Guten Tag!

We drove down to Germany this weekend and had a great time! Jacob is spending a few weeks down on the continent, and I drove back to the UK Monday. In the above photo, Jacob is holding a cheesy pretzel and a pretzel-shaped beignet--both were delicious! We also ate some Schnitzel--doesn't it look amazing? (It totally was!)

Thanks to the recommendation of Jacob's brother Jared, Saturday we drove to Strasbourg, a beautiful city in France with some German influence. The Cathedral is massive and beautiful. There's a part of the city called "petite France" that's really cute, with quaint-looking timber-framed buildings and lochs and canals.

On our way to Strasbourg we passed through a town with an interesting name (see photo below). I'm sure some of you are thinking it was only fitting for me to find such a village... :)

Sunday we took the recommendation of our sister-in-law Emily's sister Jen and drove along a 55-kilometer (34-mile) stretch of the Rhine River, where we counted 19 castles! It was amazing! In the first photo you can see Jacob picking (and eating) blackberries along the side of the road; in the background (top right) of the photo you can also see a castle. The rest of the photos are some of the castles and beautiful autumn foliage. We LOVED this drive!

Norman Conquests (part II)

"This embattled shore, portal of freedom, is forever hallowed by the ideals, the valor and the sacrifices of our fellow countrymen." (~inscription on above colonnade)

The highlight of our D-Day sites tour was our visit to the Normandy American Cemetery. The entire place, especially the visitors center, were very well done and moving. The Cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach where the Allied victory came at a huge cost of American lives. Here are 2 shots of Omaha Beach, one on the morning of June 6, 1944 and one on October 12, 2008.

The following 2-minute video is actually a marketing piece for the opening of the visitors center at the Normandy American Cemetery in 2007, but I think it gives you a taste of what we experienced as we walked on these beaches and sites where such pivotal events occurred.

We also visited the Rangers Monument at Pointe du Hoc (which we couldn't actually get to because it was blocked off). During the American assault on Omaha Beach, an American Ranger battalion scaled the 100-foot cliff at Pointe du Hoc to capture the German artillery that could have fired on US troops at Omaha Beach. You can tell by the massively scarred landscape around the Monument that the area was heavily bombed prior to the Rangers' arrival. (Also pictured: me in a mostly-destroyed German artillery bunker on the cliff at Pointe du Hoc.)

The other beach where American troops invaded Normandy on D-Day is Utah Beach. Again, here's a shot from D-Day and one from last weekend.

“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.”

~U.S. President Harry S. Truman

Norman Conquests (part I)

We spent our 4-day weekend in the beautiful northwestern French region of Normandy. Above is the stunning Mont-St-Michel, which we visited Saturday. We could see its outline from as far away as 22 kilometres, and the views just got more and more stunning the closer we got. I was absolutely awestruck by Le Mont-St-Michel! Jacob said, in his most matter-of-fact voice: "It's one of the cooler places I've seen." Here he is enjoying the view from the top.

While on Le Mont, we toured the famous Abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel, whose majestic spire tops the Mont. The Abbey was first constructed in the year 708, and it has been one of the most visited Christian pilgrimage destinations for 1300 years. The monks ceased using it as an abbey in 1790, after which it was used as a prison until the late 1800s when it was designated as a national monument. (To the left, a photo of the open-air cloister at the top of the Abbey.)

As the Mont is indeed an island, cars park on the causeway that leads from the mainland to the island. When tides are high, the car parks are completely underwater. The tide was low when we were there, so we made our way out into the muddy flats around the island to take more photos! (Believe it or not, Jacob is actually in this photo; he's just left of center in the distance, crouching on the ground.)
While in Normandy, we also saw the famous Bayeux Tapestry, a 230-foot long embroidered depiction of the events surrounding the all-important 1066 Battle of Hastings. The Tapestry was made in the 1070s, making it an astounding 930 years old! I enjoyed seeing the Tapestry up close and admiring the precise stitching and animation of the characters. It was remarkable!

Photography of the actual Tapestry is prohibited, but I took a few photos of the replica. First, the scene of Edward the Confessor's death and burial preparation; and second, a colorful battle scene.

We stayed in Caen, France. Below are photos from there: the gorgeous Abbaye aux Hommes and an even more gorgeous almond/chocolate crepe (before we shared the crepe, Jacob had a potato & duck crepe, and I had a bacon & mushroom omelet--very delicious!).

(Coming soon: Part II--DDay sites)

Mushrooms

Our garden has been full of mushrooms this week, and we've been fascinated to watch their growth cycle. I'll walk you through the life of a pair of mushrooms that grew on the side of our house this week.



They appear quite suddenly as little (phallic) shoots.




Then you can start to see the "cap" part separate from the little stem at the very bottom.

And as they continue to get taller, there is further separation.

Then the "cap" separates even more as the entire mushroom gets taller and taller. This particular pair of mushrooms met their demise when Nigel the gardener came, but from what we've seen of other mushrooms in the garden, they were about to collapse anyway.

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.