Europe - 7 Jun 14 Han sur Lesse

Day 2 - This was a long run with just under 200 miles through Flanders to the Ardennes. We both awoke with stinking headaches, probably more to do with dehydration than booze. However, after a quick sprint around Carrefour at Citie d'Europe to fill the larder and fridge, and a slack handful of croissants, we felt much better and set out for the long journey in bright sunshine. The roads in France are smooth and well-maintained. As soon as you hit the Belgian border then all hell lets loose.  The Belgians obviously have a great love of the moon's surface and model their motorways on this. We have never seen so many potholes!  Belgians also must be the worst drivers in Europe. 2 accidents in the space of 5 miles held us up but eventually we arrived in very pretty village called Han sur Lesse in scorching heat. We squeezed into the aire but the trouble with being the only British van was that our door is on the opposite side to all the others. In such a close packed aire we opened our door straight into the Belgian van opposite and had to negotiate our way over their two large, lovely dogs who decided that the space between the vans was theirs. We bimbled into town for a couple of pints of Belgian beer (much cheaper - and better - than French beer) and a fantastic dish of Ardennes forestierre - chicken, egg, ham, onions, mushrooms and potatoes served in a frying pan. Absolutely scrummy. Back to the bus for a long, cold shower and to enjoy the warm evening (30 degrees at 2115hrs).

 

The train to the Caves

Packed in like sardines

 

Europe - D Day 6 Jun 2014

Day 1 of the big road trip. Debs had arranged special leave so that we could make this journey, albeit it her miserable boss made her life hell because of it.  We agreed that "We will have to ensure that we minimise the amount we take for the big road trip". We had this discussion many times all year whilst planning,  but still the bus left home on the payload limit, albeit we had quite of lot of fresh water onboard to see us through the first few days.  Let's hope that the journey will reduce the 10kgs of lotions, potions and "product" that are so vital.  Despite the stress of leaving her office for a long break, Debs managed to leave on time albeit stressed, harassed and angry.  A quick shower, final check and then off for the long, uneventful, leg down to Calais, stopping at Maidstone services for a quick coffee.  Eurotunnel had managed to keep moving our departure time so we were now leaving at 0022hrs on 7 Jun as opposed  to the original booking time of 2320hrs on 6 Jun. The terminal was once again rammed full of French school kids. Incredibly noisy and generally stupid it made sense to avoid them. Unfortunately this was impossible on the train as, of course, all 600 of them decided to use the loo so there was a constant stream of screaming tadpoles disturbing our midnight feast of prawn salad. Anyway, to the Citie d'Europe, park up, secure and kip. There were a few more motorhomes this time.  Woke up at 0730hrs  with a stinking headache and feeling jet lagged. A bit of a stressful start and an early night tonight!

1st night at the Citie d'Europe

Crystal Palace 8-11 May

The weather really has improved and I was able to test our new chairs for the first time - tres confortable! Thursday off to Hairy Dwarf (Canary Wharf) to meet Debs for dinner and laugh at all the poncey yah-yahs thinking that they are so important. Friday was preparation and planning for the Euro Trip and doing a fair bit of French homework, Saturday was the last game of the season at home to Bath. The trouble was that the stupid morons at the RFU had planned the London sevens on the same day, so 80K going to see the sevens and 15k going to the Stoop made for a packed and uncomfortable day, especially as most of the sevens attendees were teenagers out for a day to get wasted rather than watch rugby. Grrrr.  Still - we won!

Sunday was a leisurely drive back home. Still not managed to have that BBQ under the awning yet this year and it is unlikely that we will squeeze another trip in before the Euro rumble.

New chair

National Motorhome Show Peterborough 23-28 Apr 14

You will recall the post two years ago describing the Somme-like conditions of this event in 2012 and how we sank to the axles and had to be towed out? I am pleased to report that this year's event was considerably drier and, indeed, quite sunny.

The Fun Tent

Once again we booked with the Motorhome Fun group and arrived at our allotted pitch early on Friday morning. The drive around the showground took longer than the drive to Peterborough, but we settled in and had our first wander around the show. This year there seemed to be less in the way of traders, but it was still nice to wander about and think about our dream bus (still, probably, the Hymer B544, but we are a little short of the £78k asking price for a new one). We went along to watch a couple of the acts laid on by the organisers and then ended up back at the Fun tent where we drank too much and sang until the early hours.

Cream Tea on the lawn

On Saturday we were a bit jaded, but again spent a leisurely day bimbling about, relaxing and just chilling out. We didn't go and see Stan Boardman, but had a quiet night in. Sunday it was up for Bacon rolls, more bimbling, a few small purchases ready for the mega-tour, telling the Camping Club (The friendly Greedy club) exactly what we thought of them, drinks in the fun tent and then off to see the shows, which were so bad they were good!

Thanks for the bottle opener Jim!
 

Monday, up and home in no time. Our battery lasted a full 4 days off hook up so we know that we are all set for a bit of Stellplatz and Aire bashing! All in all a great weekend with a very lively bunch of people.

Ypres, Belgium 1-6 Apr 14

Parked at the Citie d'Europe
 

I've always wanted to see the last post sounded at the Menin Gate and with the exchange of Tesco vouchers for Eurotunnel tickets being such a good deal we decided that this was the time to do it.



