Hills of Shropshire to the Streets of Paris

We had just over a week to visit my uncle in England then to hit the streets of Paris on our way back before winter had time to envelope Europe. The flight from Jeddah was via Lufthansa through Frankfurt to Birmingham, England, then to return via Paris. This was now approaching mid October and we knew the weather might be iffy, although the weather Gods fortunately turned out to be supportive. Because of Jeddah's location it is not much more difficult flying to western Europe than it is from Toronto to Mexico or the Caribbean.

Birmingham is England's second largest city and having therefore a large international airport, and being only a few hours drive to my Uncle's with our rent-a-car it was the natural choice. The last "family visit" was via London, a more chaotic location and a longer drive. The major challenge yet again however was to master the art of driving on the "wrong side of the road" and on often very narrow streets!

Being close for our first night we drove from Birmingham to Stratford Upon Avon, the real original home of Shakespeare, not the copy close to London (Ontario that is).

Stratford Upon Avon - obviously the buildings on this street date back to Shakepeare's time. We didn't take in the opportunity to do the evening "ghost walk" so lost the opportunity to potentially see the Bard.

 The doorways from these older buildings were not as high as we are used to, remembering than I am not particularly tall.

Other streetscapes in Stratford, older and "newer" buildings.

The Avon River with a statue of the "Bard" himself in the background.

Further images of the Avon River, the lower image showing a modern theatre on the right, at the river edge, for the performance of plays.

From Stratford it was a relatively short drive into the Shropshire countryside where my Uncle lives on his country property.

Shropshire countryside - my Uncle's property is on the far side of the hill in the background.

However to get there we had to negotiate some "narrower" roads - if two cars meet on some of these roads someone either has to pull over, or to back up to a "passing spot" - can be interesting going around corners.

My Uncle Dick and I at one of the many country Pubs in the region. He is a remarkable man being 86 yr "young" being both mentally and physically active. He complains that he can only walk his dogs about a mile a day now and is still a member of his local town council - I hope some of his genes were passed on!

     Walking with Uncle Dick on his country property.

Making friends with my Dick's dogs. Yes I grew up with pets, and enjoy them, but our lifestyle does not support having them.

Two of three of Dick's ponies in his field. He enjoys his country lifestyle in that he looks after his three ponies, three dogs, and has some geese and chickens whereby he gets fresh eggs.

Do you think Joy would make a country girl? Do you think heels would work in this field?

Joy and Dick in his pony field (picture above) and subsequently visiting one of his friends at their property (lower picture) - as can be seen we were blessed with nice Fall weather.

On our visit - not an average household animal! Actually the door was open and the sheep just walked into the house - it didn't want to leave as easily.

 Shropshire was very peaceful and relaxing in its country ambience. For us we realize that although we enjoy country visits & timely excursions that we are urban at heart with respect to regular day to day living. It is clear that, at least for us, that an appropriate balance of time spent in an urban setting with that of the rural or wilderness is good for our souls.

We made a visit to Ludlow, an old town (complete with a ruined castle) about a twenty minute drive from Dick's property.

On this particular day there was a market going on in the town square - a reminder of what might have happened in the mists of history, this being a very old town.

During this market day there was also a collection of old sports cars or roadsters. This one in British racing green is being admired by the Admiral.
One can easily see, driving the many winding roads here, why these roadsters or sports cars became popular.

Some of the shops were interesting such as this one with the ducks hanging outside. Not your average butcher.

 Dick and I strolling the back streets of Ludlow - there were many detours off the main streets which added interest.

Farewell from England for now. A pint of "dark" went down well to help with the fond memories of my visit. The many old pubs we visited to have a "meal" clearly was an important part of the experience.

Our next stop on the way "home" was to fly from Birmingham to Paris, actually just a short hop. This was clearly a dramatic contrast to the English countryside, the jump from rural to urban.

The Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Elysees. We elected to stay in a hotel close to this location to make for easy strolling. As we have both been to Paris before (separately) we did not feel the need to do a rush tour of "famous sights" (having explored them previously) and spent our time relaxing "urban style" with a lot of casual exploring and walking.

The "Champs" - lined by many designer shops, some chains, clubs, restaurants and some cafes (many more cafes and restaurants on the side streets). Always busy.

The "Champs" from the top of the Louis Vuitton main store & exhibition site. Most of these apartments are small but with exhorbitant prices attached.

We found it interesting that for some of the popular stores (as well as other expensive brands) that even in the relative off season, it now being mid October, had line ups to get in. This was to restrict the flow of customers to a level that the sales staff could deal with effectively - should try this at Canadian Tire stores where it is difficult to find anyone to help you? This location was for Abercrombie & Finch.

 The "Champs" - these ladies have done their shopping. Many of the people in Paris were dressed in a stylish fashion.

Day or night it remained busy. Our taxi driver to the airport was commenting that many young people will party & go from club to club ALL weekend only going home to wash up and change clothes!

These vehicles were not in the same category as the "classic" roadsters we saw at the market in the small town of Ludlow earlier in the week.

A cafe on one of the streets that ran off the "Champs" where we observed many of the "beautiful people", analogous to Yorkville in Toronto.

For us discovering small cafes on side streets were somewhat more genuine. Paris is full of small cafes & restaurants - it made us wonder why there were very few fat people. However in the European fashion people appear to get out and walk more than what we have become accustomed. Contrary to popular opinion we found the portion sizes often quite generous.

With all our walking we made sure to indulge in local fare & customs.

Oops, that's why we will do more walking. Unfortunately even on the simpler menus there was much to tempt oneself. This was not a city to visit if a diet is on your mind.

This does not need an introduction, the Eiffel Tower by the Seine.

No explanation needed. An amazing piece of construction when one realizes when it was originally built. Still an icon.

Along the Seine - another mood, another experience to the streets.

The final night in Paris required a simple French meal to be washed down with a bottle of wine and glass of cognac. A fitting ending to a good trip mixing a family visit, a rural and an urban experience in just over a week.
Our flight to Jeddah was uneventful via Middle Eastern Airlines that transferred us through Beirut on the way back.

A final comment on the style of the Blog to date.
In some ways it is a travel diary with images and some dialogue dealing with the experiences and locations we visited during our sojourn in the Magic Kingdom. One of its purposes is clearly to catalog our time here, an electronic scrapbook of sorts, something we can look back on in the future when our memories fade. It was not intended to be a detailed commentary. While living here we have made the conscious choice to experience & travel as much as we can while we have the opportunity on our doorstep. Certainly when we eventually return those opportunities will be much more limited. If others can enjoy, and "experience" some of these "adventures" we would be pleased.