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Europe 2025
  • Desiree and Neil Jury

Europe 2025

Een 43-daags avontuur van Desiree and Neil Meer informatie
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  • Het begin van de reis
    14 mei 2025
    Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    We’re Off!!

    14 mei, Nieuw-Zeeland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Hi folks, leaving today:
    * Daughter Liz taking us to Wellington airport this afternoon,
    * Farewell dinner with family, then flight to Auckland.
    * Air NZ flight to Singapore, leaving at 2355, arriving at 0645 tomorrow (10H50M airtime)
    * Singapore Airlines flight to Frankfurt, leaving 1055, arriving 1800 (13H5M airtime).
    * Couple of rest days to adjust to time zone - and walking upside down!!

    Wish us luck    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    1

    Farewell Whitby, hello Singapore

    15 mei, Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    All journeys begin with one small step. We piled our (much-reduced) luggage into our helpful son-in-law’s car boot in Whitby under a setting sun on 14 May. Wellington-Auckland, then a brisk walk to the International Terminal (swimming fish and flying bird ceiling sculptures new since last time), then we filed onto our Air New Zealand plane just before midnight.

    We flew into Singapore 10 hours later as the sun rose (super dramatic shots of the fishing fleet returning to base). Then landing at Changi, my favourite airport: super-modern, spacious, intelligently thought out, with none of the claustrophobia of older, shabbier places like Los Angeles.
    Changi is a gateway to adventure. Just reading the destinations on the Departures board gives you a thrill. The shops are spacious and shiny (I loved the Bacha Marrakech Coffee shop, all glittering lights and North African arches.
    A shower - bliss! And what other airport would be clever enough to include a Butterfly Garden to lift your spirits? and then to follw - COFFEE! And every time you look out a window, there’s another huge plane to bear you off, like Aladdin’s Flying Carpet, to a new destination.
    Each comfortable sofa chair has a personal recharging dock (modern travel is much more device-dependent than it used to be). Once again, the clever touch of giant golden carp swimming in their own little river, to delight the eye and relax the spirit.

    Then bye-bye Singapore as we look off (Singapore Air this time) for our next 13-hour leg to Europe. My travel discovery on this leg was The Sleepy Bookshelf, a series of audio books produced by Elizabeth Grace in London. She reads the full text of a book (adults and children) in a soothing voice, in 50-60-minute parts. Each is introduced with yoga gentle breathing exercises, and backgrounded with relaxing music.
    I chose Virginia Woolf’s The Lighthouse, which I hadn’t read before. Because you’re concentrating on the story, and tired with all the Travel Rush, after 10-15 minutes you drift off into a deep sleep. When you wake up again she gives a summary of the previous section. I had several periods of deep sleep. Recommended for insomniacs as well as weary travellers. Google The Sleepy Bookshelf if you’re interested:    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    1

    Frankfurt Rest & Recover Day

    16 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We arrived at Frankfurt Airport at 1800, after a 13-hour flight from Singapore. The Singapore Airlines staff were excellent, very attentive, the seats were comfortable, and the meals were very good, though maybe not quite the Air NZ standard.

    Leaving the Airbus A380 we made our first mistake: we both used the airport facilities, allowing the other 500+ passengers to hit the Immigration queue ahead of us! An hour and a half later we finally went to collect our bags, hoping they hadn’t been souvenired by someone else. We found them dumped by the carousel (one of 10+ carousels). Half hour taxi ride to our hotel.

    The hotel is just across the road from Frankfurt’s main railway station, an impressive building with lots of eateries, so after settling in, we enjoyed a quick meal of frankfurters etc at one of them.

    We both slept well, and woke with no symptoms of jet lag. Great breakfast set us up for the day.

    First job was a visit to Eis Fontanellae shop. When I tried to charge my watch the previous evening using a USB-C to USB-A adaptor it wouldn’t work. HELP!!

    The Frankfurt Apple shop had two floors: Ground for basic purchases of Apple products, and a Genius level above (Yes, that’s actually what they call it!) for more difficult issues. We used both levels, and sorted the problem. WHEW!!

    However, my watch failing had a fantastic outcome: L’Art de Sucré (reputedly the best cafe in Hesse) was just across the road, selling unbelievable French treats. Desiree’s coffee was great, and mine with a shot of cognac was even better; isn’t it great when you don’t have to drive!

    At this point we were only a short walk from the house of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany’s greatest poet, plus novelist, dramatist and natural scientist. It was a great visit: three floors of fascinating artefacts associated with Goethe and his family. For example, on each of three floors there were ceramic stoves in four rooms, heated by fires fed on each landing (by servants of course). We have previously seen these stoves in palaces all over Germany and Austria, but you don’t normally see the working side! Sadly, what we saw here was a house (very cleverly and well) rebuilt house, following virtually total destruction by bombing in World War II.

    Back to the hotel via the Eis Fontanella (Earl Grey tea, and kirsch flavoured ice cream) - they even offer banana ice cream for your dog.

    Now for our planned Rest & Recover Day!!    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    1

    Frankfurt Walking Tour

    17 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We set off today to join a four-hour walking tour around the old city. Missing our morning coffee, we found the stylish Caffè Monza. We found our group on the corner of Römer Square, named after the Romans who built a bridge over the river Main, with a single staging post nearby. From this modest beginning (the ruins are nearby) a great city grew..

    Our group leader, Anne, an enthusiastic American/German, led off her 20-odd mix of American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and other tourists, She has lived in Frankfurt for 10 years and really knows her stuff,

    We couldn’t enter the mighty KaiserDom, the cathedral where the Holy Roman Emperors were elected and crowned, as a Croatian First Holy Communion procession had just started,, with girls in white dresses and boys in long buttoned white cassocks.

    The Holy Roman Empire, founded by Charlemagne in the year 800, covered most of central and north-western Europe, In its later German form,. it lasted until Napoleon closed it down in 1808.
    The Emperor was chosen by a group of seven prince-electors who met in Frankfurt . In practice the crown usually went to the Habsburg (Austrian) ruler of the day. It was a big deal in its time, and served also as
    a useful body for settling arguments between its members. It will pop up all over the place in later postings of our blog, so it’s worth a thumbnail sketch now!

    The cathedral waa the only church in central Frankfurt to survive the two RAF bombing raids of March 1944, which wiped out the central city and cost 1500 lives. Over the years some original buildings have been restored. The charming House of the Spice Merchants, with its black arm holding up a set of golden scales, is one..

    Next we walked down to the river Main, to the Eisener Steig Bridge. From here you can see the finance district’s skyscrapers towering over the traditional buildings below. Right on cue, a giant river barge cruised into view.

    Next stop was the Carmelite Monastery, founded in 1246. The monks and nuns of this religious order (Neil’s sister Gloria was one of these for some months), named after Mt Carmel in the Holy Land, lived simple lives of prayer and meditation, cut off from the world. The building, is famous for the huge 16th-century wall paintings vividly imagining the life of Christ which decorate the cloister. This beautiful open cloister around an enclosed garden has a mood of peace and reflection.

    My feet were getting pretty sore after three hours,. Neil pointed out a welcome Grandma Chair in the foyer, while the others completed their tour. Heading back to the Römer we refuelled withr a quick sausage bun and ice cream .

