So by the time of Louis XIV, Versailles was becoming a bit much for the king and his family, so he had a smaller palace built on the outskirts of Versailles, and the Trianons were born. They’re really quite lovely, and way more opulent than a summer house should be. The thing about the Trianons […]
Versailles, Day 15: Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet Read More »
Versailles is an utterly amazing spectacle. It is grand on a scale that I’ve never experienced before. Standing there, looking out from the Palace to the Grand Canal is a glimpse into a very different world. Versailles is a bit of a trip outside of Paris proper. We took the RER train (basically the commuter
Versailles, Day 15 Read More »
Our next morning, we had some shopping plans. We started out at the Les Halles metro stop, and managed to get completely turned around. Which ended up being a happy accident, as we ended up at the Centre Pompidou, which has a really neat fountain installation in its courtyard. Mistake corrected, we headed into the
Our first full day in Paris, we decided to do some shopping. Which worked out to involve a whole lot of incidental walking. We started the morning at Notre Dame, because, well, we’re in Paris, so we had to go to Notre Dame. Which is fully as fascinating as a medieval cathedral should be. We
I definitely recommend taking the Eurostar train from London to Paris. The transport links are so easy (city center to city center). There’s great leg room (I bought my tickets the first day they were available, so I was able to snag one of the table seats for the three of us. Oh, and the
Day 12: London to Paris Read More »
Since we had our car until the end of the day Saturday, and had to clear out of the cottage by 10:00 AM, we figured we’d be silly not to stop off somewhere on the way back to London. Using my trusty National Trust handbook, I located Stourhead House and Garden, in Wiltshire (so not
Wiltshire, Day 11: Stourhead Read More »
I feel as though I should address the driving situation, even though I barely got any pictures, because I was usually too busy navigating. I should first say that there are a lot of roundabouts in England. So a lot of navigating involves spotting the warning signs so you can tell the driver
Heligan isn’t just the kitchen gardens – it was an estate, so has plenty of ornamental gardens, and wild space. There’s a section called the Jungle that’s stuck inside a steep walled valley, so it’s got a warmer microclimate than the gardens near the house. During Victorian times, it was planted with tree ferns and
Cornwall, Day 10: The Lost Gardens of Heligan – The Other Gardens Read More »
The Lost Gardens of Heligan were another one of my must sees in Cornwall, after I’d run into a couple television shows about the gardens. The very basic back story: the garden staff all volunteered to go off and fight in WWI, and unfortunately, as in many other places, they didn’t come back. Fast forward
Cornwall, Day 10: The Lost Gardens of Heligan – The Productive Gardens Read More »
Cotehele was the home of the Earls of Mount Edgecumbe back to Tudor times, but they eventually built a much nicer home, and Cotehele became a dumping ground of old furniture and knick knacks. That’s the beauty of Cotehele. All of the rooms still have walls covered in tapestries (which means they keep the inside
Cornwall, Day 9: Cotehele Read More »