Off to lunch with the non goddaughter and partner. This involved three dogs – the two we already had – mine and the irritating puppy – and another, more sensible one. Puppy and home dog gallivanting around the garden and mine perched on the garden furniture looking disdainful. Although she did sneak off and was found in next doors kitchen! Lovely place on the river … Continue reading And it is the last day…..

OK, not 30 degrees, but warm nonetheless. The moors look glorious in the sunshine, the birds are singing and there are so many tourists about that one AirBnB property has more than 100% occupancy. (People come from say, Friday to Monday, but pay for a week because there are no part weeks in June. Someone else then picks up the rest of the week but … Continue reading Summer!

Following yesterday’s post, one of my friends asked what time I had taken the picture of the train. Turns out that, despite living in London, they had travelled on the same train about an hour before I saw it. They went from Alston to Kirkhaugh and walked back. If I had set out to walk the dog about half an hour earlier, I would have … Continue reading Coincidence is alive and well.

One of the joys of retirement is being able to travel around at a slower place and to possibly leave when everyone else is at work. Using the car is also something we should be trying not to do. So, when planning a visit to a friend in deepest Cumbria, I looked at the train timetables. 5 hours 43 minutes and two changes of train … Continue reading The hills of the North rejoice……

As it is Sunday, we have had a lie in and then come into town. Anne and Michael have gone to a choir rehearsal at the Opera House (we were hoping that I could go and listen but it is a closed session) and I have been museum visiting. At the Musee Fabre I went to see an exhibition of work by Louis Gauffier. He … Continue reading And today is the last day of my visit

Montpellier, being a civilised sort of place, has two opera houses. We went to visit the older one today, built on the 1880s on the site where two others had burnt down. Coincidentally, both whilst Hamlet was on. It won’t be done again – for obvious reasons. The tour was led by a very nervous student who gabbled through the information and had to refer … Continue reading At the Opera House

With apologies for not doing this yesterday….. Maguelone is the site of the original cathedral, built way before the town of Montpellier. Although the current building dates from the 10th – 12th C, archaeologists have found Roman and Visigothic remains. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maguelone_Cathedral for the rest of the history. It is built on an island between the Mediterranean and the salt flats and lagoons. After the … Continue reading Manueline

So this morning I sat around reading the paper and listening to Radio 3. So much so ‘retired people on holiday’ to quote my brother. This afternoon Anne and I went on another tour. A brief history of Montpellier. There were some overlaps with yesterday but not many. Firstly, water. In the 18thC the king decided that Montpellier needed a piped water system. An aqueduct … Continue reading Montpellier again

This morning I went on an organised tour of the private houses (Hotels Particuliers) in the old town of Montpellier. Apparently, Montpellier is not as old as many of the towns around it, having no Roman history and being founded in the 10thC. During medieval times it was a major trading post, specialising in moneylending, dyeing and the spice trade. This was put in jeopardy … Continue reading Montpellier continued

By the way, if anyone wondered why I had mentioned the Alyscamps (which, incidentally, means the Elysian Fields) yesterday but then not been there – we ran out of time! Next time maybe. After a snooze with my book an the sofa this morning, Anne and I went to the centre of.Montpellier. Although there is acres of urban sprawl, the centre is based around a … Continue reading Montpellier