    The last section of the tour told the story of the Jews of Frankfurt. Forbidden to join in the city’s trades, they were useful as money-lenders in an age when Christians were forbidden to charge interest on loans. A section of wall still remains from the first ghetto in Europe. This was the only place they were allowed to live. Not surprisingly it grew more and more crowded and insanitary over the years, In the late nineteenth century they were allowed to shift to a new, bigger area.. Here they flourished, until the coming of the Nazis to power in the 1930’s. On 9 November 1938, the infamous Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)., all three synagogues , along with all the others in Germany, were destroyed. Stumbling stones (Stolpersteine) dotted around the city show what happened next, as Jewish families were arrested.and loaded into trains. The final stop on our tour was the Jewish Memorial Wall. 12,000 names are set into the wall, Visitors are invited to place a stone for remembrance. The family of Anne Frank, who had fled to Amsterdam , was one of these.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Frankfurt farewell - hello Dresden

    18 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We were really looking forward last year to visiting Dresden. This was the last day trip on our list, booked for the day before we left Berlin, to return to Frankfurt Airport, and eventually home.

    Alas, it never happened. Neil woke up on that morning with severe vertigo. we spent the morning chasing up a (very helpful) English-speaking doctor, and then, when Neil had recovered, exploring the Potsdamer Platz in a vain attempt to buy a stamp for a postcard. (I ended up giving the said postcard to a helpful Middle Eastern gentleman at Frankfurt Airport. He promised to post it for me, and did,, having refused to take any money.)

    This time around, with pleas for postcards from my two youngest granddaughters ringing in my ears, I was smart. Or so I thought. I found two 3-D postcards at Frankfurt Airport, in a souvenir shop where they even sold stamps! I filled them out - one with some difficulty as the writing surface was plastic. I had to engrave my message with a ballpoint pen, rather than write it. So all I had to do was post it. The concierge at the hotel was polite, but no, he wouldn’t do it. There were no postboxes we could see on the street, over the road from the huge train station. Aha! we had spotted a Deutsche Post shop inside the station as we walked. So we raced over next morning ahead of our walking tour and - the office was shut.

    Finally we found three yellow tin boxes which looked to a Kiwi like rubbish tins. These were our precious post boxes - so the postcards were in and away.

    With last night being a Saturday, there was much hooting and hollering coming from the station. We woke early, got our bags sorted, and treated ourselves to one more excellent three-course German hotel breakfast. An army marches on its stomach, and so do the Jurys, who quickly become savage and morose if not fed at regular intervals, like the lions at the zoo. We were tickled by the honey dispenser on the breakfast bar. it looked like a baby robot from a 1950-s Sci-Fi film. Pull the metal arm and the honey squirts out the bottom into a little tray you can eat after.

    We headed off to Platform 8. Right on time, a sleek metal snake slithered into place, its carriages stretching as far as we could see. It turned out that our seats were in the carriage at the far end, which we reached after a brisk walk.

    Last year we staggered along dragging too much weight in too many bags and suitcases . Lesson learned, we donated the large suitcases to our favourite charity shop as soon as we got home, bought two medium-sized ones, and took backpacks instead of a second 7K suitcase. This paid off immediately, as our new suitcases fit two to a rack on the train, where last year they took up one each.

    So there we were at 9.15, suitcases stowed, looking out the wide windows, and waiting for our adventure to start: to go where no Jury had gone before. German is a great language for inventing new words, so I’m sure there must be Zugfreude - “train joy”, for that flood of delight when you settle in your seat and adventure awaits.

    So for the next four hours the rolling green countryside spooled past: farms, forests, rivers, settlements of little square houses with steeply pitched roofs and small square windows, to keep out the winter cold. Neil was pleased to find takeaway coffees in the restaurant car - also our granddaughters’ favourite Oreo biscuits. We got into conversation with the young man opposite who was wearing a Springbok jacket. It turned out his hobby was long-distance car rallies in old cars (at least ten years old). He was returning from one all over Britain, from bottom to top, ending in Edinburgh, and covering 5000 kilometres!!

    At 1.40 we pulled into Dresden station. We saw an attractive new food court but were driven away by the bashing and crashing din of a very amateur Dixieland band in the concourse.

    At the hotel we waited for news of the school-friend we stayed with in Hamburg last year. She had set off from the northern outskirts of Hamburg to join is, but after a series of track work delays and missed connections, was hours late. We celebrated her eventual arrival with thick hot chocolates from a cafe next door to our hotel - it is cold here - then went looking for a place to eat. Alas we were Sundayfied. In Germany shops shut on Sunday, and the few cafés close early.

    After searching the neighbourhood we found one still open in a complex called Kraftwerk Mitte. This was a hole in the wall conversion in what had obviously been a large manufacturing site, to a series of boutique businesses and eateries. We were lucky to get a table (not surprisingly the place was busy), and were able to plan our next three days in Dresden.    Meer informatie

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    Dresden Castle & the Frauenkirche

    19 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today we had two places we wanted to visit: Dresden Castle (Dresdner ResidenzSchloss), and the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady).

    We started with a tasty (and cheap!) breakfast at the next door bakery: orange juice, muesli, yoghurt, fruit salad, and bread/rolls with butter, ham, cheese, tomato, and cucumber. Plus coffee! As planned, this avoided any need to buy lunch.

    A 12 minute walk took us to the Postplatz where I was supposed to pick up our tickets for Dresden Castle and 2-day passes to the Hop OnHop Off Bus. The meeting point instructions were quite vague, and I had to hunt for the provider. Desiree and our friend Marie Thérèse took the opportunity to disappear into the Altmarkt Galerie, a huge shopping mall that they had also wanted to visit. When I finally caught up with them, Marie Thérèse had bought a new shoulder bag (looked like Louis Vuitton!, ) and Des had found the Ravensburger Jigsaw shop. You can see the results in the attached photo.

    So we made our way to Dresden Castle. In times past this was the residence of the mighty August the Strong, Duke of Saxony, and one of the Electors of the Holy Roman Emperor Des wrote about yesterday. Sadly, like the rest of Dresden, the Residenz was very seriously damaged by bombing during World War Two. Much has been rebuilt, but there is a huge amount of ongoing work in progress to restore the palace to what it once was. Our immediate interest was an extraordinary collection of armour and weaponry from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. We had seen some of this on YouTube, but the reality was stunning. Ycan see some of these exhibits in the photos attached. Marie Thérèse took a different path, enjoying a number of the treasures commissioned and otherwise acquired by the Dukes over the years.

    Finding our way out through the shop (only one book bought!), we carried on to the Frauenkirche. This iconic Evangelical Lutheran Church was completely burned out during the Dresden Firestorm of February 13 - 15, 1945 (along with another 6.5 square km) that resulted from British and American bombing raids. 25,000 people were killed.

    Discussions about rebuilding the church started in about 1948, but with a communist government in East Germany not much actually happened until German reunification. Rebuilding proper began in 1994, and the Frauenkirche was reconsecrated in October 2005. Marie Thérèse sang in the choir at the reopening ceremony. As you can see in the photos, the Frauenkirche is a church of unique and amazing beauty. it was one of the primary reasons Des & I wanted to visit Dresden.

