Here and There Blog

Chateau Vincennes dates back to the 12th century and is easily reached from the Metro. It's not on the main tourist stops and as a result, not crowded.The complex has a castle and a chapel that both offer plenty of stairs to climb and it's a fun wander when you are on culture and history overload from the rest of Paris.  Above - stained glass in the chapel and below, prisoner graffiti from the castle dungeon.  Sainte -Chapple  Chateau de Vincennes  Overlooking the moat. Website click here.

The Pantheon Paris has the usual vaulted ceiling and great dome but also a large underground crypt where contributors to France and the world are buried.  View from the entrance  Time Keeper  Stained glass in the crypt  The crypt has many side rooms. Visit Madam Curie, Victor Hugo and Louis Braille. A short profile is on their website at http://www.pantheonparis.com/

The Museum of the Middle Ages has a collection of textile artifacts, with a series of The Lady and the Unicorn from the 15th century.  The museum is inside part of the Cluny Abbey hotel. The hotel has samples of everyday life, such as decorative grill work.  Gothic Sculptures that have lost their heads  Heads that never had bodies  The tapestry room was pretty cool. No flash photos allowed since the color needs to be preserved.  More grill work. The Cluny makes a nice stop with your museum pass once you've hit all the "must sees" of Paris. For more info click here.

Two free sites that are close to the Brandenburg Gate. The Soviet Memorial is an open structure with a back courtyard that has stories of the soldiers killed in 1945 in Berlin.  Keith at the Soviet Memorial.  The Holocaust Memorial is dedicated to the murdered Jews in WWII.  Below is an information center with the history and background on the Holocaust. The center was closed during my visit but provides the story that balances the emptiness of the structures. The story can be found here

285 steps to get this view and we felt all of them as we climbed up! The Victory Column in Berlin is a central landmark and can be viewed from many vantage points. Inside is an exhibit about the history of the column and what the pictures represent.  Lady Victory is one of the few women in the mosiac.  Perched on top.  To get the whole column in one photo, go to one of sides of the roundabout.

Building wall near Checkpoint Charlie Checkpoint and a snack if you are so inclined. I recommend the Checkpoint Charlie museum. The exhibits that were my favorite were the ones that told the stories of people who escaped and made it to freedom, those who were shot and killed in the run, and those who were caught and sent to prison. Click here for the link.  Brandenburg Gate. The "must take" photo.  Looking at the gate from the road. The tree lights wer starting to go up for the Christmas Market.

Foggy, cold but still worth the effort!    

The Berliner Dom has it all. For 7 euros you get to go inside and see the dome artwork, a massive pipe organ, then walk up 267 stairs to the top and end with a trip to the crypt below. Perfect!  From close up and reflecting in the water  Art inside  Looking up at the dome  The pipe organ. Tomorrow the view from the top. Click here for info on the Dom.

The road side is fenced off, probably so people don't get themselves hit by cars.   The other side is along a stretch that includes the remains of the old Gestapo headquarters, a museum, and walking area.    

Once the Berlin Wall was down, most of it was destroyed with only a few exceptions. A short length remains near the Topography of Terrors and a few pieces of it are around Berlin as stand alone art, either graffiti or grafitti/art. The first three pictures were taken at Potsdamer Platz and show graffiti of the wall.     The following three sections are comissioned "graffiti art with artists representations about the wall and hope for the future or escape from the wall.    

Remembrance Day in Canada has a great tradition that is maintained and honored by the majority of Canadians. This is the wearing of the red poppy as a visual reminder of those gave their lives in war and military operations. It's a nice tradition and one I was happy to take part in. Cheers from Grande Prairie! For more on the Red Poppy Campaign, click here .

Two days in a row. Dust the snow off, warm up car and repeat after work. The worst part is that when we have no snow tomorrow, it's supposed to drop in temperature!

The Grande Prairie Inukshuk is located at the Visitor Center. This one looks cold. I was cold. We were the same.

Alberta province has a series of Community Icons designed to promote tourism between the cities and towns. In Grande Prairie, this is the Millennium Sundial located next to the visitor center. The sundial was built in 2000 and has several time capsules incorporated into the area. It keeps accurate time but I didn't go look at the shadow to verify this fact. For more info on Alberta Community Icons, click here.