To Saleilles, 7 October 2021

Somehow I haven't done very much today.  Our friend J came round for coffee; it was lovely to see her and catch up on her news.  

After that it was time to move on.  Our first port of call was an E Leclerc - I was not very impressed, as I queued for ages at customer service to enquire about using their scan'n'shop devices, only to be told they were no longer in use.  Then it was totally not obvious where, or even whether, you should weigh your loose produce before taking it to the checkout - fortunately a very kind woman took my apples and figs and weighed them for me.  Someone else said you had to know where they were as it was not at all obvious, which made me feel better!

The Swan Whisperer said we should go to Fontévraut for lunch, as it wasn't very far out of our way.  I didn't feel like going up to the chateau so he went by himself, and then we drove on to this place.  He said it was a long old drive - I had a nap - but that is his fault for wanting to go cross-country rather than on the motorway (I do agree, it is nicer!).  

"Here" is a little village called Damvix,  which I thought was such a lovely name.  We are in a Camping-car Park aire; I joined the network a while ago and this was the first time I had used the card. 

You preload it with some money (you can refill online or at the sites) and then scan it at the entrance and exit to the aire.  Full services and electricity provided, but no sanitary block. Also Wi-Fi, but it is very slow and I can't stream my YouTube videos.  Cheaper than a conventional camp site, but not as many facilities.  This holiday is a mix of free Aires, France Passion, campsites and these places. 

To Saleilles, 6 October

Tonight we are staying in the exact same place we stayed 6 year ago tonight, on our very first motorhome tour. 

However.  The day started well with a run (for the Swan Whisperer) and a walk (for me) around the lakes where we had parked up. 

But after that it all went a bit pear-shaped.  First of all our friend messaged us to cancel, although we have arranged to have coffee with her tomorrow, so that will be all right.  But I haven't cooked for anybody for so long.... 

Then we had trouble finding a supermarket where we could actually take the van - they all seemed to have !height barriers.  Eventually we found a Lidl and two cars were just leaving as we arrived, so that was all right except I didn't work out how to use my Lidl Plus card in French until too late!  Plus their coupons are a bit pants this week!  

Then we headed on towards somewhere the Swan Whisperer wanted to visit and on the way found an E Leclerc which had  open parking and also a petrol station - we wanted diesel, and I could have done my shopping there!  Ah well, Lidl in France is a bit different to the English version (although very similar in many ways), and there will be other days. 

I don't know what the Swan Whisperer was thinking when he chose this particular aire to stop for a cup of tea, but it was nothing special (although it did have working services which we used) and meant we ended up driving through Angers in the rush hour.  But we got here at the same time as another English couple, and shared a wine tasting, which was very good, but we were in urgent need of blotting-paper by the time it was over.  We bought some nice wine  2 of white, 2 plain rosé and two sparkling rosé.  

It was too late to cook the chicken casserole I had planned, so we had an omelette with onion, tomato, mushroom and cheese, and very good it was, too. And they are also a greengrocer, and had a lovely display of autumn squash!

To Saleilles, 5 October

After breakfast this morning, we  walked into Villedieu-les-Poêles, which was not far - the town is not large, and the campsite is just on the edge of it.  It is a good job I did book us into the camp, as the municipal aire is closed while they renovate the car park in which it is sited.  

Our first port of call was the regular Tuesday street market, which was nice but not very big.  I bought some fresh tagliatelle, which we have just had for supper with a jar of sauce - yummy.  Anyway, that was all we bought at that stage, as what I really wanted to visit, and the main reason we came back here, was the bell foundry.  

They were kind and put on an English-speaking guide for us, although she had a strong accent and was not always easy to follow.  But she showed us how they cast the bells, using the lost wax technique.  And how they pour the molten bronze - I forget the exact ratio of copper to tin, but she did tell us  - into the mould in a huge pit.  Some of the bells were huge, nearly as big as the Swan Whisperer.  

We looked round the gift shop afterwards, which not only sold tiny bells (not that you need them these days; you just text your children to call them to a meal) but also some of the copper pots and pans made at another factory in the town.  Eye-watering expensive!

We came back via the local wool shop as I'd neglected to pack any contrast yarn to hold the stitches of the sweater I'm making for Boy 2, and a boulangerie where I bought half a baguette for lunch. 

It was then time to move on, so we drove to a Super U where I did a small shopping, including the aforementioned pasta sauce, and we ate in the supermarket car park.  The Swan Whisperer wanted to go and at least look at St Michael's Mount, which was not too far out of our way, but I slept most of the way, and when we got there, the car park was horrendously expensive if you weren't going to make an afternoon of it. 

So we came away and drove down here to Cesson-Sevigné, a suburb of Rennes, where we have been twice before.  Its USP is some lovely lakes to walk or run round - I plan to walk round in the morning, before we head on. 

To Saleilles, 4 October

The farm we stayed at is a traditional Normandy farm. They have a dairy herd of about 100 head of Normande cows. I am not sure of these are considered a rare breed or not. They rear their own heifer calves; the bull calves are sold at 2 weeks old to be reared for beef elsewhere. 

