July holiday, 28 July

I did NOT sleep well last night. Snuggled down around 10:30, and came awake at 01:00 needing to spend a penny, which is normal. Went straight back to sleep to be woken up a couple of hours later by very heavy rain, which meant I had to get up and close the skylights as the rain was coming in. And then I just didn't sleep well after that, so went back to sleep this morning after the SW had gone for his run.

After breakfast, we drove to the Armistice clearing and went to the museum there, which was rather super. They had a full-sized replica of the railway carriage in which it was signed, laid out as it had been, and then various exhibits about life in the trenches, including a huge collection of 3D photos that I couldn't look at for long as they made my eyes hurt. There were also displays of gifts made by soldiers and sent home, and explanations of some of the shifts they got up to - pipes and lighters, for instance, worked better than cigarettes and matches in the very wet trenches..... and other improvisations.

Then there was the 1940 room, showing how the museum had been destroyed or removed by the Nazis, with only the statue of Maréchal Foch allowed to remain.  And how it had been rebuilt in the 1950s.

Then we drove on, via the usual supermarket, a Super U this time, to a place called Ourscamp, where there was an abbey and where we had lunch, and then on through Noyon, where Jean Calvin was born, and so to this little village of Riqueval, where we are parked up in a canal museum courtyard (two spaces for motor homes, both now full, plus services), and will visit the museum in the morning.  The SW went for a walk and explored the area a bit.

July holidays, 27 July

We didn't wake this morning until my phone alarm went off at 07:30, and by the time we were ready to leave Beauvais it was already after 10:00 am. Our first stop was (after a quick dash into an E Leclerc) Chantilly, where we parked with a wonderful view of the training gallops and the SW went for a walk while I got lunch.

After lunch, we drove to Senlis, which is a town you mostly go roaring past on your way to Paris, but is actually well worth a visit, with lovely cobbled mediaeval streets which we wandered round for a bit and then stopped while the SW had coffee and I had a Perrier.

Then it was on to Compiègne cross country, mostly through woodland with loads of walking, riding and cycle tracks criss-crossing it. And so on to this little village whose aire is said to charge €3 a night, but thus far nobody has come to collect it.

At first we were the only camping-car here, and there is masses of room, so we decided to see how the tent awning goes up. We need some tent pegs for it, and it was a steep learning curve, but we sort of managed it in the end and sat out to eat supper, which was mince and pasta, very good even if I do say so myself as shouldn't! 

Another van has arrived since, also British.  I think we will probably take the tent down before we go to bed, as it is not secured and the weather may deteriorate. It keeps threatening to, but thus far we've had lovely weather, not too hot but no rain.  We have not really needed either hats or macs.

And here is the farmer to collect our €3!  And we are taking down the tent, so soon time to settle down in the van for the night.

July holiday, 26 July

A much less emotional day. The Swan Whisperer went for his run while I got breakfast, and then we used the services and headed on, first stop towards a supermarket which both Google and TomTom said was there, but wasn't.  However, we found one in the end, so all was well, and I even scored some lavender honey shower gel for MrsRev and me.

Then we decided to follow one of the circuits in our book, and headed to the village of Folleville, which was supposed to have a mediaeval site and church, but we found neither. Quite a pretty village, though, so we then had lunch and drove over to the preserved village of Gerberoy, which we liked, but I wouldn't care to live there.  So many of its inhabitants feel, judging by the number of For Sale signs around the place.

After that, on to Beauvais via a couple of other pretty villages, and we are parked up in a very nice aire with free services!

July Holiday, 25 July

After breakfast this morning we followed the satnav to the Arras Memorial, and found my great-uncle's name on the Flying Services Memorial. The cemetery and memorial were very lovely, and I took a lot of photos.

Arras provided a free shuttle bus into town (in hindsight, we'd have done better to have gone to that car park last night, but we didn't know that), so we took that and explored the city centre for a bit, and bought memorial crosses in the Tourist Office (sold by the British Legion, not a do-the-tourist scam). Then we caught the bus back to the car park and had lunch, and then, after placing the memorial cross, and taking a photo of a friend's great-grandfather's grave for her, we drove to Thiepval, where we found my other great-uncle's name on the memorial where they said it would be. Rather high up so difficult to photograph, but we managed in the end, and left the cross. 

