Christmas Markets trip., 16 December 2019

Today was the last full day of our holiday, and the weather has been spectacularly vile, peeing it down most of the day. 

We left our hosts of the previous night at about 10:00, and our first port of call was an Intermarché in Guise for diesel and gas; I popped into the supermarket and spent all of €2. 10 on half a baguette and some reduced-for-quick-sale apple tarts. 

We drove on to the far side of Lille before stopping for lunch  - we had thought to stop in Landrecies, where we have parked up before, but it was too early for lunch and the Swan Whisperer had had his coffee, so we headed on.  

Got to Coquelles mid-afternoon, and I did a massive shop for last-minute Christmas goodies, and also coffee and the nice tea that I like as we are unlikely to be back  here before next May. 

After a cup of the aforementioned tea, we drove up to the new aire at Sangatte, near the cemetery there, and rather stupidly settled down for the evening - had we thought, we could have driven round Calais and seen their Christmas lights, which are always spectacular.  But we didn't, and spent the evening reading and playing games or listening to music on our various devices. 

Christmas Markets trip, 15 December

Today is the Swan Whisperer's 69th birthday, and it was pouring with rain for a lot of it.  He went for a run when he got up, and while he was doing that, I got his presents out from their hiding place and later got breakfast while he was showering and dressing. 

I was quite tired today after two fairly strenuous days in Strasbourg and Kehl, and the weather was not conducive to doing much.  The Swan Whisperer went for a walk before lunch, and then we went to use the services, forgetting that we were still attached to the electricity!  Oops!  Fortunately no harm done except it reset the circuit breaker in the aire, but we suspect that can be easily fixed.  The head came off our cable, but the SW was able to get it back on and it is working, so that's all right. 

After lunch, we set off and drove to this place not too far from Laon where we are spending the night.  It is a farm, and I expect they will want to sell us some of their produce in the morning, but that's okay!  It's a France Passion place, and they seem very nice and welcoming. 

We have just had a nice cup of tea, and it will be sausages and mash for supper as we didn't have them yesterday. 

Christmas Markets trip, 14 December

We really got up at a reasonable hour this morning and caught the bus into town to wander up the main shopping drag, calling at DM, Muller and Woolworth's on the way. Then we went into what's called the City Centre shopping mall to go to Edeka and a German grocery shop, including, but not limited to, red cabbage for our Christmas dinner (which will be magret de canard), coloured hard-boiled eggs, sausages for tomorrow night, and a pineapple!

We had had trouble finding the mall, and when we came out we headed towards what we thought would be a tram stop, but then found we were at the Town Hall already! And there was our bus - they are only one an hour on Saturdays - about to go, so we had to run for it. I was delighted to find I recovered very quickly!

Once back at the van, we had coffee and then got ready to head on. We had already decided to get diesel in Germany, as it is a good 20 cents a litre cheaper than in France, and were very amused to find that this is obviously what the French do on Saturdays, as there were huge queues (and at the Esso garage on the other side of the road).

However, we got our diesel at long last and headed on back to Toul for the night. Google have is a lot more restaurant options once we were here, and the one we have chosen is all of 5 minutes away from the aire! 

The Swan Whisperer is eating tartiflette with local sausage, and I have ham hock! Both very delicious! 

Christmas Markets trip, 13 December

It was a horrible morning, cold, wet and dreary  Even the Swan Whisperer didn't want t go for a run!  So we didn't hurry and it was late morning before we set off for Strasbourg and the Christmas markets.  

The bus arrived on time and met the tram at the Rathaus, as scheduled, and it was a quick and easy run into Strasbourg and the stop for the Christmas markets. 

I bought various presents for various people and we had lunch in our favourite restaurant in the place Broglié.  

The drink is a "bière de Noël", which was lovely, with a very faint hint of gluehwein spices.  The Swan Whisperer had more red wine than was really wise, but he enjoyed it, too.

