The Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens

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When visiting the South of Spain, you first port of call should be Granada where the magnificent Alhambra is situated.  When staying in Benalmadena we booked this tour from the resort to Granada. It takes approximately one and half hours to get there maybe a little more.  I was fascinated by the tour guide, he spoke five languages and shifted from one language to the other very easily.  He was speaking English, Spanish, Italian, French and German, never missing a beat.

The Alhambra is situated quite high on a the hill of La Sabica, it dominates the whole city of Granada.  The Alhambra was created originally for military purposes and was a fortress, palace and small city all in one.   I don’t even know if I can go in and try to describe this place, there are so many different areas to it.  We visited in the Spanish Winter, therefore the leaves had fallen off the trees etc., and you could only imagine what the Generalife Gardens which also contains the Summer Palace would be like in the Spring or Summer itself.

The Alhambra has three divisions which are usually found in a Moslem palace.  The Mexuar – a reception hall dedicated to the public and to the administration of justice;  the Cuarto de Comares which is the official residence of the King and the Cuarto de los Leones – Chamber of the Lions which contained the apartments of the monarchs.  The are all joined by equally impressive buildings and passageways.  oldest part of the Alhambra is the Alcazaba – Fortress and was reconstructed from the ruins of a 9th century castle. The Generalife is a complex of gardens and buildings on the hillside facing the Palaces.  The word Generalife has been translated as “Garden of Paradise”.

When booking your tour to this amazing place, make sure the tour you have booked includes the Generalife Gardens,  they are worthwhile seeing.

The tour also included lunch which was beautiful and based on traditional spanish food, sometimes on these tours, when they say lunch is provided, the food is somewhat less than desirable. The tour guide gave us a informative commentary all the way through the drive to and from Granada about the local history and customs.  We thoroughly enjoyed the day and would definitely make this a place to have a return visit someday.  The only thing that marred the day was the tour guide stipulated times to be back at the bus and did warn that if we weren’t back there by that time, the bus would leave without them.  One of the other people on the bus didn’t show up at the said time, we waited for 30 minutes and the bus driver and tour guide both went off looking for her and we had to leave without her.  On the way back we made a stop at a local cafe and she pulled up in a taxi and abused the bus driver and tour guide for leaving her!!  I thought she was rather rude not showing up in the first place and making everyone else wait and I don’t think she was lost, I think she was just shopping which rather annoyed me as I would have liked to have spent another hour shopping too!!

Glen, Dylan and I had a bit of time before we had to get on the bus across the road was a coffee shop which specialised in “chocolate and churros”.  Its a ridiculously thick hot chocolate drink and they provide hot crunchy sugary churros to dip into the chocolate drink.  Delicious and extremely decadent!!

Paris – City of Lights

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I just love Paris,  I have been here on three maybe four occasions and never get tire of it. There has always been something different to see and do every time I visit, and have listed just a few of the things that I did while in Paris.  Yes there are all the major icons to visit, but Paris is meant for walking and that’s what I did for the week this time, and there are still things that I have not seen or done and will always probably come back to this city and do something different each time.

I must have to say that we hear complaints about Charles De Gaulle airport and you know what, we have never had any problems, we have always arrived in Charles De Gaulle on all our visits, of course I can’t comment on any of the other airports as we have not used them. I think they are mainly used for travel internally through Europe more.

Because there were four of us, we rented an Apartment for 8 nights through www.fcc.net.au.  They are an Australian based company and have apartments for rent all over Paris and in the different provinces of France itself. On a previous visit to France, we used this company for a house in the Loire Valley and we were not disappointed.
Our apartment was one of the suites that has been renovated in the Palais Royale and in the 1st arrondissment. Very cute apartment situated on three levels. The kitchen was on the lower level, living area on the street level and two bedrooms on the upper level.
Very compact and certainly big enough for the four of us.  In the lounge there was a pull out sofa which I turned into a bed for myself.  The doors of the lounge opened out into the gardens of the Palais Royale itself.  There was also a beautiful bouquet of
flowers, a nice bottle of red and a basket of freshly baked pastries presented to us on arrival. We were given a thorough handover and again pleasantly surprised when we found out the phone could be used to call overseas absolutely free at any time.  There was also a laptop provided in the apartment and free internet.  The cost of this apartment in September was around $550 each person for the 8 nights.

