Category Archives: France

Please Drink Responsibly

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Neil was restless. ‘We never go anywhere on my birthday, I know its school holidays and everything is busy and expensive and we usually have lots of visitors in the summer but this year it’s quiet.  Can you find anything?’

After a bit of searching a few options came up but anything in Europe involved expensive flights with lousy flight times which meant staying overnight at airports or travelling at silly times.  Eventually Cheryl found something different which she thought might interest him.  No airports, no taxis, no trains, no travelling at the weekend and, interesting places to visit and by the way, it’s not a bad price.  She ran it by Neil and without too much thought, as he’s fully into the ‘just do it’ frame of mind, he said ‘yup, let’s do it’.

July and the start of August were meant to be relatively quiet.  However we had the excitement of the impulse buy of the car, birthdays for both grandsons, a neighbours get together, several live music events and bar work,  council duties including a councillor surgery and Seaton in Bloom judging.  We also had a surprise visit of Neil’s grandson, daughter in law and his daughter.  It turned out to be a really busy time so we were ready for that break.

The trip also provided the opportunity to take our first long drive together in Roxy. The drive was great, being a Wednesday morning the roads were fairly quiet, it was a little cool but the hood was down and the radio on.  We arrived in Southampton to board the Regal Princess to cruise around the UK & Ireland.  As it was Neil’s birthday we took the top level all-inclusive package so it was going to be indulgent!

All aboard for the next 12 nights

We had ‘meet and greet parking’ another bonus.  Just drop off your luggage then hand over the keys, walk across the car park, board the ship, head to the bar for a beer, and then lunch with the odd glass of vino.  Then we found our cabin where are cases had been delivered, unpacked, met our cabin steward Mike,  and enjoyed the view from the balcony. 

Day 1 was a ‘sea’ day.  Today was going to be a challenge.  We had to get some exercise, and spent a while exploring the ship and working out where everything was.  It takes 3,500 passengers and has 19 decks so it took a while.  Princess is an American cruise line and the majority of passengers were American, followed by New Zealanders and Australians.  There were also some Spanish, Koreans and Brits and a surprising number of younger couples and families on board.

We discovered the ship was travelling at max capacity, however it never felt crowded and we could get our favourite seats in the bars and all the entertainment venues easily.  Our cabin was on deck 8 and we used the stairs so we quickly got our 10k steps in every day, and on port days we averaged 20k.

Our package included a maximum of 15 alcoholic drinks per day of premium wines and spirits, cocktails and beers.  Could we really do it justice?  We were determined and brave but we failed miserably.  ‘Close but no cigar’ was the result, well to be fair, we didn’t even get close.  Cheryl hit the cocktails, each one at least a double measure so 15 drinks would have been about an entire bottle, and Neil started on the wine, which would have been more than 3 bottles of wine.  He also enjoyed the premium spirits including 10 year old Talisker. Having given it a go, we vowed to never try it again and just enjoy the premium stuff.  Remember readers don’t follow our example and drink responsibly!

Day 2 was our first port day, Cobh, pronounced Cove, which is the main port for Cork in Ireland.  Being independent travellers we headed to the station opposite the cruise terminal and caught the train into town.  It was then about a 25 min walk to Cork Gaol.  It has a pretty horrid history and the tour we had told us some grim stories about the treatment of the inmates, most of whom stole in order to eat, some inmates as young as 7!  Then we walked into the centre to have a look around and some lunch and, as Cork is the home of Murphy’s and Beamish Stout, sample the local brew.  We chose Clancy’s Bar, shared an enormous sandwich.  The Murphy’s was delicious and smooth but the Beamish a distant second.  We managed a walk through The English Market, a lovely piece of architecture.

Cork Gaol

The highlight of the trip, and the quirkiest thing we have ever done involved The Shandon Bells in St Annes Church.  We arrived, paid our money and as it was quiet the friendly lady handed us our ear defenders and ushered us straight up the stairs.   The ship’s over the top Destination Expert Cathy had recommended this as you get the chance to ring the bells, but what she omitted to say was that there were a number of suggested songs. Cheryl was quick to take on the challenge of playing Elvis’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, using the easy to follow numbered music sheet.  Quite surreal, playing an Elvis song on church bells in Cork.  We then climbed the steep steps up to the bells, ear defenders on as you don’t know who is behind you and about to ring the bells, and then up to the top of the tower for fantastic views over the city.  On the way back down, as it was still quiet, Cheryl had to have another go.

