Early summer holiday, 11 June 2025

Loches, Centre-Val-de-Loire, France

We weren't supposed to be here tonight, but at a goat farm another two hours up the road, but this looked like a nice place to visit en route. Sadly, I have had a migraine all day - not bad, but debilitating - so we are staying here so we can have a proper look round in the morning, and have rejigged our tomorrow night's stop to match.

It's actually rather lovely here, by a river (the Indre?) with a robin, chaffinch, blackbird, doves and frogs battling it out! 

Early sumer holiday, 9 June 2025

La Roche-Posay, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

It was a lovely morning this morning, and, despite having to pay an extra €6 for out staying our booking, we didn't hurry. The Swan Whisperer went for a walk before breakfast to try to find an open boulangerie (successfully, eventually), and afterwards went for a quick walk along the river. I went down to the river while he was emptying the loo and so on; it really is lovely there.

We knew that tonight we would be parked up in a supermarket car park (which does have services, but no electricity), so we decided we wouldn't hurry, and looked up interesting things to do en route. We found a Lidl that was open (today is a public holiday in France) and stopped there for me to redeem my coupon for a free baguette, among other things. The first interesting place we called at, though, was an ancient Roman site at Bouchaud, which was up a very steep hill ("It's only about 50 metres," said the Swan Whisperer, encouragingly. Quadruple that, and you might be about right!) but worth seeing when you got there.

Also lovely views of the countryside roundabout. The visitor centre was closed, but we didn't know whether that was normal Monday behaviour or because of the public holiday. 

We had lunch there and then headed on across country - simply glorious views the whole way, and mostly lovely straight roads - to here, going slightly out of our way to visit a tourist trap called Angles-sur-l'Anglin; this had a rather spectacular ruined castle and was obviously a Thing to Do on a Bank Holiday, as it was rather crowded, so we couldn't stop. Then we drove down through La-Roche-Posay to this Super U out the other side. It will be convenient for the morning, is all I can really say about it! 

Early Summer Holiday, 8 June 2025

Cognac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

This morning slightly spoilt by the discovery that I had made a mistake booking the Camping-Car Park, and our stay both last night and tonight was due to end at 08:30. I thought at first I would have to pay an extra night's fees, but, in fact, one only has to pay €6, like you do when you just use their services. Anyway, I got in touch with them and enquired, and they kindly refunded me the €6, which was nice of them. But I do wish they wouldn't advertise their sites as having WiFi when they do not, so annoying!

Anyway, when we were ready we used the services and headed on. Our first port of call was a Super-U for bread and one or two other things - I ended up buying more cheese than I intended, but we didn't eat it for lunch as I bought leek tarts which we had with salad. We stopped to have this in a little village which rejoice in the name of Pissos! And on the same direction-board, but unfortunately underneath rather than above, a village called Ychoux! It occurred to me that if one did the latter, one might well do the former by mistake.... And the Swan Whisperer said it would go well with Cognac, where we are staying tonight.

As it is Pentecost, I might have found us an English church to join in with, or perhaps we might have headed north via Pau, but it is also our own church's anniversary, and we had a very old friend taking the service, so we decided to watch the YouTube stream instead, which we did before eating. 

When we arrived, we filled the WoMo up with water and then had a cup of tea, before heading out to see what was what. We decided that we were early enough to do a tour at a Cognac factory; we thought at first of going to Martell, which is just across the road from the aire, but the visitor centre was up a very steep hill, and anyway, it was nearly their closing time. So we went to Hennessey instead, just along the road.

It was fabulous! The last tour of the day was about to happen, so we joined that. First of all they take you on a short river cruise, mostly to show off the extent of their domain, but also the one remaining mediaeval city gate, and the Chateau (now a museum). The boat dropped you on the other side of the river, where we were shown a short film outlining the history of the company - the 8th generation of the family are still involved! Then we were shown a graphic of how the wine was made - it is a very acid grape to control the proof of the wine, which must be between 9 and 10.5°. This is because any stronger and it would interfere with the distillation process, which we learnt about next. The first and last litres of the distillate are recycled, I didn't quite gather why. The result is eau de vie, which we were allowed to smell, and it smelt gorgeous. This is then put into barrels to mature for a bare minimum of 2 years, and some of the rarest brandies are there for even a century or more! The barrels are kept in cellars known as "chais", not "caves", and there is some ritual involved when a worker places his first row of barrels, and they get their name inscribed on a barrel which has a bunch of flowers left on it and have to bring in cake.... 

