travel blog – A Traveling Fool

July 12, 2026

Egyptian Expedition 005: Day 3 – Arrival in Oxford at The Randolph Hotel

I dearly love the Inspector Morse, Inspector Lewis, and Endeavour mysteries. So the idea of staying at The Randolph Hotel in Oxford really appealed to me. The hotel featured in both the Inspector Morse and Inspector Lewis television series several times. The cast also stayed at the hotel during filming in 1987. There is a Morse Bar, which features photos of the cast of Inspector Morse, especially its star, John Thaw.

Built in the Gothic Victorian style, it is a 5-star hotel in Oxford, on the south side of Beaumont Street, at the corner of Magdalen Street. The Oxford University’s Ashmolean Museum is on the other side of Beaumont, across from the hotel. On Magdalen, just across from the hotel is the Martyr’s Memorial.

This monument was built 300 years after the events of the English Reformation. It commemorates the deaths of the Bishop of Worcester, Hugh Latimer, and the Bishop of London, Nicholas Ridley in 1555. They were both burned at the stake for heresy, near where the memorial is located, because of their Protestant beliefs. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was imprisoned in a nearby tower at this time and watched the deaths of his colleagues from his window. A few months later, he was dispatched in a similar fashion and therefore is included in the inscription on the monument, which was completed in 1843.

When construction began on the Randolph Hotel in 1864, many people wanted it to be in the same Gothic Revival style as the Martyr’s Memorial. The City Council wanted it to be in the classical style of the early 19^th century Regency buildings on the rest of the two block long Beaumont Street. They ended up compromising with a simplified Gothic façade in brick, instead of stone.

Colin Dexter, author of the novels upon which the Inspector Morse television series was based, often used to stay at the hotel and drink in the bar that existed back then. The series was produced between January of 1987 and November of 2000. There were 33 two-hour, self contained, episodes. The author of the novels made cameo appearances in all but three of them. John Thaw starred as Detective Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately was Sergeant Lewis.

I think that he was so popular because, even though he was brilliant, he was far from perfect. Professionally he would often come to the wrong conclusion and arrest the wrong person. He tended to be quite cynical and lacked ambition. Plus he often rubbed higher-ups the wrong way. In his personal life, he was a romantic, who had little success at love. In the final episode, his death is explained as caused by heart problems exacerbated by heavy drinking.

The first spin-off, Inspector Lewis, starring the same actor who had played Sergeant Lewis, Kevin Whately, ran from 2006 to 2015. In 2012 a two-hour special prequel film, Endeavour, (set in 1965) was aired with Shaun Evans playing Detective Constable Morse. A series followed from 2013 to 2023.

Morse’s first name, Endeavour, was revealed on only one occasion during the run of Inspector Morse. He explains to a lady friend that his father was obsessed with Captain James Cook and so he was named after the HMS Endeavour. Otherwise he was simply called “Morse”. There were many references to the earlier series and audiences saw how the younger version of Morse evolved into the older version over the years.

Our group traveled by coach from London to Oxford in roughly two hours. Our cases were taken into the hotel and stored until our rooms were ready. We were met by our Oxford Tour Director, Sally, who took those of us who were interested on a half hour orientation tour of Oxford. It was graduation weekend, so there were loads of graduates in their gowns and with their families. After this little walk, everyone went their separate ways until we were supposed to meet up for our tours of the Griffith Institute and the Ashmolean Museum.

In addition to being a Morse fan, I have always been fond of Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871) by Lewis Carroll. I even played Alice more than once as I had blonde hair and blue eyes. I began playing her in Minneapolis, when I was a child, and continued to do so when we moved to Texas, where blue-eyed blondes were not too common. Never got to played Snow White, but always got cast as Alice or Sleeping Beauty. Then there was the one time I played George Washington at the age of ten. But we won’t get into that.

The hotel also had Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) associations. He had been a student at Christ Church in Oxford and remained there for most of his life as a teacher. Alice Liddell, a daughter of Henry Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church, is thought to be the most likely inspiration for Alice. But Carroll himself always denied it.

At any rate, the hotel’s restaurant was The Alice. Both it and the bedrooms had distinctive Alice touches. I had determined that I wanted to have at least one meal in the restaurant and another meal (or drink) in the Morse Bar. It was noon when I returned to the hotel. The bar had several people in it, but The Alice was not yet too crowded. The website had also indicated that reservations were necessary for dinner at the restaurant, so I decided to have lunch there and hang out at the bar later.

I had eaten a good breakfast in my room back in London at 7:30am. At noon, I was hungry, but not overly so. The Spring Risotto with wild mushrooms and truffle looked like a good choice and it was. I sat facing the windows where I could see the Martyr’s Memorial and watch people going by. The photo I took of the restaurant was a little off kilter, but I was trying to be unobtrusive.

After a leisurely lunch, I still had a little over an hour before the tour would commence, and so decided to go ahead and have a drink in the Morse Bar. The drinks were pretty much all named after elements of the television shows. I selected the Last Endeavour, which consisted of Beefeater’s Gin, Prosecco, and Limoncello. It was delicious and I figured I would likely have another when I had some pub food for dinner.

Business was picking up with more and more people coming in. So, when I finished my drink, I went to the desk to see if my room might be ready early. It wasn’t quite yet. I was directed to a room called the Snug to hang out until it was ready. I went in there and only waited about ten minutes before I was told that my room was ready and handed my keys. Yippee.

The room was on the first floor, so I took the really cool-looking staircase up as it would be quicker than the lift. At that point, I had about twenty minutes before I needed to meet up with the group. Just enough time to do a little unpacking for later and to freshen up a bit. This time the room had a small shower, but a large, deep tub. Great for a soaking bubble bath later.

One more historic association for the hotel. In about 1130, Henry I built a new royal palace in the vicinity of the Randolph Hotel. It was called Beaumont Palace. The street the hotel is on was named Beaumont Street after this palace. Two of his grandson Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine’s sons, Richard the Lionhearted (King Richard I) and John Lackland (King John) were born there in 1157 and 1167 respectively. Ironically the last remains of the palace were destroyed when Beaumont Street was laid out in 1829. Prior to that, during the Reformation in the 1500s, many of the building stones from the palace were reused in Christ Church College (founded in 1546) and St John’s College (founded in 1555).

Next – The treasures at the Griffith Institute

July 6, 2026

Egyptian Expedition 004: Day 2 – Sir John Soane’s Fascinating Home

I had visited Sir John Soane’s home back in 1991, during the Gulf War. The war began while I was on the flight over to London and I ended up spending it in the UK. The day it ended, I was in York and all of the bells were ringing out. My memories of that war are entirely from the British point of view as all of my conversations about it at the time were with British people and all of the news I saw of it was from the BBC.

That first visit to that fascinating house museum was during a tour of Legal London that was conducted by a retired London policeman named Donald Rumbelow. I was familiar with him because he also wrote one of the better books on the 1888 London murders Jack the Ripper: The Complete Casebook. He also conducted a nighttime tour of the locations involved in that investigation which I joined a few days later. The tour of Sir John Soane’s Museum came about because it was located at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holburn.

This time, we visited the house in the evening by candlelight. It was a private tour. We were welcomed in the library and given a drink. I had a glass of wine. Then our group of 18 people was divided into two groups. The group I ended up in was led by the charming fellow with whom I had been chatting while sipping my wine.

The candlelight was in keeping with the period of the house. Sir John Soane was an 18^th century brick mason who had a real talent for architectural design. He was sponsored by an aristocrat who recognized his talent and formally educated as an architect. He was so successful that he was able to buy three houses which he demolished and completely rebuild into one home. This allowed him and his family to live well while he also displayed his very large collection of art and antiquities. During his lifetime, his home was designated as a museum by a private act of Parliament in 1833. This went into effect on his death in 1837. One of the stipulations of the Act was that the museum needed to remain as it was upon his death forever, with as little change as possible.

They have managed to add electricity, upgrade the plumbing, and any necessary structural upgrades and repairs. But the rooms themselves and the collections they contain remain as they were when Soane died.

