Page 4 of Michaelandlesley Travel Blog Posts


Europe » United Kingdom » England » Hampshire » Southampton December 7th 2007

Ferry Cancelled We've said goodbye to everyone but have received a message from P&O Ferries letting us know that they are not risking their ferry across the Bay of Biscay to Bilbao on Sunday. The next available is leaving on Saturday 15 December. So we have now booked for Wednesday from Plymouth to Santander which takes only 24 hours instead of 32 from Portsmouth. And soon we shall be letting you know how we are getting along. All the best from Southampton. Michael and Lesley... read more

Europe » France » Lower Normandy » Cherbourg September 11th 2007

Ypres or Ieper We had an interesting time looking at the First World War artifacts and information which abounds in Ieper. There is a great and good museum there in the impressive Cloth Hall rebuilt after the desolation in the war. And we then headed down to Vimy Ridge which we knew of from the Somme visit earlier in the summer. It is very impressive. The Canadians have left the battlefield as it was left after the war and opened up the tunnels built into the chalk. It was a great victory for the allies and the Canadians led the charge. Normandy and Home But we had to move on to take our place in the St Lo 40th anniversary cycle rally. We had a great time and enjoyed superb French hospitality. We camped on ... read more

Europe » Netherlands » South Holland » Rotterdam August 31st 2007

Tandem Rally We had a great time at the rally and met some lovely people and families. Lots of kids but not in the campervan field. They tended to be in tents and caravans. We had good weather for the whole week with just one day with a couple of showers. But even those we avoided by being in the cafe at the time. After that we traveled west into Netherlands exploring campsites and cycle routes in Flevoland and then around Utrecht and Gouda which is a lovely city with some astounding architecture and stained glass. We found a site with a no smoking rule. The man who runs it found some special long and heavy planks to help the van onto the very soft ground. We thought we would sink in again as it ... read more

Europe » France » Languedoc-Roussillon » Montpellier August 20th 2007

The Tandem Rally and into the Netherlands We are doing fine. We finished the tandem rally last week finding some really good weather. We had only one day with rain which we managed to avoid by being in the cafe at the time. We met some lovely people but were amazed at the difference in their contraptions, their ages and the different ways in which they travelled to Osnabruck. We had driven up from Belfort in France where we had stayed at a very out of the way campsite, a club site in a high wood. It was a mean track leading up to the top which was a bit of a struggle on the tandem. But then we drove up through Germany. We had intended to look at some of the towns on route ... read more

Europe » France » Aquitaine » Bordeaux June 30th 2007

Via The Canal du Midi to Biarritz This wifi is difficult to find. Even now we cannot connect with the one of a friend. But we came away from the south coast to near Toulouse to a lovely site Domain de St. Laurant not far from the Canal du Midi which Lesley has wanted to see for some time. We explored it all ways and even went to stay with a Servas host (his first ever) in Toulouse. It's a lovely city. He was bit absent minded leaving us waiting for a desert he offered which never arrived nor he and so we went to bed. He was lost in a telephone call to his girlfriend. Then north a little way to Cordes sur Ciel near Albi and a site Le Lizart. It is English ... read more

Europe » France » Languedoc-Roussillon June 6th 2007

Frpm Versailles to Serignon Plage We have moved on from Versailles where we had a fortunate wifi link in the camping space. Excellent but not to be repeated yet. We have wifi here but we have to go to restaurant or near to get it. Not far from Paris, so they say, is Heliomonde campsite/home to loads of Parisiennes where we stopped in some great sunshine. We went into the pool. Michael hurt his back diving into it. Won't do that again. But it was a lovely site with lots of trees and very peaceful apart from being on the flight path for Orly Airport. We managed a tandem ride around the local villages and towns. But then this great storm threatened and then blew our awning almost off the van. It was a tremendous ... read more

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris May 23rd 2007

South From Calais We were amazed to see the coast of England so clear and so near when we passed Le Cap Gris opposite Dover from where we left on Thursday lunchtime so easily. There we loads of people about and we wondered what was going on. There were special markets in one or two villages as well. Then we twigged. It was Ascension Day. A Thursday in May. We stopped at our first French campsite just picked up from signs off the road. It was ok and friendly in a French sort of way. It was full of French who seemed to be living there. We were the only stopovers. The Somme Not knowing where we were going we ventured inland to Abbeyville where we pickup up a French electric plug and visited the ... read more
Thiepval Memorial
Versailles Gardens

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Hampshire » Southampton May 9th 2007

Still in Southampton We were due to leave home on Thursday 10 May but we have a failed step into the motorhome. This now needs fixing by the garage we bought the mh from, Freeborn of Southampton. Fortunately, we shall only need to take it to Hedge End but it means a delay of a couple of days. The weather has become colder and so we are wanting to go now. For those who have not yet seen our Autocruise Starblazer I shall include a photo or two. The nice thing about it is the capacity of a rear store/garage which can take all our three bikes. We hope to cycle a lot around France on day rides moving every so often in the motorhome. However, as you may realise, the delay means that I ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns April 25th 2006

Cairns and Queensland This is the final blog of our six months in the antipodes. We came to Cairns three weeks ago and found it wet. I am told this is the wettest April on record. Well we can confirm that it is seriously wet. We have even missed the worst of it. However, it is also seriously warm and sometimes hot. We have enjoyed this warmth however. We made it under the water to the Barrier Reef diving to see the wealth of natural history there is there. As the coral is just below the surface it was good to snorkle as well. We have tried to get to the Whitsundays but were rained off. We could not see them. We went north to Mossman for a restful week in a nudist resort. Got our ... read more

Oceania » Australia » Northern Territory » Uluru April 5th 2006

Ularu Michael wanted to visit this centre of the country as he had heard so much about it. It proved to a magical place. We had to make the best of morning and evening so we went to the Sounds of Silence meal at sunset in the desert. We walked round Ularu starting before sunrise. Magic. We took a ride on a camel (lovely creatures) to view Ularu at dawn. Magic. Meanwhile we read Songlines by Bruce Chatwin to provide us with an understanding of the Aborigines and their relationship to the land. But we had to move on to Queensland. Our last flight of our holiday. (One sad note was that one of the camels died the night before we took our ride and the men who ran the ranch were in floods of tears ... read more
Our Camel




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