Babymoon

Babymoon (according to dear friend Casey B): one last special trip away before baby takes over life. Fortunately, we were blessed to take a few days and visit the gorgeous, green Lake District of England. The most miraculous thing about it is that the Lake District is officially the rainiest portion of England, and, as we all know, "April showers bring May flowers." So, needless to say, we were expecting a cold, rainy, beautiful visit, with lots of curling up with a book. BUT, the weather was PERFECT! It was about 60 degrees with clear blue skies the whole time... incredible.

We stayed at an adorable B&B which we would HIGHLY recommend to anyone traveling to the Lake District: Ryelands in Grasmere. John and Lynn, the owners, were kind, pleasant, and so helpful. The breakfasts were wonderful; the place was immaculate, and the views were stunning. Look at the fabulous 1850's building:

The town of Grasmere, where we stayed, is the perfect size: large enough to have choice in restaurants, but small enough to have a village feel. The famous Grasmere Gingerbread Shop:

The perfect, cheerful daffodils:

And the sheep with their little lambs (SO cute!! And no, the mother is not dead; she's painted red as a kind of brand, signifying her owner):

On our first full day, we took a 5+ mile hike around Grasmere and Rydal Lakes. Aren't you impressed?!?! The hike started with a walk past William Wordsworth's (British Romantic poet) home, Dove Cottage.

We continued up the road to the "coffin stone," the place where they would rest coffins during funeral processions from southern towns to Grasmere, home of the only consecrated graveyard in the area for many years. I promptly took a rest:

The hike was beautiful, climbing into the hills and offering wonderful views of the lakes below:

We passed Rydal Church, where Wordsworth and his family worshipped:

And we made our way back down to lake level for some spectacular views:

The next day, with our sore feet, knees, and backs, we decided to take a day off from hiking and caught the bus to Keswick:

There we took a launch around Derwentwater Lake. It was beautiful! Doesn't this first picture make you think of "The Hills Are Alive..." from The Sound of Music??

That evening, we had reservations at The Jumble Room, an award-winning restaurant literally outside the front gates of our B&B. All the food we had in Grasmere was fabulous, but this meal was spectacular. My meal was especially incredible: seared lamb over creamy humus with oregano roasted eggplant and rosemary jelly... YUMMM!

Our last full day, we decided to be ambitious again and tackled a row around Grasmere Lake AND another 5+ mile hike. The lake was perfect in the morning: serene, quiet, and lovely. And my charming husband rowed me all the way around the lake:

The stillness of the water (since no motor boats are allowed on the lake) made for some spectacular images:

That afternoon, we hiked north, away from the lakes into the hills. We passed a beautiful stream and a great waterfall (which is way bigger than it looks, by the way; it was probably 100 yards behind us... it was just the only shot I could get):

Look how far I hiked!!! I know that pride's a sin, but I was pretty dang proud of myself for making this trek at 33 weeks preggers... In fact, if you look really closely at the second picture, you can see me high up in the rocks (see the third picture below for a close up, as unattractive as it may be...):

The goal of our hike was to reach the Easdale Tarn, a small lake up in the mountains. It was gorgeous, and definitely a fulfilling reward to our hard work:

Overall, other than the incredible bladder pain on the way down from Easdale Tarn (women who have been pregnant know what I mean!!), the trip was phenomenal. We had good food, great weather, fun adventures, and a very sweet time together. Although we are THRILLED about Oliver coming (we've finally agreed on Mr. Baby's name, by the way!), a last romantic getaway was a God-send. And we definitely recommend the Lake District to anyone interested!

Explore Ile de France: Chantilly and Senlis

Although I've let more than a week go by since our last day trip, we actually were quite ambitious last week: we visited Chantilly AND Senlis on Wednesday. Aren't you impressed?!? No really, the countdown to Baby Day has really begun, and we are desperate to see as much as we can before he arrives... So there we were.

Chantilly is a quick train ride from Paris and famous as not only the home of a beautiful Renaissance chateau but also the heart of horse racing in France and the source of Chantilly cream (fabulous, rich, heavy cream, often whipped). Needless to say, there was plenty to please. We began by walking past the 18th century stables that border the race track; can you imagine being a horse and having that kind of accomodations?!?! Reporter Keeley (as she becomes with her spring jacket and trusty camera) was happy to pose for a pic:

The visit to the chateau is rather unique, as the final owner of the chateau, who left the estate to the state about 100 years ago, required an odd condition. Nothing in the chateau was to be moved; it is all to be displayed and shown just as it was left. So far, the state has kept that promise, so his massive art collection and furniture and such is all where he left it. The castle itself was magical; I just wish the weather had been prettier!

Inside, my favorite place by far was the library. How can you not become intoxicated by the smell of old leather-bound books and the coziness of the dark wooden bookcases? I was in heaven!

We also toured the older part of the chateau which included one very interesting room: La Grande Singerie (the big monkey room). All over the walls were intricate French-Asian paintings of men and monkeys. Each picture represented one of the four major continents at the time: the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia (see below) or one of the 5 senses.

Outside, this adorable statue reminded us of the nature of this place as a hunting lodge originally:

We then caught a bus to Senlis, where we toured the cute, little, mostly medieval town. Our visit began with the rather colorful train station which faced a park housing a WWII memorial.

We quickly found the lovely Eglise St. Pierre, a church built in the 12th century which has (as so many churches do) added parts from the 15th and 16th centuries. Despite its size, it rose rather quaintly above the cobblestone streets and buildings surrounding it.

