Getting a message across

There were so many potential blips today. The flooding after some of the worst downpours for decades. Our drive back was delayed by detours with nearby houses flooded. Or the sumptuous breakfast at our friends. Or the delights of revisiting Lille ( albeit on a grey but dry day) where I lived in 1976 for 7 months. Or the delays of the TGV which glided at high speed over the French countryside eating up the kilometres.

Or the magnificent convertion of a middle-ages hospice and church into a modern luxury hotel blending the old with the new in a sympathetic mix of colour and style. The church has been retained and can be visited; the hospice is a conference room but has kept many of the original features so you can picture what it must have looked like; and a courtyard has been covered over to form a luxurious bar/ sitting area where harp concerts are conducted on Sundays.

Instead, this image inside Lille Cathedral stood out. It is of a Syrian refugee and resonates with a well known sculpture of a figure sleeping rough on a park bench, similarly covered. Only the feet are showing and they have nails pierced through the feet.

With the news full of floods and Euro 2016 and strikes and creating a camp for migrants to the north of Paris, this image made you pause and think.

The extra ( unfortunately on its side) is of the west end of the cathedral. Building started in the 19th century but funds ran out. Eventually a bishop decided that steps had to be taken to finish the cathedral off and the lightweight translucent wall was created to seal off the western end. I've only seen such translucent marble used elsewhere in Valencia Cathedral but not on such a scale. The engineering to support the panes externally is impressive. Again a well thought through of old and modern.