Lost in France...

Beautiful place, autumn colours, sweet chestnuts by the lorryload and the sun is shining every afternoon. We go out 'sur les bicyclettes' every morning, alternating between Chalus one way;

and Oradour Sur Vayres the other, along a lovely old railway line that has been covered in tarmac. The route is known as the Voie Vert and is well used by locals and visitors, below is a picture of Mr H travelling through rush hour traffic. Today a machine was clearing the fallen leaves and sweet chestnut husks from the path for us, very civilised.  

On one visit to Chalus Mr H decided to post our mail through the letterbox of a bank!! This meant he had to explain what he'd done to the bank manager, retrieve them and re-post them in a mail box. He claims to have done this on purpose as he needed to practice his conversational French :))

The french air and culture have affected Mr H in many other ways. I just managed to prevent him from buying a beret and he has developed a convincing gallic shrug. He can carry our daily baguette under his arm like a pro, he closes down between 12 and 3pm for a beer and has no fear of his backside visibly bobbing up and down in the bathroom doorway when applying sun screen to his legs in continental fashion (I giggled until I cried at this antic, just love him). 

The pace of life here is much slower than the UK and we're adjusting to it well. People come and go at Parc Verger just like any other site but many have visited before, lived here for a while or have returned while travelling through France to Spain and back. Planning to hire a car soon to broaden our exploration of this lovely region of France. Bonsoir for now!

Bonjour et bienvenue...

Had a brilliant time in Brighton, what a great place, so many lovely buildings and very posh, well worth re-visiting. Caught up with some friends we met in Wolverhampton and they provided us with a fabulous dinner at their house. Much appreciated Doug and Angie :)

Made the Dover to Dunkirk ferry on time, cheap crossing but I suppose we end up paying more to travel through France. Made our way from Dunkirk to Le Mans via toll roads (50 euros !!!!) and two motorhome aires one at Le Crotoy and the second at Montbizot. Weather overcast and because it's weekend there is not a lot open but fresh croissants and pain de chocolat make up for it.

On Sunday decided to set off early, avoid the toll roads and drive 250 miles straight to http://www.parcverger.com/ near Limoges where we are staying for four weeks or so. On setting off, Mr H was told by the sat nav to "bear left", which he promptly did, much to the concern of the oncoming locals!!! Managed to recover the situation and got away with no more than a few 'gallic shrugs' but decided to veto the sat nav from now on. It works really well in the main but occassionally throws in a red herring to test us. Furious map reading (not a skill of mine) is required as a back up as no idea how much google maps usage for the full day will cost me.

Much better way to travel, able to see more of France although it does take longer and driving through some of the towns can be quite a challenge! Seen many locals during our travels today ambling along with freshly baked baguettes tucked under their arms (yes lots of patisseries open on a Sunday here).

Arrived late afternoon and what a brilliant site, nice level pitch, fully serviced, immaculate showers and toilets. Can still get satellite reception here and good wi-fi. Fresh bread delivered each morning, newly laid eggs and champagne for sale from the neighbours!

Sandy Balls - and not a beach in sight!

Have done well for weather over the past week, sunshine all the way.

Made it out of Cornwall and headed through Devon, Dorset and into Hampshire.  Couldn't resist this site http://sandyballs.co.uk/welcome completely the other end of the spectrum to last place, very commercial, full of people, kids and things to do. Apparantly Sandy Balls are sandy outcrops not a dated comedian!

Leaving for Brighton tomorrow, highly recommended site   http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/caravanclubapps/applications/uk%20sites/Site%20Details.aspx?csid=21975 then we catch the ferry at Dover on Friday.

Practicing our French phrases for this weekend, here are our top 3 which must be pronounced with a broad Yorkshire twang!

Est-il un probleme officier?
Pouvez-vous enlever votre ane de mon pare-chocs?
Descendez ma terre vous salaud!

Til' next time  peeps:)

Farewell to Cornwall

Preparing to leave Old Karrow Farm on Friday and heading to the New Forest for a few days. In the meantime we continue to visit the local attractions. Pentire is great with a ferry crossing to Crantock beach where we have spent several days when the weather allows. 

Truro is an excellent place to visit but not sure what they've done to St Austell town centre it's a bit of a dump!

 

Fowey is very pretty and we had the best Sunday lunch ever (apart from one of mine) at the Ship Inn (seems to be a Ship Inn every place we go, along with a chippie and post office).

Weather not been great, rest of the country seems to be sunny and we've got rain most days. This chap seems to live in this phone box and someone should bleach out that bath, it's bad when even the fungus tries to escape.. tut tut!!!

