Golding Constable's Kitchen Garden (1815) by John Constable

From repeated visits to Suffolk with Clive, I had become aware that Christchurch Mansion, located in the centre of Christchurch Park, houses a number of paintings by John Constable and fellow Suffolk artist Thomas Gainsborough.

Ever since our walk in Constable Country, I’d been interested to see the Christchurch Mansion paintings in person. We’d also walked around the grounds with Clive’s father when we were waiting for the start of the Ipswich to Felixstowe car rally, and he recommended the mansion for a taste of Ipswich history.

A Confession

Despite the popularity of grand old European houses, castles, and chateaux, I usually have a low tolerance for trekking through them. I know they’re historically important for many reasons, but I’m always much more eager to visit the gardens and walk around outside than to wander through yet another room full of stuff.

Having said that, I do appreciate those unexpected gems that pop up when you travel, and as it turned out — and as seems to be a pattern with my experiences in Suffolk — I fully enjoyed our visit to Christchurch Mansion.

An Unexpected Pleasure

Chhristchurch Mansion on a quiet afternoon

While I’m not a fan of ‘period clothing’ or ancient dining room furniture or kitchen implements — Clive said a huge linen press looked like a rack from medieval torture times — I was taken by a small room called the China and Glass Gallery, which had a beautiful collection of Lowestoft porcelain (made in Suffolk). Clive’s cousin’s wife’s favourite room was a children’s playroom with several large, elaborate dolls houses.

The Wolsey Art Gallery

Far and away my favourite part of the mansion was this modern, climate-controlled room, built especially for the artwork it contains.

I fell in love with two small Constable works, both painted in 1815, with views over the Suffolk landscape from his childhood home.

Golding Constable's Flower Garden (1815) by John Constable

It’s All Free

Surprising to me, considering what you find inside, entry to Christchurch Mansion is free.

You can see paintings by Constable, Gainsborough, and many other English artists, wander through a well-preserved historic house (if that’s your thing), admire porcelain, dolls houses, and medieval torture household tools, and before and/or after have a coffee in the courtyard cafe and take a walk outside in a beautiful park.

And if you’re really lucky, a local resident will point out Mabel the tawny owl.

Mabel in her oak tree, Christchurch Park, Ipswich

Mabel is a tawny owl who lives in an oak tree at Christchurch Park. We ‘met’ her when we took a short break from all the running around you inevitably do when you’re visiting family and friends.

Ipswich is the county town of Suffolk, England, where Clive’s father still lives in the house where Clive was born. On a quiet weekday afternoon, we took a walk with Clive’s cousin and his wife in Christchurch Park in the centre of town.

Drinking fountain, Christchurch Park, Ipswich

We were fascinated by a series of interconnected ponds which once formed a medieval water system; several are more than 900 years old. Today you see and hear ducks, geese, moorhen, and songbirds circling around.

Round Pond, Christchurch Park, Ipswich

Sweet chestnut trees, Christchurch Park, Ipswich

Pre-rally gathering place, Christchurch Park, Ipswich

As for Mabel, I’m not too familiar with owls so it was a treat when a man walking his dog pointed her out to us. Apparently she is a long-time resident of the park and somewhat of a local celebrity. She didn’t do much other than look at us with a wise expression, which I guess is what owls do.

You never know what you’ll see when you go for a walk. If you’re ever around Ipswich in Suffolk and want a lovely break, this is a wonderful place to walk, collect your thoughts, and maybe even exchange knowing looks with Mabel the tawny owl.

Landguard Point, Felixstowe

Felixstowe, Suffolk, England

There are some things in life you just can’t predict, such as which people or places will capture your heart.

As regular readers of this blog know, my partner, Clive, grew up in Felixstowe, a coastal town in the county of Suffolk, in England. Since our first visit there together in 2006, I have developed a deep affection for this place.

As the saying goes, who knew? Of course, the first reason I’m interested in Felixstowe is because it’s Clive’s place. It’s where he went to Langer Road Infants School, Maidstone Road Infants (after Langer was rendered inoperable by the devastating 1953 North Sea flood), Causton Primary, then Felixstowe Grammar; was active in the Bethesda Baptist youth group; rode his bike through the fields of Grange Farm to play with his friends at Fagbury Fort, worked summers on Searsons Farm in Trimley, and helped his mother and stepfather with their fruit and vegetable shop on Grange Road.

