21st October – 3rd Dec 09 - USA

21^st Oct 09 – NYC

Up early this morning due to the time difference, although we did settle in a little easier the night before due to the later flight! We dropped Wendy off at the station at 7am in the new Rav4 which they kindly said we could use. Jmel as ever proved to be the kindest host. We spent the afternoon digging holes and planting Hydrangeas, much to the delight of Jmel.

22^nd Oct 09 – NYC

Mal headed off to Newark airport today to collect the Wilsons as they were arriving from the UK. The Wilsons arrived to much excitement; Neil had been stopped at the airport and taken into a separate room! He just had to sit there and sit there without any communication, when he asked what was going on he was told to wait, as people came and went Neil started to prepare for a trip straight back to the UK. Outside Helen was preparing the boys for a trip back to the UK, although Christopher (the youngest) declared it’s ok Mum I’ll stay with Uncle Mal!! Guess the excitement of being at Aunty Wendy’s and NYC was too much for him. We all settled down to a nice relaxed evening.

23^rd Oct 09 - NYC  

The day was spent relaxing and settling in. Mal & Neil completed some work in the garden which consisted of breaking up a concrete base. I carved some pumpkins (or I should say Jackerlanterns), Sam and Chris were supposed to help me, but they didn’t like the seeds inside or the smell!! Kids hey! We all enjoyed a family dinner together.

24^th Oct 09 - 26^th Oct - NYC

Today saw the Wilson party depart for Washington DC. Mal and I didn’t go as we visited the capital last year, so we stayed home with Jmel and enjoyed some quality time together, we also spent time working on the garden project. On the Sunday we were invited on a boat trip on the Hudson by Betsy and Jane – without hesitation we agreed and with our packed lunch set off to meet our Captain! We had a brilliant time everyone getting a turn at Captaining the boat clearly under Betsy’s expert tuition, we sailed right down to the bottom of Manhattan and around Lady Liberty, it was a trip most people would pay a lot of money to go on and we are blessed with such wonderful friends that they took us out for the day just to ensure we had an enjoyable vacation. The scenery was a sight to behold as the trees were resplendent in all their ‘fall’ glory.

27^th Oct 09 – 31^st Oct 09 – NYC

The next few days were spent shopping with Helen. We also went into the city for the day, took a tour around Wendy’s offices which gave us a birds eye view of the city! We had the most beautiful weather so took a stroll along the Brooklyn Bridge, spotting a cruise ship just off the Statue of Liberty which my Aunt and Uncle were going on to cruise the Caribbean. We paid our regular homage to south street seaport were we indulged in beer and hotdogs! We had no trick or treaters, despite buying our won body weight in chocolate bars! The Wilsons left us on the 30^th Oct to return to the UK.

1^st Nov 09 – 23rd Nov 09 – NYC

Well this month commenced with some exciting things, namely a visit to the New York Metropolitan Opera www.metopera.org to see Tourandot a surprise from Wendy and Jmel – Wow what a wonderful present, it was absolutely breathtaking; I am sold on opera and can’t wait to go again! We ate dinner in the city prior to the opera at artepasta www.artepastanyc.com a super little Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village a great find courtesy of Father Joey! We also met up with my Aunt y Janet and Uncle  Colin on their return from the cruise. We collected them from their hotel and gave them a whistle stop tour of NYC which they thoroughly enjoyed. We took them to dinner at Bond 45 www.bond45.com another fabulous restaurant introduced to us by Wendy and Jmel, they were completely bowled over with the meal and the whole experience – we dropped a pooped Aunt 
and Uncle back at their hotel at around midnight. We continued with our gardening project with gusto and a very happy customer (Jmel) boy was she happy. As a reward for my work in the garden Wendy and Jmel spoiled me with a full body massage at the local salon, it was awesome, positively ‘the’ best massage I have ever had! We took the cars for their service and spent a little time checking out Maple Moor golf course in preparation for the visit from Paula and Chris. We also went for dinner at some friends Dusty and Melany, they were the perfect hosts and we had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Although the evening did kick off with Wendy taking a tumble on the drive of our hosts and cutting her knuckles open – what an icebreaker!! Mal and Wendy spent some time researching and sourcing a new T.V. complete with surround sound. We started to prepare for Paula and Chris’s visit. Jmel and Wendy left for Texas on the 21^st; we dropped them at Le Guardia airport. We moved into Wendy and Jmel’s bedroom leaving ours vacant for P & C who were due at lunchtime on the 23^rd.

