Another day on the river

 My family have developed a very nice habit of giving the Swan Whisperer Experience vouchers for Christmas, which we then like to redeem around the time of our wedding anniversary.  This year, my sister gave us tickets to the Abba Voyage concert, which we went to last week and both thoroughly enjoyed. It was amazing, and I do recommend it if you ever get a chance.

Meanwhile, my mother gave us the treat of a champagne afternoon tea at the Courthouse Hotel, Soho AND (it came as a package, but was two separate Experiences really) a day trip on the Thames with City Cruises.  We redeemed the afternoon tea on Friday, which was our anniversary, and very good it was, too! 

Then today we went on the river.

We didn't actually profit very much from the Hop-On, Hop-Off, as the cruises only stop at 2 places between Westminster and Greenwich, which are the London Eye and the Tower.  But we went down to Greenwich, which was a lovely trip in itself. 

We were hungry when we arrived, and there is a branch of Zizzi just by the pier, so went in there for lunch.  I had Chicken calabrese 

which was delicious, followed by an ice-cream sundae.  Also delicious!  Then we went for a walk around the Cutty Sark

and the old Royal Palace (now a university and the National Maritime Museum),

and then back to catch the next boat back upstream.  There were superb views,

but oh dear, the live commentary was dire - almost the same jokes as going down, but badly delivered, and he was totally patronising about the women (who he called "ladies") who built Waterloo Bridge.  I was very unimpressed, and even if I'd had any cash on me would not have left a tip.

We had planned to get off at the London Eye, but it didn't stop there on the way back, so we got off at Westminster Pier, and then walked up to Whitehall through the public subway at Westminster Station, and then eventually - it was rush hour by then - on a bus home!

Early spring holiday, 8 March 2023

Sangatte, Pas-de-Calais. 

This holiday is very nearly over. The drawers, which less than two weeks ago were bursting at the seams with clean clothes, now have just one or two sad garments lying around on the bottom - clean clothes for tomorrow, and the "spares" that have not, thus far, been needed. 

It began to rain last evening while we were parked up at St-André-de-l'Eure, and rained on and off all night. I do rather love lying in bed listening to the rain on the roof! 

I decided to go and buy the bread and croissants for today's breakfast, enjoying such sights as St-André-de-l'Eure had to offer en route.

Sadly, the first bakery I came to, the woman greeted me pleasantly enough but then absolutely refused point-blank to take a "foreign" credit card, and was really rather rude. The French have this image of being rude to their customers, but until now I have never found this to be the case. So I went across the road to the local Spar, which had lovely fresh baguettes (still warm) and the croissant and pain au chocolat I wanted, and the young man who served me couldn't have been nicer. 

After breakfast, we used the services and then drove on for what seemed like ages up to Abbeville, so I could do a Last Shop in the Hyper-U there, getting various bits and pieces for my mother to enjoy sharing with my sister as well as stuff for us. By the time I had done that, lunch was really rather late! 

After it, we set off up the motorway in the pouring rain, but just before we turned off to Sangatte, we saw that the ground was covered with snow!

We quite thought we had left all that behind in the Massif Central! We knew, of course, that it had been snowing in the UK, but didn't realise it had also crossed the channel. Fortunately the roads and so on were clear, so no problems. 

And so tomorrow we will be packing up and heading home. Unlike our holiday this time last year, we didn't find the spring. It is much later this year, and I regret not having packed warmer clothes! But eventually the spring will come, and in May we hope to be off again to Oberstdorf. 

Early spring holiday, 7 March 2023

St-André-de-l Eure. 

I felt a very great deal better today, although not up to walking into Montrichard as well as round it and back again. The Swan Whisperer did go in first thing to buy fresh bread and croissants - the first time we have had them this holiday, and found a large car park in the middle of town so that we could drive up there and park up while we went for what could only be described as a potter around the centre, and, briefly, along the Cher. 

When we got back to the WoMo, I nipped into a very convenient Carrefour City and bought eggs, which we needed, and then it was time to drive on another couple of kilometres to this aire, at St-André-de-l'Eure. The SW went for a walk that was longer and duller than he anticipated, but I expect the town centre will be rather nice. I might volunteer to get up early and get the croissants tomorrow, which will be the last full day of our holiday, so will have to include a mammoth shop! We do already have tomatoes.... 

Early spring holiday, 6 March 2023

Montrichard, Cher

When I told my mother on the phone that I was very well, I meant it. But, alas, as the evening wore on I started to feel rather dizzy and faint, didn't want my supper, and then couldn't sleep. So although I felt a bit better this morning, I wasn't able to walk round Lac Ponty, which I had been looking forward to doing, and, in fact, haven't left the WoMo all day. And to add insult to injury, I misprogrammed the Satnav and we ended up in the middle of nowhere after a very long drive. Found a Camping-Car Park not too far away, so we are here for the night, but ut is not the dairy farm we had intended! 

No photos today, so here is one the Swan Whisperer took the other day of the Pyrenees from Rébénacq. 

Early spring holiday, 5 March 2023

Ussel, Corrèze

It was a bitterly old night again, and a sharp frost this morning. After breakfast, we went on a lovely ramble round La Cavalerie, which has a lovely section inside the ramparts.

Lots more photos on Facebook. 

After this, we had planned to drive into Millau, but found in time that the Auchan there isn't open at all on Sundays, so we made a quick trip to the local Spar on the outskirts of La Cavalerie for milk and bread - I scored a lovely fresh baguette, still hot; at lunch I was just eating it by itself, it was so good and fresh! Lucky I picked it up as I went into the shop, though, as by the time I was ready to pay, they had all gone! 

We decided to drive over the Millau viaduct 

instead of going through the town, and then continued up the A75, trying unsuccessfully to listen to our church's Zoom service, but the preacher's microphone wasn't on and we could only hear the hymns, so eventually turned it off and listened to Gospel hymns on YouTube music instead! We came off the motorway to drive up to the Garabit viaduct - quite why we didn't just go into the aire, I do not know, but I wasn't driving! Anyway, we were lucky enough to see the one train a day (presumably there is one in the other direction, too) go over it. 