Rocks = Shingle Beaches

When Clive’s hard-working family took a summer vacation, they didn’t travel far. The family rented a beach hut right there in Felixstowe and after working in the morning, they spent afternoons at that most English of locations, the family seaside resort.

Felixstowe beach huts

Before meeting Clive, I never could have imagined — me, a (New) Jersey girl who grew up with white sandy beaches and now lives in Sydney, Australia, with really white, sandy beaches — falling in love with a place whose beach is a mix of imported sand (from the Thames estuary) and small rocks, or as Clive would correct me, shingle. The full term is a clean shingle beach.

Close-up of shingle beach, Felixstowe

It’s been a slow process, adjusting to shingle beaches (I wrote about the shingle beaches at Aldeburgh in ‘Walking in Suffolk, Part 3: A Musical Influcence’). But somewhere along the way, I’ve grown to accept and, to my surprise, even like them.

Clive and his Felixstowe friends describe how you ’smooth your towel’ over the stones so they perfectly fit your body as you settle down into the shingle. I still prefer a sandy beach, but on our walks now I usually pick up a few stones as souvenirs. There’s a certain beauty in their different colours and shapes, and they really are clean, thanks to their daily washing by the North Sea.

Several stones from Felixstowe Beach are now alongside the conkers on the mantle in Paris.

Shingle and conker souvenirs

Docks = the Port of Felixstowe

One of the short local walks we do in Felixstowe is around Landguard Point, starting on the Victorian-style beach side and ending at the state-of-the-art docks of Felixstowe port on the other. In between, there’s a nature reserve and sometimes a fierce wind; other times the sun shines and the water sparkles.

Nature reserve, Landguard Point

We’ve visited Landguard Fort before, site of the last opposed invasion of England in 1667, and still want to explore the Felixstowe Museum, housed in a submarine mining building at Landguard Point.

I always find it amazing, to round the point and come upon the old fort and the modern docks all within metres of each other.

Docks in view, Felixstowe

That Funny Thing that Happens

Isn’t it a funny sometimes, when:
1. You’ve never heard of a person, place or thing;
2. Someone mentions it or your read about it;
3. Then it seems you see or hear of it all the time.

On our first date, Clive told me he grew up in Felixstowe, a place I’d never heard of. A couple days later, on a business trip to Singapore, I turned on CNN Asia in my hotel room to find a report about — you guessed it — Felixstowe, the busiest container port in England.

Two weeks ago, a good friend from Connecticut currently living in London took the train to Felixstowe (only 75 minutes from Liverpool Street Station) to spend the day with us. She’d never heard of Felixstowe before, either. A few days later, we received an e-mail saying she’d just been out with a group of professional people in London, one of whom owned a firm that develops software to manage international container shipping. One of his big clients was the Port of Felixstowe; they had a great chat about it.

Peaceful evening - crane at dock viewing area

I can’t say it was love at first sight. On my first visit to Felixstowe, I thought the trucks rumbling in and out of town on the A14 were somewhat unfortunate, as was so much port activity encroaching on what was once a quiet seaside resort. Fagbury Fort, Clive’s childhood playground, is now buried under the port’s concrete.

But I was taken from the start by Felixstowe’s location, on the Suffolk coast and between two rivers, the Deben and the Orwell. I had to admit the A14 provides a fast, direct link to and from the town. On repeated visits, I found myself more and more entranced by the fascinating, unique blend of peaceful English resort on one side, buzzing global transport on the other.

Felixstowe beach near Landguard Point

But I can’t think of anywhere else in the world, other than Felixstowe, where you can experience a healthy dose of all three on the same day: spend the morning walking across a meadow and visit an 1100 year-old church; eat lunch sitting on a bench at the edge of the North Sea; and finish the afternoon with a coffee from the kiosk at the docks, watching a delivery of containers unloaded from China Shipping Lines.

Sunset at dock viewing area, Felixstowe

There is much more to do in Felixstowe, let alone the rest of Suffolk. We made a few new discoveries this trip and I’ll try to post more about them soon.

