Cats

 The village of Villanovilla in the Garcipollera valley has been almost entirely rebuilt. I think it was abandoned in the 50s with the forestation programme. It now consists of a handful of rather attractive stone-built houses, well-made streets and at least one rather scabby yard, as you can see below.

 The cats surprised me. In this photo you can just about see four ginger ones and a ginger and white one. I saw at least one more ginger puss elsewhere, as well. Is this common?http://www.jaca.com/villanovilla.htm This link will show some of the houses.
A note about ginger cats:
 The ‘ginger gene’ which produces the orange colour is on the X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes and so need two copies of this gene to become ginger, whereas males need only one. This means there are roughly three males to one female ginger cats. Ginger toms father tortoiseshell or ginger females. If both parents are ginger, then all their kittens will be ginger too.

Search for a tower

One of the turnings on the road to Pamplona, Berdún, San Juan de la Peña is for the little village of Atarés. We didn't go to the village on our Sunday afternoon outing, we stopped just after the junction and headed up the footpath. When I say up, the path really was very steep in places, but we made it through the wooded hillside to the tower.

As you can see it's a total ruin, surrounded by oaks. They can't have been there in the 16th century when it was built or it would have been useless as a defence or for watching the Aragón valley from.

Anyway, it was a nice, short walk. When we got back to the car we picked a few blackberries; this year's crop is poor because it's still so dry.

Day trip to France

Although I've been living in Jaca for 20 years, it's always something a bit special to go to France for the day. It's 30 minutes by car to the border; there aren't usually any border controls, but I always take my passport-being British I don't have a resident's card any more. Perhaps when we do the Brexit thingy I'll  be given one again.
Anyway, our usual destination is Oloron Sainte-Marie, but this time our destination was Orthez, which is a bit further away; in fact the drive was two hours in total. Roads in the south of France are rather pretty and not terribly good in general. There is a great road in Spain from Jaca to Canfranc, then you drive 8 km through the Somport tunnel-5 km in Spain and 3 in France. It means you don't have to go over the mountain pass, but you can't avoid the drastic descent on the narrow roads that follow the Gave d'Aspe. Well it wasn't bad as we know that bit. Arriving in Oloron Sainte-Marie we turned left and drove along quite narrow rural roads until we finally arrived at our destination of Ortez.

Here's a screenshot of a Google map with the route we took marked in blue. It's only 121 km but the road is "picturesque" (wiggly).

Also picturesque is the town of Orthez itself. The French seem to be better at street flowers than the Spanish, and that always helps. We parked just outside the town and crossed over the river; one of the first things we saw was the beautiful medieval bridge. 

Then there was this tower; it's all that's left of a rather good castle.

This is what Wikipedia says: 

Sights

The Gave de Pau is crossed at this point by a 14th-century bridge which has four arches and is surmounted at its centre by a tower. Several old houses, and a church of the 12th, 14th and 15th centuries are of some interest, but the most remarkable building is the Tour Moncade, a pentagonal tower of the 13th century, once the keep of a castle of the viscounts of Béarn, and now used as a meteorological observatory. A building of the 17th century is all that remains of the old Calvinist university. The town hall is a modern building containing the library.

Economy

The spinning and weaving of hemp and flax, especially of the fabric called toile de Béarn, flour-milling, the manufacture of paper and of leather, and the preparation of hams known as jambons de Bayonne and of other delicacies are among its industries. There are quarries of stone and marble in the neighborhood, and the town has a thriving trade in leather, hams and lime.

History

During the 12th century, Orthez was the capital of Béarn, after Morlaàs and before Pau which is still the prefectural administrative capital. At the end of the 12th century, Orthez passed from the possession of the viscounts of Dax to that of the viscounts of Bearn, whose chief place of residence it became in the 13th century. Froissart records the splendour of the court of Orthez under Gaston Phoebus in the latter half of the 14th century. Jeanne d'Albret founded a Calvinist university in the town and Theodore Beza taught there for some time. An envoy sent in 1569 by Charles IX to revive the Catholic faith had to stand a siege in Orthez (battle of Orthez) which was eventually taken by assault by the Protestant/Huguenot captain, Gabriel, count of Montgomery. In 1684 Nicholas Foucault, intendant under Louis XIV, was more successful, as the inhabitants, ostensibly at least, renounced Protestantism, which is nevertheless still strong in the town. Another battle of Orthez occurred during the Napoleonic Wars on February 27, 1814 in which the Duke of Wellington defeated Marshal Soult on the hills to the north of Orthez. More recently, Gaston Planté, the French physicist, was born here on the 22 April 1834, his major claim to fame was the invention in 1859 of the lead-acid battery, the common car battery.

