Back Home ...

to my unparalleled view ... and this is only part of it !

Last Stop, Nice.

The old town of Nice with its narrow streets.

It was here we all said,"Goodbye" and went our separate ways.

We visited Villecroze where Merinda and I lived for a delightful 6 months of French Provencal life in 1995








... and saw her school.

Had a wonderful meal at Le Colombier where Willy first took me to dinner on 2nd February 1995.

Quino grains with smoked salmon.

Foie-gras maison.

Pigeon.




Chocolait cake.

Market Sunshine.

After days of rain it was good to enjoy the sun and nibbles at the market in Aups.

Deeper into Provence.

Fontaine de Vaucluse is a closed valley with a deep spring of crystal clear water.


Early morning I followed the churning water to the the source. Jacques Cousteau dived 45m here in 1948. Recently divers went down 85m.



The abundance of flowing water enabled the establishment in the 1500s of paper mill which today produces high quality hand made paper.

We visited the well preserved Theatre in Orange which seats 10,000.

Built in C1stAD it was seen by the Roman authorities not only as a means of spreading Roman culture to the colonies, but also as a way of distracting them from all political activities.

Entry was free and up to 100 days a year were asigned to performances.

In Avignon we visited the Plais du Papes; the grand papal palace built over 20 years in the 1300s by two Popes: the austere Benedict XII and the flamboyant Clement VI whose styles are reflected in the architecture of their buildings.



The life of John the Baptist is portrayed in a chapel; however Salome looks far from enticing !







More Tromp d'Oeuil ...

We enjoyed a Truffle menu that evening ...and admired the largest one found thereabouts...over several glasses of wine.

La Belle France.

Our first stop in France : Chateau de Candie, originally a Templar castle.

See the princess in the tower !

Rescued ! ... with decorative Trompe d'Oeuil.

En-route to the South.

At Pont du Gard we admired the Roman aqueduct constructed in the C1st AD to carry water from the Fontaines d'Eures 50km to Nimes.

Also, this aged olive tree believed to be 1108 years old.

In Nimes we saw La Maison-Carrée built in 4BC; the only complete temple remaining from Roman times...

and the Amphitheatre built in about 50AD in which up to 25,000 spectators could enjoy fights to the death.

Indeed, even so today.

Willy's school stands grandly nearby.

Exploring Vaud

At Orbe the Romans constructed a stately Villa, well positioned above the swampy lowlands.


The mosaics of gods and sea monsters are very fine.

Iron has been mined and worked in Valorbe since the earliest of times.

We girls fished Trout for our supper ...
and the men did the messy stuff.

Jenny & Loren Joined Me ...

Grandson Castle dates back to Medaeval times, but most of it's construction is from 1400s.

There is an excellent Vehicle display within, which includes Churchill's Austen Cambridge ...

and this rather fun tricycle.

Nearby, equally ancient, St.John's has several Mediaeval capitols in which the stone mason's sense of humour, once obscured by shadows, can now easily be seen.



Traditional Swiss fare. Willy, the Raclatteur grills the cheese and serves it a slice at a time accompanied by cold meats, potatoes, pickles and plenty of crisp white wine.
Swiss whites are particuarly light and dry as their second fermentation takes place in the bottle (and not in one's tummy) making them easily digestable and very drinkable.

and so to Switzerland

Such a cute Swiss Train ...

so what's the Swiss national dog ?

For My Fans ...

and others who love me !

Me, in Venice.




The dark brown building behind me is the oldest shipyard making gondolas ... worth a visit.

Timeless Venice ... more Art.

My cousin invited me with her to Venice: such an extraordinary city ... not just parts of it, but as a whole.

Glorious sights are everywhere one looks.













We visited the Guggenheim Museum: Peggy's collection.
I find "Futuristic" Art rather difficult to appreciate. However, we had an expert guide who did assist by explaining the inner journeys into the 20th Century that these artists are protraying.





Yoko Ono visited in 2003 and started a "Wishing Tree" on an Olive Tree growing in the garden.
Just beside where all Peggy's dogs are buried, and she herself.

Most stunning, perhaps, was the scene, from the roof of the Stucky Hilton, of a cruise ship gently manoevering through the canal out to the sea.

Art

We went off to see an Art Deco exhibition : paintings from 1920s-1940s.

I suppose I liked a couple of the paintings ... the pre-Raphelite ones - but on the whole I much preferred this Mediaeval panel still with some of it's original paint and this glizy St.Jerome laking the thorn from the lion's paw.

She looks not a day over 65 !

A Change of Life !

After two weeks of virtual nail biting
since the interviews
(in which I think I talked too much)
and
the ordeal of 3 hours of essay writing ...
I was DELIGHTED to learn that
I have been offered a place as a Mature Student
at Lucy Cavendish College
in October 2009 to read
Archaeology and Anthropology
at the University of Cambridge.

Whoppeeeee !!!

I've Been Catching Up.

Doing quite a bit of reading on this trip.
"The Genisis Secret," by Tom Knox is a rather bloodthirsty novel whose fascination is that it is set around Gobekli Tepe an actual archeaological site of a temple some 12,000 years old which, for a still unknown reason, was covered over about 6,000 BC. The novel led me to read much more on-line .
The classic "Gods, Graves & Scholars," by C.W Ceram is a marvelous histroy of Archaeology since the early 1700s; detailing the achievements of a number of colourful (often) dilettantes who dedicated their lives to the discovery of sites, languages and culture of civilisaions long burried.
Less well written, David Gibbins' "The Last Gospel" also involves archaeolgists and a find in Herculaneum's Villa of the Papyruses: an appropriate read on the train hurtling towards Naples.
A rather angry Rosalin Miles re-christened her "Women's History of the World" to "Who Cooked the last Supper?" indicative of some of the wry humour interspercing the indignation within.

The Best !

I like Octupus Salad.
Of the two I sampled in Naples, one was tough and the other barely approached in tenderness and flavour that produced by my Mother... and this is how:

take a whole, fresh octopus

(whose beak and eye has been removed by the fish-monger) and put it in a pot of cool water.
Bring it to a rolling boils and let it cook for 45 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let it cool completely in the pot of water (even overnight).

Remove, dice and season with olive oil, fresh parsley and chopped garlic.

One can eat as much of it as one likes as it is totally non fattening !