About Clunegapyears

Travelling around Europe with James in our motorhome. And now solo, with friends

855-860: Passing to a New-Union & a Re-Union

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Clunegapyears

855 – Wednesday 4th October 2017: Passing on Good Wine!

We arrived quite late to the aire at Cornas, so the designated 5 van spaces were taken – we parked separately not blocking anyone. Grahame and Diane had suggested trying the local vino – but no! Out of our price range….. we walked young Oscar between the vines – and rested our bones…

856 – Thursday 5th October: Passing through the Luberon!

Driving through the beautiful Luberon National Park, we decided to return – explore more fully and investigate property prices. Stopped at Les Mees for the stunning rock formations…

Stunning cliffs at Les Mees.

Stayed at Dignes Les Bains – headed for Castellane but getting late and spotted an aire sign – not the one we’d stayed at before but closer to the town centre and along the river. We walked along the river and it’s outdoor leisure complex of a boating lake, climbing wall etc. One young lad was exercising his dog by being towed along on a skateboard – he then got the dog to dive into the lake off a pier … the dog was suspended mid air for a nano second with all limbs out wide.

The path along the river has a leisure activities; this is the boating lake. And all with great mountain views.

857 – Friday 6th October: The New-Union … Meeting Cian

A.M. – K ran along the river with trusty O (not towed!). I rested and brekkied, got Jez ready to sail – a quote from “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” seems appropriate here….

“The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast – and southward aye we fled”

(not sure whose blast roared loudest – Oscar!!!)

Southward brought us swiftly to Les Maurettes campsite where we had stayed last March/April – to see Sarah, Gareth and Jade and the new addition to the family – Cian. Lovely site but office closed until 2:00 pm – a French/German couple were quite upset at their wait for a pitch where they could get a good TV signal – he wanted French and she was German, so they were loyal to their national TV stations. They’d spent all morning moving the van and testing out pitches! Much easier to not have a TV on board, like us.

The site was very busy. We got our pitch OK – the choice of one! We seemed to be the sole GB van. A lot of French and Germans with the off smattering of Scandinavians. Over our 4 night stay, there was relatively little movement off the pitches … the weather is still warm here – low 20s and obviously people are happy to stay for a longer time on the Cote d’Azur … understandable.

Sarah and Gareth brought 12-day old Cian to meet us – my new grandson – good Irish name (Cian Healy, front row for Ireland) a perfect baby for the perfect Grandpa Pig (?).

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Proud Grandpa Pig.

858 – Saturday 7th October: The Re-Union … 30 Years On

K here: As well as heading back to Antibes to meet J’s new grandson, I also had an overnight flight booked to Gatwick. A Thames Polytechnic (Greenwich Uni, depending on whom you talk to!) Business and International Marketing reunion. Gill lives in Twickenham and I’d reserved a bed there and used her address for some very important post. About 2 years ago, I frugally bought an iPhone 5c with only 8GB and have regretted it ever since. Not being able to store more than 4 photos and virtually no apps has been a real pain. When we were home in Bristol, Kay mentioned she was thinking of replacing her iPhone 6 …. she and Stephen both like their tech and frog leap each other with the latest. So I purchased Kay’s phone and she posted it to Gill’s. A quick cuppa with Gill and Gordon and I was off into town to buy a protective case for it … and thence soon after I’d swapped over and downloaded apps I wanted, with still loads of space left. Oh joy! Other things I notice are how sensitive the keyboard is and the screen is really clear. Loving it.

The appointed drinks time was 5.00 and we managed a couple of Aperol Spritz before catching the train into St James’ for the reunion. Gill and Bron (sadly Al was poorly and did not make it) are ‘me old muckers’, but I’ve not seen any of the others for 30 years. Most were instantly identifiable … but wow, the girls really have aged well. Not even approaching middle age … any of us. Some had brought pix and the 80’s clothes and hair styles were very Bananarama! It was a pretty alcofrolic evening with lots of laughs … Gill and I lost track of the time and had to do a 400m sprint across the concourse at Waterloo to catch the 0046.

A couple of Aperol Spritz before we set off.

And none of us have changed at all!

Gill and Bronwen.

