With one thing and another time has passed us by again, not only have we arrived in November in a blink, we have already managed to get half way through it.
It’s been a couple of months of catching up with admin and motorhome bits. Can you believe that FAWKS is nearly 3 years old – we can’t – time has flown by. The good news though is that he passed his first MOT without any issues. Always a concern when you have imported a vehicle and it hasn’t actually had any previous UK based checks.
We got back from our last trip at the end of September, and very soon afterwards held the annual Macmillan Coffee afternoon at my mums. Where once again we raised a huge amount of money for the fantastic Macmillan nurses – and of course, plied my mothers friends with lots of lovely cake, scones, clotted cream and homemade jam…what’s not to be happy about!
Mid – October saw FAWKS through his MOT and service with Iveco, and as the process takes that bit longer on the motorhome we had to leave him with the garage (IVECO) for four nights. The first time in nearly three years that neither one, or other of us, have stayed in the motorhome overnight. And previously, the only occassion was during Keith’s mum’s post hip-op recovery, when Keith stayed with his mum for ten nights. It was very strange to say the least.
My brother however, was hugely accomodataing and let us stay at his. In fact as it worked out either we, or he, were barely there so it was home from home – just with a bigger kitchen and views of Windsor Castle…. which admittedly were quite nice!
We used the time (and locatoon) to visit Hughendon National Trust, make the most of Windsor – including some lovely walking in the Great Park, catch up with a few people and head to the Theatre in London, which we don’t do very often. Although with hindsight, my choice – Operation Mincemeat – was a bit average this time and although it was ok, I wouldn’t jump from the tree tops to recommend it.
I know that some of you will be surprised, but we have only eaten out twice since our last post – and bizarly on subsequent days – as I have been knuckling down and focussing on FODMAP to get on top of these intolerences.
Before I entered the FODMAP elimination stage we took my brother out for a curry, and we caught with Richard at Claro’s in London, both of whom were hugely accomodating to my already ‘known’ gluten and dairy intolerances – as well as being pescatarian! – talk about being difficult!! Claro’s was quite unusual, hosting a lovely mediterranean focussed menu which included falafel prawns which were delicious, and an incredible Bread and Butter Pudding apparently…. the latter not being gluten-free unfortunately!
In addition to our trips to London, we have also had a quick hop, skip and a jump over to Europe for the Habitation check in Belgium. The trip was originally planned to be for 5 weeks and include a quick tour of France to visit a couple of our favourite restaurants whilst picking up olive oil and wine, but we decided against it this time due to my food limitions. There will always be next year!
So, this time it was just 9 days stopping overnight in Bergues, France where I think we made the local ‘off licence’ very happy. Despite having been there a long time, his product range is a little unusual, stocking wine, beers, spirits and ciders from small producers as well as a few other artesanial food products, so compeating against supermarkets in the current climate is definately pinching him. He was however very pleasantly surprised when we bought 12 bottles of wine on the way out….and even more so when we popped back in 9 days later to buy another 6. Now we just need to work through them to see whether we want to buy then again.
Begues always works well as a stopover for us if we are heading East. This time sandwiching 4 nights in Middelburg, Netherlands – as we love it so much – and 4 nights in Rotselaar just outside Leuven for the habitation check….as well as incorporating the obligatory trip into Leuven to do our best to buy out the Vaude shop…
A short, sweet trip but enjoyable all the same. Always good to see beautiful places and we do feel like we have a 2nd home in Rotsellaar, Belgium where our motorhome dealer is. It is a bit of an unusual relationship as they welcome us with open arms like family, and even enjoy socialising with us, what more can you ask for?
As you can imagine the food journey has been a learning curve. We have been experimenting with cooking dishes that are Gluten and Dairy free, low FODMAP whilst also trying to get them to taste good! It is a bit of a quest, but we are getting there.
Although I had been doing my best to avoid dairy, gluten and oats for a little while now, it has been 4 and half weeks since I started following the FODMAP diet, cutting out all the other bits and which is another learning curve. Not only do you need to cut all garlic, onion, mushrooms (except oyster) and many other day to day delicacies from your diet, you also need to restrict portion size of everything. The latter has tripped us up more than the former, but we are getting there now.
Obviously, it has been important to also ensure that there is ample protein and a nutritional balance in each meal, which when also restricting beans, lentils and pulses has been a bit of a juggling act. We have however managed to get on top of it a little more and found that we have a good variety of tasty meals now.
We have adapted existing recipes – like soups, chilli, pie, curries, tagine, pasta dishes – including lasagne – and some desserts. Introduced new options like rice noodle stir fries, rice dishes like biryiani’s. And there are even a few of the old favourites that didn’t need to change at all like kedgeree and risottos.
Keith has managed to convert our sourdough ferment into a Gluten Free version by using rice flour originally, and now we have changed to buckwheat. Finally producing some decent subsititutes for naan bread, which is great…. he has also nailed the pancake/wraps by switching out chickpea flour for buckwheat flour… the tortillas however, are still a work in progress – albeit not as bad as the original ones!
I have also produced a ‘reasonable’ shortcrust pastry and cobbles, that although they aren’t quite the same as gluten ones, are acceptable… I will continue to work on them to see if I can improve them at all… as I do feel that the cobbles are still a little ‘squeeky’!
We are about to head off on a short trip away, so I plan to start the next phase of ‘Re-introduction’ when we get back… so will keep you updated and will do my best not to leave it so long for the next update!
In the meantime, our map – just in case you want to visualise the trip.
Anyone would think we were northerners as we seem to head this way whenever we can, although maybe if we were, we wouldn’t spend quite so much time up here? We love this part of the country even though it is a little wet and damp!
This time, as the trip was slightly delayed, we headed straight to a little village called Drighlington, just outside Bradford, where we had booked ourselves in to do a ‘masterclass’ at Prashad – the wonderful vegetarian Indian we found last year. The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team – Minal in the kitchen and Bobby, front of house…. a clean, slick ship with beautiful flavours.
The restaurant is warm and welcoming and we were so impressed by the food last year, we saw this as an opportunity to learn and eat at the same time and we were not disappointed. Bobby and Minal were open and friendly, sharing lots of knowledge, whilst providing a very relaxed and enjoyable day where we were well fed, learnt alot, and we even had doggy boxes to take home with us. Food aside for a minute, it was apparently the best Mango Lassi Keith has had, and the Mango beer was delicious too – I now know what to be hunting down next time I am out for a curry, or maybe we just need to stock up on it for home curry nights…as those are definately more frequent!
We cooked a lovely selection of dishes – all of which should all be reproducable at home – and being keen curry lovers (and cooks) as we are, we have already started to work our way through some of the recipes from the cookbooks we took home!
Leaving Drighlington behind us we headed further North, up into the Lake District to have a few days by Lake Coniston. We haven’t been to the Lakes for a long time, having been put off by the sheer quantity of people, so it was nice to come back again to explore.
The Club Campsite we stayed at was in 62 acres of National Trust forest. Which interprets to being beautiful, but with lots of trees and shade, so even when the sun did come out, it was quite dark. It was however, lovely and tranquil, and despite being a big site, you barely saw anyone as it was seperated out and very leafy. A great place to walk, cycle and explore and Coniston itself was sprinkled with a few lovely little coffee shops too – well it did rain a fair bit!
Until we saw their beautiful faces, I had completely forgotten that Herdwick Sheep come from the Lake District and fell in love again. They are such beautiful animals you can’t help but want to take one home wih you although Keith has been quite strict about not having pets in the motorhome! Apparently they also make a mighty fine roast…just in case you don’t fancy a pet!
A short skip and a jump back down the narrow windy roads again, and we got to our next stop which was Valley End CL, a smaller campsite at the southern end of Lake Windermere and just north of the little village of Cartmel.
We had opted for four nights here, with Rogan & Co booked on the final day. We planned to use the pportunity to take advantage of the area to get some beautiful walks in. I just hadn’t appreaciated at the time how horrendously wet and windy the weather was going to be!!
We managed to get up onto the ridge on Sunday afternoon and take in some of the views, both over the the rolling hills towards Kendal, and in the other direction out to Morecombe Bay, but they soon disappeared as the mist and rain came in. Heading back to the motorhome where we hankered down for the pending storm with Keith cooking up a curry. Although deliciously good, served without Mango Beer and Lassi unfortunately, I may just have to complain to the management, or has been pointed out to me, go and buy some for myself!
We have definetely been getting the best of all four seasons – mostly in about ten minutes at a time. Torrential rain – sometimes hail – accompanied by really strong winds, then five minutes later beautiful sunshine. Unfortunately the unpredictability of it has led to a few drenchings, but mostly we have managed to avoid them when we have ventured out.
Exploring further afield and walking has been slightly more limited than normal due to the weather. Monday was a bit of a right off and ended up being an admin day. We did however, manage to get up onto the hills and walk over into the Fell Foot National Trust area on Tuesday to lookout over the southern end of Lake Windermere which was also beautiful.
