Tyne Cot Cemetery

New graves

Bedford House Cemetery

SUNDAY 15-6-25

Last night we put most things away in preparation for leaving Ypres this morning, though we left the chairs out in order to drape our towels over to dry after our showers.

At times it's been quite an emotional day for me. As I unhooked us from the campsite mains electricity supply and reeling the cable in, I was thinking to myself that's the last time I'll ever do it in that capacity.

We hung around until the permitted latest leaving time of 11:00 as we hadn't really anywhere to go, or anything to do, though I did say to The Chef I'd quite like to go and visit a couple of our favourite Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries in the area. It was for two reasons. Firstly because this is where it all began for us as far as our European motorhoming is concerned. We came across here in September 2014 for a month and toured such locations as a way of getting familiar with the vehicle and its systems and driving extensively on the wrong side of the road. Secondly, this is very likely to be the last time we ever visit this area, and I have very fond memories of it all.

Our first stop was Bedford House Cemetery (N50.828492° E2.887620°). I won't bore you with all the details because this whole area has been covered in detail on previous trips.

We parked down on the main road and before even getting out of the cab with both thought it looked 'scruffy'. As we passed through the entrance gates all became clear as we read a new notice. The CWGC have got themselves involved in 'biodiversity' which isn't a good look in my opinion, but much more preferable than that Muppet Ed Milliband's 'Green Agenda' which will bankrupt the country, but earn us all a Blue Peter Badge for eliminating our measly 1% carbon output.

In the past all of the CWGC cemeteries we've visited across Europe have been absolutely pristine, something we Brits can be truly proud of. Now I'm afraid grass doesn't get cut as often as it should and edges get left to grow wild for all the little bees and bugs. I'm not against the idea by any means but not in our heroes cemeteries please. What saddened me most was that they are allowing weeds to grow between the stone slabs on the Cross of Sacrifice which if left unchecked will cause a lot of damage. OK, so they don't want to use insecticides, so get a flame gun out. Rest assured I shall be sending the CWGC a letter of complaint including photographs I took today. I think I shall sign it as 'Mr Angry of East Anglia'.

After our visit to Bedford House Cemetery we made our way to Tyne Cot Cemetery, another favourite. When they built the magnificent Menin Gate Memorial and engraved the names of British and Commonwealth soldiers missing with no known grave, they ran out of space at 54,896 names. To overcome this they built walls at Tyne Cot Cemetery (N50.887295° E3.000974°) the largest Commonwealth war-grave cemetery in the world, where they could engrave thousands more.

Tyne Cot cemetery is constructed on high ground which was strongly held by the Germans because whoever held the high ground could spy on the enemy as well as direct artillery fire down on to them.

That's where we had lunch and relaxed for a while until the tour buses had gone and we could wander around with far fewer visitors.

I left a little wooden cross with a poppy on it at the base of both Crosses of Sacrifice today. I bought a number of them a few years ago, and it doesn't look as if I'll get to lay any more in the future.

When we felt the time was right we left and prepared for our journey to Calais.

I was so pleased we went to those cemeteries today. They represent an age when our country was held in high regard throughout the world and our population had pride and self respect. Sadly that's all gone thanks to successive governments lead by limp-wristed liberal politicians. We have a basket-case economy (we're actually bankrupt but don't tell anybody) and excel in little or nothing. All of our best companies are foreign owned which means we get the jobs and they get the profits which get moved abroad.

Never mind, I'm 76 next month and I've had a good, and interesting life, but I feel so sorry for the younger generation who must feel totally betrayed. Governments would now rather pander to the needs of the illegal migrants arriving daily than spend the money on helping young people get a home etc. They have every right to be angry.

This evening we are parked a stone's throw away from the Auchan supermarket in Calais. We had intended to park on their car park overnight but we spotted a sign which even having attempted to decode it with Google Translate was a bit vague, but suggested that parking was limited to one hour.

We're now a short distance from the Shuttle Terminal for our return journey tomorrow at 09:50.