    After we walked home, my watch told me we had walked a total of 14,314 steps. Marie Thérèse”s phone told her that she had walked more than 15,000, but she suggested that was because she had shorter legs!

    We finished up with lovely hamburgers at Lohrmann’s Brauhaus. A great day!    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Zwinger

    20 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Last year when we were travelling through Germany, we kept running into paintings of Augustus the Strong, Prince of Saxony and one of the Electors of what was by now the Holy Roman Empire of the German Peoples. Robust, confident, with a zest for life, he obviously made a big splash in his time (1670-1733). Here in Dresden we found out why. He is “one of the most famous of the Saxon rulers, and the most important native of Dresden. King of Poland as well as Saxony, he had “an extraordinarily strong and healthy nature.” He was strong enough to break a horseshoe in two, loved hunting, pleasure and women, He had one legitimate and eight illegitimate children, and he looked after all of them.. As a ruler he was the first in Europe to introduce a consumption tax - what we might call GST. He loved military glory, was a great builder of palaces and collector of arms and armour, mechanical devices, jewels and beautiful things, He had the largest collection of porcelain in Europe - 20,000 pieces.. When wars made it impossible to import from China, he sponsored the development of fine porcelain making in Europe. By 1715 his factory at Meissen was making fine china of the highest standard.

    This morning we headed for another Baroque treasure. the Zwinger, built first for court celebrations, then developed to house Augustus’ many magnificent collections. By 1730 it was “a first-class museum in breath-taking architecture” . The entire complex, influenced by Italian architecture seen by Augustus on his travels, was celebrated as “The Florence of the Elbe.” All the more tragic then that the Zwinger complex, the Court Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, and the world-famous Semperoper (Opera House) nearby were massively damaged. With heroic commitment, the people of Dresden, generous backers, and lovers of the arts worldwide have restored much of this unique complex and are working on the rest.

    Neil, Marie-Thérèse and I arrived at the Palace early, so we, took the opportunity to visit the Cathedral. Reconsecrated in 1962, the Cathedral is stunning.

    We then crossed the road to the Zwinger,, definitely built to impress. The building is regarded as one of the most important Baroque monuments in Germany. We wanted to visit the Zwinger because of its famous Old Masters Picture Gallery, the Gemäldergalerie. For Kiwis from the ends of the earth, it’s a real thrill to walk into a room and find yourself face-to-face with a masterpiece you have only ever seen in a book. The scale, the brushwork, the subtleties of colour - you learn so much more about these works when they are right in front of you: room after room, artists after artists - Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, El Greco, Caravaggio, Van Dyck …..

    Sadly, after three hours we were flagging. We could have come back every day for a week! So by common ageement, and because we had another major outing this evening - a concert at the Semperoper - we decided to call it a day.

    We found a lovely outdoor restauarant called Alex (!), and enjoyed some great food. Then back home for a rest .    Meer informatie

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    Intermezzo #1: The Semperoper, Dresden

    20 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    In 1841 the archtect Gottfried Semper built a  magnificent concert hall and opera house next to the Zwinger Palace in the heart of Dresden. It was named the Semperoper (Opera House) after its creator. Rebuilt after a fire in 1878, it was destroyed in the bombing raids of February 1945. Carefully reconstructed to Semper’s plans, it opened again in 1985. Tonight we went there for a symphony concert. First-rate conductor Tugan Sokhiev was conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, playing Dmitri Shostakovich”s Cello Concerto (soloist Sol Gabetta) and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, one of our favourites.

    The hall was splendid, the evening calm, with a pearly afterglow that made a magical backdrop for these buildings out of a fairytale. The Semperoper is worth visiting just for itself.

    The young woman cellist played with talent and energy. Her gown distracted more than a little from the music - it looked like a shower curtain with see-through sides and back. Male soloists aren’t expected to display their torsos while playing; I don’t see why woman soloists should be expected to display flesh as well as talent. (Neil: I don’t mind!)

    The Bruckner symphony was a revelation. Bruckner can come across as monumental and heavy, but Sokhiev’s reading was inspiring from the first notes. Power, tenderness, deep feeling, rich orchestral textures; driving rhythms and shimmering veils of sound. The performance blew us away. Not just us! The applause rolled on for ten minutes. Altogether a special occasion, and one we will remember with great pleasure.    Meer informatie

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    Saxon Switzerland & Königstein Fortress

    21 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Today started badly! We took a taxi to the meeting point for our trip to Saxon Switzerland, and just after the taxi had gone I discovered that my backpack (with food and my iPad) was still in the taxi’s boot. Marie Thérèse was gold: she tracked down the taxi company, and they contacted the driver. Unfortunately he already had another fare, and I watched my iPad (with Find My Devices) moving around central Dresden as we left the city. After about an hour my phone said the backpack was at our hotel. Phew!!

    Our two storey bus (we were on the top with great views) took us through some beautiful villages and countryside, everything very green and springlike. The driver’s commentary was an apparently excellent, but it was a real challenge to our German language skills. I got the occasional word and phrase, but relied on Marie Thérèse to keep us up with most of the play. This really upset a woman a couple of seats in front of us, glaring, “Shhh!”, and a face like the old Whitby Lakes lady that I beat with a couple of 7-letter words at Scrabble!

    The Geopark “Saxon Switzerland gets its name from groups of amazing 10-million year old sandstone formations. There are cliffs more than half a kilometre high! It was a Swiss artist may years ago who first coined the phrase “Saxon Switzerland!.”

    Sandstone was quarried here, and transported via the Elbe River for buildings not only in Dresden, and also in Berlin.

    One of the interesting features of this sandstone is that it naturally develops a black coating. As the stone weathers, magnesium salts in the stone cover the stone, and being harder than the sandstone, they protect it.

    Back in the bus, we headed for a huge fortress in the area, the Festung Königstein (“KingRock”). This enormous castle has a commanding view of the Elbe River which flows past it, as well as the surrounding geography. Today the Fortress is reached easily by a “Panorama” (management’s word) lift - much easier than the endless stairs.

    We really enjoyed our visit - we walked right round the walls which are staggering in height.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    12

    Farewell Dresden, Hello Paris

    22 mei, Duitsland ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    We made an early start - two flights today: Dresden to Munich; Munich to Paris.

    We were sorry to say goodbye to Dresden. There was so much more we could have seen, given time. August the Strong left a string of picturesque palaces and castles along the Elbe that would have been fun to visit. But we certainly did well out of our few days, in terms of superb Baroque architecture, amazing sculpture and paintings, a fantastic concert, and eye-popping natural beauty.

    Dresden has done much, since German reunification in 1989, to repair the utter devastation of the February 1945 firestorm. But a sadness still haunts its open spaces, like the Wettiner Platz outside our hotel. A church once stood where there are now uneven humps of grass, and a scattering of young trees. All that remains of the church are the doors, left standing as a memorial.

