Scroll down to read blog! Posts are in reverse order – most recent first! However, in the menu below, we have grouped them into whole trips, which can be read in chronological order! This blog was set up to be our diary of our adventures in our Campervan Boris, which are often somewhat spontaneous! however, we have also had some big adventures without Boris, and these are included here too! We have a particular interest in Good Food so this features quite frequently, and I hope to make this a useful resource for fellow travellers. Welcome :)
As usual, we waited until 24 hours before departure to decide on a destination. Our choices were the Isle of Man and Ireland, or Brittany. Long range weather forecasts are notoriously unreliable, but although things looked more promising for South and Eastern England, the northwest was cool and unsettled. So… France won!
June 8th/9th/10th 2017
Thursday night saw us having the most amazing evening out with some of the family. We went to Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant, the Fat Duck for Dinner. Oh My. We loved it. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but for us – Definitely the best dining experience EVER!
Dinner finished at Midnight, then it was a 2 hour drive home (thanks to road closures), bed at 3am with the alarm set for 6.00am. Up we got and set off for Poole to catch the Barfleur ferry to Cherbourg!
So glad we booked a cabin! We slept for 4 hours and were fairly refreshed on arrival.
With no set itinerary we decided to head for an area in Normandy that had always intrigued me – Suisse Normande.
It did not disappoint. An area of deeply cut river gorges about 40km Southwest of Caen, it was charming, beautiful and best of all, fairly quiet despite it being a summer weekend evening. We found a fantastic Aire just outside the village of Pont d’Ouilly (prizes awarded for correct pronounciation!). Aires are the super system of cheap or free areas for motorhomes across France. It was on the riverbank, with pitches separated by hedges. Electricity and water included for the grand sum of 9 euros. It was SO peaceful. We went for a walk along the pretty river Orme and then slept very well…not waking up until 8.45 – very unusual for me!
Next morning we drove to La Vey, a pretty village near the river cliffs. Our objective was to climb Sugar loaf Mountain (Pain de sucre). This was quite a pull uphill but the views from the top were splendid. We walked along the ridge, past a paragliding launching site, marvelling at them leaping off the top. We weren’t tempted by the offer of a tandem flight though!
After working up an appetite, and achieving my desired step count by lunchtime, we found a lovely café by the river, Au fil de l’Eau, and reacquainted ourselves with the ‘Menu du jour’ – 3 courses for 16 euros. Excellent – no need to cook in the van tonight! We sat by the water on a flower bedecked terrace sipping “une pression et un panache” and watching birds, boats and canoes!
I should point out that our decision to head to France was now totally vindicated – a lovely French lunch and the temperatures were around 25 degrees so I was happily wearing shorts and a short sleeved blouse. The fleeces were packed away – for now anyway!
After lunch, Chris could hardly contain his excitement… I had discovered that in the next village, Clecy, there was one of the largest model railways in Europe! We walked up to see it. Even I was impressed. It was HUGE. 350 square metres of layout and half a kilometre of track with so many beautifully crafted scenes. Lots of locomotives whizzing round, moving scenery AND they put the lights out and it was illuminated for night time!
Oh Dear… Chris has now got even grander designs, and wants a bigger cabin for his train layout!
Then we said goodbye to Suisse Normande and headed for our main objective – Brittany. A beautiful early evening drive across country for 2 hours, hardly seeing anyone else, brought us to Nozay, north of Nantes and on the edge of Brittany. We were aiming for another aire, again with water and electricity, but just 8 euros, and alongside 4 lakes. One of the lakes was for watersports and we spent the lovely sunny evening watching the automated tow machine taking wake boarders around the circuit and over the jumps – some more successfully than others. Again we slept like logs!
The urge to get on the road again was too great, and we found ourselves with a week off at Easter, so at 22.30 on Friday night we decided to go away for a week in Boris. The advantage of a campervan is that we keep Boris 80% ready to go, so 2 hours of adding water, toilet cassette, maps, clothes and food, and we were ready to leave at 8am the next morning! As usual, we looked for the area with the best weather forecast! Nowhere was great, but East Anglia was driest!
(Summary of Campsites, Parking, Activities etc is at the end of the Blog!)
After a day visiting Margaret in Sussex, we headed north over the Dartford Crossing (Remember to pay in advance online or by phone – no paying at the crossing anymore), and aimed for our first Britstop south of Cambridge 216 – a tiny, very old pub next to a river with a Pizza oven! Excellent stop – faint noise from the M11 but it didn’t disturb us.
Next morning, just 11 miles to Cambridge. Park and ride excellent, so we were in the city by 9.30 on Easter Sunday morning. It was deserted, and we enjoyed a super walk around this wonderful, compact and historic city before the crowds began to arrive. One of the great charms of Cambridge is the proliferation of stunning buildings and history all around you, but you are just a few steps away from what is essentially a country walk along the river in the area known as The Backs. Added to that, there is an aura of achievement everywhere – here DNA was unravelled, there the electron was discovered. Stephen Hawking works here… Isaac Newton worked there – what a super place to visit. We took a free walking tour with Footprints Tours. http://www.footprints-tours.com . It was excellent – Charlie our guide was both a student and resident of Cambridge, and a mine of information. We were left in no doubt about Cambridge’s superiority over Oxford (89 Nobel prizes to Oxfords 48 – although he did acknowledge that was partly due to Cambridge having more science options!), and we were very glad that Cambridge won the Boat race later that day!
