Getting sorted and I am now planning my wandering new life........with the added advantage of no house to worry about in the UK!! I have missed blogging so thought I would do a bit of an update before we set off around 21st August.
After getting back home from South America I had a lovely couple of weeks catching up with friends, went to the theatre-I'd forgotten how much I had missed a bit of culture.
I had a great break in France, stayed in the Loire in an old manor House with the girls, their boyfriends Carl and Phill and their dad Keith and his girlfriend Anne. We had a fabulous time together, if a little rowdy at times. It would be churlish not to mention the 10-1 thrashing that Carl and I gave Keith and Phill at boule.
At the end of the week I set off by train to Bourges, making my way to the Auvergne to do some house sitting for a friend. In Bourges I stayed in an apartment with Jean-Pierre I booked this with airbnb.com-very reasonable way to either stay in people's homes or you can book whole flats or apartments. Bourges is a beautiful old Medieval town and it was a nice peaceful break. I then had one night in Clermont Ferrand (home of Michelin) and then headed for Issoire where I was met by Christine. The french train system is efficient and reasonably priced and for the most part punctual.
Christine and Geoff are old friends from home and they live and work in a beautiful part of France. They have a gite and B&B and Geoff does English classes and translation etc. Their son was getting married in the UK and they needed someone to look after their dog Bounty. The setting is stunning and both the gite and the B&B are lovely, typical french places. The Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Les-Hirondelles-Chabanol/20014892550?fref=ts and the website is http://www.hirondelles-chabanol.fr/ if you are looking for somewhere a bit off the beaten track, stunning scenery and lovely old villages and good walking...
I had a lovely few days just mooching with the dog and enjoying the blissful setting, wandered to the local market and on my last night had dinner with friends of Christine -he is French and she is from Jarrow and I transpired that I knew her sister ( from Christmas parties in East Boldon and she was also Imogen's German teacher and also her cousin a practice nurse from my clinical days!!) SMALL WORLD
I got the train to Paris and had an overnight stay and came home on Eurostar. I'd forgotten how lovely Paris can be ,the trip back was effortless, Eurostar to St Pancras and across the road to Kings Cross and home and all for £57.
Chris is celebrating his 60th birthday this year and my treat to him was a surprise visit to the Victoria tunnel http://ouseburntrust.org.uk/index.php?page=victoria-tunnel , two hours spent underground with a hard hat and a torch............I know how to show someone a good time.
We have travelled halfway round the world and sometimes know very little about our own doorstep.
On the actual day ( 29th April) we climbed Blencathra, in the Lake District, with his son Adam. As we left Threkeld it was clear , although the forecast was for showers. As we started to climb it got very windy and then cloudy, about 40 minutes from the top we had horizontal snow. I had taken a cake, imagining sitting at the summit enjoying the views and blowing out candles!! No way , 2 minutes for some photos and then we were off!! Sadly no photos as the SD card on my camera corrupted!
In May I had a lovely time in Spain with my best friend Vicki, we did a DIY city tour. We flew to Malaga, had 2 nights in Seville then off by bus to Granada and the fabulous Alhambra. We had a great time and the weather was lovely and the Alhambra was in all its glory in the sunlight. Next time it will be Cordoba, Jaen and Jerez. We travelled using bus and train which was great as you don't need the hassle of a car in a city.
I got back on 9th May with just enough time to wash clothes and re-pack to go to Chris' house, in Casas Nuevas, Murcia on 15th May. We had 8 days away and had work to do on the house painting door frames and cleaning. I love the village and the people, on our last day the flight back was 8pm, so once we had done the final clean I popped to the shop to get some bleach and asked Theresa if her bar did food midweek lunchtime and she said yes and told me what was on offer. When we got there we shared in the lunch that is made every day for the family!! Boquerones, crispy salad then fried fish , beautiful tomato and pepper dish and potatoes tiramisu and wine-we paid 10 euros but it was good of her to share the food.
Chris and I are the proud owners of a camper van a ruby red tranny conversion-Ruby the Roadstar. Like the last one -it is nothing posh but we will have great fun. We have had a couple of test nights, first at Haltwhistle , and then one night on Hadrian's wall.
We are currently house sitting in Brampton, Cumbria.......it is the same people who used to live in Bewcastle -chocolate labradors, cats, chickens and ducks.
I head home on Sunday as it is Fringe time again, three days of fun in Edinburgh. Then back for some serious packing of the house to get it empty for 21st August when we set off in the van for 2 weeks of UK travel. We plan to set off on 11th September to drive through France and Spain to Chris' house, possibly looking for a bit of helpx on the way.
Imogen is living in Basel, Switzerland for 8 weeks being trained for her new job. Amy is counting down the days to 30th September when she leaves work and of course to 7th December when she gets married.
Oh nearly forgot I witnessed an epic Lions victory in Australia.........
So once we start travelling I will go back to weekly blogging to keep you up to date with our adventures.......