He began with No. 12, between 1792 and 1794. In 1806 he bought No.13 and made it the main portion of the museum (which is mostly located in the former stable block at the back and ended up spreading across the rear of all three houses). Sir John’s family then mainly lived in No. 13 and rented out No. 12. His intent was that the rental income would fund the running of the museum after his death.

He purchased No. 14 in 1823, when he was over 70. He then turned its stable block into a picture gallery, which he linked to No. 13. The front of the house was treated as a separate dwelling and wasn’t internally connected to the other buildings. It was a rental property until he died. At that point, it was bequeathed to his family and wasn’t part of the museum.

No. 13 was where we entered the home and congregated in the library. The tour for our group began in the Dining Room. Over the fireplace on one side was a model of some of the buildings that Sir John had designed along Whitehall. Above that was his portrait. I have a photo of those items as the second one included here. The third included photo is the other side of the dining room with a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

The next room we entered was the domed Breakfast Room. This had a statue of Victory. Behind that was a watercolor painting of the family tomb (4^th photo).

Then we entered the Central Dome (photos 5, 6, & 7) where we stayed for quite a while. Photos 6 and 7 include a statue of Apollo. This is actually a plaster cast and not the original. Copy or original, I still liked it. Looking down below (while being careful not to topple any of the sculptures in the process), we could see the alabaster sarcophagus of King Seti I of Egypt (photo 8). We would later have the opportunity to see his tomb in the Valley of the Kings and his mummy in the National Museum of Egyptian Culture in Cairo. By the end of this trip, I felt that I knew Seti almost as well as Tutankhamun.

Seti I’s sarcophagus (covered in hieroglyphs) was discovered in his tomb in 1817 by a fella named Giovanni Battista Belzoni and was offered for sale to the British Museum for the price of £2,000 (roughly £190,000 today). They didn’t want to pay that much for it, so Sir John Soane bought it. It is by far the most expensive piece in his collection.

After this prize arrived at his house in March of 1825, Soane held a three-day party. The basement was lit by over one hundred lamps and candelabra. Guests included Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson (2^nd Earl of Liverpool) and his wife, Robert Peel (a later Prime Minister), Prince Augustus Frederick (Duke of Sussex), Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poet), J.M.W. Turner (one of my favorite Impressionist painters), as well as other celebrities of the day and foreign dignitaries.

After passing through the Colonnade, we reached the Picture Room (photo 9). There the walls were covered from top to bottom with paintings. These included four paintings by Canaletto and three paintings by Soane’s friend Turner. There were also all eight of the Hogarth paintings, A Rakes Progress (along the bottom of photo 10). These depicted the folly of a young man from the country, squandering his inheritance in London brothels, and with gambling, and every kind of indulgence. Eventually he is left bankrupt, imprisoned for debt, and ultimately thrown into the mad house (Bedlam). These paintings were purchased by Missus Soane for £370 in 1802.

The Picture Room had a secret that was about to be revealed. Three of the walls were fitted with large, movable doors upon which the paintings we could see were hung. When these doors were opened, there were other paintings and drawings behind them. In one case, there was another room behind the paintings. This was the Recessed Room (photo 13). When we looked down into the basement from there, we saw a room called the Monk’s Parlor (photo 14). This included a pair of beautiful 16^th & 17^th century Flemish stained-glass windows.

Another bit of cleverness in a few of the rooms was the addition of clear, acrylic chairs to allow people who had issues standing for very long to sit down. These chairs were nearly invisible, allowing people to be able to see through them to whatever was behind them while still helping anyone who was weary of standing.

The last room we visited was the South Drawing Room up on the First Floor at the front of House No.13. This was where we saw family portraits and heard about Sir John Soane’s wife and two sons.

This ended our second and final day in London. The following day we would continue our adventures in Oxford for a couple more days, after which it was on to Cairo.

Next – Arriving in Oxford at The Randolph Hotel

July 3, 2026July 5, 2026

Egyptian Expedition #003: Day 2 – Petrie Museum

Once we were full of good food and drink from our pub lunch, we piled back onto the coach and headed for the Petrie Museum to see items that were either sold or donated directly to this museum by the archaeologists who found them.

I have to admit that I am an Egyptian archaeology junky and always have been. I saw my first mummy at about age 7 or 8 and was hooked. It was fully wrapped and had a few items nearby, including its coffin. Since then, any museum that I visited that had anything Egyptian caught my attention.

What made this particular trip a “must do” included the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (where 22 royal mummies are kept and shown to the public). Then there were the temples and experiences that I did not have during my first trip to Egypt back in 2008 – Sakkara, Dendera Temple, Esna Temple, watching Nubian dancers (and ending up dancing with them), visiting a Nubian Village, sailing on a felucca, and riding a motorboat on the Nile. The final piece that made me really want to do this was the pre-cruise tour involving all of the Egyptian stuff in London and Oxford.

Even when it came to the parts I had done before, back in 2008 I was just recovering from a two-year fight with an illness that had involved surgery and six months of chemo. I did not have my full energy back then and was also just getting used to living with hypothyroidism (that I had gotten from the chemo). I am actually in much better physical condition here in 2026 than I was 18 years ago. I could engage with what I was seeing, doing, and experiencing so much easier and more fully now. Plus being 60 pounds lighter now than before helped me to say, “Hey. I’m going to ride a camel.”

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology is part of London’s University College Museums and Collections. It contains over 80,000 objects, making it one of the world’s largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese material.

The museum was established in 1892 as a teaching resource for the Department of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology. In 1913, William Matthew Flinders Petrie sold his collection of artifacts from all of his years conducting major Egyptian excavations to University College. This created the Flinders Petrie Collection of Egyptian Antiquities and transformed the museum into one of the leading collections outside of Egypt.

At this point the museum was still for the use of students and academics. It was not yet open to the public. Over the years other archaeologists added to the collections housed at the Petrie Museum.

One of the significant holdings of the Petrie Museum is a limestone head of a king. Petrie thought it could have been King Narmer, based on the similarity to another head of Narmer that he had encountered. Others have thought that it is more likely to be the Fourth Dynasty King Khufu. Narmer had been an Early Dynastic king who was credited with the unification of Egypt. Essentially the first king of both Upper and Lower Egypt.

A garment called the Tarkhan Dress, from the fourth millennium BC, is considered to be the oldest known woven garment in existence. There is also a completely see-through dress made of beads. It was possibly worn over a linen dress like the Tarkhan dress.

In one case, I saw some figures of Isis and Horus as well as one of Isis with baby Horus. At that point, I did not yet know that I would end up playing the role of Isis in our Egyptologist’s explanations of Egyptian mythology. That would not happen until we were actually in Egypt and seeing the temples.

I found the collections at the Petrie to be quite amazing to see and highly recommend seeing them to anyone who, like me, really loves Egyptian archaeology and the objects it unearths.

Next – Sir John Soanes’ fascinating home by candlelight

June 26, 2026July 5, 2026

Egyptian Expedition #002: Day 2 – London British Museum

Having set my wake-up call for 6:30am and my breakfast delivery for 7am, I needed to make sure that I would be awake and dressed by when my doorbell rang. I had taken my shower the night before to cut down the morning time and was dressed on time. Whew!

I actually felt pretty perky and was ready to roll when we assembled down in the lobby at 8:15am to walk over to the British Museum. They didn’t open until 10am, but we had a private viewing of the Egyptian collection set for 8:30am. We were a smidge early. They let us in, giving us a little extra time. We entered and walked up the stairs to the third floor and started our tour in Galleries 62 & 63.

For anyone not familiar with the British Museum, it is a public museum, located in the Bloomsbury district of London, which is dedicated to human history, art, and culture. Established in 1753, they have a permanent collection of eight million objects, with roughly 80,000 of those objects on public view, making it the largest museum in the world. It was also the first of its kind – a free, public, national museum.

In the early 1800s, the museum expanded its collection of Egyptian sculpture, with its acquisition of the Rosetta Stone (1802) and the colossal bust of Pharaoh Ramesses II (1818). They also acquired several pieces after the defeat of the French in the Battle of the Nile.

