The JimAnna Chronicles

The French Air Force decided to send a group of us to Colorado to watch the graduation ceremony.  Since there is an annual semester exchange between our schools (in addition to a number of short term visits), we also used the visit as a chance to meet counterparts, set up and maintain relationships.  Overall, it was an effective (and enjoyable trip).  I am going to start out with posting some of the images from our trip to Pike’s Peak, Manitou Springs and Dallas (I’ll explain more later).

 

After spending the better part of 5 years in Colorado, I came to appreciate the landscape … and consequently miss it now.  So, it was great to be back.

 

The clouds were fascinating as we were in between snow showers…

 

 

Colonel Maïni and Manu.  We were scheduled to take the Cog Railway to the top of Pike’s Peak, but unfortunately, one of the trains derailed (no one was hurt), so our train was canceled.  Instead, we hopped back in the car and took the toll road as far as we could go.  Unfortunately, the very top was still snowed in, but as you can see, we were able to make it above tree line.

 

 

Yep, there was still plenty of snow on the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

After the mountain, we headed back into the always colorful Manitou Springs.

 

I introduced them to the wonderful world of Ski-Ball and the magic of Pixie Stix.  It was turning out to be quite an American experience for them.  Although they had both been to the US numerous times, I enjoyed finding more quintessential (at least in my opinion) things to do and try.  We also sampled caramel corn and salt water taffy.

 

They both proved quite adept at Ski Ball.

 

Of course since they are French, and we all love wine, we headed to a great little wine bar, Swirl.  We had a great zinfindel and the owner/sommelier Sharon and I had a long conversation about the relative merits of Provençal Rosé.  Let’s just say we agree it’s very tasty.  🙂

 

Dallas, Texas

I’m skipping ahead on our trip a little, but after Colorado, Manu and I headed down to Texas.  Since I don’t have many images from that part of the trip, I’m including them here.  We also had a long layover on the way in and we used the time to go to the 6th Floor Museum.  If you haven’t been, it’s the former warehouse from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy in 1961.  It’s definitely worth seeing if you’re in the area. This is President Kennedy’s memorial (about 2 block from the site of his assassination), the Big Red Museum which has the history of Dallas and Reunion Tower in the background.

 

Since the Dallas Mavericks were in the midst of the NBA playoffs and Manu had never been to an arena, we decided to stop in and check it out.  They were kind enough to let us in to have a peak around.  Even though there was no one, it was still impressive.

 

Finally, this is the image of the inside of a sculpture.  I liked the contrast in color.  The wide angle lens (10mm) provides plenty of both sky and painted metal.

 

That sums up this part of the trip.  Next up will be the US Air Force Academy graduation and USAFA’s grounds.

 

Until then…

–Jim

We were able to spend an amazing day in Sicily with our guide … Paolo Piana. However, before we arrived, we woke up to a beautiful view of Mt Etna.  In fact, this was the best view we had of the most active volcano in Europe.

 

We started out in the Catania’s UNESCO-worthy Piazza del Duomo.

 

The 18th century Fontana dell Elephante (or u Liotru) is the symbol of Catania.  Apparently, at some point in the ancient history of Sicily, the fauna included dwarf elephants.  However, we didn’t see any and I’m pretty sure only the stone ones are left on the island.

 

The Duomo.

 

This is the Fontana dell’Amenano with the same name as the river that runs underneath the city.  The fountain was cleverly built to use the river’s water.

 

La Pescheria — The Fish Market.  This place was a great mass of meat, colors, sounds and of course smell.

 

Cleaving a tuna.

 

Yep, it’s a yellow fin.

 

Looks yummy, don’t you think?  Puts me in the mood for sushi.

 

A fisherman’s job is not a clean one.

 

Just so we know what the fish originally looked like.  It’s a handy visual reminder… ok, it’s more of a heady reminder.

 

This market was both by and for those who spent their lives on the sea.

 

I have to admit, I was a bit reticent to try anchovies.  My only memory of them were overly salty on pizza and Caesar salads.  However, by themselves or lightly fried, this little guys are quite tasty.

 

There were plenty of interesting looking fish.

 

This butcher was preparing his lambs.  As you can see, it wasn’t just fish at La Pescheria.

 

Another new discovery (for me) has been sea urchins.  Although they are a lot of work to access (like a lot of seafood), they are delicious.

 

More lambs for sale.  These are truly half a lamb.

 

A few more heady reminders.

