Bradley Bonus tip!

If you are travelling and have a smartphone with an app like iBooks on the iPhone scan your passport and driving licence to a PDF file so that it can be read like a book. We forgot our passports today at La Poste when buying Swiss Francs but the scan of the passport on the iPhone was accepted!.. brill! Not only that if you are unfortunate enough to loose either then at least you have something to show.

Run chicken, run!

We have just spent a lovely week with our friend Phil in central France. Having finally got going again it's great to be back in France. It may be because we had only left France just over two months ago that we immediately noticed again how laid back and unpopulated this country is. We were quickly relaxing into both the driving and general lifestyles of somewhere that is like literally going back in time. That was really the case after we reflected back on our week we had with Phil. When they say France is like 40 years behind the UK it is hard to see as a two week tourist, but, live for a short while as we have just done and it soon becomes so real. 
I asked Phil where the TV was when we arrived and he pointed at a nice 'throw' over something square and upright resembling the shape of a TV, thats where it stayed for the whole time we were there. Instead we just sat outside with either wine, gin, beer or some other more potent concoction (of which you had forgotten the contents after the first sampling) just chatting away and covering every subject from politics to points of view!. 
Phil has a wonderful dog called Ben, he is a cross labrador with a red setter and so laid back you wouldn't believe it!. Then Bradley arrived and this mad spaniel was to shatter Ben's peace (and sometimes his favourite spot!). They both got on like best buddies thankfully but one thing became obvious quickly was Bradley's determination to chase anything on legs that he could. On the first day Phil told us of the story of another visiting dog that went out in the massive acre of ground where the chickens have so much freedom, when they were suddenly aware of the shrieking and high pitched clucking of the complete ensemble with the dog appearing with a chicken in its mouth through the mist of flying feathers!. As soon as Phil finished the word feathers we too were witnessing the same clucking and shrieking of chickens and we all three said 'Bradley' very loudly!. Ben came in shrugging his shoulders and hid with his paws over his eyes and we flew out ('scuse the pun!) to see Bradley in hot pursuit of nearly every chicken!. It was a blessing there was more than one as when the chickens did a bomb burst mainly in the air he didn't know which one to go after next. We got to him just in time with his lead which then stayed on for several days until he had learn't they didn't need rounding up and we needed some more eggs for breakfast!.
Bradley being Bradley then had a plan!... he realised he wasn't going to be allowed to round up these strange sounding clucking things with only two legs but they had a nice air of eau de chicken, left in the form of a deposit on the ground every so often, mainly after being frightened by him!. He could now be trusted without a lead again and after a deep conversation one morning around the table we suddenly became aware of the most pungent smell of well, chicken sh*t!. We looked down at Bradley who looked as if he had just visited the perfume counter in Debenhams and very pleased with his purchase of fresh eau de chicken sh*t which he had managed to roll all over him!!.. Back on the lead again and after several douches and application of his own doggy spray called Stink Bomb (Thank god we brought it)  he was once again allowed in the Motorhome. 
The remainder of our week with Phil was spent walking through the most beautiful and peaceful river settings that we have seen and been sworn to secrecy as its Phil's special place, visits to local towns and villages where there are no tourists and me getting my crown stuck back in by a lovely local dentist. We also got to see my sister Steph who was also spending a couple of weeks nearby with her friends Jacky & Roy. Thank you for a lovely day together.
A big thank you to Phil (Not for the 4 pounds I've gained in weight) for a lovely insight into the best of french life and we will take some very happy memories with us on to our next leg now towards the Swiss border before the summer closes down for another year.
Au revoir! 

Back in France!

Mon 20th August 2012. Got through the very busy Channel Tunnel crossing yesterday and the heat hit us! Temperatures of nearly 40 degrees but can't complain after the dismal weather in the UK of late and also thank goodness we had the habitation air conditioning fitted. It was so hot this afternoon we both went inside and had a lovely siesta. A great barbecue tonight with the last of the English sparkling cider and then it's off early in the morning on the last leg of the journey to our friend Phil where we may stay for a few days in central France.

Downsizing

Sorry for the lack of blogs but we have been concentrating so much on getting back on the road again. We were determined a short time after the incident that we were going to return to Europe and if we didn't get going soon and catch the last of the summer then it might not happen at all. We had 6 months to plan the last trip and get the motorhome and car ready but this time only a few weeks!..


Discussing how we would do 'part two' on the way back it was quickly agreed that we would not tow with a car. Although having a car was a real benefit the downside was that out of the thousands of campsites in Europe you could only use the largest due to our size and access difficulties. Also we were over the magic 3,500kg weight so tolls and ferries were more expensive. 


Luck soon was on our side as our dealer had the perfect motorhome in stock which meant no long waits for delivery etc. The next issue was getting the funding as we had to deal with several insurance companies covering the Motorhome, Car, Travel & Legal Protection. Fortunately and after putting a lot of pressure on them we received full settlement on the Motorhome and Car. Part two was now really on!!.


Our new motorhome 'Lily' (Dont ask!) was ready in no time and it now meant fitting it all out and testing. A big thank you to family and friends who gave us the garage and workshop facilities for this. 
We are one metre shorter and a quarter of a metre narrower and it doesn't sound a lot but in motorhome terms it means having something which will almost get on a normal parking space and enable us to get a lot nearer to cities and towns. We still have our permanent single beds and something built in Germany (Hymer) is turning into a real pleasure to both drive and live in.  Photos of Lily can be seen here


We are now on various (busy) campsites and all is going well and planning to get to the Channel Tunnel on the 19th August for part two!.. (Never thought we were going to say that 2 months ago!).


More blogs to follow soon.. Andy & Lorraine xx and a big lick from Bradley.