The weather was unseasonably hot while – in the 30s for most of the time – and about 10C above the average for the time of year.  We adapted our walk distance accordingly and also set out earlier in the day when the temperature was lower.  The apartment was cool enough for sleeping and it didn’t really stop us doing the things we wanted to do.

Stage 6 of the tour passed through Luz on Thursday which gave us lots of time to explore and identify the best location to watch the race from.  We chose the Pont Napoleon as the riders would be on an uphill stretch so they would be slower going past us.  It was a short walk out of the village – driving somewhere that day with all the road closures and traffic would not have been a good plan!  We were in position for about 4 hours as we got there to find a good spot to stand, watch the caravan go through and then the race.  The atmosphere was really good but was a really warm day – 33C and sunny.  The breeze was very welcome as were the few very large drops of rain that came through about the same time as the bikes did!  It is exciting to see how fast these guys go even when they’re going up hill.  By the time they passed us, the eventual race winner (Tadej Pogacar) had a good minute lead over the other riders with the riders well spread out taking 20 minutes or so to go past us.

My favourite walk was the day we drove to the Pont d’Espagne which was less than an hour’s drive from Luz.  The pont was a bridge that used to connect France and Spain via a mule track.  We walked in the valley and to a beautiful lake called Lac de Gaube – the colour of the water and the reflections were amazing.  There were so many paths around and you could have walked to Spain if you’d had the time and some overnight provisions!

One day we drove out to the Cirque de Gavarnie about half an hour from Luz and walked into the Grand Cascade.  It reminded us of walking the Cirque du Fer-a-Cheval in the Alps when we watched le Tour from Samoens a few years ago.  It was also where the stage of the tour we watched finished a couple of days later.  We also drove up the Col du Tourmalet which featured heavily in the Tour de France.  This is a steep mountain road that the cyclists climb up slowly and then descend extremely rapidly! We walked from there to Pic du Midi at 2877 metres with its observatory – and snow!

It was an excellent trip and we both managed to get by okay with the French we’d been learning and agreed that a future trip in a cooler, less busy month would be an excellent idea.

Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

On the way to Ludlow we stopped at lovely pub called the Green Dragon for lunch.  It was about half an hour from the cottage and felt very welcoming to the three of us.  It was quite a busy spot in a little village just off the main road and the food was tasty.  That was a good recommendation from ChatGPT.

Rose Cottage was a little bit in the hills and it was quite a bit cooler there than when we’d left home.  The garden immediately got a 5* rating from Olaf who loved how quiet it was and how many smells there were to smell and corners there were to explore!  We settled in and spent the evening admiring the view from the living room of the Shropshire hills.

The next day the hot weather was due to continue so Olaf and I got up early and headed to Mortimer Forest on the south side of Ludlow before it got too warm. Paul was a bit braver and ventured out in the Shropshire Hills for a longer walk.  The walking was very pleasant in the forest and the quiet paths were acceptable to Olaf.  We got back to the cottage for garden time and lunch before it got too warm in the sun…  The breeze really helped to keep things comfortable throughout the day.

On Sunday the weather was much more temperate so we all headed out together for a longer walk.  We walked 12 miles up and around Brown Clee Hill.  It actually rained at the start of the walk (which was a bit of a shock after it being so warm and dry!) and as some of the paths weren’t well trodden, it meant for some hard, wet walking through long grass at the beginning of the walk.  Once we got up the hill though, things were much improved.  On our return to Rose Cottage we had more time to enjoy the views and the garden.

We set off for home on Monday morning and had a good journey which meant we got home in time to go and see a movie in the afternoon… Too bad “Disclosure Day”  didn’t quite live up to the high standard set by the weekend but the pick and mix just about made up for it.

As far as the Airbnb experiment went, it passed with flying colours. Thank you Rose Cottage – you are on most definitely our list for a revisit!

