7 Jan 2015. <FR> Mont-St-Michel, Normandy; Bain de Bretagne, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany; Jans, Loire-Atlantique —

Today dawned clear and cold, a deep frost all over the grass near our van, and the paved surface crackling a little with ice as you walked. But it was going to be a sunny day, a good day to visit Mont-St-Michel!

We thought we might revisit McDonald's for a morning coffee, but when we got there at 9:30 we found that they didn't open until 10am! We're in France! Okay — straight to Mont-St-Michel!

You may remember that we visited St Michael's Mount when we were in Devon. That abbey (no longer such, of course, since Henry VIII) was founded by monks from Mont-St-Michel in Normandy, so we really had to make a visit. And we are glad we did — it is an incredible place.

No longer do you have to wait for the tides to make your way out onto the rock, as over the past 20 years there have been huge developments to facilitate access. Huge carparks have been created where the marshlands have been built up to create dry ground, and there is now a causeway/viaduct leading out to the rock. Free shuttle buses run from the carparks to the entrance to the village and the path up to the abbey that surmounts the rock.The buses are interesting because, to save having to make U-turns at each end of the journey, they can be driven from either end, much like Melbourne trams!

The whole place goes back to 708AD, when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, had a sanctuary built on Mont-Tombe. It became a major pilgrimage destination, and in the 10th century the Benedictines settled in the abbey and a village grew up below its walls. By the 14th century the entire rock was clad with buildings from top to bottom. Today the path up to the abbey is lined with restaurants, clothing and souvenir shops, and local craft outlets, as well as a couple of hotels hiding behind the shops. It reminded us of the path into the walled city of Carcassonne we visited on our last trip.

Mont-St-Michel survived the Hundred Years War unbreached, whereas all the fortifications and towns nearby fell to the English, so it has become a symbol of French national identity!

An interesting water source

The Apse of the Abbey
 

15th Century
polychromed bas relief

View back over the Causeway
 

The Cloister, a virtual hanging garden
 

The Refectory, a huge medieval room
 

Great pillared Crypt
(supporting the Cancel)

The Great Wheel.
Six 17th century prisoners
worked this treadmill hoist.

The Knights' Hall
 

Mont-St-Michel
 

Won't go into the whole thing — you can read all about it on the web — but we had a fine time wandering the abbey, and then we came down into the village for lunch, which we shared in the company of half-a-dozen sparrows who seemed to inhabit the restaurant, and a couple of Aussie tourists from Newcastle — a pleasant lunch on all counts.

We then went out and back to the carpark, where we got a bit of a surprise. We were wondering why everything was laid on so cheaply, with free shuttles and all that. Well, we found out when we paid for our car-parking — €57 for about 4 hours! Oh well, it was a good day!

We set off southwards, towards Spain. We're not really touring France at this stage, so we drove for a couple of hours, aiming for an aire just north of Nantes. We found a McDonald's just short of this destination, so spent time there with coffees and blogging — and recharging the computer — before we moved on!

Another hiccup. Richard had warned us that we should expect a problem with the exhaust system. Well, it happened just as we were leaving the McDonald's restaurant in Bain-de-Bretagne, between Rennes and Nantes. It sounded as if we had a hole in the exhaust, before the first muffler — the noise was impressive. We decided it wasn't actually doing any harm, so we drove on to the aire we were aiming for, behind the Mairie (Town Hall) of a little village called Jans. As we drove in, we noticed a garage on the outskirts of the village, and decided to call in on the morrow. So we settled in for a lovely quiet night in Jans. We had a little entertainment when the villagers arrived for a dancing class in the hall beside the Mairie — they were obviously enjoying themselves.

Distance driven — today, 98 miles ( 158 km ); to date, 10,379 miles ( 16,704 km )

6 Jan 2015. <FR> Villedieu-les-Poêles; Pontorson, Manche —

Had a wonderful time strolling about Villedieu-les-Poêles after we finally got up. Church bells were pealing, the ducks were navigating a weir in the river, the day was a little bracing, misty, but not wet.

It was market day, and the whole town was humming. Warren couldn't go past a char-grill stand without buying a smokily-grilled sausage with mustard in a French bread loaf. Yummy! We found the post office and decided to return there on our way out of town to post a few postcards. (To anticipate things, this didn't happen, as we had forgotten to take account of the French long lunch-hour — La Poste was closed from 12:15 to 14:15, and we got there at 12:20!!).

