MORE OF PARIS

Surprisingly we were all ready for breakfast in the hotel at 8.30am Very nice bread/croissant/orangejuice and coffee!
Then off we went to the Notre Dame where Carol and Sarah were determined to climb the Towers. Len decide that climbing up 400 plus stairs was a bit too much to ask and left them to it. While they enjoyed their adventure Len sat in the gardens at the rear of the Cathedral and observed the passing parade with great interest. There were several arrtists exhibiting their wares in the gardens and it was a relaxing and culturally uplifting time!

Regrouping there seemed to be a mutual agreement that some food and a drink were needed. We sat on a sidewalk cafe right beside the Notre Dame and enjoyed Crepes as only the French can make them .Sarah's with Banana and Chocolate,Carol's Lemon and Sugar and the boss had a Croque Monsieur.Wonderful to be all together - sitting by one of the world's famous monuments and watching the world go by.

Next stop was to be the Bata Shoe store (where Carol had bought shoes yesterday - eventually found it after lots of walking - bloody place was closed. Then off to the famous markets by the Metro. Wonderful place (if you like shopping among a million people) - but Sarah boought a wee bonnet and a pair of boots - so it was all worthwhile. Then back to the Camellia -sort out the packing -raced onto the Metro to Garde de Nord where the Eurostar was waiting to take us home. Sarah came out to the station with us and we said a sad farewell- but all were happy that we had had such a great time.

First class on the Eurostar (booked specially for Carol's birthday) was very nice thankyou -while there had been a problem with the inservice meal due to a strike, we still had a very acceptable dinner box, and the drinks trolley came up and down the aisle with acceptable regularity. We had planned to take a taxi from Waterloo to Fenchurch Station- the queue soon dispelled that idea, and we took the underground instead and arrived as the Basildon train pulled out of the station!!

A half hour of frustation waiting for the next one - a very nice taxi from Laindon station to home and we were more than happy to crash.

Oh Yes! -Lost the 18ct ring somewhere en route so will never know if we were scammed!

AND the bill from Basildon Council for rates was waiting for us - $3000 a year for our little flat!!This is not a place to live long term.

MORE OF PARIS

Surprisingly we were all ready for breakfast in the hotel at 8.30am Very nice bread/croissant/orangejuice and coffee! Just for a change!
Then off we went to the Notre Dame where Carol and Sarah were determined to climb the Towers. Len decide that climbing up 400 plus stairs was a bit too much to ask and left them to it. While they enjoyed their adventure Len sat in the gardens at the rear of the Cathedral and observed the passing parade with great interest. There were several artists exhibiting their wares in the gardens and it was a relaxing and culturally uplifting time!

Regrouping there seemed to be a mutual agreement that some food and a drink were needed. We sat on a sidewalk cafe right beside the Notre Dame and enjoyed Crepes as only the French can make them .Sarah's with Banana and Chocolate,Carol's Lemon and Sugar and the boss had a Croque Monsieur.Wonderful to be all together - sitting by one of the world's famous monuments and watching the world go by.

Next stop was to be the Bata Shoe store (where Carol had bought shoes yesterday )- eventually found it after lots of walking - bloody place was closed. Then off to the famous markets by the Metro. Wonderful place (if you like shopping among a million people) - but Sarah boought a wee bonnet and a pair of boots - so it was all worthwhile. Then back to the Camellia -sort out the packing -raced onto the Metro to Garde de Nord where the Eurostar was waiting to take us home. Sarah came out to the station with us and we said a sad farewell- but all were happy that we had had such a great time.

First class on the Eurostar (booked specially for Carol's birthday) was very nice thankyou -while there had been a problem with the inservice meal due to a strike, we still had a very acceptable dinner box, and the drinks trolley came up and down the aisle with acceptable regularity. We had planned to take a taxi from Waterloo to Fenchurch Station- the queue soon dispelled that idea, and we took the underground instead and arrived as the Basildon train pulled out of the station!!

A half hour of frustation waiting for the next one - a very nice taxi from Laindon station to home and we were more than happy to crash.

Oh Yes! -Lost the 18ct ring somewhere en route so will never know if we were scammed!

AND the bill from Basildon Council for rates was waiting for us - $3000 a year for our little flat!!This is not a place to live long term.