The guide then went into considerable detail about the blending process, and I got a bit lost, but I gather the tasting committee meets every morning at 11:00 am and tastes a good hundred cognacs throughout the day (they do spit it out!) to get the finished product just right. And then we had our own tasting. One was the VS, matured between 2 and 6 years. It was horribly harsh, and would not be my drink of choice! Then we tried the VSOP, matured for a lot longer, which was much nicer on first taste, but still a bit harsh. We then tried it on the rocks, which was lovely, and finally a cocktail known as a Henny-Rita, which was like a margarita only with Cognac. The Swan Whisperer loved it, but I thought it a little too sweet for my taste.

Then, of course, but came the hard sell in the gift shop, but we were immune to such blandishments and came away to eat asparagus, pork chops with pasta and an apple-and-onion mixture, followed by home-made yoghurt with strawberries. The strawberries were a bit tasteless, not a patch on the French Garriguettes, which I'll buy some more of later in the week. Tomorrow is a public holiday, and I don't think most shops will be open. 

Early summer holiday, 7 June 2025

Arjuzanx, Morcenx-la-Nouvelle, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

There was a lovely sunrise when I woke up this morning - I don't think my photos quite do it justice! 

I don't quite know why, but we decided to go back to the huge Acampo in Tinxudan to do the necessary shopping. Frankly, I'd have preferred it had we stopped in the first out-of-town shopping centre we came across, which looked to have a far more manageable supermarket! The drive there was lovely, though, along a non-toll motorway which was really rather spectacular.

I dutifully shopped, although I couldn't find fresh orange juice anywhere, so bought a bag of oranges which we can squeeze ourselves instead - I rather prefer that, when plI can be bothered. Then it was lunch-time, and then we drove up a French motorway to this little place in the middle of nowhere. Actually, it's in a former lignite quarry, and there is a large lake with a beach.

It is a very pleasant aire, surrounded by woods, and the Swan Whisperer sat out reading while I tried to see if I could make my Kindle Fire behave (I couldn't. It will be replaced when I get home, by an Android tablet with its own keyboard and mouse! A birthday present from the Swan Whisperer!), and then did a short tai chi workout. It being Saturday, the SW has cooked supper, and I think I shall have an early-ish night as I am really rather sleepy! It is now too cold to sit out-of-doors - we had hoped to eat out, but it cooled rapidly as the sun went down, although it won't be dark for another hour or more. 

Early summer holiday, 6 June 2025

Pamplona, Navarre, Spain

So today was All About Pamplona. The Swan Whisperer went for a run first thing, only to reappear just as I was about to get into the shower, so I had to let him go first ("Then I can make breakfast!" he said). But it was not long before breakfast was on the table.

We set off about 10:00, not getting off to a good start as the SW misread the map and we went to the wrong roundabout to wait for the bus into town. And then when we were on the bus, it didn't stop at the stop we wanted, so we were "carried on to Crewe" and had to walk back, but it was actually a rather lovely walk across a bridge and through a park.

We didn't go in to the Plaza del Toros - I think it was closed, anyway - but had a quick look at the outside and then crossed the road to head into the Old Town.

The first thing we came to was the former palace gardens, now filled with booksellers round a large square. Then we found the local market hall, and had a look round there - and used the delightfully air-conditioned facilities - before walking up to the Cathedral. It cost five euros to go in, so we didn't, but by then I was needing a breather, so we went to the bar across the square and proved the truth of our daughter's comment that the only words you really need to know in any language are "two beers, please"!

 Once we - or rather I - got our second winds, we had a lovely potter round the old town, ending up at the statue of the bulls running,

after which we found a place to have lunch. This was a bit of a failure because although the food was delicious, there were no side-dishes, and they didn't bring me a spoon for the broth in my squid in its own ink,

and I didn't know what to ask for. The waiter did speak a little English, but not much. We only had - only wanted - a main course, and when we had had it (I couldn't finish mine, but didn't quite like to ask for a doggy bag), we walked back to the WoMo across a park and down a lift.

After a rest, I popped into the petrol station next door to see if they had any fizzy water, which they did, and fruit, which they didn' t, but did also get a baguette for supper, which will be bread, cheese and salad. Over 11k steps today - I hope I don't regret it tomorrow. 

Early Summer Holiday, 5 June 2025

Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

I fell asleep after my alarm went off this morning, which I hate doing as it makes me cross, sleepy and late for breakfast! Where we were parked up was on the corner of an enormous shopping mall, and I spent what was left of the morning wandering round a huge Alcampo, which is the Spanish version of Auchan. I didn't buy anything much - bread for lunch and one or two other things, including Himalayan pink salt that I haven't been able to get anywhere else. And a couple of very thin steaks for supper, but they were under €3 for the pack, so I pounced on them! And pretty much got my step count for the day in, going round that enormous superstore. 

