mondetto » France http://www.mondetto.com life, adventures, ponderings Thu, 13 May 2010 02:08:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Paris photos added http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/paris-photos-added/ http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/paris-photos-added/#comments Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:47:18 +0000 Andrea http://koalabear.wordpress.com/2007/06/16/paris-photos-added/ Some photos from Paris have now been uploaded (from the camera – the previous ones were from the phone camera), which you can see by either:

  • Looking at the Paris set of photos (which you can choose “View as Slide Show”), or,
  • By clicking on More Photos on the right side of this page.

Ah, beautiful Paris.

Well here we are in sunny Paris Notre Dame
Jardin du Palais Royal Café Le Nemours
]]> http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/paris-photos-added/feed/ 0 48.8566667 2.3509871 Home again http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/home-again/ http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/home-again/#comments Thu, 14 Jun 2007 03:28:33 +0000 Andrea http://koalabear.wordpress.com/2007/06/14/home-again/ We arrived back home this morning after over 35 hours in transit, with barely any sleep.  Needless to say, we are tired and dazed.  A good night’s sleep will make all the difference.

In starting to unpack my suitcase I see brochures from places like the bateau mouche in Paris, or from Chenonceau Chateau, or about Orta, bringing back memories of wonderful times in fabulous places a world away in distance and experiences.

As I get time to go through my Paris photos, I’ll upload those to this web site, soon.

Thank you so much to all of our friends and family around the world who kept us in your  thoughts and prayers while we were traveling.  I could feel the Hand of God protecting us.

It was a memorable time, a highlight of both of our lives.  I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to have the time with my dear Mum, to explore all those places together.

]]> http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/home-again/feed/ 0 More photos of the Loire http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/more-photos-of-the-loire/ http://www.mondetto.com/2007/06/more-photos-of-the-loire/#comments Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:08:34 +0000 Andrea http://koalabear.wordpress.com/2007/06/08/more-photos-of-the-loire/ I’ve uploaded some more photos of the Loire, which you can see by either:

We had a lot of rain, cold days, so the photos are not brilliant, but hopefully they’ll be enough to give you an idea of the beauty of the area.

What the photos don’t show are the pretty country roads, just because it was difficult to capture (and find a place to stop to do that!). Imagine winding through quiet country roads, through rolling hills with fields or vineyards, and the prettiest of villages every few kilometres, and that was what we saw of the Loire.

Enjoy!

 

Chateau Villandry The house we stayed in
Dining room at Villandry Chateau Azay-le-Rideau
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The apartment here in Paris has an internet connection, so we’ll write more another night.

On arriving here we strolled through the Tuileries and then on around past the Louvre.  We’ll rest tonight and then head out exploring tomorrow!

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On the Milan-Paris-St Pierre des Corps day we will be going 1st class, and the other trip will be 2nd class.  That will be interesting to compare the two.

The trains travel up to 320 km/hr in commercial use, although in test use they have been clocked at 574.8 km/hr.

If you’d like to read more about the TGV, here are some good links:

]]> http://www.mondetto.com/2007/04/tgv/feed/ 0 45.4636707 9.1881263 Loire Valley, France http://www.mondetto.com/2007/04/loire-valley-france/ http://www.mondetto.com/2007/04/loire-valley-france/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:05:20 +0000 Andrea http://koalabear.wordpress.com/2007/04/22/loire-valley-france/ The Loire Valley is known as the Garden of France. The beautiful countryside is littered with chateaux and historic towns. There is so much to see and do around the Loire Valley. Here are some links for more information about the Loire Valley:

And here are some links for places we will probably visit:

There’s certainly plenty to see and do in the region. The France for Visitors site has a helpful guide: "Which châteaux?"

]]> http://www.mondetto.com/2007/04/loire-valley-france/feed/ 0 Amboise, France http://www.mondetto.com/2007/04/amboise-france/ http://www.mondetto.com/2007/04/amboise-france/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:20:23 +0000 Andrea http://koalabear.wordpress.com/2007/04/21/amboise-france/ During our trip to Europe we will be staying in a small town just north of Amboise, France, using that as a base for exploring the Loire Valley. Amboise is a small medieval market town on the Loire River, dominated by the remains of a Chateau. It’s about 23km from Tours. One of the reasons Amboise is famous is because Leonaro da Vinci lived there, in a house called Clos-Lucé.

Here are some links for more information about Amboise:

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