Girls' Road Trip - Bergerac, France 12th-27th of June, 2026

Dental disaster...

I pulled up the shutters this morning to see thick cloud overhead. Not what we had been expecting! The sky hadn't changed by the time Sophie awoke, so we decided to make the most of the cooler, cloudier conditions and visit Bergerac, about twenty minutes away.

We set off at about 10:30am and had a smooth run to the town, driving firstly through Les Lèches, which had a mix of old and modern houses, as well as the church we can see from the garden. Sophie had plugged the address of a car park into her phone's satnav, and this took me to an area of street parking near a huge, imposing church.

We both fancied a coffee and a pastry, and after having a little wander about the narrow streets, we found a tiny patisserie serving hot drinks and cakes. We didn't notice the breakfast menu until after we'd ordered... duh!

We sat outside, right next to an older French couple who smiled and said hello. The woman was smoking, but weirdly enough, I don't object to it so much while in France or Germany. To me, it adds to the atmosphere!

The waiter brought out our café cremes and almond and pear cakes, and we tucked in! Sophie mentioned she needed to see a pharmacist today as her toothache wasn't going away, and she was constantly in pain. It was hurting her to eat, never a good thing!

Just before we left, a little tourist train passed, and we waved to the people on it. Maybe if we go back again, we'll take a ride and see the sights. Bergerac is on the Dordogne River, and there were quite a lot of mentions of Cyrano de Bergerac, with a statue of him near the church.

We found a pharmacy a short walk away, and Sophie asked the pharmacist if she could supply her with antibiotics. The answer was no; we needed to call the "15", and they would fill out a prescription. She gave us the name of the pharmacy, and that was that. Outside, Sophie burst into tears as she was in so much pain. I gave her a hug, but I knew we'd get it sorted one way or another.

As we were walking towards a bar to sit, have a drink and try to make the phone call, Keith rang us. He had been given an ID4 as a courtesy car while Olive was being repaired. This surprised me as I honestly thought that VW would say there was nothing wrong with the car. Luckily, John had taken him down to VW to pick it up, so at least he was now mobile and could go and do his shopping!

We sat outside at the bar and ordered a small glass of local wine each. Sophie then called the "15", which is like our own 111 number. She asked if the person who answered spoke English, and they did, a little. Sophie slowly explained what had happened with her tooth, and she was put on hold to speak to someone else. 

Unfortunately, this woman was not at all sympathetic and refused to even try to speak English or French very slowly. She was extremely rude, and when I took over the call to try to understand her, I had difficulty hearing her, as there was a lot of background noise where we were sitting. She put us on hold, and then spoke to us again, but when I said I didn't speak French, she was rude and said, in French, "Well, you're in France!" I put the phone down on her!

This attitude upset us both; we speak French in cafés and restaurants, and I can understand far more than I can speak. However, the French for a tooth infection eluded us! Sophie's phone rang twice, but finally she was able to speak to someone who understood her, and they said they would send the antibiotic prescription to the pharmacy for us to collect.

Sophie ran off to get the medication as the pharmacy was due to close at 12:15pm. I paid for our drinks and met up with her in the pharmacy. She was given paracetamol, ibuprofen, a mouthwash and Amoxycillin antibiotics. We held our breath as the pharmacist totted up the price, as we expected it to be very expensive, but it was only 23 euros! What a bargain! We were so relieved that we had been given what we needed!

Doggy disaster!

Armed with the meds and feeling a lot better, we wandered around the town, stumbling upon a gorgeous wine shop called Le Temps Du Vin. It was absolutely stuffed with wine and spirits of all kinds, and there was a lower floor that had bottles of seriously expensive wine. I saw a very old bottle of Château Pétrus in a glass cabinet that was selling for thousands of euros. It was similar to the wine shop we visited in Deauville, and the owner had different vintages from the 60s and 70s. He had a bottle of wine from 1968, but I wasn't tempted!

As we perused the lower level of wine, with the occasional gasp from me, he watched our every move!  But then I would probably have done the same with some of the bottles I saw! We eventually bought three local bottles of wine, a sparkling, a red and a white. They will probably go home with us.

We complimented him on his gorgeous shop, and he seemed very pleased! I dread to think how much his stock is worth!

Across from the wine shop was Restaurant Le Saint James, and we took a seat outside. The waiter was very friendly, and we ordered a bottle of rosé before giving our lunch choices. There was a British couple behind us with two yappy dogs that barked at any other dog passing by; they were very annoying! Why take your dogs to restaurants if they hate other dogs?

