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Here at Peter Mundy Catering we pride ourselves in catering at the highest level in some of the best and most outstanding venues in our area. We can offer tasting sessions and work closely with the client to ensure your wedding day will truly be a day to remember…

So much to organise!

Monday 22nd April.
We are now in Cheddar and slowly moving towards Devon. We now have a car and have got somewhere safe to store the motorhome for a few days so that we can visit family and friends before we move back into the Chapel on May 15th. Its strange having a car now and we get a few strange glances when I turn up on my own on a camp site closely followed by this woman in a car!.. Lorraine wanted to get back to work full time and thanks to a lovely boss has been given her old job back. Bradley's paws have mended and the spring in spaniel is definitely back. A temporary filling I had in France has dropped out so thats good timing for a visit back to my dentist and its off to Clarkes Village in Street today clothes shopping. One thing we have noticed since being back is how much cheaper everything is here and even diesel is almost the same now!.. Catch up later x

Back on home soil!

Monday 15th April. 
The Channel Tunnel popped us out in record time again, It must be downhill from France and I'm sure the wind was behind us!. They put us on an earlier train so had plenty of time to get some food in before going to the campsite. We found Morrisons in Folkestone and Lorraine said she got quite emotional seeing all the familiar foods again. I was laughing more as Lorraine forgot her pin number for the UK bank card!. We have a few things we want to see in the UK whilst we still have the motorhome so are now in Milton Keynes to visit Bletchley Park. It wont be long now before we start to head for Devon and are already getting UK insurance policies and other matters sorted... so much to do!

It could only happen to us!

Wednesday 10th April 2013

Today, as is always the case, we set off for our next campsite making sure the sat nav didn't take us on any toll roads which are getting really expensive now. It means in general we have a nice relaxed journey seeing many sights and town centres you would not normally see. I could see that we were only a few kilometres away from our next campsite at the end of our journey with only a small town to pass through. On approach to the town I immediately noticed a bit more activity at the side of the road than one would find normally for a town of this size. Then people in yellow jackets holding paddles started to appear at junctions which wasn't a problem until we reached a junction the sat nav wanted us to take, only to be waved into the wrong road. Suddenly people were everywhere and the sat nav was now getting cross with me as we were waved into more roads we didn't want to take. We now appeared to be heading towards the centre of the town and felt like we were the only vehicle on this section of road. The waving of the marshals with their paddles was getting more urgent with increasing numbers of barriers and people behind then watching our slow nervous progress into the centre of town. We reached a roundabout and the sat nav has a loud gong' sound on it when it detects you are on the wrong road and the voice was frantically telling me to turn into roads that were now impossible. It is at this stage when you realise that our lack of understanding the language etc is really against us when at a roundabout I decided I wanted to take the third exit when the man with the paddle was pointing at the first exit. I put my thumb up and he replied with his thumb up and we swung around taking the third exit. His expression was priceless and I could almost detect the gasp from the crowds either side of us. We slowly crept up into what was the real centre of the town and the road was looking less like a road now with barriers getting narrower and the crowds closer to us watching us with interest. As it dawned on us we were now in the latter stages of an important and large bike race I suddenly heard the sirens and saw in my mirrors the lead car of the impending peloton. Also I realised our snails speed of 20mph would now have to increase to stand a chance of keeping ahead of the peloton. The gongs from the sat nav were now deafening joined by the towns tannoy system and crowds trying to hurry us along towards the finish line which was now in sight!. I will never forget the official as we approached the now very narrow finish line hanging out of his elevated box shouting at us "aller, aller, aller" (go…go..go!) So I did, putting my foot down exiting the finish area and disappearing up a side street to recompose ourselves. The sat nav was now trembling on the dashboard and we soon found that roundabout once more taking the first exit this time and giving the nice man with a paddle a courteous smile as we passed. We managed to navigate around the town and arrived at the next campsite a bit later to really enjoy that relaxing cup of coffee.  

Au revoir

Welcome home!

