[Not expecting any new readers at this time, there’s no ‘sticky’ post at the head of this sequence; if anyone wants to see the ‘backstory’, try scrolling down to “The Story So Far”, dated December 31st. Go, Harry!]

 December 30th, 2012: Leaving little Sally-car in charge of Sunejo, THEY were eventually ready to drive away – at 12.15 – for our new year visit to England. There was a wedding to get them to, and I needed an MoT test certificate. The weather was sunny and the Pyrenees snow-covered. 

But at Pamiers we turned our back to the mountains, took a toll ticket and tootled northwards. A very quiet night on the Aire de Porte de Corrèze, 35 kms south of Limoges.

December 31st: ALWAYS fill up at Limoges! There’s a big Carrefour Centre Commercial just off junction 37, where the fuel is well below the motorway price, but HE thought we had plenty and didn’t need to stop …. HA! By Chartres HE was desperate to find fuel at any price. (Actually, we had enough for another 50 kms, but I didn’t tell HIM that till we were almost at a ‘station service’!)

Remembering a difficult time getting round Paris with little Sally in October, THEY decided to go via Rouen. There was a diversion round a closed flyover, but it gave us a chance to see Rouen’s lights:

Then a bit further on, parked in dreadful weather at Bosc Mesnil service area, THEY enjoyed a real New Year’s Festive Feast, a true Harry Special:

                                         CHEZ HARRY

                                  Menu du St. Sylvestre 2012

                   Truite Fumée, garnie de sa petite salade

                                          Lapin au Van

                                    Choix de Fromages

                       Le Pudding de Noël, sauce au rhum

                                            Café

                            Armagnac ou Whisky, au choix

Tuesday, 1st January, 2013: The awful weather continued through the night, with the wind rocking me a bit and the rain hammering on my roof (“It was a dark and stormy night …”) and the New Year began in the same way. But – and this has happened before – as we got near the Channel, the wind dropped, the skies cleared and the White Cliffs of Dover could be seen from France. A smooth crossing ended with a super sunset – I didn’t get to see it, of course, parked DOWN THERE, but THEY took some pictures:

We were booked in to the Club site at Welwyn, but Chrys & Jan invited us to a meal with them and made space for me, with hook-up, on their forecourt, so THEY slept in the house that night. HE left my central light on all night which caused the neighbour over the road a bit of concern, but never mind.

2nd January: We moved to Welwyn, mainly to be nearer to Hitchin where the MoT place is, then THEY went visiting in Jan’s car which they’d borrowed. 

3rd January: HE took me to Hitchin where the specialist Motorhome service people were going adjust my rear lights (fog light was on the wrong side for the British MoT) before doing the test. SHE went and had her hair cut and picked HIM up later at the garden centre next door. Then THEY went and had lunch with Hilde. What THEY didn’t know till later was that owing to a misunderstanding between the boss and the mechanic, I got a full service as well as the lights job and the test! No charge for that, of course, cos THEY hadn’t asked for it. The test was OK, too – there’s nothing wrong with me …..

4th January: Travelled to Mudeford and parked up on the Caravan Site at Bransgore. Then we went to find Martyn & Jas in their new house. While we were there – and THEY were treated to a nice evening meal – THEY told Martyn about the missing handle for extending the dining table at Sunejo. Martyn said he could make one up during the weekend; and he did! (It would be a while before we could find out if it worked  ….)

5th January: HE went to see the chiropractor for some work on his leg and later we went to look for Trevor at the Premier Inn. THEY found him and Pam with a party of about 20 having a meal at the Beefeater Pub beside the Inn. People made room and THEY joined in. (This wasn’t a gatecrash – honest! We had been invited, but hadn’t fully understood the nature of the invitation.)

January 6th: THEY had a really good pub lunch and then on to the Church for Trevor and Pam’s wedding. Weather not good and parking difficult, but a very nice Church:

standing room only, and a lovely atmosphere. 

Nice cake, too:

January 7th: Up early for some more treatment to HIS leg, then the drive North to Golcar with a break in Stockport for a meal with Dan. They manoeuvred me round to the back of the Manse in Golcar – didn’t like the shunting on that steep bit –  and ran the cable out from the garage. It was cold, but I kept THEM cosy!

January 8th: It’s disappointing, but although we have plenty of good photos from these two days, we have to be cautious about publishing them. Still, here’s Nina’s Snowman:

Harry had a day off on the 8th, so I’ll write this. There was an exchange of presents when the children came home from Playgroup, then in spite of indifferent weather we all walked up the hill to the Golcar Lily for lunch. Later, after bedtime, Chris & Michelle beat us at bridge – thanks for that!

January 9th: My turn again! Unfortunately, six people can’t travel in me, but they can eat! Chris and the little boy sat behind the table, and HE drove, while SHE went in a little red car with the other girlies. Little red car was a bit like our Sally, but not really; Japanese, I think. I don’t think she speaks French …

We went to the open farm at Cannon Hall near Barnsley, then everyone got round my table and HE made scrambled eggs for all six. Then they went off to see the animals

and play in the playground, where Dad and Grandad had fun pushing the children in a basket swing: 

January 10th: We moved on, but not far. Rachel and Sean now live near Wakefield, so that was next resting point. On the way, we called at HIS old school, Silcoates, where the changes are significant, but the old buildings are still recognisable, though the swimming pool is not!:

January 11th: We zoomed up the A1 to visit Florence and congratulate her on her MBE. Back at Oakleigh Close, Sean had been to fetch Megan and Becky, so there was time for a quick ‘Hello’ before bedtime.

January 12th: Another day out; the girls and Rachel rode in me, while Sean took HER in a funny little car with only two seats. Not Rachel’s Smartie, a sporty MG. We went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and after lunch at the restaurant they all went for a walk round this big Park with wierd sculpures dotted around.

