Chateauneuf Castle, Burgundy

The village of Chateauneuf-en-Auxois has a real castle on top of a hill, with a moat, great views, etc. It's been restored and the public can visit it. This is a shot of inside the walls. The building on the far right is the oldest, dating from the 1200's.

Scale model of the castle.

View of countryside through medieval leaded glass window. 

A newer part of the inside courtyard. 

Same view only better of the tower. I like towers.

View from our hotel window which looks lovely
but it was a terrifically hot day - over 30 degrees Celsius and the room was stifling hot. No air moving and no AC. This was the second room we had as the first was a garret room with one small window with bars.
We felt like we were in prison and being roasted to death.  

Peek-a-boo. I see you. 

Fun times must come to an end......

End of a long downhill run and a stop at a small stone bridge
over the river Ouse. 

We experienced wonderful sights, sounds and tastes over our two months of travel in France, Belgium and England. Thanks to everyone who joined me by reading some of this blog. I appreciate your interest.

Bikers and vineyards

Sunset in Long Marston, Yorkshire. 

Cycling Burgundy

Charming old houses with gardens and cats. 

Roses grow everywhere

M

Curious lanes

Of course, vineyards

Ivy covered houses

The odd chateau with typical Burgundy tiled roof.

Medieval churches (Dijon)

More lanes (Chateauneuf)

Where dead wine makers are buried

Across the Valley, Champagne

The view across the Marne valley from the balcony of our "gite".

The prerequisite church for each village.

Our Renault Kangoo. For the locals a popular small utility vehicle.

Like a pick up truck is to Albertans.

Vines and village in Champagne. Perfect. Tranquil. 

A small road through vineyards and a chateau in the distance.

Vineyards as far a the eye can see. The Marne river valley.

Canadian National Vimy Memorial

To honour the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Canada's 150th and while in France, we made our way to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. Carved on the walls of the monument are the names of some 11,285 Canadians who died in France and whose final resting place was then unknown. Standing on the monument's wide stone terrace overlooking the broad fields and rolling hills of northern France, one can see other places where Canadians fought and died during the war. More than 66,000 gave their lives during WWI. While there, we witnessed a service, complete with bagpipes, given by a group of young men from St. Andrews College, Aurora, Ontario. These youth probably would have been close in age to many who died here. It was a very moving experience on a wonderfully sunny, clear and warm day. As we travel through various countries these past weeks I am continually reminded how lucky we are to live in Canada and be Canadians. Bon anniversaire mon pays.

See Photos below....

Canadian National Vimy Memorial

Front of Memorial

Back of Memorial

Pipers.
St. Andrews College, Aurora Ontario.

Mourning female.

Monsieur Castor and friends pay their respects.

Critters in Champagne

Moxi, Gustavo and Monsieur Castor are happy to be back in France. England was fun but we've  made our way to the  Champagne region after a long day of travel and it is nice to sit, enjoy the view and sip on some bubbly. Especially pink bubbly.  

A busy day in York, England

We started our day early with a visit to York Minster

         A gothic cathedral that has had a building continuously on this site since 627

    The beautiful Chapter House ceiling

We walked up 275 steps to a tower with a view

 

Moxi, Gustavo and Monsieur Castor almost got blown away from the top.

Then we walked the city wall

Above, had lunch at a great street food vendor called Los Moros (North African) and lastly visited the National Railway Museum in the afternoon. Whew! I was pooped after all that.

There but for the Grace of God ( go I )

Queen's house

The big clock

The big wheel

We're leaving London, this marvellous city, with some sadness today. The recent terrorist attacks have left their impression. I was out the night before (Friday) at a concert and coming back to apartment on bicycle about 10:30pm. It was a lovely, balmy early summer evening and many, many people were out on the streets. Many people are always out on the streets here. It's just that kind of place. My route did not take me near London Bridge. But, I could have kept going and biked to the bridge Friday night. It was only just beyond my destination on the bike path.

The next night at about 10:30pm the incident happened. Such a meaningless loss of life and injury. And for what? No one wins when these actions take place. What makes people so disenfranchised that they do this? How do we get to the root of the problem and fix it, not put more security on the streets which is needed but really just a band-aid? So many questions. I don't have the answers.

I leave you with three photos I took of London icons on my bike ride home and one from the BBC of people gathering to pay their respects.