We woke up to the signs that a heavy downpour was imminent! We hurried the children up and got tents packed and van loaded… and it didn’t rain!!

Stews got a bad knee and so after our long ride down the coast was down to me! We stopped into the big supermarket for wine (our fave was on offer 😂😂) peanuts and some nice pastries… and made our way down the road.

There were some pretty interesting road conditions to contend with but we made it!!

I can’t tell you how hot it was!! The traffic was kind to us, and with a few stops for lunch and main supplies on Lidl we arrived in one piece!

We got to the campsite and the reception was impressive! Everything about the site is clean and nice. Defo on my recommend list especially for those people that go to one please for a couple of weeks.

After the drive the ice machine was cranked up to full and I had some wine, we all went to the pool and chilled out for the evening, with some good food and great company.

There was a time once when Stew loved me very much. We hired a tandom an romantically cycled to st Martin on Ile de re for lunch. I think he remembers the day differently and AG least I know if I had no arms and was blind, he would still never go on a tandem with me again.

Today we cycled from our campsite near La Rochelle to Ile de re with the children and I do have to agree it was easier!!

After breakfast we managed a quick dip in the pool before it was busy. We made lots of drinks and applied plenty of sun cream and headed out the campsite. Cycle paths all the way, avoiding built up areas… we weaved our way to one of the best bridges! When we got to the bridge there was a search and rescue helicopter level with the bridge and crew in the water searching for someone… it was somewhat unnerving being marked by a helicopter as you cycle up a long hill, bit Fraser thought it was excellent!

At the top the view was amazing!

We headed to a beach bar we had once stopped at in la rive Doux. Memorable for an ice cold beach and shade on the beach.

Ile de re is so full of stylish beautiful people… I was right at home in my cycling gear! We ordered some some lunch and a couple of drinks.

The children had a play in the sea, and we were very aware it was 17.5km back to the campsite!!

A slightly shadier route home was a relief from the baking sun. But not as refreshing as an hour in the pool.

Sausages for dinner and 2 tired children with restless legs are trying to get off to sleep in hot tents!

Off to Biscarosse tomorrow, for some paddle boarding, lake and sea…. Covid permitting!

Night!

After hitting our pits last night at 10ish with the intention to read, and stew promptly falling asleep within 3 seconds…. I got to experience what sounded like a fairly empty karaoke bar until 1am. What I loved the most was as we are on the pitch next to the loos, was how the sound was stopped by said wall and filled the campervan with passionate renditions of French Karaoke classics… with long pauses of the waiting for one of the 3 people to pick another song music in between! I’ve been in quieter night clubs! At least it stopped at 1am!

Penny on the other hand didn’t wake up until 11am!! I almost had to tie frasers hands to his side whilst he waited for his first taste of pastries!

Whilst it was quiet we headed to the pool and had it to ourselves.

After a quick bite of lunch we headed into La Rochelle on the bikes. We found an alternative route avoiding the high density housing we usually pass through. We found the path and had a enjoyed the shade of the tree lined canal into the city.

As we reached the outskirts we all did a covid wee in the bushes to make sure we didn’t need to touch anything like loo’s in the city!!!

Heading on into the city lots of people were wearing masks, we found somewhere to park our bikes and put on our masks. In the heat of the day it wasn’t comfortable but it was necessary… still surprising how many people weren’t wearing masks, and also how many people thought their own mask was a cloak of invincibility!

I took this shot of crowds watching street artists.

There were probably 100 people all stood together. Bizarre!

Avoiding the crowds we headed to the most important shop in La Rochelle! The ice cream shop! They had put in measures to manage the usual queues of people… but I was shocked that people were frustrated with me for standing on the spot designated until the person in front had moved forward. With the children’s orders in hand we ordered and enjoyed delicious, and massive ice creams!!

In the heat, we decided that heading back to camp and another swim would be better than stopping for much longer in the city.

Back at camp we put the ice cube into action, mans I made my best ever camping gin and tonic! Ice cubes!!! Our new ice machine was busy whirring away whilst we were out!! I love it!

A quick swim to cool off and bbq rounded off a great chilled day! The children even washed up, and the electric bbq was exactly what we needed! (We have cheated on Colin the cadac and brought Eric, the electric bbq, so we didn’t use so much gas and got the most from the electricity on site!).