We then walked round the rest of the markets, and when we got tired, we went back to the Cathedral and sat down for half an hour, until we were rather chilled, at which point we went to see their huge Nativity display, which was wonderful.  

More photos will be posted on Facebook. By then, we were ready for a drink, so we bought some mulled orange juice which was delicious, and then headed back to the motor home.  

Stupidly, we let the first bus go off without us - we were both sure it had said K5 on the front, not K3 - so instead of standing for 30 minutes in the cold, we took the tram back to the station and walked down the main shopping drag (doing this properly tomorrow when I won't have to rush), and got back to the bus station just in time!  Now back in the motor home and it will be lentil curry for supper as it is quick and easy!

Christmas Markets trip, 12 December

Today has been all driving; we were able to empty our grey water tank at our overnight stop, but the water was locked out of use.  I'm sure they would have opened it for us had we asked, but they were both out when we left. 

We stopped in Chalons-en-Champagne for diesel, and tried to stop at another services for lunch and motorhome services, but couldn't find the place.  And the next stop, we couldn't see the entrance to the car park, and where we did park turned out to be lorries only and a rather officious person tried to move us on.  We ate rather fast!

We finally found services at Toul, near Nancy - the Swan Whisperer had been harping on about them all day, so I kept referring to "Your tool", which made us laugh.

And then I went to sleep, and when I woke up we were on the outskirts of Strasbourg, in the rush hour.  Oh well.  We are now in Kehl, and are hoping that the trams are running to Strasbourg tomorrow (there are strikes in France and I am not sure what the state of play is) as we want to visit the Christmas markets. 

The wine went really well with the choucroute we have just eaten!

Christmas Markets trip, 11 December 2019

It is December and thus time for what has become our annual trip to the Christmas markets, and, because we enjoyed it so much last year, we have decided to go to Strasbourg again. 

We couldn't set off before 10:30 last night, as the Swan Whisperer had a meeting, so we booked on the 01:26 crossing, as we have done in the past.  The M20 was closed not once but twice, and we had to divert via lesser roads.  Fortunately the diversions were all well-signposted, so we didn't get lost, nor even badly delayed, and we were brought back to the motorway on the second one using the new junction they have been building at Ashford.  

We didn't have long to wait for our crossing, and it was uneventful, but when we got to the Cité de l'Europe, we found that they have stopped overnight parking there.  A quick check on Campercontact showed that increasingly during November people were being plagued by would-be migrants trying to hide in their motorhome, and then from 30 November the comments all warned that overnight parking had been stopped.  I suppose it is for the best, but at 03:00, not what you want to find out!

We had seen another motorhome parked up in Lidl's car park (but how long before they put a stop to that?) so went and joined them for what was left of the night. 

By the time we were up and dressed it was 10:30 past, so we didn't have a proper breakfast, just a croissant (from Lidl) and coffee, and then we drove back up to the car park so I could do a shop in Carrefour.  I do love French supermarkets at Christmas, they are full of foie gras and smoked salmon, and wonderful collections of dried fruits in hampers and so on.  However, that sort of shopping can wait until we are on the homeward track, so I just bought a few groceries, and wanted a slightly bigger small handbag (I have a perfectly good large bag but it gets heavy !  Anyway, I found one I liked (the shop had some lovely Desigual ones, but I didn't like the clasp, which felt awkward to use) and bought it. 

And then we set off for a long, long drive across northern France.  Chaméry, where we have stayed several times before, is about half way, but since we have been there so often, and since the availability of services is always  a bit of an issue in the winter, I did a bit of research and found this rather lovely place which is a champagne growers with a dedicated, all-year-round aire.  The owners are out at the moment, but I expect they will offer us a tasting if and when they come in.  And there are services. Tomorrow we head to Strasbourg and Kehl for two nights.  

Kingston Christmas Markets

The Swan Whisperer noticed, earlier in the week, that he was no longer taking one day a week to go for a long walk, or anything similar.  Meanwhile, I ordered something off the Amazon Treasure Truck, and the easiest place for me to pick this up is at Clapham Junction Station.  And a conversation with a Facebook friend reminded me of this article I'd read on Londonist.  So I suggested we took ourselves to the Christmas market in Kingston-upon-Thames. 