We then headed off on the relatively short drive to Pamplona, which is in Navarre. I'm sure we have had Queens and so on from here - wasn't Berengaria a queen of Navarre, and I think there was a Joan of Navarre, too, but I'm not sure how she fits in! I Will have to look her up! It was a lovely scenic drive through the hills - in fact, the only photo I took today was on the drive. We stopped in a random aire for lunch, as it was getting late, and, of course, there was a much nicer one a few hundred metres down the road, but that's sod' law! 

Park 4 Night said that you should check when you arrived at this aire to make sure there was a space, as people tend to pay when they leave and this throws the count off. And a nice Dutch couple had just claimed the last space! The Swan Whisperer went to help them with checking in, and I looked up nearby places to park up, but just as we were about to go, the Dutch woman came running up and told us someone was just leaving! So we dashed in and grabbed the space, and are here, we think, for the next two nights, although we might move on tomorrow afternoon, we'll see. 

I was still tired, and also absorbed in the new Richard Coles' Daniel Clement mystery, plus it was hot, so we opened up everything that could be opened up and then after a cup of tea the Swan Whisperer went for a walk. He actually went for two walks and missed his route coming back for the second one, which nearly made him late for supper! 

I decided it was too hot to cook more than was strictly necessary, so instead of serving the steak with mushrooms, carrots and potatoes, as I had first planned, we had it with salad and bread and butter instead! And very good it was, too! Followed by some Basque Coffee-flavoured dessert (not "Flan", delicious though that is) and cherries which need eating! We picked out all the bad ones and, when we had eaten our fill, the good ones went in the fridge! 

Early Summer Holiday, 4 June 2025

Txingudi Motorhome Park. Ventas, 20305, Gipuzkoa, Spain

We had hoped to go for a walk round CapBreton this morning, but the main car park was full, so it didn't happen. So, I after I had done a big shopping in a nearby Intermarché, we set sail for this motorhome park in Spain, very near Irun and so on. 

It was a lovely drive, through Bayonne and St-Jean-de-Luz,

among other places. Then we got to Hendaye, and turned left over a bridge and were in Spain! It was still another 20 minutes or so to the aire, which is your typical urban aire, no camping, but everything provided, including quite the best free WiFi we have had so far this holiday. It also has laundry facilities, which we are profiting from even as we speak! I hope we will then be able to manage until we go home, although I'm very much hoping we can do the laundry in the new facilities outside Carrefour in Calais before we go home, which would save a lot of time and stress! 

Anyway, the first thing we did was have lunch, and then, thanks to copious instructions from the extremely nice site manager via Google Translate, we set off to catch the bus to a place called Honorrabia, which was highly recommended by everyone! I had never heard of it, but it was well worth visiting - a walled citadel

(fortunately accessible by lift) with lots of steep narrow streets and a magnificent view. More photos than you will want to look at the are on Facebook! 

After wandering around very happily for an hour, we caught the bus back to the aire - actually to a huge shopping centre just by it; I might have to explore the enormous supermarket in the morning only, being Spain, it doesn't open until 10:0 am, and we may want to be away by then. We shall see. 

Early Summer holiday, 3 June 2025

Soorts-Hossegor, Landes, France

We didn't do much this morning; the weather has gone back on us a bit. So we didn't hurry, but used the services and then headed out to the nearest Hyper-U, but in fact there was an "everything" shop in the same area, so I went in there and was delighted to find a vinyl tablecloth to replace ours, which has worn out. There was also a Lidl, so I shopped in there, as all I wanted was bread for lunch!

We then drove on through Arcachon and the various other seaside towns in that locality, and then down the coast.

Why do seaside towns always have vast Moderne blocks of flats, as though visiting the seaside was something that only started happening in the 1920s/30s? I After all, the it was the Prince Regent who made places like Brighton and it's cheaper relative Worthing fashionable a hundred years earlier!

We were looking out for a place to stop for lunch and thought we saw somewhere, but it turned out to be a place where they were building a solar field, and no public access. So the Swan Whisperer reversed the WoMo - and got stuck! The soil was very loose, and we kept digging ourselves into it deeper and deeper! We tried using the mats from the inside - not too sure they will ever be the same again! Eventually the old one vinyl tablecloth came to our aid, and we got out, rather grubby! We now have no internal mats for at least the rest of the holiday (and I could have replaced them earlier, had I known!). Although they will probably be all right once they have been given a good shaking and brushing, and then put in the washing-machine at home!

