Snow, snow everywhere.

View from bedroom

View from other side in morning

At last we nearly got a good night's sleep, as the rain slowed down and at some point during the night, it turned to snow. This morning we were greeted to the most incredible view.


At 7.45 we could see movement over near the bar as someone started to move the snow away from the entrance with a big snow spade, and then they got out a snow blower, which looked very impressive as it blew snow up into the air.

As we still needed mains power, Chris showered, and clambered into his brand new waterproof trousers, jacket and snow boots, and set off to the office. He found a very nice man, with beads in his beard, who spoke good English and found Chris an adapter which we could borrow. So by the time I was out of the shower, we had full power.

Awning up

Chris taking photo

As it was Saturday morning, we christened the new ceramic frying pan, and had fried eggs on toast. Very, very nice, especially with the view we had. It was then time for Marie to pour herself into her waterproofs, and outside we both scampered to take lots of photos and to put the awning up. This was a pretty easy job, although Chris' hands started to get very cold. As it had taken so long to get dressed, we decided to go for a drive. On our arrival, everywhere was dark, so it was great to be able to drive up to Tasch, then back down through Randa to St Niklaus. Checked out the parking at Randa, which was a lot quieter than Tasch, and then headed home.

A traffic island in the shape of the Matterhorn

View in afternoon other side

At the campsite, we popped into the bar to ask about WIFI. The barmaid today was very happy to give us a week's worth (for a charge), although she said that only one device could use it. Clever Chris managed to set up the laptop so that the phones could also use the internet as well. Lunch was served, and then even more photos were taken of the amazing view as the clouds cleared, and we were treated to blue skies.

View in afternoon one way

I spent the afternoon catching up with OU work, and then this blog. The clouds are rolling back in now, but the view is still incredible. Of all the campsites we have visited, this probably wins the prize for the best view ever.

Just before this blog goes to press, Chris spotted the moon through the bedroom skylight, so had to add the photo.

Santa's early !!

Up into the clouds

We were awoken today at 5am by the rain. We managed to get a bit of sleep, but not much from then onwards. Started to pack the van up after a quick breakfast of French croissants, but it was not much fun in the rain and mud. We were gone by 9.30 and headed East.

We had decided to stick to the autoroutes today, as the trip looked so long, so we were soon on the A6, passing Chalon sur Saone then Macon. With our French playlist keeping our spirits high, we chugged along nicely, watching the kilometres drop. We passed Bourg en Bresse and just before we drove into Switzerland we stopped for a quick loo break, lunch and to fill up with cheap French fuel. As we crossed the border, the traffic slowed to a crawl as all our windscreens were checked for our vignettes. Then it was off at the slower speed of 80kph.

It was a bit scary driving around Geneva as the French and Swiss quickly got into their correct lanes, with no signalling or slowing down. The traffic was busy all the way round Lac Leman, but we only slowed down once.

Our altitude now began to gradually increase. At Montreux we began to drive into the clouds, and as the road straightened out the traffic began to decrease. What we could see of the mountains was impressive, but with the constant rain, the drive did now start to become rather boring.

The SAT nav kept us on our toes when she tried to direct us into a tunnel which was still being built, but after continuing all the way round the island, we started following the street signs to be on the safe side.

At Visp we turned right, and started to follow the train line and very deep, but empty revine. Luckily no snow had melted yet to fill it up. Up and up we went, passing through the village of St Niklaus, until we reached Randa and Campsite Attermenzen.

The nice lady in the bar said she did not speak much English, and Chris replied that he did not speak much German. But we paid the bill, found out where the loos and water tap were, found a nice level site for the caravan and set up. Sadly the electric point had a unusual socket which we did not have, but we will sort that out tomorrow after, hopefully, a good nights sleep. Sadly it is still raining though.

A welcome view at end of day.

A Day in France

After a very good night's sleep, it was a real treat to be able to open the blinds in the caravan and actually see what this site looked like in daylight. It turned out to be very pretty. With several avenues of trees, which divided up the pitches, a river burbling next to the site, squirrels and lots of magpies. There was also some blue sky and sunshine this morning, so we set out to the closest town of Autun.

We headed straight for the supermarket, where we enjoyed picking up croissants, pain raisin, baguette, camembert, pate, plus of course french wine and cider. We popped back to the van to have a delicious lunch, and then returned to Autun for a proper look. There was a huge car park in the centre of the old town, and we climbed up the hill to the magnificent cathedral. It was very quiet up in the small cobbled streets around this huge building. What impressed me the most was the decorated roofs.

Chris had lots of munzees around the cathedral, and then we set off to find a cache in another great location. As you can see from the photo, this was an impressive spot, and Chris managed to locate the cache.

We attempted a cache at these wonderful Roman Gates, but no luck; too many holes. A nice walk back to the car, fill up with fuel and then home. The rain began to fall as we settled back in for the night.

The long, long road.

At 4.30am the alarm went off, and we were off. Just an hour and half to shower, dress, pack up and be on our way to the Channel Tunnel. At least we had slept well, and the wind and rain had stopped, which made a huge difference packing up. Due to roadworks, we had to take a strange route to reach the terminal, but we were there on time, and drove straight through to the train.

The trip was quick and as we arrived in France, the sun was shining, there was blue sky, and a lot of big fences with barbed wire trying to keep those terrible migrants out. We could not actually see any, but then again, it was very early.