LA BELLE PARIS

What a great birthday weekend for the Bride! We left home on Friday morning took a taxi to the station and caught our train to Fenchurch Street. Then by Tube across to Waterloo and the Eurostar departure. Excellent security in place (who wants a bomb in the Chunnel?) and then off we went. Non stop to Paris. Once clear of the suburbs, we were soon hurling along at 170 MPH - and it was fascinating to be parallelling Motorways seeing the poor old BMWs and Mercs crawling along at 80! The Chunnel was duly announced and after awhile a "Welcome to France". Gare du Nord was our termination point and , as we had already bought Metro passes while waiting in Waterloo, we went straight to the Metro and Pasteur(the station beside our Hotel of 13 years a go --The Camellia).

All this time poor old Len had been battling with a cold which Carol had carelessly thrown his way -packets of tissues were quickly consumed, handkerchiefs reduced to unmentionables and a desire for early death became apparent. Nonetheless he soldiered on, trudged valiantly around Montparnesse, managed a few Sushi and Sashami, easily swallowed a few wines and collapsed into bed. The Camellia was little changed from our previous visit, the en suite was still of Lilliputian proportions, but the toilet no longer required a reversed attitude withdrawal.!!

Breakfast at the local cafe - coffee/bread/croissant (breakfast??)- and then off to see the City and meet up with Sarah who was flying in from Stavanger. Believe it or not, Carol found a shoe shop where she managed to buy two pair of shoes to add to the Marcos like collection. It was at this point that we were the subjects of what I am sure was a scam.

As we walked along the footpath, a young girl bent down in front of me and picked up a gold ring (now I THINK I saw it on the ground as she picked it up). Ole! she cried and showed us the ring with obvious delight. My lucky day she said. Carol asked her where she came from and was told Kosova - but now living in Paris without work. She tried the ring on her finger and said it was a man's ring and promptly gave it to me to try where it fitted of course. I took it off to give her back but NO NO it is your lucky day was the reply! Sadly she had no job/no place to live/no money for food so CEJ opened her purse and poured out the few bits and piece of change in Euros - all told about 2 Euros. Not enough to assuage her hunger - so LJMJ delves into the back pocket and came up with a 10 Euro note - and Bingo - all smiles - all have had a lucky day. Now I can't wait to take the ring into a jeweller and see whether the inscribed 18kt mark is fair dinkum!!

Anyway it passed a bit of time until we met Sarah off the airport bus at L'Opera. She was late as her plane was delayed in Stavanger - but she looked absolutely terrific when she finally arrived. We went back to the Hotel where she was also booked in, and as we had already booked a bus tour that night to see "The Illuminations" starting at 9.30 pm, Len sent the girls off to reluctantly shop on their own while he inspected the insides of his eyelids!! When they returned some 3 hours later Father was enjoying a red wine at the footpath Cafe nextdoor to the Hotel.C'est la vie.

The birthday dinner was a great success. Our Hotel concierge had recommended that we walk up to Montparnesse where there were some excellent restaurants, And we found one.Wonderful food with a nice bottle of wine, lovely ambience and not over the top pricewise. And then it started to rain -les Pussies and Bow Wows both.

Undeterred we took off for the Metro and the Station from where we could catch our Bus tour. Fortunately a late night shop was flogging umbrellas - so we bought a couple to keep the worst of the rain away.The double decker bus had an open top deck to enhance viewing opportunities but of little interest in the pouring rain. So off we went with rain dropped and steamed up windows happily listening to the commentary on what was being passed if we had only had the chance of seeing it!! The Eiffel Tower featured strongly from several angles but it really was pretty hopeless - and then Bingo - the Bus hit a car -right on a roundabout!

We sat there for 40 minutes while notes were made of the prang. It didn't look very serious although our driver manfully hauled the front bumper bar from the bus and stored it at the back of the upper deck. It had now stopped raining and so we were able to get up on the open deck and watch proceedings. Nothing was said to anyone about the tour - but finally we started off again and seemed to retrace our steps. Some of the passengers had apparently included a visit to The Moulin Rouge and we stopped in there for a while with lights and confusion everywhere. I remember seeing the Opera Hourse on at least three occasions - and then we finished up on the Champs Elysee in traffic nightmare and wondering if we would be back at that bus depot in time to catch a late Metro back to Pasteur. The tour guides were useless and made no attempt ot apologise for the disaster of an evening.

