Chris's version of September holiday

Here's a photo taken at the Shepton Mallett motorhome show.  It's proof that the holiday started with rain.

There was time to call in for a few hours to see Dan, Dorelia and Maeve on Sunday 13th Sept between leaving the show and turning up to spend overnight at Poole ferry port.  Dan was due back at work on the Monday and here is Maeve testing his cap for him.

This is the tug that was nudging us into the port at Cherbourg.  Proof of continuing appalling weather.

Above is a view on the way in to Yvré l'Eveque on the outskirts of Le Mans.  It wasn't far from the campsite but I could just about manage it with my painful knee.

A couple photos of La Flêche, which was rather beautiful.

This one includes John taking a photo of something out of shot, the town hall I think.

Another photo of the Loire at Saumur.

We had a rather good lunch at the restaurant above.

Just before lunch we had walked through the 'square' above and it was full of market stalls busy with customers.  We went round this way again and it was all over and had been packed away into a clutch* of  white vans and trailers.

* Not sure that is the best collective term for white vans but I hope it conveys the business, noise and the scattering movement.

This was a lovely planted area alongside the road into Montreuil-Bellay.   At a time when our own local authorities are being so squeezed, if not more or less dismantled, I'm constantly amazed at what French communes seem able to do.

Here are three of the vintage cars that arrived outside the chateau at Montreuil-Bellay.

And here is John taking a photo of them.

Couldn't resist the cats enjoying the sun in the shop window.  Not sure what the shop sold as it  wasn't open.  It must have been sometime between 12 noon and 3 p.m. then.

Another view of the campsite sanitaires just outside Guérande.  You can just see our van in the background.

We stayed 3 nights here as the weather was good, the campsite was delightful, but also because my knee was the worst it had been and I couldn't really walk anywhere.  This was the best place to just relax on site.   On one of the days John drove the van to a car park in Guérande where we had lunch in the van and then walked about 100 metres or so to a pharmacy for paracetamol.  He then explored the walled city area while I rested in the van.   We must go back here when I'm able to explore it too.

Another great thing about this site was the proprietor.   He was extremely helpful in giving us information but it was also done in very slow clear French.  His English was clearly excellent but as we started the proceedings in French (as we usually try to do) he didn't put us off by replying in English, as so often happens.

At the next stop, Port Navalo, Arzon, on the Bay of Morbihan, I was able to take short walks around the area near the site.  Above was the walk back to the site from the boulangerie.

John has posted photos along the river at Villedieu-les-Poêles.  Here's one of him getting into position for a shot.

And here's one of mine.

And another of John

We spent our last night in France at Villedieu-les-Poêles but as it was only about 90 minutes from Cherbourg and our ferry didn't leave until about 10p.m. we had plenty of time to look round the market in the morning.  Above is a whole stall full of selfie sticks.

But we were more interested in the fruit and vegetables and bought lettuce and tomatoes.

We moved on to Ste-Mère-Eglise for lunch, where we bought lots of biscuits to take home (we still have some, but not for long).  I thought this stained glass window in the church was rather unusual, being mainly geometric shapes.

We had a cabin on the ferry back to Poole.  Surprisingly comfortable in spite of the crossing being a bit rough.

Our overnight stop in Oxford on the way home was a great last minute idea.   We docked at Poole around 8.30 a.m. so even with difficult traffic at times we were easily able to pitch at the site and then get the bus to the Natural History museum for lunch.

A small sample here, from A to Bee, of the exhibits.

Well, back to the beginning.  One of the things we bought at the show was some cookware.  It was meant for home but we did use it while we were away and were very impressed.  Shown is a large pot, which was called a casserole, but to me is more the size and shape of a stock pot.  We want some more.