In Galleries 62 & 63, the death and afterlife, which held particular significance and meaning for the ancient Egyptians, is explored. This includes mummies, coffins, funerary masks, portraits, and other items designed to be buried with the deceased. Mummification, magic, and rituals are explored.

Several internal organs were removed and preserved in canopic jars. These were the lungs, intestines, stomach and liver. The brain was also removed (through the nose), but wasn’t considered to be important, so it was thrown away. The heart was kept in the body.

Small figures called shabtis were buried to magically provide for the deceased in the afterlife. Animals considered to be sacred, like bulls, crocodiles, cats, and falcons, were also mummified.

One of the highlights of these galleries is the Book of the Dead of Hunefer, which shows scenes of Hunefer’s judgement. He was a royal scribe and an overseer of cattle. It is celebrated as one of the finest surviving examples of the Book of the Dead in the world. Due to the fact that, as ancient papyrus, it needs to have special care, it is not always on public display. We were very fortunate to be able to see and photograph it.

The Book of the Dead of Hunefer dates to the 19^th Dynasty (c. 1310 – 1275 BC). It contains magical spells and guides meant to help the deceased safely navigate the underworld and reach the afterlife. It is most famous for its illustrations depicting the journey through the afterlife. These included the following rituals: 1) The Opening of the Mouth – which restores the deceased’s senses so they could eat, drink, and speak in the afterlife; 2) The Weighing of the Heart – in which the deceased’s heart is weighed against the feather of Ma’at (representing truth and justice) on a scale overseen by the jackal-headed god Anubis; 3) The Devourer – if the heart was heavy with sin, it was consumed by Ammit, a hybrid beast composed of a crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus; 4) The Presentation to Osiris – if the deceased passes the judgement, they are deemed “true of voice” and taken by Horus (the falcon-headed god) to Osiris, the lord of the underworld. Osiris is shown sitting under a canopy with his sister Nephthys and his wife (who was also his sister) Isis.

Since I have an issue with my back that doesn’t tolerate standing in one place for too long, I love the modern whisper devices that allow me to hear what the person showing us around is saying without needing to be all that close to them. That lets me keep moving around while I am listening. I can also take loads of photos without too much of a crowd. That’s why most of the photos I took in the British Museum have so few other people in them.

I took a lot of photos (131 that I kept). There were so many great items to photograph. Plus the lack of people outside of my group of eighteen meant that I had a chance of getting some good ones. In more crowded situations (or more rushed) later on in the trip, I might not be so fortunate.

Once we had explored those two galleries, we moved on to Gallery 64. This one concentrated on the beginnings of ancient Egyptian civilization from about 11000 BC along the Nile.

The annual flooding of the Nile created fertile land ideal for growing crops. The culture rapidly advanced in technology and social organization during the 5^th millennium BC. By the end of the Predynastic period (about 3300 BC), regional rulers began competing for power and territory. This ultimately led to the unification of Egypt in about 3100 BC. This was believed to have been under King Narmer. Egyptian hieroglyphs were invented about 3200 BC and were used for almost 4,000 years.

The first royal tombs were built in the Egyptian desert at Abydos, 56 miles (90km) north of Luxor. Funerals at this point of Egyptian history were simple and didn’t involve mummification, which was a practice that began about 2500 BC. They had a couple burials from this time in Gallery 64, which I did photograph, but thought they might be a bit much for some people who might not want to see them.

The strong central increase in wealth led to dramatic achievements in architecture, writing, and the arts. This culminated in the Great Pyramids of Giza in about 2600 BC.

Two special treasures that I photographed in Gallery 64 were the Statue of Ankhwa and the Pitt-Rivers Knife. Ankhwa was a ship-builder who was shown holding an adze, a woodworking tool indicative of his trade. This dates to roughly 2686 – 2613 BC (3^rd Dynasty), was made of red granite and was probably found in Sakkara (formerly Memphis).

The Pitt-Rivers Knife (named after the archaeologist who discovered it), has an ivory grip decorated with rows of animals in relief and a flint blade with a serrated lower edge. The caramel-colored flint portion of the knife is distinctive and is of a type known as a ‘ripple-flaked knife’. At the time of the knife’s purchase for the museum its date was unknown, but in 1894 the pioneering archaeologist W.M.F. Petrie came across examples of similar knives among the grave objects in a large cemetery at Naqada. Petrie and Pitt-Rivers knew each other and were both determined to figure out when it was made. Eventually it was determined it belonged to prehistoric times. The period became known as the Predynastic (c. 4500 BC – 3100 BC) and the knife was subsequently dated to roughly 3200 BC. It was believed to have been used for ceremonial purposes only.

Next we took a glance at the items in galleries 65, 66, and 61 before heading downstairs to Gallery 4 on the ground floor. This contained the Egyptian sculpture gallery, which represents three millennia of history. The monuments displayed here were meant as vehicles for the spirits of deities, kings, and officials, and were originally placed in temples and tombs.

Our first stop was the Rosetta Stone. By this time, the museum had just opened. People were already swarming around the Rosetta Stone and posing in front of it. This made it difficult to get a decent photo of it. Patience was required, but seemed to be quite thin among several of the people there who weren’t part of our group. One woman tried to pick a fight with me, but I didn’t let her.

On my first visit to the British Museum, back in 1983, the Rosetta Stone wasn’t protected by glass and didn’t seem to hold that much interest for people. It was more of a side note. This time, it was getting nearly as much attention as the Mona Lisa does at the Louvre.

The Rosetta Stone served as the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian language of hieroglyphics. It was stumbled upon in 1799 by a group of French soldiers who were digging foundations for a fort in the town of Rashid (or Rosetta) near Alexandria. Fortunately, they immediately recognized that their find was important.

The three languages carved into the stone are: Hieroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian Demotic script, and Ancient Greek. The presence of Greek was the main key to deciphering the hieroglyphs.

The largest Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum is of Pharaoh Ramesses II, who reigned through most of the 13^th century BC (for 66 years) and died at the ripe old age of 96. The full, seated statue originally stood at the Ramesseum, Ramesses II’s memorial temple on the West Bank of the Nile at Thebes (now Luxor). It was one of a pair which faced the Nile and the temples of Karnak and Luxor on the other side of the river.

It was cut from a single block of two-tone granite and granodiorite, one of Egypt’s hardest and most prized stones, chosen for both symbolism and durability. In the closeup photo I have included, you can see that the face and crown are more of a pinkish color than the rest of the statue. This was on purpose for visual impact between the dark, earthy contrast of the body (evoking Egypt’s fertile, black soil) with the more ethereal connotations of the lighter, pinkish face and crown. I also caught a nice photo of the head of Amenhotep III.

Another photo that I captured (and doesn’t look like much) is part of the Great Giza Sphinx’s missing beard. I thought that was pretty cool to see. After we left the Egyptian sculptures in Gallery 4, we took a short visit to the Parthenon Sculptures in Gallery 18.

Not too far from the museum, a coach was waiting for us to take us on a sightseeing tour of London for about an hour. They made sure to include the Egyptian obelisk they call “Cleopatra’s Needle” along the Victorian Embankment. It is actually one of a pair of obelisks that were carved during the New Kingdom period and inscribed by both Thutmose III and Ramesses II. Both obelisks were on display in Alexandria for almost two millennia. Then, they were sent to London (gifted 1819, erected in 1878) and New York City (gifted 1869, erected in 1881).

After our sightseeing tour, we were taken for a pub lunch. We put in our orders the day before so the food would be ready shortly after we arrived. We sat all together in an upstairs room of the pub. We had a couple choices for a main course and a dessert plus several choices for beverages. I usually like to get whatever the best draft ale, lager, or stout might be in any particular pub or possibly a draft hard cider. This time, I got a pint of the ale with fish and chips and a sticky toffee pudding. I found a taker for the mushy peas that came with the fish and chips. I definitely had the vinegar on the fish as well as the tartar sauce.

After lunch, we headed for the Petrie Museum at the University of London.