23^rd Nov 09 – NYC

Early morning on the 23^rd I received a text from P to say their flight from Manchester to Heathrow had been delayed and there was a chance they wouldn’t get their connection. Later I received another txt to say they had missed their flight!! The rest of the day was spent waiting around and working out which flight they could now get. They eventually arrived into JFK rather than Newark at about 6pm. We immediately went to the supermarket to buy steak for Chris’s dinner, as he wanted to choose it. We cooked a lovely dinner for us, P had a little salad as the delays etc. had messed up her body clock.

24^th Nov 09 – NYC

The next day after consultation with the vacationers we decided to go into the city. We gave them a guided tour of Times sq, St Patrick’s Cathedral, The Rockerfella Centre (top of the rock) www.topoftherocknyc.com made extra special by a guy proposing to his girlfriend at the top, Saks on 5^th Ave, Chris spotted Nick Faldo and Kate Moss on 5^th Ave, Mal spotted Kate Moss’s legs! We ate lunch at Carnegie Deli www.carnegiedeli.com, be warned do NOT order a lot of food if you visit here as the portions are huge! Luckily we have been before and take much pleasure in watching people ordering lots of food but then the look on their faces when it all arrives is something to behold. Needless to say we took leftovers home. We had a relaxing evening in; everyone was pretty tired after a full day in the city.

25^th Nov 09 – NYC

We decided on a trip to Woodbury common today www.premiumoutlets.com/woodburycommon/  a shopping outlet mall. Boy was PP happy shopping her favourite pastime. We spent the day at Woodbury; think everyone made a purchase of some kind. Upon our return to Scarsdale we dropped off our bags and decided on dinner at the City Limits Diner www.livanosrestaurantgroup.com. After dinner we retired home as once again everyone as pretty pooped.

26^th Nov 09 – NYC Thanksgiving

Today it was Macys Day parade, we were all feeling a little tired and due to our pending trip to Niagara decided not to go into the city to watch the parade, but thought we could watch it on T.V. After breakfast we headed off to Maple Moor Golf course for a walk. Chris was very impressed by the set up and after a chat with the guy in the shop he was booked in for a round on his return from Canada. In the meantime the guy gave him some clubs and balls to have a play on the putting area – Chris was very impressed and clearly in his element. The afternoon was spent quaffing sparkling wine and cooking a good ole fashioned Christmas dinner (or thanksgiving dinner), we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening. We packed most of our luggage ready for our early start in the morning.

27^th Nov 09 – Niagara Falls Canada

An early start today as we had a long drive ahead of us. Mal and Chris shared the driving, we stopped off en-route for a late breakfast in a quirky little town, P was convinced it was like a setting from a horror movie and we would get chopped up and put into the freezer. We arrived in Niagara late afternoon to very cold weather but no snow! We checked in to the Hilton Hotel www.niagarafallshilton.com  which we had booked as a present for P’s 40^th Birthday, upon booking I had explained to them it was my Sisters 40^th prezzie and I had booked a premium view. We were allocated a room on the 51^st floor, Mal asked the receptionist if we had a good view her reply was ‘the best as it is on the top floor of the hotel’ boy she was not joking it made you dizzy in the lift. After a short stint up and down in the wrong lift we finally found our room – it was stunning, two bedrooms a double Jacuzzi bath, flat screen TVs in both rooms, kitchen area and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the falls! We checked out the restaurant we wanted to eat at that night and after a trek to find the 7 eleven shop for P to get some antacid tabs we arrived back to the hotel dripping wet and freezing. We warmed ourselves by eating crisps, drinking wine and getting all excited watching the falls from our panoramic view! We eventually got ready albeit we had to prize Chris off the window as he had been exported back to childlike ways and could not tear himself away from the view – how cute! We made our way to the keg steakhouse www.kegsteakhouse.com a little early as we had a 7.30pm booking, but we thought if we got there early we may be able to secure a window seat, unfortunately they will not let you book a window seat when you make your booking it is a first come first served basis which we were a little disappointed about. However, Mal had a word with the Maitre to see if there was anything she could do, she said they had no window seats and gave us a buzzer and told us when the red light went off we should go back and they would show us to our table. In the interim P and I scurried off into the huge restaurant to check out possible seats which may have a reasonable view. As we arrived back our buzzer went off and we were escorted to our table by the waitress – wow we got the best seats in the house, right in the centre of the floor to ceiling windows, so a great view of the illuminated falls and the proceeding fireworks! We commenced dinner with a cocktail, our meal was first class and I would highly recommend this restaurant. After dinner we decided to go to the casino which was right across the street from our hotel. Being novices to such a thing Mal and I did not spend a penny; Chris had a couple of bets to no avail. Seeing as it wasn’t our lucky night we headed off to bed.