We placed our food orders with the waiter - a beef burger for Sophie and a chicken burger for me. As we sat and sipped our wine, we heard an almighty commotion from the doggy table and then the sound of smashing glass... the dogs had spotted a Beagle and one of them had lunged forward, barking, but the lead was wrapped around the table leg and the whole lot had gone over! Everyone stared at them as the poor waiter appeared with a broom, dustpan and brush. There was glass everywhere! 

The couple left shortly after that, and peace reigned! Two other tables had dogs with them, and they were perfectly behaved! We enjoyed our main course and found room for pudding - a crème brûlée for me, and tiramisu for Sophie. We lingered for a long time over lunch, as it was so relaxing sitting outside the restaurant and watching the comings and goings of people passing by.

I get snubbed...

While Sophie and I were having lunch, an older couple had arrived to sit at the next table. They were British, and they ordered a sharing platter of cheeses and meats to eat. Sophie looked at her phone and noticed an email from a podcast she listens to and subscribes to, hosted by David McCloskey and Gordon Corera. They were holding an event at Bletchley Park where they would record two podcast episodes, along with a guided tour and a Q&A session. She was hugely excited and said she would get tickets on Thursday when they were released. We chatted about Bletchley Park, and when she mentioned the ticket would give a year's access, I shrugged and said I'd enjoyed my visit, but I hadn't rushed back; one visit had been enough for me. 

The man opposite had got up to use the loo, and before he left with his wife, he came over to speak to Sophie about Bletchley Park. He said he had visited many, many times; there was so much to see, and he thought it was very interesting. He and Sophie chatted about the podcast, and he completely ignored me! That certainly put me in my place for dismissing Bletchley Park! Anyway, who was the rudest? Me or him for listening in on our conversation! Huh!

A little exploring

By now, the cloud had disappeared, and we could see fluffy white clouds and blue sky. It was also warmer! We paid the bill and wandered up the street, stopping to look at different menus and resisting the impulse to go into a foie gras shop!

We came across a narrow shopping street and several gift shops where we bought a T-shirt, hair scrunchies, soap and gifts for Keith (I'm not giving anything away as he will be reading this!). The shops were beautiful, and the women running them were friendly and welcoming.

Bergerac was a beautiful town, and we had only glimpsed part of it. As we neared the car, we could see a funeral taking place, which explained the tolling of the bells we heard earlier. Before leaving, we managed to dispose of our recycling, which was a bonus. I didn't fancy carting it around in the car for much longer!

Scrabble and cocktails

I manoeuvered out of the parking space, and we retraced our route back to the house. It was hot now, so we changed into our swimsuits and spent a very pleasant couple of hours in and by the pool. I looked at the weather forecast and was horrified to see it would be about 40 °C on Sunday and Monday! This was far hotter than we had expected and even hotter than the heatwave we had in Spain last year!

After a little nap, we sat outside to play Scrabble with an Aperol Spritz. It was perfect!

We see a little blackbird every morning and evening, and I think he now expects food from us, as we put some bread onto the lawn. We have also seen a little black and grey bird, pigeons, a magpie and lots of lizards!

We had a game of Scrabble (Sophie thrashed me!) and then we sat at the table until 10:00pm. It was a much more comfortable temperature and lovely to spend so long sitting outside.

At 10:00pm, we went inside and watched another episode of Unchosen. We have two more to watch, so they will have to wait until Wednesday! It was a late night for us!

Girls' Road Trip - Bergerac, France 12th-27th of June, 2026

Getting to know you...

Although I was awake a couple of times in the night, I had a much better night's sleep. It helps that we have shutters over the windows and doors, and we do have neighbours nearby. However, it's maybe not a good idea to watch any creepy documentaries on Netflix while we're here!

I was awake at about 6:30am and making myself a cup of coffee. I opened the shutters and was met with blue skies and sunshine. The temperature was perfect! I wrote my blog until Sophie woke up, and we decided to head to the nearby village of Mussidan, as there was a Super U supermarket there. We needed to buy groceries to last us a few days and fill up with petrol.

Before we went, we sat at the table with another coffee and relished the morning peace and quiet. This area is stunning, and we're looking forward to exploring our local village and further afield. We left the house and headed for Mussidan, which was a short drive away. On the outskirts, we found the supermarket and a petrol station.

