A day out in Reims - 17th Oct ‘19

Another dreary weather day with rain / drizzle in the morning, grey and overcast all afternoon with the sun breaking out at 6pm just in time to set on us!

The idea of spending 2 nights at the sites heading south was to re-charge our batteries after a travel day. Well, we did just that with a very pleasant “at leisure” day. A standard caravan morning of tea and reading in bed, breakfast omelette and ablutions - very nice. We left the site at about 12.30 for the half hour drive into Reims. We avoided the motorway and drove through some interesting French countryside driving by Champagne vineyards / producers and French war graves - this area saw some fierce WW1 fighting. There were 3 Battles of Aisne over a 4 year period as this area sat right on the Western Front between Germany and France.

We parked in a very scary underground car park in the centre of Reims. There wasn’t a lot of room so the Volvo’s cameras / bleepers were going off constantly! A quick walk round and a very nice coffee and cake at Columbus - a French coffee house chain.

We wanted to buy some local Champagne so we went to one of the many Champagne shops - this one was right next to the Cathedral. After spending ages serving a couple of very annoying American middle aged women, Bertrand was delighted to be rid of them and help us! He sold us a very nice bottle assuring us it was one of the more local of the 5000 producers! He said this would be good to “lay down” - should be good for Kim’s 60th or my 70th!!?

We looked around the very impressive Reims Cathedral. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims_Cathedral It dates back to Roman times but the main building is 13th century with a lot of 20th century re-building after the war. It’s a fascinating place as it was the site of every French Kings coronation for hundreds of years.

We visited the next door Palais de Tau. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Tau So named as it is shaped as a letter “T” and houses lots of historical royal stuff. It confirmed how little I/we knew of French history! How about you? Question: who was the last French King crowned (I did put coronated but sounds like something you do to a chicken!!?) in Reims in 1825? Answer below.

We fancied something nice to eat and found a very pretty wide street with dozens of eating establishments. It turned out every one didn’t serve food until 7 - 2 hours from when we wanted to eat! After nearly giving up and heading for the Frite van we found a nice place called L’Edito (
I had moules in curry and frites, Kim had a veggie burger - very tasty.

Before heading out we went to a huge Carrefour on the edge of the city - it was huge, it took me 20 mins to walk around all the cheeses! We have a long journey tomorrow and after sampling the delights of French motorway services, we plan to be more self sufficient this time.

Back hone to Brunnehilda for another episode of The Wire, a cup of tea and blogging. A big day of travelling tomorrow- and it’s our wedding anniversary!

Answer: Charles Xth. Don’t about you but I thought it was Louis XVIth!

https://www.restaurant-ledito-reims.fr/

Ferry crossing to Calais and on to Guignicourt- 16th Oct ‘19

Well we were expecting a quiet nights sleep in our farm courtyard in the middle of no-where ... nope that was not what we got! At about 2 in the morning a distressed cow starting mooing and she (I’m afraid it was a lady beast) didn’t stop until we left at 8! I don’t think she was doing it to hack us off so the obvious conclusion was that she was in physical or emotional pain! Either way it pushes you one step closer to veganism - if only butter and cheese weren’t so bloody nice?!

We arrived at the port before 8.45 (90 mins before the sail time) so they put us on the earlier sailing - 9.25. The boat seemed less than half empty so lots of room to spread out. I have to say though the food was bloody disappointing- we were looking forward to some nice fresh croissants or pan au chocolats! No such luck, we didn’t fancy the nasty looking English breakfast so we did without - apart from a lousy humus wrap and a Starbucks - yuck!

The weather was not great but we still managed a quick stroll on deck!

The road we wanted to get to Reims literally was straight off the boat. The campsite was only 2 miles off this road (A26) so it was a fairly easy 150 mile trip. We stopped for a break at an Aire (French motorway service station). Another culinary disappointment as we ended up with a dried up pan au chocolat and an over sweet coffee eclair. I suppose we should have tempered our expectations - you wouldn’t expect much from a pitstop at Watford Gap after all?