At first we weren't quite sure whether we could get there because of the strike on South West Trains, or whatever they call themselves these days (I am VERY not pleased with them, not about the strike, but because I bought my train tickets off their website and now they are making a fuss about refunding them - had I bought them on Southern, I would have had the refund within minutes of knowing the event I'd been going to wasn't happening.  Very unimpressed, and will not be using their site again).  Anyway, keeping an eye on live departures, etc, soon reassured us that trains were running quite happily, and as it was within the limits of our Freedom Pass, we set off at about 14:30 (Christmas markets are always better in the dark!), and arrived at twilight.

The market wasn't as wonderful as the Londonist article makes it sound.  It was in two parts - the Alpine Village in the churchyard,

and then another area in what I think is called the Ancient Market.  The latter was bigger, and a great many food stalls - the big problem about visiting at that time of day is that it isn't a mealtime! We pottered around and bought one or two stocking-fillers, and looked for some others, and then, because neither of us had been in Kingston before, we went to see the Coronation Stone.  This was oddly impressive, I thought. 

From there, it was only a few steps to a bus stop from where we could catch a bus to the very impressive Modernist Surbiton station, and a train back to Clapham Junction came a very few minutes later.

On balance, although the market was nothing like as impressive as the one in Strasbourg we hope to visit next week, it was fun, and a pleasant afternoon out.  And we treated ourselves to a ready-meal from M&S as a reward for not having succumbed to the lure of bratwurst and gluehwein!

RAF Hendon, revisited

I was meeting my friend MrsRev for lunch today, and suggested the RAF Museum at Hendon as being the sort of place we both like, and quite near where she needed to be before and after.  We spent most of the time in the restaurant putting the world to rights and catching up with each other's gossip.  I had the salad plate again, but although I ordered a small plate, it was far too much and I was nowhere near finishing it.  With hindsight, I'd have done better with a jacket potato with beans.... ah well. 

Anyway, after MrsRev had gone, I went round to the hangars that I hadn't been able to see last time when I had Boy 2 in tow.  I was glad I did - loads of 2nd World War planes, Spitfires and Hurricanes and so on, and you got the feeling of the size of them. 

There were a lot more than that, but those were the only decent photos I took!  There was also a film about the Battle of Britain - Germany would probably have won if they hadn't kept changing their minds about what to target - first, the radar network.  This could have been disastrous, but then they decided to go after the various RAF airfields instead - and then a bomb fell on Berlin which destroyed a garden shed and injured two people, and Hitler was furious so unleashed the Blitz in all its fury.  But that gave the RAF time to breathe and recoup, and so the Battle of Britain was finally won and there was no invasion.

Then there was another film about the Dam Busters, which I rather wanted to see as we had seen the dams just a couple of months ago.   Unfortunately, I fell asleep during it, and didn't quite like to put it on again when it had finished, as there was someone else there!  Oh well.

Then I came away, and found out the hard way that if you want to change at Euston, you need to be on the Bank branch of the Northern Line, which is a cross-platform change.  It's not miles if you're on the Charing Cross branch, which I was, but it's not cross-platform!  But I would have had to have waited for several trains at Colindale before there was a Bank branch one, so swings and roundabouts....

Pompeii, revisited

A family funeral in Oxford earlier in the week.  My cousin told me that there was an exhibition at the Ashmolean entitled "Last Supper in Pompeii", and, considering we had just been there, we should certainly go and see it; she recommended it.

So, as there was a little time, we decided to visit it. I'm so glad we did; the exhibition showed us a lot of finds from Pompeii, which we could visualise "in situ" as it were.  It was mainly concerned with eating and drinking, both in Pompeii itself and, contemporaneously in Roman Britain.  There were lots of cooking and serving vessels.

