Well we think that the Building Inspector has now approved the development and we have this verbally and await the written word.
This is good news after the delays and means that we can start to finish of all those things that could not be completed before. So the last few days we have spent time sorting out the space and dumping the rubbish that has accumulated. We have spent some money on new TV 's and the new cinema room should hopefully be complete by the end of this week providing the audio/visual amplifier arrives together with the new speakers. The 52 inch LCD is in place and just needs wall hanging We have also ordered a new 42 inch for the lounge and also some new furniture to go in the new rooms. So now we close the purse. The weather has been poor for those unfortunate to be on holiday in UK but we hope that it will improve soon. Michael is still in Johannesburg and really enjoying the work mans holiday. Once we are complete with the house we can continue our life again and also take some photos showing old and new. That's it for the moment
Since we back it seems to have rained almost every day. The Building Inspector came and as our usual man was on holiday we have to wait for a while for them to get together and make a decision. We hope for this about 14/15th August. In the meantime we have spent time clearing and cleaning the house and doing some shopping and generally spending some money. Adrian our English friend from Florida arrived for a couple of days and that was good. We also cleaned up the caravan and took it back to its storage in Walton-on-Thames until our next trip. Michael has gone to Johannesburg for three weeks holiday and spending most of the time with the medical services . We spoke to him yesterday and he is having a great time and has been to some exiting accidents. A busmans holiday really. Once we get the Building Approval certificate we can get down to finishing the house as we would like to visit my sister in Salcombe and then possibly go to Normandy for a few days in the caravan and explore the war graves.
It started to rain overnight and when we awoke it was a really grey morning. To take photos in this light would be rather pointless and so I will leave that till next time we visit.
We needed to buy some diesel for the car and as we wished to avoid the motorway to Le Havre which meant using local petrol stations which cab be difficult when the car and caravan combine to about 13 metres.
So we headed off in to Moyaux and found the place was jam packed with a fairground and people and cars and general chaos. If we had taken the car and caravan we would be caught in or created a huge jam and so we were pleased to have taken this trip.
We left the site and used the back roads to escape and headed to Le HavrePort where we arrived in goodly time for our ferry at 17.00 hrs. We have not been on LD lines before and generally they were quite good although we missed a good sit down type restaurant as they on had a tray service and the food was iffy.
We arrived at PortsmouthHarbour in the rain and as two ferries arrived at virtually the same time their was total and utter chaos in the immigration area.
We finally arrived home at about 11.30 pm and put the caravan on the drive and went inside for a cup of tea and bed
We have enjoyed this first caravan holiday immensely and we have considered to go back to France in September and visit the Normandy beaches and graveyards. But first we must get the house straight and that depends on a Building officer approval on the house.
Well that’s the end of the French BLOG for the moment as we will be engaged in housework etc for next couple of weeks.
We needed to be up early as we had a great distance to cover today and also because it was the first weekend in August when all the French hit the road for their holidays we expected some traffic jams.
The road lead us back to North Limoges and then we took to N road to Potiers and then went the motorway to Tours and then on to Le Mans and then Alencon. We had decided to go via Le Havre and completely avoid any motorway that goes near Paris. The N road from Potiers down to Limoge was extremely busy and we only had a couple of minor jams. It then started to rain.
The motorway service stations were packed to the gunnels with cars and caravans and although we stopped at a couple to look for an ATM machine it was almost a nightmare getting in and out with people just parking anywhere they could which is not not great for us in a back van. So now we use the Lorry parking.
It was pretty much quite grey when we finally arrived at the camp site near Moyaux called Chateau Le Colombier. We had to go down some pretty small roads and then we missed the sign and ended up on the small roads we had tried to avoid, anyway the site is lovely with a beautiful Chataeu and the ornamental gardens have been converted in to a large swimming pool. There is a bar in the pigeonaire and also a small casual restarant and also a very smart one in the Chatea. We opted for the casual one and enjoyed a large plate of Poulet Chasseur with pomme de terre and haricovere. It was a very nice dinner.
We walked around the site some more and it is quite crowded with Dutch and Brits and it is well laid out and has plenty of games areas for children. We don’t enjoy busy sites but this would be great in the off season and so we will try to return.
Noel is hoping the weather will improve tomorrow so that he can take some nice photos as it was a bit grey today.
It was quite a long day as we left our previous site at 0830 and only arrived here about 1700 with only a few brief pit stops and so it will be early to bed tonight.
There is an English couple across the road from us with looks like and adopted foreign daughter who seems to cry for attention all the time. I am glad we are moving on tomorrow.
It was nice and cool this morning as we packed up and this was great considering the heat of yesterday.
Today is Jennifer birthday and she has made the grand old age of 21 yet again.
The journey to the Motorway via Cajarc and Fijeac was much better than the way we came down through Cahors. The motorway was extremely busy particularly southbound and we pulled in to one motorway service station and it was jam packed solid with people and so we drove in one side and out the other.
We have booked at a Caravan Club site called Le Chataeu Leychoisier with is just above Limoges
By the name you can tell the site is in the grounds of an old Chateau and the site is quite well organised and they gave us a large space so that we could park easily. It started to rain for a brief 20 minutes but later the sky turned brighter but I am sure it will rain again.
The site was quite full by late afternoon with mostly Brits and Dutch, as usual.
Tonight we will have dinner in the site restaurant to celebrate Jennifer’s birthday. The menu is something to behold and the English translations for the food are quite unusual.
In the evening we went to the restaurant to celebrate Jennifers birthday and we both had Gambas flamed in pastis and then the veal and a very nice bottle of wine.
We spent a little while in the morning sorting out the various bits and bobs that we need to pack prior to leaving the site in preparation for tomorrow.
Late morning we headed to Villefranche to buy some wine, cakes and flowers to take to Dave & Lorraine.
There house, an ex barn, has been turned quite beautifully in to to a delightful house in the country with a large garden and swimming pool. They had some good friends staying with them and so we spent the afternoon and evening swimming, eating and drinking. Not much to beat that really. The sun was really hot today, about 35 degrees and it was still a little humid from the last few days of rain. Their house has approx four bedrooms and they are also repairing another barn on the site up to a small two room apartment. I think David could stay here permanently if he could.
Anyway after a delightful day we headed home and arrived about 1045 but our valley was much cooler than where we had been which made it easier for sleeping.
Tomorrow we pack up and leave here for Weybridge. Sites are now getting very busy and so our first day will not be travelling to far but our second day will be much longer and we hope to get an early start.
At first there was a mist in the trees around the valley but by 09.30 it had mostly gone.
We started on taking down the awning around eleven o’clock to give it time for the morning dew to dry off. As we worked it got warmer and warmer and by one o’clock it was decidedly bloody hot and both of us were sweating freely. So we hit the swimming pool for a while and then finally succumbed to the heat and took it easy for the rest of the day.