Next – A special museum of artifacts from Egypt and the Sudan at the University of London – the Petrie Museum

June 21, 2026July 5, 2026

Egyptian Expedition #001: Day 1 – London Arrival

I arrived at the hotel in the Fitrovia district of London at about 9:30am. The room wasn’t ready. Although check-in time was officially 3pm, I was told at the desk that they would make me a priority. They checked my cases into a locked room. Then they showed me the guest lounge where I could hang out, if I chose to do so. They also said that breakfast was still being served and I could get some in the Oscar Restaurant. I was hungry, so I had some Eggs Royale (Eggs Benedict with salmon instead of ham) plus fresh squeezed orange juice and English Breakfast tea with milk. Wonderful. My tummy was happy and I had the energy to set out to explore the area.

As part of the Pharaohs & Pyramids Viking River Cruise to Egypt, I had signed up for a pre-cruise tour called British Collections of Ancient Egypt. The pre-tour focused on the many Egyptian treasures in London and Oxford. Day 1 was a free day for people to arrive in London and get settled in the hotel. Day 2 would be a full itinerary and busy, busy, busy.

In the many times I have been to London over the years since my first trip in 1983, I had never stayed in a hotel in this particular area of London before. I had stayed in Covent Garden (at the Fielding and at The Strand Palace) and at Russell Square (at the Bedford) and at various other locations around the city, but this was my first stay in the bohemian home to such writers as Virginia Woolf and George Bernard Shaw. Urbanized in the 18^th century, the core area of Fitrovia had its roots in the ancient estate (1000AD) of Tottenham Court. The Fitzroy family owned a good share of the land at the time that it was urbanized, so their name was attached to the district.

The area became a focus of Chartist activities after the Reform Act of 1832. Karl Marx attended some of the events, including meetings held at Charlotte Street (the location of my hotel). The area also had several working men’s clubs, including the Communist Club.

The area’s most prominent feature is the BT Tower on Cleveland Street, one of London’s tallest buildings. I took a photo of it during my exploratory walk after breakfast. I also took a photo of one of the pedestrian-only residential streets as I walked from one end to the other and back again. This one was just a short walk from the hotel.

Charlotte Street was formed in 1763 and was named in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. The Charlotte Street Hotel had opened in 2000 as a small (52 rooms), five star, luxury hotel paying homage to the Bloomsbury Group – the influential circle of early 20^th century artists and writers who had gathered just a few streets away in the townhouses of Bloomsbury.

The hotel had been transformed from a former 19^th century dental warehouse and was part of the British Firmdale Hotels. Each room is completely individual. No two are alike. I had hoped that the restaurant, Oscar, had some connection or tribute to Oscar Wilde. But it did not.

I had just returned from my walk and was settling into a cozy chair in the guest-only lounge when I was informed that my room was ready and my cases were there waiting for me. It was a very nice room, with an impressive (and tempting) mini-bar and a sizeable shower. I took note that I could see the Newman Arms from the room. I had already explored the Newman Passage and planned to have lunch at the Newman Arms. So I settled into the room, getting things ready for the next couple of days. Then I made my way to the pub.

Just steps away from the hotel was Newman Passage. Basically, I just needed to hang a right after going out of the front entrance of the hotel and hang another quick right down the very narrow Percy Passage to Rathbone Street. The Newman Arms was right across the street with the entrance to the Newman Passage just to its left.

The Newman Passage is a narrow, cobbled lane linking Rathbone Street to Newman Street. The passage dates to 1746. It is little changed and so gives a view into what Georgian London might have looked like. It is often used in films and television shows whenever they want a dark Georgian or Victorian atmosphere. In real life, it had been home to a co-op kitchen for Communist refugees and a famous location for London’s streetwalkers.

The Newman Arms had been built in 1730 as a pub. But the building had previously been used as a tallow chandler, an ironmongery, a picture framers, and a brothel. The pub was a popular hangout for George Orwell and inspired the Proles pub in his novel 1984. It was also a London hangout for Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas (“Do not go gentle into that good night”). The pub downstairs is quite tiny. But the restaurant upstairs has a bit more room and is known for its pies (of the savory variety). I ordered a Scotch Egg, Chicken Liver Pate, and a Limoncello Spritzer Aperitif. Looking out of the pub’s window at the hotel, I could see the windows of my room.

At 3:30pm, the Tour Director for the London part of the trip was available in the lobby of the hotel for us to check in, get any questions answered, etc. I discovered that my travel alarm had died on the way to London. A new battery didn’t help. So I had a chat with the hotel’s concierge. His suggestion was to schedule a wakeup call and also fill out the card to have my breakfast delivered to my room. This way I would have more time to sleep and not need to be fully ready for the day, just clothed, when breakfast was delivered. That worked out great.

Was quite full from lunch, so just snacked a bit for dinner. When the fellow arrived later for turn-down service, I was already comfortably settled in the bed. So he just gave me a couple of bottles of water and went on his merry way. I did make it until 9pm before calling it a night. But that was it. I needed to get up at 6:30 the next morning. Nine and a half hours would be a good rest.

Next – Privileged access to the Egyptian Rooms of the British Museum

March 8, 2026

London Adventure: A Full Day at Westminster Abbey – Part 2

In addition to the general admission and Queen’s Jubilee Galleries tickets, I also had a ticket for a special Medieval Monastery Tour. This was a private, small group tour emphasizing the period when Westminster Abbey was truly a Medieval Monastery. It showcased the early history of the building and the oldest parts of it. I had a little time before the tour began, so I sat down on a chair in the area where the tour was to begin and relaxed for a bit.

Westminster Abbey was a Benedictine monastery. The first twelve monks, who wore black habits, were brought to Westminster in about 960 AD by Saint Dunstan, the Bishop of London. Since then the number of monks varied between about 30 to 60. But only 24 were left when Henry VIII dissolved the monastery in 1540. No trace of the first building remains above ground.

Consecrated in 1065, King Edward the Confessor built a new Abbey on the marshy site called Thorney Island, surrounded by tributaries of the Tyburn River. Only the Undercroft and the Pyx Chamber remain from this version of the Abbey, although there are foundations below the nave and the apse from this period.

In 1245 Henry III began rebuilding much of the Abbey in the Gothic style. Some of the monastic buildings he included, such as the Chapter House, have survived intact. Others have been repurposed. The dormitory was divided into the Abbey Library and the Great Hall of Westminster School. The Garden is still there and can be visited by the public. Part of the Infirmary now forms the Little Cloister. This is private. The monastic cellarer’s building has been converted into a café.

Our tour began in the Nave and the Quire and was led by one of the Abbey’s historians. In the Nave, she pointed out the story of the Abbey in its stained-glass windows. She also pointed out the spot where the styles of the Abbey Henry III rebuilt and the parts of the Abbey Richard II rebuilt change somewhat abruptly. Richard II had been crowned in the Abbey in 1377 when he was only ten years old. He set about rebuilding the North Entrance and parts of the Nave.

We were allowed to take seats in the Quire while we were given more information about the Abbey and the lives of the monks there. The Verger Tour has been the only other time that I have been able to sit in the Quire. I kind of wanted to sing something, but I refrained.

We visited the High Altar and the Lady Chapel, which I talked about more in the first part of my visit to Westminster Abbey. On our way along the South Ambulatory towards Poet’s Corner, we came across a chest in a niche that our guide pointed out to us. This tomb chest was built with Cosmatesque work like the floor in front of the High Altar and some of the Royal tombs in the area around Edward the Confessor’s shrine. There was one piece remaining imbedded on the top. Although there is some debate about whose tomb it is, the identity that makes the most sense to me is that of King Sebert of the East Saxons and his wife, Ethelgoda. He died in roughly 616 AD but was moved to this spot in 1308. That this would have been the tomb of a king would mean that it would be deserving of being made of Purbeck Marble with a Tournai Black Marble slab on top and inlaid with tesserae and opus sectile of porphyry. Just saying.

In Poet’s Corner, our guide pointed out some relatively recently uncovered wall paintings and a staircase that used to go to the monk’s dormitory. She also pointed out Chaucer’s tomb which had much more of a crowd around it than when I went by it earlier in the day.

Then we headed into the Cloisters towards the Chapter House. The East Cloister was where, on the Thursday before Easter, the Abbot used to wash the feet of the thirteen elderly men, kissed their feet and distributed the Maundy alms. The wide benches at the northern end of the cloister were where this took place.