So that's it then.

Looking back on our motorhome adventures I suppose we set the bar very high to start with as we had two amazing ninety-day tours of America in 2008. This was followed by our biggest adventure in Freddy when we took him to Istanbul in 2015 and on the way back discovered so many of the places we returned to on later trips. It was after that trip that I decided to create the blog, having kept diary notes in America and during the Istanbul trip.

During next winter I shall copy and paste in to new folders on the computer all of the blog entries. It will be nice to look back on them in time. There are still faults with the blog as a result of www.simplesites.com selling out to www.one.com who created a less than perfect template to migrate the blog into. I may be able to rectify yet more of them in due course.

My main priority when we get home is to strip everything out of 'Freddy Fendt' and prepare him for sale. Once he's ready which I estimate to be late July, I'll advertise him here under a new heading 'For Sale'. He's been a good friend to us and taken us on many adventures and there will be tales to tell about them for many a day. More than anything we've always trusted him to keep us safe and comfortable no matter what the weather conditions. I hope his new owners will enjoy him as much as we have.

The Chef and I need to find new adventures and ways to excite us, even if only a little bit, given our ages.

My darling Chef was a young wife and mother which means she's spent many years 'self catering' so now it's time she had holidays where somebody else does the cooking and cleaning, she's earned it.  We're starting off with three weeks in Cyprus next January.

Beyond that we have no idea other than our wish to visit Vietnam next year. We need a new direction regarding how we spend our retirement days, and I'm sure that will develop over the coming months.

I'd like to thank those of you who have followed us during the past ten years - a big thank you for your interest and loyalty. During that time we have had over one and a half  million visits. It was never about the numbers, but the sharing of information and experiences, and it was warming to know there were people out there who were interested. If I have offended anyone then I apologise. Those who know me know I would never knowingly offend anyone, but sometimes we have to make a stand for freedom of speech and if folk don't like what is posted they are free not to read it.

When the blog's subscription expires next year I shall keep the domain name as I wouldn't want anybody else 'highjacking' it. It's personal to us and many hundreds of hours of work went in to producing it, including on days when I really would rather have kicked the cat or got drunk rather than posted anything.

For now it's a big thank you to all you visitors, to our families for their support and to Kathy and Malcolm at number ten who kindly keep an eye on our home while we're away. It's very comforting to know it's in safe hands in our absence. My biggest thanks goes to my darling Rosina who thankfully shared my sense of adventure when we became an item almost thirty years ago. I could not nor would not have done any of this without her.

I hope you all hold on to your sense of adventure, even if that means in later life all you are able to afford to do is pack up some sandwiches and make a flask of coffee and go down to the nearest bus stop armed with your free bus pass and see how far you can get in one day on the bus.

For me, I hope my epitaph will never read:

HE RAN OUT

OF DREAMS

Go live yours!

Doos voos serv dat wiff der cabbage?

The queue at our favourite ice cream parlour

SATURDAY 14-6-25

We've had to endure more inaccurate weather forecasts starting with last night when at about 02:00-03:00 we had a series of heavy thunderstorms. Perhaps they were the storms that they had originally guessed would pass through at about midday today, and then this morning with the forecast telling us we would be enjoying clear blue skies and sunshine all day we got a sky full of low dark cloud and the odd spot of rain, and that endured until late afternoon.

We decided to take a walk up the road to the three local small supermarkets. The first, a Carrefour was to try and buy something our former neighbour, Eileen, now sadly in a nursing home, used to like. Basically it's a tub of fat, rather like dripping, with lots of tiny shredded bits of cooked pork in it. I think it must be something our French cousins must really enjoy, but not for me thank you. Unfortunately they didn't sell it and neither did the lovely Spar store or Aldi. Oh well, at least we tried. We needed to try and source it today as on Monday morning we'll be heading straight to the Shuttle Terminal for our 09:50 departure with no time to go shopping.