    Many German cities endured fearful bombing - Hamburg, Cologne, Berlin for a start - but the destruction of Dresden in the last months of the war, holding a unique concentration of artistic treasure and iconic monuments to civilisation, was contentious , even at the time. The city was crammed with refugees fleeing the Russian advance. Historians and strategists have argued over it ever since. Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Dresden” Quartet no 8 in C Minor and American Science Fiction writer Kurt Vonnegut ’s Slaughterhouse 5 were directly inspired by it. Vonnegut was an American prisoner of war in Dresden at the time,, drafted with other POWs to search the rubble and bury the dead.

    We had time in Munich Airport for a last lunch of delicious German sausages and the speciality breads they do so well. Then it was off to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. This has winding perspex tubes snaking hither and yon, like the moving staircases of Hogwarts. The Paris taxi drivers were on strike, but we managed after some delay to make it to our hotel. This was converted from an old apartment building, very stylish with high ceilings, small but elegant rooms, and the world’s smallest lift, just big enough for Neil and me if we don’t turn around., After our long day of travel we went for a walk in the late afternoon. The French restaurants hadn’t opened yet, but we found an Italian pizza place where we could enjoy pizza and watch the world go by while sipping a glass of white wine. On the way back we found a shop which sold specialty éclairs. Buy three and get one free! Just the thing for dessert!

    On our way back we made two more discoveries: a Gothic church of St Leu - St Gilles, dating back to 1235, still being used for Mass; and a charming local park , the Square Émile-Chautemps, created in 1858 as part of the great urban redevelopment scheme of Emperor Napoleon III and his architect Baron Haussmann. This held pretty ornamental ponds, statues,, fountains, walkways and sheltering trees. Modern additions include a playground, a table-tennis table and a petanque court, in use while we were there.

    .    Meer informatie

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    Notre Dame: Phoenix Rises from the Ashes

    23 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Another great day today, this time in Paris. 13,356 steps! We went on a guided tour of Notre Dame this morning and visited the Palace of Versailles in the afternoon.

    First, the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

    We walked for half an hour from our hotel. to meet our guide Pierre, providentially outside a coffee shop near the Church, that understood what “Flat White” means. Young Pierre led us for an hour through the streets around Notre Dame, entertaining us with a number of stories (part fact, part maybe!). For example:

    * Outside a police station, we were introduced to the “real” story that became Sweeney Todd (“English people often steal our stories”). A butcher was enticing homeless kids into his basement, murdering them, and selling the meat to his neighbour, a butcher who made pies that became enormously popular. “The king came and enjoyed one”, we were told.

    * We passed by Paris’s “first” restaurant Au Vieux Paris, started in 1512. There are of course others who covet that title!

    * We stopped outside a house in Rue de la Colombe (“Dove Street”), At one time the owner had a pair of doves at his house when the Seine flooded, and the house collapsed, burying the doves’ cage. The male dove was able to escape, but it was only later when the owner was able to rescue the female that the two lovebirds were reunited, and flew away together. The house became a place where young lovers would come to pledge their troth.

    We moved on to the forecourt outside Notre Dame. The Church was begun in 1163, but was worked on by nine generations of architects, stonemasons and labourers before it was completed. The French Revolution in the 1790s desecrated the church, and much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. Napoleon used Notre Dame for his coronation, but by the mid-19th century it was in such poor condition that there was a move to demolish it. Then the overwhelming success of Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris (English title, The Hunchback of Notre Dame) led to the Church being restored fully.

    Desiree and I visited Paris in 2010 for our 40th Wedding Anniversary, and my memories of the inside of the church are of it being very dark from centuries of candle smoke and grime.

    Wow, the difference now! Following the devastating April 2019 fire, in which the beams holding up the huge bells came within 20 minutes of burning through, which would have collapsed the towers , and taken the church with them. French President Emanuel Macron quoted Victor Hugo, describing Notre Dame as being “the heart of France”, He swore that the Cathedral would be open for religious services within five years. He was right.

    One interesting sidelight: Before the fire, the church spire was topped by a gilded copper cockerel. After the fire they found it in the rrubble.

    As you can see from the photos, the interior of the Church is now light and airy. As Macron said, the outcome of the restoration is nothing short of miraculous.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    11

    Versailles

    23 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    A busy day today! Notre Dame this morning, Versailles this afternoon. Our tour this time was nine people in a modern minibus, with an expert guide.
    Louis XIV (1638 - 1715), reigned for 72 years, the longest reign in history.
    He was an absolute monarch (boss of everything). To control his relations, and the nobles from other parts of France who might be a threat, he built over many years a huge palace outside Paris at Versailles where they had to live. Here he lived in mind-boggling splendour. He declared himself the Sun King. His branding was everywhere - golden suns on the walls, Louis as the god Apollo driving his chariot over the ceiling, huge portraits in yards of satin, elaborate stacked wigs with flowing curls. So itchy!

    Palace life was an elaborate charade designed to focus attention on the king.

    He was succeeded by his great-grandson, Louis XV. His son was the unfortunate Louis XVI. The state was bankrupt and the people were hungry and fed up with a system where they paid taxes, but the Church and the Nobles didn’t. On 14 July 1789 the Paris mob stormed the Bastille, an old castle which stood for everything they hated. The French Revolution, driven by new ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, swept the old order away.

    The first thing that struck us when we arrived at Versailles was the size. It’s not a palace, but an interconnected town on the grandest scale, containing an estimated 2,300 rooms! The wings stretch away on both sides as far as you can see. The entrance courtyard goes on forever.

    Next is the gold. This has recently been redone. Great blobs of gold everwhere: fences, gates, wall plaques, decorations, along the chapel roof. Inside, more gold in frames, trims and furnishing fabric was interwoven with gold and silver.

    Next, huge paintings everywhere filling walls and ceilings. And marble in different colours. Huge ceremonial beds, not for sleeping in, but being born and dying in.

    The highlight is the Hall of Mirrors. Louis designed this for balls and diplomatic receptions. The ultimate in over-the-top splendour, it is most famous as the setting of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. This peace treaty ended the First World War (and led ultimately to the Second.)

    We staggered out the back to the courtyard where it all went crash. A vengeful mob invaded the palace grounds, overwhelmed the Swiss Guards and surged into the courtyard outside the royal bedrooms. The queen, Marie -Antoinette, came out on her terrace to plead as a mother for the lives of her family. Power had passed to the people. It was all over.

    Our last point of call was the view of the royal gardens. These run as far as you can see. A pop concert was setting up on the terrace. Louis XIV. among many other things, invented the ballet. I wonder what he would have made of it!    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    112

    Paris to Caen

    24 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Yesterday we left Paris from Gare St Lazare, and travelled west 2 1/2 hours to Normandy. An excellent train ride brought us to the port city of Caen.

    Three things about Caen. First, the city is this year celebrating 1,000 years (!!) of history.
    Second, William the Conqueror lived here before he invaded England in 1066. After his death he was buried here, but after his grave was desecrated at least twice, only his shinbone remains. (This has been used to calculate his probable height at 1.73 metres.)
    Third, given the city’s proximity to the Normandy coast, 80% of its buildings were destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944. (With friends like these, who needs enemies?)

    This morning we joined a local guide Thomas for a tour of “history and secrets”. It was a very enjoyable experience, all the better because we were Thomas’s only customers today.

