1st
September 2014. Today started foggy with the peaks of the mountains
obscured from view.
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| Far bank of the Mosel lined with vineyards |
We decided we would cycle to Bernkastel Kues and
set off before the sun had chance to melt the fog away. The route
mainly followed the path of the river but occasionally steered us
through a vineyard or a local village, twisting and turning through
side streets before returning to the river. It was a very pleasant
ride through some stunning scenery with little change in the gradient
making it a very easy ride. The sun didn't take long to burn away the
fog and we soon had to stop to remove our jackets.
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| Bernkastel Kues |
Bernkastel Kues
was an unexpected delight with some very pretty half-timbered
buildings and lots of flowers decorating the town. After exploring
the town we stopped at a café that had the most appealing range of
cakes you could imagine. We both selected a suitably calorific piece
of gateau, Glynn opting for Black Forest while I opted for a
raspberry cream concoction. After sating our hunger we set off again,
heading for the other side of the river. We decided to put some
effort in to the return journey with the aim of getting back in an
hour. We followed the river for a short way before the route took us
back on the other bank and we stepped up the pace realising it was
going to be tight to make it back in an hour. We got back to the
village in exactly 60 minutes but Glynn said it didn't count as it
took us a further 2 minutes to reach the Aire. We had cycled 52kms
which meant we were only 203kms short of our target. An afternoon of
sunbathing and reading was on the agenda!!
3rd
September 2014. Yesterday we spent the day relaxing before moving on
again and ended up driving through Trier in rush hour after a detour
took us almost in to the centre of town.
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| Fog slowly rising above the vineyards |
We decided it didn't appeal
to us to cycle in to the town and instead opted to head in to
Luxembourg this morning, a day or two ahead of schedule. After taking
advantage of the incredibly cheap fuel (€1.18 per ltr) and brandy
(€7.99 per ltr) at a garage just inside the border we found a
lovely campsite on the edge of Luxembourg City and spent the rest of
the morning sitting out enjoying the sun.
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| Grand Ducal Palace, Luxembourg |
After lunch we cycled in to
the City which was only 10kms following the cycle path, an easy ride
until we reached the City which is set on top of a very steep hill.
After exploring the city centre, some of it on foot as the gradients
were too steep for us, we decided to head back via the road (mainly
because we couldn't remember where the cycle route was). After a
healthy 22kms we arrived back and were soon chilling in the loungers
enjoying the last of the day's sun.
5th
September 2014. Today we headed in to Belgium and stopped at a lovely
little village called Han-sur-Lesse. We cycled to Rochefort via the
road which was incredibly hilly and felt a bit dangerous with huge
logging trucks flying past a bit too close for comfort. We decided to
head back via an old train line which was now tarmaced and a
designated cycle path. Just like our first day in Germany the signs
left a bit to be desired and we ended up way past our town before we
eventually found our way back on to the road. The last few kilometres
were tough, not helped by a detour I took to get us off the main road
which turned into a gravel path with lots of loose stones. I was
cycling way too fast on a steep downhill when my front wheel hit a
ditch and I nearly went flying.
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| oh good, a game of football!! |
I managed to regain control luckily
but it was a scary moment and I wisely decided to ride a bit slower
on the downhills. In spite of the fact it had only been 8kms to Rochefort we ended up cycling 32kms by the time we found our way
back. Definitely time for a well deserved glass of wine! Glynn was delighted to discover a local football match taking place on a pitch behind the Aire so he spent an enjoyable hour or so watching the game.
6th
September 2014. Today we decided to head back to France. Belgian
motorways are the worst I have ever come across. The road surface was
so poor that Herman shook like he was having a fit. The crockery and
cutlery were bouncing up and down like a Mexican wave and I fully
expected to find all the cutlery in the wrong trays when we reached
our destination.
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| Arc de Triomphe |
It was a relief to get back to France, not least
because I hadn't been able to pick up a FON network in Belgium so
we'd not had any wifi and I was keen to check out a campsite that did
coach trips to Paris. I hadn't planned on visiting Paris but suddenly
decided it might be nice as we would be able to enjoy the city
without having to drive anywhere near it in Herman. We stopped at a
lovely little town called Bertry which was in the middle of a fun run
event. Crowds of people lined the streets cheering the runners on.
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| La Madeleine |
It
was the first time I had seen a town where the entire centre was
wired for sound with speakers up high on every lamp post. Accordion
music and French singers could be heard all over the town centre so
there was no escaping it! It wasn't so bad for me as I used to play
in an accordion band when I was a teenager so I like the sound but
poor Glynn looked less than impressed at the choice of music. I must
admit that after trying several French radio stations on this trip we
have given up and been listening to my IPod when we are travelling as
the music is not to our taste.
