Enlarge small photos with a click |
Just north of Lyon is the area of Beaujelais, famous for wine, so there are lots of vineyards. We went for a walk around a small town called Bagnols. |
My cousin, Sophie, and I made a new friend. |
It is late Spring here and all the plants are growing like mad. Many of the walls around the town and people's houses are covered with different types of ivy. |
We have a map for our walk, but it looks a bit confusing at this point. Should we go this way? |
Nope. That was a dead end. Let's try another way! |
Many people have planted irises in their gardens, or like here, along the roadside. |
This is a shop in Bagnols, but it must be for midgets, look at the height of the door! Go to top of page |
This tower is big! I know because I got to go up it. No that we went to the very top, but to the second level that you can see in the background. That was far enough! |
This is the view from the second level, looking back down over the river and the city of Paris. It was great, but sort of scary too when you looked straight down. |
This is the largest roundabout in
Europe! There are 12 roads that meet at this circle, and in the middle is the Arc de Triomphe, built, as usual, to honour wars. You can't cross over the road, you have to go through a tunnel underneath. Traffic in France is on the right hand side of the road, so the cars go anticlockwise around the roundabout. |
This arch is big too. There are various statues and engraved names to wars and soldiers and when we arrived, there was a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Normandy landings in World War II, with a military band. There was some old French soldiers there with all their colourful military medals on. |
This is Notre Dame cathedral right in the centre of Paris on an island in the river. It is the place where Quasimoto lives - right up there in the top. |
I suppose you have to expect that the most famous picture in the world would be popular! In front of this crowd is the 'Mona Lisa' by Leonardo da Vinci. From this far, it is difficult to tell if she is smiling or not, but up close it is easier. |
This place was interesting. The area is called Montemartre, and there are areas of shops, squares with artists who paint and sell pictures or who will draw your portrait while you wait. And there is a wide view over Paris from in front of this big church which is made of marble and is very interesting inside. The church is called Sacre Couer or 'Sacred Heart'. |
Want to send Big Al a message? Click here: bigal@large