Late Spring holiday, 12 May 2026

Strasbourg, Grand-Est, France

Today, we went to Germany. Yes, I know we will be going there on Thursday, but, among other things, we wanted to see whether diesel was any cheaper across the Rhine. It is, quite significantly, although it is still eye-wateringly expensive! 

Anyway, the SW went for a run first thing, while I got breakfast (scrambled eggs on a lovely fresh baguette), and then we set off. I thought we had decided to go up to Comte tram stop, which is where the local Lidl is, to locate it and to see a part of the town we hadn't yet seen, but the SW misunderstood and thought we were walking towards the central station - as if, it's much easier to go by public transport! So once that was sorted out, we found we were one tram stop nearer to town. We changed at Homme de Fer (no, I don't know why Iron Man, either!), and it was an uneventful run to Kehl Rathaus. 

We wandered up the main drag, with me telling myself firmly that I could go to both Müller and Woolworth's when we get to Oberstdorf, and then turned down towards the Edeka Center (sic), where I parked the SW with a cup of coffee, and went to DM (I do like their moisturiser and their shampoo bars, only they didn't have the moisturiser I like) and to Tedi, where I didn't buy anything, and so to Edeka, where I got fresh milk for the SW, and a few goodies you can get in Germany but not in France or the UK. 

The SW had kindly bought me a coffee, which was getting cold, but still drinkable, and although it was 13:00, I felt I could last out until we got back to the WoMo before eating anything. So we walked back to Kehl Bahnhof, getting the view of the mosque in the distance,

and got on the tram there. Which, unfortunately, broke down! In a place where there was no convenient alternative, and I knew I couldn't walk another 20 minutes at that stage. So we had to wait until a mechanic came, who seems to have waved a magic wand over the tram, as it promptly started off at full speed and then had to brake rather hard at a red signal. The driver apologised! 

We got to Etoile-Bourse without further incident, and there was a C1 bus almost straight away, and so back to the campsite. I had bought rolls for lunch, and they were as delicious as always, even though I couldn't manage a whole one. 

I had hoped to go out again this afternoon, but it just couldn't be done, alas. I did go for a leg-stretch up to the main block to refill my water bottles, but that's as far as it went. The SW did go out for a short explore, but mostly to see where a path went before we go out tomorrow. And I have done nearly 8K steps today, as I did yesterday, which is a lot for me! 

Late Spring Holiday, 11 May 2026

Strasbourg, Alsace, France

It has been a very wet day, although really just showers - more-or-less continuous showers, with a few breaks in between! And, of course, it is Monday, so all the museums and many restaurants are closed. 

However, we did not let this deter us too much, and set off about 10:30 to visit the European Parliament. We bought ourselves 72-hour tickets, which are excellent value for money, and will do us until we leave on Thursday (and if we end up in Kehl, which we might, we can always buy another 24-hour ticket, should we need to). I wished - as I did all day - that I had put a sweatshirt on under my jacket, as I was totally not warm enough! And I was wearing my mid-season jacket, too, not my light one! 

There is a bus stop just outside the campsite, and we caught the second bus that came along - a no 2, as it happens - because its route goes more through the city centre than the other bus, the C1, does. We eventually changed on to a tram, which took us out to the European Parliament. 

I don't think we'd really planned what we'd do when we got there, but we found out that one could visit the building, so of course we did. It is free to visit, but there is strict security. You start off by showing your passport at the entrance, and then you are directed downstairs where there is an airport-style conveyor belt and metal detector. Then you scan your passport and the machine issues you a badge, which you show at the entrance to the main area, and wear attached to your person for the rest of the visit. 

The visit takes you past all sorts of exhibitions about the main movers and shakers of the European Union (the historical ones, I mean), and at the heart of it all you enter the main debating chamber. Parliament was not in session, so we were able to take photographs. There may have been a tear or two on my part at the thought that my stupid country voluntarily took itself out of all this. Photospam on Facebook. 

Anyway, the visitor trail - clearly signed, and you couldn't wander off the beaten track - took us back down and past more exhibitions (one on Simone Veil) and so out of the site. You had to remove the plastic clip from your badge and return it to a container designed for the purpose, and then scan the badge itself before you could get out. 