With the car full of petrol (which will hopefully last us until our return journey), we made our way into the supermarket and spent a very pleasant hour picking out food and drink to last us a fair while! There was a large section of local wines, and I picked out two reds, one of which was a Pécharmant appellation, one I'd never heard of before. I learnt it's a blend of the usual Bordeaux varieties (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec) and it needs some ageing, so the wine may go home with us! 

We both said we missed Keith here, as he normally makes straight for the beer aisle! We bought a six-pack of Grimbergen in his honour! We also bought lots of water, milk, salads, potatoes, bread, cold meats and a couple of pizzas we could heat up.

After the supermarket, we headed into the village to visit the pharmacy. We had a short, sharp bickerfest about parking, so I had to do another circuit and come back to a space right outside! Sophie has been suffering from a sore tooth since Friday and bought herself a bottle of mouthwash and a box of paracetamol. We also bought insect repellent as we don't want any more bites!

Mussidan was a pretty village with lovely old stone houses and narrow streets. We spotted a couple of restaurants that we may visit if we get fed up with salads and pizza! We drove home, unpacked everything, and I left the car in the shade of a couple of trees. It was then time to sit by the pool and relax! 

And... relax!

We spent the rest of the day in or by the pool. The water was very cold, but we soon got used to it, and it was a welcome relief from the high temperatures. The wooden decking burned our feet, so we used some of our beach towels to make a little stepping "stone" affair and unfurled the two big umbrellas for shade. Lunch was taken in the kitchen, and then it was back out to read our books.

I've been able to do several loads of laundry, and the clothes dry quickly in the heat. In the early evening, we sat at the table and lit a couple of mosquito "spirals" that are supposed to keep the little horrors away. We also have citronella candles burning. Unfortunately, even though we used the little stand for the spirals, hot residue dropped onto the table and marked it. As there were loads of other marks, we weren't too worried, but we'll be more careful in the future! Uppermost in my mind is the threat of forest fires, especially as no rain is forecast and temperatures are set to soar.

Our first attempt at lighting the spirals - it scorched the bowl!

Sophie prepared a dinner of ham, pasta salad, and bread, and we drank another rosé to go with the meal. After clearing away, we watched another couple of episodes of Unchosen and then decided to go for a walk and see the sunset. It goes down here at about 9:45pm, and it was a gorgeous evening.

Back at the house, we sat by the pool and watched the bats swoop overhead. They kept flitting into the water for a drink, just as they did in Rocamadour last year. It was heavenly!

Girls' Road Trip - Bergerac, France 12th-27th of June, 2026

On the road again

I had another disturbed night and woke up at 11:21pm after falling asleep quickly at first. Lots of thoughts were running through my mind (I wish sometimes I didn't have such a vivid imagination!) about the lack of a key for the back door. I managed to get back to sleep, but woke up at about 3:00am to absolute darkness and silence. I went to the loo, and the smell of marijuana was really strong on the landing. I normally sleep with earplugs, but for the rest of the night, I slept without them so I could hear any noises! I was heartily glad when it was about 7:00am and I could get up!

I made coffee, and Sophie said she'd had a great night's sleep and hadn't woken until about 5:00am when the birdsong brought her back to consciousness. I had heard cockerels crowing, birds singing and a lamb baaing! Before getting ready, I wrote a review in the guestbook and read the other messages; everyone raved about the place! We hadn't had any dealings with Delphine, Maxime's wife, and Sophie said she didn't even look at us when she was out in the grounds. Perhaps it was because we were only staying one night and hadn't booked any activities?

We didn't take advantage of the breakfast Maxime had left us, since we were going to stop on the autoroute for coffee and granola. Sophie stripped both beds, and I hoovered downstairs and left the bathroom clean. We ventured outside cautiously in case the guard dogs were still on the loose!

Maxime appeared to open the gate for us, we said goodbye, and we set off along narrow country roads. It was a gorgeous day, and the countryside was looking beautiful. At one point on the road, we passed a horse that whinnied at us as if he was expecting us to stop! Just before we reached a bigger road, we pulled off, and Sophie programmed the address of our Airbnb in Les Lèches, near Bergerac, into her phone.

Ignoring the directions that took us through Paris (why?), we drove via Rennes and Nantes and saw signs for Poitiers, which is twinned with Northampton. We travelled for quite a time on the N137, a fast dual carriageway with multiple slip roads and very few aires. We pulled off at a village étape, Crévin, to eat breakfast and have a coffee, but we had a real struggle finding the public loos!