Next to the entrance to the Chapter House is a staircase which used to be the day stairs to the dormitory. Now it leads to the library. When it was the dormitory, it was a very large room. By the 14^th century it had been divided into cubicles with curtains to ensure privacy. Since many monks had private quarters elsewhere, only some of them slept in the dormitory. They weren’t allowed a fire, so they needed to bundle up in the colder months.

In the passage leading to the Chapter House is the oldest door in Britain. In 2005 a detailed study of the door showed that the tree from which it was made was felled after 1032 and that the door was constructed sometime in the 1050s. This was during the reign of Edward the Confessor, who built the Norman Abbey.

The Chapter House was a meeting place for the monks to gather with the abbot to pray, read from the Rule of St Benedict, and discuss the day’s business. It was part of Henry III’s rebuilding of the Abbey and was likely begun in 1246 and completed around 1255. It had seating for up to 80 monks. Many of the wall paintings, depicting scenes from the Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation, still remain in many of the arches.

The Chapter House was also the place where the forerunner of the English Parliament, the King’s Great Council, assembled in 1257. Later on, in the 14^th century, the House of Commons met there for a few years before using the Abbey Refectory for meetings.

When leaving the Chapter House and turning to the left when back in the East Cloister, the Pyx Chamber is the next room on the left. This is the oldest surviving room in the Abbey.

This low vaulted room is part of the Undercroft, underneath the monks’ dormitory, and was built in about 1070. The original entrance was through the oldest door (which was how I remember getting into it back in the 1980s). It contains a couple of medieval chests dating to the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

The Pyx chamber takes its name from wooden boxes in which silver and gold pieces were kept secure to await the “Trial of the Pyx”. This involved melting down the measured silver content as a way of showing that the coinage was pure. This was established as a practice in 1281. The stone table against the east wall was used to test the silver.

When I visited the Abbey back in the 80s, we were not only able to enter the Pyx Chamber through the Oldest Door, but we could also walk around in the room. Now there is a public viewing platform at the current entrance and going down into the room itself is no longer allowed. Also, when I visited in the 80s and 90s, the main part of the Abbey, as well as the Undercroft (which was originally the common room for the monks and was the Abbey museum beginning in 1908) were open free of charge. It was only necessary to pay if you wanted to see the royal tombs. That included the Shrine of Edward the Confessor which was closed to public visits in 1997. Since then it can only be seen as part of the special Verger’s Tour.

After our visit to the Pyx Chamber, our guide told us that she was taking us to see the Jerusalem Chamber in the Dean’s Residence. This is not open to the public and can only be seen on this particular tour.

The medieval house of the Abbots of Westminster was called Cheyneygates. The Jerusalem Chamber was added to this structure sometime between 1377 and 1386. This was in the reign of Richard II and has a crowned letter R carved in the ceiling (which is original). In the Middle Ages it was quite common to give names to rooms. The Jerusalem Chamber is entered through the Jericho Parlour which was added sometime between 1500 and 1532.

Photography wasn’t allowed in the Dean’s Residence, so the photo I have included here is from the internet. The stonework around the fireplace is original, but the paneling in the room was added in the 19^th century. The tapestries are mostly 17^th and 18^th century. We were seated at the table. I sat next to the fireplace with my back to the window.

This was where, in 1413, King Henry IV was taken after suffering a stroke while praying at the Shrine of Edward the Confessor. As he was lying by the fire, he regained consciousness and asked where he was. He was told “Jerusalem”. It had been prophesied that he would die in Jerusalem. And so he did. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part II, Prince Henry tries on the crown in this room while his father is dying.

It was also in this room in 1624 where the marriage of the future King Charles I to Henrietta Maria of France was arranged. The coffins of several people, including Sir Isaac Newton, were lain here prior to their funerals in the Abbey. Some of the most important historic meetings held in this room were for the committees engaged in writing the Authorized King James Version of the Bible in 1611, the Revised Version in 1870, the New English Bible in 1961, and the Revised English Bible in 1989.

After we finished our tour in the Jerusalem Chamber, I headed back out through the Cloisters and to the area where the painting of Richard II and the Coronation Chair are kept near the main entrance to the Abbey. The painting is of Richard at the age of ten as he was being coronated. It is the earliest known portrait of an English king and dates to 1390. Although he was crowned king in 1377, this portrait wasn’t painted until nine years before he was deposed.

The Coronation Chair was made by order of King Edward I to enclose the famous Stone of Scone, which he brought from Scotland to the Abbey in 1296. He wanted all English monarchs to be crowned using the stone on which all Scottish monarchs were crowned. The Stone of Scone was finally returned to Scotland in 1996. It was kept at Edinburgh Castle until 2024 when it was moved to a museum in Perth.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped off at the gift shop for Westminster Abbey as well as the gift shop for Parliament. I also passed by Downing Street, Banqueting House, the Horseguards, Old Scotland Yard, the Admiralty Arch, and Trafalgar Square. A couple of small bottles of wine were waiting for me in my hotel room. Since I didn’t need to go anywhere that night, I just had a quiet dinner in my room while sipping a couple glasses of that wine.

Next time – Day One of A Big Bus Hop On Hop Off Tour

February 6, 2026

London Adventure: A Full Day at Westminster Abbey – Part 1

I had some old pound notes that needed to be exchanged for the new, plastic notes. So I went to the nearest Nat West Bank. I found that I needed to have an account there in order to exchange the notes. The woman I spoke to led me outside and pointed out the nearest Post Office, which was where I would be able to make the exchange. There was a long line, but it moved quickly. Afterwards, I headed to Westminster Abbey.

I had booked a general admission for 10:30am along with admission to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. They have handheld audio guides that can be used to tour the building at your own pace. The audio guide leads you around, explaining the history and significance of wherever you are. I really like not having to cluster around to try to hear commentary in a large group, especially since I always had difficulty seeing what they were talking about due to my short stature.

On this visit, after many decades of not being allowed to take photos inside of Westminster Abbey, I discovered that photography was now allowed other than up in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. I had left my camera back at the hotel, but had my phone. I took it out and began clicking up a storm.

I started in the Nave and headed for the Quire. The stalls are where the Abbey’s choir sings during daily services. The next area was the High Altar. In front of the altar is the Cosmati Pavement. This is a marble pavement dating from 1268. Henry III was rebuilding the Abbey at the time and had the remarkable pavement installed. Back in the 1980s, which was when I first visited the Abbey, this area was covered by thick carpets to try to protect the decoration there. Now it is left uncovered, but roped off from the public. We can look at it, but not walk on it. That is totally fine with me. I prefer being able to see it.

Next to the pavement, on the right when facing the altar, is the low, marble tomb of Anne of Cleves. She was Henry VIII’s fourth wife. She managed to survive being married to him by agreeing to a divorce and lived out the rest of her long life in some very nice properties and with a very nice allowance. Smart lady.

In front of the High Altar is where the coronation ceremony takes place. The Coronation Chair faces the altar while the incoming monarch is anointed and crowned. The royal weddings also take place in this space.

The only way to get into the Shrine of Edward the Confessor is with a Verger Tour. I have done this a couple times in the past and will likely do it again the next time I am in London. But it was too much to try to pack in along with the other tours in this visit. So I skirted around the outside.

Edward the Confessor’s tomb was in the center of the shrine area. On a previous Verger Tour I had been invited to kneel in one of the niches of that shrine to pray. When I did the Medieval Monasteries Tour later on his visit, I found that kneeling in the niches was no longer allowed as apparently it was too much wear and tear for such an old shrine. Although he had died in 1066 and was buried in the Abbey at that time, the current shrine wasn’t built until 1163 at which time Edward’s body was moved into that more elaborate shrine.

Buried in tombs around Edward the Confessor are several people. The royal tombs are Edward I (whose tomb was plain as he planned to be moved to Scotland once it was conquered), Henry III, Edward I’s queen Eleanor of Castile, Henry V, Edward III’s queen Philippa of Hainault, Edward III, and Richard II (with his first wife, Anne of Bohemia). Edward the Confessor’s queen, Edith of Wessex, is buried somewhere to the right of her husband in an unmarked location in the shrine. Since I knelt in a niche on the right side of the shrine, I could have easily stepped over where she is buried.

