UK to France April 2012 ( 1st )

Week 1  UK -  Norfolk

We arrived into Heathrow to a cold 6c degree morning, a bit hard to take after leaving home in 35c. We went through customs picked up our bags and into the terminal area in around 30 minutes where we were greeted by Paul who had come down from Watton to pick us up. It was great to see his cheery smile and in no time we were on our way to see Harry after our 8 months back in Australia.

During the week we were kept busy picking up Harry from the garage where the MOT had been done, then to licence him for back on the road. In the UK when the vehicle is off of the road and a declaration is made (SORN) the licence is suspended until it is started again when you want to go back on the road. It is good for us as we don’t pay for the time we are not using him and back in Australia. We had a new box made for the roof and Paul made the cover so we are not as high this year which makes it better for the ferries and for bridges.

Christine and Paul treated us to a great week. We drove around the countryside visiting some little pubs and adding to my pub sign collection and tucking into big roast dinners with all the trimmings

 We woke to a sharp frost on Wednesday with -2C temperature. In Scotland and north England it is snowing, Norfolk has a sharp frost and we are feeling very cold. Kevin has taken to wearing a woolly beanie and of course those who know me will know I have been wrapped up in coats and hats all day.

This is the first time we have been in Europe so early and for us the weather is still very cold. The trees are just getting their leaves and the daffodils are blooming along the roadside.

On Sunday we went to Sandringham, the Queen’s summer residence, it was open to visitors and is a lovely welcoming house. The grounds are enormous and there were daffodils blooming everywhere.

The visit involves a stroll through the rooms used by the Queen when in residence. It was interesting to see the rooms and furniture, nice without being too grand to feel comfortable.  Comfy chairs, a television hidden in a cabinet and horses as ornaments made from different wood to show the different colours of the Royal Family horses.

The dining room has the most amazing tapestries a gift from Spain and very colourful and quite different to the tapestries we usually see.

We also visited a wonderful small church at ‘Houghton on the Hill’ built in the 9^th century on top of Roman ruins. The paintings on the alter walls have remnants of being painted with Lapis Lazuli.  The restoration has been the lifetime work of one man who was there to show us around and tell the story.

Unfortunately my camera wouldn’t work the batteries were too cold so I will come back in the summer.

The cold snap is still snapping at our heels and it is time to head for warmer climes so Portugal here we come



Week 2   France

We drove down to Dover on Easter Monday and caught the Ferry to Dunkirk at 10pm on a windy night. Fortunately I couldn’t see out the windows and the ship didn’t rock too much. We drove off and around to the waiting area to spend the rest of the night all cosy in Harry.

We spent Tuesday and early Wednesday driving south through small towns. It is always amazing to come around a corner and be greeted by large vehicles squeezing through historical towns. This is Nogent le Roi and the buildings are 15^th century.

You can see on this next photo where the buildings increase in area each floor as the taxes when built were on the land area on the bottom floor.

We visited our French friends Chantal and Claude overnight in St Pere sur Loire in the Loire Valley . We had a lot of fun both using a dictionary when either didn’t know the words we wanted. Early next morning after photos beside the cherry tree full of blossom, (last year we were picking cherries this year Alas!!! ) then it was time to go south once again.

We started off on smaller roads, the scenery was fantastic, the trees in the north were just budding and the canola adds some cheering colour to the otherwise overall grey.



As time got away it was onto the A75 from Clermont-Ferrand to Beziers down through the centre and the Black Mountains. It is toll free except for the Millau Bridge. Soon we were heading towards the mountains.

 the towns are nestled into the side of the hills or down in the valleys

The scenery was lovely with snow on the mountains off to the side and then the rain started pelting down. 

The highest peak we crossed over 1121m.

The hills around have dark green fir trees, the dark colour gives the name to the Black Mountains. We stopped overnight in the motorhome park at the Aveyron Autoroute stop. There was a lovely castle ruin just above on the hill which we were going to climb to see in the morning but when we woke the sky had fallen down on top of us so it was time to carry on.

There is always something to see around the next bend. The cloud was clearing as we approached the Millau Bridge. 

The Millau Viaduct spans the Gorge of the Tarn. It is 2.5 Kilometres long and 32 metres wide. There are 7 piers the highest is 87 metres. This diagram compares it to the height of the Eiffel Tower.

It is very impressive from below.

and very fragile, those little boxes are trucks crossing.

The Peage station was ahead and after paying 10.20 euro we got an impressive view of the Millau as we approached and crossed it.

We continued south then changed direction to the West to visit Deb in Bize which is in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. This region is very familiar from the countless bottles of red we consumed while cruising the canals in Courlis. We are looking forward to trying out  some more but only after we stop driving for the day. 

The trees are covered in leaves but the days are still cold.