France 2018: Day 7 – Chateau d’If and Birthday Boy

Our Adventures so far… Arrival in Lyon (Wednesday) Day 1 – Lyon (Thursday) Day 2 – Vienne by Train (Friday) Day 3 – Arrival in Nimes (Saturday) Day 4 – Nimes in more detail(Sunday) Day 5 – Marseille, here we come!(Monday) Day 6 – On the Buses!(Tuesday)   Wednesday Whilst most would be content with a trip to …
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France 2018: Day 6 – On the Buses!

Our Adventures so far… Arrival in Lyon (Wednesday) Day 1 – Lyon (Thursday) Day 2 – Vienne by Train (Friday) Day 3 – Arrival in Nimes (Saturday) Day 4 – Nimes in more detail(Sunday) Day 5 – Marseille, here we come!(Monday) Tuesday Blakey might have hated Butler, but he would have loved the route today. We’re on the …
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France 2018: Day 5 – Marseille, here we come!

Our Adventures so far… Arrival in Lyon (Wednesday) Day 1 – Lyon (Thursday) Day 2 – Vienne by Train (Friday) Day 3 – Arrival in Nimes (Saturday) Day 4 – Nimes in more detail(Sunday)   Monday Welcome back loyal Reader! (The Bodyguard finalé was good wasn’t it!?) Today, we travel to our third and final Hotel. Our new …
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France 2018: Day 4 – More about Nimes

Our Adventures so far… Arrival in Lyon (Wednesday) Day 1 – Lyon (Thursday) Day 2 – Vienne by Train (Friday) Day 3 – Arrival in Nimes(Saturday)     Sunday We’re remaining very local today, and exploring Nimes in more detail. You can download a VERY large map (3448 X 2419 pixels) of the local area HERE Another …
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France 2018: Day 3 – All aboard the Train to Nimes

Our Adventure so far… Arrival in Lyon (Wednesday) Day 1 – Lyon (Thursday) Day 2 – Vienne by Train (Friday) Saturday 8.45am: A lazy breakfast here in Lyon before boarding the TGV Train bound for Nimes, or Nîmes as most of the French write it. It’s famous for being the ‘most Roman city outside Italy’ – …
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France 2018: Day 2 – Vienne by Train

Our adventures so far… Arrival(Wednesday) Day 1(Yesterday) Friday Today is our final full day here, and we’re jumping on the Train to visit nearby Vienne. Vienne is located 35 kilometres south of Lyon, on the river Rhône and is famous for its ancient Roman Theatre. Built in 1AD, It was re-inaugurated in 1938 and since …
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France 2018: Day 1 – Sightseeing in Lyon

Our adventures so far… Yesterday… (click to view) Thursday A local commented last night that the temperature here is a full 10 degrees above the average for this time of year – and there’s another scorcher in store for us today. In celebration, as well as the Sun, my kneecaps are out of trousers, but …
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France 2018: Day 0 – Arrival

Bonjour loyal Readers! Our next travel adventure means we’re off to France as part of my Birthday celebrations! What makes this a tad unique is that after flying to Lyon, we’re doing the rest of it using the French train network!8.45am: So, first of all, it’s off to Brum Airport… …and then we’re flying to …
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Gambles Reunited for Ann’s Birthday Celebrations

Well, I think that’s a first (not sure why though!) – the Gambles family reunited here for Ann’s Birthday!!       Denis, Roger, Jane, Oliver and Bev batting for the Gambles, whilst Lee and I were in the other corner! A little like that odd tradition where the person whose birthday it is, provides cakes, Ann provided …
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Moggy Birthday – Biscuit at 13!

Biscuit turned 13 today and by my calculation that makes her about 68 in human years. Our previous two Persians (Mumsy and Bubsy) made it to almost 15 and 14 years old respectively, but were both unwell in their final years. I therefore expect, going forward, we’ll be making more trips to and from the …
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A Birthday Surprise for Trish

What a nice thought! Rosi arranged a surprise afternoon get-together for Trish who recently celebrated a ‘significant’ birthday. A cunning plan was hatched! We were all to arrive around 3pm, with Trish and John arriving at 3.30, thinking they were just popping-in for a post-birthday cuppa and a nibble! It all went perfectly to plan …
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82, not out!

Not content with enjoying ourselves at Ian’s 70th birthday celebration yesterday, today, we laid on a birthday lunch for Lee’s 82nd! Pick up from Yeoman’s Court was just after 11am (carefully avoiding the planned Armistice celebrations in Burton Latimer) and then we headed back to ours for the birthday lunch. But, before lunch, there was …
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Holiday: National Trust’s ‘Strode House’ (Day 5) – Birthday Boy!

Well, here we are – In Somerset for my 61st. It was good to wake up and (when I eventually got a signal) to see all the good wishes via social media. I think for the first time, there were more ‘happy birthdays’ via the ‘interweb’ than by traditional cards. The main event for today …
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Biggles Flies Again

Biggles? More like Giggles! as I took control of a real aeroplane courtesy of last year’s birthday pressy from  Ian and Mags – a 45 minute flight over the skies of Northamptonshire! Ian & Ann, Ralph and Karen and my Ann were there to witness my performance as just after 11am, I ‘took the stick’ …
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Australian Cruise: Singapore Stopover – Day 15 and 16

Written: Sunday, 23rd October Day 15 – Saturday So it’s goodbye to Celebrity Solstice and hello to dry land in Singapore. We’re here for two days before we fly home on Sunday. It’s our fifth visit and we love the place! We first came here 30 years ago (or thereabouts) so we thought we’d revisit …
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