It's Going to Be OK

Song - It's Gonna Be OKAY by The Piano Guys

Point Reyes National Seashore in California 

Breathe....and again......breathe in that salty ocean air and relax

The Face Only a Mother Can Love.....

Song -  "It's Gonna Be OKAY" by the Piano Guys

On Saturday Mr. B and I took a drive over to Point Reyes National Seashore to have a little day trip together.  I was chomping at the bit to get away as I had been sick and then.....well...the holidays kept us pretty busy.

It felt so good to get some fresh air and view some of natures beauty. It was sunny but cold and windy.

Parts of Point Reyes are flooded (which is crazy because California has not had much rain this year) so there are one lane roads peppered around and to get to the lighthouse you will need to take a shuttle out there as everything is closed after South Beach due to roads washing out.

We saw a lot of cattle and then some Tule Elk....

They were right near the road and so majestic. 

I took some photos and then we headed down the road to Drake's Beach where they had caution signs up due to big ol' Elephant Seals taking over the beach!

Only the face mother could love......but he looks happy!

This would be looking up his nose....if you were curious.

That is Mr. B in the background so you could see how big these guys were!  We were told to stay two car lengths back from them and in some places there was a designated path as well as uniformed docents on the beach to make sure questions were answered and no one got too close.

They really did just lay around like big blobs sunning themselves.  Apparently it is both breeding and pupping season at Point Reyes however these big guys didn't look like they were looking around for a mate......at all!

But every once in awhile one would move.......and everyone would watch and wonder what they were going to do......

And they would just scratch themselves and go back to napping in the sunshine!

 On the way out of the park we did stop at one more scenic spot...........

 The Cypress Tree Tunnel - which I have never been to before.  It's a lovely little stroll under a canopy of beautiful Cypress trees.

We then headed up the coast to Nick's Cove for an early dinner.  Next to the restaurant they have a pier and a little hut at the end where you can light a fire and enjoy drinks.

They also rent out some cottages along the waters edge and across the highway.

Thank you Mother Nature for the lovely day!

“Because the greatest part of a road trip 

isn’t arriving at your destination. 

It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.” 

— Emma Chase

Returning to France Day 9

Song - A Thousand Years by the Piano Guys


 Welcome to Parc de Bagatelle which is located in the forest of the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th Arr.

The day we arrived at the park the groundsmen were working on the ornate front gates built in 1860.

(We entered through the East gate - Vers l'allee de Longchampe Porte Maillot)

They were actually painting them gold over a pinkish undercoat!
I asked one of them if I could take a photo of him at work.

He happily said "Oui"

Depending on which gate you enter the park through and if you meander enough

 this is what you are likely to see.......

Louis XV Pavillion

We always head straight for the Chinese pagoda where the peacocks like to hang out.

And show off their beautiful plumage......

...to any pea hen that happens to be walking by!

During courtship they not only display their feathers but they also rattle their back feathers against their display and it makes quite a vibration noise.

Ruins from the Abbey of Longchamp - c1255 - a convent of Poor Clares

This park was built in just 64 days in 1777.  It began as a bet between Marie Antoinette and her cousin. It took about a thousand workers and was designed by Scotsman Thomas Blaikie and feels like your very own "secret garden".

 The rose garden now has close to 1,200 varieties of rose bushes.

Unfortunately it was still to early for them to be in bloom but 

hopefully Mr. B and I will come back here in May on our way home.

Up a small hill overlooking the roses is another pagoda.

This is the view from inside the pagoda.

The Presentation Garden

If you look carefully at the statues at the entrance to this garden, 

the little girl on the right has cute little wiggly toes

while the little boy left has cloven hooves.....

mmm....coming from a mom who raised three boys I think I may know why!

These gardens were filled with tulips, peonies, roses, narcissus, clematis,  forget me not and pansies.

It brought you through to the potager - or kitchen garden.

The potager garden was surrounded by espaliered apple trees forming a fence.

And who can't live without a pink chateau 

with a formal courtyard & garden & 2 sphinx awaiting your horse drawn carriage?

I love the hand painted interior shutters.

There is so much more to show of this amazing park 

- waterfalls, iris gardens, grotto's, lakes, a bamboo forest, 

an orangerie where they hold concerts, streams with fish, etc. 

but I am running out of space!

We had lunch across the street from the Opera House or Palais Garnier.

After eating, Jackie & Sydney wanted to do some shopping and I wanted to go back to the Musee d'Orsay.  When I arrived, it was closed......it was a Monday!  So I walked back to our hotel to do some packing.  Mr. B was arriving the next day and we had to move into our own room the next morning.

On the walk back home I took some photos of various door handles......

'nuf said........it's Paris!

"In France we have a saying, 'Joie de vivre,' 

which actually doesn't exist in the English language. 

It means looking at your life as something

 that is to be taken with great pleasure and enjoy it."

--Mireille Guiliano

TBT

Song - Vivaldi's Winter - The Piano Guys

My cousin Susan with Missy and myself with Molly at the family cabin in Lake Tahoe - c. 1965

A snowlady that I made with my friend Jill on the same deck as upper photo - c. 2012

"I want to become acutely aware of all I have taken for granted" – Sylvia Plath

Somerset England

Song - This is Your Fight Song by The Piano Guys

Mr. B and I are planning a trip to England, Wales and Scotland this coming Spring and in preparation for the trip we are Binge-Watching the series Outlander.  It's a little graphic sometimes but we zip through those parts because I enjoy the costumes, settings and scenery.

Stogumber

It has been both fun and challenging to put all of our information together gathered from friends, professional trip advisors and the internet into a plan that works for us.  

The first part of the trip will be to several small villages where my father's mother came from.  As you may remember, I do enjoy working on our family genealogy. The villages are in Somerset and Devon England.

Stogumber - Crowcombe - Wiveliscombe - Bishops Nympton

My Grandma Violet's family worked for the railways.  In fact she and her twin sister were born at the railway station in Bishops Nympton.  And my Great-grandmother came from the little village of Crowcombe where the Beatles filmed part of A Hard Days Night.  Can you imaging what an upset that must have been to a village in March of 1964?

I'll keep you posted on where else we may be heading and maybe you can let me know if you have any suggestions!

"I like trains. I like their rhythm, and I like the freedom of being suspended between two places, all anxieties of purpose being taken care of: for this moment I know where I am going." -- Anna Funder