Off to France we went.
This visit to France was quite important but we had such little time and so did things in a bit of a hurry. We left Portsmouth on the Brittany Ferries Sea Cat to Cherbourg, a fast but not necessarily comfortable boat, It travels at 45 knots and can make quite a splash when it hits the waves. Arriving in Cherbourg in the rain we headed off South to see my sister Madeleine and her husband for a few days. Ken, my brother in law, is helping us work on the development of Piplin House and this was the main reason to visit them in a little town called Kervalo which is quite a few miles West of Rennes but much closer to a very nice sea side town called Vannes.
Five hours later after a very pleasant country drive and avoiding motorways we arrived to a lovely glass of champagne. A very nice dinner followed with a few glasses of wine accompanied the meal plus some special wine tasting.
As a present we took them gifts to remind them of blighty, a nice bag which I now realise I did not photograph, of a selection of the best of England. Spam, Corned beef, mushy peas,baked beans,Newcastle Brown Ale, Pork pie and of course Salad Cream. It was all well received together with best newsprint we could find, The Daily Star and The Sun, complete with the busty page three beauties.
The following morning we worked on the plans for our house and then headed of to Vannes to visit the shops and look in Castorama, the French division of B&Q. Stuff is so much cheaper here than UK, up the 40 percent less so we may purchase our bathroom furniture here.
The next day we did a tour by the coast to Port De Navalo and also Port de Crousty, both extremely nice places with tons of boats. Here we had a nice lunch before heading of the see a beautiful Château which was under historic repair.
A lovely day and the weather was great and the country side was rolling and extremely nice
In the evening a few friends of Madeleine and Ken stopped by for an early drink. One of the couples we met were good friends with a Doctor friend we had known in our Hong Kong years. Small world isn't it
We left the following morning and took a quick look at the other house they have purchased which will require quite some work to make it habitable. Then to Courtenay via Rennes and Orleans and a journey of around 350 miles. A very nice day of travelling thro some great countryside before we arrived at our friends Gerard and Mirreille . We have stayed in their house before but know they have finished the building upstairs and added some new bedrooms and bathroom, Gerard did a lot of the work himself.
The next day we met Gerard and Mirreilles daughter and granddaughter. Marjorie who is 18 in August will stay with us for one month whilst undergoing work experience in Godalming.
Here's looking at you kid!!!
The next day we left early for Calais and the boat home. As the following day May 1st was a public holiday the roads around Paris were very quiet and we made good time and arrived in Calais for a 1.30 pm lunch. !20 bottles of wine later we headed to Dunkirk to connect with the Norfolk Line Ferry to Dover. We thought we would try them against P & O and Sea France. These are new ferries and very nice inside and very comfortable although it does take about half an hour longer on this route.
We arrived home at about 8.30 pm a cup of tea and of to bed.
A very useful and successful trip.
To see more photographs of our French trip please go to our Photo Blog on Phanfare. See link on side bar
This visit to France was quite important but we had such little time and so did things in a bit of a hurry. We left Portsmouth on the Brittany Ferries Sea Cat to Cherbourg, a fast but not necessarily comfortable boat, It travels at 45 knots and can make quite a splash when it hits the waves. Arriving in Cherbourg in the rain we headed off South to see my sister Madeleine and her husband for a few days. Ken, my brother in law, is helping us work on the development of Piplin House and this was the main reason to visit them in a little town called Kervalo which is quite a few miles West of Rennes but much closer to a very nice sea side town called Vannes.
Five hours later after a very pleasant country drive and avoiding motorways we arrived to a lovely glass of champagne. A very nice dinner followed with a few glasses of wine accompanied the meal plus some special wine tasting.
As a present we took them gifts to remind them of blighty, a nice bag which I now realise I did not photograph, of a selection of the best of England. Spam, Corned beef, mushy peas,baked beans,Newcastle Brown Ale, Pork pie and of course Salad Cream. It was all well received together with best newsprint we could find, The Daily Star and The Sun, complete with the busty page three beauties.
The following morning we worked on the plans for our house and then headed of to Vannes to visit the shops and look in Castorama, the French division of B&Q. Stuff is so much cheaper here than UK, up the 40 percent less so we may purchase our bathroom furniture here.
The next day we did a tour by the coast to Port De Navalo and also Port de Crousty, both extremely nice places with tons of boats. Here we had a nice lunch before heading of the see a beautiful Château which was under historic repair.
A lovely day and the weather was great and the country side was rolling and extremely nice
In the evening a few friends of Madeleine and Ken stopped by for an early drink. One of the couples we met were good friends with a Doctor friend we had known in our Hong Kong years. Small world isn't it
We left the following morning and took a quick look at the other house they have purchased which will require quite some work to make it habitable. Then to Courtenay via Rennes and Orleans and a journey of around 350 miles. A very nice day of travelling thro some great countryside before we arrived at our friends Gerard and Mirreille . We have stayed in their house before but know they have finished the building upstairs and added some new bedrooms and bathroom, Gerard did a lot of the work himself.
The next day we met Gerard and Mirreilles daughter and granddaughter. Marjorie who is 18 in August will stay with us for one month whilst undergoing work experience in Godalming.
Here's looking at you kid!!!
We arrived home at about 8.30 pm a cup of tea and of to bed.
A very useful and successful trip.
To see more photographs of our French trip please go to our Photo Blog on Phanfare. See link on side bar