28^th Nov 09 – Canada

The day began with as much as you can eat buffet breakfast. We spent the day checking out the sights of the Niagara Falls area. We went on the tour behind the falls, after being told with much fervor all about the tour by a gentleman who had done it many times before we began our descent with excitement, although I must admit I think P and I were a little scared! But we donned our waterproof ponchos with delight and proceeded to the elevator. We crammed into the rickety old elevator and continued out descent, the doors opened to a deafening crescendo of water, so loud you could feel it in your body! We walk out onto the viewing platform to see the water smashing over the rocks down into the pool below – awesome! We took a walk behind the falls which was a little hairaising more so because the site was not very well maintained so looked like it may all collapse at any moment, to say P was a little hesitant at having her picture taken out on the ledge is perhaps an understatement. P and I made a dash back toward the lift having had enough of our underground cavern for one day; we patiently queued at the elevator with a large group hoping it would arrive soon. We jumped into the next available elevator saying our farewells to Chris and Mal incase they couldn’t fit in – nothing was going to stop us ascending from this watery hole. Upon reaching the top we both breathed a sigh of relief and discarded our waterproof friends. We took a gentle stroll down to the Clifton Hill area which was a cheesy tourist area not dissimilar to Blackpool, unimpressed we headed to the IMAX theatre to give our visitors another ‘new’ experience. We decided to head back to the hotel to check out the pool. Immediately upon reaching the pool Mal had to go on the 30ft 3 storey waterslide, amazing he said it was a ‘must’ for all, I reassured him he would never get P to go on it as she did not do slides, fairgrounds or the like – I told him to just be happy she was in the pool. But much to my astonishment P said ok then lets go on it! We climbed the stairs to our launch pad, Mal went down first, me second (I must admit after going down I thought it was way to fast for P, but couldn’t tell her it was too late). Anyway what ensued next was one of the funniest moments of my life! Mal waited near the area in the pool where everyone pops out from the slide. Chris gave us the nod she was on her way….. next P pops out of the bottom like a bullet from a gun and proceeds to flap around on the top of the water on her back with her eyes shut, by which point I was sure she was having a fit of some kind. Mal scooted over to her at a fast pace but in the meantime the lifeguard had jumped into the pool (fully clothed) to practise her lifesaving technique. Once P was reassured she was on terrafirma and no-one was trying to drown her (lifeguard included) she eagerly swam over to the centre of the pool to get out of the way to be greeted by me doubled over with laughter. At which point Chris shoots out from the bottom of the slide eager to ensure she was ok (from his view at the top of the slide with no communication it looked like she was having a fit too). Basically she had got all disorientated and thought Mal was trying to drag her under the water and then she proceeded to shout ‘get off me, get off me’ to the lifeguard, it wasn’t until she heard the lifeguard’s dulcet tones she realised all was not as it seemed! After profuse apologise to the lifeguard for wrecking her clothes she decided to stick to swimming, despite Mal’s renewed attempts to get he back on the slide. Chris explained that when P was at the top of the slide she asked what she needed to do and Chris explained she must lie down with her arms folded. So, P sat in the foot well of the slide at the top and led down bottom half in the foot well top half on the floor – Chris in fits for giggles explained to her she need to lie down on the slide as she would not get anywhere the way she was! What a brilliant day! We decided to go to a bar/grill Shoeless Joes www.shoelessjoes.ca for an informal dinner tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. Dinner was followed by another trip to the casino for Chris to cash his chips in, before which we talked him into going on a bandit. I chose the bandit because it had paws on it after their pooches and from a 5 cent bet he won $100 woohoo get in! The evening ended on a very happy note.

 

29^th Nov 09 – Canada & NYC

We departed Niagara Falls early as we had a long drive back to New York; we decided to eat en-route, Mal and Chris once again shared the driving. Seeing as we would pass by Woodbury Common shopping outlets again we thought it would be silly not to stop, especially as they had even bigger sales on! After our fun filled day we headed to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner www.cpk.com it was knockout!

30^th Nov 09 – NYC

Chris went off to play golf this morning and thoroughly enjoyed himself, the guys at the club were so impressed by his hole in one they invited him back again. We did a little bit of mall shopping prior to the guys going to pick up Wendy and Jmel from the airport. I cooked dinner for everyone and we introduced P and C to Wendy and Jmel. We had a relaxing evening with a lovely log fire.

1^st Dec 09 – NYC

Today we headed off into the city to see some more sights. We took another tour of Times Sq, walking south and stopping off for Chris to purchase some new golf shoes. We took them to see Brooklyn Bridge then headed off to ground zero which as always was a very humbling experience. We took a trip on the Staten Island Ferry by which time we were all pretty hungry, P and C concluded they would like to eat in China town. I consulted the NYC guide and we came up a few ideas of where to eat. We ordered far too much food as always but enjoyed it, albeit the surroundings were a little ethnic!