A lot of our journey was also on the A10, a much busier motorway than I'd been expecting. The scenery was mainly agricultural, with trees frequently lining the road to prevent us from seeing the countryside. We saw quite a few Brits, lots of Belgians and Germans, and even a Swedish Mercedes which passed us twice. We stopped at a large aire for lunch and bought food for dinner this evening. We had already brought pasta and a sauce with us, so we supplemented this with ham and chicken, some cheese, a baguette, milk, desserts and more water. This would do us until we were able to do a big shop tomorrow. As we sat and ate our lunch in the car, the temperature was about 35 °C outside. Phew! 

We stopped one more time and enjoyed an ice cream, and then it was time to tackle Bordeaux. In all honesty, today's journey was quite challenging and navigating our way around Rennes and Nantes had taken a lot of concentration. We reached Bordeaux at about 4:30pm and skirted the city, thank goodness! All thoughts of driving in, parking and visiting this "Cité du Vin" were swiftly abandoned as I really didn't want to try and navigate around it again! Maybe we'll get the train instead!

Les Lèches

Once past Bordeaux, we turned onto the A89, which was a lot quieter and more scenic with forests on either side of the road. We'd paid a toll of 33 euros on the A10, and paid a small amount of just over 8 euros on this autoroute.

It wasn't long before we were turning off onto a country road towards Les Lèches, and then Jeeves told us to turn onto a steep track leading into the countryside. Ahead, we could see trees, and then we caught a glimpse of our home for the next ten days, Les Lèches!

I was glad to see lots of trees on the property, which would give shade to our car. We think the intense heat in Spain last year contributed to the breakdown shortly afterwards. We let ourselves in with the key code and explored! It's a gorgeous house, and once we had opened the shutters, we had fantastic views over forests with a steeple of a church peeping through the trees. We have three bedrooms (two en-suite), a spacious modern kitchen, an open-plan living and dining room, and a utility room. Outside is a wooden decked terrace and a pool. A large grassed area leads down to a boules pitch and a small play area for children. It has everything we need!

We spent a good hour unpacking the car and putting everything away, and I called Keith to let him know we had arrived. We then sat on the terrace with a drink and chatted about the journey and our plans for the next few days.

Aperitifs by the pool

We were both glad the journey was over, and we were delighted with the house. We felt very lucky to be in such a beautiful place.

Getting onto the wifi was easy, and our television has Netflix, so at least we can watch a couple of documentaries or films while we're here. Sophie prepared a dinner of pasta bake, and we opened a bottle of red wine to go with the meal. We ate outside, and the only fly in the ointment was a mosquito bite I received... I had opened a drawer in the kitchen, and it was full of mosquito repellents, so I had guessed anyway. Tomorrow we need to buy a spray and more candles to keep the little blighters away!

After eating, we watched the first episode of a Netflix drama called Unchosen. It was riveting! Now for a good night's sleep!

Girls' Road Trip - Bergerac, France 12th-27th of June, 2026

Travelling in style

I did not have a good night's sleep... When I got into bed, I realised that the sheet and duvet cover were 100% polyester, which literally made my skin crawl. In the end, I had to put on my cotton dressing gown, and it took me ages to fall asleep, the events of the day playing on my mind.

At about 11:00pm, I was wide awake, and it took me ages to fall back asleep. At 3:00am, I heard a car outside, and it sounded like it had stopped at our caravan... I went to investigate, but all was quiet. During the evening, we'd had a constant procession of people walking past the caravan - on their way to the clubhouse, probably - and this had unnerved me a little! The documentary hadn't helped!

When Sophie woke me at 5:30am, I felt very bleary, but I was looking forward to our two-berth cabin on the ferry, where we could at least have a nap if needed. We both showered, dressed and packed up the car, and we were ready to go by 6:15am. We both agreed that we wouldn't have been able to stay here longer than one night, as the bedrooms, as opposed to the living areas, were cramped and there wasn't a lot of space at all!

Sophie walked to the bins to dispose of our rubbish and recycling, and as I drove to meet her, I heard an ominous noise, like a flat tyre scraping on the ground. My immediate thought was that we damaged a wheel yesterday on the terrible roads, and when I reached Sophie, I asked her to check the tyres. I was convinced one of them was flat. Thankfully, they were fine, and the noise turned out to be the background "white" noise Sophie plays on her phone at night to help her sleep, as it was still connected to the car's system! Phew! The relief was enormous!

