Travelling allsorts

It really surprises me that I haven't posted anything about previous trips to the Dordogne, of which there have been many. This trip was just one week and the plan was to just relax. This time, one of the places we visited was an old favourite - a bastille town called Monpazier, not too far south-east of Bergerac. Founded circa 1284AD, with an interesting British-French history, it comprises a very large square surrounded by cloistered builldings.     Nearby is the Château de Biron, another of our favourites. The first time we stumbled across this, it was a shell that was waiting to be renovated and, having visited twice since, we still loved our original discovery as we felt that we were transported back in time. We didn't visit there on this trip, though. Amongst a plethora of châteux we've been to in the region, we managed to find a couple of new ones! Just north of Bergerac is the Château de Barriere in Villamblard, which is open to the public and, currently, people can

Amazing must-see places in northern(ish) France! Giverny , famously the home of Claude Monet, is in Normandy, on the river Seine, to the west of Paris, and Versailles is considered part of Paris, also to the west. If you like to meander, add Le Touquet or Rouen to your journey (depending where you cross the channel) for a wonderful week.  We've visited Le Touquet several times and Rouen just once. Returns to both are overdue. There are also some other amazing places to visit along the Seine. The gardens at  Giverny are usually closed until springtime. We went on a lovely day  in April   and encountered few other visitors but wish we'd waited a few more weeks to see the garden in all it's blooming glory. Maybe we'll plan another visit.  To reach the water garden from the house, there is an underground passage (this is fairly new, Monet had to cross the road which probably was not too busy at that time). Other than Monet's house and very famous garden, there are fe

In post-apocalyptic, post-Brexit Britain, we gave our passports a rest until we ventured out for a long weekend in Normandy during the record-breaking hot spell in England in 2022. As one of us has medication to suppress immunity, we made sure to keep our distance from, well, everyone - in the hotel, restaurants and on the ferry. This apprehension dampened our relaxation somewhat but all went well and we were (are) fine.  Trying to return to life as we knew it... We braved a whole week in the Lake District last month, renting a house in Braithwaite, near Keswick. As with most people now, we don't really think about catching covid on an everyday basis. Braithwaite is a small, sleepy village with an excellent pub, only 50 yards staggering distance to our temporary residence!  Keswick is a lively holiday hub with plenty to do for all ages, as long as the weather's good. If it's not, you can wander around the pencil museum :) It sounds boring but it's actually quite interes

2020. What a horrible year for everybody. We didn't go anywhere and haven't planned where we're not going in the near future! Time to catch up with the places we've been in the past. This blog has covered various places in Scotland, Wales and England (see the list on the right); a few in France plus Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal - and their islands. Long-haul destinations included are the Caribbean, USA, South Africa, Mauritius, Hong Kong and more.  Our next few posts are likely to be UK-based , although there are several here already. See you on the other side of lockdown!

Our first trip to Barbados was in September 1979! We stayed in a self-catering apartment at the Silver Sands Hotel for 3 weeks at the tail end of the hurricane season - and it was fantastic! We recently returned for a couple of weeks self-catering in an apartment near Hastings and, guess what - it was fantastic! The essence of Barbados hasn't changed. It remains totally laid back yet modern. Everyone has smartphones and multiple TV channels but the traffic has increased by about 1000% and some of the vehicles wouldn't pass an MOT, even with a hefty bribe. Very few roads have unbroken surfaces, there are meaningless signposts and the road maps are not exactly accurate. Advice: just chill. The west coast area is mostly navigable but don't expect an easy journey inland or towards the east coast. After realising that we'd driven through the same village a couple of times, we gave up. We failed to find Eddy Grant's place but succeeded in finding the underground

Not far from where we stayed a few years ago, we rented an apartment in a country manor house just outside Grange over Sands, across the bay from Morecambe.  The weather was changeable, of course - rain on some days, warm sunshine on others. However, it was a lovely few days' break, thoroughly recommended. In addition to coastal walks, "things to do" included: Cartmel horse-racing, Lakeland Motor Museum and a Safari-Zoo where we saw hippos and capybaras (see photographs).  Cartmel Horse Racing    Lakeland Motor Museum more of a transport museum as it has bicycles and 'flying machines' too! It's an amazing collection; the photographs below show a 60's Aquacar, exhibits from the Monte Carlo Rally, a Mini and various attempts to produce even smaller cars. There are also exhibits of life from 50+ years ago, including shop window displays, arcade games (mechanical rather than electronic) and a café/milk bar. These are just some of the photographs from the doz