The XC60 pulled Brunnehilda very well - although the fuel economy was not anywhere near as good today. Partly to do with the fact our average speed was higher but also because we seemed to be going uphill quite a lot!

We arrived at Camping au Bord de l’Aisne (just north of Reims) at about 3.45pm. https://camping-aisne-picardie.fr/ The site is about 1/10th full. They shut down at the end of October and clearly the busy season was over. The check in lady was very nice - her English was certainly better than our French! We soon got settled. Even quicker than normal as, wait for it... I managed to 90 degree back onto the pitch!!! Blimey, what a result! The most frustrating thing though ... there was no one there to see it! Apart from the current Mrs Pitts who was very complimentary without being patronising - most folks, I’m sure, would have gone the other way on that one?

The wee town is called Guignicourt. It’s a bit run down but very French. The campsite (and town) nestles by the banks of the Aisne - a very big river that lends its name to this whole area of France.
We had a nice walk by the river into town. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aisne

Once in town we managed a trip to Carrefour (aka Tesco’s!!) for provisions. To be fair provisions was mostly 20 bottles (+) of Belgian beer - there was an offer on! We made it into a pizza / kebab place as soon as it opened at 6. Our culinary disastrous day in the home of fine dining continued. They only do pizzas at the weekend and while the kebabs and burgers looked good, it wasn’t exactly the menu of choice for 2 would be veggies. We both ended up with salad and fries. Have to say the fries were bloody good though.

We watched another episode of The Wire on DVD and headed for an early night - cup of tea and reading in bed - #rockandrolllifestyle. Hopefully there are no cows anywhere close tonight? If there are I might just be forced to get a gun and have a steak!!

Whilton Marina to Dover - 15th Oct ‘19

Wow, the day has come ... after 50 nights away in the UK we’re off overseas!! As exciting as it is terrifying!! Not sure if mainland Europe is ready for Brunnehilda?! Actually they’re ready for her - she’s just going hone after all - I’m not sure they’re ready for me pulling her?

Kim was working in the morning so we didn’t pull out of Whilton Marina until 12.20. We stopped at Thurrock for a bite to eat. Brunnehilda was parked amongst the HGVs as the HGVs had used all the caravan spaces! On all our 5 hour journey we didn’t notice another van - I guess most sensible caravaners pack them away by the end of September!?

The motorways were really busy which was surprisingly un-stressful! It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re going 40 with a van. You can only go at 60 anyway and so what if you’re running late- c’est le vie ... the life of a retired caravaner eh?

Barfrestone Court Farm just outside Dover is a smashing little CL site. It’s set in the courtyard of a very upmarket working farm. We were the only ones there so we had it to ourselves. The lady owner was super nice and very laid back. Also good as I didn’t feel any embarrassment (no onlookers) ad I motor moved Brunnehilda into the easiest of pitches.

As soon as we were set up we headed into Dover for a bite to eat. Not a lot to chose from but in the end we had a very nice one at Nandos. It was very busy so I guess most people had had the same problem as us in finding a suitable place to eat. I had a Mushroom and humus wrap which was really good - who needs chicken eh?

Returned to the site by way of a Tesco Extra. Not sure if the price of French diesel but we thought it prudent to fill up.

A quick read and then to bed. This place is in the middle of no where so there is literally no sound or lights at all. I think we’re going to sleep well.

Journey Hone to Whilton, via Fimber - 12th Oct ‘19

An early start this morning as we want to get on the road ASAP. We planned to get ready and be the first breakfast customer at Fodders when they opened. Turned out that wasn’t until 8.30am so we weren’t on the road until 9.30. The veggie breakfast was as good as it was a couple of days ago. It would have been rude not to buy another square of Toblerone Brownie so we did!

No awning to get down so the pack up went very quickly. This has been a good site and definitely one to find our way back to - thanks to Jill (Kim’s Sister) for the referral.

A much nicer day today so a pleasant walk in the early morning sun with the dogs preparing them for the long journey home.

We arrived at Jenny’s at Fimber just after 11am. Jen is better in the morning so it was nice to see her recognising us with a wee smile. It’s a dreadful disease .. so cruel.