2^nd Dec 09 – NYC

I woke up feeling very unwell with a severe sore throat. Once again P and C wanted to visit the city as it was their last full day. I stayed in bed for a while and took a hot bath to try to get warm. Chris went off to play gold early this morning, so we agreed I would see how I felt upon his return. Still feeling unwell we decided it was best I stay at home. However, P and C wanted to get the train into the city, so we dropped them off at the station. The Rockefeller Tree lights were being switched on tonight along with an open air concert, unfortunately the weather forecast was not great. P and C did some more shopping in the city and had dinner at a restaurant which they highly recommended John’s pizza. They decided not to stay for the tree lighting ceremony because the weather was not great and it was absolutely packed with people. We collected them from the station and had a lovely evening together.

3^rd Dec 2009 – NYC

We spent the day completing P and C’s last minute packing. Took a trip to the shops chef central www.chefcentral.com to buy knives, old navy to buy presents, stopping off for lunch at the Fountain Diner. After lunch we had a mad dash back to collect the cases and headed off to Newark airport. P was very very sad at having to leave us and I must say I was feeling rather glum too. But I can say we all had ‘the’ most fabulous time and would love to do it again. I can safely say I think P and C are completely ‘sold’ on the USA!

7th September - 20th October 2009

7th Sept 09 – 18th October 09 – Clitheroe

Welcome to our new home camping in Clitheroe! We secured a nice little pitch in a small field at the bottom of the site (only us in the field) woohoo. We spent the next few weeks organising our belongings in preparation for our forthcoming trip to the USA. We had a steady stream of visitors for sleepovers, dinner, lunch, breakfast, drinks etc.

18th October 09 –

Delivered our home to the storage company and spent the afternoon finalising packing and visiting my parents to bid farewell for a couple of months. We slept over at Paula and Chris’s as Chris was kindly dropping us at the airport.

20th October 09 – Start of the trip to the USA

We started the morning with a wonderful breakfast prepared by my lovely sister. Chris dropped us at the airport in plenty of time and we flew out of Manchester at 11.55am. We had a smooth flight with the excepetion of a horrible lady who accused me of digging my knees into the back of her seat (this was before we had even taken off), now anyone who knows me will realise my knees aint going to touch the back of anyone's seat in front of me. So, I politely told the lady she was barking up the wrong tree, just as Mal began to stuff his newspapers in the back of her seat!! Needless to say she made a hasty retreat and moved to a different seat (thank the lord). We landed at JFK to be collected by Wendy at 2.45pm, the weather was bright and pretty warm – woohoo I love NYC!! We had a lovely evening with Wendy and Jmel catching up on each others year.

France 15th August 09 - 6th Sept 09

16th & 17th August 09 – Charroux

We continued our journey down to the Charentes region to visit our friends Mandy & Brian. We stopped for 2 nights at an aire in Charroux; it was a very quiet little town, so we spent our time relaxing.

18th & 19th August 09 – Verteuil Sur Charente

We stopped at a beautiful ‘free’ aire in Verteuil Sur Charente, it was a tight drive into town but well worth it, the aire is relatively small but there was only one other motorhome. The aire sat in a small grassy park area with a stream running through. We spent some time meandering through the streets exploring the quaint town complete with its very own chateau! We spent 2 days here which consisted of washing, paddling in the stream, reading and relaxing. We had received a call from Mandy to say Brian had not been well and so had decided to delay our visit for a couple of days.

20th August 09 – St Quentin S Charente

We stayed at a large ‘free’ aire at a reservoir in a rural area and spent the day cycling and relaxing.

21st August to 31st August 09 – Le Touché

The next 9 nights were spent in Le Touché near Angouleme at Many and Brian’s. We had a great time, playing petanque, water volleyball, swimming in their pool, canoeing on the Charentes, dining at a wonderful French restaurant. The weather was hot hot hot so a fair amount of sunbathing was done too. Brian’s Son and girlfriend visited too.

 

31st August 09 – Broglie

We set off early heading north; we decided to drive as far as we had the energy for today, we needed to be back in the north of England for the 9th Sept for a conference. We stopped at an aire in Broglie which was in a very quiet spot in a small town; we had a relaxing comfortable nights sleep.

1st Sept 09 – Le Crotoy 2

Again we set off this morning travelling north to pass some miles – we were not doing our regular sightseeing as we need to get back to the UK. We stopped at a great aire which was a very large sight right at the seaside. We had a great wander around the town, which had some great bars and restaurants, a lot of them were closed due to the season, but we felt sure it would be a busy place in summer.