One of the main reasons we went to Orthez was to see the Musée Jeanne d'Albret. It is in a rather nice old house with formal gardens in the back. It's also called the museum of Bearnais Protestantism. You can see from the Wikipedia history that there were a lot of religious conflicts. People nowadays can't imagine how much some suffered. Here's what Wikipedia says about Jeanne:

Jeanne d'Albret; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III or Joan III, was the queen regnant of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. She married Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, and was the mother of Henry of Bourbon, who became King Henry III of Navarre and IV of France, the first Bourbon king of France. She became the Duchess of Vendôme by marriage.

She was the acknowledged spiritual and political leader of the French Huguenot movement, and a key figure in the French Wars of Religion. 

Reading on in her history, it seems she converted to Calvinism and declared it to be the official religion of her kingdom (Navarre) in 1560. She was the highest ranking protestant in France and resisted all sorts of threats from the Pope and the Inquisition to renounce, supported or at least didn't resist the Huguenots. Her son, Henri was willing to renounce his protestantism in order to become king of France. However, he signed the Edict of Nantes. 

The Edict of Nantes (French: édit de Nantes), signed probably on 30 April 1598 by King Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in the nation, which was still considered essentially Catholic at the time. In the edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity. The edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some Protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics, and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. In offering general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict offered many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field or for the state and to bring grievances directly to the king. It marked the end of the religious wars that had afflicted France during the second half of the 16th century.

This edict stood until the time of Louis XIV, Jeanne's great-grandson when it was revoked and persecution of "heretics" was resumed. 

There is a display in the museum of the "Church in the Wilderness"

Once again from Wikipedia:

Emerging from the Reformation in the 16th century, the reformed Churches in France were organised independently and, by force of circumstance, clandestinely. The first national synod of the Reformed Churches was held in 1559; their first formal confession of faith (the Confession of La Rochelle) was composed in 1571. Recognised but restricted by the Edict of Nantes in 1598, the last official synod met in 1659; subsequently, the churches were suppressed in France by the Edict of Fontainebleau of 1685, which revoked the Edict of Nantes.

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes began a period of systematic state persecution known as in French as the Désert (wilderness), an allusion to the sufferings of the Hebrews when they wandered in the wilderness following the flight from Egypt. This was associated with mass emigration to other European countries, North America, and South Africa (les pays de Refuge). In 1787, the Edict of Versailles, issued by Louis XVI of France, ended most legal discrimination against non-Roman Catholics – including Huguenots. In 1802, the church was recognised in accordance with the Organic Articles (les Articles organiques) which followed Napoleon Bonaparte's concordat with the Roman Catholic Church. This permitted a local and non-national organisation of the church, which did not reflect its traditional organisation (synods, participation of lay members in the pastoral organisation of the Church, etc.)

In other words, systematic persecution of protestants from 1685 until 1787. They met in secret, exchanging tokens to identify themselves, made Bibles so small they could be hidden in a woman's hair. If caught, men could be sent to row in galleys and women were imprisoned.

That's all the history. Anyway, it was a lovely day out. Orthez is a beautiful town.

We found a "batcave"

near a rather nice old house.

England again last days

Our last day in London was Tuesday. We took the Tube to Sloane Square and set off for the Chelsea Physic Garden. Our search took us through bits of Chelsea, including the Pensioners' Hospital. When we found the gardens there was an hour till they opened and absolutely nowhere to have coffee and wait. We went to the Embankment and sat looking at the river and bridges and eventually crossed the Albert Bridge to Battersea Park.

This was a nice statue of young Mozart in Chelsea

This was a sign on the bridge. It's one of the prettiest, especially lit up at night.

This is what Wikipedia says about Battersea Park:

Prior to 1846 the area now covered by the park was known as Battersea fields, a popular spot for duelling. On 21 March 1829, the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea met on Battersea fields to settle a matter of honour.[2] When it came time to fire, the Duke aimed his duelling pistol wide and Winchilsea fired his into the air. Winchilsea later wrote the Duke a grovelling apology.

