October holiday, 16 October

Linate Airport, Milan, Italy

I had, I discovered, made a total nonsense of route planning this trip and we were aimed straight at the Mont Blanc tunnel, which is eye-wateringly expensive! 

We wondered whether to go the cheap way, maybe only as far as Torino, but it would have taken forever and hairpin bends... Or maybe abandon our plans altogether and join our friends at Lake Bled? But eventually the SW said that we had never been through the Mont Blanc tunnel, and it would be An Experience. So we kept to Plan A.

The rain was away overnight and it was a lovely morning, if cold. We were glad of our hot-water bottles and the central heating this morning. The SW went for a run, so we didn't get away very early, especially once I had done the shopping.

But we were off at last and it was actually a lovely drive, full of snow-capped mountains

and a spectacular waterfall.

The tunnel was horrible, but there was no queue so we were able to go straight through and then on and on through miles and miles of smaller tunnels and it was about 2 before we stopped for lunch in an aire where there was also a big Carrefour, so I wandered round that and looked at prices (similar to France and would probably be cheaper if VAT wasn't higher) but didn't buy anything. They had some fabulous displays of cheeses and fresh pastas, though!

And then a long, long drive down the motorway - I slept for a lot of it - and ten round the Milan ring road, which was slow, but we finally got to the long-term car park where we are spending the night. 

October holiday, 15 October

Annecy, France

It is raining. It has been raining. It will have been raining. We had a very wet drive today and decided to go on the motorway as it was so very dreary.

First off all, though, we went to an Intermarché so I could shop and take some exercise (!) and I was delighted to acquire a turkey leg for all of €2 - would have been rude not  to, really, at that price.

So long wet drive on the motorway. Stopped in an air that might almost have been as nice as the Baie de la Somme on the A16 had it not been raining, and the autumn colours would have been lovely in the sunshine. 

When we arrived in Annecy, we were disappointed to find that the aire where we had planned to spend the night was full, but plan B, a car park up by the Basilica

, has a lovely view over the lake and the city

(the mountains are hidden today), and there was even a rainbow! 

And we have wine, and my turkey leg is braising on the stove.... Italy tomorrow! 

October holiday, 14 October

Nuits St Georges, France.

The trouble with a holiday like this is that there is such a lot of driving, especially if one would rather not pay French motorway tolls more than absolutely necessary.

The Swan Whisperer likes running in Chamery, so he went for a run this morning around the vineyards,

and again we didn't get away much before 10, although this did include emptying the grey water tank - there doesn't seem to be running water at the services there, so we couldn't fill up or empty the loo.

Anyway, first port of call was a supermarket so I had a good walk (such a pity the fitbit doesn't register when you're pushing a trolley, and I'd left my phone in the van so it didn't, either) while the SW bought diesel and gas and had coffee.

And then we set off across country to Nuits St Georges, although we did go on the motorway for some of it. We stopped for lunch in the middle of nowhere and again for the SW to have a break, and got here about 5:30.  We have emptied the loo, which needed it, and will get water in the morning. Services are free, which is what's so nice about so much of France. 

There is a cat in the motor home next door to us! 

October holiday, 13 October

Chamery, France. 

So yesterday we had a Circuit training event in Bellingham, near Lewisham, which is very close to the A20 and cut a good hour off our journey time. The event has been scheduled to finish at 3:00, so I assumed that we would not be leaving until about 3:30 and booked us in for a last check in time of 6:05 pm. As it was, the event finished early and we arrived at Folkestone only to be told that there was high demand for the single decker section and they were sorry but we couldn't go before our booked crossing. So that was 2 hours we had to sit in the car park! Still, we could have a cup of tea and flake out with a book, and when we were finally crossing we ate our cold supper and then we had an hour to drive in the pouring rain to Watten, near Eperleques. The aire was surprisingly full and we just got the last space.

It appeared we were just on the edge of the band of rain, and when I woke up in the night there was clear skies and a full moon, but it was cloudy again when I woke a second time.

So near the edge of the time zone, it was never going to get light much before 8, but the Swan Whisperer wanted a run so we set the alarm for 07:15 and he went off once he had had his tea. 

After breakfast I had a look round the aire, which was on the banks of the canal, very nice 

and was childishly amused by the thought of dejected dogs needing to be picked up 

(yes of course I know it means to pick up dog poo).

We set off at about 10, I think, and asked the satnav to take us non-toll. First stop was a Netto, which didn't have bread but did have those globe-shaped courgettes ee like. I meant to buy some frozen beans, too, but they sort of transformed into nougat ice cream. Oops! 

Quite a long, but not unpleasant, drive, made longer by the fact that we had never visited Laon and decided it was not too far out of our way to do that. The SW walked up to the Cathedral, but I looked at the gradient and thought not! So we had a cup of tea and then it was only an hour's run to here, where we have been several times before. Chamery is just outside Reims, in the heart of champagne country and very quiet. The weather has been lovely all day! 

Geekery gone wrong

So yesterday, after grandmother duty, I decided to be a total geek and go home by bus, as the 48 was being withdrawn from service. They have already removed the numbers from the bus stops.

With hindsight, I should have decided honour had been satisfied when we got to Hackney, and got on the Overground to Highbury and Islington and then the Victoria Line home. 

However, I didn't. And I don't know what went wrong but the bus suddenly decided to terminate at Shoreditch. And, of course, I don't know where the bus stops are there

Again, I could have got the Overground but I couldn't see the station. I eventually found the bus stop, but the 35 didn't come and didn't come and didn't come. Eventually a 26 came, who said he was going to Waterloo, but was not stopping at Liverpool Street but was going straight to Bank. 

