We see the Bayeux Tapestry and Battle of Normandy Museum

Bayeux Cathedral 

Our main reason for choosing the Manoir de l'Abbaye campsite which I blogged about yesterday was so we could visit Bayeux and finally see its famous tapestry. That's not all the town has to offer though and we started by visiting the Notre Dame du Bessin Cathedral, a stately and elegant structure which towers over everything. Inside it is mostly plain stone, but with many gorgeously vivid stained glass windows and an incredibly overblown 17th century pulpit. This is about half way down the cathedral, side on to the pews, and would make the speaker look as though they were preaching from within clouds and surrounded by cherubs. Not a subtle message to the congregation! We were lucky to see a worn, but still clear medieval wall painting which had been uncovered when large furniture in front was removed for restoration. We could also peep into a lower possibly Roman level underground, but couldn't walk around as this was closed off for the winter.

I liked this joiner's shop sign 

Also closed for the winter were the pay machines at the d'Ornano which pleased us. Parking is free here from the end of October until the Spring so we didn't have to pay for that or to enter the Cathedral or to wander around the interesting old streets. There is a trail of some twenty boards which explain aspects of Bayeux history from Roman times until the Second World War. We learned that the Roman town here was called Augustodurum. The massive Roman walls which were originally built to protect against Saxon raids were only abandoned during the eighteenth century and we were able to see a small section that has been preserved.

It was a clear but distinctly chilly day so we took the opportunity to warm up at Le Miette Doree, a tiny sandwicherie on Rue Larcher which was offering Soupe Maison at €3 a bowl. The soup was just what we needed and the coffee here was very good too.

Battle of Normandy Museum diorama 

We bought a dual ticket for the Museum of the Battle of Normandy and the Bayeux Tapestry Musem. This was €12 per person and turned out to be great value although Dave was unimpressed at the lack of seniors discount! The Battle of Normandy museum is huge and has extensive exhibits documenting the Allies invasion and ultimate capture of Normandy over the summer of 1944. I was particularly interested in the old photographs and artifacts. There are models in all the various uniforms, vehicles, guns and shells and a detailed diorama which I managed to get a reasonable photo of. The 25 minute film in the little cinema is very good and included a lot of information which was new to us. Most sobering were the images of absolute destruction. Town after town seemingly reduced to rubble. How did anyone survive?

From one war to another and I am happy to say that The Bayeux Tapestry is as incredible in person as it reputation suggests! There is Absolutely No Photography allowed which is understandable so I have 'borrowed' the image below from the museum website. We had read online the evening before our visit that the Tapestry is only 50cm high so I wondered if we would have another Magna Carta moment (is that it?!). Instead I was amazed! We were given audioguide headsets explaining each of the fifty-odd scenes along the seventy metres of embroidery. I wasn't prepared for there to be so much humour in the work - although it does get pretty gruesome later on. After viewing the Tapestry we also explored the accompanying museum which explained its making and the whole 1066 story in great detail and from the Norman perspective. Perhaps not everything I was told at school was true! This museum also has a very good short film and I loved the tiny models of contemporary landscapes and the full size replica of a Norman boat. I can't imagine trying to cross the Channel effectively in a big canoe - with horses!

Bayeux Tapestry detail 

A weekend in Bristol - the Open-Top Bus Tour and Bocabar

So, yesterday I talked about our afternoon Bristol Harbour

Wallace and Gromit street art 

walk and today's blog will focus on a different method of city exploration - the Bristol Insight open-top bus tour. We were surprised when Gemma and Simon suggested this entertainment as they have lived in Bristol at least a decade and we wondered if they wouldn't already know everything! This turned out not to be the case though as our guide, Jackie, was very knowledgeable and kept up the nuggets of information for ninety minutes as Ian drove us around. Tickets for the tour are £15 for adults, £13 concessions and £8 for children. We thought this good value as it's a long route. We caught the bus by Millennium Square At-Bristol. It drives around some of the harbour before heading out under the suspension bridge, up over the Downs, past Bristol Zoo and into Clifton, down Park Street, out to Cabot Circus and Temple Meads before returning to Millennium Square. I won't spoil the on-bus commentary by telling you what we learned, but there's lots of history and we were given a page of discount vouchers for other attractions too. I think if you went round them all, you might even get your bus fare back!