We also learned that in days gone by they had some interesting interview techniques. One professor threw a rugby ball at prospective candidates. if they dropped it they were rejected, if they caught it they were offered a place and if they threw it back they got a scholarship! Another gave the interviewee a brick and told them to throw it through a particularly historic stained glass window! He had to intercept a few throws – they were rejected. if you could argue a good reason why you weren’t throwing you were offered a place but the scholarship went to those who opened the window first before throwing !
Admission charges to the colleges vary, but we had been told that to see Kings College and is amazing chapel free of charge, the best way is to attend evensong, which is open to all.
We were so glad we did. Because it was Easter Sunday we had the full choir. The chapel is unbelievably beautiful- it’s ceiling and windows have to be seen, but where it surpassed anywhere was with the acoustics. As the choir sang, you were covered in tingly goosebumps! This is the choir that sing the televised Christmas 9 lessons and Carols, and they were amazing. What an experience to end our day in Cambridge. There were lots of places left to explore further – just how we like it. We will be back!
A night at Britstop number 255. This was a super little pub with rooms. The carpark was tiny but sheltered, which was just as well because Storm Katie made her presence felt that night. Its full force hit the south coast, and at 2am we had a message from my son saying that one of our chairs had blown over a 6ft wall into the neighbours garden, and our little plastic greenhouse had broken loose and was now on the study roof! Luckily that was our only damage – other people fared much worse. In Boris we were snug as usual.
Next day the wind and rain were still in full force, so we visited Oxburgh Hall, a super National Trust moated manor, with a priests hole, which was quite a challenge to enter and leave! Highly recommend a visit! There was an EasterBunny Hunt for children – the person setting the trail had a sense of humour – Can you spot the bunny in the 2nd photo?!
By mid-afternoon the sun had come out and we did a lovely walk at Salhouse Broad before heading to Britstop 251 for the night. This pub is attached to the Woodforde’s Brewery, so of great interest to Chris as he uses their Home Brew kits! Large Car Park and a very peaceful night.
Next day we caught the Park and Ride at Sprowston, into Norwich. It is a real mix of old and new, partly due to extensive bombing in the war, particularly as part of the Baedecker raids, when cities like Bath, Norwich and Canterbury were targeted, having been chosen from the Baedecker guide books as having great cultural significance.
The Cathedral is undoubtedly the jewel in the crown. It is a huge and beautiful Cathedral – started in 1069. The Cloisters are beautiful too, and the cloisters and Nave are famous for the carved and painted ceiling bosses at every junction.
In the city there are lots of old areas of narrow, historic lanes, and interesting shops and restaurants, as well as a newly opened riverside walk. The Catholic Cathedral is also worth a visit, and next to it is a super garden in a quarry pit – the Plantation Garden – a real oasis of peace.
Leaving Norwich, we headed to a campsite so that we could shower, empty the loo etc! After finding the site at Ludham, we drove to Hickling Broad Norfolk Wildlife Trust centre and did a wonderful early evening walk to the raptor roost. November to February is the best time of year, but it was a lovely evening, and we were rewarded with seeing 7 Marsh harriers flying in over the reed beds, and 3 Chinese Water deer grazing close by. A group of small birds appeared and we are sure they had literally just arrived from their migration back to the UK. They were feeding frantically. Then we heard a Chiffchaff calling – the first of the year for us.
Next day we did a different walk at Hickling Broad, but some of the view was obscured by the reeds which was a shame. However the beautiful Potter Heigham church was a real treat, with a super hammerbeam roof and beautiful embroidered kneelers. Then we headed south to Norwich Camping – a huge camping and accessories shop at Blofield, east of Norwich. Excellent base for supplies! Then onto Strumpshaw Fen, an RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve where we did a super 5 mile walk and saw our first Swallow and sand Martins of the year – Spring and summer can’t be far away! We need reminding of this as the temperatures at night have been around, or below freezing, and in the daytime the windchill has made hat, gloves and scarves essential. But it is dry!!
Tonight was Britstop 246. The pub has new owners who are really trying to turn it around. there was a bit of noise from the road but we slept well.
Thursday we drove to the National Trust carpark on Dunwich Heath and used the Geocaching website to plan a 7 mile circular walk on the Heath and in Dunwich forest. A great walk (which included spotting a Dartford Warbler), and by finding a sheltered spot we were able to remove our coats and have a picnic on Dunwich beach. A long history of coastal erosion has meant that Dunwich, which was an important, thriving port in Roman times, is now virtually all buried under the sea. At very low tide, remains of buildings etc can be seen and mapped.