    Thomas told us that when William wanted to marry Matilda of Flanders, first her family disapproved because he was illegitimate, and the the Pope declined to bless the marriage (nudged by the French king).

    William & Matilda married anyway. When the Pope died, the new Pope agreed to bless the marriage, on condition that William built two abbeys (one for monks, the other for nuns), two hospitals, and a library..

    Our tour took us to first to the Abbaye-aux-Dames (also Sainte Trinité). The enormous church doors in the photo are original - almost 1,000 years old!

    Our next stop was Duke William’s castle - huge walls, with a clear horizontal line marking the arrival of cannon technology. Nazi troops used the castle as barracks during the occupation, and
    there is evidence of burning on the outside wall.

    We walked a lot today (12,175 steps), through narrow little streets and wide boulevards, over the river and along the canal. Most shops were closed (being Sunday), but there was a huge market along the canal. There was also a replica of one of Ferdinand Magellan’s ships, the Victoria. Plus Des fell in love with a pack of “squadrons” - St Bernard’dogs used by the Police for rescue work in the water.

    We stopped for coffee, and then went to William’s other monastery, L’Abbaye-aux-Hommes (aka St Étienne, St Stephen’s).

    A great tour!

    Tomorrow a day trip to Bayeux, of Tapestry fame.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    1

    Bayeux Part 1

    26 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Last night was Mother’s Day in France, so we went to a restaurant next door called La Taverne. The meal was superb, Desiree had the Mother’s Day Special: “Pavé de cabilliaud en croute d’herbes,millelfeuille d’aubergine au panais et sa duxelles de champignons accompagné de sa chips de lard”, or “cod fillet in a herb crust, eggplant and parsnip millefeuille and mushroom duxelles served with bacon chips”. She seemed pleased with it! I had the largest lamb shank I have ever seen, apparently cooked 10 hours, but that too was fantastic: very tender and easy to eat. We accompanied this wonderful food with an excellent chablis. For dessert Des had a “La Normande” ice cream sundae, and I had profiteroles.

    We can’t eat like this all the time, but Mother’s Day was a great excuse. It also explained why we saw so many people yesterday morning carrying large bouquets of flowers!

    This morning we took a 15 minute train ride to Bayeux, the home (surprise, surprise) of the Bayeux Tapestry. This unique record of the events of Duke William of Normandy’s defeat of King Harold of England is a 70-metre long drama crammed with lively detail. The climax at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066 plays out like an action movie. William is now William the Conquerer, King of England. The rest is history.! We went straight to the Tapestry Museum, hoping to avoid the crowds, and it worked - there were a few people there with us, but it wasn’t the crush I feared. You pay 16 Euros each for three museums in Bayeux, the Tapestry Museum, a Museum of Art & History, and the Museum of the Battle of Normandy. More on the latter two in Part 2 tomorrow.

    We were each given an excellent audio guide to the nearly 70m long tapestry, which stepped us through each of 60 stations along the tapestry, comments on both the action and the artistry displayed in it. Not surprisingly, no photos were allowed. The result was a wonderful experience that Des and I will always remember. It’s amazing to think not only that every stitch was done by hand, and someone or some people were able to plan and visualise the incredible imagery in the tapestry. And the colours, all natural dyes, don’t appear to have faded, even though the tapestry is nearly 1,000 years old!

    We spent some time in the associated museum, looking at lots of things related in some way to the tapestry: a replica boat, chain mail (real from the time), and models of people who lived at the time. There was some interesting history of the tapestry - it very nearly didn’t survive the French Revolution: it was used in 1792 to cover a wagonload of weapons being taken to Paris, and in 1794 it was very nearly cut up to use in a street parade! In the nineteenth century the Tapestry was wrapped around a drum, and on opening, fed onto another drum. The caused some damage, especially to the ends of the tapestry, which are now ragged.

    We found a charming spot for lunch, La Moulin de la Galette, a café attached to an old watermill. We each had a galette, a buckwheat pancake which comes with filling of your choice. Lovely! I followed with a pistachio crépe (Des helped me!) and a terrific espresso.

    Tomorrow is a rest day for us (Phew!!) so we thought we would leave the rest of our visit to Bayeux till then.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Bayeux Part 2

    26 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    I knew that Bayeux was famous for its tapestry, but discovered its cathedral only when I ran into it on YouTube. Bayeux is a little town on 12,600 people, yet here was a huge cathedral that looked as if two churches had collided. We made it a must-see on our trip.

    The Notre Dame Cathedral of Bayeux is a national monument. It is probably the site where the shipwrecked Harold Godwinson was forced by William Duke of Normandy to swear an oath on sacred relics. This was supposed to guarantee that William would bethe next King of England, after the failing Edward the Confessor died. Once safely home, Harold had different ideas and was crowned king. William promptly started gathering an invasion fleet. Harold, who must be one of the unluckiest rulers in English history, was forced to march north to Stamford Bridge to defeat an invading army of Vikings under the dreaded Harald Hadrada (“Tough-guy Harald”.). This was a major achievement on its own, but Harold immediately had to march his battered army two weeks south to meet the Norman invasion. At Hastings, William won the day.

    His half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who commissioned the tapestry, consecrated his cathedral in 1077. Since then the original Norman building with rounded arches in the Roman style has been added to, and rebuilt with spectacular Gothic columns and windows. There is so much of this church, you don’t know where to look first. Besides being drop-dead spectacular, it is so rich in history, from tombs of bishops from almost 1000 years ago, through to events still within living memory. You look from stone steps worn down over hundreds of years, to a golden statue of Our Lady, to a side chapel dedicated to the religious priests and nuns from Bayeux and Lisieux killed by the Nazis during their four-year Occupation.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Rest Day- only 11,888 steps!

    27 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Today was supposed to be a rest day - HA! The temptation to see inside the three great churches we had only seen from outside on our guided tour was too strong. First was Matilda’s Church of the Trinity, part of the Abbaye-aux-Dames (Religious Foundation for Women) started in 1060. Queen Matilda was buried there, in front of the altar, in 1083, and lies there still. Amazing to look down on the resting-place of a remarkable woman who was a power in her time. The church, surrounded by trees and later buildings of the abbey, has an air of restfulness and calm.

    On our way to William’s abbey church at the other end of the town, we chanced upon the impressive Gothic church of Saint-PIerre (Saint Peter). This was severely damaged during the 1944 bombing of Caen, when 80% of the city was destroyed in fierce fighting between Allied and German forces. It took five months to clear the wreckage. A photograph in the church shows it and the surrounding city in ruins. The next two show how the spire and nave (body) of the church were restored.

    By now we were feeling hungry and made our way to Monsieur Louis, a restaurant on the market square. We had enjoyed a fine coffee and croissant there during our guided tour. We had planned to return for lunch, but it was booked out for Mothers’ Day. Today our luck was in. We ordered the Plat du Jour (daytime fixed menu) and were rewarded by a delicious meal, beautifully presented. Of course after this, we had to order dessert - also outstanding.

