![RWC #10: The end of the Pool stage [in more ways than one]](https://i0.wp.com/iciel.uk/imagesTH/23-07-RWC/Post10/23-07-10-feature.jpeg?resize=570%2C350&ssl=1)
Read this blog: The one where we really wanted to take a dip Friday 6th to Sunday 8th October 2023 The following day we drove to Reims, parked up in the aire by the football pitch and strolled into the city where we found Pub L’escale which would be showing the France vs Italy game. Locals were keen to befriend us as we had taken poll position at a table with a good view of the TV. Rugby fans are [almost] always good-natured but Matilda was unimpressed when a Frenchman challenged her for applauding some good play by the Italians. Where was his sense of fair play? It was clear quite early on in the match that France would win, and one try would not have had much of an impact. We had originally planned to leave earlier in the evening but after a certain amount of beer the munchies kicked in and Robert ordered a little something extra at the bar. Matilda suggested we create a “Snack of the day” category in which case this would be the first entry. It may not become a regular feature. The following day we drove to Roubaix, near Lille, and sought advice […]
France
Read this blog: The one where we slowly begin to remember Monday 2nd to Thursday 5th October 2023 Having decided to postpone our visit to Dijon for another trip, Robert booked an extra night at the campsite in Lyon so that we could relax and have extended time in one place to see some sights and do our laundry. Sad but true. When we arrived we were told that the swimming pool would be closing that night for the season. Since it was sunny and hot, we felt we would stay on site and make use of the pool as it would be our only opportunity to do so. As we chilled in the pool we also planned to spread our culture and sightseeing over two half days. Late the following morning we travelled into the centre to retrace our footsteps and reacquaint ourselves with the old city. Arriving on the metro at Vieux Lyon, we took the FI funicular [which was already waiting in the station] up to Minimes (Théâtres Romains) to see the amphitheatre. Robert said we had taken this route before although Matilda definitely recalls Robert making her walk up the hill in the heat last time […]
Read this blog: The one where we sample the spa waters of Vichy Saturday 30th September 2023 In the morning we drove to the lovely spa town of Vichy. As with many natural springs, the Romans set the precedent and established a settlement here in the first century AD, known as Vicus Calidus or Aquæ Calidæ [hot water]. We set up our own encampment at Parc Camping les Acacias in Bellerive-sur-Allier, across the river from Vichy itself. The campsite is quiet now and many of the facilities are closed for the end of the season but it has swimming pools and a water slide which would be great for families in the summer. However, since our pitch is right next to the water slide, we appreciate the comparative peace and quiet at the end of the season. There is a gate leading straight out onto the embankment and we took a pleasant riverside stroll into Vichy itself. The city became a fashionable destination in the late eighteenth century when the French aristocracy began visiting to take the waters for therapeutic reasons and the Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte I himself originally ordered the creation of the Parcs des Sources, an oasis where […]
Read this blog: The one where we revisit Reims Wednesday 27th to Saturday 30th September 2023 We set off early in Al the Motorhome to travel through the Channel Tunnel to Calais. The last time we took a motorhome to Europe in 2018 it was the original [larger] version of Alan and before any additional restrictions resulting from Brexit or Covid. On that journey we took our dog Ralf and whilst we were more or less waived through, he had to have been vaccinated against rabies; have his own pet passport; be seen for a health check by a vet before leaving the UK and be seen again by a vet within 24 hours of leaving Europe to return. We were so grateful to our friends Richard and Mandie for their hospitality and their support on this previous visit and for making an appointment for Ralf with their vet. This time there were border controls and stamps in our passports before we could board Le Shuttle. From Calais it was almost a straight motorway down to Reims – our first stopping off point on our way to watch New Zealand play Italy in Lyon – and we were struck by how little […]
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 […]
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 […]
Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd December 2021 Although some believe it it be the most important meal of the day, Martin eschews breakfast so while Liz and Martin went to visit the local chocolate museum on empty stomachs, we strolled to the highly recommended That’s Toast. This justifiably famous café provided us with a delicious start to the day in pleasant surroundings served by courteous and friendly staff: it is well worth a visit and we will certainly be returning next time we are in Lille for the Rugby World Cup in 2023. Lille was actually Flemish prior to its invasion by Louis XIV in 1667 and many of the historic buildings are testament to this. Later, walking through the city with Liz and Martin, we passed the Opéra de Lille – a fine neoclassical building completed in 1913. Nearby, the belfry of the Neo-Flemish Chamber of Commerce [or Nouvelle Bourse] rises a commanding 76 meters above the city. La Vieille Bourse, or Lille’s old stock exchange is said to be the finest building in the city, dating from the mid-17th century and it consists of 24 Flemish renaissance houses, all around a central arcaded courtyard. Over 350 years later […]
