Chez Matthieu, Cynthia & Sacha

It’s been a long time coming but work finally started on the youngsters’ house this autumn and we were very excited to see developments on our return from the UK.

It's always useful to have a friend with a drone: merci Fiouz pour le photo! That's the original house just left of centre, Matt's white van in the driveway.

The windows have gone...

...and parts of the front wall too...

...supports keeping everything in place.

Round the back, that's the 'granny flat' to the right, and a worker's demolishing the old conservatory (not a sad loss)!

Demolition completed, now there's the tidying up to do

The new 'front door' on the side of the living area

You can still see the full length of the house for now...

...Sacha a long-distance target.

More demolition of bathroom and bedrooms...

...I bet Sacha would love the chance to help!

More to come in future posts

Fire

Whilst we were in the UK Matt sent this video: La Tranche Super U was on fire!

It must have been terrifying to witness the inferno. The person filming this was standing by the petrol station and it was a windy evening. Just think what might have happened...

Another shot from a drone (our house is few hundred metres from the store)

On our return to La Tranche I went to see the wreckage for myself

Super U Drive and the hairdresser

The main entrance...

...and the total devastation in the main shop and store area behind.

Amazingly no-one was hurt and later investigations pointed to an electrical fault in the stores starting the fire. More to come in future posts.

A mixed bunch to finish our UK visit

We caught up with a few youngsters

Our latest great-niece Meliyah

As usual Tine had the magic touch but she is a very smiley baby

Niece Vicky and partner Ste came to visit us at the caravan with young Rosie, loving doing party tricks!

And we were more than happy to catch up with Matt & Cynthia's friends, Stephen & Sally and their two lovely daughters Loïs and Saskia

Of course, it wouldn't be a UK break without nipping to the pub. I'm always in awe of the selection of Timothy Taylor's beers at the Brown Cow in Bingley...

...and a reminder of how flood-waters have affected the pub.

It's a 20/30 minute walk down to Saltaire from our caravan (depending on how good my knee is)! Can you spot the heron on the weir?

Of course you can use the tramway at weekends

Another shot of Salts Mill after dark, looking very atmospheric

It was Saltaire Festival whilst we were there. The crowds had thinned by now...

...but some special guests were still around.

Final stop, Portsmouth, for the overnight ferry back to Saint Malo

The skyline is always impressive

Scarborough Castle

But first, Anne Brontë's grave halfway from our lodgings to the castle

From the church website: 

Anne is the only member of the Bronte family not buried at Haworth. She fell in love with Scarborough whilst working as governess for five years for the Robinson family.
When she was diagnosed as suffering from the early stages of consumption it was felt that the change of air might help relieve the symptoms. Charlotte requested that her friend Ellen Nussey accompany them on the journey to Scarborough which they began on 24th May 1849. They booked rooms at the Wood’s lodgings, No.2 the Cliff, which today is where the Grand Hotel stands. At the time St Mary’s Church was being rebuilt so the funeral service was held at Christ Church which was close to their lodgings. The cortege passed through the steep narrow streets before arriving at St Mary’s church. Anne is buried at the northern end of St Mary’s churchyard on Castle Hill beneath the castle walls overlooking the sea.

Onto the old castle, built on the headland between North Bay and South Bay

I'll let the photos give you an idea of how beautiful it is (not to mention how cold and windy it was after the previous day's blue skies), but I can highly recommend this informative website (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/scarborough-castle/history/)

View from the top...

...and halfway down.

A short video to show the castle's amazing situation between the two shores

🎼 Are you going to Scarborough Fair? 🎼

Well no actually, but we did have a couple of nights in Scarborough courtesy of lovely friends Debbie & Mark 

Five floors just for the two of us. Not bad for a second home, eh?

First walk via the market…

…down to the harbour.

On the headland, ruins of the Roman castle (more of that next time)

The Diving Belle next to the lighthouse on Vincent’s Pier. She looks ready to launch herself into the harbour. Brrrr!

Your faithful blogger catching a bus?

Except it’s not a bus…

…but a funicular, saving my poorly knee.

The view from the top…

…with the harbour, pier & lighthouse set against a beautiful blue sky.