Snowbirds

 As I packed Agy up for another trip south to escape the February cold, I wondered if we have become snowbirds. I’d heard about people who head south to the sun for winter being known as snowbirds, and it feels as if that might be us.

I have come to really dislike February weather in the UK. Well, maybe I have always disliked it; but when I was working, I just didn’t see it. I’d leave the house early and get home often about 8 pm, in time to eat, sleep and head to work again. I often ended up travelling in February as there was a conference I used to attend each year too, so the month passed me by. Now I’m not working, I definitely experience it, and I am not a fan!

When I signed off the last blog in October we were heading home from our epic UK adventure and were planning a trip away over winter, but leaving Agy at home. We were thinking of a different type of trip, but for family reasons we decided to postpone that and stay home until later in February.

Having made that decision, and we are very glad we did as a very special person joined us during this time, we needed a new plan. So here we are in what is rapidly becoming our winter home from home. We travelled through France into Spain and are back in Benidorm with Agy.

We caught the ferry from Portsmouth to Cean, an easy daytime journey. As the ferry left early in the morning  we headed to Port Solent late afternoon the day before, spending the night free of charge, before heading to check-in at the international port at 6 am. Not a time we usually see nowadays!

The ferry was great, we’d booked a cabin so we could catch up with some sleep enabling us to clock up some miles once we arrived. Before we knew it we were arriving in port and our journey began.

Our intention was to get as far as we could before it got dark, and we did fairly well. Travelling in France is so easy in a van. The roads are clear and almost every village has an Aire de Camping where you are able to stay for up to 2 days, many have water available, some have electricity, but all welcome you - so different to the UK.

We made it to Cinq-Mars-la-Pile as darkness fell, and with a quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on essential food and wine, settled in, slept well and headed off again the next morning.

We’d heard about the village of the martyrs d’Oradour-Sur-Glane when some van life YouTubers we follow had visited and thought it was somewhere we would be interested in.

The village is about 22 from Limoges and has been preserved as it was left by a unit of the Waffen SS in World war II.

On 10 June 1944 the whole village was destroyed, in fact it was annihilated. Every person there killed including the children, a total massacre. 643 people were killed that day, and the whole village burned. The bodies of those killed were burned in a mass grave so they were unable to be individually identified.

On November 28th 1944 the provisional French government decided to preserve the ruins, so future generations could remember, understand and learn.

As we walked around the village, you find the dentist, the baker, the garage, the seamstress‘ store. The equipment that survived the fire is still there. The cars still sit where they were the day the Nazi troops arrived. It is horrifying, but there is a sense of calm now. The school children who are visiting, hearing about what happened are quiet, respectful, there weren't too many people visiting the day we arrived.  In this first photo you can see the Singer sewing machine belonging to the courtier, which really hit me....

As we visited there are people facing similar horrors in the world, it’s hard to comprehend how leaders of the modern world can continue to promote such awful behaviour, and yet still they do. If you are interested in learning more, you can find details here www.oradour.org 

Continuing our journey south we covered a fair distance to spend our second night in another Aire, this time in  Villasavary, not too far from Carcassonne. Now, if we had realised that we had both been mistaken in our campsite booking in Benidorm, we would probably have visited Carcassonne. It is somewhere we have wanted to go. We will one day! However, we pressed on the next day getting as far south as we could. The weather was warmer, the sun was shining, we thought we’d press on and head straight to Benidorm and see if we could get into the campsite a night earlier than booked. 

Luckily, as we sped (at an Agy sedate pace) south, Ian suggested I  contact the campsite to see if they could fit us in. At this point I realised we had another 2 nights before we were booked to arrive, and funnily enough (it’s a fab site and usually fully booked well in advance) there was no space!

After a quick Google, I found us a site a couple of hours from Benidorm and booked us into Camping Tauro, Benicassim.  A lovely small site that meant we could stop earlier than planned and rest for a couple of days before our final destination. It gave us a chance to purchase a local mobile SIM for internet access in the van, stretch our legs, and ease our backs that were complaining from all the travel.  

