I didn’t read as many books in September as I normally do, in part because I spent the first half of the month traveling.  Definitely worth it–but it leaves me a little short on books to review now!  So I thought for something different, I’d share a few photos from my recent travels.  There are even book connections–as the friend I went with and I like to say, it was something of a literary tour.

The Opera Garnier in Paris, besides being quite stunning in its own right, is also the home of the Phantom of the Opera.  And therefore very interesting to me!  If you’re ever there, take a tour, and see the famous chandelier.

Not far away stands Notre Dame Cathedral, home to Quasimodo the Hunchback.  This was particularly fun to see as my friend and I saw a play version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame just a week before we were at the real Notre Dame!

And speaking of plays and the Phantom, one of the trip’s highest highlights was seeing The Go-Between, starring Michael Crawford.  30 years after originating the role of the Phantom, he still has a singing voice that should make any right-thinking Christine swoon!

There’s another literary connection too, as the play is based on the book of the same name.  The book is relatively obscure, but you may recognize the opening line: “The past is a foreign country.  They do things differently there.”

My favorite London literary connection is in Kensington Gardens, one-time favorite haunt and book setting of J. M. Barrie, currently home to the statue of his most famous character, Peter Pan.  And if you believe Barrie, home to the fairies as well.

I may have arranged a few photos with Barrie’s fairies in mind…  I worked on a short story involving fairies in Kensington Gardens while I was traveling.  Perhaps eventually I’ll post it here and tell you more about these two.

Meanwhile in another part of the city, there lived a very famous detective–at least according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  I highly recommend the museum–it’s not large and the ticket price is slightly exorbitant, but it’s worth it.

One more stop meant heading out to Stonehenge–but I have LOTS of pictures there, so I’ll save it for another day and its own post!  Have you ever been to the setting of a favorite story?  Where would you like to go?