Tonight we are in Montmorillon, the town that is closest to our new home in Lathus. it has poured with rain almost constantly since we arrived but we managed to get out and about for a first look. I even grabbed a few photos when the rain slowed to a drizzle…
Yes, I am doing remarkably badly at the blog catchup thing but do not believe that I have no intention of filling the gaps. I just need time and space.
We have reached Airvault, apparently at the same time as Spring, and are staying on a caravan site just outside the town. Nell is very happy here as there is ample off-the-lead walking for her and this in turn makes us happy too. Walks are a more pleasant task when the dog can run freely.
We are at Camping de Courte Vallèe, a former municipal site now owned by an English couple. The municipal leisure facilities here are a change from the usual swimming pool and football pitch neighbours. No, here we have a country park! Just out of the gate, a little way down a traffic free lane, and over the river and hey presto, doggy heaven.
After Nell’s morning walk today we ventured into town for lunch. It was raining but I took the camera anyway. Here are a few of the results.
Click any image for a larger view. Once viewed large try the PREVIOUS IMAGE arrow on the right of the screen to navigate to the next image in large size. Crazy, I know, but it works.
We move on to Montmorillon tomorrow and then back to Lathus for a while. There is no hookup at Lathus so the laptop will stay in the cupboard – no updates expected whilst we are there. Instagram is the best to be expected.
I know, it was by no means a holiday but it was a lengthy hiatus. Here follows the briefest of summaries.
17th February, Mr Snail travelled back from Yorkshire to collect Vincent, Nell and myself from a cold and wet Lathus.
18th February, we all left Lathus and put in as many miles as possible on Sunday-quiet roads. We covered about 400 miles in all and came to a stop in Montreuil-sur-Mer.
19th February, Nell went for her worming tablet certification at the vet’s in Montreuil. We stopped a second night as she needed a full 24 hours before being allowed to travel.
20th February, from Montreuil to Calais and on to Pocklington via le Shuttle. We stayed at The Mile, as usual.
During the following days our time was spent with family rather than in swanning around in the van. There was a family funeral on the 26th February.
The so-called Beast from The East took a hand in matters when we decided to take a few days break in Northumberland.
Monday the 5th March we were planning to go to Masham for two nights but due to heavy snowfall the owner telephoned to cancel our booking, the ground being too waterlogged to take us. We hastily Googled etc. and ended up booking two nights on a site (CCC) just outside Barnard Castle, at Lartington. The snow had cleared at Pocklington by the time that we left and all was well as we journeyed up the A1, until we reached the A66 and found not only lying snow but also fog. The Lartington site was shrouded in fog when we arrived.
Tuesday 6th was a far better day and we managed to get some walking in, strolling via Deepdale in the woods with the dog all the way into into Barney and back again.
On Wednesday we treated ourselves to a trip to Wark and stayed at The Battlesteads for two nights. Still plenty of snow around up there but we had a day of brilliant sunshine and a lovely long walk with Nell. There was also some camera action!
Friday 9th saw Vincent hauling us up over Carter Bar and the new Forth Crossing, to Fife, where we stayed at Silverdyke once more and had another excellent meal at The Cellar.
On Sunday 11th, we turned back towards Pocklington and got as far as Belford, near Bamburgh and stopped overnight at one of our favourite Britstops.
Monday 12th saw us finally at Masham, where the ground had recovered sufficiently by then.
On Wednesday 14th we were back at The Mile in Pocklington, where we stayed until we had to leave a day early due to the forecast snow for Saturday. We re-booked the Shuttle and got off to a flying start in appalling weather conditions.
Thankfully the rain and mist cleared from around Newark onwards and we had a good journey thereafter with no significant difficulty until the Shuttle itself was delayed.
So, that was us, back in France again by bedtime on Saturday. Sunday and Monday nights were near Abbeville, as already noted.
After a lengthy hiatus during which we returned to the UK, we are now back on our travels in France. We left Yorkshire for Calais …
Blog Paralysis still reigns supreme but there is now a chance of catching up as we are stationary for a while.
The real reason that we flogged North was that we needed to be closer to the UK and closer to an airport with UK flights. We combined that with a perceived desire to revisit Limousin to see if we really wanted to live there as it had been possibly our favourite area on the trip down. We knew that there were flights to the UK from Limoges and so we mapped out a route to the area.
It was only when Mr Snail spotted a property advert that appealed to us both that we changed direction just a little and found ourselves in Vienne rather than Haute-Vienne. To be precise, we fetched up in Bussière-Poitevine, where we stayed for a couple of nights before needing to leave due to the borne being out of action. Thus we landed in nearby Lathus (more properly named Lathus Saint-Rémy) at the recommendation of our estate agent, and a lovely wee place it is too. A very neat and tidy aire with tree-lined bays for 8 vans sits by the side of a quiet road, with a park across the road complete with small (fishable) pond. The Village has two boulangeries, one of which is also a glacièr and chocolatier. There is also a small SPAR shop and other necessities catered for. Result!
Importantly, Lathus has a railway link to Poitiers so when the expected need to return to the UK arose Mr Snail was able to make the journey by train, leaving me, Nell and Vincent on the aire in safety and with convenience at hand. No EHU admittedly and no showers but at least I can get food and that is a big plus. So long as the sun keeps shining we have solar power and I can pass my time getting the blog up to date.
Today’s featured photo is from the walk that Nell and I took today. Happily the village is surrounded by a network of waymarked routes so walking is plentiful and safe. Better still, no sign of pine trees, pine moth or pesky processionary caterpillars. It is good to be free of that worry.
We can wholeheartedly recommend this aire, which will only score more highly when the village bar reopens shortly. (If it matters, it is going to be under English ownership.)
I have posts written on the road to inject here and the Two Snails Time Machine will be hopping all over for a while. I’ll post them under posting date for a while for the benefit of regular readers but later will move them into proper sequence to avoid confusion for newer readers.
This blog is about our travels so I will document the house search elsewhere, for now I’ll just say that Bussière and Lathus will be our nearest small towns when we settle and that the house purchasing process has begun. Our time as full-timers has been much shorter than expected but we feel okay with that and perceive several benefits in having a little pied-à-terre.
I am so far behind on updating this blog that I scarcely know where to begin. I seem to have Blog Paralysis.
Here is a real time update: Today, Monday the 5th February, 2018, we are in Northern Spain, back at Gran Camping Zarautz, where we were last December.
It is good to be back by the sea again, I have missed it.
We are mid-journey to Haute-Vienne and have made the journey from Hinojos in two long days’ driving and a short hop. We have one very long day to go, and that will be tomorrow.
It is currently cold and wet and we are back in our winter woolies. Why did we ever leave Andalusia!
I will catch up. I am sure that I will… just as soon as I cease to be scared of the size of my task.
See you in France? Not soon, probably – we will be on an Aire without EHU for at least a couple of nights but I will check in as soon as possible.
