Highclere Castle! (AKA Downton Abbey)

Highclere Castle, where they film Downton Abbey, is only open to the public a handful of days a year and, needless to say, tickets sell out very quickly. I was ecstatic when, after a year and a half of trying, I finally secured tickets for Bill and I to go! When I shared the good news with Bill, he rolled his eyes and said in a sarcastic monotone, "Yay." This sort of thing isn't down his alley, but he's pretty accommodating for my nerdy-girl stuff. 

As soon as I booked the tickets, I found a nearby pub in the village of Highclere and booked a room for three nights; might as well make a long weekend out of it, right?! We stayed at the Yew Tree, a 17th century pub that boasts on its website that it can accommodate our arrival by helicopter, should that be our mode of transport. Sadly, my 15-year old Subaru was our trusty transport vehicle. 

Being 400 or so years old, the building was quirky. Poor Bill knocked his noggin more than once on the low beamed door frames!

The Yew Tree

No photos were allowed inside Highclere Castle, but I can tell you a few stories from inside. The 5th Earl of Carnavon (the 7th or 8th Earl currently lives there) funded the archeological expeditions to Egypt that eventually uncovered King Tutankhamen's tomb. Sadly, within a year of the find the Earl nicked a mosquito bite on his face while shaving. The small cut turned septic and he died shortly thereafter.  

The castle tour includes a visit to their Egypt exhibition, which houses some original pieces from Earl Carnavon's time in Egypt as well as a lot of recreations of King Tut's loot. 

We made it! 

Downton Abbey is set in Yorkshire, very near where we live. In fact, dialogue on the show often references some of the larger nearby villages. Highclere castle, however, is located four-hour's drive south of Yorkshire. While walking through the rooms of the castle, we talked with one of the volunteers, a very nice, well-dressed posh older man. I relayed the fact that we live up in Yorkshire, where the show is supposed to take place. He sighed and said, "Yes. I don't know why they decided to set the show up there," shaking his head ever so slightly. He went on to say, "Really, if you think about it, we're located in the center of England, right here." Bill and I were pretty speechless... Highclere is south of London, very near the bottom of the country, so yeah, if London is the tippy-top of England, Highclere would be in the center. But, you know, London's kinda in the bottom third of the country. Just sayin'...

That's not Lady Mary!

I have relayed the story to some of my Yorkshire friends and they've all laughed. Apparently there's a South vs North mentality (and a North vs. South) for some. I have also since been told that Julian Fellows, the creator and writer of Downton Abbey, grew up in Yorkshire and that is why he set the show here. So now you know more than you probably ever cared to know about the origins of Downton Abbey... and quirky British regional superiority complexes.

Lady Jen at front of castle

Another thing I realized while touring the inside of the castle is that all of the rooms open to the public are used as-is for the show. All of the furnishings are as the Earl and Countess of Carnavon have had them for years. Even the various bedrooms that have been on the show were used with the bedding, etc. just the way they keep the rooms. Mind you, the castle has 50 rooms, so I am sure there are a lot of rooms that have been updated with TVs, IKEA cabinets, and the like. In fact, I read in the guidebook that the current Earl and Countess live part time in the castle, and part time in another house on the castle grounds. Rough life, eh?!

Highclere in all its glory

I am very glad we got the chance to visit Highclere, and were able to do so on a clear day!

Highclere from another angle

Notre Dame, Musée de l'Orangerie, and Home

We headed over to Notre Dame after touring Saint Chapelle. Bill and I had spent quite a bit of time inside the cathedral on our first visit to Paris, so we opted to go down into the archeological site underneath the cathedral to see the remains of the Roman fort that had been located there. 

Notre Dame

The excavation has uncovered quite a bit of the Roman ruins on the small island where Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle now call home. Much like in York, the Romans had found a strategic location to build their fort; when the power of Rome faded, others found the location to be a terrific stronghold, so people of power kept occupying the location... most notably the church! 

I took quite a few photos of the Roman ruins, but they were all variations of the photo below, all dark stone and dirt. I've included only one photo as I assume you'll get the idea. 

Roman ruins beneath Notre Dame

We continued our feasting at a fabulous restaurant for a rather expensive final dinner in Paris. Because our group went separate ways during the day we heard stories from the others in our group. I found the most interesting story to be Dan and Julie's tale of tween / teen pickpockets. 