We had a very easy and pleasant journey to the ferry terminal in Portsmouth, and the sun was shining from a clear blue sky. We checked in and made our way to a long queue of cars to wait to board. Ahead of us was the "Guillaume de Normandie" ferry, our home for the next six hours.

After boarding, we found our cabin on the 9th level and had breakfast - pots of granola and yoghurt and pains au chocolat. Sophie had made a flask of coffee, but there was a kettle, coffee, tea and milk in our cabin, as well as a shower, loo and another bunk that was still folded up. We had everything we needed!

It was a little surreal when the ferry left at 8:00am, and we sat watching BBC news with Charlie and Naga! I wanted to go up and see us leave the port, so we carried on up to the sundeck, on level 10. It was lovely up here, and we could see Portsmouth receding in the distance.

From the sundeck, we explored the ferry, taking note of the bar and two restaurants where people were busy having breakfast. The ferry was very quiet, and there were plenty of seats available. At 9:00am, the shop opened, and I bought a notebook and a newspaper, and we splashed out on a bottle of Aperol.

We returned to our cabin, and Sophie watched the last half hour of Saturday Morning Kitchen while I had a much-needed nap on the bunk. When I woke up, she was watching the King's Birthday celebrations in London!

Back to Normandy

We had a lovely crossing, and played cards in an empty area near an upmarket restaurant with a small beer apiece. There was a loud quiz going on in the bar, and we didn't fancy sitting with that in the background. We had polished off the last of the sausage rolls in the cabin and made another coffee, so that had satisfied our appetites for lunch. Sophie was hugely impressed with the crossing and the ferry itself, so maybe we will do this again if we visit Normandy, as we think it saved us about 200 miles in driving. It may be a different matter in the winter, though, if the weather is rough!

At 3:00pm French time, we were coming into Caen (or Ouistreham), and at one point, it looked like we were going to dock on a beach!

We stood outside to watch and then made our way back down to the car deck. I was a little apprehensive about driving around Caen because it's a busy city and the traffic in the past has always been frenetic! We hadn't passed through French passport control yet, and we queued for about half an hour after we disembarked. Next to us was a van transporting a high-end sports car; we had seen one of the drivers near our cabin, and he smelled of delicious aftershave! We watched as he was asked to pull over after passport control, and the gendarmes swarmed all over the van. Inside, we caught a glimpse of what looked like a red Ferrari!

Sophie expertly directed me out of Ouistreham and into busy, bustling Caen. I followed her directions easily and very soon we were out of the city and bowling along the autoroute towards Le Mont St Michel. We took the A84, and it was lovely and quiet. I settled nicely into my stride on the autoroute, driving at about 120km an hour.

Our host for the night, Maxime, messaged us to say he would meet us at the house, and we groaned a little. He then said he was holding a birthday party at the ranch, but didn't specify if it was for an adult or child... we began to feel a little worried!

Once off the autoroute, we headed for the village of Brécy and a Super U supermarket and petrol station. This was a real bonus as we filled up with fuel and then did a quick shop to get us through this evening. We didn't fancy going back out for a meal, and we weren't even sure if there was a restaurant nearby! We bought the lovely salads we enjoy, tabbouleh, milk and water as well as a bottle of Camargue rosé called Pink Flamingo, in honour of Panda!

A Western experience in France!

It was a short journey to Les Cresnays, which was at the end of a single-track road. We were met with a closed gate and lots of warnings about dogs loose on the property. Sophie messaged Maxime again, and he came to meet us dressed as a cowboy. We parked outside the house, and I was astonished to see horses wandering about freely!

He unlocked the door for us and spoke great English. Outside, a child's birthday party was in progress, but this had finished by the time we emerged again to unpack the car. The house was attached to Maxime's property, where he lived with his family. At the back of the two houses, we could see sheep, chickens and a pig. Maxime said he had 91 animals to feed every day!

Our part of the house is on the right with the brown door

The rear of the property and the seating area

Inside, the house was stuffed with Western and cowboy items, including saddles, cowboy hats, a guitar, a rifle over the fireplace and various signs and notices about the Wild West. It was so bizarre, even though we had seen the photos and been expecting it!

The beautiful dining table "Don't put anything hot on it!"

There were lots of activities you could book beforehand, and a Bain Nordique (hot tub) that cost 50 euros. We were given some fairly strict instructions, especially when it came to the guard dogs, which we were not to touch under any circumstances or feed (or even look at...  more of this later).

