June 3rd, 4th and 5th Beauvoir 80136

OK, I have been awful at updating the blog, so I have decided to make a fresh start and make sure I update it more regularly in future.


The weekend of the 1st and the 2nd of June, to refresh ourselves we stayed at a campsite for a couple of nights so we could watch the rugby and the football, and do some washing and stuff.
On the 3rd of June we left the campsite and headed to a lovely spot called Beauvior that overlooks Mont Saint Michel.
On the 4th, we were going to walk to the Mont, but the weather didn't look too good, so we decided to stay close to home and just go for a walk around the town. we went to visit a fully restored and operational windmill named Moulin de Moidrey which was a great place to visit. It was built in 1806 and restored to working order in 2003. The dude running the place does guided tours and sells flour and stuff from the ground floor. While we were there, the wind had obviously changed direction a bit, and he went outside and pushed the whole roof around with the sails attached with a great lump of wood. We also saw some birds of prey, but we were unable to identify them or take any photos. Then we went down into the town to grab some coffee and bread, and then back to the van.

Here are a few random photos that we took on our walk :-)


Tomorrow we're going to walk the 5km (1hr 3mins according to google maps) to Mont Saint Michel and back.

Thursday 2/5/19 79659

Sorry it's been a while for those of you that are following the blog.
We spent a few good days at Courseulle Sur Mer visiting the D-Day landing beaches and learning about what had happened on that fateful day 6th June 1944. How different our lives would have been if it weren't for the allied forces that arrived on the beaches and fought their way through Europe liberating the German occupied countries as they went.

Now the beaches are beautiful, sandy and warm, but I can imagine them blood soaked and shattered by gunfire.

Every other lamppost has a picture of a veteran attached to it in all the villages and towns along the coast with their country of origin, name, rank and regiment.
There is nothing but respect and praise for the allies.
Anyway, we were stopped in a lovely Aire in Courseulle, with a huge municipal park backing onto it, and if you walked through the park, you arrive on the beach.

We are now in a beautiful Aire outside Cabourg, on the beach (again!)

and I have some lovely local beer that I'm consuming while I'm typing this (6.2%!!!)
Ollie has his own instagram page (Ollies_50_shades_of_blue) where you can see what he's been up to, so head on over and take a look!
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Monday 15th April, Hèrouvillette 79510

