A lovely day

Following breakfast in the Hotel we headed off on a half hour journey to look at the House which had burnt down and was now being rebuilt. First of all we stopped at the house they are staying in until such time  as they can move back in  which they hope will be sometime in September this year as they are getting a little stir crazy in the current accommodation which is quite something to behold.

The house burnt completely down early last year and it has taken this amount of time for the insurance company and the local planning people to agree on what to do. It could not be rebuilt as it was and is now considered a new build requiring to fit modern requirement and not those of when the house was built in the early 20 century.

Following a

good look around and taking a couple of photos we headed of to Ploemel for lunch only the place that we wanted to visit was fully booked and then we had to hunt around and eventually ended up and in a McDonalds where we had problems with the on screen system, ah well!. Anyway the manager helped us resolve the issue and although it was not quite the lunch we wanted were were able to have time to carry on chatting about life etc.

At about 1500 we took off and headed in the direction of S t Malo to stay the night near the port for our  next day early departure back to blighty. We have stayed in this Hotel a couple of times in the past but in the meantime the ownership has changed hands and its very nice indeed and called Maison De Guerin. We checked in and shown to the room which was nice but not sure if the air con is working, Ah here we go again but at least it will be cooler tonight.  We plan to have a light dinner in the Hotel Bistro and then to bed as we need to leave the Hotel just after 0800 so as to arrive in plenty of time for our ferry back to UK leaving at 1030.

And it’s goodnight from me

NB, it was not a light dinner in fact we had the best meal of the holiday.

 

On On to Vannes they cried

Following an early breakfast, well early for us , we headed off to Vannes but rather than take the fastest way via Motorways etc  we decided to take the non motorway route and leave Tom Tom to decide which way we should go. Th reason for this is that by going direct would take just over three hours and we would arrive to early to check in but the route suggested by our sat-nav would take five hours with a better arrival time, and so off we went.

The journey was quite good and of course at slower speeds where you could have time to look around and enjoy the countryside and towns and villages we past thro and a most enjoyable and on time trip except when we arrived in a place called REDON which is about 30 minutes from Vannes we came to a complete stop as the centre of town was having an event, but we don't know what type. However there were Police sending you in the different direction to what the SAT Nav wanted and it cost us about half  an hour of messing around to avoid the centre of town and eventually we arrived at the Vannes Kyriad Hotel just after 1715 and met up with my sister and husband.

Time for a brief shower and then down to catch up on all the news ass we had not seen each other for many months and from there we caught a taxi down to the main Vannes old town to a booked restaurant where we enjoyed a very nice meal overlooking all the boats in the harbour.

Did not take photos this time as have been there before and taken photos so enough is enough.

The back to the Hotel which was nice and quiet and were able to have a good chinwag as they say and covered loads of topics form family to health to kids and holidays.

And so to bed which I found a bit soft and spongy, you cannot please them all

 

Not such a good day

The weather continued to be very warm and is due to reach around 36C today which is far  to warm for any form of being a tourist around Poitiers although most of the main tourist sites appear to be churches. There is is also a very large place called FUTURESCOPE which is really for families with children rather than two old cronies like us.

Noel was not feeling to well this morning having had a bad night thanks again to LARS issues and quite frankly not in any fir state to go anywhere so a day of rest was decided upon. We spent most of the morning in the reception lounge area and by lunchtime his highness needed to be in bed and not having lunch and so and afternoon in the bedroom was called for. By evening he was improving and so we went for dinner in the restaurant which again was quite full and whilst having dinner just checked the booking for the next nights hotel in Vannes and had a bit of a shock at first thinking we had booked the wrong day but it was Ok in the end.

Following dinner we returned to room and both read for a while before turning in for the night and tomorrow we leave for Vannes

A busy day

An early start was required so that we could pack the car before it became to hot, even at 0800 its was going on for  26 C. But by o915 the car was packed apart from the last bits of foods and so breakfast and depart. Paid the bill and received a bottle of local wine from the Hotel as a thankyou, unfortunately Eric the owner was not there to say goodbye.