We went through a few shops, and almost bought a few gifts, but thought better of it this time. Plenty of time for that! WE are most impressed by the variety of shops on the "high street" — whereas in the UK the high streets are dying, with most of the trade being drawn out to the superstores and retail parks (leaving mainly cafés, betting shops, hair salons, cheap outlets like Poundworld, tattoo parlours). In France, going to shop in the high street seems to be a social occasion, and it is a lively as ever, with a good and varied assortment of quality shops. We got back to the van, did a little housekeeping, then left for, and missed out on, the post office.

We then decided to go to Mont-St-Michel, only about 30 minutes away. Mont-St-Michel was spectacular looming out of the mist as we approached, but as we arrived, it was starting to rain, so we decided to adjourn to McDonald's in nearby Pontorson to charge the computer (all of a sudden the in-van charging is not working reliably — we'll need to look into it!) and get some blogging, email and Facebook time. We've found that Macca's are happy to ply us with coffee while we sit there working on the computer, plugged into their power outlet!

We then moved round to an Aire behind the local Carrefour hypermarket where we could settle in for the night. We watched a few episodes of Castle (we finally got to the wedding!) before we finally settled in for sleep. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, but tonight will be clear, and that means cold!

Distance driven — today, 52 miles ( 84 km ); to date, 10,281 miles ( 16,546 km )

5 Jan 2015. <GB-ENG> Poole, Dorset ⇒ <FR> Cherbourg; Villedieu-les-Poêles, Manche —

Woke up early in the McDonald's car park in Poole. Still dark. There was a gentleman policing the grounds for rubbish — there had been a bunch of litterbugs in the place overnight (not us, I hasten to add!). As breakfast was on from 5am, and it was now 5:30, we decided to go over and have a Macca's breakfast, only to find that the doors for eat-in don't open until 6! We spent a little time chatting to the groundsman I've already mentioned, and to another gentleman waiting for the doors to open, and then we went in, had a 30-minute Macca's breakfast, and then left for the Brittany Ferries Terminal, only about 15 minutes away. Very easy, and we were there in plenty of time to queue up for the ferry — they didn't start boarding us until 7.45.

First we had to go through a police check, to determine that we had no stowaways on board (although, according to all reports, all the stowaways are coming in the other direction!), then up and into the ferry. Looks like they've done it all before - it was so efficient. We left our van and went up to deck 7, where all the restaurants, shops, and general seating are. Most comfortable.

The ferry actually left port about 15 minutes early, at 8:15. The crossing was very quiet, the seas calm and, surprisingly for such a busy shipping lane, the Channel seemed devoid of other ships. The ferry is run by a French company, so all the announcements came through first in French, and only then in English (with a very strong, and delightful, French accent). But, for some reason, the Ferry runs on British time, so it was only when we came off that we had to adjust our clocks an hour forwards.

We're in France!

The passport check took only a minute or two, and then we were let loose on the Continent!

We left Cherbourg and set off on a comfortable drive southwards, taking easy roads so that Suzie had time to adjust to driving on the other side of the road. The one thing that really struck us, after the UK, was the absolute lack of litter on the sides of the roads. We even saw crews out spray-cleaning bridges. We think that maybe the UK has something to learn here!

We drove south to Villedieu-les-Poêles, where there was an Aire (a stopping place for motorhomes — we intend to make great use of these while on the Continent!) we could stop at in the town (just opposite the local hospital), and leaving us within striking distance of Mont-St-Michel for tomorrow should we decide to make that little detour. So we parked for the night in this delightful Normandy village, with the sound of a water cascade in the river nearby.

Distance driven — today, 89 miles ( 143 km ); to date, 10,229 miles ( 16,462 km )

4 Jan 2015. <GB-ENG> Gloucester, Glos ⇒ Poole, Dorset —

Today we finally left Gloucester, bidding a fond farewell to our hosts at Friar Tuck's. Before we left, we booked our passage on the ferry from Poole to Cherbourg at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

The city of Bath spread out below us

Our drive southwards was uneventful — after all, we were covering ground we had driven before — Trowbridge, and Bath, and a few other familiar places. We got down to Poole as it was getting dark, and Suzie noticed a good park in a retail estate about 20 minutes short of the terminal, with a McDonalds to boot. So we parked there and had tea at Maccas. Went to bed, watched a couple of episodes of Castle, and had an early night, as we needed to be moving by about 5am next day.