Sophie and I had a bedroom each, with a duvet cover that looked like Western leather. Neither of us had a wardrobe or chest of drawers, so I was glad we were only staying one night! I did like the huge bathroom, though, with a freestanding bath and a lovely walk-in shower. Breakfast was provided, and we were told we had to strip the beds, clean the bathroom and hoover before leaving the next day... phew!

It was warm outside, but we had no fans, so we made sure we opened the bedroom windows and aired the rooms. We attempted to sit outside for a little while, but there were a few flies about, and it felt hot in the sunshine. Neither of us could get the wifi to work, and Maxime had given us some excuse about the local farmer cutting the wire. This meant no Netflix either!

I have to admit to both of us feeling a little homesick and miserable this evening, probably because we were tired. We opened the wine, which was delicious, and played cards, but I could tell we were both a little quiet. I was worried about a problem that had arisen at work, and we both missed home.

An episode of Panda with this would have been perfect!

After a couple of games of cards, where Sophie thrashed me, we prepared dinner and then enjoyed a chocolate fondant afterwards with squirty cream. It was then that we noticed the back door had no key... Sophie messaged Maxime again, and while we were waiting for him to reply, we had a walk around the ranch. The guard dogs (three of them) eyed us warily from their enclosure and barked at us, and we watched a pig scratch his bum on a piece of wood. The gate was firmly closed, so what if we had wanted to go out for a meal?

Maxime messaged us and said that the key was lost (it had been taken away by a guest), but not to worry, as the dogs would patrol the property and look after us... It wasn't really the answer we'd been hoping for! We had detected a faint odour of weed downstairs, and we both thought that Maxime was a fan of the wacky baccy!

We spent a fruitless hour trying to connect to the wifi and Netflix with Sophie's phone, and Maxime and his family returned from an evening out. He spoke to us about the key and then asked if he could let the dogs out. We weren't intending to go anywhere, so they were let out and free to roam about the property. Sophie looked out of the front door at one of them, and he came right up to the window and barked and growled at us! We had to draw the curtain in the end!

At an early hour, we retired to bed, the open door downstairs making both of us feel a little vulnerable. I just hoped I would be able to sleep as tomorrow we were facing a long drive to Bergerac!

Girls' Road Trip - Bergerac, France 12th-27th of June, 2026

Panic stations!

As planned, Sophie and I were both working half a day today. My daughter didn't go to the gym, and I left at my usual time. I chatted with Sara when I arrived at work and apologised about not going in yesterday, but I had so much to do, and she understood.

Just as I was finishing my coffee, Sophie called me, which was unusual. She said she'd broken down in Olive on the A43. Looking at "Find My Phone", I could see she was just past the Round Spinney roundabout, and I was horrified! The road is hectically busy during rush hour, and I was terrified that someone would hit her car. I jumped up, told Sara what had happened, and grabbed everything. I rushed out, at least having the sense to pay for my parking before I left!

On the way to the car, I called Sophie again, and she told me the police were with her, which I was immensely relieved about! I sped off, and when I passed the spot where she should have been, I couldn't see her. I then noticed she was calling, so I had no choice but to answer the phone. She said the police had moved her to the slip road leading to Thorplands (a large residential area), which was a relief.

I navigated the busy roundabout and then pulled up behind her. She was a bit emotional but so relieved that the police had spotted her straightaway and had come to her aid. We then had to decide what to do! Sophie said one of the policemen had managed to drive Olive around the corner, so it looked like whatever caused the breakdown may have corrected itself. Sophie said the car had juddered to a halt on the busy dual carriageway, and all the warning lights came on.

We decided to go home, collect Keith and try to drive Olive to the VW dealership on Riverside. We called him, and he said he would be ready to go when we arrived home. Once we were back, Sophie called VW and asked about taking the car down and getting a courtesy vehicle for two weeks. Our holiday had complicated things even further, as Keith was going to use Olive while we were away!

They said the only way they would provide a courtesy car would be if Olive arrived on a recovery truck. Sophie doesn't have breakdown cover, so she called Green Flag, who quoted her £150 to take Olive to VW, but just as she was about to pay, they said they couldn't give her a time; it could be anything up to ten hours! We swiftly abandoned that idea and decided to go down and drive Olive to VW. 