A large supermarket, bakeries, bars, cafes, restaurants and of course the Metro all within minutes walking distance. The Louvre was around the corner and we found it quite easy to walk to any of the major attractions without having to take the Metro.

Before arriving in Paris, I had researched “free walking tours” and found this company Discover Walks.  They provide walking tours all over the different areas of Paris for a small tip.  The guides are usually students and live in the area locally and know Paris inside out and this is their way of earning a small wage while studying.  They take you to places and show you points of interest that we would normally overlook.  I saw and gained more information from these walks than I had on my earlier visits.  We got to hear some rather funny and quirky stories along the way.
 Over the next 7 days, we wandered the streets and window shopped. Vicki and I hired a car and drove up to the Somme for a day to visit our ancestor’s war memorial sites. James Harris Middlemiss, my great Uncle is commemorated in Caterpillar Valley Cemetery & Memorial outside a small village of Longueval and Vicki’s great Uncle is buried in Brewery Orchard which is just outside Bois Grenier. It took us quite a while to find these places but was worth the trouble. Looking out over the flat fields of the Somme, you can only imagine what these young men went through and having their lives cut short defending a country which was not their homeland. In saying this, the people that live in this area are very thankful of the input of Australia and New Zealand had in defending their towns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My one goal this trip was to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, sadly I did not achieve this, once again I took one look at this gigantic monument and chickened out.  Will make it next time – perhaps.  If you are looking for excellent photo opportunities, then a visit to the top of famous Galleries La Fayette is a must.  There is a huge area at the very top which also has a small licensed cafe that sells some very nice meals and desserts, it was a very pleasing way to pass the time of day and it would have to be one of the best views in all of Paris.
 When in Paris this time it was fashion week and on one of our many walks around the city we ended up in I suppose you would call it the “wholesale fashion” district.  There were loads of factory type warehouses with store fronts that were filled with rows and rows of clothes.  We were not allowed to buy from here but some of the proprietors let us browse through the clothes.  It was quite fun pretending we were “Dedicated Followers of Fashion”.

On one of the free afternoons I had to myself I spent the afternoon wandering through the Musee d’Orsay.  A lovely museum and you can see the beautiful works ranging from Degas, Matisse, and Van Gogh just to name a few.  Another day I took a cooking lesson in how to make French Macaroons with CooknwithClass, (see post Push, Stop and Cut).  Fantastic morning, just loved Constance the chef, and will definitely be taking another lesson with these school next time I visit Paris – and I am sure there will be a next time.

It was a sad day when we boarded the train and departed the City of Lights.  Our next destination awaited us – the Cinque Terre!!

 

 