It was one of my shorter visits but I still managed to squeeze a fair bit in.  As well as spending lots of time with Mum, Dad and George, I got to see Ange, Karin, Katrina, Nada, Lauren, Andre, Olive, Pat, Jennifer, John, Nancy and, of course, Janet too!

Unfortunately Dad got pneumonia when I was then and then Mum picked up a virus too which meant that plans for her to travel back to the UK with me have been postponed – but most certainly not cancelled.  The winter had been very long, cold and snowy so it was nice to see Mum and Dad getting back to their track walks more routinely while I was there and also Dad starting to get the garden going when he started feeling better.

We had a trip out to Conn market and a recommended mennonite buffet restaurant one day.  The restaurant was called Pebbles and I really enjoyed being able to choose whatever I wanted and how much of it I wanted from the buffet – although narrowing things down was a little difficult (especially when it came to the desserts)!  We also managed to fit in Swiss Chalet and Champ Burger!  Thanks to Karin I got my Dairy Queen fix and lunch with Ange resulted in ticking a very tasty grilled reuben off the list!  I met up with Katrina and Nada and we have mexican food in Oakville which I am a bit fan of so that was a treat too.

The timing of the trip was perfect for seeing the trilliums just coming out at Earl Rowe.  I visited twice once for a long walk around the Rainbow trail and then Mum and Dad came with me a second time so they could see the trilliums too.

The timing was also excellent for the Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie promotion – those cookies are so good.  And because all the money goes to local charities, it would be wrong not to eat a lot of them!  I was also there for McHappy Day which is McDonald’s way of supporting a children’s charity called Ronald McDonald house…  I got a cool pair of purple socks along with a Caring Cookie!  I’m a big fan of the charity cookie!

I also got to check out Lauren, Andre and Olive’s new place back in the city (and experience their famously wonderful hosting too of course).  They live in a great neighbourhood and we explored it on Saturday morning before heading into the city centre on the subway to do a little shopping at Roots!  Olive introduced me to the movie Wicked and Andre cooked up an amazing meal for us on Saturday evening.

My visit to Jennifer’s coincided with her 79th birthday so that was lovely to see her and John and Nancy came to visit too.  We were well fed as always and of course there was birthday cake and lots of treats to take home to Mum and Dad!

It is always hard saying good-bye but October and my next visit will come quickly – and there is a bit more time then too.

We arrived on Friday and met up with Nicola and Nigel for dinner at their place – we played a few games I’d brought so the humans were happy and the dogs were happy together too.

On Saturday Nigel drove us all to Borth-y-Gest and we did a circular walk with Nicola and Nigel’s friends Mick and Dawn along the coastal path to Black Rock Sands.  We had lunch at a well timed break at Black Rock Beach Club en route.  We stopped in Criccieth on the way back for a short trip to the beach.  On Saturday evening we walked to the Sun Inn where the 6 of us (and Olaf) had a really nice meal and had fun playing Rhino Hero… and I think we might have inadvertently caused the purchase of multiple copies by others who were watching us play in the pub!

On Sunday we walked on the lanes around the campsite to the headland and the beach at Hell’s Mouth and then stopped in Abersoch on the way back for ice cream.

Unfortunately Olaf found the weekend quite stressful with the noise of vehicles moving about the site and walking on the roads.  So on Monday we set off for home (despite the original plan being to stay until Tuesday).  We’re going to go back to the campsite in September but this time leave Olaf in his happy place with his dog friends at Lea’s.. which is a little heart breaking for us as we like being with him but the right thing for him.

We stayed just outside Mevagissey on the south coast (as opposed to the north coast) this time in a cottage called Casma with an amazing view of the sea.  There were some beautiful sunrises across the harbour to watch when we were there.   Like last year, we spent most of our time walking on the south west coast path.  The path’s around Mevagissey were quite narrow and wet and hard walking but the walking improved a bit further afield.