 So I thought better than nothing and got on. Soon enough I saw Aldgate East Station and decided to get the District Line to Victoria and then the Victoria Line home. This was a big mistake as the heavens opened just as I got off the bus and although it was only about 25 yards to the entrance, I was soaked!

And what have they done at Victoria? Instead of a short flight of stairs, a very short corridor and an escalator to change lines, you now have to walk about a mile along corridors you have no idea where they are going. Okay, they now have lifts, but what's the point if you have to walk miles to find them? I was not impressed. 

I didn't quite like to ask the driver of the 35 that met me at Brixton where he had started from - I bet it wasn't Shoreditch, though.

 

And now we are off again, to Italy this time. Only as far as Watten tonight, so I'll start that blog properly tomorrow. 

... And yet another aviation museum

Two years ago, we spent the weekend in Scotland for me to attend the AGMT of the NCC.  Last year it was a one-day affair in London, but this year it was again a weekend event.  This time, in Croydon.  I could have gone as a "day girl" (and frankly, given the hotel, I rather wished I had), but it's nice to have a weekend away with good friends.  The Friday evening is devoted to socialising, and the Sunday to business and a book sale, but the Saturday is always a "day out".

This year, we started off at the cemetery in Redhill for a short service to mark the 50th anniversary of  EBD's death, and a wreath was laid.

Fortunately, the weather was wonderful, as you can see from the shadows in the picture.  We then returned to the coaches and were driven to East Grinstead, just in time to take the Bluebell Railway down to Sheffield Park. That, of course, was as lovely and relaxing as a ride on a steam railway always is, and then when we arrived at Sheffield Park station there was a choice of activities.  First port of call was lunch in the pub on the station, which was extremely good.  I had a potato and broccoli bake, which was delicious, with peas.  And later an ice-cream from the kiosk.  But between the two courses, I wandered round the station, looking at their engine shed, which was open to the public,

and then crossing the footbridge to go the small museum on the other platform.

Those of the party who had elected to visit Sheffield Park and Garden came back rather cross and footsore as apparently it had been a lot further away than they had anticipated.  "They said it was only a few minutes' walk.  They lied!" said someone.

Back into the coaches, and most of us dozed our way to our final stop of the day, the Gatwick Aviation Museum.   Frankly, after RAFs Hendon and Cosford, I was rather underwhelmed.  I'd hoped that there would be more of the history of civil aviation, and perhaps some examples of civilian aircraft,  But it appeared to be a display of fighter aircraft again, and endless engines - frankly, one aircraft engine seems to look very much like another!  Most of us were flagging quite badly by then, so we sat and ate ice cream until it was time to return to the buses, and back to our hotel for the evening's entertainment.

Going bats

Windmill Gardens is only ten minutes' walk from where I live, but it really isn't somewhere I go very often, these days.  Last time I went was to the Bread and Beer festival in May 2018.  But tonight there was a bat walk!

It's been on my bucket list for years, doing a bat walk, but somehow I never seem to be in the right place at the right time.  I've missed a couple in Windmill Gardens simply because we were away when they happened.  There was a last-minute panic when I was asked to do grandmother duty today instead of tomorrow (which I couldn't have done anyway, but the Swan Whisperer would have done it), but luckily the Boy had football training at 17:30, which meant I was able to be home by 18:15 in time to have a snack and go straight out again.

There were already a dozen or so people gathered in the Gardens when I arrived - it is only a very small park - but more arrived as time went on, and I think there were probably 40 people or so when the evening commenced.  Three of them were children, about the age of our grandsons, but these ones were all girls. The Swan Whisperer was there for the talk, but he had a meeting so couldn't stay.  It began with a talk by Dr Iain Boulton, who is Lambeth's Environmental Compliance Officer, which basically means he is responsible for knowing what wildlife exists in Lambeth, and making sure it is encouraged to stay there (I did want to ask him whether he could help with the foxes creating unwanted havoc in the garden here, but didn't get a chance).  He explained about bats.  Bats, of course, are the only truly flying mammal, with their hands adapted to make wings.  But they are really mammals - warm-blooded, and give birth to live young, which they suckle.  There are many species of bats in this country, but the ones they'd expected to see most often in Windmill Gardens are pipistrelles.  All British bats are insectivores, and they hibernate in winter.  September is a brilliant time to see them, since they are active at sunset and sunrise, rather than in the depths of the night.  Each bat eats about 1,000 insects a night, so a healthy bat population means a healthy insect population.

Dr Boulton then handed out bat detectors, and explained how to use them.  You pointed them at trees rather than into the sky or towards the ground.   All this time, the sun was setting, and although at first we pointed our detectors in vain, after about 5 minutes they burst into a cacophony of clicks and, when you knew where to look, you could follow the bats swooping round the park, between the trees.  As the evening wore on, they came more and more out into the open - I could swear one passed within inches of my face.  I've seen bats before, of course - they come over the lake in Sussex, and I've seen them around Villard-de-Lans - but in inner London?  I really hadn't expected we'd see so many, and of course it's not possible to tell whether these were the same  bats doing the rounds or several different ones, but there must have been a minimum of four or five. 

We are now wondering whether we can borrow a detector to see if there are any in the church gardens - bet there are! 

I didn't take any photos - the light was too poor, and anyway, the bats moved too fast - so here's a photo of the Oaks Bottom in Sussex, where we had tea yesterday.  Bet they have lots of bats there.....