Holidays...part 3

Friday

We woke up to a lovely day.  We had a slow morning getting repacked and ready to head off to the campsite.  Tom went with the boys in the Landrover to get breakfast again, on the way home, once they were in their drive, he was allowed to sit on Rob’s knee and steer the landrover into the back garden.  How cool is that? He was grinning ear to ear.

We said our goodbyes and headed back to Caen and a huge Carrefour, where we had lunch and then went shopping.  I think we were in the shop about 2 hours – I always get very excited by French supermarkets – especially huge ones.  It also takes me back to my holidays as a child, so I had to check they still did all the things I liked then – bought a couple too for Matt and Tom to try out.

Off to the shops

The temperature had risen somewhat today – it got up to 30 degrees and boy did it hit us when we got out?  We quickly packed up the car and headed to Houlgate and our campsite.  We found it with no problem and arrived 2 minutes after check in time.  We were shown to our tent.  Pretty much nothing has changed in the 20+ years since I last went camping with Canvas Holidays.  They have made the children’s bedroom smaller and the adults bedroom bigger by putting the wardrobe in the parent’s room.  The kitchen has therefore switched round.  There is a 4 ring gas cooker (not sure what the point is because you can only fit 2 saucepans on it at a time) and a fridge freezer, oh and we all get a blanket each.  Apart from that it is all the same, except there are no stools for children anymore and the side / front of the tent doesn’t lift up into an awning any more.  Oh and the adults now get a memory foam mattress which is very comfy.

It was fiercely hot in the tent so we unpacked what we had to and did a quick walk around to see where everything was.  We then got into our swimming costumes and headed to the pool  for a cool down.  Phew!  It was busy, but very very lovely and refreshing to be in the cool water.  There are a couple of waterslides here so Tom and Matt tried them out.  Tom loved them.  We were in the pool for over an hour – Matt and I having to take it in turns to do the waterslides with Tom.  It was refreshing to see that the French allow photos to be taken in pools here – a massive no no in the UK – we don’t have any photos of Tom in the pool because we aren’t allowed to take any.  It was after 7 before we got out of the pool, but when we got back to the tent it was much cooler, so we were able to set ourselves up and get dinner on the go – barbecued sausages with pasta – yumsk!  Which we ate outside.  Tom was very excited to go to bed and once he calmed down he went to sleep quite quickly.

Holidays...part 2

Wednesday 

We were woken up by muzak at 5.30am (English time)– an hour before docking, so we got up, had a shower, had breakfast and then headed down to the cars.  We were on the road by 7.45 (French time) and drove down to Vire near where Rob and Caroline have their French home.  They called whilst we were en route to find out where we were and then as we were driving down a lane we saw an army landrover – Matt said “I bet that’s Rob” –it was,  and when he turned round we discovered Fred, Frank and Indie (the dog) were all in the back.

It was a lovely welcome and of course meant that we couldn’t get lost finding their house.  What a lovely house too – not that dissimilar to their one in Ingleton – a converted barn, decorated to a minimalist style – full of rustic charm.  We had a double bed in the annexe, whilst Tom had an army bed in with the two boys (how exciting!)

Raking

We didn’t do too much on Wednesday.  Matt went to Vire shopping with Rob whilst the boys went for a bike ride with Caroline and me.  They live in a field in the middle of no where, surrounded by fields full of maize, some donkeys and even a lama.  It was all very idyllic.

We met back at the barn and had bread, ham, pate and cheese for lunch.  When I say we – I mean Matt and I.  Rob and Caroline don’t eat carbs, so they were on fruit and yoghurt.  Sort of makes it a little awkward at meal times, as most ‘normal’ meals have carbs in them.

The boys then played in the wonderful apple orchard garden for the rest of the day whilst we sat and drank wine.  We then had a bbq in the evening, with more wine.  I think we maybe had a little too much wine: I had a headache when I went to bed, the Atkinsons are just too hospitable and if you say no to wine,  your glass gets filled up regardless, plus the wine is so good it slides down just a little too well.

