The Miracle of the Knee ~

According to my Fitbit I walked 458.57kms in the month of May – along the Portuguese Camino and thereabouts, and then later in France and Hungary.

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Why does this make the news?
Or at least this blog?

Because I walked those kms on a knee that doctors told me needs replacement.

As some of you who follow this blog might know, I have bad knee issues. On my first Camino I walked in extreme pain, and only completed the pilgrimage on painkillers.

Later, after an MRI, I was told I was bono-a-bono; that is, bone on bone – and that a knee replacement wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. 

I was told to get an elaborate knee brace, which I then dutifully wore on all my training walks, and on the 2014 Portuguese Camino, then last year’s Via Di Francesco Camino.

brace

Let me be quite clear –
I don’t like doctors.
I don’t like medicines.
I don’t like knee braces.
And I particularly don’t like invasive surgery.

I have the odd and quaint belief that if you listen to your body, and you’re not silly about it, you can heal yourself.

Late last year, on my training walks, I began to walk without the brace. Short distances at first, and slowly. My knee railed against it. I got pain, and swelling. And I thought this would be a short lived experiment.

But I rested the knee, then began again. And gradually the knee settled down. And gradually I increased the distances, and the pace.

In preparation for this year’s Portuguese Camino I increased the intensity of my training so that I ended up doing about 100kms a week at about 6km/hr pace.

And my knee, surprisingly, held up.
So I decided to head off to Portugal without the brace.

It was a risk on my part. I really didn’t know how the knee was going to go. My training had been on relatively flat stretches of road. No hills, no uneven surfaces, no cobblestones. On the rocky and stony climbs of the Camino, would it give way?

As it turned out I only had a few days where my knee spat the dummy and pretended it wasn’t going to play anymore. But once again it settled down, and I think there was only one occasion where I took painkillers to get me through.

According to my surgeon I have no cartilage in my knee joint.
Zero.
Zilch.
So what happened?
How can I walk these distances then, largely pain free?

I really don’t know. Other than I’ve been determined not to get a knee replacement, which is what the doctors say I should have.

I can’t explain it, in the same way I can’t explain how my eyesight returned after I walked my first Camino. I’d had glasses for fifteen years.

I haven’t worn any since.

It’s so easy to accept what the doctors, the nurses, the western medical professionals tell you. If you walk the Camino and you get a bad blister and you go to a doctor, what are they going to say?

It’s their duty to tell you not to walk. And in some instances they’ll tell you your Camino is over and you should go home. And in some instances that’s exactly what you should do.

But in a lot of cases instead of racing off to a doctor, why not simply rest up, listen to what your body is telling you, and trust in the healing power that’s innate within you.

Knee

A word, or two, from Kryon ~

I have settled back into home life in Mudgee.

Taken a week to get over jet lag, not helped by my internet which went down for two days. Don’t ask me about the correlation between jet lag and my internet not working, because I can’t explain it, other than I know it exists.

It’s cold here. Jennifer and I came back to minus -3C mornings – yes that’s minus three degrees Celsius. After balmy Portugal and Spain, it was a shock to the system.

I’ve been working on the script for my intuition film, which has been very difficult to crack. Man o man it’s a complex subject. How do you find a simple accessible line through it all without dumbing it down? That’s been one of my difficulties.

And whether it should be a personal film or a didactic film.

These are fundamental decisions which you think should come easily – and in fact they did when I began to realise that what was messing me up was my intellect. As soon as I let go that, and began to base my decisions on my intuition, then everything became so much easier, and I began to see it with clarity again. Doh, you might say, and rightly so!

Play by the rules Bill, play by the rules… you dummy.

I’ve come back wanting to keep walking, even though it’s cold and rainy here. I’ll do about 95kms this week. I have such a sedentary job, writing, so it’s important I allow a certain amount of time each day to exercise.

I listen to audio books as I walk. At the moment I’m re-reading, or rather listening to, Autobiography of a Yogi. This is my third reading of the book, and I’m getting more from it than from the past readings. As you learn more, you become receptive to more.