We finally got back to the hotel at 12.40am -and all agreed it had been a most interesting day!!! More on the next Blog

DOVER CASTLE

Last weekend we drove down to Dover about 70 miles away. As usual the weather was beautiful although the English Channel was very hazy which denied us the chance to have a peep at France across the "ditch".
We went straight to the Dover Castle complex and booked a tour of the Underground Tunnels. These tunnels were started in the days of the Napoleonic war and were used as the barracks for defending troops thankfully never needed.
During WW2 they were considerably extended and were used as the headquarters of Vice Admiral Ramsey who commanded the evacuation of Dunkirk and later was heavily involved in the eventual D Day offensive. A complete hospital was installed in the tunnels, together with a top secret communications system and living quarters for the some hundreds of personnel involved in the war time activity. Very claustrophobic but immensely interesting.
Back above ground (thankfully) we had our sanddwiches and coffee in the castle grounds and then took a long walk around the Battlements which have majestic views. The bottom photo above is of a 1st Century Roman lighthouse!! Only the bottom half is actually 2000 years old with the upper portion restored in the middle ages. The Castle itself contains displays of Henry V111 conditions very well presented by the English Heritage.
On our way home we saw a sign to the White Cliffs of Dover, and parked at the National Trust car park and walked along the Cliff Tops. The view is of course breathtaking and in the bright sunshine the White Cliffs were brilliant as seen in the above photo.
The we drove along the coast to the historic fishing town of Deal. I couldn't help but take a photo of the way the fishing boats are "moored" - simply winch them up on the shingle beach. This is the spot where Julius Caesar landed in 55BC - finding it a lot easier to go ashore here, than trying to scale the White Cliffs - no dope the old Big Julie!!
Stopped in at Rochester for a pint of the good stuff. We will come back to Rochester as it is one of those remarkable old English towns with lots to see.
Next weekend -Paris for Carol's birthday travelling on the Eurostar under the Channel - should be exciting.

THE ROYAL VISIT

Guess who from the Herriot Museum?
Last weekend we took ourselves off to London having booked a tour of the State Chambers at Buckingham Palace. The Palace opens it's State Chambers,Royal Mews and Queen's Gallery to the public during July to September, and it is necessary to make an early booking because of the demand. Our time of entry was for10.45 so we got down to the station early enough to catch a train to get us there on time. Of course there was upgrading of the railway line so the train only went as far as Upminster, from where we joined the underground. There were 27 stops from here to Green Park - naturally we were very late!

But it was all worth while - as one would expect everything was opulence and perfect taste.Magnificent galleries of paintings by the worlds most famous. A collection of the Queen's gowns and jewels were on special display and it was interesting to see the different styles (and sizes) worn by Liz from 1954 until 2006!!

As well as this visit, we had also booked for "afternoon tea" at the Four Seasons Hotel. This was a freebee from the Loyalty Points Carol had accumulated while working for ITN in Ramsey. The Hotel was a bit hard to find even though it was theoretically on Park Lane near Hyde Park corner, but a longish walk only served to heighten the appetite. A lovely spread - cucumber sandwiches of course, scones and cream,french pastries all very quickly disposed of.

The we took a punt and went to Fenchurch Street station (where the Laindon service normally starts) but found the line was still closed, but we could divert to Pitsea and get a train back fom there. This took us along the Thames River and through almost continual container yards, power stations and dock facilities - but very interesting.

Golf hit the highlights this week. I went along to the Basildon Golf Club and met the secretary of the Seniors. All very complicated - the Course if owned by Basildon Council and is therefore a public course. At the coourse there is a private clubThe Basildon Golf Club" and within that club there are the Seniors. So I bought a Season ticket for Senior 5 day a week golf and made an application to join the club!!

Had a game on Wednesday and found the course a trifle challenging. Very hilly and lots of side sloping fairways but I managed to play just about to handicap and am looking forward to my first game with the seniors on Monday next week. When going around on Wednesday I noticed a number of teeing platforms (they had some at Ramsey for times that it was too wet to use the normal tee) and I made a comment about them to the bloke I waas playing with. He told me that the course can get very very wet! He then told me that you can buy a pair of wellingtons with golf spikes on them from the pro shop!!!! Talk about mad dogs and Englishmen.

AUGUST HOLIDAYS PICTURES

Top two - Herriot House iin Thirsk and the original Austin 7 wih young driver.

