Carmarthenshire 1 - Llanarthney/no pili pala/ The link between Norman Foster and the Millau Bridge

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We woke early. The 100 plot site was deathly quiet. Even our neighbour had sneaked out early without disturbing us. We were going to spend a different sort of day today. Not a castle in sight. We were going to spend it amongst the flowers. Well that was the plan. We dropped our key off and said our farewells to the warden. She wished us a good journey and hoped we would return. To be fair we need to return. There is still much to see and we are on limited time. A rare gap between the working week. Before we left we took the opportunity to empty Gabbys grey water. We were shocked to see the gauge which measured full. When had we last emptied it? We couldn't remember? We had tried at Southport and failed . Before that was Spain. We tried hard to remember if we emptied it in Spain or in France. In the end we came to the conclusion that we had probably never emptied it and we were carrying 110 litres of mucky washing up water. Job done and we left for Carmarthen.

OK I did tell a little white lie. We were heo say farewell to the friendly warden who wished us a good journey and hoped we would return. To be fair there is much we heading for Carmarthen, a large car park in front of the towns station and a castle . It wasnt really the castle we wanted to visit but the church. In our search for Henry VII and Richard III we knew that there was a tomb in the church that was important to the history. The tomb of the Welsh knight who reputedly killed Richard in battle. We found the car park. That was the easy bit. It was full. Quite a shock for a non working day. The bus park was empty. Again we discussed the options for risking our arm and parking there. In the end we gazed at the castle and the town and drove to one of the local retail parks. Perhaps the spots there would be more accessible. Perhaps we could risk parking up and leaving Gabby for an hour whilst we visited the town. No chance . Packed so we gave up and moved on. Another one of those places that we would have liked to have seen but the reality proved otherwise. Their loss not ours. I feel a letter of complaint to the council. Not that it will do much good but it will make me feel so much better venting my spleen.

So in the end it was going to be something different . The Botanic Gardens of Wales. We guessed they would be a cross between Kew Gardens although not as big and the Eden Project. The garden is billed as the most beautiful in Wales by watchers of Gardeners World . Let's see if we agree.

We rolled up on the car park just before they opened at 10.. Plenty of room to park. We had that much choice it was hard to make a decision. The only other two vehicles were the staff. So come on with me . We are going walkabout in a Spring garden. We have the place to ourselves . It was quite expensive to visit and we have found recently that all these type of attractions seem to ask if they can add a donation so that they can claim money back from the tax man. It ended up over £8 so lets hope it is worth it. Let's get the history bit out of the way. Opened in 2000 so the garden has had almost 19 years to mature. 560 acres to walk round , 8000 plants and a Regency parkland. Oh yes here is the question for you - what is the connection between the great glasshouse and the Millau Bridge ?

We are now off on our walk. We have been offered a falconry display but turned it down. Instead we are going on a stroll through all this parkland to see the plants. I expected much and felt a bit disappointed. Where were the plants? I know it is Spring but in Cornwall in early March the Camellias were out . Here there were no spring flowers , not many daffodils, no snowdrops , a few hyacinths spread under the trees. The trees were bare . Perhaps later in the season with the leaves out the park would look less bare. The beds were empty apart from a few blue Pulmonaria. A fountain sprang into life in front of us and a path lead to the Japanese Garden. This was livened up with Christmas Roses , stones set into a pebble part , a few Buddhas and shrines and a bamboo tea hut. The most impressive feature was a hedge made up of bamboo.

I love butterflies -pili pala in Welsh - so the idea of the warmth, the smell and the flutter of their wings appealed . Disappointment. The butterfly house was closed for refurbishment as was the Apothacaries garden and buildings. We thought by now we ought to ask for a refund. It is time for a well deserved coffee, chocolate and welsh cake. At least the cafe was open. How about this for a thought for the day as I am talking about butterflies or the lack of them? Rabindranath Tagore summed up our experience "The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough"

Ok then where to next ? The Great Glasshouse. On the way we picked up the end of the falconry display. The huge bird soared high in the sky returning to ground flying just a few feet above my head. The glasshouse was impressive . It is the worlds largest single span glasshouse . So what is the connection between a bridge in France and this greenhouse. Norman Foster - The guy who designed the Millau Bridge designed this fantastic light and airy space. It felt cooler than I expected . Glasshouses usually swelter. This one was comfortable but not hot. It was not as large or planted to such dense degree as the Eden Project but there were walkways at ground level and others above the tree line. The birds sang . We could see them flitting from flower to flower. How about a few butterflies to set the scene? Again we had the place to ourselves. We walked through Australia with its Red bottle brush plants in full flower. Though Africa to New Zealand - large proteas blooming. Lilies and plants I could not recognise. Some we grow in sheltered parts of the UK . Others we cultivate as house plants. We wandered round the Americas . What looked like sparrows fed on a large blue plant. There was a waterfall - perhaps a few water lilies might be interesting. A pond full of goldfish. We looked up at palms and down from the tops of the Tree Ferns .

Finally leaving our botanic trip round the world we walked back in the cold through the parkland , through the slate beds and past the lake . Visitors had now started to arrive. We didnt have the place to ourselves any more. We walked past the summer beds that in a few weeks would begin to spring to life. I guess visiting in a few weeks would yield a different view , different plants and perhaps an open butterfly house. It made a change from castles and a welcome break.

"The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming from the flowers" - Matsuo Basho . Now come on - How can you not love flowers?

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