Its good to be back!?!

Well, we have been back in the UK for just under two weeks now, and I think
it has rained for 80% of the time. Not that we are complaining, we have been
very lucky compared with so many other people around the country where there
has been bad flooding. I think living in Noddy is definitely a good thing at
times like this as we can pick and chose where we want to be, and near a
river / reservoir is not top of the list!
It has been a busy time for us and is set to get even busier. A nice
relaxing weekend at my brothers to start of with, well relaxing as far as
one can with a young niece and nephew running circles around you, not that
we are complaining, just wish we were a bit fitter! Then it has been house
clearance time at my Mum's. With a move of house not too far in future we
have had to clear 30 years or so of 'antiques' from the loft, bedrooms, and
garage. Thankfully it is all done now, well all apart from a few 'small'
bits and bobs.
It is all good practice for the mayhem that will be our brief return back to
our house in Bournemouth. We move back in this coming Saturday, and then get
all our stuff from storage delivered on the Monday, and then the real fun
begins! We are just hoping there is enough space left in the house for us to
move around in! Our aim is to sell and give away everything in about 6 weeks
so that we can rent the property out again at the start of September, eek.
If we meet all of our objectives then we really will be travellers / trailer
trash, or whatever you wish to call us as all our worldly possessions will
be with us in Noddy! Well except for the odd thing that we will be giving /
lending to family whilst we are still in the travelling game, and which we
will try and reclaim at some point in the future, if we can!
After Bournemouth who knows, we don't at the moment. We have several ideas,
but nothing firm yet. We will try and get a plan together in the next month
or two. So, keep an eye out, we may just pop up on your doorstep, wherever
you are!

Ciao

M&S

The price isn't right

After our restful weekend at Cancale we moved on to Normandy stopping off at
Le Mont-St-Michel on the way. What can I say about Le Mont. Well it was very
busy and they wanted the princely sum of 8 euro to park in the car park on
the causeway, hmm not a chance! We really wanted to have a look around so we
drove back into the town on the mainland, found a spot to park and then
cycled back out. Le Mont was bustling, loads of coach parties, mainly
Japanese. We fought our way up the cobbled streets, past all the nice
tourist shops and restaurants, up to the abbey. We didn't go inside as that
was another 8 euro each, and it was packed. Instead we had a wander around
outside and made our way back down. The place was just too busy for us to
appreciate it. Never mind. After loading up the bikes we continued on to the
town of Villers-Bocage, our stop for the night. A strange town that was
flattened in the war and rebuilt, not the greatest of architecture, but
smart and clean. The camper stop area was fairly new too, next to tennis
courts, a couple of picnic tables, and two boules areas. It was also nicely
situated just next to the sewage treatment plant for the town, not nice when
the breeze blew the wrong way! Despite the whiff we retrieved our newly
purchased boules set, bought in Italy, and threw them around for a while.
They are quite heavy but we had good fun, probably not quite up to the
standard of the locals though!
As we didn't fill up with water at Villers-Bocage, wasn't free and you
needed an electronic card of some sort, we decided that we would stop off on
Tuesday at the resort town of Deauville up the coast towards Le Havre, which
according to our book had free water. We arrived and drove around in circles
a couple of times, then found the service point which was not in use as they
were building next to it and using the camper service as their 'works area'.
Change of plan required. We moved on and stopped off at Honfleur for a
wander around. It is a very pretty coastal town at the mouth of the Seine.
There was a large camper parking area, but you had to pay for parking, so we
found some nice free street parking not too far from the town centre and
wandered back in. The town is quite touristy, but despite the many
restaurants and some tourist shops it is very pleasant. The next village was
Riviere-Saint-Sauveur and the camper stop we were aiming for, free parking
but 5 euro for water! A nice village and the camper stop was full come the
evening.
Still with no water we checked in our book and found a cheaper service point
at Le Havre. To get there you have to cross the Seine. There are two toll
bridges near the mouth otherwise you have to travel a way inland for a free
crossing. We dug deep and coughed up the 5 euro for the main crossing, a
large bridge but not as big as the Dartford crossing and not as good value
either. Thankfully the directions for the service point in Le Havre were
good and we found it with not too much hassle. Sue purchased a token form
the tourist office across the street, 2 euro, and we filled up and emptied
out. Well we did eventually after having difficulty getting the service
point to accept our token. Some idiots, probably the local teenagers, had
shoved some things in the token slots, but I poked around and managed to
remove them, and the service point sprung to life.
We had originally aimed to stay at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux last night, but
there was no room at the camper parking, it was jammed packed. So instead we
continued on to our contingency stop at Veules-les-Roses, and were very
pleased that we did. The camper stop was next to a campsite on the edge of
the town and nicely done. The town was delightful. The seafront was okay and
had a huge sandy beach, but the rest of the town was great, a mix of all
styles of houses from medieval cottages to mid last century French town
houses. It had a great feel to it. Oh, and a great cake shop!
Today we made our way to our final stop in France Le Portel, just south of
Boulogne. You sometimes wonder if there are some Italians on the local road
sign committees in France. As we were approaching Boulogne Le Portel was
signposted as a left turn at a roundabout. The road headed away from
Boulogne back down the coast towards Le Touquet and there were no more signs
for Le Portel. After a few miles we turned around, and headed back to the
original roundabout deciding to instead continue towards Boulogne. A quarter
mile along the road, another sign for Le Portel, straight ahead, the
complete opposite direction! It is not the first time the French signposts
have left us confused, but thankfully they are infinitely better than those
in Italy.
Tomorrow we will be back in the UK again, so beware, lock your doors, we
might just turn up on your doorstep!