Not changed … Much!

859 – Sunday 8th October: A Return to Nice is Nice

The next morning we giggled and exclaimed our way through Gill’s photo albums. It was wonderful to catch up with people I’ve not seen for such a long time, but reunions are pretty much about curiosity and mine has been satisfied.

My 2.00 flight was delayed an hour due to a faulty laptop … seems mad that it took an hour to replace / repair something that is essentially disposable and not part of the plane’s infrastructure. Polite announcements from the Pilot about our patience with the delay … as if we the choice! Lovely to arrive back just in time to see the blue skies again. Great time, but very great to be back with my boys.

And guess who are so glad to see you back – the Boyzzz!

860 – Monday 9th October: Jobs and Antibes

We both ran down into the local park. J managed to get lost and had to ‘ring a friend’. K found him on the Find a Friend app and navigated him back to base.

K started to ‘laundrify’ with the onsite facility – clothes line from tree to tree, jobs done including finalising my tax return/amount owed to HMRC – not too much… then out with the e-bikes for a jaunt to Antibes. Oscar barked a bit to begin – then the Kay-suggested covering the Os-car solution kicked in – almost silence, again. And not a bark on the return leg. He’s learning :). A visit to the e-cig shop to remedy a minor issue. Ice creams (as always) although our favourite shop was closed.

Tomorrow – “to fresh fields and pastures new…”

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Playing with my ‘new’ iPhone 6 – loving the camera definition.

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849-856: Wine Tasting with the Aged P’s

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Clunegapyears

849-850 – Thursday 28th – Friday 29th September 2017: E-Bikes Outing and Welshies

Wednesday saw us in a France Passion – eggs bought and then all day driving to Meung sur Loire aire for 2 nights to sleep under autumn leaves falling…. the town beckoned – as did a glass of vin blanc…

A first e-bike ride with Os-car- a test? Mega thanks to Kay (and Stephen) for suggesting covering the Os-car with something to reduce his visibilty – and barking – hey, it worked !!! I didn’t bark at all ! Neither did Oscar…..Lunch and sedatecycling back to Jez. Some issues with the bikes were sorted by phone back to Brizzle.

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Matching orange towel to block his forward view to match the Os-car (and his lead and harness!)

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One of our new Kalkhoff bikes.

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Set lunch was a beautifully cooked piece of tuna with lots of veggies including a stack of wafer thin fried courgettes – yum!

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On evening number 1 a French chap approached us saying “Welsh!”. Now James is Irish and I’m English. He could only be talking about Oscar. He was, and he had 2 Welshies – a mother and daughter. He brought them over the next evening to be introduced. Taking pix was not easy as they wouldn’t stay still and not even all at once for treats. He told us that there are only 60 bred a year in France. I later googled that UK numbers are dropping and a couple of years ago it was only 300. Oscar – you’re a rare species!

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He wouldn’t let us keep even one of them!

851-855 – Saturday 30th Sept – Wednesday 4th October: With Aged P’s

Cosgne sur Loire campsite – and the “Aged Ps” arrival to their chalet on site… They are not aged – but like fine wine, they are pickled – whoops, young….. some imbibing took place. It works well with Diane and Grahame renting luxury “huts” on our selected campsites around Europe…

Sunday, we discombobulated into town and had coffee – and the boys had Sancerre wine with croissants! A large market was in full swing with a lot of local produce including crottins of goat cheese … we did not buy as we had our own little cheese store at home already..

Bourges on Monday – lovely cathedral (St Etienne) – gorgeous stained glass windows – and ? Lunch…… SkodaJane SatNav went a bit AWOL but we declined her invitation to drive across ploughed fields…

Tuesday witnessed an outbreak of “degustation” – a rare condition normally treated with care and wallet locks – it didn’t work this time. Although we watched the Aged P’s make several purchases fr themselves and on behalf of K’s sister and husband … not sure Clare and Chris had provided a budget, but they seemed happy enough.

Sancere on Tuesday – Diane and Grahame went at the wine tasting with gusto and why not? We kept our respective bottoms up too… The annual Rothbury AGM/staff lunch was duly called to order – and order we did – wine and good grub.

