Camp Municipal

In France, there are three types of camping we’ve done – in a rest stop (amazingly well set up for campervans and caravans to stay overnight with full bathrooms and shops, it’s free but you share it with many trucks and traffic all night!); standard van parks with all the usual facilities (except toilet paper or toilet seats, grrr! But that’s another story!) and finally, Camp Municipal. As far as we can tell, these are run by the local council.

We stayed in a Camp Municipal three nights ago at Dange-St-Romain. We knew roughly where we wanted to stay the night and so looked in our book of campgrounds and found this one. The trusty GPS (nicknamed ‘Babette’, she speaks in English with a French accent!!) got us there and this is what we found

The warden spoke basic English, there was no internet, the men’s showers were basically a hose in a small room, but we were in a meadow, by a river, with only two other couples there. We camped under a willow tree and sat on a rug under the tree for our meals. The playground was awesome too! A lovely, lovely place to stay. Cost : 10.20 euros. Memories: priceless.

Karen

Travelling in the Death Star

New continent, new transport. After we arrived in Frankfurt, we went to the quaintly named ‘McRent’ to pick up our next motorhome. Here it is



Brand new, diesel, manual (tricky when it’s on the other side!), German efficiency at its best! It’s heaps smaller than our US RV but the layout is great – loads of storage and nifty ideas. A better stereo too! We originally nicknamed this campervan ‘Fritz’ but it didn’t stick – and as the brand of this van is ‘Dethleffs’ it’s become the Death Star. Way cooler.

So far we’ve driven from Frankfurt, through eastern and southern France to Gijon, Spain, and then back through France. We’re currently in Verdun (northern France) and we return the Death Star in 3 days.

What have we done as we’ve driven these huge distances? The boys have played DS, lego, done homework, written journals, drawn, chatted, listened to ipods, read their bibles, played word games with us, built air speeders from paper and played whatever crazy game Max has dreamed up next. And had very few fights. Mike has driven (obviously) and he and I have loved the scenery – we’ve tried to avoid freeways and instead have taken many backroads through small villages and beautiful countryside. We’ve chatted about how to make the readjustment to real life once we return. And he’s loved listening to all our CD collection – particularly the ‘Les Miserables’ soundtrack, his Christmas present CDs and Neil Diamond. And I’ve loved doing a cross stitch I bought in the Cotswolds of a poppy. It will probably take me 20 years to finish, but I’ve enjoyed making a start!




For those of you who will like to read the specs on this van… over to Mike ...

Compared to the American Chateau we are talking chalk and cheese. Where the Ford based Chateau was big, powerful and unwieldy inside and out, the Fiat based Death Star is clever, refined and handles like a sports car!

Approximately 18 feet long, single front and rear wheels, 6 speed manual Diesel engine, 10L per 100kms, terrific turning circle and very comfortable driving position.

Inside the 11 foot difference is accounted for in the reduction of distance between our bed and the boys beds (10 feet down to 10cms) and an extra foot in the drivers cab making for excellent leg room and a dash board as deep as a dining table is wide.

The three things the Americans did better than the Germans were the automatic internal power control system, number of power outlets and a flushing toilet rather than chemical. The rest … well … give me the Death Star every time - Storm Troopers, heavy breathing and all.

Karen & Mike

London Calling

Michael blogged a couple of weeks ago about our London highlights and promised photos... so I thought I should add some - better late than never!
Trafalgar Square

on the London Eye

view from the London Eye

Tower Bridge from the Tower of London

at the Tower of London

outside Buckingham Palace

Big Ben

off to Hogwarts

St Paul's Cathedral

our street

the concert we went to at the Royal Albert Hall

us and London Eye

the view from the end of our street!

at Windsor Castle

boys and guard, Windsor Castle

Karen

Easter in London

When we are at home, we have quite a few Easter traditions – bible readings and fun activities in the week before, memory verses, church attendance, and a special meal with friends on Easter Sunday with a lamb roast, Nigella’s chocolate nest cake, egg hunts and games.