There was a tram back to the city centre, and we decided to lunch at the restaurant we first went to in 2018, and at least once later on. But, alas, as is the way of restaurants, it is no longer there, and had been replaced by a Lebanese one, which we could go to at home. So we walked down to the Cathedral, and ended up in a random restaurant where the SW ordered a Flammekeuchen, which he had been longing for. I got put off them in Lübeck when we had one and the taste lingered all afternoon! So I had a "Salade de jarret de porc", which was pulled pork knuckle on a bed of lettuce and potato salad, with a hard-boiled egg and tomato. Very delicious, but I don't eat much these days and could barely manage half of it! 

We then walked down to L'Etoile and caught a C1 back to the campsite, where I threw on more clothes, and even the SW put on a sweater. We spent what was left of the afternoon reading - and it has to be said, dozing - on the bed, while the rain hammered on the roof (incidentally cleaning much of the owl poo off the skylight!) and now we are about to have soup and bread and cheese for supper! 

Late spring holiday, 10 May 2026

Strasbourg, Alsace

It is raining. The forecast was for this to happen, but as none of the apps I use seemed quite sure when it was going to start, so we decided to leave our lovely little aire in Argonne fairly early. We could not, of course, check in to the campsite until 14:00, but we wanted to stop and listen to our church service - sadly, it took forever for it to come up, and we were only able to join for the second half of Gordon 's sermon. But what we did hear was excellent.

We drove mostly on the excellent N4 and its tributaries, going through Bar-Le-Duc, among other places. We didn't think we'd been there before, despite having seen lots of signs for it over the years. It looks lovely. The Satnav got very confused, though, as they have changed the road layout and it didn't know about it, so it paid us back by taking us to the back gate of the campsite! Still, we got here in the end. Warm welcome, but the WiFi is a bit far away.

We are here until Thursday, but the weather forecast is a bit pants - and the museums are closed tomorrow! I think we will have to visit lots of churches instead. 

Late Spring holiday, 9 May 2026

Givry-en-Argonne, Grand Est, France

Still no services this morning, and Camping-Car Park haven't replied to my email, so I am not pleased with them. They are usually far more efficient than that. We put a notice on the services saying "En Panne", but you would have thought they would have done that, and provided an alternate source of water - if only a bowser, or directions to a nearby standpipe! 

Anyway, after breakfast I went round to Lidl to get another free baguette on my points, and also found some merguez reduced for quick sale, so I'll make a couscous tomorrow. Tonight is our traditional Saturday sausage and mash. I also bought some strawberries, but didn't buy asparagus as it was rather expensive. Later I wished I had, as it was even more expensive in Auchan. Anyway, once I had done that, there was little to keep us, so we headed on, 

First port of call was an Auchan for fresh milk, which Lidl doesn't sell, and I couldn't resist some fromage frais with raspberries. The SW had coffee while I was doing this, and then we joined the A26, on which we stayed until just before Reims. We stopped at a random picnic area for lunch, which was really rather pleasant.

At Reims, we came off the motorway, and went on progressively slower roads, ending up on the D70, which brought us to a very nice free aire in this little hamlet. 

We are behind a small Carrefour, in which you can buy a token for either 10 minutes of water or 2 hours' electricity, so we did that, and emptied the loo and put some more water in the tank, plus a containerful for the SW to wash the windscreen. We had driven through a swarm of flying insects, and it was covered! I popped in a few minutes later to get some scrubbers, as we'd left ours at home, and although we do have a washing-up brush, it is less effective on tea stains in mugs! I then did some of the tai chi form, and when the SW had finished cleaning the windscreen, he went off to see if there is anywhere he can go for a run in the morning (probably only a short one) and I did some crochetinig in front of YouTube. I hope the SW will get supper soon. 

The birdsong here is exceptional! Ranging from cockerels to cuckoos, and anything in between! The SW has a wonderful list from his walk, and says there are frogs, too. 

But I am sad this evening, as news came through that a contemporary of mine has died very suddenly of a massive stroke. I didn't know her well, as she was in the parallel class and a different House, but all the same.... It is sad. 

Late Spring Holiday, 8 May 2026

Saint-Omer, Pas-de-Calais

We were horribly low on water this morning, so did not shower but made do with a "possible wash" in the basin (you know - you wash down as far as possible, then you wash up as far as possible, and then you wash possible). 

The Swan Whisperer went out to buy croissants and, incidentally, to look at the local cemetery in case it had a tap so we could get water - CCP still haven't fixed the services, and I gather they have been out of use for several days. Unlike them to be so inefficient, but they haven't even put a notice on them saying "En Panne", far less produced a bowser of water! I have emailed them to complain - not that it will do any good - and will write them a bad review when the time comes.

