17th October- A day in the Hotel

We were awake by around 07.30 (15.30 ish UK time) and down for a light breakfast. Today we planned to stay in the Hotel and spend the day at the poolside.

The Hotel is very quiet and the swimming pool area (two pools in fact) is registered to take up to 1000 people but there would have been about 15 people at the most, in fact I beginning to think there are more staff than guests in the Hotel. We took a few photos around this Hotel which is really very nice and having over its years gone from a Hyatt to a Leows to now a Westin, same building and staff no doubt but a change of stationary.

We had lunch in the poolside café and we ordered the Nachos to share for and a plate of fruit for dessert and when the Nachos arrived in a enormous tub and there was enough for a family of four rather than for one with us two sharing. There was no chance for us and we left more than half and then nearly finished off the fruit. A good day listening to our IPod’s and then and early evening dinner and the chance to catch up on the blogs and generally recover from the flight and aid out body time change.

And so to bed……

16th October 2012- Las Vegas- Harry’s tutor is on his way

A busy morning getting everything packed and the house ship shape before we leave for the airport at 1400 hrs. The Taxi arrived and we headed off for terminal 5 and a very quick bag drop and check in, compared to Gatwick and Monarch it was a doddle.

 A BA friend of ours had requested an upgrade but this was not possible as the flight was chock-a-bloc except first class we think but hey-ho never mind we are on our way for a seven week tour of the Southern US States. The flight was quite smooth and went over Greenland where I got some good photos out the window and we arrived on time in Las Vegas. Our World Traveller plus seating was very close to the door and we were about the 8^th and 9^th people leaving the aircraft and we thought that’s great perhaps for immigration. We arrived at the visitors desk and it was quite empty and we were through the formalities very quickly and very soon at the baggage carousel waiting for our three bags to arrive. The first two of our three bags arrived and then the baggage handling system broke down and so we had to wait another about twenty five minutes whilst they sorted it out. In the meantime I had been receiving email like crazy from the limo company waiting to take us to the Hotel and so we phoned and told them the problem and finally we were out. In the arrival hall we noticed that there were two Limo companies holding up placards with our name, one was the first one we booked and cancelled as they appear to have a lousy service and the other better referenced which we booked after, so had to sort that out.

Anyway we soon on our way to the Hotel at lake Las Vegas only the driver got lost leaving the airport as a new terminal and its road ways has got him a little lost but then 40 minutes later we arrived at the Hotel at about 20.30. A quick shower and change and down to the café for some much needed food and a glass or two of wine (noel only) and then up to bed.

Biggles function in Looe, Cornwall 18-20th September 2012

It had been decided that a further Biggles Club get together would be great to have in Looe get together again only this time it was to start the day after Noel got back from a late evening flight from Spain.

The Biggles club, for those that don’t know, was started a couple of years ago with Noels work colleagues who had retired and decided to lunch every now and again with the restaurant being used a very nice Spanish restaurant called Biggles at Denham Airport. We have had other out of town visits but the trip to Looe had many good things to offer with nice views from the Hotel and some excellent restaurants and for those who play with golf balls, a few courses to keep them happy.

So Noel drove down on Tuesday 18^th and we all met up late afternoon for a couple of pints and a very nice dinner in Looe. The following day Tom and Roger played golf whilst Noel and Tom G did a little sightseeing and photography and then an afternoon visit to a castle ruin and then back for a dinner at the Blue Plate restaurant down the coast. A really great couple of days, indeed. 

Jennifer then joined Noel in Looe as she came down by train and over the next two days we toured around this part of Cornwall and enjoyed the lovely countryside. We also visited Padstow which has become famous due to a well-known chef but it was packed to the gills with nowhere to park and so we left town and went elsewhere.

All photos can be seen on the Phanfare Blog at

http://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5762591

The yearly ‘Parrotfest’ in Spain 9-17 Sept 2012

The globally known Parrot Club celebrated in Moraira, Spain this year with our annual visit to Roger & Sue’s villa in Spain.

John & Lyn collected Noel & Jen for the trip down to Gatwick and our flight on Monarch to Alicante.

