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Showing posts with the label Road Trip

Going With The Flow

  It has been such a treat to have good weather again, especially as we are on another pet sitting assignment. We decided to take a longer route to our destination in Hampshire - taking a more scenic route out of Cornwall, along the Atlantic Highway and a wonderful stopover with our dear friends in Glastonbury. As always, we enjoyed feasting with great company and left with full bellies, feeling relaxed.  We had already travelled from Cornwall, through Devon and into Somerset and the next part of our journey took us slightly north through Wiltshire and West Berkshire before landing over the border in Hampshire. It was a gorgeous sunny journey with little traffic and we thoroughly enjoyed taking our time, soaking up the sights and loving the changing scenery. It seems such a long time since we travelled through this part of the country...Frome, Trowbridge, Avebury, and Marlborough. Seeing delights such as:  Westbury White Horse   Silbury Hill   West Kennet Long Barrow   Savernake Forest

Lonely Planet Goes Vegan - The Vegan Travel Handbook

                           It's a sign there are big changes afoot, when a company like Lonely Planet acknowledges that veganism is here. Although we are not into buying stuff anymore, we do have a passion for books...especially travel books! We have collected many travel guides over the years and we continue to use our French ones even though they are probably over 20 years old now. We bought our first Lonely Planet Publication in 1991... Europe On A Shoestring ! We found it to be a great resource, using it frequently to do research when planning trips, as well as taking it with us.  We love nothing more than sitting with maps and travel books, dreaming and planning our next or future adventures and always try to find whatever information we can about places to eat, so when we heard about a new vegan travel guide - we had to check it out. Click here for a preview of The Vegan Travel Handbook  The book features various lists like The World's

Fontevraud-l'Abbaye

This lovely village is in the Loire. It looks like it could be popular with tourists. But we had the place to ourselves. Lots of pretty places. And a huge Abbey where Richard the Lionheart is buried. A lovely old doorbell. Love Kay and Sime xx

Golfe du Morbihan

We have spent yesterday exploring this lovely area of Brittany. Nice to do when it's a quieter time of year. We drove to Port Navalo at the end of the gulf where it was warm and sunny. We found lots of quiet villages. Marshlands. Maps. Lighthouses. We watched a storm come in while we ate our picnic. There was a cormorant sat on the rock just out at sea, but the camera hasn't picked it up. Lots of the beaches were covered in red seaweed. Chateau Suscinio A 13th century castle with connections to Henry VII and the War of the Roses. We enjoyed a walk around Port Navalo's headland before the stormy weather started! Such a warm and quiet day!  Love Kay and Sime xx

Travelling On A Budget

We often get shocked at how much folks are willing to pay for vacations. Even if we become billionaires...no don't laugh, you never know...we will no doubt continue to travel simply.  We love camping for starters, so we can't imagine not doing it and then there's a real joy in bargain hunting hotels and holiday accommodation. We tend to camp if we can do more than 3 nights and the weather's nice. If it's not so good, then we usually look at self-catering accommodation and easily find great places. When we're on the road we tend to find cheap motels for overnight stays and book a few hours before arrival to save money. These can be anything from a motel chain to a more fancy pants country hotel...on our last trip to France we found ourselves staying in the grounds of a vineyard in Burgundy and it was lovely!  A lot of small hotels open up to business travellers out of season and when they still have rooms available, they reduce their prices and

Slow Travel

All you need is the plan, the road map and the courage to press on to your destination. ~ Earl Nightingale ~  We are pretty sure that we have covered this subject before... We absolutely love road trips and they start as soon as we close the door at home. We focus on the journey, rather than the destination. Sometimes the journey turns out to be completely different than we expected, but it never matters. What is important to us is that we enjoy it. Being on the road lights us both up - the amazing places we come across and the people we meet, the new friends and connections we make - it's all wonderful.  Even when we set out to explore a place only to discover that we have been there before, which seems to happen a lot lately...Hahaha!!! It makes us sad that most people are so keen to get to their destination as quickly as possible, they miss out on so much. Folks who drive long hours don't seem to think of their journey as part of their trip

Sur La Route

Some photos from our recent road trip through France... Old road sign in the Vendee Old meets new A private house now...hope they're still dancing! Spotted this in someone's garden... Looks like Romeo's been busy! Picnic area with quite a view Beautiful old car, but no idea what it is... Organic zero waste van Street art Biocoop Kitty Breton Marais Free books - take, deposit, exchange as you wish.  About to drive over the Saint-Nazaire Bridge Les Moutiers-En-Retz in the Loire-Atlantique...love this place! Bye for now, K&S xx

French Road Trip - Atlantic Coast

We are on another road trip - this time on the French Atlantic Coast & it's hot! See you soon. Kay & Sime xx

Taking Responsibility

We have finally finished emptying Bebe's flat.  The keys have been handed in, the sale is going through - we've met with the estate agent, the solicitor, the new owner & said goodbye. Bebe was never into clutter, her home was always spotless & free of stuff, but when it came to clearing it out - it was still hard work! This is another reason why for us it is increasingly important to free ourselves of our own stuff... The thought of leaving all of it behind for the kidlets to sort out in years to come feels selfish, especially knowing what a nightmare it has been for us. No parent wants to become a burden to their kids, but it happens. We plan on leaving very little in the way of possessions, so when the end comes - the clear out will be a breeze! At least Bebe is still alive...  Many middle aged kids are left with property to clear & not only is it difficult to organise around their own family & work, but they are dealing with their grief too. 

Kicking Back

We have been desperate for some time out & were so happy when a plan came together at the last minute... This has been our base for the last few days. A small apartment in a beautiful old house right in the middle of Bishop's Castle... Above a fabulous cafe... Such a quirky place... With the tiniest of bathroom doorways... Which Sime keeps banging his head on... We are so happy to be having some time to ourselves...  No work, no care giving, no responsibilities, no clock watching.  Just doing exactly what we want to do, which so far has been perfect!!! Kay & Sime xx