.. and (sorry!) only likely to be published mid-June! Greyrocks' standards - never high - are plummeting!
Seventeen days to be exact, and a vary variable set of conditions!
The long drive North featured seven torrential downpours, but at least being May Day there were few trucks on the roads and Greyrocks uses a route that has few tolls and often no vehicles at all in sight. The traditional "mess in/round Rouen" went well too:- by ignoring Michelin advice and following the signs! We were at the Kyriad in Coquelles good and early, but plans began to fall apart when we asked about dinner - a main reason for going there and not a cheaper hotel - and were told there would be none. May Day! (This is not the first time this has happened:- failure to learn!)
So we hunkered down to making good use of Skype to do some financial and property business. As an alternative for eating the receptionist suggested a Buffalo Grill in the village and seemed a little surprised at our negative reaction. (Last year's experience in Alencon being firmly considered to be the last!) so instead we headed for the near-deserted Cité d'Europe where the Food Hall was fully operational and offered plenty of choice. We went to a Parisian-style brasserie and did the full "off to UK" number with soupe de poisson, escargots, boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin! Next day Greyrocks was impressed by MyFerryLink. The ship was one formerly used by SeaFrance and very comfortable and there was good free WiFi for the continuing admin saga.
Change all clocks, stow Euros, have the umbrella ready and remember to drive on the left!
Seventeen days to be exact, and a vary variable set of conditions!
The long drive North featured seven torrential downpours, but at least being May Day there were few trucks on the roads and Greyrocks uses a route that has few tolls and often no vehicles at all in sight. The traditional "mess in/round Rouen" went well too:- by ignoring Michelin advice and following the signs! We were at the Kyriad in Coquelles good and early, but plans began to fall apart when we asked about dinner - a main reason for going there and not a cheaper hotel - and were told there would be none. May Day! (This is not the first time this has happened:- failure to learn!)
So we hunkered down to making good use of Skype to do some financial and property business. As an alternative for eating the receptionist suggested a Buffalo Grill in the village and seemed a little surprised at our negative reaction. (Last year's experience in Alencon being firmly considered to be the last!) so instead we headed for the near-deserted Cité d'Europe where the Food Hall was fully operational and offered plenty of choice. We went to a Parisian-style brasserie and did the full "off to UK" number with soupe de poisson, escargots, boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin! Next day Greyrocks was impressed by MyFerryLink. The ship was one formerly used by SeaFrance and very comfortable and there was good free WiFi for the continuing admin saga.
Change all clocks, stow Euros, have the umbrella ready and remember to drive on the left!
First stop was Bromley for eye tests and a start on the annual stocking-up with goods difficult to source outside UK, then to Forest Hill for four days with Neil and Maggie across the UK bank Holiday. As usual gastronomy figured prominently:- the four of us went to two different eateries in Forest Hill itself, which is going a bit up-market; there was a dinner for six (old Croydon NE Labour Party comrades) and a Sunday roast on a very hot garden-based day. Greyrocks made itself scarce - after the vast washing-up - task for most of the daylight hours scurrying around on property-related activities and visiting the old Balham home and neighbour, whilst also finding time to fail in the quest for a new bike and succeed in the purchase of -and initial encounters with - a Tesco Hudl. (Simply wonderful!)
We then went up to Suffolk and could feel the temperature drop. By the time we arrived in Oulton Broad shorts and sandals were looking like a mistake. A new bike for Ruth was picked up and got a very chilly trial around Great Yarmouth the next day whilst waiting for Yvette to be serviced. After last year's warm equivalent this was a return to normal conditions and sheltering in pubs! A new venture however was wrestling with pharmacists and a Spanish prescription. What a saga! During the drive back we got caught in a ghastly traffic jam, so had to go directly to The Jolly Sailor where an early family meal had been booked. Greyrocks thus turned up tustled and shabby:- what a surprise! Quite an interesting experience under new management! There might just be a Trip Advisor entry if Ruth ever gets settled with a stable internet and unenticing weather! The next day it rained.. and rained! The most interesting activities were a long talk with one of Rick's ex's sons just back from Aus, finding a great deal on 720 teabags at the Co-op and witnessing the cooking of a chicken with a wine bottle stuffed up it - which worked!