Back Again! Well, it’s been a while since my last post and there’s a lot to catch up on. Thursday 11th I left the last campsite to go and pick Raychel up from Caen, and Ollie and I turned up a little early. Just as well because the ferry got in half an hour early. I was lovely to see Raychel, and be able to converse with someone in English, and we headed to the Aire in Herouville where I had stayed before (and lost Ollie) so we could catch up and settle in. There was a slight problem in that the only bridge over the canal for miles was closed, so we had to travel miles to cross it and then head to the Aire. When we finally arrived, we set about settling in. Friday 12th Disaster, we went for a walk to the supermarket, and tabac, and when we got back, I couldn’t find the keys to the van. Panic! I retraced my steps, and no joy. I went to the Tabac and asked if anyone had handed them in, no joy. But the supermarket was closed. I retraced my steps back to the van, and met Raychel and Ollie, headed the other way. No joy. Bugger. The keys have the key to the top box, the key to my bike lock, and worst of all a remote for the alarm on the van ☹. The bike is padlocked to the front of the van by the tow loop, so until we get that off, we can’t go anywhere. Luckily we have 2 sets of keys, but unluckily the second set were in the van ☹ so I had to break in (no damage), so we could at least have somewhere to sleep. Saturday 13th Got up, retraced my steps and asked in the Tabac again, the supermarket, and the Boulangerie . Nope ☹ Bought beer and crisps and went back to the Aire in time to watch the rugby (Gloucester vs Bath) and try to forget about the predicament. (Difficult). Sunday 14th Got up late and headed to the Pegasus Bridge Museum. What a fantastic place. They have the original bridge, numerous excellent displays, including interactive displays. They also have a reconstruction of one of the gliders that was used in the initial attack to secure the bridgehead. The first soldier to die on D day was at Pegasus Bridge. The French people are very reverential to the Allied troops who fought to drive back the German troops and liberate France, and this is shown at this memorial museum. We grabbed some food at a café, and then wandered back. We were all absolutely knackered. Monday 15th Woke up, went back to sleep, woke up and prepared to head back into town to see if the keys have been handed in, and if not, plan what we are going to do. We’ve already stayed longer than the 48 hours that we’re allowed, so we have to at least make some effort to do something. The plan, should the keys not turn up, is to see if I can get something to cut the cable on the bike lock. At least then we can drive somewhere to get replacement keys and locks. We will also have to get another remote for the alarm, and get the top box lock cut and replaced. AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!! Tuesday 16th After a restless night’s sleep running through how I was going to approach asking at the garage, I got up early and went to Garage Michel to see if I could borrow a hacksaw or a set of bolt cutters to cut the padlocks off the bike and the top box. 3.5 mile round trip before breakfast!! Ollie loved it. With a bit of google translate magic, I left the garage with a hacksaw and minus my wallet for security. Once back at the van, I tried to cut the padlock on my bike. Now I know what ‘hardened’ actually means on padlocks! No chance. I sawed through the cable in a few minutes and then the hasp on the top box and removed both padlocks. We’re able to move again!! Bloody brilliant. We needed petrol, and the garage was on it’s 2 hour lunch break, so we went to the British war graves cemetery in Ranville. It doesn’t matter how many times I go to places like that, I am shocked into silence looking at the endless rows of graves, some labelled ‘A Soldier’ or ‘A Sailor’. There were numerous German graves there as well. Definitely a somber but peaceful place. It always brings home the futility of war, and the fact that we should never let anything like that happen again. Looking at the ages of these poor kids, I couldn’t help but think that they had very short lives, so that I can be where I am today, doing what I’m doing. I have total respect and awe at the bravery of these young men who made the ultimate sacrifice. We decided to head back to the camp site in Bayeux where I had stayed before so that we could gather ourselves, shower and do some washing. We also want to see the tapestry. Cooked the lovely pork chop that Raychel had bought for me for dinner, and had a couple of glasses of red wine (I’m sure that the French keep all the good wine for themselves!) before going to sleep. I’ll do some washing in the morning. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday stayed at a 4 Euro per night car park in Bayeux. Visited the tapestry and got interviewed by an Austrian reporter, drank some beer, visited the market on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we headed for Arramanche where there is the remains of a German Battery that was taken out by the navy, and then the personnel were captured by the British army. I'm going to stop there, and try to keep up from tomorrow :-)

Sunday 7th April Saint Lo 79227

Well, I got up about 10am, showered, tidied up, threw Ollie's ball for him until I was tired of it (he never is!), and then prepared to leave this lovely site in Bayeux. 2 nights with electric cost me 50 euros, but it was worth it to gather myself and empty and fill up Brian. I set off for a free site near Saint Lo. Arrived mid afternoon, and fell asleep after lunch. The place is empty! There are facilities, and a restaurant and a great view. I'm feeling strangely disconnected from myself today, so I'm going to have an early night and hopefully feel better in the morning. Great news and bad news from Raychel. She's coming out Wednesday - I'm not sure I'm as much of a loner as I once thought. Ollie is a really good travelling companion, but I miss my little whirlwind of chaos! The bad news is that her house is going to cost a bit to sort out for when the new tenants move in. Nothing has gone smoothly with our little adventure, but things have to start looking up shortly don't they?

