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Monday 1 August 2016

T stands For a Trip to Poitiers for Second Look On The 2nd

I am doubling up here for my visit to Bluebeard and Elizabeth's for T stands for Tuesday.
as I also want to show you my Second Look on the 2nd.

We first visited my SIL and her hubby in 2013. I have always been fascinated by Eleanor of Aquitaine(err…have I mentioned that before?!!)I started to read - or rather dip into - a book of her life taken from sources at the time she was alive.I have recently started to read it properly - in fact I am nearing the end now! It was quite relevant to be reading this around our trip back to Lincoln and Nottingham as her sons had connections with those cities and her husband's illegitimate son became Bishop of Lincoln also.
This post is from June 2013 and can be found here 

This is the post if you prefer not to follow the link

I've had rather a lot to catch up on, so although we got back last week this really is the first chance I've had to show any pictures! 
First of all I must say a big "Thank you!" to my xsil and her hubby - we had THE most fantastic time! They guided us through menus and we had some fantastic meals, they drove us all over the place and showed us some real treasures and above all they provided us with some great company - we really did talk for hours!!! Oh! and they also took me to some great places to stock up on craft goodies(more of that another day)!
The journey to Poitiers was an interesting one, the first leg from Manchester to London was the worst - travelling backwards and no window to look out of! We then boarded Eurostar which was much better - more leg room and a view - got to Lille and had time to sit in the sun and have a coffee! Then - the most exciting part - a double decker sncf/tgv to Poitiers and we were on the top deck! Gosh! Did that train travel?!!! We did have a little delay around Paris for work occurring on the track but made up speed and were only about 15 minutes late!
The next day we were taken to Fontevraud Abbey - the final resting place of Eleanor of Aquitaine - I had no idea we were within driving distance so I was excited at the prospect of a visit(I've always had a fascination with Eleanor)
It was raining in the morning and after a fabulous lunch there was no sign of it stopping, so armed with an umbrella, we set off - xsil and hubby went off somewhere else with a promise to pick us up later! 
The abbey was built in 1100 by Robert d'Arbrissel, who put a woman in charge and made a rule that it would always have a woman in charge despite housing both monks and nuns! 
The tombs of Eleanor, Henry II, Richard I and Isabelle d'Angouleme (King Johns wife)
Eleanor supported the abbey by supplying funds to run it and ended her days there
The rain stopped and we went to explore further, the abbey was used as a prison by Napoleon so there was a lot more to see.
The Kitchen/Smoke house and garden
another view of the outside of the Kitchens
a scary carving....
and a beautiful angel
this was on a beautiful wall of roses
Another treat was in store on our way home - we were taken on a scenic route along the Loire, calling to visit a beautiful church and driving past the fantastic Saumur Chateau

As you can see from this page

 there certainly was lots to see in the area and I'll be back with more pages from my journal and some more photos if you can stand it!


Now for something to drink…

When we went to Nottingham the other week we went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and before we set off for Southwell we had a cup of coffee…and I nearly forgot to take this photo!!!

On Sunday morning I peeped out of the curtain in our bedroom and saw these two on the feeder - I nearly tripped over rushing for my camera but was pleased to get a few photos before they flew off!
I do love the colours on Goldfinches! 

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of our first Poitiers trip.
I am having a few busy days but I hope to be visiting early tomorrow! 

Thanks for looking, Chris

17 comments:

Linda Kunsman said...

Oh what a lovely post Chris!!! I have passed thru Poitiers many times while traveling from one group of relatives to another. AND, I have been to Chateau Saumur! SO many beautiful sights to see n'est-ce pas? I would most likely have gotten sick from backwards travel but the double decker bus trip sounds great. Thanks for sharing and happy T day!

~*~Patty S said...

Oh that lovely chateau and gardens!
Those tombs are very moving and so dramatic looking.
I enjoy skulls and angels equally ♥
Traveling backwards does not work for me at all.
Double decker buses are fun.
Happy T Day and Happy August too dear Chris oxo
p.s. your Goldfinches are so different from ours here on the east coast of the US

Helen said...

how lovely to revisit Eleanor, even by blog! the goldfinches are fabulous, well done for snapping them. a big thanks for catching up with so many posts.

Valerie-Jael said...

Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos, that was a great trip. Hapy T Day, happy 2nd on the 2nd, hugs, Valerie

johanna said...

what a wonderful trip you had! the skull carving and the angel are my favorite photos, such fantastic Details!
beautiful Journal spreads, too! and i hope you will have a Relaxing week! happy t-day!

Meggymay said...

A wonderful post Chris, you have jogged my memories again today. When we took the caravan to France, we used to stay close to Saumur. We used to visit the wine caves around that area, on the bikes.
Awesome photos to look at, thank you for sharing.
Happy T Day.
Yvonne xx

froebelsternchen said...

Fantastic photos Chris! Thank you for sharing! Happy T-Day and happy Second on the Second!
oxo Susi

jinxxxygirl said...

You had coffee in Nottingham!!! :) Did you see Robin Hood??? lol sorry... couldn't help myself.... I'm only on my first cup of coffee myself... What wonderful finch photo you captured! I have my camera sitting right at my big bay window where the feeder is just for that reason... :) Hugs! deb

Gibby Frogett said...

Fabulous and interesting post - loved your photos and even the carving with the skull was nice :)
Wonderful photo of the Goldfinches (was that Niger seeds they were feeding on?)
Gill x

Divers and Sundry said...

I wish I could've gotten birds to come to my thistle feeder, but I never saw a one. After several years, I've given the feeder to my daughter. She's having a bit better luck with it. Happy T Tuesday!

Let's Art Journal said...

A Lovely post, I love the white marble carvings of the skull and cross bones and the angel! The roses look huge and are very beautiful indeed! Happy T Day! J :-)

Krisha said...

WOW! such beautiful places and the photos are fantastic. I am in love with that style of architecture.

Your journal will definitely be bulging with delight when finished.

That rose is so pretty, I can't imagine a whole wall of them. I can almost smell them.....haha!

I've almost hurt myself trying to get to my camera to get a good photo too. Congrats! You got a great Photo.

Happy T-day

Lisca said...

Don't worry Chris!
Thank you for sharing that Poitiers post again. That was certainly worth sharing a second time. (I hadn't seen it as I didn't know you then). I remember travelling through Poitiers. We might even had a drink or a meal there but we didn't stay long enough to visit anything. I really must read up on my history. It all sounds fascinating. And the chateau is beautiful. My fav pic though is the rose!
Great that you could get the goldfinches! Right outside your bedroom window! Precious!
Thank you for visiting,
Happy Tuesday,
Lisca

My name is Erika. said...

Great post Chris. I loved seeing you latest trip photos and the pages you made. You've done a lot of journeying so far this year. Fun to see places that aren't the big cities. (Not that those places are bad either). Any more little trips in the works? And Happy T day. Hugs-Erika

Halle said...

Great post...so glad I got the chance to see it.
Happy T day and 2nd!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I sincerely apologize for not visiting sooner. My internet/phone problem took the wrong time to go offline again. Even the serviceman is confused. Before he could leave, thinking all was well, it went out again. Right now I'm at Sally's and this has to be quite quick.

Had I not created Kathy's Kings and Queen AB, I would probably never had become so interested in Eleanor of Aquitaine after you posted what an influence she had on you. I'm thrilled you brought this back.

You have no idea how delighted I was that we could share T Day as well as your second look on the 2nd. Thanks for joining in yesterday.

Darla said...

Catching up on Tuesdays posts. I really enjoyed seeing everything related to Eleanor of Aquitaine. It must be amazing to walk through the places where she walked and to visit her tomb.