Distance driven — today, 112 miles ( 180 km ); to date, 10,140 miles ( 16,319 km )

3 Jan 2015. <GB-ENG> Gloucester (Friar Tuck's), Glos —

Today Richard wanted us to drive around in Gertie for about 15km, just to chack that the power steering was holding. We went out on the A38, than back to Richard (dropping Suzie at the nearby Macca's on the way. When Richard saw the van, he was satisfied that the job was done, so he reattached the drip tray and sent Warren on his way. We decided to partake of a gourmet lunch (???) at Macca's.

We did a bit of shopping, then adjourned to Friar Tuck's for our last night in Gloucester! Woohoo!

Distance driven — today, 13 miles ( 21 km ); to date, 10,028 miles ( 16,139 km )

2 Jan 2015. <GB-ENG> Gloucester (Friar Tuck's), Glos —

Today we spent getting ourselves ready to continue our journey. Warren took the washing in to the local laundry first thing, so we could collect it at about 4pm.

Warren took the van down to Richard, who was going to put it up on the hoist to show Warren the exhaust, which is okay, but not to his preferred standard. This didn't happen, as there was another vehicle occupying the hoist, but Richard replaced the drip tray beneath the engine, and Warren was on his way.

First port of call, Mullins Tyres, who put on our new winter tyres about ten weeks ago. They checked the tensioning of the wheel nuts and the tyre pressures — all clear, so another tick on our departure checklist.

Suzie continues to knit
for the 'fish 'n' chips'
babies of Africa

Then, of course, the van needed a good wash. There is a hand wash service almost opposite Hulin's, so that's where he took it — and just as well, as when he pulled out, he found that there was no power steering — and the van is ver-r-r-ry heavy without it! But as he was virtually opposite Hulin's, guess where the next port of call was!

By this time, Suzie had decided to pick up the laundry — thank goodness!

Turns our that a connection in the power steering line had given way, and all the power steering fluid had drained out! Two hours later, and Warren and the van arrived at McDonalds, where Suzie was catching up on Facebook. We went back to Friar Tuck's for a good night's sleep. Richard had left the drip tray off again, as he wanted us to do a drive in the morning, and bring the van back to him at lunchtime for a final check and to get the tray put back on. This made us think that it might be a good idea to remain with Mark and Sharon for an extra day, and not leave Gloucester until January 4. So that's the plan!

If anyone has the urge to knit for the 'fish 'n' chips' babies, you can find a pattern here. You may need to find an Australian charity that is sending the clothing to Africa.

Distance driven — today, 4 miles ( 6 km ); to date, 10,015 miles ( 16,118 km )

1 Jan 2015. <GB-WLS> Tintern, Gwent; Chepstow, Monm; <GB-ENG> Gloucester (Friar Tuck's), Glos —

New Year's Day — Happy New Year Everyone!

We took Gertie for a little test drive today, across into Wales and back to Tintern Abbey. We drove over Plump Hill, through the Forest of Dean, and across a back road over very hilly terrain — up over Mill Hill and down across the Wye to the A466 and Tintern Abbey. We had been over Plump Hill before — in first gear, at about 15mph. This time we were in 4th or 5th gear and accelerating around 40mph and beyond, with power! Woohooo! The Hams are now hoons! But, in reality, this is how the van SHOULD have been right from the start, so the rest of our journeyings should be a lot more comfortable.

Actually, the real reason we went back into Wales was so that Warren could have genuine Welsh Rarebit for lunch at the White Monk Tea Rooms beside the abbey. (Well, it's a good story!) We didn't expect the abbey to be open on New Year's Day, and it wasn't, but it was a good drive with a good destination!

The River Wye at Tintern

Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey from the road

The van parked at Tintern

Coming onto the Severn Bridge

We left Tintern and drove down towards Chepstow and the Severn Bridge there. This is a toll bridge — about £18 for a van — but only on the England-to-Wales crossing. The other way it is free, so the cheapskate Hams did the crossing from Wales into England, and then turned up the A38 and back to Friar Tuck's in Gloucester.

The Second Severn Crossing (from the Severn Bridge)

The kitchen at the Inn wasn't open for dinner on New Year's Day, but Mark had offered to heat up a Christmas pudding Suzie had bought at a nearby shop, and cover it with lashings of custard. So that's what we had for dinner — after all, Christmas is not really Christmas for Suzie until she has had her Christmas pud!

Distance driven — today, 74 miles ( 120 km ); to date, 10,011 miles ( 16,112 km )