First few days.

Summer sojourn.

Wednesday 28th August.

Left home as planned, miracle!, at 9.30 am to drive to St Malo. First long drive in the new car. Automatic gears and built in sat nav makes it seems so much easier. A few stops to have a short break, a sandwich, change drivers and we arrived at our hotel, Kyriad central at 18.45. Hmm. All seemed well as we checked in, helpful and pleasant lady on reception. Once in our room a few things became apparent. We were on the first floor and our window directly overlooked the drive in at Macdonalds. The room was small, not too much of a problem as we knew it wasn’t a 5* hotel but the main problem was that it was so hot and airless. No air conditioning and no ventilation in the bathroom. Ah well. It’s not costing a fortune so we just had to put up and shut up.The dining room was fine and the waiter pleasant and efficient, the food was adequate and wine 2€ a glass! Back in our room we decided it would be better to put up with the noise and have some air in the room. Sleep came easily after a long day but I woke at 2pm and realised that I had been bitten. Didn’t expect mossies in Le Havre! Neither of us had a lot of sleep after that. We just dozed on and off until about 7pm when we decided to get ready for the next stage of our journey.

Thursday 29th August. 

A short drive to the ferry terminal and we were boarded on the Etretat by 9am.

After a cooked breakfast we settled in the so called sleeping lounge hoping to get a couple of hours rest. Not quite sure who decided to put the children’s play area opposite said lounge. Maybe, in retrospect, he (it had to be a he!)thought it wasn’t the best idea and it was too late to change! So we picked ourselves up and moved to a better situated lounge. Not many seats available but we found a couple and settled down. Unfortunately the 2 children in the seats in front of us were not in sleep mode despite their parents valiant attempts to get them to nod off. I’m usually quite tolerant of parents and children and just grateful that it’s not my problem anymore. N of course is not so tolerant so he gave up and moved on. I stayed put for quite some while but had to concede defeat in the end. It was patently obvious that these 2 little treasures were not going to go off to the land of nod. We moved to seats and table in the front of the boat and had a coffee and an apple tart for a light lunch. By this time the Isle of Wight was on our left (starboard?) and Portsmouth came into view.

We docked at 13.30 and by 14.00 we were driving out of the ferry terminal . Traffic on the motorway seemed quieter than previously and we were soon in Salisbury and then on to Wells.

We are to be staying at the Wells touring and caravan park in a self catering cottage and we arrived at 16.45 completing the journey from home. We are staying here until the 10th September. Our accommodation looks to be fine and situated on the edge of the site with parking just across the way. We soon had our bags and baggage installed. My very dear friend Kate and Peter her husband, who live in north Devon, have made a trip here in their camper van to meet up with us.  Steve arrived shortly after our arrival, on his way home from work. So good to see him again. Then Kate and Peter arrived so we had a wonderful hour or so chatting to the 3 of them. Steve  left to go home and our plan was to go and get some fish and chips for supper. However there is a nearby fish and chip shop that does free delivery to the camp site so we rang and ordered them. I went with Kate to pick up some things and admire their camper van which is small and perfectly formed (just like Kate I joked!!) The food didn’t take long to arrive and was much enjoyed after a long, long day. I was beginning to wilt by this time and Kate, so kindly, cleared up and washed up before they left for the night.

We were soon to bed, a very comfy bed, and off to sleep.

Friday 31st August.

A good night’s sleep was had so so we were refreshed and ready to go!

After breakfast I walked round to find out what Kate and Peters plans were.

Kate is going to join us along with Steve, Lauren and Joshua for a coffee and Peter will do a small shop and stay in the van as he’s not up for too much walking. So off we go into Wells, me champing at the bit to see Lauren and Josh!

We were a little bit early so we sat in the main square for a while before walking down to the moat and entrance to the Bishops Palace grounds. I had a chat with the chap there who was speaking about the famous swans. The male died last year and his mate flew away as did their 5 cygnets. They were able to get another pair from a swan rescue place and they have settled in well and produced one cygnet this year. Like all previous swans they have been trained to pull on the rope and ring the bell when it is feeding time! This is only necessary at quiet times as usually they get given enough food from the passers by.

Steve, Lauren and Josh soon arrived on their scooters, (not Steve though!). Such a wonderful hug from them! We had just got sat down when Kate arrived. Tea and cake, chat and play and all too soon it was time for Kate to leave. Sad to see her go, so pleased to have seen them.

Steve went to move my car and pay for more parking whilst we entered the gardens. There’s a small treasure hunt for the children to find various items and we had found the first one before Steve rejoined us. The gardens are in full flower, the first time I had seen them as this season of the year. We made our way through the gardens and into the Dragons Den, a wooded area, where there is a play area for the children. A chance for N and I to sit and recharge our batteries!!  Then back, via a different route to the gardens, playing poo sticks on the way in the small stream. 

Next stop was lunch in a new cafe in the High Street. Then we split up for a while. I went to get the car and picked N up in the town square before calling in  at Tesco’s for a few supplies. I took a wrong turn out of there, right instead of left, so had to ask the sat nav how to get back! An interesting deviation through suburban Wells and we got back to find Steve and children waiting for us. They spent a couple of hours here, Steve went off at some point to do some shopping. So lovely to spend this time with just the two of them. 

When they left, about 17h, I realised how shattered I was! It had been a long day and we’d both done a lot more walking than we have done for quite some time! Still it was well worth it and was now time to rest and recuperate until tomorrow!