Not forgetting the reason we came to this neck of the woods – Rogan and Co. My brother had very kindly bought me a voucher for Simon Rogan for my birthday, and having looked at the different menu options at his three restaurants in the lakes, we opted for Rogan & Co, which is slightly less formal, and were not disappointed.
We had planned to walk into Cartmel on Wednesday morning to help build an appetite, then back again after lunch to walk the food off, but the weather was so bad in the morning, we opted for not turning up like drowned rats and ordered a taxi.
The food and service were excellent – despite me throwing a last minute wheat allergy at them – already being a dairy free, pescatarian, they took it in their stride, and I would say that the food wasn’t in any way compromised. Although I did sit and watch Keith devour that plate of cheese, salavating at every mouthfull, and he did say that it was excellent.
All local produce, cooked and presented to bring out the best of the ingredient. Another reason to come back to the area slightly more quickly than our last visit, and the sun did show an appearance to enable us to enjoy a leisurely walk home after lunch.
A very short hop down the road again, and a quick stop off at the organic farm, and we arrived at the Kendal Club Campsite, a lovely site just outside Kendal. The site itself is just off the main road but hidden away by the river, and the only noise was the sound of the rushing water as it was very fast flowing…. possibly due to the huge amount of rain we were having!
As we were on its doorstep, we ventured up into the National Trust grounds of Sizergh Castle a couple of times, and although it was wet and very low cloud, it was still very beautiful…. you just needed to wear wellies!
Then on Saturday, despite the rain we walked up and over the hills and along the old canal into Kendal and found an amazing vegetarian coffee shop that needs to be revisited… the cake was excellent, we just want to try more!
It is a beautiful area to explore, just unfortunate that we happened to be here when the storm hit so it was a little wetter than we would have liked. We did however still manage to get out and enjoy the area to remind us what it has to offer, getting a good taster to come back to…. and I am not just talking about the Babaganoush vegetarian coffee shop!
Last stop on this trip was Melbourne, Derbyshire where we have stayed several times as we love the area so much for both walking and eating. We had wanted to try out the Indian Street food restaurant for a while, but just hadn’t had he opportunity as there is so much choice. Last time ended up walking out to a local village pub for a Sunday lunch to meet friends – which was excellent so I am not complaining – this time however, we made it and despite my new found food restrictions, had and fantastic meal.
The food was excellent – both flavour and presentation, and the athmosphere in the restaurant was relaxed and enjoyable. Keith opted to try the Thali and is was full of flavour, although as always – the dhal a little too liquidy for our liking as we like it a little thicker! I had the Goan fish curry and we shared an aubergine side – both equally delicious and loads of fish, and despite being a Sunday night it was reasonably busy. We will be back to try more and Keith did say that the Mango Lassi was almost on par with Prashads, which is a definitely a compliment!
With a trip to the farm shop, a walk around the reservoir which is a National Trust area too, and a cycle ride into Derby, our three days soon flew by and it was time to move on and back to the farm. Such a beautiful area and you can’t not keep coming back for more!
Obviously, apart from eating at Prashad and Rogan & Co, we have been trying out a few new recipes over the last few weeks. Keith especially has been slowly working his way through the Prashad cookbooks – there are lots of recipes on our ‘to do’ list as they all look and sound delicious, so watch this space!
The following are some of the tried and tested ones which we think are delicious… not just from Prashads cookery book, but a few from other sources too.
– Aubergine and Potato Curry – A recipe from one of the Prashad cookbooks, we didn’t have aubergine so replaced it with courgette and it was delicious – Baked Mushroom and Lentil Koftas – Originally Dr Rupy recipe, can be made as a nut roast or just patties. Simple to make and full of flavour. – Red pepper and carrot relish – another recipe from the Prashad cookbook, lovely and fresh – Filled Spinach Leaf Parcels – a recipe we cooked at Prashad and then recreated at home using Chard leaves. – Bengal Coconut Dahl – we saw this on a TV programme and it looked great, so had to try it… it was delicious – Piri Piri Tempeh Traybake – Originally a Riverford recipe with Halloumi, but works well with Tempeh. Really simple and full of flavour – Coriander, Chilli and Garlic relish – another relish from Prashad – Fenugreek, Chilli and Apple relish – another relish from Prashad, lovely crunch with the chunky apple – Cool cucumber and yoghurt dip – tangy and fresh, a real winner and could be bulked out into a slaw – Mixed lentil dhal – a very simple dhal that can bee cooked up to accomany any dish, or eaten for breakfast… very nice with the cucumber dip – Vegan cottage pie with squash and mushrooms – a really simple and delicious one pot dish with a twist… definitely one if you like the moraccan vibe – Sesame, peanut and coriander dip – smooth and delicately flavoured and sits well with any dish from simple fish to more complex flavoured curries
Unfortunately the glories of eating out and exotic foods – ok, I am exaggerating, anything more than basics – have once again been put on hold as I still haven’t quite worked out what is triggering the inflammation and pain. So, I have opted to go back on an ‘elimination diet’ to reset and see if I can do the reintroduction more slowly to get on top of it.
In the meantime however, Keith has become a dab hand at trying out gluten free tortilla wrap and flatbread recipes, and I’ve sucessfully made some gluten free pastry – albeit a little crumbly. Most of which are surprisingly ok, I’m not going to say as nice as our previous recipes, but we are in the early days and there is still time to evolve. I am not going to sacrifice flavour and enjoyment of food for some intolerence, I am sure that I can find good alternatives as and where required… going to be an interesting journey.
As my brother and I are born 10 days – and almost three years – apart, we normally have a joint meal somewhere to celebrate. This year however, we decided to do something a little different in the form of a personal chef. Not just any chef, but Matt, who – or possibly better said, whose cooking, has featured in the Exmouth posts – happens to be a good friend and, who very kindly accepted the challenge, travelling up from Exmouth in their motorhome just before they headed away on a trip… not the easiest way to prep, but it worked.
We hosted the evening at my brothers, and it worked like clockwork. We chose the menu with Matt… Deep Fried Korean Chicken – which I am told was exceptional – and Tempura Salmon and Cod to start, Fillet steak for the carnivores and Sea Bass for those who preferred fish for the main, and a Dark Chocolate Terrine to finish. Delicious food, and so relaxed, such a lovely way of doing it. No background noise – yes, we are getting old – and with the ability to move around and speak to everyone, rather than being stuck in a corner, unable to hear the conversation….we will definately be doing it again.
Matt and Jon set off to find their ferry in Harwich, and we also hit the road the following morning to a little village called Fenwick, just north of Doncaster, Yorkshire.
We had booked FAWKS into SAP for them to have a look at the emergency back up on the jacks as it wasn’t working. It was only a one night stay at a little CL where the husband and wife team – both well into their 90’s – were keeping active by growing tomatoes, welcoming motorhomes and caravans and herding unruly cats… there were quite a few. Lovely couple though, and Keith gave the trees a bit of a pruning for him too as they were a little overgrown and restricting the entrance!!
SAP found that the wiring had disconnected at the back of the ‘brain’, so by late afternoon we were on the road again and decided to pay a visit to Selby as it was just a short hop, skip and a jump away and there seemed to be a nice CL that had one pitch left.
Stockin Green Farm is family run Cattle farm (as well as a CL) – both dairy and beef – currently right in the middle of calving… they were expecting 50. The location was tranquil and very close to the Trans Pennine Way if you are into cycling.
The walks were lovely and had a calming feel about them albeit a little ‘Lincolnshire – like’… i.e. could have done with a bit more roll in their hills. Selby however, isn’t much to write home about but the walk across the airfield and along the canal was pleasant enough…. I even got a swim in at the local pool, which was a bonus.
Thinking of our stomachs, as always… we moved on to The Crooked Billet just outside Tadcaster, a pub that allows motorhomes to park over night, that Keith had found. They are known for their Giant Yorkshire Puddings… and when in Yorkshire …. it would have been rude not to!
I unfortunately have been suffering recently a little as mentioned in my last blog, and have still been trying to work through food intolerences, but we have now pretty much narrowed it down to dairy…. so Yorkshire puddings are currently off the list for me. I did however have the most incredible Salt and Pepper king prawns and calamari to start which helped compensate a little… Keith, however went for the Steak and Kidney stew in the Giant Yorkshire pudding… and it was definately ‘large’. Needless to say, he didn’t have the Yorkshire pudding with gravy and extra yorkshire pudding on the side to start, nor did he have the Yorkshire pudding stack for desert… apparently, despite it being pretty good, there is only so much Yorkshire pudding a man can eat!!
The pub is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it was busy.. unsurprisingly. The area is very picturesque, and the weather obviously helped, enabling us to get out and enjoy some of the beautiful rolling hills and whilst out, we even found a small honesty box farm shop to get some bits from…always a bonus!
After a peaceful night and lovely little morning walk accross the fields – although my hay fever says otherwise – we moved on again to Gateway to the Moors Campsite which is just outside a small town called Kirkbymoorside.
We were getting good use out of the BBQ as the weather has been so warm and dry, a bonus for us but I am not sure the farmers have harvested their crop this early for a while. We knew the rain wasn’t too far off though… we are in Yorkshire, so rain was to be expected at some point, but happy to take advantage of it while it lasted!
