The Sabbatical Wanderings of Toddy in France (2) Thursday 6th July 1995. Well into Brittany by now. Explore Morlaix. The English in the last War had tried to bomb the railway viaduct, missed, and flattened a school. We twisted and turned round the winding alleyways, and climbed and descended numerous steps. Here David's groans became ever increasing as rugger injuries began to nag at his knees. In fact, I was not the youngest person aboard - there was one other who was a grandfather - good on you, Martin!

The highlight of Morlaix was the opening Madonna in the Cathedral. These were Fourteenth Century, carved in Cologne. The holy child on seated knee was opened to also reveal the Trinity seated inside the Virgin, with six pictures from the life of Christ painted on the inside of the doors. By the Sixteenth Century, furore broke out over them, as the generation of theologians and reformers ordered their destruction. They were felt to be misleading by suggesting that the Trinity was dependent on, and sprang from, the Virgin Mary, i.e. she was more important than the Godhead. I found this cross-purpose way of seeing things rather sum up my sabbatical project of that time. The theologian is not seeing things as the artist saw them. The artist is saying simply that God is within the person. The later theologian then wrongly interprets this simple statement and clever depiction as the Madonna giving birth to the whole Trinity. God needs the vehicle of mankind to reveal himself to mankind. By taking human shape He is best revealed to his human creation - on their terms and in their idiom. However, by being subject to his creation He is then seen in a way totally different from any other religious presentation of God.

So here I am through my sabbatical project trying to combine the roles of artist and theologian, commenting on the call of the disciples from biblical evidence. The panels will be a sort of sermon in concrete, but the visual will need its commentary as well. Hopefully the beholder may see or feel more than meets the eye. For better or for worse is one of the risks that the artist runs.

So we stayed the day in Morlaix, exploring, wondering over the opening Madonna, the meaning and effect of the Reformation, the fortunes of the medieval town and its history, the sort of boats they had, the trade that sprung up and how the town kept going by supplying luxuries. There was a cigar factory, but since our crew were only four in number, we couldn't get up the required size for a party of ten to be shown round. And as David was trying to give up smoking, he wasn't keen! So that evening we ate crevettes, monkfish, avocado and a tasty Breton pie - specialities du region.