Murph’s Magical Mystery Tour

“All over, all over – as all stories eventually are!”

The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen

*Just look at this collection of hieroglyphics –*

*or as Murph call*s them, his “notes”. And thank goodness he has all those notes. As most of you know, the planning for these trips are ALL MURPH – thus the “magical mystery” reference. Honestly, I pretty much have to pack and show up — so it’s pretty much a mystery to me! *And if you’re following us, you know it’s been magical!*

He sat at his desk, in the living room, on the deck and at the kitchen table – booking 20 different hotels for 38 days in Denmark, England and France. He arranged 3 different cars for us along with canoes, bikes and trains. While I drove – he navigated, navigated and navigated.

“*We wander to collect stories and memories that will keep us warm when we are old.” –* Unknown

*“Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” –* Lewis Carrol

*This was a strange “tradition” in Rocamadour but we HAD to do it!*

*“ To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with.”* Mark Twain

*And occasionally I have “melt downs*” *when pushed to my limit. So this guy has to talk me off the ledge and bolster me up again.*

*Remember Butter Beer? I’m not the only one who enjoyed it!*

*“Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.”* Emma Chase

“*If traveling were free, we’d be gone forever.” –* unknown

***“No story lives unless someone wants to listen. –*** JK Rowling

Thanks for listening❣️

Lovin’ London

“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” – Jimmy Carter

*Our top priority when visiting London is the parks! According to our “research” this tree (and so many of the others) was planted in 1789.*

*We weren’t the only people enjoying the parks on a nice fall day.*

*Peace Garden at Tavistock Square* *where Mahatma Gandhi “resides”.*

*“It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone.” Gandhi*

*Russell Square, a favorite park of ours has one of the best birdbaths ever!*

*And while we’re bird watching, check out this beauty at St James Park.*

*I found this so heartwarming – it a huge city like London – such compassion.*

*I especially loved the sun glistening of her jewelry!*

*We enjoyed coming home to our place in Cartwright Gardens on this crescent.*

*I just can’t stop taking pics of flowers – just not possible.*

*This was in a community garden – enjoyed by many people.*

*Look at this garden old wellies – too cute!*

*We took a train to Watford then hopped on a bus to go see this amazing collection of Harry Potter collection of sets, props etc used in the making of the eight Harry Potter movies.*

*This is NOT the train we took – this is the Hogwarts Express. If you’ve not read the books – what are you waiting for?*

*The dining hall where, well, the kids and teachers dined!*

*The dining hall ceiling used to shoot the films.*

*Any fan will recognize this leaky cauldron.*

*But check this out – took 6 weeks to make and “was on screen for only a couple of seconds.”* *That’s a commitment to detail.*

*Gringotts Wizarding Bank was just beautiful!*

*While walking through the Enchanted Forest we encountered this hippogriff. For future fans*, *it’s a legendary creature with the front half of an eagle and the hind half of a horse.*

*This very large model of Hogwarts was so interesting – created in a little over one month.*

*The Burrow – where the Weasley family lived.*

*Every fan knows what Butter Beer is! Here I am toasting my Little Buddy! Cheers*‼️

Captivating Carcassonne

“Every big castle was once started with a single block; despise no small beginnings. A little step taken every day builds up the hope of greater accomplishments. Do something every day!” – Israelmore Ayivor

*Locals like to believe that Carcassonne got its name this way: 1,200 years ago, Charlemagne and his troops besieged this fortress-town (then called La Cité*) for several years. A cunning townsperson named Madame Carcas saved the town. Just as food was running out, she fed the last few bits of grain to the last pig and tossed him over the wall. Splat! Charlemagne’s bored and frustrated forces, amazed that the town still had enough food to throw fat pigs over the wall, decided they would never succeed in starving the people out. They ended the siege and the city was saved. Madame Carcas sonne-d (sounded) the long awaited victory bells, and La Citè (the city in English) had a new name.-
*Carcas – Sonne. It’s a good story, right? But historians suspect that Carcassonne is a Frenchified version of the town’s original name (Carcas)*. *Just in case the story IS true — meet Madame Carcas!*

*and steep walls. Hard to imagine anyone even thinking about climbing them and invading this city!*

*A fun way to see the city, close up and in the distance, is by walking the ramparts.*

*Couldn’t wait to see the inside of this church but Alas! – a wedding was taking place that afternoon so – no visitors allowed.*🥲

*We worked up an appetite climbing all those steps so we stopped for crêpes. Chocolate for Murph and lemon for me. We were both happy with our choices!*

*Fresh off the griddle and oh so yummy!*

*Walking home in the evening we passed this festive neighborhood.*

*Carcassonne was so pretty at night, too.*

*One morning we walked the path outside the walls…*

A Few French Flowers

“Enough is a feast.” – Buddhist proverb

Too sweet to leave out!

To Cave or Not to Cave…

“The important thing to you is not how many years in your life, but how much life in your years.” – Dr Edward Stieglitz

*Padirac Chasm – starts out with a 338 foot deep sink hole.*

*until we hit the bottom – oh silly us – just the start of descending.*

*A “mysterious statue of a woman” to intrigue all visitors.* 🤷🏽‍♀️

The cave contains a subterranean river system that is partly negotiable by boat, and it is regarded as “one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena of the Massif Central.” The Padirac River continues underground for about 9.9 miles until it flows into the Dordogne River. (Remember that river?)

*Photos were not allowed while we floated down the river so I had to take pics of the pics to give you an idea. It WAS VERY cool!*

*The guide paddled along and explained about the different formations.*

*I especially liked this one with an interesting reflection.*

If you look closely you can see the type of boat we rode in. By the time we returned to the top, my Fitbit registered 5,000 steps – all of which were either upstairs or downstairs. It was a lot of walking but oh so interesting!

