La Rochelle

We took the Portsmouth to Le Havre ferry to France and although its a 6 hour crossing it saves the long drive to Dover.  It was an early sailing so we spent the night in the Portsmouth Truck Stop which is only 10 mins away from the Ferry Terminal. I was expecting a disturbed nights sleep with trucks leaving but none left before us.

Waiting patiently

The first night was spent just outside of Alencon at Lac de Sille 

Its about 30 years since I was last here, but the old port area remains the same.   

Passing through the archway into the olde town.

I was fascinated by the design of the window shutter catches.

As we were camped about 5 miles outside the town we caught the train in, and this is La Rochelle station.

These swallows were in the campsite toilets and had fledged by the time were left.

Weston Super Mare to Weymouth to Weston super Mare

In August the cycle clubs tour was a coast to coast from Weston to Weymouth and back.  Twenty cyclists started out at midday on a Wednesday and luckily 20 finished lunchtime on Saturday.

Twenty is too large a number to ride together so we split into two groups with me leading one group, even then managing 10 is difficult, but nobody got left behind lost or injured. 

The ride was spread over the four days giving us time to enjoy the scenery and the stops were Glastonbury, Weymouth, and Langport.

Leading meant the I didn't take pictures but other people were kind enough to let me use theirs.

Day 1

Leaving Weston station

Arriving at Glastonbury

The famous Tor 

One of the murals around the town.

Day 2

A really pleasant day for cycling, sunny but not too hot with quiet lanes and a good lunch stop.

Arriving at Weymouth.

Day 3

This was a horrendous day and if you didn't have to ride you certainly would not have gone out in this wind and rain. 

The lanes were awash and branches had been blown down.

The Hardy monument, not the poet but Hardy who was with Nelson as he died. 

Its a credit to everyone's cycling skill that we had no accidents.  All arrived safe and exhilarated after 60 miles in conditions which were more of an endurance test than anything else.

Day4

What a difference a day makes, sunshine again.

And finally Weston.

As usual another good fun trip and all the better for having no incidents.

Aberglasney Gardens

This is a favourite place to visit and so we went back in August.   Its been a while since we were here and there has been changes and renovations to the house and like many gardens, they are often in a constant state of change.