I’m also though listening to podcasts from Kryon, which is an entity channelled by Lee Carroll, perhaps the most famous and respected of all the current channellers. Lee features in my film – and his contribution will be significant. He’s a brilliant man, and his channellings are extraordinary in their wisdom and compassion.

Jennifer by the way put me onto Kryon originally. She’s been reading his channellings, and listening to them, for the past fifteen years.

His channellings are free. Just go to http://www.kryon.com and go to the Free Audio section and you can listen to literally hundreds of his channellings since 2002.

I thought I would post an excerpt of one here, because it relates to intuition, and synchronicity.

Trust and follow your first instincts. This rule is to trust and follow your first intuitions. How many times have you had a situation where you said, “Oh, if I had only done what I had first thought?” This is actually part of the system, and that’s the way it occurs to you. It is often the very first instinct you will have about a situation. Some call it intuition, but it’s much more than that.

Some of you must learn to do this, for many of you are not used to what the first instinct even feels like. So part of the system is beginning to understand what intuition and instinct looks and feels like. “Well, Kryon, how do we do that?” How about asking for it? “Dear Spirit, let me recognize the signs when I feel them and hear them, and realize what they are.” The promise is you’ll always get them, but how bright they appear in your mind is up to you. There are certain Human Beings who actually suppress their instincts. They don’t like them and they get in the way of their logic. Many do not think with their hearts at all, and only with their brains. But quite often the first instinct is a “heart connection” process.

The next one, number five, is so misunderstood. Gone are the days when the Human Being sits and waits for God to do something. The system is all around you. It’s ready to facilitate your needs, but if you never open the door, nothing is ever going to happen. Yet Humans continue to pray. “I want the healing so bad,” they say. “I want these things so much! I’d like a partner in my life. I’d like to know what I’m supposed to do with my life.” So they spend all the time in prayer and meditation every day, asking, never leaving the house, constantly in prayer. That’s a great way to meet someone, isn’t it?

You’ve got to step out and push upon the doors. So here is what number five is: There must be action on your part. And it comes in many forms and honors whatever your culture supports. But in general, it means leaving the house and going places where you can interact with the potentials of the synchronicity. No matter what you’re looking for, it will involve the system of humanity. Therefore, you can’t sit in one room alone and expect answers.

Many say, “Dear Spirit, show me what it is I’m supposed to know.” Then they sit there and nothing happens… and nothing happens… and nothing happens. So in desperation, they get up and go to the esoteric bookstore. They’re walking along in the aisle and a book falls on their head! God just spoke! Then they often say, “This is the book I’ve been looking for. What a revelation for me. Thank you, God.” And this is how it works. You’ve got to get up and go, and when you go, number six, the big one: Expect synchronicity.

Synchronicity is defined as energies that align with purpose. These situations look like accidents, but they are not. Listen. This is the key. You have heard there are no accidents, but there are those outside of your belief system who say, “That’s crazy. That’s not right.” Synchronicity looks and appears like coincidence. It often looks like an accident, but it is not. It is you at the right time, at the right place, with the potentials aligned that you asked for. But if you’re going to have synchronicity and aligned potentials, you’ve got to be there to experience them, don’t you?

So you’ve got to take some action, and whether it’s a phone call, or it’s an electronic communication, or whether it’s you with your body, you’ve got to put yourself in places where the synchronicity and the system can work. And I say it for those in these rooms and those who are hearing and reading now. There are those of you who still will not do this, for you believe there’s some kind of sacredness in staying put and just praying. Instead, try to understand the balance of things. There is a time for asking, and a time for receiving. They are done in separate places! If you spend all your time in the asking place, no receiving will occur.

Those are the postulates. Now I’m going to give you some practical things using these postulates. We’re going to discuss some situations and show you how Spirit works. Some of you know these things, but perhaps you’ve never put it together.

