L'invasion Brittanique

Thursday 3 May
Left Bickington at 4.00 am – didn’t know there was such a time these days! Loaded the van onto the ferry which was a bit nerve-wracking as this is our first attempt at overseas travel in the beast, but all went well and we arrived in Cherbourg around 2.00 pm to sunny skies, but a chilly wind (unlike it has been at home for the past few weeks…) Drove to a campsite we had pre-booked near St Mere Eglise near where American troops landed in 1944 and went for a walk on Utah Beach. Bit of a bleak place really, past old gun emplacements, not an awful lot to see but you can just imagine how it must have looked back then to all those young men. Had an early night (after several glasses of vin of course)!

Photo of Utah Beach, Normandy

Friday 4 May
Up and on the road by 9.00 am, grey Normandy skies and cold but as we drove south, the weather got brighter and we passed out of Normandy, through the bottom of Brittany and through the Loire bypassing Rennes and Nantes on the way. The roads (other than near the big cities) are really quiet so both of us felt happy driving along on the wrong-side of the road! Thank God for GPS though, had a couple of wrong turns but in general easy going, made it to a small town called Airvault not far from the city of Poitiers and stopped for the night.

Site has fab pool so I got a swim in double-quick time – damned cold but who cares – and then felt justified in downing lots of cheese and wine – don’t think I am going to lose much weight on this trip but hey ho!

Photo of Eglise St-Pierre D’Airvault

Saturday 5 May
Lovely sunny day today, found out that this place has internet facilities so decided to write this up, not an awful lot to say as yet as we are still just feeling our way along but enjoying ourselves. Walked into the village this morning, practiced our French (which is appalling I have to say but we are learning by CD whilst driving, so hopefully will get better!) and bought food and vin as you do….. Off for a bike ride later then who knows – not sure where our next stop will be, but will be still heading South, so watch this space.

Photo of Doug on his bike coming soon!