The Cloth Hall



Ypres Ramparts

On Tuesday I prepared for the trip whilst Debs worked like blazes until gone 7. We then set off for a leisurely drive to catch the 0130 shuttle, stopping off at IKEA at Thurrock for a mooch about before arriving at the terminal and had a kip (at least we did until the coach load of French schoolkids decided to practice screeching). The easy drive realised a very frugal 35mpg on the trip down, The crossing was the usual affair and we parked up at Citie d'Europe along with 1 other motorhome and slept until 0900hrs.

Frites with lots and lots of mayo

On Weds we popped into Carrefour to stock up with decent grub (and wine) and then set off for the relatively short trip to Ypres. Once we crossed the Belgian border the roads became pretty awful and we were bouncing around on the poor surfaces, but at least there are no tolls! We arrived at the site and set up in no time, lazed around in the glorious sunshine for a bit then pootled off into Ypres and a couple of pints in the Old Bill Pub. Having sampled Belgian beer (cheap and good) the next item was frites, so off to the friterie we went to order 2 "specials" (a bag of chips with mayonnaise, tomato sauce and onions). The chips were lovely but they overdid it on the sauces and we were well "mayo'd out" by the time we left. As ever, our Euro change purse was full to bursting with coin and it was in the friterie that Debs decided to empty it onto the table and floor. It sounded like all the slot machines in a Las Vegas casino had paid out at once. We never were ones for a quiet entrance!

By now it was time to see the last post at the Menin Gate. There was a party of Canadian Air Cadets on parade who were scruffy as heck, but at least they were there. The ceremony was very well attended and the buglers played well, followed by a party of Kiwi schoolchildren who performed an excellent Haka under the gate. It was then back to the bus for a good kip.

The Menin Gate
 

On Thursday morning the local factory decided that it was time to start work with much banging and clattering - at 0630hrs! We did, however, manage to get some sleep and arose at about 0800 to that wonderful mix of French and English cuisine - a bacon baguette. We bimbled back into town and wandered around the very interesting "In Flanders Fields" museum. The museum has a very clever multimedia system where you are given a white bracelet with a poppy on it and this controls the various multimedia exhibits in order that the display is given in the right language. It also told me that 84 Beaumonts died in action in WW1. We then climbed up the bell tower of the cloth hall to admire the views followed by lunch al fresco in the town square (Flemish Stew is delicious). It was then a walk around the ramparts and back to watch the Menin Gate ceremony again.

On Friday we decided that we would cycle to the Tyne Cot cemetery. We went to the tourist office to get a map and found that there is a waymarked cycle trail which takes in all the main areas of the Ypres Salient. We set off, stopped for an excellent omelette in a café on Hill 60, visited Tyne Cot and numerous other cemeteries and eventually returned back to Ypres exhausted - 34 miles later! The night, however, was not to end there. Despite our dislike of these establishments, we stopped off at an Irish Pub to see of they were showing the rugby (Stade Francais v Harlequins in the Amlin Cup). The very kind barman put the TV on for us and 5 pints and a meat pie later we wobbled back to the bus and got to bed at about 0130hrs. 

On top of the Cloth Hall

On Saturday my suggestion of a bike ride was met with a stony stare, so we had another bimble around, took some photos, cooked steak in the bus and relaxed.

Crowds at the Menin Gate

The Last Post

Sunday - up early and a quick run home, stopping to top up with wine at the Eurotunnel shop.

This trip highlighted a few points. First - Belgian beer and food is excellent and cheap compared to France. Second - the Belgians are delightful people. You cannot open a map without being surrounded by people wanting to help you. Third - the site was clean and very reasonably priced. 12 euros a night for a hardstanding with electricity. Are you reading this Camping and Caravanning Club, you robbing *********?  Lastly, it demonstrated how easy it is to spend a short break in Northern Europe. The longest part of the journey was from Folkestone to home.

Tyne Cot

Crystal Palace 27-30 Mar 14

The weather is warming up, the ground is drying out, the clocks went forward one hour and we spent the weekend visiting mothers and watching Harlequins beat London Irish on Saturday.

Not much else to report really.......

Smiler

Milton Keynes 14-17 Mar 14

Another combination of boat, bike and bus over a beautiful spring weekend in Buckinghamshire.

I arrived at lunchtime on Friday at the Camping and Caravanning Club (C&CC) site in time for the gates to open for the first time this season. The site is quite pretty and the staff incredibly friendly, but the toilets and showers are probably 2/3 the size of normal ones! Despite our anger at the C&CC new improved (ha!) pricing structure, the site is very handy for where Martin moored his narrowboat on the Grand Union Canal.

Once I plugged in I cycled over to the boat and we then had a pootle around the area, stopping at the "cathedral of trees" (disappointing) before heading to a nice local pub for a pint or three of Doom Bar. We then cycled into MK (I didn't realise it is so hilly) to meet Debs at the station and then cycled the 3 miles back again, got changed and repaired to the pub for dinner.

Saturday was written off by watching the 6 Nations Rugby on the boat then the first BBQ of the season back at the bus, but we did manage a 4 mile cycle along the towpath to the Rohan outlet store.

On Sunday we had another long ride up the steep hill into town, had lunch in the pub and then settled down for a long afternoon relaxing, drinking wine and eating cheese on the boat. With the glorious weather, and great company, it was a memorable weekend.