Category: UK (Page 3 of 3)

Back to the UK

We put Samson into storage in Bezier (South of France) and took three days to drive the 1050kms up to the UK for my mother’s significant birthday, she had organised a lovely long weekend of food, drinks, fun and a gathering of friends and family for a BBQ.

The boys! Brother Dean, David, brother Neil, Dad Michael.

The girls! Camilla, Mum, Shawna and me.

Very drunk parents at the end of the night!!

Neil and Camilla.

Shawna, me and Dean.

A drunk, end of the night, selfie….

We broke the journey with overnight stops in Orleans just below Paris and Saint Omer on the coast before getting the ferry at Calais in the morning.  I can proudly say that I drove “through Paris” without stress or accident!

We took this opportunity to perform practical matters; dentist, doctors, MOT the truck, purchase toiletries from Superdrug that are too expensive abroad and purchased goods from Tesco that we cannot get in Europe!  Tins of my favourite instant coffee filled a carrier bag, the checkout girl looked at us with an enquiring eye that day…….yes, OK, I confess I have a Millicano addiction…….

We took a surprise trip to South Wales to visit mother-in-law Rosemary, now aged 90 but still healthy, took her shopping, to her favourite meal out – KFC and did some odd jobs around the house that she needed doing!  Managed so much in the 36 hours we were there, it wore us out!!

We spent time with Robin and Charlotte, and Caitlin, and David’s brother in Bournemouth as well as friends in Somerset, Devon and Kent.  We felt we were sofa surfing for about 10 days!

Wendy & I after a few glasses/bottles of wine…..usual!

David & Carlos’s usual pose after a few beers.

David and Misty admiring the view from our Teignmouth guest house!

My favourite Teignmouth girls!

We then decided to book a holiday (yes, I hear you laughing!!!) for two reasons – it was cheaper than the hugely increased nightly rates on French camp sites and to get away from the massive influx of noisy French children!  Do all French families really have 3 or 4 children each, it would seem so!!!  We were used to paying €19 per night, not €59!!

We would like to confirm that we are not on holiday, as most people think – we live this life and it’s our daily routine, so a fortnight in an adults only environment was booked at the last minute – we booked and flew 2 days later!!  The only downside to this was the lack of availability, we were given two options and decided to go somewhere we have not been before, Cape Verde, off the coast of west Africa.

Boa Vista in Cape Verde

Boa Vista in Portuguese means “lovely view” and  Cape Verde conjures up images of lush, tropical, green islands – sadly nothing like the reality.  Dry, rocky, moon like earth, jagged mountain outcrops and a backward living was more correct.  The island was mainly inhabited at the top part where there are some farms and greenery created by the high water table and three “towns”, the capital is a run down shamble of half built buildings and a few large modern beach side hotels.  The whole island is only 19 miles from top to bottom but the journey from the airport (quarter of the way down) to our hotel in the totally uninhabited South took 40 minutes, as the roads were simply rutted dirt tracks.  The “locals” were wild horses, donkeys and goats, a remnant from pre 4×4 days and the only way to get around nowadays – by quad bike or hire an expensive 4×4 jeep, adjusted to take up to 8 people in the open back!  The sea and beaches were beautifully open and lush but totally unswimmable; the Atlantic Ocean was so strong that swimming in it was forbidden unless you were in a cove or a bay, which we weren’t.

Sadly, we cannot recommend this island as an ideal holiday destination, unless you like to sit by the pool all day long and do nothing!

This is the brochure image of the No 1 thing to visit on the island, an old ship wreck.

This is the reality!!!!

No 2 thing to do was to visit an old lighthouse. Hell of a hike to the top…

This was the view from the top, which ok, was stunning…..

This is the view from the top…..

This is the reality…….

Sooooo windy!

Another view from the top.

We did fit in some swimming, off a boat, water was cold but clear.  We managed 20 minutes of snorkelling, gave up as the sea was void of all life!

Looks idyllic??? It’s not really…

In reality, Route 66 is a cobbled stone road, built about 80 years ago, full of pot holes and not much more!

We posed on what the locals call Route 66, a road right through the middle of the island.

The was the best of the Capital, Sal Rei.

Our local beach with its huge waves.

Every day was windy and cloudy, despite being a constant 28C.

The moon like landscape.

A local woman in the town of Sal Rei.

Colourful school children waiting for a bus.

I did make one friend…..a stray cat 🙂

Back to Blighty and France

We returned to the UK for 2 days before heading to Dover to catch our ferry back to France.  We did the same on the way back, broke the journey twice by stopping off at Troyes and Lyon.

Troyes….now, there is a place I could recommend!  Quirky, friendly, tall, full of olde worlde narrow wooden buildings mixed into modern fountains, bistros and bars.  It was said that Cats used to rule Troyes, as the buildings were so close together, the roofs almost touching, that the cats would catch mice in the wooden beams and then run across the rooftops with their prey, out of reach of man.

Troyes at night.

Narrow alley ways.

In Lyon we chose to stay in a modern hotel overnight, guaranteeing a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed.  We swam in the hotel’s pool, ate dinner out locally and slept in a spacious, comfortable air conditioned room before driving back to Bezier to collect Samson.  We then drove another half an hour back to Narbonne where we booked into a large water side site for 4 weeks.

Lonely Samson….

Back on the travel trails soon…….