Tour de France 2007, Stage 3: Alpine passes - 9 July 2007

We went to bed with a thunderstorm raging and were woken at 2, 5 and 6 a.m. with flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and lashing rain. In between there was the roar of the swollen river as it rushed past our campsite and, when the rain let up, the ding-dong of the cowbells across the river. All in all, a good night’s sleep!

When we finally climbed out of bed we found a stream running through the ‘front room’ of our tent and discovered that we had pitched our tent slap in the middle of the run-off path from the ground around and we were camped in 30mm of water. All credit to Ted Baker and his tent design team; we, and our gear inside the ‘living room’, were dry. With a team of helpers laid on, we unpegged and bodily shifted the erect tent to drier ground.

It stopped and started, drizzled and fizzled but was dry enough for breakfast after which we drove down to Bourg St Maurice. The road up to this campsite and down to Bourg St Maurice will be transformed beyond recognition in a few days time when “The Tour’ sweeps through. The prospect of riding a racing cycle up or down these roads strikes terror into the heart. The riders must truly be mad.

We attempted a walk up the valley to a cheese factory but the weather beat us back.

By 4 p.m. it was actually quite clear, but the local forecast was for snow down to 1900m. Since our campsite was at 1560m that did not seem a large enough margin for error for our liking.

The majority of the party were keen to break camp and move on but our intrepid leader was sure that tomorrow was going to be a fabulous day and that we would, at last, be able to see the Alpes in all their splendour.

Tour de France 2007, Stage 2: Troyes to the Alpes - 8 July 2007

From Troyes we dropped down to Dijon for a look at the home of the famous mustard and took ourselves on a tour round the town centre, following a map in the guidebook.

Further south, through the Champagne region, was Beaune; famous for its Hotel-Dieu. Built in 1465 as a refuge and hospital for the poor it has been restored to its former glory and is quite amazing. The roof is multi-coloured glazed tiles and has been copied since on many buildings in the region to create a characteristic 'Bordeaux' style

The next adventure was attempting to obtain fuel in France on a Sunday. There are many 24hr service stations and nearly all are automatic, card operated. Unfortunately although we had at our disposal a VISA, Mastercard, Amex and Maestro cashflow card, all of which claim to be accepted everywhere, what they really mean is everywhere except French automatic service stations.

After our fourth failure, and with 200km still to go to our destination we were getting desperate: however, we managed to arrange for a local who had just successfully filled his car, to put €20 on his card, which we paid him in cash. Satisfied that we would now make it to our destination we set off and after turning at the next intersection came across a fully manned (or more accurately womaned) service station. After filling up, and using the facilities we were finally on the road, passing no fewer that four manned service stations!

We passed through a tunnel and emerged to much finer weather which we took (foolishly as it turned out) to be a good sign.

We arrived at the campsite at 8 p.m. and our new tent was erected for the very first time with the help of Ezra, Bob, John and Bill. We finished just as the rain started and by 9 p.m. it was thunder and lightning, very, very frightening and absolutely tipping it down.

Welcome to camping in the Alpes!

Sitting side by side in the tent, we were literally shouting at each other to be heard over the noise of the rain on the tent.

Why are we camping in the Alpes anyway? A very good question. We have a mad friend, Bob, from NZ who considers it a fine past-time to cycle up and down these mountains and he is currently here on a celebratory 70th birthday trip. At his invitation we agreed to join him and committed before we read the 'fine print'; that it was a camping trip.

Tour de France 2007, Stage 1: London to Troyes - 7 July 2007

In a most unusual move, the Tour de France 2007 began in London on 7 July. Our Tour de France also left London on 7 July and visited a number of places on the real Tour route, either before or after the cyclists, skilfully managing to miss the travelling circus that is "Le Tour".

An early start was required in order to make our check-in time of 9:15 at the Dover ferry. Whisked across to Calais, we filled the tank with cheap French diesel, got a few provisions from the supermarket and headed along the A26. The motorway was surprisingly empty and 3.5 hours and €27 in tolls later, we were in Troyes.

What an absolutely delightful town. The old centre is street after street with building after building in 16th century half-timbered design. There are one or two towns and villages in England that have a 'Tudor, half-timbered' look, like Stratford-upon-Avon or Lavenham or the black and white villages of Hereford but frankly they don't even begin to think about approaching the scale and beauty of Troyes.

Troyes is extremely fortunate that it escaped not only the ravages of two world wars but also the ministrations of the Victorians, with their tins of black and white paint. The colours in Troyes are quite delightful; all manner of pastel tints and contrasting highlights on the timbers.

Triangle and a Quarter - 30 June 2007

Despite a week of flooding around the Midlands, and a heavy rain warning for parts of England, we headed up to Birmingham for the weekend. Months ago, when the accommodation was booked, we had visions of a sunny June evening beside the Birmingham canals. Birmingham claims to have more canals than Venice, and they do make the city interesting. (However, Venice still wins in the ‘desirable holiday destination’ stakes.)

By the time we reached Birmingham, the heavy rain had eased; nevertheless we were pleased our first stop was indoors. Near the centre of the city is an area known as the Jewellery Quarter. The Council own a property that was a jewellery factory for over a hundred years. It was owned by one family, and when the children of the founder were in their 70's and wanting to retire, they were unable to find a buyer, so, in 1981, just shut the doors. 10 years later the council heard about and decided to turn it into a museum. Thus it is exactly as they left it, down to the many plugs in one socket and marmite and jam in the fridge. The tour gave a very interesting insight into life during the last 100 years, and I recognised a gold bracelet design from my childhood - a bamboo design.

