Category: Holidays (Page 2 of 9)

Monet’s House and Garden Giverny 30.7.25

31 July 2025 / admin

Giverny Bridge 30.7.25

This morning we are moored in Vernon and looking at weather reports online for Vernon implied it was far nicer than it actually looked outside using window. After some research it is established that there is another Vernon in Canada and somehow that comes up on a search and not Vernon France. Here, regrettably, it is actually raining intermittently. So the waterproofs were worth bringing and are put on.

The mooring is on the north bank of the Seine whilst our destination is on the south bank and so there is a twenty minute coach ride to reach Monet’s House and Garden in Giverney where our group is second only to Nicko Cruise in obtaining entrance. Both groups are allowed entry well before the advertised opening time.

Water Garden 30.7.25

We go first to the Water Garden which is accessed by a walkway under the main road but it is initially surprisingly quiet. The numbers visiting are large but not impossible at this stage but it gets steadily busier. However I think getting any photographs (other than close ups) without people is impossible. The water gardens are stunning – although it is the wrong time of year for water lilies to be in bloom it is still a lovely setting.

Monet Garden 30.7.25

Passing back under the road we then visit the main garden which is colourful before joining the queue for the house. They are limiting entrance to the house and the queue does slowly grow behind us – we are waiting about 15 minutes which is adequate – by the time we come out I suspect that the queue length has nearly doubled.

Monet House 30.7.25

We head out and obtain a cup of coffee and an indoor seat just before the rain starts pouring down very heavily which continues for some time following which we move to the meeting point.

Then we return to Jane Austen and continue smoothly along the Seine towards Paris, once again we have the pleasure of watching the countryside pass by, catch up some reading and can remember that holidays are also for resting as well as seeing new things.

Honfleur 29.7.25

30 July 2025 / admin

Honfleur Salt Cellar 29.7.25

It is a shorter coach journey today for a half day excursion to Honfleur which is where the Seine reaches the sea.

Between the mooring point and our destinations yesterday and today our coach crosses all three modern bridges in the area easing communication between the two sides of the Seine. These are Pont de Brotonne (close to Caudebecquet), Pont de Tancarville and Pont de Normandie which links the Honfleur (south side) to Le Havre (north side) of the Seine and which we once used many years ago to gain the ferry to return to the UK after a holiday in the Loire.

Honfleur town was once famous for salt cellars, three originally, there are now two. They existed because the salt was needed to preserve the fishing catch. The cellars are constructed of great blocks of limestone with wooden vaulting ceilings erected by craftsmen word worker who were normally ship builders so the roofs echoing hulls of ships.

Old Harbour Honfleur 29.7.25

The complexity of the various buildings on the side of the Old Harbour which is at the heart of the town came about by the need for money of the owner who sold the right to build on the land adjacent to the Harbour and the properties were built with direct access to the Harbour. When the owner later ran short of money she then sold the ability to build a further four or five stories above the earlier construction with access from the street away from the quayside – so the properties had two owners. This trickery did not go down at all well.

St Catherine Honfleur 29.7.25

The church of Saint Catherine burned down and the replacement wooden church was again designed by local people versed in the art of shipbuilding giving another opportunity for those hull like structures to be deployed.

The fishing fleet of small boats is now virtually extinct (rather similar to the position in the UK) and the harbour is now rather more full of modern luxury sailing boats.

We return to the MS Jane Austen for lunch and in the middle of the afternoon we start retracing our steps along the Seine towards Paris. It is very restful to once again watch the countryside pass by. As with our trip along the Rhine a few years ago this is also a working river so we are passing other working vessels.

Bayeux and D Day Beaches 28.7.25

29 July 2025 / admin

Harold Bayeux Tapestry

We are moored at Caudebec en Caen. Whilst I am sure that our river boat could navigate further along the river we will spend two nights here and our excursions to the channel coast will be by coach. Today is the longest excursion on this tour with an early start – as we shall be visiting the sight of the D Day landings near Arromanches this afternoon but first we head to Bayeux to visit the famous tapestry.

Historically the experts now agree the Bayeux Embroidery was created in Southern England at the request of Bishop Odo, brother of William the Bastard (as he was known until he became the Conqueror), to reflect the various promises that William would inherit the English crown made by Edward the Confessor. Bishop Odo was the Bishop of Bayeux.

