Off to Switzerland via Paris

We caught the train from Brighton up to London then the Eurostar to Paris. We are using our FIRST class Eurail Pass so we were given a meal on the train.

After leaving our bags at the hotel/ dump, we took off for a walk to see Parc Bercy. It was beautiful park - I don’t think I have seen one so lovely in Paris. I haven’t any photos but it had lots of grass and areas for kids to play.

I don’t think this belongs here. Perhaps in Wales?

In the morning we were off to the station at 6.45 to have breakfast and catch the 7.22 train to Luzern.

The bank holiday weekend

We left Wales by train on Friday for Frome ( pronounced Froom) where we had a house booked for all of us to spend the weekend. It was a lovely quiet weekend - nice house, interesting town, good coffee and bakery nearby.

Saturday, we went for a stroll around the town then went to a National Trust property called Stourhead, an Interesting house filled with the usual large paintings etc and this house had a beautiful garden with a lake and follies surrounding it. It took 50 minutes to walk around the lake. Some pictures of Froom and Stourhead.

Big old tree and the house.

And Dominic having another birthday celebration!

Claire, Andy and the girls returned home on Monday whilst the rest of us stayed till Tuesday. Monday afternoon, we went for a drive to Bath which was only half-hour away and had a walk around. On Tuesday morning we all headed back to Brighton taking in a walk on the way.

The next installment we will be on way to Lucerne in Switzerland.

Last day in Wales

No rain today although it was forecast.

Wales is beautiful.

And now we go to Frome in Somerset to meet up with Claire, Andy and the girls and Emma and Dominic for the long weekend.

Walking along a sculpture path.

Where we stayed.

No more rain

Well, not during the day. It did rain overnight and the days were mostly overcast with some sun peeking through the cloud every now and then.

The days have been mostly the same - breakfast, bus, walking about 11ks with tea and lunch breaks interspersed. Yesterday, we bussed out of Brecon then walked back into the town past a Roman fort, through the countryside and had time to have a little walk around the town to see the Cathedral and the shops

Today, we drove to Hay-on-Wye (about half hour away) and walked out of town along the river Wye and out into the country again and back into Hay. We had plenty of time to have a look around. Hay-on-Wye is the world’s first book town and has a huge book festival each year.

Some photos.

Wall of a Roman Fort above. A mangy sheep below

A bluebell patch. And Dad holding the gate.

the cathedral in Brecon.

I will add the last day’s walk photos tomorrow. .

It did rain in Wales today

We opted for the shortest option for today’s walk - 11ks. There were 2 other longer options but after the excitement we thought we would go slow. The day started with a delicious full breakfast then an hour bus trip to a beautiful part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. We walked through beautiful woodlands and saw wonderful waterfalls. We had been provided with a cut lunch so we stopped intermittently for snacks sitting in the rain. It rained pretty much all day, not heavily but persistently.

It was sort of pleasant as the surroundings were so lovely and the people were nice too. At the end of the walk, we ended up in an old pub called the Angel then back on the bus.

By the way, the hotel is great. Old but in lovely grounds. We have a large room with views into the gardens and it is lovely and warm. So some pictures.

I am not sure if you can see but outside one of our windows is a little putting green with some clubs in a sort of box thing - too wet for Dad to use yet.

First waterfall below.

This is Dad walking with our leader, Geraint - such a nice man but with the most amazing diet. He was at our table on the first night and only had a bowl of chips. He only eats carbohydrates! At breakfast he had cornflakes and a croissant, for lunch he had a small packet of crisps and a shortbread biscuit and for dinner, again a bowl of chips. He has done this all his life. His mother took him to the doctor about his refusal to eat anything else and the doctor said to leave him, he would grow out of it. But he hasn’t. He looks well. Leads walks all the time. It is a bit amazing - so contrary to all the dietary advice we know about a balanced diet.

Lots of new life in the fields at the moment- it is one of the beautiful things of this time of the year.

The pub.

Last night in France - Le Touquet- Paris - Plage

After handing back the boat, we drove 8 hours to the town mentioned above. Dominic driving all the way again. He was a star this week- I don’t know that it came across in my last note how well he responded to the challenge of driving a boat and how patient he was with the rest of us. I think it might have shown at times that we were a little panicky especially as the boat was heading into a lock and being dragged the wrong way by the current! Oh boy!

And I should give honorable mention to Emma - she gave those locks a workout!

But I am so happy to be able to say that we have an extended family of people who all rise magnificently to the challenges life throws in the way - so let’s just keep rowing those boats !

After that, the sun shone in Le Touquet. It is a funny English sort of town a bit south of Calais with a sort of normal beach - with sand - although the tide goes a long way out. The breakers were about a km out in the morning. The buildings were more English than French. Apparently parisians come here for holidays. Nice shops - some expensive and some posh hotels. Very pretty with a beautiful park of pines at the edge of the shops. For our only night there we went to a lovely restaurant on the beach. In the morning Tony and Dominic played golf while Emma and I puddled around town. There was a great market going on that day.