There appeared to be an abundance of local produce available so, just after lunch we cycled up to an organic honesty farm shop where we bought lots of greens, then round the corner to an organic dairy shed where we filled up our bottles with milk….unfortunately we had already picked up eggs from someones farm as they too, were also plentiful!
The fields were golden and beautiful and despite having multiple photos of hay bails, I couldn’t help myself but stop and take another….we have obviously been staying on the farm way too long now, and it is becoming part of us!!
We explored the area a little more – cycling out to another farm shop for a coffee and cake the following day, then did a lovely walk through the fields and over the hills into Hutton the Hole, where we sat out on the green eating our picnic lunch and ice-cream…. my first Vegan Vanilla ice-cream as I am avoiding dairy, it was ok. But I wouldn’t have that one again. The Vegan Mango Ice Cream was however better… although why you would go for the Mango Vegan Ice-cream instead of a Mango Sorbet, (we make our own which is delicious ) I don’t know…. It was however a lovely walk and good to try something different!
Monday came and we moved all of 10 miles down the road to Pickering, where we had found a Camping and Caravan Club small site to stay a mile outside town. After lunch we headed out to explore and find the local farm shop, which happened to grow their own strawberries too.
Being a little lazy – and it was late in the day – we opted to buy the strawberries, along with redcurrants and some other farm grown produce and eat Scones, home made jam and clotted cream in the cafe rather than heading out to pick our own…. but those strawberries were amazing!
The rain had arrived but it wasn’t going to stop us heading into town for a little reckie. It is just one main street, but has lots off interesting coffee shops and eateries, a decent Co-op and Lidl. Pickering has also got a castle and is apparently known for its steam train that goes to Whitby.
We happily explored the area for three days, and we both even tried out the pool for a swim….a bonus!
We set off on Thursday morning, stopping briefly en route at the farm shop again. We couldn’t pass the opportunity to re-stock on Strawberries and redcurrents – the strawberries being some of the best we have ever tasted, so sweet and full of flavour.
Our next stop was another Pub Stopover, another good find by Keith, this one specialised in Pie….The Piebold Inn and had 52 different pies on offer. Some may have thought it was a gimmick and would be a case of quantity, not quality… but oh no, they would be so very, very wrong…. what a find!
The pub is set up for motorhomes, with an allocated area in the carpark for those who wish to have electric hook up, and another area for those who don’t. And having had people abuse the set up, they charged £15 without electric to park up, but you receive a £10 voucher to use in the pub for food or drinks.
We booked ourselves in and paid our fees, setting off on a beautiful circular walk to Filey to help build up a bit of an appetite for dinner… a good choice!
Thankfully we had looked at the menu before we arrived as otherwise it could have been a bit overwhelming. All of the pastry is Vegan, so a huge bonus for me as the butter could have been an issue. The pastry was delicious – and that is coming from me, who makes a pretty good vegan pastry! A good bite and full of flavour. I opted for the Tokara Pony, which was ‘Thai Red Curry with diced cod loin, onion, garlic, fresh root ginger and chillies with coconut milk. Keith had the Cleveland Bay, 3 cuts of beef, Beef Skirt, Brisket and Oxtail slowly cooked with black treacle, bacon, shallots, and chestnut mushrooms. Both were delicious, packed full of flavour and filling, even the potatoes, gravy and mushy peas were good. Possibly some of the best pies we have had outside home…. So, good in fact that we have changed our plans to come back again on Monday!
Before we left we headed into Hunmanby as we had spotted a lovely family run deli with amazing cakes…. the triple chocolate brownie was crying out for a home, so Keith couldn’t deny it a place!
We set off to Blue Rose Campsite and Countrypark, a campsite we had been told about last week, about 10 miles outside Beverley on a canal and lakes. We knew the next few days were going to be wet, but we managed to dodge most of the worst of it.
We headed out for a little circular walk, taking in Brandesburton in the afternoon before taking delivery of some locally smoked fish that I had ordered from Staals Smokehouse, a local producer that I found. Then on Saturday, as there was a bus stop outside, we caught a bus into Beverley for the day for a mooch. They had their weekly market on so we bought a few bits, including one of the nicest beetroot date and walnut cakes we have ever had (based on a carrot cake recipe), had coffee and came home to settle into a home made (by Keith) curry night.. what more can you ask for!
The weather managed to hold off until mid afternoon today, so we got out for another lovely circular walk, coming back along the canal and through Leven.
Back on the road again and first stop was Bristol… I wish we had found this site years ago, and I’m glad they keep pushing out the closing date as it is in such a great location.
We hadn’t appreciated what a coffee hub Bristol was, but it is fair to say that where in Ireland every second building has a bar in it, in Bristol it’s a coffee shop…and there are some good ones!
WIth nothing specific planned apart from catching up with Nick and Jeanette, we mooched around, explored further, ate cake, drank coffee and I even visited Bristol Uni’s swimming pool for a couple of ‘serious’ swims…. it is funny the type of person a swimming pool attracts, but Bristol Uni was definately one for ‘enthusiasts’… they weren’t hanging around, and I felt a little out of place having only just started back again.
A lovely few days and good to get in the pool again without causing too much discomfort!
So, to continure with the sharing and raising awareness of Osteoporosis, things are going ok, no, better than ok, they are going well, very well – slow, but sure… but I guess if we are in this for the long run, we need to try and get long term solutions and start thinking outside the box.
I’ve been working with a nutritionalist to ensure that I am eating the right things, at the right time to help put on weight… as although for some this may sound strange, but for me, weight gain is an issue – which in turn could have an impact on bone health. The slighter your frame, the more likely that you are to have issues as you get older especially.
The diet – or better said, what I have been eating – is balanced and appears to have all the nutrients, as well as calories that I should need, so I have been having a whole load of blood tests to understand whether my body is absorbing them. Time will tell, but we are on the right road and will just open the doors that we need to as they appear. The main change since I have been diagnosed with osteoporosis is to increase my already fairly high protein intake. It’s a scary fact that most people don’t get enough protein in their diets, I had been eating more than my recommended daily intake, but we have increased it even more to try and help. Generally, the older we get, this, along with fibre is lacking in our diets which in turn can lead to loss of muscle and other issues.
The other area that showed up on the initial blood tests was Vitamin D – which despite being March when the tests were taken, we assumed that of all people, our Vitamin D levels would be ok…. both of us were really low. We are always outside, rain or shine – so if our Vitamin D were low in March, I would be fairly confident that most peoples’ are. Neither Keith nor I showed any signs of being deficient – mood change, muscle weakness, aches, fatigue – but the bloods don’t lie, so I encourage everyone to think about taking a supplement over the winter months at least as it is something that all doctors recommend… we simply don’t get enough sun light in the UK, and when we do, we cover up with sunscreen… quite rightly!
After alot of consideration, I have currently decided not to take the recommended medication for the osteoporosis as it appears to have alot of possible side effects and the general consensus is that I should be able to do this by focussing on diet and exercise, with the help of HRT.
I had been considering HRT for a while anyway, and managing the symptons of the menapause naturally – however there is proven evidence to state that the HRT improves Bone Health and I have opted for Body Identical HRT…so hopefully minimalising the negatives.
Then, just to conclude, final piece of the picture will be exercise ….something that everyone knows has been a massive part of my life, and that I have had to adapt and change dramatically. The good news is that I am now back walking and cycling as before, and have now joined a gym, so when we are based back near Maidenhead I can go and use it for low impact cardio and core strength and it has been working out well, giving me some of those endorphines I was missing.
I have been seeing a physio to help with building core strength and have now also started to build in swimming into my routine. I am a front crawl swimmer so have started to build this up slowly, and as I have been told by the physio back stroke is good for you, I am now also trying to teach myself how to intersperse a few lengths into the routine.
So, watch this space as I will now be searching out swimming pools as we travel…who knows I may even go off piste and start doing some open water swimming!!
Moving on from Bristol, we travelled just 25 miles or so to Wells, where we had booked Woodlands CL which was roughly 5km outside the city, and possibly one of the most tranquil sites we have ever stayed.
We ventured out to stretch our legs after lunch, following the twisting lanes to Wookey Hole, then back through Wookey to Easton – beautiful rolling hills and greenery falling away around us… despite a huge film crew obviously taking advantage of Wookey hole as their set midweek. No idea how they all managed to disappear by 8am the following morning… but they left no trace behind them!
Wells is beautiful, and although we have been here before whilst living in Bath, it was nice to come back and see it whilst it wasn’t quite so busy… possibly something to do with the rain clouds looming that put people off the Saturday market!
We ventured in on the Saturday to check out the market, which was pretty poor unfortunately, but had planned to try out ‘The Good Earth’, a canteen style vegetarian cafe that reminded me of Cranks when I was growing up. Proper wholesome food, from soups through to Quiches, Pizza and Baked Potatoes as well as cakes and pudding.
As it was a bit wet on Saturday, we went back in on Sunday as well, and it was strangely nice to see that most of the shops were also closed on a Sunday…something that is quite rare nowadays.
