Touring Paris- Day 1 L'Defense, Arch D'Triumphe, a girl on the Metro that looked like me 30 years ago
and of course, who can resist the two girls just as art lovers should! (No skill yet.. I checked it out! More power to them!)

Paris
I made it through the airport with an excessively heavy bag and suffered the indignity of being "randomly selected for further scrutiny" which in this case meant either 3 x-rays or a body search. It was really degrading! The poor guys that get called out all the time! Once having arrived the Paris airport was instantly less easy to navigate. Contrary to the cliche, everyone does NOT speak English and the signage is not easy to understand. Which baggage to queue for is a coin toss. The cab driver took me to the wrong Marriott, for 40 euro but cab #2 was a success. Though at check in I was advised that 6-10pm it would be unlikely that I would be able to get a cab to come (L'Defense) ... so I concluded i had best get back into the city. I found the ATM machine to get more Euros, and then the Metro, and on the way saw some interesting pieces. The Chaplin-esque tourist was cute-- but I really liked the collosal face, pitted, aging, noble, and surrounded by the mirrored building. Stopped and ordered cheese and wine for lunch. Cheese sure tastes different here.

I bought a round trip ticket ( she wanted to sell me 2 one-ways) and hopped on.... girl reading was on the metro.. looked like a young version of me I thought. I walked to La Louvre.. and a charming older gentleman recommended an Open Air tour. These next pictures are all from the bus. It was an exquisitately beautiful day. 72 degrees and bright blue skies.

Ghost Walk- London.. this in keeping with the tradition of Key West, Alexandria, Charleston
Our guide, an actress who sang a couple ditties as well!
Night scenes.. it was wonderful to be able to tour at night, rather than hurry from one destination to another purposefully.. as one does when a single woman alone in a big city. Note the Tower Bridge. Our guide explained that during the Plague (which she said was separate from the Black Death), houses with an occupant that was infected were marked on the exterior with a red cross.. indicating that desperate illness was inside and cautioning those that would enter. Curious how the meaning of Red Cross has evolved.

Must show you the wonderful Bernaise dogs.... and these will be my last images of Windsor, as I walked along (alone) the River Thames, a flock of swans which whom I shared my sandwich... and then to the train station as the clouds gathered and the rain began to fall.. just like Portland!

Some final scenes .. the city of Windsor, including a fun spot caled the Concourse which I fully resisted!

Outside the apartments of Elizibeth I
.. where she might have signed the death warrent of her sister. The other lady was our Warden (Guide) Nancy. And the bed is not my daughter's! Oh contraire! I was a gift from the King of France to King Charles 1st. (I am so confused.. i thought those countries were bitter rivals!)

Bit blurry- but you get the idea... sure is a girlie blog! Fashion and frivolity!
St. Martin's in the Field... my anchor

Me -top of London Eye-- surrounded by the city about which Boswell said, "If a man is tired of London, he is tired of life... which of course could be literally or figuratively true!

This is the Malaysian family I met on the London Eye. World travelers. She taught me how to take the flash off my camera and then try ot steady the night shot abit!

Windsor; seat of England, fortress, overlook with a 12 mile view.
See the gap through which the archer would shoot.?Beneath this portal road the Earl of Essex to see Elizibeth.

St. George's Boarding School ages 3-13 in Windsor
London 2005

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle Taxis are not common for me but there is virtually no way to get to Windsor from the hotel without a car. So with a little advice from the concierge, off I went in style with a lovely day and a driver from Pakistan named Kalid. Windsor is as picturesque a village as one could wish for, surrounded by fields with lambs and charming.

There is security to pass through after buying the ticket, but everyone is extremely pleasant and then up the cobblestone road and we meet with Warden Nancy, and tour the gardens and the exterior buildings. It is truly lovely and one can understand why the Queen calls this her home.

Surprisingly, it is not the table of silver, the walls of silk, or the paintings from the masters that boggle my mind. It is the gallery of weapons, gifts of state, jeweled swords, many were the symbol of conquest. Forty pistols arranged in careful patterns to the soaring rafters, where ceilings are vaulted.

I asked a resting traveler to take a picture of me with my hand on the walls of the apartments that were the private living quarters of Elizabeth I. This is where she decided to attach Portugal, to face the Spanish Armada. Where she danced with her Earl of Leiscter and then his successor in her affections, (nice phrase, no?) the Earl of Essex.

Also some pictures of the flowers above the pubs, some fun fashion, a wonderful cello player that performed in the Concourse. Amplified- so sweet and so touching.. included of course Winter from the Four Seasons, The swans you see are on the Thames. We shared my sandwich. I walked for miles. As the day came to an end, the rain started and Kalid picked me up at one of the two train stations. This was the day of the worst natural disaster in the history of Pakistan. The earthquake is thought to have killed 20,000.

The contrast- -- sometimes I think we are going to Hell a drip at a time.

Beautiful glass work

C'est magnifique!

This was the plaster room- pre-work to a finished sculpture

London 2005

Awesome!

Look at the man standing below David for scale

Now we are at the Victoria and Albert Museum 1909 with Dale Chihuly hanging in the lobby

London 2005

Grrr

Bigger and louder than he looks here. Darling English children were terrified, "make it go way Papa"

London 2005

Snack time! I love museums. This is a fabulous building-- among the most incredible public spaces I have ever been. And there is such a wonderful sense of dialogue, between the scholars , the naturalists, the curators and the public... without a word being spoken, they instruct and illuminate uneducated folks like me.

Evil looking, no?

Wonder how fast he could run?

London 2005

I am talking to you!

London 2005

Plant eater

Real- Late jurassic period said the placard. How would you caption this?