Tour de France - Week Two from La Rochelle through Cognac to Bordeaux

Another night spent in the vineyards

You may remember that we at the start of a seven week tour of France using France Passion sites on mainly organic farms as our bases as we explore this huge nation in our VW Campervan affectionately known as Elsie. We'd arrived via ferry in the Normandy port of Caen just over a week ago and as we travelled further south the weather was getting warmer and the sights and sounds becoming less familiar as we entered into rural France, France Passion had enabled us to meet local people, passionate about their farms or businesses, which had also enabled us to find the 'real France' away from hotels, or overcrowded campsites full of tents, motor-homes and caravans.

After spending two nights at an AirBnB just outside of La Rochelle, where we had been able to do some laundry and upload our photos onto the web we were keen to get back to our more basic living conditions that being our faithful Elsie who had spent two night parked outside on her own and hadn't even enjoyed the stunning harbour of La Rochelle or even had a sight of the Atlantic ocean where we had swam to refresh ourselves.

Inside a cognac distillery 

We were heading further south and further east but our next stop was to be on the Ile (Island) D'Oleron accessed via a bridge stretching nearly three kilometres which was the longest in France at it's time of construction, this bridge gave us great views overlooking the passing trawlers and the huge oyster beds with the little fishermen s boats tending those most precious of commodities. On the way down we'd passed through Rochefort made famous by its cheese made from sheep's milk (eeek) and then over the marshy lands towards the bridge. The island was really busy, not to the extent of a Cornish village or beach during midsummer but busy enough that we commented on it and it seemed that all the motor-homes and people we'd seen on the beaches of Normandy had now descended onto this little piece of paradise.

Maz cooling off in the Atlantic

The France Passion vineyard we were staying on grew a variety of different grapes and alongside it's white and red wines produced an alcoholic called Pineau, an aperitif that we were to become accustomed to as we travelled further into the Cognac region just north of Bordeaux. This beverage is made by blending non alcoholic grape juice with the alcohol that was produced from the distilling of other grapes, this blend is then left in barrels for around two years and produces a sweet fortified wine at around 17 percent which is very nice served chilled.

Beautiful Sainte

Our pitch for the night was set in the heart of the very vines that produce the grapes to make the Pineau and once we'd had a tasting we walked down to the nearest village, La Cotiniere where we enjoyed another swim and a walk into and around the pretty village with it's harbour which reminded us of those we'd visited in Devon and Cornwall. The place was a buzz with holiday makers who were sitting in the bars and restaurants, we didn't have the budget to do the same so wandered back up the two kilometer cycle track, or green lane, to Elsie who was awaiting patiently for us to return.

Roman ruins (not Maz!)
on the banks of the Charente

I got up early for a run, back down the green-way to the harbour and back and after we'd breakfasted we broke camp, yup getting all the terms in here now! and left the island happy that we'd come and seen but wishing we had have visited out of season and had a little bit more space to ourselves. As we cross the bridge again we were glad of some familiar space we enjoyed lunch in Saintes with its roman ruins sitting along the banks of the river Charente as we made our way inland to a remote little vineyard in the Cognac region.

A night with a view

As we drove to and through the tiny village of Villars-Les-Bois we were delighted to find a wonderful spot with a 180 degree panorama over the vineyards in the valley below, we were greeted by an older gentleman who spoke no English and his wife who spoke a little. After parking up we asked if we might taste their wines which were OK but we were literally blown away by the powerful Cognac that they produced. It turned out that this elderly gent had lived on the farm for his whole life and taken over the production from his father, now he did look about 60 but we were somewhat surprised when he offered us a 50 year old, actually bottled in 1968, vintage of his best cognac which he told us he made when he was about 30, this put him well into his 80's so it would seem that a little tipple of this fiery nectar was keeping him very young at heart.

A simple tasting room and production area.

After another peaceful night and waking to the sound of a now all too familiar laughing cry of the Green woodpeckers, who we feel should be the national bird of France, however it is the cocky cockerels which strut around, especially along the sidelines when their rugby team is playing that takes that honor, and after a very leisurely morning, no run for either of us and filling up with water we made our long journey to our next stopover.

The land of the chateau

That long journey was no more than five miles and we could actually see the church spire of the next village from our lofty position the night before, however we were keen to visit this chateau which again produced cognac and which afforded us a lovely and peaceful spot next to their lake and a visit to a their museum which gave us a much better idea of the history of cognac which was really helpful.We learnt so much about this type of brandy that must be twice distilled in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in French oak barrels made in either Limousin or Tronçais, that there is only a certain period of the year in which the production can take place and the amazing fact that the cognac region of France has more vines than any other region, which is surprising as we so attribute vines and their grapes to be made into French wine when this region makes this spirit which isn't that popular with the local French population.