Separated from the river by a narrow raised causeway, the fields consisted of low, fertile marshes intersected by streams and ditches with the chief crops being carrots, melons, lavender (all the way up to Lavender Hill) and the famous ‘Battersea Bunches’ of asparagus.

Running along the riverside from the fields were industrial concerns and wharves, including a pottery, copper works, lime kiln, chemical works, and, increasingly, railways. The site of Battersea Power Station was partly occupied by the famously bawdy Red House Tavern, patronised by Charles Dickens. Access was via the rickety wooden Battersea Bridge or by ferry from the Chelsea bank.

In 1845, spurred partly by the local vicar and partly by Thomas Cubitt, the builder and developer, whose yards were across the river in the still marshy and undeveloped area of Pimlico, a bill was submitted to Parliament to form a Royal Park of 320 acres. The Act was passed in 1846 and £200,000 was promised for the purchase of the land. The Commission for Improving the Metropolis acquired 320 acres of Battersea Fields, of which 198 acres became Battersea Park, opened in 1858, and the remainder was let on building leases.

The park was laid out by Sir James Pennethorne between 1846 and 1864, although the park which was opened in 1858 varied somewhat from Pennethorne's vision.

The park’s success depended on the successful completion of the Chelsea Bridge, declared open in 1858 by Queen Victoria. In her honour, the road alongside the eastern edge of the Park was called Victoria Road, linked to Queens Road by Victoria Circus (now Queen's Circus). Prince of Wales Road (now Prince of Wales Drive) was laid out along the southern boundary and Albert Bridge Road constructed along the western side.

The park hosted the first football game played under the rules of the recently formed Football Association on 9 January 1864. The members of the teams were chosen by the President of the FA (A. Pember) and the Secretary (E.C. Morley) and included many well-known footballers of the day.

From the 1860s, the park was home to the leading amateur football team Wanderers F.C., winners of the first FA Cup, in 1872. One team they are known to have played at the park was Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest football team, in the 1860s.

In 1924, a war memorial by Eric Kennington was unveiled by Field Marshal Plumer and the Bishop of Southwark. It commemorates the over 10,000 men killed or listed as "missing presumed dead" whilst serving with the 24th East Surrey Division. It is now Grade II* listed.

During both wars, anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons were installed to help protect London from enemy air raids. Shelters were dug, part of the park was turned over to allotments for much needed vegetables and a pig farm was also set up. Maintenance of the park was reduced as the war effort took priority.

The Festival Gardens

In 1951 the northern parts of the park were transformed into the "Pleasure Gardens" as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. As well as a new water-garden and fountains, new features included a "Tree-Walk", which consisted of a series of raised wooden walkways linked by tree house-like platforms suspended between the branches of a number of trees.

Popular attractions included the Guinness Clock, designed by Jan Le Witt and George Him, and the Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway.

What we found was the Peace Pagoda:

It was erected in 1985. You can see we were under the flight path!

We had to pay more than £10 entrance for the Physic Garden. It was lovely though. Not as a beautiful garden but with interesting plants and flowers. We were taken on a guided tour and we saw all sorts of  specimens.

Sir Hans Sloane, who founded the gardens, surrounded by fragrant pots

This robin was lurking by a working gardener.

http://chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/

We bought sandwiches and ate them opposite the Pensioners' hospital and then had a long sit-down in Hyde Park near Marble Arch. That's about it. London is very busy and crowded with people.

England again part 3

The third of our appointments was on Monday. We got up early and walked to Gloucester Road Station, about 5 minutes from our flat. There, we met our tour guide and the rest out the group. The tour guide had pink hair, so she was easy to spot. At eight o'clock she took us round the corner to the coach, and we set off to Bath. It took about two and a half hours. We were told to meet up at the same place in three hours, or come on a guided tour if we wanted. (we chose to go alone) First to the Abbey, a Gothic building with a wonderful fan-vaulted ceiling.

This is the only photo I took inside.

Then we walked up to The Circus and The Royal Crescent, the first being England's first completely circular street. It has enormous plane trees in the centre, maybe the same age as the street (Georgian).

From Bath, it took an hour to get to Stonehenge. I went there probably in about 1970, and nowadays there are a lot more people trying to see it. Everything is well organised. From the bus we walked over to the Visitor Centre where we got on a shuttle bus which took  us about a kilometre  up the road to the site. There were hundreds of people, on the road, on the fields, on the buses, round the circle.

