette, daughter of Austria, found her fate). I will miss the pastries here.

I have seen the Imperial apartments but not yet the Schatzkammer where the crown jewels are held. The imperials are buried in a few different churches; by this I mean their bodies are in the Royal Crypt but their hearts are elsewhere and their entrails elsewhere yet.

I visited a tiny little museum which shelters a Roman excavation and which had some interesting artifacts from the time period.

I've been in a number of churches including the Stephansdom; I do want to climb its tower. I have been lucky with weather so far (cold but no rain) and I hope that continues otherwise the climb may not be worth it.

In starting to post photos of Vienna, I am finding there are not a plethora of Vienna travel blogs, or Vienna photo blogs, or blogs on Vienna, on the interweb! At least not in English. You cannot swing a stick without finding a blog about life in Paris, or photos of Paris, or what have you. Not so Vienna. That is a shame. I wonder why?

Here are some photos of the past few days:

Where am I?

2010-11-18T21:29:00.003-05:00

Test your world knowledge. Where did I take these?

I couldn't decide which one to post so I posted both. Which one do you think is better?

I am really impressed, these photos were hardly a clue at all - yes, they are Machu Picchu. Same scene, different camera settings. I also cropped in tightly. The photos I took are below.

Big Sur, part two

2010-10-28T20:39:00.000-04:00

Here are some more foggy fotos from Big Sur. When I started planning I decided that since my time was so short I was going to drive to Nepenthe, have lunch, and turn around. Things didn't work out as planned. It was so very foggy the view from Nepenthe was essentially staring into a white void. No photos of it, alas. I had high hopes! The below will have to do, instead.

Nepenthe would be worth a visit during clear weather. It is quite an intriguing story. Vast swathes of coastal land was bought by the Fassett family post-WWII from Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. They hired a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright to design the building which stands there now and they decided that the site was so magical it should belong to everyone. Now you will find a restaurant and shop - and apparently some magnificent views. I will take that on faith. Nepenthe means, loosely "no sorrow" or perhaps "no cares".

What was interesting is that during my stay at the lovely B&B, one guest told me that when they visited Phoenix (the gift shop) they saw a simply stunning quilt by internationally renowned quilter/textile artist Kaffe Fassett. They did not know it (and I only learned it first by talking to them), but, he is a son of the Fassetts who bought the home in the 40s. Even more interesting is that his mother's family founded Carmel-by-the-Sea as an artists' colony! When I used the Nepenthe "facilities" there was a large mural signed by Kaffe Fassett. I think he now lives in London (another place after my heart...)

Regarding the photos, if anyone happens to know what the frondy vegetation might be called, I'd be much obliged if you would tell me. I saw it EVERYWHERE along the coast.

Big Sur, part one

2010-10-27T08:06:00.000-04:00

The second day of my trip I left Pacific Grove in the morning for a drive down the coast to Big Sur. Despite the fog (or maybe because of?) it was a beautiful day. I didn't have my tripod, so my photos aren't nearly what I had envisioned for this visit. Nonetheless, here are a few. I'll post a few more sets in the next few days.

Just then, I saw 20 heads bobbing in the water...

2010-10-24T09:19:00.001-04:00

What a chilling sight. Twenty heads, some torsos... rolling up and down with the waves.... shudder. The water had to have been 55 degrees, tops. Nonetheless, the surfers were all having a whale of a time. What was their porpoise?

This was just north of Santa Cruz, which apparently has surfing conditions par excellence...

By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea!

2010-10-24T00:41:00.004-04:00

I took a brief hiatus from my job last week and spent 4 days visiting the central coastal area of California. I flew in and out of San Francisco and meandered down Highway 1 from Half Moon Bay to Big Sur over the course of my stay. My home for three of the five nights was in Pacific Grove at the Old St. Angela Inn.

The time was far too brief but I got enough of a taste to wonder why I waited so long to visit. I had never seen this part of California before. I've long been interested in seeing the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, for instance, and who isn't curious about Carmel-by-the-Sea, Big Sur, and Pebble Beach. I remember first reading about Carmel in the book "The Parent Trap" and of course the movie with Hayley Mills... it sounded so glamourous (by-the-sea... sigh...)

Below are a few photo highlights from the first day of my trip. They are all handheld - no room for the tripod this trip. I visited some beaches, and stopped briefly in Pescadero for lunch at Duarte's Tavern. Duarte's Tavern was awarded the James Beard Foundation's America's Classics award in 2003. It has been in the family for three, going on four generations. Just this little stretch of Hwy 1 held so much interest and it's a shame I swept through in a matter of hours. I could have spent days meandering through the small towns, hiking, taking photos. This is what happens when you can only spare a few days off work.

I spent the most time at Pigeon Point Lighthouse, which are the bottom six photos. There is actually a hostel there, which is apparently quite a nice place to stay. It has the location down, for sure! The name comes from the wreck of the ship named Carrier Pigeon in the 19th century. It holds a tie for the tallest lighthouse on the west coast of the US.

TGIF

2010-10-08T07:23:00.001-04:00

A toast to Friday!

All photos taken in Italy.

Rocky Mountain High... Colorado

2010-10-04T07:06:00.000-04:00

In honor of the three year anniversary of my first/only trip to Colorado, enjoy some photos I took on that trip. It's a beautiful part of the world and one I hope to return before too much more time passes by. The slideshow for the whole trip is far below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157602458502247/show/

Where there's Smoke, there's Fire

2010-10-01T16:28:00.000-04:00

I am so pleased that I have blog followers! This means I have to try to be creative and not boring (or silent) on my blog.

Here are some photos of some real cuties. I took them in early June and haven't gotten around to posting them yet (other than on Flickr). My photo club sponsored an outing to photograph several raptors and the ones I've highlighted here were the most adorable. I wanted to hug them, which probably would have been met with some consternation!

They are both Eastern Screech Owls, just different colors. They are tiny - I bet no bigger than a Yorkie dog. One is named Smoke, the other is named Fire. Down below I've included the entire set of raptors from flickr.

The flickr set of 49 photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157624209402796/show/

Capturing the Monarchs of fall before they fly to their winter home

2010-09-26T12:44:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a hot day and you know how butterflies love that. I am glad to have spent some time at Meadowlark Gardens yesterday afternoon because today is cooler and much less promising for capturing butterflies. For all that I spent an hour in the gardens, I spent significantly more time than that sorting photos on the computer. Sorting through them all and getting them finally to the blog is akin to ripping off the blue tape after you have spent all day painting your living room: Voila and Tada!

My flickr set is linked below the photos, do take a look: I promise you there are only 34 total photos.

Enjoy the photos of my favorite butterfly (and another one I cannot identify, but isn't she pretty?) and look out next month for photos from their winter home in Pacific Grove, California (on the Monterey Peninsula). The East Coast Monarchs go to Mexico for the winter, whereas the West Coast Monarchs fly to Pacific Grove.

Picture roving gangs of butterflies, traveling at 10,000 feet, buffeted by the winds. How many will make it? What if the East Coast Monarchs crossed paths with the West Coast Monarchs? Would there be a brawl? Would tiny rap songs be written about the event? How would they even know which coast was home? So many questions to ponder. hahaha

And here are all thirty-four of them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/tags/meadowlarkbutterflies/show/

And now for something completely different

2010-08-27T07:08:00.005-04:00

More flowers! Fooled ya with the title, huh?

I set up my Canon 30D on my Gitzo tripod near my kitchen window (IE sidelighting). Canon 35mm F1.4L lens, set on F2.0. I let the camera select the shutter speed when I started shooting then did some bracketing/viewfinder viewing to see where the best exposure was. Then, I set the timer (10 seconds) and each time I tripped the shutter I would run around behind the flowers with a different colorful dishcloth (all bought in Provence) and hold it up behind the flowers as a backdrop. I even used a big sheet of tinfoil as a backdrop for one photo.

Please vote!

2010-07-27T16:09:00.003-04:00

I had a great Saturday morning! I was part of a fun photo outing which involved only my club but many photographers around the world. Scott Kelby (a renowned photographer) started the annual Worldwide Photo Walks three years ago.

The entire concept inspiring the walk is fantastic - to think that on the same day in numerous communities around the world photographers were wandering around, on the same mission, on a photo treasure hunt. Immediately afterwards everyone meets for lunch and then in the days afterwards the bounty from the treasure hunts trickle in. Each person submits the one they like the best to Scott's website and also the flickr website for their gallery. I especially like the random group shots of the photographers taken around the world.

Some of the subjects were lower on the list of things I gravitate towards shooting so it was a little stretch for me. For instance, I rarely take photos of people because I feel shy doing so - I either feel intrusive or just plain funny taking candids of strangers... whereas this time some of us had a pair of delightful little girls to photograph. I think this exercise made you look harder at familiar surroundings. At any rate, which of my photos do you think I should submit?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157624468654509/show/

Thanks for looking!

I chose this one to submit. I did not win. Nonetheless, this was fun.

Yes, it really is that blue!

2010-07-21T07:37:00.001-04:00

More photos of scenic Switzerland... These photos were all taken from an ICN train - IC stands for "Inter City" (which means FAST) and the N must stand for "tilt" because that is what it does. The regular IC trains do not tilt around curves but the ICN trains do lean into curves. Not quite like a motorcycle (there was no scraping of knee pads) but the effect was quite noticeable. Hang on to your drinks!

The train ride was beautiful but when we got to Lake Lucerne we all gasped. So blue! I assume this is due to glaciers, because the last time I saw water that blue was when I flew in a little Cessna 172 over Whistler, British Columbia, to see the glaciers in those parts. Glacier Lake Blue I called the color then, and it is stupendous.

Enjoy!

Hiking in the Alps - a perfect ending to our trip

2010-07-16T16:32:00.005-04:00

These were all taken at Schynige Platte in the Berner Oberland. Dad is pointing out the hash marks on the trail which warn of difficult conditions. He is a trouper! He had broken his hip four months before we left on our trip and he went hiking in the Alps with me! Whatta guy.

The mountain you can see through the flowers is, I believe, the Eiger.

Lovely Lavender

2010-07-01T21:18:00.003-04:00

This year I won't be in Provence, but I am very lucky to get my lavender fix right outside my front door. See the previous blog post, with all the bees in lavender? They greet me each morning.

These photos were taken on a mini-road trip with my friend Monica a few weekends ago. There is a little farm in Pennsylvania, not far from Gettysburg, which has an annual Lavender Festival. They grow a wide variety of lavender and one particularly vivid and fragrant kind is called Hidcote. Most of these photos are of Hidcote Lavender. Enjoy.

Bees in the Lavender! Bzzz! Bzzz!