So after breakfast we drove up to the cemetery and filled our water tank. We didn't quite like to connect our hose to the cemetery tap, so the SW filled our 11-litre watering can several times. We think we have enough to do us, certainly for the morning and, hopefully, as far as Strasbourg on Sunday.

When we got back to the CCP, I went out to Lidl, which is only marginally further away than it is at home, and which doesn't observe public holidays (which today is, but in France). When I got back, the SW was busy mending the bedroom door, which broke again yesterday. We badly need a new latch for it, but he has made a sort of Heath Robinson arrangement with a spider clip. Then it was lunch-time, and after that we flopped on the bed for what was supposed to be half an hour, but the SW went sound asleep, and it was about 90 minutes later when I woke him to suggest we had a cup of tea before heading out for our walk.

We had a lovely walk along the canal for a bit, and then past the ruins of St Bertin's Abbey,

and then past the Church of Saint-Denis. 

 It said there was a fountain, but it was not an ornamental one, rather it was some kind of historic standpipe or something. The church, disappointingly, was locked. We walked back to the campsite past a Carrefour City, as the SW wanted milk and he doesn't like UHT stuff, but it was closed. So back to the WoMo - he went on a little further to look at the marshy area beyond, but I didn't join him. Then he nipped out for some more beer, as we only had a smallish bottle in the fridge, and now it is supper time. Photospam on Facebook. 

Late Spring Holiday, 7 May 2026

Saint-Omer, Pas-de-Calais

The Swan Whisperer had to get up at 05:30 this morning to open up the Youth Club to be a polling station. I had had every intention of getting up then, but I must have fallen asleep straight away, as it was 06:45 next time I looked at my clock! This meant, of course, that it was after 08:30 before we got away, and we didn't get to Sussex until nearly 11:00. 

We decided it wasn't worth filling up with water, as we would have services this evening, so only put a few litres in, to get us there. Spoiler alert: Big Mistake. 

We made good time to Folkestone, stopping at Clackett Lane services to eat our sandwiches, and were pleased to be offered a crossing at 16:16 rather than the 16:46 we had been booked on. I discovered I had forgotten to enter our API, and had a bit of trouble finding out how to do it, although the man in the customer services seemed to think it wasn't necessary (I don't think he was right. Plus he gave me some extremely dubious information about what to do next time. I do think customer service reps ought to know what they are talking about; they very often don't, though!). Anyway, I found the correct login in the end, and was able to enter the info before we went through passport control. 

We were well on time for our crossing, but they suddenly said the next crossing was at 16:46 and they apologised for the delay, which wasn't very nice of them. I do wish they wouldn't do that! I don't at all mind going on our booked crossing; I do mind when they muck us about. 

Anyway, once we got going, that was fine. We stopped at the Cité Europe for me to shop and the SW to get diesel, which was horrendously expensive. And then a smooth run to Saint-Omer. 

But the services have broken down! We tried and tried to get them to work, but they wouldn't, and when the SW rang up they told him there was a fault and "they were working on it", but couldn't tell him when they would be mended. So we have almost no water, and I have no idea where we can get some. And we have booked here for two nights; I assume they will refund me if we can't stay the second night! They would have need to! 

There is a cemetery up the road, and that may well have running water; they often do. Otherwise we'll have to buy water from the local Lidl, which is just round the corner. 

I had made a big vegetable stew for supper, which we had with rice and an egg poached in it, but it wasn't very nice.... 

We have, by and large, had better starts to our holiday! 

A walk in London, 27 April 2026

 The Swan Whisperer left the charging cable for his computer in Sussex on Friday.  Fortunately our niece was able to bring it back to London, and today we went to her office to pick it up - sadly, she was too busy to come out to lunch with us.  I decided to go too, and then we could have a walk afterwards.  I forgot to set my watch recording when we came out of Temple Underground station, but this was our walk from Cs office onwards:

I'm surprised it was so long - we went fairly slowly through the Middle and Inner Temples and along Fleet Street towards St Paul's .  I spotted a Cote, and remembered that they are offering a daily special for just £10 at the moment, and that Monday's is steak and chips.  The SW didn't really believe me, but I was proved right, and very good it was, too.  And not too much!

After that, we walked across the Millennium Bridge, and along the South Bank to Borough Market, stopping at a random ice-cream van to buy a 99 each, and so to Borough High Street, where we had to wait an unconscionable time for a 35.  But one came at last, and we came home - and I fell fast asleep in my chair for a couple of hours and am only just rousing up now!  A thoroughly enjoyable walk.  Photos on Facebook.