 A very quiet services.

We headed straight for the autoroute, and were off into the center of France. It was such an easy drive. There was hardly any traffic, the roads were in great condition, there were stops every few miles with plenty of parking for caravans; it was almost dreamlike it was so easy. The kilometres disappeared under our tyres, and by lunchtime we were just outside Rheims. We stopped for a bite to eat and to fill up with fuel, in the most deserted service ever seen. The boredom began to get to Chris, so Marie jumped at the chance to fulfill one of her "50 things to do when 50", and she drove; towing the caravan for a while.

Blue sky and green fields of France

The sat nav wanted to take us all the way down to Dijon on the motorways, which was a bit out of our way; so we headed onto the smaller roads which led us to our final location more directly. The sun was shining, the temperature was up to 18c, life was good. But then we drove into an old town, where the road became a tunnel which was low and very, very narrow. In fact, too narrow for us to get though. Luckily, Chris managed to do a U turn very quickly, and we headed back out of the town, onto its bypass.

By 5pm the sun was beginning to go down, and we were just half an hour away from our destination. As we pulled in to "Camping des 2 Rives" in Etang sur Arroux, we had travelled 420 miles in about nine hours. The owner came out to meet us, showed us a pitch, said we could pay him sometime tomorrow, and bade us goodnight.
With the aid of a torch we set up the van, and by seven in the evening were enjoying a hot cooked dinner while watching a film in our warm caravan. A great way to end a long day. Sadly, the rain has now started again, but at least it kept away during our long drive.

The sun goes down on today

Wet and windy England

How narrow is your car?

As we tried to fall asleep on Monday night, the wind howled and the rain fall. At some point during the night it did stop, and we had sunshine Tuesday morning. Unfortunately we had left the shoes out under the van during the night, and one of Chris' trainers had gone for a walk by itself and was a bit damp. Chris spoke to our only neighbours (apart from the rabbits), who are in a very large motorhome. Apparently they have a house in the Ardeche and they are waiting for the weather to calm down so that they can cross in a ferry, as the wife does not like the tunnel. They could be here for a while!

We drove into Canterbury very easily, and found the park and ride next door to Morrisons on the outskirts. The entrance was made interesting by a very narrow gate, which we only just fitted through if we pulled in our door mirrors. It only cost £3 for both of us to get the bus into the city centre, and that included the parking charge.

We immediately found a CEX to browse round. Picked a few pressies and films for ourselves. Then we found some new trainers for Chris, so that he did not have to keep the wet one on for the rest of the day.

THICK milkshake.

Lunch was at "Ed's Easy Diner" and included chicken burger, great chips and a strawberry milk shake that was so thick that the straw could stand up by itself.

View from bus in Canterbury.

The rain had now returned, and as it cost £10.50 each to get into just the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral, we returned to the car. Quick shop in Morrisons, fill up the fuel, and the highlight for Marie was finding a plastic egg holder, which would keep the delicate oeufs safe in the fridge.

Sun Street in Canterbury.

Our search for one cache today took us to a bridge over the dual carriage way. It was easy enough to find, but inside the box was a Chinese Puzzle Box, which apparently could be opened with very little force, and then the paperwork could be completed. Well...how embarrassing...Chris broke the box. Luckily we had 4G and Marie was able to look up on YouTube how to open the damn thing, and hay presto, it was open. Sent a very apologetic message to the owner, saying it was still usable, but we had no glue on us to reattach the broken piece.
Home to study, relax and listen to the rain and wind again.

First day of our European Tour.

Thurrock Services

We had planned to leave at 9am and actually got away at 9.20, which for us is not bad. The wind had dropped and it was dry. The run south went very, very well. No traffic and no roadworks. What a difference to travelling in the summer.
Lunch was at Thurrock Services. Not the most pretty location, but easy parking and a chance to stretch legs, pop to loo and treat ourselves to a cheap burger using the Moto Deals app.
No queueing over Dartford Bridge as no more pay booths; all done online, and an easy last hour driving through Kent.

At Black Horse Farm Caravan Club site we were the only van in the short stay section, but we did have to avoid the very chubby rabbits.

Once we had set the caravan up, we drove into Folkestone. We had a postcode of where we wanted to end up, but one road was closed, and we ended up driving around and around in circles.
After visiting the harbour several times, we managed to pull ourselves out of the centrifugal force, and on the second pass, jumped into a car park space close to our destination.

Inside "The Samuel Peto" pub

Outside "The Samuel Peto"

Just round the corner we found this amazing building called "The Samuel Peto" which turned out to be a Weatherspoons pub. The interior was very impressive, as were the prices. We had "surf and turf" for 2, including drinks for just over £20. The building must have been an old chapel, and still had the organ. Especially liked the signs for the toilets..."Hymns" and "Hyrs".

We had a walk down to the beach, where we found the "Road of Remembrance" covered in poppies.

We popped back to the pub for a hot drink, and then off to the show at the "Silver Screen". This is an independent cinema, which has just 2 screens in the old town hall. We were there to watch "The Lady in the Van" by Alan Bennett, as I am a big fan. The cinema was great, and the film great fun. Back to the van, just as the rain arrived.

Nearly ready for departure

Well Dani (the caravan) is nearly packed. Last vacuuming done - just the last of the food to put in tomorrow. I cleaned her a few days ago - just the Disco to wash tomorrow, now.