Day 8: Fathers’ Day & another Birthday

 Woke late to a warmer day and a little sunshine.

Many kind presents and cards plus a shared breakfast omelette and a leisurely packing up

 


Decision was made to stick on quieter roads for the time being - it takes longer but is more scenic

Also realised we don’t have any bread for lunch which is a bit of bad planning.

Martyn needed fuel so went there first stop - and to top up Buddy after all the revving last night!

We drove through the countryside and villages for a few hours with everything closed on Sundays as expected

We then experienced our first detour due to a low bridge - Landys OK but the Hymer would have ended up as a convertible….

We’ve had a few more thumbs up and waves & headlight flashes from admirers of the vehicles which is heartening..

In desperation and needing a pit stop and all feeling a bit tired we stopped at a McDonalds for a coffee only to find out it  was awful - as was the food which wa presented before thinking .  Steve and Lucy took a likening to the little red plastic receptacles that the chips are served in - would work great as a ‘thingumy’ pocket on the Landrover  doors - but no one dared take them…

We did end up with some nice badges however which were given with the kiddie meals - Robin and Wendy were the happy recipients of these

 

Then a unanimous decision to change onto  the motorway for the next leg as we need to cover some ground to get to the planned camping area for this evening - we are promised: toilets, maybe showers, vegetable farm, old ruins and an indoor ménage…

Everything is a bit damp from the rain coming into some of the vehicles so we could do we some options to dry everything out before re-packing again

A steady 90kmph on the peage/ motorway took us a lot further on our route. Steve’s music quiz was only flawed by the hard-of-hearing and crackle on the radios

We think we might JUST have got rid of all the flies in Jenks - they have been reappearing for two days since staying on the farm for some reason. Lavender polish worked eventually on them and the dash has never looked so good but the fly killer is quicker if you can catch them napping..

 

Duncan lost the sweep stake on how much the Peage would cost us - at 16 euros and saving us at least an hour so probably similar to National Living Wage!!

 

Lucy looking forward to trying out her hand-made glitter-globe Jenks model from Patrick when the sun goes down…





 

On arrival at the farm we were all amazed at the hospitality of ….. (none of us could actually remember his name!)

The welcome included pastis and then a photo swapping experience of dogs, chickens, cars and tractors!

Oh - and his prize-winning pigeons which we thought were to eat but apparently were worth 500 euros each as show birds - OMG…

There we also quail, geese, goats and load of cats with some kittens peeping out from under rugs and logs

 

 



He also had a vegetable, wine & herbs stall.  Steve took such a liking to the rose that he bought a box full - oh and so did K&L!

 

Robin made a friend for life…. He ended up being taken out for a spin around the roads and fields in the owner’s Peugeot 406 coupe which apparently is unavailable in the UK  …. He is trying to sell it to fund  the huge equestrian  barn he built before lockdown and his business fell away -  but that was beyond our budgets. It was sad to see such a lovely place being so run- down with clearly no means to support it.

 

Maybe we should have clubbed together and bought his farm instead?  Now there’s a thought….  We did talk to him about the value of his Eriba caravan which he was fully aware was valuable - these sorts of sales might save his business in the long run so he is thinking of everything which is good

 

The drizzle stopped and the sun came out - the camp was set up in a square of vehicles

 

Duncan and Wendy cooked chicken and fish dishes and the boys worked on a route and marking where we have already been on Steve’s map

 



Birthday Crepe for dessert this time was all washed down with the wine from the farm shop.




The facilities were basic but fine albeit the snails on the window would have made a good meal from the size of them! 

 

Wonderful weather during the convivial evening with sparkly lights and mirror- landy turning gracefully - this is definitely going to be a regular centre piece at the camps

 

Excellent time had by all in great company

 


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