I next entered the area of Henry VII’s Chapel (the Lady Chapel) and slipped into the area to the left of that gloriously fan vaulted late medieval chapel. There was located the tomb of Elizabeth I and her sister, Mary I. There is also a sarcophagus containing the bones said to have been of the two princes in the tower – Edward V and Richard Duke of York. Near there was also a small tomb for a young daughter, Mary, of James I.

The Lady Chapel itself was built by Henry VII from 1503 to 1516. Just in front of the altar is a tile indicating the approximate location of Edward VI. He was Henry VIII’s son. At the age of nine, he became king upon his father’s death, but only lived to age fifteen. When he died, his sister, Mary I, became queen with his other sister, Elizabeth I, following her.

Behind this altar is the tomb of Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York. They lie just below their monument, along with James I. Various other people are buried around this chapel, including George II and his wife, Caroline (plus several members of their family). George Villiers (1st Duke of Buckingham), and Anne of Denmark (wife of James I) were buried in alcoves near James I. Oliver Cromwell was also originally buried in this chapel, but was disinterred in 1661 after Charles II was invited back to the throne.

Around the chapel are banners of living members of the Order of the Bath. Stalls with coats of arms and brass plates of former knights also line the chapel on both sides.

On the other side of this main part of the chapel is where many of the Stuarts are buried. The first vault encountered is the one for Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, and her son Charles, Earl of Lennox. Margaret was the daughter of Margaret Tudor and granddaughter of Henry VII. She was the grandmother of James I.

Next comes Mary, Queen of Scots, James I’s mother. There are a few other Stuarts in her vault with her, including Lady Arabella Stuart. Arabella was the daughter of Margaret Douglas’ son, Charles, and was considered to be a contender as a successor to the childless Elizabeth I. She died in the Tower of London in 1615.

Margaret of Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother, has a memorial and vault all to herself. Then there are names of the following at the far end of this space: Queen Anne (James II’s younger daughter), Prince William (Anne’s only child to survive infancy and died at age eleven), William III & his wife Mary II (joint monarchs as Mary was James II’s eldest daughter), and Charles II. All of these former kings and queens are in a vault below that area, but don’t have effigies or fancy tombs over their graves.

On my way to Poet’s Corner, I took several photos of the tombs and effigies I could see within Edward the Confessor’s Shrine from the south ambulatory.

It is said that there are more than 100 writers and poets who are either buried in Poet’s Corner or have memorials there. The first to be buried there was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400. Although he was a poet, his burial in the Abbey was because of his position as Clerk of the King’s Works. Roughly 200 years later, poet Edmund Spenser asked to be buried near Chaucer. That was the start of having literary people plus sometimes clergymen, actors and musicians buried in that same area.

Near Poet’s Corner is the entrance to reach the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. This involves a new tower, opened in 2018, which includes a staircase and a lift to the Galleries. An additional ticket is needed for the Galleries. Mine was only £5 extra. I felt it was well worth it and would be happy to visit the Galleries again on my next visit to the Abbey.

The Galleries are housed in a 13^th century triforium high above the Abbey floor. The views are spectacular from there of the Abbey below. Unfortunately no photography was allowed, not even of the Abbey itself as seen from above.

There were several items that I remembered from my earliest visits to the Abbey in the 1980s and 90s. These have to do with the history of the Abbey and of the Monarchy, including twenty effigies which were displayed at the funeral of the person depicted.

The earliest effigies were wooden, while later models were of wax. These include:

Edward III – the earliest effigy now in existence. The face is a death mask and dates from 1377.
Anne of Bohemia – a death mask of Richard II’s queen.
Catherine de Valois- a full length wooden effigy of Henry V’s queen. She is depicted wearing a red dress. One of her arms and both hands are missing.
Elizabeth of York – only the wooden head and arm of Henry VII’s queen survives.
Henry VII – this is a plaster death mask and is quite lifelike.
Mary I – her wooden head and body had been separated, but were reunited for this new display. It is said that her face is not a good likeness.
Elizabeth I – this is a wax full body effigy which was remade in 1760. The original corset and drawers from 1603 were found in 1995 and are displayed next to the effigy. She looks pretty darned formidable.
James I and his son Henry Prince of Wales – their effigies have been headless for several centuries.
Anne of Denmark – this effigy of James I’s queen was taken from a death mask.
Charles II – by the time of his death, effigies were no longer carried as part of a royal funeral. But a wax effigy was made to stand by his grave since there was no monument. The effigy is really cool and even has silk underwear. I almost expected him to look at me and say something.
Queen Anne – the only seated effigy.
Frances, Duchess of Richmond – she died in 1702 and was buried in the Richmond vault in the Henry VII Chapel. She was born in 1647 and considered to be a great beauty. But she was disfigured by smallpox in 1668. Her effigy is dressed in her coronation clothes from Queen Anne’s coronation.
Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham and her sons – she was the illegitimate daughter of James II, which made her a half sister to both Queen Mary II (of William & Mary) and Queen Anne. Her son, Robert Sheffield, Marquess of Normanby, died at the age of three and is the only effigy of a child in the collection. Her other son, Edmund, 2^nd Duke of Buckingham, is the only recumbent effigy and is still in its original case.
William III – William was the Prince of Orange and married to Mary, James II’s eldest legitimate daughter. They were invited to become joint King and Queen of Britain when James II fled to France instead of waiting around to be deposed. James was catholic, but his daughters were not.
Mary II – she and her husband William III were actually cousins (his mother was Charles I’s daughter). The coronation chair used for their joint coronation is also on display in the Galleries. She died before her husband and he ruled on his own until his death.
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham – this was William Pitt the Elder and was Prime Minister twice. His effigy is quite lifelike and is clothed in Parliamentary robes and a wig. He looks like he is about to give a speech.
Horatio, Viscount Nelson – although he was buried in St Paul’s Cathedral instead of the Abbey, his effigy was purchased by the Abbey to be shown there as a counter attraction to his tomb in St Paul’s. The effigy shows the wrong eye as blind, but was otherwise thought to be a good likeness according to his mistress Lady Hamilton. The effigy was dressed in clothes that had belonged to Lord Nelson.

After I left the galleries, I had about a half hour before my Medieval Monastery tour, so I visited the WC and then took a seat in the area where I was supposed to meet up with the rest of the group and our guide to relax a bit before the 90-minute special tour began.

Next time – A full day at Westminster Abbey – Part 2 (a small group tour focusing on when the Abbey was a Medieval Monastery)

May 16, 2025

April in Paris: The Archaeological Crypt Plus Two Old and Diverse Churches

The entrance to the Archaeological Crypt was right behind the bleachers upon which we sat to take photos of the exterior of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. This was at the western end of what is officially known as Parvis Notre Dame – Place Jean Paul II.

The current level of the Parvis is roughly 4 to 5 meters (approximately 13 to 16 feet) higher than the ancient ground level. The current riverbank of the Seine has also moved roughly 50 meters (approximately 164 feet) to the south of the original. That means that the ancient riverbank was essentially in the middle of the current square.

Workers in 1842 discovered the original western steps of Notre Dame, which had ended up under several centuries of repaving. Then, in 1847, the foundations of the Roman wall and of the cathedral of Saint Etienne were found during further excavations.

In 1965, while excavating for a new underground parking garage, even more ancient foundations were discovered. The plans for the parking garage were modified and the site was opened to the public in 1980. I have included a photo of the actual Roman Port with a video behind it to indicate what the port would have looked like back when it was being used. I also have a photo of the steps down to the port.

Then there are the remains of the 4^th century Roman hot baths. The under-floor heating system is still visible. There are also some of the items that have been unearthed during the excavations, such as weapons, tools, and portions of sculptures. There was one sculpted face that I captured because I found it quite interesting. Couldn’t find any information about what it was, however. It seems like it could be a more modern piece of art included in the display.

