The start of a pilgrimage

Continuing on South, we have decided to head for Lourdes, not for the cricket mind you but to visit some ancient shrine and drink from a fountain. For years millions of people have visited this place so we thought we should go and see what it was all about.

We have toured the bastide town of Monpazier before moving down South of Bordeaux to Bazas. Here we came a cross a music festival and were very happy to encounter a street band playing oompah loompah music.

From here we have moved South East to a place called Marciac. Home to an enormous Jazz festival that starts here tomorrow. Unfortunately there will be no room at the inn tomorrow so we will be on route to Lourdes early in the morning.

We hope to cross the Pyranees into Spain later this week. The heat is getting to Jane and the dog so we won't venture too far in. A brief venture to Andorra and then back into France on this occasion.

In the pool yesterday, Kirsty learnt to swim without armbands, using a mask and snorkel and Peter went in just in armbands.

Limoge and further South still

Well, great as Limoge was, I could only liken it to a city in the UK somewhere, congested, smelly, messy and totally uninviting. Jane did however locate some pottery to her liking and we have also resolved the issue of a present for Grannies 80th. We did find an aerial play park for the kids in Limoge which kept them entertained and wore them out for the day. Two and a half hours of tree climbing and aerial runways does wonders. Unfortunately this connection won't let me send you pictures of aerial kids but i'll put them up when we get a chance. We moved on from Limoge, heading South to Thiviers and then South again to Les Eyes sumfink or other. No doubt you'll find it on the map. Then today we went to Urzal to meet up with some old friends from round the corner in Lawn Close, Bridget and Tom. A very relaxing lunch in their Dordoyne residence saw discussions on property hunting, flooding, councils and other stuff. After lunch we moved on again and, after 2 bottles of red wine and a pint, I have no idea where we are. Here somewhere. The weather is awesome, finally like being on holiday however the Dordoyne price structure is not so appealing. All the property here is 100K more expensive, just for being here. Sophie Hughes, sorry to hear your holidays are boring, feel free to email Jane on janelar@hotmail.co.uk. To everyone else commenting, keep it up as it is good to hear from you all. PS. Happy 57th birthday for tomorrow dad, what more could you ask for but the best floods to date on your birthday. Hope you got the cards and chat to you tomorrow.

2 more properties down and still heading South

Well today, we have nearly hit central France. We are in Limoge, world famous for it's potteries. The English weather continues to follow us on our travels, 5 weeks in and only 4 days of sunshine. We viewed 2 houses today, the first in La Celle Dunoise, a long house with numerous rodent residents and a well overflowing into the cellar, and a house and barn in Bonnat, surrounded by 3 hectares of land, a million miles from civilisation with a 30 minute school/shop run. No surprise really that we have written both of these off. Todays campsite is very commercial, dedicated to the through traffic heading to the Mediterranean. Unfortunately not ideal for the kids and dog, it does benefit from internet access. Although still heading South, we have decided to focus our property searching North of here where we are more accessible to the hoards of peeps who wish to come and visit us.

Chateau de Loir

Well, we have moved south. A lovely campsite with its own lake, beach and brilliant play area for the kids. It even has an open restaurant and a bar! Not much to say really but for those of you missing us loads we thought you would appreciate some more photos. Le Mans, incidentally, is too big, too urban and has a large race track!!!!! You will see from the photos that we did all wear proper hats at the riding school and that we observe all necessary safety points when in the water!!!

Time to Fly South

Well, it is always good to go and have a second look at a property. That is what every good friend, relative and book will tell you. After our second offer on the property the sellers asked us for another one thousand euros. It seemed a very small amount but we had already decided that we would not pay a penny more. To settle our minds it was decided that we would revisit the house and have another in depth look.

We arrived at 2.30pm and the large windows had been flung wide again. We were reminded of an excellent DVD that Ian and Sophie had lent us about a year in France. The views from all of the windows were superb, even the cheese factory looked inviting.

The kids seemed settled in the 'salon' with their DSs and Peter was having a lovely time running riot with hundreds of doors and lots of original keys to fiddle with.

Andrew meanwhile, with torch in hand, was checking every room in detail. (Peter checked out the bidets!)

After checking out the trees in the garden again, for the purposes of building a tree house, we thanked Mme Timothee very much and headed for town.

Now for the bad news. Andrews first words to me, on exit, were "Time to Fly South". Unfortunately, the roof is full of wood worm, even the side that has been done in the past few years. The other major expense would be on the ground floor. All of the beautiful parquet floors would have to be lifted as the entire downstairs also has wood worm. This was found on closer inspection in the two cellars.

Although we have the expertise and the energy to do major works it would be a tragedy to have to destroy the house in order to do them.

So, the moral of the story is, always go back for a second look!!!

We will now progress on our travels and continue the search for the perfect property.

Love to all.

xxxx

Domfront and Beyond .......

Well, we are here again folks. We walked passed this internet shop three times! Then we phoned Tony, resident internet cafe finder, who sent us to Le Grand Mesnil. It was a hotel with internet access. LOL! It was a small B&B in the back of beyond, with a British lady who has only been here six months. She told us there was a very good shop in Domfront!!!, but let us use her computer anyway.

