The Icing on the Cake, or better known as "high tea"

Everywhere we have visited we have judged as the highlight of our trip - until we reach the next spot on our list.  Wendermere, better known as the Lakes District in England is a picturesque place and no better environment for creating the beloved children's stories,  from Beatrix Potter, which have spanned generations.  The old adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words," fails to be just a cliche in this instance.

We first took a pleasant boat ride across Wendermere Lake to visit the Hilltop home of Beatrix Potter.  She was ahead of her time as a nature preserver and environmentalist, and left her home and 4,000 acres to the National Trust in England, which will forever promote her love of the countryside as well as her children's tales.

This little family below was so cute, they just paddled right up to the boat,  begging for a snack!

At Beatrix Potter's Hilltop home, she raised many prized sheep and these are descendants of her stock.

This was such a treat to be with my daughter and granddaughter.  To actually see where Peter Rabbit and his siblings, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail, were brought up - and where they played and caused Mr. McGregor such grief!  We actually thought we saw Peter in the distance, so we had Lee take a picture to make sure we weren't just making it up.

This was the home, just across the fields from Hilltop, where Beatriz lived after she was married.  Both homes and properties are maintained as preserved natural habitats, and much as they looked when Beatrix was creating her many children's tales.  Please enjoy the world of Beatix Potter - as we did before ending our perfect day with "high tea."

This was almost as good as Disneyland, in its exhibition.  A place just a few yards down from our hotel, which made it possible for us to spend the last few hours in a very special place.

The likeness here of Ms. Potter is quite realistic, along with one of her famous rabbits.

Again, we asked ourselves, what has been the highlight of our adventures?  Surely, visiting the world of Beatrix Potter will linger in our hearts, as well as our memories, for a very long time.
We had almost as much fun at this tea party as Alice had in Wonderland, I'm sure!

Stella, with her own creative ability, was in the mood to paint Jemima Puddle-Duck to preserve as a memento of our visit to the world of "Ms Potter."

The Treetop Trek

The journey from Haworth to Windermere and the Lakes District was pleasant; and we arrived at the White Lodge Hotel in the early afternoon.  The search for an activity to keep us busy before dinner led us to a treetop trek, which Grandpa Lee and Stella enthusiastically undertook.  Michaelin and I thought the heights of 100 feet or more would not agree with our vertigo personalities.  Taking pictures was our fun activity, as we strained our necks to get glimpses of our heroes in the canopy.

The zip line to the bottom was about 400 yards and if they had not been traveling at such a high speed we could have videoed them holding hands as they descended. They were so brave and sooooo cute!

The Bronte Sisters and More . . .

We left London for Haworth, in Yorkshire, to visit the home town of the Bronte family, and to embark on what was to be one of the highlights of our trip.  We wanted to experience the life and times of the famous 19th century authors of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, Charlotte and Emily Bronte.  What we discovered was a much bigger story about the family than just the two sisters. 

We were met at the train station by Mark, the proprietor and owner of The Manor in Cullingworth.  He and his wife Michelle made us feel like we were visiting friends.  The comfort and luxury of their Bed and Breakfast has been the best on our trip.  If you ever come to Haworth for a visit to the historic Bronte Parsonage you will want to stay at the Cullingworth Manor!  You will also want to eat at "Your Local Village Pub" called "The George." 

 Their service is excellent, but get there early because it was packed both nights we were there!

The Manor Cullingworth is a Bronte-era home of 1838.  Its wonderful accommodations, spectacular view from the bedroom window, and the "hearty Yorkshire breakfast menu," made our visit to Bronte country most enjoyable.

When we reached the Bronte Parsonage, we realized that the parsonage and the home where the Bronte's grew up were one and the same.  The father, Patrick Bronte, and his wife, Maria, and their six children arrived in Haworth in 1820.  Within a few months Maria died of cancer,  leaving the father to raise six children.  During the time Patrick served as parson and curate of Haworth the family experienced tremendous acclaim, only to be overshadowed by ongoing tragic and heart-breaking events. The two oldest daughters, Maria and Elizabeth, died soon after their mother of tuberculosis.