My picture above comes from Aspects of History which argues that whilst the scene is depicted above the limited contemporary records refer to Harold being seriously mutilated and hard to identify – so just maybe that famous story is not entirely true!

We are given handheld recorders describing the embroidery scene by scene. All well and good as it indicates the supposed pace of movement – except that some in front of us seem unable to move forward at the inherent pace so I am constantly trying to look a couple of scenes ahead to see what is being described; it is not possible to pause the recording as it is a crowd control issue. The Tapestry (it is actually technically an embroidery) will be coming to the British Museum in 2027 so I wonder what visitor numbers it will attract.

Bayeux Cathedral 28.7.25

We also have a few spare minutes to see the exterior of Bayeux Cathedral.

Remains of Mulberry Harbour 28.7.25

At Arromanches we visit the D Day landing museum. One aspect new to me is that Mulberry Harbour A (American) was destroyed in the bad weather which came soon after D Day and only the B (British) Harbour could be used to bring in everything until November 1944. The advancing forces took Antwerp in the September but there was no clear path until the conclusion of the Battle of the Scheldt to open and clear the estuary for use by Allied Troops. The logistics of the Mulberry Harbour as a single point of failure must have caused many sleepless nights for those concerned.

We then visit the D Day Arromanches British War Graves – here dominated by the large numbers of very young soldiers. We then move onto the relatively recent (June 2021) British Normandy Memorial recording the names of the 22,442 individuals under UK command who lost their lives between 6 June 1944 and 31 August 1944. It was brought into being after it was noted that other nations already had a dedicated memorial.

It has been beautifully completed. These European reminders of the horrors of the two World Wars did not stop the Argentinians in 1982 and seem to have no recognition currently in either Israel or Russia who continue their plans to grab the territory of others. Indeed there has recently been talk of the USA demanding that Canada and Greenland become part of that country.

Standing with Giants 28.7.25

For D Day 80 1475 silhouettes names “Standing with Giants” were placed on the hillside below the Memorial and they returned this summer representing those lost under British command on 6 June 1944. It commenced as a small community project but these images have appeared widely over the last few years.

Rouen 27.7.25

28 July 2025 / admin

Rouen Cathedral 27.7.25

In Rouen we are berthed close to the city centre so we are split into a number of walking groups and with ear pieces in place we head up the steps and into the city. Rouen is the limit of the tidal flow – further west the Seine is canalised to allow larger boats to reach this far along the river towards Paris. It is a major centre with huge grain silos in the port area and a little further westwards there are two huge oil refineries which are supplied by sea – at least one still has the capacity for despatching refined products by rail, although there is also evidence of river tankers which we passed on the way here as another means of distribution.

Out first stop in Rouen is the enormous cathedral which has one of the highest spires in Europe and the highest in France. Apparently having the highest spire at one point was a competitive sport in Europe and the others slightly outstripped Rouen as time passed. Mirrored in many ways by the competitive building of Towers in the 1960s which have been noted in most European capital cities!

Part of Rouen Cathedral 27.7.25

The cathedral’s entrance is impossible to fit into the camera’s viewfinder for a single shot as one cannot stand far enough back. There is an incredible amount of carved detail all over the face of stonework which shows that the work involved was enormous.

Rouen Cathedral Roof 27.7.25

It is not only the front of the cathedral or the interior which is decorated but also there are carved figures on the roof although I have struggled to find any information about them. Indeed finding photographs is difficult. So I thought I would include one.

Gros Horloge and Belfry 27.7.25

We then progress through the pedestrianised area. The centre of the town is marked a grand clock which tells the time – but in its own way. The Gros Horloge dates back to 1389. The hour hand revolves once in 24 hours – there are 24 rays to the sun. Moon phases are in the upper part of the dial. Week days are at the base of the dial in allegorical form (Diane/Moon – Monday, Mars – Tuesday, Mercury – Wednesday, Jupiter – Thursday, Venus – Friday, Saturn – Saturday, Apollo – Sunday).

The supporting archway pays tribute to the original source of wealth in the area – sheep.

The final stop on the route was until the 1960’s the local market and the area was the location where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. A new development encompasses the remaining market stalls plus a modern church as a memorial to France’s revolutionary heroine. It is also a reminder that for a long time western France and England were ruled by William the Conqueror and his successors.