A figurine of a piglet, that may have been offered to the gods instead of the real thing (though I would have thought the real thing would have been cheaper, but what do I know?)

and even a Roman muffin tin:

and carving-knife:

There are plenty more photos on the website, so do have a look - or, better still, go and visit the exhibition if you are anywhere in the Oxford area.  It is on until January.

October holiday, 1 November

Cité de l'Europe

Today, being All Saints' Day, is a public holiday through much of Europe. So, in true Bank Holiday spirit, it rained all day!

We drove to the Strépy-Thieux boat lift, but sadly I was too asleep to really be aware of it. Then we stopped for lunch at a services - just a sandwich, but very nice.

Then we were stopped by French Customs - I don't know whether they were unaware that Brexit hadn't happened, or what - but they  kept asking where we had been, and why, and what we did for a living, and what was the retirement age in the UK, etc, while one of them with his dirty great feet peered all round the motor home and looked into all our cupboards and so on. Not nice, and I feel violated. This van is as much my home as my flat is, and I don't want customs officials all over the flat, either!

Haven't taken any photos today, so here is one from a happier border crossing! 

October holiday, 31 October

Blégny-Mine, Belgium.

If you count Vatican City and San Marino as separate countries, which we most definitely do, this is the 7th new country this holiday!

The day started with the Swan Whisperer going for a run. It was a bitterly cold morning, and we were glad I had a pair of knitted gloves with me that he could borrow. After breakfast I went for a walk down to the Rhine,

rather glad I'd tucked a woolly hat into my bag. How many holidays do you need both a sunhat and a woolly hat?

It was a simply glorious morning for a walk, though. I was interested to read the plaques about Lord Byron - apparently the romantic poetry he wrote after visiting the area made Rhine tourism a thing and they pulled down the city walls and built hotels instead!

Sadly the local folk museum was only open in the afternoons, or I'd have visited it.

I wanted to do a Last Shop in Germany, as tomorrow is All Saints Day so the shops will be shut everywhere. Its just possible the Carrefour at Cité Europe will be open, but I'm not relying on it.

So we drove down to Niederdollendorf, the next commune along, and I went to Kik (knitting cotton), ReWe (groceries) and DM (drugstore) in that order.

By then it was lunch time, so we crossed the Rhine on the nearest ferry and then stopped for lunch before driving to Blégny for the penultimate night of the holiday. 

October holiday, 30 October

Königswinter, Germany.

A long drive today; too long, really, as we won't have so far to go tomorrow, but Germany, even from the motorways, is so lovely at this time of year. The autumn colours are spectacular, but I keep never managing to take photos of them, so today's only photo is from my bed.

We've been to this site in Königswinter a couple of times before, but this time, to our surprise, it is full of British cars and caravans!  Don't know who whey are or what they are doing here, but it is rare to see other British tourists in Germany!

It is bitterly cold - only last week it was blissful in Southern Italy, and now there is a frost! 

October holiday, 29 October

Ochsenfurt, Germany

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, and then after breakfast we both went for a walk round Ingoldstadt,

calling in at a DM and an Edeka, and then on our way back there was a wool shop so I sent the SW back to the van to get his coffee while I investigated. There was nothing I wanted in the actual wool shop, except possibly some cotton, but I found some acrylic in the colours I wanted in the shop next door. So a win.  The SW said these flowers, in the main square, looked more like cabbages than flowers! I have to agree! 

After coffee and the services, we headed off towards Würzburg, this aire being on the Main a few kilometres short of it. Smooth journey, except we almost didn't find somewhere to stop for lunch and had to come off the road into some random village! Don't know where, but it was near Emskirchen. 

October holiday, 28 October

Ingolstadt, Germany

I should really know better than to say "Haven't  we been lucky with the weather?", which I said to the SW last night, because of course it promptly started raining - I fear to close the skylights when I got up in the night, and today has been very cold, as well as wet. From "just a t-shirt" yesterday, I've gone  into thick cardigan, scarf and wrap! We knew this would happen as we came north, of course, but you do feel it! 

