After many months of detailed planning and preparation, we have finally left the USA, for a 6 month sabbatical! We have left our cozy home and beloved pets, with trusted and able friends in our house, and are headed out for a family adventure. We started with 4 days exploring Paris. We got an Airbnb apartment right in the middle of Paris, about one door from the Seine River, within a short walk of Notre Dame and other sights; a fantastic location! We did all that we could squeeze in and it was great!! Lots of walking, some long lines, even though it is the off season, and some REALLY COLD weather. We were very glad we brought some long underwear! We ate some delicious food, including frog legs, escargot, macarons, and many varied crepes! Yum! Even in the cold, Paris is a beautiful city, full of amazing and interesting things to see.
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Next on our tour of stately homes, castles, and gardens in and around Derbyshire was Hardwick Hall. As always, a Wikipedia description is requisite. Hardwick Hall, in Derbyshire, is an architecturally significant Elizabethan country house in England, a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. Built between 1590 and 1597 for the formidable Bess of Hardwick, it was designed by the architect Robert Smythson, an exponent of the Renaissance style of architecture. Hardwick Hall is one of the earliest examples of the English interpretation of this style, which came into fashion having slowly spread from Florence. Its arrival in Britain fortuitously coincided with the period when it was no longer necessary or legal to fortify a domestic dwelling. Ownership of the house was transferred to the National Trust in 1959. Today, it is fully open to the public. The entrance to Hardwick is through the former stables. There are shops and restaurants and a large grassy field wit...
With just a couple of days left before we headed home to Utah, we decided to squeeze in two more sightseeing adventures. We were so glad we did! On August 14th we took a day trip to Hathersage Moor and the rocky outcrops of Carl Wark and Higger Tor. On August 16th, since we were going to be spending the night at a hotel at London's Heathrow Airport, we decided to make a stop at Highclere Castle (a.k.a., Downton Abbey) on our way. Also in this post we'll say our final goodbyes to England and our sabbatical experience. Hathersage Moor is beautiful and vast. The pictures don't really do it justice, but we absolutely loved hiking through it and scrambling around on the two main outcrops of Carl Wark and Higger Tor. It made it even more fun to be here because a scene from the movie Princess Bride (Just before Wesley and Buttercup go into the fireswamp) was filmed here. There are many other scene locations from that movie in the surroun...
Haddon Hall Heather really wanted Heidi to see Haddon Hall (See our June 29th post for our first trip to Haddon Hall, back in May), so Heather and Heidi toured the Hall, while Mark and Hannah hung out and studied in the grounds surrounding it. Haddon Hall is a popular place for weddings and receptions. A second visit allows one to notice new details, like those pictured below from Haddon's chapel and Hall. Notice how centuries of foot traffic have worn the floor stones in the picture below. The ground floor of the entire hall undulates and hardly has an even surface, requiring visitors to remember to attend to foot placement while admiring the beautiful sites. The strange hinges on this door makes it self-closing. We loved the wavy glass. We weren't sure if it was intentional in this bay window, or just old age, but looking at the photo now,...
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