Early Spring Holiday, 2 March 2026

Saint Nicolas de la Gave, Tarn-et-Garonne

Not the world's best day!  We had decided to visit a highly-recommended motorhome repair place, about an hour's run in the wrong direction.  It was a very lovely drive, though, cross-country, through lovely countryside and loads of pretty villages and so on.  But when we got there, nobody was at home - I think it is a sole trader, rather than a dealer.  The neighbour said they had gone to Spain for 3 weeks.  Wouldn't you have thought they would have put it on Google maps, as other businesses do?

There was nothing for it but to come away.  And we drove more cross-country, stopping to buy bread, and then again in a supermarket car park for lunch in the town of Sauveterre!  Yes, of course I thought of Fabrice, who wouldn't?!  Anyway, I didn't actually need anything as I'd got bread, so didn't go in, and they were the kind of supermarket that has solar-panelled roofs over the parking spaces, so we were in the shade - necessary, as the main skylight has broken.  This machine is ten years old, and is showing its age!  The bedroom door has also broken again.  And then the gas on one of the burners turned itself off and wouldn't stay lit.  At which point, I said we would have to call it a holiday and go home, as I couldn't possibly cook on just one burner - fortunately the Swan Whisperer found how to fix it, and has!  He now says it isn't working again - I am not prepared to put up with it, so we'll have to come home if we can't get it fixed!

Anyway, this was after we had removed the Satnav's prohibition on toll roads, and driven down the A62 (I think - I slept most of the way) and more minor roads down here to Saint Nicolas de la Gave, which is near Moissac - a town I know and love from a French Exchange here back in 1970!  I hope we can fix the gas burner and carry on with the holiday!  There is another repair place not far away, so if the SW can't fix it, they might be able to.

But what he has, finally, fixed is the hab door lock!  I don't think he knows quite what he did, but all of a sudden it started working.  Something to do with a solenoid, whatever that is.  Anyway, it's working, which is the main thing - we won't have to barricade it with the steering lock.  

Today's photo is of the pollarded trees around the aire.  I haven't had a walk today, but I did practice tai chi while the SW was having a leg-stretch.  

Supper is ready....

Early Spring Holiday, 1 March 2026

Verteillac, Dordogne

The Swan Whisperer went for a run round Lac Saint-Cyr this morning - only about 5k, but he enjoyed it.  Look at the daisies on the grass, not a very good photo, but they really were daisies!  

After a rather late breakfast, we headed on to the nearest supermarket - not that I needed much, but we like to treat ourselves to patisseries for lunch pudding on a Sunday (these were apple tarts, and very good they were, too) when we are travelling.  By the time we had done all that, it was noon, and we tried to listen to our church service while driving on, but the sound quality was dreadful - I don't think it would have been had we been listening on a laptop or even a phone via headphones, but on a phone which was then Bluetoothed to the car radio.... Not good!  Still, we enjoyed the hymns.

We stopped for lunch soon after the service had finished, and then continued on down to this tiny village of Verteillac, which is really rather nice.  After a cup of tea, we went round it to see what we could see.  The Sunday market was just finishing when we arrived, but really by the time it had spread itself over two squares and the car park, that was basically the end of the village!  Nice church, though!

It is very nice here; there are services, although you have to pay for water and/or an hour's electricity (useful for charging up a recalcitrant battery, but I don't think we'll need it); emptying services are free. 

We are basically a day ahead of ourselves, as I tried to send us down a route that What's Halfway suggested for the four nights we had changed plans, but the first place was in the middle of the Aquitaine floods, and thus closed out of use.  And the Swan Whisperer pointed out that this place was the exact same distance from Lac Saint-Cyr as the place I'd chosen, and it was two sides of a triangle.  So we will either get to Mas Alart a day early, or spend two nights at one of the two stopping-places en route.  We shall see..... We decided that going up into the Pyrenees and spending the night in a non-winterised motor home was seriously not a plan!  

Meanwhile the hab door is playing sillybuggers again; the Swan Whisperer has tried to fix it, but no joy so far.  We will ring our motorhome place in Sussex to see what they recommend, or there might, of course, be a repair place locally.  On verra.

P.S. Am rather annoyed - I bought a new set of pill-dispensers because they were rather lovely and I need a new set anyway, only to find that two of the lids broke as I was taking them off to fill with my week's pills!  Dreadful quality!

Early Spring Holiday, 28 February 2026

Beaumont-Saint-Cyr, Vendée

Bernay really is the loveliest town, and on a Saturday it has a street market, too.  It is quite a hike from the Camping-Car Park, so we drove to an Intermarché car park which is much nearer the town centre.  In fact, this Intermarché is "Drive" (Click and Collect) only, and they have opened a shiny new one literally just across the road.

