Sunday 4 November 2018
Photos of Oxford 4/11
London Sun. 4/11
Yesterday our train trip from Lyon to London went very smoothly. We caught our booked TVG to Lille and as we walked up onto the concorse of the station the queue to board the Eurostar was just forming. We arrived in St Pancras station just after 5pm and walked down to the underground for the Picardilly line tube out to Heathrow. We were surprised to find that it was dark in England by five o'clock. Winter is definately on it's way.
Our hotel close to Heathrow is accessed by a shuttle called the Hotel Hopper. It's timetable is a bit erratic and Bob says it should be called the Crawler.
We caught the crawler ( it was 30 mins late) back to Heathrow this morning to catch the Oxford coach from the Central Bus Station there. This took us the 40 miles in just on an hour and delivered us to the centre of Oxford.
We oriented ourselves a bit and then booked a 2 hour walking tour for 1 pm. There are some interesting shops all up and down the main street selling clothing promoting the various colleges of the University. There are thirty something different colleges that make up the "federation" that is Oxford. We shopped a little and had lunch before setting of with 7 others on our introduction to the town and "gown" as the saying goes. The only other Aussie was a young woman from Sydney. We chatted as we walked between sites and eventually discovered that she is applying for a Post Doctural (PhD) research position and had flown in for about 10 days for a mutual inspection process. Her research area is in medical science specialising in viruses. If successful she will have a two year funding contract. I explained my noseiness by telling her abour Ingrid's role.
Now to the walk. This is a beautiful old town and we walked around places I had heard of including the Sheldonian Theatre, the Bodlian Library, the Radcliffe Camera and the St Mary the Virgin Church. The latter is 700 years old. The others were a bit younger. The Theatre was designed by Christopher Wren but named for Mr Sheldon because he supplied the capital. This also applied to to Mr Bodlian and Mr Radcliffe. The Camera was just another name for a library. We went into the library building which predated the Bodlian. Christopher Wren was involved here as well because the building had been stripped of all it's books during the time when Henry the 8th was having his tantrum with the Catholic Church. Before this time all the colleges had been Catholic and students had to be fluent in Latin to earn their degrees or Fellowships ie Professor status. Christopher restored the original library and donated many of his books.
From there we had a look at All Souls College from outside the walls. This was endowed by a Bishop who was worried by the loss of lawyers and priests during the civil war between the Catholcs and Protestants. It is magnificent even from only having a view of the bits showing above the walls. There were no students as such because it was/ is only for those who already had Fellowship status. Entry was rigorous but once "in" they were able to work on research of their choosing for as long as they liked. The bishop's architect liked towers and the building has about four that I could see. This led to the label "living in an ivory tower" for those divorced from the real world.
The main event of the tour was then to go into "New College". This was new in 1379 but the name stuck. It was endowed by a wealthy somebody who was granted the land just within the city wall of Oxford on condition that funds be allocated for the upkeep of the wall. The college is one of the largest in Oxford and now sprawls both sides of the wall but the Mayor still conducts an inspection of the wall's condition every three years. As a result it has the most significant remnant of the mediaeval wall remaining. We went into the chapel foyer to look into the chapel where they were rehersing for a Bach concert later in the afternoon. The foyer is interesting for having the only known painted windows as well as some stained glass. The painting is very effective but wasn't particularly well received so wasn't repeated. We then went into the dining room where students and fellows have their meals. There are 700 students in this college so meals are usually informal and flowing to accommodate all who want to dine. Tonight there is a formal dinner being held catering to those who obtain tickets since there is limited seating. We had a look at the menu and I didn't fancy a few things there but no doubt I would have found enough to eat. We also had a look at the courtyard and the 200 year old oak/holly tree which appears in the Harry Potter movies. Yes the tree is grafted so is both.
We caught our bus back by 4pm and it was very different to the outward trip. The bus filled as we progressed through the Oxford bus stops and some peple had to wait for the next bus. Then there was an accident ahead of us on the M40 and we just sat for about 20minutes. Even when the problem was resolved the traffic was heavy by then and the total time was two hours instead of 1- 1 1/2. Then we went to a different terminal to catch the Hopper and had trouble finding it. Fortunately our room has tea and coffee facilities so a cuppa sorted us out before we went down to dinner.
