For those (Stephen) who only want a short précis:- We left home, travelled to Leafield for 3 days, then onto London for a week. Went through the chunnel to France then on to Belgium for 4 days where we visited Bruge and we’ll return to France tomorrow. The end.
At last we may have wi-fi so it’s time for us to update our blog properly.
We finally left home on the 16th and stopped halfway down for a night’s well earned rest. At last we were off and absolutely determined NOT to overdo it. The place we stopped was very basic but suited our purpose very well. After a leisurely breakfast we set off for Leafield and arrived in time to cheer Joseph and Eleanor on as they took part in their school sports day. The rest of the weekend was great, culminating in Joseph’s birthday on Sunday the 19th.
After he opened his presents he took us to see a steam operated saw mill. This was great as it was one of the 4 days in the year when it is all working. So the huge steam engine is operating lots of other machinery in this big building. While we were there Joe made a poker on the forge
and spent his birthday money from Aunty Jacqueline on a model of “Stephenson’s Rocket” which hopefully he has constructed by now.
Having had a very interesting couple of hours we all had a walk through the woods.
Then later we went for Joseph’s birthday dinner where Andy and I had already dropped off his surprise birthday cake. Having enjoyed a lovely Thai curry they brought out his cake and he loved it!
Off to London in the morning after another brilliant visit to the Oxfordshire Crick’s.
20th June - we leave Leafield and head for Mitcham where as always, Angela and Paul give us a warm welcome. It’s always good to spend a few days just shopping and chatting to Angela plus of course we get to see Stephen & Reena and Jamie & Tim. Thursday night we spent with Stephen & Reena at an Indian restaurant with lovely food and then on Friday we had another lovely meal with Jamie in Richmond, sadly Tim was ill and unable to come. Hope you are better now Tim?
Saturday 25th June - So with a bulging waist line we set off from Angela’s at about midday for the tunnel, intending to stay close by and go over at our booked time of 7.30am Sunday. We got there at 4pm and were asked if we would like to go then? So off we went arriving in Calais 40 minutes later, great! We drove along to Gravelines and found a lovely little aire at Port Fort Philippe. We nipped straight into the village for our first glass of wine and would have eaten there but the miserable pig behind the bar put us off. We ended up in the local chippy which bizarrely did not do fish! So poor Joan had to have crab, shame, these came with the most enormous pile of chips, and we asked for the small portion. (The diet starts tomorrow!).
On our return to the van I was concerned to see we had a voltage discharge showing and as we were not plugged in it was a big worry. Having decided it was too late to start trying to fix it we were delighted when about 11pm there was a knock on the door and a lady pointed out to us that the outside lights were on, phew!!
Sunday 26th June - our next task was to take a look at the local beaches but none of them were very good and the campsites were pretty poor. The sites were also a long way from the beach even though one was called “La Plage” and the other “Des Dunes”. An English woman we spoke to on the first site said she wouldn’t recommend it because of the dirty facilities and lots of noise from teenagers. This is a shame as the children want to come over in August and if we had found a good one it would have reduced their car journey considerably.
So off to Belgium to see our Friend Simone at a place called Middelkerke. The campsite is very nice and she was delighted to see us. For our part we were a pleased that she was looking and coping so well since Egide her husband died only a year ago. This campsite has a lovely beach about a 10 minute walk away and a small town about 1 mile each side of it. The only problem was I found the sand very sharp as it was full of broken sea shells, it also seemed to be very windy at times.
Joan decided on Sunday that she wanted her hair cut on Monday. (Ken, you will relate to this!), as she opened her eyes at 7.30am, (mine were still closed!) she nudged me and said “will you cut my hair now please. ” And good morning to you to dear I replied. (I like to start the day with rapier like wit.) I pointed out that if she was going to start Kathleen’s larks she would have to swim a mile and cycle 27 miles later, she was not amused.
Simone insisted on taking us into Bruges on Tuesday so that saved us all the bother of moving and finding a campsite/Aire near Bruges, plus of course we had our very own super guide.
We had a beer and then a very nice 3 course meal in one of the main squares with Kir to start. Over the last couple of days the temperature has soared into the 30’s which has not been too bad at the coast but when we were walking around Bruges it got pretty overpowering.
We were so full when we left Bruges that the only thing we managed in the evening was an ice cream from Simone’s favourite ice cream parlour. We knew it would be good as they were queuing outside on the pavement and that was at 8pm. Then back to our van to drink far too much wine, we think Simone is a bad influence! With all the exercise we’re feeling a bit fitter now and the only fly in the ointment is a total lack of wi-fi.
On Wednesday after another good day and a ride on the tram we had a last meal with Simone and said our fond farewells at 10.30pm as she was off back to her home in Antwerp. Tomorrow we head for Soissons back in France and hopefully my first Baguette!!!
Thursday 30th June Today was pretty uneventful, we arose early and had a pretty good drive to Ressons-le-Long near Soissons where it appears half of Hebburn have a caravan/holiday home!
Friday 1st July A red letter day I got my first Baguette and we have bloody wi-fi, YEH!!!!
Lots of Love
Joan & Bryan xxx
2 comments:
What Stephen said: keep it a bit briefer...and don't swear!
Have fun
Hi Bryan, I don't mind the swearing, but can you include coordinates for the Bruge place you stayed, we would like to go there.
ken
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