The speed of ‘bag drop’ was appalling although we had previously checked in on line and got our boarding passes and after a good breakfast in a Gatwick restaurant we were off for the two hour flight.

The hire car that John had selected was excellent and it had extra seats which allowed the complete Parrot team to travel around together. Roger has prepared a great plan for the week and although it had to be adjusted for various reasons we all had a wonderful time with great food, wine and most important the great company.

Most of the restaurant we visited were reasonably close and that was great. We also did a one night visit to Valencia to enable to tour the Cultural sites and we visited the IMAX 3D cinema which was showing the film called the ‘The Blue Nile’ an excellent film that Noel & Jen had seen in Charlotte USA some years earlier. The helicopter shots did create some eye closing to avoid being ill but overall the film was well received. The visit to the sea life park was great and we saw a marvellous Dolphin show and the choice of underwater animals, sharks, whales and just about everything that swims was there. The whole cultural park area is massive and is built in an empty river bed which runs down to the sea and it must have cost a fortune and it was paid for by The EEC which no doubt included money from the poor British taxpayer.

We had a really lovely dinner in an open air restaurant which had been strongly recommended and although it was not cheap the food and service we tremendous. We used the Metro to get back to Travelodge Hotel where we were staying at rather low cost, 20 Euros per night, and just across the road had a nightcap in a street bar only the brandies were massive and could not be finished by all. John did finish his but the next morning clearly regretted his decision.

We also took a train ride up the coast to a place called Denia and we walked around the old part of town and sampled the local coffee and took some photos and then headed back to the train station to drop down to stations where we would get off and walk a bit to a nice recommended restaurant.

What we were not aware of is that the train only stopped if somebody was on the platform waiting or if you rang the ‘Stop’ bell. Neither of these happened and we sailed through the station at speed with us all standing waiting for the train to stop, boy what a surprise that was. So we got of at the nest step and then waited for the next train northbound and got to the restaurant just in time. Needless to say this event caused us to have a little extra wine to gather our strength to get home.

As usual during these visits we, the visitors, prepare for the event to come up with something to laugh about and this year we went as the Team GB mixed synchronised swimming team as the photo will clearly demonstrate.

All photos for this week in Spain are on the Phanfare blog at

http://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5757585

Michael & Becky's Wedding Day 28th July 2012

We were delighted that our son Michael is getting married to Rebecca (she prefers Becky)

today, at a Church in Cranfield Surrey with the reception being held in the Manor House Hotel at Newlands Corner.

Jen and I started the weekend at the Hurtwood Hotel in Hurtwood, Surrey as the wedding was on the same day as the Olympic Cycle Race which went through Weybridge but also close to the Hotel where the reception was being held. Noel’s sister Annette and her husband Peter also stayed along with our daughter Joanne and her husband Tim. We had a nice dinner then watched the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics and I must say it was quite good and very different in every way compared to the Beijing Olympic opening.

Anyway on Saturday morning we left the Hurtwood Hotel in good time and arrived at the Church with Noel planning to set up his camera and take photos remotely only to find that the Vicar would not allow this. The same would apply to the official photographer.

Becky arrived, just a little late, due to some bridesmaid dress issues but she looked absolutely fantastic with beaming eyes and gorgeous dress. The service took place with them nearly forgetting their lines but in the end after signing the register, our son Michael and great new wife.

After the usual photographs, we headed off to the Hotel at Newlands Corner and took all the back roads to avoid any Olympic cyclists or onlookers but it was fine. The reception was well organised and the speeches from two best men and a proud father were really just right. The forty guests were joined in the evening with some additional friends and with a disco and they danced the night away.

Noel and Jen beat a relative early retreat as Noel had just had an emergency eye op earlier in the week and the eye was feeling tired.

But a truly fantastic day..

All photos of the wedding are on two sections on the Phanfare Blog, one set taken by Noel and the other the official photos.

The link is http://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5690933

On the following day a small reception was held at Piplin House for Noels family, a BBQ had been planned but as expected the weather had turned.