After the walk, we headed a few miles to the lovely RSPB flagship reserve at Minsmere for an evening walk looking out over the Brackish ponds and scrapes where birds gather to breed at this time of year. Lovely.
We stayed at a small campsite a few miles away at Eastbridge Farm – very basic but just £8 and so peaceful – and a Tawny owl flew right past Boris!
Friday we made an early start back at Minsmere and walked all around the reserve. Lots of different birds but highlights were the Avocets, a close up view of a Cetti’s warbler and 2 rarities – an Iceland Gull, and Mediterranean Gulls. Oh.. and did we mention the wonderful Marsh Harriers hunting very near the hides – great views. They have also created an adder walk, and there were 3 good sized adders basking in the sun – apparently they are quite predictable first thing in the morning, when they need to bask in their favourite spot to warm up before they glide off to start feeding.
Finally, we started the long drive home, but made much more enjoyable by stopping in Beaconsfield to visit Peter and Tracy and have a super dinner in the Thai Rack restaurant in Goddards Green – their treat!! Then we couldn’t resist staying for a game of Diminishing Whist – so home about 1am! A great Bimble!
Car Parking:
Cambridge – Park and ride excellent. £1 to park, £2.70 return on bus. BUT ONLY the Trumpington Park and Ride just off M11 Junction 11 has no height barrier – look for the special lane. All other P&Rs are 2.1m. No overnight Parking
Norwich – Park and Ride excellent. £3.50 return on bus. No parking charge. No overnight Parking
Dunwich – Free car park at Beach. National Trust Car park on heath free for members. No overnight Parking
Minsmere – Free parking. No overnight parking.
Overnight stops:
As usual we made great use of the Britstops Guide – just £27 for 1 year. We stayed at 5 different ones – all pubs this time. Ate a meal in one, had a drink in all the others, so most nights cost us about £5 – and we might well have gone to a pub for a drink anyway.
Tuesday night we stayed at Ludham – Grove Park Barns, a Camping and Caravan Club certificated campsite near Hickling Broad which was a lovely quiet location, with 2 toilet/shower units. Very clean but not the most powerful shower we have ever had! Still – all freshened up again! We thought £16 was a bit expensive for what you got.
Thursday night, in the absence of any Britstops , we stayed at Eastbridge Farm Campsite – just £8, but you need your own loo! there is a water point, and CDP. Essentially just a field, but SO peaceful and within a mile of Minsmere RSPB reserve.
Places to eat:
Cambridge – very busy but we had an excellent meal at Cote Brasserie near St Johns College.
Norwich – Excellent lunch menu – Soup, Sandwiches, Paninis, Quiche, Jackets etc, but all excellent quality and great value – in the Refectory at Norwich cathedral.
Things to do:
Cambridge – Kings College Chapel, Walk along the backs, Take a guided walk, Visit Colleges – Trinity plus Wren library, St Johns, Granchester,
Norwich- Cathedral, Plantation Garden, Meander the lanes. Excellent Tourist Information has many walks.
Birders – Hickling Broad boat trips, walks and raptor Roost. RSPB Minsmere and Strumpshaw Fen.
National Trust – there are lots of great properties in this region – we only visited Oxburgh on this trip – excellent.
I am trying a new format this month which is hopefully more useful as a reference and information tool! Do let me know your thoughts.. Places visited : Lyme Regis, Dorset; Beer, Devon. Car Parking: Lyme Regis- excellent. Both the Charmouth Road and Holmbush carparks have dedicated spaces for motorhomes. £2 per day at this time of year. Both are up hills though.
Beer – motorhomes can use clifftop carpark £1 in winter. Railway shop at Pecorama has its own carpark. Overnight: A Britstop Farm shop – excellent. Eating Places: The Penny Black cafe in Lyme Regis – excellent. Activities: Walking the Undercliff path at Lyme Regis 8/10; visiting the model railway shop at Beer 7/10
Our main purpose for this trip was to visit the Peco model railway shop at Beer. We set off on a glorious March morning and decided to visit Lyme Regis and do the Undercliff walk.
Lyme Regis is a lovely place to explore, and it was sheltered from the Northeasterly wind, so we had a lovely picnic sat in the sun of the promenade! Our lunch was some excellent sandwiches from the Penny Black café which is tucked behind the Post Office in the main Street.
Then we walked west, heading into a lost world known as the Undercliff nature reserve, which is one of the most important wilderness areas in Britain. The overgrown landslips form a jungle-like habitat which is fun to explore: a path leads from behind the harbour up a steep flight of steps into the woodlands of the Undercliff, riven with streams and valleys, and sudden open grassy areas affording dramatic sea views. There are rare plants here, lots of birdlife, and the temperature is usually 3 degrees higher than the countryside around.
We walked a total of 6 miles out and back – you cannot continue to Axmouth at the moment due to a landslip, but they are hopeful the full path will reopen by mid 2016.
Lyme Regis is also an excellent place for Fossil hunting, and there are several museums who organise workshops and walks.
