Monthly Archives: April 2017

The Removal from Sonnac, Part Four – The Journey Home.

 

This photo should have been in the last chapter. The evening meal in Mirepoix was mentioned, but the photo didn’t get inserted. Michel and Diana are sitting diagonally opposite each other; the man raising his glas is their friend, Hugh:

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Harry?

Ja?

Do you want to do it?

What?

Write the diary.

Why?

Dunno – I thought you might like to.

So … Aber nein – you do it; I will just, what you say, chip in, when I will.

OK. So it’s day 16, Good Friday, 14th April, and we’re leaving Sonnac at 1.50pm.

You did not seem very sad.

No, I wasn’t. I’d been looking forward to it.

In fact, you drove along saying ‘Bye-Bye’ to everything and everywhere.

I did. ‘Bye-Bye, Camplimoux; Bye-bye, Camon,’ and even, (join in everyone!) ‘Bye-bye, La BASTIDE de BOUSignac!’ And, of course, the Hers, which, incidentally, was not much more than a lickle trickle compared with the full river of nearly two weeks ago. The ‘Piebald Pyrenees’ were different, too, with much more black showing through the snow.

Good Friday is not a public Holiday in France, so I overshot the motorway in Pamiers to go to the Orange shop –

You went to buy oranges?

No, you daft goose, Orange, capital O. I’d been told on the phone that I was NOT to leave the IT equipment in the house, but to take it (livebox and TV decoder) to an Orange shop. That took longer than you’d think! Then back round the roundabout to Intermarché’s fuel station, and so with a full tank and a seriously cluttered interior, not to mention a full garage, with the bed at its highest, we headed north, but only as far as the first aire for a quick, late lunch – just a sandwich. (It was already 3.30) Then the serious travelling began …

However, at Aire Jardin des Causses du Lot I had to stop for a rest, but in the end we did make 351 kms to arrive at the old favourite, Porte de Correze, at 8.30. Supper from a tin, and a good night’s sleep – even on a service area!

DSCN1068 (That’s a photo from a previous journey, but the location and the view are the same. I can’t imagine waking up to a view like that on a British service area, having parked overnight for free!)

Ja; sehr schön.

Day 17, Saturday 15th April. Porte de Correze doesn’t only have scenery and pleasant facilities, but it has an excellent gift shop, with lots of local produce and a wide range of possibilities for presents. Maybe that’s an advantage of not charging for parking – folk go in and spend! So I did that, and bought a croissant for breakfast as well, but drove on the 20kms (15 minutes) needed to get to that other favourite, Briance Ligoure, before enjoying it:

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Hey! Why is here little Sally?

Well, if you remember the weather was poor, – cold and showery – on April 15th, so I searched for an earlier photo, and thought a reminder of the ‘old’ days might be fun.

Na, gut.

Of course, I didn’t get out to enjoy my café-croissant at a picnic table! That would have been taking nostalgia a bit too far!

I have table, where you often enjoy many things.

I know – I love it. Anyway, another short hop –

I don’t hop!

This is taking ‘chipping in’ too far! Another short drive got us to J 37, the usual fill-up point at the Centre Commercial just off the motorway. But something had changed – there had always been height limiters approaching the petrol station, and we’d always passed under them, but they used to have ‘dangly-jangly’ bits on them, which weren’t there any more, and they looked lower than before. They were signed at 3m, and Harry is 2.7, but that’s without the TV aerial. Also, there were no vehicles of similar height already on the forecourt, though it was busy. I didn’t want to risk it, but I parked up and went to do some shopping – another place undergoing major reconstruction, then I had to use the SatNav to find the next nearby fuel station, which gave me an interesting ride – not a hop! – round the outskirts of  Limoges – so interesting, in fact, that Carol would have loved it when we passed one verge covered in wild orchids! (She’d have wanted me to stop dead and let her out to take photos – on a ring road!)