2010-06-28T07:03:00.002-04:00

I have a glorious, huge lavender plant right in front of my house. It's so big you cannot get by it without brushing against it. The smell of lavender follows you into the car. These days the bees are humming around it and I've counted more than ten at one time. Here are some photos:

Nothing like photography to take the sting out of eye surgery...

2010-05-31T13:26:00.004-04:00

I am back.

I had invasive eye surgery on Tuesday and on Saturday went with my photo club to Brookside Gardens to take photos of the many butterflies. Brookside has a Wings of Fancy exhibit each year and this was my first visit there. This was a private, planned club outing and the chief advantage was that we were allowed to have tripods. When the general public visits, no tripods.

Naturally, I forgot my tripod. All the below are handheld. I'm not proud. I'm less proud to say that I didn't experiment as much as I should - I mostly set my aperture on 4.0 (for the short DOF) and then either let the camera choose the speed (mostly 1/13, 1/15, 1/20) which made for a lot of fuzzy fotos. A few times I manually set the shutter speed to 1/125 which made for less fuzzy fotos but a little darker. Like a dunce I should have unleashed the power of the 7D - it has much better high ISO performance.

I took about 400 photos, of which I felt 60 were not embarrassing. I put 20 on flickr, and here below enjoy five of them!

I haven't visited Meadowlark Gardens in nearly a month and hope to go back next weekend. Stay tuned...

ps. gotta have at least one Monarch here:

Margaret's Garden

2010-05-12T20:30:00.001-04:00

I have been hearing about Margaret's Garden in Reston for two years now, at least. I've never sought it out, which was a mistake. Now that I have the new 7D, I decided to go for a drive and find it. Below are some photos taken both on either midday on a Sunday, or, 830 AM one morning before work.

Countdown to Italy! But now, some flowers

2010-05-08T08:21:00.000-04:00

Keeping on track with my "every two weeks at Meadowlark". I'm not so good on keeping on track with the blog. We all leave for Italy in two weeks. Here's hoping the volcano gods are appeased during our time away.

These photos were taken a week ago. Enjoy!

Two more weeks.... and a cloud hangs overhead

2010-04-18T20:45:00.002-04:00

I'm documenting Meadowlark's spring flowers every two weeks (and surprisingly have made a good show of going there on schedule!) but in the back of my mind this whole time has been "oh boy, we are that much closer to my trip to Italy and Switzerland with my parents".

Howevuh. Mother Nature shows her benign and beautiful side in a gentle Washington DC spring... but her wrath and fury through a volcano in Iceland. Is she a woman scorned? Cosmic justice for the UK banking system for bringing Iceland to its knees? Is it just blind luck that this volcano (Eygasfiugyrugryugreysasouffull - close enough) happens to be under the jet stream? The ramifications are becoming more dire with each passing day. The hell with "my little vacation". This is going to be a European wide (if not global) catastrophe if the planes can't get up in the sky anytime soon. And I'm not talking about people on vacation, or business travel. I'm talking about global trade. The only good thing to come out of this may be that oil prices should drop precipitously after another week goes by.

At any rate - serenity now. Enjoy the photos. Oh yeah - and most of the below are with my BRAND new Canon 7D! I bought it yesterday. I have the 24-105 F4L lens on it.

This one was taken with my old Canon 30D using the 35mm F1.4L:

Two more weeks have gone by...

2010-04-03T08:35:00.003-04:00

I am making a concerted effort to visit Meadowlark every two weeks to photograph the progress of spring. Little by little, as the warm days become the norm and not the anomaly, the buds unfurl and blossoms abound. I visited during my lunch on Friday this time and was surprised to see even more families wandering around than the previous weekends (although I suspect the cherry blossoms have something to do with it!).

Look at the photos from yesterday, versus two similar scenes from two weeks ago.

For reference, here are the previous blog posts:

http://skywalkerbeth.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-difference-two-weeks-makes.html

http://skywalkerbeth.blogspot.com/2010/03/were-heading-towards-spring-hooray.html

Friday April 2:

Saturday March 20:

And here are a few more from April 2 just for good measure:

From Florida to China and back home again

2010-04-01T20:58:00.003-04:00

What a week I had last week. Family drama. Broken bones, airplane rides. Euchre in a hospital room all day while waiting for Dad's hip surgery - with a brief lunch overlooking the beach (literally "over the beach"). Flew home that evening, and back to work the very next day and then the weekend - dinner out with friends and a visit to the National Geographic to see the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit from China. Late exhibit - left the National Geographic at almost midnight. Gotta love living in metro DC! Sunday was my home day with my kitties.

What a difference two weeks makes!

2010-03-20T17:56:00.002-04:00

I visited Meadowlark Gardens again today - two weeks after my last visit - and look what my eyes did spy! I'm going to make regular visits now to document the progress of the flower gardens. The day was perfect. It is in the mid 70s and full sun and I even drove all over with my convertible top down with a straw hat perched on my head. I sat on one of the benches beside the little lake and watched a hawk making lazy circles above, riding on the gentle wind currents. Families were out in full force - trains of children, running and shouting; strollers galore. It is almost too warm today and too soon. The top floor of my house, as I type this, is 78 degrees: enervating. I am tempted to turn the air conditioning on!

Time off sought and granted: Italy and Switzerland coming right up!

2010-03-17T13:29:00.001-04:00

Here are some of the things we will enjoy in late May and early June:

We're heading towards spring! Hooray!

2010-03-07T08:19:00.005-05:00

I belong to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens which is an oasis of calm not far from Washington DC. I love to wander among the flowers in the spring. Even in winter, when there are no flowers, it's still a very quiet and peaceful place to visit. Benches abound, whether high on the hill overlooking the pond or waterside (and one day I really must show up with just a book and a picnic basket). Trails are everywhere and as a bonus there are elevation changes so you can get a decent workout.

Here are some photos I took from yesterday. It's been a full month since the Snowpocalypse and there are still random piles of snow. This is a testament to how much snow we actually received. During a normal winter a "snowstorm" would have melted within a week. Now, a month later, you still see pockets of snow.

Enjoy the photos.

http://www.nvrpa.org/parks/meadowlark/index.php

Isn't he adorable?

2010-02-25T21:26:00.005-05:00

Last July when Mom and I stayed at the beautiful/lovely/gorgeous Hotel sous les Figuiers in St Remy, I saw this little feller below. Not sure how you tell a female snail from a male snail. Regardless, he, she or it is quite cute. Check 'im out.

The hotel, in case you are interested: http://www.hotel-charme-provence.com/

We have a winnah!! French Blue.

2010-01-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

I belong to the Loudoun Photography Club which has competitions most months. I finally entered my second competition and won first place! The category was complementary colors. Blue and orange are most definitely complementary on the color wheel.

The below was taken last July in the village of Pernes Les Fontaines in Provence. It was one of those oppressively hot hot hot days that practically command you to just stay by the pool sipping rose wine. Instead, Mom and I chose to explore a little bit. We wandered around this village for a while and were about to turn around to go home when I turned a corner and WHOOMP there it was. I must have taken 20 photos of this scene from all angles, maybe more. I selected this one to print. I'm just tickled pink. Many thanks to Josh Taylor, the judge.

Trip Report/Photos: Paris, Brittany, Normandy (65th anniversary of D-Day)

2010-01-17T15:45:00.049-05:00

This may be a record for me: a trip report, with photos, written and posted within one year from the actual trip!

I took my Dad on a trip to Normandy in June 2009 for the 65th anniversary of D-Day. No, he's not a vet - he was three at the time and no doubt sleeping snugly in his bed as it was occurring. The only thing he would have been fighting at the time was his Mom's efforts to get him to go to bed and brush his teeth. That is the very first question I am asked when I tell others about the trip so I thought I'd get it out of the way!

Photo taken at the American Cemetery.

Here are the photos in case you would like to follow along. Some of them are from Paris so if you saw my other recent photo-set you may have seen those particular ones.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157619314809149/show/

In Paris we stayed at the Hotel des Grands Hommes which is adjacent to the Pantheon (and if you look at the Pantheon you will see "AUX GRANDS HOMMES..." written across the top).

This is a great location and a lovely hotel which looks quite traditional but has all mod-cons including wi-fi. It is an easy walk to the Luxembourg Gardens as well as Notre Dame.

http://www.hoteldesgrandshommes.com/

Photo is of the Pantheon. Our hotel is visible.

Here is a quick summary of what we've done (taken from my emails to friends so it may sound a bit chatty):

On our arrival day, Saturday, despite the jet lag, we did about 8 miles of walking in total including a WWII guided walking tour. We wandered around on the Ile St. Louis and of course had Berthillon ice cream. Our day's walk took us from the Pantheon, down to the Luxembourg Gardens and then down to Notre Dame and from there all the way to the Louvre, Tuileries, and Place de la Concorde. We wandered back to the Pantheon through the 6th arrondissement, going up and down the side streets. Part way there we stopped and had a Kir Royale - in fact each night we had one as an aperitif. Dinner was at the Restaurant Perraudin and the 30E pp menu was a very good value - the entree was easily a meal in itself. The main course put me over the top but I had dessert anyway.

Neither of us could believe we walked so far on the first day with only about an hour of sleep. Dad is a real trouper - despite his double knee transplants (yes, he has fake knees - and they set off security bells wherever he goes) he has been keeping up just fine.

The photo is of Notre Dame.

On Sunday we headed over to Saint Chapelle and I bought 2-day museum passes. These are a decent value at 32E per person, but, to be honest, you're better off getting the 4 or even 6 day pass because you simply won't see more than a few museums a day.

Over Sunday/Monday (from the pass) we visited:

Saint Chapelle: you can't believe it until you see it - someone went to heaven for sure after building this.
Musee d'Orsay: Dad is diabetic and had a sugar crash and we saw little of this - we went to the top floor first and at least managed to see the Van Goghs and Whistler's Mother... and then we left to find him some OJ and crepes.
Arch of Triumph: We climbed this and enjoyed the view - as far as the eye can see - Dad exclaimed over this the most.
l'Orangerie: Dad was thoroughly impressed not only with C. Monet's paintings but that the space clearly was designed just to show them off.
Cluny Museum: We spent over 30 minutes talking to the curator about the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and in fact when I get home I am buying the Tracy Chevalier book about them - apparently she weaves a novel/story into the history of them.
Pantheon: right next door, how could we NOT? Dad was really impressed by Foucault's Pendulum.

We also visited Notre Dame. Just the church itself and not the Towers (which are on the museum pass) because the line was not only very long it was also in full sun - neither of us wanted that. Of course, finally, the Eiffel Tower.

Photo is of Notre Dame's Rose Window.

We did not get into the Louvre, as I told him that Monday would be a good day to visit just the Louvre and Les Invalides (both on the pass)... until at dinner Sunday night we realized that Monday was Pentecost.. you guessed it, CLOSED. Bummer! He was more interested in Les Invalides (Napoleon's tomb, and the Musee de l'Armee) and we visited neither.

