Tag: cemetery

A Spring Day

I usually visit Pere Lachaise Cemetery in the autumn, usually All Saints Day as there are mums everywhere and beautiful colored leaves on the trees there. I happened to be in the neighborhood on a pretty sunny day and took a walk through the grounds. It was nice seeing signs of Spring there.

There were bushes in bloom.

Stones on a Jewish cemetery. They both are what is called visitation stones, a sort of calling card and it is also believed that they keep the soul down in this world.

The tomb of Oscar Wilde. They had to put a protective barrier around it to keep people from marking on it, usually « kisses » left by women for some reason. Lipstick was destroying the stone and now usually kisses are left on the barrier. I’m sure people sometime try to climb to the top. Alos, some time ago, the penis was broken off of the figure. No one is sure why.

Tulips were starting to bloom.

This lady is still alive. I guess she wanted to make sure her tomb was made as she wanted.

Nice

We made a quick overnight trip to Nice for the funeral of Maurice’s Aunt. She was a very nice woman and when we decided to be married in France she did most of the work getting it set up. She was 89.

Most of the cemeteries I’ve seen in the south of France have these kind of trees along with Parasol Pines. She was buried in a family tomb which is now full with six family members.
An interesting tomb.
There was a Russian Orthodox Church near our hotel.
Maurice often gets this drink which is mint syrup and 7 Up. It’s a Diabolo Menthe. It’s pretty and refreshing.
Getting the fire ready for lunch pizza.
Lovely architecture in Old Nice.
I love this church.

The Last Day

We were in St John’s, Newfoundland again before we headed for the States and explored the city a bit more and drove along the coast.

We went up to Signal Hill for really great views in a strong wind. We tried the last time we were here and it was shrouded in fog. No whales or icebergs were spotted. I think that happens in Spring.

A look down below where you can see the wind pushing the water and a lighthouse.

We were lucky to see quite a few areas with autumn leaves like this one.

We stopped at a Protestant cemetery where the light was great and there were yellow leaves.

As you can see, a tree was growing around this tomb.

A look at just some of the spectacular coast line that we saw.

Our last night we went to a restaurant called Mallard Cottage. The guy who rented us our car gave us the name. It was a charming place and packed, requiring a reservation.

They had mixed plates for serving, mostly old ones I think. This was an amuse bouche made of moose meat. It tasted like beef to me. I’m sure I wouldn’t have ordered it on my own.

A look down below from our plane as we headed for the States.

 

The Last Day

We packed in quite a few things on our last day in the Cotswolds.

This was in Stow on the Wold. It’s the door of a church where, two hundred years ago, someone planted two trees on either side of it and now it looks rather like a fairy tale or Lord of the Rings.

When we went into the church we found a group of ladies eating a snack and working on arts and crafts. The pews all had these little doors. I’d love to know why. Also, kneelers done in needle point.

The village on a rather wet day, but not too bad.

The church and cemetery at Chipping Norton with Fall hyacinths blooming on the grounds.

Inside the church we found the ends of the pews to be carved out of a lovely white stone. One of the church members worked in stone carving which is how this came to be.

Tombs like this showed that the deceased had worked in the wool industry.

That night we did a bit of pub crawling (a total of two). It was a nice way to end our visit.

Sherborne

The really nice apartment where we stayed while in England is in one of those converted great houses from the 1700’s once owned by nobility. There is even the remains of an abbey in the centre courtyard from the 14th century.

In the interior courtyard.

It has a chapel attached to the main building.

And a little cemetery.

Here it is at dusk.

And later that night. The lit windows are in the apartment where we stayed.

Farewell

We were sad to leave Venice after our month stay. It really is a special beautiful city.

On my last day I went on a search for this statue of an angel with an elephant. They aren’t sure about the history of this sculpture but say it was done in the 1700’s. It was in the courtyard of the police and the elephant is said to represent strength and prudence so maybe that’s why it’s there. Notice the lion paws. The symbol of Venice is the lion so I think this is why.

A little humour-perhaps having something to do with the high water problem Venice is having.

I saw many shops selling really lovely paper and paper products like this tiny gondola.


Maurice and I went out to the beautiful Venice cemetery one day, very large and peaceful, and found the tomb of Stravinky. Ezra Pound is also buried there but I couldn’t find his tomb. I don’t know much about him but I read he was very controversial. He died in Venice.

On my last day I also went to the Russian Orthodox church but it was closed. It’s the one with the leaning tower. They have a little courtyard right on a canal and this ancient gate was there at an old entrance to board a gondola. I also saw a funeral procession at a nearby church. The coffin, with a bouquet of flowers on top, came out of the church doors lead by a priest in purple to a waiting boat which was loaded with the coffin and then a few family members. It quietly pulled away into the canal heading for the cemetery.

On the day of our departure I got up and looked out the window, cranky because a noise of scraping woke me up. It sounded like someone was scraping barnacles off of a metal boat which I thought rude to be doing at dawn. When I looked out I almost screamed because the courtyard below us was covered in snow. The noise I heard were street cleaners scraping snow and ice off of the bridge below. I went out and got mostly photos of snow on gondolas. It was rather magic.

Along with the snow, there was sun. A very nice way to leave Venice. Back to Paris where there was snow the morning after we arrived as well. We had such a great time.