Ciao

M&S

Little Britain? The Computer says Non!

You might as well start the week off on a low point and aim high by the end.
That is certainly how this week has gone. Not bad things happening but
places we have visited and not necessarily the place it self but the theme
of the place.
On Sunday we headed for Limoges as planned but decided to divert at the last
moment and ended up at Oradour-sur-Glane, about 12 miles NW of Limoges.
Don't worry if you have never heard of the place, we hadn't either until we
were told about it. What is there? Well in a way nothing. Not since the
afternoon of 10th June 1944 anyway. This was the day that the passing German
army (SS I believe) rounded up the whole population of the town and any
unfortunate passers by, and executed them all. A total of 642 men women and
children were slaughtered that afternoon for no apparent reason, well none
that has ever been revealed. All that remains of the town is the burnt out
shells of the buildings and the modern monuments remembering the dead. If
you have a spare moment check it out on the Internet and read the story, it
is quite horrific.
There is a new town built up next to the old and thankfully a very good
camper area even though the camper facilities, water etc., were out of
order.
Monday was more upbeat even despite the gloominess of the weather. We took
in the town of Cognac, you have probably heard of this one! A very nice
town, but sadly quiet and shut up. It was Monday, the 3rd day of the French
weekend. Why can't that catch on in the UK? We could have had a tour of the
Hennessey distillery but chose not too, not necessarily due to the price,
but just that we have visited distilleries and wineries before and neither
of us are cognac / brandy drinkers.
Ambling along the next day we came to the west coast and La Rochelle. Our
camper book listed free parking and we found it very easily. Unfortunately
so had the rest of the world and there was no space anywhere. So we headed
just back out of town to a retail park for some window-shopping. Eventually
by early evening we returned back into town and the car park had emptied
considerably. We found a nice spot on the edge of the parking looking onto
the large park that runs out from the town centre. The weather was hot and
sunny and we enjoyed a long and pleasant stroll around the town before
returning back to Noddy for some dinner and the surprise waiting for us. A
large number of road maintenance vehicles of all shapes and sizes. We
thought for a horrible moment that they were going to start digging up the
car park! Thankfully they weren't but instead later dug up and replaced the
main road outside the car park working through the night to just bearable
noise levels!
Another hot and sunny day welcomed us on Wednesday and we had another very
pleasant stroll around town before hitting the road after lunch. As time for
this trip was running short we thought it best to make slow progress back
around the north west of France and drove north in the direction of Nantes.
It was quite a different drive. Just after getting clear of La Rochelle we
got stuck behind a very large transport carrying a huge load, a 'Convoi
Exceptionnel', with police escort. Great we thought, especially as it kept
taking the roads we wanted. It was way to big to overtake, even on dual
carriageways it took up both lanes. After a while we kind of enjoyed it! It
made good progress and the police kept the road ahead clear. It became 'our'
convoy especially as we were the first vehicle following it. Trying to work
out what it was we eventually noticed the writing on the side of the
tarpaulin covering the load, 'Airbus A330/340'. It was a large part of
fuselage. Watching it negotiating the small towns on route it is quite hard
to imagine how they will squeeze the new A380 through! We had to let it go
on its way as we turned off and located our rest spot for the night, Corcoue
sur Logne. It was a new camper stop, 4 places with nice hedges separating
them. The village was nothing too special but the camper stop was very nice
indeed.
The great weather continued on Thursday, and we had a very nice drive
through the rolling Brittany countryside stopping at the very picturesque
town of Josselin on the Nantes-Brest canal as built by one Napoleon a few
years ago. What a lovely town indeed. It has made it on to our 'places to
live' list. Well to tell the truth Brittany as a whole is on the list.
'Little Britain' it certainly is in many ways. Firstly there are at times
more English cars on the road than French. Secondly there are one or two
English second homes here. Thirdly it is wonderful rolling countryside. As
to how many gays there are in the village I don't know! I asked the
computer, but it said 'Non'.
We must have wandered and wandered around Josselin several times, checking
out the prices in the estate agent windows, very reasonable they were too.
Originally parking next to the canal we stayed the night just into the town
at a car park where the camper service was. The canal was nice but the road
was noisy.
Dragging ourselves away Thursday morning we enjoyed more of the countryside
and found our way to the north coast of Brittany, Dinard, St Malo, and
eventually Cancale.
Cancale is a very touristy town, but it is known for its locally farmed
oysters, and we couldn't resist. You can either buy them from the 'oyster
market' on the quay, 5 or 6 stalls selling a variety of sizes of oyster.
Alternatively, you can do as we did and have a meal in one of the many
restaurants and enjoy them as part of a meal. We shared 12 oysters, fish
soup, and mussels. Delicious! We stayed the night in the Super U supermarket
car park, an organised camper stop, with twenty or so other campers.
Thankfully we arrived early in the day, by mid afternoon the town was
bursting at the seams due to a marathon taking place early evening. We went
and saw them off. It must have been quite a big event as the volume of
runners was very large. It took more than 5 minutes for them all to pass us
at the start.
Today we wanted to head back to St Malo, but we didn't get going very early
and by the time we got there on a hot and sunny Sunday morning, no parking.
We found a few spots but nowhere we wanted to park up. Instead we crawled
out along the coast and eventually found a very nice spot overlooking the
sea.
So, this afternoon has been a traditional one of feet up listening to Test
Cricket, Tennis, and Motor Racing on the radio. We can receive R4 LW and R5
MW here.
Only a few days to go now before we get home! The hard part is working out
where to go and what to do this week so that we end up in the right place
for early Friday morning! Oh, such problems.
Ciao
M&S

