Trip Photo: Adventures in England and France

Flowers at Monk's House, Virginia Woolf's country home

What's more tedious than looking at someone's trip photos?  (Not much)  After our last trip, I posted photos of things I thought were particularly English.

This time: various.  These are from our recent two-week trip to Normandy and England.  If you're game, here it goes...

 Field Farm B&B, Surrey, a working sheep farm where we stayed the first night.

From our bedroom window

The breakfast room.  Note the ketchup and HP sauce.

A visit to Monk's House, Rodmell, on the way to the Channel ferry

Leonard and Virginia Woolf's country house viewed from the back garden

In the living room

Floor lamp

Bust of Virginia Woolf in the dining room

Virginia Woolf's bedroom

The grounds

A lawnmower?

Leaving Newhaven for Dieppe, France, on a cloudy day.

The cathedral in the town of Bayeux, our base for exploring D-Day memorials and museums.

Abba songs played by a brass band. 

Around town in Bayeux

 At the British Cemetery for WWII dead in Bayeux

 

Jerry at the D-Day museum in Arromanches

At the American Cemetery and Memorial, near Colleville-sur-mer

Les Braves, a sculpture at Omaha Beach by Anilore Banon, signifying The Wings of Hope; Rise, Freedom!; and  The Wings of Fraternity

At Pointe du Hoc, where  U.S. Army Rangers scaled 90-foot cliffs on D-Day

Mannequins of GIs at the Le Roosevelt Cafe at Utah Beach, near the village of St. Marie-du-Mont

Landing craft at  the Utah Beach Museum

Our last evening in Bayeux

Twilight view of the Bayeux Cathedral from our room 

The white cliffs as we came into Newhaven on the Channel ferry

The Richard Onslow Pub/B&B in Cranleigh, Surrey, our base in England

With three of my six English cousins:  Clement (second from left), Sally (second from right), and Marion (right).

 

Tea on the Terrace at Leith Hill Place, a National Trust property in Surrey

Leith Hill Tower, Surrey

What you don't see on Masterpiece Theater:  A toilet/lavatory/WC at Upton House, a stately home near Banbury

A doorway in Brailes, my mother's family's ancestral village in the Cotswolds

The Crypt Cafe, St. Martin-in-the-Fields,  London.  We stayed at the nearby Amba Charing Cross Hotel.

With my cousin Sue in London.  I'd made a quilt to give her (see below).

A highly anticipated visit to Liberty, my first since 2008

The fabric department is called "Haberdashery."  (Why?)

Jerry dozing while I shopped.

Succulents for sale in the Liberty flower shop

On board the London Eye, the huge Ferris-wheel that affords 30 minutes of spectacular views.

Houses of Parliament from the London Eye

We floated by London City Hall on our trip up the Thames to Greenwich

At Heathrow Airport: a photo of a plane flying over San Francisco Bay in 1956.  With a magnifying glass, you can see the Bay Bridge.

* * * * *

Just before we left, I threw together this simple quilt for my cousin Sue:

Fabrics include Liberty fabric from our first trip to London, Barbara Brachman copies of William Morris prints, and two fabrics bought in Paris in 2008.   Quilted by Angie Woolman.

A Tale of Three Totes, Five Suitcases, and Two Free Tickets

First the trip was on, then it was off.  Now it's on again but cut in half.  We lopped off Spain.  Good-by Barcelona, hiking in the Pyrenees, and the Bilbao Guggenheim.  Oh, well.

At any rate, we're leaving in a week.  We have free Business Class tickets thanks to frequent flyer miles and our genius travel agent.  We fly to London, travel via ferry to Normandy, then back to England, and home from London.  We'll see the D-Day Beaches, the Bayeux tapestry, and my English cousins.

You'd think after four trips to Europe since 2008, I'd have it down pat, but I've been obsessing about what to take and what to take it in. I always travel with too much stuff, because you never know.  That's the bliss and the curse of travel.

Anyway, if you're a person who makes it all work in a single backpack,  read no further.

Dilemma 1.  Will it be hot or cold?  Based on past trips, I assumed fall temperatures would be cool, and I came up with pants and long-sleeved tops on the theme of black, gray, and white.  Everything would go with everything else,  and I was going to travel lighter, by God.    All I'd need was a small roller bag to check and a tote to carry on.

 Here's what I planned to take; note the long sleeves.    

A few days ago, I checked the weather in England and Normandy.   It's hot there now,  and it's projected to be hot when we arrive.  What's up, Europe?  I have FROZEN in France in September.

Now what?   Shall I wedge in a skirt and short-sleeved top and wear them every day until (if) the weather cools down? 

Dilemma 2:  Which suitcase?

 Current options are, from left,  a) too small;  b) bigger but a bit small; c)  big enough but way too heavy. 