One of the things we like about cruising is that on most days you travel overnight and arrive next morning with a different view from the balcony and a new place to explore, and day 3 brought us to Holyhead in Anglesey, North Wales.  We also had our first ride in a ship’s lifeboat as these are utilised as tenders to get passengers to the shore.  We’ve been to Anglesey before when travelling in the caravan so we just took the long walk along the coast path to the stunning Holyhead Breakwater to the Lighthouse.  It’s 1.7 miles long, the longest in Europe and it was built between 1846 and 1873.  Having stretched our legs, we wandered around the town before heading back to the ship for a well-earned drink before dinner.  It was gloriously sunny and we discovered the open air bar at the back of the ship and enjoyed the views of the breakwater as we set sail.

View of the lighthouse and breakwater from our balcony
Sunset over the breakwater

Day 4 took us to Belfast.  Cheryl had never visited The Giant’s Causeway but it was a long distance from the port and would have taken too long on public transport. A bit of internet searching and Neil discovered a Sixt hire car office in the cruise terminal.  We were swiftly off the ship and our car was sitting on the dock when we arrived.  It took us just over an hour to drive first to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge which is on the way to the Causeway.  The first rope bridge was erected by salmon fishermen in 1755. Suspended almost 100ft above the Atlantic Ocean, the Rope Bridge crosses a 20-metre-wide chasm connecting to the rocky island of Carrick-a-Rede.  It was an exhilarating and wobbly walk across with the obvious photo opportunity.

Next stop was Giant’s Causeway.  Neil had been before, about 60 years ago, so it was just as interesting to him as it was for Cheryl.  We arrived just in time for a guided tour where we learnt about the geology and the folk lore of an Irish giant named Finn McCool.  Legend has it that he created a causeway to get across the Irish Sea to face his rival, the Scottish giant Benandonner. Following their fearsome meeting, Benandonner ripped up the causeway as he fled back to Scotland, leaving what you see here today.  Our guide made the 45 minutes tour very amusing and then he left us to explore the amazing rocks and take the long walk back over the cliffs.   The northern Irish coast of County Antrim is quite stunning so we had an absolutely fabulous day.  There was one added bonus, both the bridge and the causeway are controlled by The National Trust.  We are members so it was all free!  Our entire day out with lunch cost less than £100 compared with $250 per person for the official cruise ship tour!

On the wishing seat
It’s all about the angles

Now, we were on a roll.  Port 1, Cork in Ireland, Port 2, Holyhead in Wales, Port 3, Belfast in Ireland.  Can you believe we visited 3 of the wetting places in the Isles and had warm sunny weather? – we just couldn’t believe our luck!

Day 5 took us to Glasgow, or Greenock to be precise.  Cheryl booked return tickets online with ScotRail for a total of £30 (using a two together railcard discount – rubs hands together….) and we took the train into Glasgow. After a short walk to change station we were on our second train to Falkirk.  Why Falkirk?  As you know, we have been canal boating for many years.  The world’s only rotating boat lift, The Falkirk Wheel, links the Forth & Clyde Canal to the Union Canal 35 metres above, allowing vessels to sail through the sky thanks to a unique fusion of art and engineering – and it’s all for the same power it would take to boil eight kettles.  We booked a cruise on a tourist boat to enjoy the experience of going up and down.  It’s now one of Scotland’s busiest tourist attractions with around 500,000 visitors each year traveling from all over the world.  It combines modern engineering and technology with ancient principles set out by Archimedes more than 2000 years ago.  It is quite amazing.

View from the top
Wee Neil on his holidays
Glasgow humour

Day 6 was a sea day so we ordered room service breakfast and got up late.   You will be relieved to hear we didn’t use this sea day for another 15 drink challenge, we had learnt that lesson, but took the time to have relaxing meals and get to know the bar staff a little better.  Many of the passengers were American so the guys were constantly mixing cocktails and martinis.  Not once did we see them ‘consult the book’ for the recipe.  There were so many cocktails and martinis on the menu and they knew everyone by heart. 

Luis and the team at Crooner’s Bar

Dinner in the main dining rooms was excellent and after a couple of nights we managed to charm our way into a regular booking for a table for two next to a window.  Our water, Sacay from the Philippines, was a delight as was wine waiter Kiran from Mumbai.  We had two speciality dining experiences included. The Crown Grill was ok but nothing special.  Sabatini’s, the Italian restaurant, was lovely but with several courses we were so full we shared the main course between us so that Cheryl could try the deserts.  On reflection we wouldn’t pay the extra for these as we were more than happy with the excellent food in the main dining room.  With the exception of a couple of meals the food was high quality, full of flavour and beautifully presented. We used the buffet a few times for a quick lunch and it too was surprisingly good.  There was a lot of choice of hot and cold options but bizarrely the same hot pud each time we went!

Chilli linguine with shrimp
Asian pork belly
Steak and lobster

Day 7 brought us a first, The Orkney Isles. We were in the far north of Scotland and whilst it wasn’t hot it was very sunny. Our port was Kirkwall a level 30 minute walk from the jetty into town.  There was a free shuttle bus to town but we opted for the exercise. Apparently, just a few years ago Kirkwall was voted one of the best places to live in the UK and we could see why. The town itself is very pretty and the cathedral very popular with tourists.  There was an imaginative flower festival inside the cathedral on the theme of anniversaries. 