Moving on from Wells, we set off to Taunton where we had booked FAWKS in to have a super loud alarm fitted, the same one as we had had previously on the old motorhome. The company has changed, with Ash and Nick – the two brothers – setting up a new entity called WattGuardz. Everything went smoothly and we even managed to find a couple of fantastic coffee shops in Taunton whilst we waited for the work to be done.
They finished on time at 16:30 as promised, and it was then another short hop, skip and a jump down the M5 and A38 to get back to Buckfastleigh, where we have stayed before at the Tea Plantation to go eat at Riverford Field Kitchen.
I ventured out in the morning to try out their LIDO…. although the temperature had dropped overnight and not only was it freezing in the pool, it was also pretty cold and windy when I got out. Quite obviously , I need a little more fat on my bones before I do that again!
Having warmed up, we walked over to Riverford Field kitchen for lunch, where once again, we had a selection of incredibly well balanced sharing plates, full of texture and flavour. A wonderful experience and ambience, no matter whether you are a meat eater or not.
Just one of those places that you could keep coming back to and each week they will have a different menu depending on what is in the garden…very clever, making the most of simple ingredients, providing wonderful flavour.
Although we have repeated a bit of ground from our penultimate trip, we just can’t help ourselves as this part of the country is so beautiful, the local produce is excellent, and once again, we have been very lucky with the weather.
Therefore, next stop had to be back to Exmouth where we found Matt and Jon again to catch up, walk, cycle, explore and naturally…. eat, what more can you ask for!
Last time we were here we spoke about some of the fantastic seafood restaurants, and although we were once again a bit of an unplanned last minute visitor, somehow Matt and Jon managed to get a table at the Rive Exe Cafe, quite a unique, seasonal restaurant that has featured on a few foodie programmes, and is therefore quite difficult to get a booking.
The weather was horrendous overnight and in the morning with torrential rain and storms, however thankfully it cleared up after lunch, and by the time we took the river boat accoss to the floating restaurant it was grey, but dry….and we’ll take that!
It isn’t all seafood, but we all opted for one kind of fish or another… including some pickled cockles to nibble on – which incidently were delicious, and to be tried again!
The food was delicious and not expensive, highly recommended if you can get a booking and don’t get seasick….you may even get to eat on the deck if the weather is slightly nicer.
On Friday we spent the day exploring the area a little more with Jake, Matt and Jon’s dog – who although dragged his heals a little when he realised just how much walking he was going to be doing – helped show us his local hood as we really have started to like this area and what it offers.
Then on Saturday, we jumped on the bikes and headed up to Topsham to explore and as it presented itself to us and looked so good, ended up eating delicious Gelato at Cocolato, well worth a visit if you are close by. It was then a short ride back to Darts Farm to re-stock our fridge and find even more local delicacies.
Matt and Jon had invited us over for a ‘light’ supper, although we aren’t sure Matt knows what ‘light’ means, but we’d be happy if he did it again as it was all delicious! I am not sure they realise, but they aren’t doing a very good job at putting us off the area at all, especially when Matt cooks up a flavoursome storm each time we visit!
Needless to say, once again we had exhausted our three night stay, and although we did contemplate going away for a few nights and coming back again, it just wasn’t going to work. So we said our goodbyes to Matt, Jon and Jake, and moved on to Bridport.
Once again, we booked to stay at the same Campsite and this time, had planned a trip to the other pub in Burton Bradstock, which had a reputation for its seafood specials.
We still both think that it is a fantastic location and another one of those ‘happy places’ due to the natural beauty surrounding it…..and I was able to make use of a local swimming pool which made me happy with a mix of cycling and walking!
A few lovely days of exploring… and more gelato in Westport, oh my – if you haven’t come across Baboo Gelato, you need to search it out. Keith and I both would agree that this is possibly the best double chocolate gelato that we have had outside Italy, and the Hazelnut was amazing too.
Leaving Bridport, once again it was just a short hop along the coast, taking in the stunningly beautiful scenery en route.
Leading us to our last stop of this little trip which was just outside Weymouth, where Keith had found a fantastic little campsite perched in the hills, with beautiful walking and just a short bike ride down into Weymouth…. where the locals were curious, but friendly.
As the local swimming pool did everything they could to make it difficult to go for a swim, I headed into Weymouth on the bike in the morning and took advantage of the tranquility first thing – as did a couple of enthusiastic swimmers. Possibly the best time of day to enjoy Weymouth beach… before anyone else gets there!
We had only booked for two nights, but had then tried unsuccessfully to extend our stay here, unfortunately the site was full. So we will have to come back to explore further and pay a couple of the local restaurants a visit as both ‘Catch’ and ‘Bennetts’ have caught our eye.
You may be wondering why there aren’t quite so many foodie photos this time, despite having been by the sea so much, we had planned to eat out in a wonderful cafe called ‘Soulshine’ in Bridport that we had found previously, but once again my body has decided to throw a curveball on me – whether it is due to the Menapause, or the trauma related to the fractures and Osteoporosis, I don’t know but I have found that I have become intolerent to some foods. Depsite trying to keep a food diary and work out what has been triggering the reaction, I haven’t been able to pin it down as we eat such a varied diet, so having been in so much pain I took the decision to pair it back and work my way through an elimination diet – something I can only describe as a complicated process, but I am glad I am doing it.
I was a little rubbish as I really didn’t want to remove all the food groups – especially as I am trying to gain, not lose weight, but I succombed to most, and started off with removing all Starchy Foods (which means all grains such as wheat, barley, couscous, spelt, rye, oats), Citrus, Nuts and Seeds, Nightshade Vegetables (such as tomatoes, aubergine, peppers, potatos and spices such as paprika, cayenne, etc.), Dairy, Fats (except Olive Oil), Spices and condiments (including mustard, mayonaise, etc), Sugar and Sweets and of course alcohol…..yep, just a bit dull to say the least!
So, I elected to still drink black coffee, eat legumes (lentils, beans, etc), as well as fish (both white and salmon), eggs and I was able to eat green and root veg and non citrus fruits (apple, bananas, apricots, etc), Quinoa, rice and buckwheat, and most herbs, salt and pepper. It was quite difficult to think of each meal to start, but I did a bit of batch cooking and between us, we soon got our heads round it… albeit that some of the food was a little ‘bland’ to say the least!
After 48 hours the inflammation and pain had started to die down, so I introduced the first food group… nuts and seeds – which at least gave a bit of texture and interest to my food, as well as giving me more good fats and energy. 48 hours later and all was good, so I introduced Oats on their own as we make a lovely ‘Daily Bread’ which, on the assumption this worked, would give me a good staple. Another 48 hours and all good. The following group was going to be dairy, but as we use Kefir in so much and I was concerned that this may be the ‘troublesome’ group, I decided to seperate it out, starting with just our home made kefir on its own. Bang….flared up again, huge disappointment. But I decided to park dairy for now completely as it is obviously a trigger, and move on.
I have since re-introduced citrus, nightshade – or at least some of them, and alcohol. Some have a small affect, but none have the same affect that dairy had and I can live with that for now. I have a few more days to go until I can start eating and drinking with confidence / knowledge as to what effect the foods will have which is a bit rubbish as today is my 50th, but I am still celebrating with a veritable feast on the BBQ with Monkfish, Seabass and Swordfish… and I can deal with that, if in the long term I feel better…. ready to take on the next 50 years with avengeance…. or maybe just 25 with good health!!
It’s been just over two months since I last posted – apologies, but these last two months have been a bit of a journey and I wasn’t quite ready to share the events with everyone until I had got my head round it all and understood it as much as possible.
I am now ready though, and having been through the first few weeks of fear, I wanted to share my story to try and raise awareness – so I apologise in advance as this is a long post…. but there are lots of foodie photos at the bottom, so please feel free to scroll on by if you prefer…..
This is my story that I have shared with the Royal Osteoporosis Society as I feel that support wasn’t there for the ‘younger’ generation……
I am only 49, and I thought I was in my prime until October last year…. Running 5 miles six times a week, doing HIIT training, walking, cycling…you name it, the world was my oyster. We opted out of the ‘normal’ life and moved into a motorhome in 2014 and have taken every day and made the most of it, searching out new and interesting places to travel to, both UK and abroad and cooking, eating and drinking local produce….every day brings something new for us and we have always embraced it, adapting and changing along the way depending on what was on our doorstep.
Back in October last year I got a running injury, so stopped running and switched to doing more HIIT. Fairly soon afterwards, whilst doing a squat – something I have been doing for years – my back suddenly went and I was in a huge amount of pain. It threw me, I wasn’t able to walk, cycle or anything… but just thought I had pulled a muscle and stopped the exercise but focussed on stretching.
It didn’t heal though, so after a couple of months I started visiting a Thai Masseuse whom I have visited previously, which although was hugely nauseating, also alleviated the pain a little but it soon came back 24 hours later. After one visit, I then started to have a problem in the upper back along the thoracic nerve (bra strap level). I stopped the Thai massage and spoke to the doctor who sent me to a physio who advised on more stretching… but the pain was still acute and not really going away.