One of the major sculptures discovered here is called The Pillar of the Boatman and is on display in the Roman frigidarium at the Musee National du Moyen Age (also known as the Musee Cluny). The next post will be about our visit to that museum.

By this time, we needed a lunch break. We headed across the Seine to the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank. Just on the other side of the bridge was a café I had visited four years earlier while in Paris on the Avalon Waterways Grand France River Cruise. One of our number remained to take ownership of our table once we could be seated. The rest of us headed downstairs to the restrooms in the cellar.

After lunch (I had a Croque Monsieur and some fresh-squeezed orange juice) we made our way through the Square René Viviani to visit the Eglise Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre. When the original 6^th century Church of St. Julien existed, the area that became a square in 1909 had been a cemetery. During the 19^th century some Merovingian-era graves and tombs had been found near the walls of the current Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre.

A rather odd-looking and modern fountain was erected in the square in 1995. It is known as the Saint Julien fountain and is meant to represent the legend of Saint Julien the Hospitaller, which involves a curse by witches, a talking deer, a case of mistaken identity, a horrific crime, several improbable coincidences, and a supernatural intervention. It was a popular tale back in the Middle Ages.

In addition to containing pieces of several sculptures that had once stood on portions of Notre Dame de Paris (and had been discarded during past renovations), the Square is also known for being the location of the oldest tree in Paris. It was planted back in 1601 from a Locust tree seed brought back from the Appalachian Mountains in the U.S. It is supported by a couple of concrete crutches and continues to bloom every year. It is just outside of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre.

The 6^th century version of this church was torn down and rebuilt at roughly the same time as Notre Dame was being built. It was begun in the Romanesque style, but is mostly Gothic. It was begun between 1165 and 1170 upon the foundations of the older church. It is referred to as the “oldest church in Paris” (it was begun after Notre Dame but completed well before it). Of the city’s 12^th century churches (Saint Germain des Pres was outside of the city when it was built), it is the only one that has survived.

Like most religious and/or royal structures, it too was treated poorly during the French Revolution and used as a storage depot for salt. In the 19^th century, the church was restored and then assigned to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Since this group is adverse to sculptural decoration, there is just one statue remaining inside. It is a 17^th century carved wooden statue of the Virgin Mary and Child. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church does favor icons and so the walls of the two side aisles have several icons displayed on them.

It did not take long to see the entire church as it was quite small. Since a lovely 15^th church was close by along a pedestrian-only street, we headed there next to see a church that was quite different in size and style from this small gem.

The Church of Saint-Séverin was originally constructed in 1230. After a fire in 1448 during the Hundred Years’ War, it was rebuilt and enlarged in the 15^th to 17^th centuries. Parts of the original church still exist however. The lower portion of the bell tower remains as do other bits and pieces throughout. The portal is actually from another, earlier church and the nave was built in two different styles and eras — High Gothic (13^th century) and Flamboyant (15^th century). The stained-glass windows come from many different centuries and are in many different styles. Although it is a bit of a hodge podge, it all works together quite harmoniously.

The church was named after Saint Séverin of Paris. He lived on the site of the present church in the 6^th century. One of his pupils was Clodoald (Saint Cloud). After Saint Séverin’s death, a chapel was erected on the site of his cell. This was destroyed during the Norman invasions in the 9^th century and rebuilt in the 11^th century.

After the University of Paris (now the Sorbonne) was founded in 1215, Saint Séverin became its parish church. This necessitated a much larger building which was begun in 1230.

During the French Revolution, the church was closed and used to store gunpowder. Later it was used for storing grain and church bells (which were being melted down to make cannons). Ironically, one of the oldest church bells in Paris, cast in 1412, is located at Saint Séverin.

A very distinctive feature of the apse behind the altar is the twisting central pillar and surrounding pillars that resemble stone palm trees. The branches reach up and spread into an intricate web of vaulting. The central pillar is illuminated and is quite striking.

This was another place where we sat and drank it all in for a while. Then we headed for the Musee National du Moyen Age, also known as the Musee Cluny.

Next time –Musee Cluny (Musee National du Moyen Age)

May 2, 2025

April in Paris: Arrival

I was meeting up with some friends in Paris. I knew I would be arriving several hours ahead of them, so I planned a walk from the hotel (which was near the Louvre) to L’Eglise Saint Roch, Opera Garnier, Chapelle Expiatore, La Madelaine, Place de la Concorde, and back to the hotel. They were going to text me once they arrived and we would meet up wherever I was along the planned route.

Notre Dame had opened up to the public in early December and was, by all accounts, spectacular. We all wanted to see it as well as spend some time together. So a short trip was planned and booked at the beginning of February.

My flight arrived at Charles de Gaule airport from the US at 7am. The others were coming by train and would arrive around 2pm. I had travelled fairly light and had just one carryon and the bag that I would be using for my camera, etc. while on the trip (I had stuffed my travel purse inside of that when boarding the flight).

I figured that I would be at the hotel about 9am. Time for breakfast and then head out exploring. Wrong. It took me an hour just to get to the area where I would go through customs as well as the actual going through customs. I connected with my pre-arranged transportation at pretty much 8am on the dot. It took roughly two hours to get to the hotel. The good news what that the room was ready for me. The bad news was that breakfast was only served until 10:30am, so none for me that day. I immediately reversed my planned agenda.

I unpacked and got things settled in the room, then headed out. I would bypass Place de la Concorde (I had seen it many times on many other trips to Paris) and head straight for La Madeleine (which I had never been to before). After La Madelaine, I would get some lunch.

Originally planned by King Louis XV as the focal point of the new Rue Royal which led to what is now the Place de la Concorde, its building was halted by the French Revolution in 1789. Once Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor in 1804, he decided (in 1806) to make it into a “temple to the glory of the Grand Army”. After his fall in 1814, the new King, Louis XVIII, resumed construction on what he figured should be an Expiatory chapel for the sins of the Revolution and the execution of Louis XVI. That idea was dropped and it was instead dedicated to Mary Magdalene. Chopin’s funeral was held there, as were the funerals of Coco Chanel and Josephine Baker, among others.

The exterior resembles a Greek Temple. It also has some gargantuan bronze doors which were fortunately open. I thought the interior was quite beautiful and well worth visiting. The fresco on the dome above the altar was called The History of Christianity. Just behind the altar was a monumental sculpture called The Ecstasy of Mary Magdalene. I was there the Tuesday before Easter. This was the Mary who had witnessed both the crucifixion and the resurrection.

Another couple of sculptures that I really liked were one of Joan of Arc and one called The Baptism of Christ. I took my time and then headed to a nearby café for a light lunch.

When King Louis XVI was executed in 1793, his body was taken to the Old Church of Saint Madelaine (now the site of the Chapelle Expiatoire) and buried there in its cemetery without much ceremony. In 1815, his and Marie Antoinette’s bodies were moved to a new tomb in the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Then, in 1816 the Chapelle Expiatoire began construction at the orders of King Louis XVIII.

The chapel wasn’t open, so I could only see the outside of it. The courtyard of the chapel is lined with symbolic tombs to the Swiss Guards who were executed along with the king.

From there, I walked over to the Opera Garnier, which I have visited in the past. It had some construction going on, so the façade was covered up. It was closed to tours as well. The gift shop was open, but I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without. So, after resting for a bit on its steps along with a number of other people, I headed down the Avenue de l’Opera.

Turning at Rue Saint Roch, I worked my way down to the church by that name. That was when I got the text that my friends were at the hotel. I responded with the directions to Saint Roch and met them there.

In the time of Joan of Arc, it is said that she placed a cannon on a hill where Saint Roch now sits and shot it towards the Paris gate of Saint Honore. The English and Burgundians were in control of the city at the time (1429) and King Charles VII had been crowned not that long before. During the assault, Joan was wounded in the thigh by a crossbow bolt and her efforts failed. The location of the gate was roughly where 161-163 Rue Saint Honore is located today. There is a plaque on the side of the building there.