The first day we were there it was rather wet and misty – we set off from the cottage (which was right on the coast path) to Dodman Point. Another day we walked along the coast path to Fowey from Parr Sands which was a very Olaf friendly beach.  A different walk started a Charlestown which was very proud to be one of the key filming locations of Poldark.  This was the start for us of watching the series as it had been with the show Doc Martin when we went to Port Issac the year before!

Another good visit was stopping in at Caerhays Castle for a cream tea and walk around the coast path and grounds there. I wasn’t sure if I’d put my cream and jam on in the right order for Cornwall or if I’d done it the Devon way though!  On our anniversary we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan which is really worth a visit.  The grounds are extensive and the paths are good so we had a good walk around – there is a good shop and cafe there too… Although we opted to have our lunch in the adjacent farm shop which was very tasty and encouraged us to make a few purchases from the shop too!

Our last day before setting off for home, we ventured a bit further afield to the North Coast and the old mine workings around St. Agnes.  These were really neat to see… especially Wheal Coates and the beaches were nice for dogs to play on too!

It was another very successful trip down to Cornwall that the 3 of us enjoyed.  Here are some pictures from our time there!

Back in 2017, we went to Barmouth for Paul’s birthday weekend and stayed at this lovely cottage called Tre Mynach.  It has held its place as one of our favourites since then so I decided Paul’s 60th birthday year was an excellent reason to return. It used to be the gymnasium of a school but it now a cleverly converted 3 bedroom cottage with ensuite bedrooms, an excellent open plan living area, a tiered garden and lovely views out to sea. Although it was Olaf’s first time there he was very pleased – especially with the garden and had quickly mapped out a sniffing route that needed to be followed on every visit into the garden!

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and had a wander around the shops of Barmouth (and sampling some ice cream from one of the only places open to sell it) before heading back and settling into the cottage for the evening.

Sunday was the big birthday day – Paul opened his cards and presents when we got up and then we headed out to do the panorama walk which gave us some lovely views across the Estuary.  We finished off with a trip to Barmouth beach and Olaf had a little run about and we listened to the local samba drummers playing on the beach.  Back at the cottage, we had some Battenberg birthday cake before heading out again for dinner at Dylans – it was in a great location with lovely views and the food was really nice too.

On Monday we drove north and parked at Tal-y-bont and walked along the beach to Shell Island and back.  It was a beautiful beach and the forecasted rain stayed away.  We went back into Barmouth in the afternoon and had a wander around the shops again and found somewhere to have a drink before collecting fish and chips (sausage and chips for Paul) to take back to the cottage for our dinner.

On Tuesday we packed up and left Tre Mynach vowing not to leave it another 9 years until we next return… We stopped at Coed y Brenin Forest Park for a walk and then for some lunch at Model Bakery in Blaenau Ffestiniog.  Paul had spotted this very unassuming bakery when he was watching an episode of the Hairy Biker’s when they did a great sales pitch for the place.  We got a selection of sweet and savoury things to sample including the baker’s famous Kurdish pasties – very nice!

So although the 60th birthday celebrations continued throughout the month, Barmouth provided an excellent start to them!

Here are some pictures from our weekend!

I arrived on a Saturday afternoon after a very good journey.  I stopped on the way down at the Tortworth Estate Farm Shop which was just off the motorway but a much better stop for us than a service station.  I arrived mid afternoon which gave Annalie and I a chance to wander into Ivybridge and check out the shops.  We had a very lovely dinner together with her parents when we got back in.

On Sunday we headed to Exeter for a day of shopping and lunch.  It’s about a 45 minute journey from Ivybridge and we spent lots of time checking out all in the shops especially White Stuff, Seasalt, Lucy and Yak and John Lewis.  We had our lunch in the Tiny Tasting Room – just a sandwich though because we were saving ourselves for a BBQ back at Ivybridge!  It was a little cold to sit outside and eat but we did spend some time outside while the sun was still up and the BBQ was getting going – not too bad for a Sunday in October.