After the walk we sat in the sun – inside Boris – enjoying the sun and reading. Then off to a local Farm Shop which is part of the Britstops scheme. We have used this for several years to find free places to spend the night. membership is just £27 per year – we make or money back in 2 nights.
The shop was excellent , containing a vast array of fresh produce, much of it local or home grown. Also much in evidence was genuine French produce, the product of regular trips to France.
After a very peaceful night, we awoke to discover the temperature had dropped to -3.5 degrees. Thank goodness for a thick duvet and a hot water bottle. We were lovely and snug.
The next morning we headed off to the objective of our visit – a visit to the Peco model Railway shop at Beer. Chris is building a layout and he wanted ideas about design, tunnels etc. I however bought 5 teeny boy scouts with a hand cart, some 1950’s schoolboys and some gates – all 00 guauge.
Playtime over, we headed back home on what was now a very grey and cold day indeed.
A spur of the moment decision to go to view the winter bird spectacular at Snettisham in Norfolk, led to a 3 night break with our friends Sue, Alan, Paul and Pam. Setting out after work Thursday, the 225 miles took 4 hours , and we arrived at our rental cottage… Halfpenny Cottage in Docking… by 10.00pm. It was a super cottage with an open fire, beautifully equipped and furnished and with 4 double bedrooms. Perfect!
Friday morning we were up at 5.45 and headed at dawn to Snettisham RSPB reserve on the Wash. At certain times of year, the very high Spring tides rush in and.cover the mud flats, pushing the thousands of birds into a smaller and smaller space. This gives rise to the spectacle of up to 60,000 waders taking off at once, and whirling around in wonderful murmurating shapes.
We were not disappointed, and the sun came out as well, so the light glinting on the wings was wonderful.
A final treat was a Peregrine falcon swooping into the flocks and making them fly. It sped through again and again, and finally caught a straggling dunlin.
One of the most wonderful experiences is when a flock flies right over your head, with the faintest, sweetest whooshing sound.
Huge skeins of geese took off from the marshes and made wonderful shapes in the sky. An awesome morning.
The rest of the day we visited Cley and walked out onto the marshes at Blakeney, marvelling at the huge skies and the abundance of wildlife. Finally a lovely evening playing Diminishing Whist!
Saturday we revisited Snettisham early and were again treated to wonderful swoops and patterns. Then on to Titchwell… but Brrrrrrr the wind was icy cold so by mid afternoon we headed back to our cosy cottage, lit the fire and had a great afternoon and evening playing Pictionary and other games.
On Sunday, we went to Walsingham Abbey and walked through 20 acres of woodland carpeted with snowdrops.
Heavenly!
Finally a super Sunday lunch at the Three Horseshoes in Royden.
Super, beautifully cooked Sunday lunch platters for 2.. and an absolute bargain at £22 for 2.
Then we all headed for home having really enjoyed our impromptu winter holiday!
So, one of our challenges was a Bimble in Boris every month this year. We didn’t have much time left for January so we seized the moment. The beauty of Boris is that he never seems to suffer with damp so we can get him ready with just a few hours notice. I had to work in West Sussex (about 100 miles from out home in Dorset), running a parent workshop on Tuesday evening this week. Chris had Monday off, so, …perfect opportunity for a Bimble.
We decided that we wouldn’t cook in Boris this time (great excuse for some January meals out!), and so we set off at 1.00 Monday. Within 20 minutes we had agreed it would be far more sensible to eat a main meal at lunchtime so that we didn’t have to go out looking for a restaurant on a dark, windy night. Hmmm – we were just about to pass one of our favourite New Forest pubs – The Oak Inn at Bank, near Lyndhurst.
www.oakinnlyndhurst.co.uk We hadn’t been for a while and…. well why not?! They had a table and we enjoyed a really great Winter’s lunch. It is a wonderful, traditional Forest Pub and with it’s fire, was lovely and warm. They have an excellent menu, but we went for real winter warmer food… well…we did AFTER we shared an excellent Greek Meze platter to start! Chris had Game Faggots and I had Calves Liver with Horseradish mash. Both were superbly cooked and very tasty – just the job!
Then, off we went. The intention was to stop at Horndean in Hampshire where my father had grown up, to look for my Grandpa’s grave. He was Lieut. Arthur Henry Warburton, R.N, and he died in 1949, so I never met him, but I wanted to find it. Success in the Victorian churchyard, and the grave was covered in Snowdrops which was rather nice.
Old photo from 1949 that I used to locate the graveGrave of Grandpa Warburton Jan 2016
Then on to the Chichester harbour area, where we found a place to stay at Cobweb’s campsite on the Cobnor Estate on the edge of Chichester Harbour. Their actual site was too wet due to the almost endless rain we have been having, but they found us a place in the farmyard – right next to a boat – useful if it keeps raining!
Apart from the wind it was so silent and we slept very well. Having electric hookup meant we could put the electric blanket on which was lovely! Next morning, a path from the site led us to the edge of Chichester harbour and we did a pretty, but blustery walk for a mile or so before turning back. Lots of birds but all very hunkered down against the wind.