The first stone was laid in 1653 to build Saint Roch. It was built on and off over time for about a hundred years. On the 5^th of October in 1795 a large force of royalist soldiers occupied the street and the front steps of the church. In what is known as the 13 Vendemiaire, these troops were confronted by the young Napoleon Bonaparte and his artillery battery. They cleared the steps and secured the street. So began Napoleon’s quick rise to power. The marks of the artillery fire can still be seen on the front of the church.

One of the chapels that I really like is the one dedicated to the French Jews who were killed during the Holocaust. It is quite touching and contains the inscription, “Mon Dieu faites de moi un instrument de votre paix,” which translates to, “God make me an instrument of your peace.”

Tombs and memorials include Yves Saint-Laurent, Marie Anne de Bourbon (daughter of Louis XIV), Cesar de Vendome, and Jean-Honore Fragonard. The Marquis de Sade, and the Maquis de Lafayette were among those married at Saint Roch.

Not far from Saint Roch is a café that I have frequented often in the past. We had our dinner there, looking out at a gold statue of Joan of Arc standing on a little traffic island in the middle of a broad street. Although I had had a light lunch, I still wasn’t especially hungry, so I ordered Oeufs Poches Bio Florentine avec Crème Citron et un milkshake au chocolat (poached eggs, spinach and lemon cream with a chocolate milkshake). My lack of sleep on the plane the previous night was catching up to me. For some reason, my mind just wasn’t remembering that the French for a chocolate milkshake was simply “milkshake au chocolat”. Fortunately one of my friends, who speaks French better than I, helped me out (while laughing).

Back at the hotel, we decided that a nightcap would be a good idea (our rooms were on the same floor, so they could steer me to the right place). The bartender created a drink that involved Champagne, Chambord (a French raspberry liquor), lemon juice, and some crushed, fresh mint. Perfect.

Next time – The beautifully restored Notre Dame

November 28, 2018

Over the Sea to Skye

While Orkney is mysterious, the Isle of Skye is magical. The day after our visit to Orkney, we left Wick for Thurso and looped around the top and western portion of mainland Scotland. This is a very remote area with single-track roads and small pockets of population here and there. It is very mountainous and the scenery is gorgeous.

Our morning break was at Smoo Cave. The way to the cave itself was very slippery because of the rain that had been falling in that area earlier that morning. I went close enough to take a photo, then hiked my way back up to where I could get a hot chocolate. Tommie wanted to get closer. So, after I was already at the counter ordering the hot chocolate, Tommie slipped and fell on the wet rocks, grass and mud, cutting her arm and face, bruising her arm and shoulder, and breaking the lens she had on her camera. She was fortunate she didn’t get hurt worse. I had managed to wrench my shoulder the day before, so we were quite a pair.

I always have a first aid kit with me when I travel, so we patched her up before continuing on our way to the small fishing village of Ullapool for lunch. With a population of only 1,500, Ullapool is the largest town in that part of Scotland. Nestled in the mountains next to the Atlantic Ocean, it is also very picturesque.

Our afternoon break was at Loch Carron. The village of Plockton sits at the mouth of the sea loch. Its weather is affected by the Gulf Stream, so the winters are mild and the summers temperate. It also has palm trees. It was the setting for a Scottish television series called “Hamish Macbeth” which starred Robert Carlisle as the title character – the town police officer.

On the Isle of Skye, our hotel was in the village of Broadford on a bay to the Atlantic. The room Tommie and I shared was on the side overlooking the bay, so we had great views. We had some free time between when we arrived and dinner, so I went for a walk. Poor Tommie was in need of some ice from her earlier injuries. When I got back from my walk, we had a couple of tasty adult beverages before our delicious 3-course dinner at the hotel.

The next day, we headed up to Dunvegan Castle at the northern end of the island. On the way, we stopped off for photos at the Red Cuillins and the Black Cuillins. These are rocky mountain ranges not far from Broadford. They remain a wild area mainly because the ground is not good for either farming or grazing. The rocky crags make these mountains quite beautiful.

We also passed the Talisker distillery. We tried to get John to turn in, but he wasn’t having it. Talisker is a very peaty Scotch whiskey loved by those who appreciate its smoky flavor.

Built on a rocky promontory overlooking a sea loch, Dunvegan Castle has been the home of the MacLeod family for over 800 years. They too did not allow interior photography. But they did allow us to wander the castle on our own. We weren’t too terribly restricted as to where we could go either. I loved that as we could see parts of the castle that tourists don’t necessarily always see, such as the kitchens and servant areas.

One of the treasures at the castle is the Fairy Flag. Legend has it that this flag was given to the Clan MacLeod by fairies and is said to possess magical powers. When I was there, it was framed on the wall. It looks very, very old, tattered and fragile. It is said to be made of silk woven in the Middle East, possibly in Syria or on the island of Rhodes. Skye is known for fairies, with fairy pools, fairy bridges and fairy hills. But then, remember, Skye is also home to the Talisker Scotch whiskey distillery.

After exploring the interior of the castle, I went outside to see the castle’s sea gate and the gun court. Ships could sail directly to the castle on the sea loch from the Atlantic. The numerous cannons on the gun court were able to protect the castle in case the ships approaching it weren’t of a friendly nature. The grounds of the castle had gardens, streams, cottages, and even a loo (restroom) that was in the form of a miniature castle.

When we left Dunvegan, we stopped off at Portree for a lunch break. Portree is roughly in the center of Skye and is the largest town on the island. Portree was also the site of the last meeting of Flora MacDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie before the prince left Skye, ultimately for France. Flora was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London for her part in his escape. She was set free after about a year and went on to live quite an interesting life.

Originally built by the MacKenzie clan in the 13^th century, Eilean Donan sits on a tiny island at the intersection of three lochs. The castle was destroyed in 1719 by cannon fire from several ships and lay abandoned for two hundred years until it was purchased and restored. We had a late afternoon tour of the tower keep of the castle, which isn’t terribly large, but is really cool. It is what a medieval castle should be with very thick, stone walls, a large, barrel-vaulted, low-ceilinged stone room on the lowest floor and lots of atmosphere.

At the time that the castle was destroyed, it was occupied by Spanish troops, many of whom were killed during the bombardment. As a result, much of the castle is supposedly haunted. Where the ghosts are seen was pointed out to us as part of the tour. Once again, however, we could not take photos inside the castle, but we could take photos outside on the castle ramparts.

After our visit to the castle, we went to a pub in the nearby town of Dornie. I tried some Eilean Donan Ale while we listened to a piper who had been hired to play for our group. I know that bagpipes are something that people either love or hate with little in-between. They have some very fine pipers in Scotland who can coax some very sweet sounds out of their instruments. In case you haven’t guessed, I’m one of those people who love bagpipes. I even purchased a chanter (the actual pipe part, without the bag) several years ago to try to learn how to play them. My short little fingers didn’t work too well with it. Not much success.

Not sure what got into John, but he decided that our driver, Alistair, could take us and our full-sized tour coach up a nearby mountain on a very narrow, single-track road. Single-track roads can be an adventure on flat terrain, but on a mountain you could be taking your life in your hands. It seemed to me that Alistair was of a mind to boot John off of the mountain once we finally reached the viewpoint John wanted us to experience.

We did have to do quite a bit of maneuvering to get around one specific wall of rock. We were also very close to the edge of the road at a couple of points. But that particular tour company doesn’t take chances with their customers, so it was just a way to give us a bit of an adventure without putting us in any real danger. We did have some spectacular views from up there. We came down the mountain on the other side, encountering Shetland ponies and even some wild boar on the way. The photo I have included here of a wild boar looks like he is charging the tour coach. Back at the hotel, I tried some Drambuie, which originated in Broadford from a recipe given to one of the clan families by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

The following day, we visited Armadale before boarding the ferry to Mallaig. We took in the Clan Donald Museum of the Isles and explored the castle ruins and lush gardens of Armadale. On the way from Mallaig to Glenfinnan, we stopped to watch the train that is used in the Harry Potter films as the Hogwarts Express as it went by. It obligingly blew its whistle as it chugged on by with steam billowing from its smokestack. Since I was using my video camera to capture all of that, I didn’t get a photo of it. So I use here, someone else’s photo.

Soon we boarded another ferry to the Island of Mull. Our time on Skye was one of fairies and ferries.