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| Paris Opera |
We headed back and as I was able to
pick up a good FON network from the Aire we sent messages to family
and friends before playing Rummikub. Glynn put up a valiant battle
but I eventually won 2-1 taking the total to 19-7.
9th
September 2014. This morning we drove to Beauvais as we are now
working our way towards the Normandy coast to start heading towards
Calais and home in 10 days.
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| Well that was a lot quicker than usual!! |
We did a short ride of 7kms exploring the
area and Glynn noticed his front tyre was a bit low on pressure. A
tell-tale green blob of gel showed that he'd had another puncture but
the new inner tube had sealed itself and Glynn was delighted that all
he had to do was pump it up rather than patch the tube. After dinner
we played Rummikub and much to Glynn's delight he beat me 3-0 making
the score 19-10. Annoyingly he has pinched my trick of holding back
from laying all his sets too soon making it harder to get out.
10th
September 2014. This morning we drove to La Mailleraye sur Seine and
the Aire was right on the bank of the river with fantastic views.
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| The Abbey at Jumiéges |
After lunch we cycled along the river edge to Heurteaville
where there was a free ferry to the other side of the river. We took
the ferry which took less than 5 minutes and headed off to see the
ruins of the old Abbey at Jumiéges. We stopped for a beer in the
town and an old guy started chatting non stop to us. We eventually
got chance to explain we didn't understand much French and after
acknowledging what we'd said he carried on, albeit at a slightly
slower speed. The gist of the conversation was that he'd had
cataracts and hadn't been able to see for a very long time but had
now been operated on, he'd lost a lot of weight and he had 3 dogs
although I couldn't swear to that being the correct translation. He
finished his beer, jumped on his moped and weaved his way up the
road. I am unsure whether this was because of the beer or impaired
vision!!
11th
September 2014. Bad hair day!! Having gone so long without a trim my
hair is a disaster at the back because it is normally cut short and
has grown so much it has lost its shape. I have been trying to hang
on until I get home but I decided to bite the bullet and see what the
local hairdresser could do. After all I was going to have to start
using them unless I planned on flying my hairdresser out to wherever
we are every 6 weeks!!
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| Lovely Aire beside the Seine |
The lady spoke no English so a customer who
spoke a little bit of English helped translate. Have you ever tried
explaining in sign language that you don't need the whole wash and
blow dry package because once she has cut my hair it will not curl
properly until I go home and wash it again as using a brush or comb
makes my fair frizzy. It was like a game of charades!! I then tried
to explain that my hair is much longer when wet and she was not to
take more than a millimetre or two off my fringe or it would spring
up when dry exposing my forehead. Trust me when I say that it is not
a good look on me when my fringe is halfway up my forehead.
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| Traffic on the river! |
I
gathered the interpretation was going well until I realised they
thought I wanted the hairdresser to come to the Motorhome to cut my
hair. How on earth they came to that conclusion I don't know. At this
point I should have backed out the door and made my excuses but
unfortunately I didn't, a decision I later came to regret! It was
obvious that things had got lost in translation when the first thing
she did was wash my hair. The trim took an hour as she stopped
halfway through washing it when a couple came in to have a chat, she
then had to stop twice while cutting my hair to answer the phone and
take bookings and finally a couple came in with a box of dresses for
sale so she stopped to look through them, holding them up against
herself and looking in the mirror.
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| Glynn loving the donkeys along the cycle path |
I suppose I should be grateful it
wasn't near lunch time as I wouldn't have been surprised if she had
left me there half trimmed and gone off on a 2 hour lunch break
that seems to be the norm in France. When she held up a heated
curling brush and indicated she'd like her to use it I quickly
declined so she dried my hair with a hairdryer. I suppose I should be
grateful for small mercies as at least my fringe wasn't too short but
that is where my gratitude ends!! She had trimmed the back of my hair
but carried on too far round cutting off a lot of the longer hair
from the sides so I felt like I was left with 2 little strips of hair
at the sides. Telling a hairdresser you do not like what they have
done is incredibly hard but even more so with the language barrier so
I did what most of us probably do and smiled, saying "trés
bon". I paid the €26.50 fee (no tip) and made a sharp exit. I
hurried back to Herman so I could wash my frizzy hair to see what I
could do with it. When I had done it Glynn said it looked nice but
bless him he always thinks I look nice. There is only one thing for
it, Glynn will have to learn how to trim the back of my hair as
that's the only bit that needs to be done regularly!! I can't print
his answer to my suggestion but suffice to say I am working on him!!
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| What do you mean I'm not a chicken!! |
There
were 3 resident chickens and a duck at the Aire. The duck appeared to
have an identity crisis as while the chickens spent all day wandering
from van to van hoping for scraps the duck followed behind copying
everything they did. It was really funny to watch.
As if
the day hasn't been exciting enough with my trip to the hairdresser
Glynn decided to up the ante!! We have a nice routine, I cook and he
clears up afterwards. Today he was happily washing up and had put the
kettle on to make a cup of tea.