One degustation offered a small cinema with chairs that mimicked the movement of ground in the vineyards and squirted water at us!!! Oscar was not impressed and I took him out – with more gusto…

Pm – Diane died K’s hair – played crib (victory spoils to Diane) – Grahame and I read and looked intelligent. The evening brought more cheese and a robust quantity of vino en Francaise…

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Bourges was a really pretty town … nice to just wander and quiet being Monday, so all the shops were shut.

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The cathedral’s front entrance has been partially cleaned, but it really shows off the intricate carvings …

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… imagination running riot.

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Unearthed late C18, the original clacker on the left was used during Maundy to call people to worship as the bells had to be silence. A similar principal and sound to the football supporters make with a rattle.

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The glass was varied in styles and truly stunning.

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On the side of the gothic Palais Jacques Coeur … looks like the figures had had a row.

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Just outside the only restaurant we found that was open. It had only just opened when we went in and soon filled up with tourists and locals. Surely it would be worth other restaurants opening on a Monday too?

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Sancerre: It is on a rise and is visible from quite a way. At the Museum of wine we learnt that the Sancerre wine comes from quite a large area, and Sancerre town is right at the southern part of it.

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Staff lunch. J would keep calling it the Director’s lunch, but I had to put him right. If the Aged P’s think they’ve been promoted to Directors they might start expecting voting rights! The food was nothing special but the views and the service were….

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… and the cheese board was rather special, especially as he loaded our plates 🙂 We got to taste a mature Crottin of Chavigny, a local DOC … nice but prefer others.

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A wine tasting in the only natural underground cave in Sancerre and some more Aged P’s purchases. Hardly room for Oscar in their car boot!

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Looking up to Sancerrre.

836-848: The Longest Separation and a LOT of Charging About

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Clunegapyears

836-848 – Friday 15th – Wednesday 27th September 2017: The Longest Separation and a LOT of Charging About

I crossed back to Blighty on the 15th. Although I’ve done it before, I was still slightly nervous about Oscar’s pet passport being in order. I checked and rechecked the vet’s entries comparing to the previous vet’s. No issues at all and we sailed through the process quickly.

On returning and leaving England, it is normal tradition for us to stop over to see Ian, young Jimmy and Nicky’s parents in Rustington. However, Ruth and Brian were in Brittany visiting their other daughter, Tracy, and Ian was up in town, so not this trip. The up side was that I booked an extra night in the Brighton campsite and spent an extra evening with Maddy, who has just moved here. I got to see her great 2 bed flat (she’s sharing with a good friend who is at Uni there) and to wander around and SPEND in Brighton. The flat is walking distance from the centre, so we did not have far to carry a chalk board and mirror (which I promptly smashed), as well as M’s new pre-loved clothes and my new frock and costume jewellery. If you’ve not been to Brighton, it is buzzing place. Drug addicts, students and Barbour jackets all rub shoulders together … it is very real. The break a mirror and bad luck happens adage happened … all electronic. Th sat nav lost all its maps. The sat pad (iPad with Co-Pilot) died altogether and wanted re-initialising and the radio died. The first two have been resolved and the radio binned.

Before J joined me I moved between Farnham (close to parents and sister), Bristol for dentist, John Lewis and e bike shop and Shropshire to drop off Christmas presents at my brother’s.

Teeth: X ray and all fine – good to know as will be away, if all goes to plan, for a year.
John Lewis: Purchased a few last Christmas gifts … all my Christmas shopping is done and wrapped!!!! A chap on the escalator was moaning that it is too soon for Xmas cards and wrapping paper …I gleefully told him that some of us are all wrapped, cards written and stamped as we are off travelling. And I pre-bought and am using my birthday / Christmas gift from the Aged P’s and a little bit from James – a GPS sports watch. One of the really good things about it is that the time digits are really large … I no longer have to squint or reach for glasses to read the time!
E-Bikes: this was phase 2 of the get Oscar about with us. We bought the Os-car doggy trailer in Holland, but I could not get up hills towing the combined 35kgs+ of Oscar and Os-car. Also, we want to travel a bit further when parked up. We do not want to tow a car; a scooter is no good unless we had a side car for Oscar … and we’d both want to drive anyway … so e-bikes it is. I’d done some research and looked at lots of forums, ordering the bikes from a shop in Bristol, who had stock and gave a decent discount. We’ve gone for Kalkhoff Agattu …. both in matt black as no stock of the white, and I have a bigger battery to compensate for the towing. We found time to test them for all of about 15 mins before we left for France and they really do make a difference, especially up hill when you switch to high power mode. Setting off is assisted too. I was a bit reluctant about cheating and loss of exercise, but everyone we’ve spoken to loves their e-bike and I think we will too.
I’d not seen brother Tim and Sarah for about 2.5 years, so it was good to catch him between his house parties … think modern day Downton Abbey and you have their lifestyle! They were off to a shooting party in Yorkshire and I was given a bag of veggies from the walled kitchen garden. They are planning a trip to the Balkans somewhere in Spring, so I hope we can meet up then.