Anyway, we finally stopped in a village called Pontenx-les-Forges, and I thought it looked familiar, and then I realised we had parked in the exact same spot to have our meal in February 2023!

Then on and on down minor roads to this aire in Soorts-Hossegor, where we have stayed a couple of times before. The WiFi isn't working, which is maddening of it, as there is very little phone signal. Just enough to upload this, I hope. The Swan Whisperer went for a walk round the lake, and has come back rather wet, as it rained! Of course, the rain is now away, but he is going to have a shower before supper. He says he wants to run round it in the opposite direction in the morning. No tai chi for me today because of the weather, but I hope to get a decent walk tomorrow. 

Early summer holiday, 2 June 2025

Gujan-Mestres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

I seem to have been having a bit of a rest day today; the Swan Whisperer went for a walk this morning, and I could, and arguably should, have gone with him, but chose not to. We didn't set off as early as I would have liked, for one reason or another, and it was a long, rather dull drive down here, on the outskirts of Arcachon. It's a lovely aire, though.

En route we stopped at an E Leclerc for me to shop; I was very amused to see a young bird perching on top of the fruit and vegetable aisle - I don't think it did anything too ghastly on the red peppers. Sadly, it flew off before I could get a photo.

We stopped at a random aire for lunch; it was called L'aire des Oiseaux, and the Swan Whisperer had hoped it would have waterfowl or something, but no! It was very big, though, so no problem parking.

I dozed most of the way down the motorway after that. When we arrived here, there was someone in front of us making a total dogs' breakfast of checking in. I can't think why, as it was dead easy - you entered your reg number and the number of nights you wanted to stay, paid by contactless and it issued you a ticket on which was the entry-exit code! Anyway, they got in at last, and so did we. Lots of space, but as it is by a huge leisure area, I'm just as glad we didn't come here earlier!

The Swan Whisperer went for an explore, and I did a very short and rather pathetic tai chi, which I hoped would wake me up, but it hasn't, really! Still feel the better for it, though. And then we discovered that the fizzy wine we opened yesterday had fallen over in the fridge and spilt over all the vegetables! Oh well, we are drinking what's left, and I am changing plans for tonight's supper! 

Early Summer Holiday, 1 June 2025

La Rochelle, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

We both went back to sleep after the alarm went off this morning, and didn't stir until nearly 08:00. So it was about 10:00 am when we set off for our walk, which was supposed to have been round the lakes, but ended up being along the river and back through the edge of town, thanks to my insisting I knew the way to go! The Swan Whisperer very kindly didn't say he'd told me so, even though he had told me so! 

We decided that we would go on main roads today, although the Satnav did try to avoid a bad traffic jam and told us proudly it had saved us 9 minutes on our journey today! We found a large picnic area in which to listen to our church service - so much more audible on YouTube than it was on Facebook - and have lunch.

Driving to La Rochelle, though, there was a constant stream of traffic coming the other way, hordes of motor homes; French (and English) schools go back tomorrow! Even still, this very large aire is crowded, although we had no difficulty finding a space with electricity.

After a much-needed cup of tea, the Swan Whisperer went for a walk and I did tai chi, which I find very relaxing after a long afternoon in the passenger seat, even if I do doze off from time to time! In the passenger seat, I mean, not doing tai chi. And being childishly amused by some of the odder French names - the commune or commune of Corp Nud, for instance!

Supper was pork with vegetables, and although my travelling blender really does appear to have died - I charged it the day before we left, and it had no charge at all today! It will be replaced when we go back to London! And fromage blanc à la faisselle with stewed fruit I'd made before we left London.

Why is pork so cheap in France, when other meat, even pork sausages, is very expensive? Two reasonable-sized escalopes cost me the princely sume of €1.22!

Early summer holiday, 31 May 2025

Cesson-Sevigné, Brittany, France.

Last night we had a really good WiFi signal, so decided to watch the previous day's Springwatch. When we had done it before, the volume on my tablet was too low and I couldn't hear what was going on. I expect we could try to cast it to the television, but that never seems to work! We tried to use two Bluetooth headphones - his earbuds and my hearing aids - but you can obviously only use one of them at a time. So we decided to Bluetooth the tablet to the van's radio, but it's Bluetooth memory was full. And it took ages to learn how to clear it, but eventually we did! You have to have both the ignition and the handbrake on, and then you can access the editing options. I love it when you find out how to do something you couldn't do before; today I discovered the setting on the Satnav to turn off speed camera warnings and turn on excess speed warnings! Again, most pleasing! 