After enjoying our lunch which included a filled delicious baguette which we bought from the Spar store, probably the nicest one we've had on the whole trip, we walked to the Ramparts Military Cemetery. We visit it each time we come here. It is such a lovely, peaceful place. If I were a young soldier and had lost my life fighting for my country then that is where I would choose to be laid to rest. The cemetery has 153 British, 10 Canadian, 11 Australian, 14 New Zealanders including Maoris' and 5 unidentified soldiers laid to rest in it. So it's a small one.

The sun was trying to break through which made things more pleasant. I was considering tying my mac around my waist just in case it rained, but I'm glad I didn't as I'd have felt rather silly as the afternoon progressed.

Having spent time in the cemetery, the last time we will probably ever see it, we walked in the park on top of the ramparts which offered us a degree of shade under the lovely trees. Eventually we came to the garden to the side of the Menin Gate. We sat on a seat in the shade by its side before setting off down the 'High Street' to take a look at the beach volleyball competition.

Well it wasn't quite what I was expecting. There were a limited number of spectators which were sat in a few low-rise and free 'grandstands', all of whom were probably proud parents because the competitors all looked like schoolgirls. Not a chap in sight, so it must be a young female competition.

Further wandering resulted in us coming across a number of pop up car showrooms with a number of manufacturers displaying their model range for all to take a look at, though I didn't see any pencilled-moustached spivs lurking to pounce and get a poor unsuspecting member of the public to sign on the dotted line.

There were also a large number of bric-a-brac stalls lining the side streets. This is one of the few things the French are good at, selling far superior tat than back home.

While we were down town I said to The Chef that I was not bothered about going to the Menin Gate 20:00 ceremony this evening, which would mean we've not been at all on this visit, but if she wanted to go, then I would gladly do so. She said she was fine about not going as we've been so many times before on previous visits. I think for me it's the fear that tonight's ceremony would be a bit of a bummer (they tend to cut them short at the weekends with no visiting military bands etc) and I would rather remember the ceremony as it was, especially my last visit when I laid a wreath, and my darling Chef videoed it as best she could given that she had never used the video camera before. Best to leave with fond memories I think.

We're now back at the campsite, our last night ever on a campsite, unless we decide to rent an RV in America for a month and see a bit more of that wonderful country. Tomorrow we must leave before 11:00 after which we'll pop down the road for another delicious Spar baguette before touring round a few of our favourite sites in the area, because, frankly, we'll have nothing else to do with ourselves.

I've identified a potential overnight parking spot for us tomorrow night before we rise with the larks and drive for about thirty minutes to the Shuttle Terminal.

FRIDAY 13-6-25

It was a hot night last night, but it didn't stop us getting our sleep, nor being up at a reasonable time this morning.

The showers here are very good in that they have a great flow rate. I came across something in the shower block I've never experienced before. When I opened the first shower cubicle door I came across in it was a large towel hanging up, but nobody in there. It had been reserved by  the only man in there who was having a shave at one of the basins, which meant I was able to use one of the other two. That was fortunate because if both of the others had been full I'd have ignored his towel and closed the door behind me.

As today was forecast to be another hot one we decided to wind out the awning before we left in order to try and keep the sun off the side of the vehicle. On top of that I reeled out my two cheap king-size cotton sheets from Amazon UK, bought for this exact reason, and clipped them to the frame of the awning creating a nice shaded area under it.

We wandered through the small park and then along the canal to the Menin Gate Memorial. It looked as impressive as ever. Sadly though there are some roadworks going on at its entrance so I'm not sure how that would affect the evening ceremonies. Having passed through the memorial I spotted that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have only gone and opened a gift shop just a stone's throw away from it, and good luck to them. Its opening hours are from 13:00 to 21:00 which means they cash in on all the many visitors who come to watch the 20:00 ceremony. I hope they do well because I am  great supporter of this organisation who care for all the graves and military cemeteries around the world, not just for our fallen Brits, but on behalf of all our Commonwealth allies as well.