Sunday's dinner found us sitting outside at Le Petit Pontoise, which was very good but very spendy - I paid 115E for the both of us (do the math - yes, yipes). I guess the de rigeur Kir Royales with three courses and of course espresso after that did the trick. Monday's dinner was on the Rue Cler before the walk over to the Eiffel Tower - decent but nothing to recommend although we did sit outside which was wonderful on such a nice night.

Quick tip: not far from St. Sulpice is a mecca to pastries and chocolates called Gerard Mulot. I bought croissants, pain au chocolat, macarons (which were heavenly and in fact I think they are famous for them) and some chocolate squares with spices mixed in (cardamom and nutmeg and a few others, maybe pepper?). We walked back to the Luxembourg Gardens and sat on a bench for a while eating some of our goodies.

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After three nights in Paris, we took the 9 AM TGV to Tours and picked up a car upon arrival. Before our trip, I lent my Dad my copy of the book, "Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure" and as a result he wanted to see some vineyards on this trip. Perhaps you may have read my threads in the Spring regarding the possibility of visiting Reims, which actually did figure into that book. I do wish we had more time on this trip as I think a visit to Reims would have rounded out the WWII theme - not to mention the champagne!

At any rate, once the plans coalesced I decided upon the Loire because you aren't going to find many vineyards in Brittany or Normandy and using the TGV made the Loire to Brittany drive reachable in a day. We drove along the Loire on our way to Saumur. We stopped for a brief visit in Candes St. Martin on the way. Take note: you won't find a meal in Candes St. Martin, apparently the only restaurant has closed and our wander around the little village didn't unearth anything else. We then drove on and finally found a small nondescript place on the river where we were promptly ignored - and I have to say in all my many visits to France I've never had that happen before. The food was unremarkable to boot, ah well. As our "quick lunch" took so very long (40 mins wait even before we were asked our meal preference) we unfortunately couldn't tarry too long in Saumur as we still had to drive to Fougeres.

We did stop at one winery named "Domaine de la Bessiere" and enjoyed a tasting. We bought 3 bottles - the one that was supposed to go home to Mom was unfortunately left in the trunk of the rental car but the other two were enjoyed at the Chilcott's B&B in Normandy. After a very quick photo-op stop at the chateau in Saumur we were on our way again. If I could have a do-over I'd have dropped Candes St. Martin and headed straight to Saumur and after a few wineries would have had lunch and actually visited the chateau.

Photo is of Dad at the Domaine de la Bessiere.

We pressed on and reached our destination for the next two nights near Fougeres, a B&B which is just outside of a tiny little village called Landean. This B&B was recommended by Coquelicot on Fodors and I'm so glad she directed us to it! My Dad loved the place and dearly wants to take Mom on a visit there sometime soon. Below is the link to the B&B and you'll see the owner (Paul Renault) is quite a good photographer. He even showed us the personal books he made showing the various butterflies and moths which frequent his elaborate gardens. His books not only had beautiful photos but quite a bit of information about the entomology of the bugs - you could tell he used to be a school teacher. I booked the "suite" which had two bedrooms with a shared bathroom. The breakfast featured their own homemade jams (cinnamon-pumpkin: TO DIE FOR) and he made crepes for us as well.

Their home was a little "off the beaten path" and took a little bit of sleuthing to find the first time. For this trip I bought the Pudlo guide for Brittany and Normandy. As luck would have it, for all that this village was so tiny, it actually had a Pudlo's pick. The owner recommended it even before I consulted Pudlo and I was happy to find a reference for it. I can recommend taking Pudlo on a trip to Brittany with you. It's not only small and easily packed, I can vouch from personal experience that researching restaurant options ahead of time is advisable as my last trip to Brittany in 2004 saw me living on crepes and salads because I mostly relied on what was in walking distance in the little towns I visited. The link:

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/la-perouse-du-mitan/accomodation-bretagne-home.htm

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Wednesday morning June 3 dawned bright and sunny. In fact, from notes to friends home I said:

The weather has been simply perfect, if having a very intense sun - very little clouds! No humidity and a good breeze and the first few days was mid 70s - I think Monday must have been 80. Here in Brittany the sun seems even more intense for some reason. In fact, for all that we were wandering all over from Saturday to Monday in Paris, I was fine.. yesterday we spent much of the day in the car and I got the first sunburn I've had in years, just on my upper left arm, from driving! I had sunscreen on but missed the bicep I guess. Odd.

We had only one spit of rain on the whole trip, and that was on June 6 in the afternoon. You will know how lucky we were if you've visited Normandy before.

Paul (the owner) pulled out a map to show us how to find a laundromat in town. It was a full service dry cleaner in the Carrefour and they did our laundry (to the tune of 45 euros). I dropped it off with a promise that it would be done in 24 hours as we were off to Normandy the next morning. Quick tip: If you can find a Carrefour, there is a good chance it will have a dry cleaner/full service laundry there. Not cheap, but better than sitting around waiting for your laundry on vacation.

We then took off for Mont St. Michel. I especially wanted Dad to see this. Given that this is one of the top ten of tourist attractions in France I suppose I don't need to go into its history or explain what it is! On our way there we overshot a main turnoff by about a mile so instead of backtracking we reviewed the atlas and decided to take a one lane country road to get us back on track. I didn't post the photos (I tried to edit, really I did) but it was a pleasant diversion with a tiny little village and church where we stopped briefly on our way. I rather like that we did this diversion because instead of taking us into Pontorson and then straight up, we ended up driving on a road that approached MSM from a different direction and got a much, much better view (and I did post those photos).

The view from this road (which is, I believe, the D275, and it parallels the bay behind it) is incomparable and I have to again state how perfect the weather was. Full sun but no humidity and on the cool side with a light breeze. An absolutely perfect morning to wander around gazing at one of the wonders of France. You can see the cows are enjoying their meal and my understanding is that the mutton from the sheep who graze here is a delicacy given how salty their diet is from the tides.

We made our way in and spent the next few hours climbing up and up and wandering around Mont St. Michel. My Dad, as you can imagine, was utterly awestruck. He was like a little kid peering into every crevice and looking over every view and dropoff. As you can see from some of my photos, you are QUITE high up when you reach the top! Take a look at the photo of the guy wandering around in the sands below - he looks like an ant.

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After a few hours at Mont St. Michel we left to find something to eat. Paul had mentioned looking for a meal in Pontorson on our way home and we realized we were pushing it, timewise. Many places will close in France at 2 PM or so until dinner. I didn't want to chance it (especially with my Dad's diabetes) so we picked the first roundabout into town and parked and wandered a short time. We found a bar which had outdoor seating (and umbrellas! really important with that sun) and had a seat. After a meal and a glass of wine we meandered back to the B&B.

That evening our host gave us another meal recommendation. It was a cheerfully decorated (I remember a lot of purple and even some gold) bar au vin in Fougeres called Terre Happy and we had an excellent meal there with a few glasses of wine each. Here is their brief blog below. Terre Happy is the French pronunciation of the word therapy, by the way!

http://terrehappy20.blogspot.com/

This wine bar is a close walk to the St. Leonard Church, which looks down (and practically across – that is how large it is) to the Chateau de Fougeres. This medieval fortified castle was the main reason I chose this town for a brief visit and a base for Mont St. Michel and we both wanted to walk its ramparts at dusk. On our walk, we saw that St. Leonard's has a large public garden which was already closed. It is a treat to finish dinner when it's full sunlight and after 9 PM - I could get used to that. Nonetheless it was a shame the garden was closed as you'd have quite a good vantage point to see the castle. Dad and I wandered through the quiet center of town on our way down the hill to the based of the fortress and happened across a man just coming home from errands. My Dad has never met a person he doesn’t want to talk to, so we spent some time chatting with him. My Dad is a real charmer! We even got invited to come in for a drink (this was very near the guy’s house – his wife joined us briefly too) but since dusk was rapidly approaching and we still wanted to walk down the hill to the castle we reluctantly said our goodbyes. Had it not been our last night in town we would have had a different ending to the evening – how often do you have locals invite you in for a drink?

We continued our walk down the hill (and one of my favorite photos from the trip is of my Dad, walking ahead of me down the hill – I posted it) and eventually made it to the ramparts where we walked along the top and peered down the side – a dizzying view and a long drop. I’m glad we made Fougeres our base and wish we had more time there because in my research we had so many options for nearby villages to visit.

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We left Thursday mid-morning for the Chilcott's B&B near Bayeux. Earlier that morning I decided to let Dad spend some time wandering around the Renault's gardens and talking with the owners and so I drove into town alone to walk around the chateau. It was, again, a beautiful morning, crisp, sunny and cool. In addition to walking around the base of the castle I also went back to the public garden in the upper part of town to view the castle "down below". It's such a huge castle you do not feel as if you are looking down very far! Photo is of the castle.

I had the Pudlo guide out and decided that we'd stop for lunch in Vire at the restaurant Au Vrai Normand. I really think carrying the Pudlos along is a good idea. When you are on the road, good luck trying to find a place on your own that will have reliably good food. Don't ask me what we had, the fact that I even remembered to write down the restaurant names on this trip is a triumph! I can just tell you that we enjoyed the meal and Pudlo gave it good marks. They actually have a website: http://www.au-vrai-normand.com/

We continued on and decided that we would do some touring before heading to the B&B. We made a beeline to Caen. I had not yet visited Le Mémorial de Caen but I knew Dad would enjoy the museum. I was right. This museum is billed as the "best WWII Museum in France" and I'd say it lives up to that hype. Your ticket is actually a 24 hour pass (we showed up in the mid afternoon, not sure if that is why it was a longer pass) and if you are staying in Caen it would not be a bad idea to take the museum in chunks over the time allotted because there is a lot to see. We were staying near Bayeux and had limited time so we spent almost 3 hours there all in one go.

After we left, we pulled out the map and decided to meander back roads to the beaches. I also really wanted him to see Arromanches and the Mulberries as well as the 360 degree movie theater high on the bluff above the beaches. I've seen this film 3 times now and it's one of the most interesting D-Day documentaries I've seen. As it is 360 degrees, you get that dizzy sensation that you are part of the action on the boats crossing the channel! This film was made for the 50th anniversary of D-Day.

Here is the website: http://www.arromanches360.com/eng/index.php After the movie we walked up and down the top of the cliff, peering over the edge. You can see in the photos the people riding horseback on the beach. You can also see Arromanches village down below. We didn't head down into the village that evening because we wanted to get to the B&B and also eat dinner. As it happened we didn't make it back to the little village which is a shame because on my last visit, five years ago, I did visit there with new friends I made at the Chilcott's home. Arromanches has quite a party there in the days surrounding the anniversary of D-Day.