Take care and best wishes to you all
Norma xx
After getting back home from South America I had a lovely couple of weeks catching up with friends, went to the theatre-I'd forgotten how much I had missed a bit of culture.
I had a great break in France, stayed in the Loire in an old manor House with the girls, their boyfriends Carl and Phill and their dad Keith and his girlfriend Anne. We had a fabulous time together, if a little rowdy at times. It would be churlish not to mention the 10-1 thrashing that Carl and I gave Keith and Phill at boule.
At the end of the week I set off by train to Bourges, making my way to the Auvergne to do some house sitting for a friend. In Bourges I stayed in an apartment with Jean-Pierre I booked this with airbnb.com-very reasonable way to either stay in people's homes or you can book whole flats or apartments. Bourges is a beautiful old Medieval town and it was a nice peaceful break. I then had one night in Clermont Ferrand (home of Michelin) and then headed for Issoire where I was met by Christine. The french train system is efficient and reasonably priced and for the most part punctual.
 |
| Bounty |
Christine and Geoff are old friends from home and they live and work in a beautiful part of France. They have a gite and B&B and Geoff does English classes and translation etc. Their son was getting married in the UK and they needed someone to look after their dog Bounty. The setting is stunning and both the gite and the B&B are lovely, typical french places. The Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Les-Hirondelles-Chabanol/20014892550?fref=ts and the website is http://www.hirondelles-chabanol.fr/ if you are looking for somewhere a bit off the beaten track, stunning scenery and lovely old villages and good walking...
I had a lovely few days just mooching with the dog and enjoying the blissful setting, wandered to the local market and on my last night had dinner with friends of Christine -he is French and she is from Jarrow and I transpired that I knew her sister ( from Christmas parties in East Boldon and she was also Imogen's German teacher and also her cousin a practice nurse from my clinical days!!) SMALL WORLD
I got the train to Paris and had an overnight stay and came home on Eurostar. I'd forgotten how lovely Paris can be ,the trip back was effortless, Eurostar to St Pancras and across the road to Kings Cross and home and all for £57.
Chris is celebrating his 60th birthday this year and my treat to him was a surprise visit to the Victoria tunnel http://ouseburntrust.org.uk/index.php?page=victoria-tunnel , two hours spent underground with a hard hat and a torch............I know how to show someone a good time.
We have travelled halfway round the world and sometimes know very little about our own doorstep.
On the actual day ( 29th April) we climbed Blencathra, in the Lake District, with his son Adam. As we left Threkeld it was clear , although the forecast was for showers. As we started to climb it got very windy and then cloudy, about 40 minutes from the top we had horizontal snow. I had taken a cake, imagining sitting at the summit enjoying the views and blowing out candles!! No way , 2 minutes for some photos and then we were off!! Sadly no photos as the SD card on my camera corrupted!
In May I had a lovely time in Spain with my best friend Vicki, we did a DIY city tour. We flew to Malaga, had 2 nights in Seville then off by bus to Granada and the fabulous Alhambra. We had a great time and the weather was lovely and the Alhambra was in all its glory in the sunlight. Next time it will be Cordoba, Jaen and Jerez. We travelled using bus and train which was great as you don't need the hassle of a car in a city.
 |
| Chris' house |
I got back on 9th May with just enough time to wash clothes and re-pack to go to Chris' house, in Casas Nuevas, Murcia on 15th May. We had 8 days away and had work to do on the house painting door frames and cleaning. I love the village and the people, on our last day the flight back was 8pm, so once we had done the final clean I popped to the shop to get some bleach and asked Theresa if her bar did food midweek lunchtime and she said yes and told me what was on offer. When we got there we shared in the lunch that is made every day for the family!! Boquerones, crispy salad then fried fish , beautiful tomato and pepper dish and potatoes tiramisu and wine-we paid 10 euros but it was good of her to share the food.
Chris and I are the proud owners of a camper van a ruby red tranny conversion-Ruby the Roadstar. Like the last one -it is nothing posh but we will have great fun. We have had a couple of test nights, first at Haltwhistle , and then one night on Hadrian's wall.
We are currently house sitting in Brampton, Cumbria.......it is the same people who used to live in Bewcastle -chocolate labradors, cats, chickens and ducks.
I head home on Sunday as it is Fringe time again, three days of fun in Edinburgh. Then back for some serious packing of the house to get it empty for 21st August when we set off in the van for 2 weeks of UK travel. We plan to set off on 11th September to drive through France and Spain to Chris' house, possibly looking for a bit of helpx on the way.
Imogen is living in Basel, Switzerland for 8 weeks being trained for her new job. Amy is counting down the days to 30th September when she leaves work and of course to 7th December when she gets married.
Oh nearly forgot I witnessed an epic Lions victory in Australia.........
So once we start travelling I will go back to weekly blogging to keep you up to date with our adventures.......
Take care and best wishes to you all
Norma xx
Keep them coming! Tried to comment on blogs before but couldn't get it to work. Take care Irene
ReplyDelete