In search of spring, 26 February 2022

Another bitterly cold morning - this photo shows the frost clearing away from the bedroom skylight while I was getting up. 

Our first port of call was to the supermarket for diesel and groceries, and and then we drove down to the Garabit viaduct. I have posted pictures of it before, taken from the aire on the A75, but this was the first time I had seen it from the other side. It is really rather spectacular! 

More photos on Facebook. We continued down the A75 and stopped for lunch before Millau (we had hoped to stop there, but time was getting on). The habitation door lock now seems completely buggered, so matter how often we clean the contacts, but the Swan Whisperer had a brain-waggle and has used the steering lock to keep it closed from the inside! Easily removed when I need to get in or out, and we can get the lock fixed in Sussex when we go home. 

We went over the Millau viaduct. It is more spectacular seen from below, but we wanted to get to our overnight stop before dark so the SW could have a walk. And it is pretty good seen from on it, although you can't see over the restraining walls (just as well, perhaps). 

And on, and on, and on, down the A75 and the A9, past Perpignan and Prades to Villefranche-de-Conflent where we will be spending two nights for reasons which will be revealed tomorrow. The SW has had his walk and will be cooking our Saturday sausage and mash - only the mash will be Aligot, which I rather extravagantly treated us to - we were in the area; it would have been rude not to, really! 

We are definitely seeing signs of spring here - there were speedwells in the aire where we stopped for lunch, crocuses in the one where we stopped for tea, and many of the trees are showing green. This seems to be a fruit-growing area, and many of the trees were in blossom. 

In search of spring, 25 February 2022

St Flour, France. 

Another long drive today, but much nicer than yesterday! However, first thing in the morning it was bitterly cold - and the Swan Whisperer said it was only 6°C inside the van! So, of course, the gas ran out before it was warm enough to shower, so the poor SW had to go out and change the cylinder before we could get up properly. 

So our first port of call after breakfast was an Intermarché, where he got gas and I went shopping. Was very pleased to find snail grippers and forks - something that had been singularly lacking when we fed the boys snails last week - they had to use skewers and we were reduced to the tails of mustard spoons! Which, I may say, I did the job but it is good to have the proper equipment for next time! 

Next, we drove about 20 kilometers to Saran, and used the services there, which Park4Night told us were open all year. The only reason we didn't go there last night was because it also said it was apt to be full, and indeed it was! But we drained, flushed and refilled, and so set off properly down the A71. I was delighted to see the old Aerotrain test track, and a TGV line (which superseded it) both parallel to the road. 

We stopped for lunch in an aire somewhere, near Bourges, we think, and again about an hour later as there was supposed to be a great view of the Auvergne volcanoes.

To our horror, we discovered that the hab door wasn't locking, and had to wait while the SW queried the wisdom of the Internet, which soon solved the problem - dirty contacts, apparently. Once we had solved that, we found we needed a cup of tea so had that, and then headed off again, this time down the A75. The SW decided he would rather stop at a Camping-Car Park (all right for him, but do you see him giving me the money to refill my card?) so we did another very quick stop to reprogramme the satnav, and now we are here, plugged into electricity and we can use the services again this morning, which is good as we won't have them again until Monday. 

It is going to be another very cold night, but we will programme the heating to come on at 07:00!

In search of Spring, 24 February 2022

Well, we may have set off in search of the spring but it most certainly wasn't in France today! It rained. It rained. And it rained. 

We had a very long drive today; the satnav said that the quickest way would be via Paris, but the Swan Whisperer decided not to do that, but and we came via Rouen instead, which was about two hours longer. 

Our first port of call was at a Lidl, where I bought one or two bits - blood oranges here are a lot cheaper than at home. I have a lovely But the Swan Whisperer texted me to say he needed milk and the one thing Lidl France appears not to sell is fresh milk! So we went across the road to an Intermarché or E Leclerc, I forget which where I got milk, drinking water, and beer and cider. And a Paris-Brest each for lunch pudding as they were on such a special offer it would have been rude not to, really! 

And so we went on, stopping for lunch in an aire somewhere, and again for diesel, off-motorway (it took some finding, but we got there in the end). And on and on and on, passing Chartres Cathedral, of which I singularly failed to take a photo. And there was a rainbow, a which was lovely. 

