DAY 3 - PARIS

Today's highlights :

Local Sunday markets at Boulevard Grenelle

 

Lunch in a cafe in the Marais district

 

The amazing church of Saint Chapelle, built to house the 'Crown of Thorns' relic.

 

Wall to wall stained glass windows of Saint Chapelle.

 

Booksellers lining the Seine

Bus tour featuring the Arch de Triomphe and the busy Avenue des Champs Elysees

I love Paris because there is a 24 hour jazz radio station.

Impressionist paintings at the Musee d'Orsay

 

Musee d'Orsay was originally a railway station but now it is a fabulously decorated gallery, featuring French 19th and 20th century art.

M&M



26/8/2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 2 - PARIS

Barge Simpatico

Staying on the Seine below the Eiffel Tower meant that we could make an early start this morning and be amongst the first tourists in line to go up the tower and see the amazing vistas of Paris. It was quite windy and cold but fortunately it was still clear enough to get a good view.

A relaxed Mark after climbing the Eiffel Tower and savouring the delights of the Seine

We then took a tour on the riverboat, Bateau Mouches, for an hour cruise to get our bearings. I thought I was feeling pretty mellow and relaxed but it only took a few minutes of over-active amateur photographers jumping up and blocking the view of the polite, thoughtful hordes  behind them that I was imagining throwing several people overboard, particularly if they couldn't swim! Despite being peak tourist season, I think Paris copes well and we haven't felt overwhelmed at all ..until then. Mark has persuaded me to venture out on the tourist route tomorrow.

Bob, the owner of the boat, suggested that we try Rue Cler for meals and for general shopping. So we headed up there for lunch today and it was wonderful to see all the fresh fruit, fromageries, the boulangeries, flower stalls - so we are now well set up for the week. He has left us drawers of guide books so that we can be well informed about each arrondissement (sections of Paris) for eating, walking etc.



Rue Cler




At about 6 we went for a twilight walk up the Left Bank to Boulevard Saint - Germain ( of Where do you go to my Lovely? fame ) and then over the bridge and down the Right Bank home. As well as, excellent exercise, we had a feast of sculptures, ornate bridges and the spectacle of the Place de Concorde, the Tuilerie Gardens and the activity on the river, including several wedding parties.




Twilight walk



Tomorrow we plan to go to the local Sunday markets in Boulevard Grenelle and discover more facets of Paris - we are referring to all the notes you've all given us - thank you, but where to start?

M&M

DAY 1 - PARIS

We took the 11.30am Eurostar to Paris - what a way to travel - so easy. We loved St Pancras station and its beautiful renovation, inspired by the Poet Laureate, John Betjemann, before he died in the 1980s.

St Pancras Station

Andrew, Mark's cousin, met us and drove us to our mooring near the Eiffel Tower, where we will be staying for the next week. He was particularly interested to see Simpatico,our barge accommodatoin for this week. Andrew owned and lived on his barge, Pettite Vitesse, for five years in the 1980s. He and Bob, our host, who lives in a separate wheelhouse/ crew quarters, discussed life on the Seine. Simpatico is a renovated Dutch craft and is nearly 100 years old with all mod cons, even a washing machine.

Our barge

 

Extremely comfortable and convenient

 

Watching life on the Seine

 

Tonight we negotiated our way to Andrew and Ebba's home on the metro (only 2 minutes away) and had a delightful evening with them in their beautiful home near the Palace des Congres.

Dinner with Andrew and Ebba

Eiffel Tower is 5 minutes away


 

M&M
24/8/2012
 

LAST DAYS IN ENGLAND

ROBIN HOOD’S BAY – LINCOLN

We left Robin Hood’s Bay and our B&B, which had once been a captain’s house, not by foot but in a taxi.

An old captain's house

 We’ve hired a car for 2 days to transport us south. It's a Vauxhall Corsa about the equivalent size to my Mazda 2, so we literally squeezed in with our 4 large pieces of luggage.

Amazing feat of squeezing 4 big bodies and 4 backpacks into tiny car

 We had a rushed trip to York and were impressed with the large cathedral, York Minster, with its exquisite façade and stained glass windows. We enjoyed wandering around the cobbled streets within the city wall.

Historic York

At about 2 we drove south along a quick flowing motorway, M18, arriving in Lincoln at about 4. Bob had found a B&B, The Cathedral View, in the Cathedral precinct – with a 900 year-old history.

900 year old boutique B&B in Lincoln

We were absolutely blown away by Lincoln’s Gothic cathedral – a magnificent building with graceful supports to the ceiling, light and space, cloisters with wooden ceiling and exquisitely carved animals at the apex of each.

Spectacular Lincoln cathedral

 

Lincoln old town

 

There were memorials to their esteemed figures in the cathedral’s history. For example, there was a special plague to Joseph Banks, a Lincoln resident, for his environmental work in the colonies and in England.

Memorial to Joseph Banks

We were so enchanted with the building that we decided to go to Sung Evensong at 5.30 – a service led by the Dean of the cathedral and the service sung by a visiting choir.

LINCOLN to ASTON CLINTON (near Oxford)

Pleasant drive south – east to our friends, Ann and Paul, in Norfolk. They have recently moved into a renovated nineteenth century granary on a sub-divided farm. We took a public pathway from their house, through a wood, ending up in the local church cemetery, which was across the road from the local pub, The Half Moon, where we had lunch. Very enjoyable meal with friends we haven’t seen for 36 years.

Visiting friends in renovated granary in Norfolk

We eventually navigated our way to the outskirts of London to drop Bob and Julie off at friends and then we tentatively drove to Aston Clinton with only a few hiccups. We had a very warm welcome from Martin and Rowena, Mark’s cousins.