I’d allowed an extra day for this journey, to give time to visit Montlouis and Vouvray in the Loire valley, so somewhere between Limoges and Orléans I left the motorway –

So also did I –

WE left the motorway, and since I realised it was probably going to be too late for wine-tasting that evening, which may or may not have been a good decision, we headed for a camp site I’d found in the guide book. This was in the village, or small town, of Salbris, and we got dead lucky – a lovely little lakeside site, with a warm welcome and nice facilities, even a water tap at the pitch. (250 kms driven that day.)

It was remarkably unbusy for Easter weekend. In summer there would be a swimming pool and a bar-restaurant, but never mind, a tin of Cassoulet made a nice enough supper. (It’s a speciality from Castelnaudary, and having never tried it when living nearby, I thought I should before leaving. …. It won’t be on the ‘must have that again’ list. It consists mainly of sausage, other meat and beans.)

Day 18. Sunday 16th (Easter Day) I wasn’t in a hurry to get away that morning, so I took my time using the campsite facilities to attend to Harry’s “water” jobs, and it was 11.25 before we moved off site. Approaching from the south, it made sense to head for Montlouis first (I wish I knew how to put maps on here …). Getting to the town was no problem, but the centre stands high above the river (the Loire) where the wine centres are, and finding the way down was a nightmare! –

Yes, you drove round in the circles, no?

Well, we certainly did do one or two streets –

Very narrow streets!

– we did one or two very narrow streets more than once, but this was because of road works and closures. And if we did drive through a pedestrianised area (it certainly looked like one) it was because I couldn’t find any other way. Still, finally we did get down –

Very steeply down!

– to the riverside and on to a familiar road with a number of wine tasting / selling outlets – BUT! Big disappointment – everywhere was closed! I was assuming that there would be lots of holiday traffic to attract, but apparently not, or maybe strict Sunday laws were in force.

So we moved on to Tours, as we had to to cross the river. After a brief lunch stop – at Harry’s table – on to Vouvray, but fearing the situation would be the same as in Montlouis. But no – maybe not all, but several wine centres were open. I only needed one anyway. Why the North and South banks of the Loire were different with regard to Easter Day opening, I didn’t find out, perhaps the river is the boundary between départements or other administrative areas, but anyway, loaded with 2 six-bottle boxes of still and pétillant (bubbles!), and nowhere to put them, we headed back to Tours to join the motorway to drive north via Le Mans and Rouen.

The rest of the day’s drive was uneventful, even Rouen was free-flowing, or ‘fluide’ as it says on the signs. The season was considerably advanced from just a fortnight before; most of the white blossom was faded or had dropped, but the cowslips were even more prolific. Rape fields and sections of gorse were brilliant yellow, but green was dominant.

I know I go on a bit about it, but I am still amazed by the variety and design of the service areas and lay-bys on French motorways. Pulling in to a previously unvisited layby south of Le Mans, the Aire des Croiselles, I found we were in a sort of mini nature reserve! In fact, the construction of this section of the A28 had been delayed till 2004 because of the habitat of the protected beetle, Osmoderma Eremita, (Hermit Beetle?) Why the French call it the Pique-Prune (Plum Stabber) I can’t work  out since it lives on dead wood, not plums, but this ‘rest area’ has a sector designed to provide habitat for it:

There were also: (click on the photos for titles)

a water meadow
a fragrant area for relaxation
and walls made for lizards to hide in.

However, there was still ground to cover, and we actually got as far as Baie de Somme before stopping for the night. It was 9pm and we’d done nearly 600 kms. The more scenic parking areas would have been out in the wind, and I wanted to be near the facilities, so I parked near the building, and since the restaurant was still open, I had a meal of chicken in white sauce with ratatouille and new potatoes, which was actually much nicer than it looked, having been on the counter for some time, I guess. I also used the wifi to book a ferry crossing for the next day.

Day 19. Monday 17th April Café-croissant for breakfast, and a check on the email, and, of course, a visit to the gift shop – like Porte de Correze, Baie de Somme has an irresistible selection, so a bit of shopping was unavoidable.

Since the break at Limoges, I’d been trying to exchange Harry’s spare gas bottle which was (is) empty. But I should have done it a long time ago – I’d left it too late! –

He called me the dumme Gans!

