Last days

Tuesday 10th July

Spend the morning by the pool then head to a local creperie for lunch.  Really delicious savoury and sweet crepes and a lovely place to eat.  Basic menu but done really well.  Fantasise again about new plans - maybe we should  set up a bar with good food and good acoustic music.  Maybe some DJs.  Discussion gets stuck when we try to think where this should be - France? if so where as its a massive country or Ibiza?? which is the choice of my boys.  Back to the house and 2 people have already left for england and work.  Its the start of the exodus!

Wednesday 11th July

Can’t believe its been a week since our boys arrived and they are off today.  They are getting a lift back to London with a friend who is leaving in his car.  Head to the local village for provisions to make them jambon beurre sandwiches for the journey.  Say goodbye and off they go.  Then - 30 mins later they are back as one of them has forgotten their mobile phone!  Off they go again and Geoff and I prepare the evening meal for the remaining 7 of us.  Its very quiet without the boys.  Get a text to say they have arrived in Calais.  Get another text 10 minutes later to say that the friends ticket for the car ferry was for the day before - he is a day late!  After negotiation they secure another ticket and finally arrive in england.

Thursday 12th July

Time for Geoff and me to leave Burgundy and head north for the ferry on saturday morning.  Realise I haven’t said much about the wildlife for the last week - too much good food, music and wine!  But we had hawfinches in the garden, a variety of lizards and glowworms.  Now we are heading for an area near Sezanne in Champagne which is indicated in one of Geoff’s bird guides as good area for great grey shrikes and  stone curlews. Stop off en route for him to record a beautifully singing blackcap by the side of a quiet road.  Quite a virtuoso!  Arrive at our destination.  Its a strange area - quite eerie.  Vast plains of farmland growing wheat, hemp and poppies dotted with massive wind farms and military bases.  In all, makes for a slightly uncomfortable setting.  Park the van in a nature reserve that has been established on disused military land. Geoff warns me that if I hear snuffling outside the van it could be wild boar.  I’m feeling fed up that we are on our way back.  I really want to carry on travelling in the van - would fancy heading south to the Cevennes and Auvergne areas then maybe onto the Pyrenees.  But it's not to be so we discuss plans for getting ourselves into the position  of being able to travel for longer and then I listen to music on my headphones to cheer me up.  Later on I  go outside the van and I’m sure I hear snuffling!!

Friday 13th July

Spend the morning exploring this strange area, getting a look at Montagu’s Harrier on our way. Head north in grey, drizzly weather with a bit of Goldfrapp and Jeff Buckley on the van CD player to add to the mood.  Get lost going around Reims (which has a magnificent cathedral in the centre) then find our way out and head to Calais to spend the night on the coast a few km from Calais where there is a nature reserve.  Its an interesting reserve - large area of wetland bordering the beach but as we arrive quite late, don’t get much chance to look around.  Park up for the night with our last french meal of fresh anchovies in oil, ratatouille and cheese washed down by red wine.

Saturday 14th July

Quick explore of the area before going to the ferry.  Not suprisingly the area still has a lot of defence remnants from the second world war.  Wet and windy so nothing to be seen at the nature reserve.  Get to the ferry terminal - big delays in passport control and we start to get concerned that we may miss the boat.  Luckily we don't, arrive in Dover and make our way north to the north yorkshire coast - Bempton cliffs to be precise, inbetween Bridlington and Filey.  Its a lovely spot - park up in a RSPB car park and plan to get out early for a Gannet, Kittiwake and Puffin experience!  

Sunday 15th July

Wake at 4am for Geoff to go out recording.  Realise I can’t go back to sleep so I get up and go out walking along the cliffs at 5am.  Its beautiful - lovely sunrise, sparking sea and birds going crazy. Back at the van we decide we need food so go into Bridlington for breakfast.  Geoff goes for the full english and I have the non meat version which was pretty good.  Drive north along the lovely coast - Filey, Scarborough and Whitby then get onto the A19 north towards home.

So - that’s it -  the end of my adventures for now.  I have  enjoyed writing down my thoughts and I really hope I will have another  adventure to share soon!!