Back at the stricken car, Keith followed us, and I gingerly drove Olive down to Riverside. The car seemed absolutely fine, with no problems whatsoever. What on earth was going on? Sophie has now had enough, as this is the latest in a long line of problems with the car. She has had problems with the charging flap, the air conditioning, and the key batteries, and there are always warning signs flashing up on the dashboard. Sometimes, the car refuses to start! Imagine if this had happened when we were on our way to or back from Heathrow the other week?

VW were not at all helpful and said they weren't able to provide a courtesy car until they had established whether Olive was not roadworthy. This wasn't going to happen today, but they could try to sort it out on Monday and deliver a car to Keith if the fault was serious enough. They then said she had an extended warranty on the car and breakdown cover, which included getting the car to a garage! Why hadn't they told her that when she called? She could easily have splashed out on Green Flag recovery! We had already looked at hiring a car for Keith, but he only needed a car to get to the pub and Tesco, so we thought it was a waste of money.

Sophie was prepared to argue with VW, but I could see they weren't going to budge, so we left, with the manager promising to call Sophie at some point today. Sophie said she fancied a McDonald's breakfast, so we went to the one on Riverside, where Keith and I had a tea and coffee while Sophie enjoyed her unexpected breakfast! I certainly didn't think I'd be sitting in McDonald's this morning!

As a family, I like to think we can deal with problems, and we all agreed to leave hiring a car and see if Mike could come down next weekend from Nottingham and help out. Sophie and I would do a Tesco order while in France, and before going home, we popped to Mawsley to stock up with some more things Keith needed, namely McEwan's Champion! He also mentioned his prescription, which he'd left at the surgery yesterday. Sophie and I had a short, sharp argument with him, as he said he would find some way of getting there, and we dropped him off at home, while we drove to Brixworth to talk to the pharmacy.

They said they would try to get his medication prepared this afternoon, which they did! One less thing to worry about!

The long and winding (and narrow!) road...

By 1:00pm, Sophie and I were ready for the off. We had packed up the sausage rolls Keith had finally been able to make for us, and filled the cool bag with frozen bottles of water and our supper for tonight, which was cold meats and salad. We said goodbye to Keith and set off to Northampton. With all the running about this morning, our full tank of petrol had been depleted, so I filled up at the BP garage on the Harborough Road, and we treated ourselves to an ice cream!

Jeeves had recommended the A43, M40 and then the A34 at first. The roads were busy, but at least the weather was an improvement on yesterday, and the sun was shining! We made good progress, but as we neared Winchester, Jeeves suggested an alternative route to shave off sixteen minutes of our journey to Hayling Island, where we were staying overnight before our Brittany Ferries trip tomorrow.

This meant leaving the A34 and taking a winding road to get onto the M3. It was obvious that many other drivers had had the same suggestion, as there was a long convoy of us travelling together. The only problem was that the roads we had been instructed to drive on were narrow... and I mean narrow! The tall hedges on either side made it impossible to pass, so I held my breath as I followed everyone else. Luckily, there was strength in numbers!

It was a nightmare journey, especially when we arrived in the small village of Sparsholt and encountered the school run traffic. At one point, I had a school bus come screaming towards me, and I had to reverse into a driveway. The bus driver didn't slow down at all! Further along, poor oncoming drivers had to stop to let us through, and at times, we had to squeeze past each other, our wheels hitting deep ruts as we inched our way past another car. The last thing we needed was a puncture!

Eventually, after what seemed like ages, and certainly longer than it would have taken, we all emerged onto wider roads and then the M3, which was heaving with traffic. We passed Southampton and took the M27 towards Portsmouth. We carried on to Hayling Island, which looked beautiful, with yachts in the marina and the sun shining on the water.

A disturbing documentary

We had booked an Airbnb in a static caravan on a park, and we were looking forward to something different this evening! We found our caravan, and we were able to park right outside. It was a gorgeous evening, and people were arriving to either spend the weekend at the park or to stay the night before travelling tomorrow.

We unpacked what we needed, and Sophie kindly said she would take a twin room to sleep in, while I had the double. There were three bedrooms, a fully-equipped kitchen, two loos, and an open-plan living/dining room.

We thought it was delightful, and said we could easily spend longer here! We sat and watched Pointless and the news at 6:00pm and opened a bottle of wine. VW hadn't called Sophie, so it looked like we would hear from them on Monday. The events of this morning seemed like a distant, bad dream.

Before eating, we had a little walk around the park as Sophie wanted to see the sea. We thought it was a long way off, though, so we strolled back, had a glass of wine on the outside seating area, and prepared our simple dinner of ham and chicken with salad and one of Keith's sausage rolls. It was perfect!