OK – chalk that one up to you. The petrol stations were all unattended (Easter Sunday / Monday) – pay by card at the pump, but no-one on hand to open the cages of gas bottles. But I didn’t give up – using satnav I found a small petrol station, open, just off the motorway in Calais, and the young man at the till was quite happy to get a bottle out for me – there were six bottles of the right type visible in the cage …. every one of them was empty! But we only found that out after I’d pulled loads of stuff out of Harry’s garage to get at the spare bottle, and spread it around his back wheel on the forecourt (the stuff, not the bottle)!! (There’s no-one to take the best photos!) I did give up! So I have no reserve gas. (The point is that the bottles in question, and the regulator that fits them, are French, or European, so to change to British ones will involve expense and leave me with two unreturnable bottles, one of them with gas in.)

Pleasant ferry crossing, and as we approached Dover (I’ve posted so many ‘White Cliffs’ photos over the years.) I texted the Offspring “The cliffs are very white, the sky is blue and white, and the sea is blue-green. The litter will be ‘orrible.”

I could leave it there, but there are two days to go before Harry gets ‘home’ (i.e. Wakefield) and I resume babysitting duties. We got to Porton Court (Surbiton) at 5pm, 269 kms driving from Baie de Somme, and a familiar yellow Corsa was guarding the most convenient visitor’s parking bay for Harry. Christine and Carol provided a nice evening meal and I found a bottle of Vouvray somewhere. (It wasn’t hard – the two boxes were – and are – still on the top step just inside Harry’s hab. door.)

Day 20. Tuesday 18th April  Harry had a rest day! I spent some time choosing a few – quite a few – of Philip’s clothes to keep, before the family decide what to do with the rest, then later Carol drove us out in the yellow Corsa to Richmond Park when we had a light lunch – fine enough for al fresco. I knew nothing about Richmond Park, although it’s the largest royal park in London, about 2,500 acres and home to over 600 deer (google it for more info).  From King Henry’s  Mound there’s a remarkable view, with an amazing long-distance sight of St. Paul’s through a well-kept gap in the hedges, trees and buildings all the way to central London:

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(I didn’t take that – I ‘borrowed’ it from a website) I took these – the first one points away from St. Paul’s and includes (the viewpoint diagram says) Heathrow and Windsor Castle:

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Then we went down into Kingston to do the return river trip to Richmond and back – a section of the river I hadn’t done before. This is approaching Teddington Lock:

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Back at Porton Court, Judi joined us, which was nice, before we went out for a very enjoyable Chinese meal. The restaurant we’d been to before was closed, so we tried a different one – I think it will stay on the list of options.

Final Day. Day 21. Wednesday 19 April Not a lot to report, really. On the road at 10 am, and took the M42, which enables a stop at Beaconsfield Services, where there’s a Weatherspoon’s for brunch, as well as avoiding any traffic problems around Watford and South Mimms. Then a bit of the A43 gets you to join the M1 at Northampton. No problems anywhere, and arrived at Oakleigh Close at 4.30. 355 kms from Porton Court.

Total round trip in these three weeks, 2336 miles – well done, Harry!

Lots of hard work, one big setback, one major job done, and some nice moments mixed in. I wish I could say ‘back to normal’, but radiotherapy starts tomorrow; return drives to Leeds (about one hour each way) every weekday for the next month …. but that’s the next story.

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(Photo by Judi on a previous visit.)

The Removal From Sonnac, Part 3. Just me, Men, and Jobs …

Day 11: Sunday 9th April 2017 I was left with strict instructions to finish the job in the garage before Rachel called to check that it was done. So I did it. And polished my halo. Then I looked at what still needed to be done before ‘The Men’ arrived and thought I probably couldn’t do it on my own. Trouble was, just about everyone I knew, and tried to contact, was away. However, after a number of phone calls, I tried Michel and Diana, who divide their year between Paris and Plaigne, near Mirepoix, and had already invited me to dine with them on Thursday evening. They were still in Paris! However, they told me of a couple who run a company called ‘Helping Hands’, who look after their house while they are in Paris, so I rang them, and got lucky ….