James left Antibes on the 20th; his flight left 30 mins after his ex-wife landed … so Sarah really was not alone long should the baby have decided to make an appearance. This is the longest by far we’ve ever been apart – 9 nights. Boy, was it good to be back together. However, little time to enjoy being together as more jobs to be done! Including:

J’s eco cardiagram for the DVLA. Yes, his birthday was in April, but the doctor’s two errors on the form were picked up separately and because he was identified with a heart murmur, they then wanted his heart checked out. Anyway, the consultant said she could hardly identify the murmur and they he would have no problems with his license …. I should think not, when he is a runner! But good to know, all the same. Now that we are back in France, we just need to work out where to get his license posted to …. Kerstin, are you reading this???
Jez had his engine and habitation service – all good.
Fiat in Guidlford …. thrice! They’d not ordered the replacement part for the dashboard (under warranty) when it was booked in over 2 months ago, so we had to go back the morning we caught the tunnel to France … I put the crossing back a few hours and it was just as well I had, as the mechanic had out the radio back in up side down, so we had to go back again.
Vet for kennel cough and to stock up with a year’s supply of drugs!
Washing, more washing and cleaning
Sorting ‘stuff’ in the Aged P’s attic as a) we’ve had notice not to add to the expanding pile in case the roof comes down! and b) we wanted some of the stuff, such as Balkans guide books and winter clothes. We’re spreading our love (as one of my pilates videos says) … no, I mean, our stuff. Our normal bikes are in Clare & Chris’ garage.
Weigh bridge … we need to drink the glass bottled beer and wine, eat the two massive sacks of dog food and stop stock piling tins and toothpaste!

We managed to catch up with a few people, but really only a few people. Stephen and Kay, our old next door neighbours cooked and always delicious. Frances and Edward to belatedly celebrate E’s special birthday, which we missed as we were on baby watch in Antibes. And I had a great Sunday afternoon with the girls – my old muckers, and Ian and Jimmy in Twickenham. Just not enough time.

We crossed back at 1416hrs on 27th – the next adventure begins 🙂

Maddy tucking into a Full English (she justified it by going to the gym before) …

… whilst I froze and wo-manfully smiled whilst she ate! I did nick a piece of bacon.

Moreton Corbet Castle, an extended castle and Elizabethan House which was owned by the same family who own Tim’s house … his is in slightly better nick!

And announcing the safe arrival of Cian Ash Weston on Sunday 24th September.

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820-835: Waiting For Godot / Baby

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Clunegapyears

819 – Tuesday 29th August 2017: Arrive In Biot

A leisurely start and a run and pilates for K. We had another interesting journey, where we nearly ran out of fuel – again! The fuel gauge does some significant dipping when negotiating sharp bends and hills.

Biot near Nice was our landfall and Chez Sarah, Gareth and Jade….. Now, for those fans of Peter Sellers and “The Pink Panther” film series – Sarah has “Le Beumpe” – 8.5 months work of “Le Beumpe” in fact. New house – with pool – and Cote D’Azur wall to wall sunshine! As the gated driveway is too narrow, we parked our Jezabeumpe by the neighbours in the “Impasse”/cul de sac. Sarah’s neighbours are quite happy about Jez and they’re also awaiting the arrival of Le Beumpe… one way to meet the new neighbours to apologise for the large grey motorhome lump in the parking area!