This evening there is a quiz with 20 questions and a total of 23 points. Our group of 4 did well getting 22 out of 23. We could not recall the name of a particular Clint Eastwood film – “Unforgiven”.

Les Andeleys 26.7.25

27 July 2025 / admin

Chateau Gaillard 26.7.25

This morning soon after we awake we find ourselves descending in a lock before continuing our leisurely progress along the Seine. Paris is around 38 yards above sea level so we do not have a lot of falling to do – unlike the huge locks on the Douro river.

As we progress I note that one bank usually consists of chalk cliffs for a while with a wider expanse of farming lands on the other side of the river. After breakfast an attempt to sit out at the rear of the vessel is deemed too noisy whilst going outside further forward turns out to be a little breezy. The early morning sunshine appears to have vanished behind cloud, although it will probably return later. Towards the end of the morning we reach our first destination of Les Andeleys. However it is pleasant to sit in the cabin and watch France pass by.

After lunch we are taken to where there should be a waiting coach to visit Chateau Gaillard. (Parking close to the mooring point is not possible). However it has not returned from the first trip and we are standing around waiting. After a few minutes we decide that we would prefer to walk back through the village and take some photos and then return to the boat as the alleged shuttle service is not shuttling. We gather it did a little later but we do not feel we missed out on anything. Chateau Gaillard is notable on the hillside above and I find standing for any length of time difficult – it is easier to keep walking.

Les Andeleys 26.7.25

Les Andeleys is a combination of two villages and judging by the café we saw we were in what was petit Andeley. Attractive Normandy architecture and a Notre Dame church apparently makes it typical of the area. Once everyone is back aboard we are soon in progress again for Rouen which is tomorrow, a new city, but no packing and unpacking. We gather that there was some form of contretemps in the upper car park and the coaches were trapped and unable to return to undertake the shuttle – so out of the control of those involved in organising the trip – but it did feel like that there was a lack of attention to detail – but it seemed to be a one-off.

London – Paris 25.7.25

26 July 2025 / admin

Eurostar 4019 25.7.25

Our travel plan today commences at Sandhurst and a GWR unit to Redhill where we transfer to a Thameslink service to London St Pancras International for a Eurostar service to Paris. It is impossible apparently to purchase this as a single ticket as we no have ticket office to write one up. So each leg is a separate ticket.

Whilst we were a couple of minutes late into Redhill no problems were anticipated as trains were coming and going but a points failure at Three Bridges led to our connecting service allegedly being cancelled (it was actually sent up the Quarry line so could not stop at Redhill) which meant that we had to take the next service towards London – which kept being delayed and so we were about 24 minutes late into London St Pancras International (later delay repay was requested and granted – but it did nothing for the mental pressures at Redhill where there were numerous people who knew less than I did).

We now enter the hell hole of Eurostar and general incompetence. Documentation from our tour company said arrive two hours before departure (so 10:31). We were at the “Disney” line entrance at 10:46 which the Eurostar ticket said was the time we needed to be there (precisely). Were they welcoming passengers for the 12:31 departure? Of course not! Eventually we are permitted to trail up and down the Disney lines before scanning ticket, putting luggage on scanner belts (why – this is a train). One lady in front was shouted at but was physically unable to lift her bag, so I did that. Jackie was told quite abruptly hers had to go in tray. Today we are NOT taking belts off or taking iPads out of luggage. Again no consistency.

Then in the crowded waiting area we are penned in for fifty minutes. Two other services depart before we are allowed access to platform 8 for once a good 25 minutes prior to departure – but the train had been sitting there for some time before that. Very poor people management – no need to arrive so early, no need for bag and people scans – this is a train.

The watch wound forward one hour (I have that right this time) and at 12:31 (13:31 on my watch) we are off. We slide past Stratford International, Ebbsfleet and Ashford sympathising with those who might find any of these locations a good starting point for an International journey.

Once underwater (and I can confirm that there were no visible fish) lunch of either buttermilk chicken or tuna nicoise salad was served. It lived down to the usual expectation of Eurostar food. Even worse for one of our neighbours. They were carefully asked about allergies before serving (as were we) – she indicated a wheat allergy and they STILL put an ordinary bread roll on the tray. Unforgivable. Somehow there is also a complete inability to deliver tea and coffee so we are offered more (absolutely awful) wine.

