Walking the Line.......Day 3

We spent a rather 'rocky' night, with a strong wind blowing across the beach, at New Aberdour. There was a visit to the Co-op at Strichen for picnic lunch items and then I set off to walk to Fraserburgh. John and I planned to meet up around about 2 pm and eat our lunch together.

The day was sunny although there was still a bit of wind about, but perfect for walking. Leaving Strichen there was a much better view of the White Horse on Mormond Hill.

{Strichen's White Horse}

Along the way I was ambushed by many small tortoiseshell butterflies - no photos I'm afraid. Each one would land on the path in front of me and then flutter away before I could get the camera organised. At one point they were joined by some red-bodied dragonflies.

The bramble bushes at the site of Lonmay Station had delicious ripe berries ready for me to eat.

{Blackberries at Lonmay}

After our picnic lunch John headed back to Fraserburgh and I continued on, the track becoming straighter and flatter as it headed towards Fraserburgh. I resisted the temptation to make steam-train noises as I strolled along; the town ahead never seeming to get much closer. The same view (without the prominent Tesco store!) would have been seen by the train's passengers.

{Outskirts of Fraserburgh}

Verdict: Just as I had hoped, the walk was very enjoyable although flat (as railway lines tend to be). Great views across the Aberdeenshire countryside and a really interesting history lesson.

My poorly shoulder ached a bit at the end of each day but didn't object too much to the actual walking.

A 'proper' walk......well, almost......

My arm seems to be healing a bit and is now more comfortable - although still prone to severe aching from time to time.

It seemed time to go further afield and try a 'proper' little walk. We set off to Briancon and then into the Val Claree.  During the summer holidays the road is difficult with narrow old villages to get past on-coming vehicles and limited parking areas. We drove as far as Rubion where the road is closed off and a shuttle bus runs up to Nevache during July and August. We parked by the bus stop but wandered into the village instead.

It was a pleasure to see flower-filled Alpine meadows where last winter I was cross-country ski-ing.

A small hotel/bar provided us with lunch although the service was slow it was friendly and the food worth the wait.

After that we went up and over the Col de l'Echelle. Despite its name the way up was gentle and easy - down the other side a bit more precipitous with several hairpin bends and a couple of tunnels through the rocks. This was the first time in 12 years we'd taken this road.

Eventually we reached our destination - a small car-park in the Vallee Etroite (Narrow Valley). The little walk would take us to a small lake - Lago Verde (Lac Vert or Green Lake). This valley seems to be undecided whether it is in France or Italy. The notices and road signs were in Italian but the architecture and most of the other visitors were French. Might be to do with the War?

{Setting off towards the Refuge}

Our friends (Maryann and Jeff) had suggested this trip and just as we turned a corner, before reaching the Refuge, we were astonished to bump into them - they were just coming down from Mount Thabor  - so an unplanned coffee break was in order! The prices were definitely Italian - 1 euro for a coffee!

{First stop - coffee break}

The valley is absolutely beautiful with high rocky sides and a river at the bottom. As is usual in these parts any walking paths were well signposted. I had chosen to wear my Columbia walking sandals - they're really grippy and comfortable. The whole walk should probably take just over an hour - but it would have to be at half speed for me.

{Easy walking with Mount Thabor in the distance}

I decided to keep going along the easy track but was prepared to go back if things became too steep or difficult. We crossed a small stream on stepping stones and then walked down towards the river where there was a bridge.

{Across the river}

Almost there, but suddenly I felt less confident - ahead was a steeper track winding up a well-worn hillside. Not so good! I persuaded John to go on to take a photo of the lake and I found a large rock to sit on and wait. The going up would have been OK but the coming back down looked a bit more challenging - with loose rocks and sandy soil and I couldn't risk a slip or worse, a fall. He returned after about 25 minutes and confirmed that it was more than I could have felt comfortable with - and that the lake was truly green!

{Lac Vert}

We took a different path back making a circular walk of it. There were some places I had to use his helping hand for security on little descents but through the forest was definitely cooler and we were soon back at the van.

There are plenty more walking routes in the area to explore and once my arm is more useful I'll certainly go back and try some of them. With the camper van, we will be able to spend a couple of days there. There are  bike routes too.

It was such a relief to get out; I think I was smiling for the rest of the evening!

A good start.....

We packed up as planned on Saturday morning. Arriving for lunchtime in Chorges.