During our stay at Aston Clinton we had some happy meals with the extended family.

Family meal with the Deans, Mark's cousins

 We also visited a fascinating Rothschild stately home and estate, Waddesdon Manor. Coincidentally, there was an exhibition of Edmund de Waal’s ceramic work. He wrote ‘The Hare with the amber eyes’ about his Jewish/ Russian ancestry and the rise and fall of their banking empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He was invited by Lord Rothschild to do a ceramic installation for each room reflecting his impression of the setting.

Waddesdon Manor

Martin took us to nearby reservoirs and the Grand Union Canal, which was part the main transport system before the Industrial Revolution. We were fortunate to see how the canal lock system operated when 2 attractive narrow boats needed to negotiate the locks.

Long boats on Grand Union Canal

We had a wonderful time with the family and look forward to return visits.


　
M&M
　

　

DAY 17 : ENGLAND : LITTLEBECK to ROBIN HOOD'S BAY - 19.2 kms - 6 hours

DISTANCE COVERED IN TOTAL : 318 kms (192 mls)

Sadly our last day! After another healthy breakfast - our appetite has definitely waned for full English breakfasts - but we give it our best shot - Bob quizzed Robert, our farmer host, on beef cattle, markets etc. He was so engrossed we thought we might be leaving him behind to start a new career...or yet another special subject for research.

We walked through Littlebeck Wood, along Little Beck, a babbling brook. We had read that we may encounter otters, badgers, squirrels ... but we were disappointed as there was no wildlife evident at all. 

Walking in Littlebeck Wood

A cave that had been carved out of a large rock in 1790 by a school teacher and his class, called The Hermitage, was the only point of interest, and a sheltered waterfall.

The Hermitage

Then we walked through more moorland - heather looking as colourful as ever - boggy in parts - few sightings of grouse, but we're not telling anyone. Here on Greystone Hills Moor, a mock replica of Middlesbrough was built and illuminated during WW2 as a decoy to divert enemy bombers away from the real industrial Middlesbrough. This proved a very successful strategy.

Suddenly we saw the sea - views of Whitby and the coastline south.

Crossing Greystone Hills (Moors) looking towards Whitby

 We finished by walking along the headland - just as we'd done when we started the Coast to Coast Walk, striding out on the other coast. We thought that was very fitting to finish as we had begun.

Nearly at Robin Hood's Bay

Walking around headland towards Robin Hood's Bay

Robin Hood's Bay is a quaint cosy fishing village with steep winding alleyways to the beach. You could imagine pirates roaming the area, drinking in the pubs, ready to salvage cargo from sinking ships. There is talk, that if there was indeed a Robin Hood, he spent time here, taking time off from annoying the Sherriff of Nottingham.

First view of the little port

Our B&B

As a final act we all took out the stones we'd collect at St Bee's on the Irish Sea and threw them in the North Sea and dipped our boots in the water.

Throwing our stones, collected at St Bees, in the North Sea

We had a celebratory dinner at the Victoria Hotel with sumptuous views over Robin Hood's Bay.

Celebrations at Victoria Hotel with friends



We really recommend this walk. We used a company called Packhorse to organise our accommodation and transport our bags each day and they were reliable and efficient. Other walkers used similar services and were able to organise a guide, which would be essential if you were travelling alone or had limited navigational skills. We were fortunate to have Bob's excellent map-reading skills and sense of direction combined with 2 guidebooks to get us to our destinations safely.

M&M

DAY 16 : ENGLAND : GLAISDALE to LITTLEBECK - 12 kms - 3 hours

We knew that today was going to be a short day's walk so when Jean, our hostess at Glaisdale, suggested we take the train to Whitby en route to our next night's accommodation, we jumped at the chance to investigate another town in the area.

We set off about 9 on another historic path - this one was through woodland with 'trods', ancient paving stones, which were used for pannier ponies , which traded between villages.




Walking on 'trods'

Stepping stones across the River Esk

We crossed the River Esk on stepping stones and came to the village of Egton. During the reign of Henry V111, the village church of St Hedda's, a Roman Catholic church, was overlooked when other buildings were desecrated and it became known, as 'the village the Reformation forgot'. But unfortunately, in 1679, in another wave of anti-Catholic hysteria the parish priest was executed on the grounds that he was plotting to overthrow the Protestant monarch - it was the last occasion in Britain that Catholics were put to death for their faith.




St Hedda's, Egton

We arrived in Grosmont about 10.30am when a steam engine pulled into the station. Not any steam engine, the exact train used in the Harry Potter movies as The Hogwart's Express.

All aboard the Hogwart's Express

 Unfortunately this was not our train, which was diesel and took us and many holiday-makers to the delights of the Whitby Regatta - a festival day. There were people everywhere enjoying the celebrations in this charming port town.

The port town of Whitby

Dancing

Whitby Abbey and St Mary the Virgin Church overlooking Whitby

Remembering Whitby's shipbuilding past

Special display by The Red Arrows

Home of Captain James Cook

At 4 we caught a train back to Grosmont, not aware that the final leg of the day was going to be so strenuous. We climbed 230m in a kilometre.

An unexpected climb

Then we walked across Sleights Moor, with a view of Whitby in the distance, to our farmstay.

Whitby in the distance from Sleights Moor

 A big welcome from Judith and her husband, Robert, a cattle farmer. Judith cooked a wholesome meal, which we enjoyed , before retiring, exhausted.

Nearing our destination of Intake Farm

M&M

PS We have found out today that it costs $10,000 per day to go grouse shooting. Yesterday the CEO of Sothebys was accidentally shot in the face whilst  participating. Is it really worth it?