Our betting on reception at the house is the dogs will be excited to see us and a “Where have you been, my servants?” from the cat!
C’est la Vie!
A good trip, we made quite a few new friends on the river cruise, drank some excellent Texas wine from Untamed Wine Estate winery on board, and also spent a couple of days getting reacquainted with Little J, LJW and Miss B in England. More info on the cruise can be found Here.
That latter person has made leaps and bounds of progress. Still a bit small, but smart as a whip. Not quite 4, she speaks in complete sentences and is able to participate and contribute in conversations. A well deserved “Well done” to her and her parents.
Did a bit of touring in France.
This was a bullfighting arena built in the Roman times in Arles France. No bulls in it now, just a cat!
We also visited RAF Crouton, a WWII Fighter base.
Gave me a bit of the willies. Lots of brave men took off from here, some didn't make it back.
Visited Blenhiem Castle, home of Winston Churchill. Very cool, very British, very Large!
I don't remember exactly where this was, but Miss B seemed to like it. ;-)
Final visit was to Bletchley Park , home to the Code Crackers.This was one of the machines they developed. Very, very interesting.
All in all, a very fun and interesting trip. Mrs. J did a great job setting it up and handling "things". Thanks, Dear!
See y'all next week!
Safe travels juvat! Bletchley Park looks very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that strikes me about Bletchley Park was how well the staff kept their vow of secrecy. Its existence was revealed only in 1974.
DeleteI believe the existence of Bletchley Park and the whole code cracking thing was meant to have been kept secret for a lot longer but it was somehow leaked. There were plenty of tales in the UK of married couples finding out they had both worked at Bletchley Park and both had kept the secret. It was impressive how several thousand people worked at Bletchley and other sites during the war and still maintained opsec.
DeleteA visit to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford is well worth it as well.
Retired
Three quarters of the BP staff were women. It must have been very stressful not knowing the full picture, especially not knowing even how your work related to the one next door to yours.
DeleteNylon,
DeleteThanks, and your wish was granted.
Bletchley Park was indeed interesting.
Highly recommended.
juvat
Second Anonymous.
DeleteThere was an interesting info poster in the building that talked about two British enlisted code breakers (a man an a woman) that worked there. They did not know that the other also worked there until after the war was over.
Now, THAT'S keeping a secret!!!
juvat
Sorry, that did not come out right. They were married!
Deletejuvat
Safe travels!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rob!
Deletejuvat
Sounds like a good time was had by all, Juvat. Welcome home!
ReplyDeleteTHBB,
DeleteIndeed it was. Thanks!
juvat
So happy to hear of your great trip. I've caught up now on your posts and am back in formation (albeit as Number Four). Looking around for Texas' Wines, but no luck so far. I'll let you know.
ReplyDeleteSafe travels!!
FuzzD4
Fuzz, I'll have to look into that, I suspect there might be a TABC restriction. They are a newish winery. More to follow.
DeleteThanks
juvat
The statue is from Pip and Posy at Blenheim Palace Adventure Playground 😉 they are characters created by Julia Donaldson, a British author who writes children's books such as Gruffalo and Room on the Broom, among others.
ReplyDeleteLJW,
DeleteAHHH! That's right, Thanks
Thanks a bunch for hosting us, we had a great time!
juvat
Glad you had a good trip.
ReplyDeleteNow who knows how Blenheim Palace got its name?
(You Brits can recuse yourself on this one.)
Sarge,
DeleteUnlike your vast military history facts and figured stored into your royal brain, I had to resort to us commoner's source. (AKA Wikipedia)
"The palace is named after the 1704 Battle of Blenheim. It was originally intended to be a reward to the 1st Duke of Marlborough for his military triumphs against the French and Bavarians in the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the Battle of Blenheim. The land was given as a gift, and construction began in 1705, with some financial support from Queen Anne. The project soon became the subject of political infighting, with the Crown cancelling further financial support in 1712, Marlborough's three-year voluntary exile to the Continent, the fall from influence of his duchess, and lasting damage to the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim_Palace
Did not know that, but suspected that it was something along those lines. Being a British Castle, doncha' know?
juvat
Glad the trip went well and the family is doing well!
ReplyDeleteOld NFO,
DeleteIt did and they are. Great times were had by all.
juvat
Better to visit a WWII Fighter Base, than a Bomber Base, where even fewer, if not most didn't come home. By the way, Masters of the Air is excellent- worth a binge watch on a free trial of Apple TV, or the one month cost. - Tuna
ReplyDeleteTuna,
DeleteYeah, the Bomber Crews (both British an Ours) had "you know what's" of steel. But they did their job and were a major reason that the war was won. IMHO, The D-Day invasion would not have been successful or much (much, much) more casualty cost if they hadn't taken out most of Germany's war fighting supplies as well as the enthusiasm of the German populace, and German Forces. Don't get me started on the effectiveness in winning the war with what happened to Hiroshima an Nagasaki.
juvat
Shack - Tuna
Delete