For the first hour it was small roads before joining the motorway for a while, however the drive to the motorways was and is quite beautiful with mountains and old villages, such a fantastic area which most tourist luckily seem to avoid. A couple of hours into the drive and we stopped for lunch in a Motorway rest area and the design of the road infrastructure was almost impossible to understand and to leave the site was like trying to find your way out of a maze. Then on for a short while and as e had about 160 miles to go and could not check in before 16.00 we took the side roads which ended up with road closures and no diversions signs, most unhelpful.

We arrived at the Best western Hotel Le Blois de Marche

view on the outskirts of Poitiers and given our room key which was for a ‘what the called’ a cottage which as fine but a bit small but eventually it became clear that the air-conditioning system was not working so of I went to complain and discovered that room aircons are all controlled via the system at the hotel reception. You can have any temperature you like providing its 22C and she said she would adjust and would take about an hour to cool down. So we rested for a while and then went for dinner , this was approx. two hours later and its still had not cooled down so they said they would get the engineer to check and if necessary change our room which was eventually what happened.

The new room was in the Hotel part and temp was 22C and so Ok although we do  think they turned it off overnight  and also certainly first thing in the morning when they are changing the rooms. It was a shame as I was able to control the Android Tv so as to access my Netflix, Amazon Prime and You Tube accounts which three hour later I needed to cancel

The receptionist pointed out that they had to control the room temperatures centrally as as guests were changing the temperature in the room and the system could not handle so many changes and so they made it one central control which is not what is says in their room brochure. I spent about fifteen minutes discussing and complaining and so if this happen multiple times per day from other residents no wonder the reception was busy.

However the restaurant and general environment of the Hotel is quite nice and the food was fine, Jennifer having a veal dish and although full up mastered a desert as well. The room temp was about 24C and slowly went down to 22C but we were both a bit restless and although did think about visiting Poitier town and its churches, of which we have seen many in past visits, it was going to be over 30C today and so it was going to be a days of rest and perhaps a swim later.

Very sad to see about that Air India Dreamliner crashing after India raising many questions why? Looks like co pilot instead of raising the landing gear cancelled the flaps instead hence no lift. Lets see what the two recorders and investigators find. And just to make the world a safer place Israel has started to attack Iran, this Swedish lady leaves a bad trail wherever she goes.

A slow day in St Cirq

Tomorrow is D-Day or as we say Departure Day … So today was one of quiet time reading and enjoying the silence and getting ready to start packing in rh afternoon. Today the temperature outside is 35C which is touch warm and to hot to load the car so our plan is to do this first thing tomorrow morning and before breakfast is we can.

We had a light luncheon the balcony and Noel is beginning to discover that fatty cheese is not right for him and so was unable to join Jennifer in a visit to the pool, you learn something nearly everyday with LARS.

So in the afternoon after a suitable rest period we set about starting the packing of our bags and always we seem to have to much  but that's just us. In the evening we watched some stuff on Tv for a while and then headed odd for an early night anticipating a nice sleep only it was not to be. In the night Jennifer was worried that her packing was not right and so woke to check and as for me |I had the most ridiculous dream about having a meeting with Motorola in the USA where I had arrived without telling the local office or even head office and was wondering what to do when I woke up, oh dear to many years of working I suspect.

Anyway not much to report today but tomorrow we head off over the hills in the direction of Poitiers where we have booked to stay in the Best Western which looks like a nice hotel, lets wait and see ho that turns out.

Good night

Lunch followed by shopping-life continues to excite

As usual a slow start to the day as we are not in a rush and enjoying the return of the nice warm weather. Jennifer did some washing and Noel followed his practise of checking banks accounts and credit cards to watch for any fraudulent activity, this is a practise I started sooo many years ago it becomes second nature to get up and check that all is ok.