 

 

 

 

 

Come on guys, follow me!  This way out…  (of course, he didn’t get very far).

 

 

Hmm, what’s up there?

 

 

This gives you a little idea of the process to get sea urchins ready to consume.  Gloves and a strong scissors are a must.

 

The finished product.  They also have a black bile inside that needs to be removed or eaten around.

 

 

 

 

This is the imposing and beautiful Aci Castello built on volcanic rock.

 

The view from Aci Castello yielded this view across the bay to Belvedere di Acitrezza.  According to Paolo, these are the stones that the cyclops from Homer’s Oddessy threw after Odysseus blinded him.  Since this is a part of the Ionian Sea (the commonly accepted location for the epic), it seemed a plausible fable with some basis in fact.  But then, aren’t all fables similarly based?

 

This statue (predictably) reminded me of Anna and X.

 

A closer look at the impressive stones the cyclops apparently heaved.

 

Wind and water carvings.

 

A look back at the Aci Castello.

 

Both the Aci Castello and Belvedere di Acitrezza.

 

This is the main walking thoroughfare in the hugely popular tourist town of Taormina.  It’s perched over the sea and the buildings are fittingly beautiful.  It’s also been featured in pop culture by people like Truman Capote and D.H. Lawrence and films like “Le Grand Bleu”

 

After Taormina, we drove further up the hill to Castelmola where we found amazing views of the sea and surrounding landscape.

 

 

This is from Castelmola looking back down on Taormina.

 

 

Anna and X enjoying the view.

 

This was Alexander’s first experience with a water fountain (or to use the Wisconsin vernacular:  a bubbler).

 

Although he doesn’t look too sure here, he seemed to enjoy the experience.

 

Looking back up at Castelmola.

 

There are lots of tunnels in Italy.  I decided to let the shutter stay open a while and this is the image that resulted.

There is a light…

 

If you’ve seen the move “The Godfather” you might recognize this Sicilian town.  In the film it was called Corleone (the Godfather’s hometown of the same name).  However, in reality, this is a town called Savoca.

 

Citrus fruit make up a huge part of Sicilian agriculture (lemons, oranges, grapes, etc).  I understand better why oranges were the symbol of death in “The Godfather.”  If there isn’t enough (monetary) incentive to harvest the fruit, it simply withers and falls off.  Logically that makes sense, even if it seems to be a waste.

 

The rugged canyon Paolo showed us.  Although you can’t see from this image, it was a bit of a hike to get here.

 

After, we went to a local winery on the slopes of Mt. Etna.  The rich volcanic soil produces some great wine.  Although I hadn’t had much before, I really enjoyed the simple elegance of the wine we tried.  Plus, as with other Italian wine, they use walnut barrels to age their wine which imparts a unique flavor.

The next series of images are from our trip up the volcano.  In fact, I’ll start with one from inside.  This is an old lava tube.  I saw similar ones in Hawai’i, but I never explored this far into one.

 

A closeup of the lava stalactites.

 

Paolo and another group bemusedly watching me clamor out of a lava tube with a big, unwieldy camera.

 

Anna and Alexander after his first successful foray into the world of spelunking.  We’ll see if that continues as he gets older.  Also, you can see the entrance to the cave on the right.

 

Unfortunately, as we got near the top of the mountain, the weather deteriorated.  We didn’t have much a view of the island, but the moving clouds added to the mystique.

 

A big rock that had been expelled from the volcano at some point.

 

The road we came up on.

 

Anna and X intently gazing into the distance.

 

Alexander loves the wind.  Since it was a bit windy, he was having a blast.  His mother on the other hand, was having less of a good time.

 

A resort that was barely spared from the last major eruption in 2002.  There has been a lot of activity this year (2011), but thus far no major eruptions.  We were hoping to see flowing lava, but it wasn’t meant to be … probably a little safer anyway.

 

A close up of a more recent lava flow.

 

Our way down.

 

This house was a little less fortunate it didn’t survive the 2002 eruption.

 

Well that completes our brief (but very enjoyable) time in Sicily.  If you think you’d like to visit and only have limited time, we can’t recommend Paolo highly enough.  His site is:  www.etnasicilytouring.com

 

Next up is Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona.

 

Until then…

 

–Jim

 

Although the weather wasn’t great, we had a nice time in Palma de Mallorca.

This is the Rambla dels Ducs de Palma.  Not quite as big as Barcelona’s, but still very interesting.

