Rambling Travel Blog has moved to https://ramblingfamilyramblings.wordpress.com/

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You can now find Rambling Family Ramblings at....

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Adventures in Gorron, France 6th -9th of May

Gorron was just meant to be a quick stopover to relax and stretch our legs before heading further south to Bordeaux. 

The 16th century palace with moat was amazing but certainly needed a lot of work. The smell of dust and mold does not come through in the video, nor do the dead bugs on all the window sills and under the beds....but it was still very special. 

A young couple from the UK have bought this place to renovate and they certainly have a lot of years ahead of them to complete and maintain this huge place. What an adventure they have in store. 

We knew the Airbnb accommodation was going to be something special, but didn't expect such a fun day at a local adventure playground!

Our Dover to Calais Adventure (we called it something very different at the time).

2nd of May 2016

Being a foot passenger on the Dover-Calais ferry was not an experience we want to repeat.

Please note that Folkestone is not a town you'd want to stay in...infact we arrived, got very scared by what we saw and drove very fast out of there. 

Perhaps we have been sheltered and blessed with our accommodation to date but maybe it was the cop that came into the reception warning the staff about a boyfriend on probation who may try to gain entry to his girlfriend's room, the 2 security guards at the hotel front doors, the guests are outside smoking and swearing at each other like they are about to start a bar fight, the guests inside are obviously affected by drugs or alcohol...or both...... and perhaps it was when your 6 year old says out loud..."Dad, I do not want to stay here"......perhaps it was all of the above.

So we made a story up about double booking and got the hell out of dodge! 

Given it was a long weekend and nothing else was available, we drove until we finally found something and  by 9:30pm we arrived at a hotel, ate 4 pringles each for dinner and crashed.

The next morning we woke at 6am to get to Dover to beat the traffic....Luckily there was no traffic due to the long weekend, drove through thick thick fog the whole way and got lost trying to find out where to drop off the rental. 

I may just list the rest of the comedy of errors as they do go on.....

Tried to return the rental to an office that was closed...on hold for 20 minutes to HQ and finally just left a note and keys and hopefully they found them!

10:15- Hopped on the ferry and still couldn't see much due to the fog. Left the kids activity books in the stow away luggage!! nooo!!!

At least Ivy had her Magnadoodle!

12:15pm Arrived in Calais to pick up our new to find that everyone breaks for lunch from 12-2pm.....so we waited.

2:00pm -Oh you don't have the 7 seater car we booked?...so what do you have?....oh a VW golf!!? There was no way our luggage and bike was fitting in this.

2:45pm Found a Jeep that may just fit our luggage. packed it while Ivy fell asleep in the car.

3:25pm Finished packing the car (only just) with no room to spare and a bike resting over Oskar's head and half the luggage on my lap'. Not ideal or safe but it would do.

3:30pm Ready to go........ and the car wouldnt start.

4:00pm Found another car a bit smaller and tried to pack this one.

4:40pm Packed this somehow, crammed ourselves in and we were off. Tired hungry and very irritable but we were off.

We tried to keep our cool through all of this but didn't do too well,  but kept telling ourselves, if this was the worst thing to happen, we were doing ok.

And we were off!

3 hours to our first stop, driving on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car in a 6 speed manual which you couldn't see out the back of. I'll say it again....I'm so glad I wasn't driving!

7:30pm- Arrived safely to Etretat. Not one of our best days, but we were able to look back and laugh....after a few wines.

The Jurassic Coast

23rd-29th of April 2016

Oskar and Ivy this one is for you.

This stop in a little town called Honiton, half an hour inland from the Jurassic Coastline was planned just for you two, so we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

 Honiton was a small town with a quaint high street and surrounded by lush farmland and forest.

Again we were nestled in a rural area with narrow single car laneways and high hedges, which made driving anywhere a little tense.......Not that you probably noticed, but we were thinking...Please make it around this corner before a car comes as we cant see a thing!!! So many blind corners and nowhere to pull over!! Again, I am very glad I was not driving!

 We stayed on a farm again , much to your delight with an adventure playground, pool, trampoline, toys and books to use and  a lightsaber!!!....Needless to say Oskar, needless to say you were very happy here.

Our  animal friends included goats, ponies, ducks, rabbits, chickens we feed everyday, 2 dogs and a cat (Pusscat) who  followed us on field walks!!. There were pheasants and wild deer at dusk in the fields outside our window.

Oh and it was cooooooold! I went for a run one day and it hailed on me! Not fun running with hail hitting your face! It was nice that you were all concerned for me when I arrived home red faced and frozen!

You made friends with Will  (the  9 year old son of the owner) in the first 5 minutes of arriving,and counted down the hours till school finished so you could play with him again. I know you both are craving interaction with other children your  age so it was lovely for you to have Will to play with.

If you hear another child your ears prick up and ask if you can go say hello!

There was so much to explore in the region and our 5 days here were jam packed.

Thanks to a hot tip from Uncle Roy you learnt about the Jurassic Coastline. It was was home to many sea creatures that lived over 250 million years ago and have become fossilised in the cliffs and rocks at Lyme Regis that were once under water. You were on the hunt for Ammonites. We found parts of them and their impressions in stone, and although we didn't find a whole one, the search was fun and you were so excited about what he did find. Ivy, you were was more excited about the smooth glass collection you found....or crystals as you called them.

LYME REGIS

 

  

 We visited a 700 year old flour Mill of the town, now converted into art studios for the artist community of the town and museum.

Ate lunch in one of the best cafes we have experienced to date. So simple, very communal and with amazing food. Oskar you once again hogged all the tomatoes! We are trying to teach you to eat without it going all over your face too.... with little success!

AHHHH BEER

We visited Beer for a ride on a miniature train and a walk through the hillside gardens.....

You had the playground all to yourself  with another resident friendly cat.

We visited Beer's very rocky beach.....!

 

....which was extremely difficult to walk along!     

We lost Owlbert....and for anyone who knows the importance of Owlbert to Ivy...this was bad. 2 days later we went back to Beer....just incase he had been handed in and thank goodness.....we found him!!!

 BACK IN HONITON 

The local Deer Park and Hotel was impressive with it's grand guest house, gorgeous tree houses, beautiful walking trails with blue bells in bloom but .the deers were your favourite.

 

 

We loved this place but we really wish you both were on best behaviour so we could have enjoyed a nice quiet tea by the fire....alas, you two had other plans and we had to leave abruptly..... perhaps mum and dad will need to return here one day.

  

You are both still doing your bottom dance with glee before bath time, which is concerning yet amusing and you both like to annoy the other until someone ends up in time-out and the other crying. ....Please refrain from doing this........Please!!

Oskar you drew one of the best pictures you have done to date and were as proud as punch!

On our way out of here to make our way back to London, we got about 10 metres down the laneway before we had to pull over to let hundreds of cyclists pass us by........not your ordinary cyclists...........some even with pints of beer in hand all riding to raise money for the local ambulance service. It was certainly a sight to behold and you both loved it!