The French are back on the Menu……..and Sicily trip

Back from a lovely week in Sicily and a bit more of that later…..

Prior to going I had picked up some French Napoleonic Infantry of eBay and the second unit needed a bit of work to tidy it up and rebase the figures. With just the base to finish I completed these yesterday

They are warlord Late French, I have added in few other figures to give a little variety, a couple are warlord metal engineers which I picked up off eBay as well and a couple of Old Glory I think who had matching great coats. Although a smallish unit they will do to bulk out a French brigade.

Prior to the holiday I had also painted from scratch a larger French unit. Although these are the Warlord Late infantry, I had enough heads from the other sets to swop them out which again gives a little more variety to the force. As a larger unit I gave these the Eagle. Very happy with these and a third ‘greatcoated’ unit is on the way soon when it will be time for a parade I think.

So to our Sicily holiday, we don’t really do much relaxing so we were busy everyday and I’m going to spare you a blow by blow account. Instead I will pick what I think are relevant historical elements from each day and share them over the next few weeks. There is a massive amount to see and do in Sicily…….

First up then the Valle dei Templi

Agrigento on the South coast was founded around 580BC with a significant population estimated to be 200,000 a century later. The ridge that forms the southern edge of the Greek town defended by cliffs and in places a substantial wall was the area chosen to build, over several centuries, about a dozen large temples. To a variety of gods.

It is a stunning location and you get a real sense of the scale and majesty of the Early Greek civilisation, this Temple of Concord is the best preserved, partly due to its conversion to a Christian church around 400AD. It was restored back in 1748.

Each temple has its own characteristics and are in slightly different states of repair

The views are spectacular, except in the direction of the modern town of Agrigento which is not attractive at all. The whole site is a true link back to the Peloponnesian and Persian Wars.

Not sure when the next post will be but I am also planning to go to Partizan Wargames show at the weekend if I can sort myself out.

Matt 🙂