Tag: history

A Trip To Marseille – Part Two

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There is the most fabulous museum in Marseille, Musem the museum of European and Mediterranean civilisations . It comprises of two buildings separated by a bridge. The views are nothing short of spectacular. There is also a rooftop terrace overlooking the ocean with lounge chairs for visitors to relax. When we visited they were showing, amongst many other exhibits, an exhibition called Bonnes mères, an exploration of motherhood over four thousand years. The museum is a must-visit in my opinion.

Les grandes créatures Maternite No 1 by Mâkhi Xenakis, The fortress syle Musem, Under Construction (Blue Eyes Crying) by Anne Wnezel

There is a little “train” (not really a train, it travels along the road) from outside the Town Hall up to the Notre Dame de la Garde which is the breathtaking cathedral situated on top of a hill topped by the bright gold statue of the Good Mother. Again, the views are amazing as is the architecture. You must be appropriately dressed to enter the cathedral so shoulders and knees covered. Do take a few euros in cash if you would like to buy a candle to light for someone. There is no charge to enter. There is a beautiful gift shop if you like religious statues and rosaries. The train ride is great fun, I thoroughly recommend this excursion, there were some small children sitting behind us pretending they were on a rollercoaster every time we went downhill. Just after we disembarked back at The Old Port the train broke down blocking an entire street of motorists which caused absolute chaos.

The view from Notre Dame de la Garde, the stunning gilded ceilings, visitors can buy a candle and say a prayer

We also visited beautiul Marseille cathedral, again free to enter, and took a walk to the Le Panier, a bustling district decorated by what my daughter calls street art and I call graffiti. There are lots of inexpensive gift shops here as well as bars and cafes. We stopped off and had a delicious iced tea and a browse around the quirky shops. My daughter had seen various vintage clothing shops on TikTok so we trudged to a couple of these but everything was ridiculously overpriced. There are a great many homeless people in Marseille which is very sad to see, whole families on blankets begging. Young children and babies out in the blazing sun, many who don’t appear to be with their actual parents, they are everywhere you go.

Street art in the Le Panier district

Marseille Cathedral, if you look carefully you can see a homeless woman huddling by the entrance gate

My son wanted to go to the beach, this is an outing I could gladly have missed but he had been so good about coming along to all the museums and churches so off we went. We left the hotel at around 4pm and it was still sweltering. As we approached the beach, the plage des Catalans, a fight broke out between two teenage girls, a very nasty physical fight and they both had to be restrained. The beach was heaving with people but we stayed an hour or so. I would definitely suggest keeping your eye on your valuables here.

I didn’t do any shopping in Marseille with the exception of a tin of beautifully scented soaps, a gift for my neighbour who had kindly watered my garden in my absence. I bought these from a shop called Mado along the seafront. We packed a lot into our few days in Marseille. It was a wonderful trip which we all really enjoyed.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

A Trip To Marseille – Part One

On By samanthaIn GOING OUTLeave a comment

I didn’t really want to go to Marseille. I had planned on going to Portugal and had been sitting at my PC for hours watching YouTube travel vlogs for suggestions of places to visit and stay, weighing up one hotel against another etc and was just about to check out of the booking website when my husband decided that he would rather go to the south of France. “Why don’t we go to Marseille?” he suggested. Slightly annoyed, I had a quick recce, again on YouTube for the best area to stay, the Old Port seemed to be the favourite and started the whole tedious process again. I had been dithering on the booking website for so long that a rep actually rang me and offered me a ten percent discount and threw in some luggage allowance as well.

After I had paid, I Googled Marseille and was not overjoyed to find it is labelled as “The Most Dangerous City in Europe”. Why hadn’t I just booked Lisbon instead? Fair to say I was not by now in the best mood. My husband thought it was funny and my dad thought we would all be murdered. Every time I mentioned to anyone that we were visiting the city they would say “ooh I don’t think I would fancy Marseille”. What an epic fail. Then a friend who regularly visits France told me it is actually lovely, especially around The Old Port which is where we were staying. The were right, it is beautiful and very lively with so much to see and do. I would quite happily have stayed for another few days.

A word of warning, the traffic in Marseille is madness and the drivers are very aggressive, the countless e-bikes and e-scooters are a real problem as they do not stop at zebra crossings and neither do motorcycles. We saw a man knocked off his e-scooter and the driver of the car who hit him just drove off. Instead of showing any concern or sympathy the other cars just hooted at the injured man lying in the road because he was holding them up. We also saw a woman’s car break down at a roundabout and the response from other motorists was brutal, hooting and shouting at her as she looked thoroughly panicked, fortunately some young men pushed her car out of the way. Good luck to you if you are planning on hiring a car.

