Today we ticked off one of the less exotic items on my "places we must see" list; as the weather was so gorgeous, we decided to walk along the Thames Path - a route that has tempted me every time we've visited any of Syon, Ham, Kew or Hampton Court. As we've been to both Kew and Hampton recently, it was in the forefront of my mind, so we went.

We parked on Ferry Lane at Kew and headed off upstream at a leisurely pace, with the river to our right and Kew Gardens on our left. We caught lovely glimpses of azaleas and bluebells in the gardens and the views across the river were pleasant too.

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Here we looked across to Isleworth - you wouldn't think it was deep in the city of London, would you? After Kew Gardens came the Old Deer Park, edged with trees and a sluggish stream which Ed thought might have been the old river edge, before a new embankment was constructed. Here we saw mallards and moorhens and a couple of herons stalking about in the dappled shade.

The walk was fairly popular - a constant stream of cyclists and joggers passed us in both directions, whilst we could see others walking. When we neared Richmond it was positively thronged with picnickers and families and groups sprawled on the lawns and terraces; people waiting for boat trips and icecreams; and dozens of casual strollers down from the town to enjoy the sunshine. We had thought to eat here, but decided not to brave the heaving bars and cafes on the river front and to press on to Ham, pausing only for a drink of water en route.

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Nearly at Ham - Marble Hill House, built in the 1720's for a mistress of George II Henrietta Howard, looks like a dolls' house from across the river. There is a chain ferry there to take you across if you wish - we've done that before, but today continued the short distance to Ham House.

It was our lucky day. When we arrived it was to find they were celebrating their 60th anniversary of National Trust ownership by having a free open day, which as our membership lapsed last year saved us £18 in entrance fees. We haven't visited for a few years and really enjoyed seeing it again - with the added treat that today was an "open cabinets" day, with all the ornate inlaid curiosity cabinets opened to reveal the drawers and woodwork within.

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I couldn't resist this beautiful wisteria growing on the tea room wall. We ate our sandwiches and cake sitting on the grass and admiring it.

The return walk was just as interesting - things look different from the opposite angle, don't they? - and didn't take quite so long as Ed didn't need to keep referring to his map to see what he was looking at! We reached the car four and a half hours after setting off; the walk was about a 9 mile round trip.

I have been developing a theory about places we visit. I think they fall into two categories "Fat peoples' places" and "Thin peoples' places." Clearly, places that incorporate excerise as one of the primary reasons for going are thin peoples' places, and this fell into that category. Interestingly, I'm now evolving a further theory - that thin peoples' places have less litter than fat peoples' places. Even though there were probably hundreds of folks out and about on the Thames Path today, many of whom were enjoyng picnics and snacks en route, we saw remarkably little litter to spoil the beauty of our surroundings. Whereas when we went to Blackpool...