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Monthly Archives: October 2018

Marseille 2

28 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by Musiewild in History, Photography, Travel

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Bleu de Chine, Bruno Catalano, Chateau d'If, Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille, Marseille Cathedral, Notre Dame de la Garde, Sherakhan, Vieux Port

Another lovely sunny day.  We decided to make for the basilica, Notre Dame de la Garde, on foot from our lodgings. The guide book said 45 minutes on foot for the courageous from the Vieux Port, but we were starting from nearer.  Firstly past the Prefecture, then the Palais de Justice, P1000915001and along the noisy Cours Pierre Puget.  On the map it looked as if this road had greenery, but that just proved to be an avenue of trees sheltering the traffic. From the end of it there was quiet – but upward and upward.  At one, surprisingly speedily reached point, it looked as if we were almost there, P1000917001but it proved that there were many more steps to go.  P1000919001We walked anti-clockwise round the basilica. P1000921001P1000922001

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Close-up of the Vieux Port

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There was a corner turret with several boards in ceramic like this with explanations, but I spent no time there.  Dozens of people leaning back taking selfies obscured them for the most part, and this was the best I could do.  The Chateau d’If can be made out.

I had mixed feelings about not being able to go up the tower, but Harvey clearly did not, as he was feeling poorly again.  He had done very well to make it all that way. We went down again by a different route P1000935001 to the centre, and sat for a short while in the Jardin Pierre Puget.  We had hoped to find somewhere really to stretch out and relax, but the park proved to be rocky and steep.  Continuing on to the Vieux Port, we eventually selected from among the many restaurants one which pleased, and had a main meal.

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Salade nordiste for Teresa, salade sudiste for me and a burger for Harvey

After lunch, after another wander looking in vain for somewhere for Harvey to relax, he went back to the mas for a rest. Teresa and I decided to walk around the Vieux Port, which is now only for leisure craft, in order to visit part of the present-day commercial port. P1000941001

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We had seen this glide in during our lunch.  It had no commercial name attached, so we speculated as to which billionaire it might belong.

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The name Sherakhan enabled us to check her out later.  For a little less than half a million US dollars – plus expenses, which I take to be fuel and provisions – you can charter her and her 19-strong crew, and her jet skis, and her jacuzzi, etc, etc, for a week, sleeping up to 26 people in 13 cabins. 

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Past the cathedral again.  A visit inside is on the list for another time…

We saw just the part of the harbour serving the ferries for the Mediterranean, though there was a lot more of it further on.

It was Teresa who spotted this sculpture first – I was looking through and past it!  P1000948001P1000949001As we stopped to examine the sculpture, a local couple – well, the man – entered into conversation with us.  He had lived in Sicily – I decided not to reveal that I had been there quite recently or we would never have got away –  then lived in North Africa for quite a while, and had retired to where he was born. Well, I think that was it.  The wife didn’t say a word, but the man sadly demonstrated some racist views on the large immigrant population of the city. However, he did recommend that we stop at the ‘wonderful’ Les Terrasses and go up two floors to take in the view.  Wondering what was so wonderful about Les Terrasses, I asked what was there, and he just said ‘De tout !‘ ‘Everything’ turned out to be a very large shopping centre with all the usual suspects, which didn’t interest us at all.  But without his recommendation we would not have gone up to the viewing platform. P1000953001P1000955001P1000958001A coffee on the ground floor, and a wander back through commercial roads, brought us back to the Vieux Port, to the health food store, and in due course to our lodgings. Teresa’s phone told us we had done more than 19,000 steps in the day, if I remember correctly.

So much had we enjoyed our soup the previous evening that we returned to the Japanese restaurant, to sin again (as the French say – récivider).  It was just as good the second time.

 

The next morning our hosts kindly served us a breakfast an hour earlier than they normally start, and it was at this stage that we learned the story of the building.  I did indeed take the metro back to the main line station, while the youngsters walked.  Both main line trains were on time, and, with a few hours to kill in London before my coach would leave for Somerset, I had the pleasure of meeting up for tea and a pastry with an old (in the sense that we sang together in the 1970s) friend.

Oh dear, Marseille is added to the growing list of places to which I want to return to explore further!

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Marseille 1

27 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by Musiewild in Countryside views, Geology, History, Photography, Travel

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Calanques, Chateau d'If, Eurostar, Gare de Lyon, Gare du Nord, karst, Le Figaro, limestone, Marseille, Mas, Notre Dame de la Garde, Notre Dame du Mont, Paris, People's Vote, Port-Miou, quarries, St Pancras, Un Mas en Ville

After the excitement of the London March for a People’s Vote the day before, on Sunday 21st October I met up with my cousin Teresa, and her teenage son Harvey, at St Pancras station to take Eurostar to Paris, and from there to travel onwards by train to Marseille, for just three nights. With the exception of problems at the Gare du Nord, (trying to buy metro tickets for the Gare de Lyon from a machine that was only taking coins, and then forcing those tickets through the unco-operative ticket barriers), the journey went entirely to plan, and we emerged on the classic (I’d say ‘iconic’ but the word is so over-used) very long flight of steps at Marseille St-Charles station late afternoon. P1000769001We decided to walk the kilometre plus to our lodgings, which, in addition to the steps, proved to include lots of ups and downs. With more luggage than the other two, I resolved there and then that I would return by the metro on Wednesday morning!