The Swan Whisperer took it upon himself to change where I had originally planned for us to spend the night, and we are alone in this campsite just outside a town called Ussel, in Corrèze. We are by a lake, and I hope to walk round it in the morning - it is not as big as the Ramée at Tournefeuille. It is called Lac Ponty, which amuses me as when I was at boarding-school, that was our name for the loo!

It was a very scenic drive to get here, and I have taken far too many photographs, which will be in a separate post on Facebook. 

Early spring holiday, 4 March 2023

La Cavalerie, Aveyron

Lovely to wake up at Mas Alart this morning!

The Swan Whisperer went for a run, as he always does here. After breakfast we said goodbye to our hosts, and headed on. First port of call was the local Lidl. In hindsight, I should have walked there - it is only about a kilometre, if that - and let the Swan Whisperer pick me up, but that didn't occur to me. 

After shopping, we drove down to the beach at St-Cyprien, and walked down to look at the Mediterranean. The SW dipped his hand in, as he had done in the Atlantic at Hossegor a couple of days ago. I find walking on sand too tiring, so went back to the WoMo once I'd taken a few photos. 

We drove a little further to the fishing village just outside Canet-en-Roussillon, which we had been to before, and enjoyed a walk around it. We had hoped to go on a trail to what was called a "grau" on the beach opposite, but again it was all sand, so we just took a photo of what looked like a stone pier.

It was very windy when we walked north along the lake, and we were glad to turn back. Not a long walk today, only about a mile, but enjoyable, nonetheless. 

It wasn't quite time for lunch, so we drove on to Toreilles and had hoped to have lunch beside the sea there but, alas, the road ends some distance from the sea. So we ended up parking in the reception area of a closed campsite to have our lunch! 

Although we had a long way to go today, the Satnav said it was only half an hour longer if we didn't pay toll, so we decided to do that. We drove cross-country (although the roads were excellent) to Beziers, where we were able to get on the A75 and drive up it almost to Millau, where we have parked up in the village of La Cavalerie, which we did drive through last time. The SW has explored - sadly, the local bakery is on its annual holiday, so still no croissants for breakfast! And tomorrow we will explore before heading north. 

Early spring holiday, 3 March 2023

Mas Alart, Saleilles

Well, I did it! I walked all round the lake at Tournefeuille, a distance of almost 5K! This isn't much, but is huge for me, as I haven't been able to do so much since (a) having blood clots in 2017 and then, just as I was pretty much recovered, going down with Covid in March of 2020. I did use my trekking poles to help, mind, but could probably have managed without. Infuriatingly, my smartwatch stopped recording 2/3 of the way round. It has become very unreliable of late, and will be replaced when I get home! 

So after my walk - the Swan Whisperer had run the distance before breakfast, of course - we headed off towards Saleilles, stopping first of all to buy quiches and bread for lunch and then at Carcassonne to eat said quiches. We had travelled on the motorway up until then, but decided to come off and go via Limoux and Quillan, along the lovely D118 and 117. I knew we had gone along the latter about 18 months ago, but had no memory of stopping overnight at Limoux until I reread my blog for that day! It is an amazing road - there are sections cut through rocks, fast dual carriageway sections (none of them very long, though) and pretty little towns and villages along the route. Then suddenly you are in Perpignan and traffic, and then out the other side and going past roundabout and roundabout to get to Saleilles. 

The shop was open when we arrived, and we were recognised and warmly welcomed. We stocked up, needless to say! It is a lot less cold here, although very far from hot. And tomorrow we will be have to go and have a look at the Mediterranean before heading north! 

Early spring holiday, 2 March 2023

Tournefeuille, Toulouse. 

The fine weather that we have been enjoying for the past few days has abandoned us, and today has been very grey and dreich, although not exactly raining. Which is sad, because I didn't take a photo of the snow-capped Pyrenees yesterday, as I thought they might not come out, and today they were not visible to take a photo of! 

Our first port of call this morning was a Super U to buy another cube of gas and some groceries - I was pleased to find loo stuff, which we were getting low on. Also oat milk, which I had not seen here before, and which I prefer on my cereal. 

We had hoped to visit Paul this morning, but when we had parked, we realised that the car park we usually use was quite a lot nearer the station and the funicular, so we headed towards it, only to find that it was out of use due to Works, and we had no way of turning round! We couldn't find another parking space - didn't really expect to, on a weekday, so headed on a long cross-country drive, down many typical French avenues,

to Tournefeuille, a suburb of Toulouse. We have been here before, in 2019, for the SW to do a parkrun, but, sadly, parkruns have had to be stopped in France due to regulations about organised sporting activity here. Anyway, tomorrow is Friday, not Saturday! 

By the time we got here, there was just about time to have a cup of tea and a little cake before the SW had to have a meeting on Zoom, followed by another one on Teams, which he is doing in the bedroom. It is almost dark, so I am going to close up in here and think about supper! 

Early spring holiday, 1 March 2023

Rébénacq, France

Another lazy start to the day, and after breakfast and using the services we set off into Hossegor for a walk. It was okay, but I'd really have liked a chance to potter round the tourist shops in Capbreton, to the south of where we were.

We walked along the sea for awhile, wondering why it was calm where we were,

but huge breakers a little further along.

Then we turned inland and found where the E Leclerc I remember from my childhood used to be. It is still marked up as an E Leclerc, and no "to let" signs on the building.

It said it closed on 10 September, but didn't say what year, and I am wondering if it opens for the holiday season in July and August. Could well be!

Then we walked up rather a dull residential street until we got to the casino, which we walked past until we got to the canal part of the lake, which had me wishing I was able for the 7.4 km walk round it. Maybe next year...

And so back to the car park, free at this time of year. 