Thursday 4th April 2013
We have come to the end of our stay at this lovely house in Angoville au Plain. The owners David & Sue returned on the 27th March and ourselves and some friends gave them a fantastic surprise 'welcome home' french style at the train station with a banner, air horn, champagne and chocolates. After a lovely visit to Bayeux and that famous bit of cloth and a wonderful send off from Angoville we have been back on the road for a few days thinking that the winter would now be behind us but how wrong were we!. This time last year we both had our shorts and T'shirts on but what a contrast?

We always said that we would know when it's time to come home and that moment arrived when we reached Brest and the snow arrived just behind us!. It may have been that we were spoilt with the space and luxury of the two houses we had over the winter and it's not that we didn't want to get back in the motorhome as we still love the cozy feel, the fun and the flexibility, but the time is now right to go back home. When you think about it we first had snow at the end of October last year and since then you could count on one hand the times the temperature had got into double figures!. We have given our tenants notice and will be back in The Chapel on the 5th June at the latest.Whilst the days outside still barely reach above 4ºc it gives us a great opportunity to arrange and organise things for the return. There is so much to organise with insurances being the most important. We have to arrange Bradley's vet treatment and passport visit and will head for the Channel Tunnel on the 15th April. Lorraine decided on going back to work full time so that I can continue to live the life I am accustomed too (Ouch, that slap hurt!) and her old boss has just offered her a wonderful position back at County Garage. With that problem out of the way we may even be able to visit a few more locations in the UK that we have wanted to for some time and hopefully arrive back in Dover to some sunshine and higher temperatures!.Off towards Paris tomorrow to visit that wonderful castle (Chateau de Pierrefonds) where the BBC filmed the 'Merlin' series.
Au revoir

The ultimate sacrifice.

Sunday 10th March 2013
Yes, its one of the many clichés used here in Normandy but from our perspective it's not until you spend some time in amongst it, being so close and hearing so many stories that you begin to realise just what went on and what those men on 6th June 1944 did for us and our future. The scale is just immense as is the loss of life and next time we are out moaning in a cold, rain soaked Britain our minds will always think back to the sheer hell experienced here in Normandy. As a local poem clearly writes - 'as if heaven itself dared not see, the hounds of hell that day set free..' We have been very busy visiting The D Day landing beaches of Utah & Omaha, two of the main German gun battery emplacements at Pointe du Hoc and Longues sur Mer as well as Pegasus Bridge, Arromanches and Sainte Mere Eglise. We could write all day about the stories learned and sights seen but to sum up we have had the most amazing time and a big thank you must go out to our new friends David & Celine who have been wonderful in making sure we have been guided to the best areas and telling us so many stories. David is committed to supporting the families of mainly the American forces that landed on Utah Beach and the surrounding countryside that want to visit the area and learn what happened to their loved ones. David even has a memorial in his front garden and is becoming a great historian for this area. We have been invited back to his place on the 6th June this year to meet two remaining members of the 101st Airborne Division.Our time is coming to an end here in Angoville au Plain and we are starting to plan the next leg of our journey around France before we decide it's time to come home. No doubt there will be more wonderful things to see and rest assured we will tell you all about it on this blog.

Don't forget there are many photos we have uploaded to our website gallery here.

Au revoir

The push north...

Friday 15th February 2013

We have arrived in Normandy at our next house sit. A lovely farmhouse built in 1700 with its own moat and used in World War II as the Forward Command Post by the 101st Airborne Division (Screaming Eagles). It is right behind Utah Beach with lots of history to explore over the next few weeks. The owners have kindly let us use their car whilst we are here.

The drive here was relaxed and easy as we keep forgetting how uncrowded the French roads are meaning you can plan to drive far greater distances in one go than you would normally consider in the UK. The sun came out half way and has shone for us ever since we arrived.

A friend of the owners of the house came over with a set of keys for us and being an avid historian himself on the local history, soon advised us on the best places to go and visit. We are both amazed by the bravery of those who fought in the D Day landings and the resulting history is everywhere. The church next to us was used by the 101st Airborne as a military hospital and still has its bloodstained pews.

We took Bradley to Utah Beach the next day and it was lovely to smell and be beside the sea again as we have been landlocked since last August. Bradley went loopy on the sand and after a good walk we all went back for a lovely tea and what better movie to watch than Band of Brothers.

Our new website album 'Normandy' has been started and can be seen here

Lots to see and visit over the next few weeks so back again soon.

Au revoir!