O Canada

We made it over the border with only a cursory look at the passports and a couple of questions this morning and here we are in Quebec.

We have to remember “on parle Francais ici” – or rather, we have to remember that everyone else does.

We paid a brief visit to the fort at Chambly before taking a scenic route along the “Rue des Patriotes”

The monument to the Patriotes in St Denis sur Richelieu was another small diversion before we took to the motorway for the last drive to Quebec.

We loved these white metal roofed churches along the way – this one taken using the zoom on my camera from a speeding car, but hopefully giving an idea of what attracted us to them.

As we neared Quebec, the skies cleared and the sun came out.  Phew.

Our hotel is stunning, with the most charming features: this one in my bedside table!

Hotel art here is a series of museum-quality installations.  More to follow!

Our after dinner walk along the Dufferin terrace was accompanied by another stunning sky.

What a backdrop to a fine city.  We are so excited to be back here and can’t wait to explore tomorrow.

Mary is excited too.

Hotel Art: the first batch

Remember the tulips in Den Haag?

  

 Such life, colour and above all, where else but the Netherlands?  Could there be anywhere else with better art than this, I wonder?

 In Weimar, of course, there's Goethe and Schiller above the bedhead.  I imagine every room had the same print which gave a fine sense of place but was a little dull.

Another print in Dresden, one of a pair, although the other, blue variation had so much reflection that it wasn't worth posting.  Imagine something along similar lines in blue and you've got it.

 

I rather liked these multi-layered images, even if they were rather too densely layered to be able to decipher.  But at the end of our corridor, there was the strangest, narrowest piece of art I've seen.

Though my photograph doesn't show the colours so well, this 5cm wide, metre long strip was a mixture of colour splatters and I could discern no particular design.  Imagine a yard of Jackson Pollock....

And finally for tonight, some of the Karlovy Vary collection.  At times, I felt that our room resembled something like a village art fair, with five unconnected pictures which appeared to be originals.

 

Mind you, the hotel lounge had a fair share too

Bearing in mind that only the Party Faithful could have stayed here in "the old days", when it was the Grand Hotel Moscow, perhaps it's unsurprising to find the place filled with all kinds of treasures? I wonder how many pictures are on their inventory?

Style and comfort

Before we move on, I should share a bit about the beautiful hotel we chose in Linz.  Hotel am Domplatz  wasn't actually finished when we booked our stay but promised to be special, even then.  We have the corner room on the first floor, overlooking the Mariendom - the one with the blinds drawn when this photo was taken.

Our room is almost all glass.  Behind the bed, there's the bathroom - with separate, closed in loo!

 

From the bathroom, you can see where I sit and blog...or curl up and read on a rather comfy sofa.

There is no real room for art, but on the one solid wall, there hangs a (very reflective, sorry) panel with some braille script.  I'd like to think it describes, in some way, the view that is revealed to those of us lucky enough to be able to enjoy it.

Pretty good, eh?

Though yes, it is a bit like living in a goldfish bowl, so the net curtains remain closed.  Shame.

Oh, nearly forgot.  The view from the loo. Densely frosted glass with one small clear strip at eye level.  Works well.

to Babylon, Byzantium and back home

I've been in London, primarily for a conference at the Hotel Russell, from where I had a view of a most intriguing building which turned out to be nothing at all what I expected it to be, although it does have an interesting history.

Whilst there, the news from home regarding snow and ice was not encouraging.  It had been the plan that Mark would drive up on Friday, for a meeting of his own, so I'd stay an extra night and take the opportunity to visit an exhibition or two.  But Gloucestershire was said to be under a foot or more of heavy snow and our plans were thrown into confusion.  On Friday morning, Mark made the split second decision to set off early and catch the 7am train and as luck would have it, he got out before the worst snow fell.

Unbelievably, that train arrived on time and we met as I finished my breakfast on Friday morning.

It had been our plan to visit the British Museum to see the Babylon  exhibition but we'd been unlucky as it was sold out.  This time, however, the weather was in our favour as we took the shortcut across the square as the museum opened and not only did we walk straight in but had the place almost to ourselves.

Though I'd seen some of the exhibits in their home in Berlin, I had forgotten how beautifully preserved many of them are.  We were staggered by the intricacy of the cuneiform characters and the richness of the colour in the glazed reliefs from the processional way.  I also loved the design of the exhibit - the "gold leaf" panels with cut out lettering, the contrast dark blue typeface on the soft gold background.  Excellent all round we thought.

The contrast of old and new in this building always impresses, too. 

After a spot of shopping and a fruitless search for something  to wear to the races next month, we met our friend Tra outside the Royal Academy to visit Byzantium and another visual feast.  A little more crowded than Babylon, but still easy to see the details and to marvel at the sophistication of the workmanship - hard to believe that some of these beautiful things were more than two thousand years old.  Sadly, the chandelier at the entrance to the exhibition was way too big for home!

My favourite was the Mummy panel from the first century.  Such a realistic portrait, so contemporary in feel it was hard to imagine that this had been painted in such a different age.  Love it.

We'd booked an early supper at The Wolseley and walked over, spotting this fun window display in Fortnum and Mason's on the way.  Edward met us at the restaurant and we had a great time catching up with Tra's news and doing a bit of star spotting....Melvyn Bragg and Bill Nighy amongst other familiar faces whose names we couldn't place.

Stayed another night at the Russell, with somewhat contrasting artwork to that which we'd seen earlier in the day - these are illuminated panels set into the wall, which, I suspect, will not have quite the shelf life of the Mummy panel...

Then home on Saturday morning.  A Challenge.  Engineering work on the line  meant a bus from Reading to Swindon and a rather longer journey than anticipated.  A short stop in Waitrose where the crowds and the panic buying made it feel like Christmas Eve all over again and finally home, around 1pm.

 The snow is still here.

Hotel Art - Chiang Mai

Just a small selection of some of the fantastic art which is to be found in all corners, inside and outside

in our loo

in an alcove outside Edward's room

in Edward's loo

in the dining area

detail of one of two huge wallhangings in the dining area

above our bath

figure in a niche near the restaurant

above our bed

at the bottom of our garden

and finally, my favourite, on a plinth by the central reception area