December

We popped over to the UK to collect some old books and records from an attic. We drove back from the UK and crossed using the overnight ferry from Portsmouth landing at La Harve. We arrived to rain and hale. The windows of the car jamed open, so we got a little wet but 2 hours after landing, we were still less than 10km from the ferry. Eventually we got the windows to work and began our trip south though France...

We stopped for lunch in Chatres to enjoy the old city and then drove on, only to meet a wall of fog 20 minutes later.

We stopped at Oreleans (the home of Joan of Arc) and had a lovely night exploring the city in the fog.

Millau bridge at night.

We returned to find that the villiage have been clearing the banks of the river. They chopped down all the trees which may be a good thing, but not if your a bird.

We returned to find our home all decked out in Christmas colours and two christmas trees attached, one to the street lamp and the other to the downpipe. It was lovely and really set us up for our first Christmas in Cruzy, and our first without family for 10 years.

We stopped at Volvic on route for a bite to eat and a refreshing bottle of water. The signs all say the village is only 5km from the motorway. They are lying. Its a good 15 and its all uphill. The village was closed. We did eventually find the only bar open and had a toasted sandwich each and a Coke... followed by a bottle of Volvic for the drive home... which took us another 6 hours as we had to drive though Cleremont Feraund and the snow covered mountains that seperate the northern pains from the coast.

Our adventure began at 8am and we arrived in Cruzy at 8pm the following day.