Last shop in Scotland at Jedburgh adnCoooks House at Staithes

Left is Staithes Beach and below if the ruins of Jedburgh Abbey

AUGUST HOLIDAY - PART 7

It was a long drive from Stirling down to Pickering and a mixture of Motorway and A Roads. We stopped at the border town of Jedburgh, which neither of us had ever heard of, but we found an historic Abbey which was well worth inspection. Another reminder of the destruction caused by the Reformation. But the substantial remains do provide a real question of just how did they build these enormous structures back in the middle ages?

We detoured from the direct route to Pickering heading over to the East coast and stopped at a seaside village called Staithes. Here we had to park at the top of the cliffs and walk down a very steep path to the old village. It was here that Captain Cook worked as a lad. The original house was demolished during a violent storm, but has been reconstructed. While the beach leaves a bit to be desired, there were a mob of people "sunbathing and swimming"!!

The drive across to Pickering took us across the Yorkshire Moors, mile after mile of beautiful rolling country. And Pickering iteslf was a most delightful little town. The Guest House where we had booked in for two nights was a three storey restored 18th century house superbly furnished and we were more than pleased to find we had made a good choice after the Stirling B and B!. Wandered down to the Black Swan Pub and had an excellent meal at a reasonable price, and then an early night after the long day.

Next morning we went to the train station and bought return tickets on the steam train to Whitby. The steam trains have been fully restored and relive a byegoone age. One of the engines was the "Sir Nigel Gresley" a sister engine to "Mallard" which holds the steam train speed record of 125 mph! The train journey to Grosmont took just over an hour, and the stopover in Grosmont was fascinating because it is a typical steam railway junction with a lot of restored and semi restored steam engines in the railway workshops. We then took the light diesel rail service into Whitby itself. As it was Auust Bank holiday Whitby was jam packed with people. We were intrigued by the queues of people lining up outside several of the Fish and Chip shops - queues that stretched for a 100 yards or more!

We visied the Captain Cook memorial in a 17th century house that was owned by the Quaker shipowner John Walker who employed Cook as an apprentice. The exhibition covered all of Cooks exploits and also had a special feature comparing Cook and Captain Bligh which left no doubt that poor old Bligh had been sorely maligned by Hollywood!

Lunch in a Pub with lovely harbour views, a walk through the old town and then back on the train to Pickering. On the leg from Grosmont to Pickering we shared a carriage with a fellow and his son who were obviously train buffs and learnt some interesting facts about the steam trains.

The last day saw us heading off to Thirsk a small market town which is the setting of the James Herriot novels and has a truly wonderful museum dedicated to these famous novels. The house is the actual veterinary practice of Jim Wright who wrote the books. The original Austin 7 used in the TV show is on display and a mock up of the Television studio and equipment used in production of the series. Very interesting.

And so we came back Langdon Hills and home.

For some reason my Blogger won't let me download photos today, so I will try later to do a page of pictures of some of the things mentioned in this Blog.

AUGUST HOLIDAYS-PART 6

The Island of Ulva is just a couple minutes ferry ride (passengers only) and there is a permanent population of just 10 residents. At the ferry drop off there is a small shop and an information booth which prescribes various walks around the island. We set off to explore and found the going quite comfortable -the tracks well marked and the views as usual outstanding. We stopped and ate our rolls after some time, and then carried on to see the monument to Laclan Macquarie. The island is also the birthplace of the father and grandfather of David Livingstone the famous explorer. The sheep are totally friendly ,if rather inquisitive ,but we were disappointed not see more wildlife. The walk back along the shore of the island was full of interest, but again we did not see any seals.

Early morning start on our return trip. Caught the Fishnish ferry at 7.25 and Carol drove the single track along to Corran and our final ferry trip for the holiday. Driving up the Glencoe Pass we found roadworks and had to queue for quite some time to get through. We opened the car windows and experienced the famous Scottish midgies - so the windows were quickly closed.
Our route to Stirling took us through some lovely country and we stopped in at Bowness to view the Firth of Forth.
Our B and B near Stirling was pretty ordinary but the owner did give us a good pointer to a pub for dinner where we had an excellent meal. After the meal we walked through the village which, by coincedence had a Scarecrow festival!! Into Stirling next morning and headed for the castle. We joined a guided tour which was extremely useful.The castle dominates the town, and overlooks the River Forth which afforded the only crossing between Scotland and England in past times. It was this crossing that led to several major battles between the Brits and Scots over the last 900 years. We saw two weavers working on a replica tapestry in the Tapestry room. This tapestry will take some 18 months to complete and it was quite fascinating to see them pulling threads through the material to create the picture -patience personified!
A brief walk through the old town of Stirling, a pint of beer and we were ready to take off for Pickering on the Yorkshire Moors - our final destination for the holiday.

