July roundup

Very belated, but as promised, some photos of how I spent my winter vacation (in France!):

We spent the first week in Normandy - most of it, unsurprisingly for anyone who knows DP, visiting WWII battle sites, of which I took very few pictures. But I got some shots of our visit to William the Conqueror's birthplace in Falaise, on a typically changeable Normandy summer day (sun! clouds! rain! sun again!).

Over our week in Normandy, we drove more than 2000 kilometers (1200 miles). Everywhere we went, we saw huge hydrangea bushes - hedges, in many cases - in riotous bloom, in every shade of pink, blue, and purple. I managed to snap these vivid specimens just down the road from our rented house.

A visit to the town of Granville, on the Normandy coast. I'd never even heard of it until we picked it out as a doable day trip to the seaside; now I want to move there.

More of Granville - the high, walled fortress at the top of the old town. Formidable and  storybook-picturesque.

We spent the second week of our trip in Paris, where we met up with my sister S and her family. Here's a shot of our impromptu picnic lunch on our first day of exploring the city; we even ate it sitting on the banks of the Seine, in time-honored tourist cliche tradition.

Eiffel Tower, Bastille Day. This was as close as we could get on a national holiday, with a security cordon being set up as we roamed the neighborhood, in preparation for the evening's concert and fireworks display.

Arcades of the Palais Royale, where we went to imbibe some architecture and history, and stay out of the sun. After a changeable and often chilly week in Normandy, Paris was hot and got hotter as the week went on.

 Monument to the unknown soldier of World War I, gallery at the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Eiffel Tower again, from the Trocadero, on our last full day in Paris, a scorching July afternoon. Miss B is cooling her feet in the fountain.

Hard to imagine we were just there, back in Canberra and having just finished a week of record-breaking cold. And back into the regular routine of school, work, and cooking. More on that shortly...