Then the Swan Whisperer went to explore the Ulster Memorial a few hundred metres away, and then we drove to Amiens and the aire here, just outside the camp site but half the price.

The Swan Whisperer went to explore the area, and I got supper, and now just lazing around until bedtime. A very moving day.

July holiday, 24 July

It wasn't the road traffic that kept us awake, it was the seagulls at 4:00 am, and the pigeons at 5:00!  We got up about 7, and the Swan Whisperer went for a run while I got dressed and breakfast. When we had cleared up, we caught a bus into Whitstable and went to the service at the Baptist Church, where the Daughter's Godmother's husband is the minister.  Lovely service except we sang "Teach me to dance", which i like, but is such an earworm!

After this, we caught the bus back to the motor home and had lunch, and then set off for Folkestone. We soon realised we were going to be far too early, which they do ask you not to be, so we parked in a Forestry Commission car park and the SW went for a walk. We had been told there would be a wait of about 30 minutes to check in and then a delay of about an hour before crossing, and that was pretty accurate, but we got across at last and drove down to Arras. The aire we had hoped to park in was full, but there is on-street parking, so we have parked up across the road from it.  And are having supper and then what will be an early night by UK standards, but France is, of course an hour ahead.

July holiday, 23 July

We slept well in the aire in Canterbury last night, and were up betimes in the morning.  We set off about 10. First stop Halfords for more loo chemical, and we also bought a clip-on bin for the van. We then drove down to the former airport at Manston to the Spitfire and Halifax Memorial Museum as we had planned to spend the night there and wanted to see if it was gated (it isn't).  We visited the museum and had lunch in the café there, very nice, and then the Swan Whisperer went to the RAF museum in the same site while I had a nap. 

The Daughter's godmother lives in Whitstable, and when she heard we were in the area, she invited us over. They were busy all day but told us where to look for parking and we arranged to meet in the evening. In the end, we found a long-stay car park where we could park overnight, and we had our supper and then she came to meet us and walked us back to her house along the sea front.  We spent a very pleasant couple of hours with her and her husband, and then they walked us back to where it was just half a mile or so along the road to the car park.

July holiday, 21 and 22 July

We decided to profit from the daughter's being away next week to have a short holiday ourselves. But by the time we decided, all off-peak and most peak crossings were fully booked until Sunday evening. But we decided to have a few days in Kent, as although we pass through it often enough, it's not really a place we know.

We set off at about 7:30 last evening, to spend the first night at a café (a former Little Chef, now independent) at Gate Services, where they said you could spend the night.  It advertised itself as being open until 10:00 but was firmly closing when we arrived just after 9.  We were not impressed (managed to get junk food in the petrol station which was open 24 hours), and less so this morning when they served instant coffee with breakfast!  I could have sent it back and asked for a cafetière instead, but life was too short.  And they ran out of mushrooms so we couldn't have them in our breakfast. Very unimpressed.

We moved in to the New Dover Road Park and Ride outside Canterbury, which has a proper motorhome aire, so rare in this country. It is very crowded, but hey...  And after lunch we caught the bus into Canterbury. We had a good walk along the main shopping drag and up to a farmers market place near the West station, which had been recommended to me by Abbeybufo. We bought some strawberries and some cherry tomatoes, and also an ice each - I had brown bread ice cream (yummy) and the Swan Whisperer had coffee. 

We walked back into town a slightly different way and went to the Cathedral, which was wonderful. I've never met a cathedral in so many levels before, and we saw where Thomas a Beckett had been murdered. When I was little, I'd thought it was at the pub that bears his name in Broadwater, where my brother's school had lunch each day, and was so disappointed when I learnt it was miles away.... But I've seen it now.  And the rest of the Cathedral. I know I post nothing but photos of cathedrals, it seems, but no two are alike....

Then a much-needed cup of tea, and back to the Park and Ride, where we are enjoying a drink before I get supper.