Blenheim Palace

[Not sure why spacing is messed up in my posts and can't get it to align correctly, so guess I'll just live with it!]

On Saturday, Allie and I met my friend, Pam and dogs at Blenheim Palace (pronounced "Blen-im"). And btw, I brought my camera, and left it in the car, so limited pictures from me on this entry! Duh!

Blenheim Palace is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. It's the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1724.

Its construction was originally intended to be a gift to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough from a grateful nation in return for military triumph against the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim. Following the palace's completion, it became the home of the Churchill family for the following 300 years, and various members of the family have in that period wrought various changes, in the interiors, park and gardens. The palace today remains the home of the Dukes of Marlborough — the present incumbent of the title being John George Vanderbilt Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough.

Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s. It is unique in its combined usage as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Lady Randolph Churchill (January 9, 1854 – June 9, 1921), born Jeanette Jerome, was the American-born wife of Lord Randolph Churchill and the mother of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Btw, what's up w/this free-standing gate?

Long considered one of the most beautiful women of the time, she was married for the first time on 15 April 1874, at the British Embassy in Paris, to Lord Randolph Churchill. By this marriage, she was properly known as Lady Randolph Churchill and would have been referred to in conversation as Lady Randolph.

The Churchills had two sons: Winston (1874–1965) born less than eight months after the marriage, and John (1880–1947). Jennie's sisters believed the latter's biological father was Evelyn "Star" Boscawen. Lady Randolph had numerous lovers during her marriage, including Karl Kinsky and King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

The estate given by the nation to Marlborough for the new palace was the manor of Woodstock, sometimes called the Palace of Woodstock, which had been a royal demesne, in reality little more than a deer park. Legend has obscured the manor's origins. King Henry I enclosed the park to contain the deer. Henry II housed his mistress Rosamund Clifford (sometimes known as "Fair Rosamund") there in a "bower and labyrinth"; a spring where she is said to have bathed remains, named after her. It seems the un-ostentatious hunting lodge was rebuilt many times, and had an uneventful history until Elizabeth I, before her succession, was imprisoned there by her sister Queen Mary between 1554 and 1555. Her imprisonment at Woodstock was short, and the manor remained in obscurity until bombarded and ruined by Oliver Cromwell's troops during the Civil War. When the park was being re-landscaped as a setting for the palace the 1st Duchess wanted the historic ruins demolished, while Vanbrugh, an early conservationist, wanted them restored and made into a landscape feature. The Duchess, as so often in her disputes with her architect, won the day and the remains of the manor were swept away.

A great avenue of elms leading to the palace were planted in the positions of Marlborough's troops at the Battle of Blenheim.

Weekend in Devon & Cornwall

A couple of weekends ago, I made a trip to the Southwest to have a walking weekend with Dianne. I have been to Devon a few times [all appropriately blogged ... actually, I think I still have to blog about Carleen coming down last summer. Note to self].

On Saturday, after I arrived in a newly washed convertible with the top down [yes, I'm bragging! It's still snowing in Minnesota and I have had my 'tin top' down on my car already this year!].

We jumped into Dianne's convertible [still bragging] and headed into Dartmoor National Park for Chagford.

Chagford is a cute little village that has some shops and pubs with gardens to visit before / after your walks. We stopped in the most amazing hardware shop [I'm not sure what else to call it, really] called Bowden & Sons. It has everything. We searched the whole shop, top to bottom. There is a section for stationary, another for toys, a garden section, tools, kitchen, pets, a museum, etc. It just keeps going on and on. Dianne bought a squirrel-proof thistle feeder and I bought at axe [yes, an axe for some garden work I'm doing. I couldn't find one in Wimbledon. Imagine that?]

We stoped for a pint in a pub [Buller's Arms, I think] and then took off for a 4 mile walk around the Moors [after dropping off the axe in the boot of the car]. It was really nice out. And in the beginning of the walk, really steep up hill. While stopping to take some pictures [and catch my breath], we saw a pony come out of a natural corral at the top of the hill and make his/her way down to the river at the bottom of the hill. While standing there, two more ponies eventually came out, one-by-one and made their way down the hill. Judging by their size and discomfort, I'd say these were mares that were ready to have colts.

Our walk took us through fields and forest and along a small river. And the water was amazingly clear and stained brown from the peat. And then we went back to the pub for another pint, of course.

Later that night we met Mike [Dianne's man] at the pub for dinner. It was a really nice day full of fresh air and good food. I sacked out easily.