A month later I went back to the doctor as things were still bad… my morale was low due to lack of exercise and pain. I was once again referred to another physio – but this time I obviously had done something else as I had pain in the ribs which caused me breathing difficulties so quickly decided this really couldn’t go on and that I needed to get to the bottom of the problem. This time, the doctor agreed. I was sent for Xrays of the Thoracic spine which highlighted a compression fracture in the T7…. They didn’t do any Xrays of the Lumber spine. The doctor was amazing and called me within 24 hours and set up a referral for a Dexa Scan as well as bloods. The bloods came back really quickly and highlighted that my Vitamin D levels were really low so I went on an emergency dosage for 7 weeks the following day, which I finished about a month ago. However, as I knew the Dexa scan would take a while as the NHS is overloaded and I am lucky enough to have private health care, I chose to escalate and within two weeks I had had a Dexa, more Xrays and an MRI. Within 12 hours of the XRays being completed the spinal surgeon called me and told me to get to the hospital ASAP and get a brace on…. I had also fractured my L4.
The prognosis was Osteoporosis…. And the compression fractures were now 5 months old …. I was living with the pain, thinking that they were muscle strain. When I was told it was Osteoporosis at 49 years old my life fell apart……. That is something that 90 year olds get due to lack of weight bearing exercise and poor diet, surely?
Apparently not… but there isn’t much out there to tell you otherwise – even on the Royal Osteoporosis Society website. My life was over as far as I was concerned as I couldn’t find any information that led me to believe that I would be able to live ‘normally’ again. I dug and dug, asked friends, physios, contacts and spoke to people at the ROS and then the information started flowing…. And the light began to shine once more.
It’s not an easy thing to take on board, but with the appropriate information to support you, anything is surmountable. I have an incredibly supportive husband and although he admits that I was in a very dark place for a couple of weeks… we have now come out the other side.
I would like to try and help raise awareness, letting people know that this happens to the best of us…. But life also still goes on. I am very new to this and have yet to find out what the future has to offer me but I feel positive. I have made new friends who are supportive within the different networks, and although I may not run 5 miles 6 x a week again, I will be able to swim, walk and possibly at some point, even run again.
I am only 49 and life isn’t over… I am in my prime and I want to ensure that anyone who is newly diagnosed or frustrated with this horrible illness doesn’t give up… life is here for living, so grasp it by the balls and live it…
Life has taken a turn for me and the last couple of months have been full of hospital appointments, scans, blood tests, more blood tests, and even more blood tests… but we are almost there, and have managed to squeeze in a couple of short trips away, lots of eating – well apparently I need to up the protein intake – and a bit of catching up with friends….
The first little trip away took us to Lincolnshire, first stop Grantham where stayed at Happy Trails CL which is a great new CL a couple of miles outside Grantham, with a lovely riverside walk and a national trust property close by…but the town itself wasn’t much to write home about although it was a good stop off before we headed back to an old haunt…. The Manor Campsite in Melbourne, where Hattie (the last motorhome) came from.
Melbourne is such a lovely little town with a plethora of fantastic eateries and loads of beautiful walking and we were really lucky as the weather was incredible.
We got the BBQ going and cooked outside, enjoying the beautiful rolling hills and views of the reservoir as well as walking over to meet Kevin and Petra in The Bulls Head, Wilson for a fantastic Sunday Lunch…. not only is Melbourne on our places to visit more frequently…. the pub is too!
Time flies pretty quickly though, and it wasn’t long before we had to leave the beautiful Derbyshire countryside behind us and head over to Thame, slightly closer to home.
We had wanted to bring the motorhome over to Thame for ages but all of the campsites are grass and its always been too wet when we thought about it… this time however we snuck a quick two night stop off at Lashlake Farm CL which is about 10 minute walk into Thame itself and incredibly tranquil.
Despite being market day, the market was a little underwhelming….although we did find a local honey producer, and the coffee shop and cake variety for such a small place was second to none! We had lunch at the Black Horse which was good and finally tried out a version of a ‘Dubai Chocolate’ in the form of a brownie… the pistachio nuts added a lovely crunch and mix, but it was still quite sweet – sorry no photos but it was huge!
Back home again for Easter and another few weeks gave us the opportunity to walk and eat closer to home.
The Bluebells were beautiful, and I haven’t ever seen Tulips like these with the serated edges – absolutely stunning and they appeared to last forever which was lovely.
One of our first foodie trips out was to catch up with a friend for a lazy Sunday lunch in Marlow, where we opted to go back to Sindhu which is located in the Complete Angler Hotel. It is such a stunning location as the restaurant overlooks the Weir, service is relaxed and the food is delicious. We all had the Tasting menu, which was delicately spiced but full of flavour… the only downside with a tasting menu is that when you get a plate that is exceptional, you find it is too small, as you just want more!!
We have also had a couple of meals over at Milaanj @ The Beehive, White Waltham and decided to go along to another evening that they had which was a collaboration with Chef Arbinder – a local private dining chef, who had previously been a masterchef semi-finalist…. the food was exceptional, albeit that the desert was too sweet for both of us.
It’s not all tasting menus though, and we both prefer ‘good homecooked food’ and would generally opt for ‘good pub grub’, it is just a situational thing that both of these have fallen in the last couple of months….and it would be rude not to try all the delicacies when they are offered up to you!
The next meal out therefore was a revisit to The Queens Head – better known as ‘Marlows Little Secret’. We hadn’t been for a couple of years, but rocked up on a Wednesday lunchtime and the sun was shining and the garden was already pretty full of people taking in a few rays and some good food. The food was as good as we remember and they even make their own ice-cream… another one to visit more frequently when we are nearby….and they were good chips, a proper crunch on the outside but still light and fluffy in the center.
Last week, we managed to escape again for a few days between appointments, this time along to Wiltshire with the first stop being just outside Malmesbury.
A lovely CL down a very long driveway, and even with the knowledge that we were going the right direction, I got a bit nervous towards the end when the Willow Trees were hanging low and the beautiful Mill buildings narrowed the road. It was however worth the drive as it was beyond tranquil when we arrived, with just birdsong to listen to.
The soft rolling hills were beautiful and the mix of arable and woodland gave a beautiful texture and colour to the views. We managed to get a few lovely walks in, and Malmesbury is a lovely little town with a small but well formed selection of shops… butchers, bakers, cafes and restaurants, and even had a decent Waitrose to stock up in!
Leaving Malmesbury on the Thursday, we headed to a site we had been to before – Church Farm CL in Stanton St Bernard – which is on the canal and about a mile from a pub, farmshop and cafe in one direction and a mile and a half from another pub and a community village shop in the other… perfect!
The weather had changed and it was a little grey and drizzly on a couple of the days but we made the most of it and headed up into the hills to see the White Horse, and a couple of different circular routes out into the fields and back along the canal. Beautifully tranquil location and conveniently placed for us to do a quick trip away to.
We had walked passed the Kings Arms in All Cannings last time we were here and decided to book as their menu looked interesting – Friday night was fish night and it didn’t disappoint! A lovely local pub, serving good home cooked food.
Back home for a week and we’ve managed to squeeze in a Samosa making class at Milaanj @ the Beehive along with lunch…. a great few hours and although we haven’t recreated them in the motorhome yet, we think it is going to be possible without a deep fat fryer so watch this space…. as they – along with the rest of the food we ate – were delicious!
Although a long drive, it’s always best on the first day to get to the furthermost point… and despite travelling on the A303, which is known to be notoriously bad for traffic, the journey actually wasn’t too bad.
We got to The Crib, which is just outside Buckfastleigh, Devon. It is one of the only Tea Plantations in the UK, and happens to have a small campsite attached to it – one of those strange industries (The Tea that is) that we appear to be geting good at, perhaps due to the global warming.
We had chosen to come to this part of the world as we wanted to try out the Riverford Field Kitchen ever since we signed up to recieving their Organic Veg box, and with so many places to go, we simply hadn’t made it back to this part of the world.
With torrential rain falling overnight, then what appeared to be April showers throughout the day, we walked from the campsite to the Riverford Farm Kitchen and it is fair to say, we were not disappointed. The concept is a set sharing menu with multiple dishes to each course, followed by a choice from 5 desserts….these weren’t to share!! There was meat on the main, today it was Pork Belly, but also a vegetarian option which was two different types of squash on this occassion. All the food is organic and the majority is not only seasonal, but also local, and every component was cooked in a balanced way to highlight the flavours within the dish. A really lovely meal and a beautifully relaxing setting.
Whilst the area was beautiful with rolling hills, we only had a short time here, as one day was pretty much taken up by going out to eat. We did however manage to venture to the farm shop, which was more of a ‘cafe’ than a farm shop really… but the food looked great – but also, do a pretty, circluar walk taking in both Buckfastliegh, to look at the Abbey, as well as Buckfast where we found an Organic community shop full of Riverford and other local produce….including some incredible locally made sweet chocolate delicacies which were so intense and full of flavour … we will be back for more of those!