We decided that, given the potential lack of space at Cesson-Sevigné, we would try to get there as soon as possible. The Swan Whisperer went for a run while I got up and got breakfast in line, and after it, I went for a walk around the fishing-pond that was by the aire. It was not a long walk, but refreshing and very pretty. Fishing, apparently was not being permitted today, but I am not sure why. 

We used the services and headed off about 10:00 or a little after. First stop was the local Intermarché, where I did a big shopping getting supplies for the weekend, and, indeed, into next week. 

Then it was a lovely drive across country to Cesson-Sevigné, where we have been several times before. We did stop for lunch in a random picnic area, and arrived here about 15:00 or thereabouts; a good thing too, as there weren't many places left, and it has since filled up. 

We had a cup of tea, which we drank sitting out (first time this year), and then the Swan Whisperer went for a walk and I did a tai chi practice. And, it being Saturday, he cooked our Saturday sausage and mash (with baked beans, carrots, courgette and onion; yummy!) followed by strawberries and cream. Lovely French gariguettes, so flavourful! 

Early Summer Holiday, 30 May 2025

Bricquebec-en-Cotentin, Normandy, France

This morning we woke up fairly early, but once again didn't hurry. The Swan Whisperer went to get croissants from a nearby bakery, which we enjoyed after our poached eggs on toast. After breakfast we went for a walk round the village of La Rivière-St-Sauveur, which I had not done before. It is quite a pretty little town, but what is really nice is that it still has its shops, which so many places don't have. We saw two bakeries, a butcher's, a greengrocer's and an ordinary grocer. Probably a lot more expensive than the local E Leclerc, or whatever, but much nicer. 

We also walked round the lake in the Parc Morrelle, which we had been unable to do last time as it was being repaired. The reedbeds were so high, though, that it was impossible to see the water except in one or two carefully curated spots. 

After the Swan Whisperer's coffee, we set the Satnav and headed on. As an experiment, we decided to ask it to take us on the "Shorter" route. It has four possible modes: "Fast", "Short", "Shorter" and "Economic". This was quite fun, but it took us through a lot of small towns, in at least one of which there were serious traffic hold-ups. We didn't know whether it was road-works causing diversions, a local fete of some of the kind, market day, or just sheer weight of traffic, but very unusual for France, where streets are often quasi-deserted out of rush hour. 

The Swan Whisperer wanted to look at the sea, so we set a waypoint for Langrune-sur-mer, where there was a car park with dedicated motorhome spaces across the road from the sea, so we had lunch and the SW went for a quick leg-stretch. He then said there was a casemate along the beach that he wanted to see, but when we drove past, it was only a concrete pillbox, such as can still be seen in many places on the British coast. 

We told the Satnav to go the most economical route, as we were bored of traffic jams and tiny roads, so it took us up the main road to Barfleur; I fell asleep for a bit on the main road, as I often do. Woke up awhile before we arrived, though.

But when we got there, there was no room at the inn - certainly not in the free aire they have there, nor in two nearby campsites. So we had to rethink. The Swan Whisperer suggested we check what Camping-Car Park had in the area, and we finally found this rather pleasant aire that is not at all full, though we are not sure why. We are parked up in the shade, and the SW went for a walk to see if there is somewhere he can go for a run in the morning, and I did a tai chi workout to a video. Then it was time to get supper, which was goaty aubergine pasta, yum! 

Early summer holiday, 28 and 29 May 2025

La Rivière-Saint-Sauveur, Normandy, France

Normally at this time of year we are either at or on our way home from (or on our way to further adventures after) the ISU Adult Competition in Oberdorf. However, this year, due to the current refurbishment of the rink, the competition isn't until the end of June, and with the NCC holiday in mid-July, the dates simply don't work for us. So we are spending 16 days in France, instead.

We couldn't set off very early yesterday as the Swan Whisperer had a meeting in the afternoon that he couldn't get out of, but we packed and loaded the car with everything except the stuff that was in the fridge, and when he was leaving the meeting, he rang up and told me, so I had everything ready to go when he came back, at about 4:00 pm.

My sister is away for a couple of days and, so as my mother had fed us last time we were down, and we knew we would have very little time with her, I brought down some food to share (pork pie and rice salad, since you ask!) and we ate rather quickly and were away by about 7:35 pm. We had booked on the 22:54 crossing, but in the event we just managed to get on the 22:14, going straight through passport control with our brand new passports! While we were waiting for, and on, the crossing, we unpacked our things - the fridge stuff and the groceries had been done earlier - and were pretty much ready to fall into bed when we got to the aire at Blériot-Plage.

