Europe!
I have left behind the New World and am now travelling with my parents in the Old. We met up in Paris and have been travelling around since. First up here are some photos of Paris, we stayed in the Latin Quarter which is a traditionally student dominated district.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Versailles Palace on September 16th (Viva Mexico!)
Versailles again.
and again.
After a few days in Paris we travelled south to the Dordogne region where we had a house waiting. This is Sarlat which is a medievil town.
Bergerac of the Cyrano de Bergerac fame.
One of the many castles that dominate the Dorodgne region along the Dordogne river,
St Andre's in Bordeaux.
Some monument in Bordeaux!
From the Dordogne we headed east for Provence, passing by this ridiculous bridge which spans a valley and is fairly impressive.
From our house in Provence we made a number of day trips. The first one was down to the Cote d'Azur, more specifically Cannes and St Tropez.
The beach at Cannes.
The scenery in Provence was amazing and I can see why it has such a high reputation.
Mount Ventoux is one of the highest mountains in the region at about 2km but the best part is that you can drive (or bike if you are crazy in the coconut) right up it. Unfortunately it was cloudy the day we drove up. But the 10deg drop in temperature was worth it.
Insanely defensible Church from when religion was actually a synonym for war.
Only ninjas could get up there.
The ampitheatre in Orange.
Europes third largest triumphal arch is in Orange, to celebrate Ceasars victory over the Gauls.
This aqueduct is near Avignon.
The fake pope's palace in Avignon.
The real church next to the fake pope's palace.
After Provence we crossed the Alp's (in a day thank you very much Hannibal) and headed to Verona, of Romeo and Juliet fame, in northern Italy. From here we explored nearby (it's not exactly a big country) Florence and Venice.
The basilica in Florence.
Bell tower of aforementioned basilica, it appears to be a (feature?) of this period of architecture that they couldn't build bell towers in the church itself. Must be the round roofs or something.
The crowd outside the Uffizi gallery.
The courtyard of the Medici's palace.
Verona after the rain.
Downtown Verona.
Juliet's balcony.
Another day on the road we headed to Venice.
On the ferry accross from the mainland this was the view that greeted us.
A solid wave looks like it could do some substantial damage.
The town itself is very pretty, lot's of plazas with statues and other old stuff that is very impressive since really 200 years of history isn't much in these parts.
Saint Marks Church.
The Ducal Palace.
From the North of Italy we headed through the Alps again through Austria and then into Southern Germany. Where we stopped at Fussen to see the famous castle Neuschwannstein.
Ludwig II of Bavaria was allegedly crazy. I personally think he just needed a good lego set.
He chose a great location though.
Unfortunately photos of the inside were forbidden but other than being ridiculously gilded it is the fantastical facade that is the most impressive.
From there we headed west to the Black Forest where we spent a few days in a nice little home set in the forest near the town of Hornberg.
The waterfall of Triberg is very picturesque and I thought it was the most beautiful part of the area.
Triberg again.
From there we headed south east along the Romantic Road which is a series of picturesque medieval towns.
We spent the night in Nordlingen and this is the view from the clock tower.
Augsberg: this is the worlds oldest social housing, so I guess they can't afford a gardener.
East again to Munich for a few days.
Central Munich: I believe this was a royal residence.
Odeonplatz.
Some suckers I've been mooching off.
Chiemsee just outside Munich is nicknamed the Bavarian Sea and is home to another of Ludwig's ridiculous palaces. This time he has attempted to rip off Versailles.
He actually did a pretty good job. Unfortunately no pictures of the inside again but it was much more impressive than Versailles I suspect because it is much less worn.
We also headed right down to the Austrian border to see Obersalzburg which was a Nazi hideout. Unfortunately the Eagle's Nest (Hitler's 50th birthday present) was closed due to rockslides.
Luckily the Nazi's can't ruin everything. The views of this area were simply spectacular. If I hadn't driven there would have been a lot more pictures.
