Ils sont fous, ces Thompson! THEY are crazy! Look how they overload me: there’s even a ‘travel cot’ in there for the baby! 

You’re not overloaded! There’s still lots of space – and anyway, we haven’t finished yet – there’s no sherry, no sausages, no bacon ….

Ah mais non! Ca, c’est trop! That’s too much! I think we must bring Harry next time. But then, if Harry come here, where will he stand?:

Il n’y a pas de place, voyons – there is no space, is there?

We’ll find a way, don’t worry.

I worry about getting you two home with all this and your sherry and your sausages ….

Diary, Sally!

Oh yes, excusez-moi. Well, before leaving Oakleigh Court (Close!) (Monday 15th) M’sieur went out to take pictures of Rachel’s purpose-built office in the garden –

And Rachel at work:

Now, I remember this garden swing / seat! I assembled it one soggy Sunday in Whitefield when Rachel hadn’t got any other man around! This time Sean did the honours while we were in Huddersfield two days ago – and he didn’t even get wet!

(2025 – This photo has disappeared and can’t be found anywhere!)

Then we got on the road at about 11.30 for the journey south through England. Relatively easy, trouble-free travelling, to arrive in Mudeford at Martyn & Jasmine’s just before 6pm. How’s this for a view from your upstairs lounge window?

Before dinner we all went for a walk along the beach:

The beach just below the house.

It was only a short walk, but I was limping before we got back, so it’s just as well that I have an appointment with the Chiropractor in the morning.

Dinner was that excellent French classic, Coq Au Vin, “to make us feel at home”. Very good, too; thank you.

Tuesday 16th: While I went to get prodded and pummelled and have needles stuck in my bum (acupuncture), Carol and Jasmine walked and climbed up to Highcliffe Castle:

Jasmine at Highcliffe Castle.

Once reunited we went and bought some more stuff for Sally to carry home!

!*#~@^!*!

Just a planter for herbs from B & Q and the other stuff from the supermarket. Then guess where we had lunch? At the Garden Centre, of course!

And finally we got going at 3.10pm for the 90 miles back to Surbiton and Porton Court. Carol Jnr was still at work and Philip is away on a canal trip, but Christine let us in and helped THEM carry a ridiculous amount of that STUFF into the flat – ridiculous for one night, that is; I hope they leave some of it behind …

Don’t be silly! Carol arrived soon after us and produced a nice Bolognaise supper – “evermore thanks, the exchequer of the poor” (as the Bard said). There was also some stuff in bottles, provided by Philip, some of which we were encouraged (say it quietly or Little Car might have another hissy fit) to take away with us!

Thursday 11th: Pack up and away in fairly good time; stop at London Colney for fuel and a bit of shopping; some discussion as to the route to take: Rachel had recommended M1 and Woodhead to get to the first destination Stockport, avoiding M6, but others including M’dame said take M6 and M’sieur gave in. Perhaps we would take the toll; not worth it, SHE said. After lunch SHE was driving and decided the M6 Toll might be a good idea  after all!

Hmmm….

After that M6 was s l o w; crawl, stop, crawl, move a bit, crawl … Maybe Rachel was right, but it didn’t matter, we had plenty of time. Only on meeting Daniel to take him out for ‘tea’ did THEY realise THEY had no back seat! M’dame pushed things around a bit and squeezed in amongst the baggage.

Hmmmm …..

THEY enjoyed an excellent Chinese meal and after taking Daniel back to the hospital – DON’T PANIC! He works and lives there! – We set off ‘over the hill’ to Wakefield. A section of M62 was closed and SATNAV did some weird stuff after we left the motorway to get to Sharlston Common, so the journey took a bit longer than expected, but we made it by 10.30.

There was a warm welcome from ALL the residents: 

Oi! Scratch MY head, not yours!