I visit the café in coach 9 which feels like walking to Paris and acquire some navigo passes for next Thursday plus a bottle of red wine (187 ml) for the good lady wife as it is something better than the red wine served by Eurostar. By then we are thundering through northern France close to 300 km/hr.

We were met in Paris, loaded onto a coach and then onto La Peripheque to the Seine where we join MS Jane Austen. Check in, unpack. Decent cabin, with a bottle of champagne waiting.

Dinner is excellent, leek soup, beef bourguignon and french cheeses and some decent red wine.

Eiffel Tower 25.7.25

We head up on deck – it is wonderfully warm and having headed in slightly the wrong direction we are in sight of the Eiffel Tower for its 10pm light show. We turn around and start our journey westwards along the Seine.

Kingston Lacy 17.7.25

19 July 2025 / admin

Kingston Lacy 17.7.25

We are having two nights away staying at the Christchurch Harbour Hotel which has a lovely location adjacent to the water’s edge of the Harbour. The first night we dined in the Top Deck outdoors given the excellent weather. On the second evening we dined outside The Jetty restaurant immediately on the edge of the water. The food in both was excellent. The noise inside the Jetty restaurant was impossible – it was simply too loud and Jackie got us moved outside. There was a nice breeze but it was not cold. We had the opportunity to watch a sailboarder who seemed unable to change direction and falling into the water every time he was in front of us.

Gold Room 17.7.25

On the full day in Dorset we drove over to Kingston Lacy which is just outside Wimborne. Prior to the original house here the Bankes family had lived at Corfe Castle but were on the wrong side (at the time) and it was largely destroyed by the Roundheads. So they made Kingston Lacy their new home. In 1834 William John Bankes inherited and decided to remodel the property with the exterior reclad in Chilmark stone. A collection of Spanish paintings in a “golden room” and a Philae obelisk from Egypt. In 1841 he undertook voluntary exile in Venice but continued to add to his collection which were sent to the house with display instructions.

Japanese Garden 17.7.25

The house and grounds were the richest ever gift to the National Trust bequeathed in 1981 and it is simply not possible for us to cover all of the grounds but we do visit the Japanese Garden within Henrietta’s garden as much effort has been undertaken in the last 20 years to restore it. Henrietta Bankes was the wife of Walter Ralph Bankes who was chatelaine during the First World War.

Azores 14.6.25

14 June 2025 / admin

BA Plane 14.6.25

Time to return home. In view of our experiences we felt we would treat ourselves to a little more luxury and have booked lunch at Vila Galé in Ponta Delgada and arrange for a taxi to take us to the hotel. Vila Galé was the attractive looking hotel close to the fort which we spotted earlier in the week.

It is very different to our earlier hotel and the swimming pool looks to have plenty of sunbeds! It has a jazz and soul bar and we manage to obtain a drink – the poor girl has to run down from the restaurant and we follow her back up there for our lunch.

We do see a small number of other guests in the hotel – mainly coming and going – but absolutely no-one around the pool (not a surprise as it has rained earlier) and perhaps more surprisingly there is no-one dining either! They are obviously expecting people at some point as they are putting out a huge number of plates and bowls around the buffet areas (although no food is seen). However we have an airport to reach.

I am not sure they were expecting much in the way of dining guests until much later (for around 10 minutes we could find no-one at all) and the food is obviously cooked fresh although perhaps not as good as I had hoped – however no worse than the last hotel.

Another taxi takes us to the adjacent airport where we find that the inbound flight from Heathrow is late – it was delayed leaving Heathrow because the Red Arrows were flying overhead for the King’s Birthday. Recovery on tight turnrounds is never possible and we end back at Heathrow about 35 minutes later than planned. On the outward journey we were surprised to find that we had to wind our watches back an hour as Ponta Delgada is that much further west than the UK. Except I am so used to winding my watch back on return flights from Europe by an hour – which I do on leaving on Ponta Delgada, so when we do a time check at Heathrow it is two hours later than it says on my watch. Completely confused.

At Heathrow T5 we are at the C gates and have a huge wait for a shuttle as only one appears to be running and yet despite not going smoothly through passport control our bags have not arrived (most of the fellow passengers have long gone) and it seems ages before Jackie’s case eventually materialises. Then upward to pod parking and homeward.

