Home again

Well, here we are at home again. The last two days are always hard going, and back in England there are the inevitable traffic hold-ups - three yesterday. What a crowded island this is!
Now it's washing, gardening..........but it's good to be back. And I'm not rushing into the work yet.

Maurice wants to put in some 'boring stuff', so , over to him for now.

Yes, after 6 weeks and 2,900 miles of travelling, for the most part trouble-free, it's back to the white cliffs of Dover and reality for a while. I decided to pop in this photo of our satellite dish just to show what can be done with a small plastic dish secured to a d.i.y. tripod. A bigger dish would pull in more signal in the south of France but it's fine for our purposes. We in this country tend to be dominated by the dreaded SKY but really all the stuff you want to watch is up there free of charge, for a total outlay of about £60...........
As far as wi-fi is concerned, we were complete beginners on this trip. Shenagh got a 12" laptop last year and decided to have a go at a blog, so the only real problem was getting on line. That's why we had to use campsites now and again, as they tend to have a "hotspot", usually for free. As we went along we discovered that ports and tourist offices are good bets for hotspots and towards the end of our trip we parked next to a McDonalds and used their wi-fi without any problem or expense!
       Plus we were able to keep in touch with people using e-mail. So all in all a good result. Back to the boss now.

Not a lot left to say, really. Just to finish off the account, we spent the last night in the car park at the docks along with about 20 other campervans, and were straight on to the 8a.m. sailing Friday morning.

A very smooth crossing, and then this familiar sight...

Back in the North

It was fine again as we packed up on Tuesday morning. No time for a swim, though.

We had one last view of Mont St Michel from Avranches, where we stopped and had a walk around. The weather was fine again but with a definite northern edge to it. We're always pleased to be back in Normandy again, because we first met here at Caen University. That was when we visited a little place called Cerisy la Foret, and as it was on our way we decided to re-visit.

We parked near the abbey for lunch (Great how you can park anywhere for free in France)and an added bonus was that there was an international sculpture event on.

We had the place to ourselves as it was lunchtime, and needless to say I took a lot of photos....Won't bore you with too many!

Didn't know Maurice was so fond of sculpture!

Also, while we were there we spotted this lovely old post box....

We passed a roundabout en route which probably gets first prize...

Maurice wanted to visit Arromanches again, especially as it was the day after D-Day. This is the view from the cliff top, and you can just make out what is left of the Mulberry Harbour.

We travelled on some way and reached another very nice aire at Mailleraye sur Seine - on the bank of the river. A very restful place after the busy roads in this part of France.

Maurice spotted something that might interest Christian.......

We slept well here.

It is now Wednesday teatime and we are back in Neufchatel en Bray. A longish journey to do tomorrow to get up to Dunkirk, and then back to reality.

Mont St Michel

A fairly dull day today, though it did stop raining. We took it easy at the campsite this morning.We've more or less got the place to ourselves. We went for a bike ride this afternoon to get this view of Mont St. Michel. Cycled for about 4 kilometres.

Another 5k to the island.We'd had quite a strong wind against us, so we didn't bother going any further. The last time we visited we parked, along with about a hundred other vans, just next to the mount. The weather that time was lovely, and the view of the mount in the evening was magical. What a fantastic place to spend the night.

Propping myself up against the wall here.

We passed some cows on the way back (bulls too, I think). When in Normandy you have to take a photo of cows. The Normans are very proud of them - and Normandy butter certainly is good.

A rest on the way back while Maurice took a photo of this crop.....

I have to confess that I don't know what it is!.....asparagus, perhaps?

Well, time to do some cooking, and tomorrow we'll be on our way again.

More beaches

After an extremely hot night (28 degrees when we went to bed) we headed for a little place we had never heard of before, Bourgenay. Maurice found the aire in the campervan guide. It proved to be a good find. This aire was almost like a campsite without the trimmings. Ideal, because we have everything we need, and only need water and facilities to get rid of waste of various kinds! Unlike the last place, though, we were able to sit outside the 'van. I relaxed in the shade under a tree while Maurice went exploring.