{Chorges for lunch}

After driving around for a bit we settled on a night in the campsite at St. Michael's Bay. There are fantastic views across the lake from the Bay.

{Looking across to Pic de Morgon}

We planned an early start as the weather forecast was promising a hot day on Sunday. My walk would take me from le Fein (where I stopped last year) to the visitor centre for the lake. John would meet me there after he had had a short cycle around.

{An afternoon in the sun}

In the morning I was dropped off and set off on my route. It was sunny but I found plenty of shade in the forest.

{On the way up to the Col Lebraut}

Finally I reached a good viewpoint.

{What a view!}

I was making good time. The main track had obviously been used mainly by bikers and was loose and dusty in places so I was relieved when I chose to turn off onto a smaller path to descend into a gorge. Then, in some closer trees and bushes I lost the track....

Then I lost my footing....

then I rolled and bounced hard on my right arm....

down and down a little steep bit and came to rest under an old tree....

there was some crying....

I tried to move....and then realised what had happened. Now in a cold sweat I reached my phone and called 112.....

It was agony to move but I managed to brace myself against a smaller tree. I was still carrying the map so in very poor French I directed the helicopter so they could find me....not easy when you're terrified of dropping the phone or falling further down hill.

After what seemed an eternity I was found....

tied to a stretcher...and airlifted to the hospital in Gap.

My right arm is broken just below the shoulder joint....

and all my plans have changed!

More plans...

So here are the plans (so far)....

In order to walk the other end of the lake it's going to be more sensible to spend a few days there, camping in the van, instead of travelling back and forth.  Tomorrow we'll spend the night at Chorges and then I'll continue my tour of the lake from where I stopped last year. The first walk will be to take in the Col Lebraut and the Museoscope du Lac. 

A night in Espinasses or nearby will enable me to walk around the end of the lake towards la Breole and subsequently to le Lauzet-Ubaye.

The weather forecast is fairly good for the next three days and barring any possible problems with my feet that should leave me just the longer walk from Savines to le Lauzet-Ubaye. After that it will be the Pic de Morgon - possibly after next weekend.

{Lac de Serre-Poncon}

The map only shows the roads unfortunately. I still haven't found a reasonable way to show Memory Map routes here. Most of the paths are through the forests and smaller hamlets around the lake.

My feet are still not completely healed from the Challenge attempt this year. Some of the blisters were quite deep and I've now lost two toenails, one of them from a big toe, so they are still a little tender. I'll probably walk in my Keen McKenzie shoes as I did last year. They're very grippy and keep my feet cool.

So now I have to decide what food to take and start packing up to go and do it.........

Sight-seeing trip - with Medieval Villages, Roman Remains, a Big Viaduct, and some Cheese...

The onset of Spring with a substantial crop of cyclists in lycra, men in camouflage waistcoats standing in rivers, birds singing outrageously early in the morning and other men setting fire to bushes in the fields, encouraged us to set off for a bit of a sight-seeing tour.

Things were hastily thrown into the van and we headed South hoping to find somewhere to camp on the way to see the Millau viaduct. TomTom told us it would be more than seven hours driving from here so starting late on Monday afternoon meant a stop somewhere overnight.

Amongst all the other stuff I did pack some walking gear; boots, rucksack, and jacket. As it turned out I didn't actually DO any walking but we did stay reasonably active for six days........

The campervan was a joy - as usual - and we found that being out of season that, although the campsites weren't open, there was plenty of room in the 'aires de camping car', which are found fairly easily in most tourist areas in France. In the height of Summer these are usually over-populated by large, expensive (often Italian) motorhomes so it's hard to get parked - but no such problems in mid-March.

{I 'borrowed' this from a Motorhome website. It shows the sign to look for and one of the usual 'big' vans parked up.}

We had a week of glorious sunshine, with a few chilly nights. Each day we moved to a new location, explored the village or castle or cave, then stayed the night in the van.

{A panoramic photo of the Millau Viaduct spanning the valley}

Our first objective was to visit the Millau bridge designed by Norman Foster. It was more imposing (in both senses of the word)  from afar than it was travelling over it. There's a visitor's centre with some good video presentations of the Aveyron area and the story of the building of the bridge.

After staying the night in Millau itself, we headed to Roquefort to visit the caves and see the famous cheese being made. I had hoped to see the sheep too, but they must have still been in their Winter barns so not a single one was spotted in the fields. The visit to the cave was interesting and naturally we were given a taste of the products and presented with the opportunity to buy some!  There were three varieties to choose from and as John and I liked different ones, no cheese was bought, but we will get some in the supermarket next time we are entertaining.

