Bonjour à tous mes amis à Paris...

Fountain Centre Georges Pompidou

Aujourd'hui, un hommage a la ville que j'adore et tous mes chers amis!

I was very kindly allowed to use this photo taken by Virginia who lives in Alabama.. but absolutely adores Paris and all things French! Virginia has a wonderful website .. Paris through my lens. Fantastic photos daily. She also follows some great blogs.. either from Paris or France. here are two of them, which I also follow Peter in Paris and Daily photo Paris by Laurent .

Virginia says she fell in love with Paris in March 2007.. It was as the French say "le coup de foudre".. .. you will have to take a look at her blog to read the rest!

St Eustache....

Wherever we went we came across churches, they came in all sizes, but one thing was the same...they were all beautifully built and had stunning craftmanship. Inside and Out. We were in awe most of the time..sometimes we just sat and took it all in.

St Eustache was just one of the churches we visited, it was truly amazing..!

The Sculpture in the photo is called l'Ecoute by Henri de Miller...this is located in the square "Place René Cassin", just outside the church. This a popular area for people to take a break from their sightseeing tours, just to have a coffee, a sandwich or simply to rest the feet a bit. Long cement benches surround the square, and the lively atmosphere of this area makes it quite an enjoyable place to sit down for a few minutes.

In 1969, Paris’s ancient central market of Les Halles, having grown enormously, and congested, moved to Rungis, just on the outskirts of the city.

Les Halles dated back to at least 1183. St Eustache, where Louis XIV received his first communion, contains one of the most interesting and startling sculptures ever seen in a church: Raymond Mason’s ” Le départ des fruits et légumes du cœur de Paris, le 28 février 1969” (The Departure of Fruits and Vegetables from the Heart of Paris, February 28, 1969).

We had a brilliant day out, as usual, but this time we had to find our own way back. First time for everything..no problem..! Leesa had been with us just before our visit to the church, she had to head off to meet up with Alex to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Before we made our way home we had a walk up Rue Montorgueil, and a quick bite to eat in Caldo Freddo's, fantastic Paninis. Just right for us, as we were eating later...getting used to the French way of eating!

Delights.....

1. My new food cover.
2. Our cat sun bathing!!
3. New Plant
4. New bloom..

Todays trip into Oxford

Today I decided to go to Oxford, but this time not only for shopping!! Thought I would be a tourist. I went to a part I have never been..Radcliffe Square.

It was absolutely amazing..the architecture is just brilliant and so here are a few photo's..

Radcliffe Camera

Camera" here has nothing to do with photography, it means "Chamber". The building was completed in 1747, built to house a library of science, and funded by John Radcliffe, physician to William III. It was absorbed into Bodleian library in 1860.
It was Hawksmoor who originally suggested a circular building in the form of a mausoleum. James Gibbs proposed a more practical rectangular building.

Various sites were considered and rejected before the present location was chosen.

By the time the land had been purchased Radcliffe had been dead for 30 years, and Hawksmoor had died. Radcliffe's trustees chose Gibbs as the architect, and persuaded him to adapt Hawksmoors design.

The interiour is reported to be equally fine, but unfortunately, is not open to the public.

St Mary's church

Saint Mary's church is rich in architectural and historical interest, and worth taking time to explore.
This is the parish church of Oxford, and was used for university ceremonies and for meetings of the university ruling body (the convocation), from the thirteenth century until the Sheldonian theatre was opened in 1669.

The oldest visible part is the tower, which was built towards the end of the 13th century.

The spire was added to the tower around 1315-1325. Note the knobbly "ballflower" decoration, which is typical of this period.

The nave of the church fell into disrepair, and was replaced between 1463 (chancel) and 1485-95 (nave and aisles) - built in perpendicular style with large windows. The rebuilding was funded by members of the university.

The curious porch, with its huge spiral columns, was added in 1637

Bridge of Sighs

These are just random photos ...

More Etna photos

Just a few of our photos, breath taking....

My Ceramics

Since moving down to Grove, I have started doing ceramics again. Here are some examples of my work.


My friend has a lovely shop, where we can just pop into paint, or just for coffee.
















Excellent ideas for birthdays, christenings, weddings and of course, christmas presents!!!.

Mount Etna

Whilst on holiday in Sicily, we took the opportunity to go and visit Mount Etna. The drive up there was fantastic, and the views were amazing. Once we reached our destination, we took the cable car to the highest point we could. The trip started from the height of 1923 mt climbing to 2500 mt. Once I overcame the nerves, I managed to take some photos. Will try and add more later.

Holiday in Sicily

In November 2006, my husband and I had an unforgettable holiday in Sicily. We flew to Cantania, then hired a car and drove south to Marine Park of Plemmirio, where we found our gorgeous villa that we had rented. The photo to the left is of the view out of our kitchen window. We had our own private gate (pictured) to the beach, and apart from a few
fisherman in the morning and night, it was all ours. We were very lucky with the weather, so took full advantage, and lazed about and read, ate and drank!!!