HE says his leg seemed a lot better after the treatment in Mudeford. 

Back with me, everyone had tea (or coffee) and Christmas cake.

Sunday January 13th: The first leg of the journey south. Easy travelling down to Surbiton. Fine weather, in spite of constant warnings of snow expected. GPT had tried very hard to find a place for me to park while THEY slept chez Carol, who has also just moved home into the flat next to her Parents’. (Parenthesis for the potentially confused: we have a duplication of Carols, Chrisses and Seans! The Carol referred to here is my niece. GPT is my brother, known by his middle name, Phil(ip).)  Thank you! In the event HE was able to manouevre me into a visitor’s parking space inside Porton Court, which Philip had grabbed when it came free, by putting his own car on it.

Once in, I stayed there till Tuesday morning, with my diesel heater running to avoid issues with water freezing.

So while Harry just kept that heater ticking over and a watchful eye (headlight?) on comings and goings, we were entertained first to tea /coffee and birthday cake ( Christine’s x0th …, congratulations, or something) then to Sherry (“What you don’t drink you take with you” – I like that idea! When I’m the guest, of course.) That evening we took our joint hosts, and Judi, out for a meal at the nearby Café Rouge.

Monday 14th: Retail day! Philip was kind enough to provide transport, insisting that Harry should stay where he was so as not to lose the parking space, and we hit the shops! First, a cookshop within walking distance provided the grill pan we’ve been needing since we arrived at Sunejo, then we all four went into Kingston. The weather was unhelpful (though worse was to come, we know) and THAT leg was playing up again. Shopping at John Lewis’s, where we had lunch weather-watching over the river, was a bit disappointing (i.e. we didn’t buy anything), but useful jobs were achieved with good service at Barclays (What? Praise for a BANK?? Let it not be said that I don’t give credit where it’s due – or that they don’t!) and we did shop at B & Q, Boot’s and Sainsbury’s. Our final evening, for now, in England was spent convivially at Porton Court.  

Tuesday 15th January: Apart from a jacket which HE left hanging in Carol’s wardrobe, we were packed up and road-ready by 8.50am. Even with a stop at Maidstone I got them to Dover with the suggested hour to spare (for once!) but this time the boat was late – when we should have been sailing the ferry still hadn’t docked  from the crossing from Calais. The weather had been good and there was a better view than sometimes of Dover Castle, from the road:

The Pride of Britain is one of P & O’s newest ships and very nice on board, THEY say, but the crew made me drive up a very steep ramp to the deck above where we went on, and I did not like that at all – kicked up a bit of a stink about it in fact! (He did, not us; it was his clutch – he’s never liked going uphill slowly.)

THEY had a good meal during the crossing, but we were still 30 minutes late at Calais. We had to pick up fuel before getting on the motorway and heading for Rouen where Daniel (another duplicate name – French teacher of English, not Carol’s son!) was waiting to be taken out for a meal to celebrate his birthday of yesterday. We were there before 7, in spite of everykind of bad weather in Picardie – AGAIN!  

Wind, snow, rain, hail, ice …. well maybe not hail, but at one point my driver’s side wiper was iced up, which was a bit disconcerting for HIM.

Daniel let us run a cable from his garage so that the fridge and a heater could run overnight, and I believe THEY had a good meal at Daniel’s chosen restaurant.

Wednesday January 16th: The electricity was a good thing because a little bit of snow fell overnight, but then the temperature in the morning was below zero. Daniel had to be at a commitment in Rouen first thing in the morning, so an early start was convenient. However, HE didn’t go through the pre-moving checklist which includes the warning about keeping right and cheerfully set off on the WRONG SIDE of the road! The motorist coming round the first bend the other way got a bit of a shock … 

Having got out of that safely with lots of apologetic waving, smiling and “GB – nuts!” gestures, we managed to cover the 400 kms to the now familiar Porte de Corrèze service area without further incident. Except that we DID pull off the motorway at J37 and go to Carrefour to fill up – some people do learn from experience! The parking area at Porte de Corrèze was covered by a thin layer of snow over ice, but no big worry.

Heading for home through beautiful snowy scenery, SHE became totally snap-happy and there are SO MANY pictures to choose from:

During a lunch break at Aire Jardin, it was possible to take contrasting pictures from those taken in November:

BUT no-one had realised just how icy this parking area was! When we tried to go, I just couldn’t get a grip! All I could do was spin!

Still, what do we carry an old curtain in the back for? Just a little adventure … something to relieve the ‘ennui’ of a long journey.

By Toulouse the snow had more or less vanished. We stopped at Pamiers for fuel and to order some thingies (a patio set and a rug) at Mr. Bricolage, then made our way home. Little Sally was waiting for us under her shelter and all was well in the house –

EXCEPT it was very cold! We’d probably overdone the reduction of the heating to ‘frost protection’ only, so we tried to warm it up by using all available heaters. This seemed to cause an overload! At first we thought there was a problem with the socket for plugging in Harry’s cable, but then it cut out again – about the 4th time – with him disconnected. We decided to reduce the heaters to 1kw each and warm ourselves with mulled wine!

Next morning, whereas in October we had a magnificent sunrise, this time we had SNOW:

But it didn’t last; it turned to drizzle and disappeared, and when the time came to go into Chalabre, little Sally-car started on the first turn of the key.

Mais naturellement! How else would I welcome you home and wish you

BONNE ANNEE!!

(Which is French for “HIPPO BLUE BEER!”)

Aber nein – dass ist ja Blôdsinn – that’s just silly.

Il est comme ça, tu sais – that’s how HE is ….