Alana, Stella, and Michaelin are standing on the front steps of the Bronte family home and parsonage. Charlotte occupied the bedroom at the two windows in the upper left-hand side of this photograph.  

The room shown below is where the Bronte children congregated to act out their imaginary plays and stories.  The table in the middle of the room is where Charlotte and Emily penned many of the pages of their most famous novels.  The sofa on the right is where Emily passed away of tuberculosis at the age of 26.  Charlotte's younger sister, Anne, died nine months later, also of tuberculosis.  Charlotte was at her bedside in Scarborough, and had her buried there, sparing her pastor father from conducting another devastating family funeral.

The parsonage is located in the small village of Haworth, situated on a high hillside overlooking the moors, farms, pastures, and lakes in Yorkshire, England.

In a drizzling rain, and high winds that threatened to take our umbrellas, we walked six miles over the very paths through the moorlands and withens that once inspired the minds of Charlotte and Emily, influencing the intricate background and details found in their writings.

To add to the family's grief was the alcoholism of the only Bronte son, Branwell, who was a gifted painter and writer, too.  He had an art studio in the parsonage, where his paintings are now exhibited.  He expressed in a letter, shortly before he died, that he would welcome death because he would be "free of want." (Obviously referring to his addictions.) When Branwell could no longer function on his own, his father took him into his own bedroom to care for him, where he passed away at the age of 31.  

Charlotte lived alone with her father until she finally accepted one of the many proposals for marriage.  She and her husband took up residence in the parsonage and were anxiously awaiting their first child when Charlotte became ill. She died of tuberculosis in her family home with her husband praying at her bedside. 

So it was that Patrick Bronte outlived his wife and his six children. Two years after Charlotte's passing, the Archbishop of Canterbury in his eulogy to Patrick Bronte, praised the 51 years of pastoral service to his community and the great devotion to his family.  Sadly, the Brontes left no descendants - but thankfully their good works live on. :(  Many storefronts, shops, and streets carry the Brontes' names and/or the names of their many artistic legacies.

We were completely surprised by the number of visitors, from all over the world, who acknowledge and come to learn more about, the Brontes and their accomplishments.  The museum curator told us they have upwards of 100,000 visitors every year.  The home and parsonage, which houses original furniture, letters, and works of all the Brontes is a tribute to the family's perseverance and triumphs over personal setbacks and tragedies.  It is sure that none of them had any idea of the historic acclaim their contributions would merit.

The Boldness of an Emperor and the Serenity of an Artist

Monday morning, June 9th we decided to split-up and Michaelin and I went to the Musee de L'Orangerie museum, where the famous Monet "water lilies" murals take up two entire oval rooms.

Lee went to the Arc de Triomphe of Napoleon to get a view of Paris from on high.  He did not want to leave Paris without seeing this famous landmark, built by Napoleon as a monument to himself in 1806. It was modeled after the Arch of Titus in Rome, built in 82 AD.  Lee describes Napoleon's Arc as the "hub" of the bicycle wheel of Paris.  The streets of Paris are the spokes, as shown in the picture below.

At the De L'Orangerie, besides Monet, there were also a lot of Renoir (my most favorite) and paintings of other well-known French artists.  Michaelin said when in Paris I MUST see the French artists!  I have always enjoyed Monet's work, but I gained a new appreciation after viewing the murals that were the main focus of his artistic production during the last thirty years of his life.  Many of the works were painted while he suffered from cataracts.  The water lily paintings were inspired by his own garden in Giverny, France where he reproduced the serenity and solitude, which he enjoyed there.

I was introduced to a French painter I had never heard of before, Andre Derain. My favorite painting exhibited is named "The Kitchen Table" - naturally that would be my favorite!  However, the painting was inspired by Lucretius's "La Naturale," a manuscript, which was lost to the world for 1,000 years.  The story of how the manuscript was found, in 1417 by a scribe named Poggio is the topic of a book, The Swerve, which I read last year - and which I have since adopted as my pseudo name for my blog and emails!  If you search ixquick.com for images of Derain's paintings you will discover what a prolific artist he was and why his paintings are so famous (at least to the French), though he painted many London scenes as well. Below is "The Kitchen Table."

