MORE GARDENS OF ENGLAND

Another lovely day dawned on Saturday and, after Carol had gone to Basildon Hospital to give a blood sample we took off for Kent and East and West Sussex. Carol had the blood sample taken at the doctor's request. She had appeared to be losing weight (dresses and skirts were more loose fitting than before!) but when the Doc weighed her she was actually a bit heavier than when last checked in August!! Muscle has replaced the puppy fat!!

We had identified three National Trust Gardens to visit and of course this is the right time to go garden visiting. The first one was Standen which was the country house of the Beale family until given to the NT in 1972. The house is absolutely charming and gives a great feel of a place of family happiness. Very well maintained and with lots of orginal furniture,spacious and multi roomed, it is no wonder that there was a staff of 12 servants in its heyday. The garden affords views of the Upper Medway Valley and was designed by Margaret Beale with the help of landscape gardener G B Simpson. Meandering paths lead through rhododendrons and orchards. A most unusual item was a row of old apple trees which had been espaliered and gave two strong branches off left and right from a gnarled trunk. This resulted in a tree which was no more than six feet high - obviously assisting the apple pickers!

We lunched in the barn which was excellent and then drove off to Wakehurst.This enormous park is part of the famous Kew Gardens.Of particular interest was the Southern Hemisphere Garden, and it was quite nostagic to see beautiful gum trees,banksia and tea trees.There was also a specimen of the Wollemi Pine, a tree which had been extinct for some 2 million years and was discovered in a valley West of Sydney in the 1970's.Its exact location is kept a closely guarded secret. A specimen was acquired by Kew and is thriving in these gardens. A couple of fat pheasants sat quite unperturbed as we walked past and ducks lay quietly ignoring the passers by.

Then a final drive to Sheffield Park Garden. En route we stopped in at the Blue Bell Railway where steam trains operate along a preserved rail line. We obtained details of the timetable and plan to make a further visit when we have time to take a trip.
Our Australian National Trust membership card provoked the question of whether we were aware of the Australian connection to Sheffield. It is of course the Sheffield Shield. In 1891 the Earl of Sheffield sponsored a cricket team (including the famous W G Grace) on a visit to Australia, and donated L150 to promote "intercolonial cricket" to be know as the Sheffield Shield - now more commercially known as the Pura Cup!!

Another brilliant garden situated around four lakes. Designed by the famous Capability Brown in the 18th century and further dveloped in the 20th century by its owner Arthur G Soames there are masses of azalias and rhododendrons underpinned with daffodils and bluebells. The bottom photo above is a view across one of the lakes and I think is a great picture.

I think we have probably "done" the garden bit now, and for the long weekend ahead we are now going to visit London.

A WEEKEND OF GARDENS

Good news today - we have finally got our credit card problems sorted out with the Queensland Teachers Credit Union and now have access to our Aussie funds.And on Friday last I had my Steroid injection to try and sort out this bloody shoulder problem and fingers crossed it seems to be a bit easier.

With National Trust sites now in full swing we decided on visit to Kent and a couple of Gardens, taking a picnic lunch with us to enjoy in the sunshine. We drove to Sissinghurst Castle Garden, one of the world's most celebrated gardens created by V ita Sackville West and her husband Sir Harold Nicolson around the remains of an Elizabethan mansion. The Trust employs 6 gardeners to maintain this beautiful creation and the colours are quite dramatic. Greens swards,immaculate avenues of privet hedges,a moat with trout quite visible,blossom trees and more. We had our picnic beside the car enjoying the onion pie and salad washed down with a can of beer, before returning to make sure we had visited all parts of the garden.A climb up to the top of the prospect tower (remaining part of the original mansion) afforded a magical view of the area. Quite superb.

Then we drove on to Scotney Castle and Garden.This property was developed in the 1830's by Edward Hussey 111. The vista from the Bastion just below the "new" Scotney Castle sweeps down to the ruins of a 14th century moated castle and is a truly breathtaking scene. The ruin is reasonably intact and is a most unusual architectural style but most attractive. Masses of bluebells and other Spring flowers provide a colourful background to the panorama, and the distant fields of hops, sheep grazing and undulating country insisted on a quiet contemplation of just how beautiful English countryside is.

Have booked the Eurostar for a weekend trip to Brussells over the May long weekend and a flight to Berlin for the half terms break at the end of May. It's all go!!