As with many medieval towns, Senlis is home to more than one old church. From 1151 (12 years before Notre Dame Paris was begun) to 1191, Senlis built its own Notre Dame, a smaller but still impressive cathedral:

This town was originally a Roman stronghold, and then a medieval stopping point for kings, and then a well-preserved and quiet provincial town for centuries. The really cool thing to see as you wander the town is the integration of those three stages. Here, you see parts of the old Roman city walls with medieval homes built directly into them:

And here a beautiful park which again blends Roman walls with, this time, parts of a medieval palace built for the French kings as they made their processions from Reims (where they were crowned and anointed) to Paris (where they reigned):

In that same beautiful park (which happened to hold a bunch of truant-looking junior-high boys on the other side - strange contrast to the beauty it displayed) was a breathtaking view of the cathedral's bell tower.

The quaint cobblestone streets were a joy to wander:

And we ultimately were NOT disappointed in the least with our day of exploration, especially when we managed to finish it off with a humongous brownie for Keeley and a decadent chocolate muffin for me from the boulangerie by the train station... Perfect end to an excellent day!

Explore Ile de France: Ecouen

Ecouen is a quick 25 minute train from Paris, and is home to an original 16th century French Renaissance chateau. The chateau was built by Constable Anne, Duke of Montmorency (yes, Anne was a man... not sure how that works), one of the wealthiest men in all of France at the time. It now houses Renaissance art, especially objects d'art, which refer to smaller items like jewelry, ceramics, etc. Although the sky was grey and we were drizzled on during our walk to the chateau, it was a wonderful day nonetheless. In fact, the walk from the train station to the chateau was through a beautiful wood:

With a pedestrian signpost that for some reason reminded me of some sort of torture device... Is that bad?

And the approach from the wood to the back of the chateau makes it easy to see why they would choose that location:

Although the moat was no longer filled with water, the chateau still stood impressively:

And the views of the little village of Ecouen from the front of the chateau were charming:

The most famous art housed in this chateau is a tapestry set from Brussels, made in the early 1500's telling the story of David and Bathsheba. The awkward thing about it is that the clothing and decor was all Renaissance... In this small scene (I could only back my camera up so far), you see Uriah on the left kneeling to David when he is called back from war, and then you see on the right Bathsheba seeing him off as he leaves for war, with no hanky-panky in between (which, of course, was the problem).

I also thought this little piano was super cool:

But my favorite piece of art was this little statue that I think represents the Trinity: Father, with his odd crown, Son dying in his arms, and Spirit as a dove between the two. Pretty different, but captivating:

We snapped one more picture in the courtyard before the rain caught us:

And Chris snapped this lovely photo when I got home. Since so many of you have been asking for belly photos (I know my coat kind of covers it up), maybe this will help (of course, I'm already bigger... gosh it grows so fast!!):

Explore Ile de France: Provins

My trip to the states and Keeley's stomach bug kept us off the exploration circuit for a few weeks, but as soon as we could, we jumped back on. It started with a day trip to Provins, a small town about an hour outside of Paris. An an independent city and religious center, Provins thrived from about 1000 to 1300, actually claiming the title of France's third largest town. Following the rise of Paris, though, as the country's capital, nearby Provins was quickly eclipsed and began its decline. Occupied by the English twice during the 1400's (the Hundred Years War), this town managed to stay afloat and still maintains much of its medieval architecture and charm in its old section, the Ville Haute. In addition, an adorable small-town feel is captured in the (only slightly) newer section, the Ville Basse, which includes two small rivers and a man-made canal. The Ville Basse had a particularly charming atmosphere with many exposed timber buildings and intriguing (in my opion) shabby-chic exteriors:

The Ville Basse is also home to several ancient churches, including Tour Notre Dame, built in 1544 (the church which used to be attached to it has been gone for some time) and nestled among homes and other buildings:

And Eglise St. Croix, named after a fragment of the cross brought back in the 1200's. This church was especially interesting due to its lack of uniformity. Notice the completely different architecture in the two side doors on the main facade and the differing stones and elements visible on the side (the picture containing the steeple):

There was also a lovely garden with a cute little water mill and one of the most unique trees I've ever seen:

After wandering the Ville Basse for some time and having lunch in the square, we headed uphill to the Ville Haute (by the way, Ville Basse and Ville Haute mean lower and upper town, respectively). Quite a trek for my pregnant little body (is that an oxymoron?), but Keeley was patient with me! The Ville Haute contains much more medieval architecture and boasts some of the most impressive ramparts (old city defense walls) in all of France. The ramparts stretch around most of the old city, in various states of decay:

Also impressive are the city gates stationed in the ramparts. Porte de Jouy seems to allow passage into life centuries ago:

Porte Saint Jean, on the other hand, although also an original 12th century gateway, felt more to me like being in Austin, TX, since it had recently been pressure-washed (I guess)... And although I realize this is NOT a flattering angle for a pregnant woman, don't you agree about the Austin-stone look?

Within the ramparts of the Ville Haute were two particularly impressive structures; one, the Eglise St. Quiriace, was a very odd church. It was started in the 1100's, and not completely until the 1500's. Then, due to a fire in the 1600's, it was given a rather odd dome in the 1700's. The result is a very unfamiliar style:

Interestingly enough, though, the church inside is one of the lightest, airiest, most pleasant atmospheres I've found, despite the dreary day and the rain falling outside:

The second impressive structure is known as Tour Cesar, though its connection to Roman occupation is questionable at best:

Just as good, though, was the quaint feeling of the mostly stone buildings in the Ville Haute. I love the old-school Mini Cooper with its small stone home, and the old man just looking out his window at the square below him.

Overall, I think the best thing was that we probably only saw two or three other tourists the whole day! I hear this place is crawling with them during the summer, when they hold medieval tournament festivals, but this day we had the quaint, quiet, lazy town of Provins all to ourselves.