Damp, dreary December

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

From top left:

Bungalow Christmas tree (before the cat pulled it over and the dog ate the chocolates)

Trafalgar Square tree

St Malo tree

Dinan tree

December - Wind, rain, more rain and the warmest on record.  

Last month, I mostly:-

- Felt seasick

- watched Tim Peake blast off in to orbit

- sang carols

- went to the Panto (oh yes I did)

- listened to Radio 4 whilst ironing

- played Jenga, Pictionary (good at) and Cluedo (bad loser)

- forgot to buy sprouts

- watched Doris Day films

- ate raspberry trifle in the bath

I love our annual family visit to the panto, complete with sweeties.

Aladdin at The Mayflower, Southampton - lovely building

We visited Maisie (town mouse) in London.  She greeted us at Waterloo holding a coffee (so 'London'!).  We had a lovely lunch in the Founders Arms on the South Bank.  The floor to ceiling windows give great views of the river.

The Founders Arms

A grey December day on the South Bank

We then had a wander around 'Winter Wonderland' in Hyde Park.  

No way would I go on that!

Wearing my yellow mac came in handy as I was easy to spot when we got split up by the crowds

Naff I know but Christmasy

I knew Maisie wanted to go on a ride and there were small (ish) children on this one so I thought it would be tame.....

Why?!  I had to hold on for dear life as it felt like I was going to fall out. I screamed so much I had a sore throat afterwards!

and calm.  Nice Christmas lights on Regents and Oxford Street

You couldn't move for people though

Harrods all lit up - nice

My gorgeous girls

My fellow Bungalow Girl has not got bored of brewing yet.  We are now a three barrel family (hic).

The Brewster - "ere!  That's my pinny!"

A most sumptuous mini (and I mean 'mini') cruise was enjoyed to St Malo with our fellow francophile friends, Pete and Angela.  

We left Portsmouth (or Portsmoose if you are a Brittany Ferry announcement lady) on the Friday night, woke up in St Malo, had the whole day and then back on the ferry Saturday night to arrive back home Sunday morning.  

Being used to calm summer seas, I was not expecting the sea to be that rough - we had a force 8!  I know that because my fellow Bungalow Girl listened to the shipping forecast before we left - not a good idea.....  I hardly slept a wink the first night, rigid with fear and a morbid fascination, just waiting for each crash of the sea over the ship.  I had to spend the whole of Saturday drugged up on strong, French, black coffee and lots of sweet patisseries to keep my sugar up and me awake! Pete slept through the whole thing and said it was quite normal......

Saturday night the sea wasn't so bad but the ship rolled and wallowed so much that my body kept sliding up and down the bunk and sometimes the bunk would even drop from beneath me for a second - bleh.....  I don't usually get sea sick but I did that night.  Once round the Channel Islands I did manage to go to sleep.  

We had breaky in our usual place 'Cafe L'Ouest' in St Malo - bit chillier than we are used to though!

We drove to Dinan - a lovely medieval Breton town

All the shops had their own decorations and trees.  The chemist shop had pill bottles on their tree.

Where is everybody?

So happy to be in France, even for a day!

Hello?

The Port

Can't believe we sat outside here and ate galettes one summer

We had a coffee to come out of the cold

So cosy

The highlight of my French trip was finding this cafe/bar that I must have missed on previous trips. What a find!  It was everything I love - mad, dusty and atmospheric (bit like our bungalow).  The entrance to the loo looked like it had once been a confessional in a church!

Le Cafe du Coin - St Malo, one of the oldest in the city, dating back to 1820.

Some of the bar seats were swings hanging from chains in the ceiling

We had a bracing walk on the beach

and a stroll before we left - to see the Christmas lights.

Even though I like sitting by the log burner and being cosy at home I can't wait for some more daylight and to get out more.

My mum brought round my grandmother's quilt, backed, edged and quilted for me.  So happy to see it hanging in all it's 1970's glory.  

Christmas Day

This is about the one and only sunny day we had in the whole month!

Big Dog so happy to be on a longer walk

Blue sky!  Bliss!

Frank always snuggles up to Big Dog and feels sorry for himself when he has been fighting

Naughty boy - the Al Pacino of the cat world

With the field behind our house flooded again, down-pipes swinging in the gales, anything that isn't nailed down flying around the garden, water buts overflowing and mud everywhere I feel like I could almost live on the Shiants in Scotland, like the author of the new (utterly fab) book I am reading....

'There was a time when I thought that to give the islands away, even to Tom, would be an unbearably difficult thing.  Sometimes, away from them, late at night in strange hotels, I would listen to the shipping forecast - 'Hebrides, Minches, Storm Force Ten, backing southwesterly, sleet, visibility two hundred yards',  I would think of them then, wet. battered and impossible, the rain slinging itself in handfuls of rice against the windows of the bothy, the churning of the sea....'

'Sea Room' by Adam Nicolson

Well, the daffs are out (I have never seen them out in the first week of Jan before - so weird) so who knows what the weather will do next!  Well, blow this damp, windy, grey island - I'm off (with my new book) somewhere slightly warmer......!

En vacances

Am back!  We now have new fibre broadband that is 37 times faster so I can upload photos to my blog in seconds rather than days! The modern world has finally arrived at the bungalow.

Holiday snaps from June - Brittany.

Hotels stayed in - 6.
Galettes eaten - at least 4.
Picnics at view points - lots.
Mosquito bites - 5.
Miles driven - 831.

As soon as the front wheels of our Land Rover hit the ramp on the overnight Portsmouth - St Malo ferry - we are on holiday.   We like to watch the sun set and then head for the bar - tres bon.