We knew in advance that our chambre d’hôtes, Un Mas en Ville,  was not in the chic-est part of the city, but it was very near the heart of it.  It was an amazing old building, entirely renovated about ten years ago in the style of a Provencal mas, or farm.  Having settled in our rooms, single ones aligned with each other on the first to third floors, P1000781001each with its own teensy private bathroom on the landing, P1000776001we went out to find a meal, and chose the first open restaurant we could find having headed towards the centre of the city. This turned out to be a popular Chinese one, where we enjoyed a good meal. Or rather Teresa and I did, as Harvey was feeling under the weather, and not up to eating much, a state in which he sadly remained, though improving, for the rest of our short stay.

Breakfast the next day was taken in a room semi-open to the small but perfectly formed swimming pool, an addition to the original building.  P1000774001P1000772001P1000773001What fun the designers must have had in creating this, and converting the original building! All the transformational work had been done by local stone masons, though the stone they used came from Normandy, as we learnt in due course. (As the water in the pool was unheated, there was absolutely no question of my trying it, neither did the others.)

We set off on foot for the Vieux Port, via the tourist information office, and over a coffee made plans for the day.

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The church of Notre Dame du Mont, which gives its name to the quartier where we lodged

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The Prefecture

P1000788001P1000795001It being Monday, we could not, as we had hoped, go by boat to the Château d’If, so we booked instead to do the three-hour trip with the same company along the coastline of the Calanques national park. Before this we had time to follow one of the tourist office’s suggested walks.

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Hotel de Ville/City Hall

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Taken from the Fort Saint-Jean

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This lace-clad building was so new that it appeared on neither of the maps we were using.

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From it, the Cathedral, and two very modern buildings, each of which was completed within the last few months.  (They featured in this article in the French national newspaper, Le Figaro, two days after our return!)  The right-hand one changes colour depending on whether it is in sunlight or not.

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Having crossed the footbridge to the top of the building, we found a café on the next floor down, but didn’t stop.

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We continued on down via slopes and steps.  The building appeared to house and be about to house offices and meeting rooms.

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With time running out before the boat was due to leave, we didn’t hang around as we returned, past the Cathedral front and the Hotel de Ville to the port, but I did notice this on the side of one of the old buildings near it.  Subject to correction, I think it means that all citizens of a given commune are collectively liable for damage done to people and property of that commune.

The serendipitous discovery of an organic sandwich bar near the port provided our lunch, which we started eating as the boat set off. It was a very enjoyable trip in very pleasant weather.

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Ours was the green circuit (no stops).

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The lacy building and the Fort Saint-Jean

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Close-up of the Château d’If

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The basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, which we had first seen from the steps of the station, dominates the city.

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The limestone is very fossiliferous, as we had seen on paving stones and other buildings in the old town.

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This is a close-up, but…

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… this is not, and the size of the people gives an idea of the scale of these cliffs.

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There were a few little villages along the coastline.  In WWII, according to the commentary, these hills provided hiding places for the resistance.

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I snuck this photo of Teresa

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and she got her revenge

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For geologists – evidence of karst formation, I believe

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Just turn left…

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…for turn round point – Port-Miou

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The old quarries, which provided stone for most of the monumental buildings in Marseille

In the evening, Harvey, again not feeling like a proper meal, stayed behind at our lodgings, snacking on provisions we had bought at a health food store near the tourist office. Teresa and I this time turned in the opposite direction from that we had chosen the night before to find something to eat.  We ended up in a Japanese restaurant in the Place Notre Dame du Mont, which had particularly advertised its vegan dishes.  Having ordered the soup and a main dish, when the soup arrived we saw that it was a meal in itself, and were able to cancel the rest of the order.  The huge bowl of soup was delicious and filling!

 

 

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700,000

20 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by Musiewild in Photography

≈ 21 Comments

This is how many were with us in London today, marching for a People’s Vote. I met up with two friends from Somerset to take part in only my second demonstration ever, so strongly do I feel that we should be given the chance to express our views again, now that the facts are so much better known. Here is a selection of the photographs I  took, most of them in Park Lane, since it took us about 2 hours 20 minutes to get from Marble Arch to Hyde Park Corner, so many people were taking part. (Some of these pictures are not in quite the right order. Right now I don’t have the facilities of my home computer to correct things on.)P1000636P1000663Police helicopters accompanied the route, but on the ground the police were very discreet.P1000630Jean and Liz,  my Somerset companions. Many more Somersetters were there, but we did not see any of them.P1000657P1000665P1000685I did not take photos of smutty or ad hominem placards – with this very mild exception!P1000659P1000695P1000679P1000699P1000696P1000702P1000731P1000705P1000706After well over two hours we emerged from Park Lane, the starting point,  into Piccadilly. P1000707P1000741P1000713P1000736P1000734P1000738

When we got to Trafalgar Square, via St James’s Street and Pall Mall, after about four hours, we decided to to go into the National Gallery for a cup of tea, because this was the view down Whitehall, a solid, unmoving block of people. The speeches in Parliament Square were meant to have started over an hour previously, so we had missed most of them and had no hope of hearing any remaining.P1000748P1000752View from the National Gallery cafe. While there we looked to see what the BBC was saying about the march, and I was delighted to see that they were featuring the best placard I saw, ‘Eton Mess’. P1000758P1000756

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We completed the march afterwards. Most people were walking back up Whitehall, but some were still partying

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H M Treasury where I worked aeons ago. I was actually in the Europe section on the day we joined, 1.1.73.