The farm retains the traditional Normandy layoit with the buildings widely separated around a large square. Most of them date back to the early 19th century. One, built of flint in a way which reminded me vividly of Sussex (which, after all, is not so very far away as the crow flies) contained an old bresd oven. I should have asked if it was still in use, because I believe it is used on special occasions.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable farm tour, and after it we got everything tidied away, used the services and drove down to Villedieu-les-Poêles-Rouffigny, where wr are in a campsite. I hope he foundry museum, which was closed last time we were here because Monday, will be open. 

To Saleilles, 3 October 2021

I slept badly because it was really stormy all night which can be quite fun, but can also be scary when the van rocks and rocks.  This morning, the wind had dropped, although it has continued to rain on and off all day.  

We started slowly, our body clocks not yet being on French time.  Our first port of call was Auchan where I did a shopping, but the Swan Whisperer was hassled by asylum seekers trying to get in and had to lock himself in.  

Next stop was the Baie de Somme, where we had lunch; after which I was incredibly sleepy and slept on and off for the next two hours while we drove down to Normandy.  We had been going to park up by the Seine, but the aire - a car-park, really - was full and rather noisy, as just beside the road.  We found somewhere to pull in while we had a cup of tea and a rethink, and discovered this lovely farm site.  It's not France Passion, so not free, but not expensive either, and does have electricity and services.  And very quiet, except for cows mooing.  

Or money was taken by a teenage boy, a little older than our grandson, but typically monosyllabic and resentful at being dragged away from his iPad to answer the door to a couple of elderly tourists!  Never mind, although we would love a farm tour if it is possible.  He wasn't going to escort us!

The Swan Whisperer has gone for a walk, and soon I am going to get supper.  Meanwhile I am sitting here with the door open airing out the van!

To Saleilles, 2 October 2021

I have to admit that we have had better starts to our holidays!  We wet down to get the motorhome on Friday and brought it back to London, something we don't normally do these days, but we were going straight on from a Church training event.  Just as well, really, because the Swan Whisperer discovered that the leisure batteries were totally dead and not holding a charge at all. So we went to Halfords and arranged to get it fitted there.  So the fitter put it in - and still nothing happened!  He had the sense to consult a colleague, who took one look and said that he had just removed the car battery, not the leisure battery!  

We eventually found where the leisure batteries lived and exchanged them for new ones, and the fitter found a loose connection, which eventually wants soldered, but he crimped it together as best he could.  This may have been what caused the problem. 

So we went, rather late, to the Circuit training day, which was good, but not as good as sometimes as it was in our ha Church so less sociable than at the convent place in Bellingham that we usually go to. The day finished at 15:00 and we set off to Folkestone. 

With all the alarms and excursions about ham sandwiches being confiscated, we took a minimal amount of perishable food with us and gave all our vegetables to my mother and sister.  In fact, the only thing that was different was that they stamped our passports - and barely glanced at our sworn statements which I goodly handed over with them.  

We got a Shuttle an hour earlier than booked, which turned out to be Just As Well, as half-way across we discovered that the main crate, with all the dried food, etc, had been left behind!  And I had left it in an obvious place, too!  

We had always been going to go straight to Carrefour to buy eggs and butter and so on, but I made the Swan Whisperer come too to pay for the rice, risotto rice, quinoa, couscous, tinned tomatoes, tinned sweetcorn, squash, soya sauce, etc that he had left behind!  As well as the butter, eggs, etc, that I had been going to buy anyway.  Then we drove up to Sangatte and parked up for a very wet and stormy night!  The holiday can only improve from  here on in!

The Northern Line Extension

Well, we had to, didn't we?  After all, it's not every day a new Tube extension is opened.  I decided not to try to get the very first train along the new branch, as that would have meant somehow getting to Battersea Power Station for 5:30 am and I wasn't too sure how I could do that.  But as I was going to Walthamstow anyway for grandmother duty, I thought right, I could explore on the way home.

The Swan Whisperer decided to come with me, and so we went off together to pick Boy 2 up from school and encourage him to practice the piano and get changed into football kit ready for training later.  The Boy, meanwhile, is now at secondary school and stayed late to try out for the football team, which he was - and we were all - delighted he was selected for!  So we are very proud grandparents, as well as nerdish!

And then it was time to go home, and the Daughter dropped us off near the Tube station, and we went normally as far as Warren Street, where we changed for the southbound Northern Line.  When we got there, this was the signage for the next few trains:

But, as you see, a train pulled in just then, and I realised it couldn't be the Kennington one and, sure enough, it was going to Battersea Power Station, so we got on.  

I don't often seem to go down the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line, for some reason, but it was fairly familiar, until we got to Kennington.  There may be trouble ahead but today everything went smoothly.  I don't know how many people were going just to say they had, as we were, but the train was still quite full when it arrived at Nine Elms.  There is an island platform there, but if you are thinking of Clapham North and Clapham Common, don't.  It's about the same size as Canary Wharf, and looks very like it, only no platform edge doors.

We didn't get out, although we were tempted, but carried on until we got to Battersea Power Station; again, huge wide island platforms, then a short-ish escalator leading up to a mezzanine floor where tickets could be bought, I think there may be a public toilet (but wouldn't swear to it), etc.  Then a longer escalator to the surface -  and a fairly amazing view of the new station with the eponymous power station in the background.  

And only a short walk to the terminus of the P5 bus, which took us home nicely in time for the supper that was waiting for us in the slow cooker!