On Sunday we decided to head to the North coast into Cornwall. I've never been to Cornwall before. The first village we stopped was Tintagel. It is a cute little village that obviously sees a lot of tourists when the weather is warm. There wasn't a cloud anywhere in the sky. The street was lined to coffee shops that served scones and clotted cream teas and ice cream. We had a drink and then took a walk through the village.

We stopped in a little shop in the village that had stationary and jewelry, crystals, cards, etc. It was being managed that day by a cute little old couple from Yorkshire. Their daughter and son-in-law or son and daughter-in-law own it, or something like that. Anyway, while we were talking with them [Dianne and I the only two in the store], Dianne decided she needed to go back and pay for more parking, so she turned to them and said, 'I'll be right back. Watch her, will you?' And they did. They wouldn't let me leave! I was stood in the store for 20 minutes bemused by how they would each start a story and the other would trump the next point or finish the other's sentence. Hysterical.

In the village, there is the post office, which is a major attraction. Take a look at the roof line!

We walked up the hill and towards the coast from the village to the church that was on top of the hill. As it was sunny and warm out, I was busy looking at the little island that was just off of the coast and taking pictures and nearly stepped on an adder sunning itself on the path. There is one poisonous snake in the UK and I managed to find one. On the path, we came across three that had stopped to talk about the two they had just seen. Great.

At the top of the hill, the very old church had a beautiful church yard, a well worn baptismal, and stained glass windows. The floor [can you see in the picture] is vertically laid slate in a square pattern.

After our walk and just before lunch, we headed down the coast to Boscastle. The interesting thing about Boscastle is that in 2004 is was nearly wiped off of the map due to some heavy rain storms and flooding. 75 cars, 5 caravans, 6 buildings and several boats were washed into the sea; approximately 100 homes and businesses were destroyed; trees were uprooted and debris were scattered over a large area. In an operation lasting from mid-afternoon until 2:30 AM, a fleet of 7 helicopters rescued about 150 people clinging to trees and the roofs of buildings and cars. No major injuries or loss of life were reported. Amazing.

Before starting our journey, we stopped at the visitor's center to get an update on the flood. And I stopped at a pasty shop to have my lunch. Couldn't go to Cornwall and not get a Cornish Pasty!

So we walked down from the village on the right side of the river bank. There was a truck that was driving down the boat ramp out to his boat to transfer lobster traps and a dingy. The tide was out. We walked out to the point. I was looking for seals. I didn't see any.

We came back into the village and then walked down the left hand side of the river and up the hill to the Coastal Watch station. Most of the rock there is slate which explains the slate roofs in that part of the country. This village really reminded me of being in Gallway Ireland.

We headed down the coast around a point and through a field and towards an old church in the middle of the field. Another very old church flying the Cornwall flag and a marker in the church that dated it back to 200 AD. I lit some candles for my friends and we headed into the village for a pint. The church sat on the top of the hill on the edge of the village, where the village was protected from the Atlantic winds that come off of the sea. The trees are all blown to grow in the direction of the wind.

The houses had slate roofs, lots of painted stone, and interesting ... very skinny doors. These doors are side-by-side houses, one opening into the left vestibule and one the right. We stopped at a pub and sat in the garden, which was out the door, down the alley, and off to the left of the pub and had a pint and a snack.

It was a great weekend.

Paris in the Spring

Last weekend, I had the chance to meet my friend, Marvel, and her daughter, Sopahn, whom were visiting Paris for spring break. They were there for about 10 days. I joined them for the last four.

Of course, the city was beautiful, as it would be this time of year. And it wasn't too crowded with tourists yet.

I arrived on Thursday and met Marvel at the hotel. She was out gathering items for lunch with her friend, Yvette. Yvette is French, now living in Paris, but has a man in her life from Los Alamos, NM [thus the Marvel connection]. Marvel and Yvette play tennis together and I suspect it is quite competitive!

We rescued Sopahn from having a lie-in, had some lunch, and then went exploring some shops and streets. You can find a little bit of everything in Paris, high-end and low-end. We headed West from Nation [the East side of Paris] towards Saint Germain des-Pres. Yvette's brother and sister-in-law own a boutique garden shop and we stopped in for a visit and a look around. We also went to the park across the from the shop [Jardin du Luxembourg] and walked around. The grounds keepers were busy getting the flower beds ready for planting.

