On our way home

You’ll have noticed that I have stayed off politics. There is too much of it. Climate change, the US mid-terms, the state of the current Tory party, the economy and cost of living crisis leading to (likely) further austerity measures. Hancock in the jungle. The Qatar world cup. Iran. And, of course, Ukraine, where a people are putting everything on the line for us. There is so much happening, all of which I have a view on, none of which you want to hear.

loving the Costa Brava

What have we been up to? Well, we’re now in France. Indeed we’ve just had lunch at the Millau aire (pronounced, meeow, apparently) overlooking Norman Foster’s absolute masterpiece of a bridge. An hour later we’re ensconced by a beautiful lake just off the only decent bit of free autoroute in France, the A75, which joins Montpellier and Clement-Ferrand. We plan to stop here tomorrow and then head up to Calais in three days. It’s all v relaxing.

Meeeow bridge

And, it’s fair to say, we’ve fallen in love with Spain as a motorhome destination. The people are lovely, the coastline is accessible, the weather better than anywhere you can drive a bus to, things are inexpensive and there’s a lot to see. The Costa Brava, which we have just left (which included a fab 35-mile cycle from the excellent Greco/Roman ruins at L’Escala to the upmarket, Spanish Saint-Tropez-lookalike of Roses) is ideal. Sure, it’s not quite so MH friendly in that there aren’t that many aries and the rocky bits of the coast are more difficult to get at, but it is v beautiful. That bit of coastline was a fitting end to our Spanish odyssey and, notwithstanding an act of God, we’ll be back next autumn. Hopefully for a bit longer.

beautiful stop by a lake

As I said last time, we have got into the groove. Doris has been perfect, the two, 100AH li-ion leisure batteries are, for me, a life saver (happy to take questions on that). I just don’t worry about power anymore. And, you’ll be pleased to hear, the new starter motor which my pal John and I fitted a couple of months ago has been spinning like a good un. I have spent some time cleaning all the marks off Doris’s bodywork and oiled all of the things which need oiling. I even found time yesterday to service the bikes, a job I was expecting to have to do when we got back.

Which brings me onto December. There’s a lot to do. Both the car and Doris need an MoT. We need to downsize our kit again and prepare our stuff for our move to our new place in early January. At the same time our current place needs sorting for rental, which isn’t uncomplicated. And there are a raft of other things which need tackling – our tax returns, which I do myself, are one of those. Bex, Steven and Henry fly into Gatwick in mid-December and immediately hand the lad over to us so they can have a three-night break (yippee – and I mean that!). And then it’s Christmas … and then we move … and then we go skiing. And during that time I have to link up with my Army pal, for whom I penning his travelogue. 

cafe culture = bar culture

So the break has been sorely needed. Sure, we count our blessings every day. We are so much better placed to live our lives than most people. My retort to C when we’re feeling a bit down is, ‘we could be rushing back so I can get into work’. That. of course, is not really on the list. As such, how lucky are we? 

Stay safe everyone.