{A photo of the display area at the Roquefort cheese factory - no cameras were allowed in the cheese storage areas}

The Aveyron area of France was also home to the Knights Templar in the Middle Ages so we headed off across the Larzac plateau to have a look around la Couvertoirade, a still complete walled village.  A walk on the ramparts, above the old stone roofs of the houses was a real treat - dodging pigeons and all!

{La Couvertoirade}

Turning for home, we travelled into the wine growing region of Cotes du Rhone and came upon a huge castle built above a village, with a wonderful woodland of green oaks which we could wander around. The Chateau of Suze la Rousse is a University of Wine but wasn't open to the public until the afternoon.

{The view of the town below the massive tower of the Chateau}

{The Evergreen or Holm Oaks with their dark trunks and thick leaves}

We ended our week away by visiting the town of Vaison la Romaine. It was once a bustling Roman town with large villas and farms. There are Roman remains a plenty. After a wander round the museum with an audio guide (the English version left a lot to be desired!) which continued outside to extensive ruins, I own up to failing to see all of them!

{The beautiful old Roman bridge at Vaison}

Luckily for us, now in need of showers and an electrical boost for the van battery, we found the campsite at Vaison had just opened for the season.

All the photos I've posted are from my phone, the ones from my camera need more sorting out and anyway, they take an age to load up.

As we arrived back here the weather changed, and became stormy, wet and very windy, so it was a well timed trip and hopefully The Toe is now on the mend............

Grim up North............!

Settling in at home again. The weather has been dreich, both dark and damp, since we arrived back last week.

Our journey back to Scotland was hectic but quite enjoyable. We drove, helter skelter, as always, through Italy, past Turin, finally stopping beside Lake Maggiore for a peaceful stop-over in a campsite on the shore. Then over the Simplon Pass and onto Saas Fee. There we celebrated my birthday with Sam. In the afternoon he took us to a glacial water feature where we walked around in an ice-cold pool then toddled (with frozen feet!) on various textured surfaces until we came back round to the water again! The idea is to clear toxins from the body and relax tension. Mmm! Fun though!.

{Beside Lake Maggiore}

We camped over night in carpark 4 which is an official camping car stop just outside the village of Saas Fee. The whole village is car free, being served by a fleet of rechargeable electric vehicles. We wandered around in the evening admiring the wooden huts on stilts and the shops with outrageously expensive price tags. In the dim and distant past we did ski here once one Easter. The experience was never repeated! (The snow was too icy and the mist was too thick.) This visit I did notice a lot of interesting looking footpath signs - but not for us this time.

{Parked below Saas Fee}

Next day we drove on up to Zurich via a tunnel trip in a metal cage-like train carriage. Interesting!
I had a second birthday dinner with Matthew and we stayed in his flat in Zurich. Parking is a nightmare in the city so if we want to stay longer any time we'll have to stay in the lakeside campsite and use public transport.

We left the next morning quite early, before the parking attendant started work, and travelled on up to Dunkirk for the ferry.

After another stop-over to visit my Mum and other relations, and then another wild camp in a layby somewhere in the Lake District, we finally arrived home.

Phew!

Since then, the van is unpacked, the washing piles up (waiting for the new machine to arrive), and the weather continues to be dreich..............

{My strange panoramic photo of Lake Maggiore - has a dream-like quality!?}

At last.............

As you can see, we're back from our camping trip. I haven't downloaded the photos from my camera yet - in fact, I've barely even started on the accumulated washing of a week away from home!

We didn't go too far away. Just about an hour's driving took us into the western part of the Hautes Alpes, staying on camp sites, mostly along the Buech valley. There are beautiful wooded hills and rocky escarpments with a few towns and villages perched up on those hillsides. Alternate days were spent walking (not very far, too hot) or biking (not very far, steering too wonky).

The post before this one was sent from my mobile phone so I was relieved to see it had arrived, with the photo too.  I meant to send more but the next campsite we stayed in had no Wi-Fi connection.

{Typical old village houses in Veynes}

The picture above was taken on my phone and I had originally intended to send it via blogger. These old houses were built up on the hillside, with no internal staircases. The bottom cellar area was where the animals were kept, and people lived on the upper levels. You can just see some of the old stone steps used to walk from one level to another. The houses here have been renovated but manage to retain the character of the original buildings.