We set off to cross the bottom of France, along the Pyrenees, first stopping at a Super U in a town called Angresse, where I spotted and then we had lunch, and then we drove across country to this town near Pau, where we are in a delightful small aire, quite free, even including electricity beten 15:00 and 22:00. I was afraid it would be too high, as to get here we were above the snow line, but it is only about 350 metres, and not due to have too sharp a frost. The Swan Whisperer had gone for a walk, of course! Later it will be our Circuit Lent Course on Zoom. Looking forward to that. 

Early spring holiday, 28 February 2023

Hossegor-Soorts, Landes, France. 

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, so breakfast, by the time he had showered and changed, was not until 09:15. After it, we both went for a walk along the lake and round the village.

All very nice, but unfortunately I had neglected to check my smartwatch and it ran out of charge about 200m into the walk! I have been bewailing having forgotten to pack a beanie, as it is so cold, but realised this morning that I did have a pashmina, which I wore over my head, hijab-style, and crossed over my chest. That made a great deal of difference! Also, I don't think it was quite as cold this morning, although there was still a pretty brisk wind.

So it was about noon when we actually set off. We went a little back on ourselves first of all, to go to a large supermarket nearby - Intermarché, I think. While I was shopping, the SW found a nice place to stop for lunch outside the church in the village of Pontenx-Les-Forges. 

After lunch, we drove across country to the village of Hossegor where I spent a week or so with a French exchange nearly 60 years ago now. We have passed through it before, and I knew I had no way of recognising where we stayed - which I know was long since sold and quite probably pulled down. Anyway, the one place I did remember was the E Leclerc supermarket, which my host family's mother took me to at least once. It was still there last time, but, sadly, it has now given way to a bigger and better one on the outskirts of town, and the old building is abandoned. 

So we drove around the town a bit, and then we stopped along a huge length of sand dunes, 

and the SW climbed up to see the see, along with at least one family with small children and and another with a dog! And when he came back, we drove to this aire where we stayed last time we were here. Back then, it was half-price in the off season, but still provided everything one might need in the way of services, electricity, WiFi, etc. Of course, it has now been taken over by the ubiquitous Camping-Car parks and no reduction! Still we do have electricity and more than 10 minutes free WiFi! I resented, last night, paying €11 for no more (except 10 minutes' free WiFi) than I had got for free the previous two nights. 

Early spring holiday, 27 February 2023

Gastes, Landes, France. 

When the alarm went off this morning, Google kindly told us that the temperature was hovering around zero and the wind-chill factor made it feel like -6! Needless to say, we decided to postpone going for a walk. A pity really, as I should have liked to have seen round Cartelègue, it looked like a pretty little village. 

However, this was not to be. We didn't really hurry over breakfast and tidying up, and it was past 10:00 before we headed on. We drove into Blaye and first went to an E Leclerc for diesel and fresh milk - Lidl and Aldi don't sell that here, only long-life, which the Swan Whisperer won't touch. However, I wanted to go to Lidl, as the coupons here looked nice, and I wanted to see what they had. Needless to say, only 3 of the advertised offers appeared to be available, and one of them didn't seem worth it, but I did get two of them. I also got some other bits and bobs we needed, and two sweaters - I had stupidly brought only cardigans that don't do up, and keep getting draughts down my front. Even with sweaters, I'm cold, and am sitting wrapped in two rugs and seriously debating filling my hot-water bottle! I could, I suppose, turn on the heating, but the SW is out for a walk and I don't quite like to when he isn't there. 

Anyway, we then drove into Blaye and had a lovely walk round the Citadelle

there, stopping for lunch in a random creperie. The crepes were okay - slightly under-seasoned, and the presentation could have been better, but the helpings were huge and good value for money. After that, we were stuffed, so the SW made himself a coffee before we headed south again to this village called Gastes beside the Lac de Biscarosse. The aire is very nice, and quite empty so far, but would be nicer if the electricity worked! 

Early spring holiday, 26 February 2023

Cartelègue, Gironde

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, the weather having cleared up overnight. Sadly, no croissants - the nearest bakeries didn't open on Sundays. While he was doing that, I got up, tidied the bedroom and did a bit of qi gong warm-up. It was extremely cold outside though, and there really isn't room to do anything like that in the WoMo, so I was glad when the SW came back and I could legitimately finish! While he was showering and changing, I got breakfast, and once we were ready, we headed on. 

The Satnav was being a real nuisance today about not going the way we wanted! The first part of the journey was on the A83, but we came off at Junction 7 and took the D137 and then the D10A/D9. We stopped at a place called Charron to listen to our church service - we couldn't actually watch it as the livestream was sideways; but it came over very clearly on the radio, which has speakers in the bedroom, so we lay on the bed and listened. 

When it was over we had lunch, and then continued on more minor roads to this aire in a place called Cartelègue, outside Blaye. The aire is very nice, clean, free, and everything provided, including picnic tables under shelter,

but, of course, it is too cold to even think about eating out of doors! The Swan Whisperer has gone for a walk (he is just back), but I am having a rest day today and hope to explore the village tomorrow before we head on. 

Early spring holiday, 25 February 2023

La-Chapelle-sur-Erdre, Nantes. 

One of the nicest things about a motorhome holiday is that one can change plans on the fly! We had a long drive ahead of us today, and had planned to set off fairly soon after breakfast, but my brother said that while we were in the area, we should visit Crepon, where our father's regiment (not sure which one he was in) had mustered after landing in Normandy, and also the place where he did land. Not on D-day itself, I believe, but a couple of days afterwards. 

So we did. We were a bit later setting off than we would have liked, as we didn't really wake until 07:30 and for some reason the hot water hadn't come on properly. And I was a bit slow about getting up, so it was about 10 before we got away, if not later. And I needed to shop so we went via a large Carrefour, which further delayed us. 

Crepon was lovely, a very pretty village (photos on Facebook), and there was a memorial, presumably at the muster point.