KNOLE AND IGTHAM MOTE

Now that we are into April, the National Trust sites are open once more. There are a large number of places to visit in Kent and Sussex, counties which are easily accessible to us from Basildon.

It was a perfect day -unbelievably 24 degrees - found the sunscreen and took off to visit a couple of places. The first one, Knole is one of Englands great show houses set in a magnificent deer park.It's connection with Henry V111 as well as literay connections with Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville West (the Sackvilles still occupy part of the house) provide an interesting history. The name comes from the nearby Knoll in the park (Henry was not a good speller!) and there are 13 rooms presented in much the same way as they were in the 18th century.There is a wonderful collection of Royal Stuart furniture, and paintings by Van Dyke,Reynolds and Gainsborough. There is an ongoing preservation of many of the ancient fabrics,which, with the onset of age have deteriorated badly. There were lots of families picnicking in the park -a bit off putting with the sight of barechested Poms flaunting themselves in the sunshine.

Not far away is the magnificent 14th century moated manor house of Igtham Mote. Set in a sunken valley and dating from 1320, this wonderful old building was acquired by an American Charles Robinson in the 1920's for a few pounds when it was threatened with destruction. He embarked on an extensive restoration programme and modernised some of the features to make the property habitable. He gave it to the National Trust together with an endowment when he died and further restoration has since taken place. Another fine example of preserving the Heritage for fututre generations.

PrROVENCE -PART THREE

Tuesday morning we took off for Monaco and Nice. Carol happily raced along the Motorway at 130 kms and it did not take long to get to the outskirts of Monaco BUT then we were in a long queue of vehicles for the descent into the city. On the way down we were flagged over by a pretty looking Policewoman who requested the car papers (fortunately Jeanette had given those to us) and then our passports, details of everything being written down before we were alllowed to proceed. Jeanette told me afterwards that had we not had the car papers with us, we would not have been allowed to drive off -Heaven knows what we would have done!

We eventually got within the city boundary and picked the first carpark that we saw and with directions from a passerby, we walked down into the city proper. On the way down we spotted a Japanese restaraunt and dropped in for an excellent meal.The salad had the same dressing that we had experienced in Sydney and the waitress gave Carol the ingredients for future reference. With hunger assuaged we walked downhill to the base of the Castle complex and then up to see where Royalty lived. In the Chapel we saw the tombs of Rainier and Grace. The coastline is beautiful, and backdrop of high cliffs makes a perfect setting for this millionaires playground. The marinas were full of exotic boats, the streets abounded with Bentleys/Ferraris and Maseratis -but it did not appeal to me as a placce to live. Bit like HongKong but hillier!!

Len was feeling his 76 years so we decided to catch a bus up to our carpark and it was a couple of euros well spent.

Heading out of Monaco was a lot easier than getting in! We turned north off the Motorway and headed for Vence having decided that a visit to Nice could be avoided as it was an enormous city. Almost missed seeing Vence - the roaad signs here were a bit lacking in detail, and we finished up in the Medieval Village of Tourette sur Loup. It was getting late and a quick look at the fabulous old village convinced us that we should spend the night nearby and make a more detailed inspection the next day. We found an excellent hotel just out of the village which was only 60 euros bed and breakfast with a comfortable room and first class dining rooom. My fish dish was simply superb, and the Crepe which followed was a mountainous concoction of cream ice cream and butterscotch sauce-Wow!

Back to the village in the morning and a wander through the narrow alleyways of this old settlement.It goes back to the 13th century and has been lovingly restored to give a perfect picture of it's original style. Set on a hill (aren't they all?) the village was formed in a pattern of an outer and inner wall to help in defending against all manner of invaders including Visigoths,Huns,Franks and Lombards.It is an artists complex, and here Carol bought a ceramic door sign for her father. The artist was happy to create it in the style that Carol wanted and even arranged to post it securely.

Then off towards Sigalous - a long drive over the most winding road I have ever travelled, through Grasse which is known as a centre for perfumes. As my aftershave botle had spilt into my toilet bag, and Carol's jumper was packed nearby, she smelt very nicely of Eau Savage which deterred her from any desire to investigate other perfumes! I had seen a brochure advertising WW11 museum at Le Muy and we headed there, only to find on arrival that the museum only opened on Sundays. And then we found that no one in Le Muy wants to provide lunch so we hightailed it with empty stomachs until we came to a town with a supermarket where we managed to buy a sandwich and a beer.