On the ferry

It's so nice to do the boring travelling bit whilst you are asleep and then arrive for breakfast in St Malo - fresh as a daisy (ish).

Favourite place for breakfast - Cafe L'Ouest

 I need coffee.

First stop - Menez Bre.  

We drove across several fields trying to find it! Thankfully we found a shady spot for our picnic behind this chapel as the heat was stifling.  We munched on tomatoes, crisps, baguette, cheese and apple that we'd bought in the supermarket and admired the amazing 360 degree views.  

17th Century chapel

Menez-Bre (Holy Mountain)

We then headed off for the pink granite coast that is so like Cornwall.  I love the tiny inlets and the interesting shapes in the rocks.

Pointe du Primel

We were very grateful of the cool in this church.

St Thegonnec

We can never get over the lack of traffic and the space in France.  We bang on about it all week!  The Monts d'Arree region is vast (148,000 acres), sparsely populated and I love this area of Brittany.  It has huge areas of heath, peat bogs, and granite. Apparently the area is rich in legends and sorcery.  I would love to visit in the autumn when it is shrouded in mist.  It reminds me of Dartmoor and I could spend a whole week on holiday in just this one place.

On a walk somewhere between Sizun and Commana in the Monts d'Arree region - everything is BIG in France!

Then on to Morlaix.

I managed to have a long conversation with a shopkeeper (I wanted to know if they sold stamps) completely in French with no signing, pointing or going 'errr'! Very chuffed.  It gets easier and we remember more each time we come to France.   Took far too many pictures of the viaduct and had a lovely raspberry Belgian beer at 'Le Tayler'.  Practised our French on a very chatty 19 year old waiter who served us at 'Creperie L'Ermine' whilst he practised his English on us.  I am feeling less than chic at this point though, not helped by the humidity and gnats.

Morlaix

Viaduct built in 1861 to carry the Paris-Brest railway

All the towns are so neat and tidy with beautiful flower displays.

Guimiliau

We watched the fishermen at Pointe-de-Penn al-Lann.

Very strange to find pine trees right up to the coastline.  To smell pine and sea all in one - a treat for the nostrils.

Pointe-de-Penn al-Lann

St Barbe - Roscoff

Roscoff - once the site of naval battles, raids and smuggling with the British (unruly lot)

We had an interesting visit to Landeda.  It was the only time that my fellow Bungalow girl/driver had a lapse in concentration when she dropped me off outside the hotel on the LEFT hand side of the road and then pulled away round the corner in to the path of an oncoming car! Mind you, the French do some interesting manoeuvres on the road too.  We witnessed one mad Frenchmen slowly reversing a caravan on to a roundabout!  

That evening we stopped at a restaurant and Sarah asked the waiter what 'Hache' was on the menu. Lots of head scratching ensued and then the waiter asked the whole restaurant, including customers, if they knew the English translation.   Lots of mumbling and then the waiter's wife was fetched from the kitchen.  She emerged holding a frozen packet of burgers and pointing at the picture.  All this took place whilst the cook balanced an empty bottle of beer on her head.  Nobody batted an eyelid.

Landeda - studying the menu

Evening stroll

View from our hotel window

More strange occurrences.  

We parked up in Locronan to visit the village (got heat rash now) and I was just admiring a camper van in the car park when I realised I knew the woman in it!  What are the chances of bumping in to a fellow singer from Poole in France who is en-route, travelling with her husband to Austria (lucky devils)?

Fellow 2nd Alto Liz & hubby - en France.  Fancy!

Locronan

We loved our hotel in Douarnenez, especially the outdoor pool.  I even managed to get my lily white English body in for a swim.  

View of the pool from our room

Dining room - very decadent

Our hotel - Douarnenez

Cap Sizun nature reserve

C'est moi - love my hat

Pointe du Van

17th Century chapel

Had a walk and a paddle at Bay de Trepasses (Bay of the Dead).  Beautiful beach with caves. According to legend, the bodies of those who had died at sea would be washed up on the beach in strong currents, hence the name.  Luckily we didn't see any corpses that day.  The sea is so cold! Very windy so good for surfers.  

Atlantic bit chilly dear?

Bay de Trepasses

Then Quimper on the way to St Malo so that I can eat my favourite Pork tenderloin with salt caramel sauce at 'Le Finistere'.  I'm ruled by my stomach.

Talking of stomachs.  Sarah had a very unfortunate experience in St Malo involving a seagull (won't talk about that though) and a galette with the local delicacy 'Andouille Sausage'.  When her meal arrived it looked like a pile of grey, rubbery worms.  It smelt like something had died!  Needless to say she pushed it to the edge of the plate.  We later found out that it was pigs' small intestines!  

Back full circle to St Malo

I don't know why I love St Malo so much.  It must the combination of beautiful beach, city walls, cobble streets with nice shops, masses of restaurants....  In August 1944, at the end of World War II, 80 per cent of the city was destroyed but it has been rebuilt in keeping with its historic character.  I wish they had done this in the UK!  Could Southampton have looked like St Malo?  Nice thought. Lots of people sit on the city walls and watch the sun go down with a bottle of wine.  Classy.

View from the city walls

Sun worshipper

People watching in St Malo

We spent the day on the beach in St Malo with picnic (of course) and books trying not to think of the journey home.  

Cheers m'dear!  You never see French people with a flask!

Quick stop at Arromanches - on the way to the ferry at Caen

Back home to drive off the ferry the next morning and immediately sit in a traffic jam on the M27. 

Je suis triste.......