Around 12.45 we headed into Cajarc for lunch at the Hotel President, there are plenty of other places but here Noel knows he can get the food that is acceptable to his body and also its a great location as you can watch the world and his wife go by. Jennifer had a Salad Rocamadour which comprised of just about everything salad wise and Noel cheated and had the fish and chips, perhaps a bit fatty but nil chance of onion or garlic or many of the other items which are forbidden. It was very nice sitting watching the locals go by and it was generally very quiet and as its not the holiday season yet everywhere is quiet and really nice. On our 25 minute drive form the apartment to Cajarc if we passed 10 cars I would be surprised. Our route in to Carjac passes the caravan and camping site we have used many times in the past called  Ruisseau du Treil Campsite which we always enjoyed staying at.

Jennifer had another massage at 6pm for about an hour and so prior to this we watched the Joe Rogan Podcast featuring a talk with Kash Patel head of the FBI which was most enlightening about the past performance of the FBI and its senior personal, what a bloody mess he has inherited. The Joe Rogan Podcast has more listeners than any other in the world so I looked up his history on Wikipedia , most interesting.

Jennifer returned form her massage aching all over and covered in oil , so much for the pleasures of a massage.  In the evening we watched the last two remaining episodes of the Netflix series called Dept Q followed by a couple of interesting documentaries , one on moving a previously circus elephant from a small lock up to a Safari Park and then one about a guy who films nature documentaries for multi agencies but this one for his own channel about the North American foxes, both were most interesting.

Well we have to leave this little bit of paradise on Thursday and so tomorrow will have an easy day as the temp is due to be 36C on Wednesday and we need to start packing in the afternoon so as to leave here Thursday around 11.00 and head North West towards Poitiers where we will spend two night then on the Vannes.

Well that's is for today

 

Sorry about the rant- but here is another one

When you have some time on your hands and start reading all the news you get very upset with what's going on this world. In the last couple of days two Romanian , so called, youngsters raped a teenage girl in Northern Ireland causing rioting whilst there were riots in Ireland over the amount of Illegal Immigrants in the country. Needless to say the riots in Los Angles, there are often riots in Los Angels over the years as its been a place for immigrants for years. I am not against formally approved immigration, I for one , have lived in foreign countries and followed the local rules but this turn up on a boat is not accpetable

All these immigrants arriving by boat on the Kent coast are either arriving due to the welfare provided by us stupid British Government or they are building an army to take over the country at some stage in the future. In Canada during recent riots a muslin said that by 2060 the world will be Muslim as they are having lots of children whilst the local population does not, makes you think.

However , back to us here in the Lot Valley the sun was shining and it reached about 24 C and due to be up to 36 C later this week just as we are leaving, however we would find 36C to hot so probably a good time to pack up and go. The silence here is deafening, you can sit on the patio outside the room and the only thing you can here is the wildlife and the occasional car. The Hotel seemed full over the last weekend which is not surprising as it was a long holiday weekend for the French nationals.

Yesterday I spent a little time listing to the opening chat between Joe Rogan and the new Head of the FBI Kash Patel, most interesting so plan to listen to the rest of it tomorrow but what had happened in the last few years was treasonable although to take action is not possible due to time bar.

Watched with interest the actions of the self promoting Greta Thunburg in relations to the Gaza problem she has no idea about??? probably just wanted to get her face on TIK TOK or similar. I just read she refused to watch the very detailed video of the 7th October event , that says it all. Even the Swedish Government warned here about her trip and then quite rightly refused to help here when she said she had been kidnapped, one can only live in hope.

Another quiet day for reasons expressed yesterday

Well as you may have gathered from yesterdays blog I was grounded and the same today unfortunately so I wont say anymore ore about this as its frustrating. We spent most of the day just relaxing and Jennifer's is enjoying the freedom to read to her hearts content whilst I do the same. For lunch we had brie and biccies and in the evening decided to chop up the previously cooked pork chops and make a pork noodle soup which was really excellent. In the evening we watched some Tv on you tube for a while.