We could get closer than I expected. There is a rope all the way round and people stand by it and take selfies. It's very tricky, because you can't tell which direction they are taking pictures in!

I didn't think the Visitors' Centre was up to much, but we saw some straw huts and bought a few booklets. 

The return journey to Gloucester Road was two hours. A good excursion. 

London again part 2

St Paul's was good, Shakespeare's Globe was great, the weather was hot and we still had time for more adventures. Saturday was a family day; a barbecue in my cousin's lovely garden with almost all of my English family.
Sunday our aim was to go to a service in Westminster Abbey. We arrived early so went for a long walk along the side of the Thames, crossing over Lambeth Bridge to Lambeth Palace on the South Bank and back to cross Westminster Bridge:

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

William Wordsworth, 1770 - 1850

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne’er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Really, it wasn't that early when we crossed, but I always say Earth hath not anything to show more fair when I cross. At the Abbey, the tourists were queuing to go into the choral eucharist. They were very well organised. It was a pleasant, quite simple service. Then we walked through St James' Park, past Buckingham Palace and caught the tube back to Earl's Court. We had a little self-catering apartment in a shabby old house in Kensington. It was ok once we got someone to turn off the bathroom radiator. We bought ready-made food from local supermarkets every day; mirowave curries or made-up sandwiches or wraps and punnets of strawberries. On Sunday afternoon we went to the National Portrait Gallery, where the Tudor portraits are like old friends. 

Last bit on Sunday was Abbey Road: 

Lots of students on the famous crossing! From there we went to Swiss Cottage.

This is a pub. Wikipedia says: The district is named after an inn called The Swiss Tavern that was built in 1804 in the style of a Swiss chalet and on the site of a former tollgate keeper's cottage. The inn was later renamed Swiss Cottage.

England again

It's hot here in Jaca, up to 34℃, and it was even hotter when I left Huesca at two o'clock this afternoon after doing speaking exams in a (thank goodness) air-conditioned school all morning. It was actually hot in England while we were there last week; to the extent that we didn't need jumpers or jackets, and I wore sandals all the time apart from travelling to and from the airport. Hot there isn't the same as hot here though. I think we were very lucky with the weather-it rained on Wednesday while we were heading for the airport, and nothing more.
Our first full day we had a long walk through parks and streets.

This is Dr Who's Tardis in BBC Langham Place! 

Later we went to St Paul's Cathedral. It cost us £18 each. The very beast thing is going up into the dome and climbing to the outside gallery at the top.

Just outside the City

The wonderful St Pancras Station with the wonderful statue of Sir John Betjeman, who made great efforts to save the building from destruction.

j

I loved the name on the blackboard

This is a massive sculpture of a (wartime) couple kissing,

with wartime station scenes on the base.

We had three fixed dates: Friday was Shakespeare's Globe, booked in April. Magic! We were there by 9am for the guided tour.

 These are someone else's photos of the theatre, which is a modern re-creation of a 16th century playhouse.It's a proper Shakespearian "wooden O" and it's very exciting.

 We had a lovely, rather dramatic guide. She asked people's nationalities, and I was the only British tourist. Most were from USA or Canada.
                                                     
                       

These photos are mine! The green tubes and white balls are for the forest in "The Dream"

After the morning tour we spent a nice half hour in Southwark Cathedral, then joined the seething crowds in Borough Market. You can see the most extraordinary food there.

gooseberries

and ecological  delivery vehicles

But mostly people and more people.

The play, A Midsummer Night's Dream started at 2 pm. We had seats (and cushions) quite high up in the first row of balconies. The production was unconventional in terms of sex: Puck was a woman,  https://www.facebook.com/ShakespearesGlobe/videos/10154451610405774/ the "rude mechanicals " apart from Bottom were women and Helena was Helenus with a passion for cruel Demetrius. Mortals were modern, fairies were tatty Elizabethan. Here's a link for a little video from the Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/ShakespearesGlobe/videos/10154451610405774/

It was cruel, it was funny, it was magical!
Because the play started at 2 it was finished by 5 o'clock, which was too early to finish for the day, but not early enough for much. We went on the Docklands Light Railway to the Cutty Sark in Greenwich and walked up the hill to look at the view.

London from another angle.