France 2012

By shendyNo Comments
Here are a few photos from this year's summer holiday in France. A fairly standard trip - a couple of days to drive down (staying at the lovely Auberge de la Hulotte in St Jacques d'Ambur, within sight of the Puy de Dome deep in the Auvergne), two weeks in a gite (booked via Halcyon Leisure) and then 4 nights on the way back (1 at the Hotel Le Pont Bernet in Le Pian Medoc, 2 at Hotel des Pins in l'Amelie near Soulac, and 1 at Hostellerie du Bois Guibert in Bonneval near Chartres). All of the establishments are recommended for both food and accommodation - as is the Logis de France chain. Anyway, on to the photos. A few from around the gite. Some landscapes and bits and pieces. I'm particularly pleased with the hay bales - I've been looking for a particularly photogenic set of these for ages and happened to come across these while looking for some caves (which happened...
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Devon, June 2012

By shendyNo Comments
Just back from a weekend down in Devon - an area I've not really done before. First up was a visit to Bicton Park, conveniently located only a short distance from our B&B (Lower Pinn Farm - clean, comfortable room, a huge bed and an excellent breakfast). Bicton was quite good - lots of different bits of garden to keep you interested. The rest of the weekend was spent mainly in Budleigh Salterton, initially to meet up with friends at the BN Beach Day on Saturday, but we gave up on that by 1:30 as it clouded over and the wind got chilly. Better weather on Sunday as it brightened up at lunchtime....
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Welsh Wales

By shendyNo Comments
We've been spending a few days in Welsh Wales - the weather has been pretty good, but it's been damn cold. It's bloody May - it shouldn't be this flamin' cold! First up was Manorbier in Pembrokeshire. We've heard how lovely it is - it wasn't. Might have been something to do with the Arctic gale blowing, but we didn't hang around for very long. There's a surprisingly pristine castle, but it's not National Trust so we were buggered if we were going to pay to get in... After that, we went to Colby Woodland Garden, which *is* National Trust. Quite nice, with a reasonable walled garden, but nothing desperately exciting. When we were in Wales in September, SWMBO was trying to find a beach on the Cardigan Bay coast that she visited as a child. We've been to about half a dozen of the damn things now, and we still haven't found it. I suspect that the passage of 30 years has...
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Bosherston

By shendyNo Comments
We also visited Bosherston in Pembrokeshire, where three small valleys were flooded in the 1800s to form a large series of lakes. These are full of water lillies, and look fantastic. Panasonic FX-37, 26mm equivalent, 1/800 @ f5.6, ISO 100 Having walked for a mile or so along the valley, you suddenly come out at Broad Haven beach - completely unexpected and very picturesque. Without wanting to sound rude, you wouldn't guess it was Wales, would you? Panasonic FX-37, 26mm equivalent, 1/800 @ f4.4, ISO 100 And on the walk back, we came across this cormorant, which happily sat there for ages while I took photos. Panasonic FX-37, 130mm equivalent, 1/125 @ f5.9, ISO 200...
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Llansteffan

By shendy1 Comment
We spent a few days in Wales in early September, which coincided with several days of fantastic weather. For a change, I deliberately left my digital SLR at home and shot a bit of film. I'll post those up when I get them back from processing and scan them - these shots are from my little digital compact. I'm so impressed by the macro facilities you get with them, making shots like this dead easy. Panasonic FX-37, 26mm equivalent, 1/640 @ f5.6, ISO 100 Llansteffan was lovely - it was really quiet, and at times all you could hear was a bit of wind and some seagulls. The tide times were just right, which enabled us to walk out surprisingly far onto the sand banks. And yes, we did take care to make sure we weren't cut off. Panasonic FX-37, 26mm equivalent, 1/800 @ f5, ISO 100 And finally, I resurrected an old family habit of drawing "DON'T PANIC" in the sand (from Hitchhiker's Guide...
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