We had booked ourselves onto the tour of the local Gin Distillery.  The gin was named after the town’s old Nordic name Kirkjuvagr. Naturally, it included tasting, yum, and a brief history of this new venture and a tour.  It’s a very small business, only making a couple of batches a week.  Finally, back to the distillery bar for yet another free G&T, more yum.  We made it back to the ship in time to grab a glass of wine before heading to the restaurant for lunch.

Day 8 brought us to Edinburgh, docking in Queensferry about 30 mins from the city centre.  Here our weather luck ran out as it was grey, drizzly and horrid as you can see from the pictures. We have been to Edinburgh many times but it’s August, it’s Fringe time, so we decided to have a day out  This was another port where we were tendered in from the ship using a mixture of the lifeboats and some local ferries.  It turned out to be a spectacular ride as we sailed underneath The Forth Bridge, a truly spectacular piece of engineering which we could appreciate from a number of angles.

When you are by the sea everywhere is up.  The train station was no exception, after a few minutes’ walk it was a steep 136 steps up to the station.   ScotRail & Railcard meant we caught the train into the centre for less than £3 return each – bargain!

Welcome to Queensferry

We both did a bit of shopping in Princes Street before the heavens really opened and we made a mad dash to The Standing Order, one of the several Wetherspoons for a beer and a sandwich (rubs hands together…). This one is set in a spectacular old bank, the others in Edinburgh are in the old Ticket Office at Waverley Station and an old Cinema.  Then we headed off towards the Royal Mile to find a venue to enjoy some humour.  We struck lucky, a small bar had a free one man show giving an non-stop hour of gags and stories.  The whole show did have a theme and the final gag brought it all together and ended in a very unusual finale.  Take a very close look at the pic – you probably won’t want to know how or why he got to look this way at the end!.

Scottish panini anyone?
A very moody looking Edinburgh Castle

Day 9 was Neil’s Birthday and was a sea day. Cheryl used the sea days to go to Zumba whilst Neil went to the main theatre to listen to another talk about the two final ports that we were going to visit.  What we haven’t mentioned so far is that on boarding the ship we were each given a personalised medallion pendant.  This was our way to make purchases in the onboard shops, order drinks, get in and out of our room, get checked off and back on the ship, in fact, it did just about everything.  There are interactive screens all over the ship and Neil discovered, by accident, that if you stood next to one it recognised you by your pendant.  Suddenly, a celebratory picture appeared on the screen celebrating his birthday. 

Cheryl had decorated our cabin and door with bunting and signs and our cabin steward joined in by painting Happy Birthday Mr Neil onto the mirror.  It was a fab day and as it was the last full sea day it was the celebration dinner which included escargot bourgignon and Steak with lobster for the main course. 

posh chip butty…..mmmm
Yes – he wore the ‘it’s my birthday’ rosette all day

Another aspect of the cruise we really enjoyed was meeting fellow guests and striking up conversations at nearby dinner tables, the bars and in the theatre. We had a lot of fun with the different nationalities teasing each other about our differences as well as the things we had in common.

There was a cooking demonstration by the Head Chef accompanied by the Head of Restaurant Services. They were a great double act with the chef quickly demonstrating four different dishes and the Head of Restaurants playing for laughs. This was followed by an opportunity to visit the galleys which we found fascinating. How they make so many meals in such a small space is astounding and the attention to detail in the plating up instructions was incredible.

Our package also gave us free downloads of any ‘official photographer’ pics plus a few printouts.  Most days we avoided the cheesy photo ops but we did get a few really good ones in between us being silly with the poses. 

What we haven’t mentioned up to now is the entertainment.  It actually started quite slow, even disappointing, but it soon picked up with some excellent comedians and some stunning stage shows.  The special effects were incredible, especially the roller coaster with virtual reality screen during the fairground based show.

Of course,  no cruise would be the same without a hypnotist. Cheryl tried to be hypnotised a few years back during the Edinburgh festival but was sent back to the audience as she clearly had not fallen under the influence.  This time we decided to both give it a go and when the audience were invited to take part we shot up onto the stage.  The hypnotist started his selection process to see who was susceptible and Neil was quickly asked to return to his seat.  This time, however,  Cheryl remained and like everyone else left on the stage, went under.  Neil took lots of pics but his phone is old so they aren’t very crisp but we think you can see how silly it got. 