When it was cool enough for me (At about 9p.m. again)he took me on a very nice walk down to the beach, through the forest and along the cliff path. We came across some lovely 'installations' on the beach. Someone had been very busy. 

After another extremely hot night - the electric fan let into the roof of the 'van earned its keep- we set

off again. The roads were still busy, and there were lots of holiday makers about. Ascension Thursday expands into a long weekend. We got thoroughly tangled up in Les Sables d'Olonne....narrow streets, diversions, markets. The driver was relieved to eventually get through the place with the vehicle unscathed.

Our next stop - for lunch- was here, a campervan park next to the beach, which we had visited 6 years ago. At that time, we slept here, and there was just one other 'van. What a surprise this time.....

This path leads over the dune on to the beach

We pressed on, and passed a few more interesting roundabouts.........

This one at a village where the Tour de France will pass through in July.

Not very good photos, but I have to grab my camera very quickly, switch on and do the best I can in a very short space of time!

I thought this one was rather sweet!

We spent last night on an aire again, just south of Pornic. During the night....torrential rain! It's been raining ever since and we feel that we are in the north again. I'm writing this at a little campsite not far from Mont St Michel. We'll stay here for a couple of nights to have a bit of a rest before the long trek home, but will be staying at Neufchatel campsite again on Wednesday - completing the circle- so there might be a bit more news to come.

Atlantic coast continued

On Thursday (June 2nd) we tavelled further up the Atlantic coast and the roads were extremely busy. We remembered that it was Ascension Thursday, a public holiday in France, and obviously everyone was having a day out. I decided that I wanted to visit Brouage, not having been there for some time.

It's a fascinating little fortified town, and it used to be next to the sea. Now it is surrounded by a strange flat landscape consisting of salt marshes. A lot of the land around here used to be under the sea at one time.

The last time we were here the place was practically deserted with very quiet streets...

But it has obviously been discovered since then, and also the holday meant that there were lots of visitors. We stumbled across a summer fair. As well as the usual stalls there was a display of 'vintage ' American cars. We both fancied this one

This wasn't bad either..

We drove on, past Rochefort, and found a good aire at Chatellaillon Plage. Just a big car park really, but a well marked out area for vans, and five minutes walk from the sea front. We had a meal and then strolled down to the promenade. At 9.30 the temperature was very pleasant, and we watched a dramatic sunset.

Mortagne sur Gironde

We got here on Tuesday afternoon. We've stayed at this aire a couple of times before, and although we have to pay, it's well worth it. Everyone else thinks so too to judge by the number of vans always here. There are memories here, too, of when we had our house in the Dordogne - this was a favourite 'port of call' on a day out to the coast.

 This is the view through our front window. It's very quiet here, apart from the odd boat person, and the fairly huge campervan population - all baby boomers!

And this is the view at the back - water and electricity within easy reach.

Sorry, Jennie, Maurice took this photo - men are interested in this sort of thing!

This afternoon we managed another bike ride. I must say that I appreciate the flat roads around here.......

Back at the port...........They've got their priorities right around here. (Give way to ducks rather than cars)

Love the way hollyhocks grow in the streets along this stretch of coast.

On our way again tomorrow - steadily working our way back north now.

Roundabouts

I mentioned French roundabouts before, and have taken a couple of pot shots from the 'van lately as there were some imaginitive ones en route. This looks like some sort of traditional shelter by a lake.

 Another good one - an agricultural theme this time.

A nautical theme for this one at the entrance to a village near the coast.

I particularly liked this one (Just before we arrived at our present aire). Now in the Charente Maritime, this is one of the typical fishing platforms which have been used along this part of the coast for generations- except this one happens to be on a roundabout!
Wish I'd started taking roundabout photos earlier in the holiday - we've seen so many good ones.