Off to the Lot Valley and St Cirq Lepopie

There was no panic to leave this morning and at breakfast i tried to get some white bread and although the lady who served us said sure no problem, laughingly said do you want the whole baguette and then produced the same dark brown bread which my tum does not tolerate. So Jennifer reached in to her bag and pulled out the remains of the baguette we purchased yesterday and I gnawed on that instead. We then finished packing our bags an headed out to the car after asking for help in bringing the baggage down four sets of rickety stairs and Noel got the car and we loaded up.

Our plan yet again was to take the country route and avoiding motorways and toll roads which the satnav did for several hours whilst we stopped en route for some bread to go with our cheese and tomato self made baguette sandwiches at a little town in the middle of nowhere. En route on the Western side of Perigueux  many houses with their roofs blown off and many trees down and somebody must have made a fortune selling tarpaulins to all the locals and the roofing guys will make a killing over the next year or so, we only hope they had buildings insurance. The storm was widely reported in the press and I think that a couple of people may have died as a result.

We stopped in St Astier for lunch , this was nice little town with a very comfortable parking location, seats with some shade , a loo and whilst there a number of cars turned up we assume to go to the cinema which was in the same square.

Following lunch a a lot more miles thro roads sometimes only wide enough for one car, a bit like first thing this morning crossing in between field with the road following the sides of the square fields the Satnav decided without our intervention that there there would be no way of us arriving on time in  St Cirq Lapopie and immediately sent us to Toll roads for about two hours that brought us into Cahors at around 1530 where we did some food shopping for the next couple of days at the Carrefour that we used in the past. The shop looked a bit of a mess with a number of chiller cabinets broken and with limited stock. We looked for some strawberries and this is the third supermarket in the last few days without any success, strange as Waitrose and Costco in the last few days had plenty. No doubt Brexit was to blame.

We finally arrived at the St Cirq Lapopie Hotel and Spa around 1715 after a nice drive alongside the River Lot and then were shown to our self catering apartment which is very nice except for limited kitchen equip. For dinner we had a ham and prawn salad which was very nice and a glass of wine before kicking off our shoes with Jennifer reading her book on slavery ( did she have me in mind) and Noel listening to music  and so a very pleasant evening indeed.

And off to bed around 2230 after a very pleasant day

Not the best of nights!!!

Noel was pretty tired after the nights events and so we had a slow morning and late breakfast where there was basically nothing to eat but fortunately there was lady sitting alone who spoke fluent French and English who was able to help us out and the kitchen produced some small white rolls that had been toasted and were fine.

A short while later her husband turned up and we were talking about travel and the fact we had lived in Asia etc and they lived in Switzerland and I mentioned that I visited Switzerland quite a it as I worked for Kuehne & Nagel at which point his face changed a little. I said do you know KN and it was then he poured out his story how bad KN had been for his business and unable to set up tracking systems and nobody seemed to care, I said there is perhaps nothing I can do but he said they had changed to DHL and they now see m to be as bad??? so not a happy teddy.

Early afternoon we went shopping down town for our travels tomorrow and the decided to have lunch in a little café which was really excellent , Noel had the burger and fries and Jennifer a smoked salmon and prawn salad and both were very large dishes and so not chance to eat anything much later. 

Off then to the supermarket where we purchased some brie and a baguette and tomatoes and then went back to the Hotel for a mid afternoon rest. At around 1900 it started with heavy rain but we stayed in the room and enjoyed the bread and cheese and then Noel discover the TV was a smart Tv with Netflix and previous guests had signed in but not deleted there  sign on details and so we were able to watch a film for a couple of hours before retiring again to bed where we slept well.

Thank god Noel did not have a repeat of last night……

This was certainly not in our plans!!!

The bell in the cabin started ringing at at 0500 and so we dragged ourselves out of bed and had a shower and then off to for a breakfast, well you could have bacon and eggs etc etc but at 0530 in the morning its not good and so Noel had a petit pan ( small white bread) and Jennifer a raison something or other with a cup of tea which the serving lady dropped the lot on the floor just prior giving it to me, this should have been a warning of problems to come.

By about 0715 local time we were off the ship but the the French Immigration staff seemed to have gone AWOL as we waited in line with no movement for about 45 minutes and then started to creep forward at a very slow rate indeed. I am sure some people would blame BREXIT for this but no its the French Immigration who do like working at this port as there are no problems like this at Le Havre or Cherbourg or St Malo and when we got closer to the Immigration booths it became clear why the the delay as there are five booths but only two were sort of working…quite appalling really.