So next it was a drive to Portsmouth which involved an interminable slog round the M25 - complete with accident-related hold-up and a navigational error in the final kilometres before finding the (very, very cheap) Travelodge on the edge of the city. It was bitterly cold and we had a list of business tasks involving scanning, printing and ID checks - all of which got done but interfered completely with the intended "relaxed weekend sightseeing in Pompey!". Chloë came down by train to stay the night and do the family lunch next day. The hotel was good but the pub downstairs was the simple solution for eating and remarkably poor with a nasty niff! Everyone was grumpy! The family has had to seek a new venue for these events since Uplands changed hands. We all met up at a Beefeater pub in Bedhampton and it was definitely fit for purpose. All nine of us were happy with our Sunday roasts etc. We put Chloë back on a train with Goan goodies and ourselves left next morning.
Brighton for shopping en route to NE Kent:- disaster! First the M27 is not a place you want to be on a Monday morning - and then it poured and there was nowhere for a quick breakfast except a ghastly Shell garage with despicable prices and service - and then there was the parking headache of inability to use multi-storey because of the bike rack and the Green Party council (theoretically rightly) charges the earth, and then after a very fruitful shopping trip the heavens opened as we made our separate ways back to the car to meet the deadline. A torrent! Greyrocks was drenched in sandals and summer clothes! Thank you, Brighton and Hove!
With some trepidation we set off for Herne Bay. This was the only stop not determined by business, family and friends. It was to be four days with cycling opportunities and a little bit of finalising the provisions and it almost managed to be that! One day we rode via Reculver to Margate on the coastal path, ate some seafood at a stall and came back by train, we went to Ramsgate for Bob to try and cycle but the cliffs in both directions defeated him, we visited the excellent Manston airport museum and we rode to Whitstable where we were too late for a pub lunch of oysters etc but found a shed selling them for eating outside which was rather better! All very pleasant - the best side of England - and the sun shone! With both Steak and Curry nights at a seaside Wetherspoons and two chain pub-restaurants we also got these institutions out of the system for a year at reasonable prices!
The final stay was with friends in East Sussex, so we headed off there with the sun still shining and a shopping stop in Maidstone. Highlights were a walk round the garden of Sheffield Park where the rhododendrons were in full glory and strange cycle ride near the Sussex Ouse and Lavender Heritage Railway, which was not quite as easy as suggested on the website, but did go near a pleasant pub with beer garden.
On Sunday evening we went to the pub at Mark Cross and indulged in superb Roast Beef with all the trimmings, which will be the last for eleven months as next day Greyrocks left from Dover for the southerly slog.
So next it was a drive to Portsmouth which involved an interminable slog round the M25 - complete with accident-related hold-up and a navigational error in the final kilometres before finding the (very, very cheap) Travelodge on the edge of the city. It was bitterly cold and we had a list of business tasks involving scanning, printing and ID checks - all of which got done but interfered completely with the intended "relaxed weekend sightseeing in Pompey!". Chloë came down by train to stay the night and do the family lunch next day. The hotel was good but the pub downstairs was the simple solution for eating and remarkably poor with a nasty niff! Everyone was grumpy! The family has had to seek a new venue for these events since Uplands changed hands. We all met up at a Beefeater pub in Bedhampton and it was definitely fit for purpose. All nine of us were happy with our Sunday roasts etc. We put Chloë back on a train with Goan goodies and ourselves left next morning.
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| Margate seaside stall! |
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| C and W: the old Canterbury to Whitstable Line! |
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| Reculver Castle |
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| Whitstable Oysters - and no reaction! |
With some trepidation we set off for Herne Bay. This was the only stop not determined by business, family and friends. It was to be four days with cycling opportunities and a little bit of finalising the provisions and it almost managed to be that! One day we rode via Reculver to Margate on the coastal path, ate some seafood at a stall and came back by train, we went to Ramsgate for Bob to try and cycle but the cliffs in both directions defeated him, we visited the excellent Manston airport museum and we rode to Whitstable where we were too late for a pub lunch of oysters etc but found a shed selling them for eating outside which was rather better! All very pleasant - the best side of England - and the sun shone! With both Steak and Curry nights at a seaside Wetherspoons and two chain pub-restaurants we also got these institutions out of the system for a year at reasonable prices!The final stay was with friends in East Sussex, so we headed off there with the sun still shining and a shopping stop in Maidstone. Highlights were a walk round the garden of Sheffield Park where the rhododendrons were in full glory and strange cycle ride near the Sussex Ouse and Lavender Heritage Railway, which was not quite as easy as suggested on the website, but did go near a pleasant pub with beer garden.
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| Just one of many gorgeous sights at Sheffield Park |