On the Road Again!

143rd!!!

300th!!!! Oh my dear God. Must do better. 15565 kms in total for all the years. 555 for 2025.

Gave the old girl the quick once over. All the lights work and the puny horn peeps... A quick go over with Muk Junkie and the sheepskin glove, and then rinsed off with a low pressure hose. Tyres have plenty of tread and are pumped to the right psi. Brakes work. The waiting whilst it's in the bike shop is always the worse bit.... I went across the road to a hairdressers that has an attached coffee shop.  A nervous wait.  I  would see Vera wheeled into the workshop, then out again..... Finishing my coffee I crossed the road... Pass. It can't just be me that is nervous until they say "pass" and hand you the paper copy. I had a look at a big scooter they have. As well as Peugeot they now have a few different Chinese marques. This is the Zontes ZT368T-G   and it is pretty heavily specified for £5000 or so! From there I went back through Folkestone and along the coastal A259 home. And home.

Continuing with the longer stays idea, I was looking for another site to follow the Cote de Nacre week along the D-Day coast. Our wedding anniversary is in the week after Nacre. The plan to keep days on the road short for the dog's sake means I was looking at nearby Normandy and across into Brittany. I alighted on another Sandaya site.   Sandaya Mont Saint Michel Campsite . Another campsite that is actually open. The reviews on their site and again on Tripadvisor were very good. I waited for Claire to give it a once over and we booked it. What was different is that this is a premium pitch that comes with a private sanitary unit. It's marginally cheaper than Nacre too. I have allowed for two overnights between the two sites. There are only 80 miles between the two though. There are places on the way I'd like to divert to along the way. Places like the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mere-Eglise and the other D-Day museums along the way. There are options such as Camping-Car Parks ...

With all the health problems we have decided that France, Normandy and Brittany, is the limit. We also have to take into consideration that the heatwaves that have brought incredibly hot weather to parts of Europe, that travelling with a dog who will be 16yo by the time we depart is not enjoying spending too long in the van. So I began to work my way across the English Channel coast from Calais where we will arrive towards Brittany. The idea is to keep the daily mileages quite low so that we arrive early enough to enjoy where we are. The first booking is for a week. I decided to check out Sandaya Côte de Nacre . We have had a few stays with them and they have been okay. What's more importantly they are open!  It seems that France closes down, in the main, at the end of September! Saying that, they also close some of their sites! Why a week?  This stay is around five days into the trip. I am looking for aires on the way down and a week means we have a base and a chance to chill...

So here I am posting again. This is my third one. The first one stopped working when the dial to select modes stopped working. The next one came from eBay and was an exceptional purchase. So why replace it? I lost it. I have searched high and low and not found it.  The small size, decent battery life and viewfinder means it's perfect for slipping into a pocket or handbag.  I am coming around the thinking it was easy to slip out of a pocket as well. It arrived today. Another low price eBay purchase.  It works. Came fully charged and needed only a Sony memory stick to go in the adapter. I have a couple of spares to hand. First photo just a snap of the back garden to see that it worked. Then a couple of the van post Dazzle and Shine.

By the time we got home from holiday, and despite the van going through the high vehicle jetwash in Noyers, it was minging. So I booked Dave from Dazzle and Shine to come and give it a "showroom" valet. And what a job he has done. Molly is shinier even than when we picked her up from the dealers. Cleaned and then polished. He says that it should last seven to eight months. Claire already said he can do it again. He spent four and a half hours on the job. Well worth the price. His details are in the picture on his van.  I would definitely recommend Dave.