Our boys were very concerned – how would we manage all this while away? What would we do? Easter came at a time when we were all feeling a bit homesick, especially for our church family and for remembering Jesus’ death and resurrection with them. I emailed this to my mum who (wise woman that she is) encouraged me to make this Easter a special one for our family because it is different – an Easter to remember.

So, we did (or at least we tried!) All week we ate fantastic hot cross buns – fruit but also apple and cinnamon and orange and cranberry (my fave!)On Good Friday we had a special ‘service’ in our flat – we washed each other’s feet and read about Jesus’ death for us. We also had a yummy Good Friday dinner as a special meal. On Sunday we woke up to our decorated flat (thanks to bunting and Easter banners, very English!) and our special eggs, read the resurrection story then went to church at St Helen’s Bishopsgate. It was terrific to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with fellow Christians, to hear the bible and a great sermon, to sing the old hymns, to share in the Lord’s Supper and to chat and enjoy hot cross buns at morning tea. The boys went to Sunday School and loved that too.


It reminded us that Jesus’ death and resurrection is a universal story, celebrated by believers the world over, and that God’s love and His family everywhere have been a great joy to us during our whole trip. Truly, an Easter to remember.

Los Chispas Part 3

On Monday it was a public holiday in Gijon, so after a sleep in and leisurely morning (necessary after talking til 1am the night before!) we went out for lunch. Lunch is the main meal and is eaten at about 2 or 3 pm. (Dinner is then eaten at about 10pm.)

We walked for about an hour, along the beachfront to the restaurant area. It was a lovely day and Gijon is a very pretty city. We stopped a few times to chat with friends, so encouraging to see the relationships Shane and Ruth have built up (and how fluently they can speak Spanish!)We found a place which had a traditional fixed meal so we ate there. (It was also next to a plaza so the boys could run around when they had finished!)

We ate a choice of two stews to start (I avoided the black pudding!)and drank sidera (the local drink, it's an alcoholic cider which is poured into the glass from a height and then downed in one go), then fish and pork chops for main and rice pudding (also a local dish) for dessert. It was a pleasant afternoon, sitting, eating, chatting and watching the boys play. After a couple of hours we wandered back.


There is a fantastic playground near their home so we stopped there for a play. Once again we met many people Shane and Ruth knew, and the boys made new friends and played on very exciting equipment! Before we knew it, it was 8pm so we headed back.




A great, relaxing, Spanish day!

Karen

Los Chispas Part 2 - reunions!

Shane, Ruth and Kye had lived with us for a week, 2 1/2 years ago, when they were on 'home assignment' from Spain. During that time Aidan and Kye hit it off. They are only 6 weeks apart in age and became firm friends!

They had a lovely reunion over the weekend. They played, had baths, watched movies, slept in the same room, chatted, and dressed up together. We loved seeing our boys together like that. We're so glad that the Sparks will be in Australia soon so the boys can continue their friendship!



I realised there had been another 'reunion' when one of my boys asked me today 'mum, did you and Ruth stop talking all weekend?' And the answer is, maybe not! (except when we were asleep!) It was lovely to catch up on news, and discuss everything from parenting to books we've read to mutual friends to issues we're thinking through to challenges we've both had and much more! It was a real joy to do so and to pray together also. Ruth is so honest and has a transparent love for Jesus, it was refreshing to chat with her.


Of course, Michael and Shane caught up too... but I'm not sure what they talked about... I was too busy talking and listening myself!



Karen

Hola!

Greetings from Spain! We have been in this country since Friday. We spent Friday night and Saturday in San Sebastian, then drove on Saturday afternoon to Gijon. We had three nights there then have just returned to San Sebastian for the night (it's now Tuesday).

San Sebastian is a gorgeous town on the northern coast of Spain. On Saturday we walked along the promenade, ate ice cream, went to the market in the town square and played on the beach. Tomorrow we plan to climb up a headland to look back over the town. It has a classic, Spanish feel - just lovely. (all photos are in San Sebastian)

Karen