Glacier Blanc...............

{Way markers for the walking paths}

We're having a heat wave here - so 'go higher' we thought and set off to have a picnic then spend an afternoon in the sun but up in the mountains. We chose to go past Ailefroide and up to le Pre de Madame Carle. We parked up beside the melt water from the glacier.

{Melt water from the Glacier}

We paddled about in the water until our feet went numb - but it was still too hot to walk or cycle comfortably. I took a short stroll to see the visitor's centre and the Refuge. There were a lot of people there trying to find some shade to sit in.

{Refuge du Pre de Mme Carle beside the car-park}

The glacier has retreated a great deal in the last hundred years. It used to cover the rocks below where it is now almost to the floor of the valley. Even in the past 10 years it has got smaller. Now it just peeps over the top.

{The nose of the Glacier Blanc peeping over the rocks}

Was it cooler? Not really - still 32 degrees. The bikes stayed firmly on the back of the van. Excellent place to sit though, and while away some peaceful hours.

{Just enough shade to sit in}

Eventually we went back down to Ailefroide and had an ice-cream! 

Snot.............and more snow!

I've spent the last few days wishing I could get out and about but feeling a bit grotty with the snottiest, yukiest cold I've had for a long time. Probably caught from my grand-daughter on last week's trip to Yorkshire.

In fact we only got back through the snow and ice because we have a 4 wheel drive VW van and plenty of experience of travelling in these kind of conditions. We couldn't get over the A66 nor Glenshee as the roads were closed, so it was a long journey. John drove steadily and carefully all the way - well done!

We have had a couple of days when it was not too bad over-head and I've been able to take some interesting snowy photos.

{Bridge over the Dee}

As I said before, the garden is under at least 2 foot of snow. Not the usual heavy wet stuff, but proper lightweight fluffy snow, the kind you can't use to make snowmen! There's been no satellite TV either, as the dish is frozen up behind some huge icicles. There are some of these icicles hanging dangerously above the front door, as the postman pointed out to me this morning.

The roads are much clearer today and the local school is back in action. But until my snot clears a bit I think I'll stay close to home.

Just a note that the Keen walking boots I'm enjoying wearing so much, are very grippy on the snow and warm too. However, my winter trousers, Berghaus Cascade, need a pair of good leggings underneath to keep out the cold.

{Strange fence posts at Balmoral}

The new 'regime'...........

.............is more or less being adhered to by us both. We planned to walk (me more - him less) so that we could both benefit from the days in the fresh air and the healthy exercise. Several months of not doing very much have taken their toll - requiring drastic action!

Saturday will still be 'treats' day. The rest of the week there will be no 'snacking' (probably my worst crime...) and no puddings (no John, not even ice-cream).

So the moment we arrived here we've been putting the plan into action.

John has been walking two out of three days. On his days of rest I've been trying to do a harder route. The usual routine has been to drive to where we want to walk, then have a light picnic lunch, before walking for about 3 hours or so.

Here are some highlights.......

{Photo of Lac Miroir above Ceillac}

This walk involved quite a stiff climb up from the carpark until we reached the lake. It's a well worn path which is rather eroded in places. Coming down we crossed the pistes of Ceillac where we normally ski. It was a beautiful day. Afterwards we spent the evening speaking French and being well entertained by some neighbours. 

Stats for the walk (from Viewranger) were 9 km, total height gained 913 m and it took us 4 hrs 20 mins.



{Photo of Fort Queyras}

This was just a short walk involving a stroll along beside the river then making our way back to the start by climbing through the trees and following a forest track. We arrived back at Ville-Vieille to discover the restaurant we had planned to have a coffee in had closed for the afternoon.

Stats (Viewranger) were 2 hrs walking, total up was 402 m and the length just 6.3 km.

{Photo taken in Val d'Escreins beside the ruined village}

A solo walk last Monday as John was going to collect me later. The signpost for the walk gave 3hrs 15 minutes to the Refuge at Basse Rua. I walked a bit further than that so I could cross the river to get to the carpark for my pick-up.  The village in the photo originally had 90 inhabitants but is now totally deserted. Life would have been hard and the winter's very long for the folk who lived there until the end of the 19th century. There are storyboards to read and information on how the people shared their living space with their animals.

