Catching up with family & friends

We met up with old college friends at the brown Cow in Bingley

Welsh Dave, Tine, Christine, Lindsay S, Amy & Sue

Of course Dave & I had to do a bit of wife-swapping!

A nice one of Tine & Christine, up from the Big Smoke.

Next day they had a walk down Memory Lane at our old college...

...whilst we entertained the Hills at the caravan. Alfie's going to be taller than his Mamie next year!

Steve came along and there were no complaints from Betty about rough-housing.

We drove to St Ives Park with Jodi & Mouse and their girls where we enjoyed a walk before heading for the play area.

There was a good view of our old college over the Aire Valley.

Another day we drove Kate down to see Silv and enjoyed a lovely pub lunch.

The journey back on the M60/M62 was less enjoyable!

Back to our château in the hills

We're always happy to get back to our 'second home'.

And who wouldn't be...

...with views like these.

This one was taken by Tine looking over our caravan park.

Philippe bought us a lovely bunch of tulips

A week later they were still doing their job!

Our favourite plant on the caravan park is this one; looking very ancient.

I managed to walk down the hill to Saltaire...

...admiring the wild garlic plants everywhere...

...their smell too!

Back to the homeland

It’s been a while since our last visit to the UK so we were ready to face the journey again.

Just to whet our appetite Steve sent this photo of Maddie, Jade & Philippe in front of our old house during P&J’s recent visit to the caravan.

Tine looking for England or saying goodbye to the sea?

We had a good journey to Saint Malo, leaving us time for a wander round. It’s hard to believe that most of the old town was destroyed in WWII.

We’d picked a lovely day…

…there was even one intrepid soul in the sea-water swimming pool!

Tine with a jaunty mariner pose.

There’s the ferry: time to get in the queue for boarding.

Round and about with the grandchildren

The Hills were chez nous for twelve days. Although still very lively Betty is calmer and sleeping better. They both get excited when we take them visiting, something that’s not always easy to do in August with all the crowds.

After the zoo we drove into Les Sables to find a spot of lunch.

Whist Mamie & co chose lunchtime sandwiches I persuaded Alfnbets to pose in front of l’Église Notre Dame de Bon Port des Sables d’d’Olonne.. It slightly dwarfed them!

Then a walk around the more industrial Les Sables…

…with its large silos…

…pleasure boats…

…and fishing vessels.

Just round the corner from our house is the skate park, Betty asking nearly every day to go and practise

One proud girl!

Not sure what Alfie’s up to here…

…but I know we had a lovely evening at Fafa’s one time, giving Nadine & Simon a ‘date night’ elsewhere. I’m sure you’ve spotted Sacha too!

Fun at the zoo

Another outing was to the zoo at Les Sables. We hadn’t been for some time but we certainly enjoyed our return visit.

They don’t get much brighter than this scarlet ibis

We all love penguins…

…hence two photos!

Giraffes are also family favourites, one of the youngsters here.

I hadn’t realised that the warthog is related to the wild boar.

One of the weirdest creatures has to be the anteater

This lorikeet made friends with Nadine or at least her jacket. There were so many zooming around. Their enclosure has double doors to prevent any escapees.

Some creatures are hard to capture in photos but the tigers, lion, meerkats, pink flamingos and lots of different apes/monkees were equally impressive.

AlfnBets go fossil hunting

It was lovely to Nadine, Simon, Alfie & Betty for 10 days over Easter. Obviously they had come for the family reunion but we managed a few more visits whilst they were here. 

Nadine with the children on the beach at Le Rocher…

…and a bit nearer.

The delight in Betty’s face showing off some of her finds…

…now with Alfie too.

Some of the fossils are within much larger stones

Another discovery on the beach: tiny creatures which we now know are called Velella Velella or by-the-wind sailors. More info here: https://www.freetheocean.com/journal/the-mysterious-arrival-of-by-the-wind-sailors/

A ‘bac à Marée’ where visitors are encouraged to deposit any rubbish washed up by the tides