Saint Paul's Church

We hadn't even got to the seafront when we came across this beautiful church in the midst of ancient ruins.

The site is really well-planned with walkways to protect the archaeology. 

We couldn't visit the church itself as there was a service at the time (and later it was locked)...

...but your faithful blogger was on hand to record the moment.

Saint Paul's Pillar, allegedly where he was flogged 39 times before the Roman ruler was converted to Christianity.

It's an extremely rich archaeological site...

...with fantastic tile mosaics.

Fabrica Hill

Off we go again, this time a cheeky sandwich break from Leeds-Bradford Airport to Paphos in Cyprus.

Once settled into our hotel we set off for the seafront...

...discovering this amazing quarry on our way.

We later found out that the quarry dates from before Roman times...

...as these steps show!

Above the quarry is Fabrica Hill with views over the Church of Agion Anargyron...

...and the Mediterranean Sea.

There's also the largest pebble mosaic in Cyprus...

...and a Hellenistic-Roman theatre dating from around 300BC.

St Malo & curry time

After a lunchtime stop chez She Who Shall Not Be Named we continued our journey to St Malo, especially beautiful under a blue sky.

We gave ourselves time to have a stroll round the old town, one of the older ferries ready for the overnight crossing.

Who couldn't be impressed by this beautiful town?

That's a diving board left of centre. There were no takers on 17th March, the sea a little too cool, methinks.

We saw lots of work taking place. Here they were replacing the setts in one of the many cobbled roads.

On board now and a guinness, remembering our trip to Ireland.

Arrival in West Yorkshire, what better than a curry at our favourite Peacocks? Tine here with lovely Maddie.

 

New job & new stairs

Young Matt has got himself a job repping for a micro-brewery in Luçon and we had to visit him, of course.
It's only a 4-person business (extra in the summer, I believe).

To think each of these contains over 2000 litres of beer!

A selection of the hops used, some grown in the field next door.

Although only a small business there's a large selection of beers. Since Matt started working there we see Smeele beers in many local hostelries.

We have new stairs in the 'East Wing' as we call it (the former garage with its extra floor).

Just before we left for our latest trip (spoiler alert) our good friend Harri removed the rickety old staircase...

...and delivered the new one, like a lego set. That's Harri with mate Lambert outside.

The following photos were sent whilst we were away...

...and we couldn't wait to see the work for real.

As you can see they now have a turn at the bottom and are less steep...

...and the oak is beautiful! Photo taken today.

Exploring near la Pointe de l'Aiguillon (2)

We drove by one of our favourite ruins on our return from the airmen's memorial.

This time we stopped to explore a little.

Once again a little research on Google informed me that the building ('La Maison du Génie') used to house engineers when the seawall was constructed in Napoleonic times.

It's probably beyond repair...

...now that nature has taken over...

...and graffiti artists!

A couple of postcards showing the building in its prime.

Nearby is l'Île de la Dive, which was once an island in the bay.

One of Monique's cousins has a house above the cliffs with an amazing view of the bay over to l'Île de Ré

At the other end of l'Île de la Dive you can see the quarry where stone for la Maison du Génie was cut and transported on a 60 gauge railway track (no longer in existence).

Exploring near la Pointe de l'Aiguillon (1)

I read online about a war memorial for British airmen near the road to la Pointe de l'Aiguillon-sur-Mer and we could't resist a bit of exploring.

La Pointe de l'Aiguillon is to the south of La Tranche. You can make out the port zone of La Rochelle over the bay.

Evidence of the power of the sea...

...Tine resisting, of course.

We also found many oyster shells!

The jetty used by local fishermen.

Here's the memorial at La Grande Jetée, dedicated to the seven British airmen on the Halifax bomber which came down at La Pointe. Two Frenchmen who helped the the surviving parachutists later payed for their kindness with their lives.