Prior to the bus, we had popped into the Bristol Old Vic

Bristol Old Vic theatre 

theatre which was hosting a street party to celebrate its 250th anniversary - the oldest continuously running theatre in the country. I'd never been there before. The event turned out to be mostly food stalls, but I was interested to see inside the foyers and public space. Sadly the auditorium was being set up for a later performance so we couldn't be nosey there. However, if you head towards the upstairs toilets, just through the double glass doors there is an uncovered section of wall that's preserved behind glass. It doesn't look anything special, but we learned that it is part of the original front wall of the building from 1776. I loved seeing the large production photographs lining the theatre walls too. There had been a Crucible production on not so long ago!

From the theatre, we strolled a short distance to Bristol

Keith New window at
Bristol Cathedral 

Cathedral, another place we hadn't previously visited. The Cathedral is free to enter with donations towards its upkeep welcomed. We later learned (yes, on the bus!) that Bristol's Cathedral escaped destruction by Henry VIII's men because it swiftly became Protestant. It was damaged during WWII though and the stained glass in the large windows is modern. I particularly liked this window created by Keith New in 1965. I saw it as an abstract dragonfly although it is a representation of the Holy Spirit. Older stained glass windows are preserved in the cloister. The arts seem to be strongly encouraged at the Cathedral and I noticed quite a varied What's On programme on their website. Television programmes Wolf Hall and Sherlock were partly filmed here and events include music recitals and book talks.

By early evening we were all pretty shattered so walked up to the Paintworks which bills itself as Bristol's creative quarter. The renovated industrial zone now has artists workspaces and studios, and offices for creative businesses. It also has Bocabar! This large bar-restaurant serves Brazilian style pizzas and has an extensive cocktail list. Indoors the seating is mostly huge sofas with fairy lights and modern art for sale on the walls. Outside there is a little sun-trap terrace. We were lucky to arrive at a quiet time - apparently Bocabar can get very busy, especially for their Sunday lunches. We had a couple of drinks and staayed to eat. I think Dave enjoyed his pizza and I can recommend the Halloumi Salad!

Bocabar 

#ThrowbackThursday - where we were on this date in Aprils past

I have enjoyed joining in #ThrowbackThursday on Twitter

Shadows Of The Wanderer by Ana Pacheco 

for ages now, but it only recently occurred to me that I could do a similar feature on my blog. For those of you who haven't come across the hashtag before, the idea is to look back across the years and reminisce about what you were doing on the same date. Stephanie Jane (the blog) has been around since 2013 and I have posts on Theatrical Eastbourne back to 2012 so let's see what we were up to! All links go to my old posts, so do click through for the full story, and if you write your own #ThrowbackThursday post, pop the link in the Comments!

At the end of April 2012 I had just visited a Willie Doherty photographic and video exhibition at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne. Doherty is from Northern Ireland and much of his work is an attempt to understand the daily fear, oppression and uncertainty of people living within a divided community. I liked the ambiguity of his work and several of the photographs got more frightening the longer I observed and thought about them.

A year later and April 2013 was all about the theatre. We

had returned from a fortnight's holiday in Austin, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana, to cold, grey, miserable England in March. Wearing all our clothing (not quite!) for two days while we tried to get the house back up to temperature was the genesis of our travelling idea - no more British winters! - but in the meantime I consoled myself with a cultural overload: three plays, a musical, a film, a storytelling workshop and an incredible Matthew Bourne ballet.

At the end of April 2014 we had been home a month from

Books to read! 

our first European caravan travels - six months around Portugal and Spain - and I started what would become a frantic ebaying and freegling of everything in our house that wasn't actually bolted to the walls! We hadn't yet decided to sell up and embrace the nomadic life full-time, but I remember feeling claustrophobic back indoors and this was exacerbated by the sheer amount of stuff I had accumulated over the years. I didn't have a job to return to either so the clearout helped with cashflow. I still had reading time though so April 2014's memory is a roundup post of six book reviews.