However at around 0830 we were heading south and there was a large bang and rattle , rattle noise and some lights came on the car??? we pulled off the main road via slipway which was very close and discovered we must have driven over something and had a puncture in the the rear nearside wheel. Damn or something like that. This car has one of these small temporary wheels which I tried to change but I could not move the nuts. However whilst standing and pondering what to do next a French registered car stopped and out an English couple who live nearby en -route to the local rubbish dump and stopped to see if they could offer any help. This was really nice of them as they went to a couple of local garages which they knew nearby only to discover one was closed and the other had only one guy working and so he could not leave. The English guy also had a go at trying to move the wheel nuts but it was no go and so Noel called the Lexus assist Europe for some help and they said it would take about 60-90 minutes for them to get somebody to us, oh well all we can do is wait.

A few minutes later a French car pulled up and he started to help then pointed out that I had the car jack in the wrong location which is easy to do as I could not get down on the floor due to my knees and so he corrected this and after a few minutes we discovered that he was a tyre mechanic and he changed the tyre and told us where to go toe het a new tyre. Just hen he had finished the English couple had returned still trying to find assistance and then the Lexus support truck turned up and so we had to explain what happened,. So off we went a few miles down the road to Falaise where they checked the tyre and it was repairable and it would seem that whatever had hit the tyre an punctured it had entered and left leaving a nice clear hole which they could fix and did for 36 Euros.

We were hungry know and it was 1200 ish and about ten minutes away there was a Leclerc supermarket where we purchased some sandwiches, mine on a baguette was the most disgusting I have ever had and decided to not to eat.. So off we travelled South and changed our plans and hit the motorways to save time as original plan with eight hours to fill before Hotel check in and a slow drive were now out of the window.

We reached the Design Hotel Des Frans Garcons in a small town outside of Saintes where we had stayed some 9 years ago and forgot how many steps there in this place . Its still a nice and different hotel but if you have waling issues then its really not for you.

After briefly unpacking we sat by the pool in the 33 C temperature and had a beer and then went for a swim and the water was not heated and so quite a shock to the system when you first get in. Dinner was to be served by the pool and I had forgotten the hotel only serves food for its guests and only has a very small menu but Noel found something that should be able to eat which was a beef carpaccio but without any onions or garlic please which was delivered accordingly only was not to be.

We ordered a bottle o red wine which Noel only had one small glass ( that is by Noels standards) and some cheese to finish whilst Jen had the same. BY 1100 that night Noel knew that something was wrong as he spend five hours on the loo with bad diahrea which means they perhaps did not use a clean pan but who knows. So all in all not a good start to the holiday.

Leaving for France tonight

Another busy day, we that's not quite true as we watched the Belgian F1 GP and then a brief rest and we finally left home for the trip to Portsmouth to join the Brittany Ferries car ferry to Caen which leaves at 2245. We left home shortly after 1900 and arrived at the port at about 2015 and there was already a long queue to check in and so we waited for a while and eventually we ready to got thro security, normally with the caravan you get pulled over for a big check over but just the two of us in a car we were waived thro. 

Finally at about fifteen minutes before departure it was our turn to drive on board and we headed for our cabin on the ninth floor which is a long way when there are no lifts close by and carry overnight bags but we found the cabin and settled in for the night.  Well I say the night at they wake you around 0500 as the ship arrives at 0545 UK time or 0645 French time.

And so the bed

Week 22 August thro to Sat 27th August

With Joanne and the children still with us we had a quiet day on the Monday the 22nd August which is Noels actual birthday and then on Tuesday the 23rd we went to see our son and family for a late afternoon BBQ which was really excellent and Michael is clearly good at this so would have no hesitation in going back for more.

We then decided that we would do a Euro trip and have a break and so we had booked on the Sunday overnight Brittany ferries to Ouistream ( Caen) and from there we would follow a route that we had completed with our Texan friends a few years ago and then on to Italy. We had hotels to book and get all the car and travel documentation ready and also get the house up to date and what with two sets of plumbers visiting for various jobs we had a busy old week and perhaps thankful that we had planned some vacation time. Also we went to a funeral of a long standing friend followed by the wake where we met people who Noel had not seen for years.

Right we are really nearly ready to leave…..

Its party time

We had a relaxing morning playing with the grandchildren Katherine and Christopher then they headed off to the Hotel to check in early so they could all use the swimming pool. We went there about 1500 and met with our German based friends Gero and Jackie and we had a good time for about 90  minutes chatting about many things then Noel had to meet the DJ and then Maitre D to discuss the evenings events. At 1800 our guest began to arrive and by about 1845 nearly all had arrived apart from one couple from Exeter who said they could not attend very late in to the event, Noel was not happy with this.

The wine and beer was going fast and so we headed in to the large room which looked really nice and the flowers on the table made the room look very nice and so we had about six tables and a large dance floor and a DJ who was warming up. Noel had already chosen the music what to play during the dinner and they were all Noel’s favourites. Noel then welcomed all the guests and made the following speech.