820-835 – Wednesday 30th August – Thursday 14th September: Waiting for Baby

Lovely walking/running along La Brassiere – whoops – La Brague river. To explain, Jade calls me “Grandpa Pig” – followers of “Pepa Pig” cartoon will understand. (I ain’t no ornery Oinker, though). Happy family, ice creams, swimming and sun – could it be better? Non!

Some DiY and playing with Jade – Sunday lunch in Valbonne…..it gets better. K and J an evening meal out back in Valbonne and nearly unable to get home … Uber and a friendly local helped out. A couple of trips into Antibes and lunch in Nice.

As Sarah would be alone for some time (G gone back to his seafaring work), we decided I will stay on for an extra week and K will pilot Jez and Oscar back to Calais for 15th September crossing. I could be in charge of a lively 2-year-old on my tod! Takes me back 40 years!!! But, sample nappy change brought the old skills back sharpish…

On the 11th, K set off for the tunnel having visited the vet in Biot for Oscar’s pet passport. 3 days of solid driving and she made it to the aire at Bergues with a day in hand. A rest day and lunch in the local town. Crossing to the UK tomorrow on 15th.

Pool with a house 🙂

La Brague – local river with beautiful walking. We walked into Biot along it in one direction for an … ice cream!

Oscar was tricked into swimming in pursuit of a stick … once he realised, he headed for the nearest rocks and then had to swim back.

Lunch in Valbonne … can’t beat French cuisine and presentation.

Don’t fall over Grandpa Pig!

of course the nappy will stay on!

Organising the crayons. Apparently Sarah was accused at work of OCD … in the genes?

Sarah’s uncle and partner over from Oz came to lunch.

Where Oscar waited when we went out for supper. He set up howling when Sarah went to bed, so she had to get up again. Pathetic inconsiderate dog!

Sinead, daughter No.2 flew in for a few days, so whilst K drove all day, they all had lunch on the beach! Followed by lounging around the pool!!!

Sarah spotted this on a friend’s Facebook – very much our anthem.

798-819: Gastarbeiter

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Clunegapyears

798 – Saturday 5th August 2017: A Long Drive to a Wine Event

Services completed, we left the campsite and headed south into Germany – for a 5 hour trip… the A3 motorway looked busy but flowing…..until about 2:30 pm. everything ground to a halt. Not to worry (we said) just a minor ’bouchon’ (I don’t know the German for traffic jam). 4 hours later, we moved again, well more than 2 yards – folks had been walking about on the motorway – and using the hard shoulder for wc visits – we could have made money renting our toilet facilities… Anyway, an accident had happened (no injuries thankfully) and substantial roadworks – so a 5 hour journey became 9 hours! We almost had to call the emergency services to us, just to add to the stoppage … we were almost out of fuel. In, fact when we did make it to the fuel station, we put more in than we ever had before – 73 litres and a whopping EUR100+.

We did arrive just on time for the street/riverbank party (our intended international table decorations did not happen) and we joined 100 metre long picnic tables! All to celebrate the local village’s wine production. Wine, food and fireworks along the Rhine! Thank you Leutesdorf. A lovely family evening with Kerstin’s god-daughter and her parents. Kerstin stayed in our van parked at a local winery…

At the end of the wine tasting picnic, Oscar had drunk himself under the table.

The Leutesdorf firework display.

799-813 – Sunday 6th – Monday 21st August: GastArbeiter

“Guestworkers”? How about “Non-restworkers”, Kerstin? 17 days hard labour – but well worth it….. wood chip wallpaper sticks like ’tihs’ – work that simple anagram out? Answers on ‘toiletenpapier’ please. 2 evenings out for dinner at Engers – and a whole days freedom – more below….. Kerstin’s cousin Axel joined the workers for the weekend and dined out with us. We drove and watched the ‘Rhin in Flam’ fireworks from a vantage point where we could see about 4 displays. And it was far enough not to upset Oscar with the noise. We’d head a lot about these firework displays … villages host they own fireworks and then a final display at Koblenz. Actually, it happens all along the Rhein. What should have been a spectacular evening damaged to deliver deposit the teaming rain. K&K found chairs and sheltered their legs with a sleeping bag, that absorbed the water like a sponge. J and A sheltered under a tree. Not a damp squib in sight and it didn’t dampen our spirits.