2nd Sept 09 – Le Touquet Paris Plage

We stopped at a great place, arriving mid afternoon Le Touquet Paris Plage. The aire was at the marina towards the east of town and was very busy. The town itself was quiet again due to the time of year, but had an abundance of shops, restaurants, pubs and Aqua Park! In the summer months it must be absolutely buzzing. We took a cycle ride into the town, parked up watched the kite surfing on the beach and enjoyed a ‘huge’ ice-cream! Wow life with McFee is a dream come true! Love it love it love it.

3rd Sept 09 – Calais

Now we decided we would drive right to Calais and stay on the aire there for the night. We had heard many scary stories about staying at Calais so were very hesitant, but decided to give it a go. We arrived at the aire mid afternoon to severe wind blowing sand everywhere, something worthy of the Sahara! We ended up with sand in ‘every’ nook and cranny possible. We feasted on ham and cheese baguettes with a portion of chips……there was enough food to feed all the motorhomes on the aire, but boy did we enjoy it! We wondered if the ferry would sail the next day due to the high winds. We spoke to Roger and Norma our friends near stoke on trent and arranged to stay overnight with them tomorrow.

4th & 5th Sept 09 – Rog & Norms (Midlands)

We got the 9.25am ferry from Calais, the weather had calmed overnight so no issues with sailing, arriving in Dover at 9.55am (local time). We spent most of the day travelling to Rog and Norms arriving with them around 5pm. We had a very warm welcome from all the Stevens clan including Bess and Darcy (the dogs) Norm had made a lovely dinner for us and throughout the evening we proceeded to devour a fair few bottles of wine. We caught up on each others escapades over the last few months and plans for the next few months too. We had only planned to stay with them for 1 night but due to the copious bottles of wine the previous night we thought the offer of ‘stay as long as you like’ made sense to stay at least another night – clearly with less alcohol.

6th Sept 09 – Blackburn

We set off mid morning heading for Blackburn stopping off en-route to see Mal’s sister. We caught up with my family and spent the night outside of my parent’s house. We made a booking at the campsite in Clitheroe for a few weeks, taking up our residence tomorrow!

France 10th August 09 - 15th August 09

10th August 09 – Chartres 
We enjoyed a great stay at a campsite in Chartres and found Chartres to be an enchanting place with some fabulous cycle routes. Clearly we visited the Cathedral which has to be the most amazing Gothic Cathedral I have visited so far, well worth a visit.

 

11th August 09 – Beaugency  
We stayed at the most wonderful location right on the banks of the Loire, complete with great cycling along the river. Well worth a visit for the views and cycling. 

12th & 13th August 09 – Cellette  
We decided on a quiet spot on a campsite in Cellette in order to celebrate Mal’s Birthday on the 13th! We spent the next 2 days cycling 27 miles through the woods and around the local area. On Mal’s Birthday we visited Chateau d’ Cheverny. The chateau is still pretty much lived in, and you’d know it. It is magnificently furnished while retaining that old world charm, brought back to the present with recent family photographs, and made familiar by the French children’s book (or was it a cartoon?) “Moulinsart” . In particular, we liked the little girls’ room as well as the dressing room where one can still view the wedding dress worn by the royal lady of the house. The afternoon was spent giving Mal a haircut and pedicure as part of his Birthday treats, alongside baking him a cake too! We enjoyed a lovely dinner outside alongside the river with a bottle of some sparkly stuff.
                                                                                              

Cheverney


14th August 09 – Chenonceau  
We decided to move on today and visit Chateau Chenonceau. Château des Dames as recorded in the French history books; Chenonceau owes a large part of its charm to women: it was built in 1513 by Katherine Briçonnet, then made even more attractive by Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de Médicis, and saved from the rigours of the French Revolution by Mrs Dupin. This Chateau is absolutely stunning and had the most breathtaking floral arrangements I have ever seen. Unfortunately, there are no aire facilities on the Chateau parking; however just around the corner at the side of the railway is a small aire which we decided to stay on. We were pleasantly surprised by the aire as it was in a great location right next to the chateau but were equally concerned about it being right next to the railway – however the trains didn’t run throughout the night so we had a great nights sleep.  

15th August 09 – Azay le Rideau 
We continue to head south to see our friends Mandy & Brian in Le Touch. Stopping off at Azay-le-Rideau which boasted yet another beautiful town complete with Chateau. Both deciding we were Chateaued out we did not visit the Chateau here albeit it looked stunning (maybe next time). The town here was pretty awesome too and well worth a visit. We stayed on the aire which is next to the campsite in town, where we spent our time relaxing.

France 5th August & 6th August 2009

5^th & 6^th Aug 2009 – Albert (Somme) 2nights

The somme - it is so hard to describe the emotions as you travel through this most tranquil and absolutely beautiful part of rural France, knowing that the poppy-edged fields you are looking over or standing beside, growing wheat or vegetables of various kinds, contain the bones and identification tags of tens of thousands of young men, of the millions sent to their doom.