The town square was very busy. It appears, having spoken to the ladies in the Tourist Office & Gift Shop, that they are preparing for a beach volleyball competition of international standing, taking place over the weekend. Having seen the size and depth of the competition area they have created it must have involved and enormous number of truckloads of sand to fill it. So really, right now, Ypres isn't looking terribly photogenic. Never mind, we've been here  numerous times before. Our first one was in September 2014 soon after I retired, and was the first trip we ever had away in Freddy Fendt. We toured various WWI battlefields and cemetery locations in Belgium and France, and believe me, we both found it very interesting and informative. What I like to see are the number of parties of school children from the UK who come here to learn about it. We all need to remember, not just the sacrifice made by our own brave soldiers but also by those of our many allied nations.

After going back 'home' the long way in order to buy some bits and pieces from the local Spar and Aldi shop, where The Chef bought some lovely strawberries and some ice cream.

By the time we got back for lunch it was really hot, hitting 31°C again. I was pleased to see that the cotton sheets hanging off the wind-out awning had done their job and it was all quite comfortable to sit outside.

When I looked again The Chef was right. They haven't increased the number of motorhome parking spaces on the hard-standing they have always been like that. I just don't remember us being that squeezed in before when we've visited. On top of that most of those parking spaces have no shade from the sun and so they have to sit outside and fry as there is not enough space to deploy a wind-out awning. Meanwhile we down in the 'Urinary Tract Infection Area' have a few trees and some grass as well.

Many of the Brits left today. Perhaps this is a Monday to Friday kind of place for them to visit.

We're popping out again tomorrow morning, trying to get something done before the forecasted two hours of thunderstorms at about midday, then perhaps we'll pop out yet again, maybe to buy some popcorn so that we can watch the spat between Israel and Iran unfold. Israel are certainly match fit given the effort they've put in to bombing innocent Palestinian civilians in order to get to the Hamas terrorists hiding among them, and Iran have certainly been dabbling subversively throughout the Middle East. It should be a good one.

She's such a good little worker!

THURSDAY 12-6-25

After a restless start to last night due to the noise from some HGV engines around us, we eventually enjoyed a number of hours sleep - and all for free.

Although this morning was lovely and sunny, there was also quite a breeze. So much so that after we'd travelled a few miles I decided to pull in to a Truckstop and empty the grey water tank. We'd only used about twenty-five litres in the previous 24 hours but that's about twenty-five kilos of weight that's moved from the front to the back, beyond the rear axle. That seemed to make a difference and I could continue without the feeling we were drifting a bit. I could have got rid of it before we left, but I wasn't sure if warm soapy water combined with HGV driver's dried pee on the tarmac would combine to make a combustible mixture.

We had about three hours of driving to do in order to reach our destination for 13:00. We managed it nicely with half an hour to spare. It had been another trip of swift travel and quite a few roadworks but despite a dodgy motorway surface in places we coped. I think it's because the motorway appeared to be a main east-west transit route for HGV's and they eventually ruin the surface. Stay in the second lane and you're fine, which is what I did as much I could.

When we arrived at the barrier of 'Urban Gardens' www.urban-gardens.be/en/ypres (N50.846890° E2.898179°) campsite, The Chef walked back up the road to the local Lidl store for a baguette while I stayed with the vehicle just in case I needed to move it.

We'd  booked a pitch at the campsite yesterday and were told they only had one pitch left and it was down the bottom of the site near the bathroom facilities rather than at the top on motorhome hard-standing. I was a bit disappointed, but once we arrived here that disappointment vanished.

This campsite used to be called Camping Jeugdstadion (according to Google Maps it currently still is), named after the terrific athletics complex next door, and was a Municipal campsite owned by the local council. But it's all changed now. Oh dear, hasn't it just. The last time we were here we were paying something like fifteen Euros a night including electricity, now it is thirty-two. That's quite a hike considering they've done nothing to improve the facilities, including the 6amp electricity supply. I know time can play tricks with the mind but they seem to have squeezed more motorhomes on to the hard-standing spaces to the point where all they get now is about as much space as you'd expect to find on an Aire du Camping Car, for either free or a small charge. But there you have it - they've doubled the price since buying the campsite and they're still full.

