As we went to bed so late last night we ended up only going out for breakfast at about 9:30 this morning. We didn't want to eat in the hotel because it was R150 each for breakfast. We did find a small bakery/cafe and managed enough French to order coffee, orange juice, hot chocolate and pain au chocolat's.  When it came to pay though, we ended up paying a lot more than was expected and it...

Today was the start of the real holiday. The last 5 days we have to write off on account of bad weather. Sort of like a washed out test match. We did enjoy the family time but the weather was really appalling (I have probably said that before). We had the morning at my parent's house just packing up and getting ready to leave.  As there are so many of us and a reasonable amount of...

What does one do in England (to be more precise, in Hampshire) when you know it is going to rain. You could either spend your days indoors at home or find amusement indoors elsewhere. We opted for the latter option and went Ten Pin Bowling. That would be us and all other 20 lanes occupied by groups of over 70s. It was obviously pensioners day and my parents hadn't even come with us. And what made...

My weather forecast was correct. We woke up to constant rain this morning. We never saw the sun. The only thing variable today was the speed of my windscreen wipers as we drove back from Cornwall. They went from standard speed to fast depending on how hard the rain was falling. I know I have gone on about the weather, but really you have no idea how bad it was (and is still). I have been...

Given the very poor weather (constant rain) we spent the afternoon inside watching tennis.  Late afternoon the sun tried to come out but that was short lived.  It is now pelting down with rain (11:10pm). It is raining so hard I can hear it on the roof. As Paul would say this is rubbish weather. I don't think I have ever been on holiday and had such bad weather. You really can't sightsee in this (though...

Well I was right about the weather. Cold, raining, fog. The type of day you usually prefer to be indoors for next to a fire. Instead we decided to go to Lands End. We could not come to Cornwall and not go to Lands End. One of our UK friends who now lives in SA remarked "How do you see the sun in Cornwall? You fly at 30000 ft over Cornwall." Of course over breakfast there...

We came together for breakfast this morning. Mom and Dad managed to get lost on their way to us. Not hard to do that when you are wandering through a 72 acre estate to find another cottage. A little bit like finding a needle in a haystack especially when you don't have a map. There was a little moan session over breakfast about the beds.  Lara started it when she said that her bed was noisy...

So today was officially the start of our holiday. Helen, Stephen, Chloe and Lara flew last night from Cape Town to London. I told them one of them would have to write about the trip. None of them took it up though. Stephen said I can summarize the flight by saying none of them slept. Helen said the seats were uncomfortable. Of course I told them exactly what to do to make the seat comfortable (given...

I debated long and hard what to title this trip and eventually settled on ‘Romance Holiday’. Really for 2 reasons - one we are going to France and any trip to France has to be romantic (especially since it includes Paris) and then secondly because Stephen’s girlfriend is coming along making it 6 and not 5 for the first time. This first blog is actually going to be separated by a few days to number 2....