Thursday

Dusk in Gathemo

Woke up on Thursday feeling better than expected and resolving not to drink again tonight.  It was raining – that fine, in your face, mist rain.  Not a welcome sight.  We all stayed in for the morning – except Rob and all 3 boys who went in the army landrover to get a baguette and some croissants for breakfast – a real treat for Tom – being strapped in the back of it.  A very cool ride for a 6 year old.  We ate breakfast and then hung around waiting for the rain to subside.  It took ages!  Eventually it began to lighten up.  Rob and Caroline had arranged a day out for us, taking in some of the D-Day sights.  First stop was a gun emplacement in Longues-sur-mer.  This consisted of 4 guns, one of which had been blown up and the other 3 still intact where they were all that time ago and in pretty good nick considering how long they’ve been there.  We were able to clamber around which was good fun and then go to see a observation post which was once again in very good nick for it’s age.

After an ice cream break, we headed off to the Operation Overlord Museum which is stuffed full of artifacts from D-Day, including a very interesting motorbike / tank thingy which Matt instantly fell in love with and wanted.  The museum unfortunately was packed full of people, but it was interesting and created a lot of questions from Tom.  It is very difficult trying to explain the concept of a war to a 6 year old without trivializing it all.  I was also very aware that Germans were in the museum around me whilst I was trying to explain the war to Tom in simple terms.  Not an easy thing to do and I’m not sure how much he understood, but he was certainly interested.

Tom and Mulberry Harbour

Next stop was Arromanches – for three reasons: we had been promised crepes, Mulberry Harbour and a play on the beach.  First stop was the crepe shop – where we all had crepes, in fact I have never seen the Atkinson boys eat so enthusiastically or quickly before – they are pancake hoovers!  Then we went down on the beach.  These being the Atkinsons, they don’t play with buckets and spades on the beach, oh no, they play with diggers and tractors!  They had about 10 of them on the beach and were very happy boys relocating sand.  Tom started off with bucket and spade, but then joined in the fun.  

Playing in the sea

The Atkinsons are farmers - what more should I say?

He also had a good game of beach ball and velcro ball – that was until I broke the beach ball racket – oops!

We didn’t get home until after 7.  Tom had tea of baked beans on toast (how French!)  Fred and Frank didn’t have anything (how do they exist on so little?) and they were in bed for around 9pm.  We then had steak and salad for tea whilst star gazing and drinking calvados.  A perfect night.

Holidays...part 1

Monday and Tuesday

Because Tom was playing football all day, I was able to pack without someone following me around, meaning no stress and I think I managed to remember most things we needed. 

On Tuesday morning we quickly packed the car, had breakfast and then headed on our way.  Our ferry wasn’t until 10.45pm, we didn’t need to be checked in until 10pm, but we were ready early and not knowing what the traffic would do we thought it wise to head out early and then kill time in Portsmouth if need be.

Spinnaker Tower

Of course, because we left with loads of time in hand we didn’t come across any delays or hold ups on the way down!  We were going to find a pub just off the M6 for lunch, but then Matt had a sudden hankering for Ikea meatballs, just before we passed the one in Birmingham – so we stopped off and had lunch there.  We then headed down towards Portsmouth.  We stopped at a services near Winchester and saw a brown sign for Beacon Hill – it sounded interesting so we headed there.  We found a parking spot and then walked up the hill – it was a stiff climb up, but the view was good, and it meant we all got some exercise, we even managed to play football at the top which was a bit dicey as it was steep and if kicked in the wrong direction, we would have ended up with a lost ball!

Once refreshed we headed back to the car and drove to Portsmouth.  We parked up at Gunwharf Quays (as instructed by Simon who has been there and done that before) for a look around the shops, a walk along the harbor and a drink in a pub before having dinner in a tapas restaurant.  We then headed to the port and got checked in for the ferry.

In the cabin

We were early so we went for a mooch around the terminal (boring) and back to the car.  As we were one of the first to arrive at the port we were first on to the ferry, so much so that our cabin wasn’t ready!  We had a drink in the bar, explored the boat and then waited for the cabin to be ready.  Matt went first and came back all worried as there were only 2 beds in the cabin.  I went back with him, thinking that there must be a trick he was missing – our tickets clearly said 3 passengers etc etc.  Luckily I looked up and saw a leaver.  Matt pulled it and behold, there was another bed.  Phew.   The beds were actually very comfortable and we had a shower and toilet as well (wasn’t expecting that)!  We all got ready and snuggled in. It was an amazingly calm crossing, there was no roll at all on the boat.  We were on the 9^th floor, so there was no engine noise either.  There really was no excuse for a bad night’s sleep (except I am rubbish at sleeping in a new bed!)