Friday 12th: Rachel and Sean left early for their meeting in Darlington, and we were with Megan for most of the day. We had lunch at the nearby garden centre then made our way to ‘Xscape’ where the chosen activity was to be bowling (10-pin, not crown green!). There was going to be a bit of a wait for a lane so we walked (an uncomplaining) Megan across to B & Q where Carol bought some paint and I would have bought a shelving unit for the kitchen at Sunejo, if it had been in stock –

I’m glad it wasn’t!

We might still get it at another branch.

M*rde alors!

I’ll ignore that …. By now Rachel and Sean were back from Darlington, and it was agreed that Sean would join in the bowling while Rachel went shopping. Well, we were out of practice at first and the middle and young generations won the first game convincingly, but those who grew up in the sixties found form  and Carol set a good scoring rate for the second game;  however, she faltered towards the end and with a ‘strike’ at the 9th frame SKT came through to win. The pictures are hopeless, but here’s a sample:

Feb 2025: The photo that was here has vanished, and I can’t find any pics of bowling at all!

The day was rounded off with a Pizza supper at Oakleigh Court*.

Saturday 13th: We went round by the motorway to get to Golcar where, by coincidence, a Garden Centre was the proposed venu for lunch. This was a garden centre with a playground and some animals to look at, so Sean and Nina were well catered for.

I heard that M’dame and Michelle walked back up the hill, but the old man with (he says) the dodgy leg took the bus with Dad and the children.

I do have a dodgy leg! After tea and bedtime, it was cards-out time and we were pleased to level the score following the defeat at bridge that C & M inflicted on us last time.

I believe there was some discussion as to who was going to drive back to Wakefield. M’sieur had taken a bit more of the ‘bubbles’ during the card game than M’dame, but he was saying he would be OK, and if necessary he would use one of the alco-tests which I carry all the time, as required by French law. Then his son handed him a mug of ‘something’ and said ‘Dad, have some of this and let her drive’. M’sieur thought it was water or cold tea or something; it turned out to be whisky! That settled it – M’dame drove back. M’sieur sulked.

I did not.

Tu en avais l’air: you gave a good impression.

Sunday 14th: En route again soon after breakfast (café-croissants, yummy!) , heading for Newcastle to visit Florence. THEY were able to admire the recently presented MBE medal:

And Florence enjoyed the latest photos of Sunejo and the families. So it was soon back on the road to get to Oakleigh Court* in time for evening Sunday roast.

To come: South to Mudeford, treatment for the leg and back to Surbiton before crossing the Channel ….

*Someone (or sometwo) have got their Courts and Closes muddled up, and others who might have commented either didn’t read the post or didn’t notice! It is, of course, Porton Court, in Surbiton, and Oakleigh Close, in Wakefield!

Enfin! At last HE lets me write a little bit! 

You can’t write up what you didn’t take part in – you weren’t with us on the river trip, were you?

Of course not, but I took you and that nice lady and the little girl through all that traffic to the other side of London; and I could hear your music from outside –

I bet! And it wasn’t the other side of London; it was just round the south. But get on and write up Monday.

8th of April, of course! THEY packed up all their stuff – they hope – and retrieved some more of it from Philip’s garage, and left Porton Court at about 11.30. Travelling round the M25 past Heathrow wasn’t too difficult and THEY stopped at the big supermarket at London Colney for fuel – thank you – and to have lunch. Then we went on to Potters Bar where we were to spend the next three nights with Chrys and Jan. 

That evening they went to celebrate M’sieur’s birthday at the ‘Cock of the North’;

Chrys had to leave early, but it happened to be quiz night so the other three stayed on to take part – with disastrous results, so I heard.

Tuesday: M’dame had an appointment to have her hair cut, then we went back to get M’sieur and up the A1 to visit Hilde. M’sieur keeps getting birthday dinners and lunches …. no wonder he doesn’t weigh any less!

Don’t get personal! It was a lovely lunch, – thanks, Hilde!

On the way back we called on some more old friends, Geoff and Avril, in Letchworth then in the evening I took THEM and Jan to another pub to hear Chrys sing with his friends in their ‘Barber’s Shop’ quartet.

That was really good!

That’s nice – I couldn’t hear them; they can’t have been as noisy as you.