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The Houses of Parliament, barely recognisable

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Very proud and very happy to have taken part.

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Killerton

06 Saturday Oct 2018

Posted by Musiewild in Countryside views, History, Music-making, Photography, Plants, Travel

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Acland, Broadclyst, Ellen Terry, Exeter, Henry Singleton, House of Commons, Killerton, National Portrait Gallery, National Trust, New Zealand, Octavia Hill, Saudi Arabia, Suffragettes, Suffragists, Women's Marseillaise

Killerton, Broadclyst, Devon.   With nothing in my diary for the day, and having noted long ago that I wanted to catch an exhibition there before it closed, I took myself on Friday to this National Trust property a few miles north-east of Exeter.  It is one of the county’s largest estates.  The house was originally intended to be temporary, but the grandiose mansion planned was never built. The late 1780s Georgian property was extended twice, early in the nineteenth century and again a hundred years or so later.  I came across this description of the estate at one point.

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It was donated to the National Trust in 1944.  P1000236001After the obligatory coffee on arrival, I left the elegant Georgian stable block, which now houses café, shop and plant sales, and took a backward glance at it.

At the end of the drive lay the house itself, presently housing three exhibitions relating to the long campaigns for votes for women. A stark reminder of how the campaign could divide members of the same family, aunt and niece in this case, each living on the estate, greeted visitors. P1000243001The first exhibition was a collaboration between the NT and the National Portrait Gallery, London. P1000245001P1000247001P1000249001

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Octavia Hill.  Octavia Hill! Against! Social reformer! She who had so much to do with the founding of the National Trust!

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Ellen Terry – pro women’s suffrage

I had not previously realised just how strongly some women felt that they should not get the vote, and I felt uneasy all the time I was in this small exhibition, very conscious how another political debate today, on which I feel so strongly, is dividing households and friends. (My cats are totally apathetic on the matter, so my household is tranquil.)

The other two exhibitions, fashion related to the suffragette/suffragist movement, and more about the two Acland women, left me less emotionally troubled. I could not have been a suffragette, but am equally sure that I would have been out there marching with the non-violent suffragist movement.

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The music room

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I was very tempted to sing this out loud, but I didn’t quite dare.  I’m pretty sure though that onlookers and volunteers would have been delighted!

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A set of playing cards laid out on the console table, with pro and anti themes

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A House of Commons with not a woman in sight …

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The drawing room

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The Pastor’s Fireside, by Henry Singleton, the 19th Baronet Acland reading to his family

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The library, somewhat spoiled in my view by all the panels of quotations

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The dining room

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The movement had a long history

P1000285001None looked like achieving anything, until the World War I when women proved their worth in ‘men’s’ jobs. I actually got a little angry inside as I looked at the changing pictures, some of which are in the slideshow below, showing just what work they had done. P1000296001

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Why did they have to do ‘men’s’ jobs to prove they were sufficiently responsible to vote?

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This map showed that New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote (1893), and Saudi Arabia (2015) has been the latest

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A delightful respite in one of the bedrooms from all that politics

On emerging from the house, I went looking for a snack in the Dairy Café. P1000313001P1000317001But it was closed, so I went back to the entrance café, not wishing to take a meal in the main restaurant in the house. After having my soup, I went off in search of the old 1950s Post Office, but reading the notice saved me the tramp over there, though the path looked enticing.

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I’m glad the fence was strong!

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This was Friday

So I went back to the house and started exploring the gardens, which, as this slideshow proves, still had plenty of colour, this early October day.

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From there I went further into the grounds.  P1000342001I came across a granite cross, which I have since learned was erected in 1873 in memory of the 10th Baronet who did so much to develop the estate, by 40 of his friends. But for me the main interest was that it was swarming with harlequin (i.e.  non-native) ladybirds, scurrying about, never still and occasionally flying off and returning.  P1000347001

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Harlequins come in many colours

Were they enjoying the warmth that the granite had absorbed during the morning?  Were they preparing to swarm together to find a place to hibernate?  My researches have not got me very far… But some of them came far with me.  It was a good fifteen minutes and several hundred metres away before the last one emerged from my hair.

I was keen to leave Killerton in time to avoid Friday evening traffic, but still had time for a gentle stroll in a small part of the parkland, where I met scarcely a soul.  P1000370001P1000374001P1000382001P1000386001P1000387001P1000388001P1000389001

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A glimpse of the Victorian chapel

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Lovely spot for a romantic picnic

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Autumn rolls on

This post has been very long, but here is a slideshow for any reader with stamina for 12 more pictures with details.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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