Brittany

After a smooth crossing, we landed in a deserted Roscoff at breakfast time and made off towards coffee, croissants and the parish church's Renaissance belfry. Notre-Dame-de-Batz Croas was open, so we went in to explore before our cycle South. This alabaster bas-relief is one of a group of seven originally - now reduced to five: two were stolen - made in Nottingham in the late 15th Century. The Holy Spirit at Pentecost is shown descending on Mary and the Apostles.

Why, I wondered, were there still 12, Judas being dead? Ah, I see from Acts that Matthias was chosen to replace him before Pentecost.

The Annunciation

This evening, we have been to our local Cineworld to see The Grand Budapest Hotel. It's clever, with each frame beautifully composed, but the same goes for many a TV advertisement: Wes Anderson's film is like one long such advertisement, and ultimately it palls.

From the ridiculous to the sublime, I photographed this Virgin at the Annunciation (today's feast) in the sacristy of Lescar Cathedral last April. The separate figure of the Archangel Gabriel is a few feet to the left, with an unsightly notice in between.

On my previous visit, in the same month four years earlier, I had photographed the very wonderful ensemble (see below - then there was nothing on the wall in the middle), but the figure of Mary comes out better in the more recent image I feel.