8-30 am departure for the airport tomorrow so Goodnight. End of this diary.
Our hotel close to Heathrow is accessed by a shuttle called the Hotel Hopper. It's timetable is a bit erratic and Bob says it should be called the Crawler.
We caught the crawler ( it was 30 mins late) back to Heathrow this morning to catch the Oxford coach from the Central Bus Station there. This took us the 40 miles in just on an hour and delivered us to the centre of Oxford.
We oriented ourselves a bit and then booked a 2 hour walking tour for 1 pm. There are some interesting shops all up and down the main street selling clothing promoting the various colleges of the University. There are thirty something different colleges that make up the "federation" that is Oxford. We shopped a little and had lunch before setting of with 7 others on our introduction to the town and "gown" as the saying goes. The only other Aussie was a young woman from Sydney. We chatted as we walked between sites and eventually discovered that she is applying for a Post Doctural (PhD) research position and had flown in for about 10 days for a mutual inspection process. Her research area is in medical science specialising in viruses. If successful she will have a two year funding contract. I explained my noseiness by telling her abour Ingrid's role.
Now to the walk. This is a beautiful old town and we walked around places I had heard of including the Sheldonian Theatre, the Bodlian Library, the Radcliffe Camera and the St Mary the Virgin Church. The latter is 700 years old. The others were a bit younger. The Theatre was designed by Christopher Wren but named for Mr Sheldon because he supplied the capital. This also applied to to Mr Bodlian and Mr Radcliffe. The Camera was just another name for a library. We went into the library building which predated the Bodlian. Christopher Wren was involved here as well because the building had been stripped of all it's books during the time when Henry the 8th was having his tantrum with the Catholic Church. Before this time all the colleges had been Catholic and students had to be fluent in Latin to earn their degrees or Fellowships ie Professor status. Christopher restored the original library and donated many of his books.
From there we had a look at All Souls College from outside the walls. This was endowed by a Bishop who was worried by the loss of lawyers and priests during the civil war between the Catholcs and Protestants. It is magnificent even from only having a view of the bits showing above the walls. There were no students as such because it was/ is only for those who already had Fellowship status. Entry was rigorous but once "in" they were able to work on research of their choosing for as long as they liked. The bishop's architect liked towers and the building has about four that I could see. This led to the label "living in an ivory tower" for those divorced from the real world.
The main event of the tour was then to go into "New College". This was new in 1379 but the name stuck. It was endowed by a wealthy somebody who was granted the land just within the city wall of Oxford on condition that funds be allocated for the upkeep of the wall. The college is one of the largest in Oxford and now sprawls both sides of the wall but the Mayor still conducts an inspection of the wall's condition every three years. As a result it has the most significant remnant of the mediaeval wall remaining. We went into the chapel foyer to look into the chapel where they were rehersing for a Bach concert later in the afternoon. The foyer is interesting for having the only known painted windows as well as some stained glass. The painting is very effective but wasn't particularly well received so wasn't repeated. We then went into the dining room where students and fellows have their meals. There are 700 students in this college so meals are usually informal and flowing to accommodate all who want to dine. Tonight there is a formal dinner being held catering to those who obtain tickets since there is limited seating. We had a look at the menu and I didn't fancy a few things there but no doubt I would have found enough to eat. We also had a look at the courtyard and the 200 year old oak/holly tree which appears in the Harry Potter movies. Yes the tree is grafted so is both.
We caught our bus back by 4pm and it was very different to the outward trip. The bus filled as we progressed through the Oxford bus stops and some peple had to wait for the next bus. Then there was an accident ahead of us on the M40 and we just sat for about 20minutes. Even when the problem was resolved the traffic was heavy by then and the total time was two hours instead of 1- 1 1/2. Then we went to a different terminal to catch the Hopper and had trouble finding it. Fortunately our room has tea and coffee facilities so a cuppa sorted us out before we went down to dinner.
8-30 am departure for the airport tomorrow so Goodnight. End of this diary.