We stayed at The New Hotel, Le Qui , which is situated in the Old Port. I would definitely recommend staying here, the beds were incredibly comfortable, the bathrooms stocked with L’Occitane toiletries and the air conditioning worked perfectly. The the hotel is within walking distance of just about everywhere you could wish to go. Just outside the door there are shops and restaurants. The only thing I didn’t like was that there was no safe place to leave luggage if you arrive before you can check in, the staff literally give you a paper ticket and your cases are left in the café area within touching distance of the customers which is not a satisfactory or secure arrangement at all. A taxi from the airport to the hotel was around £30.

The first place we visited was the Old Charity Centre or Le Centre de la Vieille Charité this was free to enter. Built in 1640 to shelter beggars and vagrants, today it hosts various exhibitions. We were curious about the various pieces of material draped over the stone work and then discovered these were part of an art installation by artist Adrien Vescovi. Over six hundred vintage bed sheets have been collected and reflect the site’s history, some of the sheets have rather movingly been used in hospice care. Many of the items were monogrammed with the initials of whoever had slept on them over the years. There is also currently an exhibition called Mémoires de la Méditerranée or What The Sea Keeps, the glass bottles in the photo below make a stunning exhibit.

After we had finished at the Old Charity Centre we had some crepes and coffee and then walked uphill to The Palais Longchamp in the 35 degree heat. There is a beautiful fountain at its entrance were two dogs were playing trying to keep cool. Designed by  architect Henry Espérandieu to commemorate the arrival of water through the Marseille canal, the palace really is a breath taking sight, It is completely free to walk around the surrounding gardens. On either side of the fountain are two museums, on the left side the Museum of Natural History, and on the right the Museum of Fine Arts which is the oldest museum in Marseille. Both were a welcome cool refuge from the sun.

We took a boat trip, lasting around two and a half hours, from The Old Port around the Calanques, the famous cliffs surrounding the national park. The trip cost around £200 for four of us and was probably the favourite part of my holiday as it was so peaceful. All the commentary is in French although there is a QR code which I believe you can scan if you have Air pods to listen in anther language. Of course this probably varies from boat to boat. The Calanques National Park is a popular destination for hiking and kayaking. Longer boat tours are available where passengers can stop off for a swim.

Of course, being a port, there is a lot of sea food on offer. My husband and I are both allergic to fish so we ended up eating mostly crepes, pizza and steak. Some of the food was not very impressive including raw burgers and cold lasagne. The price of eating out is comparable to London. There is a shopping mall called Terrasses du Port where you will find Uniqlo, Zara, H & M and all the usual stores. There is also a large food court with a burger restaurant called Black and White Burger, the black part of the bun being made from natural activated charcoal. My nineteen year old son ate here while we just had a cold drink. The view from the upper terrace of the mall is gorgeous but there is nothing particularly French about this shopping centre however the air conditioning made it worth a quick visit.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

A Day Out in London – The Cartier Exhibition at the V & A

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If you enjoy looking at beautiful jewellery then the Cartier Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum is a must see. It is showing until Sunday 26th November, tickets are around £25 each. I love the V & A, it is such beautiful building and it is especially lovely in the warmer months when you can sit outdoors and have a coffee or lunch.

It was in 1847 that Louis-François Cartier took over his master’s workshop in  Paris and later passed it on to his son, Alfred. His three grandsons, Louis, Pierre and Jacques really made Cartier the spectacular success that it remains today. Cartier must surely be the most glamorous jewellers on the planet and the go-to for real Royalty and the silver screen variety.

The exhibition was heaving with visitors and we had to queue the whole way round. There are some boards up detailing some of the Cartier family history. It did make me laugh that some women (nearly all the visitors seemed to be women) were speaking loudly about their own jewellery and the trials they had faced getting it insured, it was definitely an opportunity for a bit of one-upmanship! The first display we came to was full of diamond brooches, one of them was particularly beautiful, so delicate that it appeared to be made of lace rather than diamonds. See my cover photo.

I always associate Cartier with timepieces and my favourite items included in this exhibition were the gorgeous clocks. I could just picture them being on the desk in some elegant study. There were also display cases full of watches, notably their most famous Tank style.

There is a whole sparkling room devoted to tiaras, most of them commissioned for brides. All are dripping in diamonds, some are very ornate and some very simple. There are cards detailing which lucky woman wore each piece and at which occasion.

One of the bracelets featured The Star of The South Diamond Bracelet (pictured on the left below) is set with a diamond reportedly found in 1853 in Brazil by an enslaved woman. As a reward she was granted her freedom and a pension, what a sad story. It is so sparkly that it proved impossible to photograph clearly. The sapphires featured in the middle photo below are 311 and 478 carats, mined in Sri Lanka The necklace was sole to King Ferdinand of Romania as a gift for his wife, Queen Marie.