We enjoyed a rather cold walk around the village (Idiot me forgot to record it!), and then headed north up the road Daddy would have come south on, to the place where he landed. "I told you it was bleak," said my brother when I sent him a photo.

All the same, I doubt it was sleeting that June day so long ago, although I do know it was rough and Daddy had been seasick! 

We then drove on to Arromanches, and parked up looking out over the sea at the remains of the Mulberry harbour, which you couldn't see as much of as you could in December 2014 when we were last there, probably because the tide was in.

By the time we had had lunch it was going to be well after 18:00 before we arrived at the place where we had planned to spend the night, so we retrenched a bit and are now just outside Nantes in a very nice aire by a cemetery. We are the only people here, it is free, and the services are not locked out of use for the winter! They are also free. Brilliant! However, this does mean a long drive tomorrow, but we plan to get away early and stop by noon for church (on livestream) and lunch, and then drive again in the afternoon. I don't need to shop tomorrow, although if there is a bakery in reasonable running distance I might make the SW get croissants! 

Early spring holiday, 24 February 2023

Caen, Normandy. 

I do wish the blogger app had location services on mobile the way it does on the laptop; I always forget to mark them up when I get home. 

When I was looking at Google Maps last evening, I saw that there were a selection of paths among the dunes, and I decided I would like to walk one of them. Once we had decided which one to do, which was a lovely circular path, just over 2km out and back, we set off just after 9:00 am.

It was a walk well worth doing - the paths, mostly raised wooden ones, were fairly level, although a bit sloping in places. But very easy to walk on, and if they wanted you to go up higher, there were ramps as well as steps, so wheel- and pushchair friendly. 

Thoroughly enjoyed the walk, and when we got back to the WoMo it was time to use the services and head on. Our first port of call was a Carrefour City where the Swan Whisperer got gas. I did some shopping, but found, to my horror, that the card was declined. I had to ring the SW to come and bail me out, which he duly did. AND paid for the groceries, too! I then had to spend half an hour on the phone to my bank to persuade them that yes, it was me who had tried to use the card, and would they please unblock it so I could go on using it. Which they eventually did. I should add that the cashier in the Carrefour couldn't have been nicer; she helped the SW get the gas, and then when my card didn't function she said no rush, she would deal with the next customers and I could pay when the SW arrived. Such a lovely woman! 

After that, we set off "properly" towards Caen. We decided to go by the motorway, as we had a long way to go, and the SW loves the Pont de Normandie. It was, sadly, too early to stop at the Aire de la Baie de Somme, and we drove on about an hour further south before we stopped in a services somewhere, although I can't remember exactly where. We had a nice lunch, still using stuff we had brought from home, except for some raspberry sorbet which I couldn't resist! 

After lunch, I dozed off for a bit and woke when we came to a Gare de Péage where the SW stopped to try to find somewhere to come off the motorway for diesel. When he isn't worrying about diesel, he is worrying about water; when he isn't worrying about water, he is worrying about gas; when he isn't worrying about gas, he is worrying about diesel! Anyway, I think we have enough of all three of those commodities for now. He filled the tank at Honfleur, and we went on, but decided that we had had enough motorways for one day, so drove the rest of the way down more minor roads, through towns and villages with pretty churches and market squares, past orchards and former orchards, and finally to Caen and the Camping-Car Park here. 

We had a cup of tea, and then the SW went for a walk at his pace rather than mine, and I did a bit of qi gong to keep myself going. 

ETA I had a email from Eurotunnel apologising for yesterday's delay and giving me a £40 voucher for next time. Always worth complaining. 

Early spring holiday, 23 February 2023

Merlimont, France. 

So we are off on our travels again. It has been a very mixed day. We got up early and were away just after 09:00, heading down to Sussex to pick up the WoMo. But we discovered that the M25 was closed, which was going to add significantly to the length of the journey from Sussex to Folkestone. My mother and sister are away, or I'd have booked us a later crossing! 

We decided to drive straight up to where the WoMo lives when not in use, and where we leave the car. And that is where we hit the first, very minor, snag of the day - my brother had changed the padlock on the gate! However, a quick call to him solved that one, and we threw (not quite literally, but not far off) everything into the WoMo. After a quick call into No 6 to change keys and put in a little water - not too much, as we can get more in the morning - we were away by noon. 

And, just as we were about to leave the M3 and go cross-country - quite literally, we were on the roundabout on the slip road - the M25 not only reopened, but told the Satnav it had. So we were able to go the usual way, and arrived at Folkestone at 14:00 to catch the 15:20. But although we went through the second we were called, Eurotunnel had not allowed enough time, and by the time we reached the boarding-area, we had missed the 15:20 and the next one wasn't for another hour! We were very unimpressed, and I have contacted Eurotunnel and asked for compensation (which I doubt I'll get, but hey!). 

So we naughtily turned the gas on again and got ourselves a much-wanted cup of tea. We did turn the gas off again before we boarded the Shuttle, I hasten to add. And these delays had meant we had had time to eat lunch and put everything away. 

However, by the time we crossed at last, we were tired, and decided not to stop at Cité Europe, as we had originally intended, but to drive straight down to the Camping-Car park at Merlimont, where I had booked for us to spend the night. Just as well, as it is full! We have, however, managed to get a space with electricity and are lovely and comfortable.

I have invested in a VPN, and hoped that by doing so, we would be able to watch television in the evenings. I am delighted to say that, after an awful lot of fiddling about, we have made the Chromecast work with my tablet, using my hot-spot, and we are now watching a documentary about Queen Victoria! I was beginning to regret having bought a television, but now with a VPN and a Chromecast, we can watch stuff, which will make all the difference in the evenings. 

