This is a church dedicated to Saint Valerien and built under the auspices of the Abbot of Tournus between 1008 and 1028. It’s still standing, but unused as it waits for a bit of TLC.
Tournus is a charming old town in Southern Burgundy, which we wouldn’t have discovered if not for the farmers’ blockades of roads and motorways throughout France, which it’s fair to say have made travelling here … interesting and boring in equal measure.
For Dan’s Thursday Doors.
The other day, while still with my daughter and family, I went to hang the washing out. And returned with Wildlife attached to my person. Its body, not counting legs, was some 7 centimetres long. I took him/ her outside. Was it a giant grasshopper? Should it have been about in January? Answers gratefully received.
Incidentally, our route home is proving unexpectedly challenging. French farmers are blockading much of our proposed route, as they have been for some days…. It’s just taken us two hours to drive 16 km. ducking and diving. And it’s now 7.40 a m. …
I then pressed ‘publish’, and have just discovered nothing happened. Typical for a very difficult day, though it did eventually get somewhat better
Here is a red (well, reddish) sunrise, seen from our bedroom in our daughter’s family’s house, and looking over at Barcelona in the distance. We’re leaving today, and will miss everything about being here.
For Debbie’s One Word Sunday: Red.
In a city centre back street in Barcelona, somewhere near Las Ramblas, we found this shop. It sells one thing only: blocks of dried salt cod: bacallà (Catalan) bacalau (Spanish). Salting and drying cod changes and deepens the flavour, and means it will keep for a very long time if necessary. Soak it to remove much of the salt and to soften it, and use in your favourite recipe!
For Debbie’s Six Word Saturday.
The featured photo is of definitely my favourite door in Premià de Mar. It’s part of an otherwise plain but elegant building whose history I haven’t been able to discover.
Here are a few more from the old town.
For Dan’s Thursday Doors.
I showed you three images on Monday.
- Yes, they're of a church.
- You should have stuck to your guns: they're the work of Antoni Gaudí.
- It's an early work of his, and unfinished.
- And it was built as the place of worship for the textile manufacturing area, just outside Barcelona, of Santa Coloma de Cervelló .
- This community is now known as Colònia Güell. It's a worker's colony that was commissioned as a model town by Count Eusebi de Güell in 1898.
It’s a fascinating story and an interesting place. But telling it to you will have to wait till I’m back in England and have the time to do it justice. I’ll try to whet your appetite with just a few random images from the town.
I am going to set you a puzzle today. I’m showing a few teaser photos of somewhere that deserves a post of its own, but now’s not the time: that new baby, that newly-three toddler are both more important. So – what can you tell me about it? Do you know – or can you guess, what kind of building this is, who designed it, or where it is? I’ll give brief answers in a couple of days in the comments. The full story will have to wait.
For Ludwig’s Monday Window.
Five o’clock. Time to collect Anaïs from nursery school. Off to the shops first, walking along a street planted with Seville orange trees. The bitter fruits don’t tempt anybody to steal one for a snack. But I’m tempted by windfalls. We collect all we can find so that later, we can scrub them clean and make marmalade.
Up the hill, on the way back, here’s a street still with a few papery autumn leaves …
… and a house with a orange tree: sweet oranges this time, and ready to eat.
We turn left, and walk towards the sunset.
Then - finally – home at last …
For Debbie’s Six Word Saturday.
We’ve travelled almost the length of England, almost the length of France and through half of Catalonia to arrive in Premiá de Mar. It’s here that we’ve met our new granddaughter Olivia, exactly three weeks old today. And we’ve celebrated the birthday of her elder sister Anaïs, three years old on Tuesday.
Unsurprisingly, we haven’t been out and about much yet. But yesterday, Olivia, her mum, Malcolm and I ventured to Mataró, capital of the Maresme, for a little light mooching.
Here are two doors we mooched past.
For Dan’s Thursday Doors.
Our journey to Spain begins. Four and a half hours to cross London yesterday – ’nuff said. But today, a calm crossing from Dover to Calais, with (relatively) almost nobody else on board. And beneath us … only sea.
For Debbie’s One Word Sunday
From Pyrenees to Pennines 
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