Last photo

Happy fab five (all happy hikers) at lunch on the Seine!

See you all soon.

Viva La France

Paris is so different to London - Margaret is I love with Paris.  Wide boulevards, frenetic traffic and crowds - white knuckle rides in taxis, beeping horns and a few near misses!  Jackie, Margaret and I went off to Giverny and Versailles on a bus trip whilst Judy and Joanne did the hop on/hop off bus tour.  

Giverny and the gardens were beautiful as was Monet's house - everywhere colour and shape and the water lilies he painted were in bloom.  After lunch at a 17century mill we went onto Versailles but the crowds and the hot weather diminished this experience somewhat. Such extravagance by the kings of France! 

The next day we started at Sainte Chapelle a 13 century chapel in the original palace in Paris of Saint Louis and then visited the last prison of Marie Antoinette at the Conciergerie - a very grim and forbidding place where so many people as well as the queen spent their last days in fear and desperation.  A light note here was a living sculpture being "performed " by the artist - this consisted of taking a sheet of paper from a pile of old law documents, screwing them up, rubbing them on the back of his neck and tossing them into a "pool" made of seats wrapped in glad wrap! John Stanhope eat your heart out! 

Then we went to the Seine for our luncheon cruise (silver service luncheon cruise) which met every one of our expectations - wonderful food, great wines, champagne, white and red, spectacular views and great service.  

Tomorrow is our last day - we are feeling a bit sad but we're looking forward to going home.  A last hop on /hop off tour and the Luxembourg gardens then off to the airport.

We have had a wonderful time with something for everyone and we'll long remember our many experiences and our journey from Whitley Bay to Paris via Hadrian's Wall and many places in between.

Christopher Robin went down with Alice

London!  The Big Bus and a cruise to Grenwich took up our first afternoon and despite being caught in a heavy storm we enjoyed seeing London from the water.  The views of Tower Bridge and the Tower were wonderful.

Next morning just like Christopher Robin and Alice we went to see the changing of the guard (along with thousands of others). Our touristing was followed by our special night at the theatre.  All dressed '(still InThe rain) we had dinner in a Belgian restaurant watching France defeat Nigeria along with some noisy and very happy locals.  Then off to the musical "Once" - a very different musical with strong performances from the singers who were also very good musicians.  A very different experience because at Interval many of the audience went on stage to get food and drinks and we had ice-cream ordered from our seats. A beautiful old theatre and a lovely experience.  We rose early to get inline for West Minister Abbey which opened at 9.30 and we really loved this beautiful church and all it's varied history and the wonderful continuity so evident in every corner. 

Harrods and Fortnun and Mason provided elegant lunches and afternoon teas whilst we viewed the elegant and incredibly expensive clothes.

Tomorrow our last stop- Paris!

Gardens and Stones

PLeaving St Michael's Mount we travelled onto Salisbury - here Jackie and Margaret were enthralled by the Cathedral a wonderful example of ancient and modern- a set of terracotta sculpture representing the characters of the Twelve Apostles.  In 100 years will tourists view these contemporary sculptures and consider the time in which they were created?

Judy, Joanne and I took a different path and visited St Ives and Lyme Regis both seaside towns full of tourists and character.  

In the morning we left early for Stonehenge, a truly amazing experience.  To find that what we think of as prehistoric people, engineered and constructed this circle of stones over 4500 years ago, transporting giant stones from many places hundreds of miles away was a feat we could only wonder at. A truly magnificent place so no wonder people have so many different attachments to it.

Photos cannot do this wonderful place justice.

In Eastbourne Joanne left us to visit relatives and we checked into the 1930's at the Lansdowne Hotel.  One lovely lady at breakfast told me, She had been visiting the hotel since her sons were children "not every year, dear" and her boys are now in their 60's. A lot of repeat business here!

Gardens here have amazed and delighted us in many ways, the colour and forms are so varied but today we visited Sissinghurst world famous for it's designers Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson as much as for it's beauty. We all loved the White garden in particular.

Vita truly painted with flowers!

Brighton brought out the hidden child in each of us!  We followed this with a big ice-cream - found only after a long search - we are really expert on ice-cream now and only the best hand made stuff will do for us!  

We also visited the Pavillion the OTT  palace of George IV which was incredible in it's opulence.  Room after room of red, gold, gleaming and sparkling everything - George was amazing in his taste and extravagance.

After this we veged out on the Brighton Pier and watched people for a while whilst wondering how we'd get out of these deck chairs.

Tomorrow we are off to London Town -  look out London, here we come!  We are all ready to dress up and go out on the town!  Our tickets are booked!

I do love to be beside the seaside!

