Bog Roll :: stuff/holiday

We made it home without any delays. Our trains were running bang on time, well 1 minute late into Basingrad - but that counts as on-time... It had snowed, just as the news said, but was hardly 20 cm, more like 5 cm. Not a problem to anyone on foot with decent shoes but I'm sure it caused chaos for car drivers.

posted 20:38 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

Because of severe snowfalls in Kent customers were offered free travel another day deals in Paris this morning. At the moment we are speeding though the Kent country side looking out at the pretty but not very light dusting of snow. I suppose they got their fingers burnt badly in the run up to XMas, so they are taking no chances today, even if there is barely enough snow for a decent snow ball fight...

posted 14:09 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

Yesterday when we checked the evening news we discovered that southern England was under a blanket of snow - and not the feeble "pretend" snow of 2009, a real fall of 20-30 cm.

We checked and the national rail services seem to be running okay and Eurostar are running a mostly okay service, so we decided to try our luck and set of home from Paris.

We arrived at Gare du Nord in time and went through security and border control without a problem. The gates opened on time and we made it to our carriage only to be sent to another one. We legged it all the way to the other end of the train and we are now sitting in business class. They still don't have enough power sockets but that should be okay, as long as we are not delayed anywhere.

posted 12:17 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

We went on our shopping expedition on Saturday. We decided to try the Paris velib' bikes out. It was very interesting, scary in a few places but mostly very good and cheap.

We got the birthday gift we wanted and the gas converter we wanted, and saw new bits of Paris. Some sections of the city are very pretty and easy to view from bikes - some less so!

In the evening we went for dinner with family to celebrate a birthday. A very civilised end to a fantastic holiday.

Today was back to Blighty by Eurostar. Not so exciting but at least it didn't rain on us back from the station. Tomorrow it's back to work...!

posted 18:52 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

The return to Paris was uneventful. We got a lift back. It was cheaper than by train but it took almost twice as long to get home. Even at motorway speeds and with little or no congestion, the normal rail service is just so much more direct and faster than car travel.

After spending the night in Paris we drove out of Paris out to visit family. We did a whistle stop tour and said Bonjour to the in-laws. We spent a very quite night in the country - good for getting a good night's sleep without metro trains rumbling by.

This morning we took the train back to Paris. After a quick lunch we set out into Paris on a shopping research expedition. We did all the usual shops: Fnac, Decathlon, and Au Vieux Campeur. Tomorrow we shall go and buy stuff.

posted 21:17 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

We walked to the top of Puy de Dôme in the morning where we were met family from Paris who took the shuttle bus to the top. It wasn't such a bad hike, we did it in about 45 minutes (with breaks) from the start of the trail.

The view from the top was fantastic and it was very much worth the effort of walking up. After lunch and a gentle stroll round the top we walked down while the others returned on the shuttle bus.

As with the previous night we had a very mild night camping in Laschamps.

Today has been our last day with Manon the donkey. We walked from Laschamps back to our start point at the bread oven in Les Roches. It was a gentle (mostly) down hill walk weaving between the tree covered bases of several volcano cones. Today my partner's mother came with us, she wanted to walk with a donkey and was full recovered from 'flu so was able to come with us on the walk.

Today has been the day with the most rain of the holiday that we had to be outside. Thankfully the thunderstorm broke while we were under forest cover so we didn't get wet. We got back to Les Roches and put our stuff in the car no more than a minute before another storm broke over our head. While you wouldn't say the trip has been without rain, we have been incredibly lucky so far in not getting too wet.

Tonight we are in a hotel, tomorrow we will go back to Paris.

posted 20:45 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

Woke up in the middle of the night. The sky looks very pretty when there is no light pollution! Can't say it was a quiet night though, the local fisherman made quite a racket most of the night. At least we had a quite breakfast as most of the fishermen left for their breakfasts and the day visitors hadn't arrived by the time we left.

Next we trekked east for the day to just south of Puy de Lassolas and Puy de Vache, where the park headquarters are. We setup camp on the lawn and put Manon in a vast and luxurious paddock - there were no other horses or donkeys in

Another cool night, but warmer than the night at 1200 m by the lake. The facilities at the Gites d'étape are good and we were able to use them for only €4. The morning started out beautiful again.

This morning we hiked up round the two near by volcanoes: Puy de Lassolas and Puy de Vache - well worth the effort. In the afternoon we packed up our stuff and set off for Laschamps.

Another night wild camping but lower again so it should be warmer again. Tomorrow Manon has the day off as we hike up the 1464 m of the nearby Puy de Dôme volcano.

Still no 'flu symptoms, looks like we are okay.

posted 19:15 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

Our first dry night! It's not that the Ferrino tent leaks much but rain and thunder doesn't help with the sleeping...

The morning broke beautifully and we were able to pack up in glorious sunshine. When we went to collect Manon the donkey she was still there so we headed off for our first full day of donkey trekking without any problems.

After a few hours we arrived at Orcival several kilometres to the south. We put Manon in her coral for the night and booked into the the hotel (no camping facilities here). Not the best hotel in the world but it was clean and dry.

Refreshed from our night in a bed we set off to the near by lake of Lac de Servières. We arrived around lunch time and spent all day here. Everyone wants to take a picture of Manon or feed her some leaves - she is proving quite popular!