Looking towards Bosham
Then into Chichester where we parked on the Festival Car Park without difficulty – £3.90 for 5 hours, and an easy walk into the centre. Chichester is a small but beautiful city. We visited the Cathedral which is unique in its collection of 20th-century paintings, sculpture and glass. These include a window by Marc Chagall, a tapestry by John Piper a beautiful copper font and a painting by Graham Sutherland. However the art in the Cathedral also contains some wonderful early objects including the 12th century Lazarus Reliefs and the 16th century Lambert Barnard paintings. We also visited the interesting museum in the Novium building. Both were free admission and worth a visit. The Novium is built on the site of a partially excavated Roman Bath house.
Finally a visit to a restaurant – you guessed it – there had to be food here somewhere. I had found Amelie and friends on Tripadvisor. http://amelieandfriends.com It was situated in a beautiful old building in the heart of Chicester. On entry we were greeted warmly and shown to our table. The restaurant was fully booked on a Tuesday in January – a good sign!
The menu was lovely, with a good range of choices. The portions were not huge (that suits us – although the fish pie was pretty generous) but the quality of the produce, the taste and the preparation/presentation were wonderful.
Chris had ham hock with baked apple to start, and homemade Fish Pie which he said was superb. I loved my Goats cheese and pear starter, and for main course I had John Dory with roasted fennel…mmmmm.
The desserts were gorgeous, and too tempting to resist. We both recommend the Kir Royal Souffle and the Moelleux de chocolat. Wow.
It was a lovely lunch on a wild, wet and windy day!
Then we had to drive to Billingshurst where I was to work. A quick change into work clothes, a cup of tea for Chris and a game of cards while we waited for the start time… that is the beauty of the camper van. We could have had a light snack as well…but we were TOO FULL!!!
The workshop went really well, finishing at 9.00pm – but then we had the drive home in the teeth of a pretty ferocious storm. At times the rain was being driven horizontally. We made it home by 11.15, having really enjoyed our short, but productive, January Bimble!
Anne paddling in the sea in Dorset on New Year’s DaySome lovely Spanish warmth at our New Year’s Eve party with friends… well I had to include a food picture!
After a rather grey and damp December, and a brief cold snap we find ourselves in mid-January and wondering when we could do our first Bimble of the year.
Boris is having his MOT and Service as I am writing this, so fingers are firmly crossed (which makes typing tricky) that he will be back tonight fully fit and raring to go.
We have the capability to camp in cold weather. The Webasto diesel heater is brilliant, and the electric blanket on the bed is even better. Chris has discovered that by using the inverter we can even use the electric blanket to prewarm the bed when we are not on electric hookup, so long as the batteries are well charged up. It has a negligible effect on the charge.
We had drained down and cleaned all the tanks in November, and we always bring all the linen and soft furnishings indoors in case of damp, but it has not been a problem so far.
So, we are now thinking of restocking the food cupboard, fitting up the bed and trying a short Bimble next week.
We will also review all our memberships and guides. Our top 3 were:
Britstops – we found the Britstops guide really useful last year. It costs just £25 and provided us with lots of free, and very welcoming stopovers in the UK, so we will renew our membership because it seems only fair to recompense the creators for all their hard work. http://www.Britstops.com
All the Aires – this series of books are great if you are travelling in Europe and help keep costs down dramatically. www.all-the-aires.com
Camping and Caravanning Club – we have recouped our membership fees by using their discount on cross channel ferries, and making use of the certificated sites. The discounts on club sites also mean we can have one night with lovely showers and washing machines for a very reasonable rate, in the midst of all our free and budget nights. http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk
So…what are our Bimbling resolutions….
1. To do at least one Bimble – however short – in every month of 2016!
2. To visit at least 3 new countries or off shore locations this year!
3. To work out how this blog can be better organised to provide a list of resources for readers!
Happy New Year everyone x
Another day catching up with Jenny and Tim (I wish they would stop running off!), and visiting the lovely and historic town of Saintes (rhymes with pant!). Roman and gothic relics abound and the newly pedestrianised centre makes it a super place to Bimble away a morning. The formal planting was quite impressive too!The serious business of the trip was to find a good lunch spot. We can wholeheartedly recommend La Terrasse, by the river, whose 18 euro 3 course lunch was exceptionally good quality and value.
Rain was forecast for the rest of the afternoon so we headed back to the house and had a good session of cards and nattering.
Saturday September 19th
My birthday! A nice breakfast and a lovely gift of a picture frame from Jenny and Tim, before our sad departure 😔. Thank you to Jenny, Tim, Mimi and Monti for a super stay, but Mimi…. you need to improve your hide and seek technique before our next visit!
We headed north via the outskirts of Rochefort and La Rochelle. This is an excellent way to avoid motorway tolls!
We used to own a cottage in the Vendee and as we drove by we resisted the pull to go and see the village …We had a more important mission!
