This is the view of the river Gave de Pau in Lourdes from the Hotel Paradis. My favourite thing about the entire view, believe it or not, is the lettering on the Hotel Lys De Marie. Groovy...

The quality of this photo is truly terrible - it was taken as a panoramic image on my mobile phone - but it shows my parents in my father's hospital room in Lourdes.

This was taken around the 15th or 16th of April. After hearing that he'd taken ill on holiday, I got on the earliest available flight to France. I was picked up at Lourdes train station by the priest who was with their tour group, and told he had a serious tumour. Of course, my father and mother had no idea at the time, but he must have been quite shaken, because I remember how glad he was to see me.