Then the long trek back to Brighton, going home always takes longer.

The next morning we trained it back to Romsey, met up with some friends of Claire’s we have got to know over the years. And today we are in Wales about to start 3 days of walking -in the rain! That is the forecast- it is something I don’t like doing. Nice hotel though. Perhaps I will stay in bed one day.

Some photos of Le Touquet.

I suppose you could call this an adventure

We are back in the UK again after spending 4 nights on the boat. This was our 5th boat trip and we expected it to be just like the others- cruising through the beautiful countryside in very manageable canals, popping in to visit beautiful villages etc but this was quite different. To start with, we had to change our chosen route because the river was unnavigable which meant an extra 2.5 hours drive to get to the new destination. There we were told there was some concern about water levels because of rain and water being released from the dam up river. We were a little put off by that but they said they would contact us if it became dangerous! So we started off and soon found that it was quite a challenge as the current from the weirs was so strong. It was nothing like what we had experienced. Dominic was our savior though. He managed so well and it was really scary at times. I am not sure Dominic and Emma are going to rush back for a cruise. We did have a lovely time altogether but I think it might be our last trip.

I am just adding random photos of photos taken on the trip. We did some lovely villages and a large town which had a market the day we were there.

A good use of a phone box?

Le Boat

We are now on le boat. A bit of bother to start. I  received an email on Friday afternoon to say the river we were to cruise was unnavigable due to rain! They offered to change our booking to another river which was a further 2.5 hours drive - pain! But they would upgrade our boat - not such a pain! So we are now on a very flash boat - full size fridge, more room in the living room. Very flash!!

The boat base above.

The picture wall is protected.

I went for a walk, passed this memorial. Below are 2 quite different sights.

These are on the way to our second night stay.

Off to France!

Off the chunnel train and a drive to Blois where we stayed the night. We visited the Blois Castle, had dinner at a nice restaurant. Next morning I had a walk around town and then off to the boat.

Time off

A little down time this week. Tony and Dominic played golf whilst I did some sewing - I need to do some every now and then - then Dominic drove us back to Romsey. That night (Tuesday) Claire, Andy, Tony and I went to the Romsey Plaza Theatre to see a musical - Oliver. It was very enjoyable. The next day it was Beth’s birthday and a bit of cake decorating with Beth’s help. A very happy day for her - the girls cashed in on the birthday by making Claire buy them an icecream from the van which parks outside the school on a Wednesday afternoon!

Saturday was the birthday party at Flip- out - (like Bounce)and that was a great success. After that we were picked up by Dominic and driven back to Brighton.

And here are some photos. This is the view from Dominic and Emma’s front window the morning we left.

The cake is an artist’s palette - good old Women’s Weekly birthday cookbook! And a glade of bluebells - stunning!

And the last image as we are driving onto the Chunnel train.

Tulip Festival

Sunday we went to a Tulip Festival in Arundel. You remember Arundel, Daniel. We passed through 2 years ago at the same time- I have looked at photos of Annie perched by pots of tulips. We met up with Emma’s Dad, Paul, and Claire and Andy and the girls and had a wander through. Very picturesque.

Later, we went back to Paul’s who lives at Ferring on the coast on the way to Brighton. We had a meal there then returned to Brighton.

Yesterday, Dominic and Tony played golf. They had booked at one course but it was waterlogged so had to find another course. The weather stared off very inclement but cleared up later in the morning.

We are going back to Romsey today - Beth’s birthday tomorrow!

Some photos of the Floriade.

An idea for Dad and I?

Some other sort of flowers!

Saturday in London

Relaxing start to my day. Tony went off into Leicester Square and Coventr Garden to look around before going to meet Dominic at his football game. Dominic wasn’t playing - bad shoulder but being a good team man he was there to support.

I stayed local wandering the very nice streets of Belgravia and Knightsbridge. Very interesting shops and an Ottolenghi cafe where I had a delicious lunch. Then I wandered through to the Victoria and Albert museum - great place. I went on a free tour through the British Galleries which was just super. By then, Dominic and Tony were back in town and we caught the train to Brighton.

Few photos

Neon is the new black in cars?

The top one was covered in parking tickets - couldn’t afford to pay them??

Above is the Victoria and Albert.

Next photo is one from the British Library - I popped in there - it is near St Pancras station - as I was passing on Friday. It is the original version of Middlemarch by George Eliot. Amazing to see original scripts.

Friday in London

We caught the train to London, dropped our bags at the hotel we had booked for the night near Victoria Station and headed off to visit Eltham Palace about 40 minutes by train out of town. The palace was built in 13th century but not much left now apart from the Great Hall, walls and moat. In the 1930s, the Courtaulds bought it and built a big house attaching it to the Hall. All beautifully decorated in Art Deco style.