Barcelona – The City of Gaudi and Modernism

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Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid and is the capital of Catalonia and we were fortunate enough to spend 4 days in Barcelona in 2009.  We travelled with another two couples and rented an apartment opposite Catalunya Plaza and a 2 minute walk to La Ramblas.  The company we used to rent the apartment was www.friendlyrentals.com and the zone we were in was called the Plaza Catalunya/Paseo de Gracia.  The apartment was very modern and beautiful.  We had no problems renting from Friendly Rentals and our booking in process was fairly easy.  We did have to meet them at their place of business and then catch another taxi to the apartment but they helped us do all this so it wasn’t really a problem, they also warned us about the pick pockets in Barcelona and to be cautious and be aware of where we carry our wallets, handbags etc. The whole time we were in Barcelona, there was no incidents of stealing, etc and one night we were sitting out on the footpath having Tapas and Sangria and people watching, I in particular was watching people and how they carried their bags etc, and no one seemed to be taking any extra precautions, these people seemed to be locals, so perhaps the pick pockets tend to seek out tourists. Aside from this, it is wise to always be aware that there may be pickpockets about and they are very good at their craft.
The first day in Barcelona Glen and I did a Gaudi Tour.  There are two options – The Gaudi Tour which is in the morning, and there is an add on you can take which is called Gaudi Beyond the City Tour which I highly recommend you take in conjuction with the first.  Antoni Gaudi an architect that lived in Barclona during the latter part of the 19th Century, his main clients being the Church and an Industrialist Eusebi Guell.  Throughout Barcelona are products of his designs and visions, the main ones being Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila (La Pedera) and Casa Vicens.  Both Gaudi and Eusebi Guell were men who were great visionaries and leaders whose thinkings were well beyond their time.  A perfect example of this is the Guell Industrial Village - Colonia Guell. Guell commissioned several architects to design the village and Gaudi was responsible for the design of the Church.  Colonia Guell was built for the employees of Guell’s factory, and the reasoning behind the idea was so that Guell’s workers could live closer to their place of work. The village had its own school, tavern, shops, a child care centre where Guell allowed the female workers who were mothers to take time off to breastfeed their children (something that has only been introduced in Queensland during the last 10 years) who were being cared for by the Nuns,  and a church which Gaudi never finished.  Only the Crypt was completed which is considered Gaudi’s greatest masterpiece.  Gaudi was also well known as a conservationist and his designs were based on the harmony of nature and he did not believe in waste.  This is where his love of mosaics came about, he first used broken plates for decoration when he planned Park Guell. I literally have hundreds of pictures of Gaudi’s work, I just can’t put them on here and they are all my favourites.

 

 

We also took the hop on hop off bus around Barcelona, on this you will get an even better idea of the City of Barcelona.  One of the suburbs in Barcelona, Eixample is a district known for its urban planning, which has been designed in blocks of octagonal grids, long streets, wide avenues and rounded street corners, this was to provide improved living conditions, which included extensive sunlight, better quality ventilation and open green space for public use.

 

 

 

 

Of course you cannot visit the city of Barcelona without walking through Las Ramblas.  It is a hive of activity, street performers, stalls that sell everything from flowers, artwork and pets, market places where you can purchase any type of food, there are many restaurants, bars and cafes you can take your pick from to take a load off and just sit down with an icy cold Sangria and people watch. Some of the sights may shock you but the place vibrates with a kind of electric energy.  You can never tire of walking through Las Ramblas, there is so much to see.  Definitely one of the highlights of Barcelona.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gibraltar – The Rock

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Gibraltar is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom and is situated on the South Central Coast of Spain and uses the Gibraltar pound as currency. Its quite bizarre to be driving along in the country of Spain and then you are in a UK Sovereign, and the UK is miles away. Still can’t quite understand why the British took a shine to this place.  I mean its just a big grey rock!! Glen and I drove there when we were staying in Benalmadena near Malaga.  Very easy drive on the highway to Gibraltar, and easy to read signs.

Don’t visit Gibraltar when there is a Spanish holiday, all the Spaniards make their way there as the electronic goods, cigarettes and alcohol are far cheaper in Gibraltar than in Spain, therefore its very difficult to find any parking.  The day we went was a public holiday; the place was busy with bumper to bumper traffic and we just couldn’t find a space to park the car, it was quite horrendous. I was driving around trying to find a parking space and ended up driving to the top of the Rock which I don’t recommend at all; it’s very difficult to find an empty parking space up there as well.   There is a Cable Car available to take you to the top, if you can work out where the entrance is, I am sure it would be more picturesque than driving up. The road that winds up to the rock is very narrow, there is nowhere to turn around as the road is one way only and one has to drive to the top before you can make your way back down.

Once at the top, the view is very impressive and on a clear day you can see the Coast of Africa so that is a bit of a buzz, although you know its not really that far away anyway.

