{"id":1517,"date":"2010-07-08T17:21:00","date_gmt":"2010-07-09T00:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2010\/07\/08\/travels\/"},"modified":"2015-01-01T11:38:20","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T19:38:20","slug":"travels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2010\/07\/08\/travels\/","title":{"rendered":"Travels"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As I mentioned in my last post, we recently went to visit my twin and her family in France. She and her husband live near Paris, so we flew from Las Vegas to London and from there to Paris. The day after we arrived, the four of us went to Giverny, which is famous because Monet lived there for a time. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous and served as the inspiration for many of Monet’s paintings. Here are some of the well-known lily pads. (Click on any of these photos to get a larger view.)<\/div>\n
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The next day we visited the ch\u00e2teau of Malmaison, where Josephine spent her final days. That afternoon, I attended my sister’s quilt group, the members of whom were very welcoming. \ud83d\ude42<\/div>\n
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Have you ever visited a French market? We did, and I couldn’t get over how beautiful all of the food was. Everything was ripe and presented to its best advantage. These artichokes were enormous! <\/div>\n
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We spent one long and very pleasant afternoon in Paris. That may not seem like much, but both of us had been there before, so we concentrated on an area we’d never visited, Le Marais. At one point we stopped next to the Seine to watch a boat pass by. <\/div>\n
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The following day, all four of us loaded up for a trip to the Loire Valley, an area full of history. On the way, we stopped in Chartres to visit the cathedral, which is famous for the beautiful shade of blue that figures in much of its stained glass. <\/div>\n
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Our main destination was Amboise, a fairly large town with an important ch\u00e2teau that housed, among others, the king Fran\u00e7ois I. Nearby is the ch\u00e2teau du Clos-Luc\u00e9, which was the final home of Leonardo da Vinci, brought to France under the patronage of Fran\u00e7ois I. It’s possible to see many of Leonardo’s inventions here, as well as to see his beautiful gardens.<\/div>\n
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The town was delightful, and we were lucky enough to be able to watch a wonderful sound and light show at the ch\u00e2teau itself.<\/div>\n
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We stayed in a bed and breakfast (a chambre d’h\u00f4te<\/i>) for the two nights we were away, and it was lovely! The door on the left led to my sister and brother-in-law’s room, and the one on the right to ours. <\/div>\n
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One afternoon was devoted to driving into the countryside to do a bit of wine tasting. The area produces Vouvray wines, ranging from dry to sweet and including a few sparkling versions. They were delicious, and my brother-in-law bought several to add to his wine cellar. As for us, we couldn’t resist buying one bottle to bring home. <\/g><\/div>\n
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On the way back to Paris, we stopped long enough to visit the outside of Chenonceau, one of my favorite ch\u00e2teaux. We found a shaded path through some woods and came up on the ch\u00e2teau from the back. The day was so beautiful that the ch\u00e2teau was completely reflected in the water it spans. <\/div>\n
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From there we drove through Blois to reach Chaumont, another town with a ch\u00e2teau. That ch\u00e2teau is a bit more modern, as you can see from this photo of the farm area. There were more lovely gardens here; in fact, the flowers everywhere we went were enough to make me drool! We just don’t get that lush growth here in the desert. <\/div>\n
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The final couple of days of our visit were spent in my sister’s home, visiting with our two nephews, one of whom was able to bring his fianc\u00e9e with him (the other fianc\u00e9e was working and couldn’t come). We had such a good time catching up with them! <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently went to visit my twin and her family in France. She and her husband live near Paris, so we flew from Las Vegas to London and from there to Paris. The day after we arrived, the four of us went to Giverny, which is famous because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[303],"tags":[224],"class_list":{"0":"post-1517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family","8":"tag-travel","9":"czr-hentry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Giverny-France-28.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5yzuO-travels","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2161,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2015\/07\/28\/paris-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1517,"position":0},"title":"Paris! (part 1)","author":"Sandy","date":"July 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I know it's been a while since my last post, but I have a very good excuse: my husband and I have been in France! We left home early on July 14, which was pretty appropriate, since it's the French national holiday. We landed the next day and met my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Quai d'Orsai, Paris","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Quai-dOrsai-Paris1-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2169,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2015\/07\/29\/paris-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1517,"position":1},"title":"Paris! (part 2)","author":"Sandy","date":"July 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The day after we went into Paris, we all took off on a road trip to Royaumont Abbey, a lovely, peaceful spot with no huge crowds to deal with. Most of the interior was off-limits, as it's used for performances, and rehearsals were in progress. However, we saw what was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Dinner-by-the-Seine-00071.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Dinner-by-the-Seine-00071.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Dinner-by-the-Seine-00071.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Dinner-by-the-Seine-00071.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Dinner-by-the-Seine-00071.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2271,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2015\/08\/04\/cruising-the-rhone-part-5\/","url_meta":{"origin":1517,"position":2},"title":"Cruising the Rh\u00f4ne (part 5)","author":"Sandy","date":"August 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This was the last day of our actual cruise; the following day would be spent traveling home again. We began the day with a tour of Avignon, which I'd visited several years ago with a group of my students; this time, however, the Palais des Papes\u00a0was open to the public.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Avignon-%E2%80%94-Day-6-of-cruise-0008.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Avignon-%E2%80%94-Day-6-of-cruise-0008.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Avignon-%E2%80%94-Day-6-of-cruise-0008.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Avignon-%E2%80%94-Day-6-of-cruise-0008.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Avignon-%E2%80%94-Day-6-of-cruise-0008.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2204,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2015\/07\/30\/cruising-the-rhone-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1517,"position":3},"title":"Cruising the Rh\u00f4ne (part 1)","author":"Sandy","date":"July 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"After leaving my sister and brother-in-law, my husband and I flew to the south of France to board a river ship, the Viking Buri. The cruise was to take us from the Sa\u00f4ne River to the Rh\u00f4ne and then down almost to the coast. Our first day put us in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/H%C3%B4tel-Dieu-Beaune-%E2%80%94-Day-1-of-cruise.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/H%C3%B4tel-Dieu-Beaune-%E2%80%94-Day-1-of-cruise.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/H%C3%B4tel-Dieu-Beaune-%E2%80%94-Day-1-of-cruise.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/H%C3%B4tel-Dieu-Beaune-%E2%80%94-Day-1-of-cruise.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/H%C3%B4tel-Dieu-Beaune-%E2%80%94-Day-1-of-cruise.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5455,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2024\/09\/15\/another-mug-rug\/","url_meta":{"origin":1517,"position":4},"title":"Another mug rug","author":"Sandy","date":"September 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I've had this design for a couple of months and finally got around to making it today. It's just a little mug rug (from San Francisco Stitch Company), but I wanted it as a sort of souvenir, even though we weren't in Paris for this year's Olympics. It only takes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Embroidery"","block_context":{"text":"Embroidery","link":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/category\/embroidery\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A small mug rug (large coaster) in beige cotton with embroidered motif of the Eiffel Tower. There is a multicolored flag at the top of the tower, and there is text reading \"Summer Olympics\", \"Paris, France\", and \"2024\" embroidered around it.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sandymike.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG_0569-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2254,"url":"https:\/\/sandymike.net\/blog\/2015\/08\/03\/cruising-the-rhone-part-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":1517,"position":5},"title":"Cruising the Rh\u00f4ne (part 4)","author":"Sandy","date":"August 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I took yesterday off from posting, but today's another day. ;) By day five of our cruise, things were beginning to wind down. We were docked in Avignon, rather than in Arles, as we'd expected\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the dock in Arles was undergoing renovations. 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