After that we went back to town to St Pancras station to sort out tickets for the Eurostar. Such a pain. We have the Eurail pass and there are limited spaces available. I was thinking a month out we would be fine but not so. So a bit of re-arranging had to happen. Quite a lot of booking with the trains when you have the pass.

After that we retired for the night to a nice pub and a nice meal.

Photos of Eltham (pronounced Eltham) Palace.

The pet Lemur - now stuffed! And this is how they greeted their guests….

Last week in Romsey

We were back in Romsey for a few days to rest up before we moved again. Dad hired a car so popped in and around the place whilst I poked around the house and Romsey. We did have a trip to Southampton to sort out the bank. Because we change phones when we get here, that code they send you always goes to the wrong phone. Bit frustrating.

One day, we drive to Salisbury to have lunch with some friends -we met them through Mungoven’s who are related through Amanda’s husband. Lovely people!

Another day I went to visit my new friend from Portugal who sews and lives near here. She also volunteers at a recycling place - it is sort of connected to some organisation in the UK called Recyce UK - original name. They operate out of shipping containers in an industrial estate and collect scraps of everything - it is called The Scrap Store. They then sell it very cheaply to people who use it for craft or sewing. For example, a florist who was retiring donated rolls of ribbon, dried flowers etc; a furniture upholsterer donated ends of rolls of furnishing fabric. Of course, I bought a piece of material. Amazing place!

Below are some photos of the scraps - only photos I too this week.

Last day in Barcelona and on to Girona

We had a whole day before catching our plane from Barcelona Girona airport - it wasn’t the time we booked but Ryanair put the flight back by 6 hours. It turned out to be fortuitous as we were able to see part of the Barcelona Annual Hat Parade - Louise told me about it - People seem to really get into the spirit of it.

After that we went on to Girona which was a surprise as we found a largish town with a huge castle - we walked around most of the walls, an old town with interesting little streets. And then off to the airport. We were home about 12.30

It was a great week. We all had a lovely time. I forgot to mention there was a nice pool on the roof of our building which was really freezing but that didn’t deter the girls!

Final pictures

Stations of the Cross on the mountains.

We went to mass in the monastery and then went down the mountain on the funicular to walk the Santa Cova trail. The story is about the discovery of a small statue of the Black Madonna found on the mountain. There was a story about the statue being carved by St Luke who was brought over to Spain by St Peter?? St Luke was an artist it seems, but it turns out carbon dating shows up as 800AD.

Above is inside the Santa Cova and below is outside.

Sagrada Familia

This was a great highlight of the week. An amazing building both inside and out. We had a tour with a guide who explained a little of the architect and his philosophy and why and how he did what he did on the building whilst he was alive. He worked on the building for forty years till he was in his 70s when he died - he was knocked over by a tram! No trams in Barcelona now!

Above photo shows the light coming through the stained glass photos at sunset. Below are a couple of windows.

Saturday in the mountains

The Ollasons stayed in town today for chocolate making and a trip to Park Guell - another magical design by Gaudi.

Tony and I went for a train ride to Montserrat to see a monastery. We went early - 6.15 and still dark. We had to take the metro and then find the regional station. We had vague instructions from the ticket office- go up, across and down??? We even asked a policeman and he pointed across the road but we could only see another metro station. We asked another lady and she to go down the metro line and that was the way to go. I imagined we might be running up and and across and miss the train - it was one of those panicky moments when you have to catch transport.

After that though, we had a lovely day. The train took us to the bottom of the mountain then we hopped on a rack railway to tack us nearly all the way up at that point there was a monastery, a museum, a hotel and a few shops as well as a couple of funiculars to take you further up and down the mountain.

Friday is another lovely day

This morning Tony and I went off to look at a Gaudi designed house.

So interesting! We were able to look through the roomswhich were furnished.

The kitchen/ dining room

A new office, Daniel? And a suitable portrait?

Or this one?

This is the roof top garden

Some amazing furniture. Gaudi’s philosophy was everything had to be practical as well as beautiful! You would love it, Matthew.

This is a model of the house.

After this, we all met up for a paella lunch.

Late in the afternoon, we went to visit the Sagrada Familia which was mind- boggling! We all loved it. Some pictures in the next episode.

Next day is Thursday.

Today the girls went to see a Harry Potter Exhibition whilst Tony and Andy went to see an America’s Cup exhibition - to be run here next year. We all enjoyed our outings - I learnt a little bit about Harry Potter. Some photos

After that activity, Dad and I went off for a walk through the city park and the old part of town. Some more photos. It is a fantastic place to visit. Lots to see and do. The girls have been to the beach as well as swim in the pool at the top of our building- pretty freezing though.

After our walk back to the apartment, Claire and Andy went off to checK Iin on the culture of Barcelona at the Palace of Catalan music which was worth going to just for the beautiful venue. They liked the concert too.

Roman cemetery. Below is the wnrru to the city park.

The cleaners beginning work for the day - No Dyson vacuum cleaners for them!