A lazy afternoon in Morland, Cumbria [England]
We spent the entire afternoon chilling out. Exploring Morland. Bathing in the sun. Doing what campers do best – enjoying life ^-^
Aira Force Falls [The Glade] nr. Ullswater, Cumbria
After a hearty bacon sarnie for breakfast the friendly lady in the tent next to us comes over and tells us she’s leaving the site, would we be interested in her Lake District magazine. We are! We read about a walk around Aira Force near Ullswater, apparently dropping an impressive 66 feet down a rocky ravine. It seems that in the 1870’s, the Howard family of Greystoke Castle owned an old hunting lodge close to the shore and renovated it into what is now known as Lyulph’s Tower, set amongst its own sporting estate. The Howards landscaped the area around the Aira Force walk and used it is a pleasure garden, planting over half a million ornamental trees. They also set up a network of tracks, footpaths and bridges.
It’s quite a busy little walk [that must have been because the weather was absolutely outstanding] and immediately we’re greeted by the Search & Rescue helicopter….. a bad Omen….? I’m a bit of a sucker for a great looking chopper in a very blue sky and so happily snapped away as the helicopter seemed to circle us.
After a few minutes it flies off in a different direction and we carry on with our walk….
.
…while the dogs have a little stick’n swim time ^-^
As nice as it is, it’s only taken us about 2 hours to walk around the fall – which, to be brutally honest- is somewhat disappointing……in a kind of *blink and you miss it* way, so we decide to spend the rest of the afternoon with a picnic, a trip to the Hartside Summit and some nice cool beers in the pub.
Greengill House, Morland, Cumbria [England]
Just back from 2 weeks travelling through France we miss being in the van and decide to take it to Cumbria for a bit of English countryside spotting ^-^
By now it has become pretty obvious that we prefer small, quiet sites in the middle of nowhere and so we search the camping & caravanning web site for what they refer to as *certificated* sites in Cumbria. A certificated site is one that’s small and accepts just five caravans or motorhomes. Some of them also accept tents, space permitting. Most of them only offer minimal facilities – ideal for when you want to get away from it all.
When we speak to the owner to book a pitch he asks us to drop the charge for the 2 night stay through the letterbox of his house on arrival and to pick whichever pitch we like.
There is only one other tent on the field when we get to Morland around 8:30pm on a Friday evening and it belongs to a very friendly middle aged lady and her two furry companions who have been spending a few weeks here to catch up with friends in the village.
A quarter of the field is left as a meadow (which is great for the dogs) and overlooks some houses.
We quickly set up then head off into the little village to a little place that serves coffee during the day and pizza at night, perfect! We treat ourselves to a glass of crisp Pinot Grigio while waiting for the pizza to bake then take it back to our perfect little spot and eat it with the sun still shining on our faces and the dogs rolling around in the meadow. Happy campers ^-^
The verdict:
We paid £14 per night, this included a hook up. There’s one toilet/shower room which is perfectly adequate [although possibly the weirdest set up as it tries to look like a *normal* bathroom in an old barn which doesn’t really work for me. If I was super critical I’d suggest that the owner set up a bathroom that’s a little slicker than the one currently in use but like I said – this one is perfectly adequate]. We were unbelievably lucky with the weather [which is why I decided not to show moody Cumbrian pictures with grey stone walls but super green greenery and super blue skies ^-^] and liked this site very much. The owner is unobtrusive and left us to enjoy the view and the weather [he did quickly introduce himself the following morning though, which was nice] and the middle aged woman in the tent who very kindly supplied us with tea bags on the Friday evening was replaced by another quiet middle aged couple [also with two furry friends] on the Saturday.
This site is perfect for vans and tents but possibly tricky to access with caravans or larger motorhomes given that the entrance is pretty tight. I’d score this a 3/5 and would happily return for a relaxing break in beautiful Cumbria.
Bais de la Somme – Nord Pas de Calais – home!
The weather on the last day is awful and so we decide to visit La Coupole [English: The Dome], a history & remembrance centre in the Nord Pas de Calais region.
Originally codenamed Bauvorhaben 21 [Building Project 21], it’s a Second World War bunker complex built by the forces of Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1944 to serve as a launch base forV-2 rockets directed against London and the South of England [Mr B used to serve in the Welch Regiment – note, that’s not a spelling mistake but the actual correct spelling – and so likes to visit places of military significance on our travels.]
Constructed in the side of a disused chalk quarry, the complex comprised an immense concrete dome, to which its modern name refers, above a network of tunnels that were to house the launch facilities and crew quarters. The facility was intended to store a large stockpile of V-2s, warheads and fuel and to be able to launch missiles against London and southern England at a high daily rate. However, due to repeated heavy bombing by Allied forces carried out as part of Operation Crossbow, the Germans were unable to complete the construction works and the complex never entered service. It was captured by the Canadian Army in September 1944 and was subsequently abandoned. The complex remained derelict and abandoned until the mid 1990s. In 1997, it opened its doors to the public for the first time after being redeveloped into a museum. The tunnels and the main exhibition area under the dome tell the story of the German occupation of France during World War II, the V-weapons and the history of space exploration [thanks to Wiki for educating me on this ^-^].