I spent most of the morning wrestling with my bank (successfully) and PayPal (unsuccessfully), very frustrating, and was glad to walk into Kufstein to shop and work off excess adrenaline while I was at it. These Alpine towns are so scenic

that a modern shopping centre comes as a shock,

but just as well.

Then a cold, wet drive to here at Ingolstadt, stopping for lunch on the way. Got the last place in the aire, which is lovely and has electricity, and the SW went for a walk while I bought yet more rail tickets. I think it will be a warming drink this evening - whisky or sloe gin - rather than beer or wine! Last night we had pre-made Apérol Spritz, and all I can say is, don't bother, it's revolting with a horrible artificial aftertaste!

October holiday, 27 October

Kufstein, Austria

The Swan Whisperer's idea of enjoying an extra hour in bed was to get up early and go for a run! Me, I enjoyed the extra hour in bed!

After breakfast, I had a lovely time pottering round a very large hypermarket while the SW used services (Italian shops are open on Sundays). In Bozen, everything is in two languages and although my German isn't very good, it's a lot better than my Italian! Still some things I had no idea what they were, though - I think cheese, but could have been pastry.

Then a splash of petrol (it is much cheaper here, so it enough to get us to Kufstein) and we were off along the motorway to Austria,

(I think this is a glacier) stopping at the border to have lunch and buy a vignette for the motorway, which didn't stop us having to pay for the Europabrücke, alas. 

And then on in, past Innsbrück, with me trying frantically to get some decent photos of scenery

which was more breathtaking round every corner,

and finally we arrived here at Kufstein

in a very nice, although crowded, aire, which would be nicer in the person next to us wasn't taking up two spaces! 

October holiday, 26 October

Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol

Today has not been a good day. It started off very well, with a leisurely breakfast and sorting things out to get ready to go to Bolzano, including using the services, etc. But just as we set off, the satnav went off and we couldn't restart it.  It did recover later, thankfully, but too late to do any good today. 

Fortunately, we both have smartphones, so could use Google, but unless we kept a very sharp eye on it, it insisted on defaulting to the motorway, which we didn't want to use, because, scenery.  And there was such a lot I should have liked to have photographed, but didn't dare. The lake was so lovely today - the wind had got up in the night, creating perfect conditions for Saturday morning sailing and paragliding schools

and the lake was dotted with sails and a flock of coot!

We did stop briefly so I could shop, although in a rather expensive convenience store. There is a big Spar near where we are parked, so I hope to do a Last Shop in Italy in the morning before we tackle the Brenner Pass. 

October holiday, 25 October

Malcesine, Italy

We were out of the van by 09:00 this morning and on our way to catch a bus into the centre of Bologna. City mapper does not work there, but Google Maps does a great job of filling the gap, telling us which bus(es) to catch and when to get off, etc.

The centre of Bologna is well worth seeing. It had once been a walled city and some of the walls are still there,

but inside it is a mixture of grand arcades full of posh shops and little side streets with provision stalls.

And the huge central square is something else again!

After coffee in one of the many cafes, we went back to the car park and headed on to Malcesine, which might have been a mistake as it is at the far end of Lake Garda from the motorway where we really want to be. Only chose it because of the Battle of the Villa Fiorita (Rumer Godden), but the lake is very lovely!  As is the view from my bed.

And the sun came out again, which means it is a bit cold now. 

October holiday, 24 October

Bologna, Italy

Another slow start to the morning, as we were not really in a hurry. The kind man whose garden we had slept in allowed us to empty the loo and to take on water before we left - we tipped him €5, but I don't  think he'd have minded if we hadn't. 

It looked as though the lovely weather we have enjoyed so far was coming to an end, and indeed it began to rain as we arrived in Bologna this afternoon. But before then, we went a few km south to visit the local Lidl, so I can now say I have been to Lidl in 4 different countries!

Then it was on to the motorway, but we discovered that we were only a few kilometres away from San Marino, so decided to add another notch to our belt, as it were, and go there. Despite its being surrounded by Italy, it is not, in fact, a member of the European Union.

