The whole time you have been reading about Cornwall, I have actually been in the States for three weeks visiting family and friends and, in fact, I am now back in Paris. We started off in Lafayette, Louisiana with the friends who we bought our Paris apartment from. The woman, Vaughan, is a true Cajun with all sorts of ties to Louisiana. She and her husband gave us a great tour of Lafayette and New Orleans.

A 500 year old tree in front of the cathedral in Lafayette.

The front of the cathedral.

Vaughan and her husband, Amos, have been professors for years at the college in Lafayette. One of their students was the historian of Avery Island, the home of the famous Tabasco sauce, and he gave us a private, VIP tour of the “island” which is actually not an island but a mound of land. They have found Indian mounds there. There is oil drilling going on and also a salt mine as it is on top of a salt dome that goes down thousands of feet. The family lives on the island and it is very protected. There are three off shoots of the original family and they all receive some money from all that goes on on the island.

Our guide showed us all sorts of historical items having to do with the island and/or tabasco sauce including this guitar which was signed by some famous rock band that I can’t remember the name of-maybe Bon Jovi?

We had very good sandwiches at the deli. We went to the gift store too and bought some tabasco sauce with adobe chilies and some tshirts.

The next day we went on a swamp tour. As you can see the water is full of a plant that is overgrowing everything, taking over. Our boatman was a fun Cajun with a very strong accent who took us out into the water.

There are, as you might expect, alligators in the water. This stuffed one was in the cage there.

A look at the trees there that have been cut off. They were cedar trees. One of Vaughan’s relatives, her grandfather I think, used to take her out with him to harvest them. She is a true Cajun, from the group of Acadians evited by the English from Acadia in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Our boat captain banged on the side of our metal boat and two alligators came out to get the chicken that he threw in the water. It was really interesting and fun out on the water looking at things I have only read about before.

We had such a great time in London. Here are a few last photos I took on our last day.

We made a quick trip to the British Museum. Can you believe that it is free?

The fabulous interior lobby. The round wall circles the reading room. It was finished in 2000.

A photo in the Greek section to give you an idea of how enormous this museum is.

The Elgin Marbles, figures from the Greek Pantheon. It’s very controversial that they are in England and not Greece but Elgin probably saved them from being destroyed or stolen so in many ways it’s a good thing. There was a man there making casts of the marble statutes to be sent to Athens. No exactly the same thing but a good idea. At least they can see them there.

Just look at this overload of flowers on this pub, the Churchill Inn.

I liked this park entrance.

This struck me funny.

We took this old fashioned bus to get back to get our suitcases and leave. It is really fun to sit on the top of a double decker bus and get a look at London as you drive along.

There is a funky area of London called Camden Town that is fun to visit. Apparently it is packed on Sundays when the market there is in full swing but we were there on a cold weekday. Many of the shops were open and there were all sorts of places selling food so we could eat whatever caught our fancy. There were many nice things for sale-scarves, jewelry, that sort of thing. There were all sorts of alleys and covered buildings and at times I had the feeling of being in a packed street in India or Mexico.

A look down one alley.

Another view.

There are locks there for the canal.

As you can see here.

We did a canal trip with Jason’s Boats and went under bridges and through tunnels and along really lovely homes, a zoo, an bird aviary and many canal boats parked along the side of the canal used as residences. There was only a path on one side as horses walked along these pulling the boats before gas engines came along. The canals were strictly for industrial use until times changed and now it’s for tourists wanting to travel slowly along the canals and dream of times past. Of course, the boat people had hard lives living in tiny spaces on the boats and getting no education.

Some of the canal boats tied up along the side of the canal as we exit the tunnel.

If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code or seen the movie, you will probably remember this church in London. We went to the entrance of an alley that would have taken us straight there but it was blocked as they were filming a TV show there-something called “Silks” for BBC1. The man blocking our entrance said it was the number one drama. I’ll have to see if I can find it. I did see them film one scene. So we went way around to another alley and wandered around and finally found the church, one built by the Crusaders.

I’ve read that Crusader Churches are always round maybe because they believed that devils could hide in corners? I know there is a village somewhere with round buildings for this reason. Maybe the architecture was considered divine. Maybe they were easy to defend if necessary.

It turns out that these figures are not on top of tombs-there are no bodies there-but just memorials. If their legs were crossed they had died peacefully at home.

Spooky faces here and there.

A closeup of one of them.

A bit of color.

I liked these windows.

A visit to the Tower of London is always a must if you are in London. It’s a little like Disneyland as it is so perfect and clean without any rides of course.

Love the Beef Eaters. They aren’t sure how they got their name. Prince Albert designed their costumes.

We took a free tour with this man who was very entertaining. They, the Beef Eaters, live on the grounds with their families. They are in the army before they take this post. Sometimes, he told us with horror, he has to wear tights with a special ceremonial costume.

You can see the Tower Bridge from there.

Some more soldiers changing guard there.

One view of part of the complex. Note the flag being whipped by the wind. Every day I ended up carrying my coat so didn’t take it this day and got very chilled in the wind.

We next headed to London. My friend had gotten first class tickets for the train at the same price I had paid to go second class when arriving. It was really nice with big roomy seats and free tea. Here are shots taken here and there in London, such a great city.

Lions and crowns on many buildings.

I didn’t go up on this but I bet there is an incredible view.

Soldiers and horses here and there.

We went in here and bought some tea. It’s much less expensive than Mariage Freres. And we found out that Twinnings is pronounce as twine not twin. I’ve always wondered.

Those famous red telephone boxes. I wonder how much longer they will last with digital phones so prevalent?

St Paul’s Cathedral-so beautiful.

We went to the roof top bar in a new nearby shopping mall and had this incredible view.