After visiting Arromanches we continued along our meandering way to the Chilcotts.

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Thursday evening, June 4. We arrived at the Chilcott's home sometime after 6 PM. This is the third time I've stayed with them (the week of the 55th anniversary, and, the 60th anniversary of D-Day were the other two times) and I was eager to introduce my Dad to the Chilcotts and their friends. Colonel Chilcott has been ill for a few years and in fact isn't conducting guided tours these days (his friend and avid historian Ian is now conducting the tours). It was good to see him and his wife Rosemary but it was evident he was not in the best shape. He spent much of his time in his chair but his take-no-prisoners spirit was still in evidence. Dad and I sat in their dining room and talked with him for over an hour (fueled by the single malt scotch he frequently offers) about their times in France including what prompted them to move to Normandy many years ago (post-military career university courses as well as the history of the area - they quickly found they loved the region and moved permanently). We also met their other friends and guests that evening. One thing is for certain, you get a double bonus when you stay with them - a lovely place to stay and an interesting, convivial atmosphere! We asked Rosemary if they ever actually had their home "to themselves" and she said it was a rare occurrence - but they prefer it that way. They define the term "people magnets" and they usually have a full breakfast table. In the photos I've posted below, take a look at the number of cars in their driveway!

Dad and I eventually left for dinner and we had to ask Rosemary for a place that was open for a later dinner. In the summer there it's hard to gauge the time because it's still quite light at 10 PM - believe me I am not complaining! I love late evenings that are still bright. After we got home from dinner we stayed up talking to the other guests in the large drawing room, which had the requisite books to the ceiling, fireplace, overstuffed chairs and sofas, 300+ year old beams, etc. I must point out here that the drawing room still has the stuffed stoat which was in residence on my first visit 10 years ago. I snapped a shot and put it on facebook for my friend William who was traveling with me at that time, ten years ago - he pointed out then that the room had everything desirable in an old English country house drawing room and I'd have to say he was probably right!

Here are some photos of the Chilcott's home as well as a few of the B&B in Brittany. I'll come back later to explain some of the photos. You will see Gordon holding court and there is a humorous (if wine-fueled) story about him too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157622779264472/show/

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Friday morning (June 5) Dad and I assessed our options. We really only had two full days left to visit, because Sunday we were going to wend our way back to Paris for the Monday morning flight. We had already visited (once over lightly, alas) some interesting parts of the D-Day beaches east of Bayeux, so we decided to head straight to the American Cemetery and then head in the general direction of Ste. Mere Eglise. I had long wanted to visit La Cambe, the German Cemetery, as I had missed it on the two previous visits. Dad spent some time talking to the other guests and one mentioned that there was a small church in the area in a tiny speck of a village called Angoville-au-Plain which was used as a first aid base during the days after D-Day. So with our day more or less planned, we set off.

Our first stop was the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. The visitor center had gone high-tech since my last visit 5 years ago. There was a really well-done museum underground complete with movies and of course many exhibits and photos. One of the movies which was on a continuous reel had a voiceover by the same gentleman who played General George C. Marshall in the movie "Saving Private Ryan". Upon exiting the museum you will pass an infinity pool (see photos) which is a poignant message. Dad and I strolled through the cemetery amidst many other people. We also took the path down to Omaha Beach itself. Even this path had been improved since my other visits as it was now paved and had steps in places. Dad stood and stared off into the distance for a while and then touched the surf. It was very awe inspiring to be there and ponder the events of many years ago. It was peaceful and quiet with few walkers on the beach despite the proximity to the anniversary. No doubt many people were busy preparing for the next day's ceremonies. We saw quite a few official military aircraft go by as well as a number of old bombers and cargo aircraft.

Photo above is at the American Cemetery, it is called "Spirit of the American Youth rising from the Waves".

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Between the visitor center and its many exhibits, our walk amidst the tidy graves with their perfectly straight rows of crosses, and our walk down to the beach itself, we spent almost three hours at the American Cemetery before heading to our next destination.

We were running low on gas so I made that the first priority. At the first gas station we saw, many miles up the road, I found my card wouldn't work in the machine (no chip). Because it was lunchtime, there was a card in the station's window helpfully pointing out that the attendant would return at 2 PM. I really didn't want to chance continuing on because it was a long drive before we found even that gas station. I will tell you this was in Isigny s/ Mer so that you don't make a similar mistake in looking for a restaurant there. We wandered around and didn't see many meal options to choose from so we just opted for a place with outdoor seating. It was a bar which had a number of people sitting under the umbrellas. That looked promising, despite the fact that it looked like a hole in the wall. Well, I'll just say that they did have Leffe on tap which was the saving grace. The food was barely edible. At 2 PM we wandered back to the car, filled up, and on our merry way found a full service "highway exit type" gas station a few miles up the road. Honestly, a meal of beef jerky and a packet of chips would have been far preferable to what we just ate! I had to giggle, for all that I brought the Pudlos Normandy with me, we had a rather hit or miss time of it. When I was able to rely on it, or on specific recommendations from our hosts (most of the time, to be fair), we had fabulous meals; otherwise, our luck was not good and we had to content ourselves with soggy "mystery meat"cheese burgers and stale toast with melted cheez whizz on it. Blech.

Next stop: Sainte Mere Eglise. Dad was especially interested in this because of the story he had just read in Stephen Ambrose's book on D-Day. I had visited here five years ago, and they really put on a party for the D-Day celebrations. Lots of re-enactors, many WWII-era planes buzzing around (a few were really low and slow - check out the photo I posted, talk about a steep turn, wow). We wandered around and Dad talked to many people. There were a few signs which said "no weapons of any kind including reproductions" and "only Allied uniforms allowed" (i.e. no Nazi uniforms). An ice cream cone, more wandering and chatting, and then we were off to Angoville-au-Plain.

Tiny, tiny little village. The 11th century church was in good shape, having been used as a makeshift hospital and first aid station. The blood-stained pews were still there, the blood not easily visible in the dim light. I do not like to use a flash in a church and taking photos of a bloody pew didn't seem very reverent so I didn't photograph it. Dad spent quite some time talking to an American veteran who had met a French woman during the war and married her and moved to France. In this church there are a few stained glass windows which honor the 101st Airborne Division and the medics.

Here is a link which gives some of its history:

http://www.normandie44lamemoire.com/versionanglaise/fichesvillesus/angovilus2.html

Our next stop was La Cambe, a German war cemetery. During the war people were usually buried in a near where they fell, perhaps in small battlefield cemeteries, villages, or even field graves. After the war came the grim task of finding the various graves and reinterring the bodies to more formal cemeteries. La Cambe is one of the largest (if not the largest) German war cemeteries in Normandy. I hadn't visited it yet and had heard much about its atmosphere and wanted to give it a look.

The contrast between this cemetery and the American cemetery is striking. What I didn't know at the time of our visit but learned later was that the enormous mound in the center of the cemetery, crowned by a large black basalt cross and two sad figures staring down on the graves below, is a mass grave of almost 300 mostly unknown German soldiers. We walked around in somber silence looking at the various headstones, lying flat against the earth, sometimes with two, three names on them.

The German cemetery was a somber and almost eerie place, for all that it was a bright and sunny day. Imagine seeing those black basalt statues, hight on the hill, on a stormy evening... I find that the Commonwealth cemeteries are the most approachable and much like an English garden - flowers growing around every grave. I've also been to some English war cemeteries but not on this trip, for all that the British cemetery in Bayeux was walking distance from the Chilcott's home. The Commonwealth ones are similar to each other.

La Cambe (German cemetery) seems to say in a guttural voice "don't MESS with me", even in death and defeat: all those black crosses and precise lines. In their own way, the Allied cemeteries likewise seem to say "don't MESS with me (we have triumphed)" but it's a much more uplifting message to see white crosses in their own precise lines and of course the setting is stunning. With one you get the message of the prince of darkness and with the other uplifting bands of angels. I wonder whose idea it was to use the black basalt for the crosses and statues (i.e. who designed that cemetery there on French soil...).

I tagged the three military cemeteries and here is the slideshow of only those three cemeteries. This will show you directly the contrast. The slideshow isn't in chron order, for some reason, so they are a little out of order but you can get the idea.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/tags/militarycemetery/show/

After spending some time here we decided to move on to Pointe du Hoc. The Germans had built strong fortifications here which were part of the Atlantic Wall. The task was left to the Rangers to capture the stronghold found at the top of this steep cliff. The night prior to D-Day the Pointe du Hoc saw enormous bombing from the Allies and the deep craters from the bombs are still there. You can walk down into the craters, dodging the protruding steel rods and climbing over the concrete jumbled all about. There is a memorial at the top and edge of the cliff. Ten years ago you could walk right up to it and peer over the cliff, now, there are barriers - more to protect people from falling than to protect the memorial I should think.

After we left the Pointe du Hoc we realized we had a full day at it was time to go back to the Chilcott's and relax over a glass of wine and spend some time chatting with the guests there. We had met some very interesting people there and were looking forward to hearing about their day too. We had wine from Saumur but we did not have cheese so our next stop was at E. Leclerc near the Chilcott's home.

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Friday night, June 5.

Having spent a full day driving and visiting many places, we wanted to relax over some of the wine we bought in Saumur before heading off to dinner. We had met many interesting people at the B&B and wanted to compare notes with them - everyone had a different plan for the day. Dad and I loaded up on cheese, crackers and bread at E.leclerc near the Chilcott's home and headed back to the B&B. I love shopping for cheese in France. There are so many choices and the person running the cheese counter had some great tips when I told her the wines we planned to enjoy. I took her advice and the three-four cheeses I bought I had never heard of before. Alas, I didn't write them down but I can assure you they went well with our wines. I'll also point out the cheese was a great bargain compared to what we have at home, even with the exchange rate.

Once we arrived, we saw that our new friends Robert and Phyllis were already enjoying the patio with their own wine. I retrieved our wine, and after prepping the cheese/bread we brought it out to the patio and joined them. We spent the next several hours savoring the lovely, warm evening. Fabulous company, good conversation, good wine, good appetizers.

At some point in the evening Gordon (the lonely gander you see pictured in the B&B photos link above) waddled over and started pestering us. Rosemary told us that he was very lonely since his mate had died (at the teeth of a fox I believe?) and had a habit of following everyone around. Geese are limited in the means of getting someone's attention! By this, I mean they nip at you. Phyllis and Robert brought their tiny sweet Maltipoo, Beignet, on the trip with them. Gordon was quite cocky until Beignet lifted her head for the first time. HISSSSS!! He backed off. Beignet put her head down again, and he advanced again and wouldn't give us peace. Phyllis had enough and started tailing Gordon while holding Beignet out in front of her. Well, he wasn't having any of that! Flap flap flap, HONK! He started running, Phyllis and Beignet in hot pursuit.