There are a few things to see on the Rock itself, a War Museum, remains of a Moorish Castle and dotted around the place are guns used in the War.  The other sight you will see are the Barbary Macaques.  They are everywhere and I mean everywhere, there are hundreds of them.  No one knows how they arrived here,  they are quite cute if not very cheeky.  While we were looking at the view etc not very far from our open car, the monkeys jumped inside and Glen had  a devil of a job getting them out.  It was rather funny actually, but we had left our wallet on the dashboard and one of the monkeys had it in their hands at one stage we were a little bit worried that they would take off with it.  So don’t leave your windows open!!

If you are staying in Malaga or surrounding areas, and all you want to do for the day is visit Gibraltar, take a bus tour instead.  In my opinion this would be far more enjoyable way to spend the day than driving yourself.  Apparently you can walk over the Spanish border into Gibraltar from a town called La Linea.  I remember driving through this but I am not sure where or how long a walk it is to cross the border.  I do know we were waiting a long time to cross the border, the boom gates were down and all of sudden there is this plane whizzing by and in the process of taking off.  Quite bizarre sight.

Spain – A place in the sun

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Spain is made up of 17 Regions, and on our first visit to Spain was on the Costa del Sol in the region of Andalucia, which is one of the most popular tourist spots in Europe.  Andalucia is the home of Flamenco and Bull fighting.  We were visiting our Irish friends who holiday in Spain at least twice a year to get away from the Irish winter, as do thousands of other Irish and the English.  I swear Malaga has more British pubs in it than London does.We stayed in a resort called Sunset Beach Club in Benalmadena.  We had a self contained apartment, three bedrooms and access to all the facilities in the resort.  There was a beautiful pool which was built beside the sea, we really enjoyed our stay here.  Benalmadena is one of the many towns along the coast of the Costa del Sol.  Heaps of activities to do and close to the bigger towns, the smaller more traditional spanish villages such as Mijas which is like a 10 minute drive, Malaga is very close to Ronda and an easy drive, but I would recommend an overnight stay in Ronda, there is a lot to see and do.  Day tours are available to Granada and other areas of Spain and there is a bus tour to Tangiers in Morocco. One day Glen and I drove to the Rock of Gibraltar.  On another visit to Spain we stayed in San Sebastian (Basque Region) and we drove to Barcelona (Catalonia Region), the highways are magnificant.  Our next holiday is again in Spain and we are staying with our friends once more.  We are going to be relaxing a bit and not be doing too much for 8 days and then we will be driving to Cordoba, Seville (both in the Andalucian Regiona) and Madrid (Madrid Region), hoping to see quite a few of the sights along the way.  The accommodation seems to be fairly reasonable and in Madrid we were able to book into what the Spanish call Hostales for $50AUD a night.  We found this hotel on www.tripadvisor.com.au, excellent reviews and so cheap!!

I would recommend this country to anybody, there is something here for everyone of all ages.

Creissels and the Millau Viaduct

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After leaving the Loire Valley, the next place we were going to was Creissels which is not very far from the Millau Viaduct.  We drove from Blere to Creissels in one day, it took us approximately 6 hours.  We did leave quite early from Blere to ensure we would arrive in Creissels on time.  We had previously arranged to stay in this 12th century medieval castle called Chateau de Creissels and if you stay in the “Bishop’s Room” you have a view of the Viaduct.  The Bishop’s Room was booked out so we stayed in one of  the other rooms in the Chateau.  We had a private bathroom and flat screen TV.  They do have a restaurant but it was closed that night for a function so we had arranged to go to a local restaurant that specialised in local cuisine.  There is also free parking.  I loved this place, it is situated above the Tarn river and is a good base to see the Templar Villages which are nearby and of course the Millau Viaduct.  Not all the hotel is 12th century, most of it was destroyed by a fire in 1814 but parts of it are12th century including the “Bishops Room” and the restaurant.