And then we drove off into the sunset!
Soon to come: Prague.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Versailles Palace on September 16th (Viva Mexico!)
Versailles again.
and again.
After a few days in Paris we travelled south to the Dordogne region where we had a house waiting. This is Sarlat which is a medievil town.
Bergerac of the Cyrano de Bergerac fame.
One of the many castles that dominate the Dorodgne region along the Dordogne river,
St Andre's in Bordeaux.
Some monument in Bordeaux!
From the Dordogne we headed east for Provence, passing by this ridiculous bridge which spans a valley and is fairly impressive.
From our house in Provence we made a number of day trips. The first one was down to the Cote d'Azur, more specifically Cannes and St Tropez.
The beach at Cannes.
The scenery in Provence was amazing and I can see why it has such a high reputation.
Mount Ventoux is one of the highest mountains in the region at about 2km but the best part is that you can drive (or bike if you are crazy in the coconut) right up it. Unfortunately it was cloudy the day we drove up. But the 10deg drop in temperature was worth it.
Insanely defensible Church from when religion was actually a synonym for war.
Only ninjas could get up there.
The ampitheatre in Orange.
Europes third largest triumphal arch is in Orange, to celebrate Ceasars victory over the Gauls.
This aqueduct is near Avignon.
The fake pope's palace in Avignon.
The real church next to the fake pope's palace.
After Provence we crossed the Alp's (in a day thank you very much Hannibal) and headed to Verona, of Romeo and Juliet fame, in northern Italy. From here we explored nearby (it's not exactly a big country) Florence and Venice.
The basilica in Florence.
Bell tower of aforementioned basilica, it appears to be a (feature?) of this period of architecture that they couldn't build bell towers in the church itself. Must be the round roofs or something.
The crowd outside the Uffizi gallery.
The courtyard of the Medici's palace.
Verona after the rain.
Downtown Verona.
Juliet's balcony.
Another day on the road we headed to Venice.
On the ferry accross from the mainland this was the view that greeted us.
A solid wave looks like it could do some substantial damage.
The town itself is very pretty, lot's of plazas with statues and other old stuff that is very impressive since really 200 years of history isn't much in these parts.
Saint Marks Church.
The Ducal Palace.
From the North of Italy we headed through the Alps again through Austria and then into Southern Germany. Where we stopped at Fussen to see the famous castle Neuschwannstein.
Ludwig II of Bavaria was allegedly crazy. I personally think he just needed a good lego set.
He chose a great location though.
Unfortunately photos of the inside were forbidden but other than being ridiculously gilded it is the fantastical facade that is the most impressive.
From there we headed west to the Black Forest where we spent a few days in a nice little home set in the forest near the town of Hornberg.
The waterfall of Triberg is very picturesque and I thought it was the most beautiful part of the area.
Triberg again.
From there we headed south east along the Romantic Road which is a series of picturesque medieval towns.
We spent the night in Nordlingen and this is the view from the clock tower.
Augsberg: this is the worlds oldest social housing, so I guess they can't afford a gardener.
East again to Munich for a few days.
Central Munich: I believe this was a royal residence.
Odeonplatz.
Some suckers I've been mooching off.
Chiemsee just outside Munich is nicknamed the Bavarian Sea and is home to another of Ludwig's ridiculous palaces. This time he has attempted to rip off Versailles.
He actually did a pretty good job. Unfortunately no pictures of the inside again but it was much more impressive than Versailles I suspect because it is much less worn.
We also headed right down to the Austrian border to see Obersalzburg which was a Nazi hideout. Unfortunately the Eagle's Nest (Hitler's 50th birthday present) was closed due to rockslides.
Luckily the Nazi's can't ruin everything. The views of this area were simply spectacular. If I hadn't driven there would have been a lot more pictures.
And then we drove off into the sunset!
Soon to come: Prague.
posted by denny at 8:53 PM
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