"Mont St-Michel Dreams" (oil on stretched canvas; 18" x 24")

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The Mont St-Michel is one of Europe’s most unforgettable sights. The staggering location has long inspired awe and the imagination. Scamper, at low tide, across the treacherous mudflats in the Bay of Mont St-Michel in northwestern France. Head for a dramatic abbey reaching to heaven from a rock surrounded by a vast and muddy solitude.

The story of how the mount turned into a great place of Christian pilgrimage is colorful. Aubert, bishop of the nearby hilltop town of Avranches early in the 8th century, claimed that the Archangel Michael himself pressured him into having a church built atop the island just out to sea.

The dukes of Normandy, followed by French kings, supported the development of a major Benedictine abbey on the Mont St-Michel. Magnificent monastic buildings were added through medieval times. The abbey became a renowned centre of learning. Vast numbers of pilgrims visited, despite warring cross-Channel royals.

The sight of the distant silhouette of the Gothic island-abbey Mont St-Michel send tired sightseers spirits soaring today just as it did the spirits of weary pilgrims in centuries past.

"Old English Church" (oil on linen: 8" x 10") sold

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St. Mary the Virgin, the 12-century parish church, is located at the end of Church Lane in Sidlesham, West Sussex.  We attended the Good Friday service at the church, which was conducted by the parish priest and our host, a retired Lutheran pastor.  It was full moon that night (for some reason, the service took place on Wednesday).  About the only light on the dark lane was the moonlight, which cast long shadows as we walked back home.  We were all silent and reverent.  It was one of the highlights of our trip.

Church Gate Cottage used to be haunted!

Do you believe in ghost stories?  If so, you are in for a treat.  Church Gate Cottage, right by the church yard, used to be haunted.  We had dinner with its current owners one night.  When I learned that they had horses, I managed an invitation for horse riding for my daughter.  Alas, it had been raining for several days; the fields were soggy with lots of puddles.  It was also cold and windy.  Riding was out of the question.  After a short visit to the cottage on the following morning, we went back to Chimes Cottage for elevenses.  That is when I heard a ghost story from Jane, the mother.

There used to be ghosts in Church Gate Cottage.  An Anglican priest who lived there in the 17th century died before his time.  He had a wife and two little children.  Jane's four-year-old daughter could see the ghost kids.  Jane could only hear them laughing. Her husband saw the priest ghost.  Jane was too scared to look up in one of the ghost incidents, but could feel the sudden drop in temperature in the room and hear the sounds.  She contacted an exorcism expert of the Church of England, who treated her with ill-disguised contempt!

Jane called up some spiritual experts, who came to the house to talk to the priest ghost.  He assured them that he would never harm the living children.  What about adults!  The experts firmly demanded that he and his ghost family should move on. And they did.  I don't think Jane was pulling my leg.  After all, she is a no-nonsense special education teacher.  What did I tell you?  Church Lane in Sidlesham is enchanted!