Terrafirma Travels

N had all day mtg in the Spine Building next door to hotel, on the subject of a new organisation to provide a professional 'home' for all HCPs working in the field of bone health. N was one of two invited patient advocates in a room of clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, physios and relevant organisations including ROS. A most stimulating day. L worked on a pamphlet she and Stephen want to publish, then took a bus into the city centre and visited an art gallery. At 5pm we drove, v slowly through the Liverpool traffic, up towards Preston. Stopped at a random restaurant near Bamber Bridge which turned out to be lovely. N could not finish his pasta; was it the large soup starter, or leftover adrenaline from the day?! Got to Claremont Hotel in Ashton-upon-Ribble (it's Preston really) in time to watch Serena Williams not quite make her comeback at 44 after 4 years off - what was she thinking? This was after we retuned the TV. The WiFi is also a struggle as we're in the furthest...

N had an online strategy call with ROS, then we left at 11 for much motorway. V sticky through Birmingham as usual. Arrived Novotel Paddington in Liverpool at 1530, chucked bags in room, drove to Sefton Park where L spent her first year or so.  We viewed 17 Ivanhoe Rd and the walked in the Park where no doubt little L was pushed in her pram. Had a cuppa and just got into the wonderful Palm House before it closed.  Tried to drive across Liverpool to a cinema to see the NT Liaison Dangereux but the traffic started as terrible and became gridlocked. L bailed out, good decision, back to hotel where we ate in and watched Djokavic scrape a first round win at Wimbledon.

We're starting one of our complicated tours, 5 different locations, and beds, in 12 days across England ... in the car! Complicated packing. Today is Bristol, the usual 2.5 hrs with no problems on a Sunday morning. We dropped into Breese's by the River for half an hour, admired the ferry that takes an hour to come up from the harbour, while Sam got used to the idea of us intruding into his space. Joe is perfectly accepting these days, so Sam will get there.  After lunch, that we brought by emptying our fridge, we went with Joe to the Sensory room at Imperial Sports which was great fun. Back at the house we admired both boys and sometimes an adult on the new trampoline. Good bouncing! Went to Arno's Manor while Sam had bath & bed, then pizza & salad in the house & much catchup. The Manor was a bit hot with no a/c, but we managed with just the duvet cover.

Up before 6. Usual dismantling and mantling in the van. Off for the 8 min drive to the Brittany ferry. Long queues. A cursory check of the back of the van, then a frustrating wait for a passport check at the final hurdle by Private Security- paid for by the Brits? Once on board, a rush to get a prime seat at the bow and then in another queue for the 9 euro English breakfast. Soon polished off. We are without roaming, to avoid silly phone charges while at sea, so we must converse instead. Or read a book. Or make a list of the hundred things to do back at home. Used the binos, but little to see except gannets and container ships. Had unnecessary cooked lunch on board. Back in the van, and a ludicrous half-hour queue for passport control. With one bound we were free, trying to remember to tenez la gauche.  Passed some lovely old Citroën cars from Switzerland, bound for some concourse show. Through the beautiful Dorset countryside that is so familiar to Nic.   Takeaway tea boug...

I think we've never reported saying GRACE just before we leave a site - that's Gas Roof All Cupboards Electricity. Our 4-point check. We left about 1030 this morning after a very leisurely up. It rained overnight and while L did her run at 7am, but by the time we headed to the facilities it was a lovely mild sunny morning. We have warmed to this Huttopia site with all its free games, its indoor and outdoor pools, its sink cubicles with a light you control and a tap that stays on ... although the showers and toilets are unisex with a tendency to harbour noisy children.  We were thinking last night about how we felt, and that perhaps 3 weeks in the van is a tad too long. This is coloured certainly by N's hip problem, which hopefully is temporary, but also by the communal living which a campsite requires. Other people, and their young kids, can be lovely and they can be quite annoying. With only a 2.5 hr tollroad run to Caen we decided to go off piste into a Parc Natural du Re...

We did the French thing of ordering a fresh baguette for collection at 8am. It was actually our second breakfast, and v. welcome.  Nic suggested a spot of table tennis.  Nice idea but... The ball had no bounce, and kept falling into a muddy patch. It was not a good game. We longed for our own kit and our usual table. We packed up the van to take a trip down the road to the Ackerman Caves, home of one of the region's most famous sparkling wines, Cremant de Loire.  We wandered around the extraordinary caves in a self guided tour.  The 'caves' are actually old stone excavations, ideal for making and storing wine. We spotted some giant aged bottles and gasped at the soaring height of the so-called cathedral with its small hole of natural light. We learned about all the stages of making fizz. At the end of the tour were some rather fanciful art installations.  And of course, the ritual degustation. We tried 2 small glasses of fizz each. It was delicious and we bought...