Clovelly proved a challenge (not as much as it would have before Hadrian's Wall) because the cobbled path from the cliff down to the sea is almost vertical and more then a kilometre down and of course, back up.  There are no cars in the village and goods etc are transported on sleds pulled up and down by hand or on donkeys which also take children for rides.

This is Ernie on the left and Jake at the back.  They have carried a load of materials for a garden down the hill and are having a well deserved snack.

We moved on to Penzance where the sea gulls are bigger then cats and better alarm clocks then clock radios (set for 5 am) where we visited St Michael's Mount.  This island castle and community began as a monastery but for the last 400 years or so has been a family home to a lot of rather odd baronets.  The previous baronet had 15 children by 2 ladies one of whom he married when he was 63.  It is now owned by the National Trust although the present family still occupies part of the castle.  Another incredible walk up over cobbles (and down) to view the chapel and other rooms.

Margaret and Jackie enjoying the gardens - a really incredible sight given the extreme weather and salt laden air with which the gardeners contend.  A special feature of the visit was the very real pride the islanders displayed in their community and the way in which the village, castle and sea front have been conserved.  In the recent storms in February the waves came up over the sea wall, washing out much of the stone work and basements and reaching almost to the second row of houses.  Because of the way the sea wall and island are configured the waves washed around the island, hit the shore and rebounded, rather like a Tsunami.

When the tide is out it is possible to walk to the island via a causeway partly seen here.  Small boats provide transport when the tide is in. 

Margaret conquers the walk to the top of the castle approach ( she doesn't really need to lean on this wall).

We followed our wonderful day of castles, beaches and sea gulls with a truly fantastic dinner at the Tolcarne Inn.  Fish has seldom tasted soooo good.  The menu changes twice a day. According to what the fishermen catch and is prepared by a one star Michelin chef.

Along with the food we "enjoyed" the company of 4 dogs (big dogs), two of whom had been swimming and were quite smelly, also two local artists and a chatty women from Switzerland, about whom we now now more then we need.  The British are very dotty about their dogs which come in all shapes and sizes aNd accompany them everywhere- just about every shop and public place accepts DOGS- many of whom are better mannered then children.

On a last note - this window embrasure was once a garderobes - that is a toilet.  When one needed to go, one sat on a seat and whatever was produced simply ran over the side of the walls and rock.  Today it is a pretty window sea in the alcove.

Smugglers, lifeboats and cream teas

Driving from Bath we passed through beautiful, rolling hills and patchwork fields surrounded by neat hedges.  The roads are no narrower then our country roads but because there is no shoulder they seem much narrower.  Traffic comes swiftly and sometimes unexpectedly - a large tractor pulling trailers, trucks, buses, even an ambulance - often well over the imaginary line in the middle. 

Bradford On Avon a short distance from Bath was a really quaint town with thatched cottages and houses extending up the side of the steep valley.  Once a centre for weaving, the little weaver cottages have pretty gardens where every advantage of the sun is taken.

After meandering through hedges and by-roads we arrived at Ilfracombe - what a view of the seaside!  A harbour guarded by sea walls to protect the fishing and recreational boats with towering cliffs overlooking the stunning coastline.  Yet another great dinner - how we are enjoying the fish.

He bridge over the Avon River - there are umpteen Avon rivers in the UK - Avon simply means river in old English.

The tide is out on the other side of the sea wall at Ilfracombe.

As we enjoyed the beach we noticed a swimmer trying hard to pull himself up onto a rock some distance from the shore but he kept slipping off the slimy rock back into the water trailing blood from his knees.  We felt very sorry for him but rather wondered why he was so far out if he couldn't do the distance.

Later when the tide was out we realised that the rock was high and dry - a huge difference between high and low tide - very Doc Martin. Notice the green weed on the top of the rock? This is the spot the swimmer was trying to reach - only this green weed was out of the water!

Our accommodation at Mullacott Farm is lovely with cheery rooms up under the rafters and surrounded by farms - pigs, horses, ducks and chooks -won't need an alarm clock tomorrow morning.

More Romans

We began our day at the Roman Baths - several of us had seen them before but the advances in excavation and display were so  wonderful that we felt we were seeing them for the first time. The Roman footprint was really extensive and seeing the remains in Bath brought the Roman civilisation into perspective especially having seen so much on Hadrian' s  Wall.

This beautiful head of Minerva was one of the "finds".  The Roman Baths here were not only a social place to bathe but a place to worship and Minerva was the main object of this worship. Exploration is continuing and it is hoped that more of this statue will be discovered.  We also saw coins and jewellery found from sacrifices to the gods.  The lead piping still functioning today is the original Roman lead piping.

Following lunch in a courtyard cafe (these were thick on the ground) we walked up the hill to the New Assembly Rooms to view not only the restored Georgian grandeur of this important social meeting place but a spectacular display of clothing from the 1700 to the present.  How times have changed.  Lady Di's going away outfit plus a ball gown and suit were displayed - she was a very slender girl.