This time last year we had been on the road for nearly

eight months and were beginning our UK summer tour. The end of April saw us in Norwich admiring the Ana Pacheco sculpture Shadows Of The Wanderer at Norwich Cathedral (pictured at the top of this post), buying local produce at the permanent market, and visiting a couple of excellent eateries. Dave found his very own Place too!

I've loved looking back over the past few years and am still amazed at how much we have changed our lives. I'll do another #ThrowbackThursday post at the end of next month remembering that date in years gone by.

Discovering Sophie Ryder #Relationships sculpture in Salisbury

For our last afternoon pitched up near Bournemouth we

Temple to the 200 rabbits by Sophie Ryder 

thought, instead of getting stuck in the city traffic again, we would head in the opposite direction and visit Salisbury. The historic town is beautiful with lots of interesting architecture including the iconic cathedral which, we learned, has the tallest spire in England. We dressed up for the cold and then wished we hadn't as warm sunshine made heavy coats more of a burden than a benefit! Leaning Medieval cottages are pressed in between solid later brick built structures and very modern shopping arcades which make for a unique mix of styles. There is lots of water here too and we enjoyed a short stretch of the River Walk.

Minotaur and Hare Torso by Sophie Ryder 

Having gotten lucky with a free onstreet parking spot in

Medieval house between
more modern structures 

Trinity Road, we started by just strolling around the centre streets. Salisbury Park and Ride doesn't run on Sundays for some reason, but the Culver Street multi-storey car park is free if you can't find an onstreet space. We got a little lost in the one-way system while trying to find Culver Street. It looked so easy on the map!

A three-day Bakhtiyar exhibition of Persian carpets and rugs made for an unusual diversion. Dozens of carpets were on display in The Medieval Hall in Cathedral Close. Unfortunately there were far too many for the space so only a fraction could be properly viewed. The workmanship was gorgeous and the prices were eye-opening too - up to £15,000! Just opposite Cathedral Close, Salisbury Cathedral itself towered up into the blue sky and we were delighted to find a selection of huge galvanised metal sculptures dotted across the lawn. This was the beginning of a five-venue exhibition across Salisbury of Sophie Ryder's work which continues until the 3rd of July and is entitled 'Relationships'.

We only visited the Cathedral lawns and the Cathedral

Salisbury cathedral 

interior venues, both of which are free to view. Further work including drawings and prints are displayed at Sarum College, The Salisbury Museum and Young Gallery. I loved the hare motif which recurs throughout much of Ryder's work. Apparently she views herself as the lady-hare, often accompanied by a male minotaur. Ryder also frequently incorporates horses and greyhound-like dogs. "Her beguiling blend of human and animal forms are used as a metaphor to discuss a complex range of human emotions". Sophie was the youngest student to be admitted to the Royal Academy School since Turner and began her training there at just 17.

We both liked Salisbury very much and could have happily

Introspective by Sophie Ryder 

spent longer in the town. We managed to miss most of a motorbiking convention that had taken over the central square for the day, although we saw lots of motorcycles in the area. A high proportion of shops and cafes were open, considering we visited on a Sunday, and we rediscovered a branch of the Cornish Bakery chain that we had liked in Tavistock. In other mundane news, I finally got a new watch battery after it died on me months ago. I was loathe to buy one overseas as I had already paid for a 'lifetime' battery replacement at Timpson. This means that after a one-off payment of £11-something four years ago, I can take my watch into any Timpson branch and get its battery replaced for no extra payment for as long as I keep the same watch. I was a little dubious, but the woman at Timpson in Ferndown was friendly and efficient and the new battery was completely free.

Sitting horse with girl by Sophie Ryder 

A great day wandering historic Perigueux

We didn't get to Perigueux on Friday as the weather was

Mad street art in Perigueux 

miserable - those April showers starting as they mean to go on! Saturday dawned grey, but we decided to take what might have been our last chance to view this historic town, dressed up for rain and ended up wearing far too much in glorious sunshine. Definitely a better outcome than the forecast's promised drenching!

We parked for free in a little car park down by the river. Dave had researched getting there by the little local Peribus, but it involved a mile's walk at the campsite end, a change of bus and a journey of well over an hour so we took the car instead. The town was busy in the morning as the bi-weekly farmer's market had taken over several of the squares and surrounding streets. The market happens on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, packing up about 1pm, and there was an excellent range of food stalls including fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, honey and mead, and breads.

