Good stuff from Paris...where to start!

This will take several posts I think.....

I would also like to point out that I take many more photos when I am by myself than I would ever take when I am with someone else, the desire to show them!

I'm guessing the easiest way to do this would be chronologically, no?

Which leads me to some random photos of cool stuff, and then Monet's garden (and about 75 photos of flowers...I will try and contain myself here!)  Let it just be said, it is worth the visit.

There's still going to be a lot of photos here, and a video no less!

A random door knocker, you'd think I'd be immune to this kind of stuff by now, what with living here, but no....it's still a totally impressive door knocker.

I do think that the number of photos that one can take of the Eiffel Tower does approach infinite.

Here it is ***S*p*A*r*K*L*i*N*g***

This is one of the metro stations, I think it is Gare Saint Lazare, though I could be wrong...very Catalan looking vaulting, and colours, I am wondering if Guastavino had a look in on this!

When you go to visit Monet's gardens, if you take the train, you get off in this town, Vernon.  It is a lovely little town, at least the center is, and you can rent a bike to ride the 7K to the gardens.  Well worth it, even in the rain.

On the ride out of town, there is a bike path that takes you along the one way road out of town, which I (fortunately) didn't see, so I ended up riding through the central square...and it was lovely!

Now you can see the official path.  It was pretty empty, as it was raining pretty steadily, and everyone else opted for the shuttle bus.

Can you see I'm getting wet?

My faithful (though rather uncomfortable) steed.  The seat was too low and pointed weirdly up at the front so I kept sliiiiiiding off the back.....

And here we are in the gardens.  Linnea for a day.

They are, as you might imagine, lovely.

A side view of his house, I had always imagined something rather more square, but it is a long narrow house the long side running along the road.....

THE lily pond, with THE Japonese bridge at the end of it.

Even on a grey day, you can see where he got his ideas from....like photographing an idea.

Imagine landscaping on a tree scale, amazing, no?

The rowing boat(s), they had two....

The frogs were beyond happy.  I even took a little video which you can watch and listen to here

back at the house

there were chickens!  Damp chickens who were kind of unexcited about being so damp....

Then I went for a walk as I had time to spare before my return train, and I found a lovely trail that lead up onto the ridge above the valley and his house.  There was this horse along the way.

His house is the long pink one kinda in the middle.

A pretty path, no?

This was at the top and I would bet money this is where he painted some of those pictures of women lounging in the long grass or walking through long grass with an umbrella and the wind...it was a lovely place.

On the way back down this fellow came over to investigate me, though he was quite shy and started away from my offering of grass.  By now the few bits of me that had still been dry, like my feet, weren't.

In the train, trying to steam a little drier and glad the rain is on the outside of the glass

A barge working its way downstream

And the tower again, in the rain this time.

More to come!

I really did have a lovely time, and posts of all the wonderfulness will come, but I just have to get this off my chest

I normally keep the blog pretty clean, you know, family oriented.  So, I'm just giving you a heads up that the next section of the blog is going to include swearing, just letting you know so you can skip away to another page now if this might offend.

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• To the 200,000 gilipolles I had the misfortune to wade through today in Paris, trying to disguise your homophobia as concern for children - but who do fuck all for the child, yes, 5 year old-ish child and her parents I saw sleeping in the shadow of the Louvre last night:
  
  Homophobia, it's not a phobia. A phobia is when you are afraid. You are not afraid.
  
  You are giant fucking assholes.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Oh, and France, while I'm at it....I haven't seen families sleeping on the street, sharing a single blanket since I was in India. Your economy is a little stronger than that. Oh, and France, Spain's economy is a shit-load worse than yours too, and you don't see it here either.
  
  What. are. you. thinking?

Palau Güell

Honestly, it was ugly.  Better on the outside, front and roof.

Interesting, but overdone, baroque and unbalanced.

The bones were good, especially in the basement.....I was surprised.

Let's see what you think.

This is the roof of the entryway, lovely and well done, though Youngest felt like they might fall out on you.  Quite dark.  The Man described it as dark like a tomb.  Not too far off.

An interesting detail, that seemed like it would cause problems later.

See, this is kinda what I don't like.  Checked floor, striped ceiling, rectangular windows with slats and then covering all that heavy think, care I say clunky in the setting dark grey facade over it with pillars.

Meh

The chapel at the centre of the house.  amazing, but BUSY

I like the biday, I like the tiles, the square tiles on the floor are fine, but all together?

Ahhhh, room to breathe, the basement that served as the garage, horses and carts down here.

The ramp up, see what I mean about the beauty of the bones?

For tying off the horses, a unicorn (with a horn kinda like a goat's)

and two dogs.

Looked a little like Chuck in fact.

Again, you can see Gaudí's characteristic parabolic arches, here looking LOVELY!

Newly installed, brick flooring made of wood.  Who'd a thought!

Don't know what in earth this could be for as it was in the window seat on the main floor and has two drains, but I quite like its simplicity.

Stained glass (pebbled meh) Catan flag colours, surrounded by marble and different marble and wood and a busy carpet.

Detail of the door.  I am not saying that these individual elements are not amazing and lovely, just an awful lot of them all together.

This view I like, simpler, the wrought iron entrance gates with marble columns, works.

For me, this doesn't.  Stained glass in many tiny picky little bits, within square frames, covered by a freestanding facade of heavy clunky dark grey marble.  TOO MUCH!

Detail of the woodwork.  Amazing and beautiful, but it was EVERYWHERE!  Overwhelming.

This again, fussy square stained glass, etched glass drawing in the centre, freestanding heavy marble pillars, tons of carved wood, different floors and windows.

Can you say Baroque?  If you click, each of those seperate points has cut glass in them so they glisten. *shudder*  That's a ceiling by the way.

A little better here, looking along the passageway between the pillars and the windows along the front of the house.

Ahhhh, the attics, which were not in the original style with many small bedrooms for the staff and laundry facilities.  Clean beautiful lines.

Undulating like a dragon's wing.

Out on the roof, Gaudi's characteristic chimney tops, with trencadis work to keep them interesting!

The door in the servant's stairway, that's an effective way to keep people from opening the gate from the outside, even if they have the key!  There must have been concern about people coming in from the street and sneaking up!

A shadow cast by some wrought iron work supporting a banister.

Overall?  Pricey, not attractive, sort of like a catalogue all laid out together, 'I'll have one of everything' style, but interesting nonetheless.

Wouldn't go back again though.