Friday 5th April - Bayeux 79208

It's been a while since i last updated - mostly down to being busy and not having any data. Arrived in Herouvillette for a couple of nights and ran out of data. No sweat I thought, I will buy another data passport. But no, the Three website was down for hours :-(. I tried again the next day, but it was still down, so I called them up and they stop people spending over a certain amount. Then you have to let them know if you want to go on spending more. I left it, and hoped to get a data SIM for the router. Disaster and Relief. On the night of the 4th, as I say, I was at this lovely little free stop by the side of a river, and Ollie loved it because he's never seen ducks before - he was very interested!!! I decided to take him for the last walk of the day along the river. He again ran up and down the path by the river, very interested in the ducks. Then a big black cat appeared and ran to a fence and up and over. there were also a couple of dogs barking in the gardens that backed onto the path. AND THEN OLLIE WAS GONE!!! It was like bloody magic! I thought that he couldn't have gone far so I continued alone the path calling out his name. I came to the end of the path and turned back, still calling his name and whistling for him. Got back to the van and still no sign, and it was now starting to get dark. I grabbed a torch and went along the path again, then having not found him, I went around to the front of the houses that backed onto the river and began knocking doors. A couple of people said they hadn't seen him and I got no answer from a couple. Then at one house, a man answered the door, and although he couldn't peak English, his daughter obviously studied it at school, and understood what I was trying to say in my grade 5 CSE French. But they hadn't seen him either. I was really starting to panic now, he had just disappeared. Had he fallen in the river? Had someone taken him? Then a car pulled up and a woman got out and went to the house I was just leaving. The daughter must have told her why I'd been there, and she said 'Oui, oui', and mentioned the boulanger which I had walked past earlier in the day. I said merci beaucoup and began to run (despite my bloody cough). I went into the road on which the boulanger was and stopped. I thought I could hear Ollie barking, so I shouted out to him. Then all of a sudden, he was there!!! Oh the relief! I really thought I'd lost him. He was pretty excited to see me too, and I put him on the lead and went back to the van promising myself that that would never happen again. After leaving Herouvillette and a nice little free site with facilities via token available from the local boulanger, I headed for Caen to see if I could get a SIM there, which was difficult with no data (no sat nav), and without the maps I was sure were in the van somewhere, but I arrived to a very busy town with loads of traffic and strange people dressed in outlandish costumes. It turns out that it was carnival day. After failing to get into a car park, I gave up and headed out of town. Then I saw a sign for Bayeux, and as I haven't been there since I was at school, I thought 'that'll do' and headed there. Bayeux That night (4th) I found a free stop. I still had no data and tried to sort out more but no joy, so this morning 5th, I bit the bullet and bought another data passport. I went to the Orange store in Bayeux, and bought a data only SIM for the router, which came with 5 Gb of data, so I will keep that in reserve. I went to Carrefour (expensive), then to the local municipal camp site to stay for the weekend 20 Euros. I will watch some rugby tonight and then The Clash (Bath vs Bristol at Twickenham) is on tomorrow. The site only has WiFi in the TV room, so I will take my laptop and headphones, and some beer and watch it in there. I made an awesome Spag Bol for Ollie and I (watching him eat spaghetti was funny!), then went over to the local Aldi to get some bits I'd forgotten earlier. Semi skimmed pasteurised milk seems quite hard to find in France, so I bought some UHT. I hope it doesn't ruin my tea! The weather is cooler and overcast, but I'm not at work and the Guinness is cold! Saturday 6th - the day of 'The Clash' - Bath vs Bristol at Twickenham. Great match, possibly the best Bath have played all season. All they need to do is do it every time! Consistency is the key. I watched the other match as well. The site has WiFi in their TV room but not over the whole site. I was going to play the match through the TV via my laptop, but it turns out I don't have a display port to HDMI connector. Something else to purchase. After the rugby, I took Ollie for a walk to a bar in town, and then got completely lost for over an hour trying to find may way back to Brian. Still, Ollie enjoyed it! And I don't think I took any photos!!! Sorry!

1st April 2019 Le Havre 79062

I left St-Martin d'Aliermont late morning with the intention of heading to a proper camp site to empty and refill Brian. I felt rough as I've got a cough and cold which has been keeping me awake at night. I'm also slightly concerned that I have used up all my data so early, it gets refreshed on the 15th! Luckily, I used a data passport for watching the rugby (unlimited data for a fiver a day, expensive, but what can I do!?). And to cap it all Ollie threw up on the quilt! Yuk! Filled up with 70 Euro worth of fuel and made a fool of myself at the petrol station trying to speak French! On the way to Le Havre, I set the sat nav to avoid toll roads ('cos I'm tight), and meandered my way through some stunning scenery, with small villages of mixtures of old (very) looking and new looking buildings. I stopped and had a lovely chat with Raychel on the phone. Still no definite date for when she will join me, but it sounds like things are coming together, so hopefully not too long now. On the way there was a sign saying 'panorama', so I thought, 'why not?'. I turned around and headed down the small road that the sign indicated. Panorama du Marais Vernier. I'm so glad I did, I never expected the views! There is a natural amphitheatre about 45km square, made by an ancient meander of the Seine. The sun was shining, the views were perfect, and a couple of hang gliders flew overhead. Lovely!

