Sabbatical 2010 Bulletin No 5 – 20th June 2010

While we away in Italy it rained a lot. Well on Tuesday 15th when we were walking round Vicenza in the rain about 14 inches of rain fell in 24 hours in and around Draguignan. It made the BBC news (see this link) and we have been a little apprehensive about what would await us on our return today. In fact it hasn’t been too bad for us; water bubbling up in the sitting room as usual and earth washed into the pool (which is v. disappointing as it puts me back to square one in cleaning it). Being atop the hill is good news.
Whatever inconvenience we have suffered however is nothing compared to the state of Draguignan and some parts of Ampus. These are pictures we took on our return this afternoon, five days after the storm.

There are quite a few cars like this in Draguignan

And this is the state of a main street there.

The huge “Carrefour” at Trans is now closed and there’s quite a lot of mess there. But what most shocked us is the state of La Clape at the bottom of the hill from Ampus. Here the Nartuby rushed down the Gorge de Chateaudouble and this is the result.

That is at the turn to go up the hill to Ampus.

That's looking back down at the junction.

And you’ll see that’s the bus stop.

In fact we're told the road from Chateaudouble to La Clape has been washed away.  It's closed and people living there who want to get to Draguignan have to go via Ampus now.

Here in Ampus, this is the road at the bottom of the Chemin des Cantalus

And this is what the bridge over the Nartuby looks like at that point – yes, it’s gone.

And here, in a strange way is a more joyful sight, the Nartuby filled with water as never seen by us before, at the Pont du Ratton. Anyone fancy walking up it now?

Video of the Nartuby at the Pont du Ratton

Sabbatical 2010 Bulletin No 4 – 20th June 2010

So on to Siena. We set the satnav for the Piazza del Campo and followed the directions. The Campo is actually a pedestrian area and walking into it was breathtaking.

The Tourist Office fixed us up with a hotel and we spent the evening exploring.

(That's the Duomo, not the hotel.)

Next day was busy – an early visit to the Baptistery (good Donatellos), followed by a guided walking tour to orient ourselves, finishing at the Campo...

...where we had lunch.

After which we had a serious fresco and sculpture afternoon to see inter alia the Allegory of Good and Bad Government, frescoes in the 11th Century pilgrims’ hospital Santa Maria della Scala (only decommissioned in 1995), Duccio’s Maesta (you’ll have seen it on Christmas cards – Mary and the Infant Jesus) which was magnificent, and the cathedral – splendid bright Pintoricchio frescoes of the life of Pius II and an amazing decorated floor. Siena has a vast 13th Century Cathedral but decided about 20 years after it was completed that it needed to enlarge it (competition with Florence). However the project was abandoned because of poor ground conditions (the building cracked!). But what they built remains – the gable of a vast nave, and yes you can climb up it. With magnificent views…

Then Saturday was a day in the Tuscan countryside. So far as we can tell most Tuscan cities with any self-respect spent most of the middle ages fighting other Tuscan cities. The benefit of this to the 21st Century tourist is an ample supply of fortified hill towns. So we visited Monteriggioni

San Gimignano

and Volterra

They are superb – Sienese browns, coloured flags, chianti, panforte, views over hills, vineyards and cypress trees, even geo-thermal power stations. It wasn’t supposed to be a culture day, but we were struck by some very clear frescoes of the old and new testament in the church at San Gimignano - We could have done with some better weather however.

We have had a very good trip to Italy.

Sabbatical 2010 - Bulletin No.3 - 16th June

Three days in Vicenza have convinced me that an earlier bulletin than usual is appropriate. Vicenza and the architecture of Palladio has given us a great deal of pleasure even if we have had almost biblical levels of rain at times.

A good drive here on Monday was the last we saw of the sun. Then on Tuesday in the rain we walked round Vicenza aided by the excellent and almost indispensible audio guide, and visited a couple of villas outside Vicenza, the Villa Caldogno and the Villa Cordellina Lombardi (which was built for a Venetian lawyer after the style of Palladio).

Today we began with the quiet Villa Chiaricati, still a farmhouse, and rather dilapidated – its owner said his grandfather bought it in 1880. Then to the spectacular and accomplished Villa Almerico – Capra, usually called La Rotonda. After lunch in Bassano della Grappa we visited the Villa Piovene and Villa Godi, the first of Palladio’s villas.

I am going to let the pictures largely speak for themselves. But what they cannot do is to reveal the excitement of effectively “discovering” these buildings. There is huge joy in turning a corner to see one of these, in its actual setting. The other wonderful thing is that most of the villas we saw today are still lived in.

Our walk around Vicenza, and two nearby villas

This is the Teatro Olimpico, the world's first indoor theatre, designed by Palladio on the lines of Roman amphitheatres.

