Reading & Henley

Last Sunday we went to Reading to spend the day with some of my Polish/English family. It was wonderful to see them and they toured us around Reading, where they live, and Henley, a near-by town on the water. It was a beautiful day and the turning leaves were gorgeous.

Henley has a long pedestrian bridge crossing the river which has a small island in the middle of it with all these great little houses that you can only get to by boat. The surrounding hills have lots of great, not-so-little houses that apparently house some of Britain's rich and famous.

We went for a really long walk along the river, got caught up with each other and enjoyed the sunshine.

The London Eye

As part of mom's visit, we took a ride on the London Eye and it was incredible! It takes about a half an hour to go all the way around and they say you can see for about 40 km on a clear day. The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking and made us feel very, very small!

Paris

We have finally gotten around to the much anticipated Paris post! On a technical note, we have yet to totally master this whole blogging thing, so the pictures end up being out of order and somewhat random - oh well!

Paris was . . . well . . . incredible. The weather was spectacular, the company fantastic, the food (and wine) amazing and the sights indescribable. We LOVED it!!

It was a really fast weekend but we had a terrific time eating, drinking, exploring and butchering the French language, and we quickly fell in love with the city.

Our hotel was in the Latin Quarter and this is what the streets looked like on Sunday. There were people and food stands everywhere and tons of opportunities for terrific people watching. We picked up a delicious picnic with a baguette, cheese, meat, fruit and wine and then enjoyed it in the Luxembourg Gardens that were just down the street. I loved the fact that there were tons of other people doing exactly the same thing. The Parisians definitely know how to relax and enjoy life!



The Luxembourg Gardens . . .

When we say that there were a tonne of other people doing the exact same thing....I have noticed that Europeans enjoy McDonalds more than North Americans do. Everyone who was having a picnic was eating Micky D's.....it made me cry a little on the inside. sorry I have no photo as evidence. But the gardens were beautiful.

Out of order picture - but its identity speaks for itself!

The Pantheon . . .

Back to the Latin Quarter . . .

On Saturday night we took a boat cruise down the Seine and took in the beautiful lights of the city. It was a tad breezy - but so worth it!



The Eiffel Tower goes all sparkly on the hour. pretty neato!

More of our Saturday stroll . . . this is the Obelisque at the center of the Place de la Concorde.

L'Arc de Triomphe

The token 'must-have' Eiffel Tower picture

There was some kind of artistic installation in the grounds surrounding the Louvre, largely consisting of thousands of clay pots filled with wax - some sitting in arrangements on the ground while others were part of various sculptures like this one. We're not sure what it all meant, but it was very cool!

Ahhh . . . the Louvre. What to say other than 'wow'? (Except maybe that it was great to be there in October because there weren't any crazy crowds and we really could just relax and enjoy it all.)

A quick peek at Notre Dame . . .

One of the many beautiful bridges of Paris. Spots like this make me want to sit there for at least an hour with a coffee while thinking of absolutely nothing at all.

Le Centre Georges Pompidou . . .

Back the Louvre, courtesy of the picture order problem!

Sigh . . . it was a magical weekend and we are already trying to figure out when we'll go back. There are so many more things we have to see and do there - not to mention more time sitting in cafes, drinking red wine and enjoying the Parisian approach to life!

Dover

Last weekend we decided to take advantage of the Community Rail Festival (ie. weekend when train tickets are only 10 pounds) to do another day trip. After some random flipping through our Great Britain travel book, we decided that Dover sounded like a great place to visit - and it was!

Dover is on the southeastern tip of England, just across the English Channel from France. You can even see the shady outline of France from the Dover shores. Dover is also the home of the white cliffs (aka. the Cliffs of Insanity, for those of us who grew up with the Princess Bride); it is a really cute port town and, on the top of its cliffs, houses an incredible fortress complete with "Secret Wartime Tunnels" that were first excavated during the Napoleonic Wars and then expanded and improved upon over subsequent wars, particularly WWII. For a large part of WWII, these tunnels housed Britain's key military personnel and intelligence. Neither words nor pictures can really describe what these tunnels were like, and even our imaginations could only go so far in picturing what life must have been like for the thousands of people who passed through the tunnels during the wars.

All around the fortress there are mounds like this one that reveal the tunnel paths beneath.

The fortress was built for defence, not as a pleasure palace. These 'murder holes' are everywhere and between them, the moat, the cliffs and the cannons, it is not the most welcoming facade!

Dover is now a bustling port with a huge harbour and dozens of ferries coming in and out - most heading to France.

The next shot took 25 or so attempts and is a major reason the camera battery died....I hope you all enjoy.

The views from the top of the fortress were breathtaking. On one side there are the stunning white cliffs, on another side there is the channel, and then surrounding the rest are these rolling hills and the town sites. Amazing!

This is one of the medieval tunnels that form an amazing labyrinth under the fortress and throughout the hills. Lots of them were not lit, were totally deserted and were very, very quiet. Not going to lie - we walked pretty quickly through some of them!

I like this tree

The fortress site has been in use for over 2000 years. This building is a Roman lighthouse which dates back to 50 AD and which, according to the guide book, may be the oldest standing building in Britain.









This is a view of the fortress from the town and yes - we did climb all the way up!



Aren't they incredible? There seem to be countless walks you can do on top of them and over the hills that surround them. The beach at the bottom is made entirely of black sand and makes for a really striking contrast with the brilliantly white cliffs. Unfortunately, our camera died before we really got onto the cliffs so this is the only picture we have - so sad. We decided it is one more reason we have to go back!









In real life this was one of the ugliest fountains I have ever seen. Obviously I had to take a picture. I'm really surprised how pretty the photo is.
Essential Daily Exercise....take a peek.....that's Amy up there...
Imagine what would happen if I owned this Castle....The Power!
Big Gun


It was a terrific trip and definitely a spot we'd love to go back to!

Stay tuned for Paris pictures . . .

by Amy

and Ry