Moving on the following day however, we had been trying to come down and see some friends in Exmouth for a while, and this time everything aligned….including the sunshine. Just down the road from their flat, and spitting distance from the beach, is a fantastic ‘Aire’ where we could park Fawks and stay for 3 nights….something almost unheard of in the UK which is a shame.
Spring had decided to come early and despite being fresh, the skies were blue and the sun warmed everything during the day. Matt and Jonathan had kindly set aside the weekend to show us the area and it is easy to see why they have moved here – a lovely long beach with beautiful tidal contours, but additionally the rolling hills that surround it, although Exmouth town center itself isn’t anything to write home about. Certainly a place for us to consider when we decide to start thinking about where we call ‘home’ in the future.
What is there not to like when the area is full of beauty and fantastic ingredients. Thank you Matt and Jonathan but be warned, we will be back….Matt is too good a cook and the area you live in requires a little more time to explore!
On Monday morning we moved on again, travelling to Burton Bradstock where we have stayed before but couldn’t get into the Pub as we hadn’t booked ahead.
Burton Bradstock is a tiny little village on the South West Coastal Path with a post office and two pubs, but nothing else. There is lots of walking and cycling in the area – we walked in one direction to a great little farm shop which we have been to previously, and filled up our milk bottles a couple of times, unfortunately they had to get rid of their herd of cows but the milk is still very local.
We also walked in the other direction along the coast and up into Bridport, where like the last time we were here, we found a peaceful bench in the Churchyard orchard to enjoy our lunch in the sunshine…this time though, there weren’t any apples on the trees unfortunately but we found a great cafe to compensate afterwards!
This time we booked the The Three Horseshoes pub, before the campsite and we were not disappointed! Although we now have the dilemma as we apparently need to go back and try the other pub in the Village, as we have been told by the owner of the farm shop that it is even better…. oh well, next time…. not going to complain about having too many good places to eat!
Moving on again, we headed over to the New Forest where this time we had chosen to try out the Clubsite that is just outside Brockenhurst, right in the middle of the forest…. even the postcode was about 1km away.
You couldn’t have had a more perfect location, albeit that we had to drive the long way round due to narrow roads, but it was hidden down a long lane, surrounded by forest and ponies…. what more could you ask for, and all about 2 miles from Brockenhurst across the moorland.
Chris and Annie popped over on the Friday for lunch and it was lovely to be able to relax and catch up as it has been a while. Oddly, it ended up being the only ‘grey’ day we had whilst there…. any excuse just to eat, natter and be introduced to ‘Nosecco’ – which actually was a nice alcohol free alternative to prosecco. Its nice to see that there are more and more ‘alternative’ non alcoholic drinks out there that should you want something a little different/ special and they don’t feel a compromise.
Apart from the one ‘grey’ day, the weather was pretty good, so much so we decided to cancel our last three nights stay which was due to be in Winchester, extending for another three nights in the New Forest to enjoy the tranquility and explore further.
The New Forest is such a relaxing place and each time we go we find a different area to explore further. This is definately one of our favourite campsites for location as despite being a ‘larger’ site, as it was so tranquil and hidden away in the forest, yet not too far away from anything on foot or bike.
This little trip soon came to an end though, and it was time to head back to the farm, where the field had started to dry out at last! Spring is definitely here and the birds and buds on the trees are happily showing us what it is all about which is lovely…. even the rhubarb crown Keith planted last year appears to have fought its way back through the foliage and nettles… well one out of three surviving isn’t bad!
Before coming back I had seen that one of our local pubs was offering a ‘tasting journey’ through India and managed to book in. It was a collaboration between the Owner/Chef and Manpreet Singh Ahuja ‘The Singing Chef’ and it was truly unique, and delicious with it’s flavours….all rounded off with some Chai Tea and Shortbread – what more could you ask for!
…and we not only have some sprouting mung beans on the go now – which incidently are delicious and simple to make – but have started some preserved lemons using Ottelenghi’s recipe…we just have to wait another 4 weeks until they are ready!
…and our little route this time looked a little like this…
After a quiet couple of weeks catching up with friends and family we hit the road again, heading West for a couple of weeks to explore. First stop was Cirencester, where Keith had fancied visiting for a little while, but we just hadn’t got round to it.
As it wasn’t too far – and we always like catching up with them if we have the chance – we asked Pete and Liz (and Monty of course) if they fancied joining us, so an added bonus.
The Caravan Club Site is just a mile outside Cirencester on the edge of Bathhurst Estate, which is a beautiful park to walk through, in addition to offering a selection of fantastic wooden sculptures which were dotted around it. One being a rather emaciated camel and one of the most detailed totempoles with every possible animal carved into it.
The town itself was also beautiful, with lots of wonderful boutiques, deli’s, cafes and interesting looking restaurants. We had also heard of a recent opening of a ‘Pig’ just outside the town, which having wanted to try the one in the New Forest for a while, we tried on the Wednesday night. The hotel and restaurant were in what appeared to be a beautiful old Cotswold stone Manor house – from what we could see anyway as it was dark – and appeared to have been renovated impeccably. The restaurant was welcoming, and the menu, although small was ample, with the food being sourced from with 25 miles.
Three nights fly by when you are with good company and in a beautiful place, and it was unfortunately far too quickly time to say goodbye to Pete and Liz, with them heading back home and us on to Clevedon…. our next little stop.
Clevedon is a bit of a random place that most people probably would never have heard of, or come to. I was looking for somewhere not too far from Bath/Cirencester and not being particularly keen on my memories of Weston-Super-mere, found that Clevedon has the only Grade 1 listed pier in the UK which sounded interesting….and we both have a bit of a soft spot for a ‘ferociously moody’ sea….a bonus considering the Storm Eowyn was hitting hard…. and thats without mentioning the arrival of Herminia, which was biting at its heels just after it left.
We had found a CL at the golf course, which despite selecting the pitch right by the first Tee, was pretty quiet..and I was met by smiles from the handful of hardy golfers on Sunday morning at 7:30am as I headed out for a walk and they headed onto the course – both of us trying to beat the 50mph winds and torrential rain due by 9am!
The architecture is beautiful, and the ‘Village’ has a quirky – in a lovely way – little selection of shops, restaurants, deli’s and cafes. Although we only explored part of the area, what we saw of the walking and cycling was lovely… and if you are up for it, there were a few people having a swim in the open air pool on the front each morning at around 8am.
Once again, three days flew by…. literally with the wind! And it was soon time to move on to another new campsite for us – although a very well known location – Bristol.
We know Bristol pretty well, and have friends here so have visited recently but it wasn’t the same as staying in the campsite which is right in the center of the town on the south bank of the river.
The views out over to the multi coloured houses perched up on the hill as you came out the campsite were beautiful, especially at sun rise when the pink rays lit everything up to its best.
Having a little more time to explore the area, we spent it wandering around the docks which was all new to us, with a huge aray of containers that have been transformed into a variety of incredible eateries, specialist boutiques and artisan shops including bakeries, butchers, fishmongers and clothes shops…somewhere you could spend a lot of time eating!!
We have friends up in Clifton Village, who because of our proximity, we were able to spend a good amount of time catching up with rather than just a couple of hours over a coffee – all in all, a lovely few days, just a shame that they are most probably shutting the site in the next couple of months as we would have come back to explore more.
Our last stop of this little trip was Bath, where we had once again booked back into the Marina Campsite which enabled us to catch up with old friends before coming back ‘home’ again. A lovely trip away, taking in some fantastic new places with a variety of different scenery… and it was nice to see the sea again, even though it was a little grey!
There has been a fair bit of cooking going on and several new recipes, so here are the ones that are our ‘keepers’ – No Flour – Seed and Cottage Cheese Bread – Thank you Nicky and Rich for a deliciously ‘nutty’ flavoured Gluten free bread… a great Gluten Free option…or just tasty! – Shredded Greens Coconut Curry – A riverford recipe full of warmth and flavour – Red Thai Curry and Sweet Potato Soup – A big bowl of flavour and love for a cold, windy day – Mushroom Wellington – easy veggie/vegan wellington full of flavour – Herby Greens and Lentil Pasta – very quick and easy pasta dish full of goodness – Pea and Courgette Tart – an interesting and tasty alternative to a shortcrust pastry tart case – Catalan Cod – quick and easy, flavoursom dish – Mixed Bean Chilli Potato Pie – great alternative for someone who doesn’t like too much heat, but enjoy the roundness of flavour
and finally, the map…. just in time before we head off again!!
After a successful run on France Passion stop overs, an old faithful just outside Beune – Domaine Dury was our next and last vineyard for the trip with some lovely Bourgogne wine. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as we arrived at lunchtime, parked up and the fridge was bare… cleared out for the winter. There is a sign to say that they clear everything down and turn off the services at the beginning of November through to the end of February but they didn’t say anything about not stocking any wine….. there was a number to call, just no reply.
It was a quiet night with three other motorhomes so we can’t complain really… but it’ll be next trip when we plug the last couple of holes in the wine cellar now (not that I think we need anymore for the time being anyway!!)
Leaving the vineyards and Bourgogne region behind us we headed north to Langres in search of some cheese. We haven’t been to the area before but the town sounded interesting and the cheese is everything we like about a good cheese – smelly and walking on its own.