{Photo of the beautifully maintained chapel with its wooden roof}

The route for the walk takes you up a river gorge and is quite rocky at times. It flattens out a bit towards the top as you reach the fields and woods of the Val d'Escreins nature reserve. The valley itself is enclosed by mountains on three sides. Access by car is along a single track road, high on the side of the gorge, which is closed for the winter months.

Stats (from Viewranger again) are 1411 m climbing for just short of 9 kms and it took me 3hrs 20 mins.



{Photo of John reading the info at Ailefroide}

Yesterday we ventured up to Ailefroide to repeat a walk we first did last year. It's quite a gentle stroll along beside a mountain stream between huge rock faces. The area is famed for being where Whymper and other British mountaineers 'discovered' climbing in the Alps. The signs in the photo indicate that we were about to enter the Ecrins National Park. 

After we had wandered along for about 15 minutes we came to a long wooden bridge across to a route which climbs quickly up to a place called the Bosse de Clapouse.  As we hadn't gone that way last time we were tempted to try it out. Soon John turned back to go to the van and read his book in the sun and I continued on up the path. It gained height rapidly by passing under and over rocks then zig-zagging up through the trees. Eventually my legs ran out of steam although I only had about another 100 m to climb and the sun had now dropped behind the mountains alongside me.

Sadly the Viewranger stats are a little wonky for this walk! The gps found it difficult to keep a signal for recording the track. It should have been about 8 kms and it took me almost 4 hours. The ascent might have been about 1269 m. At one stage I apparently reached 85 kms per hour. Wow!

{Photo of the view from the top down to the stream I crossed earlier!}

Not surprisingly today was declared a general rest-day, for us both. Apart from a bit of gentle shopping this morning we've both pottered about indoors today. The weather hasn't been so sunny, and tonight it looks like a storm is brewing.

The good news is that we are both feeling a lot fitter..............

Did you miss me?.............

Well, now back in Scotland sitting surrounded by 'stuff'.   I know, I should be out walking and training etc. but I couldn't resist the temptation to assemble the gear on the dining room table.

We've had a busy time. Cleaning and leaving the house in France, followed by a belt up to Calais to find a ferry. After some disappointing prices from P & O and SeaFrance we truddled on to Dunkirk and paid 100 Euros less to travel with Norfolkline to Dover. Gorgeous calm crossing with sunshine!

More rushing along to get to Yorkshire for a stint of Grandson Sitting which included a visit to the Fishes (The Deep) in Hull.

Train journey back to London to stay with my sister and see my Mum. Then back to pick up the van on Tuesday evening.

Overnight stop in carpark at Durham services and then an amble through the Borders, a supermarket shop at Blairgowrie and over Glenshee to get home yesterday just before dark.

Phew!

I'm glad to be back though!

Camargue, Carcassonne and Crisps..........

We left on Monday after digging our way out of the front door (the snowplough had come past earlier) and having our lunch (of course).

As we were so late starting we didn't have enough time to get all the way to Carcassonne before it was too late to find the campsite. So we made a detour onto the Camargue, camping with a cohort of Italian camper vans (again) on a carpark in Stes Maries de la Mer. It was a cold night, made worse by the heater not coping and the battery losing power very fast.

In the morning we made our way across the flat lands of the Camargue. We saw the white horses, black bulls and a few lonely flamingoes. I'm not sure January is the best time for this kind of sightseeing!

{Photo of cold horses}

There's something about holiday resorts when they're out of season - makes me think of how the world would look if all humans were instantly removed from the planet..................

{Photo of deserted square in Aigues Mortes}

Our campsite near Carcassonne turned out to have the dreaded 'reverse polarity' electricity! And the shower block was unheated............

Wednesday dawned frosty and beautiful so we enjoyed our visit to the medieval castle and town of Carcassonne although all the museums were shut, the video had broken down and the audio tour was unavailable (oh and there was no reduction for old people!). Never mind!

{Photos of the castle at Carcassonne}

We followed this by finding a view point to see the ruins at Lastours (sadly the visitor centre was closed for January!) which I wrote about last time.

In the evening we found a wonderful campsite, run by some ex-pats, in Alet-les-Bains. Heated toilets & showers, electricity that worked, a Casino with a special 10E menu (saved me cooking) and all right next to an amazing little medieval village. Well worth another visit.

Now the weather changed and the rain and snow we had left managed to find us - even down near the Med.