Anyway, we walked into, and round, the town, and had a lovely time!  There will be photospam on Facebook, You Have Been Warned!  Meanwhile:

So when we returned to the car park, I did a shopping and the Swan Whisperer had coffee, and then we headed on to our stop for tonight, in a Camping-Car park near a lake, which isn't flooded, although rather muddy!  The place where we had originally planned to spend the night is closed due to flooding, so we had to have a quick rethink.  I hope this place will be nice for a walk in the morning.  

Our drive wasn't as nice as it ought to have been, as I fell asleep and the Swan Whisperer didn't hear what the Satnav was saying above the radio programme that was playing (which was, for some reason, My Fault), so we went the wrong way, and then the Satnav wasn't quite clear and I was too sleepy, so we went the wrong way again, and ended up having to drive a good 30 miles extra down the motorway and back!  And then, before we got here, the heavens opened into a very, very heavy shower, we nearly had to stop!

The weather has actually been very good all day, apart from that shower and a couple of others, but it meant it was after 18:00 when we got here.  Anyway, we've parked up and are snug, and the Swan Whisperer cooked our Saturday sausage and mash, and I have spent the evening trying to sort out where we are going next, as we decided to change our plans and not go on Le Petit Train Jaune, as we should have been there today if we were to take advantage of the cheap fares the local rail authority runs on the first weekend of every month.  So we decided we'd go up in the motor home instead, and then bottled out of the idea of spending the night way above the snowline!  So I have spent what has felt like hours trying to sort out a route that avoids the floods in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and finding places to spend the night that are actually open!  The Swan Whisperer was trying to be helpful, but really, what I need is my laptop when I can have several different tabs open at once and cut back and forth between them.  Anyway, if he doesn't like what I've suggested, he can do it himself!

Early Spring holiday, 27 February 2026

Bernay, Eure

I was awake a bit in the night worrying about a Church issue, which can and will be resolved but not until next week.  Why does one worry about things one can't control?  Anyway, I decided to treat myself to another half-hour of sleep after the alarm went off and I had taken my first pill of the day - it was actually nearer 45 minutes!

The Swan Whisperer went for a run before breakfast, and it is as well he did, as the rain started almost as soon as he got back, and has only really stopped this evening. It was not a wide band of rain, but it was a long one - and we were driving down the length of it!  Before we set out, though, we went to Auchan where I did some shopping and the SW got diesel.  The only two things I have definitely forgotten this holiday are some lip balm (which I remedied in Auchan) and the little bottle of antibacterial washing-up liquid that I use to clean my dentures.  That isn't important, as I can use liquid soap instead, but it has reminded us that we need to buy washing-up liquid tomorrow!

We got away about 11:15 and drove on in the rain down a succession of motorways, stopping for lunch, and tackling Rouen. Why they don't build a proper motorway bypass of the city is beyond me - the Satnav's directions weren't totally clear and we took a wrong turning, and then  got stuck in trafic, although not badly, and the Satnav did get us out of trouble, but all the same....  a proper rocade or ring road would be nice!

Anyway, we finally arrived in Bernay about 16:30 and found the Camping-Car Park which is obviously a former campsite - and may, indeed, be used as such in the summer.  There are a few hard-standing pitches, which we are on one of, and seem very well found.  The Swan Whisperer went out for an explore and I cuddled up under my duvet and watched videos, and it is about to be supper time!

Look at the sunset from my bedroom window!

Early Spring Holiday, 26 February 2026

Calais, Pas-de-Calais

This week appears to  have been inordinately busy!  "Tired" doesn't really begin to cover it, and getting up at 06:00 this morning really didn't help!

I think the older we get, the longer it takes to get ready, and it was after 09:00 when we set off for Sussex.  A slow old drive, somehow every traffic light that could be red, was.  Actually, I think that is an exaggeration, but not by much.  However, we arrived by about 11:30, and the Swan Whisperer went to get the WoMo, and we spent the next hour transferring stuff from the car and putting it away, all except the SW's clothes and making the bed, which we did on the crossing.

After a delicious lunch of kedgeree and home-made cheesecake, we set of shortly before 14:00; I fell asleep as we joined the M23, and didn't really surface until we were almost at Le Shuttle!  We got on a crossing 30 minutes before our booked one, and it was very empty.  Just time for a quick cup of tea, and we were through and on the train.

When we arrived in Calais, we did a quick trip to Carrefour to get some vegetable matter to go with the cooked chicken thighs I'd bought for supper, and then up here to the Camping-Car Park.  I am annoyed because I folded up my rainbow shopping bag, which I love as it folds almost flat, and now I can't find it.  It has to be in the WoMo somewhere, but where?  Oh well, it will either turn up or it won't, and I do have others.

Meanwhile today's photo is of the rosemary bush outside no 6, which is looking lovely.  Spring is definitely arriving - there was a polyanthus in their garden that was already in flower, and lots of blossom and primroses and so on.  Such a pity the weather is much colder today, and we have the heating on low.  