It’s a very humbling place. Quite unexpectedly the wall of remembrance touches me deeply as suddenly I can connect faces with stories and it becomes almost a personal story.
It’s a sombre day. To lighten the mood we take the dogs for their very last waaaaaaaaaaaaalkies on French soil ^-^.
So that’s it. France trip is over. We were lucky with the weather. We had some fabulous food. We saw loooooooooooooads. We made memories that’ll stay with us forever. We drank some exquisite Bordeaux and rummaged around in lots of supermarkets. AND we took the dogs with us! So then of course it’s only fair to remember THE MOST IMPORTANT document of all: re-entry into the UK for our furry friends ^-^
It was quite an unnerving experience sitting in the car waiting to pass through passport control wondering whether we’d done our homework right as our dogs’ next 6 months depended on it. As it happened I overheard another passenger’s conversation with [pet] passport control and they were trying to bluff the officer by blaming the vet for having given them incorrect information. We found that none of the vets we spoke to *guaranteed* anything for fear of it coming back to bite them; they all referred us to the DEFRA web site and could not stress enough how important it is to get the facts right. As it turned out, we did [phew]. They hand out scanners at passport control and you scan your own dog for its microchip then tell the officer the registration number while he or she compares it to what is written in your pet’s passport. I thought my heart was going to explode for about 3 minutes and almost felt physically sick. But now that we know how to do it there’s no stopping us. Planning a roadtrip through Spain in 2013 already ^-^
St. Martin-en-Campagne – Baie de la Somme
Short drive to the Baie de la Somme, a massive Estuary/marchland area about an hour’s drive from Dieppe.
The sun’s out and it’s blue skies all over, perfect for taking the dogs on the beach. We start off in St. Valerie sur Mer, a gorgeous tiny port with opportunity to see some seals [we weren’t lucky enough, unfortunately] and harvesting samphire [again, unlucky us].
When the water’s out the beach is approx. 12 km wide and totally impressive. We spend a couple of hours exploring the gorgeously sandy beaches.
We carry on to the mediaeval part of St. Valerie and take a stroll along the river Somme. Final stop of the day is a little port famous for its glorious fish restaurants {so famous in fact its name escapes me….]. We see a lot of people eating lobster, mussels, scallops and the like in little cafés dotted across the center but can’t sit down and eat ourselves as our dogs are not as familiar with Europe’s café culture as we’d like them to be.
So we head off to our next camp site about 30 minutes away. It’s on a working farm and right up our street. There’s only another 3 caravan owners on site with us and the farm feels like the kind of stuff childhood memories are made of: a simple games room in what once used to be stables; toilets and showers in another old farm building [where birds where actually nesting] and the atmosphere is definitely relaxed, the pitches are massive and the few chalets they have do not seem to take over the actual farm. Happy campers!
For dinner we have [more] sausages, crepecinettes (which are basically pork meat balls wrapped in stomach lining which keeps the meat wonderfully juicy), baguette and spinach salad in a [very spicy] mustard dressing washed down with a nice Bordeaux [what else]. Tomorrow is the last day of our trip and already we dream about coming back!
Le Mans – St. Martin-en-Campagne
Early start. Packed and ready to go @ 9:15hrs we meet the couple from Kent to travel to the vet together. The wife speaks French and so we hope that having the tablets and getting our pet passports stamped should be a doddle. We turn up early in what at first glance appears to be a residential area. The vet, Dr. Thomas, is situated on the ground floor of a block of flats and sees us 1.5hrs early. Bonus. He [who looks more like a butcher than a vet and does not speak a single word of English] doesn’t seem to be familiar with the new rules & regulations though and questions why we’re having them done 3 days before we travel back to the UK when he is used to doing them the actual day before departure. We produce the DEFRA documentation and after a short consultation with the French speaking wife he is happy to do it anyway [for the record, the period for having tapeworm treatment IS 5 – 1 days prior to departure). He’s a little old school [translate: heavy handed…..] but I remembered to bring some pate and we manage to get all the tablets down. He also applied a tick treatment [which is a capsule squeezed onto the back of the neck) and with our passports stamped & dated [important: passports must be stamped, not just signed] he charges us €70 for 2 dogs and off we go.
We carry on upwards and head for St. Martin-en-Campagne nr Dieppe.
Our camp site is disappointing [only one mother/baby toilet/shower/washroom cubicle is open and it isn’t as clean as the ones we’ve been to so far.]
Still, we quickly set up and head off to the surrounding area.
Little did we know that behind the impressive cliff coastline is a nuclear power plant and that there’d been a [minor] incident the week before! One to avoid in future……
But with the sun out we make the best of it and take the dogs to the beach and through the little village.
On the way back to the camp site the dogs find a dead snake in the bushes next to the pavement and on closer inspection we see the snake’s living mate right next to it.
Back at Domaine Les Goélands we put sausages and a massive steak on the barbie and have it with Humus, Doritos and spinach salad washed down with a 2010 Domain du Prieure de Saint Amans [awarded a gold medal and available at Lidl in France for €1.99, scandalous! ^-^].