Saturday 3 November 2018
Photos from Lyon Historical Tour
Friday 2 November 2018
France: Lyon 2/11
Our walking tour guide certainly gave value for money. There were only three of us and we walked for three and a quarter hours. The third person was a young woman from Andorra the tiny country in the mountains between France and Spain. She was quite impressd that we had been there although we didn't tell her it was just a brief stop to walk up the main street. Jerome, the guide said his maximum number is 10 and he had nine in the group that afternoon. He said the cold months used to be quiet but now they seem to have tourists all year round. It was certainly busy over in the ancient part of the town when we went there with large groups everywhere.
We began in the Jacobite Square where a church and monastery had once been. The Jacobites were defenders of the Holy Right of Kings and lost the struggle and power when there was the separation of King and State. Jerome showed us where parts of the monastery had been retained as a building entry and small courtyard when the the Square had been created in a redevelopment phase of the city. He also took us along a street which led from the square which began wide and then abruptly narrowed where the developers lost to the conservatinists and 17th C buildings were retained.
From there we went to a huge hospital building fronting the river which was built in the 15C and operated until 1990. It has been retored and converted into offices, shops and an Intercontinental Hotel. The conversion isn't quite complete so the hotel doesn't open till next year. A Benedictine Order of Nuns operated the hospital and the best preserved area was their cloistered garden which was beautiful. It also included a sculpture by Rodan which was impressive. It was called "Adam's Shadow" (in French) and had been a present to a benefactors mistress. It had not had the figure's hands and feet completed but was powerful regardless.
From there we wound in and out of trabouls, down past 15C , 16thC and 17thC houses having their features pointed out. We went into a street in the old town that was almost untouched since the 17th C and quietly walked into the foyer of a 5 star hotel which was a restored building and had created the lounge area by adding a glass roof. Because we were a small group we mostly avoided the body jam of colliding with the large groups. Jerome was proud of being able to take us where the larger groups couldn't go. He concluded by taking us to his 17C apartment for snacks of local produce. Cheese, sausage, bread, wine and chocolates. It was beautifully restored and afterwards we wished we had had the cheek to ask if we could take photos.
We did a bit of last day shopping and then in the evening went to a very nice restaurant which Jerome recommended and then booked for us. It was above our usual price range but we treated ourselves for the last night in France. We also had a soup just so we could have French onion soup. This was almost a meal in itself and by the time we had our mains we were very replete. Another day ends.
We began in the Jacobite Square where a church and monastery had once been. The Jacobites were defenders of the Holy Right of Kings and lost the struggle and power when there was the separation of King and State. Jerome showed us where parts of the monastery had been retained as a building entry and small courtyard when the the Square had been created in a redevelopment phase of the city. He also took us along a street which led from the square which began wide and then abruptly narrowed where the developers lost to the conservatinists and 17th C buildings were retained.
From there we went to a huge hospital building fronting the river which was built in the 15C and operated until 1990. It has been retored and converted into offices, shops and an Intercontinental Hotel. The conversion isn't quite complete so the hotel doesn't open till next year. A Benedictine Order of Nuns operated the hospital and the best preserved area was their cloistered garden which was beautiful. It also included a sculpture by Rodan which was impressive. It was called "Adam's Shadow" (in French) and had been a present to a benefactors mistress. It had not had the figure's hands and feet completed but was powerful regardless.
From there we wound in and out of trabouls, down past 15C , 16thC and 17thC houses having their features pointed out. We went into a street in the old town that was almost untouched since the 17th C and quietly walked into the foyer of a 5 star hotel which was a restored building and had created the lounge area by adding a glass roof. Because we were a small group we mostly avoided the body jam of colliding with the large groups. Jerome was proud of being able to take us where the larger groups couldn't go. He concluded by taking us to his 17C apartment for snacks of local produce. Cheese, sausage, bread, wine and chocolates. It was beautifully restored and afterwards we wished we had had the cheek to ask if we could take photos.
We did a bit of last day shopping and then in the evening went to a very nice restaurant which Jerome recommended and then booked for us. It was above our usual price range but we treated ourselves for the last night in France. We also had a soup just so we could have French onion soup. This was almost a meal in itself and by the time we had our mains we were very replete. Another day ends.