The Caravan, Camping and Motorhome show, 17 February 2026

In hindsight, of course, we should have gone by train to the NEC, but when your tickets include free parking, you don't really think of it!  However, the NEC is about 3 hours each way from London, and it made for a very long day in the car.

We set off at about 10:15 am, stopping for petrol and buying sandwiches when we were at it, and arrived at about 13:30.  We were able to catch a shuttle-bus up to the NEC itself, our car park being about 15 minutes' walk away.  Once there, we made ourselves comfortable, and then spent a very happy 3 hours or so wandering around the five halls devoted to the exhibition.

We are not in the market for a new motorhome, but it was nice to look round the new Pilotes, deciding what was nicer than our one, and what was less so ("But where do they put their clothes?" we asked, of one model!).   However, the joy of these occasions is the huge variety of stalls scattered along the sides of the halls, selling everything from accessories for a motor home or caravan (but we couldn't find a reversing camera, which is what we really wanted, and the only thing that might have been a stove-top oven, which I quite want (like this one, for instance) was eye-wateringly expensive.  In the end, we didn't buy very much - a new power-bank which came with a free screen protector for the Swan Whisperer's phone, and some glasses-cleaner (what, has that got to do with camping, I wonder - something we wondered about many of the offerings!).  We did, however, pick up quite a lot of brochures about France (which, one of the stall-holders told us, is pretty much completely under water right now - I hope we don't get too wet when we set off next week), and about television aerials/wi-fi boosters, as ours doesn't seem to work.

After a much-needed cup of tea, with a slice of cake (for the Swan Whisperer) and a flapjack for me, it was time to head home.  There was no sign of a shuttle-bus to our car park, so we walked back, and then it was a long, slow drive home.  I did sleep some of the way, but found this morning that it takes more than one night's sleep to recover from this level of exhaustion.  But it was great fun, and I'm glad we went.  Next year, if we go again, it will be by train!

An afternoon with Bartholomew. 26 January 2026

The boys had an INSET day today.  The Lanky Teenager planned to spend the day with his friends, playing badminton and maybe revising (February mocks are coming up), but Boy 2, at a loose end, said he'd like to come to us.

He came by himself for the first time, having stayed on the Tube after his mother got off.  We met him at Brixton, although I'm sure he would have been perfectly capable of travelling the rest of the way on his own.  

We didn't do anything in the morning; the Swan Whisperer had a meeting, and then he had some paperwork to catch up on, so it was lunchtime before we headed off, to eat at Mama Lan (link) at Boy2's request - we've eaten there before and enjoyed it.  I chose chicken wings and vegetable dumplings, he had chicken noodle broth and the Swan Whisperer had chicken fried rice.  All delicious, although I did give the SW one of my chicken wings and probably shouldn't have eaten the last one, either.  

Then we went out. I wanted to see the Great Hall and the Hogarth Staircase at St Bartholomew's Hospital, which is on a direct 59 bus from Brixton, so we went there.  

First of all you come across the church of St Bartholomew the Less, which we looked into briefly, having come through the Tudor Arch with its statue of Henry VIII (didn't manage to get a photo of the statue, which is apparently the only one of him).  

It was well worth going - the staircase, portraying the Pool of Bethesda (link) and the Good Samaritan.  And the Great Hall is truly spectacular - three fireplaces, which reminded me of a mediaeval hall, and it's about that size! 

It is part of the North Wing of the hospital, which had three wings built round a large square (the East wing was delayed as their treasurer absconded with the funds but was eventually built),

designed by James Gibbs and built in the 18th century (I think - I am finding it a bit vague).  The site has been beautifully restored, and has not been open to the general public before.

When we had finished, we went into the hospital museum, which was quite interesting, and included a short film about the life of the first founder, Rahere.  Henry VIII had to refound it after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, as one of the Laws of Unintended Consequences was a vast influx of sick and indigent people that had previously been cared for by the religious communities and now had nowhere to go.  

After the Museum, we visited St Bartholomew the Great church (link), just outside the hospital, which is apparently London's oldest parish church.  It works closely with St Bartholomew the Less, within the hospital grounds.  It was rather lovely, although it honked of incense (which isn't really a bad smell, but doesn't actually enable me to worship.  Still, each to their own.), with Rahere's tomb

and modern paintings and an appalling Damien Hirst statue (link) showing St Bartholomew holding his skin. I did not take a photo of it!

When we had finished, there was about half an hour before the Daughter was due to finish work, so we decided to walk over to Tavistock Place.  This was through a part of London I really don't know very well, through a couple of old graveyards and past the Postal Museum.  I'd shared our location with the Daughter, so she came to meet us.  Then the SW and I jumped on the nearest bus, and changed at Holborn on to a 133 to Brixton - I fell asleep! - and then there was a 35 just behind, so home.  

Photos on Facebook, as per usual.