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| You need a new tea towel dear!! |
The next thing I know there are
flames shooting up from the tea towel which the daft bugger had
placed next to the gas hob. Glynn reacted quickly and threw it out of
the door before trying to stamp on it to put out the flames, not easy in bare feet! He had done a
similar thing a few weeks ago but spotted his mistake just as the tea
towel was starting to scorch, this time the tea towel was a definite
write off!! In spite of my jokes in previous posts about upping the
wine intake to counteract our weight loss from all the cycling we
actually make a point of not drinking on Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Sundays as it would be too easy to slip in the habit of drinking
every day. Rules are made to be broken and I decided that in spite of
it being a Thursday it was definitely wine o'clock.
13th
September 2014. Today was a special day, my son jumped out of a plane
at 13,000 feet to raise money for his mate Scott who needs a heart
operation.
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| Lisa will you marry me? yes or no |
In some ways it was a relief I was not at home to see it
as I'm sure it would have scared me to death. To make the day even
more special Darryl had a little surprise up his sleeve which he was
able to carry out with the help of his friends. When he landed he
dropped on to one knee and proposed to his lovely girlfriend Lisa.
His mates all had placards which read "Lisa will you marry me,
yes or no" and were jumping up and down in excitement.
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| She said yes!!! |
Luckily
she said yes or that would have been pretty embarrassing!!
Unbeknownst to Lisa they had snuck in our house after they had left
that morning and had decorated it in the theme of Las Vegas which is
where they plan on getting married. They had a wonderful Vegas themed
party that evening to celebrate. Guess I had better start looking for
a hat!!
16th
September 2014. 2000kms!!! We have spent the last few days gradually
working our way along the Normandy coast, stopping overnight at
Fecamp, Veulettes sur Mer, Dieppe and Le Tréport. The weather has
been fantastic and we have had some lovely cycle rides along the
coast roads. The coastline is mainly cliffs and each town sits low,
nestled at the base of the cliff edge which means a steep drop in to
the towns and a tough climb out the other side. Glynn has had 2
further punctures, the only sign being the tell tale blob of green
gel where the hole has sealed itself. He is delighted that all he had
to do is check his tyre pressure rather than repairing inner tubes.
We were just 35kms short of reaching 2000kms so we cycled in to town
and cheated slightly by taking the Funicular up to the cliff edge.
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| Spectacular view from the top |
We
had discovered the Funicular the day before, it's free of charge and
takes you up through the cliff face to the top where there are
spectacular views looking down on the harbour. We got off at the top
and headed along the coast road. It was a tough ride with lots of
steep hills that really tested my lungs. You would think that after
cycling nearly 2000kms I would be fit but my lungs felt like I had
just smoked 20 cigarettes every time we climbed a steep hill. I was
determined not to get off and push and to be fair I think it would
have been just as hard to do that as it was to cycle up them. We
dropped down at high speed into the beautiful coastal towns and climbed
slowly out the other side. When we got back I checked my Garmin and
our total was 1998kms. After lunch we cycled back in to town to pick
up a wifi network so I could check my emails. We left our bikes at
the seafront and did some window shopping before climbing up to the
higher part of town. I picked up a FON network so we sat on some
steps while I checked for messages. Glynn suddenly jumped up and was
rubbing his head. "I think a bird has just shit on my head"
he said. Trying not to laugh too loudly I confirmed that there was a
tell-tale line of bird shit down his back so he had guessed
correctly. We walked back to get the bikes, me chuckling to myself
and Glynn with an indignant look on his face! When we got back to the
Aire we had totalled 2002kms. We were both chuffed to bits and
celebrated with a cuppa as it was a Tuesday so therefore an alcohol
free day.
17th
September 2014. Today we drove to a lovely Aire at Berck.
.JPG) |
| The seals |
It was just
off a huge sandy beach, a welcome change from the stony beaches of
the last few towns we had visited. Glynn declared it a bike free day
so after lunch we strolled down to the beach and walked out to the
edge of a rocky promenade. It was a beautiful hot sunny day with a
clear blue sky. The tide was out and there were several sandbanks.
The sea was a gorgeous colour and I took a few photographs before I
noticed the collection of large grey objects on a nearby sandbank. It
was a seal colony. They lay basking in the sunshine, occasionally
lifting their heads to look around before resuming their sunbathing.
After admiring the seals and taking a few photos we carried on our
walk along the beach and arrived back at the Aire 2 hours later.
.JPG) |
| Beautiful beach at Berck |
A
lot of people seemed to be heading towards the beach so after a
coffee break we walked back too. As the tide was coming in a few of
the seals had lost their dry resting place as it was reclaimed by the
sea and they were now swimming just off the shore. Alongside lots of
other spectators we watched the seals as they swam around, diving
below the surface before popping their heads out of the water and
looking around. It was a great way to end a fantastic day and we
headed back to cook dinner and crack open a nice bottle of wine.