Thursday 1 November 2018
Photos of our Lyon Apartmennt 1/11
France: Lyon 1/ 11
This was a very domestic day. We slept in for what was for us an unheard of hour of 9am. Then did our washing in the machine in the apartment. It was just a short walk around the corner to the laundromat for the driers. They have installed huge driers to take 14kg which could handle double our load so everything was ready to take home quite quickly.. We then caught the bus up to the old centre of the city to buy lunch and checkout restaurants. We found a few up around the Hotel de Ville ( town hall). This is an easy commute by bus so dinner was solved. We also tracked down one recommended in Lonely Planet but as we were studying the menu a friendly staff member came out and informed us they were booked out till next Tuesday, apparrently by tour groups.
We ambled around that quarter going down streets we hadn't explored before and took some wicked almond croissants home for afternoon tea. Dinner at our selected resaurant was an entetaining people watching exercise as it was a combined bar and bistro. The menu was definately tourist focused but with enough local dishes of raw meat an unmentionable sausage to suit the locals. Since I had fish last night and Bob had the chicken we both settled on steak. This was tender and came with an interseting pat of Roqufort blue cheese to have with the meat. Other than that it was a pile of fries and heap of lettuce with a good dressing.
For our last day we are going on a walking History tour so more tomorrow.
We ambled around that quarter going down streets we hadn't explored before and took some wicked almond croissants home for afternoon tea. Dinner at our selected resaurant was an entetaining people watching exercise as it was a combined bar and bistro. The menu was definately tourist focused but with enough local dishes of raw meat an unmentionable sausage to suit the locals. Since I had fish last night and Bob had the chicken we both settled on steak. This was tender and came with an interseting pat of Roqufort blue cheese to have with the meat. Other than that it was a pile of fries and heap of lettuce with a good dressing.
For our last day we are going on a walking History tour so more tomorrow.
Photos from the Zoo.
France: Lyon 31/10
Yes I know I have two 31/10. This is because I usually write the blog the morning after and yesterday I put the actual date. Yesterday we decided that we needed some greenery and caught the bus and tram up to Parc de la Tete d' Or or in English the Golden Park. It is France's largest park of the developed variety. It has a huge lake created by closing up a curve of the Rhone. There are walk trails, cycle paths, aboritum, a botanic garden and a Zoo. We walked to the lake first and then circled back to the Zoo. This is relatively small and seems to specialise in threatened species in conjunction with a European wide progamme. The animals were well set up with vegetation appropriate to their natural environment and cozy dens to keep warm in winter. Depite the cold weather ( it was raining but not heavily) many of them were out and about. The only ones we didn't see were the bears. Maybe they are thinking about hibernating. Most fun was that all the animals had big yellow pumpkins in their enclosures for Halloween and most of them seemed to be enjoying them. We learnt that the zebras have stripes on their backsides of different widths depending on whether they come from the riverlands, the plains or the hills areas. The ones we saw were from the hill country. The panther was a most magnificent creature and even he was eating pumpkin. The lion was unusual in that he was an Asian one from India. Very vulnerable status as you can imagine.
From there we walked through the Botanic Gardens. In the greenhouse they had lots of pitcher plants and sundews including examples that we find on our property and acknowledged as SW of WA.
By then we had been about three hours and it was time for lunch and a rest. Last night we adopted a different strategy to look for dinner and were successful in finding a decent restaurant with a waiter who was prepared to translate the menu for us. The French don't seem to believe in green veges except in their spinach quiches. Last night we opted for mashed potato as it was the first time we had seen it as an alternative to fries. We also agreed to pay a Euro each extra to have vegetables as well and were served half a small yellow squash and a piece of what I think was chinese radish. Have the broccoli and beans ready for when we get home girls. Despite that the food was good and we went home replete.
From there we walked through the Botanic Gardens. In the greenhouse they had lots of pitcher plants and sundews including examples that we find on our property and acknowledged as SW of WA.
By then we had been about three hours and it was time for lunch and a rest. Last night we adopted a different strategy to look for dinner and were successful in finding a decent restaurant with a waiter who was prepared to translate the menu for us. The French don't seem to believe in green veges except in their spinach quiches. Last night we opted for mashed potato as it was the first time we had seen it as an alternative to fries. We also agreed to pay a Euro each extra to have vegetables as well and were served half a small yellow squash and a piece of what I think was chinese radish. Have the broccoli and beans ready for when we get home girls. Despite that the food was good and we went home replete.
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