 

We stumbled on an art show while we were there.  I liked this white marble eyeball.

 

This is the view of the harbor from the castle, Castello de Bellver.

 

The most famous landmark in Palma, the cathedral known as La Seu. Its fame was increased when Gaudi worked on a restoration (it was begun in the 13th century and completed in 1601).  However, Gaudi’s work was not extensive and it retained most of it’s medieval origins.

 

The tower is part of Castello de Bellver, which was apparently the first circular castle in Europe.

 

Although built in the 13th century as a castle, it was used predominantly as a prison until the 20th century when it became a museum in 1932.

 

Alexander is at the stage where he LOVES touching everything… stones carved about 800 years earlier isn’t a bad tactile learning experience.

 

 

 

 

Our ship … which looks small in comparison to the MSC ship.  I think next cruise, we’ll try MSC.  Although we enjoy Costa, we’ve heard great things about MSC.

 

All three of us…

 

The cathedrale and a sailboat as seen from our room as we were leaving the port.

 

Not a bad weekend cruiser.  Plus, you can see Castello de Bellver on the hill in the background.

 

Another view of the castle.

 

A few mountains as we sailed toward the Iberian peninsula.

That finishes our visit to Mallorca.

Next up was another trip back to Barcelona.

Until then…

–Jim

 

We visited the always vibrant city of Barcelona.  Unfortunately, the bad weather followed us and it rained most of the day.  Oh well, no matter, we just enjoyed indoor activities.  Notably, we spent most of the day with Juan and Sonja, our Spanish “family.”  Juan had spent a year on exchange with Anna’s family while he was in high school.  Although Anna and Grandma Chris had seen them a couple times, including a visit to our house in Germany, I had not had the opportunity to meet them.  So, as you might imagine, I was very much looking forward to this day.  They did not disappoint and we had a great day together.  Unfortunately perhaps because the weather was so bad, I failed to take a picture of us.  So, I have nothing to show you.  Next time we see them, I promise we’ll make better use of the camera.

 

This is the unforgettable La Sagrada Familia, still under construction.

 

However, they have made significant progress on the interior.  If you’d like to compare to our last time in 2007, here’s the link:  http://www.jimanna.com/archives/000142.html You can also see the same ship we were on this time.  The only difference was we opted for the balcony this time (definitely worth the extra money).

 

 

 

The ceilings are spectacular.

 

 

Although it’s a fairly hefty entrance fee, there was not a lack of tourists.

 

Apparently Gaudi saw the light too…

 

Not quite sure what’s up with the umbrella with a hole in the middle.  Perhaps someone who’s Catholic can help me out?

 

OK, that finishes our circuit of the Mediterranean. It was a great week and surprisingly relaxing, even though we were still taking care of the little guy.

Next up, I’ll have a few images of the blooming poppies and my trip to the US.

Until then…

–Jim

 

Next stop … the sprawling city of Naples.  Although we didn’t spend much time in the city, it felt a little like Marseille.

 

Our time was spent in a small ancient city sitting at the foot a mountain.  Mt Vesuvius.  That city is of course, Pompeii and infamous for it’s destruction in the year 79 CE when the ash from an eruption blanketed the entire city and left an eerie but accurate snapshot of life in the first century.

 

Here we are in the main square, the Forum.  Although the stones have mostly been looted for use in other buildings, it’s an impressive space.  The story we were told was that the mountain was a single peak before the eruption.  If you can imagine it, the space between is what was ejected by the force of the eruption.

 

These are the stairs for the main theater.

 

Although it looks more like lichen, this is original paint from the first century … or earlier.

 

The raised sidewalk of the Pompeii street.

 

These pots were used for storing wine.  Somehow I think if any survived in their blanket of ash and pumice they probably wouldn’t have been any good in the 18th century when they were uncovered.  Still, it’s an interesting thought.  How would wine from the first century taste??

 

This is our guide.  Although he was very knowledgeable (as a former History Professor), he was mostly retired and didn’t seem to like people very much.  Oh well, in spite of his attitude, we still enjoyed the tour.

 

The fresco inside a wealthy family’s house.

 

Somehow I think these people people who walked these streets 2,000 years ago looked a little different.  Of course, today, they are indicative of the 2.5 million tourists who come each year.

 

Steps to cross the road.

 

Ruts in the road … either from wear, or intentionally carved to help avoid the stones (and consequent traffic jams).

 

A bakers oven … complete with preserved loaf of bread (definitely not good still).