Have been busy so no recent updates

Have been very busy for last few weeks and will update Blog in next week or so..

A couple of days in Northern Brittany

We had been thinking about taking a couple of days away from the caravan and visiting Brittany and as we hoped that the weather would improve we then planned for a departure on Monday 25^th June after watching a miserable performance from England on the Sunday night. Rooney was a complete waste of space, even with a poorly knee I could have done better. Penalties have never been England’s strong point and proven again here.

Anyway we left on the Monday morning and headed out on the fast route via Caen in the direction of Mont St Michel, which we did not visit, and then continued along the coast in the ever darkening skies and eventually heavy rain by the time we reached Dinard. St Malo old town looked very interesting and we pencilled that in for the next morning. All along the coast is an important area for mussels and oysters and this must add a lot of wealth to this area but on the downside the farming and factories processing the stuff make the coast seem messy in places.

There were far more tourists in this area with lots of English tour groups as you could tell from the UK based coach companies. So some of the quite pretty seaside towns we just drove in one side and out the other as neither of us like Southend- on- sea with a minor French influence.

We stayed the night in a hotel called Maison Tirel Guerel which was about twenty minutes from St Malo, it was recommended by Trip Advisor and was excellent. The room was very nice in a small town but the food in the restaurant was first class and beautifully served, but not too cheap however. Following breakfast we headed back to St Malo and walked around the old town listening to the English school kids on a trip left alone by their teachers who were no doubt having a lunch somewhere whilst the kids squatted at the street corner listening to their Ipod, using the mobiles and swearing in such a manner as to even make me a little embarrassed.  What a waste of taxpayers or parent money when nobody pushes the kids to learn from their surroundings.

We had a picnic lunch along the coast in a quiet, but lovely little town, before continuing down to St Bruic and then along down the coast. The coast is quite pleasant but not  that exciting in my view, Jennifer may have different view however. We had booked the second night at a newly listed Chateau set in a Golf Club which had been taken over by the present owner’s about three months ago and although they were doing their best to improve the place but considerable TLC is required. I hope they make it as the surroundings are beautiful and it is an interesting place and the food was also fine.

On Wednesday morning we took the countryside route back to the caravan which was most enjoyable and we got back around 5pm just in time for some basic scrambled eggs and hot dogs. OH the life we lead!

Thursday 28th was a nice day with the sun shining and so we did some housework and clothes washing as we were able to take up the caravan carpets and give them a good brushing. Overnight it rained a little but brought down quite a bit of either sand or something so Noel cleaned the caravan windows to get rid of the muck and checked on the roof repairs that we had made to combat the leak to see if they were still OK. We were able to watch the Euro 2012 semi-finals on Wednesday & Thursday nights and now looking forward to the final on this coming Sunday evening, Spain and Italy yet again.

I am writing this on Saturday morning where we plan to have a quiet day cycling, blogging, emailing and perhaps even swimming in the gorgeous pool. Tomorrow the weather is expected to be good and so we may take a little trip in to the hills to a town that we know and have a lunch before getting ready for the football. The owner of the caravan site has provided free Champagne Normandy style (Cider) each evening the football takes place which is rather a nice touch.

Oh well it’s time to go and sit in the sun providing the rain clouds don’t arrive.

Its Saturday and the sun is shining-for the moment

As I started to write this my mobile went off and there was this horrible noise and then Joanne’s voice saying, Dad, what’s the alarm code as she had made a slight mistake, oh well we have all done it.

Well Joanne and Tim left yesterday morning after a good week in Normandy and headed home. The previous evening we had dinner in the Brasserie in Cormeilles and the food was really excellent again although how they make a living with so few tables being occupied I just don’t know. Noel & Jen had the entrecote whilst Tim had half a baby cow and Joanne the salmon. A lovely dinner then back to the site to watch the football where Portugal beat the Czechs, strange as there were three Chelsea players on the field, Oh well that’s football.