Our last minute booking has given us a nice grassed area of our own and it's only a stone's throw away from the bathroom block and toilet dump. We are down a cul-de-sac with only about five other campers, but I'm sure we've been put in the 'Urine Infection Area', because all afternoon campers from down that end have been back and forth to the toilets.

We elected to stay at the campsite for the rest of the day and just chill because it's been another hottie at around 30°C.

Tomorrow we'll go for a wander around town and no doubt attend the Menin Gate ceremony at 20:00. The last time we were here I had the privilege of laying a wreath during the service for 'Fly Navy' an organisation dedicated to the many disciplines involved with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy (it was in the days when we had more than two aircraft carriers and had enough aircraft to put on them).

As the afternoon draws to a close I am beginning to salivate at the thought of enjoying The Chef's delectation. In the meantime I am listening to a group very gobby Northerners halfway across the campsite. I don't think they appreciate just how loud they are, but I suppose it comes from all the years their ancestors spent working in the cotton mills up north and had to shout over the noise of the machinery. So I guess it's in their DNA.

WEDNESDAY 11-6-25

I was up and out at 08:00 for my shower. Having thrown on my dressing gown and scooped up my towel and wash bag  I stepped out and could tell it was going to be a warm one today. This made me doubly glad we had decided to hit the road rather than go about thirty miles up the road to Strasbourg and plod around there in the heat. Besides we've been there before a number of years ago. All we remember is it having canals with tourist tour boats on them and not much else. That's if you ignore the fact the Strasbourg in one of the two headquarters of the EU Parliament. They have the other in Brussels because, typically of the EU they can't make a decision about anything and so instead of somebody at the top many moons ago banging their fist on the table and stating which of the two it was to be, they danced around the problem and so have two, which means every few weeks all offices have to pack up their paperwork and everything else, and just like a travelling circus it has to be loaded in to lots of lorries and transported to the other HQ for a few more weeks. All at the expense of the European taxpayers.

I'm so pleased we were never drawn in to the madcap idea of a European Army. Firstly by the time Russia was at the German border having overrun Poland and anything else that got in his way, the EU would still be deciding on the name of their new subcommittee who would analyse the situation and report back to the Commissioners' with recommendations. Secondly, if you wind the clock back far enough, can you ever imagine our fellow EU military allies ever agreeing to help us regain the Falkland Islands after they were invaded by Argentina?

...............................Where was I? ........Oh yes.

It was quite and enjoyable shower with no morning male cleaning of the nasal cavities heard. Jesus, what some of them think they've got stuck up there I've no idea. It really is a disgusting sound. Thankfully today I was spared.

By the time I returned The Chef was out of the starting blocks and gone, armed also with her hair dryer she was clearly intent on giving herself the full monty.

Everything was done in time for a 10:00 leaving time. First it was down to the local Auchan Supermarket where, unfortunately there was a height restriction barrier in pace and so we couldn't get in to the car park. That was not to deter us and we parked in a side street just across the road. It was not an area that permitted such parking but needs must.

Having bought all we needed for the next few days we loaded up and hit the road. This was to be the first of two days travelling to Ypres in Belgium. We were taking the more northerly route through a titchy bit of Germany then through Luxembourg, then in to Belgium, and apart from a short section at the beginning in France - no toll roads.

It wasn't a bad journey today though it was quite busy. I think we must have ended the day on one of the main HGV east to west driving routes.

I'd heard that Luxembourg sold cheap fuel and so we took the opportunity to top up the tank as we passed through, we didn't need much, but every little helps. We paid €1.33 a litre which wasn't too bad considering we were on a motorway. Along the way I did ask my darling Chef, the resident mobile photographer, to take a few pictures in Luxembourg. She obliged, but to be honest, by the time I'd deleted those out of focus, the picture of the countryside taken through a large steel chain linked fence there wasn't much left. And what was left told us that Luxembourg was no different to its neighbours.