And so to this aire at Artenay, which is the car park of a public swimming pool; as this is open-air, it is not open at this time of year. There are no services, but we can get them tomorrow. Which will be another long drive, as will Saturday. 

In search of spring, 23 February 2022

Merlimont, France. 

So another adventure begins; we are heading back to the South of France to see if it is beginning to be spring there! 

Normally, we would be parked up at Sangatte for the first night, but our batteries were a bit flat, so we thought we would go to a Camping-Car Park place just south of Le Touquet where there would be electricity.

Unfortunately, I misunderstood what the ap was telling me and it was full when we got there, so we are parked up with no electricity in the station car park.  At least we are an hour down the road for tomorrow's trip! 

We will be going to bed very soon to save the battery; if we have to drive for 20 miles tomorrow morning before we can have a shower, so be it! 

I have just given myself a fright because I couldn't find my medications for the morning, but they were there, just not where I thught they were!  Phew!

A Valentine's Day Excursion

 Actually,  Valentine's Day had really nothing to do with it - I just couldn't think what to call it.

Over the past few days, I'd read posts from Ian Visits and Londonist about a new electric bus that is being introduced on to route 63, with various experimental features that may or may not be included if and when they get funds to renew their fleet.  So I wanted to go on it, of course, and the Swan Whisperer was, if not keen, willing to accompany me.

The sensible thing was to go to King's Cross by Tube and catch it at the start of its route.  Getting to King's Cross was fine,

but we took a long time to find the correct bus stop, crossing the Euston Road several times and eventually ending up almost beside the Tube exit we'd come out of!  Then, of course, the next two 63s that came were the old buses - I gather the entire fleet will have been replaced by "spring", but at the moment less than half has.  However, eventually a new bus came along, and we got on.

I didn't really get a chance to look round the inside, but upstairs was very grand!  

There is a skylight, which I gather is tinted to stop it being too hot in summer, and, as you can see, there are windows that can be opened, although the bus is air-conditioned.  

We started off sitting right in the front, but then the Swan Whisperer's phone needed charged, so we moved back a seat to get access to the charging points and phone holders: 

The actual route was new to us, too - from King's Cross the bus goes down Clerkenwell Road, past Farringdon Station and under Holborn Viaduct (such lovely lamp-standards):

We crossed over Blackfriars Bridge, and so on to St George's Circus and the Elephant.  I suggested leaving the bus there, and getting a 35 home, but the Swan Whisperer said that we would stay on until the end.  However, after it stopped for about 15 minutes in the middle of nowhere (somewhere near Burgess Park) "to regulate the service", and then again at Peckham Bus Garage to change drivers, I firmly said I had had enough and would go to Morrison's and then get a 37 home.  So that's what we did - I wanted fresh pasta for supper.  

It was a fun outing, covering a large triangle of London.  Rather pointless, really, but I'm glad to have experienced these new buses.  We both liked the "wooden" flooring but I regret to say I didn't notice the modern passenger information screens - I have a feeling that our one wasn't working.  They have them on the P5, though - as, indeed, they have power sockets - so I have seen them.  I do hope TfL gets proper funding so it can roll out these buses, or very similar ones, over the whole network.  

In search of Sevilles

I have spent the past few days looking for the Seville oranges that are in season at this time of year and bring brightness to dull January days.  However, Lidl never sells them, Sainsbury's in Clapham didn't have any and nor did Tesco in Brixton or in Streatham (the Swan Whisperer very kindly looked after skating).  I had thought of going to Tulse Hill Sainsbury's, but they probably wouldn't have had them.  

I thought that, if anywhere would have them, it would be the massive Sainsbury's in Nine Elms, but it is a serious trek to get there.  However, one could make a proper Expotition of it.  I thought at first I'd go up there on the 196, then take the Tube from Nine Elms Station to Battersea Power Station Station and the P5 home, but it is rather minor roads between Battersea Power Station Station and the P5 terminus, and it would be dark by the time I got there (I'd been watching the Men's Short at the Europeans, so hadn't been out earlier).  So I thought I'd postpone the excursion to tomorrow, and just pop out to Lidl for today's necessities.  But just as I got to the bus stop, there was a P5, so I thought I'd do the trip the other way round.  

