Mont St Michel in SL

I have been very busy and haven't been doing one of my true loves in SL: exploring. Tonight, I thought I'd go and visit the re-creation of Normandy, France's medieval Mont St Michel finally...
I made my way upwards, past the charming buildings of the island's village, which contain shops...I was chatting with Lunar via IM. "Isn't that the one with the parking lot?" he said. "Parking lot? Do you have the right window?" I asked him--thinking all of that building had finally gotten to him, and then I turned around and saw it...I wound my way through twists and turns and corridors and made it to a courtyard at the very top, where upon entering a doorway...I found a beautiful and well-built Norman chapel inside...
I took a break on a bench among the trees on one of the lower levels upon my descent. If you'd like to visit yourself, click HERE.

Elle's RL Across the Pond: Paris

Now that I'm all settled in again, I thought I'd share some pics from my recent trip overseas. The first time I went to Paris, I swore I wouldn't return. This time though, I came away loving it. I took a deep breath and went up into the Eiffel Tower. For me, mercifully, the very top level was closed. This is a view of the Champ de Mars...I think I enjoyed the overall collection at the Musée d'Orsay better than the Louvre's (*gasp*)...We got off at the Abbesses stop, which is one of only two Hector Guimard-designed Art Nouveau Metro stops with their original glass roofs. We also found out the hard way (and 285 steps later) that we had walked up the deepest stop in Paris...After wandering through the narrow streets of Montmartre with visions of artists dancing in my head, we made our way down the hill to Pigalle to see the famous Moulin Rouge. Given where we were, we all visited the Musee de l'Erotisme, which was actually really interesting...Not as ultra-exciting, but interesting in its own way, was the Grande Arche of La Défense, which was near our hotel. I had a great time in Paris, and yes, I did try escargot...

Elle's RL Across the Pond: England

OK, yes, I'll admit that we visited Buckingham Palace and did the State Rooms tour since it was open for the summer...
We all then piled into our friend's cars and when South to Stonehenge! And then went West to Glastonbury, the legendary "Avalon." This is High Street, filled with shops--lots of them catering to the pagan/Wiccan folks that flock there due to the town's reputation of being an energy center...Supposedly, this spring--the White Spring--has its source in the Tor and is a spot where ley lines cross...This is what is left of St Michael's Abbey of the top of the 520-foot high Glastonbury Tor (Celtic for "hill") itself. I dragged my carcass up the Tor--in the pouring rain. My moments of misery were rewarded with a spectacular view though...

On Travel!

Hopping "across the pond" to visit Paris again. Essentially, taking up my own challenge to return there again and give it another try after swearing I wouldn't after the last time (long story). I'll also be spending time in London--which I love--and will be visiting friends, who will take us on a side trip to Glastonbury. Looking forward to it. At least now that I've been to those cities before, I won't have to do the truly tourist-y things. I see more chill-time, cafes, and people watching in my future.

See you in 9 days! Keep the Grid warm for me!

Dresden Gallery in SL

I'll admit that I don't normally pay attention to the LL Showcase in Search, but I was intrigued and thought I'd look and see. In RL I love art museums and have visited the Prado, Louvre, Metropolitan, Vatican Museum, and National Gallery of Art. I can spend hours among the artworks and it makes me really happy. So it made sense that the Dresden Gallery SL would be really interesting to me...I'll admit, I absolutely enjoyed my visit here! It is well laid out and truly has a feel like wandering through a RL one. Why? It is a 1:1 scale re-creation of the Old Masters Gallery of the real one. You can pick up an audiotour if you like and the masterpiece paintings are beautiful, with some available for purchase. When you click on the paintings a notecard comes up for you, but I really really wish that they had put the piece's name and artist in the description so that when you hover over it you know and can choose to take the notecard if you wish. Other than that, I had a very nice time there. I love when there are things like this in SL. I might not make it to Germany to see it in person, but we can see them in here! If you'd like to go visit it for yourself, go HERE.