The Rocks

And there would be several visits to ‘my rocks’ – a quiet part of the beach away from the promenade. As swimmers and sunbathers preferred the sandy stretches, this area, where the rocks reached down to the water, was usually deserted, and afforded me some shelter and privacy. I still go back there on my visits to Praia da Luz to be on my own.

Occasionally Justine would ask us to ‘give’ something to the photographers to appease them (‘They’re under a lot of pressure too’) and we ended up reluctantly allowing them to snap us going into the church and sitting on the rocks. We could hardly have stopped them anyway, short of refusing to leave the villa, but we were not happy about it.

I had promised my daughter and myself that I would return to Luz, and it had taken a long while for me to be able to do so both safely and in peace. In the middle of winter the village was tranquil. Gerry and I were able to seek solace at Nossa Senhora da Luz, I spent time at my rocks on the beach and we caught up with friends. To this day I still return quietly to Luz from time to time to feel Madeleine close to me.

Badboy wrote:is that the forleza in the last picture?

Saturday 12th December 2009:

Yesterday morning Gerry and I attended the Civil Court in Lisbon for the planned trial relating to the injunction against Goncalo Amaral's book and DVD. The trial was postponed until January as Mr Amaral's Lawyer was unable to attend. As the injunction remains in place (following the Judge's decision in September), we have no reason to be dissapointed. For us it was important to be there, especially for Madeleine.

We travelled to Praia da Luz yesterday afternoon. I have longed to come back here for two years for personal and emotional reasons. Early this morning we went to the lovely little church of Nossa Senhora da Luz. It was so quiet and peaceful - a real sanctuary. Although our pain feels much rawer here, it is comforting at the same time since we feel closer to Madeleine. We then walked down to the rocks on the beach, with its crashing waves and sense of vastness and freedom - another place where I've always felt able to reach out to Madeleine and find a little solace. For the rest of today we are planning to catch up with some very good friends. We hope that the media will respect our privacy and needs, as requested, as well as those of the local community.

"I had an overwhelming urge to swim out across the ocean, as hard and as fast as I could; to swim and swim and swim until I was so far out and so exhausted I could just allow the water to pull me under and relieve me of this torment," she writes.

fred wrote:Suppose they could have stuffed her body in a small crevice (there are loads of them) and then gone back and recovered (a Mccann favourite word) it later or got someone else (Murat?) PDL is pretty empty early May time.

A lady from an apartment across Rua Dr Gentil Martins, overlooking our little side gate, came over to speak to us. She said that the previous night she had seen a car going up the Rocha Negra – the black, volcanic cliff that dominates the village. There was a track leading to the Rocha Negra but nobody remembered ever having noticed any vehicle that far up in the daytime, let alone at night. This immediately conjured visions of Madeleine being disposed of somewhere on the overhanging cliff. I went to tell one of the police officers who was able to speak a little English. He was quite dismissive. It would have been one of the GNR men checking the area, he said.

carmen wrote:

margaret wrote:

carmen wrote:

And from the rocks you can see the cliffs.....

A peaceful resting place?

Angelique wrote:

margaret wrote:

carmen wrote:

And from the rocks you can see the cliffs.....

A peaceful resting place?

do you know if there are caves in or around these cliffs?

There's a fantastic array of boat trips here and pastimes ranging from visiting the local caves to watching the dolphins, so there really is something for everyone.

Angelique wrote:Ollybelle

Its anyone guess how many times they moved the body before or after hiring the Scenic - it's possible that the DNA etc, was in the car when the body was transported to another place. Before being able to place it in the final resting place, wherever that is. They may have moved the body several times.