After that I headed on to Le Havre using my phone as a sat nav, but worrying that the battery was going run out as it didn't seem to be charging enough to allow me to use the maps, and listen to music. I made it though. Set up camp in Aire De Camping Car Honfluer. which has electric, water, and waste disposal for 11 Euros for 24 hours. I've just had dinner of Pommes Frites and salad, and I my have a wander into town if I feel up to it later.

Dieppe 31st March 2019

Today I drove down to Dieppe with a couple of stops on the way. One 'comfort break' was at a stop overlooking a huge salt marsh that was being used to graze sheep.

I ended up in St-Martin d'Aliermont in a public motorhome stop which is supplied by the council. There were only 3 spaces, but it was deserted. Unfortunately the waste disposal points were out of action, so I'll have to find somewhere when I leave. A couple more vans arrived while I was there. I called my mum to wish her a happy mother's day! I decided to stay for 2 nights as I was feeling rough with this cough and cold. I'm sure that the people in the vans next to me could hear me coughing and sneezing, and obviously Ollie would jump about 3 foot in the air every time I sneezed! Saturday night (well, the afternoon and night really), I watched rugby on my laptop using my phone as a mobile hotspot. I fell asleep towards the end of the third match and managed to spill red wine on the duvet and the laptop. I switched it off, and like the super IT expert that I am, I put it aside until the morning. It's a nice little village with some lovely old buildings (they seem to be everywhere!). The camping stop is next door to the local (amateur?) football club, and on the Sunday they had a tournament so there were people coming and going all day (at least after the market had gone from the car park (7am until 1pm). I dug out my tools, and the picnic table and spent a happy hour taking the laptop to bits and drying it out, and then re-assembling it. Thank goodness it works fine after the red wine incident. (I'm typing this on it!) I bought some bread and Camembert for my lunch, and had an early night. I was out like a light, but kept waking up to cough or sneeze.

Bonjour!

Bonjour tout le monde, j'ai traversé la Manche et le processus a été très simple! Je suis actuellement assis sur un site à Aires qui coûte 10 euros la nuit. Juste me rassembler. Je retrouverai Raychel quand elle aura fini de travailler, mais entre-temps, c'est très calme avec moi et Ollie! J'irai peut-être à Calais dans la matinée, mais pour l'instant je reste sur place. J'écrirai une autre mise à jour dans la matinée.
Je suis allé faire les courses ce matin au supermarché et je suis assis dans un parking gratuit dans un bel endroit appelé Le Touquet. Le soleil brille, j'ai une bouteille de vin à attendre plus tard pendant que je regarde du rugby.
Hi everybody, I made it across the channel, and it was a very easy process! I'm currently sitting in an Aires site which is 10 euro for the night. Just gathering myself. I will be meeting up with Raychel when she's finished doing business, but in the meantime it's very quiet with just me and Ollie! I may venture into Calais in the morning, but for now I'm staying put. I will write another update in the morning.
I went to the supermarket to stock up this morning, and I'm sitting in a free car park in a lovely place called Le Touquet. The sun is shining, I have a bottle of wine to look forward to later while I watch some rugby 😁😁😁😁😁😁

On the way at last!

Due to the uncertainty about leaving the EU, and even though there has been an extension to the process, we don't trust politicians further than we can spit, so we decided that I should take Ollie and head on down to Folkstone and from there to France via the tunnel.
If we crash out of Europe, then his pet passport won't be valid any more and we won't be able to leave for about 4 months.
Raychel is staying in the UK for another week or so. 
A bit of a blow today, my driving license expires in September, and so does my IDP, so I will have to come back to renew them.
Currently sat in a pub I found in Britstops, the Tavern at telscombe cliffs
Nice enough place but a little loud for me. Still, free overnight parking!
I will continue my journey in the morning. It's nice not to have to rush.

