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FRANCE-October 2010
Before returning briefly to France on a five day visit, I was down in the Southampton area. A trip on the Hythe ferry with Pam and Terry provided the opportunity to see the new Queen Elizabeth, before her official naming and maiden voyage.
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The new Queen Elizabeth from the Hythe ferry.
The crossing to France became very lively as we left the Isle of Wight behind, with rain, spray and waves pounding on the windows of the Fastcraft, and the horizon disappearing above and below the window frames. The duty free was shut as stock flew off the shelves. We arrived late at Cherbourg.
The journey down was equally horrendous for at least half the way, with sudden heavy downpours. But I was happy that the very full tank of petrol would enable me to get to Ambrieres and return, even if I could not get any petrol whilst away.
In the event the weather was generally kind during my visit, and mostly sunny with a couple of light showers. I was able to cut both the upper and lower grass twice during my stay, prune the vine, and generally tidy up in the garden.
Sunrise at Ambrieres
Inside, I prepared some more wood trim, plus a panel for the upstairs toilet, ready for staining and fixing.
A couple of shopping trips to Gorron and Mayenne yielded petrol, and one or two other useful " bargains ", plus enabled restocking of the wine rack.
Marrons glacés - hand made by Sara
The Kune Kune pigs had certainly grown since I videoed them on a previous visit. ( visit patrickclips, link from the main index page ). Little did Big pig, now called Fat pig, realise ...... or for that matter Long Back pig ......... Christmas is coming .......
Every need catered for ..... especially food.
Also Tara and Tarquin the turkeys ... possibly better named as Christmas and Easter !
" We've been framed ...... we thought this was a holiday camp ! "
The return trip showed off the wide variety of autumn colours, from yellow and brown to red. The ferry crossing back to Portsmouth was routine, and calm. Now for a flu jab, driving licence renewal, and catching up with a few jobs at home before Christmas.