During our trip to Normandy we visited Monet's house and garden in Giverny which have been preserved as a museum. It was in this garden that Monet painted his famous series of paintings, Water Lilies.

We visited on a warm summer's day and it was lovely walking through Monet's beautiful garden. Of course, the place is packed with tourists clamouring to get a photo of themselves on the Water Lily bridge (I can't complain too loudly; I wanted a photo there too). So sometimes you have to close your eyes and block out all the noise to imagine the tranquility that Monet would have experienced while he was painting there.

Even though it is quite crowded it's still worth the trip. The flowers in the garden are beautiful and it's special to be able to visit the setting for such an iconic series of paintings.


More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Our visit to Monet's Garden was part of our trip to Normady and Champagne. We visited France in August 2009 to celebrate Jess's birthday with camembert, croissants and bubbles. Other entries from this trip include: Mont St Michel.

In August 2009, I decided that my birthday must be celebrated with a mini-break (ah, the "mini-break", those were the days). So we organised a weekend break to Normandy (Mont St Michel, Bayeux Tapestry, D-Day Beaches, Monet's Garden) and Champagne (er... Champagne). Tash and Matt tagged along for the first bit of the trip. First stop - Mont St Michel.

Originally, I hadn't been too fussed with visiting Mont St Michel. We had visited England's version, St Michael's Mount which is in Cornwall. I figured that we'd ticked "Visit abbey on a tidal island" off our to do list. But I was wrong, Mont St Michel is definitely worth visiting.

We'd caught an overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen (Ouistreham) and when we arrived at six in the morning the French countryside was cloaked with mist. It was just beginning to lift as we arrived at Mont St Michel. We had a spectacular first view of the abbey. Mostly shrouded in fog, we only caught a glimpse of it here and there. Then as the mist lifted we were treated to a wonderful view of the abbey set against a brilliant blue sky.

After touring the abbey, we headed out to the tidal flats for a wander. I've now read that this is a bad idea because of quick sand (oops!). We were out there when the tide was scheduled to turn and start coming in. They warn you over loudspeakers about the incoming tide in lots of different languages. We were able to identify English (duh!), French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Russian. We stuck around for a while hoping to see the tide rush in and surround the island. But nothing happened. Well I'm sure the tide was coming in, but it certainly wasn't the torrent pictured on the postcards.


I would love to visit the abbey during a king tide and see the car park covered in water. There are signs in the carpark warning you not to park there at certain times lest your car becomes a submarine.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Our visit to Mont St Michel was part of our trip to Normady and Champagne. We visited France in August 2009 to celebrate Jess's birthday with camembert, croissants and bubbles. This is the first entry from this trip.

Andrew and I have been known to visit the odd attraction for a bit of morbid touristing. We added the Chapel of Bones in Évora to our Portugal trip because it sounded creepy (and it was). We also visited the Catacombs of San Sebastiano in Rome because I was tempted by the thought of exploring dark tunnels filled with bones a la Indiana Jones. I can remember being disappointed when there were no bones or skulls in the Roman catacombs. So when I read about the Catacombs of Paris, which are actually filled with skulls and bones, I knew it was somewhere I wanted to visit.

And that's basically what the Catacombs of Paris are - tunnels filled with skulls and bones. The tunnels were the solution for an overflowing Saints-Innocents cemetery. In the graveyard the dead were interred straight into the ground in mass graves. As the cemetery started to fill, the decaying bodies were not only very smelly but started to cause issues with the Parisian water supply.

The cemetery was a source of revenue for the church so they continued burials even when the graveyard was full to bursting... literally. In 1780, the cellar wall of a restaurant adjoining the cemetery collapsed and the cellar filled with a mix of bones and putrid flesh (yuk!). The government decided enough was enough. They closed the cemetery and moved all its inhabitants into the tunnels - abandoned stone quarries - on the outskirts of the city.

When the bones were transferred, they weren't haphazardly piled in corners. The bones line the walls of the tunnel and have been arranged in beautiful patterns. There is even one section where skulls are artfully organised in heart-shaped patterns.