The bag on the right weighs 12 pounds EMPTY.  Try filling that and then hauling it on and off trains.  After two weeks of wrestling with it in 2008, I threw it on the platform when we arrived in Paris.  I didn't care what happened to it.  (Nothing; it's built like an armored car.)

Since then, I've researched and ordered and auditioned, and I ended up buying (for the two of us): two more 22" roller bags; a 25" roller bag; two roller carry-on bags; a duffel carry-on that doesn't roll; and a dud 24" roller bag from Ross, which lost a wheel and a handle on its first and only trip. Now there are way too many choices.

 Dilemma 3:  Which tote bag will be big enough but not too heavy?

 Tote candidates:  All three are Baggalinis.  (I read recently that Baggalini was founded by two flight attendants, who now must be very rich and no longer waiting on people on planes.)

Left:  That one's okay, but it has no pocket for my computer, plus it's so roomy that I load it up with stuff  and then stagger under its weight.

Middle:  Too small, but okay for short domestic trips. I had an idea that it coordinated with the dud Ross suitcase. 

Right:  A bag I just bought but worry may be too small.  It does have a pocket for my computer, though, as well as a long strap so that I can wear it cross-body.

Further  complication:  Flying over, we're going to be sitting in the hump of a 747.  I love the small cabin and better service, but there's no place to put much during the flight.  Sizable carry-ons get piled into a giant closet.  How can I corral what I'll need--book, slippers, notebook, Walkman, camera, and reading glasses--into a smaller bag-within-a-tote to have with me at my seat?  Because you never know.

Upper Deck seats:   Roomy for stretching out, but the shelf is for your feet, not your belongings,  and nothing's allowed on the floor.

I know--all gold-plated problems.  But travel is an undertaking I never take lightly, no matter how many times I do it.  I'm never blithe. I leave that to Rick Steves.

The last time we went to Europe, we stopped in Boston for a graduation (hot); stayed in an apartment in London (cool and rainy); in a hotel in Oxford (much rain); and proceeded to the Swiss alps (anticipated snow).    To cover all possibilities, I took this:

That would be two pairs of jeans, a fleece pullover, a raincoat,  and waterproof shoes just for the Switzerland leg.

My cousins looked horrified when I showed up with all this stuff, and I had to do a massive sorting  in an English hotel room before we all left for Switzerland:

 The pile on the right (sans the hotel's furry pillow) didn't go to Switzerland with us but was stored in a car at Heathrow.

And then it didn't snow in Switzerland:

Wildflowers underfoot, snow on the peaks, and fleece pullover tied around my neck because it was too warm to wear.

Now, don't get me started on comfortable shoes.

* * * * *

I'm going to write blog posts while we're away, which will appear on Travelpod .  If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll probably be on the e-mail list for notices/links when I've written a post. Do NOT feel obligated to read it!   Or in mid-September you can go to travelpod.com and type in "LRandal."

Lunch with Pool Kate in Her Magical House

I know,  it seems like I'm always having lunch with someone named Kate.

This time it was with Pool Kate in her magical living quarters in a former elementary school in Oakland.

I've written about her place before and believe me, it's a real treat to be invited there.  Kate's fun, her place is beautiful, and--don't underestimate this--the setting gives birth to fantasies.  Oh, to live here!  The unencumbered single girl (!) in an urban loft!

Back to earth.  We seven range in age from 66 to 89, and we exercise together at the Richmond Plunge on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Most of us read the New York Times and  listen to NPR, so there's plenty to talk about while we exercise.  Plays, opera, and museums are favorite topics.  Profanity and ribald songs (I'm thinking of you, Val) don't raise an eyebrow.  Ranting is acceptable.  We also counsel and help each other out.

 Anne, Kate, Val, and Betty in the pool,

 ...which is also historic

Here's a photo of  Edison Elementary School, also built in 1926.  It was converted to condominiums in the late '80s:

Kate lives in the wing behind big tree, formerly the kindergarten room.  It's a stylish, sun-filled space where we all want to live, or at least spend a weekend.   She could make a fortune on Airbnb:

Art balanced on the chalk tray mounted on the former blackboard.

Lunch came from Sweet Adeline Bakeshop  (quiche and cake), the salad from Kate's own hand.

An embroidered napkin

 Dessert was tall, white, and round:

Sponge cake, strawberries, and  Italian meringue buttercream , which was wonderfully light.

Fossil-like tracks left by raspberries and strawberries

Kate cutting the masterpiece

Too soon, it was time to leave. 

...reluctantly.

 Val and Kate saying good-by

Fall is coming!

On Tuesday, we'll be back at the pool:

I love the mural at the far end, added in 2010 when the pool was renovated