The first one, the most difficult for Human Beings, is timing. Yesterday we said that your clock is not God’s clock. We also told you that it’s impossible to apply a 3D time frame to an interdimensional potential. It’s frustrating to Humanity that God delivers things not when you ask for them, but only when you need them. You see, to us it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to give you an answer to put in your pocket. Because when you get to the place where you thought you’d need it, and pull it out of your pocket, it’s the wrong answer! Instead, it must meet the scenario of the synchronicity and the energy of the moment.

Here is the link to this channelling – http://www.kryon.com/k_chanelhandbook05.html

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India tour – Sept 2016

We’re mounting another Mother Ganga Indian tour this year, in September.

There are places still available.

Last year’s tour was a hoot.
Everyone had a great time.

This year’s tour will be the same, with highlights being:

  • Visiting the Taj Mahal

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cpyright BIll Bennett

  • Visiting the magnificent Golden Temple in Amritsar –

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  • Visiting the Dalai Lama Temple in Dharamsala

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  • Staying at the best ashram on the Ganges in Rishikesh – including the incredible Aarti ceremony each night on the banks of the sacred river…

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cpyright BIll Bennett

cpyright BIll Bennett

  • Shopping – Jennifer and Bill know all the best places to get amazing fabrics, clothing, footwear and Indian souvenirs…

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cpyright BIll Bennett

cpyright BIll Bennett

  • Taking part in the incredible Ganpati ceremony on the beach of Mumbai

© Bill Bennett

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  • Last day buffet lunch at the JW Marriott in Mumbai – the best buffet in India!

Accommodation is luxury – except for the ashram – but we do offer a view of the Ganges from your room!

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And food is excellent!  You’ve never had Indian food until you’ve visited India, and Jennifer and I know the best places!

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We make visiting India safe, healthy, and fun!
Here are some testimonials from the last tour…

Two wonderful weeks. I’ve adored every minute and will live many over and over again in the coming weeks and months, even years!
Britta
Heartfelt thanks.  It was an extraordinary couple of weeks. Thank you for sharing the India you love with me. Really appreciate all your’s, and Jen’s efforts to make this such a special journey.
Janet
You and Jen are FIVE Star tour guides. We had a super time! The food (especially the JW Marriott buffet), the Beatles ashram at Rishikesh, made especially PERFECT with the music, the monuments, temples, the Ganges, Aarti (very moving), Ganpati, shopping. The tour will be a lifetime memory!
Lynda
India, with hosts extraordinaire Bill & Jennifer, is not to be missed. The Bennetts know all the right places leading you on a spiritual adventure of a lifetime. The ceremonies we were allowed to partake in were spectacular, the sights fabulous and no worries with food or accommodations – all top notch! Joining millions of onlookers on the beach in Mumbai during Ganpati will never be forgotten nor will sitting amongst the monks on the steps of the Ganges river during the Aarti ceremony. Thank you Bill and Jennifer!
Dale

Here are some details –

  • Sept 3rd – 16th, 2016
  • 13 nights / 14 days
  • Cost: AU$4850 / US$3850 / €3450 (twin share, ground cost only)

For more info, go to the Gone Tours website:
Mother Ganga Indian Tour – 2016

If you wish to book, or want more information, please contact me, Bill Bennett –
bill@gonetours.com

Jennifer and I have been coming to India regularly for the past eight years. We know India, and we love it. Join us – it will be the experience of a lifetime!

cpyright BIll Bennett

cpyright BIll Bennett

Coming back home ~

It’s been a busy five weeks and a bit. 

First Portugal, and Fátima, and spending time with our friend Julie Stafford just prior to the launch of her new and astonishing global smoked salmon business. 

Then prepping the tour. 

Then the tour itself, where I was privileged to spend time with some remarkable and courageous people. 

Then the Cannes Film Festival. And meeting Julian Lord, which was a treat. 

Then Budapest, for research for my second WHITE WITCH : BLACK WITCH book, and to meet up with my two buddies – Balazs and Laszlo – from my 2013 Camino. 

And now I’m looking forward to getting home to Mudgee, and getting back into a routine again. 

I have my intuition film to finish, and possibly a new film to shoot, along with finalising arrangements for our next two tours this year – the Mother Ganga Indian tour in September, and the Bavarian Romantic Road Christmas tour in December. 