Imagine the under garments needed for this one! 

Bath is incredibly busy with tourists, buskers, traffic, buses etc.  The quality of the buskers is outstanding - everything from Jazz to High Opera and everything in between.

Tomorrow we leave for Illfracombe - that is if we can get our cars out of the most difficult car park any of us have ever encountered.  Twenty point turns needed to get in- how many to get out?

Breakfast tomorrow at Bradford Upon Avon before heading for the coast. 

Following the Bard

We had a long trip from Windermere to Stratford upon Avon, mostly using the freeways. The tollway which bypassed Manchester and Birmingham was a breeze with practically no traffic. We thought this section was fantastic for 5.50 pounds and a welcome rest from all the trucks.

We were transferred from The Grovsnor Hotel to The Shakespeare Hotel as they said there was a leak problem with one of the rooms. We think we were bumped! The Shakespeare gave us their back noisy rooms and five cranky Aussies bid them good bye the following morning. Our next night at the Grovesnor came with free dinner courtesy of the manager. (More to this story.)

The swans were our guard of honour as our canal barge emerged from the lock on our evening cruise down the Avon River. 

After visiting all the associated houses of Shakespeare and his family in Stratford we toured Anne Hathaway's family home. Apart from the really prolific gardens the most striking image for us was the flooring I the cottage itself - 15th century original flagstones!

On to Bath for a journey into Roman and Georgian society.

Pomp and Circumstance

We began the day at the Falkirk Wheel an amazing feat of engineering which has helped to revitalise the Scottish canal systems - it lifts boats over 35 metres from the lower canal to the canal on the higher level - opening up waterways closed many years ago .

Then we moved on to Stirling Castle which was truly beautiful restored to 15th century glory.

As you can see from the restored ceiling the colours are vibrant and very unexpected.  The guide was a great story teller and brought the entire history to life.

Today we toured around Lake Windermere visiting Hill Top home of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit - we even saw him in the garden.   

It's amazing the people you meet when you least expect it - here Phil and Trish caught up with us and we became "The Magnificent Seven" - as the tour operator described us.  A really lovely day!  Lunch was good too at an old pub in the square.  Everywhere the flowers were captivating and vibrant , hanging in baskets and dripping over walls in riotous colours.  We were entranced by it all.

Choosing our lunch is always a serious decision.

Joanne admiring the village.

Lake Windermere in the late afternoon.  The Lakes District is spectacular with rolling hills and high fells and plenty of walking trails and tourists are thick on the ground.

More to come - Stratford Upon Avon and Shakespeare!

Onwards

After celebrating "The Wall" we caught the train to Edinburgh - briefly catching up with Phil at the station and sadly fare welling Di, Tric and Trish.  Booking into our hotel we caught the red double decker tour bus to orientate ourselves before dinner and bed.

Next morning eager to explore we boarded the bus and went to Edinburgh Castle in (guess) the rain.  Quite magnificent but very crowded so back on the bus and off to Holyrood House - Home of the Queen in Scotland - this was really beautiful and despite the rain we really loved it -well presented and good audios giving just the right amount of information.

After dinner Margaret, Judy and Lesley went to Mary King's Close - a remnant of the horrible conditions of the 16th centuries when people lived in squalor at the bottom of the Close or relative splendour at the top.  Over the years dwellings were boarded over and another layer added giving the appearance of underground living - these Closes have been known of for years but only opened I. The past 20 years or so. We were glad that we didn't live these times especially at the bottom of the heap -b but an incredible social history.

All in all a very exciting day - but the excitement was not over and a real adventure began - at 3.30 in the morning - here's Jackie.

We were woken by the raucous screech of the fire alarms! Lesley and Margaret poked their heads out their door to be greeted by the man in the room opposite clad only in his jocks.  Judy knocked on my door and then disappeared down the fire exit.  I pulled on jeans and a jacket, grabbed my bag and followed a women down the stairs, to minus 2 level before emerging well below the hotel and confronted with flights of stone steps up to the Royal Mile - along way from the hotel.  Looking back it seems quite funny but at the time was confronting.  One lady, clad in black and with a shiny bald head was following me and one or two people looked very out of breath.  In the street we attracted the attentions of a collection of drunks and "ladies of the night" as well as late revellers scrounging for taxis.  Some of the local street beggars also felt free to comment as we climbed the steps in various stages of undress.

No explanation of the evacuation was given although the management thanked us for our "co-operation - little choice in the matter. One of the scary moments occurred because we all managed to go down separate exits and thus didn't,t see each other until we got back to our rooms.  We were all safe which is the main thing but we certainly don't wish to "enjoy" another fire emergency.

