विश्रम् - Vishram

 When in France, we were a bit dismayed at the lack of explanation of historical sites (in French).  The British Heritage Trust Sites are totally the opposite.  I am so impressed with the amount of care that is going into preserving sites and the dedication of the volunteers.   At each site, we were enthusiastically greeted and an every room of homes and castles, there is a volunteer to give the story.  Even though it is early April, weather is dismal, the sites are quite busy.   Our first site was Cotehele, a manor house built in 1458.  

 Ever since reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles , a Sherlock Holmes mystery, I have wanted to visit Dartmoor.  The weather totally co-operated to add atmosphere:  cold, windy, drizzle.  

After a two hour flight from Toulouse to London Heathrow, we drove down to Devon, staying in a lovely thatched cottage bordering Dartmoor.  The first day, we toured the moors, stopping for lunch in a pub in Chagford.  This town had special meaning for us as good friends were married in this village church and had their reception in the same pub.  

 We finished off the French leg of the trip by visiting a number of lovely villages in the areas of France, bordering the Mediterranean and just north of the Spanish border.   Le Canal du Midi Joe beside the canal near where we spend Easter weekend. The castle at Carcassonne

  We had a museum pass while in Arles and were able to tour some of the Roman sites.  Of note is the museum from the late-nineteenth century which used wax figures to portray everyday scenes of Arlean life.  It was a pioneering thought to think that future generations might be interested in the current day.   The Roman Colosseum in Arles A burial ground in Arles.