She came back and sat down again. This worked for a while and Gordon left us alone for about 30 minutes. He came back, slowly, and then started nipping at my Dad's bicep. Dad ignored him for a few minutes then finally Gordon got a good nip in. My Dad said, "ok buddy, that's it! You want a piece of me? You want attention? Here's some attention!"and he grabbed him, picked him up and plunked him on his lap! We were all laughing pretty hard at this point but I was also yelling , "Dad, Dad, put him down! He is going to poop on you!" Gordon of course was honking and trying to flap, my Dad was laughing, we were all laughing, and finally Dad put him on the ground. WADDLE WADDLE WADDLE as fast as he could, Gordon was gone and he didn't come back this time.

At about this point we realized the sun was pretty low. It was after 10 PM! We hadn't eaten dinner yet, we were having too much fun talking and enjoying our wine (and playing spy-vs-spy with Gordon).

There aren't a heck of a lot of choices in Bayeux for late dining. Rosemary sent us to La Taverne des Ducs. By the time we finally set off for dinner, it was dark. The other guests had filtered outside and were discussing going to watch the fireworks on the beach. We were all hungry, and had we already eaten it would have been fun to join them but food won out. We set out for the restaurant. The meal was very good - I recall one of us had the skate but I don't remember what else we had. No more wine though! We had enough over the course of the evening. It must have been past midnight by the time we left. What a fun evening. Dad was in his element, he LOVES people and we had spent the entire evening talking with our new friends.

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Saturday morning, June 6. The 65th anniversary of D-Day. Photo is of the interior of Bayeux Cathedral.

Dad and I had so many choices for the day, and I found myself wishing we had more time for the trip. Sunday we were heading back to Paris, so this was our last day in Normandy.

In the few weeks leading up to our trip I networked like mad to obtain passes to the ceremony at the American Cemetery on this day. I thought it would be really special to see President Obama speak, and to see the other dignitaries in attendance. On June 5 we saw a lot of movement and people in suits (especially at the American Cemetery) but didn't recognize anyone specifically.

I finally did obtain the passes but a day or two before the ceremony got our final instructions via email. The central collection point was in Caen and, long and short, it was about a twelve hour time commitment for the 1.5-ish hour official ceremony. This was due to security, mainly. The central collection point was a good hour-plus from the cemetery (and a drive from Bayeux just to get to it - and the main roads were closed off), the bus ride itself, the fact that the arrival at the cemetery was meant to be at least four hours before the ceremony, then the re-collection and bus back to the collection point, AND the drive back to Bayeux afterwards... a very long day. Add to this the instructions that no food or drink was allowed to be brought into the cemetery and the attendees were told they would have to eat on the bus (remember, early arrival) and that would be it until the return to Caen before more food would be available and it all seemed like a huge hassle. I wondered what the heck they did about all the old veterans who must have had more health issues than just my Dad's diabetes.

I told Dad "this is your trip, and I've got the passes. I'm happy to go if you want to go, but keep in mind this is a loooong day and this will be the only thing we will do all day. We won't see much else in Normandy if we go, but it would be really cool to go. Here are the other options we could have for today, you choose". I then gave him the other possibilities for the time we had left. He had already told me earlier in the week that he didn't want to spend all day on just the ceremony, and the morning we had to decide he said the same thing. He wanted to move around more and sightsee more.

We had a lovely breakfast with the gang staying at the B&B. The other guests who also had passes had long since left for Caen to attend the ceremony in Colleville s/ Mer. I love lingering over the breakfast dining room stories at the Chilcotts. There are always at least twelve people around the table and it's so fascinating to hear their stories. As I've mentioned above, the Chilcotts are people magnets and their friends and guests are varied and interesting. A few of the guests who came in from London planned to visit the British Cemetery (just a walk up the road) that morning which was of course having their own ceremonies. In retrospect I wish we had at least done that, because that night when we compared notes with the others, the guests who did go to the ceremonies saw a very moving ceremony, and a bonus - they realized after things got going that they were standing behind Prince Charles. Apparently the security isn't the same there as it was at the American Cemetery! There was also the faux pas in that the Queen wasn't properly invited, either. To be fair, the British Cemetery didn't have ALL the dignitaries show up, whereas I believe the American one pretty much had all the heads of state who made the trip (including, I believe, Prince Charles). I later found out that Tom Hanks was there too. I had wondered if he would show up, and I was bummed to have missed "seeing" him too - on the jumbotron, of course!

After breakfast Dad wandered around and took photos of the B&B and courtyard from all angles while I grabbed our guidebooks. We also visited the "Map Room" which is above their garage/barn. This is a very elaborate staging room which had many dioramas, maps, posters, and so on from the era. Colonel Chilcott's friend Ian was passed the torch for carrying on the tours, and we spent at least half an hour talking to him in the Map Room.

As an aside, 5 years ago I spent one evening sleeping in a sleeping bag, on a cot, in this very Map Room. Fear of spiders compelled me to decamp to the rental car as sleeping quarters for the following two nights. The Chilcotts were so very full at that time, the 60th anniversay. There was no room at the inn and in fact they had many many people camped out in tents on their property. This anniversary, the 65th, they were full but for the most part their guests were in their large house. I was a very last minute guest at the 60th anniversary, and since I was a repeat they had offered me the Map Room. Of course I had no problem staying in a Map Room, it's a room with a lot of maps, right? Imagine my surprise to find it as essentially a loft above the garage. hahaha (I had full bathroom/shower privileges in their house at the time but no actual room in the house). This should be a real testament to how special they are - I came back anyway! I am now famous as the "Map Room Girl" there, though. When the Chilcotts introduced me around that was the story they told and in fact Ian remembered me as soon as he heard the story.

By the way, here is a photo taken on June 6, 2004. Colonel Chilcott is in full health and you see Ian in the photo as well. Rosemary too of course, next to Colonel Chilcott!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/2192909009/

Our plan for the day was to park in Bayeux and see the Tapestry and the Cathedral, and in general wander around. After that we were going to have lunch and then head off to visit the Pegasus Bridge. I really wanted to Dad to see the Merville Battery, which I had enjoyed on my visit ten years ago (1999).

Next Installment:

We headed into Bayeux and had no trouble finding a place to park just outside the town proper. Many people were already parked and walking to the British Cemetery and I briefly thought we should join them. Instead we walked into the town and wandered for a bit before heading to see the Tapestry.

I especially wanted my Dad to see this marvelous tapestry and to learn of its story. It's almost 1000 years old, having depicted the story of Guillaume le Conquerant (William the Conqueror). I am astounded upon each viewing that a piece of cloth that old is in such good shape. For starters, it wasn't even "handled with care" and supposedly was handled quite ignorantly through the years including being used as a sort of tarp for a time. Apparently it was stolen during the French Revolution (when it was already 700 years old) and was found about three years later being used by a man who was using it to cover goods on his cart. Apocryphal story? I'm not sure. Its age and condition is nonetheless astonishing.

Afterwards we walked to the Cathedral and took a look inside. I had to remind myself that, for as beautiful as the various cathedrals in France may be, they have nothing on the ones in Italy. I think the French ones (less ornate) would be more to Dad's liking, however, as he is Lutheran and I'm sure a gander at St Peter's would probably draw some remarks about the "poverty stricken Catholic Church". hahaha

We had lunch yet again at the Assiette Normande which is directly across the small street from the Cathedral (stained glass window shown here). After lunch we decided we wanted to head to Pegasus Bridge and the Merville Battery.

Next Installment:

I am of two minds about visiting the Normandy beaches over a major anniversary. On the one hand, this is the best chance to meet and talk to veterans. Not that you cannot do so at other times, but, there are not many of them left and most would make the visit near/on D-Day, I would imagine, in order to visit with their old chums or just to partake of the excitement of the anniversary. On the other hand, it is tough to get around on June 6 (not impossible, just tough) so if you are going to go, plan on a little more time on the ground there. We had 8 nights in France, and I wanted to show Dad a number of things not only Normandy so we were spread a little thin. My Dad said numerous times that he wouldn't have changed a thing about the trip but I would have preferred a few more days in Normandy proper. This was not intended to be his only trip to Normandy as I had hoped to encourage him to visit on his own with Mom (and I think I've succeeded but time will tell) so I'm not too concerned about the stuff we missed but it would have been nice to see even more.

Because the main roads are shut down on June 6, we took a meandering path towards Pegasus Bridge. The fact that you couldn't use a main road proved to be our undoing because when we got close to the canal we kept coming up against "road blocked" signs. We drove up and down various side streets and tried different ways to approach the road to the crossing but could get nowhere near it. Finally after prowling up and down various streets we found the one place that would have allowed us to approach. Success! Oh wait, too soon to claim victory. The traffic jam was a sight to behold. We sat in the jam for 15 minutes and finally Dad said, "we aren't going to get through any time soon and this is a waste of time. We can see it some other time. Let's start heading back and find something else to do."

That was that! We headed back towards Bayeux. The Merville Battery is beyond Pegasus Bridge so we missed out on that as well. Sigh.

Since we now had plenty of time (it was about 330 PM) we decided to take a different back road towards Bayeux and see what else we came upon. Within no time at all we came across a small Canadian cemetery and decided to take a look. This turned out to be fortuitous because shortly after we arrived a troupe of bagpipers who was practicing in the parking lot followed behind us and we saw a very moving tribute to the fallen soldiers which lasted at least 30 minutes. They played Amazing Grace, of course, among other songs. The cemetery was Beny s/Mer which is about 5 km from Juno Beach. I have posted the photos of the bagpipers in the photos above. Some find the bagpipes to be just noise, but I love them. So haunting. Afterwards Dad said the memory of that tribute was going to stay with him a long time.

Next Installment:

June 6 late afternoon - evening.

Dad and I left Beny s/Mer and started to head back to Bayeux. It started raining and as we approached Bayeux there was quite a traffic jam which took some time to clear. Neither of us were very hungry so it was back to E.Leclerc for some sandwiches for the evening/next day's drive. We called it an evening then. It wasn't terribly late but the rain and grey pall meant we weren't going to be wandering outside and at that point the D-Day Museum in Bayeux had already closed. That was another museum I've really enjoyed in the past so if you go to Bayeux I encourage you to visit it. It is called the Musée Memorial de la Bataille de Normandie.

We actually could have just stayed in Bayeux all day - we would have had the ceremonies at the cemetery, the museum across the street, the Tapestry, the Cathedral, a nice meal, and maybe a wander around town or a short jaunt to a nearby village. Plenty of options.