We packed Mum and Dad in the car and had a good journey back to Whilton. We broke it up with a very pleasant lunch at Anna’s Happy Kitchen at Howden (http://www.annashappykitchen.co.uk/). An excellent cup of mushroom soup and splendid cup of Yorkshire tea! A big endorsement as well for a caravan proof car park ... you could get in and out without having to reverse .. result!

We arrived at Whilton at 4.30. Mum and Dad had their car parked there so they got on home while I washed the road grime off Brunnehilda. Kim and I parked her up and put her to bed before heading off to Buckby and home.

Pros and Cons of Harrogate Caravan Park:
Pros:
1) Great position - nice walk into town, lots of dog walking & close to Sainos
2) Very clean and well kept - particularly the toilet block
3) The wonderful farm shop / cafe on site
4) Decent size pitches
5) Nice little touches - eg a little shelf to put the toilet cassette cap on to stop you losing it down the flush hole. - the first one to have this!
6) A good price
Cons:
1) No greenery between pitches so not very private and not much character. It wouldn’t have been so nice if someone was in the pitch immediately to our right
2) Another sizeist bathroom mirror placement  - suitable for people of a height range between 4’6” and 5’9”
3) Manual gate / barrier (after 8pm) - Kim didn’t like having to get out the car to open it!

Another Wet Day in Harrogate - 11th Oct ‘19

Gee, if we wanted a test for wee Bella we certainly had a result last night. It pretty much rained non stop for 12 hours and then there was the wind??? Over 50mph for 4 or 5 hours gave her a very challenging first night. I am pleased to say that she cane through with flying colours.

A really lazy morning this morning! Farm shop fried eggs and Shaftesbury baker’s sourdough was a damn fine start to the day but then everything got very low gear as we waited for the rain to stop and the site showers to re-open. I did manage to take the dogs for a walk around the Showground fields when the  rain was starting to abate. The walk takes you by an old disused railway viaduct.

Wee Bella is going to be great for the pair of us but add 2 dogs, when it is permanently wet outside, and it is never going to be easy. They weren’t very happy about being kept out of Brunnehilda. You would be forgiven in forgetting  they both come from a line of working bloody sheepdogs!?!

We decided to stay local this afternoon and headed for Harrogate - this time by car which was quite ironic as the sun was now shining! We had a pleasant couple of hours browsing around the town centre including a very nice “takeaway” lunch from a deli / cafe called Weeton’s https://www.weetons.com/

Headed home at about 4pm stopping for a provisions shop at the Sainos just by the camp site. It turned out to be quite a long one - not because we bought lots but because we had Val on the checkout and I think it was her first day?!

Another dog walk around the Showground / park and then I took down Bella. It didn’t take long at all. The packing into the bag left some room for improvement but thankfully all was completed very quickly with the minimum of cussing and profanities.

A Sainos based tea and then a movie. This time it was the Green Book - Oscar winner last year! It was excellent- a bit of a reasonably predictable feel good movie but nothing wrong with that on a wet Friday night (yes it’s raining again!) in North Yorkshire!

Early start in the morning so off to bed at a ridiculously earlier hour. I’m sure the caravan has its own time zone - it feels like 2 in the morning but the iPhone says it’s 9.47!

Bella’s First Erection & Day Out in Harrogate - 10th Oct ‘19

We treated ourselves to breakfast out this morning. Fodder, the farm shop / restaurant next door to the site is magnificent https://fodder.co.uk/. Great local food to buy, real friendly staff and superb quality restaurant. I had the veggie breakfast - first class! And good to be back to a plant based diet!

One of the objectives of this short break was to try out the new Isabella Winter Porch Awning - from now on to be known as wee Bella to avoid confusing her with her big sister! So as soon as we had returned from the farm shop with full bellies and a basket of provisions (the Toblerone Brownie was a particular favourite with me!), we begin the erection!

She went up well. The challenge was the pegs! This is the first time we’ve gone into hard standing and my mallet, much like the last 3 Tory Prime Ministers, was not up for the job! Another item on the list to buy. Wee Bella looked good up and the floor tiles Kim picked up cheaply from B&Q were a success too - we need another pack though. Another item for that bloody list!