 



A spanking good time in Cornwall

Have been in Cornwall for a week and a bit now and no major dramas! Went looking for the 'Lost gardens of Heligan' but couldn't find them so visited Mevagissey museum which was free admission, unfortunately they charged us £50 to get out lol.

Headed for the beach at Pentewan and poked around in a few pools before heading back to base to test drive our new recliners. They worked very well so piloted them on local beaches.

Par beach was next, one lady I spoke to described it as the 'most industrialised beach in Cornwall' but free parking, good access, nice sand, plenty of room. I must have an honest face as while relaxing in the sun behind the windscreen I was approached by a dog walker who asked me to look after his shoes while he went down to the water! His dog promptly peed on the windscreen before running off leaving a cloud of sand just for us. Two seriously attired for trekking ladies also walked right through our marked out claim to the beach within inches of my recliner and climbed the rocks behind up to the top. They appeared unconcerned about the sand and dried seaweed landing on us below. Despite a rapid incoming tide Mr H practised his casting skills and catching some very tricky seaweed in the lovely evening sun and warm winds.... magic.

Fistral beach was great but a tad windy (hence the windbreak), full of surfers and dog walkers although plenty of room. The activities of the lifeguard and various surfing schools on the beach provide some insight into how popular surfing is here. Many people arrived after their working day and could be seen changing from office suits into wet suits in the car park. We continue to support the local community by paying inflated prices for parking, coffee and light meals, Mr H diligently compares the vastly differing price he is charged for his favorite chewing gum. Most expensive so far is 90p for one packet, he nearly fainted at the checkout.  

And they're off........

Managed to get away from Wolverhampton, was starting to turn in to a re-run of 'The Prisoner' :) Last few days were spent 'snagging' the new RV and transferring our belongings over, the guys at Signature were very tolerant of our endless questions and some late electrical pimping, a girl needs to have the kettle and toaster plugged in just the the right spot.  Loved the old RV and left her sparkling clean and fresh for her new owners but this one is something else!

Made our way to http://www.bwml.co.uk/marinas/bath_marina_and_caravan_park/facilities#3
for one night. Nice quiet site next to the river Avon with lots of trees and people, quite a novelty after two weeks of forecourt life. Travelled down to Cornwall the next day, sat nav went a bit wappy so ended up going in a circle on the M5 at Exeter services but on the positive side managed to find a Tesco garage to fill up with petrol.

After a long journey we arrived late at http://www.oldkerrowfarmholidaypark.co.uk/ the approach road was a bit tight but we made it to the RV pitches at the rear. It's a good job we've got levelling jacks as our pitch is a bit steep! Beautiful surroundings, facilities are a bit 'tired' although we've got the site to ourselves and I guess it is the end of the season. We are surrounded by wildlife here, manic rabbits, a mummy and baby deer were grazing just in front of our RV yesterday, the first jays we've ever seen and Mr H believes he was attacked by an eagle while biking out of the site!

We're withstanding the wind and rain well (very snug) and when the sun does appear it is still very warm.  We have once again re-organised the lockers and internal storage, this is now a recognised ritual of ours when changing location. Planning the collection of our hire car has been problematic due to the limitations of public transport and when we asked for the car to be delivered to us the computer said "naaaaa!".  I'm sure it would be easier to buy a rocket launcher or illegal substances. However, we plan to collect it tomorrow with the help of a rather fabulous relative who has re-organised his working day to drive us there. We intend to visit the beaches and countryside of Cornwall come what may even if this means donning Winter gear.

Forecourt squatting.......

So here we are camped out on the forecourt sorting endless paperwork and specification details while all around us RV's and their owners come and go. We are more than happy in our gulfstream, she keeps us warm and copes with an erratic water supply and the construction of emergency washing lines on her outside mirrors after the staff have gone home.

We diligently abide by the unspoken rule that nightwear is never to be worn in communal areas. We try to keep a low profile by making trips into town, going for a swim and steam, hiding in the bus and never using the forecourt bathroom facilities while the lads are working. We apply the British stiff upper lip approach to our current situation and the mantra that every problem is an opportunity in work clothes! (and to think I was known for this phrase in my working days, bullshit really but entertaining bullshit).  

We've sampled all the modes of transport available to us; bikes, taxis, buses, trams, a merc, a mitsubishi colt and most recently the 'van'. Mr H was negotiating the ring road when it got stuck in 3rd gear. As the air turned blue he struggled to avoid the locals and negotiate a safe passage to Sainsbury's. After stocking up with supplies we pushed the van backwards out of the parking bay (no reverse gear) and started her up in 3rd arriving back at camp safely.