Read this blog: The one where we enjoy an Ireland win over South Africa Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd September 2023 We arrived at Gare de Lille Flandres and made our way to what we thought was our hotel. Unfortunately Robert had found directions to the Hotel Mercure Lille Centre Grand Place not the Hotel Mercure Lille Centre Vieux-Lille who actually held our booking. Another short walk took us to the correct destination and from there we went in search of a bar showing the Argentina vs Samoa game. We found a square with a pleasant hostelry called Le Django with welcoming bar staff which was going to show the match and which soon filled up with amiable fans from multiple visiting nations. The England vs Chile match was due to kick off at 17:45 on Saturday and our daughter Ruth and her friend Breesha were travelling over late on Friday. We planned to meet them on Saturday morning and make our way to the ground together. Breakfast was not included in our booking and Matilda was looking forward to returning to That’s Toast. Unfortunately, after some confusion on Matilda’s part which was compounded by an error in a previous […]
Monthly Archives: September 2023
Read this blog: The one where French rugby fans share their rillettes Tuesday 19th to Friday 22nd September 2023 Any journey to or from the Scillies is time consuming and it is even more so if you have to go beyond the UK and get to the south of France. There was low cloud as we left Tresco and it was even lower when we arrived in Penzance. One fellow passenger had told us that they had once reached the mainland and still turned back because of fog. We were really not sure whether the cloud would shortly be classed as fog and prevent us from landing. But thankfully we landed safely on the mainland and Scilly Parking provided a very reliable taxi service between the heliport and the station in time to catch our scheduled train, despite slight flight delays. We got off at Reading to catch the extended Elizabeth Line to Heathrow. It seems very strange to be on a tube line so far from the capital. We stayed overnight at Heathrow ready to catch an early flight to Marseille. As usual Robert had researched and planned the journey from the airport into the Vieux Port area and […]
Read this blog: The one where we celebrate a sixtieth Monday 11th to Tuesday 19th September 2023 Leaving the RWC 2023 behind in France, we flew from Lyon to London City Airport and then caught the overnight train to Penzance, known as the Night Riviera Sleeper, to catch the helicopter over to Tresco. Matilda always feels the need to hug Paddington when she passes. She loved the books as a child and remembers her aunt Judith, who worked in a children’s bookshop when Matilda was young, getting her a copy each time a new Paddington book was published. Sometimes they were even signed by the author. The carriages and sleeping compartments [right] on the Night Riviera Sleeper have been updated since we last took this train but the name sounds more glamorous than it actually is. There is also a new helicopter in operation on the route from Penzance to Tresco. On our flight, the passengers were all travelling as couples and the ground crew asked for a volunteer to sit alone in one of the front two seats [just behind the pilot] to balance the load. Both Matilda and Robert happily volunteered as did another gentleman sitting in the […]
Read this blog: The one where we aim to confuse Sunday 10th September 2023 The morning after England’s first win of the tournament, we left Marseille by train to travel to Nice. For several years now we have been secretly plotting with our friend Belinda to host a surprise sixtieth birthday holiday on Tresco for her and her husband John. Part of the surprise involved us maintaining the fiction that we were staying in France for the RWC, rather than travelling back to the UK. Our trip to Nice, the next RWC venue for England, was in fact a cover for the fact that we would be flying home from there to avoid the thousands of fans travelling back from Marseille. Although we were not staying for the next match, we would have most of a day and one night in Nice, hopefully throwing a dummy pass to keep John guessing. Matilda wanted to look at some of the sights despite the heat. She suggested a visit to the Russian Orthodox Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas, which is apparently the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe. However, as official tour guide, Robert exercised his power of veto and refused to include it […]