Wednesday: Carol’s 2nd brother, Martyn called and said he was going to meet Auntie Gwen with Chris and Steve, so we went along as well. M’sieur took the computer out of the car so I suppose he showed people some pictures of ‘Sunejo’ etc. Another visit in the afternoon, to see Kathy in Barnet, then back to Potters Bar, where Jan had prepared a delicious (so I heard) dinner of roast leg of lamb with all the traditional accompaniments.

Pub food, home cooked lunches and dinners, tea and cakes, and music. What more could we want? Thanks, everyone.

Next: we travel north, calling on Daniel on the way to Wakefield, where we’ll stay till Monday. But it’s Huddersfield (Golcar) on Saturday and Newcastle on Sunday. Keep going, Little Car!

Dis donc! On exagère un peu, hein?

Much of Friday (5th April) was taken up with issues concerning our little friend.

Moi?

Oui, toi.

J’ai presque pas bougé  – I hardly moved!

YOU didn’t, but we did a lot of running around for you.

Oh, how kind!

Hmm …. Anyone who believes in European co-operation / standardisation should try taxing a British car insured in France. It can’t be done! Anyway, we took her over the road to a nearby service and MoT centre and by 3pm that was all sorted. So now we needed the tax which was nearly a week overdue. Armed with the renewal notice, a perfectly valid, but French, insurance certificate, and the newly-acquired MoT we set off, chauffeured by Philip, to a Post Office not too far away, but not the nearest, where the garage man had told us they might not be as nit-picky as some other places. But no! The man behind the glass explained that by law the car must be taxed and insured in the same country.

(Why haven’t we imported her to France by now? Well, we understood we couldn’t do that till we had evidence of permanent residence in France for 6 months. That target has only just been reached.)

So how to get insurance, including the certificate at 4pm on a Friday afternoon? We heard there was a branch of Swinton in Kinsgton. We rang up and were told they were open till 5.30, and they would be able to insure the car. We put the postcode into Philip’s satnav and thought we had plenty of time…

Goodness knows why, but the crazy gadget took us through very slow moving traffic to the WRONG SIDE OF THE RIVER! Returning at the same speed seemed unwise, so on Kingston Bridge we got out and walked, eventually finding Swinton’s place (hiding under scaffolding) about half an hour after we had first driven straight past it!

Basic insurance turned out to be more expensive than comprehensive! But the nice lady worked beyond closing time to get the job done and we came away with only one or two fewer sheets of A4  than when we opened a French bank account; but it included a BRITISH insurance certificate!

That evening we were to have an early birthday dinner;  there was a rich choice of restaurants, so because it was unusual, I chose German. There were lots of beers in huge tankards and stone jars, but wine as well, and the menu seemed to be ‘echt Deutsch’ A good time was had by all:

except, perhaps by Philip, who really wasn’t well and left early.

Saturday (6th): Philip wasn’t well enough to go to his conference as planned, and Christine showed signs of having caught the same bug. However, Carol Jnr was still fit and came with me to the nearest Post Office where the car tax was handed over with no problems.

Then we heard that there had been a bit of a DIY disaster at Vik’s house, where we were going to go that afternoon, and Roger felt there was too much dust, or soot, everywhere to receive visitors. So it was decided that Vik and Scout should come to Surbiton, where at Scout’s request, we got an Indian takeaway and enjoyed it in Carol’s flat. Time passed quickly, looking at photos and chatting. We said we would drive Vik and Scout home to Plumstead, and Roger had tidied up so that there was no evident sign of the earlier event, and we were treated to a lovely pasta supper.

Then came the music! The fact that there wasn’t room for my guitar as well as four people in the car didn’t matter, because Roger had two, and a four-stringed bass guitar as well:

(Left to right: Vik, Scout, SKT, Rhiannon, Roger)

And, of course, we mustn’t leave Rosie out! But unfortunately all the pictures of Rosie are out of focus, probably because I didn’t put the flash on. This may be the least bad:

Sunday 7th: The invalids in the ‘other’ flat were disinclined to do much more than get up to say hello then go back to bed! Carol Jnr was out walking for the day, so we did our own thing. We had a light lunch at the Riverside Café in Kingston, watching the boats go by:

Then we hopped on board one ourselves and went down to Hampton Court.