La Basilica.  Not a church, but Palladio using the proper meaning of the word.  He won the design competition for this building in about 1546.  To get an historical perspective on him, Edward VI was on the throne in England, and Bess of Hardwick built Hardwick Hall (more glass than wall) in 1590.

Here is the elegant Piazza dei Signori - not a single one of Palladio's buildings in this picture (but they are just behind me).

Villa Caldogno

The Villa Cordellina Lombardi - hmm, Venetian lawyers did well.  Built in 1735 in the Palladian style, there are frescoes by Tiepolo inside.  We also learnt from a guide at Vicenza's art gallery that he had a fresco of Law, supporting Truth, defeating Slander.  Now in the gallery, a few years ago Berlusconi asked to have it.  The Mayor refused, but Berlusconi has had a double sized copy made which hangs behind the lectern in the press-briefing room as a warning to the press.

Four villas today

The Villa Chiaricati is a wonderful contradiction.  The rambling wisteria growing up the column cocks a snook of dilapidation at Palladio's symmetry.  The villa is crumbling - these buildings must eat money - still a farmhouse, though the elderly owner lives in the buildings on the right.  It stands in the plain on the main road and the address is 1, via Nazionale.

And lived in - look what's in the portico, below.

La Rotonda - real grandeur.

The Villa Piovene is still lived in by descendants of the original Piovenes who built it.

And finally, the Villa Godi, Palladio's first villa.  You may think it strange that all the pictures of the Villa Godi in all the books are all taken from this viewpoint.  Visit it to see why.  Oh and ring beforehand to check the opening times too.  The web said it would be open, but it wasn't.

Sabbatical 2010 – Bulletin No. 2 13th June 2010

A week of jobs. The mornings have been hot and clear so we have tried to get on with things early (that is, finish by midday). Thyme, sage and chives have been planted in spare places to complement the rosemary and Sarah has lightened up the bottom of the steps to the front door with bizzy lizzies. We have got the irrigation going – pump and sprayers all (eventually) working well and we have bought a new lawn mower.

(Three cuts and it will have paid for itself when compared to M. Lo Porto’s charges.) We also now have very clear water in the pool and this morning I could see from one end to the other underwater – always the acid test.

I have been cooking and Sarah has been giving me refresher bridge lessons (she may not see it like that). I have ridden to the colonne romaine – well actually on a bit to Verignon - once. It’s a real joy on the bike again – my Leggero is incredibly responsive; you turn the pedals and the bike goes forward (yes I know that’s what all bikes do but there’s very little lateral flex in the frame so very little energy is lost).  The other extraordinary thing about riding from Verignon back to the column is that although the road has a definite upward gradient, it feels as though it's going downhill - any explanations, esp from those like Stuart who have ridden it, and no the surface isn't particularly good.

Friday saw me make a lightning visit home to see my Mother – nothing wrong, a planned visit to make sure she’s ok – which she is. I was short on time to get across London and take her to the doctor so Richard’s friend Josh very kindly jumped in to help by meeting me at Paddington with the tickets (Richard was meeting me at Audley End with the car.)  Many thanks Josh and Richard.

Today we have celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. Well actually we began yesterday as we went to church again at Lorgues today. So I cooked dinner, washed down with champagne Billecart-Salmon and a local red with an appropriate name.

Church today was very friendly – Peter was very open about his plans for the future of l’Oasis, or rather that he is thinking them through and wanted to know what people thought.

Tonight we have our first serious rain as we prepare to go to Vicenza and Siena next week.

Sabbatical 2010 - Bulletin Number 1 - 7th June

We’re just over one week in to a ten week sabbatical. No need to go back to the office till 9th August. How’s it been?

Well it was odd leaving the office on a Friday evening, leaving everything for others to manage, knowing I had to have given all the briefings I could give, trusting others for ten weeks. Partly it’s about self-control, partly self-belief, partly self-confidence and partly about confidence in others.

But unusually I found there were two outstanding matters. In the post-election period we have a lot going on, including change in planning law, and I had decided to do a “State of the System” blog on Plan-It Law. That wasn’t done by the time I left. And very annoyingly the Department for Communities and Local Government chose on Friday to comment on the Law Society’s Model section106 Agreement Second Edition, just four months after I sent it to them on the eve of our New Zealand trip.

So I spent the Bank Holiday weekend dealing with those. You can read the State of the System post here. Which meant Tuesday was also busy, opening with Churchwardens and Rector’s prayers at 7 am as usual but which didn’t even (as a threesome) get to prayers - as my fellow warden walked out when I insisted that the bible is foundational to what we do.

But on Wednesday we successfully left the jurisdiction and now are are au Cantalus, Ampus, 83111, France. Where the sun shines. Pool very dirty on arrival but now looking much better. Garden ok and ready to be the subject of my main project, to make it look good. House smelling clean.
It’s much easier getting started when you know you have over two months to be here. OK we shan’t be here all the time, but there’s time to plan and prepare. Here is what it looks like on arrival.

