Terrafirma Travels

Miraculously, all 23 in the group arrived on time at the Science Gateway. After all the agonising about our left-behind passports and whether driving licences would be accepted ... they didn't do any ID check at all! Just gave John a box of lanyards. Prof Mario who works for UCL was our guide for 2.5 hrs and he did a fine job in the Centre, SPS Control room and ALICE detector. The Ring was operating so we could not go down or in, but only gaze from outside. Perhaps our biggest impression is no matter how clever the physicists are, the engineers are their equal. Their cafe is good too. Tram 18 took us all the way to the Old town where shady coffee & lemonade in the park was welcome. Cathedral of St Paul is suitably Calvinistic, this being the seat of the Reformation. Ice cream stop, larger than needed and a fiver each but what the hell. Strolled down Rue Grande, aptly named because the shops, galleries and wine bars are all v grand. I do mean down because the Cathedral sits on ...

Breakfast in the campsite car park annexe was real porridge cooked in a pan. We both took a while to choose clothes for a 2 and a half day trip to Geneva staying in self catering with the Pantsoc crowd. Nic sorted an extra night at our Jungfrau stop and arranged with a helpful reception lady to leave the van where it is, until we return from Geneva. There are security cameras so that's a plus. Then it was free bus to the metro station and a free metro tram to Lausanne station and a big train (not free) to Geneva, short walk to the place where we are staying. Huge amounts of building work everywhere.  The others arrived yday so were out and about today, including this Gaudi designed block of flats. The day was much cooler and cloudier, quite a relief. But Nic's hip was not happy. When we got to the hotel to check-in, they were dismayed when we did not have passports to show. We were appalled that we had forgotten them, left them in the van. Finally they agreed to take driving li...

L out at 0630 for a run. Impressive. Another beautiful day after the dawn cloud cleared, but v cold start. We put the heater on during the night. After a lovely shower (9.5 / 10) I collected our pre-ordered warm baguette and had a piece with chocolate in - a first French breakfast tradition started by Tim Ward. Drove to Dijon without incident. Mrs Googlemaps is doing well although she sometimes prompts too early to leave a roundabout. Found a place to park on the street right in the centre, paid by phone. Dijon is mustard! In both senses. It is also all about owls. We went to Rue de Chouette and made a wish while stroking the owl carved into the side of the Notre Dame church. The Dukes of Burgundy palace is an impressive 18th C building. All public space now. Online told us the Fine Art museum had a Titian but after much searching found the Renaissance section is closed. Gawped at other paintings instead. Cafe outside, weather like July, N had coffee, L had fizz! Bit of a walk to a C...

Off the ship v quickly, on the road by 7am French time (yawn). Neither of us slept well. Lovely empty road towards Paris. Stopped after an hour for coffee. Long vistas of enormous flat fields, some yellow rape and green grass. We began to realise just how huge France is. We headed for Paris, then jinked away to the south east. Stopped often at very impressive aires or service stations on the peage motorway. However, the electronic toll gizmo Nic had carefully selected failed to work and we had to pay with contactless. Another annoyance to add to the apparent failure of the toilet flush. We arrived at the plush campsite we had booked by a famous Lake. It was all we could wish for, and the weather was amazing, hot and clear. We had a wander, an ice cream and a coffee, and decided despite the tiredness to go for a swim in the freshwater lake. It was clean, clear, windless and quite beautiful. We both felt refreshed. Camping Lac D'Orient is more a resort than campsite with i door and o...

The foreign adventure in the campervan (fully laden) starts here, leaving home at 1430 with the Trip mileage reading 2,500 (no, I can't figure out how to reset it without resetting everything!). Yesterday we discovered a leak in the wastewater pipe when flushing the tanks through (because we hadn't used them all winter). Bilbo's could not improve on my idea of using duck tape and a jubilee clip, so that's what I did. We stopped en route for a pee in a layby ... no, stopped in layby for a pee in the van ... and discovered the flush mechanism is dead. Second problem. Not disastrous cos can just tip some water in but annoying. And not fixable with duck tape. Has a great meal in Portsmouth in a lairy, buzzing Turkish. Now trying to stay awake in the boarding lanes waiting for our ship to come in.

Packing. Stripping beds. Last breakfast. Car tetris. Amazingly we have a property selected for the next one. Tim just has to wrangle dates that suit everyone.