Southend-on-Sea - pleasant surprise

A visit to Southend-on-Sea with Isabel and the two dogs.   I found that Southend was no longer the rapidly dying seaside town I visited more than twenty years ago.  The place has had a makeover.   And this was such a pleasant surprise.   I realise that Southend still has a problem with deprivation and a high level of social housing, but there are signs of a thriving town, with commercial parks, offices and plenty of busy shops.   

On a sunny summers day the shopping area and seafront were bustling with people, of all cultures, having a marvellous time.   There were new buildings everywhere, the main shopping street was pedestrianised, there was a large theme park on the foreshore, and plenty of restaurants and cafes.   We were impressed.

Isabel and the dogs, standing among the shoppers on the pedestrianised shopping street.

On the second day we found a quiet plaza off the main street which had an excellent cafe with tables and chairs outside.  And it was shady.   We had the dogs to consider.   The plaza also included a small grassed area, and was surrounded by new and very impressive buildings: the University of Essex and The Forum, an ultra modern library and learning zone.

The train station was close by, and I was amazed by the number of day trippers who came by train from London; just like it used to be, years ago, when a day trip to the seaside was an event people planned for and took every summer.

At the bottom of the pedestrianised shopping street, there is a lift to take people to the pier, which is the longest pleasure pier (2.16 km) in the world. or down to the theme park and promenade.   It was all very well done.

The photograph below shows the promanade, under the footbridge to the pier.   There were still plenty of games arcades, so popular in British seaside towns, on the other side of the street.  And they looked prosperous too.

A view over the theme park.

The beaches were crowded with people, mostly fully clothed.  This was certainly not the south of France, where beach clothing must be as brief as possible.

Isabel and the dogs, sitting happily on the wall.

The beaches contain gravel and sand.  A bit hard to sit on.   The background view in the photograph below shows the theme park, and the start of the pier.

Isabel and I certainly enjoyed ourselves, so much to see.  We were a bit limited by what we could do, due to having the dogs with us.   The dogs seemed quite happy.    We continually tested the pavement to make sure it was not too hot for for their feet,   They certainly received plenty of attention from people, which they loved, and there were new smells to investigate plus a few old ice creams to lick off the pavement.

I wonder if Southend-on-Sea received EU money to help regenerate a dying town.   So much for Brexit.

A holiday in the caravan - one grandparent, one grandchild and two dogs.

A trip away in the caravan with Isabel, and the dogs Jezzie and Bobbi.   We left Jeff, the lizard, in the capable hands of Walter.   Not quite Walter's hands, Jeff was safely in his vivarium.   Walter just needed to keep up the supply of locusts.   

We stayed at the Riverside Village Holiday Park, Creeksea, alongside the River Crouch, in east Essex.     A quiet holiday park, in a picturesque setting, surrounded by tidal canals, interspersed with fields of grain.    

The area also came with a mixed aroma of creosote from the factory close by, which made wooden crates, and manure, which was spread on the farmland.     Rural mixed with industrial.   An interesting combination.

We could see that it was going to be very quiet, as the camping ground was about a third full.  Perfect for the dogs' first caravan trip.

I nervously stopped the car at the allocated site.  I could see other caravaners watching me, so I made a decision that this was not an opportunity to practise my caravan reversing skills.   Rather I would wow them with my expert ability at moving the caravan using the remote control.   In fact this turned out to be a very long process, but I was not to know this when I unhitched the car.

I really should have driven onto the site, via the empty sites!   Oh well.  

A friendly man came and offered to help me unhitch, and I let him wind the jockey wheel down, just to make him feel needed, but it turned out he was just being nosy, as he wanted to find out about the towing performance of the Skoda.   I had plenty to say about the excellent Skoda, even down to the heated leather seats.

I spent more than a considerable amount of time manoeuvring the caravan around, using the remote and caravan mover.   It was once I had it in a perfect position and level that I was told that the front wheel had to rest on a small square of concrete.   No doubt this is to ensure that all caravans are facing the correct way, with the correct spacing in between each one.   Does this apply to European caravan too?   Their doors are on the other side.   But a rule is a rule, so they say, and I was not going to fight this one.   So I spent another ten minutes or so with the remote in hand, ensuring that the caravan was in the correct position.  Then I had to level it, using the ramps.  What a pain.