No photos for now...

Because of slow wifi connections, I won’t be loading any photos on to the blog whilst I’m away.  I will do this when we get back.

Wedding Weekend

Walking to the church on time

So we all slept in last night as we didn't get home until after 11pm!

We didn't have much planned for today, although it was Miss Swindlehurst's wedding and Tom wanted to go along for a look.  It was in Wray, not far from here, so I did a quick FB check to see if anyone else was going, quite a few were (all girls) so we decided to go along.

Happy Bride

First of all, though was the matter of the cricket tea - finally after 3 years we got caught and asked to provide a cricket tea.  We only got asked on Wednesday so I didn't have time to make anything nice for it and anyway, Matt said that processed junk tends to go down well.  I let him order everything in and lead me as to what to do.  The morning was therefore spent buttering and filling rolls and getting everything together.  We then delivered it all to the community centre and then Tom and I headed off to Wray.

There is a nice tea room in Wray, so I thought we would get there early, have lunch and then head off to the church.  We got there, the tea room was closed, and in the garden was a magnificent marquee made from 3 Tepees joined together - she was having her reception there.  Wow!  It was an expensive wedding.  The streets of the village were covered in love hearts, and there were chalked H&Is all over the place.  I parked up and went in search of food.  There was a pub but it was full to bursting with wedding guests - so we gave that a miss.  We then went to the Post Office in search of sandwiches - we failed.  They didn't stock any.  In the end we had a packet of crisps and some biscuits each which we ate down by the river.  Not exactly the best lunch in the world - but cheap!  Miss Swindlehurst was ruining our outing!!!!!

Working Hard

Children at the gate

We ate up and then bumped into Caitlin and Evie, we all walked along to the church and saw quite a few of Tom's class mates and quite a few teachers.  We didn't have to wait too long to see the bride - her position was given away by a drone coming along the street (a proper 21st century wedding this one).  She walked down the street as her parents lived just down the road, so we all got to see her well, and she stopped to say hello and hug everyone.  Very cute.

Now what do we do?

Once she had gone into the church a lad arrived with a lot of twine.  Apparently tradition here is for children to tie the church gates shut whilst the wedding ceremony takes place.  The bride and groom then have to through pennies and sweets to the children to be let out.  (The best man also needs to be 'on to it' and have a very sharp knife with him).  It took the whole ceremony to tie the gates shut - they did a good job.  They were well prepared though - Miss Swindlehurts' Dad turned up at the gates and told the children to chant 'Hannah' (forgetting that they don't know her as such!)  After some encouragement they shouted for her and along she came - with a box of 10 pence pieces and a bag of sweets which got thrown through the gates, the children did very well.  Tom was very pleased - he focused on the money and managed to get 70pence.

Money and sweets went everywhere

When she came through the gates, the children threw confetti over her and then she spent some time with them all for photos before carrying on her merry way.  She was having a truly lovely day.

Confetti

We came back to Ingleton, headed over to the cricket and found that for once Ingleton were doing well, so we went to the Community Centre and lay out all the sandwiches etc.  There was a church jumble sale going on at the same time - Tom almost got adopted by the old women who thought he was a star helping me out.

We then watched the cricket, served the tea, cleared up and came home.  Tom was in bed early and asleep immediately - he's had a raft of late nights recently and as a result his behaviour today wasn't great.

The happy couple and her class

Sunday

Pasta muncher

Tom had his cricket session in the morning and then we headed to Skipton to look round the new farm shop.  We were very pleasantly surprised, it was huge and the prices were very decent - rivals Booths anyway.  We had lunch in the cafe which was very very lovely.  Even the children's meals were made with real food (quite unusual).  Such a shame we are about to go on holiday, must go back on our return and see what tasty morsels we can find.










Note for Cricket Tea next time:
Processed food is good - all processed stuff went first
Crisps not that popular
Fruit not that popular
Sandwiches - we did deli rolls cut in half - 2 per player, assuming 25 players.  Needed about 10 more.
No juice needed for the tea, but need some for breaks