Two days on the road between Exeter and Sanary-sur-Mer included an overnight stop at Chaumont sur Tharonne, a few miles south of Orleans. The ferry crossing between Newhaven and Dieppe, tried for the first time, was four hours long and gave a chance of quiet respite from the steering wheel. Newhaven was found to be a freight port not quite as well sign posted or cleanly swept as our usual Plymouth departure point. Cheap and cheerful it was, but with few other plus points.
Thierry and Rene' - our hosts at Tharonne were charming, welcoming and spoke good English. The ground floor suite spacious, all beautifully clean and well furnished. Three King Charles Spaniels stood guard at the tea table. The little village a delightful place where the rural sports include (wild) boar hunting.
LePetitClos-Chaumont-sur-Tharonne
First light on the village green.
Starting early on the road soon after breakfast we headed south once more on the A71 but my failure to listen to Helen and ample speed limit warnings led to an abrupt halt by a pair of flashing blue motorcycle lights, a 96 Euro on the spot fine administered with cool precision. Helen was rightly vindicated and openly amused by the whole procedure and enjoyed the remaining few hours in relaxed fashion as I reflected on my misdemeanour.
We reached Sanary sur Mer as the light was fading and bedded down in our chalet. but the excitement was not over. An hour or so into a deserved rest and internet browsing the ill fitted slats on my bed suddenly collapsed and dumped my derrière onto the floor. More chuckles from Helen, a sip of cold tea and some sweet dreams to follow.
Sunday in Sanaray dawns dull but by at noon the sun warmed the harbour-front.
Harbour (double take).
The fish market
Fresh caught
Sunday trading
Fresh fruit and veg.
December 20 and like summer
Very tempting
Showers begin to clear
Nativity scene
Église Saint Nazaire
The street scene is buzzing with a Happy Christmas atmosphere.
The glittering night scene of Sanary sur Mer harbour
In sight of the the Italian ice cream vendor offering Liquorice and Lemon Ice
Time equals distance over speed. Without distance time ceases to exist.
Liken the cosmos to half an hourglass. Set within one sphere and opposite another sphere, spinning about the axis of a black hole through which nothing may pass intact. Everything has emerged from such a hole and will doubtless re-pass through another at some future distant juncture.
The black hole; an invisible heavy object, not actually a hole at all. More voracious predator of matter.
Familiar only with finite quantities, the prospect of the infinite is almost beyond our comprehension.
The midge flaps wings a thousand times a second. To land it must adjust each beat in milliseconds.
The hump back whale, lifespan near 200 years. He sings a song an hour long to attract a mate from over the horizon. He waits for a reply in a month or two, not long to wait. No clocks or dials in his ocean.Whale calls from beneath Arctic ice
Time the artificial construct without equal. Take away speed and distance and time becomes a single moment, where the present is never present, the beginning a mere idea, and the end just hope.
If the cosmos is expanding outwards something strange occurs at the size of infinity which is what I imagine has already happened.
At initial size of one light year, the cosmos would increase in size by 100% the second light year. At 100 light years in size it would increase in size by around 1%. because the speed of light is not exceeded.
At infinite size the rate of increase is zero because light speed is finite. Likewise if the cosmos of infinite size were to decrease in size at the speed of light no apparent shrinking would be seen.
Could such a preposterous idea be true ?