We treated ourselves to a lunch of farm shop veggie scotch egg and salad to reward ourselves for a good job done and fortify ourselves for an afternoon walk in the Yorkshire drizzle. They’ve had a lot more rain up North than we have, the ground is absolutely soaking. I also think Autumn has come a bit earlier up here - lots of leaves on the ground and plenty of red and half empty trees.

We went on a very pleasant 2.5 mile walk across the huge Showground car park fields, up a very posh street with huge houses and over The Stray (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stray_(Harrogate) into the town centre. By the time we got there the drizzle was still on and 2 wet and muddy collies were going to be a problem in accessing the upmarket shops and cafes of Harrogate. So we turned on our heels and made the trip back.

We arrived back a little damp and knackered. We kicked off our boots and enjoyed a read, a pear cider and slice of cake in Wee Bella with the 2 dirty dogs sleeping on the new floor.

Sourdough toast and scones for tea while we shut the door, let the dogs in and cranked up the heating. The drizzle turned to heavy rain and the wind shook Bella and rocked Brunnehilda - which was all very pleasant as we were as warm as toast with a Spotify playlist competing more than adequately with the sound of the rain on Brunnehilda’s roof.  We watched the first episode of The Wire on DVD - boded well for binging all 6 series at some time in the future.

I absolutely slaughtered Kim at Canasta. It was so one sided it just wasn’t fun. I suggested that the loser might want to take the dogs out for their evening walk / wee in the pouring rain? I was overruled and it seems that it will be me getting my coat and galoshes on this time! As Captain Oates famously said ... “I’m just going outside and maybe some time...!”

Journey to Harrogate, via Fimber - 9th Oct ‘19

A short trip this one. We were going to the New Forest for 5 nights but Jenny’s (my big sister) worsening health made for a change of plan.

We left on Weds morning (not Monday) and headed North not South. We picked up Brunnehilda from Shaftesbury on Monday. We arrived late, after taking Bobby to his new flat in London, stayed overnight and bought her back to Whilton on Tuesday.

The new plan was to take mum and dad up to Jenny’s near Driffield, head over to Harrogate for a few days and then swing back round to see Jenny and pick up mum and dad for the drive home on Saturday.

Arrived at Fimber at about 2.30pm, 4 hours after leaving Whilton. The journey was fine stopping for beans on toast at the California Garden Centre in Howden https://www.californiagardens.co.uk/. We had tried to stop at Woodall services on the M1 but all the caravan places where taken up by white van men - selfish buggers! (I bet they’re all “leavers” as well!!!?)

Jenny is not great. She has a brain tumour and after 2 great years where she seemed to have the upper hand unfortunately it is now fighting back hard.

We left for Harrogate at 5pm. A nightmare journey - running very low on fuel and fighting around York northern by-pass during the rush hour. It’s amazing how few fuel stations there are when the red light is on?!

This was our first drive and set up in the dark- we didn’t arrive until nearly 7 and the Autumn nights are certainly drawing in! Apart from driving all over the grass and slightly annoying the warden (rightly so!), the set up went well. I really can’t back the van so I need to swallow my pride and get the motor mover out even for the most simple of manoeuvres. My pride and my manhood must be swallowed (can you swallow manhood???) in favour of an easy life and stopping pissing off site wardens!

The Harrogate Caravan Park https://www.harrogatecaravanpark.co.uk/ is fabulous. Situated in the Yorkshire Showground on the outskirts of town with lots of great walks around the huge site and a award winning farm shop and cafe right next door. I took the dogs for a quick walk - yes we have the 2 collies with us for this one!

We went to Harrogate for an Indian. We went to Jinnah (http://www.jinnah-restaurants.com/harrogate), situated in an old school - we had been before but I remembered it being better. My halo slipped and I succumbed to the pleasures of flesh! I felt dirty afterwards - I won’t hurry back to both the restaurant and cow / sheep based menu items!

Tea and backgammon with Brunnehilda’s heating system thumping out on the highest setting. Kim flukes a win at Backgammon so it’s fair to say things can only get better.