18th
September 2014. We decided to head to Gravelines for our last 2
nights as the location was excellent for a early start to the
Eurotunnel. Glynn filled up with diesel en-route and (luckily) we
decided to stop at Boulogne. I commented that I could smell diesel
and when I looked I realised the fuel cap was missing. "Where's
the fuel cap Glynn?" "Ooops" he replied. We abandoned
our plans to see Boulogne and headed back to the petrol station,
thankfully it was only about 6 miles!! The fuel cap was still by the
pump and we were soon heading back in the right direction, Glynn
looking sheepish while I practised my best look of disdain. A quick
stop at Calais for essential supplies (wine!!) and we were soon
parked up at the lovely Aire at Gravelines facing the marina. We sat
outside and chilled in the sun for the rest of the day.
19th
September 2014. Our last day of this trip and what a great day it
was. Good weather, good food, good company and good wine!! We went
for a ride before lunch and when we returned we got chatting to a
lovely couple, Jane and Pete, who were also travelling back to the UK
the next day. After lunch we cycled to the beach, one of the biggest
expanses of sand I have seen. The tide was out and we walked along
the jetty for half an hour before we reached the sea. In spite of it
being a lovely warm sunny day there was a fog rolling in, obscuring
the sun and turning it cooler. We then decided a beer would go down
nicely and headed back. We bumped in to Jane & Pete and the 4 of
us headed to a bar where we enjoyed a lovely hour chatting about the
places we had all been and swapping information about good Aires to stay
on.
We
don't often eat what I call junk food but Glynn decided he wanted to
end our trip with a pizza dinner so I made some garlic bread (with
more garlic than is good for you if you are expecting company
later!!)and we enjoyed a lovely big pizza and lots of garlic buttered
baguette. Jane and Pete had gone out to a restaurant but
joined us when they got back and we enjoyed a very relaxed last
evening with more information swapping and, unsurprisingly, some nice
French wine. It transpired that they were going to be at Lincoln motorhome show the following weekend which is where we would be too so we arranged to meet up again.
20th
September 2014. We were up bright and early as we were booked on the
9.50am train. We had been warned the check in was slower than normal
because of extra security checks so we allowed plenty of time and all
too soon we were back in the UK. Glynn was a bit worried he would
forget to drive on the left after so long away but I reminded him
every now and again to hug the kerb and we arrived home unscathed.
Darryl and Lisa were having a cocktail party and had asked me to cook
one of my giant paellas so our first night back was spent drinking
cocktails, eating paella and having a great time catching up with all
the news, not least of which was hearing about Darryl's parachute
jump and subsequent proposal.
The
last four and half months have been amazing. A lot of people were
shocked when we first announced our plan to give up work and tour
Europe in a motorhome. Everyone has been very supportive and full of
encouragement, commenting on how brave they thought we were and
wishing they could do it too. I must say that so far it has exceeded
our expectations. I can't put in to words how incredible it feels
each day exploring new areas, meeting new people and just feeling so
chilled out. The cycling has been brilliant and our total distance
was 2012 kms. We will spend the next 8 weeks in the UK to give us
time to get Herman mot'd and serviced, apply for our Indian visas and
catch up with all our family and friends. Most importantly we will be buying Glynn new tyres for his bike in the hope it will minimise the number of punctures he gets!! We will spend 3 months in
Goa from 18th November to 18th February and
when we return our plan is to head down to Southern Spain initially.
Where we go from there who knows, it will depend on the weather
mainly and what recommendations we get from fellow travellers. All we
know is that it is very exciting and we have absolutely no regrets
about giving up work and grabbing this opportunity. I won't write
blog posts while we are in Goa as we will be just be chilling and
reading mainly, as well as continuing to learn to speak French and
Spanish using my Duolingo app (Google it if you don't know what it
is, it's brilliant!!). I will however use the time to update the
financial tab with a breakdown of what it cost us during this trip
and show a price comparison of the supermarkets in France. We also
plan on doing some research while we are away on places to visit so
it is all very exciting. It has been really lovely to receive
messages through my blog from people we have never met, some just to
say how much they have enjoyed the blog whilst others have been
inspired by what we are doing and are now making their own plans. It feels incredible to think that something I have written has the potential to inspire others to change their course. If
you have any questions on anything we have done or plan on doing
please feel free to message me through the link on the blog and I
will happily answer your questions if I can.
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| The Seine flowing through Paris |
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| Eiffel tower |
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| Bernkastel Kues |
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| Luxembourg |
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| Kite festival at Dieppe |
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| Fecamp beach |
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| Misty sunrise over the Seine at La Mailleraye |
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The Porta Nigra, Trier
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