  Wikipedia Felixstowe

Checking e-mail at the top of Wolsey Gardens, Felixstowe

St. Pancras Station, London

After two weeks in Clive’s hometown of Felixstowe, we’re en route back to Paris.

Due to our rental flat’s location between a high hill and the sea — the flat is on Undercliff Road and we learned some TV stations don’t work there, either — we had to go to other places, such as the top of Wolsey Gardens above the flat, to use our ‘3′ network Internet stick.

We saw a cool-looking new portable wireless device which the IT guru will investigate for our next trip. In the meantime, I’m hoping to post this from St. Pancras as we await our afternoon Eurostar.

Behind the flat and under the cliff, Felixstowe

We decided our limited connectivity was worth it, as a trade-off for being on the seafront. There you can walk on Felixstowe’s long promenade, “The Prom”, every day and go to sleep and wake up to the sound of North Sea waves breaking on the shore.

North from the balcony, Felixstowe seafront

The Felixstowe half-marathon took place on our first morning and we watched the start of the race from our balcony.

South from the balcony, start of Felixstowe half-marathon

In upcoming posts I’ll share a few photos and memories of a wonderful visit to Felixstowe and Suffolk, the English town and county that have, along with one of their native sons, so completely captured my heart.

C&C on the balcony, Felixstowe, Suffolk, England

Gustave Eiffel exhibit, Hôtel de Ville, Paris

Paris

Paris Hôtel de Ville, or City Hall, is a magnificent building in the centre of the city. Just walking by it is an experience, and even better, there are often excellent — and free — cultural exhibits inside.

Earlier this week, we went to one of the final days of ‘Gustave Eiffel, Le Magicien du Fer’ (Genius of Iron), marking the 120th birthday of his most famous creation.  The exhibit had been extended one month due to its popularity.

I really like the exhibits at Hôtel de Ville and highly recommend checking the schedule if you’re visiting Paris. The space is relatively small and you don’t have to spend a lot of time there, but the quality of the exhibits is always high. Last year we saw a controversial photographic display of Paris during the Nazi occupation, and recently there was an exhibit about Le petit Nicolas, a popular children’s series that has sold over 10 million copies in 30 countries.

Hôtel de Ville is across the street from my favourite Paris department store, BHV, another great place to visit. Hôtel de Ville has the Seine and Notre Dame on one side, the Marais and Centre Georges Pompidou on the other, so you can’t go wrong by checking it out.

We’re off early tomorrow on the Eurostar to England. My next post will be from the Suffolk coast.

Au revoir, Paris. We’ll see you again soon.

  Virtual Tour of Hôtel de Ville
  Hôtel de Ville official site

Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées, Paris

Paris

In the spectacular weather of recent days, we’ve seen Paris both crowded and quiet.

On Sunday, families and tour groups alike walked on the Champs-Élysées, from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde.

Place de la Concorde, Paris

As much as I adore the residential quartiers and smaller shopping streets of Paris, I’m equally impressed all over again every time we stop and look at the city’s historic monuments and squares.

Fountain at Place de la Concorde, Paris

Just a few steps west of Place de la Concorde, along the Seine, is Cours de la Reine, the Queen’s Way.  It’s an uncrowded, tree-lined path perfect for walking (both of us) and examining fallen horse chestnuts (Clive), which he used in his younger days to play conkers with his friends.

Cours de la Reine, Paris

Clive hasn’t taught me how to play conkers yet, but from the sound of it I don’t think I’d be very good at throwing my chestnut so hard it cracks someone else’s. I’m happy to just admire them sitting on the mantle.

Paris, yesterday

Paris is beautiful every day, but as with most places, it’s even more special when temperatures are pleasant and the sun is shining.

We left Sydney on Wednesday, the day of the eerie red dust storm. Thanks to all who sent e-mails checking we were OK.

It turned out to be very lucky that our relatively inexpensive Singapore Airlines tickets required us to wake at 4am for a 5:30am taxi. Our plane had arrived in Sydney the night before so we were able to depart on time, in the midst of numerous cancellations and delays up and down the east coast of Australia.

The weather was truly bizarre. I’ve been in dust storms in Beijing but the intense orangey-red that permeated the sky and air in Sydney made it a bit freaky and scary. Clive’s grandson woke his parents and said, “The world’s turned red.” We were amazed to read in the news that by the following day the air quality was back to normal.