The town is fortified and quite pretty, sitting on top of a hill looking out over the valley with an incredibly impressive cathedral amongst other buildings, just a shame that several of the shops are empty. It does look like the town is on the turn for change though, as we noted that there is a beauitiful looking new restaurant/boutique hotel that has just opened. The building has been bought and done up by a chef and his wife who have just moved back to his home town having run a 3 star Michelin restaurant in Annecy….so a place to come back to and try in the future….for now we sufficed with the cheese!
We woke to a beautiful sunrise, which was soon lost behind freezing fog that came from nowhere…..obviously snuck in along the bed of the valley without us noticing. It was, however time to move on though to Troyes, another town we found earlier this year and will always make a little detour to come back to if we are passing close by.
We had planned to stay 4 nights to ensure we could get a table at ‘Bistro Du Pont’ and make a visit to the Saturday market. However, we ended up staying 5 due to ‘Storm Darragh’… it just didn’t seem worthwhile travelling further than we needed to in high winds and torrential rain when we were comfortable where we were.
Unlike back in May, the Aire was pretty empty. Despite having a constant flow of motorhomes arriving, they majority were in transit and just stayed for a night so still fairly peaceful..
We had booked a table at the Bistro for Friday lunchtime and it was equally as busy as the last time we visited. This time we opted for the ‘Menu Bistro’ instead of the ‘Gourmand’ as there was a huge amount of food last time. After some salmon pate appetisers, Keith had a delicious plate of Boudin Noir (Black Pudding for the English), then we both had Sturgeon – a fish that neither of us had ever heard of people eating before as it is really only really know for its Caviar, but it was really tasty and firm. This was then followed by the ‘Cheese’ course which was a little ‘out there’ last time, and on this occassion, was a local cheese made from cows milk, mixed with nuts, honey and some dried fruits and made into a Nougat slab. It was a weird – but delicious mix of sweet and savoury – which is unusual coming from me at the best of times – and despite being a huge slice and being quite rich, it just kept making you come back for more. Having not had enough obviously, dessert was a perfectly formed, and rather feisty, ‘Champagne liquor’ tiramisu…. not too rich, but just perfectly balanced.
On Saturday morning we headed into the market, which was bustling as always and full of local, seasonal produce as well as some incredible looking patiserries and fishmongers…. one of which came with its own oyster bar. So after we finished our shopping we ended up joining in the festivities by partaking in a few Oysters and a glass of wine ….we could definetely get used to a post market Oyster or two at Christmas!
Moving on again, we headed North to Sedan which is on the river Meuse. We had planned to come to Sedan at the beginning of the trip after we visited Jurgen to have our habitation check done, but the weather and flooding was so bad we decided to change our plans and go anti clockwise to Normandy instead. A good choice I think we can now say, as the Aire is right on the Meuse river, and when we arrived – despite having been dry for a week or two, the Meuse was still precariously high, leading me to doubt whether we should be staying…..no-one wants water lapping at the tyres! All was good though, and we were joined by two other motorhomes and we had a peaceful, dry night.
We did another hop, skip and a jump the following day, arriving back with Jurgen in Rotselaar to get a warrantee part fitted that they had ordered for us when we were there a couple of months ago. The part probably only took an hour to fit, but as we like the area, we opted to stay 3 nights to pop into Leuven and see the Christmas market and catch up on washing and shopping before we headed home.
As it was so cold and we were on the bikes, we took the opportunity this time to eat lunch in quite an interesting little eatery and warm up. Food with Varinda has no menu, you are just served whatever they have on the day for a set price, but you can request more of any of the dishes should you wish to… their way to ensure minimising waste, which was good. All of the food was warming and full of flavour and on the day we went we had a beautiful aubergine lentil dhal, home made iranian bread, the most incredible crispy persian rice – something neither of us had ever tried before, orange and pomegranate salad and a refreshing yoghurt on the side… one to visit if you are close by.
We were soon back on the road again and after a quick stop back in Berguez, we caught the train to get back to the UK on the 15th December… just in time to do a little bit of a catch up with a few people before the Christmas festivities.
We had booked in to a tasting menu at the Beehive, where we have been before, albeit only for lunch, so were happy to see that the quality of the food was equally as good – full of interesting touches and flavours.
We also headed up to London to have a Chinese Dim Sum and get a glimpse of the Christmas lights before Christmas was upon us.
It has been a week of catching up with family, cooking up some deliciously warming food, and finished off quite perfectly by a night with friends to welcome in the New Year.
So bringing a year full of travels, great friendship, lots of laughs and good food to an end, we are now welcoming in 2025 with abundance.
We wish you a very Happy New Year, wherever you may be. Sending you all our love and wishing you health and hapiness for the year to come…. and many more after!
As always we have been doing lots of cooking and a few new tasty recipes over the last few weeks include the following:- – Cashew and Chestnut Wellington – half cooked for Christmas day at Keiths mums and half cooking in the motorhome in the Remoska… no soggy bottoms ! – Mung Bean Dhal – great little breakfast combo if you like something savoury and lightly spiced – Beetroot Dhal – making the most of those lovely red beets…. tangy and full of flavour
…and the map of course for this last little leg of the trip…
For those of you who aren’t motorhome owners, several countries in Europe have books/website/apps that have been developed to bring together local producers who wish to offer the goods and services to motorhome users, whilst at the same time allowing them to stay over night.
The French version is called ‘France Passion’, and I have previously mentioned several Vineyards where we have stayed, and over the years we have also stayed on goat and dairy farms where they are cheese producers, chambre d’hote – where they serve meals, and much more. The French version is far more varied and fuller than most, although the UK, Italy and Spain also have similar ‘communites’ that you can join…. we have joined all of them at different points and learnt so much about farming and local produce… some of which we understand, some of which we just nod our heads and smile nicely… there are lots of stories that we could tell of amazing experiences that we have had along the way.
This year however, we have probably visited more than normal, even though many of the producers are out of reach for us as they can’t accomodate a motorhome of our size.
Our first stop was Chateau Beaujac, another new area for us where they grow the ‘Negrette’ grape. The vineyard was beautifully tranquil and a lovely setting to stay overnight but the wines that we were offered to taste on the day weren’t quite to our taste. We opted to buy a couple of wines we hadn’t tried in the end and have since opened one of the bottles, which to be fair isn’t bad… so we may go back after all despite having said we probably wouldn’t revisit.
Stepping away from the Vinyards for a moment we found a nice Aire to stop at south east of Toulouse, in a little town called Bram. Not a huge amount in Bram but it was very peaceful, on a lake and next to the Midi Canal.
As the foot was still restricting the amount of walking, cycling was great…. despite the cold! So, we took advantage of cycling one direction to Castelnaudry – the birthplace and ‘world capital’ of Cassoulet and the lingot bean, which is more like a small butter bean than a cannelini bean as it has a less firm and fluffy texture.
We found a tiny little local bar/restaurant which had good reviews but a very limited menu. I called ahead to let them know that there was one weirdo coming who didn’t eat meat and despite obviously not understanding the fact that someone in this part of the country didn’t eat meat….they couldn’t have been more accomodating. The cassoulet, I am told, was excellent… Lingot beans, Duck Leg, Toulouse sausage and pork amongst other things… naturally accompanied by a salad to lighten the load. I opted for the baked camembert – possibly not healthiest option but who doesn’t like a bit of melted cheese?
We popped into one of the producers before we cycled back and bought some additional cassoulet and lingot beans just to see us through the winter!
The following day we cycled the other direction along the canal into Carcassonne which was slightly further – 26km each way. A beautiful route winding its way along the canal, even better accompanied by blue skies and sunshine.
Leaving Bram and the canal behind us we reverted back to France Passion and local producers, revisiting Chateau du Lac, a vineyard in Sigean where we last stopped in 2019 and enjoyed their wine.
Once again, it didn’t disappoint – this time they had added to their portfolio of red wine with a new grape mix. It is a beautiful area on the estuary, next to the wildlife park – another small producer that we will continue to return to when passing this way, although it is ripe for mosquitos so we need to pick our dates carefully as to when we visit!
We then moved on to another – just to break the pattern of vineyards – which was an incredible Olive Grove and press, who take their, and the local producers’s olives, press and bottle them and also sell a wonderful selection of the local produce in their shop. They mainly sold everything relating to olives …from the olive itself and its oil – naturally, through to biscuits, tapenade and much more… this ended up being one of our most expensive ‘stop overs’ – despite being free to stay. We stocked up on our extra virgin olive oil for the next 6 months or so, and will definately be back for more, most probably in the spring as they were just in the process of harvesting this years produce.
Moving slightly further North, we wanted to spend some time in Provence, and with many of the campsites now closed, Keith found a great Aire on the edge of Fontveille and The Alpilles.
The Aire was spacious and we ended up staying four nights as there was so much to do in the area… and if we had known, we probably would have stayed the Sunday too as the market looked incredible!