 

The Stabian Baths.

 

While it may not look terrible comfortable, nor inviting, this was a (small) bed.  It was used in a brothel.  Apparently, there were no shortages of carnal pleasures in ancient Pompeii.  They had a much more enlightened view of the physical world than many “modern” cultures.

 

This image is representative of the murals painted on the walls of the brothel.  There is some dispute on what their purpose was.  They could have been painted to heighten the pleasure of the occupants … or more simply to depict a sort of menu.  The latter idea was accepted by our guide.  It makes sense in a place which was the cross roads of a number of culture and languages.  If you didn’t speak the same language … the pictures would help immensely to avoid potential miscommunication.  Sadly, when many of the images of sensuality and sexuality were uncovered in the 19th century, they were dubbed too indecent and either mutilated or re-hidden.  Some took another 100 years to re-emerge.  I find that a very sad statement on  our hyper-sensitivity to sex.

 

As further evidence that the images or symbols were used as direct language, these phalluses were used to point travels in the direction of carnal pleasure.  Apparently, prostitution (male and female) was a very popular profession and the subsequent ubiquity drove the price to around the cost of a meal.  Of course, we can assume there were variables that made price flexible.

 

A water spout on a local well.

 

Again in the forum with the sleeping giant Mt Vesuvius in the background.

 

Anna and X enjoying the square with lots of other tourists.

 

I made this image with the ND filters… I see it depicting the fleeting time we spend on Earth and the relative enduring qualities of the city.

 

Here is another immortal reminder of the deadly day(s) in the year 79.  People were buried alive.  So, when they were uncovered in the modern era, all that was left was an empty cavity where their body had been.  To show their bodily form, plaster was injected into the void and the ash & pumice removed.  This is one example of an unfortunate victim of the volcano.

 

It’s a little tough to see what this is.  It’s a dog and many believe it was chained up outside the House of Vesonius Primus when it was done in by the volcano.

 

This is a boy who was killed.  He appears to be holding his face and crying.

 

In the temple of Apollo.

 

Ancient Pompeii’s ruins with modern Pompeii in the background.

 

Although he probably won’t remember his visit to Pompeii, Alexander had a good time…

 

On the boat, we were able to watch a beautiful sunset descend on Naples.

 

We watched from our balcony.

 

 

Buh-bye!

 

 

 

 

 

Good night, Sun.

 

 

 

Well, that finishes our time in Naples.  Up next is Sicily, where we got to see up close Europe’s most active volcano, and a bunch of other really cool sites.

 

So, until then…

 

–Jim

 

For our Spring Break this year, we decided another cruise would be easy and the most relaxing for all of us.  Fortunately, there is a cruise ship port very close to us in Marseille.  So, we hopped on the same ship we took back in 2007.  The only difference was we had a third in our family.  So, a slightly larger room was needed.

The itinerary wasn’t exotic (France, Italy and Spain), but it turned out to be a great vacation.

 

So, our first stopping point was in the underwhelming city of Savona.  It’s rightly not known as a tourist town.  Nonetheless, with a little pre-planning, we were able to find enough fun things to do for the day.  We began with a walk over to this old castle.  The city is in the background and if you look close, you can see our ship… Alexander is checking out the water and rest of the castle to our right.

 

OK, it’s a little easier to see here. It’s the biggest building in the area … just on it’s side and floating in the water.

 

This cannon hasn’t seen use in a while.

 

Anna and X checking out the city.

 

Although I don’t normally like taking pictures of pigeons, this one whose home was in the wall seemed an acceptable exception.

 

This statue was in the art museum of the castle and I loved the presentation.

 

(Almost) another animal on the grounds.  I’m not sure what the symbolic significance was, but we thought he was pretty cool.

 

The entrance of the castle.

 

A wider angle showing most of the castle.

 

As it was Palm Sunday, some church goers apparently take it very literally.

 

If the weather is nice, there are a huge number of private beach clubs with equipment for rent lining the beach.  Unfortunately for us, it wasn’t very warm and not the best weather in general.  So, we didn’t go to the beach, but we did find one named after Anna.

 

We also found some very pretty flowers on the ~10km walk we took.

 

 

Perhaps the best experience of the day was one where we have no photos.  It was in typical Italian fashion a long, delicious meal highlighted by tasty wine.  The restaurant is called Luna and the couple who owns it make some of the most delicious food we’ve had in a long time (and sharp contrast to the plentiful, but mediocre cruise food).  We spent probably 3 hours on a traditional 6 course meal.  Without question, the fresh, fried anchovies were the best I’ve ever eaten.