The staff were great and very friendly and they arranged for us to have dinner at a local restaurant which they also stated to us that “don’t let appearances put you off from trying the food. It was called the Bar-Restaurant de la Fontaine and they also specialise in local cuisine.  The decor was not that crash hot but the food was amazing.  We had the most delicious melt in your mouth blue steak which I would not normally eat but I decided to just dig in – I just didn’t look at the plate.  For dessert we had a sheeps cheese tart which again was lovely.  I would definitely go there again.

We arrived late in the afternoon to Creissels and we had enough daylight hours to check out the viaduct, which was lucky we did as the next morning it was foggy and we couldn’t see it.  What an astounding feat of engineering building this bridge was.  It is quite jaw dropping site.  We were anxious about driving over the bridge but it is a breeze and you really don’t notice how far you are above the ground as you can’t see over the sides when driving over the bridge.  Certainly one of the most worthwhile sights to see. When in Creissels there is a punt boat tour that you can undertake, this takes you on the River Tarn and right underneath the bridge.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to go on but but it would be worth it just for the photographs.  The website for booking this tour is http://www.bateliersduviaduc.com/.  Looks great.  If you are in the market for leather gloves, Millau is the best place to buy them.  They are the softest of leather.  Quite expensive but they are locally made and are very good quality.  The place we went to was called Gausse Gantier and they are on 5, Boulevard des Gantieres, 12102 Millau Cedex, France.  They have rows and rows of display cabinets of the most divine leather gloves,  all styles and colours.  Free parking so if you are ever in Millau, worth a browse and if you have a spare 100 Euros, buy a pair of gloves, I don’t think you will regret it.

Palace of Versailles

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When visiting Versailles you will be amazed at the opulence in and around the Chateau.  In my opinion I found it to be way more lavish than the Vatican and St. Paul’s Basilica. The lifelike paintings on the ceiling all tell a story, a lot have been painted to give a 3D effect and the scene seems to jump out at you when looking at them, the walls are also lined with Flemish tapestries and works of art. The furnishings are exquisite.  It would be best to give the Palace of Versailles a good day to be able to appreciate its beauty, there is also the gardens which are a definite must see.

There are places you can hire bicyles and cycle around the gardens, although not sure if this would be a good idea in Winter.

Getting to Versailles from Paris is a very easy train ride on the RER line,  you can pick up tickets for entry into the Palace from the ticket office when you arrive. Tickets can be bought here to see the Palace and the gardens collectively or separately if you wish.  When we visited, we ran out of time to visit the gardens and this is on the agenda when we return in August.

Chenonceau Chateau – the Ladies Chateau

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Chateau Chenonceau is considered to be one of the finest in the Loire Valley and is still lived in by the family that owns it.  On the day of our visit it started to rain so everything looked a bit drab and the photos aren’t too flash. I couldn’t get a decent photo of the front of it as it was covered in scaffolding and undergoing repairs.

Chenonceau is know as the ”Ladies Castle” as it was built in 1513 by Katherine Briconnet, and successively embellished by Diane de Poitiers, Catherine de Medici, Louise of Lorraine During the revolution it was protected by Madame Dupin.

The castle has the most amazing collection of Flemish tapestries hanging from its walls.  I don’t know that much more about it as it was a quick visit (that’s what you get for travelling with men!! – some of them anyway!) but I will let the photos tell the story.

All throughout the Chateau were the most amazing flower arrangements.  The gardens are also beautiful in the summer and spring, but in the winter it is a bit plain.

When the weather is right, what can beat wandering through this amazing castle and her gardens.

Chambord Chateau

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Visiting the Loire Valley is not complete without visiting some of the if not all of the Chateaux in the area.  We chose to visit Chambord mainly because I did a jigsaw puzzle of it once when I was on holiday and was fascinated by its unusual steeples.  Chambord covers 5440 hectares and is surrounded by a wall 32kms long.  It is the largest enclosed forest park in Eurpoe and a national game reserve with many types of animals living completely wild.