Thursday 12th September 2019 The plan was to go up the Eiffel Tower early and when we arrived there were signs alerting visitors to the fact that the upper level might be forced to close. We therefore decided to go to the very top first and work our way down. The views are impressive, with the River Seine snaking its way through the city to left and right . . . . . . while the Champ-de-Mars spreads out toward the Place Joffre and the École Militaire. Partly due to its sheer height – the Eiffel Tower measures 324 metres to the tip – even famous landmarks can be hard to identify and we struggled to find Sacré Coeur from the platform at the summit, although we found it could be seen clearly silhouetted against the sky from the lower viewing platform. Apparently Gustave Eiffel built himself a small apartment at the top of the tower where, accompanied by his daughter Claire, he hosted exclusive receptions for important guests. This has been staged to show the visit by Thomas Edison on 10 September 1889, when he gave Gustave Eiffel a model of the famous phonograph which he had just presented […]
Tuesday 10th September 2019 One of the many pleasures of being able to devote more time to travelling is returning to cities and places which we have already visited without feeling we are sacrificing seeing somewhere new. Invariably, each visit is different and this time it was a specific exhibition which inspired us to bring our younger daughter on the Eurostar on her first trip to Paris. The top section of the Eiffel Tower is visible from our hotel room so, having deposited our luggage in the early evening, we took a walk down towards the closest Kusmi Tea shop where Matilda invested in some of her new favourite blend: St Petersburg. It is a variation on Earl Grey with additional hints of red berry and caramel. Mindful of the environmental impact of tea bags she bought loose leaf tea. From here we continued on towards the River Seine and the Eiffel Tower. We had both visited Paris independently before we met and have returned several times since our first visit together in 1992. But none of our joint visits have yet included the Eiffel Tower. This time we have booked to go up all the way this elegant engineering […]
Saturday 6th to Sunday 7th July 2019 Although we could hear the Friday night revelling from our hotel room, it was not as loud as we had feared when the receptionist warned us and happily neither of us had recourse to the earplugs which had been provided. As we walked back along the marina to catch the ferry to Sardinia, staff on the more luxurious yachts were polishing the chrome and hosing down the decks whilst chefs were negotiating with local suppliers for fresh produce to be delivered. Unlikely as it is, if we ever have that sort of money we have promised ourselves we will return to Bonifacio on a luxury yacht. Regular ferries run between Bonifacio to Santa Teresa di Gallura on the northern tip of Sardinia and take about an hour. From here we were scheduled to catch a bus to Sassari and then a narrow gauge train to Alghero. Having taken the indirect route up to the bus station, a bus to Sassari was pulling out just as we arrived. The very accommodating driver allowed himself to be flagged down and accosted in pigeon Italian [unspoken ‘O’ level Latin] and agreed to let us put our […]
Wednesday 26 June 2019 Ironically, having revelled in the fact that we no longer need to go away during the school holidays and can therefore avoid higher prices, other people’s fractious children and the hottest months of the year, our trip to Corsica and Sardinia saw us heading for Paris in a positive heatwave. Temperatures in Paris hit 34 degrees on the day we arrived, schools have closed, national exams have been cancelled and vehicles are being restricted in the capital to combat pollution. As we arrived at our four star Holiday Inn, close to the Gare de Lyon [which features a picturesque and elegant clock tower] . . . . . . the neon sign on the building next door flashed the immortal words “Sex Shop”. Matilda felt she was stepping back in time to the period before retirement and before she had issued her minimum star requirement for hotels when Robert habitually booked those closest to the station for convenience. Curiously, the areas around the main line stations all across Europe seem to feature establishments which offer this service. Having checked in and applied sun protection we walked to Notre Dame to pay our respects to this iconic […]
Monday, 22nd October 2018 When we embarked on this trip we knew that we had a maximum of eight weeks in which to travel before we needed to return home for our long-awaited trip to Iceland in search of the Northern Lights. We were also aware of a couple of things which might make us head home sooner than planned. Fortunately motorhoming gives us this flexibility and as one of these has materialised, over the next week we will be heading north and retracing our steps, albeit via different cities, to return to England. Sorting out the rubbish as we left Saverne we found that the sound of a bottle falling into the large municipal recycling bin frightened Ralf. He also didn’t like being put back in Alan in case Matilda went somewhere without him. We have also found that the Navigon sat nav system can be a little unpredictable. The pronunciation of some of the place names is almost incomprehensible, being a combination of the English pronunciation of letters and that of the local country. It also sometimes chooses a very questionable route for us to follow. Today, it tried to get us to join the motorway via the back […]