St Gervais

We made it :) From Tamsins its a nice walk into Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, although it does take a little while.

Beautiful views along the way.

Time for some sledding in Passy with the family now though.

Dijon like the mustard

Why Dijon ? well it was about half way along the remaining leg to Tamsins place in the Alps. It is also a nice town to visit, and Tamsin had booked us into a nice historic hotel, where we enjoyed some wine and an open fire place.

Next morning we did a quite town walk. The architectures change with the historical period constructed in. Dijon is known for a few mosaic style roofs.

And of course mustard ! Plenty of choice there ;)

Peek-a-boo.

The Christmas market was in full swing, with all the great things France does so well. The herbs smelt amazing.

and so many Cheeses.

Versailles

Plenty of pictures online of Versailles so just a few snaps, of our tour.

Playing peek-a-boo in the Grand Trianon.

The red marble is unique and striking.

A couple of days before Christmas eve, is a good time to visit versailles and the Petit Trianon. Relaxing to stroll around with out crowds.

It was quiet enough that when we accidentally left the main palace, we were able to go back in again, to see the hall of mirrors.

The weather was generous to us once again.

more peek-a-boo.

Mont-Saint-Michel

Always an impressive place to visit, day or night, sunny or rainy, winter or summer. However you will want to check the tides. We almost had   Mont Saint Michel to ourselves,  quite a privilege these days. Lucky us :) 

There are several fortified entries, no surprise this place was never compromised.

The first wall contains the lower town, the second the upper town, a few shops and living quarters. Then above the next wall is the Abby.

The top layer of the Mont where the Abbey starts.

The 200 year old treadwheel that brought the sled 300 feet up. Driven by prisoners.

quite a perch for a church.

amazing doors

Cruising the town, contained in the lower walls.

St Malo

Departing England by ferry first stop was Saint Malo, not the most direct route but a great place to stop and have a walk about.

Taking the ferry over night is usually a good way to get a rest from driving and still make a few miles while avoiding some London traffic. The cabins aren't too expensive but for some reason the rooms were hot and dry, not much sleep for me.

The fresh air walk was very welcome.

With multiple medevil forts, San Malo is beautiful especially at sunrise.

The wall around the old town is completely walk-able with a few beaches thrown in that must be gorgeous in the summer.

I think we got pretty lucky with the weather, the crystal clear winter post rain air was just the ticket.

The town is a favorite for many tourists, ocean going and others.

Euro trip Xmas 2017

Back to England, first time for Maddy. Had the travel fairly well figured out, although there are more than one coach station at Heathrow, something to remember when catching the oxford express. We went to the wrong one to start with. Happily we missed the severe snow storm by just a couple of days.

First stop Brill. Where my sister lived for a short while.

Brill is know for its windmill without the snow. 

It was a fun village to visit a great change to meet the new nephews.

Having never met, Eli and Maddy had quite a few quirks in common.

Only there a couple of days but we did manage to go see Waddesdon manor a Victorian mansion built for Baron de Rothschild.

There was a cool light show just after it got dark, surprisingly some of the birds in the avairy were still active out.