When the ‘gaffer’ had allowed us a day off, we cycled to watch a local triathlon – mega exciting – and I got my boat ride! We could have entered a hybrid team – Kerstin swimming, Katherine cycling and me running – maybe next year? Our team name could be “The Gassybelters”! Kerstin is a member of the local dive club who were part of the water safety crew so wangled J a Rhein ride in the slowest boat on the river. J should not have expressed the wish for a Rhein ride as he got another one as we crossed to Leutesdorf, which provided an excellent lunch and we pedalloed home to the accompaniment of an “Oscarchestra” in – of course – O Minor – or O major? He certainly gets an O-Level for barking…

17 days labour for the whole team saw an amazing result – the whole house ready for the professional trades people!!! K: aren’t we the pros??? We were paid … ice cream and wine!

Thus, the Jezacaravenette migrated south towards Reutingen – HausK3…

Master Stripper …

How many rooms stripped?

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Still at it …

A night off with Kerstin’s cousin Axel: supper in the dry, but not dry followed by the Rhein in Flam firework display in the wet!

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Kerstin investigated a vantage point where we could see 2 or 3 villages’ firework display and then the main Koblenz one. And far enough away so Oscar was not worried by the noise.

Another Frikadelle night out … yum.

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The first leg of the triathlon. Swimmers did not have to work hard as the current is so strong, but they needed ‘catching’ to make it out of the water.

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J had expressed an interest in a boat ride along the Rhein. Not quite what he had in mind, but Kerstin got him a ride on one of the water rescue boats … it just happened to be the slowest one of the water!

Another boat ride … from Andernach to Leutesdorf, with the bikes.

Fab location and food for lunch. An ice cream on the cycle back!

One of Kerstin’s neighbours owned what was formerly a quarry and now a pleasure ground. However, the council want to close it so he’s had to cancel the fishing club and can’t allow people to picnic there now … a real shame as he has spent 50 years creating art and picnic spots and it has become a nature park. With lack of use and the owner’s age against him, it is now looking very overgrown and un-cared for. A crying shame.

The owner may be 80, but he is still building … this is a volcano, and he lit some papers and you can just see smoke coming out of the top!

Little seating areas and views all over the grounds.

Kerstin’s garden over looking the Rhein. The pool may look blue, but was putrid and the pool man never came to sort it … promises, promises Kerstin!

814 – Tuesday 22nd August: The German Wine Route

We don’t need a compass to steer us along the German wine road….just followed our noses! The aire we originally wanted – approach far too narrow so we aborted. A very helpful local man guided us at top speed on his bike to a lovely alternative pleasant aire – and we were alone – no other vans…. We walked in search of a restaurant for supper out – but in spite of more local knowledge, ‘nil by mouth’ was the disappointing result! Oh well, more K Haute Cuisine – left over Frikadelle! What could be better?

815 – Wednesday 23rd August: Reutlingen

At Kerstin’s invitation, we Jezaparked just near her residence – K3 of course. Her Mum, Erika joined us too. A walk around the huge allotments that people buy here – chaps have livestock and massive sheds and summer houses. A boozy supper and an Award Ceremony! We were aptly rewarded for our decorating labours!

We were presented with medals and wine for our efforts … Master Wallpaper Remover and Master Painter. Our medals are now hanging proudly in Jez!

816 – Thursday 24th August: A Run, A Spa and Rotweil

Morning dawned and I set off for a 10km run – the furthest for more than 2 years – ambitious? I had run 8km recently… Directions from Kerstin and map ‘roughly’ in my head – off I ran through the forest – lovely with nice ups and downs. Out of the woods (I had followed excellent trail markers) and on to the main road. Hmmmm – no markers – nothing daunted, off I went following ‘the yellow brick road’ – slight exaggeration, dark asphalt road….. Half hour later, I was sort of lost…. I could visualise K laughing – in her magnificent spa experience with Kerstin… Thinks – “I must not phone for K directions unless desperate.” Keeping to the main road, I knew (?) roughly where Kerstin’s village was…. Stopped to ask – and was pointed back in the opposite way! I had now covered 8 km and was visualising 12 or 13 in total – not as planned…

Back uphill, I spotted a left turn with some trees in the distance – could that be the woods I started in? Took a chance – and hey Bisto (gravy?) – presto – it was the woods!!! I dance around for joy and trotted home……. Exactly 10 km and only 2 hours on the road. When the girlies returned, suitably pampered – I had consumed 4 bottles of zero alcohol beer! A bit teedryated, you know!