After walking the jewellery trail, we visited Soho House, the home of Matthew Boulton; a prominent manufacturer. He was responsible for getting a local assay office, so the jewellers could have their items hallmarked locally.

By this stage in the afternoon, the rain had stopped, so we were able to have a look around the canals in the centre of town. The whole area has been redeveloped and is lovely, even on a grim grey day, it must be a very pleasant place to spend a warm June evening, with cafe's and pubs all along the canal side.

We had read that a trip to the Balti Triangle is a must for eating out in Birmingham. So we tore ourselves away from the huge selection of eating-places in the centre, and drove to southeast Birmingham, to find the Balti Triangle. This is a dish made popular locally by the many immigrants. The chosen Balti is cooked in an iron dish and brought steaming hot, straight to the table. After complimentary popadums with very tasty dips, our chosen dishes (one lamb & one chicken) arrived. Enough to feed a family of four, but so delicious we were obliged to finish it all, washed down with a scrummy mango lassi.

Now that the rain had decided to stay away, we stopped at Bournville, on the way to our hotel. The Cadburys (as in Cadburys Chocolate) built this picture-book town for their workers around the end of the 19th C. Like many of the great Quaker industrialists, the Cadburys were concerned for their workers health, social and educational well-being. The village was having their annual fete on the green, and the whole place looked like a mocked up tourist attraction.

Arden tour - 24 June 2007

We spent the night near Alcester, and having found an excellent circular driving tour starting at Alcester we set out to follow the route. According to the BBC weather forecast, we were in the only fine spot in the country.

We were able to complete the Shakespeare houses during the tour, as we first passed Anne Hathaway’s house; Shakespeare's wife’s family’s home. William and Anne's marriage was an unusual union: she was 26 (well and truly left on the shelf for those days) and William a minor at 18. When they married, she was 3 months pregnant, presumably a local scandal. The tour of the house was most interesting, the guide a fund of the origins of old sayings, and the “cottage” garden an absolute delight.

Next on the tour was Mary Arden House and Palmer Farm. Mary Arden was Shakespeare's mother. Although she was the youngest of 8 girls, as her father's favourite, she inherited the farm. This is a fascinating place to wander around, as is Palmer's Farm, next door.

On with the tour, we visited a number of very picturesque villages, not at their photographic best on such a dull day though. At St Peter's in Wootten Wawen the church still houses a rare chained library.

One interesting side visit was to the longest aqueduct in England. This is made from cast iron plates, and passes over a road, river and 2 train lines.

The final stop of the day was Ragley Hall. This house was built in 1680, and must have been very modern for it's day. The tour ended in a large hallway, painted by a mural painter over 14 years from 1969 to 1983. It was fascinating to see a new and fresh mural on a grand scale, incorporating family members in an epic depiction based on the Temptation of Christ and the riches of the world.

The Bard was here - 23 June 2007

Stratford-upon-Avon is one of the most dramatic (as well as touristy) towns in England, with many fine Tudor buildings.

As we are going to The Globe theatre next month, we felt a little background research on the play’s author would be in order. Although touristy, the Shakespeare heritage sites are well worth visiting. They offer a good deal where, for £14, you can purchase a discounted ticket to visit all of the remaining houses connected to Shakespeare.
We started with Shakespeare’s birthplace and home when growing up; next were the houses owned by his two daughters; and, thrown in for good measure, was Harvard House - connected to the founder of and now owned by Harvard University. All houses were Tudor and all different. We particularly like Hall’s Croft, house of one daughter and her Doctor husband. All houses included interesting facts of the Shakespeare’s life and times.

Although the day was showery, the weather forecast suggested that the showers would clear away by 5pm so, as we were only two days past the longest day, it was no problem starting out on an eight mile walk at 5pm. But for the first time ever, we got ourselves lost and, by missing a turning, basically walked around in a large circle. This took us back to the track we had come on from Alcester so we retraced our steps to the starting point and ended up in the right place eventually. Alcester is well worth a visit, and we relaxed in one of its many pubs and had an excellent dinner to celebrate our safe return.

"... in an English country garden" - 17 June 2007

Having had the sky washed clean on Saturday, we knew our planned walk on the Malvern Hills would have stunning Views. The undulating ridgeline makes for a wonderful walk with extensive views to both sides. We walked from Wyche Cutting to the British Camp, the remains of an Iron Age Fort.

From here we drove to Bredon for a village walk. This picturesque riverside village also has a Cotswold stone Medieval Barn.



Father's Day was a bad time to try and have lunch at the newly restored NT owned Fleece Inn. After queuing for some time we settled for a drink only.

From there, it was a short drive to Hidcote Manor Garden. Having seen them in spring and late summer, we wanted to see them during the rose and cottage garden season. As always they were lovely.

But even better was the neighbouring garden of Kiftsgate. These gardens are built down a hillside with clear views to the Malvern Hills we were walking on earlier.

As our lavender is looking brilliant at home, we decided to journey home via the Snowshill Lavender Farm. Although early in the lavender season, these were looking great, especially against the now stormy skies.

Snowshill village is another lovely Cotswold’s town. We were too late to get into Snowshill Manor, but the garden here was also looking lovely.