Bokkie's Travels: October 2019

Near Noyal-Muzillac - Bird life

Monday 14/10/19

We've had a mix of weather so have been spending our time working in the garden, collecting walnuts and sweet chestnuts, and hiding from the rain indoors. The lawns have had their first cut of the sit and look wonderful, (despite the best efforts of the local mole population) and Toni has been cooking and baking up a storm.

The bird life in the area is amazing and I have added some photos; most of them taken through the lounge window.

Blue tit

Buzzard

Male Chaffinch

Garden warbler

Great tit

Greenfinch

Magpie

Robin

Wagtail (White, I think)

Wren

Let me know if I have any incorrect identifications - I'm keen to identify as many birds as I can during our time here.

Near Noyal-Muzillac - Back again

Friday 11/10/19

If Bokkie had feet they would be up at the moment. She has the next six months off as a motorhome and will only be used as a van for trips to the shop or an occasional sightseeing trip, but we are now settled into 'our' home until April.

We came into the sit a day early as it had started raining non-stop and our hosts were keen to travel slightly earlier to get set up in the UK. Our trip down had worked out so that we were very close when they contacted us - we did some shopping and went to a nearby aire to empty our tanks before making our way to the house.

It really was lovely to get back to the property, as expected the owners, B&T, had tidied, mowed and trimmed everything beautifully and it all looks almost winter-ready. They have also kindly left us a huge amount of produce from the garden to enjoy: (huge) butternuts, onions, shallots and potatoes, and the potager still has spinach, chard, beetroot, parsnips and carrots growing. The walnuts are starting to drop so that is our current big project: collecting, drying and storing these for next year.

We've not come across Medlar before but will try preserving these.

Jasper has grown up so much and is as friendly as ever and even old-girl Jess welcomed us home.

Jasper welcoming Bokkie back.

Because we had the the three week sit earlier we knew what to expect and settled in very quickly, even though it always amazes us how much stuff we have in Bokkie - and we carry much less than most! As we knew we were here for the winter we had raided our storage in the UK for warm clothes and anything else we would need. It is really amazing to have such a lovely house to see out the winter.

We had a few meetings with B&T to go through the winter house and garden routine and had some training sessions on all the equipment. Before long they were on their way to catch the ferry to their winter home in Southampton and we were left in charge. We'll see them again in December for some tree surgery on the property, and we are hoping to see a few visitors over the next six months as well.

We won't blog regularly - only if something really interesting happens or when we get some really nice photos together. I will also do a cost and stats update once we have completed a full year on the road - in early November.

Jess is more difficult to catch on camera but we have no such issues with Jasper - he adores company and comfort

Port Foleux

Sunday 06/10/19

Bokkie is parked in a port town where the rivers Etier and Vilaine meet.

Busy Port Foleux

We had a fairly disturbed night's sleep; the town was quiet enough but it kept pouring with rain and we would invariably wake up each time it rattled on Bokkie's roof. We made an early start even though we had a fairly short drive today and we topped up with diesel along the way. Being Sunday, the roads were beautifully quiet - hopefully most of the people were in church!

Some of the aires are nicely positioned but unfortunately this one doesn't let us park in any of the prime positions so we don't really have front row seats to any of the goings on, but it's a pretty place all the same. The weather cleared up nicely so we crossed over the Etier and went for one of the forest walks which was lovely.

Looking up the Etier

Never seen a tree do this...

Bonus pic;- pretty crab-apples to brighten up the dashboard rockery...

Availles-sur-Seiche

Saturday 05/10/19

Today's drive was a grey affair, and unfortunately Bokkie's navigator / photographer (Toni) got distracted and started playing with the camera's settings so you will need to direct any complaints or compliments about the content her way.

It was a really wet affair travelling from shower to shower but at least the rain had stopped by the time we reached our destination - only the low cloud looms. We are in a very small village where they have set aside a lovely area next to the river Seiche. A 'local' Englishman popped over to chat for a while, he lives in the next village and pointed out how low the water level was - they are rooting for more rain.

Our only company for the night - le cheval and...

la vache.

Availles-sur-Seiche

Bokkie in her spot for the night

There was quite a boisterous group enjoying a picnic (with many bottles of wine) on the other side of the river when we arrived and they looked quite pickled by the time they left so we hope they all made it home ok.

It looks like we might be on our own tonight, hopefully it will be nice and peaceful.

Les Ventes Du Four

Friday 04/10/19

Bokkie has now done over 10,000 miles since we bought her and will soon have a well-deserved rest.

Bokkie in her spot with the service point in the foreground. I have made sure not to park directly under the oaks -
acorns landing on the roof are no fun

As the overall mileage we have left before our house-sit starts on Tuesday is quite manageable we decided to change tack slightly. We normally plan our route and then try to find aires near to where we want to stop. For the next few days we rather looked at the general direction we need to travel and then selected the highest rated aires in the general direction. We found this absolute gem on the edge of a forest which has free services and is really nice and quiet.

We had a lovely drive through the farmlands of France to get here and then went for a long walk through the forest, somehow managing to get back to Bokkie just before the heavens opened!

I managed to watch the SA rugby match on catch-up as well, so a really pleasant day.

Rouen day trip

Thursday 03/10/19

We decided to stay parked at Montville today and make the short train trip into Rouen. Once we had found out how to use the ticket machine and asked a French lad to help us with the composter (you need to validate your ticket before travelling - we were worried the machine might compost them), we waited for the train which was a bit delayed. It was only a 10 minute trip and very reasonably priced compared to UK travel.

Although it's easier when the machines offer English we
always seem to manage fine with the French

Rouen station

It was quite chilly today but we had dressed very appropriately and kept quite warm. We had a fantastic day walking around the city which is absolutely lovely. Much of the city, including the amazing cathedral, was bombed in WWII and has been restored since but is really a wonder to behold.