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Etched in Stone: Scotland to Provence
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From (Irish) Sea to Shining (Mediterranean) Sea: An historic spiritual journey from Solway Firth on the Irish Sea in Scotland, to Hadrian's Wall in England and south through the Lake District, the West Country, London and across the Channel to France. From romantic Paris, to romantic Provence on the Mediterranean Sea. Everywhere, stories and legends of the glorious past are written in stone: churches, castles, monuments, monoliths and other stone remnants. Stones: introduction with Merlin at Stonehenge; Joseph of Aramathea at Glastonbury Abbey; the Grail and the Thorn bush; Cadbury Castle, a candidate for Camelot; traveling in an antique bus to the Valley of Rocks (see video,below); stone circles, ancient villages, standing stones and gamboling ponies on Dartmoor. Scotland: we have filmed in Loch Lomond and Trosssachs National Park; Inchmahome Priory on the Lake of Menteith; Doune Castle, one of the best preserved 14th century castles in Britain, where "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," was filmed; Stirling, the ancient capital; and Falkirk where a modern Wheel connects canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Whithorn - the White House, more ancient than Iona — where the Scottish St. Ninian arrived from Rome with a mission to spread the Gospel; Dumfries and a Scottish band; the evocative red stone ruins of Sweetheart Abbey, surely the inspiration for Valentine's Day; and Dundrennan Abbey where Mary, Queen of Scots, spent her last night on Scottish soil before throwing herself on the mercy of her cousin, Elizabeth I. England: Hadrian's Wall, begun in 122 A.D. to keep the Scots out of the Roman Empire; the Lake District, Castlerigg Stone Circle and the land of Wordsworth; some castles: Pontefract, Conisboro, Corfe and Framlingham. and London: Karl Marx at Highgate Cemetery; sights of Westminster; Crown Jewels at theTower of London; Buckingham Palace and the Trooping of the Colour; and Cleopatra's Needle. Paris: the Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde; a walk along the Seine from Victor Hugo's Notre Dame to Gustav Eiffel's Tower; the Bateau Mouches; Musee du Louvre; Jardin des Tuileries; Rue Royale, home of Maxim's, Chanel and Dior, and the Classical temple, La Madeleine; the tres flamboyant Alexander III bridge. Video: Paris Walkabout: We'll finish in Provence — Medieval games at La Fortresse of Mornas and Roman remains at Orange. Our Year in Provence: 1994-95; Santons (little Saints) and the village of Charleval: Lacoste in the Luberon mountains: the village of Pierre Cardin and the castle of the Marquis de Sade; and the stone shepherds' huts (Bories). Fountains and the town of Salon-de-Provence and city and cathedral of Aix-en-Provence. We close on the shores of the Mediterranean, La Ciotat and the Calanques, picturesque inlets and cave paintings between Marseilles and Cassis. 1895 Film: Train arriving at the station in La Ciotat by the Lumiere Brothers: |