wherearetheloves2006

3 July Wallingford

I can't believe that is so long since I posted a blog. The internet access where we were staying in St Cyprien was very expensive and very frustrating, so I did not bother - just checked emails.

This is just a quick post to give a brief update since the last blog. Our week in the Dordogne passed very quickly but we saw a lot, as the distances from where we were staying, to places we really wanted to see, were small. Our longest day was a lovely trip through the area south-east through Villefranche-en-Perigord, to the Quercy region, Cahors then St. Cirque-La Popie on the Lot river - a gorgeous town, clinging to the cliffs above the river ( in my opinion much nicer than Rocamadour which we went to on the way back to base). The weather that day (Thursday) and from then on has been quite hot, culminating in 36C in Bordeaux on Saturday and 38C on Sunday - it was even 33C in Wallingford yesterday and promises to be another hot one today. We are about to go to Blenheim and Woodstock.

Barbara and Bernard live in the main street of Wallingord, in a tudor style house with a lovely large garden (at the moment sadly needing rain - we can' believe how dry this part of England is). William the Conqueror crossed the Thames at Wallingford and it was decreed a town in the 1100's.

Fans of Agatha Christie, Midsomer Murders will be interested in Wallingford. Agathie Christie lived here at the end of her life. Her house is just down the road. We went to Cholsey to see Agathie Christie's grave yesterday. Athough her house is in Wallingford village, it is actually in Cholsey Parish, which is why she is buried there together with her archeologist husband. Wallingford and nearby Dorchester feature in Midsomer Murders and other English detective series.

Later on Monday

Just returned from a morning at Blenheim, touring the palace and gardens. The guided visit was excellent - informative without being too long-winded and the whole place is stunning. I thought we were palaced out, but this was really worthwhile. We topped it off with a detour to Bladon Churchyard to see Winston Churchill's grave - very simple, in Bladon Churchyard. Then, returning to Wallingford via the northern side of Oxford, so passed the turnoff to Headington and John Radcliffe, where Anthony worked in 2002 (?). It is still quite hot, although a welcome easterly breeze has modified it a bit. Tomorrow we are going to have a pub lunch at apub owned by Anthony Worral Thompson ( a well known English super chef) - looking forward to that. Wednesday we will spend mainly in Oxford, finishing up with The Merchant of Venice at the open air theatre in Oxford Castle (newly opened).

PS I have been trying to add photos on an earlier blog, but I don't think it worked.

posted by lizandarthur @ 7:00 pm