We stayed at the municipal camp site in Albert which was at the side of a beautiful stream, complete with picture perfect ducks; oh the weather was fab too! The next day being in the Somme area we decided to explore, we hit the tourist information office in town, gathering up a cycling tour of the area. Well we set off……along a main road complete with trucks (not my idea of fun) it was baking hot, we had no water & there was no destination in sight eventually after a LOT of strenuous cycling we reached the Lochnagar Crater which is one of several which remain visible on the Western Front today. Lochnagar crater is well signposted (as 'la Grande Mine'), to the right from the main road if you are travelling from Albert in the direction of Bapaume. There is parking near the crater. It is possible to walk all around the edge of the crater, but access to the crater itself is not permitted. It was created by the explosion of two charges of ammonal (36,000 lbs and 24,000 lbs 60 feet apart) under a German position called Schwaben Hohe, and the crater originally measured some 300 feet across and 90 feet deep. Unfortunately, the attack in this sector on the 1st of July was not successful, despite the mine, and the losses sustained particularly by the Tyneside Scottish and other units of the 34th Division were heavy. On reflection my strenuous cycle was nothing in comparison to anything these poor men had suffered. All along the route there were graves amongst the fields of corn interspersed with poppies. We decided to visit the Musee Somme in the town centre, I had read a little about it which I must say was a tad off putting, but we decided to give it a go anyway! I must say we were pleasantly surprised. The Somme Trench Museum is set in a series of underground shelters that were used by the local people on many occasions to shelter from invaders. The last time they were used for this purpose was during The Second World War. The museum is however devoted to The First World War as the town and region suffered greatly during that terrible conflict. As you drive around northern France, in particular The Somme, The Aisne, The Nord and The Pas de Calais (all known as départements or counties / provinces) you cannot help but be reminded of the slaughter that took place in this part of France. A plethora of cemeteries and memorials have been built to honour those who died. We emerged from the museum into the local park, which was the ultimate in tranquillity; we decided to bask in the sun and enjoy the peace, so copped a squat on the grass and enjoyed our packed lunch! We meandered back to camp and did a spot of washing followed by some sunbathing. Whilst we sat out we could not help but be amused by the local children on site, 3 girls and a little boy each had a toy dog on a lead, whilst taking their pooches for a walk one by one they stopped off at the local tree to allow their pooches to have a pee which consisted of holding the stuffed animal against the tree and saying pisssss – well it had us both in fits of giggles….oh to be young again! We followed dinner by a stroll along the stream to feed the ducks, then a nightcap of baileys whilst sitting outside.

7^th Aug 09 – Destination Forges Les Eaux – prior to departing Albert we decided to tour some of the memorial sites but in the van this time as my little body wasn’t upto a 40 mile trip by pedal power! We visited Thiepval memorial. After the War ended, Thiepval was chosen as the location for the Memorial to the Missing to commemorate those who died in the Somme sector before the 20th of March 1918 and have no known grave. This is the largest and most imposing of the Memorials to the Missing, and visiting here is a moving and sobering experience. Those who died in the Somme after 20th March 1918 are commemorated at Pozieres.

The Thiepval Memorial is the largest of the Memorials to the Missing, and the last on the Western Front to be unveiled (one day after that at Arras). Negotiations to purchase the site were started in the late 1920s, and the memorial was unveiled by the Prince of Wales (then President of the Imperial War Graves Commission) on Monday the 1st of August, 1932. The Prince's speech, part in French, the rest in English, was carried on radio broadcasts, and he called the memorial "the crowning stone" of the work of the IWGC. He added that "our first thoughts today should be with the relatives of those whose death has purchased our current freedom". Just seven years before the clouds of World War were to descend once more, he hoped that this was the opening chapter in a "Book of Life" from which the horrors of war would be banished, and that it would be a call to a better civilization. At the end of the Ceremony, the Last Post was played.

On the panels of the arches are the names of those who have no known grave, and are thus 'the Missing'. However, many of these may be buried in the Somme, but in an unknown grave marked as 'Known unto God'. The Memorial covers the missing of Britain and South Africa.

Behind the Memorial is a joint British - French Cemetery, intended to symbolise the losses both suffered. The idea of a joint memorial of some kind had been suggested as early as 1923, and La Ferte-sous-Jouarre was suggested as a possible site, as was Amiens. A Memorial to British and Empire Missing was in fact constructed at La Ferte-sous-Jouarre.

We also saw the Ulster Memorial which is a memorial to the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division. The memorial was officially opened on November 19, 1921 and is a very close copy of Helen's Tower which stands in the grounds of the Clandeboye Estate, near Bangor, County Down in Northern Ireland. Many of the men of the Ulster Division trained in the estate before moving to England and then France early in 1916.