When we had the cottage we also had a favourite vineyard.. Chateau de Rosnay. We wanted to get there before it shut for lunch!
We made it in time, and soon 2 boxes of our favourite white wine – Tendresse – were installed in Boris. Time to head north again, picking up the autoroute just south of Nantes from where it is free all the way to Rennes and Caen.
It was a good drive. We stopped to picnic on the Nantes – Brest canal, but that was our only pause before arriving at Carrefour at Ouistreham to stock up with cheese and other ‘essentials’.
However we were not heading straight for the ferry. By using the ferry at 8.30am next morning we saved £140, and having the camper we could sleep in an aire free of charge so didn’t need to pay for a hotel room. So we crossed the river at the site of Pegasus bridge and went a few miles east to Cabourg, where we enjoyed a bracing walk along the promenade and the dunes before returning to Boris to get changed.
I had booked a restaurant for dinner using their Internet booking site. Au pied des Marais had super reviews and we were very excited. When we arrived it was a bit of a shock when they said they had not received the booking and were full. My face fell and they took pity on us and found us a table. Wow am I glad they did. The food was exquisite and very unusual. Presentation was excellent and the service was so courteous and helpful. The owner / head chef was charming – he takes all the orders and serves the main courses , and is often clearing tables and serving drinks and chatting to his guests. There was a roaring fire which some of the dishes were cooked upon.
For our foodie fans, here are some photos of our choices. Nibbles were followed by 2 amuse bouche – a veloute of carrot, pleurotte and broccoli and a broccoli, and chorizo mix with tomato cream on top.
Starters – Chris had Oysters while I had a tower of Lisette (tiny fish) with vegetables and asparagus topping in a gazpacho coulis. Then the Trou normande. . A delicious apple sorbet over which they drizzled Pommeau (16%) or Calvados (42%) – your choice!
Entrée – we both had Skate in a tower with vegetables, spinach puree and a sensational apple cream sauce. Then cheese – a bon bon Normande which was a parcel of melting camembert.
Finally, the dessert and to my astonishment mine arrived with a candle and Birthday greetings piped around the edge, and served by the owner..who offered to sing but said he didn’t recommend it!
Finally coffee with home made bonbons!
Sublime. And the price of that whole menu was 36 euros.. about £27.50.
What a treat. Thank you again Chris as this was the second half of my birthday present!
Finally, we left at 11pm, and went from the sublime to the ridiculous. We drove back to the port at Ouistreham and Boris crept in to the aire next to the docks, where about 40 other campers were already hunkered down for the night. We found a spot and snuggled down for our last night in Boris for this holiday. We set the alarm for 6.45 and both slept like logs!
Sunday September 20th
The alarm worked and we were soon queueing at the ferry terminal. It was a foggy start but it soon lifted and we had a flat calm crossing, arriving into Portsmouth by lunchtime. Best of all, we spotted a gannet and an arctic tern which took our bird total from a frustrating 149 to a brilliant 151 for the holiday!
Then home, and after some unpacking etc. Jen arrived home and cooked us a delightful birthday dinner. Delicious. 💗 A fabulous end to a great trip.
The Yelloh campsite at St Emilion was excellent and we got all our chores done before leaving and driving West, through Libourne and out along the Dordogne estuary to Bourg. From there we followed the Gironde corniche road to Villeneuve and on to Blaye. It was narrow in places but very quiet, and it was interesting to see the houses built here, with their gardens down to the water.
At Blaye the Dordogne river has merged with the Garonne river to form the huge Gironde estuary. Blaye was first defended by the Romans. Subsequently a significant 12th century castle was built when the area was under English rule, but today what can be seen is a huge citadel built in 1685.
Boris at the citadel at Blaye.
King Louis XIV wanted to defend the estuary and he commissioned Sebastian Le Prestre Vaubon to devise a plan. The estuary was wider than the range of cannon fire, so Vaubon devised a plan to bolt the estuary shut. He built the citadel at Blaye, Fort Medoc on the opposite bank and a small fort on a reclaimed sandbank in the middle. These were not subjected to attack until 1814!
We explored the citadel, dodging a few spots of rain. There is ample free parking for campers just outside the gates, and it is a nice overnight stop as well. There is also a municipal campsite inside the citadel!!
It was then time to head for a supermarket to stock up on some essentials… wine, Normandy cider, confit de canard…. before taking the excellent D137 north to Pons to avoid the motorway tolls. Every other vehicle seemed to be a campervan heading south. British, German, French and Netherlands. It made us sad to be heading home, but first we were heading to our friends in Villars-en-Pons for a few days.
We had a lovely afternoon and evening catching up on news and enjoying a scrumptious Fruits de mer supper. I’ve never seen so many Oysters and Prawns, and the Crab was wonderful.
Now to sleep in a bed for the first time in a long while.
Thursday September 17th
We heard on the news about terrible rainstorms to the south of us which had resulted in 2 deaths, and then saw that there had also been torrential rain in the UK with flooding in Bournemouth and Boscombe at home. We were obviously very lucky to have missed most of it!
