Well I was going to write about a great holiday but events have got in the way.
This planned move to The Outer Hebrides has stumbled through many obstacles. First our son was made redundant, then my wife, Sandy, was made redundant, then I was made redundant and a couple of days before our holiday Sandy was made redundant again! Last Thursday Sandy’s younger brother died, aged 57. No, he didn’t just ‘die’ he was killed by his GP but that’s another story. Sean (Sandy’s brother not our son) lived at home looking after his (and of course Sandy’s) mum who is 87 and partially sighted. She doesn’t want to (and probably couldn’t) spend the rest of her life alone so where does that leave us all? Guess she’ll come to live with us.
She never was enamoured with our moving to ‘the back of beyond’ (her first words when we told her) but I’m sure she’ll love it once she comes to terms with the idea. One thing is certain, we’re moving to The Outer Hebrides, hopefully sooner rather than later.
At the moment I’m 170 miles from home in a house preserved from the 1960’s waiting for the Coroner to call. I’ve had to spend over 300 quid on a Netbook and broadband dongle just to keep sane and keep in touch with the modern world!
I’m toying with idea of blogging while we are on the Grand Tour, but only if it’s going to be relatively easy and cheap - preferably free. I don’t know if my old laptop is up to wifi access but Sean will have a decent laptop that can be used. The biggest problem I can see is getting free wifi access. Macdonalds is supposed to offer free access around the world but do we really want to spend our time in France and Italy sitting in Macdonalds?
This entry is really a test of Blogdesk which I have used before and which seems to be the ideal solution to mobile blogging. I can type up an entry each day and simply save it to upload whenever there is internet access and I don’t have to be online any longer than it takes to upload. It’s a pretty neat piece of software which gives almost as much control and the Wordpress dashboard but doesn’t require you to be online as you type. I’ll just save this now and upload it in a while. If it works I might just be blogging while we are away.
The ‘Grand Tour’ was conceived last year just after we bought the camper and much of the planning was done early on. It seems unreal that it is now less than two weeks before the big adventure. Much work has been done on the camper, particularly to do with the brakes and the upgrading of the front discs to heavy duty cryogenically-treated discs and heavy duty pads. I can well remember way back in 1982 coming down from the Petit St. Bernard pass into Italy with the brakes on our Nissan Bluebird almost smoking! Don’t fancy that in a big motorhome!
There is much more that could be written about the trip but due to reasons outlined in the last post I’ll stick to the itinerary and will, hopefully, write more about it when we get back. Here it is then - The Grand Tour - which starts on Friday 4th September 2009.
Day 1 - From Stafford down to Surbiton where our son Sean lives. He’ll be working that day so we pick up his stuff from his flat before picking him up at Sevenoaks railway station. Then it’s on to the Channel Tunnel for the crossing paid for by Tesco vouchers. Once in Calais it’s about an hour’s drive for a late arrival at the aire at Hondschoote.
Day 2 - Drive to Bruges and spend the day there before driving back into France to an aire at Bavay.
Day 3 - Across into Luxembourg for a lunch time trip on the chairlift at Vianden. A quick nip into Germany and then back into France to stay at the aire at Thann near the Swiss border.
Day 4 - Across Switzerland stopping at Stein am Rhein and Romanshorn and into Austria for a stop at the Stellplatz at Schwaz just past Innsbruck.
Day 5 - Over the Brenner Pass into Italy for a look and Bolzano and then across The Great Dolomite Road to Misurina. Take the lift up to Cinque Torri on the way.
Day 6 - From Misurina down to Punta Sabbioni where we will camp for the next few days to visit Venice. Should arrive about lunch time and will spend the afternoon in Venice.
Days 7 to 9 - Venice. Lots of exploration on the vaporetto’s to the the islands of Burano and Murano and, of course, Venice itself. No driving for three whole days!
Day 10 - Right across Italy to the Aosta valley to a sosta at Cervinia close to The Matterhorn. Stop on the way at Sirmione.
Day 11 - Early morning look at The Matterhorn before reaching Courmeyer and then through the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Chamonix.
Days 12 and 13 - Around Chamonix - various walks planned and trips on the lifts, including the Aig du Midi and, possibly, the cabin lift to Helbronner. Hopefully lots of photographs to be had.
Day 14 - In Chamonix until about 4pm and then up to an aire at La Mercatine midway between Chamonix and Paris.
Day 15 - Travelling to Disneyland Paris to stay overnight in the car park! It’s quite recognised as an overnight stay for motorhomes with the usual facilities.
Day 16 - No driving - just a day of fun in Disneyland. You are never too old!
Day 17 - The going home day. Disneyland to Eurotunnel. Folkstone to Surbiton, Surbiton to Stafford. A long day but with plenty of breaks.
All in all, that seems like a pretty good Grand Tour. There has been plenty of planning and a lot more could be written but that will do for now. I can’t be bothered to blog about the holiday while we’re away but, hopefully, I’ll keep a journal on the laptop and will write more here when we get back.
Tags: afternoon in venice, Austria, brenner pass, Chamonix, channel tunnel, Dolomite Road, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Paris, stellplatz, Switzerland, tesco vouchers, The camper, vaporetto, Venice
I’ve often wondered why people start blogs and then don’t keep them up to date. After all, how difficult can it be to write a few words every day? Now I understand.
I thought that changing this blog for a while to record my DIY efforts would give me plenty to write about and would be a nice record of everything we have done to get the house looking spick and span ready to be snapped up by the first viewer. There is plenty to write about but, somehow, it just doesn’t get written. The decorating/refurbishment is coming along and plenty has been done but much more remains, nowhere near halfway yet. Every so often I think to myself ‘I’ll do something on the blog tonight’ but at the end of the day I simply can’t be bothered to sit in front of the computer and type. I’d much rather just go to bed.
It certainty hasn’t helped that I’ve not felt well for several weeks and this past week have had a pain in my chest and get pretty exhausted pretty quickly. The doctor seems to think it’s just indigestion but I’ve managed to have an ECG which seems to show everything is normal with my heart. Good or bad? Well, if I’m not going to have a heart attack soon that’s good, but then what the hell is this pain in my chest and tiredness that stops me wanting to crack on with all the work that needs to be done? It sure ain’t indigestion.
I’ve come to the conclusion that blogging is much like dieting. It’s not particularly difficult, there’s no reason not to do it and it really doesn’t take a great deal of effort. Just like dieting though it starts off with all good intentions and reaches a point - never worked out why - where it all becomes too much effort and is abandoned (but it always stays in the back of the mind for when times are better). It just becomes easier to eat what you like and not try to think up words to put on the blog. Maybe I’ve got too many other things to think about and there is a limit to what my brain can cope with.
So, blogging is sort of on the back burner and I’m getting fatter. Might write about the forthcoming ‘Grand Tour’ though which is only a few weeks away now. Really should do that.
Yet another hot day but not quite so bad as yesterday as there was a bit of a breeze.
Still knackered from yesterday but started on the kitchen door and got on well until various problems arose because the door was slightly warped. You wouldn’t belive the hassle I had to make it fit and it’s still not right. Fited rain strips to both back doors and undercoated them. Got to try and get the door to fit better tomorrow and, hopefully, start on the gloss.