A London walk, with grandsons

So we were on half-term grandparent duty today.  Their mother brought them down to Brixton Station, where the Swan Whisperer met them and brought them back to the flat and, after coffee (hot chocolate for Boy Two), they went off climbing, while I stayed at home.  When they had finished, they came back to the flat and picked me up, and we went into Brixton to have lunch.  The boys would have liked to have gone to Mama Lan again, but it turns out to be closed on Tuesdays.  This led us with the huge choice of restaurants that you can go to in Brixton, but as the boys love Mexican food, we finally ended up at Jalisco, where we had a delicious lunch.  I had a breakfast burrito, which is basically a wrap filled with scrambled egg and hash brown (and hot sauce) which came with a choice of toppings - I chose roasted vegetables.  It was delicious, but I couldn't finish it!  I also ordered a Virgin Mary, which was incredibly spicy!  It may not have had any vodka in it, but it was surely no virgin!!!

Anyway, after lunch we set off on a 159 bus to Parliament Square, and went for a walk.  I had given the Swan Whisperer a book of London walks for Christmas, and we went on the one that technically started and finished at Trafalgar Square, but went through Parliament Square and it was easier to start and finish more-or-less there.  It was a most enjoyable walk, even if I did keep stopping to take photographs.  Up Whitehall,

through Admiralty Arch, along the Mall, then up through Carlton Gardens to St James' Square, along Pall Mall, down Marlborough Street, and across St James' Park.  We then deviated from the walk proper to walk down to Tothill Street where there was a Prets and we stopped for refreshments.  From there, it was only five minutes' walk to the Daughter's offices (now in Church House Westminster), so we left the boys with her and caught a no 3 bus back to Brixton, largely so that we could see how the rebuilding of Lambeth Mission St Mary's is coming along!  

Most photos will be uploaded on Facebook.

Planning time again

I first set up this blog nearly ten years ago!  I was about to turn 60, and for my birthday we planned an Inter-Rail trip.  And now I am going to be 70, and the Swan Whisperer wasn't really able to celebrate his 70th birthday, just over two years ago, because we were in lockdown - although, to be fair, we had two wonderful Zoom parties when we spoke to people we would not otherwise have seen from Australia and Japan and all over!  So we have decided to go Inter-Railing again this June, to celebrate our three score years and ten!  Or twelve, as appropriate!

Inter-Rail is a very different animal now than it was ten years ago.  It's all paperless - you buy your passes (I've already done that) and then store them in an app on your phone, and you can do all your planning and timetabling, etc, within the app, or using their website.  And Eurostar is, not exactly included, but a special fare so massively cheaper than the normal fare to Brussels.  We're going first class - well, why not?  Much more comfortable than standard, and you often get a free cup of tea or similar perks.

Because we travel so much anyway, we want to go to places where we wouldn't really go in the motor home, so we are starting off going to Scandinavia - Oslo, Bergen (perhaps), Stockholm, Kiruna - and then from Stockholm we'll get the sleeper to Hamburg, and then the direct train - maybe a sleeper, we'll see - to Vienna, and then on to Budapest, Bucharest and possibly Sofia before heading home.  It will take some working out, and we will spend at least one day, perhaps two, in each city.  I don't know yet how long we'll be travelling for - we have two months in which to use our 15 travel days, and I'm not quite sure whether the out-and-home days count or not.  I doubt we'll be away two months, though, although it might be over 3 weeks!

This is all going to be in addition to, not instead of, our normal trips to France and Germany in the motor home!  We will cut our Oberstdorf trip short, though, and go more-or-less straight there and back, giving us plenty of time to get organised for this trip.  I expect we'll still go to France at the end of February/beginning of March, and then we'll see about trips in the autumn.  But I am looking forward to the Inter-Rail trip, especially as we now know roughly where we are going!

Festive Fairy Tale, 28 December

So we are home.  We got up early and cleared our rooms before breakfast, and after it we sat in one of the lounges and read for awhile.  Probably we should have sat awhile longer, as we had a long time to wait at the station, but not enough time to go and do anything other than a brief leg-stretch.  However, eventually our train was called.  As predicted, it was rammed, and I was glad we had booked seats, as otherwise we might have ended up sitting on the floor, as some people had to do.

There seemed to be an extraordinarily long time to wait in Brussels, too, although I'd booked us on the recommended connection.  But eventually we were on the train back to London, where I extravagantly insisted on taking a taxi home, as I was so very tired.  And, although I managed to unpack, I have been asleep practically ever since!

So what about my impressions of a river cruise?  It was lovely!  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would love to go again in a few years.  I think, though, next time I won't book all the excursions in advance - although we enjoyed them, some of the walking tours were unnecessary, as we could have explored for ourselves.  On the other hand, the guides did tell us a great deal of history we might not otherwise have known, and they were (mostly) obviously passionate about their towns.  

We didn't much care for the cruise director - he came across as extremely patronising, and even rude on occasion. Also unprofessional, tearing a strip off one of his colleagues where anybody could hear, rather than doing so in private.  But he was a minor irritant.  

The food was mostly excellent, except when the chef tried too hard - but there was only one dish I really couldn't finish, and I do seem to have come back rather fatter than when I left.  The cabins were comfortable, and it was lovely lying in bed at night watching the river going past.  The big disadvantage of a Christmas cruise, of course, is that you don't get much, if any, daylight sailing.  On the other hand, in the summer, the rivers and moorings are packed with tourist boats, and you have to clamber over other ones to get to yours!  

I still want to do the "long trip" from Amsterdam right down to Budapest and beyond, but perhaps not this year!

By the way, TUI is a budget option; I don't know, though, what more you would get on a more expensive line!  

Festive Fairy Tale, 27 December

Day 7, Worms

Our last day dawned simply gloriously! For the only time during this cruise (the big disadvantage of a Christmas cruise!) we were sailing in daylight all morning, past Speyer and Altrip and Mannheim and all those familiar places until we docked in Worms just before lunch. 

This was one tour I rather wished we hadn't gone on, as it turned out to be, not a tour of the old town, as advertised, but a tour of the Cathedral and the Luther monument (The Diet of Worms, for anybody who remembers sniggering at that when they "did" the Reformation) Our guide was dreadful - her English was minimal outside her memorised spiel, so she couldn't understand any questions, nor did she show us more than her favourite parts of the Cathedral, so we missed seeing an awful lot of it. But what we did see was lovely, to be fair, and the Nativity scene was magic!  