So first I got the P5 to Thessaly Road, and walked under the eponymous bridge (which calls itself Thessaly Road Bridge, but as it is patently a railway bridge, that is a bit of a misnomer) to Battersea Power Station Station.

The trains aren't very frequent from there, so I had to wait 6 minutes, but of course the train was in the station so I could sit down, very comfortable.  It is only a couple of minutes to Nine Elms, which I'd been through before, but never got in or out at.  I love the inside-out "Underground" logo that you see as you approach the exit:

Sainsbury's is just next door

and I was delighted to find they did have the Sevilles in stock, so from that point of view it was a most successful Expotition.  

On the way back, I decided to change buses at Stockwell Bus Garage, catching a 196 from opposite Sainsbury's and changing to a P5.  Big mistake - normally, when I do that, both buses arrive at the stop within seconds of each other, but this time I must have just missed the P5 and had to wait for a quarter of an hour for the next one - which was just in front of the next 196!  Ah well, I got home at last, in time for a much-needed cup of tea - as I hadn't expected to be out for more than a few minutes, I hadn't bothered to bring my water with me, and missed it rather badly!

Early Winter, Saturday 4 December 2021

Because Sangatte is so near the UK, but an hour ahead, it didn't even begin to try to get light until nearly 08:30, at which point the Swan Whisperer decided to go for a run.  No sooner had he set foot out of doors than it began to rain, and by the time he got back, he was soaked to the skin.  Nothing that a hot shower couldn't help, but unfortunately one of the seat cushions has got very wet from where he put his wet clothes, and I am sure that it will be covered in sooty mould when next we see it.  He says it will dry, and so it will, but will it dry before the sooty mould sets in?

Meanwhile, I'd done a bit of packing and got breakfast ready, and after breakfast we drove over to Cité Europe where I did a final last shopping in Carrefour (I didn't take any photos today, so this is the second photo of the display of dried fruits - which I bought one of - that I took ten days ago). 

I also bought marrons glacés and chocolate orange peel for Christmas.  And one or two other things, like a chicken for tomorrow and some liver (the Swan Whisperer adores it, and it is so much more easily bought in France than here) for later in the week.

Then it was time to head for the Eurotunnel terminal, so we went through - again, they wanted the card I had booked the crossing with, despite my having cancelled it with them.  The very nice man who came to rescue us said it was a known bug in their programming, and he had had to help several people in the exact same situation.  But I had succeeded (with much swearing) in uploading all our documentation this time, so we didn't have to drone round the houses, and, apart from a minor contretemps with French passport control because their counterparts at Folkestone hadn't stamped our passports with the date of entry into France, we got through very quickly and ended up on the noon crossing, rather than the 12:20 on which we were booked.

But setting our watches to UK time didn't mean resetting our stomachs, so we stopped at Clackett Lane Services to eat our lunch (thus taking the final meal of the holiday in the same place as we had the first one), and arrived in our village just as the wedding party was leaving - we had been uninvited, or should I say disinvited, when the new restrictions came in.  So we had a brief word with our daughter and family, and then stopped again to greet the bride and groom and congratulate them in passing.  And, indeed, for a brief word with my mother and sister, and with my other nephew and his partner, who were staying.  My sister had kindly brought our unwanted wedding garments downstairs so we could load them on top of everything else.  I am quite sure that dress is jinxed - every time I want to wear it to a wedding, something happens and I can't go!

They all went off to the reception, and we transferred everything to the car, and made sure we had everything from the motor home.  And the Swan Whisperer washed it, and we turned off the fridge and the electricity (and he had to run back to turn off the gas) and emptied the loo and what was left of the grey water and the clean water..... and so back to London and mammoth unpacking and much swearing when there was no room in the cupboards for things!  Some of my purchases have had to stay in their crate.  I must go and finish unpacking the clothes I didn't wear, and the washing kit, etc..... am very tired tonight, but as we now have to isolate until we can get our PCR tests back, I won't need to do anything much tomorrow.

We're now planning to hibernate, more or less, until the end of February or the beginning of March; we will check up on the motor home when we go down at Christmas, though, and there may be one or two Expotitions between now and then.  Which will be reported on!