Day 12. Monday 10th: Andrew from ‘Helping Hands’ arrived quite early and very soon, with only a little help from me, he had got all the curtains down, removed the TV from the wall, brought the round patio table down from the pool terrace, and packed up the Cadac barbecue into its various carrying bags. We put these into Harry’s garage, along with The Boat, which I didn’t want the removal men to put on the lorry. I felt much better for getting that lot done, and Andrew also took away a number of rubbish bags to dispose of. Later that day Peter the Poolman came to look at the pool; he got it turning and brushed the bottom. Most of what was there was ready to disintegrate and go through the system, so the pool would then ‘just’ need cleaning again later in the week and further water treatment.

Day 13. Tuesday 11th  I made a phone call to the Notaire’s office, and actually got to speak to him. He explained my options regarding the sale, and I had an appointment on Wednesday afternoon anyway, when a power of attorney and other documents could be signed. Later in the morning I called the removal firm to ask if they had any idea where the lorry was, or an ETA, since I needed to go shopping and didn’t want to be absent when they arrived. This wasn’t a grump or a fret, since I knew they weren’t due till mid or late afternoon, but it amused Caroline at Wheadon’s because she’d never been asked that question for that reason before! She couldn’t say just then, but she found out and soon called me back with an ETA of 2pm at the earliest, so I went to Super U at Mirepoix, probably for the last time. A slight disappointment was that my favourite brand of Blanquette (Bubbles!) wasn’t in stock, so I bought a couple of untried ones, intending to ‘top up’ on the way home with Montlouis and Vouvray. The Men – and the lorry – arrived just before 3 and, achieving what the removers who brought the stuff down in 2012 had failed to do, they got the lorry into the parking area in front of the house!:

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Then with a ramp set up onto the grass, the big carry out was so much easier:

DSCN3779.JPGThe Men, Simon and Mark, got stuck in straightaway, and things began to disappear! But on that first day they didn’t touch the bedroom I was using, so that I still had a bed to sleep in and didn’t need to move into Harry till the next night.

You have bed in me!

Wow! Harry! You’ve been very quiet –

This is very sad.

I know …. But when I said ‘I had a bed ..’ I meant I had a bed in the house.

In Ordnung. OK.

Work continued till about 8. The lorry, with it’s sleeper cabin, was to stay where it was overnight, and at first The Men said they had everything they needed , but I put some potatoes in the oven anyway and as the smell of baking potatoes began to fill the kitchen, they thought perhaps they would join me for supper. It was a warm evening, so we enjoyed baked potatoes with sausages and beans on the terrace. The Men were delighted to be sitting out well after dark, and to watch a big moon rise above the hill to the south-east: (and is the bright spot centre top of the photo a star or Jupiter?)

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Day 14. Wednesday 12th.

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Starting at 8, Mark and Simon attacked what was left in the living room, then emptied my bedroom, the attic room, the garage and the carport. By 12, all was done:

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Then:DSCN3790Orf went the van ….

DSCN3791… with me ‘ome packed in it ….

I had a bit of lunch, and began to clean and vac. I mopped the tiles in the living room, but then I had to go to Chalabre to see the Notaire. My options, it seemed, were to wait till June to see if the buyers got their money by then, to ask them to agree to break off the contract, or to serve notice on them, by registered letter, that unless they could provide proof of funding within seven days, I would withdraw from the contract. I explained that any delay would cost me money, so the agreed price would be too low. The lawyer rang the couple; if they would come into the office then and there, we could sign for a mutually agreed separation, otherwise they should expect the letter. They couldn’t come in just then, but agreed to do so the next day. So I signed the document, and the power of attorney to allow the Notaire to act for me in future.

Back at the house, the internet was still available, so I was able to watch a bit of UK television before retiring for a comfortable – and very quiet – night in Harry.

It is not always so!

Comfortable it is – quiet, no, not always!

Day 15. Thursday 13th. It was only after the removal van had gone, and the estate agent called, that I discovered while explaining which key was which, that the back door of the house, which we hardly ever used, was not only not locked, but couldn’t be locked – the key wouldn’t turn! Another call for help to Andrew! He tried hard to release the lock by unscrewing everything possible, but in the end he fixed the door shut, unopenable from either side. (Leaving a door unlocked and not knowing is one thing – driving away knowing the place isn’t secure is another!) Oh – he also bought the washing machine off me!

