Mottisfont

We made use of our NT membership! Easy to spend a day here. The name comes from Moots Font - a well where a medieval community used to meet.

The house was originally a priory, then became a Tudor house, built around the former church, and still later an 18th century country house. Maud and Gilbert Russell owned it and it became a gathering place for artists, writers, philosophers, designers and other guests during the early 20th century.

You've heard of pork sausage . . .

The grounds are magnificent, and extensive.

The walled garden is full of roses and many other flowering plants.

The grounds contain many other attractions

Huge sweet chestnut trees

statues

pruned plane trees

a tulip tree

the ice house

the font itself.

The house is worth visiting - for Rex Whistler's trompe-l'oeil mock classical drawing room, the furniture and the vast collection of paintings. 

In the art gallery we saw an exihibition of Lyons teashop lithographs - by many well known artists.

You can see some of them at the link below:

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/july/lyons-lithographs

The Jardin du Luxembourg

I'm intrigued to find out that this garden was built for Marie de Medicis to remind her of the Boboli gardens in Florence.  The Boboli allows Florentines free access, with proof of ID, though tourists and other outsiders have to pay.   The Luxembourg is free of charge,  and it's closer to the city centre.

It's the biggest park in Paris, and is a delight - places to sit, trees, water, statues, entertainments for kids and adults, lovely gardens.  You can even sit on some of the grass!

We met Anne and spent a couple of hours with her - chatting, having coffee, wandering.

Then we all hung around for a short outdoor concert of some of Chopin's music.

It's good to see the bandstand in the park is so well used. The atmosphere on a summer afternoon was excellent.

We walked back via St Germain des Prés and the river.