Thursday we went into Pierrefeu and bought some fish which Carol was cookiing for dinner that night, and then after lunch we drove to Collobrieres a little village tucked away in the hills not far from Sigalous. It is the chestnut centre for the region and with a pretty stream running through the centre which on crosses on a 13th century bridge was most attractive. There was a general store which was like an old fashioned emporium, stacked with every conceivable sort of item.We bought a bottle stopper in the shape of a grape vine,, and a jar of chestnut puree before returning home.

Friday - the last day, Jeanette took us over to Heyere's The Big Shop to visit a store where they sell weather stations. At Jeanette's we had admired the wall mounted weather station which gave details of the insidde and outside temperatures,barometric pressures and weather forecast. It opeates from a wireless sensor mounted ooutside the house. So we had to have one!

Then the usual no nonsense booking in at Heyere airport, and back to England courtesy of Ryanair. A wonderful 10 days.

PROVENCE - PART 2

Friday was the day that Jeanette Alain and Morgan were off to England to visit my brother for three days leaving us as masters of our own destiny and in charge of the chateau!

We drove northwards to a village oalled Cette which boasted an old Abbey. Found it OK but the abbey was closed and we could only walk around it. Called innto the Touriste Bureau and saw a brilliant diorama of early village life.There were toilets outside the Abbey which proved to be very vintage -that is to say they were holes in the ground!!Authentic though!

From here we went on to Besse which is another ancient village with a 14th century church and a maze of narrow streets bounded on both sides with three stories of dwellings. As they are all shuttered it is a somewhat eerie feeling walking through them, and then one comes across the inevitable display of washing hanging from the opened window. The butchers shop here was most inviting, and we bought some Pate de pays,a few home made sausages and a large slice of sirloin. A little old lady emerged from one of the house on her way to the shops and stopped to talk to us (Carol) and told us of the Lake behind the church which we would have missed without her showing us the way. All of the people here were extremely friendly with everyone saying "Bon Jour" as you passed. I think one of my favourite pastimes in these villages is to sit in a sidewalk cafe and have an ice cold beer and watch the passing parade. There is a very special ambience about these sorts of places.

Home to "our" chateau and a lovely French meal of salade/pate and sausages,cheese and a bottle of the Sigalous red to wash it down- Alain had thoughtfully left 4 bottles out for our consumption in their absence! Loumie, the family's aged Alsatian accepted us as part of the family and passed her time sleeping on the stairs leaading to the bedrooms.

Saturday we went to Brignoles a provincial town of great antiquity dating from the 6th century. It is situated on the ancient Aurelia way which goes from Spain to Italy. It has not been maintained as welll as a lot of other similar areas, although therre was evidence of work being carried out. It gave a rather tatty appearance. We had a baguette in the city square, a pleasant space with plane trees yet to blossom. There was a marked number of Algrerian people in this town, which Jeanette explained was most likely due to the lower cost of property in the town as compared to coastal areas.

On to Saint Maximin where a Basilica was built on the site of a religious Merovingian site.The basilica is the only example of Gothic style construction in Provence and is quite outstanding. Adjoining the Basilica is the Royal Convent, another lovely old building now occupied as a hotel. The town square contains all of the traditional French attributes,plane trees/restaraunts and sidewalk cafes. Yes - we had a beer here!

Sunday was a day of rest. Carol worked on the English translation of the Sigalous Brochure, while I read on the terrace. Then Pierre (Alain's 28year old son) arrived with a friend to explain that they were having some cousins in for lunch and we were welcome to join them.Pierre speaks a little English but none of the others had more than a few words so, as Carol was busy and my French does not stand up to casual conversation, we declined their kind offer and decided to take a quiet drive in the country.

Monday we went into Pierrefeu, the local village perched on top of a hill,posted some cards and did some shopping at ACTA the supermarket.Home for lunch and then into Heyere which is where the Toulon airport is.Despite being Easter Monday, the market was in full swing and we wandered the streets admiring the many stalls. Carol bought a tablecloth for Sarah and a great big slab of cheese ($18)which we are still enjoying!