 Isabel was relieved to see the job done, as she had been walking the dogs around the camping ground during the whole process.   'Why did it take so long?' she asked.   I totally agreed with her. 

The weather was gloriously sunny. 

We put the short and long leads together and then tied them to the door handles of the car.   We also put the leads on the dogs!   They could not escape..    During the three days, we spent a fair amount of time untangling the leads, as the dogs ran around each other, under the caravan, and around the car.

Jezzie looking out at the world.

Bobbi enjoying the sunshine on her face.   She is such a sun loving dog.

There were was not much around the area, a couple of houses, two factories, plenty of agri farming, and a derelict pub, as seen in the photograph below.   The last owners must have walked out of the pub one day, and just never came back.  There were plastic flowers on the window sills, a pool table in the bar. with balls all ready for the next game, and tables and chairs in all the rooms.  A very spooky place, to be sure.

The tidal Crouch river, at sunset.   The river is more an estuary at this point.    A very high flood prevention bank separated the holiday park from the water.

The back of the park was full of static holiday homes, mostly lined up like soldiers.  No individual gardens.   I wonder why most static caravan sites in England  are uniform and unimaginative.

Canals surrounded the park, and they were certainly a highlight.   It was a joy to take the dogs for a walk in the morning and evenings.

Most of the static caravans alongside the caravan had beautifully landscaped sites, and blended well into the scenery.  I guess they were the ones on show.

The reflections on a still evening were remarkable.   I did not let the dogs off their leads on their walks, just in case they decided to jump into the water, in their endeavours to catch ducks.

The view back towards the camping ground.

  The toilet/shower/laundry and washing up facilities block was very small and situated in front of the office, some distance away.  A concession to the urgent needs of people was made with the placement of three portaloos by the playground. But I guess most people used their caravans for washing dishes and showers.  

There were no clubrooms on this site, thank goodness, so the atmosphere was definitely only for those people who liked peace and quiet, and perhaps a spot of fishing.

The dogs were very good, and enjoyed the attention they received from other campers, plus being outside with plenty of new smells and activities.   It took them a few hours to realise that it is best to stay on the couches, out of the way of our feet, and there was not enough room in the toilet for them and for me, so following me there was not a good idea.    

We all had a wonderful time and it was lovely to spend the time with Isabel, even though she continually beat me at Uno and the Pick Up Sticks game.  

At the end of our stay I expertly hitched the caravan to the car.  First attempt too.  And no problems with the jockey wheel either.  A great achievement.

But we won't mention the squashed steps, which I forgot to remove before I moved the caravan around.   Just a small detail.

Family time at Camping Manjastre

The last week in Camping Manjastre, with Aaron, Kylie, Mia, Abi and Raphy, and Emma, Steve, Jackson, Isabel and their cousin, Elliot.

It was very busy, but enjoyable, after we all recovered from Emma and Steve's accident at Troyes, as they were driving south.  They were initially held up for four hours in Dover, due to the lengthy queues which resulted from the French security checks at the port.  Then at 3 am as they were driving on the motorway, their car ended up sliding along the road upside down.  Miraculously they all climbed out of the car, with barely a scratch or bruise.   The emergency services and hospital were fantastic, and before long they checked into a hotel, and had organised a hire car so that they could continue on their journey the next day.  We were so pleased they did this because it was a traumatic experience for them, and they needed to finish off their holiday and bring a bit of normality back into their lives.  However it was also very brave of them to drive on the motorway again and it took considerable courage to do so.   We were extremely relieved to see them all arrive safely.

We made a short visit up to the hilltop village of Bormes les Mimosas, in order to see the Dali exhibition at the museum.  Unfortunately the museum was closed on Mondays.  So we walked around the streets instead.

Always a pretty village.

A family dinner at the restaurant at Camping Manjastre.  

We bought a new inflatable mattress to use in our tent. Emma and Steve tried it out in the living part of their tent.  A very comfortable and luxurious mattress but too big for our tent, or the sleeping compartment in Emma and Steve's tent.  What ever shall we do with it now?   At the moment it is still down in our caravan.

We visited Acqualand for a day of fun on the waterslides.  I managed to go on two of them, with Emma's help.  Very funny.