The lawyer still wanted documentation about the contract for the solar panels. Fortunately, I’d put all documents about the house – and the flat in Cumbria – into Harry before The Men came, but I had a long trawl through lots of paperwork to find what we needed. Then I had to go to Chalabre again to deliver it, and get copies.

It began to look increasingly likely that I wouldn’t be ready for the final drive away before going to Mirepoix for dinner. I still had to dispose of yet more rubbish, vac the attic room and sweep the garage. Well, I’d set myself the target to leave on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, so not to worry.

The evening in Mirepoix was lovely, with a good meal at one of the restaurants on the square, in the company of Michel and Diana (he French, she English) and another friend of theirs. Carol and I had met them by pure chance at a restaurant just further along. It was a Monday in July 2014 and the square was very busy (market day). We had to squeeze in to the only available table and I was intrigued by the bilingual conversation beside us, so I joined in! As a result we went together to enjoy Fish n Chips at the night market in Puivert a week later, and they invited us to join in the July 14th event in their village. Carol was just beginning show signs of being seriously ill, but we had no idea why at that time.

Day 16. Friday 14th. I still had loose ends to try to tie up, and while sweeping garage I found some items behind the connecting door that The Men had missed! I’d missed them, too, in a way, because we had been through the house together to be sure everything had been picked up. So that was more stuff to wriggle into Harry’s garage! And a young man arrived from Peter’s Pool company to vac the pool.

I had some picture books of the Lake District in Harry, with text in French, German and Japanese. I thought one of these would be a nice ‘thank you’ souvenir for Marthe. This was an emotional moment, not only because Marthe had been the first person from the village to speak to us in September 2012, but because I wrote a message in the book drawing attention to pictures of Grasmere ….

So, all done at ‘Sunejo, (I hope) I drove out and closed the gates, taking the keys, and the book, to Marthe’s house to say ‘adieu’. She understood. ‘Vous n’allez pas revenir’, she said. (You won’t be coming back.)

Across the road I had to stop once more to offload another rubbish bag at the skip. I couldn’t resist taking this photo; it was Good Friday, and I was leaving:

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The Removal ….Part Two, Rachel and Shannon

Day 5, Monday 3rd April 2017 Started with the worrying discovery of an email from the purchaser of Sunejo, asking for a delay till June as he was ‘having trouble with the bank’. Actually, I can’t remember how and when I found that as either from the start or very soon there was no telephone or internet in the house. So phone calls had to be made to Orange by mobile phone asking them to sort it out. Eventually, the best they could undertake was to have it restored by Thursday evening! Not a lot of help!

When we arrived the night before, everything looked very depressing; the grass was overgrown, and the moles were back in force – worse than before as the molehills were right next to the terrace and very unsightly. And the pool! the water wasn’t circulating and I couldn’t get it going, and the bottom was a mass of dead wildlife ….

Obviously, phone calls had to be made! By mobile, only option. And we had to go shopping. Marthe (from the village) called, and gave some helpful advice, and we got stuck into the first major job, sorting the jumble in the carport into ‘keep’ ‘tip’ and ‘burn’ piles. Shannon did her bit of helping.

Day 6, Tuesday 4th April : With no phone (landline) or internet, we decided to head for Limoux and attend to some admin as well as getting online somewhere …. Well, the first and obvious choice was McDonald’s, and it turned out to be a happy one because while I did online jobs Shannon played happily in and around McD’s child-eating monster:

McD's Child-eating monster

That’s her, at the window, top left.

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Eventually it spits them out at the bottom – but they insist on going round again …

Now armed with details of places we needed to go, we went to Leclerc to buy some sandwiches etc. for lunch – you didn’t think we were going to eat at McD’s, did you? Visited the tax office and the prefecture, having already called at the insurance office, Groupama. The only real difficulty was manoeuvring Harry round Limoux’s narrow, one-way streets, but everyone in the offices was helpful and smiling, contrary to the impression we often have of French bureaucracy.