Well, I suppose you would like an informative update. We have had some very interesting nocturnal excitement. Josh, for those of you who know him well, likes to have a walk in the middle of the night. Andrew and I were awoken a few nights ago by the sound of "Mummy, Help Me!" When asked where he was, we realised that he was outside the motor home. The normal boobytraps of shoes had been removed that day and without making a sound he had managed to lock himself out. Needless to say, I was mortified! The door is now tied shut and the shoes are religiously put back before we go to sleep.

Now, about the house!!! We have put in a second offer on a magnificent property in Domfront. It has space for hundreds of chickens, one of every sort in Joshs book, or is it Andrews book, and space for everyone to stay. We are waiting as I write for a response from the owners daughter. The only bad thing that I can find to say about it is that you can see the Camembert factory. The picture at the top of the page is of the front of the house, half of it anyway!!!

Apart from deciding who is having what bedroom, we have also been to visit lots of other local towns and villages. Josh and Kirsty had their first riding lesson yesterday, they loved it. Their instructor, Thierry, was lovely. He was exhausted after running around the arena with them and then, bless him, he took us on a "promenade". I decided to be brave too and got the biggest horse they could find! Once I had managed to get on, my jeans would not let me reach the stirrup, it was like riding a bike. I did remember how much your legs ache after though. Kirstys pony, Hercule, was the sweetest thing, and she has decided that she wants one just like him. The

ponies in the picture are the ones from the campsite in Condette, we will add Kirstys favourite later.

Well, we hope to have some good news soon for everyone.

Take care and love to all. xxxx

The Bayeux Tapestry

Well, we were not disappointed. For something that is nearly 1000 years old it is fabulous. If only we all looked like that after 50 years it would be an achievement. For those of you who are completely confused now I am talking about the Bayeux Tapestry.

We arrived at lunchtime, just about the time when most French people disappear for two hours, or three! The satnav had taken us the long way around again but we listened and then ended up in the middle of a Mediaeval Festival in Bayeux. With many frowns from the locals we managed to negotiate the small streets that the satnav had avoided and eventually found a car park, great. However, there were no spaces! Never mind we thought, we will park in a local street somewhere. Ha ha! The streets were full too. We managed to find a tiny space at the end of a small street and a little old lady appeared from her doorway. The lady was not coming to complain, merely to ask us to pull further forward as she could not see out of her window. She assured us that she did not have a car and that it was perfectly ok to park in front of her drive. What a nice lady!!!

We then walked the short distance to the Tapestry. Spectacular. The kids were actually quiet and Josh thought it was great, especially the part where the man had no clothes on and you could see everything! Well, I think it was Josh. It was actually Andrew that spotted it first.

After seeing the Tapestry we visited the Mediaeval Festival which surrounded the town and then we visited the Cathedral. Both fabulous to see.

It was then time to return to the motor home, only there was a slight technical hitch, we had lost it. Obviously, either the nice lady or the smells from the Festival had damaged our internal satnavs! After the third street we finally found it, much to the childrens delight.

We are now near to Le Havre, moving back up the coast to rendezvous with Adam. Thats all for now folks, speak soon.

House 3 and dinner with Kerry

House 3 was a turn up for the books. Not only did it benefit from 70+ acres of land, it also had a new roof. No floors, windows, doors etc. though. Kirsty told the estate agent it merely needed a good hoovering.

With so much property to look at, we opted for spending the night in the front garden. Nothing like cheap accommodation.

After much contemplation, discussion, and sleeping on it, we decided to put it on hold and carry on with the holiday.

We'd had a text from uncle Kerry saying he was in Normandy so we headed off in that general direction. Strange but we seem to be seeing more of our aunts and uncles here than we did in the UK. We had a lovely meal with Kerry and Sylvie in Bagnoles De L'orne. I rustled up some French Cuisine supported by the local chip shop.

Today we have moved north to Bayeaux, home of the infamous Bayeaux tapestry. Hopefully when we go to look at it tomorrow, the kids will find it more interesting than a 1000 year old toilet roll.

Nice to here that the Swedish Fraternity is now also following our adventures, you never know we could be heading that way late September time and may be after a free meal.

We took this picture of the estate agent, would you trust him?

House 1 and 2 been and gone

What can I say, the photo of the stairs in house 1 was possibly the only good bit of the property, and that was only to first floor level after which the stairs sloped away as far as they went up.

Not to be put off though, the agent had another property just down the road which he thought may be suitable.

45 minutes of driving later and we were at house 2, way up on a hill with the most fantastic views for miles. Size wise this house was good as well, the downside being that the stonework was shoddy and the end wall was falling away from the house.

I've attached a picture of a place we like however it was not for sale, it was a bee and ant farm which the kids thoroughly enjoyed going round.

Anyhow, our adventure continues. We're in a town called Pontivy "sounds like it should be in Wales" where we have checked out loads of estate agents and also found a cyber cafe. We spent last night adjacent to Lake Guerledan. As is becoming all too familiar at the moment, it rained most of the night which, on the brighter side, kept the flys down. We have witnessed some sunshine today which is good and hopefully the turning point for this poxy weather.

Our trip is going to take us back up towards Calais over the next week so that we can Rendevous with Adam on his school trip. Until the next installment, love us, xxxxxxxx

P.S. keep up the comments, they make great reading.