The park is the second largest in Paris [about 55 acres] and originally owned by the duke of Luxemburg [hence the name]. The domain was purchased in 1612 by Marie de' Medici, mother of Louis XIII.The gardens were laid out in Italian style on request of Marie de' Medici. She was of Italian descent. In the 19th century when the private park opened to the public, it was redesigned in a more French style but the original layout has been preserved.

At the center of the park is an octagonal pond, known as the Grand Bassin. Here, children can rent small boats. There are many other attractions for children such as the puppet theater, pony rides and a merry-go-round. Around the pond are nice lawns and alleys, all laid out in a geometrical patterns.

There was a pavilion at one end near the arboretum where they house the portable trees and plants during the winter with dozens of chess players gathered, playing.

After going through the park, we headed over to Judy's, an American friend of Yvette's. Judy is the international marketing director for a medical equipment company; originally she's from Seattle. It was really nice to meet her and see her flat. She travels through Europe like I used to travel in the States, supporting sales and marketing.

After a quick dinner with Yvette of good cheeses, sausage, and wine, I was nearly toast, having been up since 4:00 am, so we headed back to the hotel to crash.

On Friday, Marvel and I got breakfast in the morning and caught up. We were going to meet Yvette later [5-ish]. Sopahn had found a shoe shop that she had tried to visit three times before, always seeming to find it closed. The shop advertised Adidas, but was filled with 'runway' shoes, made especially for a show worn at least once. There were some pretty creative designs to try!

We were meeting Yvette at the Ralph Lauren store on Boulevard Saint-Germain. The shop used to be a hotel, so it is large and absolutely beautiful. We wondered through all of the floors. Definitely out of my price range!

We stopped for a bite to eat ... too early for dinner, too late for lunch, but hungry just the same.

After that, we headed to Bonpoint, boutique for children, where Michelle Obama visited when she was in Paris. Stores are closed in Paris on Sundays. For Michelle, not only did they open, but they blocked off the entire street and sharp shooters on the rooftops, as you would for the First Lady. Take a look at the website: http://www.bonpoint.com/#/home/

We walked North to Notre Dame right as the sun was beginning set low and reflect off of the church. On the way, we noticed bridges with link fencing that were covered in padlocks with messages enscribed on the locks. Paris is known as the 'City of Love' and people leave their declarations on the bridges. And of course, the one I looked closely at has this enscribed: 'FOR LYING'. The cynic in me loved that!

Lots of flowers. Lots of people [as always]. It was really pretty.

We had an early night Friday as we had walked our tails off!

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day [25C/80F]. Marvel and I set out for a power walk in the morning, and then came across an outside market on Cours de Vincennes [that slowed us down!]. We had brunch at Yvette's and then headed out to pick up a tank top for Sopahn [the 95 Euro ones in Ralph Loren were a bit steeper than we wanted!].

In the afternoon, I booked two Citroen cars to tour Paris. Pam had recommended doing this. The cars are from the 1950's and the guys that drive were little flat caps to complete the look. It was a beautiful day, so the soft tops on the cars were rolled back for a little sunshine! It was a LOT of fun.

After some more time in shops picking up some new outfits for Marvel, we took a break and I tried to locate a restaurant for dinner that served crab. Sopahn and I saw several on Friday when we were walking through St. Germain and we decided that's what we would have for a 'birthday' dinner [mine]. Let's just say that the American visitor [me] trying to lead the 4 of us through the streets of Paris using Google maps on my Blackberry could not compete with our local 'host' that did not know where we could get crab, but wherever it was that I was trying to lead them, it was wrong. We never found the first restaurant. The second one was full [I only located 2]. In the end, we made a big circle and located the first restaurant [same name, different local than on the Web] ... and I had crab. We also had escargot and oysters. All very good!

Sunday morning, Marvel and Sopahn left early to get to the airport and begin their journey home. I had a day to myself. As was now cold and raining again, my first thought was to visit the Louvre. I have been around it, but never in it. Apparently, every other tourist in Paris had the same idea. There were at least 3,000 [I'm not exaggerating] people waiting in line to get in! As the shops are closed on Sunday in Paris, probably isn't a lot for folks to do to stay out of the rain. Although the hours that you would be standing in line, I would think you'd be pretty wet before getting in! Note to self: next time visit on a week day.

I walked around, took some more photos, had a warm, dry lunch, and then walked to the train station. It was a good visit. A little bit of everything!