We headed over to Arles on the first day, passing the Montmajour Abbey which is huge, then had a lovely walk round Arles, finding some lovely little eateries and boutique shops along with its Ampitheatre. The town is beautiful in a shabby chic sort of way, and has a really interesting mix of architecture, definately deserves a little more time to be spent here exploring.
We then took the oppportunity to cycle over to Saint Remy, which we knew from both some friends and also Marcus Waring’s time in Provence, had a market on a Wednesday.
Saint Remy is also beautiful, although more touristy … or best said, less of the ‘shabby’ to go with the ‘chic’ than Arles. It is picture postcard and you can see why so many people visit… but being more ‘shabby’ than ‘chic’, we preferred Arles!
One of the things we didn’t know was that Bouillbalasse comes from the Marseille area, and as we weren’t too far away, we found that one of the restaurants in Fontveille itself specialised in it… so we thought we would try.
The Bouillbalasse was nothing like the one that we had tried elsewhere, and instead of being served in a bowl with everything already assembled, we were presented with the fish before cooking and then each component was served seperately for us to combine.
The five different fish were cooked to perfection and we were presented with a huge bowl of fish soup, seperate potatoes, home made bread croutons and Rouille (allioli)… and told to combine as we wanted. Everything except the fish was replenished as and if we wanted more.
Full of delicious warmth we struggled to decide which of the desserts was best placed to finish off the meal, but both opted for the ‘Omelette Norwegienne’ – better known as Baked Alaska…and oh, what a treat! The raspberry sorbet inside helped cut through any sweetness.
Deciding to stay one more night, we cycled over to Beaucaire, although got distracted en route by a huge number of donkeys in Tarascon so didn’t actually make it. It is fair to say we have hit the season of Christmas markets…and this one was quite spectacular. A huge parade with donkeys, horses and camels along with a large Christmas market where the focus in this area was miniature models, mostly hand crafted… if you like that kind of thing.
Having spent slightly longer in Fontveille than planned, we moved on on Sunday to a little town called Codelet on the Rhone where they had a lovely Aire.
They also apparently have lots of issues with flooding looking at the huge walls and gates surrounding the town…. not to mention the pipes hanging over the walls which are obviously used to pump out any of the water than does get in! Quite industrial unfortuntely, so although no rain forecast – just really high winds – we decided to move on the following day to find another beautiful vineyard….
We do like wines from the Cote du Rhone, so we decided to try out another new area and were not disappointed. Keith had found another small producer from France Passion ‘Domain Rozel’ – the three children are the 22nd generation of wine producers…. one not to be ignored!
The area that they have set aside for campervans is beautifully tranquil, down a track by the river… we decided however, that with torrential rain forecast and the ground already a little ‘moist’, to stop and walk the last bit… a lucky escape! Although turning around wasn’t the easiest feat, it was far better than getting stuck… or was it? With hindsight, the wine was pretty good, we could have stayed longer!! Great wines, lovely welcome and the wine store is almost full now…. another one we will be returning to.
Another hop further up the Rhone and we arrived at ‘Champagne’….not that champagne though. It was another Vineyard, although this time far bigger than the last one. Domain Desirat has a huge selection of red, white and rose wines and alongside it a big Aire that they have established for campervans…. needless to say we were the only ones staying that night.
Once again, good wines and a beautiful area to explore and walk amongst the vines once the mist and fog cleared, but probably not one we will return to simply because we like to support smaller producers where you can hear the passion in their voice when they talk to you.
This brings us almost up to date, as we arrived in Chatillon sur Chalaronne four days ago and here we have ended up staying… It is a pretty little medieval town, with an incredible historic market hall which is bustling on a Saturday morning. Too cold and damp the last couple of days to get out on the bikes as the fog and mist barely disappeared, although we did manage to get a couple of shorter walks in as well as explore the market. Today however, the sun came out and we even got some washing done before heading to the Christmas market in the Medieval market place, and then out for a lovely wintery walk.
And we have a couple of new recipes for you this time round … – Prawn and chickpea curry – a really quick and easy one which is full of flavour – Artichoke and sundried tomato stew – quite a nice winter warmer… I added a bit of fennel and switched out the greenbeans for sprouts, but very tasty
And as I have been a little slack in updating the blog over the last few weeks the map covers a little more ground….
Leaving La Fleche behind us and kean to expand our knowledge of the French wine, we stopped off at Domaine Drusse which is a new grape variety and area for us, mainly focussing on ‘Bourgeuil’. David and his wife have a biological vinyard with a huge range of wines – varying in depth and flavour profile. The Vinyard is also a site for the Troglodytic caves which you can explore, although we didn’t take advantage this time. We did however purchase some wine, and also pop back into the town on Saturday having realised it was market day… any excuse to stock up on local produce
It was then a short drive to get to Villandry, where we planned to stay for a few nights to explore the Chateaux on the Loire as we haven’t been this way for a while…. also a good place to get on the bikes as I am currently sporting an injury stopping me from walking, let alone running…. very frustrating!
Villandry is a small village based around Chateau which has beautiful gardens, so although a grey and misty day, we opted to have a hobble around the gardens which were full of shape, colour and texture – amazingly beautiful seasonal veg!
With the fog and mist still hanging low, although it was Sunday and we were conscious that most things would be closed, we jumped on the bikes again and headed along the river into Tours.
A good decision, if you aren’t too bothered about shopping, as the cycle route only had a handful of families on it, running, walking and cycling… obviously too cold and grey for most. It did however, look like a good place to shop, not only hosting some of the big names, but also lots of interesting looking boutiques, restaurants and cafes – somewhere to come back and explore further another time.
Although we were expecting to see a little more of the sun the following day, we woke once again to mist and despite taking the opportunity to do the washing – forever optimists – it just didn’t lift again…we were stuck in a big, slightly damp cloud!!
We left the washing out though – to get some air if nothing else – and jumped on the bikes to head the other direction along the Loire to try and find Sleeping Beauty… a mysteriously beautiful (and a little cold) ride.
The Chateau d’Ussy is nestled in the woodland about 1.5km from the Loire, and it is fair to say that it is quite impressive, so not too much of a surprise that it was apparently what inspired Charles Perrault to write the fairy tale in 1697….although, it was the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany that inspried Disney for his films…
Having brough our picnic lunch with us… which we were quite grateful of – being a Monday in November… I think it was more the ‘November’, than a Monday on this occassion, the little that surrounded the Chateau was closed….so not even a coffee to warm us, before we headed back to our still very damp – but clean – washing.
Wanting to escape from beneath the cloud of fog and mist, we decided to do a long haul down to Bordeaux where we had booked into Camping Village du Lac for two nights as I quite fancied another look around, having last stopped off here ten years ago in the first motorhome.
The campsite was in a great location – just 7km outside the city by a lake…although innevitably being a little warmer and located by the water we also had some uninvited guests in the form of mosquitos…
The following day, we woke to thick fog again – it was obviously following us – but we were hopeful it would burn off, and to be fair, as we cycled into Bordeaux the sun managed to come out, providing us with beautiful blue skies to explore the city. Weirdly however, as we started to head back to the campsite later in the afternoon, we found that it had been foggy and damp all day. As we were able to take advantage of the sunshine in Bordeaux we weren’t too bothered, and the added bonus was that apparently mosquitoes aren’t too keen on fog either….
Big cities out of the system for a while now, we headed back into the land of beauty and wine – Chateau du Payne – another incredible France Passion stop over in the middle of beautiful rolling hills on the Bordeaux/St Emillion borders.
We arrived at lunchtime, parked up and after having some lunch we were just about to head out for a walk when ‘grandad’ popped over and asked us if we wanted to look around the fabrication area and production process of the vinyard. We felt guilty as he was heading off for a family reunion for the weekend as they were about to welcome their first great, great grandchild…. but he insisted on taking his time to show us everything – which of course, at this time of year had just been cleaned down after the harvest.
The set up they had was impressive and they have evolved and changed as they went biodynamic. They have also been trialing the traditional Roman clay pots for certain wines over the last 5 years to see how that effects the flavour palate. An inspirational guy who had a huge passion for what he does and wanted to share as much as possible which was lovely.
We did manage to try some of the wines before he hit the road and although we only tried four – one white and three reds – it is fair to say that they were corpulant and rich in flavour….. the wine store is filling up!
We set off with blue skies in the morning to do our last little hop to arrive in Moissac, where the Aire is wedged in between The Tarn river and the Canal du Garonne… a very pretty spot.
The Aire was already fairly busy, probably part due to the long weekend (today being a national holiday), part simply because its a lovely, tranquil place. The town is about 15 minutes walk, where there is an impressive Abbey and markets on Saturday and Sunday – the Saturday one at least, was full of local food producers selling their produce direct, although we didn’t go in on Sunday.
Walking along the canal just 1.5km from the Aire is a beautiful aquaduct… obviously made even more stunning by the autumnal colours. Then venturing out on the bikes in one direction on Sunday and today the other, we found peaceful, continous canal lined with trees.
Today’s cycle took us over to Montech – where we found the ‘Water Slope’, a boat lift that raises larger boats just under 13.5m – a truly impressive invention….
Once again, we have been cooking up a couple of new, interesting and tasty recipes that we’d like to share …
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