Read this blog: The one where we see England triumph against the odds Friday 8th and Saturday 9th September 2023 On Friday evening, Robert wanted to soak up the atmosphere in and around the bars of Marseille and watch both the RWC 2023 opening ceremony and the inaugural match between France and New Zealand. Various FanZones had been set up including one by the entry to the Metro at Vieux Port but these did not seem very popular and we found ourselves seats with a view of a TV screen outside The Queen Victoria, in the Vieux Port in Marseille. Matches were scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday so fans for all the competing teams had gathered in the sunshine and mingled good-naturedly. We were surprised by how many Scotsmen were wearing their kilts, since the Scotland game was not scheduled until Sunday, but we were told that kilts are so heavy, it is better to wear them to travel rather than risk being charged for overweight luggage. Without any commentary, the opening ceremony was rather confusing but we later discovered that it was based on Les Miserables. Unfortunately, The Queen Victoria found that three cubicle toilets were not able […]
Read this blog: The one where we kick off our RWC campaign Wednesday 6th to Thursday 7th September 2023 When Robert bought tickets to the Rugby World Cup [RWC] in March 2021 transport and accommodation for the various venues were instantly in high demand. Our first destination was the England vs Argentina match in Marseille, scheduled for the day after the opening ceremony. Robert therefore planned that it would be easier to fly to Lyon and spend a few days travelling down to Marseille. We flew from Heathrow and spent a day travelling. By the time we checked in to our hotel in Lyon we were feeling the beginnings of heat exhaustion and lacked the energy to return to the centre so settled for a chilled beer and a Caesar salad in our hotel. We will be returning to Lyon in Al the motor home later in our [RWC] campaign and so will be able to see some of the sights of Lyon at our leisure then. The next morning we were booked to travel by train to Avignon. Unfortunately we had just boarded a Metro line B train when it was announced that there were technical difficulties and trains […]
Read this blog: the one where Sally says a fond farewell to Bay House, Tresco Tuesday 16th to Saturday 27th May 2023 This was to be the last year of Robert’s parents’ 30 year time-share at Bay House on Tresco and his mother, Sally, invited us and our sister-in-law, Caroline, to join her. Unfortunately Robert’s father’s health means he is no longer able to travel such distances. We arrived on Tuesday 16th May, a day later than our companions, and as Matilda still had the ear ache which first manifested itself on the mainland she went straight to the Estate Office to ask what her options were. She was given the number and advised to call the medical centre on St Mary’s. The receptionist who answered had clearly undergone the appropriate training. She exhibited the traditional professionally prickly persona and suggested Matilda phone her GP at home. However, when Matilda explained that she used to work in the NHS and that all the telephone consultations at her surgery were likely to have been allocated within half an hour of the lines opening at 08:00 that morning, she grudgingly made an appointment for the GP to call her later that day. When […]
Read this blog: The one where we visit two of The Beatles’ childhood homes. Wednesday 23rd August 2023 The childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney are both now owned and managed by the National Trust. You have to book a tour in advance to visit them and choose a pick up point: those who are driving are advised to go to Speke Hall, another National Trust property where there is plenty of parking space and those who come by train can be picked up from Liverpool South Parkway Station. Tour groups are limited to 15 taking into account the size of the houses and the capacity of the minibus itself. We drove to Speke Hall and waited for the dedicated minibus which rather satisfyingly includes the slogan, ‘Visit The Beatles’ Childhood Homes’ on the side [see feature photo]. Several groups were waiting including two women who, it transpired, had missed their booking and were hoping to join another tour. We could tell from the body language as they spoke to him that the driver was not very optimistic. As Matilda is a life member of the National Trust entry was free for both of us but there is […]
Read this blog: The one where Robert admired Urinals Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd August 2023 Having said a fond farewell to the fruity folly which is The Pineapple, we dropped our daughters at Larbert Station to travel home by train while we set off for Liverpool. Both Robert and Matilda have visited before. As a student Robert came to play a rugby match against a local college and as a child, Matilda came on a family visit back to her father’s roots [he had cousins living in the city and was a life-long Everton supporter.] The only thing Matilda really remembers is the Roman Catholic cathedral which seemed so modern. The building which seems to have made the most impact on Robert, however, was The Philharmonic Dining Rooms and, in particular, the richly tiled urinals there. Some readers may not be at all surprised. Having checked in to our hotel, we decided to walk around the city to get our bearings and as the hotel was close to the docks, we walked down to Pier Head to see the waterfront, past the imposing buildings known collectively as the Three Graces [see feature photo]. They comprise from left to right, […]