Category Archives: City Breaks

Ever-Present Water & Volcano in Washington State

Two things are an ever-present part of life in places like Tacoma and Seattle and the surrounding communities — the many and varied coastline views and the looming but lovely Mt. Rainier.

Today’s photo is of Mark and my son Chris standing at water’s edge with Mt. Rainier over their right shoulder.

Mark and my son Chris standing at water’s edge at Puget Sound with Mt. Rainier over their right shoulder.

Perfectly Wonderful Pompidou

We simply adore Paris and from past experience I know that staying in just the right place makes all of the difference in how much you enjoy your visit. Our very small but simply wonderful apartment in the Marais which I had sourced from airbnb enhanced our brief citybreak in Paris on several levels. The neighbourhood was wonderful and a mere few blocks from our front door was the Centre Pompidou.

A few hours after our arrival in Paris, we strolled through a misty rain down the street at dusk and past the Pompidou. It is an astonishingly odd building and it continues to be controversial. Many people snicker at the exterior facade and the brightly coloured ‘plumbing pipes’ that look like nothing else in the neighbourhood. It grew on me!

Centre Pompidou at dusk

Close-up of Centre Pompidou in Paris, France

Then we walked around to an open plaza in back and took photos of the wonderful sculptural objects in the Stravinsky Fountain.

Stravinsky Fountain next to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France

Moving elements within the Stravinsky Fountain next to the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France

Next up — photos of the inside of this vast museum and some of the wonderful artwork in the collections.

Chew On That In Paris

Quick photo of the day because I’m about to jump countries (again!). We’re leaving on the Eurostar tomorrow from Brussels (lots of photo essays from here in the weeks ahead) tomorrow and heading to London for an overnight before flying to the USA for several weeks.

Today’s photo is an example of the ornate bread that is on offer at a boulangerie in Paris, France.

View of a boulangerie window in Paris

So while I work on some new articles and do photo editing as I travel — chew on that for now!

Photo Essay: Meandering Through Montmartre in Paris

There are more sides to Montmartre, the district that sits high atop the Paris landscape, than the crowds at Sacre Couer. This photo essay will show you some of the lovely or funny things that we saw as we walked around.

Art Nouveau building on Rue Lamarck in Paris, France

Bright pink boulangerie (bakery) in the Montmartre district of Paris, France

Montmartre cafe at dusk

Cafe interior in Montmartre

Stairway passages through the hilltops of Montmartre

Colourful chairs & tables at a sidewalk cafe in the Montmartre district of Paris, France

Nun in full habit (which is rather unusual nowadays) walking down Rue Lamarck in Montmartre, Paris, France

Cartoon advertisement in the window of a plumbing & heating shop in the Montmartre district of Paris, France

Spectacles (events) kiosk in the Montmartre district of Paris, France

Photos of Beauty In Stone & Iron Atop Montmartre

You know that the skies are colourless when practically every exterior photo that you take looks as if it’s in black and white — but it isn’t. These three pictures from the exterior of the Basilica of Sacre Couer atop Montmartre in Paris are a perfect example.

It is an extraordinarily ornate building and visually quite interesting.

Gargoyle on the exterior facade of Sacre Couer in Paris, France

Ornate ironwork on the exterior of Sacre Couer in Paris, France

The ornate domes of Sacre Couer in Paris, France

Paris Citybreak

Seriously, there is never too much time in Paris (in my personal opinion!). It might be cold and rather soggy right now, but we plan to make the best of our brief visit to this gorgeous place. And we’d like to go to museums and sites that we have not seen on earlier trips.

We arrived this afternoon after holding our breath a bit and wondering if our rail tickets would actually get used after SCNF (the French rail service) went out on strike for a day and a half. They went back to work this morning at 8:00 AM and we left Normandy on the Caen to Paris St. Lazare IC (intercity train) at 11:45. Whew!!!

On board the 2 hour Caen to Paris IC train

The train arrived late and stayed a mere couple of minutes as everyone was frantically scrambling on board, staking out seats, and trying to get their luggage on the train before we began moving again. It was quite chaotic since all of the people who didn’t get to travel during the 36 hour strike had the right to use their tickets today alongside those of us who WERE scheduled to travel today. What a mess these strikes make for the schedules of any traveller!

Right now we’re giving our legs a tiny break after climbing 5 flights of stairs to our top floor apartment in the Marais district. As our charming host Bruno told us whilst helping haul luggage up all of those stairs, it’s a 17th Century building with restrictions on what can and cannot be changed. So there will NEVER be an elevator inside!

Our budget friendly apartment on the FIFTH floor of a 17th Century building with NO elevator in the Marais district of Paris.

In more strike news, we had France 24 news on the television as we sipped a cup of tea and breaking news scrolled across the bottom of the screen. The employees of the Louvre Museum have walked out on strike in protest of the amount of PICKPOCKETS walking around inside!!! Life in France is certainly never boring.

Stay tuned for more posts from our 5 days in Normandy, perhaps a bit of our time in England, and maybe even a few glimpses of Paris before we head off to Brussels on the weekend.

We certainly ARE having a multiple-weeks-long adventure on our way back to Australia!

Photo Essay: Newcastle Upon Tyne On A Sunny Saturday

I have to laugh about the timing of this photo essay since I took these pictures 21 days ago and it was the last time we saw any blue sky at all! It’s been unrelentingly grim weather-wise here in Newcastle Upon Tyne and the locals we have talked to all say the same thing. They have never experienced a winter that has lasted so long and been so cold.

Since the high is 2 degrees today and the skies are dark with yet more snow in the forecast for this evening (groan!), let’s move the Rickety Time Machine backward by 21 days and enjoy the sunny views, eh?

41 m (135 ft) high column & monument to prominent politician, social reformer, & Prime Minister Charles Earl Grey erected in 1838 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.

Busy shoppers and pedestrians on a sunny Saturday in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Entry to the historic Central Arcade in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

Interior of the historic Central Arcade in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

A Wanderful Life

The Neverending Journey