So that's where you went? Tell us about your travels!

[RaymondG]

Nice pics, Christopher...

And did you have to leave out how some of the French treated you to make it all more palatable?

Do you share the cane or simply have complementary ones?

[bohemian]

It's my cane, Ray! But I couldn't hold it and the camera at the same time - so I am really surprised that the picture isn't blurred from my wobbling about.

Everyone here has been very kind. We went to the English congregation on Sunday; a brother had come from Geneva to give the talk. The Watchtower was basically studied and read from the simplified edition.

We visited a brother we have known for some 13years since he visited us in London and stayed a year in our congregation, and met his lovely wife. They have been married 2 years. She is of Chinese/Vietnamese origin, born in Strasburg, and they met in Iceland!

The restaurants here in Lyon are great, but too much rich food! There are reasonably priced ones, yesterday I had plat du jour in a small cafe and it was roast leg of duck with rice and vegetables, and it was delicious, and only €9!

Today we go to Avignon.

[RaymondG]

Don't miss Pont du Gard and Les Baux...

[bohemian]

So. Now we have been in Villeneuve Les Avignons for a few days. It is lovely and warm but very windy with the Mistral. But they say that when the wind drops we will the mosquitoes!

Villeneuve les Avignons is a lovely place with a historic centre. There is a fort on the hill and a ruined abbey with lovely gardens. We had a picnic there. Plenty of good restaurants too.

We went to the Thursday morning fruit and vegetable market in the village and bought some lovely fresh olives and sheeps cheese. We saw two sisters with a witnessing trolley, so greeted them. We had badges of JW.org on us. It is like meeting long-lost family! They kindly phoned a brother in the English group and arranged for him to pick us up in his car for the meeting!

The English group in Avignon is growing. We loved the CBS and School in English but were a bit lost with the French service meeting. Great to meet the brothers. We met a sister who we had not seen for 32 years, since she got married in our old congregation in Castleford in Yorkshire!

On Sunday the brother and his wife picked us up for the meeting and invited us for lunch after the ministry. We went to the Arab market and were able to leave tracts with several people and showed the video in Arabic to some. The sister took my wife on a Bible Study at the KH and I did trolley work with the brother. We ended up doing 2 1/2 hours! Then they took us to their house in a tiny village in the countryside surrounded by vineyards.

It was a wonderful time, the brother is French and his wife is Finnish, and they have supported the group here as well as spent time in Ireland and Brazil! They are now planning to go to Thailand to help the the English group there!

Here is my wife at our guest house:

With our brother and sister Patrick and Annu:

In the ministry in the Arab market:

And me eating frogs legs!

[RaymondG]

Great story...

I know that part of the world is very picturesque, do you have photos of things you saw?

[bohemian]

yes indeed:

 

The village where we were staying: Villeneuve Les Avignon

 

 

The Pope's palace in Avignon:

 

 

The view from the Abbey gardens near the fort:

 

On the left is Avignon, and the towers of the Pope's palace, and on the right is the Tower of Phillippe La Bel.  These marked the ends of the famous bridge in Avignon.  It is hard to imagine now, but the entire distance between them was the river Rhone - but now its course has changed.  There were 28 arches of the bridge, only 4 are left.

 

 

Of course the tolls at each side of the bridge were real moneyspinners for the Pope on one side and the King of France on the other!

[RaymondG]

I should have a pic of that bridge somewhere...

It dates back to '81, but I doubt it's changed that much since then. Thanks for the pics.

[bohemian]

Amphitheatre in Arles panorama:

http://360.io/KYgWuH

The bridge in Avignon:

Edited June 2, 2015 by bohemian

[RaymondG]

Yes, I saw that ampitheatre at Arles too... and the old bridge at Nimes...

The ampitheatre, at least when I saw it 34 years ago, was still in use for bullfighting. Oddly, it was older than the Colloseum in Rome and in better shape.

There's quite a lot of very old structures in the area, Pont du Gard and the village of Les Baux (sp?). I look forward to seeing them again.

[RaymondG]

Here's another view from that lookout over Moonbi, New South Wales, that I posted a few weeks ago:

This time, however, it's a very early morning shot and the mist is covering an immense area. It looks like a coastline if you just look along one side of the valley.