Azores 11 & 12 & 13.6.25

14 June 2025 / admin

A change of pace now – the holiday was booked as two halves with an initial busy period and the a couple of quieter days at the end at what was hoped would be a sunny and warm location just along the coast from Ponta Delgada at Lagoa.

To put it mildly it was not in our usual price bracket but we hoped for a couple of days of indulgence.

We stayed in the first hotel in the morning and took a light lunch as the weather was not as good as the previous couple of days. Then a taxi to our destination.

It is a boutique hotel (nine rooms) and on being shown around I suppose the most striking aspect was the need to book the use of the jacuzzi. I accept that I would not want to share with others – but with that number of rooms booking it was a little much. We were also given a mobile phone so that we can contact the hotel team at any time (they are not on site overnight) and I can see the H&S side as positive – but do we really need another mobile phone? I largely left it in the bedroom until it woke us overnight as the battery went flat.

I have been known to arrive in a bedroom and sit down on the bed and ask politely if I need to unpack or not and probably should have done that. There is no door to the bathroom area – merely net-like curtains to pull across. I recall a hotel room in India where there was a glass wall between bathroom and bedroom – but that at least had a blind which could be lowered to obscure the indecencies – here there was no real separation which given the potential smells as well as sounds was unwelcome. Somehow I suspect we are not the target market.

For a boutique hotel room I would like a comfortable sofa or similar to lie along and read a book – there are two rather hard units in corners which are neither long enough on which to lie or short enough to provide a back rest whilst feet are on the floor. During the day it lacks natural light. At night some of the windows are unobscured so to my mind it is too light – almost impossible to conceive mentally but here physically obvious. There is a small window to the outside street with no blind and it is largely the only natural light. So we have a room which is too dark in the day and too light at night and with no comfortable seating.

If we had been outside throughout our stay as we were largely on the Thursday on the sunbeds then the room might have been less irksome but on Friday as it rained all day it was more oppressive and containing. The weather no-one can control but it was not possible to be comfortable.

We ate in the hotel on both Wednesday and Friday nights. Our first choices on the first night were the items we really wanted and the food is excellent. However our second choices on the Friday evening were good in terms of the quality of the items – we both had a deconstructed curry – but I am not sure the execution quite matched the underlying product quality.

On the Thursday evening we went out to find a local restaurant but the external visage of the two we found were not ideal. We dined in the second (given that there were only the two to find) and in reality the hotel needs the support of some slightly better restaurants – Jackie’s shrimp curry here was a somewhat odd pink colour and the shrimps were undercooked.

It will not be receiving a rave review, but I will not name it as that is a little unfair.

Azores 10.6.25

11 June 2025 / admin

Catamaran 10.6.25

When we walked along the Marina earlier in the week we noted various ways of going whale watching and the larger boats are catamarans (there are also rib boats but they are far too small for Jackie) and we booked an afternoon trip for today on one of the cats as the sea looks pretty flat and the weather looks good for the Tuesday.

Last time we went whale watching off of Boston poor Jackie was bedevilled with sea sickness until the return journey and so far this week the sea has looked calm and there are no obvious strong winds and so it proved as we headed out along the south coast of the island in an eastwards direction. This means we pass Lagoa where we are staying for the rest of the week – but we are far enough out to be unable to identify details apart from a very tall white building – some sort of vertical store.

After today’s trip I reach the conclusion that there is an ongoing problem with whale watching – it depends where they are and in terms of visibility. In terms of time we spend about an hour to reach an area where the crew hope we will see something – but nothing much emerges except a fin or two. Visible but not long enough to get a decent photo. So we move to another location and there are underwater shapes – where are informed there are a number of dolphins just under the surface – perhaps it is just too warm to come up today – who knows.

Distant fin 10.6.25

So there is an imbalance of time spent travelling and watching on one hand and even when there if they do not want to come out to play you do not see very much!

It is then an hour back to port – and in my personal view the risk / reward ratio did not work today – but at least Jackie was not ill as it remained smooth in both directions. We stayed in the cabin as that moves around less and consequently is less likely to cause upset.

After a drink on our return we walk around looking at the various restaurants but we had already decided we are having an Indian today as a change from the local cuisine which otherwise becomes a little boring as it is similar in most places. It was recommended by some Americans in the hotel bar earlier in the week but it as a welcome change.