Our first sight upon exiting the car park though was

Perigueux cathedral 

Perigueux's unique Byzantine cathedral whose spires tower above the other buildings. I did get a blue sky picture of it later in the day, but it looked more imposing I think against the ominous grey clouds. Saint Front Cathedral was originally modelled on St Mark's Basilica in Venice with its floorplan being a Greek cross. This felt quite weird when we actually stepped inside briefly as two large sections of chairs face across towards each other giving worshippers no view of the altar or the service. The cathedral seemed to be mostly dull grey stone inside and I thought it best seen from outdoors! Built in 1669, Saint Front looks quite plain in early images with only its tower to distinguish it. The domes were added when the cathedral was rebuilt to the designs of Paul Abadie between 1852 and 1893.

Perigueux has surviving Roman stonework and lots of

medieval structures including this old 'moulin' by the side of the road into town. (If you see this on your right, the slope down to the car park is imminent on your left!) We had intended to visit the Tourist Office for a historical town map, but didn't arrive until after their lunchtime closure. Instead, we wandered the old town at random.

Narrow streets have dramatically tall buildings leaning in towards each other and many of the most interesting alleyways are still unevenly cobbled, rising in the centre to drain water (and originally sewage) to gutters on each side. We spotted signs for a historical town walk which is marked by yellow stripes on the side of various buildings. This led us through a medieval maze of streets including those of the Jewish quarter, and alongside sections of the city walls which are still very much in evidence. We loved seeing buildings with their original thick wooden doors, and some had small stone statues in niches above.

This weekend just gone was a pan-European celebration of

artisan crafts and crafters entitled 'Les Journees Europeennes des Metiers d'Art'. We saw two exhibitions that were part of this - one of pottery in a small gallery and the second of various arts in a wonderful venue. Delphine Viau and Vero And Didou showcased their talents for leather bags and recycled lighting over two floors of the Mataguerre tower. The tower was part of the defensive walls, made of thick stone, and with a steep spiral staircase enabling us to enjoy these fabulous views across the rooftops of the old town. Originally there were twenty-eight towers and twelve gates, but Mataguerre is now the only one remaining.

Lunch was coffee and cake at Le Fournil patisserie which has a good selection and also offers the usual bakery breads, plus salad boxes and savoury pastries. There are a few little tables inside along one wall. Suitably refreshed, we wandered back down to the river so Dave could drop off his waterproof coat at the car. In hindsight, I should have left my wool coat too as shortly afterwards the cloud cover cleared and the sun shone on our canal and river walk.

Perigueux has a short canal built just inside the bend of the

Perigueux canal 

river L'Isle. It's banks are now primarily for leisure with a Voie Verte passing along here. In the hour or so we walked out and back we saw dozens of cyclists, runners and other walkers. It is amazingly peaceful and feels rural despite being just metres from the town. Returning along the narrow strip of land between the river and canal we enviously overlooked small houses and fantastic little plots of amenity land, some with hammocks and swing chairs, others which had been dug into full-scale allotments.

After such a great visit, the downside to Perigueux is the huge sprawling Centre Commercial we needed to drive through to get back to Antonne Et Trigonant. There are so many businesses and such weight of traffic that getting across the roundabouts safely was a pretty hair-raising experience. I wouldn't let that put me off visiting again, but I might choose to camp elsewhere if possible and cycle in along the Voie Verte!

Walking Tarragona for street art and sculpture

I love walking around new-to-me towns and cities. I believe

Gaser mural near the Modern Art Museum 

it is the best way to really get a flavour of my surroundings and I get to see so much more detail than I would zooming past in a car or on the bus. Tarragona is a particularly compact city so perfect for exploring on foot and the narrow stone streets of the Old Town don't even encourage cycling. As we arrived on a Saturday afternoon and most of Tarragona's historic sites and monuments are closed on Sundays and Mondays, we have had lots of time simply wandering which is great. I am enjoying my time here immensely. The Spanish street artists are wonderfully talented and I love discovering all the different styles and subjects.