 

So, with the meal complete and the day drawing to a close, we got back on the ship.

 

Onboard Costa Serena Pt 1

The following images are just a few from our balcony terrace as the sun was setting.  We were treated to a number of spectacular sunsets.  Not a whole lot to say about them … so, I’ll let the images speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

Ok, I’ll finish here.  Up next we have a tour of Naples and Pompeii, plus more sunset images.  🙂

 

Until then…

 

–Jim

The second week in April, I had the opportunity to join the school and some of the students up in Paris for a week of touring around professional and cultural sites for the benefit of the students.  I was happy to tag along and participate.

 

Although I’ve already visited the Louvre several times, its always a pleasure to go back.  In this case, we had the added bonus of a personal guide.

 

Here is the entrance underneath the glass pyramid.  As you can tell, I used the ND filters to open the shutter longer and blur the action. The column in the middle is a cleverly designed cylinder that serves as an open-air elevator.

 

 

This 4,600 year old piece of art is the Great Sphinx of Tanis.  It was found in Egypt in 1825 and like so many things from that time period, brought back to France.

 

This is the iconic Aphrodite (AKA Venus de Milo).  You may remember her and our friend the sphinx from an earlier post (Paris 2006).

 

This is the painting I didn’t show in the earlier post.  Can you guess what it is??

 

Here it is … sorta. It almost looks big and impressive, don’t you think?

 

Here’s a better look at the reality of the situation (and keep in mind, this is off-season, in the middle of the week!).

 

This is the immense painting of the consecration of Emperor Napoleon I and the coronation of his wife, Empress Joséphine.  This was painted to be nearly life-like and life-size by Jacques Louis David in 1804 at the request of Napoleon himself.  At the end of David’s work, the Emperor was apparently delighted with the final result.  According to the Louvre’s website, he said, “What relief, what truthfulness! This is not a painting; one walks in this picture.”  I don’t know about truthfulness … there were a number of artistic liberties taken, but since the artist  was actually at the ceremony, it was certainly very close. I have cropped this image down just to highlight the central figures.

 

Another interesting image is this ginormous representation of Jesus’ first “miracle.”  According to the Bible, he turned water into wine at a wedding ceremony.  Not a bad trick if you ask me.  However, roughly 1500 years after this event supposedly took place, a Benedictine monastery on the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore commissioned Veronese to paint the Wedding Feast at Cana.  And, they wanted something big.  Really big.  So big that it’s larger than the average Parisian apartment size today!  It measures 70 square meters (~750 square feet).  What’s also interesting is that Veronese had an eye for detail and this painting was an amazing amalgamation of the 16th and 1st centuries of the current era. Plus fans of Dan Brown’s “The Di Vinci Code” will remember this painting from the book.  Although fiction, Mr. Brown provides interesting hypotheses on certain details.

 

A couple of the cadets listening to our guide through the ear piece.

 

An artist working amongst some of the best.

 

More cadets…

 

Another artist…

 

The Paris Uprising of 1830 (when the Bourbon king, Charles X, was overthrown and replaced by Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans) inspired the French master Eugène Delacroix to paint Lady Liberty (or in this case a Parisian woman who embodies Liberty) leading the Parisians in their “glorious three days” of uprising in May 1830.

 

Another famous symbol … but this time for Rome.  Romulus and Remus are disturbingly suckling the wolf.

 

While waiting for the other group, I had a little time to shoot the fascinating entrance way.  Here’s what I came up with:

 

 

Later that day, we continued with another museum.  The French Air and Space museum at Le Bourget.  It’s in an old airport terminal and huge!  It’s also the site of the famous (and also huge) Paris  Air Show (simply known at the  Meeting Le Bourget in French).

There were exhibitions from early aircraft pioneers (with slightly different emphasis than ours on the Wright Brothers).

 

They have so many beautiful, original pieces.

 

This image is emblematic of the original Franco-American Air Force cooperation.  Before the US entered WWI, there were American pilots flying with the French.  This was originally known as the Escadrille Américaine, but later renamed to the Escadrille Lafayette in order to appease the German government that the US was remaining neutral.  The members of the unit chose this head of a Sioux (or Seminole) warrior as their emblem. It adorned their Nieuport (and Spad) aircraft.