On Monday we went to Totnes and enjoyed walking up (and then back down) the street with all the unique, independent shops including some well stocked charity shops and consignment shops.  We had lunch at the Waterside Bistro which was really nice – I chose the fish pie.  We headed back to Ivybridge before Olaf and I set off for home mid afternoon.  Olaf travelled very well indeed which was helped by the fact that we had two excellent journeys with little/no disruption due to traffic both ways – both were less than 5 hours.

I feel very welcome in Ivybridge and very spoiled – Annalie had made me lots of lovely things that she’d brought with her in her suitcase from New Zealand and her Mum knitted a blanket for me too.  Olaf was treated like royalty and could do not wrong – even when he was digging in the garden!  No wonder our 2026 trip to Devon is already in the calendar!

I arrived on a Sunday and left the following Saturday – the flights were a little late at both ends but nothing to worry about…  I’ve got quite slick (from experience I guess!) with the hire car pick up in Toronto and Paul negotiates the Manchester airport pick up easily too.

I quickly fell into the routine with Mum and Dad of walking the track in the morning (which always involves meeting “the regulars” including both humans and canines) and then going for a coffee somewhere.  Tim Hortons was the most frequented of the options this trip – although McDonalds did feature) which was good because they were doing their week long Smile Cookie promotion… This is where you buy a cookie for $2 and ALL of the proceeds go to a local charity.  (The fact that the cookies were delicious was secondary to supporting local charities of course!)  I even brought some home from the airport for Paul to try.

We managed to get quite a few things done despite the brevity of the trip…

• Mum and I went for a pedicure at the lovely nail salon in Alliston where I feel we are pretty much regulars now.  We both opted for festive choices with reds and greens and sparkles.
• We got Swiss chalet takeaway – the festive special no less.  Perfect timing as it had just come out shortly before I arrived.
• We went to Champ Burger where I had the best poutine ever – a pulled pork version.  It was amazing but it’s also probably good that I don’t live too close to the restaurant as I’m sure it’s an artery blocking affair!
• The weather was excellent for some garden work with Dad mostly involving raking leaves.  It was nice to be outside in the bright November sun.
• The continuous task of sorting and trips to the charity shop and various other drop off spots continued.
• One day we drove west to Misty Meadow’s Market shop in Conn and then on to Anna Mae’s Bakery and Restaurant for our lunch.  I finally tried their famous brosted chicken – there was so much I brought some home and it did for another two meals!  And I had the peanut butter pie for dessert of course – it’s the best.
• On Thursday Janet came home – we went to Dairy Queen together for lunch (and a Reese and Oreo blizzard for me) and we also popped in to see Pat and the cats.
• On the way back to the airport I stopped in to see Jennifer who was rehabilitating after knee surgery.  It was lovely to see her and catch up for a couple of hours before heading to Pearson.

It wasn’t exactly a trip I’d planned that far in advance but the timing ended up being really nice.   It wasn’t quite long enough though as the time just flew by… I think I was just getting used to the time difference when I was on the plane back home!

Looking forward to my next trans Atlantic trip in 2026.

We arrived in Italy on Thursday afternoon – me from Manchester and Brent from London.  Brent landed about an hour or so after me and when we met we found our way via taxi from the airport to our Airbnb in the centre of the old town of Naples.  The apartment was lovely, clean, secure, quiet and had amazing views across the city to Vesuvius.  The old town of the city was busy and felt chaotic with it’s cobbled, narrow streets, crowds and scooters making their way through them with horns beeping… It took a little getting used to!  We had a little wander around where we were staying once we’d settled in before finding somewhere in the square near our apartment for dinner (Neapolitan pizza – had to be done I guess).

