West of the Town

Thursday 25 September 2014

England for 1/2 an hour

Last weekend was a rare opportunity - we could visit England during opening hours. And all without leaving Paris.

You see it was 200 years since England bought the impressive 18c town house from Napoléon's sister. Since then they bought the place next door and it has become the ambassador's residence and entertaining place.

As part of the British embassy, it is officially English and under English rule.

The doors opened from 10-16:30 and we arrived in time for the last half an hour. There were furnishings still there from 200 years ago along with an impressive banqueting table and a less impressive (because it was small) ballroom. We enjoyed the garden too.

No flash allowed but here are photos anyway.

Cordialement
Terry

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1. Ballroom
2. Dining room

Thursday 11 September 2014

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall may be a long way from Spain but the local Chinese restaurant has not forgotten it. It has been named after it!

They are open from 7:30pm but are usually almost empty until well after 9. The Spanish eat late, but 7:30 suites us Brits very well.

They bring out the only 2 English menus automatically but they can't speak English themselves so ordering is still complex. And then there are the descriptions. We want explanations. What exactly is "sizzling beef"? The answer is in Spanish with a Chinese accent- and often with sign language!

In the end we decide to be adventurous. We order "fried rice 3 delights" and "set fire to the chicken". The wine is served by the glass, but the bottle was cheaper than 2 glasses.

You can see that the chicken dish lives up to its name. 3 delights turn out to be 3 flavours, in this case ham, peas, and egg. Tasty at least even of you think it is not quite delightful 3 times over!

As we leave there are more people coming in. Often for a take-away. Over time, I am sure you come to understand the menu titles. Then it must be a little less like ordering from behind a Great Wall.

Cordialement
Terry

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Thursday 4 September 2014

Walking on ash felt.

Working out of a hotel can leave you unfit. So, despite the heat, we went for an evening walk.

At the edge of the town we made the decision to continue towards the countryside rather than turn right and climb the steep hill to the church. It was the "shade-less" option, but much less steep.

The route takes you out passed the olive processing factory. At his time of year the factory is quiet and the smoke from the chimneys has long gone. We followed a man walking along the prepared ash felt route and cyclists and runners passed us going in both directions.

It is a long path. After walking a while we passed a sign advertising the 22km point of the "green route". Not too encouraging but our man, an older gentleman, was still striding out so we took confidence in his confidence!

The path twists and turns so it was hard to see its final destination. We passed a stone bridge and a country road that crossed our path giving access to 4 houses.

21.5km point. Then the 21km point and no end in sight. By now some people had turned round and were returning. At the last, we lost sight of our man and since the path was visible for a long distance, we surmised that he had turned in somewhere. We had walked for an hour, our pre-decided limit, so we too turned back.

Soon we were with lots of groups returning to Martos. The sun going down offered a good photo opportunity and the other photo may give you an idea of the road and people. We arrived back at the hotel feeling like we had earned our nightcap. We explained our walk to the hostess. "Why?" She asked but it was too hard to reply with the English "because".

Cordialement
Terry

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