When we came back to the ship, we had a cup of tea, and then the Swan Whisperer went to hear a lecture on Christmas traditions, while I did most of my packing and had a shower to change before the final dinner. As always, when the chef tries too hard, it wasn't as good as it might have been! Why can chefs never serve enough vegetables, and if they do serve any, they are still half raw? The roast beef was lovely, but rather an odd cheesy sauce, which did it no favours, and it would have been even nicer sliced a little thinner. And I goodly had fruit instead of baked Alaska, which actually looked quite nice! 

Tomorrow we have to be out of our cabins by 08:30, but we can stay on board until 11:00 if we want. Our train isn't until 12:30. It is, apparently, going to be rammed after Cologne, so I have booked seats for us. Will let you know tomorrow how the journey ends, and my thoughts on river cruising. Meanwhile, there will be far too many photos on Facebook! 

Festive Fairy Tale, Boxing day

Day 6, Breisach

Christmas Dinner last night had been billed as 5-course gala dinner, but in the end it was only the usual 3 courses, with an extra glass of champagne. The main course was turkey (there was a fish and a veggie option, but most people chose turkey) which was moist and delicious, but, alas, no roasties, no sprouts, and very few vegetables! Too much meat, really. And no Christmas pudding, either - I chose the nearest option, which was a gingerbread parfait, and was rather disappointed that it was mousse, rather than ice-cream. Most people chose the fruit plate, so virtuous!

For some reason I slept really badly again, not quite sure why.  I didn't really want to go on the tour of Breisach, but decided I'd regret it if I didn't.

However, faced with enormous flight of steps to get up to the old town, I bottled it and went back to the ship. The guide had been very interesting about the history of the town, which is incredibly ancient. And seems to have spent most of the 18th century belonging to France.

The Swan Whisperer got lost coming back to the ship, and had to ring me up to find out how to get back as he hadn't noticed how we had gone. Fortunately I was able to orient him!

After lunch it had stopped raining and he decided to go out for a 10-minute run, his first since his injury in July. Sadly, he felt a twinge in his other leg, so sensibly decided to walk back.

Then we went to a talk about future cruises which was very good - no hard sell, just a description of what was on offer. And now we are waiting to set off again, which we thought would happen an hour ago, but it hasn't. We are sitting in one of the communal areas, which is nice.

Festive Fairy Tale, Christmas Day

Day 5, Strasbourg

We weren't supposed to arrive in Strasbourg until 09:30 or thereabouts, but in fact we were docked by 6:00. We assume because there were no queues for the locks to get in, as it is Christmas. 

There was supposed to be Buck's Fizz at breakfast, but we weren't offered any, but we probably just as well! we After breakfast, there was a "pause for reflection", not exactly a Christmas service, and then it was time to get ready to go on the expedition.

We are moored quite a way out of town, almost in Kehl, and there was a coach that not only took us into the town, but drove all round it first. Then there was a walk around the town centre - I took an inordinate number of photographs considering that we have been here before and will come again! 

After that, a boat trip, which again we have done before, but still worth doing, to remind us of the various places. And a long, long walk back to where the bus was parked, which wouldn't have been so bad if the cruise director hadn't walked far too fast, so I ended up feeling breathless and unwell. However, I recovered during the drive back to the ship, and a glass of white wine with a judicious lunch (want to be hungry tonight!) soon finished the cure. 

I spent the afternoon reading and watching the service from Brixton Hill (not live!), and then I went into the lounge to watch the King - the Swan Whisperer had gone back into town to see the illuminations, as he always does. He is now back and we are going to ring the family before dinner. 

Festive Fairy Tale, Christmas Eve

Day 4, Mannheim and Heidelberg

I don't know what was particularly German about last night's dinner! It was OK, I suppose; one of those "tasting menus" with tiny bits of this and that, some extremely delicious soup, mussels, which I didn't take (don't like them much), Then a choice of chicken something or a pancake stuffed with mushrooms, which I chose, but didn't really like, so left half of it. Then a chocolatey set of puddings, and we thought there would be cheese, but there wasn't. Pity, I wanted something savoury! But not particularly German, I didn't think, and not really to my taste except the soup! 

Then there was a violinist, who was very talented, but it was billed as classical and carols, but mostly he played music from films. But extremely well, and I enjoyed it. No carols, though. 

This morning, we had booked on the tour of Heidelberg, which left horrendously early - well, 08:45, which is horrendously early when you're on holiday. The coach took us up to Heidelberg Castle,

where our guide, while knowledgeable and enthusiastic, told us far too many anecdotes about it, and couldn't walk more than 3 steps without stopping to say something else. I don't think he realised we could hear him on our vox boxes even if he turned round and walked on.

There was a lot of interesting stuff, though, like one of the Kings being married to the daughter of James I/VI, and being in love with her. And that the castle was destroyed by the French in the 30 years' war, but the ruins have been carefully curated since Victorian times!

The coach took us back down into Heidelberg, to the drop-off point for the Altstadt, and our guide led us into the main square and then abandoned us to look round on our own, as he was not coming back with us.  We have been before, years ago, but walked along a bit and then went down to the river - the Necker - and went under the old bridge

back to the meeting-point, where there were benches we could wait on until our coach arrived.

There were hamburgers for lunch, and then both of us had a long nap! Afternoon tea was being served today, but neither of us was hungry, so we just had a cup of tea in our room. And now we are listening to the service from King's, which is a Christmas "must" for us. Sadly, there is no service on the ship tomorrow, and we will be out when our own service is live-streamed, but never mind. Third year running we haven't been able to go to Church on Christmas Day.

Photos on Facebook, as per. 

Festive Fairy Tale, 23 December 2022

Day 3, Mainz

My bluetooth keyboard has run out of charge so this may have even more typos than usual. Should have turned it off or at least disconnected the bluetooth!