After we'd eaten and stacked the dishwasher, we decided to watch a Netflix documentary called Maternal Instinct. Keeley, who had obviously stayed in the caravan before us, hadn't logged out, so we used her login! 

There really should have been a warning for this documentary, which was very disturbing indeed. I won't go into details, but it was horrific, and we felt so sorry for the families involved, who had the misfortune to get involved with Taylor Parker, who is now on Death Row.

After watching the documentary, it was time for bed. We need to be up at about 5:00am tomorrow, as we have to be at the ferry port for 7:15am at the latest. At least we don't have to travel far!

Preparations!

The weather today has been truly awful! It has been grey, rainy and chilly. What's happened to our summer?

Keith went to Tesco this morning and did a grocery shop while I tackled a long list of jobs I had to do. We have asked Keith to make us sausage rolls again tomorrow to take with us, and the number of things we need to pack into the car is growing ever more! 

I gradually ticked off the jobs I had to do, and in the early afternoon, I went to see my Mum. She was sitting in the dining room when I arrived, so I took her back to her room, and she gave me a list of things she needed. The weather outside was still dreadful, so I went on my own.

I bought her some new clothes - two pairs of soft trousers, a lovely new T-shirt and a blouse, as well as a pack of sports bras. I just hoped they'd fit! As well as the clothes, I bought her some chocolates and cakes as a treat.

On the way back to the car, I got soaked by the steady drizzle of rain. It was horrible! Mum was delighted with her clothes and tried on the T-shirt straightaway. It fitted perfectly and looked lovely. It was a size 16, but looked tiny! We sat and chatted for a while, and she was a little emotional when I left. I don't think she realises we're off to France on Saturday (and down to Portsmouth tomorrow), but I will call the care home when I'm away and ask to speak to her on the phone. I did try to fix her mobile, but it looked like it's truly had it!

Back home, I carried on with more jobs, and it was great to relax when Sophie got back. We are both working half a day tomorrow and planning to leave at about 1:00pm. At least we haven't got an early start!

A busy Wednesday!

Sophie's back tyres on Olive were being replaced today, so I took her to work in the VW. I suggested on the way that we call into our new gym, so she could see it for herself. I was supposed to have gone during one of my shifts, but that hasn't happened, and I doubt it would before I finished work on Friday!

We drove to the gym and went in, despite there being lots of builders on site. The lovely Shannon was in the gym, so it was great to chat to her, and she showed us around. Sophie was also introduced to Stuart and Martin, two of our senior managers, who were also in the building. I was then delighted to see Georgie come in, and he gave Sophie a lovely hug. Sophie and I were both impressed with the new gym, and it will look great when it's all finished. I dropped Sophie off at work and returned home to get on with my long list of jobs! 

After my busy morning, I went back down to Sophie's office, and we drove to Next on Riverside for lunch at Costa. It was great to sit and chat and do some shopping afterwards, as I badly needed some new perfume. I picked out a beautifully clean scent that will go to France with me.

After dropping Sophie off, I returned home and saw a huge black cloud in the distance. I knew that within a short space of time, we'd have torrential rain, and I was proved right! It absolutely hammered down, and then I heard a clap of thunder! I called for the cats, but there was no sign of Mooney. He has been disappearing for long periods of time, and we had trouble getting him in last night. I swear that sometimes he hides in the bushes and watches us call and call him!

I had an hour to spare to catch up with more jobs, and at 3:00pm, I set off in more heavy rain for Moulton to see Gabriel again at The Back and Body Clinic. We chatted about travel, and he applied more shockwave therapy and gave me a different exercise to do. I told him I intend to swim and do some yoga with Sophie in France, and although we will do some walking, it won't be on a par with Berlin!

Back home, I just had time to remind Keith of how to stop and start Olive (he'll be driving her when we're away) and then go and collect Sophie from work! The traffic was as heavy as ever, and it was great to get home and relax for a while before Sophie began cooking paella for dinner. We opened a red from Emporda (a region near Girona) to go with the meal, and it was delicious. Typical! We'll never be able to buy another in the UK!

Keith and I watched two episodes of World War II with Tom Hanks this evening. I made the decision not to go to work tomorrow as Nicola only wanted me in from 10:00am until 2:00pm, and it just wasn't worth the hassle of Keith making four journeys when he has enough to do!