 

Then a later emblem from the same group:

 

One of the groups on the tour with a guide.

 

If you can imagine it, the pilot of this prototype aircraft sat in the small capsule.  This aircraft, the Leduc 0.22 was a test aircraft that combined a turbojet with a ramjet.  Unfortunately, the design proved unable to achieve supersonic speed and the project was abandoned in the late 1950s.  Still, it’s a interesting looking plane.

 

Some of the other French test aircraft on display.

 

The iconic Concorde used by Air France and British Airways.  The museum has two, and for a small fee, you can go see inside.

 

A model of the equally famous Sputnik satellite.

 

No good air and space museum would be complete without an American astronaut (or at least a space suit).  🙂

 

Well, that covers my week in Paris.  I know I only included pictures from the two museums we visited, but I promise there was a lot else we saw … I just didn’t have my camera along or wasn’t allowed to take pictures.

 

Today seemed fitting to post this entry, since we are celebrating the 66th anniversary of V-E Day in France today.

 

Next up will be the first series of images from our Spring Break cruise.

 

Until then…

 

–Jim

Last  month, we decided to take a little weekend trip to the Pyrenees.  We used the occasion to visit the Principality of Andorra for a couple days, then head home and stop for a visit at the medieval French town of Caracassonne.

 

A little history about Andorra.  It’s a principality, but unlike Monaco, there is no ruling prince in Andorra.  It is a task jointly managed by the President of the French Republic and the Bishop of Urgell in Spain.  Interestingly, that makes the French President the only elected monarch who is not elected by popular vote of those he rules.

 

When I mentioned Andorra to some of my French friends, their common question was “what are you going to buy?” Andorra gained wealth as a tax haven and tourism was spurred by tax-free (and consequently less expensive) goods.  Although we ended up buying a couple little things, we didn’t particularly care for the commercialism that was ubiquitous in the capital city where we stayed, Andorra la Vella.  Nonetheless, the tasty food and beautiful mountain vistas made up for a lack of commercial appeal.

 

Andorra

This is the view from the balcony of our room.

 

 

Of course, we wanted to go for a hike and experience the natural beauty for ourselves.

 

 

Alexander was having fun in the backpack.

 

He loved checking out the mountains and enjoying the fresh air.  He even managed a little nap on the hike back.

I stopped and used my neutral density filters to try and capture the freshly melted snow and numerous waterfalls.

 

 

X was having a good time.

 

OK, he could use a little lip moisturizer.  The mountain air was rather dry.

 

Anna and X were in the light at the end of the tunnel.  Well, now reality matches my psyche.

Here is the mountain trail and tunnel we went through, plus a good use of photovoltaic cells.

More water falls with lots of soft moss covering the stones.

In order to capture these images, I had to scramble up a steep, icy slope, then stuck the tripod and my shoes (fortunately, with gore-tex) in the middle to the stream to try and capture the image.  It doesn’t make the picture any better, but the effort certainly makes me appreciate the images more!

You can see how the snow was still adding to the water supply.

Looking downstream (and also where I climbed up).

Here is a view of the capital city, Andorra la Vella.  It has a population of around 25,000, with the total population of the country about 85,000 people.  This tiny country hosts over 10,000,000 visitors each year.  Fortunately for us, we didn’t see nearly that many in the mountains.

 

Carcassonne

Once we finally made it out of the mountains (it was a long and very windy road), we were greeted by the magnificent medieval town of Carcassonne.  The walled city is also the setting of the very popular eponymous board game (which we purchased after we got home).

 

The cité was first built around 100BCE by the Romans, but then often upgraded though the centuries.  Unfortunately, it fell into severe disrepair and was scheduled for demolition in the mid-19th century.  However, because of apparent public outcry, an architect (Violett Le-Duc) was called in to execute a massive restoration.  Although it’s an awe-inspiring work, it’s not likely how it looked in antiquity.  For example, the tall pointed roofs on the towers were a nice touch, but probably originally flat or low angled.

Looks like a nice place for a lunch.  Or maybe a small lecture for 4 students.

One if the restored towers, up close.

The workshop.

Alexander was having fun here as well.  It seems he likes traveling … a very good thing for his parents.

The impressive stained glass in the church.  Notice the bottom.  A blond Jesus… yeah…

Typical little restaurant in the cité.

 

 

Well, that covers our little weekend outing.

 

Until the next adventure … a few images from my trip to Paris, followed by the cruise from last week.

 

Until then.

 

–Jim