After a brief stop in Newhaven, we decided to head for a Caravan and Motorhome club site in West Hythe called Daleacres. I checked out the Chunnel crossings, and decided that for a few extra quid, I would wait until the 11.20 crossing so I could have a lie in, sort out Brian (stuff you don't want to know about!!!). Sitting in Brian with a glass of something strong, and having just eaten egg and onion and garlic chips (prepared by my own fair hand). Tomorrow, I will be heading for Folkstone and the Chunnel. Looking forward to some cheap wine and cheese!

Road Trip

Wednesday 13th March
We've decided to head on down to Cornwall for a bit and then come back via Glastonbury as Raychel wants to visit.
My aim is to get to the St. Ives Bay caravan park as I spent many a happy holiday there in my younger days.
We stopped at a lovely pub for the night, called the Thimble and had a couple of drinks and some lovely food (I had jugged beef, a sweet type of casserole with some horseradish mash. Gorgeous!).
Thursday 14th
The next morning we packed up and moved on. We drove down to Weymouth beach and sat in Brian with a nice mug of hot, fresh coffee and munched some Pringles rice fusions. The weather was windy, dark and prone to frequent heavy showers, but we went for a walk anyway. We couldn't let Ollie down, could we?!!!
We were going to spend the night in the car park of the Stoke Inn in a place near Plymouth, but being the type of person I am, I hadn't read the Britstops entry properly, and the entrance to the car park was worryingly low (10 foot). We decided to move on to a pub called the Who'd Have Thought It, and after missing a turning and being sent down a farm track to get back on the A30 by Gladys (Google maps), we arrived to a wonderful pub.
We forgot to pay for our drinks and had to settle up the next day after lunch!!!
Friday 15th
Onward to St Ives Bay. The caravan park where I used to camp when I was younger wasn't open, but we found a caravan and motorhome site just down the road called the Godrevy and parked up for a couple of days.
The first day, we took Ollie for a walk across the sand dunes and then along the beach. I managed to loose his tennis ball down a rabbit hole so I think he was upset with me!
It was blowing a gale, and poor Ollie is only a short arse, so he got a bit sand blasted, like my legs.
We made our way back to Brian, and decided we would take a walk down to Hayle so I could watch the rugby (I wish I hadn't bothered - the Irish didn't do us any favours, and we gave up a 31 - 0 lead to only manage a 38 - 38 draw! Dreadful).
Anyway, we managed to go the wrong way out of the caravan park, and the pub at the end of it was closed. The rain was absolutely horizontal, poor Ollie was like a drowned rat, and we were about to give up (I discovered my coat is only shower proof, and my boots are only waterproof if you haven't got gallons of water pouring into them).
We decided as a last resort to trudge back up the hill and see if we could hitch a lift. If we didn't succeed by the time we got back to the park, then we were going to retreat to the van and lick our wounds!
But, someone did stop and drove us wet and cold to a pub called the Cornubia where it was warm and dry and they had beers and rugby.
When we were done, we got a cab back.
The next morning, I had a bit of a tidy, and then we set off for Portsmouth, as Raychel had a funeral to go to. The M27 was closed because of an accident, so we stopped at a brilliant biker pub called the Churchill Arms and had a nice meal and then went to bed.
After the funeral, we set off for Glastonbury via Stonehenge and Durrington Walls - totally brilliant! Ollie thought so as well and as is his wont, tore around Woodhenge like a maniac. Apart from when a herd of sheep decided to run directly towards us it's well worth a (short) visit. However, at £36, we decided to make do with a view of Stonehenge from the road as we drove by. Off to Glastonbury! 

I have never been to the Tor before and Raychel hadn't been there for years, so it was a new experience. We walked to the top (not without a little puffing and blowing!). The views were incredible! Ollie was running around like a loon as usual.

After Glastonbury, we headed down the coast to Instow for a couple of cheeky free nights on the sea front. The pubs along there are great. Neither of us have visited Westeward Ho! (the only place in the UK with an exclamation mark). Again the beach was magnificent, we seem to have turned up at all these beaches when the tide was out and the sand was revealed in all it's glory! Once we were done there, we headed for home. I have no idea how many miles we travelled, but it was enough to knacker me enough to sleep really well for a couple of nights!!