Here we go to France

Saturday 3rd September 2011

Here we go, here we go, here we go… Off to France with the trusty Dorothy. Last year in France was disastrous: bits of the folding camper kept breaking, the front suspension went on the car and cost mega-euros to put right, Kim was off his feet with gout and cellulitis due to an insect bite so the latter half of our holiday was a bit of a nightmare. For once we were glad to be home. This year I’m optimistic but can’t stop the demon trepidation creeping in.

Good start – Dorothy’s tyres needed air so we were late setting off. One of these days we’ll get going on time or, by some miracle, early!

We stopped for the night at Oak Farm Animal Sanctuary in Aylesbury. Very strange place with sheep, lots of geese in a muddy enclosure with a dubious looking pond, and a tame donkey wandering around in the farmyard. There were bantams and peacocks running loose and quite a few neglected apple trees. (We had stewed apple for a few days.) It was OK for one night but I wouldn’t recommend it for a long stay. There was a shower and toilet but they were a tad primitive and not very private. We walked up the lane to look at the canal and that was scruffy too, as were the hedgerows and fields. The whole place felt like an uneasy dream.


Sunday 4th September 2011

We stayed the night in a field behind the Drum Inn, Folkestone. Expensive @ £18 per night (with hook up) and a slot meter for the shower. I chose this site because it’s only a few minutes from the Tunnel, so there’s no denying its convenience, and you can have dinner in the pub if you don’t feel like cooking. The weather was filthy and some hardy souls were camping in a wee tent! I suppose they were well fortified with alcohol.

The trepidation was justified. I fell off the caravan step and sprained my ankle. I sat in the wet grass, cursing and whimpering, until Kim came to pick me up. The pain was so bad we thought we’d better get it looked at before we ventured onto foreign soil so we spent a couple of hours in A&E. The x-ray showed nothing ghastly so we decided to go ahead with the hols, even tho the doctor gravely told me it was a Very Bad Sprain and would take Many Weeks to Heal!

And to think, I’d wanted to put the crutches in the roof box in case Kim was bad again but was out-voted.