We had a chat with the hypnotist later in the bar and he explained how people go into different levels of trance as Neil witnessed by the antics of a few of the volunteers who went very deep.  Cheryl went into a medium trance so wasn’t tasked with any of the really silly stuff.  According to the hypnotist if she tried it again she would probably go deeper – however she’s not sure she really wants to shout out that ‘The Martian’s have landed – evacuate the Theatre NOW’ or ‘has anyone seen my bottom? I can’t find it’ as two of the participants did.

Day 10 and we were in France, Le Havre.  It’s an opportunity for many passengers to go on tours to Paris and the Normandy beaches.  Having seen both, Neil suggested that we go to Honfleur, a pretty seaside town on the other side of the River Seine.  We walked to the train and bus stations only to find that it was going to prove impossible to be able to guarantee getting back to the ship before it sailed that evening.  If you go ashore alone, and not on an organised tour, and don’t make it back before the on board time, the ship will sail without you.  It does happen but we decided that as much as we like France getting  stranded there was not smart.   So we had a good look around the town and headed back to the ship for lunch.  

Day 11 and we were back in blighty, Falmouth.  Once again we were ferried to shore which was a superb way to arrive into the picturesque harbour.   We have been to Falmouth before, in fact we did consider this as a place for us to buy a house.  One thing we didn’t visit back then was Pendennis Castle, a short 15 mins walk uphill.  Built by Henry VIII around 1540 It’s one of England’s finest surviving coastal fortresses. Together with the fortress at St Mawes, Pendennis guarded the anchorage of Carrick Roads and the port towns below for over 400 years. The castle began as a gun fort in the mid-16th century. Bastioned defences were added in the 1590s following the threat of Spanish invasion and were periodically updated. Barracks were added when Falmouth was used as a military training base for World War I and more guns added for coastal defence for World War II.  It became a tourist attraction in the mid 1950’s.  Henry, probably one of your best investments!  We are also members of English Heritage so entrance was free, yay!

Falmouth from our balcony
Pendennis Castle

All good things must come to an end and on Day 12 we docked back in Southampton and walked off the ship to be handed the keys to Roxy and drive home. 

We weren’t sure about taking a cruise with an American cruise line but have to say that overall it we really enjoyed it. The crew were amazing, the food and drink superb, excellent entertainment and a fun vibe on board. It was incredible value for money given that everything we needed was included plus a few fun things we weren’t expecting.

We had great experiences on land, with visits to The Giant’s Causeway and The Falkirk Wheel, and getting as far as Orkney. Even though we had been to some of the places before we still found different and interesting things to do and see, and as we organised our own excursions it was all at minimal cost. Finally, as ‘lucky’ is Neil’s middle name, we had generally, quite amazing weather. 

What’s next?

French Connection

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What new things did we ‘just do’ this time?  Whilst most of our time was spent doing the things we normally do or have done before – we did have some new and unusual experiences along the way. Read on to find out what happened on the canal boat, the 80th anniversary of D-Day commemorations, and how we partied hard with French farmers.

Mid-May was time for the canal boat trip with friend Gail and her dog Oren. This time to do The Stourport Ring which includes the famous Tardebigge lock flight.  It’s the longest in Britain with 30 locks spread over two-and-a-quarter miles and it enables boats to ascend or descend 67 metres. On a good day it takes just over 4hrs but if it’s busy or you are behind somebody slow it can take all day.  Fortunately, we had a good day and it was dry.   

However, the trip was not without the incident which we have managed to avoid in all our years of boating.  It was a drizzly, dank day and it was slippery underfoot.   We were just leaving a lock and Gail and Cheryl were making their way down the lock steps to board.  There was an enormous splash as Gail took off and ended up in the canal along with Oren!  It was something of a shock but as Neil pointed out it could have been a lot worse.  She could have landed on her back on the steps and done herself some serious damage.  At least the water was a soft landing although it was quite undignified.

The weather picked up and we were able to enjoy the rest of the trip without any further incidents.

In Seaton we’ve been volunteering in Tourist Information and at The Gateway.  We had tributes to Madness and Nina Simone both of which were excellent and allowed us have fun behind the bar.  It’s especially good when the theme is the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings.  Many people dressed up and no surprises that we did our bit and ended up in the local newspaper. 

As part of the D-Day commemorations, the Royal British Legion held ceremonies at the town’s war memorial both in the morning and the evening which were well attended and moving.  Seaton currently has an unusual focal point on the seafront, a 50m high crane which has been installed to build the new apartments overlooking the beach.  The driver hung a Union Jack and played his bag pipes from the top of his perch in the crane.  The sound carried all across the town and seafront.  It was a beautiful way to commemorate those that sacrificed so much on June 6th 1944 and the following months until Europe was made safe once again.