They visited the opera house in Paris and over dinner they said it was beautiful and well worth the visit. After their tour, they sat out on an upstairs balcony overlooking the tourists below. They eventually saw some commotion and realized that a local had grabbed a young Roma gal's hand out of a tourists' purse mid-pickpocket. Apparently the Roma (derogatorily called gypsies) work in groups around Paris. Not 10 minutes later they witnessed the same gal, working with a few others to cause a distraction, pickpocket something out of an open backpack. The backpack wearer turned around, realized something was amiss, but the Roma were long gone. After hearing these tales, I was very glad for my secure, cross-body travel purse!

*****

The next day our train didn't depart Paris until 4:00, so we had plenty of sightseeing time ahead of us. We had a delicious but poorly served breakfast at Ladurée (we think the waiter actually quit his job mid-meal) and then walked over the the Musée de l'Orangerie to see some of the massive works by Monet. 

Le Matin Clair-Aux Saules by Monet (PHOTO FROM L'ORANERIE)

It was such a beautiful day that some of our group decided to sit in the sun instead of going into the museum. No photos were allowed inside the museum, but the Monet paintings were stunning. 

People watching outside l'Orangerie

Upon leaving the museum we walked back to our hotel to collect our luggage. Along the Champs-Élysées we encountered a group of Roma girls. They were holding petitions to sign and indicating that they couldn't talk. 

We all figured this was just a rouse to distract us, so Brian said very loudly, "No! We don't want anything to do with you!" 

The girls just went to the next group of people, so Brian got out his camera and photographed the girls, who immediately lifted their clipboards up to cover their faces and turned around until we had walked past. I realize this is a way of life for the kids, but how can parents teach their children (the girls were probably 12 − 16 years old) to pickpocket? Makes me sad.

And on that note, we travelled back to North Yorkshire.

Stunning Saint Chapelle

After breakfast at the happy cafe, we took the metro over to Saint Chapelle, a 13th century building with some of the best stained glass I've ever seen. It's very near Notre Dame, but behind the walls of an administrative complex, so it's only open during normal business hours. We got there too late last time we visited Paris, so we waited in a short line to see the Chapelle this time around. 

Entrance of Saint Chapelle

At first I was a little disappointed, as the main entrance had some nice stained glass and a cool statue, but now that I've been in Europe for a while, it wasn't all that impressive. Then we went up a winding staircase to the 1st floor chapel, and you turn the corner and see this:

Wikipedia's picture of Saint Chapelle (NOT MY PHOTO)

The ceiling was amazing, painted with wee fleur-de-lis.

Ceiling

And all of the stained glass panels were breathtaking!

Impressive Stained Glass

Stained glass panel

Another stained glass panel 

No photos really do the windows justice. I believe I read that this room holds the most in situ, original 13th century stained glass in the world. 

Lectern and stained glass

On our way out we spotted two carved figurines in the massive doors. These little guys were probably the size of my fist, but so much detail was put into them. I wish buildings today were erected with such attention to detail. But then again, I have to remember that this building was a massive undertaking and not by any means a typical build.

Tiny carved angels

I took a bottle of HotToddy's hot sauce (my brother's company) with me and had a bit of fun photographing it around Paris. I especially like how these two photos from Saint Chapelle turned out. 

HotToddy sauce and a griffin

Fleur de lis and HotToddy sauce

Security guards were a bit confused as to why I was carrying sauce around in my coat pocket all weekend, I tried to explain, but they just rolled their eyes and let me pass. :-)  

Substance Alimentaire (AKA Food!) and Stories

We ate very, very well whilst in Paris. 

We had a list of things people wanted to do, and on the top of Bill's list was to sit and have charcuterie and wine. We found a very friendly cafe in Monmartre, aptly named Smiley's Cafe, who could accommodate a walk-in group of 8 for lunch. The place was packed the two hours we were there, indicating the whole nighborhood thought Smiley's was an excellent lunchtime choice. It was delicious and a lot of fun!

Charcuterie

After lunch, we had just enough time to metro our butts over to the catacombs (the one thing I added to the list of things we wanted to do) to see the human bones stacked up very creepily. Alas, the line to get into the catacombs stretched down the street, and after waiting in line 30 minutes we had only moved 10 feet closer to the entrance. We did walk through a cool cemetery to get to the catacombs line, though. 

Graveyard

We made our way towards the Eiffel Tower, where we had early dinner reservations. Having had such a full meal just a few hours before, none of us were hungry enough for our pre-puchased three course meal in the Tower. But we all made the sacrifice and ate heartily once again! 