Tonight we wild camp by the lake - a bit of a change from a hotel. At least it's a beautiful day.

Still no 'flu symptoms...

posted 20:51 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

Today was our first day with the Donkey!

The day started well, it had eventually stopped raining and we hadn't been washed away during the downpour - the campsite was on the bank of a river...!

We packed up the camp and climbed into the taxi for the short ride to the trail head where we'd pick up our donkey for the holiday. We were dropped off by the bread oven in the warm August sun hoping we were in the right place and the the donkey would turn up.

After a painfully long wait Mr "Volc'Ânes" turned up with Manon our donkey. After a quick briefing about Donkeys we set-off on our own with all our stuff on the back of a half-grey-half-Provence donkey...

The first few kilometres was not very good, our stuff kept slipping from one side to another. We unloaded Manon over lunch and then reloaded her afterwards and made it safely to our first overnight in the tiny Hamlet of Mazeye.

Still no 'flu symptoms...

posted 20:16 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

We took the SNCF TER Corail service down to Clermont-Ferrand from Paris in the morning. Not as fast as the more modern SNCF TGV service but still a pretty decent InterCity service and a decent 30 kmh^-1 faster than a car on the motorway. At Clermont-Ferrand we changed for a local service to Pontgibaud were we set the tent up at the small municipal camping site.

Our first shock came as we were putting up the tent, my partner's mother was diagnosed with Type A (H1N1/09) 'flu and there was a good chance we'd come down with it!

Our second surprise was the sheer strength of the thunderstorm that started after dinner and lasted almost until breakfast... We knew that a storm was predicted we just didn't expect it to be so loud and last so long.

On day 3 we decided not to go far as it was a bit grey and damp. We went up to a local lake for a walk. We didn't get very far before it started to rain again. It didn't stop all day, or for that matter, all night! At least we haven't gone down with 'flu yet...

posted 22:18 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

We're on holiday! No more work for us. Even though SNCF did their best to thwart our plans we set off on time with a viable plan. Even better we got a lift to the station from friends in the village and SWT upgraded us to First Class for the section of the trip into London.

Eurostar are a pain, check-in takes an age and you can't take BS EN417:1992 gas cannisters on their trains, apparently they are dangerous... I believe lots of people take aerosol sprays on with them and they are full of butane too... Anyhow we made it to Paris by Saturday night all in one piece.

On the Sunday we had to get hold of a gas cylinder for our stove, which is a pain as we had forgotten the converter for the readily available CampingGaz "blue" piercable cartridges. As most shops in France are closed on a Sunday this was inconvenient, but in the end we found a Decathlon open that had one Primus cylinder in stock.

posted 19:13 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

Shortly we are going on holiday to France and plan to use the normally excellent rail service offered by SNCF to get about.

However one minor requirement is a decent map of the rail network in the Auvergne where we plan to travel so we can decided exactly where we are going to go. It's hardly a complex requirement, a simple PDF with coloured line maps and stations will do along with easy access to the timetables.

SNCF/TER don't seem to think the way I do. Their marketing droids think a crude flash animation with and handful of stations will do and a web application that lets me pick my route, assuming of course I know all the station names.

I thus resorted to Google searching for a decent rail map of the region and so far most of my searches have found sites where people ask the same question "Where is there a decent map of the French rail network". There are plenty of low scale and old maps out there, though even they are not on the SNCF or TER web sites.

One day when the revolution comes, marketing people and graphic designers will be the first up against the wall...

So dear lazyweb, "Where can I get a decent rail map of France?"

posted 19:39 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

Just got back from a cracking week's holiday in Cymru (Wales). Contrary to popular opinion in England, the Welsh people we met were very friendly and it was very sunny and dry all week...

posted 20:22 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

We spent a few days in the country side visiting family. We said hello to the horses, ponies and dogs at the Stables, and enjoyed the mild weather and not having to do anything.

On Thursday we returned to Paris so that we could go to the big agricultural show in Paris on Friday: Salon International de l'Agriculture at the Port de Versailles exhibition centre. Lots of stuff and very busy.

Saturday was unseasonably mild, close to 20°C in central Paris - a nice day for a stroll at the Jardin des Tuileries and on Sunday we came home..

posted 22:35 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^

We went up to London as normal, except some naughty railway person moved the EuroStar terminus from Waterloo - where our local train arrives - to St. Pancras which is two tube trains away. Trundling across London with our bags eliminated any advantage of getting from the London to Paris any quicker from the new terminus...

On Sunday we went up the tall pointy thing in the centre of Paris that looks a bit like Blackpool Tower. It was very windy and cold at the top but the view is quite impressive - better on a clear sunny day no doubt. Our friend's six year old son really enjoyed the visit to the top and by going early in the day and on not such a sunny day we hardly had to wait at all.

In the afternoon we then went to Palais de la découver which is a jolly nice place, lots of nice stuff to do and very interesting - even if you are six.

On Monday we went to "Le Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle" which was also very interesting, much better than the Natural History Museum in London. Again we managed to entertain our six year old guest.

On Tuesday our friends went back to the States and we pottered about in Paris doing a bit of shopping before setting of into the country to see our family not in Paris.

posted 19:49 :: /stuff/holiday :: permalink :: ^