Singapore Airlines was up to its usual high standards and on the second flight, from Singapore to Paris, we had our first experience on an A380. I highly recommend it; it’s as quiet as all the reports said it is, the legroom in Economy class is excellent and the screens on each seat back are larger than any others we’ve seen.

Paris!

Palais de Chaillot, Paris

What do you do when you first arrive in Paris? Having been sitting on airplanes for over 22 hours, we decided to walk to the apartment from the Air France bus drop-off near the Arc de Triomphe. On the way, we stopped at a café for our first French breakfast. Clive got the usual: croissant, tartine (length of baguette spread with sweet butter) with confiture (jam), freshly-squeezed orange juice, and coffee.

It may have been 9am in Paris, but it was 5pm in Sydney and I couldn’t resist ordering a sandwich (on a baguette) paté avec cornichons (country paté with small pickles), with a short black coffee, of course. Yum!

Thus fortified, we completed the trek to the apartment, where Clive got the fiddly hot water heater going without too much drama and our TV cable and wirelesss Internet connections, which we had installed last trip, were working well. What more could anyone ask for, than to be in Paris, with all technology working, and all the offerings of the city just outside? Life doesn’t get much better than that.

All This and Sunshine, Too

We’re trying to take advantage of some brilliant early autumn weather by getting outside and walking as much as possible. This also helps minimise the effects of jet lag.

As always, I am thrilled to be here.

Cheers and more from Paris soon.

Clive under the Eiffel Tower

My first trip to Paris, age 25 (a few years ago)

Sydney

Clive and I are in trip mode once again, heading off next week to visit family in England and the U.S. and to spend some ‘just us’ time in Paris.

Earlier this year, I wrote a Passion for Travel series, in which I described a number of our travel tips and techniques, beginning with a master trip calendar and ending with coming home.

On our upcoming trip, for the first time ever, we’ll be spending a majority of our time – 56.76%, to be exact, or 42 of 74 nights — in Paris.

To put it mildly, I’m excited about this.

We’ll have eight days in Paris at each end of the trip, and a full 26 nights there in the middle. This will be the longest continuous time I’ll ever have spent in Paris. We’ve also planned about two weeks each in England and the U.S.

Leaving Sydney

How did life get to be so complicated? I know the issues of Family Globalisation and the conflicting emotions of being an ex-pat are experienced by thousands the world over, including many readers of this blog.

I feel so lucky to have both Sydney and Paris in my life. There are so many things I love about each city.  This winter in Sydney was beautiful – sunny and sparkling – although we were stressed for much of it because both of our mothers were in and out of hospital with serious health issues.

We have realised that in the current phase of our lives, our first priority is to travel for family. Then, within parameters such as birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, we plan as much ‘just us’ time as we feel comfortable doing. It’s always tricky, balancing the expectations of family spread across three continents; our genuine desire to see each of them as often as possible; and our wish to spend some couple time whilst away.

No choice is guilt-free or stress-free.  On this trip, we’ll be with Clive’s father for his 90th birthday in England and my mother and son for Thanksgiving in the U.S. Juggling is always required and this time we built our itinerary around these two events.

Airline Surveys and Preferences

Thanks to the global economic downturn and airline competition, we found excellent fares between Sydney and Paris on Singapore Airlines. Singapore is one of our absolute favourites (for more detail, see ‘A Passion for Travel, Part 8: Top Ten In-Flight Insights’).

We’re flying American Airlines, a Qantas One World partner, between Paris and New York, to visit my family in the U.S. It’s not a favourite airline but it’s reputable, the price was amazingly low since we booked well in advance, and we get Qantas frequent flyer points.

As reported in an ‘Economist’ article on April 6, 2009, airlines from Asia and the Pacific region were rated highest in an annual survey of global airlines in which 16 million travellers from over 95 countries participated. Number one was Cathay Pacific, followed by Singapore Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Qantas, Etihad Airways, Air New Zealand, Malaysia Airlines, and Thai Airways.