Monkeys, Mark 1’s and memories

Leaving Telford we were due to be staying in Tewkesbury but as is often the case there after heavy rain the site was flooded, so we headed to stay with our niece and her wife (thanks Klaire and Cass, sorry I forgot to take a photo despite seeing you several times!) for a few days before making our way to the site.  

While in the area we were able to visit Blackfriars in Gloucester where Ian spent a lot of time when he was younger as his dad was custodian. It’s a beautiful site ( now a wedding venue) and although cared for by English Heritage, it’s free to visit when it is open.

It was also great to take the opportunity to meet up with friends and family over the week, and although we didn’t manage to see everyone we’d hoped to, it was great to have time with people we hadn’t seen for a while, particularly with dad as time is so precious now … some a very long time!

Tewkesbury Abbey is a fabulous site really close to the town with great restaurants, cafes and bars just a few minutes walk away, we love it and it works well for visiting family. We popped into the Abbey while we were there, which was lovely, but not a patch on Gloucester Cathedral.. We may be biased!

We’d originally planned to head home after leaving Gloucestershire, but having had a call to say our good friends Anne and David were going to be in Dorset for a few days in their caravan, inviting us to join them, we couldn’t resist, so Dorset became our final destination!

We’ve not spent much time in this area although have driven through to get to the Lymington ferry home on previous trips so it’s been lovely having time to visit. We stayed closed to Wareham, a lovely small town, but more importantly close to somewhere I had wonted to visit for a very long time.

We used to watch Monkey World on TV several years ago, following the antics of the rescue monkeys, gibbons, Macaques and apes. We haven't watched for years as it isn’t available on the channels we have access to, but I’d wanted to visit since seeing the series. It turned out, it was very close to the site, so of course we went!

It absolutely did not disappoint! We all had a wonderful day. Seeing all these beautiful (if a little occasionally fugly) creatures. The setting is stunning nestled in the woodland, with huge enclosures and places for them to climb, hide or sun themselves. Several clearly enjoyed showing off, possibly because their former lives were as performers in dreadful conditions, others liked to hide and although we knew they were there, we didn’t manage to spot them in the trees.

At one point I could see Ian keeping really still with his camera out in an area that wasn’t one of the enclosures. This is what he’d spotted!

These stunning deer were wild, although clearly spent plenty of time in the park as they were very comfortable with people being close to them. We also saw lots of birds including a nuthatch and robbins. It was a fabulous day. I’d highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. Of course all the money supports conservation and rescue work around the world, so it makes a difference while you marvel at the stunning wildlife.   

Our final day of our trip couldn’t have been more different to the wildlife and woodland at Monkey world. After a failed attempt to visit Swanage (which has become very campervan life unfriendly with no car parking anywhere near the town possible) we headed to the Tank Museum.

What a fabulous place. It’s huge and based near the active Army training camp. It tells the history of the tank, the people who served in wars  from the first world war to fairly current conflicts.

It houses the only surviving WW1 Mark 1 tank

  

Little Willie, the world's first working tank (the prototype of the Mark 1) as well as hundreds of other tanks, all telling the story of the individual tank displayed.

We were also lucky enough to be there when they opened the conservation centre where they store and repair tanks they have recovered, or have been donated. As we were there they were moving track links into the storage area for future restoration work.

You get to walk through replica trenches ( without the mud, smell and fear), visit a shop with very little food due to rations, and spend time in a shelter. 

It’s humbling, and makes me very thankful to those who choose to serve over decades to maintain our safety. I know I have said this before, but if we don’t face the horror of what our past includes, we don’t focus on why it is important to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Shying away isn’t going to make it better. I truly believe we need to recall, learn and sometimes be upset by past actions, as a reminder of how fortunate we are and what we have to work so hard to protect for our future. It’s a sombre note for the end of an incredible trip but we’ve travelled through the UK from South, to North and back again. We’ve learnt about Picts and Vikings, Kings and Queens, world wars and worldwide rescues.

We’ve met friends from years ago, family we see often and both friends and family we don’t see often enough. It’s been a wonderful trip, but we are ready to be home now. There'll be a break in blogs while we settle back into everyday life, but fear not, there’s an exciting trip in the planning, although Agy won’t be coming on this one, so let us know, should we blog that trip, or wait till we’re back on the road in Agy? 

Thanks for reading!