Shortly after we headed off to Normandy, where it all happened on June 6th  1944, for our biannual twinning visit.  This time it proved impossible to find a coach company at a sensible cost so all participants travelled separately.  That gave us the opportunity to extend our trip to see a little bit of Brittany as well as Normandy.  The overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo was a nice relaxed journey allowing us to have dinner before enjoying the cabaret, a good old fashioned clown, who had us both on stage to assist.  He was very funny and we got to bed much later than planned having consumed way too much wine.

We stayed in an apartment right in the centre of Dinan, a really picturesque town, for 3 nights.  The walls date back to the 14thC and it has a port on the river which is accessed down a stunning cobbled road.  Whilst the port is no longer a trading port it is now home to some very expensive boats that can access the sea by travelling down the river. 

Our journey through Brittany into Normandy was very pleasant, driving in France is a pleasure with very little traffic.  Despite visiting Thury Harcourt two years ago we hadn’t really explored the town so we arrived in time for lunch and spent the afternoon walking around the town and the river.  Normandy has always celebrated the D-Day landings and took hold of the 80th commemoration in a big, big way.  Virtually all the shops in every town had D-Day themed artwork in the  shop windows and street lights carried banners with the names and pictures of soldiers.  It was just amazing.

We met our twinning hosts for the weekend in the town and taken to their lovely old farmhouse in Saint Martin-de-Sallen which is a pretty and sleepy village 5km from Thury.  That evening we attended a reception in the Town Hall before arriving home late that night for Jean-Philippe to bring out his customary excellent bottles of red.

The next day we met up with everyone else and boarded a coach to a farm about a 30 minute drive away.  We were given a tour and an explanation on how they operate and how they intend to use their own milk to make a local cheese called Pont L’Eveque.  We were then treated to a cheese tasting before having our own picnic in the barn as there was a biting cold wind.  Of course, Chantal had brought a bottle of champagne as well as plenty of wine!

We then travelled to the nearby town of Fleur to visit the chateau and have a look around the town before returning home to freshen up for our customary group dinner in a restaurant.  The food was great and the entertainment on our table afterwards was just plain silly.  How many ways can you wear a napkin?  Then it was home for more red wine!

Next day was something of a surprise.  We were told by J-P and Chantal that we would be going for a walk in the morning and exploring the disused railway line which is now a leisure facility and then having lunch and a game of boule at a farm owned by one of their friends.  Well, the walk did happen and we saw people climbing, abseiling, zip lining, cycling and so the list goes on. 

Lunch however, was the surprise.    We arrived at the farm which was huge, with a beautiful old farmhouse and many barns including one with at least a £1m worth of tractors parked up.  We were ushered into a barn conversion at the back of the house which had a bar and a long table set for lunch for…………..32 people!  It looked absolutely fabulous.

We were introduced to the host, Gilbert and his son Gerard.  Not much English was spoken so we did our best with Franglais.  Then other farmers started to arrive with their families.  Traditionally, these farmers would have celebrated a Harvest Festival in the Autumn but now they have found themselves working longer into the year and so decided this year to have a Pre-Harvest Festival and Gilbert was very quick to extend an invitation to us two.  We are so glad he did.

It wasn’t long before the very good Champagne arrived along with canapes.  Then Gilbert came around again  topping people up.  Not long after Gerard came around and so it went on, and on, and on.  This was seriously good bubbly!   Finally, we were invited to sit down for food.  Earlier, we had seen caterers arrive and set up across the yard.  Lunch was steak and frites.  Not just steak but an enormous slab of meat so we decided to have half each.  Then the frites came around again, oh, nearly forgot, wine to go with the meal.  By now we were floating after so much fizzy and red wine, boy can these people party.  Then there was desert with more wine and finally the food was done.  But not the drink!  Gilbert brought around his farmhouse cider followed by his own Calvados which is not to everyone’s taste.  J-P suggested to Gilbert that Neil was a fan so suddenly an enormous glass was poured.  There was dancing and Chantal was keen to get Neil on the dance floor.

The term ‘floating’ was an understatement.  Thankfully, someone suggested we go for a walk which was a great idea, anything to get us away from Gilbert and Gerard who, by now, had just about most people covering their glasses with one hand and shouting ‘non!’  The walk was a blur but going by the step counter on our phones it was quite long.  When we got back some of the children became more comfortable with the two British guests and bravely wanted to try out their school English.  Then Romain decided that we should have a tour of the farm which was really interesting and another good opportunity to avoid the hospitality of Gilbert and Gerard.

After the tour we returned to the party as they were about to sit down for dinner.  It was nearly 9pm and J-P recognised that we were now struggling so asked us if we would like to travel home, we did!  It had been a truly momentous day with unbelievable hospitality shown to us by complete strangers.  Back at the house we had a supper of charcuterie, J-P opened red wine for himself and Calvados for Neil.  Cheryl talked about Francoise Hardy, a famous French singer who had died recently and Chantal played some of her music and she sang along really beautifully.   It had been an amazing day.

