Crete, Palace of Knossos

Here is the first section of the palace, you see lots of rocks, walls, tourists, but then you see that first red column and you know it's Knossos.

Bulls horns.

All of the frescoes are copies, but still it's great to see them. This one is called "The Prince with the Lilies".

Alex doing a great impersonation of the Prince.

These pots look ordinary, but when you see them in real life and see the size of them, you are very impressed. The big pots are over 2 meters tall.

Max thought his keys just might open the lock.

The famous "Dolphin" fresco.

It was a hot day at 36°c, with thousands of tourists wanting to see the sites. There was a big line to see the other famous rooms, and as it was so hot, we decided not to stay. We had hoped to see the originals in the archaeological museum, but it was closed for renovations. They had a temporary exhibit with only 400 objects, rather than the 4000 objects they have, including the original "Dolphin Fresco". Oh well, that's life.

Crete July 1-14, Villa at Sfakaki

We stayed in a small town called Sfakaki, 60km west of the captal Heraklion and 11km from the third largest town of Rethymno. It was a two bedroom villa with a/c and private pool. So the first thing the kids did, when we arrived, was to go straight into the pool.

Everyday it was hot and sunny at 36°c. So the routine was the same, pool or beach, lunch, nanna nap then pool... we also saw a bit of the island too.

The first sunset.... mmm let the holdays begin.

The view from the Villa. There were beautiful mountains and lots of olive trees.

Alex loved the pool, especially when he bombed me.

At first Max was a bit scared of the pool, holding on tight. By the end of the second week, he was pushing us away. But his real favorite part of the holiday was the hose and broom. Wetting and sweeping up everything.

Close up of the view.

I loved the pool too. Alone and with the boys.

Boys.

Most nights, either Yves and Alex or Yves, Alex and Max would go for a walk. To see the beach, star gaze or stop at the corner cafe for a ice cream and coffee.

Cafe

Cheeky Max, with his mosquito spots.

Last sunset.

Bourdelle Musée - Emile Antoine Bourdelle

This is one of my favorite museums in Paris. As you can see, it's just near Montparnasse, but the place is like an oasis, it's cool on a hot day and so quiet, inside a big city like Paris. If you go to Paris, pop in and have a look, this was my 2nd time, but I still enjoyed it. I took so many photos and even had time to make a few sketches.

Bourdelle was Rodin's assistant.

I love this photo.

A sculpture of Master Rodin himself.

The courtyard, his sculptures are HUGE.

Inside his studio.

This is my other favorite photo from this museum, the three heads with the guard just made it funny. I tried to be as subtle as possible, not to disturb the guard, so she would keep that same expression.

One of these is in the collection in Canberra, (in bronze). Her name is Pénélope, She's in the sculpture garden.

http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=111367&PICTAUS=TRUE

Plaster gallery. These are huge sculptures, the room is enormous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Bourdelle

Just down the road, in the same street, I spotted this little architectural beauty. I think it's a college. I love the glass panels.

Musée Marmottan Monet

This is a picture of the Marmottan Museum, they have 'that' painting which the label "Impressionism" comes from. "Impression Sunrise", by Monet. They have a great collection of Monet's and many others. There was a Berthe Morisot exhibition, which was good. It was interesting to see how she worked and a detailed collection of her models. I didn't remember that she married Edouard Manet's brother! Did you?

 I was a little disappointed that you couldn't take photos, because it was too fab inside. Lucky I bought a catelogue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impression,_Sunrise

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morisot

I'd never been to this part of Paris before, so it was interesting. It's in the poshy bit of Paris, in the 16e. It was our first real HOT day (32°c) so it was tiring to walk about, catch metros and TGV trains.