An impressive approach!

Anyone seen my dragon?

Oh, there you are!

Back at Porton Court, Christine went out to do duty for the Samaritans, in spite of still being under the weather, but Philip had recovered enough to get dinner for us, and Carol was back from her day’s walking. So the first  phase of this visit drew to a close; thanks to everyone at Porton Court and Plumstead for the hospitality, and we hope that the discomfort of the flu-type affliction will be short lived – and that we’re not taking it away with us! 

THEY keep filling me up with stuff in bottles and expecting me to carry it for thousands of miles!

Tu exagères, Petite, it will be one thousand at most; and you carry it very well. It’s only right that we take a bottle of bubbles from Limoux to everyone we’re going to visit.

Comme tu veux … Lots of packing and jobs still to do on the morning of Wednesday April 3rd, but at 10.30am we said ‘Au revoir’ to big Harry and locked him in the parking space at Sunejo.

(The remote control on the gates has stopped working on one side, so we’ve removed the gadget on that side but even with the working gate closed onto it, the wind can blow them open just enough for the ‘loose’ gate to get free. So we’ve put a cycle lock round the two so Sally is correct to say we’ve locked him in.)

Of course I am! I know what you did … I don’t suppose anybody else does, after reading that …

Someone was asking where Harry lives; he lives here: 

So we set off to follow the usual route northwards. Fine weather came with us and it was warm enough for THEM to have lunch outdoors at a picnic table. However, owing to a misunderstanding back at Sunejo as to who was going to put the wine into the coolbag, it turned out that nobody had done and M’sieur went into a mega-sulk which lasted all lunch time:

 During the afternoon Madame did some driving, including crossing the Dordogne,which you can just see on this picture, if you look carefully enough:

(Picture disappeared)

After nine hours, including stops – one for fuel at Limoges; some people do learn from experience! – and 410 miles, we had reached the Loire Valley at Orléans and THEY decided to find an hotel. 

In that matter previous experience let us down! We had once before stayed in a Campanile hotel and been very pleased with it, so we happily chose that when we found it among the cluster of hotels on the edge of the town. Not the same! Nothing was seriously wrong, but the service in the restaurant was not as expected – our apéritif didn’t arrive till after the food and the wine (we sent it back) and one of the dishes was not what was ordered! But we slept well and woke up to find there had been a bit of a frost overnight – the evening had been very fine with clear skies – but Sally’s windscreen cleared easily and we were back on the road at 8.50.

I can do it now! Laissez-moi faire! So you sulked all through dinner as well, M’sieur, did you?

No, I did not! I enjoyed it – and it cost less without the apéro.

Tant mieux! On we went to the north; there was a diversion in Rouen which seemed to send us in the wrong direction but overall we did not lose time by it. THEY had lunch at Baie De Somme services, but they didn’t get out to eat …

We got to Calais at 3.45 for the 4.30 sailing, which was OK. 283 miles from Orléans, 7 hours – there was a fuel stop as well as lunch, but lunch was a bit long …

Once over the water, we stopped at Maidstone for THEM to have a meal; HE had breakfast! –

Only because there were no pasties left!

Then as THEY came out there were slight snow flurries in the air, and snow was lying in some of the fields as we drove on. So, 790 miles from Sunejo, the journey finished in Surbiton where at Porton Court Philip & Christine have one flat and Carol (Jnr) has another on the same floor.

This is Porton Court as seen from the river:

P & C were out for the evening, but we were warmly welcomed by Carol. We’re sleeping in her flat, anyway. We sampled the content of one or two of the bottles left for us by the others, and then some more when they came home … 

Next time: A terrible time trying to tax little Sally; a German birthday dinner; a strum-and-singalong in Plumstead and a River trip to Hampton Court. Don’t miss!