Christmas Day

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Just to prove that the Pyrenees doesn't have a monopoly on views, here are a few photos of our Christmas Day walk. The thought of spending the day, just the three of us, cooped up indoors with Festive TV and too much to eat simply wasn't appealing. A healthy climb up Simon's Seat was. The thing about walks like that is that they're justifiably popular, and most days, you can feel as crowded and hemmed in as if you'd blundered into the January sales.

This is where a walk on Christmas day really scores. Hardly anybody else is out and about. The roads, empty of cars, resemble those we've become accustomed to in rural France, it's easy to park: and, well, yes, of course we met the occasional intrepid soul on the way up, but really, hardly anybody. What we did met, in quite considerable numbers were grouse, grumbling, calling and, well, grousing really. They organised themselves in picturesque silhouette against the skyline, and only flew away when we got within snapshot distance.

However, this is England. So though our climb to the top was in bright clear wintry weather, once almost there, we found ourselves in grey foggy cloud, with views no further than a foot in front of our faces. Penetratingly cold too. So we didn't linger, but strode purposefully down, aware that we'd earned our Christmas Dinner, but that we'd need to cook it before we could satisfy our hikers' appetites.

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Photos

The climb begins.....
....and we enjoy the view

Simon's Seat....
...almost there

When we reached the top.....
.....what splendid sights!!