Much cooler this evening… which should mean another great night in our freckle beds, and we will see what tomorrow has to offer!

Night!

With the bigger cabin cake breakfast in the room! So we woke up to the smell of coffee and pasties! Not a bad start to the day.

Getting off the boat was very smooth. I think probably from a covid perspective it was the bit I was least sure about. They loaded the cars back in colour codes. We did spend a little longer in the car deck, but there was no queueing at the top of the stairs and actually we managed to put everything away on the van rather than colliding with other passengers. There were no extra checks at border control and we were on our way.

It was already hot at 8:15am and set to get hotter.

The drive to La Rochelle took us about 5 hours… we stopped in a more remote area to buy some supplies to avoid needing to go into shops in La Rochelle where we know Covid cases are high. Penny gave us a commentary with the megaphone! So please we brought that!!!!

We got in the camp site and set up. All of us tired and hot!

The children had a water fight and once set up we hit the pool. Within a few mins it was clear that the Social distancing wasn’t in any way being enforced, so we decided that we would come back later to the pool when quieter.

We went for an ice cream and a oringina whilst stew headed in search of oysters!

The temperature was high!! With little shade and breeze we tried the pool again and it was much calmer with space to swim!

Back at the campsite freckles new additions of an ice cube maker and electric bbq were put to good use! A tea time gin and some sausages and oysters made us feel really on holiday!

An early beed was very much the order of the day, and so we all read our books and chilled out!

More exciting days ahead… but we are here and safe!

The process of getting on the ferry didn’t really feel any different! It still get like it took for ever, but probably it was just slightly longer.

In the queue we bumped into another VW the same colour!

You are assigned a colour when you get on and then apparently when we got on we were supposed to wait in the vehicle until our colour is called. In reality we were one of the last on and so we were straight up to our cabin.

This year we thought we would try a commodores cabin as we knew we would not be able to sit outside the door for a gin! A lovely man took our breakfast order and we put our tinned gin and tonic in the cabin fridge to chill! They are meant for 3 people so we needed to bring a blow up bed and sleeping bag, and book a reclining chair!

We headed up ok deck to see the bin voyage party… this year both sets of parents met up on the round tower at Southsea to wave us off! And we were prepared!! Penny had a megaphone at the ready!! Only problem was she hadn’t thought what she was going to say!!

The children headed back to the cabin as they had been away from their devices for at least 15 mins and we nipped into the bar for a quick one!

Masks were a bit odd! Everyone was wearing them… but once in the bar they were all off. It was very quiet in there! There was still entertainment (?!) but a fairly typical experience.

Back to the cabin off to bed, ready for the adventures ahead!

As I sit here, in my office, with Freckle parked outside the window…. hurriedly finishing off a few emails after a bonkers couple of weeks at work…. I can’t help but wonder if we really will be pulling off the drive in a few hours and headed for France.

We are booked on the ferry this evening to France, Portsmouth to Saint Malo and even this morning we are unsure, as everyone is at the moment as to what might happen next.  With the dash tray loaded with hand sanitiser and face masks, we have read and checked insurances, camp site terms and conditions and watched countless videos provided by Brittany Ferries, and the campsites we are visiting along the way.

The rough plan is a cut short West coast tour…. La Rochelle, Biscarosse, Messanges and Saint Malo.

One thing thats for sure is that this years French adventure will be and adventure, but perhaps not in the ways we have experienced in the past.  I can remember at least 2 holidays that were never meant to happen… there was the year that Stew had a few heart issues, and the year when my back broke.  Both of these were fairly major incidents in our life, and arguably had more impact on the holidays to our family that the global pandemic.  Both involved taking a few risks to make a some memories with our family, but neither of those years did we feel quite so out of control of what may happen, or unsure about what we will find.

We don’t NEED to go to France, and I personally don’t believe anyone is entitled to a foreign holiday… but it would be nice to have a break after a bit of a tumultuous time… So we will roll with what the next few weeks have in store and come back if we aren’t safe or something changes.  We have packed as lightly as we can to ensure most space inside our little friend in case we need to queue at a port to get home, and we will prioritise safety and follow all advice in order to make sure everyone is safe.

The only thing that IS certain is that we will have as much fun as we can fit in, and if we get there… we are going to eat as many oysters as we can….

Freckle coming through!