Needless to say we were late arriving for the farewells the next morning in the town and even missed being in the group farewell photo although we’re not sure that anyone noticed. 

A bientot Jean Phillipe & Chantal

After lots of kissing, hugging and hand shaking we set off for Baron-sur-Odon, a small village about 20 minutes away.   We went to visit Jean-Marc and Collette who Neil hadn’t seen for about 30 years.  When Neil was introduced to his first twinning experience whilst living in North Devon they were his very first hosts.  We had coffee with them and looked at photos that Neil had brought with him and that they had taken too.  We talked about what the children are doing now, grandkids and so on.  Neil’s children would have been about 4 or 5 and they have 3 who would have been 4-6 years older.

Then it was off for the hour long drive to Bayeux.  We had booked a B&B about a 20 minute walk from the centre and it was the prefect base as parking in Bayeux is not easy.  We arrived in time to visit the tapestry before a beer and dinner.  The next 2 days were spent visiting the Normandy Beaches, memorials and cemeteries.  80 years since the landings but still so many people visiting to pay their respects.  To see so many graves of so many young men and women is heartbreaking.  The new British memorial was stunning, with the amazing art installation called Walking with Giants.

Back home and the next few days were pretty hectic with the U3A wine club meeting, sibling lunch in The Cotswolds with June, Roy, Bill and Sue, tourist information on the Sunday plus Cheryl worked behind the bar for our local candidates hustings for the upcoming election. 

Cheryl spent a few days in London to see Freddy, Alex and Luke and help whilst Freddy was away for a stag weekend.  Luke enjoyed his trip to The Transport Museum and also gave Nana heart failure when he disappeared in the empty play park when she turned her back for 10 seconds to get his ball.  Fortunately he was soon discovered happily exploring the baseball court at the back – phew!  Just losing a grandson is not something she wishes to repeat.

We have some very exciting news as there is one huge ‘Just Do It’ which Neil has wanted to do, but you will just have to wait until next time to find out just what it is.

We will leave you with a few images of the wonderful food we enjoyed on our trip – bon appetit!

It must be Summer….it’s raining!

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The longed for sunshine and warmer temperatures finally arrived in June.  The following Saturday our town council put on a free outdoor music event for the community in the  park overlooking the sea.  It was a glorious day and we had a great day marshalling at one of the entrances.  We were a little concerned when the local Extinction Rebellion group started to congregate just outside our gate as protest groups had been staging disruptions at a number of events.  However, they were happy to just talk to people as they arrived and even came in to offer us some very tasty homemade flapjacks.  Our lovely local policeman, Sam also had a chat with them and came back munching on a flapjack as well.  On reflection we then all wondered if we should have eaten them in case they contained any special ingredients and we did have a confession later from the lady who baked them – she had used butter so they weren’t suitable for her vegan chums!

With temperatures rising steadily we set off for ten days in the Loire Valley, where it was even hotter.  It was a long day with a very early start to get the ferry from Poole to Cherbourg.  The long drive to Saumur was straightforward and we arrived in time to shop before getting to the campsite.  However, the accommodation was extremely disappointing with a number of faults which lead to an almost ongoing battle with the inept holiday reps and the head office back in the UK.

The temperatures were in the mid 30’s so we spent early mornings on walks and sight seeing in Saumur which was extremely pretty and afternoons relaxing and enjoying barbeques on the large decked terrace.

We stopped off on the return journey to have lunch with Jean-Phillipe & Chantal.  We also asked Jean-Phillipe to put together an order of wine from his Cave for us.  On collection of course he added a few extra bottles as a petit cadeaux.  Thank you Jean-Phillipe!  The restaurant we went to was the same one used for the Twinning dinner last year and the food was exceptional.  It was a great way to end our trip and we look forward to seeing nos amis when we take part in the Twinning visit next year.

The ferry journey was the usual tedium topped off by a long wait to get through passport checks and finally leave the terminal.  The late night journey was then complicated by closures on the A30 for roadworks and the most tortuous detour along tiny country lanes.  We finally arrived home in the small hours after getting up at 4am the previous day.

No time for a long lie in next day as Freddy, Alex & Luke were already in the house and enjoying a few days in Seaton before we got home.  The full impact of the hot and dry spell was clear in the garden as all the grass was now brown. Luke was in full crawling mode and was covering ground fast.  He also enjoyed the beach and even tried eating the pebbles.

A week later and we were off to Bristol for number one grandson’s fifth birthday.  This was the party afternoon for the grandparents and it was a lovely relaxed afternoon watching him playing with his new presents and performing his incredible magic trick of making coins disappear.

Then it was off to London the next weekend for Luke’s first birthday.  Finally we had a journey by train WITHOUT a Train Strike – hurrah!  It was great to meet Alex & Freddy’s friends and their families and to see Freddy’s parents Ann & Guy who we last saw at their wedding. 