Chambord is not very far from Blois, practically around the corner.  King Francis the 1st initiated the building of Chambord and it was originally a hunting lodge.  Unfortunately he died before he ever saw it finished.  Only the Keep and the Royal Wing had been completed.  It was his two sons who suceeded him that built Chambord the way it is today.  Chambord is particularly famous for its double helix staircase which doesn’t seem to have a start or ending.  It really is quite beautiful and the arches and steeples on its roof line are what I find are the most amazing and unusual sight.

Inside Chambord is pretty well empty, with only 80 rooms out of the 426 open to the public. In one of the rooms is a large original earthernware and tiled boiler on display that were used to heat the first floor apartments.  Quite beautiful and unusual. There were four of these ordered from Germany during the time the Marshall of Saxony was in residence at Chambord (1680 -1740).  Only three were fully restored and remain today.  In one the main rooms on the ground floor is this awesome coronation carriage which had never been used. It had been commissioned by  Henri Compte de Chambord who thought he was to become King but for various reasons was ousted and his plan never came into fruition. Beautiful tapestries and artworks decorate a few of the walls of rooms that are open to the public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blere

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After spending a night in Paris, we picked up our hire car from the Europe Rental Cars agency on Avenue Foch.  It is relatively easy to navigate yourself out of Paris from here although it was quite nerve wracking for me.  We did not purchase a GPS which was quite the most stupid thing we could have done as we did get lost a few times over the course of the week.  I am a bit hopeless and lose all sense of direction when travelling overseas.  Luckily my travelling companions were a bit more ofay than moir!!

Our arrival destination was a small village called Blere (pronounced Blare).  After a few wrong turns we arrived at this delightful farmhouse which was originally an old mill converted into a cottage.  We found the house on a website in Australia called www.fcc.net.au.  They have houses and apartments all over France, the one we chose is called Ancien Moulin.   Ancien Moulin is a fully restored ancient mill with three levels and is in a rural setting, the ground floor was the kitchen, toilet, living area and lounge room with a huge fireplace, on the first floor was a bedroom with an ensuite, two other double bedrooms and a separate shower and toilet.  On the upper level was another bedroom which housed three single beds and had their own shower and toilet.  The kitchen is fully with a dishwasher.  There was also a TV, DVD, washing machine and central heating. Outside was a rather large pile of firewood, a beautiful walnut tree which had walnuts falling off it, a barbeque area with barbeque table and chairs. It was just how we imagined it and more.  The mill is approximately 2 k’s from the township of Blere.

 

 

 

 

 

 


We were met by the owner’s daughter who ran through the house and its operations
and we were then left to our own devices, first on the agenda was the fireplace of course and getting the fire started which we had no trouble doing. Us girls drove into Blere and bought a few supplies and we had lunch in a local pub/bar which sold the most amazing quiches which we devoured of course!!

From Blere, we travelled to Tours, Blois, Ambois and saw the Chateaux Chambord and Chennonceax.  We did the two Chateaux in one day and passed through Ambois.  Actually I think it was in Amboise that we were very rudely given the almighty finger salute to!!  Not sure why, perhaps it was because I wasn’t too sure of the road rules and I didn’t give way;I thought that person very vulgar and uncouth!!

The township of Blere is not very big but it does have a few historical sites you can visit.  One of them being the Chapelle Jehan de Seigne.  It is situated on a public park and was built in the 12-15th century.  Another interesting sight to see is the Aigremont’s Windmill which is to the south of Blere on the road to Loches.  The windmill was built in 1848 by M Bergeault and became the property of the township of Blere in February 2003.

Blere was the perfect little place to stay when visiting the Loire Valley.  It was close to everything.  We certainly did not see everything here, one thing we didn’t see and was disappointed not to visit was the Château du Clos-Lucé.  This is where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life. Apparently the Chateau’s gardens are full of his inventions. I could kick myself for not going … oh well, always a next time!!

Oh and one more thing, the wine here is incredibly good and incredibly cheap for future reference to anybody that is travelling to this area.  Especially the wine from the Touraine Valley.  Superb!