Cartier is known as ‘the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers’. A great deal of the jewellery displayed is owned by the British Royal family but a lot was also on loan from wealthy families from the Middle East. The Duchess of Windsor has an entire cabinet devoted to pieces she owns. Imagine having the means to commission anything that takes your fancy. Although I enjoyed looking at all the fabulous pieces it was a little disappointing that there weren’t more photographs on display of it actually being worn. There was a screen showing short clips from films such as High Society and Sunset Boulevard but I would have liked to have seen how the jewellery was worn and styled, especially the wedding tiaras.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

A Trip to Copenhagen – Part Two

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We decided to visit Rosenborg Castle on the second day of our trip to Copenhagen. We booked tickets the same morning via the official website. The castle staff are very strict and won’t let you enter even a minute early. The castle and its surroundings are so beautiful. A little like at Buckingham Palace, soldiers march up and down outside and woe betide anyone who gets in their way. One member of the castle staff screamed to a toddler to get out of their way, it was a little harsh but the little boy’s dad didn’t seem too perturbed. Inside there is so much to see including portraits of various members of Danish royalty, many of whom were a bit… strange looking. There’s a whole room dedicated to glass wear but it would have been helpful to have an audio guide so we could know exactly what we were looking at. The Renaissance castle is home to the Danish crown jewels which we didn’t see because my daughter needed the loo, which is outside, and we could not get back in. It was a hot day and, to be honest we had had enough of the stuffiness. The castle is located in perhaps the most beautiful spot in Copenhagen, next to the Kings Gardens where you can go for a stroll afterwards. The cover image of this post is the view from the castle windows.

A sign for the Kings Gardens, A soldier outside Rosenborg Castle, The Glass Cabinet, Rosenborg Castle

The following morning my dad called to say that Mum had been taken ill and that the GP had called an ambulance. I spent several hours worrying but my brother and his wife live in the same town as the hospital and they were able to go and help. Fortunately Mum wasn’t admitted and is now recovering from an infection. As you can imagine, it did rather blight the day but, after I knew that Mum was going to be alright and I didn’t need to fly home, we went to Tivoli Gardens. This is the theme park that inspired Disney World and the second oldest theme park in the world, opening in 1843. It is a must if you are visiting the city with young people. There are more than thirty rides which I am sure my daughter would have loved had she been with friends but we paid around £20 each for entrance to the park, not including the rides. We then paid an additional £12 to go into the aquarium . There are numerous food stands, cafes and bars dotted around and plenty of places to sit and relax. The atmosphere is just lovely and the gardens are very pretty.

Photos from Tivoli Gardens, the aquarium, me trying not to worry about my mum, the gardens

On our final full day we visited the Botanical Gardens and the Natural History Museum . There was an icy wind and it was drizzling so we didn’t stay in the gardens for long. They are free to enter but you do need to pay to go into the Palm House. There is a very charming old building in the gardens which houses the Pioneer Centre for Artificial Intelligence research, an odd stetting for something so futuristic. The centre is not open to the public. The museum was well worth a visit. There is currently a wildlife photography exhibition showing which we really enjoyed. There is a whole room of fossils, stuffed animals, tusks and shells that visitors can touch and there was a children’s workshop taking place. It did make me sad to see the stuffed tiger, polar bear and other creatures but they have all been long-deceased. The museum staff were all very friendly and enthusiastic. Afterwards we went to the farmer’s market opposite our hotel for the most delicious (and pricey) sandwiches. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant, again the meal wasn’t fantastic.

Our flight wasn’t until 9.30pm on Friday so we went into town to have pastries and coffee for breakfast at a bakery called BUKA. Afterwards we returned to Nyhavn Harbour and took another boat trip but, like most things in life, it wasn’t as enjoyable the second time. Then we headed into town for a look around the shops, a light lunch and an ice-cream. We finished our trip back at the King’s Gardens where my daughter fell asleep on a park bench, a few passers-by gave me very disapproving looks. Then back to our hotel who had arranged our taxi to the airport. Our flight was delayed by an hour or so and we were very pleased to be home when we let ourself in at 1am.

We loved Copenhagen, I had no idea there was so much to do and see. At no point was I worried about pickpockets or phone snatchers and the city is so clean. If you are thinking of taking a solo trip it feels like a very safe destination. Highly recommended!

Thank you for reading,

Samantha

Breakfast at BUKKA bakery

A Day Out in Kent – Lullingstone Castle and The World Garden

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A lovely friend of mine has just visited from Australia. She had an impossibly busy schedule but we agreed to meet on Saturday. She was staying at the Premier Inn in my town so I picked her up and we decided to visit Lullingstone Castle and its “World Garden” .

