Category: Aarhus

Just us today. Same story – stunning weather – wall-to-wall sunshine but a bitingly cold wind off the North Sea.

Our garden in Field Dalling:

Felbrigg:

Sheringham Park

Blakeney (again)

I think we’re getting more and more sucked into India. The sights are great, but there is so much more.

Eileen and I were up and out just before 6.00 – it’s much cooler then – having a walk and a coffee on the prom with thousands of others. Interestingly, Anna our driver was complaining about how cold it is in the morning – we thought it was perfect.

And then talking to our Airbnb host – really interesting background with her parents being caught up in the partition, her mother being part of the founders of the Montessori movement and her husband a politician who could pull a few strings if we fancied visiting the Odisha region next year.

Anyway, back to business. A longish 3 hours drive. First stopping temple (I knew I wasn’t going to be able to remember this one’s name):

11th Century to stop you looking it up. But what I found great was that as it is still Pongal it is a huge day out for families who use the Temple as a social venue for games, picnics and so on. And the colours continue. And it was mega busy.

And the next one – both of these are the warm up to the main event ( see tomorrow):

But then there is the weirdest thing continuing which is what it must feel like to be minor royalty ( or a hanger on in my case)! We have our driver so he drops us off right outside wherever we’re going (waved through by the guards on occasions), but then this continuous demand for Eileen to be in photographs (eventually wanting to say s*d off, we’re looking at your b****y temple!!!!

Haven’t fathomed what it’s all about. And now, of course, when we glance around we are noticing many more examples of people looking at us. Fame at last ……

First a bit of geography. Chennai is about 3/4 of the way down the eastern side of India, and at the moment we are trundling south. If we kept going in a straight line we would hit Sri Lanka.

Secondly a bit of education – they say travel broadens the mind. We have hit Pongal – the biggest Hindu festival in southern India which seems to be a very long Harvest Festival. Schools are shut for a week, and this follows on rapidly from them also being shut for Christmas week. I must admit to never having heard of it before, but it is great to be in the middle of it.

After two nights of acclimatising in the safety of a Sheraton we set off this morning to Puducherry. (Also the spellings of towns seems to vary – also known as Pondicherry.)

Room plus view (Bay of Bengal since you ask).

Then a guided tour of the Old Town.

Actually not so old – cathedral only built in 20th Century but we liked the colours…

and the Christmas Tree – not sure what happened to 12th night.

And the fun part was a walk around the shopping streets and markets – crazily busy plus sounds and smells (mostly nice but not entirely):

Evening extremely splendid. Coffee and cake with a view:

Dinner – according to Eileen the tiger prawns were “the best ever”. The Indian wine slightly less so … But a walk along the promenade at 10.00 and luxuriating in the warm breeze was fantastic.

First up an early morning start. There is something mesmerising about the estuary filling up and emptying as regular as clockwork. And it adds an extra dimension to having a swim – you have to be in the mood and the water has to be there.

Headed out to Dinan today. Now that’s what I call coffee and cake!

Then a mooch around Dinan, including the world famous Breton crepes for lunch.

Including a climb up the 180 steps to the top of the clock tower.

No sunset this eve. It has been cloudier than back home but not the promised storms. Maybe St. Malo tomorrow if we can get out of the house.