Agra - Fatehpur Sikri - Bharatpur

My mum Dominique and my sister Clemence came on holiday to visit us. Of course we went back with them to the Taj Mahal - actually Eric had not yet been there either. From Agra, we went on to Fatehpur Sikri and Jaipur, which are quite neat places as well.

Back to the Red fort in Agra. I felt there were many more visitors than in november ; it was really the peak visitors season before the heat strikes (soon, too soon alas).
A nice beautiful picture by Eric.
Our new baby carrier. It's a shame she had to go back to France.


Playing in the grass #1.




At the Taj Mahal.




Classic Taj pictures.


The Yamuna river from the Taj.
Visit of Fatehpur Sikri. This impressive historical city was built in the 16th century by the emperor Akbar not far from Agra. He decided to relocate his capital there after the sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti who lived there predicted the birth of his son. Akbar built an impressive mosque and palace complex, including three palaces for his three wives : one hindu, the favourite as she gave birth to his heir, one muslim and one catholic. The three palaces, although made of the same sandstone and external features, are of very different styles, from the delicately ciseled bedroom of the muslim wife to the huge courtyard and buildings of the hindu and the painted murals of the catholic. The audience halls and Akbar bedroom are also very impressive.
Unfortunately the city had to be abandoned soon after Akbar's death as the water supply was inadequate to support the population.





We stayed for the night at Laxmi Vilas Palace, really quite a nice palace although the swimming pool was a bit too cold for a dip. Eric left us there and went back to Delhi, behold the worker's toil.


Playing in the grass #2.




And another beautiful picture by Eric.