We slept better last night, although we did wake up at one stage and discovered we were going through heavy fog and couldn't see anything! After breakfast, I went back to sleep for awhile, and the Swan Whisperer went into Mainz. We had made a nonsense of the tours and booked into the Christmas Market tour rather than the plain tour, and left it too late to cancel the one and rebook on the other.

However, the tour was very good, despite the weather, which was not! We walked round the Altstadt - my new headphones worked very well and I could hear the guide, who was knowledgeable, although his English deserted him on occasions!

We stopped in one of the Christmas markets for Glühwein, which was included in the price of the tour, and very welcome it was, too! Some people abandoned after this, but we walked on down to the bigger market and the Cathedral, which is amazing - it is a Cathedral at one end

and a parish church at the other.

It was built over a thousand years ago, as the Archbishops of Mainz wanted a place of worship worthy of crowning the Holy Roman Emperor. Unfortunately, on the day of its consecration it burnt down, and although they rebuilt it, the moment had passed and the Holy Roman Emperors were crowned in Aachen instead. 

We said goodbye to our guide just then, and after sitting quietly for a few minutes, walked back to the ship via a friendly neighbourhood ReWe as the Swan Whisperer wanted milk. I got some vegetable seasoning that I'm almost out of. We walked to the far end of the mall that the ReWe was in, and there was the ship, much nearer than we thought!

I have had a shower and changed as I was wet to the skin - my coat is very good but today's rain defeated it. And oh, sadliness - my favourite shoes are no longer waterproof. I have another pair with me, and my tai chi shoes which I wear around the ship, but even still - they can't have been more than about 8 years old. Oh well.

Tonight there is a special meal of German specialities, which we have booked in for. I don't know how much choice there will be - usually there seems to be 3 choices for each course - soup, salad or other starter; meat, fish or veggie main course; pudding, cheese or fruit. All very good! 

Festive Fairy Tale, 22 December 2022

Day 2: Koblenz 

I don't know how they expected you to sleep when the night contained such excitements as going through locks on the Main (with two sleepy geese as lock-keepers' assistants), and going along the Rhine past towns and villages, factories and wooded hills. What, we could have closed the curtains? That would be too dull! Anyway, I didn't sleep that well! 

So this morning we arrived in Koblenz while we were getting up, and by the time we went to breakfast, we were moored. Breakfast runs 07:30-09:00 or thereabouts - huge buffet with lots of different choices. 

After breakfast we got our acts together and reported, as scheduled, at 09:45 for our trip up to the Ehrenbreitstein fort

and then a walking tour of the old town. The first part was in a coach, up to the fortress, with extremely knowledgeable local tour guides who told us about the history of the town, how it was primarily a bunch of fort to stop the French invading up the Moselle... And we had a lovely walk round the fort with our guide explaining all the defensive mechanisms that were in use. Not that they were ever needed, but they might have been! 

When the tour was over, we got the bus back down to the Altstadt, going through the Neustadt en route. There we left the coach and walked round a bit, with the guide pointing out things we might otherwise have missed.

We did get to peep inside the Jesuit church (no longer run by Jesuit, but by another Order) that we hadn't gone into last time. Then the tour guide left us by the road that ran down to the river, and 5 minutes later we were back on board. 

Lunch came next; we opted for the buffet rather than another 3-course meal (that's for tonight!), and it was lovely. Only there was rare roast beef, and I didn't notice until I was on my way out, and didn't quite like to grab a slice to eat with my fingersI Oh well, there is always tomorrow! 

A nap was then very necessary, and I had hoped to go out again later, but wasn't going to happen, so the SW went out for a much longer walk than he would have done with me, and bought me a pair of headphones while he was at it - the "Vox Boxes" are not Bluetooth enabled, and I can't wear the earbuds provided. They gave me a different kind, which I also couldn't wear, but was able to attach to the leg of my specs with a twist of wire. Not ideal, though, so proper headphones will work much better. 

In a bit, we will go and listen to the "Port talk" on Mainz, tomorrow's destination, and then it will be dinner time. I don't fancy any of the evening entertainment, so we'll probably have an early night! 

A Festive Fairy Tale, 21 December 2022

This holiday is something a little different. For some years now, we have gone on a trip in the motorhome  to the various European Christmas markets, and but this year, because we can, we have taken a TUI river cruise on the Main and Rhine over Christmas. 

We left home at 09:00 this morning, taking a bus into Brixton and the Victoria Line to King's Cross St Pancras. The Tube was remarkably empty, but the same cannot be said for the international station! The queue stretched, if not quite the length and breadth of England, a good kilometre before you could get into the actual queuing area. I sat on a bench and waited for the Swan Whisperer, who had gone right to the back of the queue, and then joined him when he eventually appeared. Even then we were snaked round the departure area for a long way! But we got through eventually and got on our train, armed with a sandwich lunch. 

The train was a good 10 minutes late, but we still made our connection in Brussels with time to spare - well enough time to find a seat, anyway. Then a nearly 4 hour run to Frankfurt; the ICE3 not as comfortable as I had thought. We were moored quite near the station, so decided to walk down to the ship, which was easy to find. We just had time to the unpack before the welcome drink and introductory talk, and then it was dinner time. 

After a delicious dinner, we are now back in our cabin

and in a bit will go back to the lounge to see the ship set sail, hear a talk on Koblenz, where we will be tomorrow, and a quiz, which may or may not be fun. More photos on Facebook. 

More new railway adventures

So today I had arranged to go Christmas shopping with the Daughter at Westfield, Stratford.  Now, I have commented before on the myriad ways of getting between Brixton and Stratford, but now there is yet another way, which is to get the Northern Line to Tottenham Court Road and then the Elizabeth Line to Stratford.

Which is exactly what I did, although to my irritation I didn't see the lift and found myself going up far too many stairs to get to the very long passage between the lines; I dislike too many steps as I get breathless going up, and with my varifocals, don't see too well going down!  But I survived.