Now its my time to be a bit political. Have just seen that our Prime wanker of a PM has decided to go to Canada to commiserate with the other wanker running Canada, perhaps he could introduce them to three Ukrainian men who seem to know more about our PM than the general public. With so many problems in the UK he likes to run away leaving his ever hapless cabinet to carry on ruining the country without him. So where to start, he want's to build submarines because Russian forces will attack us in four years time, what happens if Russia attack in three years time ?? do we stand on the Dover beaches amongst several thousand boat arrivals pleading with Putin to wait another year until the boat builders have finished their strike??? And whilst talking about boat people and immigration started by, the ever wonderful Tony Blair, whose close friend Mendelson now UK Ambassador to USA , what a joke this government is. I really do worry about our grandchildren living in a wholly Muslin world which could happen with the ever continuing lack of parent’s having kids because the government taxes them like hell but then gives illegals with loads of kids everything they want?

I just hope that its not to late to save this country at the general election. The interest in Starmer’s so called relationship  with Lord Ali and the photos on various social media look most interesting. Its Ok to be gay but use gay to pedal influence and with the rest of top aids also receiving gifts to keep them quiet on the matter should hopefully bring this government down.

A lot of people don't like Trump but at least he has an agenda clearly pointed out before his taking the presidency whilst our bunch of loonies publish one thing and then totally change their minds immediately after the election, so many lies and untruths from a UK Government it makes me sick.

The weather should improve tomorrow with it being 27C today, with 31C on Tuesday and 35C on Wednesday and 31C when we leave here for Poitiers for two nights.

Today is Larsday

You might wonder about the the title but I suffer from LARS ( lower anterior resection syndrome) as a result of the bowel and liver cancer I overcame in the period 2015-2017 and although still here I do face difficulties with my body and the main one now is LARS. Unfortunately I face a constipation problem every week of the year and its a question how to resolve as its most uncomfortable.

Its does not seem possible for it to be cured and so many survivors of colon surgery suffer from this and there are a number of Facebook sites where sufferers present their issues with other to help and so in fact, compared to some,  I am lucky although it does not feel like it. So today started on Friday afternoon I started on the Laxido and continued until midday day on Saturday where it began to work. So why am I relating this but to explain that during this period I am grounded and cannot leave the house as need to be near the small room. So that impacts on what my day is and so ideas of going for long walks or a drive around the countryside and/or using the swimming pool were out for today and probably the same for tomorrow.

However, trying to make the best from it I finished up my book and then did some research on the subject, most interesting.  For dinner we finished up the prawns in a a noel made prawn cocktail and then we had some pork chops on rice and against my better judgement a bottle of chardonnay.

We watched the final episodes of Clarkson farm and as usual chaos ensues when opening a new pub a week earlier than originally planned however the sort of coped but hundreds of potential customers turned up, such is the pull of Clarkson. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for the editor.

The weather is a changin’

You can never tell what the weather will be like in this region we have learnt after many years of visiting this region.One minute its great and then several hours later its thunder and lightning which adds to the interest of the place.

Today we spent most of the time around the apartment and Jennifer went of for a massage in the Spa at around 1100 and came back an hour later with a big smile as she obviously enjoyed it. For me a its a LARS day so have to be careful. Today we both decided to read and I eventually finished up the book on Bidens last couple of years and what a fascinating and worrying read it is. For more than two years the senior White House staff and family lied to the American residents about the physical and mental state of the President of the United States. The is lie was then carried on by most democrats mostly because they never ever saw Biden up close or in a meeting but relied on the top staff for info.  It is clear that Biden was not running the USA and so who was???. During the last few years of the Biden administration they attempted to impeach Trump several times, accused him in a Russian Hoax, and hid damming information from Hunter Bidens laptop and then accus Trump of Lying with several court appearance of mostly Trumped up charges.

When you read this stuff you just confirm that most Politicians are in it for themselves, same applies in the UK. Its more about keeping their job and other income sources and nothing to do with taking care of the American People. Trump has yet to prove he can do the job as first time around hw was a newbie. time will tell, they say.