Post dinner group selfie under center of Eiffel Tower

The next morning Bill and I set out early with Brian and Regine, determined to get into the catacombs. We arrived 3 minutes after they opened the catacombs... and the line was just as long or longer, and wasn't moving. Sigh. We gave up on the catacombs.

We walked to a nearby cafe for breakfast and asked the waitress (in French) if she spoke English. A brusque "No" was the reply. 

I hoped we could at least get a coffee, so I asked, "Cafe?" and the woman half shruged her shoulder as if to say, if you must. We sat down and Brian declared he wasn't feeling the love, so we got back up and left. 

We walked 5 minutes down the road to a much busier cafe, where we got a smile and shown to a table by a friendly young Parisian who didn't really speak english either. And within a few minutes a bounty of breakfast breads were presented along with jam, butter, coffee and tea. We were so glad we left cafe grumpy and found cafe happy! :-)

Yes, we ate very, very well in Paris.  

Bread-y breakfast

Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur

Our first morning in Paris we all woke up and found ourselves a little cafe for coffee and breakfast (bread, butter, and marmalade... but it was really good bread, great butter, and amazing marmalade) before heading off to the little hilltop area of Paris called Montmartre. 

Montmartre metro station

This area of Paris is far enough away from the hustle and bustle of touristy Paris, it still feels like a little village. Yet it still gets enough tourists that they're welcoming and friendly. The closer you get to the uppermost section of Montmartre, the more touristy it becomes. And when you round the corner to Sacré-Cœur, it's as touristy as it gets.  

Sacré-Cœur

Out front of this hilltop chapel were at least ten trinket sellers who had laid out blankets with plastic Eiffel Tower and Parisian tchotchkes for sale. Bill noticed that they all had similar blankets and all the tchotchkes were the same. Then, all of a sudden, a guy by the hedge waved his hand, and in unison, all of the sellers scooped up their blankets, bundling the goods in the process, and scattered to the wind. A moment later two Gendarme (French police officers) walked through on their beat. That wasn't the last we saw of the seedy underbelly in Paris. More on that in another post. 

Sacré-Cœur up close

As per usual, no photography was allowed inside Sacré-Cœur. Typical most days, but on this day they were also holding a funeral. I felt kind of terrible, quietly walking around the periphery of the church (as were hundreds of other tourists)  while the service was being held.

We didn't stay inside for long, besides, on such a gorgeous day, who wants to be inside! 

Another view of Sacré-Cœur

Traveling to Paris with Friends

Some of our friends in England decided it was high time to visit Paris again. We visited Paris less than a year ago, but what the heck! It's only several hours away by train! Plus, someone else was planning the trip and it was fairly inexpensive, so we tagged along. 

We've travelled quite a bit by train and it really is quickly becoming our favorite mode of transportation. Even through the chunnel, you're just in a tunnel for about 15 minutes (you don't even know you're under water - I swear!) and you pop out of the tunnel and voila! You're in France! I guess I had always assumed that going through the chunnel would entail your train following its tracks onto a beach, diving down with waves crashing all around you. Yeah, that doesn't happen. Thankfully.  

Once we pop out of the tunnel in France, the champagne bottle pops open and the bubbly is poured...

Champagne on a train!

After arriving, our friends who are seasoned travelers figured out the Metro and within a half an hour we were checking into our hotel, ditching our baggage, and walking down the Champs-Élysées, heading towards the Arc de Triomphe. Bill and I had seen the Arc on the last visit, but we didn't cross over to the traffic island where it stands, and we sure as heck didn't go up to the viewing platform. We remedied that this time around. 

Arc de Triomphe

Le Arc

I knew I wouldn't be able to climb the 300+ spiral staircase to the top without stopping and I was thankfully granted permission to use the elevator for special people :-) I made it to the top before everyone else and just soaked in the view. 

The views from the top are amazing! I especially like the photo below, with the Eiffel Tower in the background and the Arc casting a long shadow down one of the many streets spoking out from the Arc de Triomphe traffic circle.  

Eiffel Tower and Arc shadow

Once Bill made it up to the top we took the requisite selfie. 

Parisian selfie

And our friend, Regine, captured one of the selfie attempts with her camera! 

Selfie taking fun 

After we hiked our way back down all of the stairs, we made our way to the Seine, and took a boat tour before walking another half hour to find the restaurant where we booked in for dinner. Dinner was delicious, and by the end of the dessert course we were all fading fast. We had gotten up in time to be at our local train station by 6:00 AM that morning and were pooped, so and called it a night.