    Last on our list was William’s church of the Abbaye-aux-Hommes (Men’s abbey), Saint-Étienne (St Stephen). This was spectacular. It climbed up the hill in an organic growth of stone, towers, pinnacles, columns, arches and massed flying buttresses. All William’s buildings were statements of his power and the permanence of his reign (think the Tower of London and Durham Cathedral). This is a battleship of a church, massive and soaked in history. So many lives, so many prayers, so many times the church a place of succour during wars, plagues and civil strife. In a church like this you can sense the generations upon generations who have knelt there.

    Amidst the bitter fighting of 1944, Duke William’s mighty church survived. For a month the heroic Monsignor des .Hameaux sheltered hundreds of townspeople, men, women, children, eating, sleeping and living their lives inside the church. A sheet marked with a red cross, stretched out on the roof, marked it as a hospital. The bombers left it alone. His flock survived. These smudgy black-and-white photographs brought tears to my eyes.

    Our Rest Day never quite happened as we had planned, but we enjoyed the day immensely. And we were so glad we took this unique opportunity to experience these awe-inspiring churches, so rich in history.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Caen to St Malo

    28 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After an easy morning we caught a regional train to Brittany. Toward the end of the journey I caught sight of Mont St Michel on the horizon, but I was not quick enough with my phone before it was gone. After nearly three hours of very green, very attractive farmland we arrived at our waypoint Dol de Bretagne. (Dol is a Breton term meaning "low and fertile place in the flood plain of a waterway”). Our nearest exit was blocked by four bicycles, their owners and baggage, but we managed to find another door with only two bikes!

    We changed to another train for a 15 minutes ride to St Malo.

    What a stunning place! And the hotel - “Golden Tulip Hotel Le Grand Bé” - is lovely, especially after the Ibis Styles in Caen which could only be described as “mean”.

    We were drawn to St Malo by its exciting history and spectacular setting. Sited on a rocky outcrop on the coast of Brittany, in the west of France, St Malo, surrounded by strong walls and fortified with cannons, was impossible to attack. Its hardy sailors provided the crews for fishing boats, long-range explorers (the Northern Canada fur trade was pioneered by Jaques Cartier from St Malo), and in times of war, pirates and privateers. Privateers obtained “Letters of Marque” from the King. These were an official licence to capture the ships and cargoes of countries you were fighting. For the shipowners of St Malo, this was a highly profitable business. Proceeds were split with the king. And in case you think this was an underhand French trick, the English had been doing the same thing from the time of Queen Elizabeth the First, with naval heroes like Francis Drake.

    The two most famous privateers of St Malo were René Duguay-Trouin (1673-1736), who captured more than 300 ships and 16 warships, and ended up as the lieutenant-general of Louis XIV’s navy, and the dashing Robert Surcouf, (1773-1827), who created havoc among English merchant ships during the Revolutionary Wars with France. Surcouf became so wealthy that he paved the entrance to his house with solid gold Napoleon coins. When he came to visit, Napoleon was not impressed! With his captures, Surcouf drove up ship insurance so much that Lloyds of London put a 10,000 pound bounty on his head! The exploits of privateers like Duguay-Trouin and Surcouf are well worth reading about.

    St Malo has a considerable variation in tides. As an example I have included a picture of people swimming in a tidal pool - note the diving board on the seaward side, The next picture shows the same location at high tide - only the diving board is showing! Also in the photos (after the glass snail) is a picture of the shot from our hotel window showing a very busy playground..    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    11

    Sauntering around St Malo

    29 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We woke this morning after the best sleep we’ve had on the holiday so far - over 9 hours in a very comfortable bed.

    After a bit of doom-scrolling (hard to give up completely!), we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.

    Today’s first task was walking the amazing (as you’ll see in the photos) St Malo fortifications. These were paid for by King Louis XV, and were supervised by Vauban, the top military architect of his age.

    The walk reputedly takes about 45 minutes (longer for old crocks!), and we had completed about three-quarters of the walk before Des needed a) coffee, and b) retail therapy.

    Today being Ascension Thursday, it was a public holiday until lunchtime, but we found a shop open and made a couple of purchases.

    We also fell in love with an art print of a lugger, but it was 1.5m square. We could have rolled it up, but we don’t have a bit of wall big enough anywhere in our apartment to hang it! Walked away☹️.

    Back to the hotel for Chablis and a charcuterie (cold meat) platter, and a couple of hours eating and reading books in the sun.

    We had booked a boat cruise at 5.15, but it was not to be. The jetty was about 20 minutes drive away from the hotel, and when I tried to get a taxi at 4.30, reception couldn’t get one till after 5.15. So we had to let that go😡.

    Off to an organ concert tonight in St Vincent’s Cathedral.

    Yesterday we used the St Malo flag as the lead photo, but it wasn’t quite clear that St Malo’s emblem is a white ermine - see photo.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Last Day in St Malo

    30 mei, Frankrijk ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Last night we walked next door to the Cathedral of St Vincent for an organ recital by Nicholas Bucher, playing Bach and Mendelssohn. We enjoyed the music, and the clever idea of filming his performance, so we could watch him playing both hands on four keyboards and both feet on the pedals on a big screen at the front of the church..

    His played on the Grand Organ donated after the war to replace the one destroyed, along with much of the church, in the bitter fighting of August 1944. Looking around this ancient church (the oldest remaining statue of the Blessed Virgin dates back to the 1500’s) - you can see where the fabric of the old church has been skilfully integrated with new stained glass windows, and modern construction materials, to bring this building back to life. A plaque in the floor marks the spot where Jacques Cartier was blessed by the bishop of St Malo on 16 May 1538 on his departure for the voyage which would make him the first European to discover Canada. Naval hero Reré de Duguay-Trouin is buried in a side chapel, and the bell peals out the hours as it has for hundreds of years (these days until 10pm).

    Another reason we came to St Malo was the Netflix Series All The Light We Cannot See, based on the novel by Anthony Doerr. St Malo had the misfortune to be declared a fortress in the Atlantic Wall by Hitler. Its defence was commanded by an officer so fanatical, that even his own soldiers called him “The Mad Colonel”. To make matters worse, the Allies completely underestimated the number of German troops in the garrison. They thought there were 4000-6000 Germans in the area: the actual number was 12,000. Most of the townspeople had left the city when the devastating attack began. At the end of the fighting, when the commander finally surrendered, 80% of the city was destroyed. It took two years to clear the rubble. Reconstruction began in 1946 and was completed in 1960. The final touch was installing a new spire on the cathedral in 1971. By the early 1960’s the town was a popular holiday destination again. Now the streets are thronged with families (and their dogs of all sizes.),

    St Malo even has dogs on its coat of arms - city walls on the top, an ermine (a North American stoat in its white winter coat,, valued by kings and the House of Lords as a luxury trim), a portcullis signifying there was no way in, and on either side a fierce mastiff (war dogs) with spiked collars. A pack of these fearsome beasts was let loose at curfew time each evening, to make sure nobody roamed the streets. They certainly look pretty mean on this manhole cove!