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day!

Rather than staying on a soggy site at Lugano we moved on. Even Lugano town
centre didn't look inviting on a grim Sunday morning. So instead we made an
alternative plan and diverted ourselves to Montreux and my Dad's new abode
there. The drive was quite a long one and should have been spectacular in
parts. However the rain dampened that one quite well. The pass we chose back
into Italy northwest of Lago Maggiore was on a very narrow road that cut up
the side of a fantastic gorge, over the top, and down into the Italy and the
town of Domodossola. Did we see much of it in the rain and clouds, no! Then
from Italy back to Switzerland we took the Simplon Pass. Great road, great
rain! We are not sure if we needed a Vignette (motorway toll sticker) for
the pass. At the start of the pass we stopped at the manned checkpoint and
there was a sign saying 'Vignette Compulsory' but the guy, who looked
extremely bored, manning the post just waved us on. We didn't intend on
buying one anyway as we were not planning to use any motorways during our
brief stay in the country. Safely through the pass we ploughed on and
eventually stopped for some lunch at the town of Raron, Sue made yummy
toasted sandwiches. There was a campsite there which we had thought of using
for the night, and the sun even made a brief appearance, but after
confirming with Dad we carried on and reached Montreux by 17h00, our planned
ETA.
We spent a very pleasant few days in the apartment giving Noddy a much
earned rest. The sun even made an appearance on Wednesday, all day. We took
advantage of it doing a tour around the surrounding mountains up to Gruyeres
and back. All the rain over the previous few days had fallen as snow up in
the hills. It made the whole area look very pretty, especially with some
blue sky to accompany it. We cooked dinner each evening using up supplies
from Noddy, and Dad treated us to a very nice Thai meal on Wednesday, many
thanks!!
It was very difficult to drag ourselves away from the luxury of a roof and
four walls on Thursday morning, but the open road was calling again. As
usual we had no firm plans of where we were heading long term. Our only plan
was to aim into France and Annecy for the night. We took the pass from
Martingy to Chamonix, nice but not spectacular especially as the clouds had
returned and the snow-capped mountains were fast disappearing. Eventually we
arrived in Annecy where we had planned to stay the night. One slight
problem, nowhere to park! The place was manic, not even a space for a car.
The camper parking we had hoped to use didn't really exist anymore. We made
a hasty alternative plan, turned north, and stayed the night near La
Balme-de-Sillingy in a new camper parking (Aire). It was not in our 2005
book of Aires. The one that was in our book was defunct. Another English
couple staying there invited us over for drinks and a chat after dinner, as
the weather was so wet and horrible. They were a delightful retired couple
from Torquay and we had a very nice evening.
In the morning we finally decided on a plan of action and set our sights
west with an eventual destination of the Dordogne. Last night we stayed in
camper parking at the cemetery in Poncin, the residents were very quiet!
Today we made quite a leap and are now about 80 miles east of Limoges at the
small town of Gouzon. We only managed to find the Aire here after Sue asked
for directions from the tourist office. It was not signposted at all.
Tomorrow we shall aim to reach Limoges and then decide what to do for the
next few days. Our crossing is booked for 15th June, under two weeks away.
We will probably stay around the Dordogne for a short while and then slowly
make our way up and around the coast hopefully reaching the Calais area on
the 14th, unless our plans change again of course!
Ciao
M&S