[RaymondG]

Nobody's been anywhere lately?

Last weekend I worked in a semi-remote area in the Hunter Valley of NSW. Very picturesque...

Recently this area had some huge rains, on the way there I crossed the river near Gresford (above) and then followed the Allyn River to my destination. Along the way I saw how this valley was a very long time ago carved out of the landscape, this sandstone wall being one of several I saw:

A strange sight this was! Apparently a few years ago someone driving by tied some shoes to this fence, many since have done the same, there are hundreds of pairs of shoes there now. And all of this on a dead-end road in a semi-remote area:

The true delight was in the little river and creek crossings...

...and also in the view over the valleys:

Also, over the range in the Salisbury Gap:

Which wasn't a track for the faint-hearted:

That's where I saw a remnant of a past age...

And as I looked back driving out of the valley I knew that I'd had a treat being there working for the weekend.

So who else has been travelling?

[RaymondG]

It seems nobody's been anywhere for some time...

At least some friends of mine have, they've been to outback Queensland. At one point they camped alongside the railway line and so naturally enough took a photo of a passing train:

The interesting thing was that while there's about 16 kangaroos have popped up and are moving in this pic, a moment later there were literally hundreds, none of which were visible beforehand!

Their main goal was a place called Adele's Grove where the Gregory River appears out of the dry and rocky country. It's said it's fed by underground rivers from hundreds of miles into the Northern Territory. These cliffs...

...surround the pleasant water that contrasts so much with the surrounding dry country:

Here there's a second level, the upper level being about 12' above the other:

Water gushes out of the rocks...

And sometimes it floods... witness the rocks on the other side:

All in all it's a pretty spot...

...and then there's the fish:

I hope I can get to see this little spot one day...

So where have you been?

.

Edited August 7, 2015 by RaymondG

[coony77]

These are some of the places I´ve visited....

 

Ireland, Various Greek Islands, Tanzania, Cook Islands, Iceland, Costa Rica, ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Loveiskind]

These are some of the places I´ve visited....

Ireland, Various Greek Islands, Tanzania, Cook Islands, Iceland, Costa Rica, ...

You live in paradise.

Trimis de pe al meu SM-T335 folosind Tapatalk

[Qapla]

Didn't have to go very far for these - went fishing this afternoon - the lake is just around the corner and down the road from my house - less than 5 minutes.

 

[coony77]

Yes, Ilies, especially in Tanzania and Costa Rica I really felt like in paradise

[RaymondG]

The waterfall is in Tanzania?

[coony77]

The waterfall is in Tanzania?

No, that's Iceland.

[RaymondG]

Originally posted by Qapla

Didn't have to go very far for these - went fishing this afternoon - the lake is just around the corner and down the road from my house - less than 5 minutes.

 

Pic_0823_049.jpg

Pic_0823_050.jpg

Pic_0823_052.jpg

Pic_0823_053.jpg

If that's the case they should be in the 'Where I live' thread...

Iceland, Christina, that's a total surprise to me! A real "Who'd a thought it?" moment.

[coony77]

Iceland, Christina, that's a total surprise to me! A real "Who'd a thought it?" moment.

 

Yes, Iceland is very versatile

[Qapla]

If that's the case they should be in the 'Where I live' thread...

Iceland, Christina, that's a total surprise to me! A real "Who'd a thought it?" moment.

 

I do not live on this or any other lake - so I "went" there, I do not "live" there ..... thus, this thread

[Friends just call me Ross]

I am currently in the backseat of a rent-a-car traveling 70 mph on I 75, 179 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge. I just finished our congregation meeting, via a phone tie-in with my cell. How incredibly cool is that?

Survived a family reunion/50th wedding anniversary with unbelieving hubby's worldly relatives. Got about an hour of time in and placed one Bible Teach book--and didn't have to miss any meetings.

Can't wait to get back ABOVE the bridge.

[Friends just call me Ross]

WOOWEEEEE!!!

Just crossed The Mighty Mac and we're back in the U.P.!!!!

[Friends just call me Ross]

Traveling from Michigan's Lower Peninsula to Michigan's Upper Peninsula

across a five-mile-long suspension bridge named The Mackinac, or The Mighty Mac

[RaymondG]

That looks like a great bridge, Ros...

What's it look like in winter?