Thursday, May 30, 2013

Vezelay and the Chateau des Bazoches

Two days ago we were so lucky to have a sunny day when we headed to Vezelay. Vezelay is a gorgeous town with wonderful old buildings, lovely shops and a beautiful church as well. We started our visit with "breakfast".....we had a cafe au lait and a caramel eclair!!!! It was so delicious. Here are some pictures of this lovely town.


 There were lovely shops on the way up to the Basilica.
 This wool shop was closed but the mohair was so tempting to touch!


We had some delicious soup and yummy french bread for lunch on the terrasse.
At the top of the hill was the astounding Basilica of St Magdalene. It was built in the 11th century.





 I visited this museum which was in a wonderful house and there some interesting modern art including pieces by Picasso.

 In the afternoon we visited the Chateau des Bazoches which was a wonderful building full of lovely furniture and paintings and family heirlooms.




Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Dijon continued

We did manage to get our car today and are now just out of Vezelay at Pontaubert at our lovely hotel Les Fleurs. But before I share today's adventures [on a beautiful, sunny and quite warm day] I had best share a few more pictures of Dijon. We had been told about the owl trail around the sights of Dijon. It was really a good way to see the city. There are little arrows leading you around and then the points of interest are marked as in the photo.
 I also finally checked my own photos and had taken this shot of a beautiful tapestry and the one below in the Musee des Beaux-Arts, with me taking the picture in the reflection. Not too bad for a little "point and shoot".

 We visited the beautiful fresh food market. So much gorgeous cheese, meat, wine, cakes, fruit and vegetables.
 As we were forced to stay in Dijon for another day we decided to visit the Musee de la Vie Bourguignonne. It is a wonderful museum with reconstructions of the shops and life in the early days of Burgundy. Here are the ladies spinning.
 One of the many shops.
 This is the hat maker's shop.
 I just loved these old wooden toys.

 We also visited the beautiful Eglise Notre Dame. It was actually worth having another day as there was so much to  see.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Dijon

We have had a lovely time in Dijon and were supposed to be in Vezelay  now, BUT when we went to pick up the car we had booked (and paid for] we discovered that the car hire place isn't open on Sunday. Very frustrating. We have managed to get another room in Dijon and are hoping that we can get our car in the morning! Otherwise, our stay here has been delightful. It is a beautiful place with lovely buildings, very good restaurants and food and good museums as well. Here are some of Bruce's photos of Dijon. These are gargoyles on one of the cathedrals.
 There are many very old half timbered houses and lots of historical buildings throughout the centre of the town.








 We went to a museum in the Palais des Ducs which was an impressive building and had many beautiful paintings, statues and historical pieces.
 This was one of the ceilings.
 Here I am having a rest!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Dijon

We are in a lovely warm room in gorgeous Dijon. It is very chilly here but we have a whole day to explore this lovely place.
After 2 days of travel.....very long days, we are pleased to be here and slept like logs last night. We have already sampled some red wine and had the most delicious meal out last night. We started our adventure here at the Gare de Lyon waiting with our luggage for the 3.23 train to Dijon.
Bruce checked the speed of the train on our GPS.  Yes, that's 289km/h.
We had dinner here at Maison Milliere. Delicious entre, beef bouguignon and a yummy dessert as well as red wine from Burgundy. We are definitely on holidays now!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Pin cushion, boys and holidays

We are all packed and ready to leave tomorrow "on a jet plane"! Looking forward to very little cooking and cleaning for a while! The stitching is packed and the warm clothes are in too as France is having a bit of a chilly Spring! Just thought I would share my little pin cushion for the June Stitch-a-long as I will be away. Luckily this was done earlier.

 Then I thought I would leave you with some lovely images of the little boys! We will miss them so much but are also looking forward to a wonderful time away. Benny is so cute with his head resting on the little block that I have stitched.
 A pensive Sammy!
 The boys had a lovely time with Pa and Mummy on Tuesday while I was at work! They went on a picnic.

 Then they popped over to visit our place (without me) and read the catalogues.
 They had a great time with the washing basket and the pegs.



I hope to blog while I am away and share our adventures with you whenever there is internet.