A Pinay in Europe

DAILY PHOTOS

31 May 2010

Monaco seen from up

Monaco Country Club

A garden apartment complex

Swimming pool in the sky

A cruise ship moored in front of the Casino Montecarlo

Playground of the rich

Monaco cemetery

Montecarlo Bay Hotel and Resort

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30 May 2010

From my kitchen window:

29 May 2010

Bougainvilleas line up the Via Aurelia of the Ligurian coastline of Italy. Via Aurelia is a Roman road constructed around 241 BC.

28 May 2010

I’ve been practicing on photo editing skills so I need to dig out on my photoarchives:

“I love Koln”
Aachen, Germany
March 2007

Vienna, Austia
March 2009

27 May 2010

It’s late spring and I am surrounded by flowers in bloom. I miss my garden in the Var and am glad I have picture memories of them. I am passionate about gardens but it is no longer possible to create one as our nomadic lifestyle will just leave them dry and untended. I will just make do in enjoying other people’s gardens.

Here are some images taken from my garden in Provence

27 May 2010

Waiting for the bus
Nice, France

On the bus
Menton, France
24 May 2010

It’s Pentecost Monday in France, a non-working holiday, so what does everybody do when one don’t have to go to work or to school?

Go to Depot-Vente (Second-hand shop)

…and check for French classical furniture

…or French classical loo

Go drive and enjoy the countryside scenery

Go to the lake to cool off

Go to the Marina and practice creative photography

Or simply stay home and relax

21 May 2010

Market Day in Ventimiglia, Italy

Time for lunch, after a whole morning of shopping

But I prefer the parmiggiano…

Hmmmmm…saucisson Francais!

Made in Italy…by Asian seamstresses working in the black

17 May 2010

“Home Sweet Home”…..the bay of Cannes

17 May 2010

DRIVING IN FRANCE

Rapeseed fields in Northern France

Rapeseeds as far as the eyes can see

The marble skeleton sculpture of Rene Chalon, prince of Orange, created by Ligier Richer (16th C).
Bar le Duc, France

Altar of the Church of St Etienne
Bar le Duc, France

16 May 2010

A visit to Rye, East Sussex, UK

Wisteria cafe

Bonbons

Fashion trend for today: Green Couture

“Congratulations to the newly-wed!”

A game of bowls

And the mystery man is hiding somewhere

15 May 2010

Christchurch, Dorset

Ruins of Christchurch Castle

“Quack..quack…do you have some nuts, miss?”
Christchurch Quay

“Quack….itchy!”
Christchurch Quay

New Zealand Gardens presented by the City of Christchurch South Island New Zealand
as living evidence of the good feeling and close contact maintained over many years with our twin town.

The tulips make me want to paint,
Something about the way they drop
Their petals on the tabletop
And do not wilt so much as faint,………………………….BY A.E. STALLINGS

14 May 2010

Weymouth Harbour

The drawbridge which opens at 2-hour intervals to allow taller ships to pass through.

Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Clock and a Coastlinx bus along Weymouth’s esplanade
Weymouth, Dorset

Weymouth, Dorset

This 16-mile tidal lagoon, The Fleet, makes this area and the beach opposite it (Chesil Beach) as one of Britain’s best view. It forms part of the Jurassic Coast and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Royal Engineers bridge demolition training takes place here because it is an ideal safety location for basic watermanship, improvised raft construction, and training on assault boats.
Dorset coast

Taking a picture of a loved one when backpacking could help you cope with homesickness

Lyndhurst, New Forest

Errr,,,,you probably need a horncut, Mr Cow
New Forest, Hampshire

A colt (boy) or a foal (girl)?

13 May 2010

The Blue Bell fields of Dorset

Forde Abbey House, Somerset

The House

Mystery man

The Cerne Valley, Dorset

In front of you is the Cerne Giant, perhaps the most famous and controversial figure in Britain. It is 60 meters high and 51 meters wide, one of the three ancient figures cut into the English chalk downlands, the others being the Long Man of Wilmington in East Sussex and the Uffington White Horse in Berkshire. Some believe that he represents the Roman god, Hercules, and is over 1,500 years old. Others suggest that the Giant is a caricature of Oliver Cromwell and is only about 350 years old. This argument centers on the fact that there is no reference to the giant in any historic documents until 1694………

This very elaborate stone vaulted porch of the Cerne Abbey is one of few structures that survived after the dissolution of monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland by Henry VIII (between 1536 and 1541)
Cerne Village, Dorset

Nice hair, mademoisselle ducky!
They are called “white-crested” ducks because of the crest of feathers on their heads.
Cerne Village, Dorset

12 May 2010

What does the two above images have in common?
Image (1) is a scene of John Fowles’ classic novel, “The French Lieutenant’s woman” starring Meryl Streep

Meryll Streep and the Seagull are both standing on the Cobb, the harbour wall of Lyme Regis.

LYME REGIS

We drove to this coastal town of Dorset (SW of England) as we were supposed to meet up with our friends in the area. But first, we did some sightseeing to this famous English holiday resort.

The colourful beach huts of Lyme Regis

These huts can be rented on a daily/weekly basis. I always wondered if the tenant could sneak in to sleep in the night. Much cheaper than going to a B&B.

Spring is the best time to visit England if you are a lover of blooms!

11 May 2010

I am flying to the UK today to “fetch” my husband. Well, Mt Eyjafjallajoekull of Iceland is continuously spewing those volcanic ash causing all UK airports to close down again so we decided that I join him in the UK with the intention of driving the British car from there to home. It’s boring to drive alone.

The carpet of clouds that makes the UK eternally grey

These rapeseed fields create a patchwork of yellow and green in the UK

English manor seen from the sky

A busy English canal viewed from up

09 May 2010

The season for cycling competitions are on! This one was taken this morning direct from our terrace.

08 May 2010

In Italy, men are supposed to help with the marketing..

and after that pleasant haggling for frest fruits and veggies, sit on a cafe, order a cup of espresso
….and watch the world go by

07 May 2010

HOME in France

It’s our village’s Friday market
They’re selling clothes this time

06 May 2010

MENTON, France

Spot the difference
(the “real” Thinker, i.e., the statue, is not from Menton)

05 May 210

Spring is the season of the pivoine. This one is a giant, spanning 13cms or more in diameter!

04 May 2010

BETWEEN ITALY and FRANCE

The rock of Italy. The covered shelter used to be the Border Control going and coming from Italy.

03 May 2010

GENOVA, Italy

Palazzo Doria Spinola which houses the National Gallery

The Old and the New, spice up with Nature….voila!

Window-shopping

02 May 2010

CELICE, Liguria, Italy

The band playing for the Festa Patronale di San Nicolo

“Una bella terrazza! (A beautiful terrace!)
My first Italian sentence (just memorized it yesterday before driving to Italy) already took us to floral heights! Upon saying it to this kind Senora, she started talking about how she singlehandedly planted all the blooms in this terrace. She was extolling the beauty of the flower on the left (Clematis) so I asked if I could take a photo of it (including her of course)
Who can tell which windows are real or not?