Today we headed out to Talmont, a lovely village on a promontory founded by King Edward I. The old church is lovely – very simple, and looking out over the estuary as it has done for nearly 1000 years. The town is quite a tourist trap but still very pleasant. The streets are lined with flowers and there are some excellent artisan shops and eateries.
Fishing was a major industry here, and the adjoining cliffs have traditional carrelets or fishing huts.
We had excellent and very reasonable galettes for lunch at La Talmontaise, and then drove to Palmyre for a blustery walk along the cliffs, again looking out to the estuary, but much nearer the open Atlantic now. There is a beautiful sandy beach here which is dotted with the remains of Nazi blockhouses from their Atlantic Wall defences in WW2.
Following the walk we headed back to Jenny and Tim ‘ s via a garden centre where we spotted the latest must have accessory to enable you to take your dog or cat for a walk…..the doggy pushchair!
Then back to Jenny and Tim’s for another excellent supper and then a very giggly evening of cards!
We awoke to find a very normal looking campsite in the daylight, if rather empty. We set off promptly for our main objective of the day – The Foz de Lumbier! A foz is a gorge!
Parking was easy by the entrance, and as we started to walk towards the gorge, a huge bird swept through the sky and flew through the opening in front of us… a Lammergeier. The largest vulture in the Pyrénées with a wingspan of 2.7 metres! Fantastic, especially as they are only occasional visitors to this gorge. The main residents were waiting for us around the corner. Griffon vultures. Lots and lots of them at different places along the magnificent gorge.Flying, soaring on thermals or just perched on the crags, they were amazing to see. We saw egyptian vultures and a booted eagle too. The sky was also alive with Crag Martins and Swifts. You could walk the whole length of the gorge, because amazingly a railway had been laid high along one side, and the path followed the old track. Through 2 long tunnels as well! It was incredible from start to finish for both the spectacular scenery and the birds. Total cost…2 euros for parking!
We had been expecting rain by 11am, and so had planned to spend a wet afternoon in the city of Pamplona… BUT by 11am it was still sunny so we changed plans and headed up into the mountains for some more walks, birds and scenery.
Next stop the Foz de Abayon about 10km up the road. Not possible to walk here, but the view from the mirador was so beautiful.
And still the sun shone, so we decided to test Boris on mountain roads and follow a tour I had found in a book!!
Chris was a hero for braving it! He drove miles and miles through gorgeous valleys and hills, with twists and hairpin bends everywhere! Spain has used it’s EU money wisely, and the roads are really good quality, they just kept getting narrower! Suddenly we were on a remote pass on top of the Pyrénées. The views were awesome, but there were some very menacing clouds in one direction.
We were aiming for a nature reserve…the Bosque d’Irati, in one of the most remote and untouched forests in Europe. We got there in the end… the very end of the road! Truly in the middle of nowhere.
We did a 4 mile hike through beautiful natural forest. It had a Jurassic park feel about it, and that was only compounded when we saw a stunning Salamander on the path. Ok…it isn’t a dinosaur…but you don’t see one of those everyday.
Our other remote hope was to see a very rare bird… a white backed woodpecker. Suddenly we heard a bird calling. We scanned the trees and there it was. We were able to watch it for about 10 minutes. There was not another person for miles. It was an astonishing place.
We then had to drive 24 kms back along the twisty road… still having dodged the rain, but the pass was in cloud for our return. As we descended out of the mist we went by a really isolated farm, where all the sheep had newborn lambs!
Another 35kms of twists and turns brought us to Roncevalles and Camping Urrobi. This was an excellent site and enabled us to catch up on all the usual ablutions and jobs.
Friday September 11th
We had a lie in!! Set off at 11.30 and headed on across the Pyrénées. More twists and turns but then… a small autoroute with tunnels to iron out the bends. A welcome rest for Chris’ arm muscles and for my vertigo… I was a quivering mass of jelly on some of the bends yesterday! I must say though, that there is so little traffic on these roads that we had hardly any need to stop or reverse on the narrow ones.
Our first stop was the Jardin botanique de Senorio Bertiz, high in the mountains. Laid out in the 19th century in a tiny corner of his vast family estate (which is now a national park), it was a sweet garden with many thriving examples of trees from around the world. We picnicked here in the hot sun and watched pied and spotted flycatchers swooping by.
Then we headed down out of the mountains, knowing that we also left peace and tranquility behind. We hit the Atlantic Coast at Irun so that we could visit an unlikely bird reserve. It is in the centre of town, sandwiched between the airport and the railway depot!
Txingudi (This is not a spelling mistake. We are now in Basque country. .X’s everywhere!) is, however, an internationally important wetland, especially at migration time, when it serves as a stop off point and watering hole for migrants on their long journeys north or south.
It was a magical place as it also looked out onto the Bidasoa estuary with Hendaye in France to the right and Hondarriba in Spain to the left. We added several birds to the list here, but the stand out one was an Osprey perched on a pole in the harbour eating his recently caught fish.
