Travel Zone

Here I am today in sunny Morpeth, Pegswood to be precise, and very nice it is too!

Hello folks, I'm back from Side in Turkey. Wat a lovely place, full of history and beautiful beaches. I'll put some photos on here soon.

Well, I'm back. It rained nearly all weekend so we never got for our walk around the Mere, the conservation area. Although two little ducks did make the effort to visit our caravan just as we were packing up to leave. It was as if they knew we wanted to see a bit more nature than we did. Great weekend though, good company, good food, loads of laughs. Just what I needed. Here are a few photos of our trip.....

Lets start with Blackpool Tower, quite a site really considering it was built in 1894. I would have loved to have been there then to see it in all its glory

Nice Parrott! And the Tower looks OK too!

Rollercoasters! We did not go on them.....

Ahhh, the trams. Very Blackpool even though they took ages to get from one end of the shore to the other, we had to get on one (and sit at the front).

I caught this image when we were driving along the North Shore on Sunday night (Dont worry, I stopped the car first!). It was too wet for a walk but the sunset was spectacular.

Can't have a pic of Blackpool without a candy rock shop. Heres my pal Erica outside the finest of its kind.

What can I say? Saturday night in Blackpool - Erica, Jane, Ang and Julie (our friends from Preston).

Lets not forget about those ducks who saved our uncultured souls on our last morning at Marton Mere.....

Would I go back again? Definately!

How can I beat Reddogs post about his trip to Paris - Fantastic photos. I'm off to Blackpool this weekend to stay at Marton Mere for 3 nights - a conservation area. Watch this space for the details.....

Paris. The name of the city evokes thoughts of romance, sophistication and refinement, not to mention culture and croissants. For five days this April we crammed in as much as we could, and yet only managed to experience a tiny fragment of all this vibrant capital had to offer. We explored some of the most beautiful places we could find... and this is my blog of what happened.

We landed on time at Terminal 2 of Charles de Gaulle Roissy Airport (which was designed by architect Paul Andreu, and was described as an architectural gem when it was opened in June 2003). We passed through passport control, baggage reclaim and customs in under seven minutes with barely a chance to notice the airport building - so, in case you're ever flying from terminal 2 (where Air France is based), you might like to take a moment to wonder at the roof structure which consists of a single wide curving glass lined tube shape with no internal supports, and ask yourself what it is that holds it up. You'll have at least 2 hours to do this on the way home before your flight's called...

In Paris, we were driven from the airport to our hotel through the streets of Paris, and I experienced an overwhelming sense of relief that I didn't have to drive in such mad traffic. Plus, as a passenger, I was able to enjoy the view of Parisien life that began to unfold before us (Why do foreign streets with people doing ordinary things always seem more interesting than familiar streets here in the UK?)

Our hotel, located in the Montmartre district (or 18th arrondissement for those who are interested) was nothing fancy, but it felt more inviting as it stood in a small tree filled square, called Place Emile Goudeau, where people gathered and chatted. We were even lucky enough to have a room which overlooked this picturesque scene.

Time to explore.

Montmartre is the only hill in Paris and at its summit is Sacré-Coeur, the white basilica that can be seen from miles away. It is a magnificent building, both inside and out and from the top of the hill you have an unrivalled view of the city spread out below, especially at night when everywhere is lit up and the Eiffel Tower puts on its nightly light show... well worth the hike to the top of the hill.

Montmartre is also famous for the artists who lived and worked in the area. These include Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissarro, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Edgar Degas and Maurice Utrillo to name but a few. Some, like Picasso and Modigliani lived in an artists commune called Le Bateau-Lavoir, 13 Rue Ravignan (Place Emile Goudeau). Though you can't visit Le Bateau-Lavoir, there are plenty of places in Paris where you can see exceptional art works...

The Louvre is the most famous art museum in Paris. It also has the largest queues, and unless you intend sprinting through all of the halls without stopping, you'll need to make repeated visits over many days to see all of the works. More managable, less crowded and just as rewarding is the Musee d'Orsay.

The Musee d'Orsay began life as a railway station, The Gare d'Orsay, but opened to the public as a museum on 9th December 1986 and is now home to a magnificent collection of art. Located on the on the left bank of the Seine, opposite the Jardins de Tuileries, it holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915.