One thing I should mention is that as you drive around Normandy you will see many signs which look like tourist directions for lack of a better term. I didn't take photos of them (if I dug around I might find old photos) but they follow different itineraries. One set of signs is called "Overlord: l'Assaut" (Overlord the Assault) and another is "D-Day: le Choc" for instance (there are others). Below shows a driving itinerary for L'Assaut. Below that are the descriptions of the different itineraries.

http://www.normandiememoire.com/NM60Anglais/1_parcours/overlord.htm

http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-tourism/main-menu/things-to-do/sites-and-attractions/d-day-and-the-battle-of-normandy-172-2.html

Here is the home page for the site. You will find lots of information here:

http://www.normandiememoire.com/NM60Anglais/nmeh/accueil.php

At about 8 PM or so the guests who had braved the all-day American Cemetery ceremonies trickled back to the B&B. They said that it was a great experience but that it really was a very long day. Thankfully the organizers did have water for the people there - the rules wouldn't allow you to bring your own in. I wondered how they were going to handle that. The rest of the guests filtered into the big drawing room and I retrieved our other bottle of wine and the leftover cheese we had from the night before. Other guests broke out their own stash of wine and goodies and I'd say there were at least a dozen of us, probably more, having a very nice little party in the drawing room. It turned out to be a pretty late evening and a lot of talking and laughter. One of the guests was a regular (close friends with the Chilcotts) and was also a British WWII veteran. His wife was my Dad's age and his kids were about my age. He showed us the medals he got that day from "his town". Each year the little villages have celebrations and he goes back to the same town that he helped to liberate. The vets are treated like royalty. There are so few of them left now.

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Sunday morning, June 7. Departure for Paris with some detours.

There were a few things on my overflowing itinerary that we simply didn't get to see. I mentioned some of them above, and I had hoped to also drive Dad around La Route du Cidre which was to the east in the Pays d'Auge. The only day we would have had the time was June 6, as Sunday was the day we were to head to Paris and I had hoped to stop by Giverny on the way. Giverny is open on Sunday (closed Monday) and the weather was yet again perfect for strolling.

http://routeducidre.free.fr/situation.htm

We had our last breakfast with the Chilcotts and guests and lingered over our tea and coffee. Rosemary told us some stories about the house and its history, as well as some history of the time leading up to D-Day. Apparently a few years ago a BBC production crew came through the area shooting a documentary and their road got a cameo (I think their house did too, I have to verify with her, I've forgotten). There was also an interesting documentary (which name I've forgotten) that was about some of the covert efforts leading up to D-Day. One tidbit I found very interesting is that there was call-out by the Allied planners for Europeans to send postcards with pictures/names of their towns to a nondescript address in the UK. If I recall the story, the call was for all northern European towns, not merely the French coast - to hide their intentions of course. Thousands and thousands of postcards poured in. This was very useful for the planners to educate the soldiers as to where they may have landed by the photos on the postcards - for instance identifying a church was very useful. I'm probably getting this story a little wrong, but that was the gist of it. How clever!

Finally, we said our goodbyes and we were off.

next installment:

Our loose plan for the day was to drive to Giverny first, as I really wanted my Dad to see Monet's home and gardens. After that, time permitting, I wanted to take him to Les Andelys and see Chateau Gaillard, which was Richard Coeur de Lion's fortress overlooking the Seine. This is a marvelous, almost 900 year old castle/fortress/stronghold in a stunning and strategic setting. It's roughly an hour's drive from CDG. I have a very fond memory of landing at CDG one morning ten-ish years ago, meeting a friend who had taken the train from Barcelona the night before to meet me as I arrived... driving immediately to Les Andelys.. and taking a nap in the grass (in the lovely warm sun) on the hill immediately adjacent to the Chateau itself. That memory is even sweeter given that when I stare out the window I see almost three feet of snow on my car. (sigh) But, I digress.

http://giverny.org/

http://les-andelys.com/chateau-gaillard/

In order to make an overnight stay in Paris worth the 90-100E taxi ride back and forth from the airport, I wanted to be in Paris NLT 5-6 PM. In other words, were we to arrive in Paris at 9 PM, there'd be little point as we'd essentially eat a late dinner and go to sleep. We had to be on the road by 8 AM the next morning. Based on past experience, I figured that a 9 AM departure from the B&B would put us in Giverny two hours later which would give us time to wander, have lunch, and then back on the road for the remaining hour or so drive to the airport. No sweat, right?

Off we went. Dad was all set in his role as navigator with maps on his lap and books at his feet, and we decided to take the N13 after passing Caen and its peripherique. I should note here that my atlas was ten years old and while it worked 99% of the time, there were some route numbers that were different. We were fine but that was probably because I had been there a few times previously and already knew the lay of the land. I think the old N13 may have been one of the ones re-numbered, come to think of it. I can't recall.

Our first frolic of the morning was when we entered the peripherique and after a little while I said "Dad, why does the sun seem to be coming from behind us? We should be going east." SIGH. I thought we were both paying attention to the proper exit to take to get away from Caen and either the sign wasn't clearly marked or we were both in la-la land. Not blaming the navigator or anything... ;) Luckily the roundy circling Caen is a lot smaller than, say, DC's beltway, so this was only perhaps a 20 minute detour. This time we clearly noted the exit number and got off where we were supposed to exit. NB: clock is ticking.

Why we chose the N13, I'm not sure, because I've done that before and while it's a more direct route it's not a highway but rather goes through towns. I did that drive 5 years ago because I had read the Allied armies used that route to go into Paris and I thought "cool" and thus took it, but that was then, this was now. We got stuck behind tractors and generally slow moving cars. Not a big deal but I soon realized we were not going to get to Giverny on time (or we'd have to give up one last night in Paris because it would be too late) so when I saw the A-13 I just zoomed and took it. I didn't have the map (obviously) and Dad got a little agitated when he traced it and noted that the route takes you towards the north before turning back down south. I "knew" this, having done that particular drive ten years ago, but we discussed it and I decided, OK, OK, let's get off and go back to the more direct route (NB: it would have been faster to take the A-13, despite its non-direct route). This was yet another short detour because we were already on the A-13 and I had to find the next exit and then we had to determine where to go to find the N13 again. Short detour, but clock is still ticking.

As it turned out, this was a serendipitous series of mistakes. The back roads we were on were beautiful, and I quickly realized we were heading for Beuvron en Auge. I had hoped to see this the day before which did not work out, and I figured that since we were right upon it anyway, a bird in hand... We followed the map and parked at one end of the village.

Beuvron is one of "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France" (the most beautiful villages of France) and I can vouch that it lives up to that designation. Let's put it this way: we were there only a short time, and in my flickr set above, almost 20% of the photos depicted come from that brief time in this village. It's a small village which seemed (on our short visit) to concentrate mostly along one main street. Despite its small size, we still spent almost an hour walking around. The flowers were in abundance, there were a number of places to sample the cider (which sadly I did not as I was driving), and we were thoroughly delighted - the setting, the half-timbered buildings, the flowers... all of it. Just lovely.

By the time we left Beuvron I think it was probably close to 11 AM. I still hoped we could give Giverny a fly-by in but we decided to play it by ear. Back to the slow road it was. As it turned out, it was closing on 1 PM by the time we got close to the decision point of "head to Giverny or not" and I looked longingly at the signs as we passed them. We probably could have done it, but my estimations meant even a truncated visit would have meant arrival at the hotel in Paris at 7-ish PM and that was compressing things a bit too much. It boiled down to a choice of one or the other and Dad was very happy with our on-the-fly choice of Beuvron and I figured that was just fine. He got to see some great flowers and a beautiful village.

We dropped the car at CDG and taxied in to Paris and arrived at 4-ish PM at the hotel.

last installment:

The remainder of the evening was uneventful. We just walked around after dropping our bags at the Hotel des Grands Hommes. For an hour or so, we experienced our second rain on the entire trip but that soon passed and then the lighting was beautiful. You know the kind I mean: storm clouds but brilliant sun and everything looks as if you are wearing polarized glasses - but you are not. We wandered back down towards Notre Dame.

Our walk took us down the Boulevard St. Michel, past the fountain of the same name, and then we strolled through the narrow alleys nearby. There is a really excellent crepe stand as soon as you enter this area and we each had a crepe. The name of it escapes me, including the street name - but you really can't miss it. With your back to the Seine, look at the fountain, and then turn left and walk across the street into the rabbit warren of alleys behind the bookshop Gibert Jeune. Dad really liked walking through here and come to think of it, he really enjoyed the stroll down the Champs Elysees earlier that week - I suppose because you just don't see many crowds like that in NW PA.

After our roundabout stroll including a saunter past Notre Dame and a peek into St. Etienne du Mont and then back to the hotel, we had dinner at Le Petit Prince de Paris and then called it a night. The next morning, we flew home.

FIN

(-ALLY!)

My new little Canon S90

2009-10-27T21:11:00.016-04:00

I bought a new little P&S recently. I have always had a P&S to supplement my DSLR and I typically replace it about every two years or so. This was the 2d year after my purchase of the Canon SD800IS. Canon is working overtime to narrow the gap between the SLRs and the P&S and they have really hit on a great formula. This camera is just a shade larger than my current P&S (miniscule amount, really) but it is fully manual including RAW. It's a dream to use. I agonized over the S90 versus G11 for a little while but am very glad I bought the S90.

Here you will find two photos which were taken within days of buying the camera, both in London. I took advantage of United double-miles offer and spent 3 nights there. London - my favorite city in the world.

Here is my slideshow of photos taken in London with the S90:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157622526988975/show/

A single red rose...

2009-09-12T22:24:00.013-04:00

My photos from my Dad's trip to Normandy/Paris in June are online (finally). Now, to write a trip report to go with these photos - maybe before Xmas? One can hope...

Here is my Compass Rose Galleries link:

http://www.compassrosegalleries.com/France/Normandy

Astana on the Col des Abeilles

2009-09-09T07:15:00.012-04:00

This was taken on the Col des Abeilles, in the Luberon. The peloton reached this roughly 30-45 minutes after Sault and perhaps 90 minutes before Mont Ventoux (give or take). We parked in Monieux and hiked up a tiny little road (so small it probably isn't on the map) to get to the Tour route.

The fella in yella is Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong is wearing black socks. Shortly after this photo was taken a water canister came winging past my head - too fast for me to catch and it went over the side of the mountain.

Here is a photo of Mark Cavendish, sprinter extraordinaire. He rides for Columbia-HTC and he's the one to watch in the coming years!

This was my first Tour de France and I am now a convert. When you start making google alerts for the riders, and following them on twitter, you have passed the point of no return.
See more Tour de France photos at my website below. The Paris ones will be put online shortly so come back in a few days if you would like to see the rest of them.
http://www.compassrosegalleries.com/France/Tour-de-France

When you see the helo, you know the pelo is not far behind

2009-08-04T10:40:00.010-04:00

My teaser! For those who are peeking in to see if I have finally uploaded my photos, I am working on it... here is the helicopter, the peloton is not far behind!