We did some brief shopping on Friday morning whilst Joanne and Tim started packing and we were hoping that it would not rain and we were lucky it did not although it was very windy and made it a little difficult to hold the tent down. Tents and wind really don’t go well together when you are either putting them up or taking them down. Anyway by lunchtime with all packed we had a brief lunch and then J & T departed for Dieppe. Apparently the crossing to Newhaven was bad and they arrived 30 minutes later with Joanne not to well.

We watched Germany and Greece last night and Germany in the first half played badly and the Greeks although struggling to retain possession put up a valiant fight but then it went wrong.

The sun is shining and we are heading of to Lisieux today for lunch and email etc and then some shopping before our planned dinner of salmon and salad and then perhaps more football if there is any on. We have also started to look at our road tour around Brittany, we are planning to leave the caravan here in Normandy and head off for a couple of nights and explore the peninsular and stay in Hotels for a couple of nights as it’s really not worth taking the caravan for such a short visit.

There is a Formula 1 GP on tomorrow afternoon but not sure if it will be on TV or not but we will need to check. The three British couples in their caravans who parked across the road have now left and on one day they tried to set up their satellite dish etc, and two hours later they gave up as apparently the trees were in the way, sometimes these things are not worth the trouble. But if the GP is not on the TV I might well review the earlier comments.

Oh well must go and mend a chair that has broken, these portable jobbies are not so strong and it finally wilted a few days ago.

Another week or so has passed us by

Time flies when you are having fun they say, but the weather until the 17^th June was still rubbish however Joanne and Tim are due to arrive today and the weather looks like it improving. J & T arrived around 5.30 pm after an uneventful journey via Newhaven-Dieppe and we all joined in to put up the tent and so one hour later we were all ready for the BBQ.

Costco steaks, sausages and some ribs from Leclerc made up the dinner but we started with some fresh prawns and a glass of bubbly to welcome them.

The plan was for them to do whatever they wanted and if they wished to tie up for breakfast, lunch or dinner they would but we have planned a dinner out the night before they leave. The sun has started to shine and it is getting warmer but the weather is quite unsettled.

Suddenly on Wednesday 20^th we awoke to amazing warmth and blue skies and so today we all went to the Cerza Safari Park which is located half way between us and Lisieux and for approx. £ 15.00 each it’s pretty good value. It is set in a lovely valley with hills surrounding and the site is quite large with quite a good selection of animals, see photos on Phanfare for a good idea of what is there.

We had a sandwich lunch and then went on the ‘petit train’ ride around the site and overall we had a good day out.

One bit of not so good news is that we appear to have a minor leak on the roof at the back and Jennifer suddenly noticed that one of her dresses was damp and there was a water mark on her nice white jacket. A borrowed ladder and an inspection did not help and so a call to our guys who do the servicing and at least the van is still covered by it’s water ingress guarantee, but only just, so let’s see what happens when we get home and have it checked. We had thought of leaving the van here and returning after the wedding but now we cannot do this as it needs to be repaired before its gets worse. Just when you thought it was safe to go in to the water!!!.

J& T are on their last full day at camp and it rained heavily overnight and also several times during the day and so they have gone shopping in the hypermarkets, just the thing we did a couple of weeks ago.

Tonight we are all going out to dinner in the nearby town at a restaurant where we have eaten before and we are all looking forward to this. When writing this, it is about 1.30 pm and the clouds have come and the sky is rumbling with thunder and its starting to rain heavily again, bloody great. Let’s hope it’s not too wet when we help them pack their tent tomorrow lunchtime.

It’s still raining

Well it’s still raining here. Not much to report really except we watched the England vs France football game on the site large TV supported by copious amount of local French Cider provided by the owners of the site. This however did not make the football any better just more bearable to watch and it was not a good game at all.

Could do better was the best note I ever got on my school exercise books and the same applies to this lot. France made the running and we did the chasing and how we scored is a bloody miracle!

The site is still quite empty as it not yet school holidays in either UK or France and most wise unemployed people or retirees are staying at home to avoid the continual rain or maybe they cannot get out of their driveways due to local UK flooding which looks really bad in Wales and South Coast of UK.