Back on the motorway we were very amused to discover that we were, quite literally, crossing the Rubicon, which is, of course, a river here. 

And so to a very wet and unpleasant Bologna. I decided the change was too much and spent what was left of the afternoon on my bed, reading and knitting, but the SW went out and says he would like to see it again in daylight, and as the forecast seems a bit better, we think we'll get up early and explore before heading to Lake Garda. 

I haven't taken any photos today, so here is another favourite from Pompeii. 

October holiday, 23 October

Marotta, Italy

I am a bear of very little brain! It is no good hoping to cross the Brenner Pass on Sunday (no lorries!) if you are planning to spend Sunday night in Bolzano!

So another quick rethink, and actually today has been rather dull for blogging purposes. The SW went for a run before breakfast, and I went down to the beach after it

while  he was changing the sheets, as we are half way through our holiday.

This was a lemon or lime, not sure which, just growing on a street tree, like crabapples in Britain! 

And then we drove up the Adriatico coast, on the motorway as far as Acona, which we stopped to have a look at (nothing much to see) and then on the main road or another hour up to here. A very nice aire - it's only someone's back garden, and he wouldn't charge us as it is not summer! It's a bit noisy, being on the main road and the railway line, but that never bothers us much. The SW went down to the beach before it got dark, and I am going to cook risotto. 

October holiday, 22 October

Termoli, Italy

We had a day in hand so the Swan Whisperer chose where we were to go, this time on the Adriatic Coast of Italy. He found a cross-country route from Pompeii, and a supermarket there where we could shop.

First off all, though, he wanted a walk, so he went off to do that while I cleared up breakfast, made the bed, etc. When he cane back, he had coffee and then we used the services before setting off.

The idea of a modern hypermarket in Pompeii is a bit weird, but of course the residents have to shop somewhere! Especially as they had all the Halloween stuff and were beginning to have Christmas stuff, too. 

By the time I had finished shopping, it was lunch time so we ate before heading on.

I will draw a veil over the next few hours. If you are ever tempted to motor on secondary roads in Italy, don't. Just don't. Appalling road surfaces, very low speed limits, often difficult to pass oncoming traffic.... Just don't! I felt very sick and ended up going to sleep in the hope that things would be better when I woke up. They were - we eventually got on to an A road which was much better and a good surface, and a reasonable speed limit.

I don't know anything about this town where we have ended up, except that it is twinned with Pompano Bay (Beach? Bay?) in the USA. It is on the Adriatic coast and we are near the sea. A very nice aire, very quiet.

I have no photos from today, so here is one of Sorrento Bay from yesterday evening. 

October holiday, 21 October

I never cease to be amazed how cheap travel is here. It only costs €3.00 to go from here to Pompeii by bus and train. So of course we did.

First, though, it was a day for housekeeping, doing a little washing (we solemnly counted our pants, socks and t-shirts to see whether we needed to wash any or whether we had enough to do us until we got home) and so on.

Then we bought transport tickets from Reception and headed to the bus stop at the entrance to the site, although we made a nonsense and got off at the wrong stop for the station, but it wasn't a very long walk. Then we caught a train to Pompeii, and so to the ruins.

We had been told it was worth while spending money to have a guided tour, and it certainly was, as our guide was knowledgeable and friendly. He showed us most of what there was to see, and at the end of the tour pointed out the main sights (including the brothels!) that we hadn't seen, and offered to take the party on after a break. However, I had had enough by then and so we sadly said our farewells and then went out via the visitor centre that showed a good film of the various sites and when they were excavated.

A late lunch and then we discovered that we had missed the final bus of the day up Vesuvius, so we came back to Sorrento and the camp site. After a rest, the SW went for a walk, saying he hadn't had enough exercise, which I took leave to doubt, and when he came in, we went to the on-site restaurant, which, sadly, was mediocre and we'd have had a better meal had I cooked. And the SW wonders why I don't care to eat out much!