Anyway, coming back to our location in the Lot Valley we took a walk around the Hotel Estate in the afternoon but the hills around here a bit steep for Noel’s knees  but next time will get the scooter out. The walk was short for reasons expressed earlier in this report. Lets hope tomorrow is a better day.

Finally a video of where we are staying

Shopping and a swim in the lovely pool

It was a little cool this morning and we thought it might rain and so lets do some food shopping and so off we departed to Intermarche in Cajarc which is about 22 km away from our hotel. At the previous visit we had purchased some lamb chops and when looking at them decided they were rather small and hence our visit to the shop. We also had a good look at the wine selection and they had some nice local Cahors Malbec at a reasonable price so we thought we might try that tonight and if any good to stock up and with a 1.5 litre bottle at 14 Euros sounded good.

We headed back for an early lunch of cheese and baguette and after some time reading we headed over to the indoor swimming pool and spa for a couple of hours . The facilities in the spa are very good and we spent and enjoyable time there.

Then back to the apartment for a glass of the Malbac which was quite excellent with our lamb chops and then we watched a couple of episodes of BBC Round the World competition.

Looking at the World News the last few days our politicians from around the world are all looking for a World War, who asked them they we might want that and also at the same time planning to stop an invasion from Russia using submarines when they can stop a d few hundred illegals crossing the channel, Politicians are a joke and perhaps the only light at the of the UK tunnel is Farage and and his party who seem to be copying Trump. I cannot wait to see the result of the DOGE type investigation in to Kent County Council and I guess that there may be a few people rather concerned about this investigation will find. When you look at what happened to Woking Borough Council being nearly £2.5 billions in debt its a bloody farce that nobody has been brought to justice.

I am sure the press in the USA are loving the apparent fall out between Trump and Musk unless its planned to make Musk popular again and hope that more people will purchase cars. Time will tell.

A quiet day in St Cirq

After a busy few days travelling and arriving in St Cirq Hotel etc etc we decided that today would be a restful day whilst rain was forecast for most of the day.

So in the morning we spent some reviewing what we would do over the next few days and also Jennifer wanted to organise a massage in the SPA and so she had to this via an app, what we would do without apps I don't know, we might have to call somebody.

For late afternoon/early evening dinner Noel prepared a Ham salad which was most tasty and enjoyed by all

Noel has downloaded a book from Amazon called ‘Original Sin’ its written by a USA White House member about the last few years of Biden and his health issues. Bidens history has been fraught with personal issues including the death of his son from cancer which was covered up to avoid the press and State finding out and as he would have lost his job.

So to a degree its not surprising  that the recent support staff of Biden followed the same route and hiding him away for months it appears. Anyway still in the early stages of the is book and most interesting. In the evening we watched some you tube stuff and also a film/documentary on Netflix called An American Marriage which was most interesting with lots of plot changes.

Not so much rain late but early evening it really chucked it down. Tomorrow must go for a swim…..

See you tomorrow

A quiet day is called for

Its quite warm t the moment and nice to be outside and so we had breakfast on the balcony this morning whilst knowing that the good weather could change very quickly here in the Lot.

Following breakfast we noticed that the sink in the bathroom hose connections had come apart and so when you run water in to the sink it ends up on the floor, so Noel reported it and they came to fix it only I had an attempt which they said was successful, but of course it did not last. We are still in the final stages of planning our route home now that we are going via Brittany and were considering where to stay en-route for two night prior to arriving in Vannes. We considered staying in Rochefort near La Rochelle again but then we wanted somewhere new or somewhere where we had limited knowledge. We then looks at Cognac  and also the small village of Coulon known for its aspirations to be a mini Venice and then we came across a Best Western Hotel south of Poitiers in the Charente region of France and eventually we decided we would stay there for two nights.