Having covered about half the journey will pulled in to a rest area here in Belgium. In fact, the satnav tells me our exact position is N49.82728° E5.51412°.

We arrived here at 14:50 and by 15:10 we had the chairs out, the blinds up and had made ourselves at home.

Not long afterwards an HGV pulled up behind us and we quickly realised it was from Ukraine. Once the driver was settled I offered him a cold beer. I didn't open the can because I wanted him to decide when it was appropriate for him to drink it. After he'd had his meal he climbed out and we had a little chat. He had limited English but it was far better than my command of Ukrainian. How humbling it was to be in the presence of a man whose country was suffering so badly. He was pleased that we were from the UK. Even though our country is in a perpetual spiral down a pipe to the sewage farm we can take comfort that Boris the Clown came out in support of Ukraine immediately after Putin's Russian invasion and that has always been appreciated by them.

Soon after he was on his way, and I felt just a little emotional as he left. What brave people they are. Whilst that madman Putin has targeted innocent civilians since day one, Ukraine has always done its best to hit only strategic targets. That's enough of that, because if I get going I'll be typing for hours on the subject.

Tomorrow we have about three hours of driving to do to reach the campsite at Ypres, and as we can't arrive there before 13:00 we've no need to hurry in the morning.

TUESDAY 10-6-25

We had a nice peaceful night here at the municipal campsite at Obernai, despite the place heaving with dog owners. They rent out bikes here and I'm surprised they don't also offer dogs for rental so that those campers feeling left out can rent one and take it for a walk.

Today was to be a rest day, therefore we stayed in bed until we were confident we'd miss the rush for the showers. Come the time, I was lucky and went straight in to a cubicle but The Chef had to queue.

My first task having had breakfast was to do some hand washing as this would be the last realistic opportunity. Then it was housework, it's a chore but the interior always looks better for the effort made.

Having discussed our options, and taken heed of the weather forecast of hot weather, we have decided to hit the road tomorrow heading for Ypres in Belgium via the local supermarket here for a stock-up.  Only this time we're going via Luxembourg, a country we've never visited, and on this occasion, just a country we're passing through. We're allowing two days to get to Ypres as I'm not one of those people who enjoys sitting behind the wheel hour after hour. It's not good, and it's not safe. We're looking to spend tomorrow night at a Truckstop in Luxembourg, one ideally with a dump station so that we can have a shower the following morning.

I ventured out this afternoon to buy a bottle of local white wine to go with my darling Chef's Thai Chicken Curry this evening. The shop selling it was further in to town than I remembered it from yesterday, so having made the extra effort I felt I should buy two bottles.

We've enjoyed our little stay here but now it's time to move on. As usual I have no intension of joining any queue for the dump station in the morning. It will all be done the hard way with a bucket and watering can.

Photobombed by a Lamborghini

MONDAY 9-6-25

I was up at a reasonable time, only to close the top roof vent and turn the hot water and central heating on. It had been a cool night and his morning was shower time. We didn't have lots of water to spare but I was happy if we used it all up as I could then drain what was left in the tank and fill with fresh.The Chef's suggestion was that for a change I should shower first, knowing I'd be as frugal as I could be, then she would follow on and wash her hair at the same time, using, possibly all the water that was left. In the end all was well.

In order to beat the anticipated scramble for the dump station I emptied the grey water using a collapsible bucket, eighty litres worth, which meant allowing a certain amount that would be in the toilet cassette for flushing there wasn't much left in the 100ltr fresh water tank. I was imagining myself pulling on to the dump station armed with my watering can and a two Euro coin and stealing myself for a competition rather like there used to be on TV's 'It's A Knockout'. How many ten litre cans of water could I get from the tap  in to the tank in the eight minutes allowed? We'll never know because I thought I'd just wait until we got to the campsite and fill the tank there, thus saving myself grief and a whole two Euros.