So, are the catacombs worth a visit? Well, they are morbidly interesting. The inscription over the entrance reads "Arrête, c'est ici l'empire de la Mort"..."Stop, this is the empire of Death". The tunnels are the perfect site for an ossuary. They are dark, cold and damp. The average temperature is only 14 degrees and the sound of dripping water only adds to the atmosphere. But they are also long - the tunnel route is two kilometres and it did get a bit boring after a while. (They should add rats! and flaming torches! and Arab men chasing after you trying to stop you from recovering the Holy Grail! Hrm, that Indiana Jones influence coming through again. I think I just want to be Indiana Jones.)


Who knows, one day my bones may become a tourist attraction. As an avid traveller I don't really have a problem with that.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

This time last year, we were living in Paris... *sigh*. As part of a work contract I had to liase with a French software company based in Paris to learn how to use a software program. Andrew finished his London contract a week early so he could come and join me. For a few wonderful weeks we lived in Paris. Being a technical author is a little more exciting when you get to do it in Paris.

We enjoyed our time in Paris. I worked and Andrew was a tourist on weekdays. We both went sight-seeing on the weekends. We learnt that to be truly French you have to carry a baguette under one arm. We fulfilled this requirement by visiting the bakery every few days to pick up a baguette to have with dinner. We were Feeeeeeeerrrunch! (For some strange reason, to be French you also have to drive along with your right indicator on. That's a whole nother story though.)

Now we're home in Sydney. Enjoying the beautiful weather (yay!). Enjoying spending time with our family and friends (yay!). I'm working as a technical author (... um yeh). We're happy to be home but last year we were living in Paris (dammit!). Let me take a moment to get over this....

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OK.

On one of our touristing weekends we visited Sainte-Chapelle, which is on the Île de la Cité in the heart of Paris. Sainte-Chapelle is the royal chapel which once adjoined the Palace of Saint Louis. It was built by King Louis IX to house holy relics that he'd purchased from the Venetians. The Venetians made a tidy profit earning 135,000 livres in the exchange. To give you an idea of just how much money this is, the chapel itself only cost 40,000 livres to build.

Chapel equals church which usually earns a meh from the Wilsons. In our defence we did see a lot of churches on our travels. Every city, town and village in Europe has a church as a tourist attraction. As our travels continued, it took something extra special in a church to impress us. And Sainte-Chapelle is just that, extra special. The inside is breathtakingly beautiful.

Instead of walls, the chapel has stained-glass windows. These windows are quite tall; more than 15 metres high. There are 15 windows in all and they cover an area of 600 square metres. So on a sunny day, like the day on which we visited, walking through the chapel is like swimming through a sea of multi-coloured light. I tried to take photos of the inside to capture what it was like but it was too hard. The photos I took didn't do the chapel justice. In the end, I stopped looking with my camera and started looking with my eyes. I took memories instead that I still enjoy today.

Andrew did a better job with the photos.



So Sainte-Chapelle goes on my list of must-see churches. (You know, there is actually a list. Of course there is!) Make sure you see it when you're next in Paris.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Somewhere between Paris and London: Thursday afternoon - Spring. Sydney: Friday morning - Autumn.

"I love catching the Eurostar between London and Paris. Catching the train is so relaxing compared to catching an aeroplane. The train travels from Kings Cross St Pancras in London to Gare du Nord in Paris. Both stations are near the centre of their respective cities. Although the journey time is longer, it's two and a half hours that I have to myself. I read a book or watch a movie or I just look out the window and watch the countryside roll by. Unfortunately, on this trip - my me time was devoted to uni study. I have an essay due soon that I have to finish."




Check out Sue's day at noodlebowl.net and her photos on Flickr.

Project 52 is going to have a different flavour over the next few weeks. Instead of London vs Sydney, it's going to be Croatia / Greece vs Japan. Coincidentally, both Sue and I are going to be on holidays over the next few weeks. Sue and J are going to Japan for cherry blossom season. Andrew and I are heading to Croatia and Greece with Mum and Dad for some much needed warmth and sunshine.

I'm not sure if I'll actually manage to post the photos while I'm away, but I will eventually.