On Friday morning we headed out from the apartment to our pick up point for our organised tour of Pompeii and Vesuvius.  It was about half an hour on the bus (not far really) and we had an excellent tour guide to take us around Pompeii.  It was somewhere I’d always wanted to go since I learned about it in high school Latin class – it was neat to see it and get a better understanding of what life was like there as the city was so well preserved.  I certainly hadn’t appreciated the scale of it!  After lunch which we had in a restaurant just by the gates to the ruins, we got back on the bus and were taken to Vesuvius.  We walked the last 200 metres or so from where we’d parked to the top of the crater.  It certainly looked very benign when we were there – and the views from the top were stunning.  Once we got back into Naples, we had dinner in the square near our apartment again at this place.  We were trying to decide what to have when we saw some people at an adjacent table order something that looked very good so we copied… It turned out to be Frittura di verdure miste (Italian Fried Vegetables) and they were very tasty indeed especially when accompanied by a Caprese salad.

On Saturday we explored Naples on foot – walking through the old town with the harbour as our objective.  There were a few cruise liners in and after watching a roller blade race on the main promenade by the sea, we had lunch by the harbour.  I had a seafood pasta which was very fresh – not many food miles there I don’t think!  Once we got back to the old town, we went to Underground Naples (Napoli Sotterranea) which is a network of tunnels and caverns that includes a 2400 year old aqueduct. We also saw the ruins of a Roman theatre used by Emperor Nero.  For our last night in the city we decided to get some food and eat in our apartment enjoying the views and the sunset before we left it the next day.

Along the way, we sampled a few of the sweet things that Naples is known for… and I quickly understood why they are so popular.  Sfogliatella ricca is a layered filo style pastry filled with sweet ricotta cheese.  We also tried rum babà which is a flour, yeast, and butter-based sponge cake covered with rum syrup.  Gelato of course featured on a couple of occasions including tiramisu and stracciatella flavoured versions.  Another must felt like limoncello spritz… when in Rome and all that… We had one of those each while sitting on a little table outside a cafe in the old town – I’d got used to the narrow, busy streets and scooter horns by then!

I left for the airport mid morning on Sunday- Brent moved from Naples down the coast to Sorrento for another few days in Italy.  I really enjoyed the couple of days spending time with Brent and being somewhere that we’d both wanted to see.  Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

On the way there we stopped at the Chatsworth Farm shop for some lunch on the terrace and provisions for the weekend.  I think we probably spent way too much time in the shop looking at all the lovely food and trying to make decisions – and also probably way too much money in the end too but it was a nice treat and what we bought kept us fed for the weekend!

On the Saturday morning, we set off on our first walk through the “secret” gate into the grounds and up onto the edges around the estate.  The weather was very nice and we enjoyed the views from the edges.  There were lots of them including Dobb Edge, Birchen Edge (where we saw Nelson’s monument and the 3 ships (3 large stones), White Edge, Froggatt Edge, Curbur Edge and Baslow Edge.  On Baslow Edge, we came across a herd of highland cows… Coming across a herd of cows when we’re walking is never usually a highlight for us as they are very large and usually very unpredictable but these ones were very docile and happy with people and dogs sharing the headland with them so we were pleased to see them.  They were also quite photogenic too!  Once we got to Baslow, we stopped for ice cream before heading back along the river to the campsite.

The following day the weather was dry and sunnier than the previous day- we realised how extensive the grounds of Chatsworth were as we stayed mostly in them but still managed to walk 10+ miles.  We hit Edensor, Calton Lees and Hob Hursts Ho.  We had lunch by the Emperor Lake and ice cream at the Chatsworth stable yard before heading back to based.

On the Monday, it was market day in Bakewell so we headed back home via a stop there.  Although Olaf was not very impressed with the diversion to the market, I did find a little metal red breasted robin on one of the stalls which was a perfect Christmas gift for Dad’s garden.  We were a little worried about the van and the way it was running so we stopped on the way home at a garage in Ellesmere Port to book it in for work.  It did get us there and back safely though and the problem was diagnosed and rectified a couple of weeks later!

Here are some pictures from our weekend.  It’s a shame because it looks like the Chatsworth Estate won’t be renewing their lease with the Caravan Club for the campsite but hopefully it will remain as a campsite – just in some other guise…