Monthly round-up

I'm not convinced that there's anybody still reading this, but here's what we've been up to for the rest of April.

Anna and I moved home on the 14th, leaving leafy Golders Green for the alternative, punky streets of Camden Town. Pros and cons?

• Pros: we have a lovely bright, modern-looking apartment. There are lots of interesting shops, and we finally have a 'local' pub. We're between a number of useful transport links (Camden Town, Kentish Town and Caledonian Road). Anna is close enough to be able to walk to work, and I can catch the bus (no more Underground, hooray!). We have our very own squirrel. The shower is a whole lot better. There's no baby living in the unit downstairs. There aren't several flights of stairs to climb every night.
• Cons: the neighbourhood isn't as nice. There are a few weirdos around, and the bedroom seems to get a lot of street noise. The fridge is half the size. The bedroom is a bit of a squeeze.

All in all, I think we're starting to settle in nicely.

Have been playing catch up with our friends. We've had Selina over a couple of times, I had dinner with Mark last week, and I had a picnic with Gidon and Maggie at Hampstead Heath on the weekend. Great to have a few more people here!

There are still lots of opportunities to see talented and famous people. Attended a masterclass with Mike Figgis (director of Leaving Las Vegas among others), which focused on the levelling power of digital film technology. Inspiring stuff! Also met Danny Boyle's producer, Andrew MacDonald. My copy of 28 Days Later is turning into an autograph magnet. Am hoping to meet John Barrowman this weekend, star of Torchwood and a recurring character on Doctor Who. Neat.

I've decided to do a documentary about the "Crossbones Graveyard", a mass grave in Southwark that we discovered on a London Walks tour. (See "Heatwave".) There's a group that call themselves the "Friends of the Crossbones Graveyard" that do a monthly gathering and clean-up at the site. I went with my camera (on Shakespeare's brithday - and St George's day - no less), and filmed their spiritual cleansing rituals, and assorted musical performances. A lot of fun.

What else? There was a big fire on Oxford Street last night, just up the road from where I work. They've now closed off a big section of the street, and there are firemen and police everywhere. They reckon the building may collapse, or require demolition. Exciting stuff!

Last but not least, Nine Inch Nails have just released their new album, Year Zero. (See "Art is Resistance".) A good time to be me.

Normandy - Day 4

Last day - and with the threat of a long bus drive + ferry trip + bus drive looming - we spent the morning stretching our legs in Honfleur. Didn't look like much from a distance, but it was a pleasant little harbour commune. We picked up a map at the tourist office, and climbed up a nearby hill to get a view of the Honfleur bridge. Completed in 1995, and crossing the Seine, this massive bridge measures over 2,800 feet at its longest section and is 1.3 miles in total.

We made our way back through the narrow streets with their slate-covered buildings, beloved of Cezanne, Monet and other Impressionist artists.

Of particular interest was the Sainte-Catherine church, the largest church made out of wood of France. A real point of difference from the millions of stone churches we've seen!

It also has a nearby freestanding bell-tower.

Farewell to the scrumptious, mouth-watering, effervescent and refreshing cider.

Normandy - Day 3

Our tour today was very war-centric, though I would have preferred to have seen Normandy's war sites in more detail.

We began by visiting the WWII Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer. The cemetery is located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel.

It covers 70 hectares, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead from the European arena. The graves face westward, towards the United States. The names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives in the conflict but could not be located or identified are inscribed on the walls of a semicircular garden at the east side of the memorial. At the center is a bronze statue entitled "Spirit of American Youth".

The view of the endless field of white crosses (and Stars of David) is very affecting.

One of two statues representing America and France:

From the circular chapel at the centre:

Although access was closed, I had to sneak down to Omaha beach to see where it all happened.

Next stop was the seaside resort of Arromanches-les-Bains. We visited the D-Day Museum, which was just how I remembered it from childhood. Unfortunately, I really don't think anything had changed, and the material was very dated and not particularly informative. We did, however, see a good video (from the 40s) about the manufacture and placement of the Mulberry Harbours.

This here is a "Rupert", one of the hundreds of dummy paratroopers that were dropped the night before D-Day so the Germans would believe that the invasion was coming elsewhere...

And this fellow is a member of the 101st Airborne Division, now known as the "Band of Brothers"...

Remainder of the Mulberry Harbour:

In the afternoon we travelled south, stopping at the largest Commonwealth cemetery in France, on the outskirts of Bayeux. According to online sources, the cemetery comprises 3,935 British, 17 Australians, 8 New Zealanders, 1 South African, 25 Poles, 3 French, 2 Czechs, 2 Italians, 7 Russians, 466 Germans and 1 unknown. Oddly, however, when I checked the onsite memorial books, they listed no New Zealand graves.

