House number 1

Well, having sorted the wifi, we managed to go surfing and have found house number 1, an ancient manoir in need of a fair amount of work.

The property is in a town called Gourin, about 65 miles or so from here.

There is a spiral staircase that looks like it may have seen a few feet over the last 200 years. One of the selling points. Our visit is due for Monday so when we have some more pictures, we'll give you some feedback.

Under the instructions of Uncle Buck, we are now webcammed up as well, so for those who find that the drip feed of the blog is not an adequate fix of us, you can now see so much more.

We can see the sea!!!

After a day of playing on the beach, in the sunshine, lol, we are currently on a site that has a back gate direct to the beach and josh and kirsty can wake up with the sea out of their window.

Andrew and Josh kayaked to an island in the middle of nowhere, and got attacked by the monster barnacles on arrival!! They were nearly attacked by the nesting seagulls in the new property that they checked out. However, they decided that a pile of rubble and only 200m of land was not enough. It did have a very large moat though in the form of the Atlantic Ocean and great fishing potential.

We are at Point de Kersiny now, which is near Audierne. The camp site is only a two star but it is really clean and has everything that a group of five children would want, park, beach out of back door, sunshine, more beach .....

The satnav is a great present! Thank you to all of those who contributed. However, we have found that it has a few faults eg, it finds the roadworks on automatic pilot and the smallest roads available to human beings. Whilst travelling through the picturesque town of Josselin it took us down a street so small that we had to wind in the mirrors and still breathe in more!!

Well, we must get back to our fine wine and sunbathing!! Talk soon blog spotters.

Love us.

The Departure

Finally we have made internet connection since our departure last week.

You'll be pleased to know that we made it safely across the channel and have already clocked up over 1000 miles.

Departure day was an emotional event for all those brave enough to show up. Tears were shed and lots of hugs exchanged. After nearly 30 years in Lawn Close, it was a strange feeling to be leaving.

Anyhow, we spent our first night around Bolougne before setting off South to Rendevous wit Ian and Mellanie in La Tranche Sur Mer. We have spent the last week working our way back up through Brittany checking out the property market as we went.

Today we are in a place called Concarneau and it is the first place we have found working internet. A number of false starts and a few miles on the bike without success resulted in us phoning the oracle "Tony" last night to find a proper Cyber Cafe.

I've attached a picture of the first pile of rubble that could make for a nice house.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and we look forward to catching up with you all again soon.

Mondays the day

Finally everything is falling into place. We have the cash from the bank, plastic to max out and a fuelled up motorhome raring to go. Monday is looking like departure day and, as usual, I can't wait. We've been saying goodbyes to all and sundry and we have a couple of functions left to attend this weekend before we hit the road. We've also found the batteries for the camera so I should be able to stick some photos up soon. Well, when I can remember where the camera is anyway. The house is almost completely empty and the container is full to overflowing, so much so that what's left will be delivered to friends or the tip depending on whom is more needy. No doubt my next update will be from the other side of the channel.

Departure is in sight

Finally the beginning of our almighty adventure is in sight. We exchanged contracts on the 4th June with a completion date of 6th July. We don't plan to hang around for completion as the more time spent here is less time spent enjoying retirement. We're planning a couple of days in Weymouth as a warm up to our trip next week. A chance to catch up with some old friends and test our new facilities to the max.

Time to hang up the glove and bat.

Having spent the last 10 years working my way up the softball ladder, Tuesday night was my last game for a while. What should have been a Mavericks, Marlins inter club play off turned into a fantastic game between a bunch of players who all wanted to play for the love of the game. Unfortunately the Marlins could not field their normal team but, rather than letting the game go by as a forfeit, they dragged in loads of my friends to have one of the best games TV has witnessed in a long time. On top of that, the cheffing skills of Vinny were put to the test as he fired up the grill and cooked dinner for one and all. I must say thank you to all the people who contributed to my softball red book. This is your life in softball. What an awesome present to take away with me.