What was the highlight of the trip? 

I think it was getting to know some of the New Zealand carers on the Portuguese Camino. I learned a lot from some of them. I learned a lot about the nobility of the human spirit. 

I think as well a highlight for me was spending that short time on the Santiaguino rocks at the back of Padron. I found that time there to be a greater spiritual experience than arriving at the Cathedral at Santiago. 

There was also one day on the Camino when, for a period, I walked by myself and I felt like I was flying. Transported on angels’ wings. It was truly transcendent. I’ll never forget that. 

What was the biggest lesson I learned? 

It came via something very pragmatic – when Jennifer and I arrived in Budapest and discovered the airline had lost one of our checked in bags. It was a bag that not only contained some purchases we’d made – gifts mainly – but also some personal belongings which would be hard to replace. 

At the time the airline – a low cost airline (the fare from Nice to Budapest was amazing!) – had no record and no idea where the bag was. It looked like it had disappeared for good. But three days later it thankfully turned up. 

I learned from that experience that these things which you think have value in your life really don’t – and they’re not important. In a previous incarnation I would have been anxious and recriminatory and worried for those three days, and ruined my time in Budapest. 

That didn’t happen. 

I did all I could to help find and retrieve the bag, I then went out and brought those necessary things that were in the bag that I urgently needed, and then I let go of all emotion and let it be. And trusted that the bag would turn up. I didn’t lay blame on the airline, or the baggage handlers – I trusted that through their care and professionalism, they would find the bag and get it to me. 

Which is what happened. 

A big lesson for me. 

Letting go. 

And trusting. 

Soon we will be landing, and then I’ll have to acclimatise to a chilly Mudgee – but there is a lot of very exciting work ahead, and now after five weeks I have fresh eyes, and I feel I’m ready to see things clearly. 

Budapest // 12 mins – 200C

A few months before I set out to walk my first Camino in April of 2013, I arranged via a forum site to share a taxi from Biarritz airport to St. Jean Pied de Port.

The three people who shared that taxi with me – two Hungarian fellows and a beautiful young lass from Holland – would become friends for life.

Laszlo

Laszlo

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Rosa

 

Balazs at Pamplona-1

Balazs

Foolishly, I had started my Camino with a dicky knee, born from too much over zealous training. By the time I’d walked to Pamplona, the knee had ballooned out to the size of a bloated grapefruit, and I was in a lot of pain.

As I was limping up to the massive walled city I met up with the two Hungarian blokes – Balazs and Laszlo. The three of us checked into an albergue, then they arranged to get my knee iced. Balazs bound the ice against my knee with his expensive hi-tech towel.

Later that afternoon he took me to a large department store where he urged me to buy some walking poles, because he said there was no way I would get to Santiago without using poles. Later he would tell me he didn’t believe there was a chance in hell I would finish the Camino. He thought my Camino was already over.

The next morning he and Laszlo prepared to leave the albergue to continue their walk, and as a parting act of generosity Balazs said I could keep his towel, as long as I promised to keep my knee iced.

I remember waving them off – sad that I would never see my two Camino buddies ever again.

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Laszlo (L) and Balazs (R) at Pamplona about to continue their walk.

I spent the day resting, and fuming.

I wasn’t going to let my knee thwart my desire to complete the Camino. So the next morning I set off, determined to try and catch them up. But both Balazs and Laszlo were fast walkers. I heard along the grapevine that they were now way ahead of me.

I knew what day Balazs was due to fly out of Santiago, so I set my sights on being there the day before so I could give him back his towel.

During the walk I criss-crossed with Rosa several times – always a delight – and Laszlo too, who had surprised himself by walking so strongly.

I got to Santiago two days early – but Balazs had gone to Muxia and Finisterre. So I waited, and the day before he was due to fly out the four of us met in the square in front of the Cathedral where I ceremoniously gave Balazs back his towel. 

It was Balazs’s towel – or at least the need for me to give him back his towel – that got me through the Camino.

