Senlis

On our second morning we went to Senlis which was the ancient capital of France when 'France' was mainly the area around Paris which we know today as the Ille de France.
We parked at the old station and set out to explore the very interesting old city.

Monet's garden

A little while ago we went on a four day trip to Monet's garden at Giverny, just north of Paris.
Oh dear, I've got nearly 200 photos. I'll try to pick out the best to share with you.
First of all, Eurostar to Paris - of course!

We stayed at the Chateau de Montvillargenne at Gouvieux near Chantilly.

Drinks on the terrace before dinner.

Winning scarecrows

The Dalek won!

Photos of all the scarecrows (really!) can be found on the Flamstead website, along with a list and photos of the winners.

Scarecrows 2010 - Part 2

These were outside The Rose & Crown in Trowley Bottom. You can see the sign has been changed to "Crowley Bottom".
They had a mini beer festival there, so we had to go inside...

Flamstead Scarecrows 2010

I had a 'hit' on the blog last night from someone searching for 'Flamstead Scarecrows' who will unfortunately have been directed to last year's photos since I haven't had time to get to Flamstead this weekend for the current year's festival.

All is now put right and I have the first of the photos of this weekend's scarecrows.

There are over a hundred again this year, so I will post the ones I considered to be the best over the next few days - I promise there won't be too many!

Click on any of the photos to see an enlargement.

A date with 40 real ales

40 real ales! Luckily it looks from this advertising that they're open continuously from 6pm on the Friday until 9pm on the Sunday, so I guess I might have a chance to try them all - on second thoughts...

SWMBO's new motor

Here's SWMBO's new motor - a Peugeot 207 coupe cabriolet which is much like her old Renault with the electric folding roof.
Yes, she's had the roof down quite a few times and really likes the new car.
Only problem is, the glove box is too small.
"It's only meant for gloves!" I said.
It goes in for its free 4-6 week checkover on Friday. When they ask if there are any problems, how can I say, "The glovebox is too small?"

Street party!

Some photos of our street party to celebrate 900 years of St.Mary's Church - and therefore Redbourn village itself, we assume. Well, good excuse for a party. There were over 40 roads who had a party with ours being held on the common at the end of the road as we didn't think the bus drivers would appreciate having to dodge trestle tables in the middle of the road.

Flower festival - conclusion

Last photos (of many!) taken at the flower festival

Tennis Club

Christmas!!

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

St.Mary's Church flower festival

All the church kneelers on display - impressive?

This is the display by the bellringers

This is the display by the museum, using a water pump from one of our displays

This is a display celebrating Henry Stevens who lived in Redbourn and invented the famous blue-black ink

Carnival 4

A few of the many photos of the 'Sealed Knot' battle on the common.
It was not on the scale of the 2002 battle which was arranged by the museum trustees as that was a lot larger with more men and a using a larger area of the common.

Carnival 3

"Move along there...I don't want any battles on my Common"

These are scenes from the 'premier' of a play about St.Amphibalus who was martyred in Redbourn.

Carnival 2

The 'Sealed Knot' re-enactment group marching down the High Street
More of their battle later...