For Amelia

January 17, 2014

We are finally in France.

Just a few days ago, on Sunday, we had a lovely walk along the River Itchen, followed by a Sunday Roast late in the afternoon, with Kate, Paul and Amelia.                                                                         

I guess that will be the last Sunday Roast until we reach the Costa del Sol . . .                                                                                      

And then we had to say our goodbyes to Kate, Paul and Amelia until March. That was really difficult, having seen them at least every other day, often for entire afternoons, particularly while Kate was on holiday, and Amelia on holiday from nursery.

We have been so lucky having had so much time with them all since retirement in September. We have probably spent more time with Kate since she was last on holiday with us many years ago.

It has been a really enjoyable and memorable time.                                                                                                                                                                                        

 Many meals out, including a Christmas lunch with Kate and Paul on a steam train on the Watercress line; a trip to Marwell zoo to see tigers, giraffes, zebras, baby snow leopards and a baby armadillo; a visit to Father Christmas to scare Amelia off Father Christmas; Christmas festivities and New Year celebrations with Kate, Paul and Amelia; Amelia’s first birthday and Amelia’s first birthday party - they were different - just like the Queen’s official and unofficial birthdays.

It was good that Adrian and Mary came down for both events, only last weekend with their motorhome. 

We had a lively evening with them at the Sandy Balls caravan site pub near Fordingbridge in Wiltshire.

And of course we have seen changes in Amelia in what is a short time in her little life so far.                

It was only September that Amelia was trying to roll herself from her back to front; now crawling at speed is no challenge, and climbing stairs has to be prevented! Walking is just a week or two away.

Of course, my karaoke skills have finally been put to good use in the early development of our granddaughter. I know the words of Postman Pat all the way through – all verses – Amelia is impressed! In fact she sings along, in her own way.

But for now, a change from that. After a stressful time in getting an MOT on the car, we set off for the Channel Tunnel at 9 p.m. on Monday evening, twelve hours later than planned. A few hours trying to sleep at a couple of service stations, and then arriving at Folkestone at 5 a.m. for our Shuttle at 09:50 – but they rescheduled us for 08:20 – so we then had time for a couple of hours sleep. It was bitterly cold, but by the time the alarm went off, the caravan was warm enough to wish we were still going on the 09:50 Shuttle!

It took us about 4 hours to drive to Beauvais. The plan was to start off on toll Autoroutes to make the first driving day, but not yet having read the instructions on the new GPS, we ended up driving on D roads, and through numerous French villages. But that worked out much better than expected. It was fairly easy and relaxing driving, with very little traffic, and quickly got us in a good frame of mind, forgetting how tired we were.

We left Beauvais for Sully-Sur-Loire on Wednesday where we are planning to stay 7 nights, explore some chateaux, and taste some wine. We have a wonderful view of the River Loire from our window, being parked right beside it – but above flood level!

Retirement is looking good so far.