Neither of us slept terribly well, and were awake early, but didn't hurry. It is Ascension Day, which is a public holiday in France, so of course it was raining! The big supermarkets were open, though, albeit with reduced hours, so our first port of call was the Auchan, where I did some shopping, primarily for washing--up liquid, since my mother's cleaner has moved hers and she doesn't know where it is, so I gave her the bottle that was in the WoMo!

We were driving down to this very pleasant aire the other side of the Pont de Normandie, where we stayed in March; it was the first time we have used our new Satnav, and it is sufficiently different from the old one to be a bit of a learning curve. We persuaded it to take us on a more scenic route, not just straight down the motorway, and it was a lovely drive!

We stopped for lunch, and for the Swan Whisperer to have a mid--afternoon coffee, which he swears keeps him awake, and then it was a straight run here. There was a bit of a hold-up over the Pont de Normandie, as it is on a contraflow system because of Works, and getting the traffic down from 8 lanes through the toll to 1 took some doing! But it didn't take long, and the drive was as spectacular as ever (photos on Facebook). The Swan Whisperer has gone out for a walk, and I think I'll go and do a qi gong or tai chi workout in a minute. 

Exploring Brompton Cemetery, 26 May 2025

Another Bank Holiday, another excursion.  This one was a bit of a bucket-list option for me, as we went to explore Brompton Cemetery, in Fulham.  Many, many years ago now I lived round the corner from there, and one of the most surreal moments of my life came when I was going past the entrance to the cemetery and a van drew up and two men got out, carrying a television, which they proceeded to take towards the entrance....  I suppose that one or other (or both) of the lodges at the entrance gates were inhabited and the residents of one of them wanted to hire a new television, as was the norm in those days.  But all the same....

So, you know what it is like when you live near a place, you never somehow visit it.  And I don't think it was really a place to visit back then.  These days, it is run by the Royal Parks, and the western lodge is a café and loos, and the eastern one is the visitor information centre.  There may or may not be tenants on the upper floors - I didn't ask!  The cemetery is still in use today, but it is also a public park and a Grade I listed one, at that.

We decided to go by the most sensible route of a bus to Clapham Junction and then the Mildmay Line to West Brompton (it's the first time I'd been on the Overground since its separate lines were given names).  The first train was, alas, cancelled, but it wasn't long until the next one came in and we could sit down while waiting for it to leave.  And, of course, the cemetery's northern entrance is only metres from the station.

So we wandered up and down the many paths, finding some famous graves - Dr John Snow, who proved the link between cholera and contaminated water; prize-fighter John "Gentleman" Jackson, ballet composer Constant Lambert and, of course, Emmeline Pankhurst, on whose grave people are still putting flowers.  

Much of the cemetery has been left to run wild, as a haven for wildlife - there were lots of birds, including a murder of crows, and a squirrel, but I believe there are also bats and rare insects.  Some of the graves are still tended, of course, but with over 200,000 people buried there, many are left to run wild.  Even some of the more modern graves - one, raised in memory of "Our beloved mother" was very unkempt and uncared-for, and we wondered how beloved the mother in question had actually been.  Graves ranged from ornate mausoleums, over-the-top Victorian marble angels and so on, to plain marble slabs, and pretty much anything in between.  I'll put lots of photos on Facebook.

When we had wandered down to the South end and back again, we had lunch in the café, and then went back down to the South exit to catch a bus.  We had thought of going to the exhibition at St Paul's, but we were getting tired by then, so got a 211 to Battersea Power Station Station and then it's only a short walk to the terminus of the P5, which took us home.

Buses, flypasts and new shoes. 5 May 2025

Today was the May Day holiday, so of course the weather, which has been being absolutely lovely, went back on us and it was seriously cold and showers on and off.  I would have enjoyed today's excursion a great deal more with a warmer coat, or at least a jumper rather than a light fabric jacket under my summer coat!  Yet two days ago I was out with nothing more than a t-shirt on my top half!  It's supposed to get warm again next weekend, though.

There were a great many things we could have done today, including a local street party and an Open Day at the Windmill, but we decided to go into central London to watch the flypast in celebration of VE Day.  This is technically not until Thursday, but I don't think the Government thought two Bank Holidays in one week was a good idea!  So most of the celebrations, including a military parade, and this fly-past, were today.  I suggested we went into Brixton and caught whichever came first of the 3, 59 or 159, and head to the South Bank, which is always a good place to watch flypasts.  And get a sandwich before it kicked off.

