Medieval Christmas

We went to a Medieval Christmas at the Tower of London.

King Edward “Longshanks” (I think it means he was tall) in Procession
The Kings Wife, Daughter, and Mother (he is in the chapel praying).
The Chapel where the King left his crown before retiring
The King retiring (with a guard, musician, bishop, and maidservant)
The White Tower (a medieval keep)
Yeoman Warder calling (with a whistle and a hand gesture) a Raven to his cage for the night (the Raven is at the gate and is walking to a cage which is just beyond the lower left corner of the photograph). The Ravens wings are clipped because of a legend that says England will fall if the Ravens leave the Tower.

Here we are at the Tower of London with the Tower Bridge in the background

Noël 2008 (à Paris)

Entretiens avec les parents






Entrée de l'hôtel




Café à une fontaine









Pyramide et Musée de Louvre










Sous la pyramide






Victoire de Samothrace







Modèle du Louvre medieval





À l'intérieur de l'effectif Louvre medieval (douves, mark mason, chamber)















Tour Eiffel


Seine

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

Oxford Street

We spent a day on Oxford Street (think Fifth Avenue). The lights are better than the pictures can capture. The whimsical shop windows belong to Selfridges. It is an absolutely huge and inside is like the old fashioned department stores with mountains of luxurious fashions in all directions.

Fall Tourists

Inside Westminster Hall, built in 1097. Near the base of a stair, close up of mason marks made by someone 910 years ago, A shot from a far to give you the sense of scale

Clock Tower to Westminster Palace

Harley Davidsons riding past Westminster Abbey




Westminster Abbey (a church complex parts of which were built in 900, but the building in the photo was 1245)

Hyde Park gardens

British Library (like the US Library of Congress, only much much older stuff)
We used to walk past this MG in our neighborhood everyday but it is gone now (hoping that it is in a garage somewhere)

old Jewel Tower (built 1365)

The foundation of this relatively 'new' wall is a 1500-year old roman wall. The bottom darker part closest to the water is the roman wall. It was common to use older stuff as foundations in old London

Thanksgiving

I finally have proof of residency (my TV license... yes, you have to have a license to watch television.)






... and thanksgiving (not a holiday here) decorations from our favourite nephew and niece

Our Flat

Our flat has beautiful large windows and window boxes (with rosemary already growing!) and its own kitchenette and shower.