“

Dear Family, Friends and in this very strange  woke world, Lesbian, Gay , Bisexual, Transgender, queer Etc etc etc

Thank you all for coming to join our family in celebrating two rather important milestones in our life. The first being  my 80th birthday which, quite frankly  six years ago, I did not think that I would actually reach after some serious health issues. But a far more important event is that it was Jennifer and my 51st Wedding anniversary on 31st May this year and the time has flown by

When you reach the age of 80 you suddenly realise that your friends are also growing older and suffering from various ailments Unfortunately quite a few members of my family and also some very close friends  are not able to join us due to in certain cases severe health challenges preventing them from travelling. Whilst some Far East friends have been unable to travel due to Covid Travel restrictions currently in place. And finally there are also friends who are away on holiday at this time and unable to join.

But I would really like to thank the friends who have travelled from overseas ( Gero and Jackie and Jerry & Mura) to join us this evening. And  I'm so glad to have both our daughter Joanne and Son Michael with their respective partners Tim and Becky together with our four lovely grandchildren (Kathryn, Christopher, Ethan and two month old Archie) for joining this important milestone event.

At this point I would like you to raise your glasses to absent friends and family

The idea for this party came whilst we were  in Florida and enjoying a glass of Chardonnay, but little did I realise some of the challenges in organising this event as I had anticipated that Covid would be a  thing of the past and that all my friends would be fit and well, how wrong I was If we carry on like this  I might have to cancel the planned event for my 100th Birthday as I feel I may or not be the only person attending ??

When it came to arranging for a location for this evening we did look at a number of locations but then Jennifer reminded me of the following .

On 30th July 1970  we attended the start of the Tall ships Race in Plymouth and on the way home  after a very long drive we ended up at the Wheatsheaf Steak House on the A30 at Virginia Water for a meal and as Jennifer said she would treat me for dinner after a nice couple of day’s away with her parents,  and so I sort of felt obliged to ask if she would marry me as a thankyou for buying me dinner,  to be honest I was expecting an immediate reply but, all I got was Hmm ‘I will think about it and let you know possibly tomorrow.’ Oh well I thought and started to check my previous girlfriends telephone numbers..

So on the afternoon of the 1st July whilst I working in the Maidenhead, Jennifer called to say we should meet and discuss the marriage proposal and as she was based in Ashford we should meet in the middle at a pub by the river called The Anglers Rest (now called the Runnymede Hotel)…where she accepted my offer of body and soul and but of course and more importantly still, the cash .

Also another lovely memory of this place  was when I was just a kid my parents would bring me together with my two sisters and whilst my parents enjoyed the beer and my sisters helping open the locks I would go fishing  and so you can perhaps understand that this location does bring back some really special memories.

Well tonight I hope you will all enjoy it. We will be having a buffet and the  wine, beer, soft drinks etc are all on us but those guests who require a 2002 Dom Perignon or a 1787 Chateau Margaux should start looking for their credit card.

Later you will be offered a piece of  Birthday cake which has been prepared by my daughter Joanne and my daughter in law Becky. Thank You ladies…

We will try to meet as many friends as we can tonight and hope you can also hit the dance floor later.

Please send any photos of this party which would be great

Again Thank you for joining us on this special night and to my wife lovely Jennifer , Thank you for everything, I would not be here without you and I love you to bits..”

We then started the buffet and I must say it was really excellent and the side of beef had people going back for more. Once the dinner was over Noel and Jen started the dancing with one of our favourites “Savage Garden - Truly, Madly, Deeply”  and  then we were joined on the floor a few other guest and then to liven it up on to Le Chic and we danced the night away whilst consuming a reasonable amount of booze.

When just about the time most people had left at around 1130 some of us staying in the hotel went to the bar for a nightcap and we finally went to bed about 0130 which was late for us.

Gosh that was a really good night but the last time we shall do anything like this again as to much hard work.

Well its Noels 80th Birthday Party tomorrow

When sitting by the swimming pool in our rented house in Florida passing the time away whilst sipping on  glass of Costco Chardonnay when the idea that perhaps a party to celebrate our wedding anniversary of 51 years at the same time as Noels 80th birthday, its all seemed so easy then. Now several months later what with dealing with who is and who is not attending including those who said they would and then suddenly can not is a bit of a challenge as it keeps mucking up the seating plan which I finally completed after the 7th time.

With Joanne and the children staying with us there was quite a lot to do and also to ensure that the flowers from the local Byfleet florist were delivered on time and of Joanne and & Becky working on the Birthday cake which I was not allowed to see until after the dinner.  This event is panned to take place at the Runnymede Hotel at Egham and at previous occasions when we have used their buffet when meeting with our ‘Jubilados’ friends has always been a success but had no worries there.

Having congratulated myself on completing the table plane two more couples suddenly dropped out and so we are down to about 50 people as against the planned 70 odd. Ah well thats life, lets have a glass of something an go to bed and worry about it tomorrow.