June 6 - I got passes to the ceremony where Obama and Sarkozy will speak!

2009-05-27T11:18:00.003-04:00

Hip hip hooray!

I finally managed to get passes to the commemorative ceremonies at the American Cemetery.

Presidents Obama and Sarkozy will be there.

Very excited!

Missing the beach

2009-05-22T11:55:00.003-04:00

I just realized that it's been 6 months since I visited my beach house. I'm going down over July 4th weekend to stick my toes in the water!

Eek! Only eight more sleeps before we leave for France!

2009-05-21T16:09:00.006-04:00

Wow, has this ever snuck up on me. I am taking my Dad to Paris/Normandy for the 65th Anniversary of D-Day. (He was 3 years old at the time, and snug asleep in his bed in Pennsylvania at the time... not a veteran!).

We will drink Kir Royale in Paris... Calvados in Normandy... will sample crepes (the best street food of Paris!) and let's not forget the creme brulee too.

The itinerary is more or less:

Paris for three nights
TGV to Tours, pick up the car, spend the day visiting a winery in Saumur, maybe a castle on the Loire... then drive to Fougeres in Brittany for two nights. While we are in Brittany we will visit Mont St. Michel among other things.
Then on to Bayeux where we will stay at a B&B for 3 nights. I am still trying to get passes to the ceremonies at the American Cemetery - apparently President Obama will be there.
I would dearly love to try to do part of the Cider Route while we are there - it is not far away from Bayeux.
The day we drive back to Paris, a visit to Giverny is necessary.
Paris for one night, then fly home.

It already sounds too short!

London in a wheelchair

2009-02-22T20:51:00.008-05:00

Hi all, This is a very old trip report - from 2001 as a matter of fact. I wanted to find it to make sure it wasn't lost to posterity, and here it is...

*******************************

I spent a week in a wheelchair, in London. A few of you asked that I write of my experiences.

Well, as I am rather lazy - I am cutting and pasting my thank you letter to the father of the friend who lent me the chair. He had a chronic debilitating condition for two years, and miraculously recovered. I told my friend that I would write of my experiences to him, (as he INSISTED that I not purchase him any gifts - however I did cheat, I bought him a lovely coffee table type book on London as I figured he might like to actually see where his wheelchair went for that week...

So here goes, please keep in mind that this was actually addressed to a specific person...

Dear Mr. Robertson,

I am Paul's friend and coworker, and the beneficiary of your kindness in allowing me and my friend to use your wheelchair for our London adventure. I told Paul that I would write you a letter telling you of my experiences. I also thought you might like to see where your wheelchair has been. I do hope you like the book, it was the least I could do to thank you.

As you may know, we used the chair to research a book on disabled access to London. We not only wanted to see what the frustrations of visiting London might prove to be (and how to get around them), but we also wanted to be able to see how well a disabled person would be treated there, especially by the people you would come into contact with through traveling, such as hoteliers, airline attendants, and so on. Therefore it was important that I remain in the wheelchair for a significant part of the trip.

As it was a 'press trip', we really had the red carpet rolled out for us. We flew first class on British Airways, as well as staying in four different luxury hotels - all gratis.

I've been to London several times (and hope to live there one day) so a fair number of the attractions were not new to me. However this was a completely new perspective, even for old familiar sights. It was also interesting to see how people in general interacted with you. I noticed that while I was smiled at frequently by passersby (unusual in a large city I think), I was not often addressed or engaged in conversation by people in general, even in the hotels. (I can see how this would make it rather hard to flirt!!)

I found that people were very solicitous towards me while I was in the chair. I managed to tip it over backwards onto cobblestones once. It all happened so quickly - one second I was trying to take a small ramp by myself, the next second all I saw was sky, my feet, and about 5 faces peering down at me with eyes THIS BIG. Before I even had time to react they quickly righted me and off I went. It was actually funny for about 20 minutes - then it started to hurt. OUCH! (Don't worry, your chair took it quite well - no probs).

Over the course of the week I was:

Lifted up steps; shuttled into taxicabs, bumped over cobblestones at the Tower of London, lifted up off the cobblestones at Somerset House, then slalomed through the fountains there, was smiled at, winked at, pushed up a looooong 45-degree ramp at the HMS Belfast and later peered over my toes down that same long ramp… (the Belfast is a warship which saw action on D-Day - now a floating museum); I 'excused me' through the CRUSH of people in Leicester Square after we left a theatre… and last but not least experienced the Tube (subway) with the chair. When they say "mind the gap" as you exit - they are not joking. I have seen gaps between the platform and car of over a foot and a half wide!! There were too many other experiences to fit in here - but I think I hit some of the highlights…

I'm not by nature an extremely patient person. In fact, most of my friends would call me hyper (the less charitable ones would say I suffer from ADD) but at any rate - I sure had a taste of learning how to be patient. Spontaneity tends to go out the window and in its place is an amazing amount of planning and prioritizing - at least to avoid frustrations that is. The time you have to build into mundane, day to day activities is not something I was aware of prior to this experience. Within a few days I was pretty convinced I never wanted to sit in that chair again.

I give anyone who must rely on a wheelchair enormous credit for their courage in dealing with it. I am now even more thankful that I have led a charmed life. I'm also very glad that you are no longer in need of the chair! Paul tells me you used it for two years and that your recovery could truly be deemed a miracle. I'm glad you recovered from your affliction.

In all this was an interesting experience and I am glad I have the luxury of calling it interesting. To me, travel has always meant freedom and independence. So it was a good feeling to know that I might be helping someone to enjoy a certain measure of freedom and independence by assisting them in their travel plans....

Hannah Belle crosses the Alps - the Ultimate Road Trip

2008-12-08T20:06:00.002-05:00

Highlights from my BMW delivery in Munich in May 2008. The below are emails to friends...

It's a girl! a 3792 pound girl...

And I've decided to name her Hannah Belle. Can you guess why? (For the first person who guesses correctly - I'll send an 8 x 10 of any photo I've taken on this trip that you like...)

Here are two photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157605258259622/

This was a first class experience all the way. The new BMW Welt (google it for photos, it's amazing) was just opened in October and it's quite an experience. It's a huge building and the Premium Lounge (where you check in, and wait for your time slot) is on the third floor, but it's likely higher than 30 feet up. The cars are brought out into the showroom below and when you go down to see it for the first time, you watch it from the viewing platform while it rotates on its own platform. Each buyer has his own attendant and there is a 40 minute overview (video, and simulator) of the car beforehand. After that is over they take you to your car and spend another hour learning about all of the car's features. It was like taking flying lessons for the first time - there is a LOT of stuff in the cockpit of this car! I synched up blue tooth and called my Dad from the car itself - I heard him talking through the speakers of the car.

After that is all done they load your luggage into it (believe me - the trunk space on Miss Hannah Belle is pretty darn small...) and then you can do a victory lap around the showroom before taking it outdoors and then into the garage.

After parking we spent another 2.5 hours on a factory tour which was VERY interesting. (Loud, but interesting...). The robots build the cars in a very elaborate dance - it was fascinating and frightening both, watching them operate. (and dance is the only way to put it - ballet even....) I think the person who dreamed up The Terminator must have been inspired by a trip to a car factory. The coolest part was watching the robots paint - it's as if they were alive, the way they handled the car. (opening doors, the trunk, the hood, etc...)

In a few minutes Mom and I are taking off to Austria, our first stop on the adventure. Enjoy the holiday!

Beth

We have a winnah!

Hi everyone

I can't stay on long, as Mom and I are heading out on a hike. I just wanted to pop in, say hello (on an Italian keyboard, so please excuse any typos) and say that Mellen immediately emailed me with the correct reason behind the car's name! She emailed me back within hours. JOdy also guessed it right but I think her email was a day or two later. Great minds think alike!

Hannibal crossed the Alps, only he had elephants. He most likely did not have a laptop, blackberry, camera gear, nor a BMW. I think I have the better end of that deal!

It's been just wonderful. Highlights include the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse (High Alpine Road which cuts through a park with a view of Austria's highest mountain) and we arrived Tues night in northern Italy, in the Dolomites. We are staying in a hotel perched on the side of a mountain, called the Uhrherhof Deur. From here, all you can hear are the tinkle of cowbells and the roar of the river down below.

I can't post photos yet because I haven't found wifi since I left Munich. Maybe on Lake Como (Anne and Kirk, did you find wifi there?)

Brodie, you should have gotten the email about the Welt since I cc'd you, if I don't hear back I will assume they are not going through and I'll forward them to you.

I have many more things to tell but we are heading out now. I'll be in touch later and it is so nice to hear from everyone too! I hope you are enjoying the late May weather.

Beth

Ofenpass: Ja. Stelvio: Nein. Boohoo

Hi everyone

Logging in from cloudy Guarda Switzerland. What a week this has been - it's Friday night already! Today was the day we left the Dolomites in Italy to go to Switzerland, and in order to go from Italy to Switzerland you must cross some mountain pass (take your pick of several, depending on your location).

I had been hoping for the Stelvio Pass, which is the second highest pass in the entire Alps. It has over 60 switchbacks and is supposed to be just amazing. As the week grew to a close it was clear that it wasn't going to be fully open (one side only) and when we woke to cloud cover in Bulla, I knew it would have been pointless anyway. Not to mention the Umbrail Pass (other side of the Stelvio) is the last unpaved pass in the Alps and would have been a mudfest. Not the kind of fun I want in a new car. Plus, at the top of the Ofenpass it was 39 degrees F and that is quite a bit lower in altitude than the Stelvio. Rain, freezing, mud - not a good combo even if open! Instead of the Great Alpine Adventure it would have been the Bataan Death March through the Alps.

So we pressed on and opted for the Ofenpass, which is a pretty gentle pass, as passes go. We made it to our destination at 4 PM - Guarda itself is fairly high up and we have an impressive view of the mountain range across the river Inn (being on a mountain ourselves...).

Oh yeah, did I mention it rained all day, too? Considering all we did today was drive, not a big deal - except at the Swiss border where we had to produce our passports - which were buried in the suitcases. Did I mention the only way you can easily get the suitcases out of the backseat is to put the top down? Well, you can "not easily" root through your luggage in the backseat with the top up. Finally success! and we produced our passports and went on our merry and wet way. By the time we got here however, the sun was trying to peep out and we went for a nice walk before dinner. I do have a lot of photos by now but haven't posted them on flickr yet.

Some quick notes from the week:

Munich: Paige - I think we missed the boat on the olive oil soap. The Viktualienmarkt is not open on Sunday and by the time we got in Saturday and dragged our jet-lagged selves around, all we did was have a snack there and then we wandered to the English Garden (where we saw examples of what it is famous for - let's just say, how do they put sunscreen on the private places in public?) and then the Ratskeller for dinner (and REALLY GOOD BEER) and then snooooooooze. Didn't we eat there when I met up with you guys in Munich 6 years ago? Anyway, we wil be back in Munich next Saturday but I think it will be after 4 PM when it will be closed.