We then drove round to Hondarriba where we had been told we could park for 10 euros in an aire. As we drove in, the roads got busier and busier. Obviously something was ‘going on’. We reached the aire at the far end of town which was part of an enormous carpark by the beach. There were campervans everywhere. We found a space and it was time for Google!
It turns out we had arrived on the final day of the 4 day festival of the Virgin of Guadaloupe, a major event in the Basque town’s calendar, because she saved them from a seige by the French.
We couldn’t see where to pay so I went to ask the van next door. They were french, and asked me if I knew why it was so busy. I knowledgeably explained about the festival….but left out the part that they were celebrating escaping the french!!
Anyway…the good news was…there was no charge for the night’s stay!
We walked into the town. It was a truly delightful old town of Basque houses with little verandas. Definitely worth a visit. The whole town was en fête, and there were lots of photos up of the previous day’s parade, where everyone was in Basque national dress. We came upon musicians, singers, dancers, a fair, a market, and hundreds of people everywhere enjoying the party.
We came back to Boris, when, at 10.30pm, the whole car park shook and several van alarms went off. The fireworks had started. We had a grandstand view from Boris.. wasn’t it kind of them to lay on such a great welcome!
Saturday September 12th
We had been worried that the party would make it a noisy night, but all was quiet and we slept well. The new mattress topper in Boris is SO comfortable!
A grey day with rain forecast. We planned to go to a Basque boat building museum in San Pedro but another fête meant parking was impossible so we headed to Carrefour to do some Spanish shopping and fill up with fuel…79p a litre! Even with all the mountain driving Boris is still managing nearly 30mpg which we are very happy with.
This is not the title of the next Jilly Cooper novel! Sadly, it only relates to our stint at Trailtrekker for Oxfam.
We were on Checkpoint 3 – this is 42 miles into the course. It was in a tiny village in beautiful (but remote) e, in the Yorkshire Dales. Most people were expected through here between 10pm and 5.30 am so our shift was 11.30pm – 6.am!
We drove up there Saturday morning to find a good spot for Boris. Unfortunately good = the least squelchy part of the field we could find! Even on mats we could see poor Boris sinking slightly!
Still ….we had a free day so we did a super walk up over a large hill and down into the next dale where we hoped to revisit an old haunt – The White Lion…only to find it closed for refurbishment 😦 4 miles later we found the wonderful George at Hubberholme http://www.thegeorge-inn.co.uk/ , which more than made up for it with a great pint of Black Sheep Ale for Chris, and super Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas for £6.95! We then managed a doze in the early evening but then , as we played Rummikub the heavens opened. For 90 minutes a massive storm raged all around, and all we could think of were the 700 walkers out there somewhere.
When our shift started we were told that the walk had been put on hold, with everyone being held at the checkpoints and waterstops because the roads were flooded and the high paths were too dangerous. Then we heard that the river had burst it’s banks so some of the footpaths were underwater. Amazingly – most people at the checkpoint were just getting restless because they wanted to get going again.
Eventually they were given the all clear, but at the stop before us, where the river had flooded the paths, people had to be rescued and brought to us by minibus.
Still, the vast majority wanted to carry on, despite sodden clothing, blisters, aching joints etc. Despite what this sounds like, the safety was excellent, and they were all given the opportunity of medical checks etc. It is a tribute to the organisation of the event that everyone was safe, fed and watered and able to continue if they wanted to. At times, the huge tent felt like a war zone! We all mucked in doing anything that was required – a lot of work with endlessly emptying bins, and teas and coffees (yes you did read that right!), as well as being a mentor, confidante, first aider and general person to lean on! Every team has a support crew that drive and meet them at the checkpoints. The well organised ones have huge boxes of dry clothes, spare footwear, plasters etc. The less prepared ones look on enviously and say…we’ll do it better next time!
We were awed by their drive and determination, and the total event should raise £750,000! That is staggering…. and most of them will be today!
So – 6.30am…. back at Boris… and, like every other vehicle on the field we had to be towed out of the mud! Then down to a car park in Skipton where we managed 2 hours sleep before driving home! Now we are back at Sopers Lane a day early……. so – what do you do in those circumstances…. you change your ferry booking and go on Monday instead of Tuesday!
So – bedlinen is changed, Boris all cleaned and prepared. Yorkshire clothing and maps removed and French and Spanish supplies installed! Yippee! A demain!
We are finally doing a proper Bimble in Boris.
We took a free walking tour with Footprints Tours. 
Then we headed south to Norwich Camping – a huge camping and accessories shop at Blofield, east of Norwich. Excellent base for supplies! Then onto Strumpshaw Fen, an RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) reserve where we did a super 5 mile walk and saw our first Swallow and sand Martins of the year – Spring and summer can’t be far away! We need reminding of this as the temperatures at night have been around, or below freezing, and in the daytime the windchill has made hat, gloves and scarves essential. But it is dry!!
Bimbling! 