After a very humbling morning & a true appreciation that ‘freedom is not free’, we headed for Forges Les Eaux where we stayed on a great aire, after reading our guide it said the aire was free for the first night which was incorrect. This evening we went into the one horse town for dinner which ended up being an overly priced pizza!

9/8/09 – Brezolles – Next day we headed off for Giverney, the weather was outrageously beautiful, en-route we passed through a stunning little town called Lyons-la-Foret it is set in a beautiful forest area approx 30kms east of Rouen – we will definitely be paying this place a return visit. En-route we passed under a 3.6m bridge, when I asked Mal if we would be ok on the height (as I always do) he replied as we went under yeh we’ll be ok just!!! Whilst on this little leg of our travels we decided on the new name for our motorhome Ardennes (because it is ‘our den’ and Ardennes is between France and Germany and the new van has a German base with a French top)! Once again we had made a boo boo with our fuel, forgetting it was Sunday we needed fuel and drove for miles to find a petrol station where we could fill up!! We finally arrived at Giverney but were not allowed to park on the huge car parks which were easily accessible, instead we were told to go up the ‘tiny’ side streets to a practically inaccessible car park right in the centre of all the tourists – bless Mal he managed to get parked up, I had told him to forget and get the hell out of there. We took a stroll around the area deciding not to visit Monet’s house and gardens because the queues where quite unbelievable and it was baking hot – I concluded in my new life I did not need to see anything enough to queue for about 1 hour!! Sorry Monet c’est la vie. My advice would be don’t go anywhere near in your motorhome park away from the town and cycle to it, don’t go on the weekend either and get there very early to avoid such long queues! The surrounding area was absolutely breathtaking.

We decided to continue on our sightseeing and head to Versailles – another boo boo! Upon arrival at Versailles we picked out a great parking spot along with many other motorhomes, after a very short walk we arrived at the gates. We strolled leisurely through the gardens, after purchasing our tickets to see the rest of the gardens and the palace we embarked on our queuing which went on for around an hour, but on this occasion we thought it must be worth it. We finally arrived at the front presented our tickets to be told ‘they are not the correct tickets, they are just for the gardens’, then to be instructed to go and queue for tickets elsewhere then queue again in the queue we had already queued in – now I know what you readers are thinking too many uses of queue here! You are correct so after letting the lady know how inept they were we went and explored the gardens for which we did have tickets! Once we had had our fill of the gardens we made our way back to the van and continued our journey staying on an aire in Brezolles.

France 26th July to 4th August 2009

26th, 27th & 28th July '09

Well after 'finally' getting the new Rapido 992mh we loaded him up and headed south, stopping off for a couple of nights with our friends Rog & Norm who were camping in the midlands. We had a great time getting used to the new van & trying out our new facilities i.e. baking some cakes in the new ramoska - Rog thought there was no end to my talents!