Also Munich - on Sunday we visited Dachau which was thoroughly depressing. I really don't have adequate words for it. The Museum and its stories and photos - well let's just say a little goes a long way. After 30 minutes you want to get outside and get some air. I last visited there about 15 years ago, but Mom had never been. That afternoon we went on a 3 hour walking tour which was about the Third Reich and Hitler's rise to power. What one person can do with the proper thugs behind him and a culture of fear.

Monday we picked up the car and ya'll know about that! Having driven it all week I can say it's a spectacular car. It's climbed mountains (7 passes so far and counting) with two people and with the boot and back seat full of luggage (and I do mean - full of luggage) with nary a whimper, and the doodads on it are fun to play with (and use) and already I feel like I wouldn't want to be without them.

Monday night we stayed in Zell am See, Austria. I'd love to come back and spend more time - it is a beautiful village and a great base for day trips and hiking and biking and you name it. "See" means lake...

to be continued...

Sul Lago di Como

Hello everyone!
We made it to my favorite part of the itinerary - Lake Como. Last night we stayed in Lenno, on the west side of the Lake, and this morning we will visit Villa Balbianello, which has been used for several movie sets (among them A Month at the Lake, and at least one Star Wars..) This afternoon we will put Miss Belle on the ferry and cross the Lake to Varenna, where we will stay at the Eremo Gaudio for 3 nights (same place as last year...).
I think the idea of a Month by the Lake is really attractive... heck even a week or two each year would be nice.. sigh.
More later! Have a great weekend everyone...

Beth

Changing course in midstream (following the sun...)

Hi everyone!
We are still on Lago di Como and the day dawned bright and sunny - nary a cloud in the sky and it is maybe 65 degrees out right now.
Many of you have emailed me to ask me if we were affected by the huge rains here in middle Europe. We actually did not know it was a system passing through, we have been very lucky with the weather. Other than the rain we experienced on the drive from the Dolomites to Guarda Switzerland (Engadin region), and, a brief bout of spitting yesterday, we have been rain free. We have had some overcast weather, but even that has been in the minority.
That said... I noticed with some alarm that the 3 days in Grindelwald (Berner Oberland) was forecast to be not only 3 days straight of rain, but cold (high of 50). That just will not do. We would not be able to see the mountains and forget about spending 3 days outside in rain and cold. The things I had hoped to do there just would not be very enjoyable. It is not an ,indoors, place to visit!
So, I extended our stay here on Lake Como. How can we leave blue skies and sun? We are spending one more night (beyond tonight, which was already reserved) in the Eremo Gaudio, perched up on the mountain... and another night across the lake in Lenno, in the hotel where we stayed on Saturday night. It is in a perfect location, the balcony overlooks the ferry stop and just meters up the (quiet, one-way) lane are several restaurants with terrace views on the lake. I am taking a hit for the cancellation, since I have to pay 100% of the room fee for the hotel we are cancelling, but, it is a small price to pay to be able to stay where it is warm and sunny.
So, instead of leaving here tomorrow morning, we are leaving Friday morning to make our way back to Munich for the weekend - which is also one day early, so we will just pick a place to stop for the night Friday and thus split up the driving. I think tomorrow we will go to Milan to wander (and shop!) and perhaps get lucky and see Leonardo da Vinci,s Last Supper. (reservations required). Today we are going to have a seaplane ride over Lake Como so I will have some fabulous photos to share!

Some highlights from the past few days:
We have wandered through several lakeside villas. The amount of money that landed here (now and in the past) is staggering. Villa Balbianello was spectacular (as expected) and I also found out that Casino Royale had scenes filmed there. The owner.s story was really fascinating - has anyone here ever heard of Guido Monzino? He was the last owner of the villa, and gave it to FAI (the Italian version of the National Trust) upon his death. He was the son of a very wealthy Milanese businessman and he neither worked nor had a family, but he devoted his life to exploration, being the first Italian to scale Mount Everest and he also was the first Italian to reach the North Pole. The villa has a massive library and map room (and much of the villa is underground, it looks large but not hugely so, from the outside...) and to sum up looks like THE ultimate bachelor pad from the 50s (and I do not mean that in a Hugh Hefner kind of way... think more of a James Bond kind of way...)

There is a huge lakeside villa in Varenna which apparently was a monastery a long time ago (those poor Catholics!) and after the last owner died became a center of scientific study.... while on the topic of the impoverished Catholic church, the Villa Balbienello had as its first owner a Cardinal from the 1700s... (I am Catholic, so I can say this!)

We also wandered around Bellagio yesterday. Mom and I are thoroughly enjoying ourselves, in case that is not evident!

Amy, you would appreciate this - in the restaurant where we had lunch yesterday, we sat very near a young-Colin Firth lookalike. (men, you can avert your eyes now...) You know how he looked in Pride and Prejudice? All the way to the curly, foppish hair, long side burns, and white button down shirt with the top two buttons undone? Yeah, that Colin Firth. hubba hubba. It clearly was not he, since he was a good ten years younger and spoke perfect Italian, but hoo baby.

I forgot to tell everyone also - a fillup on the car is 115 bucks! yipes.

OK, we are heading out now. Have a great day everyone!

Beth

Spargel-bargle and back in Munich

Hi everyone

Apparently it is Spargel season. (asparagus, and I think specifically white asparagus). We got back to Munich Friday night and I've seen entire menu pages devoted to them, as well as seeing them in every food stall in the Viktualienmarkt. It's also the weekend for kickoff of Euro-cup so we saw a lot of flag waving yesterday and huge lines to get into the Hofbrauhaus and other pubs.
Friday was a loooooooong day of driving - overcast when it wasn't rainy, mountain passes shrouded in clouds, and "only" 300 miles on the odometer but until we hit Germany it was entirely slow going. Naturally once we were on the autobahn all bets were off (but for the limits on the new engine) but the lead up to that was relatively slow. I dropped off the car with 971 miles on the odo, in part because once we got to Lake Como it stayed put for the week. I think the break in period is 1200 miles or so, so I had to keep it around 100 once we finally got to Germany. Sooooooooo smooth. It's quite an experience to be in the left lane, passing someone at 105 mph and have a speck in your mirror turn into a big BMW very, very quickly. You move over immediately after passing and the 740 rockets by... (I'd say it's a thing of beauty but some might disagree...)

Friday night we didn't have hotel plans (heck, Friday morning we were still debating whether to go to Fussen or Garmisch for that night, until deciding to just plow through to Munich) so I decided to drive straight to the airport Sheraton where I was stranded in January after my Italy New-Years trip. A few clicks of the Nav system, pulled up the hotel directions and off we went. I knew the hotel had a good restaurant and Paulaner Weissbier (nectar!) and that once we parked we would have a good place to eat and it was very modern and comfortable too. It was the cheapest hotel on the trip, too. So, now the car is at the shipping agency (boo hoo) and I have the German license plate in my luggage as well as the loose odds and ends in the car. (manual, first aid kit, triangle, yada yada). It was already initiated - someone swiped the rear bumper, I suspect while it was parked in the garage at the hotel in Lenno. It's just a scuff with some paint missing, not a dent or anything. Roads and garage space in Italy are so narrow!

The first week of our trip was pretty much full sun with a little overcast here and there. The second week of the trip (Lake Como included) was pretty much full overcast with a little sun here and there and a little rain too. On the Lake, Tuesday was the last sun we saw (the day we decided to stay put) but it stayed warm the whole time. We made it to Milan for four hours but after a trek from the Duomo to the Last Supper, we found that it was sold out (as expected, you need to reserve well in advance). We did visit the Duomo and were robbed of 100 bucks at lunch. By robbed, I mean we plunked down at an "outdoor cafe" in the over-the-top Galleria next to the Duomo and had awful pasta, a glass of wine each, and a stale roll each... for 65 euros. I wouldn't have minded so much BUT the rolls turned out to be 5 euros, each. 16 bucks, for two stale rolls. Try not to eat near the Duomo.

Let's see... we visited several villas right on the lakefront, I think I told you about one of them. Villa Monastero was very near our hotel and the gardens there were my favorite. (Anne, the drive up the hill to the Eremo Gaudio literally starts at the Villa Monastero entrance). Boats are *the* way to get around (forget about driving, parking isn't easy and the roads are maybe 1.5 lanes, not quite two..) so it was a slow, lazy week on the lake.

I'll fill in some blanks on other experiences later. I think the final tally on mountain pass driving was nine passes - the coolest pass was the Maloja pass which was essentially a step ladder right down the mountain. Gasoline is crazy expensive - more than double that in the US (a fillup is almost 115 bucks...). I put a few more photos online but the majority wil obviously have to wait until I get home. I owe a lot of emails now, too!

Have a great Sunday everyone...

Beth

ps. photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalkerbeth/sets/72157605258259622/

Italian Notebook published another one of my little stories and photos

2008-12-04T20:40:00.005-05:00

(www.ItalianNotebook.com)

What do Casino Royale, Star Wars, Ocean's Twelve and A Month by the Lake have in common?

More hints you say?

How about "What was revered by a Cardinal in the beginning and loved by an international man of mystery to the end?"

If you thought "Villa Balbianello on Lake Como", you're right!

Lake Como has long been a playground for the wealthy. Its beauty and serenity has also been attractive to the Catholic church which snapped up some prime locations; to-wit, Villa Monastero in Varenna (once a monastery) and Villa Balbianello, once the site of a Franciscan monastery. Villa Balbianello itself was built by Cardinal Durini in 1787 after he discovered its beautiful locale (a promontory jutting out just south of present-day Lenno) and decided its solitude would be a perfect place to escape the world.

Almost 200 years later, in 1974, Villa Balbianello would be bought by its last private owner, Guido Monzino, the son of a wealthy Milanese businessman. Guido was quite a character: he climbed the Matterhorn, he was the first Italian to scale Mount Everest and he led an expedition to the North Pole. Sadly he died a young 60 years old in 1988 and his resting place is his beloved Villa. He willed it to FAI, the Italian National Trust, and it is now a museum to his adventurous life (with a strong James Bond aura!). When you visit his smoking room, filled with leather chairs and maps and globes and books you can imagine that he only just nipped out for a bottle of Scotch and would be right back.

Finally, the glamorous movie connection of this fabulous Villa: it has played a starring role in the various movies listed above and it's no surprise at all that one of them was a James Bond film. Before you visit this spectacular villa you simply must watch the Vanessa Redgrave/Uma Thurman movie, A Month by the Lake. You will find yourself seeking your own Month by this wondrous Lake too.