If you decide to visit Lullingstone don’t do the logical thing and follow the signs for the castle, they will simply take you to a pair of locked gates. You have to head for Lullingstone Roman Villa and then you drive behind the visitor centre and the castle will be revealed in all its beauty. It really is like a scene from Brideshead Revisited. There was even a vintage Rolls Royce parked outside. To visit the house and garden costs a very reasonable £12.50 for adults. There are concessions for OAPs and children.

Both Henry VIII and Queen Anne are known to have been regular visitors to the castle which now comprises of a manor house, gate house, church and a stunning lake. Inside the house you can see one of Queen Anne’s hair pieces along with other historical objects. There are lots of models of the castle on display and a friendly volunteer to answer any questions. The current owner, whose family have owned Lullingstone since 1497, warmly greeted us at the door and chatted to my friend about her own travels. I did wonder if owning such a huge property is as much of a burden as it is a blessing. The upkeep must be enormous.

On the grounds, as you enter through the gatehouse there is St Botolph’s church, of Norman origin and made of flint, which boasts some of the oldest stained glass windows in the world, some from the fourteenth century. Although it is small there is plenty to see inside.

If you have heard of the castle before it may because of the BBC series Save Lullingstone Castle, and Return to Lullingstone Castle or because the son of the owners, Tom Hart Dyke was kidnapped in the Panamanian jungle during an expedition in the year 2000. He and his companions were held for nine months. Thankfully they were eventually released and I remember seeing him on a talk show after his ordeal was over. He has gone on to have a successful career in botany and, whilst in captivity, came up with the idea for the World Garden at Lullingstone. As the name suggests, the garden takes visitors on a botanical tour of the world and is really very quirky and charming. There are lots of unusual plants to see, some sculptures and a touch of kitsch here and there, like the pair of plastic penguins either side of an entry way.

The castle has a cafe where “light refreshments” are served and guests are also permitted to bring their own picnic. There is a gift shop and a nursery so that you can purchase some plants of your own. I thought Lullingstone was really lovely and I will definitely be back again, next time I will visit the Roman Villa as well.

After the castle we decided to go to for a pub lunch. We drove to a nearby village and had possibly the worst meal out I’ve ever experienced. The manager was so rude and unhelpful when my friend asked a question about the menu. I ordered a burger which was served with some sort of sloppy meat on the side. There was literally no service apart from the lad who brought our plates over but a 12.5% service charge was added to the bill. We went to the bar for drinks and ordered from a QR code, something I am wary about after a friend’s husband fell victim to a scam where a fake code was stuck onto a menu. Anyway I won’t name the pub which may be in the most picturesque location but I certainly won’t be returning.

Thank you for reading

Samantha

A Day Out in London – Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350 at The National Gallery & Marylebone Village

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The Siena exhibition at The National Gallery is breath-taking. If you would like to view some of Europe’s earliest artwork, beautifully displayed, then this is the exhibition for you. It features the work of fourteenth century Italian artists, Duccio, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti . When they completed their masterpieces seven hundred years ago did these artists ever imagine that people would still be admiring them so far into the future? The work is all of a religious theme, there are many images of the Virgin Mary with Jesus as a baby and of course countless crucifixion scenes.

There are over one hundred exhibits including fragments of intricately woven silk, rugs, plaster panels, ivory statuettes, altarpieces. One scene painted by Ducci shows Mary recovering from labour. In many of the artworks she looks sorrowful, already aware of the fate of her baby son. The accompanying narrative displayed next to each exhibit was very informative, I did not know that Mary’s parents were called Anne and Joachim

Many works by Pietro Lorenzetti and his brother Ambrogio are featured. There is diptch that displays Christ’s brith on one side and his crucifixion on the other. There is an enormous crucifix with a sinister skull lying at the bottom. So many exquisite things to see. I am just glad I was not responsible for transporting so may fragile objects.

After the gallery we caught a bus to Marylebone Village and had a light lunch in the French restaurant Aubaine. The bus driver did not speak a word of English and kept playing the wrong announcements so it was rather comical. Marylebone Village consists of coffee shops, restaurants and clothing boutiques such as Sandro, Sezane, Me & Em, and Rizo. Not the very high end designers but you still need a few hundred pounds to buy a dress in most of the stores. We spent some time looking at pretty things in Sezane but neither my friend or I bought anything. Some of the shops had more staff than customers and I wonder how they all keep going. There is a lovely relaxed atmosphere in the village and I will definitely go back and explore a little bit more soon

Thank you for reading

Samantha