Just Humans Being...

Thank goodness the rain had gone off yesterday, which enabled us to have a full day out looking at a bunch of old buildings in the freezing cold...

At least being outside in the fresh air meant not having to put up with Sime & Hugo playing violent balloon games (until they accidentally head butted each other & ended up with sore heads), watching complete rubbish on the TV & their favourite pastime - ganging up on me & driving me mad...

Anyway, we chose to visit the Pont du Gard & then on to Nimes to see the Roman Ampitheatre & Temple - all pretty impressive! Just a shame the Roman influence has since gone from the city, leaving it to revert back to the rough hole it probably was before they arrived...

The Roman Aquaduct, Pont du Gard.



As Sime thought, we did have to pay to see it: 15 euros for a car & all passengers, but it lived up to expectations!
Next, the Ampitheatre in the centre of Nimes.
It's actually still used for musical events & twice a year …

Looking forward to a day out tomorrow. It was raining so heavily today, we decided to stay in.
Not sure which place to visit. It's either Barcelona, taking in the Dali theatre/museum at Figueres or the Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard. I've been wanting to visit the aqueduct for some time, but am thinking that it could be another disappointment like the Milau bridge was. In this case, I'm sure that the structure itself will impress, but it's the touristy tatt that comes with it. I think you have to pay to "Get In". What's that all about? "Get In ?" Get in to what? Through a turnstile - a few explanatory placards, toilet block and a Unesco approved audio guide. You can find this everywhere. Anyone been to Land's End in Cornwall? What a joke that is. The organisation that owns Land's End also owns John O'Groats in Scotland. It's only a matter of time before they own Westward Ho! (The only British place name complete with an exclamati…

We've got so used to the blue skies & sunshine, that yesterday we had a surprise - rain! So we put off our trip to Carcassonne until today & luckily, we had good weather (apart from the wind)...
























Many years ago, Carcassonne was the border city to Spain & there is very much a Spanish feel to this whole area. The city was renovated over a 50 year period, finishing in 1910 & what we see now is how the city would have looked in the 13th century.  We like it a lot!

HMD 2011 Untold Stories Trailer.
Each year on 27 January the world marks Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD). HMD has been held in the UK since 2001 and the United Nations declared this an International event in November 2005. 27 January was chosen as the date for HMD because it was on this date in 1945 that the largest Nazi killing camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated.HMD is about remembering the victims and those whose lives have been changed beyond recognition of the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and the ongoing atrocities today in Darfur. HMD provides us with an opportunity to honour the survivors but it’s also a chance to look to our own lives and communities today. Genocide doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a gradual process which begins when the differences between us are not celebrated but used as a reason to exclude or marginalise. By learning from the lessons of the past, we can create a safer, better future.

In September last year we …

Once we joined the mountain pass from Mont Louis, we caught sight of Le Petit Train Jaune & more or less followed it all the way to it's destination...
The train makes a 3 hour journey from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol, several times a day & the company still use some of the original carriages, from when it started up in 1910!
We actually caught up with it on one of it's return journeys.
The carriages are supposed to be very basic & they don't have any toilets...
Another beautiful sky...
We did wonder about going on the train ourselves - though I'm not sure whether I'm brave enough!
At the station just outside of Villefranche...
We actually visited this village 10 years ago, while camping near Perpignan.
(Salla & Rozzy - you'll probably remember, though it was a lot colder this time, Roz - it was where you got locked in the loo & Dad had to rescue you & Sal - I think we both bought bags from a hippy shop!) 
Again, we had the place …