The rest of the trip was a van tour of Narbonne, Beziers and Nimes, where we found a good campsite on the outskirts (with warm showers!). We did manage a quick wander round the outside of the Arena in Nimes, along with other remarkable Roman remains, and we promised a re-visit when we had more time to give them.

The camper van performed wonderfully well in the snowy conditions, making us glad we'd forked out for the 4 x 4 version. On our cross-country drive to Narbonne we travelled through a forest of evergreen Oaks and Pine trees interspersed with Olive trees, lovely even in the snow storm. It certainly whetted my appetite for walking in the area.

I also had a chance to try out my new Neo-air mattress on the camper bed. Very impressed - can't wait to use it in the tent. There was the faint sound of a far away crisp packet being rustled every time I turned over but I can live with that.............

The Cathar Way (Sentier Cathare)............

When I heard the bad news that I hadn't made it on to the TGO Challenge for 2010 I felt compelled to plan an alternative. Of course I'm still hoping (all things crossed) that I will get on from the standby list. My number is 39 so it seems unlikely............

I could try the Southern Upland Way - across Scotland but much further south than the TGOC routes.  I've bought the book and started reading up about it. Scottish Access laws mean that if I carry my tent then I can wild camp along the way - that's quite an attraction.

However, it comes to mind that I could try something in France.

I considered the GR 5 from the Northern Alps to Nice.  Quite long though and is mountainous in places, perhaps not to do on my own.

So the next thought was The Cathar Way. It makes its way from the Mediterranean coast to Foix for 240 kms following a waymarked route which visits medieval castles and historical sites related to the history of the Cathars. (Very amusingly translated on one French site as 'catarrh').  This was a religious group of the 11th century who felt themselves to be 'true' Christians; believing the Catholic Church of the time to be corrupt and created by the Devil.

The Cathars seem quite modern these days. Men and women were considered equal. They believed in 'dualism' - that good and evil spring from different sources. They saw the material world as completely evil. Living, working and preaching their beliefs within a caring community without levying taxes made them a popular alternative to the Catholic Church of the time.

The Church was quick to condemn all this as heretical and launched a crusade against the Cathars aided by the French crown who at this time did not rule this South Western corner of France. Eventually in 1244 the Cathars were cruelly defeated with 200 members being burned at the stake.

{Photo of ruins at Lastours}

"During the Cathar Crusade this was one of the most ardent centres of resistance to the French Crusaders, In 1209 it was besieged unsuccessfully, by Simon de Montfort. It was here a year later that a line of a hundred men appeared on foot, having snaked their way from Bram, their eyes torn out, their noses cropped and their lips cut off by the Holy Catholic soldiers of Christ."

Sorry that's a bit gruesome................

Faced with a weather forecast for the next few days of a return to grey cloud and snow we're going to take the camper van down to Carcassonne where I can start investigating the possibilities of walking the Cathar Way. I'll post a trip report when we get back.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's walked this route. I think I would try and use campsites for accommodation. Wild camping may not be an option.

Of course, I can still walk both the SUW and the Sentier Cathare even if I'm lucky enough to get on the Challenge after all!......

Sur le pont..................

The weather here since Christmas has been a bit grey and lifeless - not so good for the fair weather skiers among us.......... So John and I set off last Monday in our small camper van to visit Avignon. We found a campsite right opposite the town which was open and full of camper vans a good deal bigger than ours!

Of course the first place to visit is the famous bridge. Rather a grey day in Avignon too but the history made up for it.

The French authorities obviously have a different view of risk assessment.  We thought that in the UK the children would have to wear crash helmets and harnesses.

We spent the whole day walking (well maybe trudging at times) around the streets of the old town. The medieval walls are still intact and a good number of the buildings are really ancient.

The second day we visited the Palais des Papes. This is an extraordinary 12th Century palace with cloisters and great banqueting halls etc. You can see it in the background in the first picture above. We were about 3 hours wandering around listening to an 'audio tour' machine.

There's a garden laid out high above the town with fabulous views and a limestone grotto to climb on.

Finally we arrived back at 7.30 pm  on New Year's Eve and had barely made it to the door when our neighbours dragged us in for drinks and food until 11.30. We refused their invite to go down to a discotheque for more merrimaking and went back home for a few whiskies to welcome in the New Year. Hence today I have a rather fuzzy head! And all the Christmas chocolates seem to have disappeared............

Oh dear, the Gremlins have arrived and I can't add any more photos at the moment........I'll try later.