This mural of a domino playing man is near to the Modern

Gaser mural near the
Modern Art Museum 

Art Museum (which we haven't visited yet. It's not open on Mondays.) The mural is signed by Gaser who is a known local street artist. A second, partner mural is just around the corner and depicts another man listening in on his neighbours.

I don't know the artist for the below image of jelly baby style figures climbing up the side of their building, but I love the idea. The figures are painted in such a way as to make the building appear to have three-dimensional steps or terraces. I am not sure if this effect comes across so well in my photograph as it did standing in the street below and gazing upwards. In reality the painted wall is perfectly flat.

We looked inside the Cathedral yesterday. It is a beautiful

Mural inside Tarragona Cathedral 

structure, as probably should be expected, and I was surprised at the expanses of pale coloured stonework inside. Small chapels line each side, one of which had these preserved medieval paintings. It must have been amazing to have seen the works when the colours were still new and vivid.

One of the most famous painted facades in Tarragona is this building painted on the end of a building by Carles Arola. I was reminded of the similarly fantastic yellow building that we saw in Lyon. Arola has murals exhibited all over this region and was also responsible for painting the outside of the temporary Municipal Market here while the hundred-year-old Market is renovated.

Carles Arola building 

Two sculptures caught my eye yesterday. The first was this

Thales by Lluis M Saumells 

elongated gold-coloured bronze figure by Lluis M Saumells which is three and a half metres tall and was created in 1976. It is entitled Thales. Saumells has other public sculptures in Tarragona including a tall tree-like piece that I just caught sight of in a Plaza. Having looked through his website, I see there are also sculptures in Cambrils and Salou so I will have to look out for those when we return to Camping Llosa.

The 'building' of castles out of human bodies is a traditional skill around here although we haven't actually spotted it happening yet. There are photographs in all the tourist offices though and we saw this bronze representation yesterday. It looks ridiculously dangerous! The sculpture is entitled Als Castellers. It was created by Francesc Angles in 1999.

Als Castellers by Francesc Angles 

We saw more Castellers painted on a bollard today as well.

Castellers bollard 

It was one of a whole street of differently painted posts and I think was the work of a number of artists because the styles changed as we walked along.

There is a section of the Old Town which has a suddenly strong artist vibe. Several of the houses looked like they might actually be artists' studios, however, because it was Monday today, all the doors were closed up so we couldn't see what was going on inside. The doors themselves were interesting though because they are predominantly heavy dark wood which has been intricately carved with natural or geometric designs. Maybe we will get to go back around tomorrow when we explore some of the historical monuments and the artists will be out in force as well.

Painted bollard street 

The last fun mural I saw today was this fun example of children playing. It was created by Marius Arts.

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Exploring Exeter makes for a great day out

One of our major reasons for choosing our present campsite,

Alexandro Farto mural in Exeter 

Huntisbeare, is its proximity to Exeter, a city that we both wanted to visit. Our first port of call was the Park and Ride. We are definitely getting the hang of these and Exeter's is particularly good. My return fare was just £2.50 and Dave got a freebie with his bus pass. The seats were super comfortable too and it felt more like travelling on a coach than an everyday bus. There are several stops in the town centre and we jumped off near to a John Lewis on the High Street. Also on the High Street, but several minutes walk away is a Whittards where I stocked up on our new favourite drink: Creme Brulee flavour White Hot Chocolate. It's basically pudding in a mug! I also bought a tub of Dreamtime Instant Tea which I used to drink in my A level days -a good twenty years ago (eeek!). Getting to sleep has been difficult for me recently - probably because I am getting up too late - so I impulse bought the Dreamtime Tea to see if it might help. Nearby, the superb mural pictured above was created by Portuguese artist Alexandro Farto who drew the image onto the wall's plain render and then chipped it away to produce the striking monochrome effect. I haven't been able to find out who the woman is though. Someone local?