And here, for example, am I preparing for gardening.

That’s to say, cleaning out the bassin – a job not done for 20 years. But essential for irrigating the garden.

What should we do about church? Some friends recommended the Intercontinental Church Society CofE church at Cannes and their website led to l’Oasis at Lorgues. That’s a lot closer so after a call to the chap who leads it, Peter Massey – we went there. Met at 11.15, for coffee in their garden, with lots of other English people. The service was also in the garden, shaded fron the sun, and we were thirty all up, including about six children under 13. It felt that everyone was involved, and indeed five other people apart from Peter had some sort of formal role. It felt like a fellowship founded in the bible, though I suspect that not necessarily everyone there would articulate it like that. Peter’s son Wayne who is associate vicar at Christ Church Clifton was also there on holiday with his family. Peter is ordained as well. Everyone brought something for lunch and we all sat down like this…

…for lunch. And afterwards many swam in the pool. So church didn’t end till at least 5 pm – and others were still there as we left. (What’s this, Brocks not last to leave church?) We think this is a good fellowship for us on sabbatical.

Can't do the Mohaka cos you've dislocated your shoulder - where do you go?

The Chateau of course.

That's it, in the middle of the picture, a masssive 1930s hotel nestling snuggling in the shadow of Mount Ruapehu. Got it? With not much else around it. Now, Mt Ruapehu last erupted significantly in 1995, though it had another serious puff in 2007. This was Phyllis's idea. They come here for treats she said. There are some good walks she said.

On arrival at this wonderful post-colonial pile we cannot fail to notice that one can walk up Mt Ruapehu (with a guide of course). What's the quality of the track? The hotel porter, a nice lad who has helped us to change rooms to ensure we have a view of this sometime smouldering behemoth, volunteers that there is no track; Milford Track in comparison is a highway. Within an hour, despite seeking the advice of the Visitor Centre, we are booked on a guided trip to the top - some 2700 metres - the height of the Col du Galibier or the Col de l'Iseran. We ate a good dinner that night.

So this morning (1st March) at 9.30 off we set with guide Mike and four others from the British Isles (I have to put it that way as one was from Eire) to climb Mt Ruapehu, an active volcano.

Well I suppose you might want to see the surrounding countryside.

Here for example is Mt Ngaruahoe peeping above the cloud. This is a near perfect cone volcano, beside Mt Tongariro, another active monster (though a bit more leisurely than Ruapehu having been quiet for thirty years or so). And it had a part in the Lord of the Rings films, auditioning successfully for the role of Mt Doom.

Our route to the top took us past an old ("disused" perhaps) crater and then we walked a ridge (always interesting one armed).

Here it is...

...to the lip of the volcano's crater itself. Here it is.

This I find astonishing. This account takes you there too swiftly. We are now at 2,600 metres, it's blowing a cold wind, and the crater lake has appeared on the right of the ridge, worthy of the "oh wow"s I express; and it really is blackbird egg blue. To the left you can see the clouds below us. Mike our guide explains the lake is 18 deg C at the moment, and that when it warms up it changes colour - black at 40 deg C. At the time of the last eruption it was 85 deg. This is the edge of a volcano crater, and I'm standing on it. Which is extraordinary. I know the volcano alert level is 1 (out of 0-5). But I don't usually do things like this. The lake is very acidic as it absorbs sulphur gases from below. And has manganese and goodness know what else in it. So we have our picnic beside it. And pose for photos. Like this.

And then it's time to go down. We don't have photos of the next part of the ridge, down which I am expertly guided by Mike, but here are the others on the scree below.

We cross the "disused" crater a mass of volcanic ash and scree on a glacier, pitted with the impact craters of the ejecta of 2007, and the odd bit of sulpurous ejecta.

Cresting its rim we descend this scree, which eventually, several bootfuls of dust and rock later, disgorges us at the bottom.

This was a great day. A very remarkable and enjoyable thing to do. And we were able to enjoy another fine meal in the fading, but splendid luxury of the Chateau Tongariro. A good recommendation Phyllis. Thanks very much indeed.

Sheep

It had to come eventually. We could not avoid making the acquaintance of some of the 39 million sheep (that's nine sheep per human). We had to re-programme to account for the shoulder, and abandon the rafting on the Mohaka River. (For the new programme, see next post.) But we retained the overnight stop at Titioraki, which you might call a B&B with sheep farm attached. Robbie and Tracy welcomed us into their home, and sent us on a walk over the sheep farm.

The farm has a few high points...

...and a mountain stream falling down the hillside.

Here however is the mountain stream on which we should have been.

Surfers and Wine Tasters

Which would you rather be at Wainui Beach? You can do both of course - here are some good surfers...

...in training for "surf chick" status. And one day they'll be like this...

But wine tasting is still an option. We worked hard at this. Each evening had a new challenge.