    The weather was brilliant this morning. We ambled around the town soaking up the sunshine and the atmosphere (and a large ice-cream). This afternoon we took a one-and-a-half hour ferry ride around St Malo Bay. We passed the 1988 replica of Robert Surcouf’s last ship Le Renard (The Fox), launched in 1812. These ships were small, heavily armed for their size, crammed with tough sailors, and very fast. Under a daring captain they overwhelmed merchant ships and could hold their own against regular naval vessels - or at least trick their way out of trouble, and use their speed to escape.

    The boat trip took us past the Solidor Tower at Dinard (the city on the other side of the Rance river, past the Vauban fort on Le Petit Bé, and the island of Cézembre, now bare rock, where the Germans finally surrendered, and out past the threatening Vauban Fort de la Conchée. Seen from the sea, it’s obvious why St Malo was an impossible nut to crack. It is a massive granite fortification, set in a deep bay littered with granite rocks and reefs, with forts sitting on islets of any size, with tricky channels, and a 13 metre tidal range. On a day like this it is stunningly beautiful, with sailing boats and launches everywhere, enjoying the glorious weather.

    We have really enjoyed our time here - so much to see, in a setting unlike any other place we have been.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    St Malo to Paris to Lyon

    1 juni, Frankrijk ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Yesterday after a relaxed breakfast we taxied to Gare St Malo, and boarded a TGV (Train Grande Vitesse - Very Fast Train), and travelled to Paris at 295 km/hr! We broke the journey at a 4-star hotel, with the smallest room I think I have ever slept in with another person. Thoughts of swinging cats!

    This morning we crossed Paris to the Gare de Lyon (cover picture), boarded another TGV heading for Lyon, Wonderful way to travel!.

    It was about 3pm when we reached Hotel Des Artistes, in a great location for the things we want to see.while we’re here. But we had to begin with something to eat, so we went to the closest cafe, and enjoyed Assiettes de Jesus, which turned out to be acres of salami with small gherkins and French bread, washed down with a beer.

    Needing a walk, we crossed the river (the Saône) on a large footbridge. The first thing we saw on the other side was a statue of a nude man with another obviously dead man in his arms. This sculpture is titled “The Weight of One’s Self” - both the faces are identical. a great statue, but very deep, Des preferred “a French episode of Bondi Rescue”!

    Further we came to the Cathédrale de Sainte-Jean-Baptiste, or St Jean, as the locals call it. This Cathedral, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, was begun in 1180, on the ruins of a sixth century church. It was not completed until 1486. Over the centuries, it has been the location of a papal council (1245), a conclave of cardinals electing a pope (1316), and the site of the marriage of Henri IV of France and Marie De Medici (1600). Famous visitors included Emperor Napoleon and Josephine (1805), and in more recent times, Pope John Paul II, and ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. The Cathedral was fully renovated in 2012, Apart from being a spiritual centre, the church is a historic monument wIth many important art works.

    Two associated churches nearby were destroyed in the French Revolution, and only ruins like the arch in the photo, remain.

    Today being the 1st of June, Desiree wanted to light a candle for her late cousin Editha, whose birthday was today. Her candle is the stongest in the photo! The painting above the altar was originally from Notre Dame de Paris. This is one of a series of paintings sponsored in the 17th century by the Guilds (associations of skilled craftsmen) of Paris, to be hung in Notre Dame.

    The next photo is of the beautiful Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, where people stop to pray.

    While we were in the church, we saw and heard the 17th century astronomical clock. WOW!

    At 4.45 we joined a river cruise from the centre of Lyon. We went up the river for a while, and then came back down and carried on to the Confluence, where the River Rhône (blue water, coming from the Alps) joins the River Saône (green water, rising in northern France), On the way we saw some amazing buildings that Lyonnais have given nicknames to:: the orange Cheddar Cheese, the starship Enterprise,, and the green Pencil Sharpener. All along the banks of the river were converted barges, houseboats, restaurants, and even nightclubs!

    Another great day! More Lyon tomorrow.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger
    1

    Exploring Lyon

    2 juni, Frankrijk ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Tuesday was a day of two halves. I had not slept well the night before, and woke up feeling decidedly off-colour. Hungry after our travel, I had polished off a large platter of Assiette de Jesus (local salami) for an dinner. Still I was determined to take the walking tour of Old Lyon we had paid for, and tottered around, uncharacteristically silent (!!! N).

    Our Canadian/French tour guide Aidan took us on a two-hour, 20 minutes walk around the Old City. Lyon is the fourth-biggest city in France, founded by the Romans. Lugdunum was the capital city of Roman Gaul. On a key site at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône rivers, its wealth as a manufacturing and trading city grew, and by the sixteenth century was based on silk manufacture and trading. It is still known as the world’s silk capital. Nowadays it is also an economic powerhouse for banking, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and biotech. it is proudly advertised as a centre for gastronomy and fine dining, and has an active and wide-ranging musical culture from Orchestre National de Lyon, which performs 160 concerts a year, to pop, club and jazz venues. Certainly, where we were staying there were piano shops, music shops, and a shop selling harps.

    First stop on the tour was the spectacular Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière, towering over the city on the site of what used to be Trajan’s Forum. This is reached by a Funicular railway (familiar to Wellingtonians as a cable car.) This massive church in neo-Byzantine style was build by private donations between 1872 and 1896. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, The inside of the church is covered in exquisite mosaics, glittering with gold. The one here shows the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, when a fleet made up of a coalition of Catholic states, inflicted a major defeat on the Ottoman (Turkish) fleet off the Greek coast. The ceilings and floors are also covered in spectacular mosaics. Incidentally the Lyonnais, with their penchant for nick-names, call this church “the upside-down elephant”, because of its massive bulk and four towers.

    After taking in the stunning vista of Lyon from the back of the church, we headed down the hill to check out the Roman arena built into its side. Much of the stone was taken over the years to reuse elsewhere, but the foundations of the arena (which held 10,000) can still be seen. The lower ranges have ben restored, and the arena is often used for shows and performances. The acoustics are first class.

    Next we were shown the Traboules - the network of passages and lanes linking houses and streets in the old part of the city. Many of these are now private, but some are still in public use as convenient shortcuts. They were useful to the silk-weavers making deliveries, and also to the Resistance during the Second World War.

    Next stop was the massive Fontaine Bartholdi, sculpted by the creator of the Statue of Liberty. This depicts France as a female (Marianne) seated on a chariot controlling the four great rivers of France. It’s certainly very impressive: 21 tons of lead on an iron frame. Classified as a national monument, it was fully restored in 2018.

    The last photo is of Place Bellecour, the largest public square in France. This was originally the site of the Roman military camp. There is currently a debate going on about the huge trestles and swags of fabric cluttering it up. These are supposed to represent the silk industry, but aren’t popular with the ratepayers who have to foot the 1.25M Euro bill, as well as being an eyesore in the superb public space.

    A high-energy lunch at Suzette’s Pancakes gave me a boost. Back at the hotel, we were told that the water leak we had noticed in our room overnight and reported was a big repair job. We were invited to move to another room, which turned out to be bigger with a better view. A stroke of luck!    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Laundry Day Travels

    3 juni, Frankrijk ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Our Lyon hotel has no laundry service, so today started as laundry day. Google pointed me towards the nearest laundromat (“laverie”), so we headed off with our bundles of dirty clothes - only a 9 minute walk,

    Along the river, over the Pont Bonaparte, and up the hill, to find - a long empty shop. #%^* Google!!