Seatguru.com, a U.S.-based site we use for checking seat assignments (thanks to my son and Kim B. who both recommended this!) also conducted a survey of 1,600 flyers, published June 11, 2009. Seatguru’s survey respondents said major U.S. carriers serve the worst food and cited United, American, and US Airways as having the least comfortable economy-class seats and the rudest flight attendants. They also rated legroom very important, as it is to me and Clive.

For this trip, we’re trusting that since we’re flying Singapore Airlines all the way, we won’t have a repeat of ‘Asia 101: How Not to Get to Paris,’ which happened last September when we tried a Qantas / Air France combination and ended up taking 42 hours to get to Paris via Beijing. As much as I love visiting Beijing, I do not recommend it as a transit stop between Sydney and Paris.

What I Really Want to Do

I’m hoping that, in addition to our upcoming time in Paris being a holiday and the longest time we’ve ever spent away without family obligations, it will also be a time in which I can work on a writing project that’s close to my heart.

I know some of this blog’s readers are also keen writers, and I have shared some of my thoughts about writing in ‘Writing? You Need a Job’. I’ve begun working on a personal project related to times I’ve spent in Paris, and am looking forward to continuing this work in the weeks we spend there.

Speaking of writing, sometime while we’re away, I’m going to try to persuade Clive to write a guest post on a word that is avoided by many Americans but is in common usage around the rest of the world. Stay tuned.

I also hope to see some of my Paris blogger friends in person while we’re there.  I’ll be posting more from Paris soon.

Cheers and happy travels to everyone who may be taking a trip in the near future.

Related posts:
  A Passion for Travel – Series (All posts, Parts 1-11)
  Hungry Heart: Counting the Days in Paris

Darling Harbour Area, Sydney

In a prior post, ‘Moocher Madness or Houseguest Heaven?’, I wrote about the issue of visitors and how to politely say “no” if you’d rather not provide accommodation to all and sundry in your home.

There are still many ways to be welcoming and helpful. We determine how much or how little time we spend playing host/hostess based on how close we are to each set of visitors and how much time we have available in the midst of everything else going on in our lives.

No Accommodation Does Not Mean No Hospitality

Don’t worry or feel guilty if you don’t want to have guests sleep over. You can be friendly, welcoming, and helpful – and as generous as you wish – before, during and after your friends’ trips.

A huge range of options is available, from doing things together every day to planning occasional outings to offering one or more meals at your home to only meeting people outside your home.

With rare exception we no longer offer our services to friends of friends; after doing so for years, it became too time-consuming in the midst of other work and family obligations. In prior years, I met friends of friends in Sydney but never invited them to my home.

A Reminder about Moochers

I trust it is obvious from my prior post but will restate it here: if someone is only looking for accommodation and/or meal service, then he/she/they are moochers and it should be extremely easy to tell them to go away and look elsewhere for a place to eat and sleep.

It’s hospitality for close friends and family I’m writing about here. When we say, “We’re sorry we can’t offer accommodation but we look forward to seeing you,” we also communicate one or more of the points below. It depends on the people involved and how much or how little we want to be involved in their visit.

Here are a few suggestions on how to be hospitable without providing overnight service.

Before: Planning Assistance Can Be the Most Valuable Gift of All

Planning assistance is a valuable gift. This includes assistance with the trip itinerary and recommendations tailored to friends’ specific interests.

Last year, UK friends with three girls ages 8, 11, and 13 planned a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Australia. Clive and I spent hours reviewing their plans and sending back our detailed thoughts and suggestions based on what the parents and children all enjoyed and wanted to experience Down Under. These are longtime, close friends and it was a joy to feel we were helping make their family adventure a meaningful one. We gave them suggestions for accommodations but they made their own bookings via the Internet.

I think anyone who lives in a desirable tourist destination can offer two precious gifts to potential visitors: 1) time spent communicating, exchanging e-mails, suggestions, and ideas to consider; and 2) knowledge and insider tips gained from months or years living in the destination area. Combined with the visitors’ own research and questions, the sharing of time and knowledge can result in a better trip than the visitors would otherwise have experienced.

Lazy Guest = Moocher’s Cousin

After years of living overseas, Clive and I can detect a lazy guest as quickly as we can a moocher. Similar to many moochers, lazy guests believe their presence alone will be cause for you to drop everything and become their personal tour guide. They’ve read little or nothing and have no idea what to do, but instead have the attitude, ‘Hey! I’m going to visit your city! Aren’t you excited? What should we do for fun?’