The following day we went to Grotte du Pech Merle – 29,000 thousand year old cave paintings. Due to the sensitivity of the drawings no photos were allowed, but check out the hand prints – may be a form of signature?

*A bazillion years ago there was water that whirl-pooled at the bottom of this cave and turned rocks into “balls” that they referred to as cave pearls.*

“The Dordogne’s limestone cliffs — honeycombed with painted caves — are unique on this planet. Long before Stonehenge and before the Egyptian pyramids, back when mammoths and saber-toothed cats roamed the earth, prehistoric people painted deep inside these grottoes.” – Rick Steves

Various French Villages

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” – Mark Twain

*We spent time in so many beautiful villages and Murph took a ton of gorgeous pictures. Here are a few examples – this is the village of Rocamadour.*

*Look how these homes spill down the hillside!*

Le Chemin de Croix – The stations of the Cross follow a path in Rocamadour between the sanctuary and the iron cross atop the cliff. The walkway was a steep, switchback and was set in the woods, very peaceful.

*St Cirq – Lapopie* *– population 201* ☺️

*Pretty view from ruins above the village.*

So *many pretty street scenes that I’m running out of adjectives!*

*And all of these centuries* *old buildings!*

*We ate dinner here one night – up the steps and among* *all that greenery.*

*This home, now an art gallery, had an interesting little “room” on top.* 🤷🏾‍♀️

*And of course, nighttime was magical. With high season over, we felt as though we had the place to ourselves.*

*And here we are, walking the lanes, in Puycelsi.*

*I often wonder what it would be like to live in these quiet little places.*

*We never tired of strolling lanes like this….*

*This region of France is known for their sunsets.*

*Did I mention the spectacular sunsets?*

“I noticed something”

“People who have traveled a lot tend to judge less. Not because they became nicer, but because they’ve seen too many versions of what’s ‘normal.’

In one country, it’s normal to eat with your hands. In another, it’s normal to stay quiet at the table. In a third, it’s normal to hug strangers.

When you’ve seen 30 different versions of ‘the right way,’ you stop believing yours is the only one.

Travel doesn’t just teach geography.

It teaches tolerance.”

Rick Steves

La Roque Gageac

“Travel with the spirit of a world citizen. You’ll discover that people are basically the same the world around. Be an ambassador of goodwill to all people.” – Wilfred A Peterson

*I was attempting to take this picture when a man approached me – he speaking French and me? not so much – but he indicated that I should cradle my chin atop this post and voilà –*

*the perfect angle!!! Merci beaucoup,* *Monsieur*❣️

When we’re in England Murph does all the driving. Can’t say I blame him since at any given moment I have a tendency to confuse my left from my right! Anyway, when on the continent I am happy to drive and he navigates. Roads can be winding and hilly and I generally LOVE that!

*But this little road just about brought me to tears!*
*“Adventure isn’t hanging off a rope on the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life.”*
– John Amat

Sidebar: Once I got the hang of it, I was really very comfortable – maybe too much so for Murph as I tend to enjoy driving a bit fast! 😉

*Back to La Roque Gageac – this was our home for the next two nights.*

*Nestled into the side of a rock way above the town.*

*Hostesses Lorena and Diego served the most amazing breakfasts, in a terrace overlooking the valley.*

*Diego made the best yogurt (sorry Patrick) and Lorena artfully arranged the fruit.*

*This is one of the lanes we took down into the village.*

*Relaxing on another terrace – also a great place for me to catch up on my journal and blog.*

*And then this happened – are we in heaven, or what* !?!

*La Roque Gageac is on the Dordogne River and paddling it was high on our list.*

*We had perfect weather for it and the landscape we floated by was incomparable!*

*We started upstream in Vitrac so we also got to see “our town”, La Roque Gageac from the water.*

*These pics were from the 1st time we made this journey – two days later we did it all again! Such fun*❣️

*“At the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.” –* Shanti

*We have had the most wonderful French meals while in this country but these baguette sandwiches were THE BEST!*

*Lovely time of the day for a walk in the woods above our B&B*.

*That evening in the town of Domme we were treated to a dramatic sunset during our dinner.*

*Everywhere we’ve been so far in France, there has been a huge emphasis on geese and ducks.*

*Something to do with fois gras? Not now, or ever, will I be a fan* *of that*! 🤷🏽‍♀️

Lascaux Caves

“We must go beyond text books, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.”

– John Hope Franklin

The Lascaux Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site located near Montignac in the Dordogne department of southwestern France, within the Vézère Valley. The cave art inside Lascaux dates back to around 17,000 BCE, making it one of the oldest and most significant examples of prehistoric art in human history. The caves were discovered on September 12, 1940 by four teenagers, marking a pivotal moment in the understanding of prehistoric human creativity and culture.

“The world is the true classroom. The most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, seeing something with our own eyes.” – Jack Hanna

Ooh La La – Sarlat-la-Canéda ‼️

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

*Sarlat-la-Canéda is a regional market town with a seductive tangle of cobblestone streets peppered with beautiful buildings and charming traffic-free lanes.*

*Oh so captivating and lovely just to hang out and feel the ambiance.*

*This gate is the entrance to our hotel.*

*Lovely boardwalk – leading the way to our little apartment.*

*A picture around every single corner, a photographer’s dream come true.*

Lantern of the dead – dating from 1147. Dedicated to a man who instituted hygiene standards during the plaque. And yet, in four horrible days one quarter of Sarlat’s population of 4,000 died in spite of his efforts.

I found this tiny restroom fascinating and oh so practical!

Fancy a bit of France?

“Should you sit upon a cloud you would not see the boundary line between one country and another, nor the boundary stone between a farm and a farm. It is a pity you cannot sit upon a cloud.” – Kahlil Gilbran