The Three B's - revisited

Bardon Hill - Beacon Hill and Bradgate Park - 17 miles

Why the update?  
A new quarry has taken out a number of fine footpaths up to Brandon Hill.  The area now looks like it has been prepared for a World War One film set.  Also I has tried to reduce road walking to a minimum, adding more miles in the process.

The first section continues to be blighted by the M1.  It can't be seen, but if the wind is in the wrong direction, there is always a rumble.

Starting Directions.
I start in Markfield.  There is good parking there and I suggest a clockwise motion, and get the battle scene over and done with first.  Park by the Altar Stones, and walk up onto the sculpture of rocks. There is a great view of the Charwood Hills from here, and if it weren't for the incessant presence  down below, it would be perfect.  I found the exit from the park on the left side at the bottom of the field.  Continue down the dead-end road and cross the A50 dual carriageway, then walk under the M1 on the up hill side.  This is easy because the path is newly made.  Traffic lights stop the traffic, and their is 24 lighting under the roadway.

To The Possible Existence of Water

Inspired by accidentally coming across the relics of St Thomas Aquainus in Toulouse.

The Parent-Child Relationship

Parents choose to have children.  (Perhaps adoptive parents even more so.) The Creator chose to create humanity and the world.  Planned, or an accident?

Parents should be aware that bringing up children is not necessarily straightforward.  I reminded  my colleague Trevor recently of the story he told when he realised that his two daughters, no longer teenagers, had not rebelled; not caused him or his wife any grief.  In a state of agitation he marched into the sitting room and demanded to know why they had not rebelled.  "Oh quieten down Dad", said one of them, "come over here and watch East Enders with us".

But the Creator knew it wasn't going to be straightforward.  S/He planned a bail out- even before the banks went bust.  Parents should be ready for rejection, heartache.  They too should be ready to rescue.

So what do children owe their parents?  I argue nothing, expect their whole life?

Ready for Toulouse-Najac

What did we learn?
Thomas Aquinas' skull is kept beneath the altar of the church of the Jacobin's.  This was where the where the Dominican Order was founded.

Simon DeMontfort, (who established a university in Leicester), was killed near to Najac.

In Britain after the Romans left, London went to rack and ruin.  People forgot how to make bricks, and how to live civilised lives.  Not so in Toulouse.

St Sernin - What an amazing church.

My Girls

Mum and Elizabeth with a large bowl of Cassoulet

The other Pont Neuf

The Jacobin Monastery.  

The Cathedral
An extraordinary interior: asymmetric Chancel and Nave.

An extraordinary exterior: A jumble of facades

Breakfast at 'Face B'.  (Discussion about what Face B might mean.)
Cathedral in the background

A route up to Richard and Sally's house.

Here it is- their house

Into the garden

The new 'old' centre of Najac

A fine interior

'Relaxing' in Najac

The famous Castle- Well worth a visit

Shopping in Villefranche De Rouergue

The Market spills out all over the town

You've got to have a flag.
Midi- Pyrenees in Catalan colours

Farewell to Richard and Sally

Final view of Najac from the train station.

Live like this

Eric- as celebrated by a some young french admirers on youtube

Elizabeth on a pedestal

Everyone's favorite spot

 We first met Eric when Ellie and Ian Bensted invited Margaret and me to stay in their newly acquired cottage in Arthog North Wales twenty years ago.  We have seen him every year since then, at least once.  Here is poem for his memory.

Live Like This
There's  a tap at the door, a poesy to present,
Each bloom thoughtfully chosen, a perfect moment.

After a warm greeting, delivered with characteristic flair,
We catch up on stories, a year's worth of 'adventure'.

"Your thoughts on my latest painting effort?"
I'm asked, as if I could offer anything of import.

With tea stained mug, we indulge in gentle repartee,
Where's safe to sit down? I feel the tease falls on me,

Sometimes driving to distraction, but with the significance of an angel,
'Twas only quite recently that we realised his reputation was international.

A day to remember