Back in Sonnac, and thanks to Marthe’s advice and information, we went to see the Mayor, who has a surgery on Tuesday evenings. This was very useful; not only was he able to give us his son’s mobile phone number (Pierre had done some garden maintenance for us before), but also tell us there would be a collection of ‘encombrants’ the next morning – and he made phone calls to see that they would call on us. I asked what time; he said ‘they start at eight – you’ve time to brush your teeth’.

So we went back to Sunejo and started moving the ‘tip’ pile from yesterday to the roadside outside the gate. Shannon really did help with this:thumbnail_IMG_20170404_183506

As well as helping to drag that big bag out, she was happily bringing smaller items to add to the growing accumulation at the gate:

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(Yes, that one’s out of focus, but it gives the idea of what was involved.)

I was a bit worried about this because my understanding of ‘encombrants’ was meaning cumbersome items too big to put in the ‘everyday’ skip or even in the boot of the average car. But the Mayor had said ‘put everything out – they’ll pick it up’.

Day 7. Weds. 5th And so they did – about 8.20 am, two nice men were at the gate with a truck, picking everything up, including a gas bottle which had been left by the previous owners! I asked if it was all right, and they said ‘put it in’. We’d been wondering about hiring a skip, but that is much less done in France – this is why! So we were lucky to have called at the Mayor’s office when we did, thanks to Marthe, and pleased to get rid of so much stuff so soon, though two or three days later might have been even better! During the day – or it may have been the next day – Pierre arrived and got stuck into ‘doing’ the garden, and the Molemen called too and set traps all around. Sorry, but it’s the only way.

Rachel was determined that a day should not pass without we got one of the major areas sorted – and I needed that sort of ‘encouragement’, so we attacked the loft, putting a lot of stuff across into the attic room, but some in bags to take to the tip ourselves, or to burn. There was no culinary exhibitionism this week; food was mainly toast, pate, cheese or a ready meal from Super U, with fruit and bought desserts as needed.

Also Rachel decided some of the items in the ‘keep’ pile needed hosing off and drying in the sun – the weather was much warmer now. Shannon decided the hose was great to play with:

Water play (2)

Oh – and a man arrived from Orange to fix the problem with the TV and internet – it was an external issue, and he replaced a whole length of the cable outside. We never did get the TV working, either french or English, but we did get phone and internet, which was a relief, and were able to see some UK TV online.

Day 8. Thursday 6th. We’d invited Trevor and Pam to join us for lunch, and perhaps to help with one of the major jobs. I put together a ‘cheats’ paella, but it went down well, and after that our visitors’ help was invaluable! While Trevor weighed in to clearing the shed – some of which hadn’t been touched since the last removal men put stuff in it four and a half years’ ago – Pam did an amazing stint of keeping Shannon happily playing in the spare bedroom, which we’d designated as a playroom.

Day 9. Friday 7th. I’ve no clear memory of this day! None of us was very well – a cough brought from England was being irritated by the constant dust, apart from anything else. I think we went shopping again, then began to attack the garage. Later we had a bonfire:

Fire!

It was a bit of a wrench to burn the companion seat from Garth View, but we had never ‘installed’ it at Sunejo, and it had deteriorated in the carport such that we thought it best to cremate it. …

Meanwhile Shannon thought the gates needed washing:

Water play (5)

Then there was time for a swing:

Well … it’s what Grandad’s are for!

Day 10. Sat 8th April 2017: Rachel had offered to take me out to a birthday lunch on the way to the airport, but I really didn’t feel like it – celebrate my return to Yorkshire, I said. But they had bought cards for me, and one had arrive from Christine, Carol and Judi, which was nice, and Chris and the children sent a video message. The morning was spent mainly packing up ready for R & SV to leave, and everything ran to time and smoothly, apart from a minor irritation at Carcassonne airport, when the computer at baggage drop-off wasn’t working! That sorted, eventually, we had a drink at the café, and I left once they went through security ….. Now it’s just me ….