Yesterday, in the rain of course, we took a picnic to the coast and sat in a car park, in the rain, in Houlgate watching the rain come down and the odd person braving the weather. Most shops are bars and restaurants are empty and usually at this time they would be buzzing, so not good for the restaurant/bar economy business. However, on the bright side the countryside look beautifully green and verdant, whatever that means, but the journey through the Normandy hills and villages is a wonderful drive. We arrived back in Lisieax for some light shopping and we had not arrived from this side of town and was very surprised ho really large this place is with a huge office and storage warehouse for the Leclerc Supermarket chain

This morning is Wednesday 13^th June and no end to the poor weather and as our daughter Joanne and hubby Tim are due to arrive with their tent this Sunday we are hoping for a string improvement although the weather forecast is for more of the same.

Quite a few caravans left this morning and I doubt there are no more than ten per cent of the 180 pitches are taken which means that it’s very and quiet and so perhaps people have gone south to escape the rain. We shall have a restful day reading and watching films etc as we don’t need any shopping and our menu for the day is fully planned with ‘fromage’ for lunch and lamb steaks for Dinner washed down with a light Cabernet Sauvingnon no doubt, whilst the fish and ducks swim by.

Anyway that’s it for today.

Quack, quack, quack etc splash, splash

Yes, it’s been raining; actually it’s been raining quite a lot really almost for the past two weeks except for the odd break to let a shower come through.

So we have filled in the time travelling around looking at little towns and villages and some shopping from time to time.

Although we are extremely satisfied with this site  and its excellent facilities and environment it’s always good to look around which we did last week at a couple of sites, none of which measure up to where we are staying.

The site last week filled up with mostly Brits escaping the Jubilee celebrations or a chance to take the kids away during their school holidays but by last Sat night they had mostly departed and the site became a little quieter not that it was noisy anyway.

It’s the start of the European Football Cup and so we have spent a couple of nights watching the football, Germany and Portugal was a poor game but Spain and Italy was a lot better but mistakes from both sides meant the latter game ended up in a draw. We had hoped to watch the Canadian F1 GP but when Noel arrived at the room set aside for TV etc, the last remaining Brits had taken up seating positions for the Spain game which was half way through. We waited for the end of the game and could not find the GP anywhere in fact many of the stations seemed to be covering some form of elections. So when writing this we have to yet to finds the result.

We are planning to attend the F1 GP in Austin Texas in mid-November and our friends booked tickets at a presale only to find the ticket we really wanted had been sold out, or so we thought as we found out they issued more tickets a few days later. Bastards…

Yesterday we did a trip down to Lisieux to look for the old cars parade and we nearly missed them and found them at the local horse racing track and was able to take a few good photos. A lovely roller in good nick was really nice.

Today I am writing a report for the forthcoming residents AGM covering the efforts of the privatisation subcommittee and the latest status, lovely thing to do whilst on holiday but oh well somebody had better do it or it won’t get done.

Learnt that the street had an impromptu party during the Jubilee celebrations which we missed but understand it was a success with only three dead and two mortally wounded via the demon drink.

Maybe I am rambling around a bit and that is no doubt due to the rain affecting the brain but anyway today, Monday 11^th May we awoke to guess what?? Yes it’s raining again but never being daunted we are planning a visit this afternoon to the large supermarkets around town, well its free to park and its undercover and lots of different things to look out. We love this wonderful French tradition where parking everywhere in France is free from 1200 until 1400 to allow people to park and have lunch. I might suggest this to Elmbridge County Council and see what they say.

One last thing on this blog is the proposed Morrison supermarket for Weybridge which is massive and is equal in size to all the other shops in the town put together and it will have a devastating effect on the town. Let battle commence.

Second week in France

We have taken it quite easy this week and as the weather has not been too good with quite a bit of rain and cool evenings but we did go out on the 31^st May to celebrate our 41 years of married life and we went to a different restaurant in Courmeilles and the food was great and there was rather a lot on the plates and Jennifer’s veal chop was huge and Noels entrecote steak was also large but also very tender and tasty. No eating tomorrow then

On Sunday 3^rd June we toured the ‘Route du Cidre’ which winds its way around the hills and dales and past countless apple trees and also many private makers of Cider and Apple Juice and of course Calvados. We stopped in one village for a coffee and a look around and said we must come back when the weather is better. We had a picnic lunch and then headed back home for a little sit in the sun which had somehow come from nowhere.

We are both reading a lot at the moment, Noel is reading a great book called “ A 1000 years of annoying the French” and it is s really good way of learning history as the manner in which it is written is really very good and humorous. It was interesting that I was reading a part about the Bayeux Tapestry which it says that the content is not entirely true and that some events have been changed to make the Brits look bad!!!, also did you know that Champagne was only made possible by the Brits, again read the book for more info.  

We are planning a trip to the local Safari Park and also a train ride to Caen once the weather is better and photos look so much better when there is sun about.

Internet on site is not entirely reliable as we are way out of town but also not cheap, about £ 2.00 per hour and so we visit Liseaux on a regular basis to catch up but the photos will not load here on site due to the slow speed.

Today its Tuesday 5^th June and a bit grey and it could rain again, but we did go shopping for some fish for tonight and a little walk. Noels knee has improved significantly thank heavens but walking downhill can be tough as we discovered when shopping. We visited the old church in Courmeilles and it is amazing as it runs uphill inside about 7-10 degrees and so aides a slow arrival and a fast leaving.

Just finished lunch and ready for a zizz and then check the email.

I said I would not Blog, but then again it’s…

Raining!!!.

Well I decided to write this blog as we have had several days of poor weather and apart from a little bit of shopping we have pretty much stayed on site and so I thought I would write up what we have done so far.

Well just prior to leaving for France, Noel had a walking accident and sprained his knee quite badly which really slowed down the process of getting the caravan ready for departure. The evening prior to us leaving we attended Kim & Judy’s BBQ night in their newly built BBQ area and it really is very nice and puts our rustic one a little bit in shame, Ummm.

So following a reasonably late evening and getting home to see the last few kicks of Chelsea winning the European Cup and then getting up at 0500 so as to try and get to the 0830 ferry from Dover was a bit tough but unfortunately missed that one by a few minutes and then left on our booked 0925 ferry instead.

The journey was uneventful from Calais and for convenience we stayed on Motorways until the last moment and then down through the county lanes to Chateau Du Colombier which is not far from Moyaux and Courmeilles and right in the heart of the Normandy country side.

We arrived about 4pm and had ample time to set up with Noel hobbling around, not great but we got set up Ok.

Monday 21^st May was a day of rest (for Noels knee) and shopping and then on Tuesday 22^nd we were able to get the big awning up with a little bit of unnecessary help from rather strong winds and set up all the table and chairs in readiness for our guests.

Wed 23^rd we left early back to Le Havre and met up with Brian & Sheila our friends from New Zealand at the Mercure Hotel and then on to Etretat for a mid-morning coffee. Lunch was in Honfleur up by the market and we left Brian & Sheila to wander a while as Noel was a little slow on his stick.

Thursday 24th, morning we headed back to the coast to Cabourg and had a coffee and then bought some food for a picnic lunch and then we went along the coast via the Pegasus Bridge on to Arromanche looking at all the old WW2 sites.

In the evening we had a BBQ and some decent wine that Brian had purchased.

Friday 25^th again an early start and we drove to Bayeux to see the tapestry and toured the town on the’ Petit Train’ and also have a light lunch and then went to the Caen Memorial Site which unfortunately was crowded with noisy school kids and this ruined the visit and so we complained to the management. But this memorial building and contents are really worth a visit

We had dinner that evening in the Relais du Normandy in Courmeilles which was excellent.

Saturday 26th  we visited the British & German War graves in St Denis, just outside Liseaux and the site is kept in a perfect state and therefore highly respectful of those who gave their lives in the second world war. A coffee just next to the Basilica and then a light lunch before we dropped Brian and Sheila off at the train station as they are en-route to Paris and beyond.

Saturday afternoon we had a quiet zizz and wondered where the week had gone.