Category: flora & fauna
Pampas & Gaucho, Rio Grande do Sul
While in Brazil, I had a chance to visit its southernmost state – Rio Grande do Sul. From Sao Paulo, we flew to Porto Alegre which is the capital of the state. The airport has on its walls these large-scale mosaics of life on the Pampas. They are black-and-white pictures made with thousands of colored tiles.…
The Peristyle and the Grand Canal, Versailles
Earlier this summer, while in Paris, we spent an afternoon at Versailles. Our earlier posts on the main chateau and the Grand Trianon are here and here. There were two sights at Versailles that particularly impressed us – the peristyle at the Grand Trianon palace and the Grand Canal. A peristyle is a columned porch or…
Swiss glacier lake in the summer – Lac Lioson
We went hiking with YS when she was in town in June. Lac Lioson is in the Pic Chaussy massif at 1890 m, about an hour drive from home. The glacier lake can only be reached on foot, according to our guide book, 1.5 hours from the Col des Mosses. We left the car just off Route…
Le Grand Trianon, Versailles
Continuing with our tour of the Chateau de Versailles … The Grand Trianon is another palace within the grounds of the palace of Versailles that we visited. It turned out to be a great escape from the horde of tourists. Plan du Chateau, courtesy of Wikipedia. The palace is divided into two wings separated by…