Sunday, March 22, 2015

It's been a long while



I know it's been awhile.  My DH decided to take early retirement and our life has become so busy.  We decided to take a trip to a England and France in late November for 6 weeks.  We had a wonderful time.  The last time I went to England was 33 years ago.  Had been there quite a few times previously and I found that it was amazing how One doesn't forget after all this time how to get around there etc.

One of the things that I really wanted to see were the poppies at The Tower Of London.  We were so lucky that they were still there on just one side when we got there.  It's amazing how many they had pulled out in 11 days. 

One of the other places I wanted to go to was Portobello Road.  It's one of my favourite places in London.  I love antique jewellery and found some beautiful Victorian chains.   It was birthday while we were flying from a Sydney to London (I had the never ending birthday).  My family gave me some money to buy a couple for some of my antique lockets.    

The next lot of photos are from the V&A.  An amazing place to spend a few hours on a wet Sunday. I love Angels and this one is The Archangel Michael.

On our last day in this section before heading over to France was spent at one of my favourite places in England.  Windsor Castle.  I love visiting Queen Mary's Doll House.  My DH and I were really lucky.  Because I have knee problems the guides there allowed us to go up the lifts so that we didn't have to climb the stairs.  It was lovely seeing bits off the usual tourist path.  Of course you are escorted on these bits.  

We both wanted to visit Northern France and go to The Somme where thousands of Australian soldiers died during WWI.  My Great Uncle was sadly one of them. That is his photo down below.  He is one of the 11,000 Australian soldiers who doesn't have a known grave.  

The very large Memorial is in Villiers Brettoneux and the walls hold the names of these young Australian soldiers.  I'm standing where my Uncles name is.  To walk around this graveyard is so so sad.  There are a lot of grave yards for both World Wars all over Northern France and Belguim.  We were able to visit a few of them.  The Cathedral is in Armiens.  One of 2 Cathedrals I was able to go into.  I wanted to go into Rouens but sadly it wasn't opened while we were there.  My DH suffers from the ABC syndrome.  - Not another bloody Cathedral lol.  But I find them quite fascinating.  I love looking in them and seeing the amazing things that they have inside.

Didn't spend much time in Paris.  Only a day.  Ended up so tired after spending a long time in The Louve.  Have been there a few times, but have only seen a small portion of it.  Didn't buy anything in Paris except a few things at The Louve.

Next time, I will post more photos of our trip around France and England.  I hope I haven't  bored you with a small selection of my holiday snaps.  Took about 1400 lol.




















7 comments:

Kaisievic said...

Wonderful photos! I love England so much. Such a great reason to be neglecting blogging.

marly said...

Those of us that will never get to see those lands are never bored by photos! Hope you share more. Happy belated birthday.

Margaret said...

It's so lovely to see the pics from your trip, Sandra. My gosh, what a treat! I'm going to have to pore over them some more. If I ever go to London, I won't have a clue how to get anywhere. lol! Love the pic of you -- and the pic of the poppies! That color is lovely!

Melissa said...

Lovely! What a great trip you had and you got some antique jewelry. Nice to see a photo of you too!

Robin said...

Sandra, such a wonderful post. Jane is a stunning girl and her and Hestera are beautifully framed. I'm envious of your ability to frame. Did you cut your hair or is it pulled back? I love it...you look so stunning, your features have come alive with the hair back away from your face. Thank you for the pictures of England and France; what an exciting trip...and congratulations to your husband on his retirement. As always, I love your stitching.

Queen Bee's Musings said...

Beautiful pictures. Looks like a treasured trip! Great sampler project also

Patti-Rocky Mtn Stitcher said...

So interesting reading of your trips. Since we have family in Liverpool area and go there often I love learning of new places I must see. One place I do want to go is Australia.