sumptious plumptious eiderdown going to Ilminster Talent 4 Textiles

A large single really plump and perfect

Counting the days

Penny and I have started to " count down " on our bi annual trip to our retreat on the West Coast of the Cherbourg peninsular

 

Our room is in the roof top right, worth the climb

Our hostess is an interior designer with a shop in town so every time we visit there is something new to see

O

The view from our room is stunning, ever changing... thats Jersey out there, at night it seems so much closer as you can see twinkling lights

 

 

Shopping and enjoying good food at all our favourite haunts, from West to East
Of course there will be some "buying" too

Going to Ilminster

Another one started!

Not sure if this is no 12 ! I only manage two or three a year and my first one was when I was at Muckleford five years ago.
I am always looking for fair Isle sweaters, must be wool , don't have to be perfect

Franglais " the big trip " Beauvais to Reims

We left Campanile Beauvais after a lovely breakfast now fully commited to this Hotel Chain
Compaigne was our next stop , quite an elegant town with some important historical events, we chose to head south through the glorious old hunting forests to Pierrefonds where there is the most amazing Chateau and lovely surrounding town.

Reading the history we were reminded we were very close to Paris
We spent a happy hour or so, it was such a surprise when you suddenly see this huge building and the little village itself is very elegant.
The forests were lovely and you felt it was unchanged from ancient times.
We continued to Reims and after a bit of driving round we managed to park opposite the Cathederal.
It is just so impressive, it quite takes your breath away.
More signs of Joan of Arc in the form of a lovely statue , she keeps popping up !
We thoroughly enjoyed the Cathederal but as it was raining we decided to head for our next Campanile south Reims on the road to Epernay... Champagne
Easier said than done ! in the end I left the city heading back the way we came and on coming in again we found our road and Tom Tom told us where to turn off for our Hotel.
This one was very smart with a special restaurant, but the prices are consistant.
In the evenings before dinner we would settle down to do our travel journals, cutting and sticking and writing all about our day... great fun

Lizzie

Franglais " big trip" Honfleur to Rouen via route des abbayes

 From Honfleur we decided to stick to the quiet roads and took the old road that meanders along the banks of the Seine all the way to Rouen , the " route des abbayes" and there are several to chose from.
We had lunch in the sun at a small restaurant in Duclair overlooking the river where we could watch the chain ferry as we ate our first lovely French lunch, omelette is always a good choice with frites and green salad and it did not dissapoint.
We chose Abbaye Sainte- George de Boscherville as an abbey to visit and it proved to be a good choice.
Built in 1080-1125 it was largely unchanged and had the most wonderful light. The first of our many glorious Norman arches soaring overhead, a theme that followed us the whole trip.
We reached Rouen early afternoon and I was so grateful I had chosen to come in on the route I did ! We wound down a hill and suddenly there was the city spread out before us,it is huge!!
The last time I was there was in the 60's, getting the right lane in huge road networks is tricky and I did end up on the wrong side of the river ,but after a few hairy moments crossed over to find a parking lot right next to the Cathederal...... how lucky is that
The Catheral was impressive and from there we walked through the ancient streets of the Old Town to the huge clock set in an amazing archway with the underside covered in  stone carving depicting the wool trade which Rouen was built on.
From there you come to the old market where Joan of Arc was burnt and there is a truly amazing building erected in her honour and a heartstopping tall cross on the spot.
St Joan was another re occurring presence in many of the places we visited.

 Palace of Justice ...look at the holes must have been gunfire or cannon balls !??

We headed off to find our Hotel Campanile which we did to our satisfaction ...only to find it was full!!
Next one on my list was Beauvais another 60 miles on, it was lovely countryside but I had my fingers crossed we would find a bed as it was getting later than I felt comfortable with
Hoorah yes lovely clean comfortable room , a bath ! , tea making facilities and great restaurant.
we decided we would book ahead each morning after breakfast to our next destination to save stressing