Of course, the new link isn't very interesting as it's all in a tunnel, but I hadn't done it before, so....

After our shopping and a coffee, I decided to go home the "sensible" way on the Central Line, changing to the Northern Line at Bank.  This is a totally different experience these days, as there is the new moving walkway between the lines

and with escalators either end, it is totally step-free, which is lovely.  Plus, of course, the Southbound Northern Line platform is now twice as wide as it was, which makes waiting for a train a whole lot nicer!  And I didn't have to wait very long, either, for a Northern Line train!

The new Bond Street and other stories

 Although the Elizabeth Line has been open for some months, Bond Street station didn't open until today.  And while we were on holiday, the new link between the DLR and the Northern Line at Bank opened, as did Battersea Power Station (which every Jodi Taylor fan knows is the Time Police HQ) and, I believe, a knew entrance to Knightsbridge station.

We do plan to go to Battersea Power Station very soon - it's a direct bus ride from here - but today was about the first two of these.  We started off by getting a bus to King's College Hospital where a friend is currently incarcerated after a fall.  After visiting her, we took another bus up to Elephant and Castle, and caught the Northern Line (neither of us has used this station before, as far as we are aware) to Bank, where we eventually found the rather shiny new escalators down to the DLR.  As we wanted to go on the Elizabeth Line, we took the DLR as far as Canary Wharf, and enjoyed seeing the Elizabeth Line station there, which apparently has roof gardens, which I decided not to bother visiting.  

The Elizabeth Line duly took us to Bond Street, where we admired the huge new station,

and then came out and had a snack in Prets.  I had their Chocolate Moose (sic) which I don't think I've had for nearly 20 years and every bit as delicious as I remember it!  And then just a short walk to Oxford Circus, where we got a Victoria Line train home.  At least, I did a bit of shopping, and the Swan Whisperer went off to do something else.  And so home.  

The last dregs of summer, 19 October 2022

 So we are home.  We got up at sparrowfart this morning and were ready to leave the campsite by 09:00 - we couldn't leave before as we hadn't paid and reception doesn't open until 9.  It was only just over half an hour to Eurotunnel, so we were early and went to the service station in Cité Europe to buy us much diesel as we were allowed.  It is still a great deal cheaper than in the UK, despite price rises caused by the shortage.  Petrol, however, is dearer than here.

When we got to the check-in, they offered us a crossing half an hour earlier than our booked time.  So we accepted for 11:20, and went to the car park to wait. They called us to go through in what would have been good time for a 10:50 crossing, so we were hopeful, but then when we got to the holding area the signs said it would be 21 minutes before boarding! So we were not very impressed, as by that stage we had to have the gas off and thus the fridge off (it will run off 12 volts when the engine is running, but if it isn't it needs gas or to be plugged into electricity). Still, it gave us a chance to finish packing up the clothes and bedding, etc, so we could just sit and read during the crossing itself.

An uneventful drive to No 6, and a very nice lunch with my mother and sister (cold trout with smoked trout and quail's eggs; salad; boiled potatoes), and then we had to sort out the rest of the van - we have still succeeded in leaving behind my stock cubes and such clean clothes as I had left, and forgot that we planned to take the covers off the front seats and wash them!  Oh well, we can go down in a week or so to rescue them.

Horrible drive back to London - very heavy traffic - and then of course hard work unpacking and putting away.  All that is now done, as is the first load of washing.  Much washing.  Many loads....

No photos today, although the autumn colours were lovely. So here is a photo of the Channel which, after all, we have just been under!

The last dregs of summer, 18 October 2022

The last full day of our holiday. We started the day in Neufchatel-en-Bray, and have ended up in a camp site in Wissant. 

Our journey took us via the Hyper U in Abbeville that we had visited on our way south, and I did a rather larger Last Shop in France than I meant to, but there were yogurts on special offer and then Neufchatel-en-Bray cheese, and even a local Abbeville cheese - rude not to, really! Plus a small squash that I shall roast and stuff, possibly with an egg inside, and some pot-au-feu vegetables which I shall make beef stew with (buying the beef in Lidl at home!). And various other things... 

So then we drove as far as the Aire de la Baie du Somme where we had a picnic lunch, and mourned the disappearance of the "éolienne" which used to tower above the entrance. And so here to Wissant, where we watched people playing boules while we had a cup of tea, and then went for a walk. I didn't enjoy the first part of the walk as the path which should have led to the beach was inches deep in dry sand, very hard to walk on.

And then when we got there it was all fenced off as it was a nature reserve or something.

But we eventually found the promenade and were able to have a look at the sea, so that was all right! 

Then back to the WoMo, and I am now cooking butternut squash and mushroom risotto. Yummy, I hope! 

The last dregs of summer, 17 October 2022

There was a massive, massive thunderstorm in the night - absolutely fantastic lightning and almost continuous growls of thunder. And then it rained! How the Swan Whisperer slept through it all, I'll never know, but he really missed an amazing experience! 

However, this did nothing for my sleep, so I have had a headache on and off all day. First of all I woke up again (having dozed off) when they turned the street lights back on at 6, and then some very noisy machine came and Did Things for what felt like an hour, but was probably only about 15 minutes. I don't know what it was doing, but it made a very unpleasant noise doing it. 

So anyway, I didn't want to go for a walk this morning. I did, of course, go shopping at an Intermarché outside Evreux, and a short walk before lunch at the Normandy town of Vernon, where there is a mediaeval flour mill on the remains of a mediaeval bridge,

and a chateau.

We enjoyed walking round there and reading the panels about the buildings. Also the autumn colours of the woods above the Seine. 

We are parked up for the night at Neufchatel-en-Bray, in a very nice aire. Unlike last night's, it isn't free (there is, I discovered too late, a free one just a few miles east) but only about 12 euros, which is very reasonable. It even has a launderette! However, I think our laundry can wait until we get home now. We might even have finished it by the weekend!