Picking up the cars we departed for St Andrews to touch "the hallowed turf" - quite different to our expectations -people going everywhere and crossing fairways on foot, bike and car!  After admiring the velvet greens we travelled on to Falkirk via a few detours because the GPS was most odd and tried to go back to the airport before arriving at the hotel - we spoke firmly and "Serena" finally got there.

Tomorrow we,re off to the Falkirk Wheel and Stirling Castle.

Jackie and Lesley.

Eureka!

We made it! The last day was in glorious sunshine and we walked with renewed enthusiasm.  After the bus dropped us at Brugh on Sands we visited the beautiful old church of St Michael - last resting place of Edward 1 before he was buried in Westminster Cathedral.  He was the Hammer of the Scots and when a statue was erected grump Scotsmen put it into place with a rope around Edward's neck!   The churchyard was a lovely last resting place with venerable headstones detailing the often poignant stories of families.  

Tric and Trish enjoying the sunshine amongst the gravestones.

After visiting the church we walked on for a mile or so and had tea with Di's friend Graeme and his son John in his garden - again.  Wonderful tea and treacle cake.

Graeme walked on with us and we found a delightful pub at Glasson and Graeme insisted on shouting us all a drink.  We loved the ginger beer and were sorry to say farewell to Graeme who then walked back the 4 miles to his house.

Refreshed we began the last stretch.

The final hundred metres to the final gate and we lined up our pebbles below the poem of the Solway.

It was a very special moment as went went through the final gate - hugs and high fives all around and maybe a tear or two also because of the amazing experience we have shared and the special meaning the walk held for so many of us. We then threw the pebbles into the Irish Sea.  A fellow walker took this last photo and said we were a dangerous and crazy bunch.  So after ten nights, eight days of walking and one rest day we finished our walk at Bowness on Solway with champagne (French of course) and a great pub dinner.

I sing my song of the Solway tides like a high flying bird my heart soars high.

Signing off now from Hadrian's Wall and off on new adventures. We'll try and put some more on as we travel.    Go Aussie women and go the Emily Hurt team!

Nearly there

Yesterday was yet another wet day - countryside was mostly farmland and seen through a continuous. Curtain of rain was not that interesting. We we're glad of our wet weather gear and our walking poles were really appreciated as we slid our way up and down wet and muddy trails.  Joanne put her head down and went for it!

 The mud has to be seen to be believed! It is a combination of mud from heavy rain and poo (cow and sheep - I think the animals conspire to race up to the track whenever they need to go!  Never have we seen so much mud and the smell!!!

Today 6 of us set off to walk from Carlisle to Brugh on Sands in sunshine (yippee) through lovely parkland nod following the river Eden flowing west to the Irish Sea.  Rain had been forecast for 10 and sure enough at 10.05 down it came - we had already put on the wet weather gear. Oh wonderful Gortex!

The terrain was not hard as again fairly flat but the muddiest day yet.   Unfortunately we got a bit lost as there had been a landslide on the path and the signs showing the detour had disappeared so we became a little "bushed" but not for long.  Di called a friend Graemeand he and his son John came and met us and showed us around the detour.  Sunshine by now, so we sat in Graeme's garden of his 1700s house and drank tea poured from an industrial sized teapot.  Lovely.  The taxi then picked us up and took us back to our BB.

Here are today's walkers plus me outside the BB.  The others explored Carlisle.

So, here Are our clean and perfect feet last Tuesday at the start of our walk.  Tomorrow is our last day and we are feeling elated and sad at the same time.  It has been a challenge for all of us but each of us has coped in our own way and we feel pleased and proud of ourselves. We are on top of the world as we prepare for the last 14k tomorrow - our feet are a bit patched and covered in tape (whoever invented Compeed is a star) but ready and the coast here we come.  We have each bought a pebble from the east coast and we'll have a pebble ceremony as we cast them into the Irish Sea on the other side of England.

Then bring on the champagne, 

Lesley.

Gilsland to Brampton

A long day today but gentler terrain - after leaving our excellent BB (wonderful dinner last night) we walked back up to resume the trail.  We tracked along A section of wall which is narrower then previously but with a number of Roman symbols at various places including a large phallic symbol (no guess as to what that's was) but sadly didn't locate them.   Last big fort Birdsowarld then country began to level out and the fields full of sheep and cattle became the main trail.  Little villages in the distance and ruins of castles and priories - over more styles and through more kissing gates.  Jackie and Margaret are demonstrating for you.

We arrived at our BB -a lovely Victorian house built in1861 where we were welcomed with afternoon tea in the drawing room - very Midsomer Murders.

Tomorrow we walk into Carlisle - only three days of walking to go - we can't believe we have gone more than halfway. 

Here are some of the girls enjoying today's walk through fields of clover, daisies and buttercups.