Carnac – Yvré-l’Evêque
Today we spend most of our time in the van driving up on B roads from Carnac to the Le Mans area; it’s almost like the beginning of the end as we are now officially on our way back home.
It rained all day but when we get to the camp site the weather seems to have mercy on us and we set up while it’s dry. I even get to read a magazine and have a glass of Artisan cidre in my new moon chair, for the very first time ^-^
We take a short walk into Yvré-l’Eveque, a nice little village just behind the camp site, and find a quiet little park by a river to stretch our legs and give the dogs some time to run around [I’d show you some pics but I forgot my camera so no can do….].
There is not much to do and we feel worn out so we decide to have an early night. And just as we light the barbie the heavens open up and it chucks it down. We end up in the middle of a hail storm and within minutes we find ourselves huddled underneath our day awning smoking the van out. The Fiamma [awning] holds up nicely and we carry on putting the shrimps on the barbie [€3 for a pound of shell on ones, bargain!] while our motorhome neighbours probably feel sorry for us.
We also manage to set up an appointment with a vet in Le Mans, with the help of the site’s very friendly lady owner who points us in the direction of another British couple on site who already have an appointment at the same time and the same day for their dog. Turns out this retired couple from Kent used to own a hotel not far from where we live and where one of my friends actually got married. Small world! Like most of the retired couples we come across they spend their time in winter travelling down to Spain in their motorhomes before returning to the UK in Spring or early summer and we can seriously see ourselves doing exactly the same [in the very distant future, ha!]
Still. We have our shrimps marinated in chilli oil with spicy beef kebabs and a beetroot/green salad dressed with garlic, lemon juice & oil with a bit of baguette and wash it down with a 2010 Chateau Causse Saint Chinnian while watching some rubbish film about young criminals in the US getting rehabilitated through American Football. Aaaaaaand sleep ^-^
Carnac – Alignements de Carnac – Morhiban coastline
Here we are at the Alignments de Carnac. Basically…….loadsa stones lined up in some fields. A must see yet somewhat boring [I guess you could call me a cynic but I’m just not getting the *mystic* hype….it’s pretty obvious years’n years’n years ago *somebody* schlepped hundreds of big stones to a field?]
We take the dogs for a walk in the woods and try to catch the *tourist attraction* almost as a *must bag* and not *want to see*. Still. Lots of stones later we head out to the beach by the Morhiban coastline, somewhere near St. Pierre. It’s full of windsurfers (in the freezing cold, going back’n fro in 2 rows) and what looks like roller surfers. It’s incredibly windy but we head out for almost 3 hours and it’s fun to watch the surfers and rollers go past. Lots of people just turn up and watch then get back in their cars and carry on driving.
After our now obligatory picnic in the van we head off to Quiberon.
Les Druides camp site, Carnac, Brittany
When we arrive at the camp site we selected the night before [over a bottle of wine] we find we don’t actually like the look of it [musta been a bad bottle of wine????] and carry on to Les Druides in Carnac, a site that was only opened the day before we arrived.
It’s on the posh side of camping with a proper reception office and a very nice receptionist [who spoke excellent English] who asked us to go and find a pitch we like prior to booking in. It’s €1 extra per dog but showers are free and the facilities are the best we’ve had by far [calming music in the shower block? Check! Corian worksurfaces throughout? Check! Proper hair driers in the (unisex) wash room? Check!]. There are only another 3 motorhomes on site and we are the first British guests of the year [hoorah] and although we think the site is perfectly laid out [barrier detection on both sides and a back gate that can be accessed with a digital key] it does feel a little clinical… personally we prefer the *rough around the edges* experiences. But what the heck – it’s nice to have a little luxury for one day ^-^
We take the dogs for a walk along another beautiful sandy beach just 500 m from the camp site and find it’s probably the busiest little beach resort we’ve been to so far. Turns out there had been a regatta during the day and the place looks like wealthy French people rent out their beautiful summer houses during season. As for now – most of the houses are still boarded up waiting for some great summer weather to arrive.
After the walk we put on some washing [€4 for a 5kg load and €5 for a one hour drier cycle which unfortunately left some of the washing still a little damp], then settle in for the night with Breton sausages and bargain Bourdeaux. Just in time it seems as during the evening and over night the weather closes in and it begins to rain.
We are now also starting to look into what vet to use for our return to Great Britain on Saturday.
Plouguernau – Lorient
We pack up early and head for Vannes, a 4 hour drive along B roads and decide to stop halfway @ the submarine base in Lorient. It’s overcast yet we seem to have escaped the rain. For now. At the submarine base we spend €8.50 each for a tour of the museum and the actual submarine. Not really a submarine fan myself I fear the worst [boredom….] but am positively surprised by an excellent, informative and very modern museum with superb audio and visual effects. It depicts the history of Lorient as a strategic location and also the history of its submarine with an impressive audio tour of the actual submarine.
We have an impromptu picnic at the car park afterwards, with Breton pate and leftover couscous salad from the previous night and carry on with our journey to the Vannes region.
van plus 4 