Great tune from the film Rock'N'Rolla from Guy Richie

Friday8th July Time to go home

We left the site around 1030 and headed back to the Motorway for Caen and stopped for an early lunch at an ‘Aire’ where there was a man with a van selling frits and burgers alike and on the van he had a T-shirt with the McDonalds man over was printed McSHITE!!! Quite appropriate we thought.

We arrived early at the ferry port after going through some more very heavy rain and after a short wait were checked in and ready to go. We had to wait about three hours and then we were loaded and found out cabin where we had a good afternoon kip and a walk around the ship and an had a very enjoyable meal on board of really excellent quality. Brittany Ferries are brilliant compared to LD Lines. The ship is nice and clean, the staff were happy and very helpful and all in uniform unlike LD whose staff where there normal clothes so you don’t know who is staff and who is a guest.

The ferry arrived at Portsmouth andf then back via the A3 to Wey Road where we had a slight problem getting the caravan in the drive as the neighbour across the road continues to leave his car apposite our drive which makes it difficult to move the van around but in the end we managed it.

A lovely cup of tea and then to our own bed again, great.

We have had a great holiday only marred by the KOI event but hope this is a one off.

Next travels are to Frasnce and Spain and Portugal in late August and September although we may come back via Switzerland and Germany, anyway let’s see what happens

Thursday 7th July- Woke up before the 0645 alarm-but it got worse

You know what its like when you have planned an early start that you always wake up early, well we do. So at 06.50 we were drinking our cup of  tea and then followed by a swift breakfast and by 0730 were manoeuvring the caravan from the site with the movers, thank god for movers as it would have been impossible to position the caravan on the site and move it around.

At 0750 wee drove down through the site to the wash block to empty the loo and have a quick shower and by 0810 we leaving the site as the heavens opened and the rain just chucked it down, thank heavens we had started earlier than planned.

Wer headed North up the Motorway via Brive and then on to Le Mans where we went round the East of the City to then on to Beaumont sur Sarthe where we arrived at the outskirts of the town at about 1630, not bad really considering we a a couple of Loo stops and almost an hour for lunch.

Jen had also put on the Sat Nav to give extra help and as we headed in to the town we had to look for a D road on the right to the campsite, the Sat Nav was going bananas saying turn right and Jennifer was saying I am not sure if this is correct and after taking the D road it turned to be the wrong one and so we went round in a big loop and started again but took a different road and the Sat Nav lady seemed very happy only the road it took us down was designed for small cars and not 13 metres of car and caravan and the roads got smaller and smaller, over and old Roman brick bridge, and there is no way to turn around as the roads were only about six metres wide and we finally arrived at a junction with no chance whatsoever of getting us to turn right and the road ahead said NO ENTRY, Bl**dy hell what to do when suddenly out of the blue and old guy appeared and understood our serious problem and took over traffic control and told cars to turn around or go back and then waved us quickly up the one way road the wrong way which thankfully rejoined the D road we were looking for, boy that was close as we could have been there for years otherwise.

The Municipal site we had booked in advance and in the email it confirmed that a twin axle caravan was acceptable but when we arrived there was this big sign saying NO twin axle caravans and units weighing over 3.5 tons and we were a twin axle and weighed 4 tons. Could it get worse but anyway I went to reception and said we had a booking and they let us in phew. Nice site and the wash block was the best so far although perhaps not enough shower cubicle’s if it was busy.

In the evening we drove back in to town to a nice restaurant in the Hotel where a few minutes later loads of motorbikes and cars tuned up as they were part of the Tour de  France but thank heavens they were not sue to go through where we were.When we had walked through the Hotel bar suddenly Jennifer spotted the guy that had helped us earlier and so we thanked him and he gave Jennifer a big kiss. 

An excellent meal and we went back to a hopefully good night’s sleep as we don’t need an early start tomorrow.

Wednesday 6th July- Last day at Chateau Lecomte

We had a slow morning doing odd jobs Noel checked the tyre pressures of the car and caravan also the nuts which old the wheels on using and using a Newton wrench but they were all fine. We closed down the on board water system and then went in to Gramat for some last minute shopping, Gasoil for the car and a lunch in the Leclerc restaurant which turned out to be very good indeed.