There was a gradual decline in temperature towards the end of the month, and a substantial increase in rainfall which was very much needed for the parched garden.  Unfortunately this has now settled into a pattern of regular heavy rainfall making the start of the school holidays feel like the monsoon season.  We dodged the showers to enjoy an Abba tribute night at the Tramway and Marlpit Lane Social Club came third in a quiz………..third from the bottom!! 

We had a visit from Chris and Viv who are in Wales for the summer staying with Viv’s mum in Brecon.  We managed a long walk across the golf course and the lanes around Axmouth on their first afternoon followed by an excellent meal in The Ship.  Day two the forecast was for dry weather so we started with big baps at our favourite café, Jurassic Bites en route to Beer and then on the coastal footpath to Branscombe, one of the top ten coastal walks.

It was all going well until the drizzle started just before we reached Branscombe.  The drizzle turned into full rain and by the time we got back to Beer we were a bit soggy.  We took a break to have a Beer in The Barrel Of Beer in Beer whilst watching the second half of England women’s football team vs China. 

Rain stopped and we walked on to have the usual ice cream stop at Jurassic Bites followed by walking along the beach from Seaton Hole to find pebbles with holes in them – we know how to have a good time with our visitors here in Seaton!

Talking of having a good time ……what has Neil been doing?  You will have to wait until next time to find out.

Bienvenue Chez Nous

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People often ask what do you do with your time?  We’re always busy but these last few weeks have been full on.  We had hoped that having a house by the sea would mean plenty of visitors and that’s exactly what we have had, along with our usual canal boat holiday and a short visit to France.

Mid May brought us our first Couchsurfers.  We joined couchsurfing whilst on our travels and stayed with many hosts in different countries and even hosted people in the caravan, which given the space constraints was an interesting experience!  It was finally time to host in our new home now that all the pandemic restrictions have been lifted.  Lotte and Meinrad from The Netherlands contacted us about a two night stay.  We had a wonderful couple of days with them as they neared the end of their epic walking trip around Europe.  They set off about 18 months ago at the height of the pandemic.  It’s a long story, too long to post here, but in essence when they arrive home in mid-Summer 2022 they will have walked 5000 miles around many European countries.  They were a joy to host and we wish them a fabulous life together.

Cheryl has been busy with council duties and Neil has now been appointed a Trustee at The Gateway Theatre.  We thoroughly enjoyed our volunteering duties for the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations in the gardens overlooking the sea.  It was a free event with sideshows, live music and free ice creams for the kids and finished off with lighting a beacon.   Socially, we’ve had  a night of Italian/Maltese food in Pisani with Diane and Glyn, a hilarious evening of tapas with Paul and Maureen where Kathy at The Wild Caper kept us amused with her unique way of running a restaurant, excellent food and drinks with Eric and Laila, a French lunch at Don and Pat’s house following their recent holiday to France and a 70th birthday celebration BBQ with Paul and Maureen and, finally, a Twinning Beach Hut Party.  Hey, it’s all go here in the heaving metropolis!

At the end of May Neil went for the chop – his eyes that is.  He had lens replacement surgery and now doesn’t need glasses for anything.  When he went around the house looking for all the various pairs of glasses he had for reading, driving, watching TV and working in the workshop he found a total of 19 pairs scattered around.  They’ll be going to The Lions Club who collect them and, presumably, send them off to more needy people around the world.  He’s had a couple of follow up consultations and, so far, it’s looking as though he’ll have better than 20/20 vision when his eyes finally finish adapting to the surgery.  For those of you that don’t understand what lens replacement means it’s just like having your glasses fitted into the inside of your eyes rather than wearing them on your nose.

I was laughing at him as he didn’t realise that as well as the taped on shields there was ink on his forehead

The first of our annual narrow boat trips took place at the beginning of June.  A week on the boat with Gail boating from Gayton near Northampton to Warwick and back.  None of us had been to the famous castle so on the Wednesday we walked from the canal into the town and spent a superb day exploring the venue.  It is a quite stunning castle to explore but there was much more.  An amazing demonstration of birds of prey, guided talks of the main rooms of the house including some quite macabre stories, acres and acres of grounds to explore and more peacocks than you can imagine.  An excellent day out.  The weather for our boat trip wasn’t great but at least it was mainly dry and that’s all that matters.

We arrived back from the boat around 2pm on the Sunday just in time to hurtle around the house with the vacuum cleaner in preparation for the arrival of Clive and Karen who were staying for 3 nights.  They had been here in the UK for 3 weeks catching up with family before catching the ferry back home to Spain.  None of us could remember when we last got together but we did agree that it was at least 3 years ago.  Neil and Clive have known each other for more than 50 years so the reminiscing went on into the early hours.  There was much to catch up on and long walks, a day out on the tram with lots of laughs, some good food and drink. 