The collection contains works by hundreds of artists, including Matisse, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Picasso. The range of art covers may forms, including sculpture, Objets d'Art, Painting and Art Deco funiture.

The building is also neatly laid out, and it's a great place to spend a few inspirational hours. And when you're in need of a sit down, there's a beautiful restaurant, plus a nice cafe area behind the clock tower.

Opposite the Musee d'Orsay is the Musee National de la Légion d'honneur. The museum is free to enter and details the entire history of this honour which was created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, and is awarded by the French Republic for outstanding service to France, whatever the nationality or social status of the recipient.

It's a facinating insight into the award, and those who have received it.

The Musee de l'Orangerie in the Jardins de Tuileries is the place to go if you want to see Monet's Water Lillies (Les Nymphéas). The canvasas are housed in a specially constructed part of the gallery.

The gallery also houses works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Maurice Utrillo, among others.

If beautiful buildings are what you seek, then you will love the Palais Garnier Opera House.

This architectural masterpiece, constructed in the Neo-Baroque style, was opened in 1875, it seats 2,500 patrons and is open for visitors to explore. Better still, it's not prohibitively expensive if you want to return one evening and experience a live production for yourself, as we did.

Although the staging of operas was transferred to Opéra Bastille in the 1990's, the Palais Garnier does occassionally still host them and while we were visiting, our luck was in. We managed to get two of the last remaining tickets (in our own box, no less) to see the first night of a 20th Century opera by Luigi Dallapiccola called Il Prigionero (The Prisoner). It is based on Auguste de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's La Torture par l'Espérance and Charles de Coster's La Légende d'Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak and is a dark, sinister tale which held the audience captive throughout its single dramatic Act.

Il Prigioniero was prefaced by Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon, which is itself based on Lord Byron's 1814 poem. It was a real bonus that this was performed in English, which meant that we could savour every word of this fantastic performance.

Palais Garnier with set of Il Prigionero on stage

The opera may not be everyone's idea of a good night out, and modern opera isn't my usual choice of entertainment, but the atmosphere in this beautiful place was amazing and I have to say, I enjoyed every single moment.

La Sainte-Chapelle, a 12th Century Gothic chapel on the Île de la Cité was built to house precious relics such as Christ's crown of thorns, the Image of Edessa and thirty other relics of Christ. Sadly, none of these precious items are housed in Sainte-Chapelle any longer, but the building still remains a must see place to visit in Paris.

We were fortunate that on the day we visited in that there was to be a Vivaldi Concert in the chapel that evening, and as we couldn't miss the opportunity to experience hearing live music in such exquisite surroundings, we bought our tickets immediately.

Maybe it was the location, maybe it was because this was our last night in Paris, but I couldn't fault the seven musicians of Les Archets de Paris who poured their hearts into playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons like their lives depended on it. It was obvious from the raptuous applause at the end of the performance that I wasn't the only one who felt we were listening to something special. I don't know if it was because of quality of the music; the acoustics of the hall; or that we were so relaxed after our brilliant Paris break, but the whole evening became transformed into something magical that will live with us for a very long time.

There were many other things we did and places we visited, including:

Place de la Concorde (Wide and windswept with exotic fountains)

Arc de Triomphe (Traffic!)	Fauchon (Incredible food, incredible prices - Don't forget your plastic!)

Notre Dame (Tourist-filled at front and inside, peaceful round the back)

Galleries Lafyette (Shopping heaven, for those who're that way inclined)

Galleries Lafyette is located on 3 corners of Boulevard Haussmann and Rue de Mogador. The main site, "Lafayette coupole" has a magnificent domed roof, but I have no pictures of this: We were too busy looking around and shopping... so if you want to see it, you'll have to visit for yourself.

River cruise on the Seine (A beautiful way to see Paris - [video])

As you can see, we packed a lot into our few days in Paris. There were many other things we did that I have't mentioned, like just browsing local shops; travelling round the city on the Metro - which is fast, frequent, clean and cheap (there's a novelty for us in the North East); watching the world go by from numerous cafe's; and generally enjoying the culture and croissants of this vibrant, beautiful city.

Finally, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures we took on our last evening in Paris... The Seine at night.