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The four of us then went to the midday Mass, after which we had a very long lunch at the O Gato Negro where we ate too much pulpo, drank too much wine, and laughed way too loudly.

Since then we’ve kept in touch – and when Jennifer and I decided to come to Budapest I let Balazs and Laszlo know. Yesterday morning Laszlo picked us up from our hotel, after driving for three hours from his village to come and collect us – then he drove a further hour to where Balazs lives – in a beautiful town to the north of Budapest.

Both men took the day off work to show us around the town – Szentendre – one of the most picturesque towns in Hungary.

Balazs and Laszlo at Szentendre-1We then returned to Balazs’s house where we met his lady friend, a beautiful woman named Kinga – then he cooked us a truly amazing meal. Several courses of restaurant quality fare – the highlight being the best duck breast I’ve ever had, cooked to perfection – 12 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius, said Balazs.

It would be the catchphrase of the evening.

Balazs cooking-1

Balazs also provided some magnificent Hungarian wines. Man o man this country makes some good plonk

Laszlo is an architect and during the evening he showed us on his laptop the wonderful work he’s been doing, and later he sang several traditional songs from his village. It was very moving.
Laszlo at dinner-1A great dinner and evening. Our only regret was that Rosa couldn’t be there with us.

This morning Balazs got up early and went down to the bakery and brought back some beautiful fresh pastries, then made us coffee which was of a standard that an Australian would accept – meaning that it was bloody good.

pastries-1

After breakfast we said our goodbyes – sadly – knowing though that we would see each other again sometime, somewhere, some other place.

This is the thing about the Camino – in a very short period you can develop incredibly strong bonds of friendship that can last years, even lifetimes. It kind of defies logic really.

Who would have thought that a taxi ride from Biarritz to St. Jean could be the start of such a friendship…

Taxi 4 in Santiago restaurant-1

JabbaPapa // a little more ~

Julian and I finally met in Cannes.

For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, Julian Lord, aka JabbaPapa, has been a regular on this blog almost since it started.

I was very excited to meet him.

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He and I have crossed swords on many occasions. Julian, you see, is a committed Christian, and I am not. I am not a Christian and I have not yet been committed.

But I’m working on it.

Julian lives in Monaco, about 30kms up the coast from Cannes. We arranged to meet during the festival but unfortunately when he arrived I was in a meeting with a UK sales agent and I kept him waiting a while. But he was good natured, and said that as a pilgrim time doesn’t really matter…

What stuck me when I first laid eyes on Julian is that he is an imposing figure. He’s a tall large man, with an intensity about him that some would find daunting. He was wearing all black, with a swirling black cape and a pilgrim’s staff.

This was no affectation for my benefit. This is the way Julian dresses.

I drove him back to Grasse, a small town in the hills behind Cannes which is where Jennifer and I were staying. We had dinner together and I asked him a bunch of questions.

Julian is a highly intelligent, highly educated man – educated at the Sorbonne, which is the most prestigious University in France. He has firm views on most matters, which he will argue passionately and with the scholarship to back up his position.

Julian has an incisive mind that consistently challenges the veracity of statements you might make. I like this. It keeps me on my toes.

Julian and I most recently parried when I wrote a blog –

Religion is a Fatburger

Julian felt that I was belittling religion, which was not my intention. Read the blog, read the comments back and forth, and you will get a sense of Julian.

I have enormous respect for his views, because I know they come from faith and erudition, which is a hard combination to argue against.

But I do my best.

Julian walked his first pilgrimage in the early 90s, before the Camino was as widely known as it is today. He has walked to Santiago many times since, from various starting points way further afield than St. Jean Pied de Port, and he’s walked back home again too.

He had a revelation during his first pilgrimage, and that turned him to Christianity.

Julian is the real deal.

The next day Jennifer and I drove him back to Monaco. When we got there he very kindly helped me with getting a French SIM card recharged for my iPad.

We spent too little time together unfortunately for us to really engage in the kind of discussions that we both hankered for. We just skittered around the edges. But there will be time again somewhere down the track, I’m sure. Julian has come into my life for a reason, I feel that very strongly.