Upon return to the site we did some last minute emails and also paid the bill for our stay. On the way back we met a couple who we had previously met on site some two years ago and they were from Edinburgh and had stopped over for a couple of nights. As per usual when your neighbours see you are leaving their inevitable long discussions on routes and where to stay and just to visit the shower block can take almost one hour what with all the stopping and talking en route, caravan people are a friendly bunch.

We wrapped up the last bits and pieces as we plan an early departure at around 0800 so that we can reach our next stop North of Le Mans around 4.30 ish. And so to bed.

Tuesday 5th July- Awning down to today

We had originally planned to rake the awning down late afternoon and pack up all associated equipment but as the temperature is promised to be at least 31 degrees Centigrade today we made the decison over breakfast to start pretty much straight away.

It takes about three hours to pack all the awning and equipment away as it is necessity to clean it first as it will not be used again this year and needs to be in good nick when packed.

Following a light lunch we spent the rest of the day at the pool and sunbathing and were pleased that we had did the clear up in the morning as now it is very hot, where’s the beer mother!!

Sunday 3rd July and Monday 4th July- Not much really

Following the BBQ we had a quiet day just sitting around reading and then spent some time at the pool enjoying the sun and the swimming.

Our new by fold up bikes have really proved their worth on this holiday and it gave us good exercise and makes it considerably quicker to get to the wash block or the pool .

The weather the last two days has been fine but we do iunderstand that later in the week it may change a little and so we have to plan when to take the awning down. Watched over two nights the last couple of episodes of ‘Spooks’ really very good and may now buy series 6.

Saturday 2nd July- Neighbours for a BBQ

Earlier in the week a Spanish registered car turned up and placed on the site next to us and we though that’s nice and will make a pleasant change from all the English here. This couple had a tent and as they started talking about where to put the tent it became clear that Spanish they weren’t but Yorkshire they were.

So over the past week we have got to know each other and so we invited them around for a BBQ tonight which went very well and they supplied the wine and we supplied the food. It would appear they moved from Halifax to a town just South of Alicante some six years ago and have enjoyed it there every since. They have used their tent all over Europe and at home with family visits they stay in a caravan they own as they don’t like the hassle of kids and family life to much and prefer their own accommodation.

Anyway we had a good evening food and chat and ended up going to bed around midnight which is late for us old folks. Tomorrow will be a much quieter day and Noel will catch up the Blog and do a few emails and clean the Barbie whilst Jen has a rest from her cooking efforts making salads etc from yesterday.

Just before went to bed we stood outside and looked at the amazing amount of stars in the skies and as there is very little light pollution here as we are quite some way from any large town  it was a lovely show.

Friday 1st July- Pretty boring day really

The sun was shining down and the sky was a perfect blue and we did a quick trip in to Gramat for some shopping as we planned a fish dinner tonight.

The rest of the day was spent by the tent relaxing and then swimming for a while and then this even larger American Style RV turned and it dwarfed to other one as this one is 38 feet long and towing a Toyota Yaris small car. How the devil he got it around the road bends to the site is a mystery but it far too large for a conventional site placement and so it sits alongside the large mobile homes and even dwarfs then. Stuart the site owner thinks they cost around a quarter of a million quid, wow!!

Otherwise it was a lovely clear evening and so we sat outside for a while before heading in for a quiet read

Thursday 30th June- A day in camp people watching

Spent some time at the pool as the weather had improved and although there is a BBQ on at the bar tonight we decided to stay away as Noel is convinced he picked up a stomach bug at McDonalds-Bah Humbug.

During the day a rather large BUS type RV arrived and towing a smart car  as  the RV had arrived before the Midday entry embargo as the road for a while is single track and so as it did arrive prior to this time just as two cars towing caravan’s went the other way and it caused havoc we understand. Some people don’t read.

Ah well we had a quiet day reading and listening to music before an even quieter evening and off to bed.

Wednesday 29th June, Don’t like McDonalds

Following the failure of the Wifi on site yesterday evening and as it was a grey and potentially wett’ish day we thought lets go to Cahors where Jen can look at getting a new Bikini and then we can go via McDonalds and use there free Wifi. The big mac shop was very busy and the internet connection was rubbish as it kept failing every minute or so and then we gave up trying. We ordered a Fish in a bap with freis and it was absolute rubbish, never again particularly after their rotten internet connection.

The shops in Cahors were quite busy and we tried about six shops and Jen tried on a few bikinis but nothing to taste and so we gave that up as well. Oh well back to the site for a quiet evening.