The Removal From Sonnac (Days 1 – 4, the Journey South)

Day One, Thursday 30th March 2017; A steady drive southwards in Harry from Oakleigh Close, with an extended break at Peterborough services to make some necessary phone calls. 266 kms covered to arrive at Bearsteds Caravan and Motorhome Club site just off the M20.

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By quill and by pen, I’ll stay here again! The feather was on the ground beside Harry when I parked up. I tried to think of a way to include it in a photo …

Day 2: Friday 31 March: Up in good time and saw the sun come up on Harry:

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All jobs done and off site at 8am. A brief stop at Folkestone services and arrived at Dover at 9.20. A late breakfast on the ferry and off at Calais at 12.45 local time. Headed for Paris – slow as always, but it was moving. Carol was often irritated by my logging journeys, but it paid off this time, as I remembered a nice motorway lay-by not far south of Paris, but I couldn’t recall its name. It was in the logbook, though – Aire de Boutroux – and I found it again for the night (429kms from Bearsteds) – even had my own picnic table for breakfast, had I wanted it, but the weather was not conducive:

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In fact, having left Yorkshire on the hottest day of the year and driven through temperatures of up to 22°, it got progressively colder the further south I went! An aspect of this lay-by which I had forgotten, if it was so last time I was here, is that the landscape is windfarms as far as the eye can see:

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Enlarge the photo if you can and you’ll see what I mean …

Day 3, Saturday 1st April: No fooling! Using the log from July 2015 again, I knew there was a service area just 15 minutes down the road – BUT this one, like others in the sector, is currently undergoing major reconstruction and parking is especially challenging, even more so because this was the first day of the school holidays and the Parisians were heading south en masse … congested motorways are unusual in France, but this was so significant that for a while the speed limit was reduced from 130 to 110 kph. So the idea that I might have a comfortable café-croissant and use the wifi was a fantasy and I moved on after a loostop.

So we made steady progress through deteriorating weather – certainly not ‘gettinotter’! – and checking the rivers as markers of progress – the Loire, the Loir, the Cher, – white blossom dominating the hedgerows – maythorn or acacia, I couldn’t be sure – with sections of yellow gorse intervening, and cowslips in the verges, so that after 340 kms we got to the old favourite, Briance-Ligourd. It was only 4.40 pm and I could have done more, but I like this place, though Carol wouldn’t overnight here because the loos are awful. I dined on ‘lapin au van’ brought from Meltham and which had been defrosting all day, and enjoyed the changing weather aspects, including an interesting, partly double, rainbow, which had two ends, but no middle!

 

Day 4: Sunday 2nd  April: I was puzzled yesterday when I needed to look for fuel before reaching the ‘usual’ spot at Limoges. That’s till I realised that we hadn’t usually travelled from Calais to Limoges, but from Rouen – it does make a difference! So when fuel ran low, and not wanting to pay motorway prices, I put satnav to good use (which I’ve only recently learnt to do) and found a nearby Centre Commercial to go and fill up at. (OK, pedants – at which to go and fill up). Today, moved off at 8.45 just to go 15 minutes down the road to the Porte de Correze, where I did have breakfast this time and used the wifi, but not for long, because I couldn’t find a socket and I’d carelessly not charged the computer either at Rachel’s or at Bearsteds. (There were sockets for the purpose, but at ‘stand-up’ positions, not in the café where I was having breakfast …)

The drive becomes increasingly scenic, especially before and after crossing the Dordogne, but the weather was still not playing if the idea was that the journey south was leading to warmth. Leaving Yorkshire at 22°, you don’t expect 14° to be the best the south of France can offer! I had time to spare before meeting Rachel and Shannon off the plane in Carcassonne, and I was concerned by … unpleasant odours in the van (sorry, Harry, not your fault!) So I made time to find the municipal ‘aire de camping cars’ where, for €5 I was able to use the facilities and empty the toilet cassette (too much information? – sorry!, but that’s life!) Then to the airport, where Rachel texted me that it was ‘chaos’ at baggage reclaim, but they came through at about 5.45 and at about 7.20 we pulled into ‘Sunejo’ ….. 454 kms from Briance-Ligourd, 1,160 from Calais and 1,589 from Wakefield, that’s 993 miles … I don’t quite know how I did that!