Colourful things (such as coats, apples and autumn leaves)

Friday night we saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London's West End at the Adelphi Theatre. It was a fun show to see, and we were particularly impressed with the amazing dancing! (Interesting tangent--the actor who plays Joseph in the production won a BBC reality TV competition to play this part. He has a great voice.)

Before the show, we ate dinner at this (also very colourful) Brazilian buffet. The food was ok; Jacob says it didn't showcase the potential of Brazilian cuisine (which Jacob thinks is some of the best cuisine in the world).

Saturday morning we went to Audley End House and Gardens for Apple Weekend. The house's extensive kitchen gardens were once used to feed the residents of the mansion, and they still grow plentiful fruits and vegetables. The stars of the weekend were, of course, the apples, which grow in dozens of varieties and in many sizes (see Jacob going in for a bite of a huge apple below). We tasted the local apple varieties and sampled some wonderful apple juice. We also tried a chicken and apple salad that was delicious!

The following photo is dedicated to my Mom (who loves pears); we really liked the way the pear trees have been grown against the wall like this. And the pears themselves look beautiful!

In addition to the fact that apples are in season, here's another indication of autumn: gorgeous leaves in our garden. Happy autumn!

After blackberry picking

It's blackberry season! The plentiful fruit is ripe and delicious and all over the country, ready to be picked. Just across the street is a side-of-the road patch where we've picked many blackberries the past couple of weeks--for free. This afternoon we had a great time picking blackberries together; here are photos of the spoils and the stained hands.

We wish we could share the taste of these gorgeous, delicious berries !

J'aime Paris!

This past weekend was my third trip to Paris, and it was magnifique! I went with Cheria, whose husband works with Jacob, and we met her friends Vicki and Diane (who are sisters) in Paris. I really missed Jacob, but I really enjoyed my traveling companions. Here they are at the Eiffel Tower.

Below is a photo of Notre Dame Cathedral, taken from a cruise along the Seine River. I got to see the inside of the Cathedral this time, which was beautiful (but the photos are a little too dark to include). We were there Sunday morning during mass, which was interesting.

When I was in Paris in June with Nick, Emily and Joel, we went to Versailles but only had time for the gardens, which were fabulous. We wished they would turn on all the gorgeous fountains; on this trip to Paris I saw the Versailles fountains running!

We also went inside the Palace, and the rooms were the most luxurious I've ever seen--or even imagined. Here are photos of the chapel inside the palace, and Cheria and me in the Hall of Mirrors.

One of my favorite parts of Versailles was the Marie Antoinette estate, where she lived to escape palace life. She had a miniature village of her own (Hameau de la Reine), and those cute little buildings were unexpected on the grounds of a palace. But I really enjoyed it.

This is a little tangential, but we discussed the opulence of Versailles and decided that the French populace was totally justified in being outraged at the excessive consumption of the royal family while the French people bore the economic burdens of Louis XVI's debt. As we looked at the gorgeous interiors of the Palace, Cheria said: "I would have beheaded her." Me too.
The metro stop for the Rodin Museum had a couple of Rodin statues. (I know, I'm silly.)

I have so many incredible photos of Versailles, so I'll close with the recently restored Royal Gate and and example of the gorgeous ceiling paintings throughout the Palace.

All the world's a stage...

When we moved to England one of my priority destinations was Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Shakespeare birthplace (above) and other related sites. We finally made it! Before I talk about our wonderful day in Stratford (Monday), I'll talk about what we did Saturday.

We went to London and saw our very first (but certainly not our last) West End production: Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. We both thought the production was amazing--the singing, dancing, acting, pit orchestra, set, etc. I can't adequately emphasize how incredible it was!
As you can probably tell from the above photo, the Queen's Theatre was near Chinatown. We enjoyed walking through Chintown in London. Here's a photo of Jacob there.



Now for Stratford. Below is the house where Shakespeare was actually born, and we stood in the very room--totally awesome! The house itself was interesting, as it's the original house from the 1500s (with a few additions over the centuries), and there was an interesting presentation about glove-making, the profession of Shakespeare's father.

(Can you tell I was absolutely elated to be there?)

The next house is is called Hall's Croft and belonged to Shakespeare's son-in-law, who was a doctor in Stratford-upon-Avon. The house was also his medical practice, and it's believed he was actually Shakespeare's physician (which acquaintance probably led to his marrying Shakespeare's daughter).

The house where Shakespeare spent his final days (New Place) was destroyed and is now a beautiful garden. Adjacent to that garden is the amazing Great Garden where we saw a series of statues (by American sculptor Greg Wyatt) of Shakespeare's plays/characters. Here's the one of Falstaff (always a favorite Shakespeare character).

This is Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried (and was baptized and worshipped during his life). We saw his grave with the famous epitaph, as well as a first-edition copy of the King James Bible.

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.