Ugh. There’s no excuse for this in today’s world. These people get a friendly e-mail along the lines of, “Use the Internet” or “Buy one of the many guidebooks available.”

Our favourite visitors are those who have done their own reading and thinking, and ask us for additional input or insight. We always end up learning from them, too, and we enjoy seeing and hearing impressions of Australia from their different perspectives.

During: Time and Attention Help Make a Memorable Visit

Sydney's Northern Beaches

There are many ways to be hospitable during the time visitors are in your city or area. Much depends on time available with your own work and family obligations.

Arrival

Meeting and welcoming friends at the airport is virtually guaranteed to be appreciated. After a long journey, most people are happy to have a friendly hug and let someone else take care of transportation to hotel or B&B. Meeting visitors at the airport makes the arrival process smoother for everyone. It can, however, be very time-consuming and we make a decision on whether or not to do it on a case by case basis.

Welcome Gifts

Whenever you first meet your visitors, whether at the airport or later, a welcome gift is also appreciated. Clive and I have usually given friends a book about Sydney, and in recent years, our favourite is one about Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where we live. For our friends with the three girls who visited last year, we also gave them ferry timetables, brochures about local attractions we knew the girls would enjoy, and a bottle of our favourite Aussie wine for their parents.

Time Off Work

This can be difficult but in my corporate days I took an afternoon or full day off work once in a while to go sightseeing with a close friend. Taking time off shows you want to spend time together, even if you’re not providing overnight accommodation.

Transportation

In addition to airport pick-ups and drop-offs, driving friends to tourist sites, picking them up at train stations or ferry wharfs, and driving them to favourite day trip destinations are all ways to be helpful and hospitable.

Meal Invitations and Entertaining at Home

We live near some of Sydney’s most popular beaches and have found it works well to invite friends to spend time at our place before and after trips to the beach, especially if they have children.

It’s not necessary to provide a formal meal; some of the best times are casual get-togethers with simple, finger foods.

Local Tour Guide

Sydney's Northern Beaches

This is probably the biggest area of opportunity in terms of providing hospitality and support to visitors. In Sydney, we recommend and/or accompany friends on walks not normally known to tourists, to local headlands or side streets off the beaten track.

With the family of five who visited from the UK, we went shopping at our local grocery store and had fun introducing the kids to Aussie products.

Treat to Dinner Out

This is another way to be welcoming and generous. (By now I hope you will not feel guilty if you’re not offering accommodation, but if you do, paying for a meal out may help ease that guilt.)

On the other hand, visitors may decide they’d like to treat you to a meal out, if you have been especially helpful to them.

Plan One Special Day

Over the years in Sydney, I developed a one-day program for visitors to see one of my favourite residential parts of the city just outside the normal tourist areas. Clive has also taken days off work to drive friends and family to special areas of interest. Giving visitors time and attention can help them experience the city or area at a deeper level than they might otherwise do.

After: Sharing Photographs and Memories

We try to take extra photographs and then e-mail them to friends and family when they get back home. This adds to their collection and often we have a few good group shots they appreciate having as part of their trip album or memories.

Sending photographs after the trip provides a sense of closure and reminds visitors that we were pleased to see them and provide support during their time here.

Trust Yourself

Clive and I value our privacy and also the flexibility we have with our approach to entertaining visitors. Our advice is to make minimal commitments up front as to how much time you’ll spend with visitors but instead decide as you go along. We like to gauge how things are going and adjust accordingly, without the stress and disruption of having everyone stay overnight.

‘They couldn’t afford to visit, otherwise,’ we have been told. It may sound harsh to some, but again with very rare exception, Clive and I do not see ourselves as a charity hotel.

I re-read Michelle’s excellent post about visitors  at Mid-Atlantic English (thanks, Michelle!) and found it interesting to note that most of her recommendations do not require providing overnight accommodation.

I think it’s most important of all to trust your own instincts and be confident in how much or how little you choose to engage with visitors. Be confident, be hospitable as much or as little as you wish, and everyone will have a great time.

Sydney Opera House