29th & 30th July '09

En route to Dover we stopped off with Jay one of our other friends in the midlands & enjoyed a nice meal at the cock, heading off the following day destination Canterbury. We stayed on the UK equivalent of an aire which was superb & just like a little bit of France! After a stroll around the town, a few purchases in Lakeland & dinner at Wagga Mamas (one of my favourite places to eat), we headed back to camp. We were both so excited about finally being on the road again, albeit at least half of the trip down so far had resulted in me sitting in the back doing a bit of work or reading 'cos I was so nervous about the traffic!! Anyway we thought we would just enjoy a relaxing evening & early night ready for our ferry crossing, across from us there was an ever expanding family - the couple had 4 small children, a lassie dog & baby in the making......all in a 6 metre motorhome!!! They were sat outside when the dog who was tethered to the table went berserk & dragged the table, chairs, high chair complete with baby across the carpark.......it was like something from a comedy sketch & I couldn't quite believe it!! After the high drama we had an early night. 31st July & 1st Aug '09 Lille The ferry crossing was great and a much better experience with P&O ferries than with Sea France! Our destination was Lille, we were going to see Arno and Chantal one of Mal's ex work colleagues. We arrived with them just after lunch & were greeted by Victorie (Arno's beautiful daughter), Chantal, Vixie, Zoom & of course Arno! There home was wonderful and they made us very very welcome. That evening we went to Lille to drop Victorie off for her train to Belgium & Arno gave us a whistle stop tour of Lille along with a stop off for drinks - it was great to see him after so long. We arrived back to a lovely meal prepared by Chantal which was all washed down with a few bottles of champagne! The next day we took a cycle ride around the area together, then they both took us into Lille to show us some of the sights, which was a really nice experience. We enjoyed another wonderful meal sat outside on the patio with some mean drinks they introduced us to which contained rum, sugarcane & lime juice - delicious! Arno & Mal 2nd Aug '09 After a leisurely breakfast we headed off to Ypres as we where so near to the Belgium border. We found a small campsite & booked in for 1 night, then got on our bikes & explored the town! Ypres is a nice fortified town & worth a visit. There was a fair in the main square which is were we thought the aire was but never actually found the aire, we stopped off for a beer in the square & did a bit of people watching, also treating ourselves to a tray of frites which were scrummy! After dinner we headed off to the menin gate for the 8pm ceremony whereby they honour the dead of the first world war by playing the last post, the gate marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line. Its large Hall of Memory contains the names of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died without graves, cut into vast panels. On completion of the memorial, it was discovered to be too small to contain all the names as originally planned. An arbitrary cut-off point of 15 August 1917 was chosen and the names of 34,984 UK missing after this date were inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing instead......humbling to say the least! Menin Gate Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge Whilstin Northern France we visited Vimy Ridge which is where another battle was fought from 9 April to 12 April 1917, this was part of the opening phase of the British-led Battle of Arras. By nightfall on 12 April 1917, the Canadian Corps was in firm control of the ridge. The corps suffered 10,602 casualties: 3,598 killed and 7,004 wounded. The German Sixth Army suffered an unknown number of casualties with an approximate 4,000 men becoming prisoners of war. Four members of the Canadian Corps received Victoria Crosses, the highest military decoration awarded to British and Commonwealth forces for valour, for their actions during the battle. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is Canada's largest and principal overseas war memorial. Located on the highest point of the Vimy Ridge, the memorial is dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It serves as the place of commemoration for Canadian soldiers killed in France during the First World War with no known grave. France granted Canada perpetual use of a section of land at Vimy Ridge in 1922 for the purpose of a battlefield park and memorial. A 250-acre (100 ha) portion of the former battlefield is preserved as part of the memorial park that surrounds the monument. The grounds of the site are still honeycombed with wartime tunnels, trenches, craters and unexploded munitions, and is largely closed off for public safety. However, a section of preserved trenches and a portion of a tunnel have been made accessible to site visitors. The original preserved trenches Underground tunnels used during the war - spooky! 3rd & 4th August Equihen Plage - what a great aire, superb location, superb weather, superb company! How lucky we are. The town here was very quiet & not worthy of a visit but the aire was right on the cliff overlooking a great beach, with a nice grass area to sit out & relax - which is what we did! Amongst playing cards, reading eating good food we didn't do much else '0h yes' we relaxed - heavenly! Equihen Plage! Our dining spot at Equihen Plage.

Lancashire 7th March - 16th June 2009

3/6/09

Well well well lots to tell as it’s been such a long time since I last blogged! We have bought a house, repossession, moved into it and have been busy decorating and doing minor renovations ready to rent it out. We have had a visit from our New York relatives which was great. Our Motor home has been written off; we were both sad but pleased the insurance had finally made a decision after 3 months!! Rob (Mal’s son) got his degree – well done Rob! My back has been knackered since the accident (think I have a trapped nerve). We got some of our furniture out of storage too….sleeping in our very own bed is pure bliss. We are due to take delivery of our new motor home week ending 5th June can’t wait to get back on the road! We caught up with Mandy one of friends who lives in France which was great; she made us a lovely meal over in Preston. We also caught up with some of Mal’s old work colleagues whom I got to meet for the first time which was great after hearing lots of tales about them all. My friend Nic got married, so I got chance to catch up with her too. My Sister P on her 40th!!!

P's BIG chocolate cake!

A proud father with his Son after he had just received his graduation results! Princess Fearn & Big Bracken (P's kids). 15/6/09 Good news for the month…..we have managed a couple of BBQs as the weather has been a bit better! Guess what Brownhills let us down again and the motorhome still hasn’t arrived! I am so fed up I can’t begin to tell you…..’apparently’ it will commence its journey from France on June 19th, but I better not hold my breath. Yesterday we had an email from our friends Roger & Norma to say they would be over in Clitheroe, so we headed over to meet up with them, it was so great to see them Darcy & Bess seemed to remember us…..so we didn’t warrant a growl! We spent the evening with them & planned to possibly meet up with them tomorrow. Unfortunately me having a blonde moment, I forgot the car was booked into the garage for the repairs from the bump P had, so we would be carless!!! Up early to drop the car off at the garage with P, gave Rog a call to tell him about the car – we agreed to see them either on our way to France or on our way back or both. I was peeved that we couldn’t see them again today. Busied myself with cleaning the final few windows in the house – boring! That’s it for now folks! Ardennes!!