Following the lots of miles on motorways the front of the car was covered in dead insects and so we took some time to clean it all off rather than wait till we get home and did not a bad job as it looks a lot better. We then went to report the failing sink to reception and then asked about EV charging and the receptionist showed us where and its FREE….. so Noel brought the car over and plugged in and approx. two hours later was fully charged which will gis us enough energy to visit Cahors which is a 45 mile round trip.

As it was the first night on this bed the previous evening neither of us slept well and so in the afternoon whilst the car was charging we both had a time out resting before an early evening dinner. Tonight we are having pork chops and salad followed by some nice strawberries and also checked out a bottle of Chardonnay which was quite nice. In the evening we watched some stuff on You Tube and then some Clarkson Farm latest series where he is trying to buy a pub and surprised how much all the costs were.

Overnight we heard the thunder and saw lightning which is normal weather in this area but of course it is not cold and at 9 pm it was till 26 C and so tonight we will turn on the air con to have the room at a more comfortable temperature for sleeping.

Time to depart from the Chateau Du Thiel

Well we have had a lovely and rather expensive three nights stay at the Chateau with two night of gourmet food plus a few drinks, but well worth the visit. As motioned in previous post the chef adapted my meals but of course with the changes it was not like the chef originally intended , but that's life.

Following breakfast we left the Chateau to drive to the Lot Valley and Cajarc  in particular but rather than travel on motorways and some with tolls we opted to travel on the normal road which would take us about 40 minutes longer than on the motorways. The roads were nice to drive and very twisty and hilly but green all the way, shame the sun was not shining as it would have added to the enjoyment. We arrived at our destination around 1315 and as planned went to the President Hotel ( sounds grand but actually quite run down) but the food has always been good and reasonably priced. There was a few choices but being typical brits after noveau cuisine then fish and chips was the food we went for and it was really good.
Following lunch we visited the local Intermarche for some basic supplies but we did more than basic as it cost about eighty pounds and then on to the Hotel Saint Cirq to check in for our self catering apartement. The boss recognised us from previous visits and said he gave us the quietest room as we were regulars, which was kind of him.

We checked in to the room and over a couple of hours Jen sorted the food and reorganised the kitchen to her needs and Noel sorted out all the electronics and set up the Amazon Fire stick so that we can watch all our regular UK channels. We were not hungry tonight but planned to have baguette and fromage  and then watch some Tv. The weather is typical Lot Valley weather, boiling hot one minute then rain and thunderstorms.

We plan a quiet day tomorrow with some swimming and also looking at finishing our planning of our route back to the UK as we will now visit my sister who lives in Brittany and we plan to meet them in Vannes for the Saturday evening and then visit their house which is being rebuilt before heading of to St Malo to catch the ferry home on Monday 16th June.

Following a late night we enjoyed a slow day

As we were quite late for us to go to bed last night we took every advantage of time in bed before heading of for breakfast at 0900. There were  a few people around this morning and so we assumed most rooms were busy. We also had a chat to the Maître de  about how the restaurant and hotel were doing and he seemed quite positive but did say it is hard.

We were not planning to eat in the Hotel today, other than breakfast, as the type of food on offer on a Sunday was not suitable for me they made mention of and we had plans to go elsewhere for some basic food and not this high falutin stuff. We spent a couple of hours reading in the comfortable chairs in the lounge area of the restaurant as although we went outside it was a bit chilly after a while.

Come midday we left the Hotel and headed in to Ussel and to the restaurant attached to the LeClerc Hypermarket which had received some good recommendations on google and trip adviser and we were not disappointed. Jennifer had a very large mixed salad and noel the chicken burger and fries and salad , all without onions and garlic and most enjoyable. On returning to the Hotel room we checked to see if the Spanish F1 was on and it was but only with a German commentator who sounded most boring compared the the SKY UK Commentators. Then a little light rest and started our planning for when we leave the Lot Valley as we are now able to go an see my sister in Britany and so new hotel booking and ferry bookings need to be made and that was the afternoon gone.

In the evening we spent some time reading and then to bed as we leave tomorrow morning for our ten night stay in the St Cirq Le Popie Hotel.

See you tomorrow