There was a lovely swimming pool, which had a wave machine.  Raphy loved jumping the waves.

Lunch with the children's friends, just before Aaron and Kylie left to drive home.

And yet another meal, not altogether healthy, with hotdogs, chips and pasta, plus a few lettuce leaves.

We went into Le Lavandou for the evening, in time for a few photographs before the sun set, and it became too dark.

Emma, Steve, Jackson, Isabel and their cousin Elliot in the centre.  

Walter and me, looking very tanned after three weeks in the sun.

A very glittery ferris wheel.

Emma and Isabel on the ferris wheel.  A very fuzzy photograph, which depicted how Emma felt as she wbizzed around in it.

Pleasure boats and restaurants.  Sixty years ago Le Lavandou was a small fishing port.  Now it is a holiday resort.

More yachts.

We finished the evening off with ice creams, and a waffle for Isabel.  The ice creams were the best we had eaten on this trip.  Even when sitting in the orange glow of lights and furniture.

And Emma and Steve have taken the plunge and have bought an old Dutch caravan in Camping Manjastre, which will be stored at the campsite.  I know they will get heaps of fun out of it, as we have over the past sixteen years, and also Donna and family when they had one down there.  Fantastic news.

Home Sweet Home

We are back home, and what a wonderful feeling after a long drive home, and the trauma of Emma and Steve's accident on the way down to Camping Manjastre.

And we were welcomed back by plenty of daddy long leg spiders who had taken up residence in the kitchen and bathroom.   Plus doggy poo on the footpath, which I stepped in of course, and then spread throughout the house.  

The garden is overgrown as always.  There must have been a considerable amount of rain, plus warm days.  Our cultivated blackberry vines are overloaded with fruit.  Delicious.

We had an uneventful trip back, thank goodness.  After Emma and Steve's accident on the way down, they certainly needed a good trip back in order to restore their confidence again.

The traffic was exceedingly heavy on the A7, and again when we turned onto the A9, which is the main highway south to Spain.  We think that people had delayed their holidays south until the Monday in order to avoid Black Saturday, which is changeover day, and when most French people start their holidays.

Once past Montpellier we headed up over the Millau Viaduct on the A75.  A beautiful high motorway, with a stunning bridge over the viaduct.

Our next stop, Clermont-Ferrand, at a Premier Classe hotel, and dinner.  A much needed rest after a long drive.

We drove into the city, but all was closed for the night.  This has happened to us before.  French cities must close down for the night, I think.

The family looking desperately around for a restaurant, but alas we were out of luck.

It was a beautiful church, a Gothic cathedral built of black lava stone in the 13th and 14th centuries, called La Cathedrale de Notre-Dame de l'Assomption.  But sadly no time to explore further.

We drove back to the hotel on a most complicated street system. We could have easily driven down the tramway tracks, and spent our evening trying to get out of a tramway tunnel.  

We ended up in a chain beef restaurant, La Boucherie, where we all ate beef of some sort.  We hoped that it was beef, and of a reasonable quality too.  One never knows in a chain restaurant.  But we were desperate for food, at 10 pm.  Actually it was all quite delicious.

The next day, a lovely smooth drive on a good motorway to Orleans, then across country via Chartres, Dreux and Evreux, to Rouen.  So many roundabouts and trucks, but we kept moving, which was great.  The motorways around Rouen are being changed, a long term project, but we managed to not get lost, thanks to Steve's navigational skills, and were soon on our way to Calais.  By this stage it was raining heavily, with fog on the hill tops.

We ate a tasty meal at McDonalds, which was unexpected really.  Why is McDonalds so much better in France?   And it was there that Emma and Steve realised that their rental car should have been left at some obscure town 60 kms from Calais.  Who knows why, as there were two Avis depots in Calais, but a quick telephone call to the insurance company and we were off to the TGV station in Calais, where they left the car, and a taxi arrived to take them to the ferry.  A very efficient insurance company.

A stunned family group sitting in the ferry lounge after a very long journey.  It turned out to be a rocky ferry ride, unfortunately.  Luckily only for 1 1/4 hours.

Steve's aunt collected Steve, Emma and family from the Port of Dover, and we made our way home, on a deserted A2.

So thankful to arrive home safely and get into our own beds.

We slept soundly.  So soundly.