Kate's Wedding

My brother left me a voicemail message last night saying he hadn't seen an email update in a while. I decided to check the blog today and am appalled that I haven't updated it in ages. It is so sad that I have been working way too much and even out of work can't seem to find the time. So - I am re-inspired and vow to get caught back up. 

 Recently, I went to another British wedding. Kate (from the tri club - as usual) got married. Here Louise and I are all dressed up in front of the church. How cool is it that we got to walk there from our houses. S-w-e-e-t.

 Even better, no driving or taxi needed. The Wedding Special bus took us to the reception.

 Whoop! Whoop! A trip on the big, red bus.

 The bride and groom arrived at the country house/hotel in a little better style than we did.

 Lovely Kate gives us the low down on why the ceremony started so late. Answer: Her hair took too long.

 Once we tell her how beautiful she looks, we head across the courtyard to the reception.

 I believe you used to park your carriage here....

 The setting was lovely and we started with drinks on the grounds.

 It even had it's own hedge maze. You can just see it behind the dark green hedge row.

 Pretty pretty....

Did I mention the groom has a Scottish heritage? If it ain't Scottish, it's crawp!

Dijon. And No, It Isn't Mustard.

During my recent road trip through France, I stopped for the evening in Dijon. It's actually a lovely old town with plenty of cool architecture and lots of options for eating and drinking. 

The buildings were very classic with neat archways for both windows and doors. I liked how this corner shop brought some greenery to downtown Dijon.

 

Also in Dijon is a little art/touristy walk. These plaques on the ground give you a starting point and you follow the little owl around town.

Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the yellow brick road. Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road........

 

Liked the narrow streets and old school buildings. If it wasn't for the tourists you could picture someone from Lord of the Rings riding their horses through town.

 

Interesting enough, even Dijon has their own Notre Dame. It's a gorgeous cathedral in the middle of town.

With all the stone in this town, Mrs O'Leary's cow would have a hard time setting it on fire.

 

This street is flying the flags off all the original Barons from the area. Then again, it's been over a month now so I'm not sure if I remember that or just made that up.

 

Trying to figure out what the statues guarding this entrance way represent.

 

I still couldn't figure it out. It was as if it was a man's bust but no face on either side. Very strange.

 

Loved the post office. This is where you go to use the telephone.

 

This church is a little bit freaky. At first I thought it was neat to see all these statues/gargoyles jutting out from the building.

Upon closer examination, some of the statues are normal, and some are just a little weird.  A bit disconcerting actually.

 

I did try and get a close up of the mommy dog holding the puppy. It is sitting in between a ram and a funky monk.

 

Lastly, I thought the contrast of the classic stone + hundreds of year old buildings versus the neon snail advertising the escargot restaurant was too good to pass up. I highly recommend Dijon if you ever find yourself in that part of France. Lovely!