The bus that came was a 159, but it was stopping at Lower Marsh - unsurprisingly, since no buses were crossing the river due to road closures for the parade - and I suggested we went to the café in Tommy's to get our sandwich.  Which we did, and actually sat there until it was time for the flypast, which we watched from the garden there - not really the best place, as mostly what we could see was the backs of planes disappearing over the Houses of Parliament.  Although that was quite impressive.  And it finished with the Red Arrows, as scheduled (photo courtesy of the Swan Whisperer; I didn't take any).

The Swan Whisperer needed new everyday shoes - he has just got new running shoes, which seem to be helping with a long-standing foot injury/problem of some kind, but his everyday shoes were a disgrace!  So we decided to get a no 12 bus to Peckham, where there is a Clark's outlet store, and failing that, a Shoe Zone.  On the way, we crossed paths with masses of policemen, but they were not catching criminals or sorting out the traffic; it was fairly obvious that they had been part of the parade, and had then been having lunch somewhere (or were about to have lunch).

When we were on the bus, we realised we totally didn't know the end of the route, so decided to stay on until its terminus at Dulwich Library, and then get another bus back.  Which we did, rather fun seeing parts of Dulwich which were new to us.  We had to wait about 10 minutes for a return bus - a 197 - during which I got very cold indeed, but it came at last and dropped us off at the Aylsham Centre, where new trainers were successfully purchased!  We had a look round Morrison's but simply couldn't find any of the things we needed, so came away and caught a 345 back to Brixton.  During which time the sun came out and thawed me out nicely through the front windows of the bus!

Of course, we had just missed a 35, so the Swan Whisperer walked to Tesco's and thus home while I waited the four or five minutes until a 355 came, and I went home.  I did go into Lidl, but nothing seemed to want to be bought, so came home and fell asleep in my chair..... but it was a fun day out, even though cold.

The Silvertown Tunnel

The Silvertown Tunnel opened today and I hoped we would be able to go through it on opening day - after all, how often is there a new tunnel under the Thames, especially one that has come in on time and on budget? 

It was also the first day of the Easter holidays and the Boys were coming.  We were having Boy 2 in any case, but the Lanky Teenager also chose to come, to our joy.  He expressed a desire to visit the Science Museum, and I booked tickets, but I haven't been very well this week and realised I would probably not have enough energy to enjoy it, so the Swan Whisperer picked them up at Tavistock Place and they went to the museum.  I think they had a good time, but they are getting to the monosyllabic age.  

I, meanwhile,  spent a quiet morning, although I went to Lidl and tried, unsuccessfully , to make a start on Sunday's sermon.  The men arrived back shortly after 13:00 and we went to lunch in the café opposite - they all had an English breakfast

and I had avocado toast. 

The Swan Whisperer had been for a run before breakfast, and the Lanky Teenager had been playing badminton before his, so they were hungry! The boys and I had smoothies, too - mine was five berries and they had a similar one but with a different mix of fruit.  

The Swan Whisperer had to do a quick errand in Brixton that couldn't wait, and we set off about 15:00, going via Peckham and Blackheath.  You take the same road that you take towards the Blackwall Tunnel (now also toll), but it is clearly signposted that you need to be in the right-hand lane, and the turn-off is very clear.  It is a tunnel, which is all that can be said for it, although the boys commented on how clean it was.  It won't stay that way for long!  We weren't quite sure how to get from the other end up to the 'Stow, but Google was helpful there, and we got there shortly after 16:00.  My grown-up Boys made a cup of tea for us all.  We drove home the usual way - via the A12, Limehouse Link and Tower Bridge - and, although it was rush hour, it was an easy journey.  

Going through a tunnel is not very exciting - but I'm very glad we did it on its first day!

Tea on the River, revisited

 Three years ago, we celebrated our wedding anniversary by having an afternoon tea cruise on the river Thames.  Today, we did it again, courtesy of a Christmas present from my sister.  

Last time, we went on the Victoria Line and changed at Victoria, but this year Citymapper, TfL AND Google all insisted we took the Northern Line to Bank and then the Circle or District to Tower Hill (or walk from Bank).  So that's what we did, and arrived in nice time to board.  

I hadn't upgraded us or anything, but we were shown to a table for two in the very front of the vessel, which was lovely!  I didn't think the tea was anything special, and didn't eat two of my cakes (and wished I hadn't bothered with another one), but the sandwiches were nice, especially when we said we wouldn't eat chipotle on beetroot bread, We they gave us extra egg mayonnaise instead.  There were only plain scones, not sultana ones, and the cream was not clotted or even whipped, so rather went everywhere!  But I'm not complaining.