C&K left on Wednesday and it was time to get the vacuum out again, wash the sheets and get the main guest room ready again as Bill and Sue were arriving the following day, also for 3 nights.  What B&S didn’t know was that June and 2 of her daughters, Tracy and Anna, were also planning a visit.  It was a real surprise when they arrived to find them already here.  It was a hilarious couple of days, BBQ’s, another day out on the tram with good food and excellent company.

As B&S left on Sunday morning we jumped into the car for a day at The Haynes Motor Museum about an hour away.  Miranda had planned a father’s day surprise for Paul and it was superb to see his face when he took a second look after he realised that he was standing next to his Dad.  We had a fabulous day with them and our grandson enjoying the delights of the zillions of cars in the museum plus a session on the go karting track.  It was a great day except Neil was miffed that Paul won the karting with the fastest lap time although Cheryl did win the prize for funniest moment when the track guys commented that marshalling her had been ‘slightly terrifying’.   

Only slightly terrifying??

Next in our busy busy month of June came our first visit to our twin town Thury-Harcourt in Normandy, France.  It was an early start, 5.15am to catch the coach to Poole where we boarded the ferry to Cherbourg.  As it was our first trip we didn’t know exactly what to expect but as Neil had been part of two twinnings, one in North Devon and the other near Bristol, he did have a rough idea.  What we didn’t know was who we would be staying with.

On the way to Thury we stopped off at Bayeux but the planned visit to see the tapestry didn’t take place as we were late getting off the boat, thank you very much Britany Ferries, so there was just time to wander through the town and grab something to eat before we arrived at the Town Hall to meet our hosts.  We arrived just after 6pm and we were introduced to Chantal, our host, before listening to the traditional welcome speech from The Major and the reply speech from our Chairman Steve.  This was followed by some local cider for which Normandy is famous and to be introduced to Chantal’s husband, Jean Philippe who had just finished work.  Then we all sat down to a meal, some wine, of course, and a chance to get to know our family.

We did strike gold with Chantal and Jean Philippe, they were just so hospitable.  They live about 5kms outside of the town in a tiny Hamlet called St Martin-de-Sallen.  The house was stunning, a very large, old stone building in a lovely garden.  Our bedroom had an ensuite bathroom with views across the valley from the bathroom and into the vegetable garden from the bedroom.  What we also found out is that Jean Philippe was a retired Pharmacist who decided to start a new working life to satisfy his passion for wine – he opened a cave selling wine, spirits and beer.  For the entire weekend we were given fabulous French wines and Calvados, another Normandy speciality.

Saturday brought us a visit to a local Cider and Calvados producer.  It was a really informative tour around followed by the inevitable tasting…..yum!  It was also an opportunity to buy some bottles ready for the family day on Sunday.  After the tasting we boarded the bus for the journey to Domfront en Poiraie a medieval walled town sitting on the top of a hill.  Before we had our guided tour we had an enormous lunch of excellent pizza and salad.  The tour itself took just over an hour then it was back onto the bus for another journey to an auberge for our 4 course evening meal, yes, more food and more wine!  Once back at our adopted home is was time for Calvados sitting in the lovely garden before a much earned night’s sleep.

Sunday was a little more relaxed with breakfast in the garden before the arrival of Chantal’s sister Marie-France and her partner Gilbert.  They were hosting Anita and our coach driver.  From Neil’s experience of twinning it’s quite usual for hosting families to get together on family day.  We enjoyed a leisurely lunch plus an afternoon trip to a local model railway centre.  We all had a lot of fun riding the very simple train, playing on the bouncy assault course and the zip ride……all very childish!

The journey home on Monday started at 9.30 from the Mayor’s office.  We headed to Pegasus Bridge to visit the site and museum which tells the story of taking of the bridge which was pivotal to the success of the Normandy Landings in 1944.  It was interesting and sobering at the same time with lots of information to take in.  We had lunch in Café Gondree which has so much history going back to the end of the 19th Century.  At the time of the landings the café was run by Georges and Thérèse Gondrée. They had been involved in passing information about the defences around the bridge to British intelligence through the French underground.  The successful taking of the bridge played an important role in limiting the effectiveness of a German counter-attack in the days and weeks following the Normandy invasion. With the passing of the Gondrées, ownership was taken over by their daughter, Arlette Gondrée, who served us.  It was a lovely time spent chatting to her whilst she served other guests.

We stopped off at a hypermarket to top up with French wines, cheeses and saucisson before boarding the boat back to Poole.  Unfortunately, the boat had a couple of issues which delayed our arrival which meant we didn’t get home to after 1am. 

The trip was fabulous and we’re now looking forward to hosting Chantal and Jean Philippe when they come over in 2023.