AUGUST HOLIDAYS -PART 5

Today we are off to the Isle of Iona. It was a 30 mile drive toFionnphort from where we took yet another ferry ride to cross the Sound of Iona and arrive at this historic island.At one time there was a considerable population living on the island but failing potato crops and a lack of demand for harvested seaweed caused a migration to Mull and the Mainland.

This is the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. St Columbus built a basic Abbey(pictured bottom right) in the 600's and it was replaced by a more substantial structure in later years. As usual the Vikings had a few unwelcome visits, but the Abbey survived until the Reformation when Cromwell's lot knocked it about. In 1899 the Duke of Argyll gifted the abbey to the island but forgot to make any grant or contribution to it's upkeep, and it was some years before funds could be raised to start the restoration. This has been partially completed and the site contains many valuable relics in particular many stone crosses dating back to the 10th century. There are many traditional charming stone cottages such as the one pictured bottom left.

We had lunch in the Argyll Hotel - a superb meal not over the top price wise. Then a walk up the hill to catch the magical views over the surrounding water, and back to the ferry. Driving home we searched out the Mausoleum of Governor Macquarie who was born on Mull. The building is maintained by the National Trust Australia and records his life, in particular his Governership of OZ. Picture top right.

The next day started off with Carol discovering that the frame of her glasses had broken. Panic! She suggested superglue which yours truly said would not work, so it was decided to take the ferry across to Oban on the mainland and find an Optician to get them fixed. Well that was the plan, but none of the opticians had on site repair facitilies so we bought the bloody superglue and it worked.Good one Len.

Oban is a 45 minute ferry ride and takes you past Duart Castle which is even more impressive from the water. Carol waved to her mate the Maclean boss! Oban (pictured top left) is a fair sized town and set around the harbour with lots of fish eating places. We had prawn sandwiches (delicious) and and ice cream after touring around the town. We also visited the library and used their internet service free of charge.

AUGUST HOLIDAYS -PART 4

The first day on Mull we drove along the coast to the main town (Only town) Tobermorey.Reminiscent of Cornwall but with it's own Malt Whiskey distillery.
We found out that there was a coastal walk along to the Lighthouse so we set of full of energy. The track wound through very wooded cliffs with great views of the Loch every now and again. After half an hour we passed a couple of people coming the other way, and asked them how much further to the Lighthouse to which they replied "you are nearly halfway!" As Carol didn't have her walking shoes on and the track was becoming very muddy we decided enough was enough the Photo of Len resting says it all! Then two blokes came past with buckets full of Winkles - still haven't found oout what you do to them!
Back in the town, we bought a roll and a piece of Ham and Veal Pie and sat on the beach watching young Scots splashing in the water.
We drove back to Salem via Laggunulva where the ferry goes the short trip across Loch Tuath to the Isle of Ulva. There were two guys unloading nets full of Scallops which they had been diving for. They offered to sell us a dozen for ten quid, and as they were big and fresh we snapped up the offer.
Opening scallop shells is a bit tricky but we managed and that night Carol cooked 8 of them with a leek and white wine sauce and the ten quid purchase price was suddenly very cheap.I have not had scallops like them.

The next day we drove to Craigmure,the village where the Oban ferry operates from.There is little else there, but we did visit Toorosay Castle which is home to a family who have lived there for many years. The gardens are magnificent and the house contains stacks of family memorabillia. In WW2 the patron of the family escaped from a German POW camp and later wwrote a book about his adventures. The Caastle is pictured above right.

Then it was over to Duart Castle which sits on a clifftop guarding the Sound of Mull. It is a 13th century fortress brought back to life 100 years ago by Sir Fitzroy Maclean chief of the Clan Maclean. Wonderfully presented, the history of the Maclean Clan is laid out in detail. Carol was looking at one of the exhibits when a bloke wandered up to her. He was wearing a kilt and a tatty sort of shirt -introduced himself as the Chief of the Clan Maclean. He said he did not reside there full time because it was a bit rugged particulalry in the winter! They have one function a week - Maclean Clan descendants want to get married there, some want to renew their wedding vows and others just visit their clan home. Photo top left.