Our route today went right downriver to Greenwich, and a very apologetic captain explained that the tide would almost definitely be too high to prevent us going under Blackfriars Bridge on the way upstream, as, indeed it proved.  We didn't mind, but it must have been very disappointing for the tourists.

When we got off, they made a total nonsense, and we had to wait while passengers boarded a Uber river bus - this was quite unnecessary, I thought, as there were plenty of other corridors we could have used.  But we got off in the end, and then walked up to Monument and caught a bus home from there.  We are now drinking fizz to celebrate!

There will be photos on Facebook, as per - I hope they don't duplicate other photos I've taken from the river on previous cruises, but it's hard not to photograph iconic London!

Spring Holiday 2025, Thursday 27 March

Blériot-Plage, Hauts-de-France, France

After breakfast this morning we went on a short walk round the local opark, which delighted us by being called the Parc de la Morrelle, with the River Morrelle flowing through it!

Sadly, I didn't set my watch correctly, so have no record of time or distance, but judging by the step count was about 1.5 km.

ETA  Google Fit did record it, and tells me it was 2.05 km, further than I'd thought. Anyway, it was a very pleasant walk. It started off very misty, but the sun was breaking through at the end, and it was very much warmer! 

After coffee, it was time to set off, across the Pont de Normandie, which still had a very large cloud across it,

and you couldn't see much at all from it. The second half - my favourite, I think - was much clearer and you could see down to the ground below.

We drove up as far as the Aire de Baie de la Somme, where we stopped to have lunch, and then the last hour up to Coquelles, we're I visited both Lidl and Carrefour to do a Last Shop in France, and so up here to the aire in Blériot-Plage for our final night here. Not, however, our final night in the motor home, as it is going in to have some work done on it on Saturday, so we will sleep in it in the courtyard of No 6 tomorrow night. And then back to London and I'm preaching on Sunday. Not sure when we'll be off again - possibly early June, and definitely late July! 

Spring Holiday 2025; Wednesday 26 March

La Riviere Saint Sauveur, Normandy, France

We had a lovely walk around Juigné-sur-Loire this morning, something that we hadn't done before, for some reason, although we had stayed there twice before. Actually, I do know - the first time, we had coffee with some friends, and last time the friend, now sadly widowed, came and had coffee with us before we headed on. However, there wasn't time to tell her we were coming this time, as we only decided last night, so there was time for a walk this morning.

It really was lovely - quite apart from the scenery, the birdsong was incredible! The Swan Whisperer and I even thought we heard a cuckoo, but we may have been mistaken. We definitely heard robin, blackbird, chiff-chaff, wren, great tit, blue tit, goldfinch, dunnock, coot and mute swan! Merlin also says we heard a short-toed tree creeper, but we aren't so sure about that! 

We then had a long, fairly dull drive across France to this aire at the foot of the Pont du Normandie. Tomorrow is our last full day, and we get back to Calais in the evening. 

For the Swan Whisperer, the highlight of the holiday have been the huge variety of flowers we have seen on the roadside - today was loads of primrose and cowslips, among others. I have loved watching the trees gradually green out, although here they are far less green than they have been further south. Spring is definitely here, even if winter is reluctant to let go! 

Spring Holiday 2025, Tuesday 25 March

Juigné-sur-Loire, Maine-et-Loire, France

Niort is a really lovely town, but seriously hilly! According to Strava, the elevation gain on our walk this morning was 38 metres! I was delighted not to have got too breathless, although I really didn't want another walk today!

We walked round the town, admiring the donjon, the market hall (a listed building, apparently), the big church, the barracks, and so on, but almost especially the narrow little streets at the top of the hill.

When we had had our walk, and the Swan Whisperer had had coffee, we drove on to the town of Échiré, where we had originally planned to spend last night. After a quick dash round a Super U, we actually went to the aire to see what it was like - very nice, actually, nearly as nice as the one in Niort - and had our lunch there before driving here to this wine merchants near Angers, where we have stayed twice before.

They have opened a shiny new shop since we were last here, and we bought a couple of bottles of wine and some apples! Last time we had had a massive wine tasting with another couple, but this time we just had half a glass of rosé each! Still a warm welcome, though, and we even have electricity! Showers and a loo are also provided, as is water, but there is nowhere to empty the grey or the black. However, we did that this morning before we left Niort, so it won't be an issue.