An inscription on the memorial reads “NOS A GULIELMO VICTI VICTORIS PATRIAM LIBERAVIMUS” (“We, once conquered by William, have now set free the conqueror's native land”).

The cemetery is more poetic than at Omaha, in that each grave bears its own monumental inscription. These simple heartfelt messages from surviving family are easily able to move you to tears.

Afterwards we enjoyed the most rewarding part of our whole Normandy trip, the Bayeux Tapestry. Still on the theme of war, but moving back a millenium, this embroidered cloth tells the story of William the Conqueror's defeat of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. A linen "comic book", 231 feet long and 20 inches wide, depicting 58 scenes in eight colours. This exhibition is the best presented that we have come across yet. There's a lot of nice information that sets the scene beforehand, and a wonderfully narrative audioguide brings the tapestry alive (not to mention the fact that it gets everybody moving around the tapestry in time, instead of clogging up).

Unfortunately, I have no photographs of the tapestry! However, we did have a little wander, and saw the Norman-Romanesque cathedral, consecrated in 1077, which was the original home of the tapestry.

Plus this odd display:



Throughout the trip, we were staying in Caen; known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror, who was buried here, and for the Battle for Caen, heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the town.

Today we got back while there was still light, and set off to explore a little. We weren't able to visit the tombs of William the Conquerer or Queen Mathilda, but we climbed all over the castle he built in 1060, the Château de Caen, one of the largest medieval fortresses of Western Europe.

We also found a fun 'fountain square', some nice views of the city and Saint-Pierre Cathedral and - best of all - more good cider. Finished by having dinner with our bus driver!

Normandy - Day 2

Driving around Normandy for hours, one soon gets over the novelty of the landscape and realises that it is actually pretty tedious. There is very little variation, and it's not that pretty - but quite featureless. Having said that, I enjoyed seeing the parasitic mistletoe blighting the trees everywhere. Fetch my golden sickle!

Started the day at Giverny, best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home. The nymphaes in his famous water garden were brown and dead, but the house garden had a little bloom going and was quite pretty. It was interesting visiting his little house, but the trip would have benefited from more information about his life. Also, all the reproductions of his paintings were faded and should have been replaced. Never mind, we had another nice lunch with the obligatory bottle of Normandy nectar...

Moved on to Rouen next, the ancient capital of Normandy. This was another of Europe's delightful medieval cities, and we enjoyed wandering through the narrow streets, eating crepes and admiring the tottering and lopsided half-timbered buildings.

Particular sites of note were the Notre Dame cathedral, with its Tour de Beurre (butter tower), the tallest building in the world (151 m) from 1876 to 1880. The cathedral was the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet, and has a tomb for Richard the Lionheart which contains his heart.

The Gros Horloge (Great Clock) is an astronomical clock installed on the archway over a gate in the ancient Roman walls. On the two Renaissance clock faces, a single hand indicates the hour. Under the number VI, a divinity associated with the day of the week appears at noon on a chariot. Above the clock face, a globe indicates the phase of the moon. Many depictions of sheep show the importance of the wool trade in Rouen and the Paschal Lamb, which has been part of Rouen's coat of arms since the 14th century, is represented on the underside of the arch.

In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché (Old Market Place) is the site where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by the occupying English in 1431. There is a scrappy garden on the site, and an extremely tall crucifix (not easy to photograph). The nearby modern church of Saint Joan of Arc dominates the square. The form of the building represents the pyre on which Joan of Arc was burnt, and it contains some splendid modern stained glass.

Anna and I also stumbled on an odd square (Aître St. Maclou), where plague victims had been buried in mass graves in 1348. It is surrounded by ossuaries and charnel houses (now art galleries), decorated with skulls and crossbones and gravediggers' tools. A glass case near the entrance displays the skeleton of a cat found in one of the walls. It was most probably a black cat - thought to be an incarnation of the Devil - that was plastered into the masonry, alive, in order to ward off evil spirits.

On a happier note, I spotted this cute toy in a knitting shop. I thought mum might enjoy it!

That night, we made a bit of an effort to have dinner with some of our fellow tourists in Caen. I tried calvados (apple brandy), which was like drinking alcohol fumes, and pommeau (an aperitif produced by blending unfermented cider and apple brandy), which was delicious!


This is Caen's Joan of Arc statue: