29th July- All bikes , Moules and frites

After a tiring day yesterday we were both quite looking forward to trying out the new fold up bike around the camp site.

The 'bike in a bag' is I suppose a bit like a 'chicken in a basket' but we slowly opened the bag and positioned all the bits and pieces in the correct order and then took it in turns to ride around the site area watched by our neighbours with considerable interest and humour. We both agree that the bike seems to be very good to handle and is not to heavy to ride compared to our existing bikes which currently reside at home in the shed. Certainly being bright orange it is not possible to miss when going round and round and as it has a semi automatic gear box ie, it changes up by pushing a button but changes down when you push the lever we thought is very good. We believe it might need a bit refining and minor adjustment as the first of seven gears slightly slips but the other six gears all seem work fine.

So following the various walks to do emails and riding the bikes we covered quite a bit of ground today which made us quite ready for the 'Moules and frites' night at the bar this evening. So at about seven oclock we headed off to the bar with our direct neighbours and finally there was a group of six of us, the other two being a couple with a very large tent who were also quite close to us. We had a mixed party with two neighbours being teachers at a school in Corby and the other couple was the Sales Director of Nissan Uk and his new wife (the fourth) who is an aroma therapist and they live somewhere near Reading. He was telling us that he is very lucky to drive one of the best cars in the world the Nissan GTR as a company car and he also offered to let me drive it sometime when he is back in Uk. He did not have the car with him as the car is not designed for carrying camping equipment and so he borrowed a Murano for this trip.

The food arrived and some of the party had the alternative to Moules which was grilled chicken but the Moules were good although there appeared to be more casings than actual Moules inside and it was about 60% with Moules and 40% without, I wonder where the Moules went?. Anyway the garlic gravy was good and with some dippy bread and plenty of frites it all went down very well indeed

The table conversation ranged from 'kids growing up and the challenges this brings' to getting married for the fourth time. The other couple John and Sue had been together unmarried for sixteen years although John had been married twice before. Therefore the Groves who are approaching 40 years of marriage next year were the odd bods out it seems. We then discussed the challenges of living in Japan and Noel told a few stories about working with the Japanese which caused some good laughter.

The band did a good job of playing slow and interesting mood and R & B music and after a while we all started to dance when they changed to 'Status Quo music' and we hopped the night away and the wine continued to flow rather extensively and so it was a really good night had by one and all and then back to the caravan around 1230 and it was considered by all a very successful evening.

28th July- Back to Brive

 

Those reading this blog will have noticed our earlier discussions with regard to a previous visit to Decathlon in Brive and also several shops where we looked at fold up bikes. Anyway we decided to go back again today and take another look and perhaps take a test ride.

We were a little late starting due to the late evening from yesterday but anyway we took all the side and country roads to Brive. There are so many beautiful towns and villages on this route that Noel would be months photographing them if he tried. When we arrived at Brive we filled up with fuel at an Esso Express station where the fuel is the same price as supermarkets and then headed of in search of the station. Why you may ask?. Many years ago we used to use the auto rail from Boulogne to Perpignan and it used to arrive in Brive at 0500 hrs in the morning and there was lots of clattering and noise which woke you up as they moved bits of the train around and what with the bright lights of the station you could not sleep. So this trip was to actually look at the station and it is a very nice one indeed and surrounded by the usual bars and restaurants and also sex shops. What is it with stations that around the world they attract shops trading on the seamier side of life?

Finally we arrived at Decathlon and last time we were there the fold up bike was a bright green, but that had gone an replaced by one in bright orange. We learnt from the shop assistant how to fold i and an unfold it and then went for rides around the large store. There is a sort of a track which around the shop you can use for testing and it is often crowded out with kids haring round on skateboards and similar and so can be a dangerous area.

Well after the mutual testing we have decided to purchase one and see how we get on with before getting another one. We revisited Carrefour down the road for lunch and then headed back via a different route with more very interesting towns and villages which we really must visit sometime, perhaps next week.

It had been a very warm day with temps around 30 degrees centigrade most of the time and so when we got home the first thing was a cup of tea and then a little zizz.

Noel visited the bard to check on email etc and only to find that the deisal that we had purchased in Brive has been charged twice again? This is becoming rather silly and and so a rather rude email will be on the way tomorrow.

There is sometimes nothing like home cooking and so tonight we had Quiche Lorraine and Branston baked beans, what a feast. And so to bed after a good day and the final part spent reading

 

27th July- A night out in St Cirq

The weather started out a little grey again and gradually improved throughout the day and it was quite warm. Our friends David and Lorraine have a house on the South side of the Lot Valley and so we arranged to meet them for a meal in the evening at the historic old town of of St Cirq La Popie. We have visited this town many times over the last ten years and it is a beautiful place to visit with the houses clinging to the rock of the mountain and the river running in the valley below.

I have taken many photos of this place over the last few years and so decided that whilst on holiday this year we would only take plhotos of new places that we visit rather than repeat photos that already appear in our photo album. Anyway, enough of this small talk.

Mid afternoon we headed of down the valley passing Vers and Bouziers and finally reaching St Cirq in good time to find a car park in a better place than last time we visited. See lasts years Blog for details.

We found the open air bar where we agreed to meet and David and Lorraine and Chloe their daughter turned up a short while later and we had a great evening catching up each other lives. David has a new Merc whilst gaining air miles at an alarming rate, better him than me, I have done that and it gets boring.

We had dinner on the terrace at a restaurant we visited last time called Gourmet Quercynois and the food yet again was really very good indeed and Noel had the Cassoulet and Jenifer had the pork with honey and herbs. It was a sober night as we both had to drive a distance to get home which we did around midnight. An evening to be remembered but at 8pm we drank a toast to other close friends currently on holiday in Spain. Roger, sorry we were actually 20 minutes late with the toast but you can blame David's Singapore Rolex watch for the occurrence.

26th July- Weather is still off

 

Boy, was it grey and miserable this morning, and it rained a little overnight but anyway after a light breakfast it was time to do some shopping in Gramat and it rained most of the way there. Well after about one hour shopping we came outside and it it had stopped raining and the sun was shining and it looked like that a nice 'rest of the day' was on its way.

Well we got back to the site in time for lunch and then Noel walked down to the bar to get a Wifi signal. The trouble is that on the way down to the bar you bump in to people either walking or sitting by their caravans and/or motor homes passing the time of the day and willing to talk and so this simple walk of about ten minutes can take upwards of forty minutes just to get there,let alone get back. This morning conversation's discussed yesterdays Formula One Grand Prix where Ferrari ordered Massa to slow down to allow Alonso to pass him to a very long discussion with the elderley couple who have a Ssangyong Rexton 4x4 which is something we looked at before buying the Land Cruiser. He is delighted with the vehicle which is basically a Mercedes with Ssangyong badge. It would also appear that Ssangyong also make diesel engines for Mercedes in Korea and then ship them to Germany for inclusion in Mercedes badged cars. However when discussing yesterday's activities this elderly couple informed me that having seen in the local village Carlucet huge preparations for an obviously important function they had decided to investigate. Apparently every ten years the village gets together to take a large group photograph of all the village residents. Anyway as they had also illegally attended Saturday night function visiting the party which included a medium size but a very out of tune orchestra and where most people spent the evening dancing for hours without ever visiting the Bar and so they joined in, at the bar mostly, and had a good time. So anyway on Sunday they went down to see the photograph being taken and were pretty much forced to take part and although they kept on saying we are English nobody seemed to be the least bit concerned until after the photograph had been taken and the photographer went home by which time some of the locals wanted to know which house they had bought to qualify them for the group village photo.

So being honest they explained that they were staying at the caravan site up the road and this caused a little concern with the village elders, as now they had a big village photo with interlopers and this was the first time this had happened, and what to do now as not only had the photographer gone home but so had most of the villagers and so there was no chance to take another photograph. Well they continued drinking at the bar for another little while when the local heads approached the couple to say that this position was not correct and must be rectified for it to be a genuine photo and so to make it a sort of 'correct' photo they had agreed that they could purchase a small part of the local village green for one euro and if they paid up there and then they would be considered as residents and so one euro exchanged hands and everybody was happy. Great story but on the first part is true and the rest (in italics) comes from time on your hands when you have pretty much nothing else to write about.

Tonight was a fish called 'Julienne' nt Wanda which was well supported by some oven chips and vegetables and only slightly tinged with some chardonnay.

We now have new neighbours who arrived yesterday with a big Audi Q7 and a spanking brand new Bessacar Twin Axle Caravan which must have cost £25K or thereabouts and guess what they are both teachers and so indirectly being a Taxpayer and they, being Government Servants, that actually Jennifer and I must have paid or contributed to their car and van through taxation and therefore what really nice people we must be when their outfit cost more than ours, and they have a much better inflation proof pension then us. Oh the way of the world.

I also noticed today that Tony Haywood will soon to be the ex CEO of BP or as the Americans call it 'The BRITISH PETROLEOM COMPANY' and no doubt will get a poor settelemt of about £ 1.2 million plus a £10.5 million pension fund plus allowed to keep his £ 2.7 million BP shares. Noel where exactly did you go wrong???

25th July- Another grey morning

It was our original intention to visit the market in Limogne but when we awoke the weather was grey and so an hour's trip to a market where there would be no real colour, no sun etc, meant that we had to spend an extra hour in bed deciding what to do.

However we tough that a walk would do us a lot of good and so decided to visit another village we have been through many times called La Bastide Murat which is the home of the Duke or Murat, of the well known Murat Family, well but well know down here in these parts maybe. So off we went and low an behold there was a market in this town as well and so we wandered around and bought some green beans and strawberries which we planned to use up later in the evening. The place was jumping and so we walked around to study all the wines and vegetables and yogurt's on offer whilst the sun slowly rose and cleared the clouds.

We went for a coffee in the local Hotel and watched the crowds go by and the queue for the bread was amazing and there must have been about twenty people waiting in line and so when we finally decided that looks like a good idea all the bread had been sold. Oh well we said we shall go to the Carrefour Contact shop on the way back to the site and purchase some milk and break and only to find that the closing hours meant that we missed it by 30 minutes, Oh well that's life.

So back to the site we went and after a quick Brie and Camembert an biscuit lunch we headed off to watch the German Formula One Grand prix on the bar TV. A good race only screwed by the team orders from Ferrari for Massa who had led all the way to apparently be told to slow down and allow Alonso pass by. This was terrible and no doubt there should be a steward's enquiry and stop this rubbish. Let hope that Ferrari get to lose both positions One and Two for failing to follow the rules of 'No Team Orders'

By the time the race was finished we made a quick phone to our daughter and then headed for the empty swimming pool where we did sufficient laps to exhaust us after longish walk around town this morning. A quick shower followed by a cup of tea and the we put on some pork chops in the oven and later joined by a few chips and eventually some green beans. Prior to this Noel had noticed a distinct lack of white wine and so a quick trip to reception resolved this dire state of the nation.

The food was great and in the meantime a number of new caravans turned up and parked themselves fairly close to us and so being the nice people we are we offered the new arrivals a cup of tea whilst they set up their van. Finally a couple of hours of reading and then off to bed to ready ourselves for a new day tomorrow. Gosh it's a really tough life here..

24th July- Not a lot really

 

It's very grey really this morning and a bit off-putting but typical Lot Valley weather which is always a bit different to the rest of France type weather.

A quiet day on site with not to much happening really and apart from about four sites being vacated and being refilled pretty much the same time a few hours later with a mixture of caravans and motor homes.

We spent the most of the day reading and walking around the site and as it was a little cool for swimming we did not do to much exercises at all really which is something that needs to be corrected over the next few days. After a BBQ with steak and sausages and salad we decided to try the DVD on the TV again only this time the DVD worked well and the film was a poor choice on Noels part. After ditching the film called 'surveillance' we watched two episodes of Yes Minister as Noel has bought the complete set of all the Yes Minister as well as the Yes Prime Minister series which will give us hours of endless humour.

It's been a little cooler today and the weather has not been good and the couple opposite us have had to decide either to move on South, or stay or go but finally after lots of discussions they have decided to leave which is a shame as we believe the weather will improve significantly over the next few days.

 

 

23rd July- An easier day all round

 

A little less grey cloud than yesterday and it is a clear indication that the weather is turning again for the good. In the Lot valley it's not unusual for the weather to get warmer and warmer until such time as it feels it's had enough and so for 2-4 days you get a build up to a storm followed by the storm and then it dissipates and then starts warming up again.

We breakfasted light on croissants and pan-o-chocolate and together with a nice cup of tea we spent most of the time being nosy and watching all the people pack up their caravans around us and we feel that in the next few days we could be isolated here, great. For some reason in the middle of the night I heard this bang and poof and then the sound of running water. As it was quite light I assumed it was our neighbours disconnecting their water hoses ready for departure but after a minute or so the water kept running and so a quick look out through the bedroom window and I noticed that our eater hose had blown off the tap and water was running down the drain at a good rate and so a quick run around the caravan in pyjama's, turn off the hose, and back to bed and sort the problem later. As you can see there is lots of excitement when you caravan..

An easier day reading but as we breakfasted so well and really quite late we forgot about lunch and went straight to afternoon tea and strawberry flans, oh its tough out here I can tell you.

The German gay men couple have left being disappointed no doubt fed up that that the 'adults only' sign did not live up to their expectation. It's nice to see two guys with matching nipple rings. Perhaps I might give it a try at some stage, nipple rings that is!!

An afternoon of walking around the 30 acre site and then Jennifer made some chicken and bacon pasta flavoured with some herb cheese which we ate whilst watching the almost last remaining neighbours pack up their awning so tomorrow when they have gone we shall have a good clear view down the site to the last reaming stalwarts. There is another couple like us, both retired who came with the masons, most of whom left before we arrived, but as they like it so much here that they cannot make the decision of when to leave which they then keep putting off until tomorrow. At this rate they wil be here when we leave on the 9^th August. Quite a few people come and leave there caravans on site for months on end and use it for a few weeks here and there throughout the week, not a bad idea really and one that we may also consider for next year.

Let's hope its warm enough to re enter the swimming pool; it's not that it's really cold it's just that we like the sun to be shining. There was a couple with two girls of late teen age staying the Gite who used the pool all day long but now they have gone as well. When we went by the pool to do the email etc there was only two people there, it's such a pity.

 

 

22nd July- Somebody left the tap running up above

 

Overnight the rain came down most of the night as far as we can remember and in the morning it was grey and damp. The choice was to stay in bed the whole day or go out and do something which is what we did.

We left the site around 1030 am and headed off via Rocamadour, the village that hangs on the side of a cliff, before passing Turene ( another beautiful French town) where we arrived in Brive. Our only memories of Brive from the past is when we used to take the Car/Train from Boulogne down to Perpignan and it used to stop in Brive around 0500 am in the morning for those people wishing to visit the Dordogne to get off. This service used to run prior to the building of the excellent French motorway network where trains carrying cars are not really used today.

Brive old town is surrounded by less a interesting housing area and then you come to the Hypermarkets of Decathlon, International Sports, Carrefour etc and so as our intention was to stay out of the rain and visit the large superstores this is what we did. We have also been looking at purchasing some fold up bikes so that we can take them away with us on our trips but when talking to people on the site who have them you would need to be careful when purchasing to ensure that it is fully usable. An English guy across the road from us had a really good lightweight fold up but the negatives were it had no gears and because for weight saving it had a neoprene chain you cannot stand on and push down the pedals as it would strip the neoprene chain, so we do not want one like that. In Decathlon we saw a B-Twin bike which appears at first glance to be all that we need with easy gearing and quite light and comes complete with mudguards etc. The price here was Euro 249.99 and later when checking to see if the bike is available in the UK it was at £ 249.99 and so with the Euro against the pound at the moment it would be about £ 30.00 cheaper to by it here. No decision yet in this direction.

We then went next to Carrefour and they also had a fold up bike but much heavier and less efficient in many ways but it was only Euro 129.00 and also of a much lower quality and perhaps no spares availability in UK which the B-Twin would have. Jennifer then purchased a small back pack for our forthcoming Spanish holiday and it was marked at Euro 11.99 on the rack but when we came to check out they wanted 17.50 Euros. So after lots of gesticulating and using our best English they got the hang of the problem and after ten minutes we got back the overcharge and also an apology card for 3 Euros to spend.

Back home via Brive Old town where parking seems very difficult indeed unless you have very small car, the Land Cruiser is not a small car, and so we continued home and after a while got stuck in a traffic jam which we though had been caused by an accident as there were quite a few police around and then it became clear it was part of a cycle race, I don't think it was the Tour de France, and there were quite a few people at the side of the road clapping and cheering and so with true English tradition Noel used his best Prince Philip wave and shouting Merci through the open car window, This did cause some humour amongst the local population and was just a bit of fun.

We stopped in Gramat at the supermarket for some fish and as it was still a little cool still we also cheated and bought some oven chips and so tonight we had Fish and Chips and peas with some excellent Benedictine Tarter sauce with a glass of two of white wine.

We decided to watch another film tonight and then the DVD started playing up again and so perhaps it's not the DVD disk at fault but the DVD player in the TV ,damn and all that chasing around Cahors the other day may have been a waste of time.

Oh well the weather is promised to be better tomorrow and also four of our closest neighbours are leaving tomorrow and so we could soon be having the site to ourselves almost.

21 st July- Stuart was right

The weather did change a lot overnight and it started to rain about 04.15 in the morning at which time I remembered that not all windows on the car were shut and Jennifer remembered the towels on the washing rack were also outside and so Joe soap was out in the rain closing car windows and moving washing about. Afterwards lying in a warm bed listening to the rain on the roof of the caravan is a really nice feeling.

As a grey day outside was set we decided to take a drive in the country but needed to go to Gramat at first to fill up with diesel as otherwise our journey could have been cut short. After about 90 minutes driving down country lanes we ended up in Cahors for a Pizza lunch and then a search for an Internet cafe. You may well remember the saga of the George Clooney film which did not work, well I got back on to Amazon and they will swap it free of charge providing the original film is back in their hands by 31 st July. You are required to print out a label and also another document to travel with the returned product. So we needed the Internet cafe for the label printing as well as a shop selling envelopes as well as a post office. Needless to say the various shops are all at each ends of the town and so after about one and a half hours fairly fast walking and asking a number of people where to go, we finally achieved our goal.

Our original plan was to come back via one of the supermarkets and top up our food supplies and also buy some fish for tonight but quite frankly the pizza's we had in Cahors really filled us and so no dinner tonight. Cahors is a very nice old and quite historic town with beautiful buildings set alongside the river and is one of our favourite larger towns in this area. We have been coming here for over 20 years and have vested the Lot region at least ten times and we still enjoy this area enormously

We drove back to the Chateau via the banks of the River Lot and noticed at the bridge in Cahors they have turned a spare piece of ground in to a beachside play area with relaxer chairs and umbrellas and an area for swimming and also changing rooms etc, what a great idea.

Our journey home took us via Vers and then North through the hills and rocky mountain sides and we got back about 6.15 as it started to rain again. So an evening of reading and blogging is planned whilst sitting nice and warm in the van listening to rain falling down.

Let's hope tomorrow is a better day weather wise.

20th July- It’s really quite warm

 

A really pleasant day as we awoke and the sun shining on the very dirty front windows of the caravan to the degree that it is now getting a little difficult to see out of them. The advent of dust from the road at the last camp site and the heavy rain we encountered on the way to the Lot valley has created its own window world. So first thing before the sun go to warm we got a hose and good wash down and dried off and boy there is a whole new world out there waiting to be seen.

This action fully exhausted us and this required a relaxing breakfast of yogurt and croissants with a nice cup o warm coffee to wash it all down. Then we did some reading until lunchtime where upon we raided the cheese locker and with rye biscuits the Brie and Camembert tasted great with a nice hot cuppa'

In the middle of the afternoon there was an influx of about four new caravans or mobile homes and one caravan was put in a space opposite us but for him to get the van in the correct space required some muscle as they did not have caravan movers. I believe they will have these fitted when they get back home.

We spent a happy couple of hours at the swimming pool and enjoying the sun before heading back to the caravan for a meal of mushroom omelette and salad, very tasty and quite healthy.

Later in the evening we headed down to the bar for a evening glass of wine and met up with the couple whose caravan we had pushed and they were nice enough to buy a glass of wine. Although apparently experienced caravaner's they had used to much power in their brand new van and blown the camp site electric plug and had to resort to gas for the fridge until they had sorted the problem. Anyway it was a pleasant evening but as we headed back to the van at about 1130 the sights and sounds of an electric storm on the way were quite visible and Stuart, or Landlord, mentioned that the weather for the next few days would be cooler with a high chance of rain and cloudy skies.

19th July- A lovely day in ‘Le Lot’

To get up and get dressed here is great. You jump out of bed and put on you swimming cozzie and you are set for the day unless leaving for some shopping which of course we did.

The search for a new chair has begun and so headed off to Gramat where we had been reliably informed there was a 'Lidl' store offering chair quite cheaply. The shopping in previous years in Gramat consisted of a small and very dark Leclerc, a French supermarket chain, and also the local grocer which sells all. Whilst looking for the LIdl we came across an enormous site where there was a new Leclerc about the size of Tesco Addlestone and also a Bricomarche connected by a petrol station, gosh we don't remember these from last year. However you could tell the complex was new as staff was very helpful and friendly and even the supermarket trolleys seemed brand new and more importantly they went in a straight line.

We checked out the Bricomarche first but no luck but then searching around LeClec we found a very comfortable chair at a reasonable price and this is now fully utilised back at the caravan site.

Noel did his usual Bank Checks and other emails and also started looking on web sites re flights to Japan as we have been invited to a the wedding of Yugo, who stayed with us for about a year approx ten years ago and the event will take place in early October in Tokyo. So maybe it's time to open up the 'piggy bank' but lets see as Japan is very, very expensive.

The afternoon was taken up with a swim in the pool and with a nice ice cream to keep us going. Tonight dinner was BBQ lamb steak and a shared Costco beef burger with salad and the food was a really great and all washed down with a glass of Chardonnay. We spent most of the evening reading and then watched a very old film called 'The Plank' which was made in the year dot with Eric Sykes, Tommy Cooper et all. It was still funny after all these years. What was also good to watch was all the old cars, Hillman Imp's, the original Ford Cortina and even an Austin Mayflower, who remembers that.

Then off to bed and get ready for the next hard day ahead

18th July- I have lost a day’s blog and Noel’s chair has broken –What a Crisis!

When reviewing the Blog we noticed that the Blog for the 16^th July was missing as now neither of can remember what we did but I guess it was not important. Probably more of the same really with the usual breakfast, Lunch and dinner with some swimming and reading and sleeping and so if we miss a Blog again just assume that is what we did.

Anyway, today the 18^th Noel was comfortably sitting on his relaxer chair and when trying to get out the whole lot collapsed under him and perhaps lucky that he did not get poked by one of the aluminium legs. We purchased these ‘Concept’ fold up chair about three years ago but they have this annoying habit of losing screws or the just getting loose. We have complained to the manufacturer who promised to send us some more screws but they never arrived. So tomorrow we will try to find a new one so that we both can relax and read at the same time. We spent a good hour and a half at the pool today with a great temperature and there was only about eight or ten people lying around the pool enjoying the sun or plodding up and down doing lengths. Thank heavens for no kids as it makes the pool area really comfortable unlike last year when at certain times with kids screaming and running around the pool and jumping in to play volley ball thought of murder and mayhem come to mind, but not this year thank heavens.

It was curry night abd we had chicken korma and mushroom rice and all very pleasant before heading off to watch ‘Up in the air’ only this time it started OK but stopped towards the end and in the caravan lights you could see three scratches on the disc. Watch out Amazon its on its way back as soon as we get back to blighty.So tomorrow is set aside to look for a new relaxer chair and we shall start in Gramat.

Finally, for those who may be having bad weather is very beautiful here with temperature around 28/30 degrees Centigrade during the day with bright blue sky but cooling down nicely at night just in time for bed ,bloody perfect in fact.

17th July- A bit of cloud this morning

It was a little cloudy and overcast this morning but it eventually cleared away over the acres of this rolling site deep in the French Countryside.

The Chateau is owned by Stuart and Sheila Coe who purchased this property many years ago and have turned it into a fine place to visit and enjoy the quiet and the ever present sound of insects and other forms of wildlife. Up and till this year the site had been open to all ages, but after a particularly tough last year where they had some kids cause damage and upset to other residents they decided finally to make it an adults only site. However the word ‘adult’ in France,as according the French Law, means anybody over 14 and that was still too young a person that the hosts wanted. And so now it has been renamed as a Country Club for those over 18+ and this is exactly what they want.

The downside of this is that in Holland, the ‘Adults only’ badge tends to indicate a free sex club of sorts and so they are having difficulty getting the Dutch to book here but we believe that word will travel quite fast. But back to the site which has about 90 placements for caravans, motor homes and tents and about six very nice wooden chalets set in the wooded part of the site and four mobile homes which now look slightly out of place. The bar and restaurant are a very attractive area which overlooks the very large and mostly empty swimming pool which is in itself a great selling or marketing tool. Following the change to all adult they also have started investing in the site again with better site roads, planned changes to the chalets making them more suitable for adults viz no small children’s rooms and a nine-hole golf course planned to open next year. Noel has been asked by Stuart and Sheila to set up a BLOG, similar to this, so that they can communicate in a simple way with their customers to keep them informed of site developments rather than changing an expensive web site. Anyway back to us, late in the afternoon a jolly good swim in the pool prior to heading back for a shower and an excellent ham salad, with yet again some more wine. This really has to stop.

Later in the evening we decided to watch a DVD called ‘Up in the Air’ with George Clooney and although it is a brand new disc direct from Amazon and not even unwrapped there is something wrong with it and it would not start. Fearing that the DVD element in the TV had broken Noel grabbed the next nearest DVD to see if that worked but without looking at what it was. This DVD started fine and is called ‘Das Boot’ a German film made about the U-Boat crews in the Second World War where 40000 men signed up and only 10000 lived to tell the tale. However it was NOT noticed when placing this disc in the machine how long the film was. Anyway we started watching and enjoying the film and it went on and on and on and we looked at the clock and it was almost midnight and so we looked at the box cover and discovered that the film runs for 310 minutes, plus extra’s, and so we still had about another hour to go, so we stopped the film and went to bed. No doubt it will be part two tomorrow.

Finally a few more people have left the site today with the departures outweighing the new arrivals at this moment but as most arrivals are on late Sunday and Monday let’s see what happens