When big is really B-I-G!

For those who have been here, you know the enormity  of the Louvre.  We spent the whole day there and probably were able to see maybe 5% of what is there.  But at least we actually were able to see the most famous painting in the world. Lee was able to practice with the camera again with different lighting and all the reflection from the glass - but it turned out pretty good.

Though the Louvre is so much more than the portrait of this lady, the room where she was was completely packed and viewing had to be organized and queued so that everyone was able to see her.  DaVinci would have been proud I think!

The birds at the Louvre love the visitors.  They were so unafraid, as they flew right down on my hand and anyone else's that might have a treat for them.  We thought this quite interesting because it obviously is a learned behavior and not one borne by instinct.

One of Lee's favorite guys is Constantine, so he took the opportunity for a photo-op.  The last time we were in England we were in York, where Constantine was named emperor, for the celebration of that event.  The exhibit had never been on display anywhere, but we could not take pictures.  So this opportunity was truly awesome!

Caen - the residence of William the Conqueror

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June 7th we ended up in Caen, where William the Conqueror lived and built his famous castle. Before leaving for Paris we visited the most famous World War II Memorial Museum in France.  The exhibits began with how the world was before WW II and it was interesting to see, in pictures and eye-opening films, of exactly how Fascist regimes gained strongholds in European countries after WW I.  The genocide that Japan carried out in China was a contributing factor also.

A little scary, also, considering the current world situation, to realize that in the early 20th century both the United States and Europe were in economic collapse. There were many warnings about Hitler and the Nazis, but no one listened - and we can only shake our heads seeing Chamberlain, Petain, Stalin and Mussolini negotiating and collaborating with Hitler in order to have peace that was so short-lived - and which eventually plunged the world into a world war because the collaborative alliances were meaningless!  Our visit to this memorial concluded our WW II investigations.

 We met Michaelin, arriving in Paris in the afternoon, and barely got our luggage in the room before setting off for a walk to . . .  guess where?

The three things we most wanted to visit in Paris were, of course first - the Eiffel Tower, second - the Notre Dame Cathedral, and hopefully the Louvre.

Michaelin has been to Paris many times so it has been fun to have her along as our personal tour guide.  She knows the ropes of how to get around, so we learned a lot.

Lee was much more interested in the engineering of the building, so he needed to take close-up pictures of the actual structure to see how it was put together.

At night, we had a good view of the flashing lights on the Tower from our hotel window, though the lights were not continuous in their flashing, but only at timed intervals, so they aren't seen in the picture.

Since it does not get dark here until about 10:00 PM, we headed over to the Notre Dame Cathedral, where we didn't have too long to wait to get in.  We were just in time for Mass.  Again, these massive medieval structures are just too overwhelming to put into words - or even pictures for that matter.  Guarding the grounds of the cathedral is an imposing statue of a man who half the Western world is related to, and whom nearly the whole world is familiar with.

Charlemagne: 742-814 AD, also known as Charles the Great, was King of the Franks, as well as the King of Italy before becoming the first emperor of Western Europe.

When Charone was in Paris with Michaelin several years ago, her favorite place was the Notre Dame Cathedral, so we knew that we needed to visit there.  Unfortunately, there is a big blue grandstand right in the front of the cathedral for visitors to sit and take pictures.  The grandstand obstructs the cathedral and makes it so that a whole picture is not possible without including the grandstand in the foreground.

Lee has been experimenting with his camera to take pictures in unusual circumstances, and in the cathedral they did not allow pictures using a flash, so here is a beautiful artifact taken without a flash.

None of us are old enough to have seen the great movie, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" when it was actually filmed, but this was one of the greatest movies of the 1930's starring Charles Laughton as the hunchback and Maureen O'Hara as the gypsy girl, Esmeralda, whom he rescued and gave sanctuary.  Here is an excerpt, which shows some good views of this great cathedral.

After so many wars, persecutions, and anti-Christian conflicts, the Goddess of Reason, represented by a real lady with a gold-painted face and carrying a wand, now stands outside the entrance to Notre Dame.  She collects money while portraying the goddess.  She stands as a "statue" until approached by those who desire a photo-op.