We tore ourselves away from the shops, but not before admiring the

Interesting architecture in Exeter 

architecture of some of the old buildings. The upper stories of Lakeland and its neighbour are particularly enchanting and I was disappointed that I couldn't get a good enough photo for you. The street is too narrow to step far enough back. Instead, these two great buildings, which really do sit so closely together, are near to the Cathedral. The red sandstone church on the left is St Martin's, one of the oldest churches in the city which was originally consecrated in 1065 and does still contain some Anglo Saxon stone from this time. There is an amazing variance in architectural styles and periods all around Exeter and especially in the Cathedral area. We saw a fantastic heavily carved wooden door that is about 500 years old and the Exeter Memories website has interesting information about the rest of Cathedral Close.

We had picked up a Visit Exeter booklet while in Tavistock which

Bosses in Exeter Cathedral 

included a page of discount vouchers. One of these was a two-for-one entry into Exeter Cathedral - a good deal and even more so when we were charged at Dave's concession price, not my standard adult! The Cathedral was very interesting and I loved the painted bosses in the vaulted ceiling. There are more than 400 and they are all carved with Gothic images including plants, animals and coats of arms. The lower of the larger bosses in this photo depicts the murder of St Thomas Beckett. The vaulted ceiling is the longest continuous medieval stone vault in the world and it is breathtakingly beautiful. Some of the tip-up seats in the choir stalls are also medieval and are beautifully carved with elephants, a whale, birds and plants. Tombs date from all periods so we saw representations of knights in full armour and in Elizabethan costume. I was fascinated by the astronomical clock, from 1484, which depicts both the moon and the sun in orbit around the earth. In a a biography of Galileo I have just read I learned about his imprisonment by the Catholic Church for suggesting that the earth was Not the centre of the universe and this clock perfectly illustrates the official Church beliefs of the period.

Astronomical clock in Exeter Cathedral 

Lunch was taken down on the Quayside which has been sympathetically

Exeter quayside 

restored and turned into a leisure area. We had a sharing plate of Chilli Nachos at a little cafe called Mango's and just managed to escape an unexpected downpour by shifting tables to be under their huge umbrella. The coffee is good here. After eating, we took a wander along the arches which now house artisan and craft shops. One had a fantastic light designed by Scott Nelmes. The river was quite busy with canoes and rowers and there were a lot of cyclists about too. We walked as far as the canal basin and I understand that there is a pretty flat cycleway, the Exe Trail, from here to Exmouth and plans to continue it right around the Exe Estuary as far as Dawlish.

Back up the hill again, Dave mentioned visiting the Exeter Phoenix, an

arts centre which is currently hosting a modern art exhibition, The Exeter Contemporary Open. To be honest, much of the work was hit and miss for us although we did like Mimei Thompson's oil paintings and Henny Acloque's acrylic works. I was very taken with a video installation of pendula by McGilvary White entitled Things That Swing. I think the sound effects are perfect! We also got to view a photographic exhibition of Independents Of Exeter, photographed by Vanessa Miles, which highlighted local small businesses and celebrated the inauguration of the Exeter Pound - an initiative to keep local money spent locally.

After all that art and culture, we needed our reviving chai latte and chocolate milkshake at Caffe Espresso which is a cute little place just opposite the castle - well worth the quick walk from the High Street to get there. We did then have some trouble finding the right stop for our bus back and were exhausted by the time we got back home.

Exeter's history in a single mural 

We see an 800 year old Magna Carta and buy some truly ancient fossils

Back into historic Lincoln today, again using the excellent Castle Shuttle

I don't think I've seen a half numbered house before! 

park and ride service, and our main destination was Lincoln Castle. Built by the Normans over the ruins of Roman fortifications, and added to later with other structures including an imposing Victorian prison. Lincoln Castle is pricier to get into than we would normally pay, but justifiably so. I spent a significant proportion of our visit with vertigo, firstly in the Victorian prison which was remarkably similar in interior appearance to the set for Porridge and had three floors with narrow gantries so I could see right down to the ground through the rails. Conditions were unsurprisingly terrible for the Victorian inmates with prisoners often dying of disease before their trials and sentences were carried out. The prison chapel was bizarrely arranged. Female prisoners sat in a row at the front, then behind them male prisoners were each locked into an individual pen, completely closed off from everyone else and only able to see towards the chaplain in the pulpit at the front. The prison made good use of projected films and voice recordings to illustrate the unfortunate predicaments of many inmates.

