30th July 2009

We are now back home in Oxford and the van is in storage. We will be restarting our blog when we begin our travels again which will probably be mid to late September 2009.

We are currently planning our new route and will definately be in Germany for October as we are going to Angela's brothers wedding.

Can't wait!

Watch this space!

8th July 2009 – Pegasus Bridge

We felt really proud today when we visited the Pegasus Bridge memorial, as the Oxon & Bucks Light Infantry played a massive and vital role in the operation. It held special memories as Dean’s dad had played the bugle and more recently our brother –in-law has also played there.

Recently, John also ran a tough charity 65 mile marathon to Pegasus Bridge for Project 65 http://www.project65.net/

The museum was well worth going to as it explains the build-up, the kit they had to wear, how immensely difficult it would have been for the glider pilots to even get to their destination, and what happened once they landed. One reason to be really proud of our armed forces, irrespective of politics.

7th July 2009 – Mont St Michel

This was a place I’ve always wanted to go to as I visited it when I was at school, and had such good memories. I was not disappointed as the narrow streets, snaking up through the grounds were just as I remembered.

It was great to come back with Dean for him to see what I kept going on about! Like a big kid he bought a T-shirt from one of the shops, and we went for steak and chips in one of the cafes. It was a bit bloody for my liking but Dean was in his element.

We spent a good few hours walking around and then set off for Arromanches, and did a detour to visit a German war grave called Mont-de Husines. It is something we forget to take on board, but it was a very sobering experience especially when you see graves for ‘Ein Deutscher Soldat’ with no name. There were 11,956 soldiers buried here alone.

Lest we forget.

The Aire at Arromanches was the tightest we’ve ever been on. The ‘van next to us could not open their habitation door at the same time as ours was open, we were that close!

We were very lucky to get a spot as people kept turning up trying to squeeze in wherever they could. It was worth it though as it is about five minutes walk away from the beach, where you can see the remains of the Mulberry harbour and the museum is just off the beach.

It is difficult to imagine what the scene would have been like 65 years ago.

6th July 2009 – Cancale

The home of oysters! As we were now in Brittany the weather had taken a definite turn for the worse and today was no exception.
However, being in the town renowned for them we were duly obliged to wander in and purchase some for Dean to try. Not liking anything about the sea, I declined. After all the excitement it was a bit of a letdown as he neither liked them nor disliked them.
The beds where they harvest them were available to view, but I wasn’t feeling very well that day so having to smell seafood all morning wasn’t the best thing to do! We went back to the van and watched Babel (excellent film) after polishing off the remains of the contents of the fridge.
We also managed to book an earlier ferry home as we need to get a few things fixed.

5th July 2009 – Dinan

What a fantastic town! We’d spotted a write up in the French book we’ve got but the setting was amazing. The Aire is situated right underneath the viaduct in what is classed as Port Dinan and is within five minutes of Dinan proper.
The weather was perfect we set off around the town (a tad steep) looking at all the old medieval buildings, taking loads of photographs and just taking in the atmosphere. Everyone was so friendly and we ended up in a restaurant on the harbour front, Dean eating Moules Mariniere avec Frites and I had the Salad Paysanne.

Dean watched the locals to see how they ate the mussels and was chuffed to discover you eat them using the shell of the previous mussel to pick the next one out. He felt like a local!

3rd July 2009 – Beauvoir-sur-mer

On route to our next Aire we passed fields and more fields of sunflowers, their heads all pointing to the sun. The Aire was easy to find and again there were Dutch, German and French on site all giving bits of advice. Here we also watched Andy Murray bow out of Wimbledon, but at least he has a realistic chance of winning it next time!
We wandered into the village which again was covered in wonderful flower arrangements, then we stopped for our usual coffee and meandered back to the ‘van.

2nd July 2009 – La Rochelle

We were now making our way back up the West coast of France and our next stop was La Rochelle, a medieval fortified town. You are able to take a tour around the ramparts but we did not have time, so we have made a note to return there in the near future. The Aire was in the main car park where French parking skills leave a lot to be desired, so we did not want to be away for too long!
As always, a lovely market was taking place and the shops were heaving with tourists. We made our way back to the ‘van to spend a relaxed evening.
With our experience we’ve now gained, we’ve realised we need to invest in a scooter to get around. The ‘van is too large to get into the pretty villages, so we would be able to pitch camp somewhere and then do a tour of loads of places. Research has begun!





29th June 2009 – Labenne

Moving on from the Pyrenees, we headed for the Atlantic Ocean and ended up at Labenne. It was a large site with ‘entertainment’, but the pitches were nice and large.
We have subsequently decided that although we like the beach scenery and Dean likes to dip his toes in the water, the campsites are a bit too “Hey Macarena” for our tastes! Having said that, it was so hot over the next few days all we could do was sit in the ‘van watching Wimbledon tennis in as little clothing as possible...nice?!
One evening we walked up to the beach about half an hour walk away, and were rewarded with a beautiful sunset.