Upon leaving the Aire, our first stop was to be the local E Leclerc supermarket where we could also buy fuel. Upon arrival (N48.191759° E7.337308°) the car park was almost deserted. Surely we can't have been that early. Having collected a trolley and arrived at the main door we saw a notice informing customers that the store was shut until tomorrow morning.

After that disappointment we made our way over to the filling station and topped up. All we could do then was make our way to the local Lidl supermarket outside Obernai, our next stop. If that was also closed then we'd know it was a national holiday of some sort. Maybe the French were having a holiday to celebrate the export of their millionth illegal migrant across the English Channel.

Yup, it was closed, so it was off to the local campsite. Now we had our fingers crossed that they would have a space for us due to this obviously being a Bank Holiday. The late morning scene outside Obernai Municipal Campsite (N48.464684° E7.467580°) was one of chaos. As we approached I could see there were vehicles parked in the campsite exterior waiting area as well as vehicles parked on the kerb along the roadside. We were clearly not going to be able to drive up to the barrier. Having driven just beyond the site I entered an old folks nursing home complex and parked in there whilst The Chef went down to Reception to see what's occurring.

She was gone ages, so long in fact that I decided to move out of the old folk's nursing home car park, mainly out of fear that the staff would drag me out of the vehicle, sedate me, and take me back to my room. I parked up on the kerb facing downhill and the way we came in. The stupidity of fellow campers parking continued. In the end one old Dutch couple towing a caravan, and failing to see that there was no way in for them, simply pulled across the road and came to a stop blocking the exit from the campsite and the road from the old folks home. When The Chef appeared and said we were in I climbed out to sort out the route in. A fellow Brit in a converted van moved forward within the campsite car park leaving me to shout at the Dutch idiot to stay right where he was as I was about to cross in front of him and down the side of the Brit. The Chef said our pitch was just inside the campsite and it was all they had. I didn't care - we were in. We have our own hook-up and water point and if we need to use it our very own covered up grey water drain. The dump station is just across the way and we can people watch as vehicles and people go by in both directions.

The Chef told me afterwards that Reception told her we had been here once before. The Chef denied it, but they had us on computer, we'd last visited here in 2016. Sadly no discount for regular customers. After The Chef left I can imagine the young lady in Reception telling her colleagues she'd just served a lady with dementia.

Fortunately I was able to fill up our fresh water tank and plug in to the electricity. But we were a bit low of food supplies, and no lunchtime baguette. It was then The Chef suggested we wander in to town and buy lunch out which I agreed to.

It was a fifteen minute walk to the centre, and yes, more old houses. It was all rather nice but not as nice as The Chef remembers it. Still, looking on the bright side RAF Bomber Command must have liked it because they didn't flatten it eighty-odd years ago.

After wandering around and looking at numerous menus on display we settled on a restaurant near the town square. We both decided on the French equivalent of a pizza, with The Chef ordering a coffee and a glass of Pino Gris which was sweeter than I expected it to be. As for the 'pizzas' I think the chef must have gone for a smoke break while they were in the oven as they came to our table with the outside edges charred. What with the charred pastry falling off in small crispy pieces and the smell of smokers all around me I felt as if I was dining in a crematorium. Which reminds me, I have long said that back home all crematoriums should have a coffee and gift shop attached. Firstly to offer refreshments to those who have travelled a long way  for the funeral, and secondly the shop could sell souvenir  fridge magnets because as you get older you find yourself attending more and more funerals, and so it would be nice to have a souvenir of each crematorium you visit. But that's another matter.

French cuisine? Shite, and a waste of about thirty Euros.

It was all uphill on the way back but it didn't take too long. While The Chef settled in I went to check out the shower block. Thankfully the use of their facilities is included in the price. not something you can take for granted in this part of the world. Tomorrow we shall spend as a rest day and also discussing our options for the next six days, as it is due to be very hot, and if so, we are not going to want to spend it trailing around places like Strasburg.