The old town is most attractive and we walked up to the lookout from where we had a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside and out to the Mediterranean. We saw the Ryanair plane landing at the airport and realised that this waas the one on which Jeanette and family were returning. A quiet beer at the cafe and then back to Sigalous where we learned that the family had had a great reunion in England and that the weather had allowed them to have a lunch at Jill's house in the garden!

PROVENCE- PART 1

We flew into Toulon courtesy of Ryanair and had a better landing than the last time - that is to say we actually landed at the first attempt. Jeanette was there with Morgan to meet us and we were soon at Sigalou. It was amazing to see the vines without any leaves at all (photo above) but Jeanette assured us they would have greenery before we left! Mr Moutte (Jeanette's Pa in Law) keeps daily records of the developement of the vines and it seems that some years ago the grapes were harvested in Otober, but that now the harvesting takes place in August - Global Warming?

The next day we drove off in the little Peugot 206 along the coast towards the East with Cavalier sur Mer as our destination where there was a market day. Found it with not much hassle, and Carol spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around and bought a cardigan while I bought a pair of shoes. The food stalls were tempting -cheeses/olives/pate/rabbits/pastries - too much. Had lunch at the waterfront and took off for Grimaud, a little village inland with the ruins of a castle. These French villages are fascinating.We discovered that lunch is a serious business in France and everything closes up for a couple of hours so that digestion is not disturbed.

In the centre of the village we spotted a tourist train which went by road to Port Grimaud. This port was created in the 1960's by a French architect from swampland and is today a security enclave of canals/marinas and super looking houses and apartments. A bit like an enlarged Sanctuary Cove. The parked yachts/launches etc are mind boggling and there is a pervading air of money money money!

Back to Sigalous and dinner. Carol and Morgan engaged in conversation which, as Jeanette Alain and Morgan are planning to come out to Australia later this year, was mainly centred on Australian animals.Morgan is a very intelligent litle man and his knowledge of animals is quite amazing.

On Thursday we decided to try the western coastline and headed for Cassis. Mr Moutte was in the house when we mentioned this and said we should "prenez le bateau pour les Calanques". Which we did!!Cassis is a lovely little seaside resort with a harbour surrounded by cafes. There are lots of boats promoting trips to The Calanques and we opted for one that visited three of them. The Calanques are indentations in the coastline (a bit like junior Fjiords!)and incredibly beautiful.

Lunch was fresh grilled sardines a la provencale with a small carafe of white grape juice, which as Carol was driving mostly came my way.

The Cassis photos are at the top -can't seem to get this blogsite to put the pictures where I would like them.

Carol drove both ways today - my shoulder does not lend itself to the task, and she is doing a great job of hairing along the road on the wrong side and driving from the left front seat.

WANSFORD WEEKEND

It's time to catch up on some blogs having returned from our Easter break in France.
On March 31st we drove up to meet our good friends Tim and Ruth staying the night with them in their lovely house in the village of Wansford. When we arrived two of Tim's daughters were visiting, and it was great to meet Jemma and Lucy and the two exuberant Springer Spaniels belonging to Lucy.

We went off to take the dogs for a walk in a delightful 1000 year old forest, where the dogs had a ball and displayed a general lack of togetherness! On the way back to Wansford we called in to see Lucy's renovation project. She and her husband had bought a decrepit house some time back and were determined to restore it to a better than past glory. Parts of the property were 15th century, and one can only admire the perseverance and vision that has enabled them to create a wonderful new home. As a listed property, there would have been a lot of frustration in obtaining approval for the rebuilding.It's a good job that Lucy is a GP as the project would have been a virtual sink for money!!!

Jemma is a University student and was at the end of her course and preparing her Dissertation - she visibly relaxed as her preparation got closer to completion.

Sunday we drove to Rutland Water the largest man made lake in Europe. There was a large fleet of Toppers sailing - a dinghy much like a Moth - and they made a colourful sight.As the wind was quite strong (and cold) I didn't envy the sailors battling the choppy waters. There was a museum in the old church (photo above) and we watched a fascinating video of the successful efforts made to achieve a return of the Osprey to its natural habitat in the area. Over a period of years, a band of dedicated volunteers monitored and recorded these beautiful birds in their migration to and from Africa, their breeding and eventual successful establishment on the Damn.

We had lots of conversations about travel, as both Ruth and Tim are seasoned travellers to all parts of Europe and elsewhere, and we received some good advice about Venice in particular.

A lovely weekend.