K: As well as my medal, Kerstin reward me with an amazing morning in a Spa. It was amazing. Have I used that word? Really amazing. Lots of pools in and out, different temperatures and lots of massage jets. The best massage area, had a light to tell you to move round to the next jet … they started on the feet and moved around different areas of the body. My fav was the twin jets that hit each butt cheek? Exercise posts, which we did attempt and then an hourly aqua aerobics … we managed one class. We wandered into the Steam room and thought this was bit un hot or steamy. A member of staff arrived, flicked a switch and poured some lemon into the central post. Darkness followed by a ZEN light show as the temperature rose … and rose. I think Kerstin aborted first and set off a wave of exodus. I was one of the only 3 who stayed till the end … followed by a vocal cold shower. To complete our chill out, we bobbed around one of the main pools floating on ‘poolnoodles’. And all for EUR11 per person …. worth driving back here from miles away … truly amazeballs. And I’d spotted a Gery Weber (clothes brand I and Mum like) outlet store. So we stopped on the way home … 3 jeans and 3 tops later for all of EUR138 from the biggest Gery Weber store I’ve ever seen … I was a completely chilled and a happy bunny. Oh, and I picked a voice mail from a lost James!

A quick lunch back at Kerstin’s and then we set off back for a wander around the discount shopping town – shoes for K and shorts for J! Next destination – Rotweil – home of the barking variety … late arrival at a convenient aire next to sports centre and close for town walks. If we’d had the time, we would have stayed longer just to use the superb sports facilities – in and outdoor pools, climbing walls and tennis courts.

817 – Friday 25th August: Rotweil Walk and Onto Belfort, France

Lots to see – K picked up a town walking tour – and ice cream too of the Tiramasu variety. Nearby, the Krupps company had built a massive tower – for testing speedy elevators – 200 metres tall. It has only just been topped out. When it opens in October there will be a visitor info centre and a viewing platform. We’ll definitely visit next time we are nearby as it really is an impressive structure with views.

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Spot the Rotweiller!

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Seriously pretty Rotweil.

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Lots of wrought iron signs to advertise the shops.

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The Krupps tower, still with a crane on top.

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We lunched back at Jez and hit the road again. La Belle France welcomed us back – and into Belfort town.

818 – Saturday 26th August: Belfort Walk and Mercey sur Soane

The day followed a similar pattern to yesterday … a town walk. Belfort has a massive Vauban fort and a sandstone lion that celebrates people repelling enemies. A pretty town centre. Then lunch back at Jez and then back on the road.

Our friend from Brizzle had invited us to stay for one night in Mercey near Besancon – gorgeous swimming pool (Kerstin – this pool was OK to use!!!) – hot day and straight in for a dip – after a welcoming libation… BBQ and chilling on the veranda. In the AM, the village was taken over for kart racing but they made room for us to drive through – huge thanks – we’ll be back.

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Another massive Vauban fort.

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An almond croissant for breakfast 🙂

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The red sandstone lion was designed by the same architect as the Staue of Liberty, Bartholdi.

819 – Sunday 27th August: Driving South to Nice

Nicebound to see my daughter Sara and granddaughter Jade Scarlet….. 10 hours driving (longest since Portugal-Nice in march) and a welcome stop at Digne le Bains – large and crowded aire but just the ticket for the not-too-weary travellers….. Zzzzzzs.

Looked like it might be great place to buy our putative French home – but on enquiry – winter snow and lots of rain – not for us sun worshippers, though.

Nice tomorrow to see S, G & J 🙂

Clune Gap Years

A journal and reflections of our motorhome travels

Author Archives: Clunegapyears