Mary Ann Milner 

Another well made short film was showing prior to our viewing of the Magna Carta. Four original copies of the document, each distributed to a different town at the time of the charter, are still in existence. Lincoln's is under glass in a climate controlled environment inside another glass pillar, and inside a vault. I got a definite sense of occasion going to view it. And then a sense of 'is that it?' when stood peering down. The Magna Carta is in Latin and written in tiny handwriting on a fairly large sheet of sheepskin parchment. It is plain though. I suppose I was expecting colourful exaggerated capital letters and many decorative swirls and flourishes. Instead, there is a dense block of faded brown text. A privilege to view the artefact in its 800th year and interesting that the idea of Magna Carta worldwide is so much more significant than the item itself!

Out in copious fresh air again, we did the Medieval Wall Walk around the windy Castle battlements. Another high spot in both senses of the phrase! (Interestingly, one side of the castle overlooking terraces has low frosted glass plates between the battlements to prevent falling but allow visitors to look out. On the other side, overlooking posher housing, the frosted glass is considerably higher and voyeurism practically impossible!) We accepted an audio guide and there are lots of informative metal plaques around the walls too. Other circular plaques are set into the paved paths all round the castle giving brief details of people who once lived there - some nobles, others prisoners.

Nicola De La Haye 

The Prison cafe does a good flat white coffee in a large cup and serves locally handmade cakes - a far cry from the fare in Victorian times which was described in a large poster on the wall. Think gruel! I had a slice of a fantastic Beetroot and White Chocolate cake which led to a mini epiphany in my views on fruit and veg. I think we're pairing them wrongly! Fruit should be eaten with meat - Lamb and Apricot or Rhubarb, Pork and Pears, Poultry and Olives - and vegetables should be used in cakes - Carrot Cake, Courgette Cake, Beetroot Cake - all of which are generally wonderfully moist with a good flavour and, in the case of the Beetroot Cake, a pretty colour too. What do you think? Comment below!

We considered visiting the English Heritage's Medieval Bishop's Palace,

View back to Lincoln Cathedral from
passage to Bishop's Palace 

but could see over the ruined walls into the interior and there wasn't much there in comparison to the heavily restored the Castle. The Cathedral exterior held our attention for quite a while though. It is so over-the-top ornate and huge enough to have been a small town in its own right I think. I couldn't help but wonder how many poverty-stricken people had gone without while all the Church's money went into the construction of this edifice. Nowadays the front is smart and round the back is in need of a good clean - it's practically black in places! There's an interesting statue of Tennyson examining a plant that he has ripped up, 'root and all', inscribed with his poem of the event where he tries to understand god and man from the wilting flower.

Tennyson statue near Lincoln Cathedral 

Heading back to the bus stop, we were distracted by a butcher's window, Elite Meats, where they had nice looking stuffed mushrooms on display. We've got a couple for tonight. Another, Curtis of Lincoln, had tempting pies - I can personally recommend their Lincolnshire Pasty! - and we finally found ourselves in A Taste Of Baltic. This Lithuanian grocers reminded us of our very first holiday together, nearly twelve years ago, when Dave swept me away to Vilnius. If he'd known then what he was getting into ... !

I mentioned fossils in the title and I actually bought one yesterday from a

If I can find a backing clip, I might make an unusual brooch 

tiny treasure trove of a shop on Steep Hill called Lapid Art. We saw several fossils while walking near Alcossebre in Spain which piqued our interest. I choose a polished Ammonite Colignoceras which is 65-97 Million years old and was unearthed in Madagascar. The shop owner kindly included the pictured card so I wouldn't forget. I find it enough of a leap to have been looking at an 800 year old document, or standing on the spot of a 2000 year old Roman gateway. Then to be holding something that is potentially 97 million years is mind-blowing!

Tomorrow we move on from Skybarn Farm CL. If you're a Caravan Club member looking to visit Lincoln, this has been a perfect base for our visit. Well laid out and ideal for the Castle Shuttle or cycle paths into Lincoln. I'd happily use this campsite again and Lincoln is a wonderful city for a weekend - even on grey days!

Skybarn Farm CL campsite 

Skybarn Farm CL campsite