Oxford: Monday 24 September

Our first stop today was the Oxford University Museum of Natural History which we reached after a short walk from our B&B for its opening at 10am. The building itself is very impressive, having been built in the Victorian age with high ceilings and soaring columns decorated with animal and plant motifs.

We spent the morning there, seeing amongst other things gigantic dinosaur skeletons, a section on evolution with monkeys and primates, and a display on the now extinct dodo.

Skeleton parade

A dodo

We had lunch at the restaurant in Debenhams department store, following a visit to the wonderful Blackwell’s book store.

In the afternoon we visited two of the university colleges.

At New College, we walked through the cloisters to the chapel, which had some impressive gargoyles on its roof.

The chapel at All Souls College was beautiful, with a gilded hammerbeam roof and a gorgeous reredos of Saints.

On the way back, we stopped for a rest in the University Parks and enjoyed the peaceful gardens.

Oxford: Sunday 23 September

We had a relaxed start to the day at Waddesdon, before yesterday's taxi driver, Dan collected us for the trip back to Oxford. On the way, Ian and Dan determined the world's timeline for the development and utilisation of driverless vehicles and other serious matters!

After a brief stop at our Oxford home, we walked into the city and spent most of the day at the Pitt Rivers Museum. This museum has an eclectic collection of objects from many cultures, which are grouped according to how they were made or used. We started together on the ground floor at the exhibition of shrunken heads, in a section labelled ‘Treatment of the Dead'! After a snack lunch in the cafe, we split up to follow separate interests. I concentrated on clothing and textiles, jewellery, toys and games, and Ian explored the weaponry and armour sections.

On the way back home, we called into a supermarket to stock up on chocolate and drinks, to add to the supplies we have for dinner.

Here are some photos of interesting items that took our fancy!

 Shrunken head

Waddesdon Manor: Saturday 22 September

Ian booked a taxi (after failing to get onto Uber) and our new best mate, Dan from Rumania, drove us to Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, about thirty minutes from Oxford.

Waddesdon Manor was built in the 1870s for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and is now a National Trust property. The house and gardens are in the style of a 16th century French chateau and are quite magnificent! The manor was created by Baron Ferdinand as a place for him to escape London in the summer and entertain his guests at famous weekend house parties. Many of the rooms are splendidly decorated, as they were then.

One of the interesting items we saw was a staff log book which noted the departure of various garden staff as they were conscripted to serve in the First World War.

Following our tour of the house, we had a lovely lunch in the Manor Restaurant and then, despite some light rain, we walked to the village of Waddesdon where we are spending the night at The Lion Coaching Inn.

Oxford: Friday 21 September

After a lovely breakfast in the dining room with three American guests, we set out for an interesting and varied day in Oxford.

We spent most of the morning at the ‘Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth' exhibition at the Weston Library. Items from the Bodleian Library and other collections which were on display included Tolkien's briefcase, the pencils and paints he used to create his illustrations, his tobacco pipes (he always smoked when he was writing or drawing!) and letters of appreciation from fans who were famous such as novelist Terry Pratchett and singer Joni Mitchell. A lot of his original artwork for illustrations in his books was also included. For a ‘Lord of the Rings' tragic like me, it was wonderful!

We had a snack lunch in the foyer of the Weston Library before walking to the Bodleian Library for a 1pm guided tour. We were quite a large group but we could hear our guide's commentary through headsets. We had a fascinating tour which included the Divinity School (dating from 1424, with a decorative vaulted ceiling), Duke Humphrey's Library (completed in 1487) and Convocation House where Parliament sat during the Civil War.

Following the tour, we returned to Weston Library to see the ‘Shout out for Women’ exhibition, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the People Act 1918, which enabled all men and some women in the UK over the age of 30 to vote for the first time.

We then had a pleasant walk back to our accommodation where we wrote up our notes for the day and Ian watched the replay of today's Collingwood v Richmond preliminary final on the WatchAFL app. He was pleased with the result but very sad that he couldn't be there with Jenny!

Narbonne to Oxford: Thursday 20 September

We were up at 5.30am to finish packing, before saying farewell to Michelle (who was up early to see us off) and setting off on the walk to the station for the 6.48am train to Lyon.

We bought some snacks for lunch at Lyon Part Dieu station before catching our next train to Lille Europe station at 11.00am, via Paris Charles de Gaulle airport station. We travelled through dry countryside, where the trees are beginning to change to their autumn colours. The scattered farms are mainly built of local stone, the cows are white and most of the fields are covered in dry stubble. We also passed some very picturesque little towns.

From the Lille Europe Station we took the 3.35pm Eurostar to St Pancras International Station, London and from there we went by taxi to Marylebone Station to catch the 4.40pm train to Oxford, arriving at close to 6pm.

We are staying in an Air BNB and our hosts, Tim and Miriam, are very friendly. We have an upstairs bedroom (with a desk and an armchair), a small bathroom and also the use of a downstairs living room.

Back garden view

Ian had booked for dinner at Gees Restaurant, a few doors down from where we are staying and we had a lovely meal there. The restaurant is in a Victorian conservatory and has a lovely friendly atmosphere. The highlight of the meal was the dessert – Chocolate Nemesis with pistachio icecream for me and a blackberry sorbet with cherry sorbet for Ian, which he is still raving over!

Gees Restaurant

Narbonne: Wednesday 19 September

Sunny and hot

Chris, Kristie and the boys went to a water park today while Ian and I accompanied Michelle, Mike and the girls to explore the city area of Narbonne.

We visited the cathedral and then the Roman Horreum. The Horreum is comprised of subterranean passages and rooms which may have been part of a Roman house or market from the 1st century BC.

The Cathedral

We then wandered through the main shopping area before buying items for lunch in the Market Hall.

We ate our lunch in the gardens along the canal before returning to our boat for a rest.

This is the only photo Sophie would let Grandpa take of her!

We all enjoyed pizza on our upper deck for dinner and that was followed by a talent show put on by the children. A great way to finish our family trip together!

Le Somail to Narbonne: Tuesday 18 September

Today we left the Canal du Midi and turned south on the Canal de la Robine.

We enjoyed lunch at Chez Herve Restaurant Pizzeria in Salleles d'Aude, after a morning cruising from Le Somail. We passed through five locks in the morning which kept the team busy, followed by two more in the afternoon.

As I write this, we are in Narbonne, moored on the canal de La Robine, enjoying some snacks and drinks in the late afternoon sun.