We were a bit distracted by RAF Tornados practising their low level flying across the Sound of Mull - wave top flying at 600 mph was a thrilling sight.

Just acr

AUGUST HOLIDAY- PART 3

Couldn't resist another couple of scarecrows from Kettlewell!

The last two days at Cononley provided a return trip to Bolton Abbey, a spectacular 0ld ruin set in superb countryside. We wnt for a walk along the river and watched a couple of fly fishermen trying to catch a trout - no luck. As we walked back to the Abbey I ran into one of my old golfing mates from the Ramsey Golf Club which just goes to show what a small world it is.Inside the Priory (which adjoins the ruins) and has had continuous worship since the 13th century,we got talking to a lovely old fellow who, when he found oout we were from OZ started talking cricket, and then told us that Freddie Trueman had been a parishioner for many years and was buried in the Abbey grounds after dying a few months ago.
On the way back to Cononley we stopped in at a little garage to see if we could get the knocking noise at the back of the car sorted out. They put it up on a hoist and after some tiime found a loose nut on a sway bar, tightened it and all was well. The charge -10 quid. As Carol had spent the last actual cash that we had with us at the Bolton Abbey shop - we tried to pay by card. "Sorry we don't take cards. "Forget about it, have it on us and enjoy the rest of your trip to Scotland!!" was the response!!
On the day before we left we visited Skipton market which occupies both sides of the main street and has unusually good quality goods. Carol got her winter jerkin and I bought two long sleeved shirts getting ready for winter. Finally managed to drag Carol away, and we packed ready for an early start to Scotland the next morning, and then went to the local to have a meal. But the little pub was packed and we couldn't bear the thought of battling lots of noise and smoke so we opted for Chinese from across the road which was excellent.
So off at sparrows for Bonnie Scotland - just a wee few miles up the road. We thought about diverting iinto Glasgow City but the amount of traffic deterred us and we stayed on the super freeway which took us some 18 miles across the whole town at 60mph. Then it was up to Loch Lomond.

This is one of the great scenic drives, alongside the Lake, and then up into the mountains. We stopped in at the National Trust Glencoe museum and were lucky enough to get in on a half hour talk about the kilt and Scottish life from a dinkey die McTavish!!The real kilt doubles as a sleeping blanket and several yards of spare material hang around the back.

We came to the ferry at Corran - a short hop across the Loch and then a 25 mmile drive to catch the next ferry across to Fishnish on Mull.The road quickly changed from a normal highway to a one way track with passing spots which considerably reduced the speed of travel. But we made the ferry on time, and a 15 minute voyage across the Loch brought us to Mull. A few miles away we came to Salem where our cottage was. It was ideally situated with a general store and post office almost adjacent, a pub and fresh seafood outlet a few steps away. We were looking forward to exploring the island and nearby islands, and fortunately the weather was ideal.

AUGUST HOLIDAYS- PART 2

Arrived at Cononley after some pretty fast Motorway driving, and settled into our cottage. Mrs Coates, the Landlady, had made a batch of scones for us, and told us that we should make a visit to Kettlewell where there was a Scarecrow Festival. The next morning we drove up to Kettlewell and wandered through this beautiful village and were astounded at the number of scarecrows that had been made. Every single house and business in the village had one exhibition or another, and the whole thing was done to raise funds for the local school. My favourite was the one above. We had lunch at the Bluebell Inn and then Carol found that this was the place where the original Calendar Girls had developed their idea of a nude (seniors) calendar.We bought the 2007 version.

The we drove to Wensleydale Cheese Factory and tasted and bought some of their lovely product.While in the shop there I saw a book about stonewalls in Yorkshire. These dry stone walls are everywhere and I found the answer to my question of "I wonder how many miles of these walls athere are?". The answer - some 4000 miles of them!! As they were constructed by one single builders in the main, the mind boggles ast the thought of how long it all took.

Next day we took advantage of a lovely sunny morning to drive up to the Lake District.By chance we finished up at a place calle Haverthwaite where a steam train line connected with Lake Windemere and a steamship cruise of the Lake up to Bowness. Here we stopped off and had lunch at an old Pub which was frequented by Charles Dickens. Carol was keen to see the house where Beatrix Potter lived and we found it just before closing time. Carol went in and I stayed in the car park chatting to a guy from Melbourne. The back to Windemere via the wrong road which meant queueing for half an hour to get the ferry across the lake - but beautiful sccenery and well worth the wait.