Who's on holiday (3)

Half way down a 5 to 6 hour slog, penultimate tail-end charlie of a convoy consisting of three caravans and a car, we stopped at an 'aire' (french version of a motorway services, though they don't all have fuel stations. These areas are easy to access and very clean and tidy) A little light lunch, then off again.

Pat Who - Is this what we're supposed to eat for lunch?                            

Bill Who - It looks quite tasty to me                                                          

Brigadier - It's certainly enough to keep us going for the rest of the trip   

Our stop for the next three nights is at Montsoreau, on the banks of the Loire just east of Saumur, which we visited in 2012. Our pitch is right on the river side, and it is only some 500 yards from the town centre. There's a small chateau there (as there is in every little town in this part of the world) and a few 'caves' for the wine lovers amongst us. Here I have to admit that I'm not one of them, as it ll seems to taste the same to me (a bit vinegary) I'd rather have a drop of stout.

This is the view from our front door for the next couple of days, and tomorrow we get down to the proper holiday..

Who's on holiday (2)

Up early at the crack of dawn. Breakfast and pack away, then down to Dover for the 10.15 ferry to Calais. Goodbye to the White Cliffs, which are really a bit grey nowadays.

In the holding lines at Dover. The lady in shot is not MrsJ, just a rather bewildered sister-in-law.

Remembering to alter our watches to Continental time as we cross, it's a three hour haul dawn to our overnight stop at Lyons la Foret, 

Our site here is but a spit and a stride from the old town.Dating from the 11th century and an important centre at the time, Henry the 1st of England died here in 1135. Most of the houses were built in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the composer Ravel lived here for a while. We found a small bar and had a glass before going back to the site.

(Ravel lived in the large house down the street, on the right)

So it's dinner, share a bottle (or two) then a long 6 hour slog down French motorways tomorrow. I must admit they do them a lot better than we do, hardly any traffic and low toll costs. The fact that lorries are not allowed on the roads Sundays is a big bonus, though we do meet the odd one - usually a foreigner not aware.

Who's On Holiday (1)

We are off to France for 10 days. A family group of myself and MrsJ, her twin sister and partner, her elder sister and husband over from Australia, and a family friend and wife, are all heading down to the Loire valley in a trio of caravans and one tent, for chateaus and wine. I am trying to lighten the load a bit by taking a Dr.Who action figure along and the idea is to get at least one photo a day with him in it, doing something related to the day. The results will be posted, providing I can get the internet access.

To start the ball rolling, here we have the interloper, Bill Who, with his brothers Pat and Tom, and his friend the Brigadier, all planning the journey.

We've travelled down to a small site in a pub garden, not far from the M20, and are spending the night here ready for an early morning trip to Dover and a ferry across to Calais. We'll see what he gets up to over the next few days.

Another Item Ticked off the List

I'm catching up on half-started projects quite quickly now, though I don't have long. MrsJ has requested (told me) that I make a another small cupboard/dresser for use as a changing table for the new granddaughter. That's me in the garage for a few weeks again once we return from France at the end of May. The infantry rebasing goes on apace, a second unit is done and a third 25% done, but here is the subject of todays post.

HMS Exeter patrols the South Atlantic, waiting for the rest of the squadron to join her.

The model is as finished as she's going to be, and is quite adequate for battles out on the lawn. A bit rough when seen close up, so please don't enlarge the picture too far. The above is in modern colour, while below is the WW2 black and white version.Unfortunately, in neither version does the deck to hull colour difference stand out.

The other two ships are under construction now, while the Graf Spee is roughed out.I may be taking them in the caravan with me, though probably won't get any work done on them. (We'll be part of a family group of eight, so I've got to 'socialise'!)

Book of the Month

It's about time I had another of these, and here's something I picked up at the local Co-Op store earlier in the week. They had one of those spinner things just inside the door, full of cheap local titles, you know the thing, 'Around here in old photographs', 'Ghost stories of this area', 'Orrible Crimes of the past', etc., and this one shone out at me.

Published back in 1988 by Terence Dalton of Lavenham, and written by a member of the Fortress Study Group, it covers the era from the first earthen 'bulwarks' thrown up to defend against the Armada in 1588 through to the pillboxes and machine-gun posts constructed to counter the threat of German invasion in the 1940s. Geographically it moves from the Wash down to the Thames and is extremely well illustrated with photographs, period art, and line drawings, while an appendix gives details of artillery sizes and ranges. Some of the smaller instalations would be ideal for our purposes.

I can see that I'll be studying this book avidly, and getting about the vicinity visiting some of the sites, "yes dear, we did come out for the sea air, but I just want to look at this old piece of concrete".  

Announcing the long awaited (nearly two weeks late) arrival of a granddaughter, and first grandchild, Laila, on April 21st. Mother and baby both well, father a bit bemused. I don't remember our two being this small, but it was a long time ago.

Celebrations Begin

Today is the 60th birthday of MrsJ and her twin sister, as well as our 39th wedding anniversary. Plans are made for extensive celebrations and the whole family, including her older sister and husband over from Australia for a 5 month tour  of Europe, are having a long weekend break at Center Parcs doing all kinds of activities, swimming, archery, long walks, seguay riding etc.
I had intended a different post here, but the pictures are still in the camera, so that will have to wait.

I am being told to "put that thing away and come pack the car", so until next week....