    Another 15 minute walk, and - YAY! - a working laverie. And two unlikely looking but very helpful young men who bent over backwards to succour two incompetent oldies!

    Hurray, we have clean clothes again!!

    Lunch at Café Anne, on the way back to the hotel. Beautiful filet of daurade (bream) on a bed of polenta, perfectly cooked & presented, accompanied by a lovely white burgundy. And a delicious apricot clafouti (tart) and Earl Grey tea to follow.
    (Tonight Subway!)

    In the afternoon we visited the Gallo-Roman Museum. A wonderful collection, brilliantly displayed in a modern format, the best Roman museum we saw on our trip. Stunning!    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Avignon, in installments

    4 juni, Frankrijk ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    We boarded our TGV this morning for the one hour 12 minute, 228km trip south to Avignon. Our carriage had broad, comfortable seats, but unfortunately it was hermetically sealed. Not a breath of fresh air circulated throughout our trip. Looking down the rows, I could see the other passengers, heads, lolling, struggling to stay awake, and succumbing, as I did, to the lure of sleep. It was like a class outing of Hogwarts students practising their Somnolence spells.

    A new station specifically for the TGV trains, which pass through en route to Marseilles, has replaced the old station we remembered from 2010. The only café offering was Starbucks. My first (and only) experience with Starbucks was at Venice Beach, L.A., I had read great things about this exciting new concept. There were at that time no Starbucks in New Zealand, so I was expecting something special. The tables were packed with carefully posed Beautiful People. Alas, for a regular at Astoria and Pandoro in the days of their glory, the grey fluid I was served, tasting mildly of old socks, was a real let-down. I’ve never been in a Starbucks since.

    The Hôtel de Cambis, converted from a nineteenth-century apartment buildng, turned out to be perfect for location - a short walk to everywhere, with a generously-proportioned room, high ceiling, large, comfortable bed and a shower Neil reckons is the best he has found on our trip. We dumped our bags and went out looking for lunch. We found a simple but perfectly-cooked pasta at Rossini’s around the corner, followed by the best espresso we have found in a long time. Unfortunately we were sitting 20 metres from a huge plane tree - my nemesis when we were in London in 2010. I am great tree-lover for most species. Not this one. In early summer (now in France), they fling vast amounts of pollen with sharp little needles that cause instant strong allergic reactions in susceptible people like me. Nose and eyes pouring, sneezing, coughing, I headed for the nearest pharmacy, waving a photo of the offending plant. The pharmacist sold me a packet of tiny antihistamine tablets. I took one as soon as I got back to the hotel, lay down on the bed - and woke up two hours later. So not so many pix today!

    P.S: I was intrigued to see, in a high-order menswear store ,a very Gallic rooster kitted out in pink and black, rugby ball ready to kick - branded with “Eden Park - Rugby Legend.” You can see it on the window, above Aston Martin Racing, among others. Turns out this brand was founded in 1987 by French Rugby icons Franck Mesnel and Eric Blanc., then playing for the Racing Club de France, who decided to establish a high-end clothes brand. My memories of Eden Park as a child in the 1960’s run to more mud than chic. I must say their stuff is very stylish!    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Sur le Pont d’Avignon

    5 juni, Frankrijk ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We treated ourselves to a lazy morning with a lovely breakfast after yesterday’s travel. Right outside the window stood an important-looking building with a dome and columns, topped with a classical vase straight out of Ancient Rome. Next to it, on the ledge, a plump little cherub with turned-in toes peeked down at the passers-by with a look of mischief. Painted inside the window-frame of the much older building nearby, a medieval scholar sat at a table with his books and his dinner..

    As we walked up to the Palace of the Popes there were buildings with iron grilles and old wooden shutters, dating back to the days when Avignon was part of the Catalan (non-French) lands. The Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) flies three flags: European Union, French, and the Catalan flag of yellow and red. All street signs are in French and Occitan, the language of Catalonia..

    Most impressive are the walls and towers from the MIddle Ages. In the fourteenth century, six popes lived here in the huge Palace of the Popes., a massive complex of honey-coloured stone which was the Head Office of the Papacy, with some 1500 religious and lay (non-ordained) officials. The Papacy moved to Avignon in 1309 when Clement V sought the protection of the French monarchy from rebellions in Rome.

    We had explored the Palace already in 2010, when we were younger and nimbler and more ready to cope with its 400 steps. It’s a jaw-dropping site, designed by the best architects of its age as a combined palace and fortress.

    Today we went instead to Notre Dame des Doms (cathedral) next door, and the famous bridge. This bridge of St Bénézet was built to join the palace with the residences of the Cardinals on the other side of the river Rhône. It was very popular because it was the only crossing of the river from Avignon to the sea. It was a remarkable piece of engineering for its time, but unfortunately wars and the river’s strong tidal flow swept much of the bridge away, leaving only the remaining four arches and the folk song we know.

    Walking back down town, we found the perfect haven from the sun - an ice-cream shop with a broad verandah where we could sit in the shade. I tried a lavender ice-cream - it was exquisite. There was a lively market in the square,, with a huge carousel, Back home to put our feet up as we had a five-hour long car tour with guide booked for the afternoon.    Meer informatie

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  • Desiree and Neil JuryEurope 2025Reiziger

    Nimes, Uzès, Pont du Gard

    5 juni, Frankrijk ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    After lunch we linked up with our guide Thierry for a half day trip to Nimes, Uzès, and the Pont du Gard:

    Nimes is famous for its Maison Carrée (“square house”), a temple devoted to the worship of Augustus etc, plus an amazing Roman amphitheatre that has been maintained, and is still in use. We weren’t able to see inside because the Nimes Feria (Festival) is on, and the arena is needed for bullfights! But Des did fall in love with a white horse being exercised while his rider was checking Facebook!

    Uzès is a classic old French town, beautiful, and steeped in history. We walked through the gate used by Louis XI and his musketeers when they captured the town from the Protestants! And after dispossession by the Revolution, the local duke was able, once the worst was over, to re-acquire his family castle so that Uzès still has “Monsieur Le Duc” today. His coat-of-arms is tiled on the castle roof.

    Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct (now also a bridge at the lower level) that was part of a 50km engineering feat that transported water from Uzès to Nimes. Over all that 50km, the water fell only 12m - an amazing achievement!

    That was the plan, but it nearly came unstuck at our first stop! Around the Nimes arena there are low curved descending steps. I was so interested in what Thierry was saying that I missed the step and fell. I didn’t break anything except my pride, but I hit my head and gashed my left elbow, and was a bit woozy with shock for a while.

    Des looked after me while Thierry raced off to a pharmacy for antiseptic & plasters.

    We then carried on to Uzès and the Pont.

    But it got worse. That night as I went to charge my hearing aids, I found the left one was missing - it must have been knocked out by the accident, but I didn’t notice. Insurance job! I’ve been thinking about replacing them anyway, as they are five years old. Time for an upgrade.

    But as you can see from the photos, the trip was so worthwhile!    Meer informatie

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