As we parted I told him he was a true pilgrim.

He told me that I’m not, yet, but I’m getting’ there…

That’s a big compliment from Julian Lord!

Julian at Fleur de Lys-1

Cannes / a working man’s perspective ~

I tell people I have to go to the Cannes Film Festival again this year, and I groan.

And they roll their eyes and think I’m a wanker.

Perhaps I am.

But Cannes, for a working independent film producer, is gruelling. It’s a hard slog for the week or however many days you’re there. It’s not glamorous and it’s not sexy, it’s just meeting after meeting, late nights, early breakfasts, crowds rubbernecking, getting in your way as you’re rushing along the Croisette (the main drag) from one meeting to another.

Everyone is late for meetings at Cannes. Sometimes they simply don’t show, because someone more important crosses their path. Often the real business happens when you bump into someone in the street, or in a bar, or at a cocktail party.

It’s that random.
And it’s that structured.

For independent film producers such as Jennifer and myself, Cannes is the most important  market in the calendar year.

Because Cannes is actually two beasts in one – it’s not only a glamorous and prestigious film festival – the most prestigious and important festival in the world – but running alongside is a market, called the Marche. This is where the year’s business is done in the film industry.

Every major distributor, financier, sales agent, and producer comes to Cannes. It’s the one market they all attend. This Cannes is my 20th. And one side of me loathes it with a passion, and the other side loves the celebration of cinema, and the attendant glamour.

The film industry is a tough business – and the physical production of a film is often extremely demanding, physically and emotionally – and so I love Cannes because actors turn into movie stars, and directors are feted, and films are studied and respected, not as entertainment artefacts, but as works of art.

I’ve had films in Official Selection at Cannes, in the festival, and I’ve walked up the red carpet, and I’ve stood in the Palais – the main cinema – and looked out at the faces of 2500 cinephiles as they applauded my work. For a filmmaker, there are very few moments in your career that beat that.

On the other end of the spectrum I’ve had films which have not been chosen in Official Selection, and have screened in the Marche. That’s like one year staying in the Plaza in New York, and the next year staying in the YMCA.

It’s grounding, and humbling. And every filmmaker goes through it, even the big names.

One year I sat in a hotel room in Paris beside the chief Cannes selector as he told Clint Eastwood that his film would not be chosen for Cannes. It’s brutal.

I would be quite content never to come to Cannes again – unless of course my next film is chosen in Official Selection. Then I’ll tell everyone with great glee: I’m going to Cannes again this year – whoo hoo!

Cannes 2016-1

Portuguese Camino // D 13 / Cape Finisterre ~

This is being posted two days late, I’m sorry, because of travel and lousy internet at my current hotel in France. Portugal has the best internet ever!!

Last day of the tour – no walking – most everyone slept in.

We’re staying in the luxurious San Bieito – the same hotel we stayed in last tour. Only a few hundred meters from the Cathedral.

At 11am some of us headed off for the midday Mass, and were fortunate to see the swinging of the Botafumierio – a surprising highlight of the tour.

Later in the afternoon we did some group portraits –

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We then hopped in our charter bus which took us to Cape Finisterre – the End of the World, and the end of our tour.

We had an early dinner at one of the best seafood restaurants in Galicia – then drove up to the Cape and watched the sun go down.

end of the world-1 cross on Finisterre-1

It was a perfect end to the tour – time to relax, reflect on the last two weeks, and consider life after the Camino.

sitting reflecting on Finisterre-1

This was a wonderful and deeply moving tour with a bunch very special people… and we all felt sad that it had to come to an end… but for many, it will be just the start.

zero marker on Finisterre-1

Portuguese Camino 16 // my fav pics ~

Here are some of my favourite shots from the Portuguese Camino tour, 2016.

These are not necessarily tour related, or Camino related – just some shots I took during this traveling that I quite like…

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girl in cell on jail wall-1

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photos in window-1 Valence tunnel into doorway-1 cat painting on wall-1 Laurie walking out of Valence into light-1