It would be rude not to purchase
 at least one bottle

We also loved the ratings of the different aged cognacs, harping back to when England was much more aligned to this region after the marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine and Bordeaux and it's region came under English rule between 1152 and 1453. Each bottle is marked with letters relating to English words rather than French, either V.S, V.S.O.P, X.O, or X.X.O each relating to the English words V.S. (Very Special) V.S.O.P. (Very Superior Old Pale) XO (Extra Old) XXO (Extra Extra Old) and finally the French Hors d'âge (Beyond Age) 

I ran into the local village in the morning for croissants and baguettes but arrived too early, again, so had to run around the lanes whilst I waited for it to open, these lanes were surrounded by fields and fields of bright and happy sunflowers all opened up and smiling as the dawn broke for another perfect day. 

I had a laugh with the local baker who spoke no English and who couldn't believe that I was running back to the chateau with his bread in my fold up shopping back which I was now strapping to my back to ensure the bread stayed as undamaged as possible. I met Maz returning from her shorter run, set up the shower, with warm water heated from the solar bag and settled down to a very white starchy breakfast accompanied by butter (vegan option) and jams, lekker (sorry Afrikaans for nice or great etc)!

Crepes in Cognac

We made our way towards the town of Cognac travelling along roads that literally cut through vineyards or fields of sunflowers which stretched out around us along the hill tops and down into the valleys, we felt blessed to be able to experience such beauty and we were also delighted to find a parking space with porta potti emptying facilities, I won't go into the details, for Elsie and wander around the stunning town. We even pushed the boat out and had a delicious lunch of crepes, savory to start with a shared sweet one to end. The town was empty and according to a few locals we were lucky as usually it was full of tourists from the United States or the far east who come to taste and visit this mecca of spirits.

Sunset reflect in the stainless steel tanks

After lunch we made our slow way down to Archiac and another vineyard that produced wines and cognac, we had a lovely tasting with the lady who owned the property, her husband was playing around on a new tractor which he had been given as a trial before purchase so we didn't chat with him. Although the wines were nice we weren't too impressed with the position that we had been shown on the gravel car park and it was to prove to be the noisiest of nights on our whole trip. It was a Friday night so obviously spirits were up in the local village but unbeknownst to us, and also the owners, was the fact that a young couple had just bought a nearly house and were having a house warming, which lasted all night!, hey ho you can't be as blessed as we had been all of the time can you?

No shade but a wonderful welcome

Our next night was to be the complete opposite. We'd stopped at the hill top town of Barbezieux-St-Hilaire, walked around its large square, complete with water fountains, set in front of its huge and imposing chateau for lunch and after a short drive arrive at the welcoming Domaine Conte & Filles and were greeted by a young lady who firstly apologised for the baking sun and lack of shade that she could provide for us but then showed us to a toilet, complete with shower and kitchen area which we made full use of the next morning after our run.

Tasting direct from the barrel

Nothing was too much trouble for her and we had a great tasting with her and around 20 other French people who had made their way from Bordeaux just to visit this tiny farm. It turned out that she and her sister made their cognac style spirit and she gave us a detailed tour of the distillery complete with traditionally shaped copper Charentais (the containers with all their pipes and gauges in which the liquid is heated and distilled), cellars full of french oak barrels and then a fabulous tasting. We really enjoyed our time with her and were sad to have to leave the next morning.

Chillaxing in the pool!

We had to leave as I'd booked us into an AirBnB where we could once again catch up with some washing and uploads to the internet. The stay was brilliant, we had a little room, lounge, come dinning, come kitchen, come bedroom, with a sofa bed which was far less comfortable than either of the three sleeping option in Elsie, but the Pièce de résistance (listen to me with my fancy French terms and correct spelling) was the outside area which was equipped with two outside dinning areas, a pool, which was much used to escape the heat, and a few running loops into the near by forests which reminded us so much of those around Elgin and Grabouw in South Africa. 

A French braai master

Our hosts were wonderful too and after a chillaxing Sunday they invited us over for an early evening meal, they had no qualms about us being plant based eaters and went well out of their way to create something we could put on the BBQ as well as the usual fresh salad,tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, humus dips, washed down with a few glasses of local wine and beer, it was a truly memorable evening where we made new friends overlooking their Arabian horses which stood majestically in the newly created paddocks.

New friends share a meal

After two nights we really didn't want to leave but week three was calling so after making use of the internet again to connect with family and friends, especially our dear Grandchildren of whom we had started reading a chapter of Winnie the Pooh for their bedtime story over the internet, we said our sad goodbyes and ventured into Bordeaux wine country!

Our Tour De France Part One - Week One Across the channel in Elise the VW Camper.

Birthday breakfasts (All plant based)

It was an early Monday morning in July 2020, we'd been staying down with our eldest son, daughter-in-law and their three children, out grandchildren, two boys and a girl for just over a week at their home just outside of Bradford upon Avon. It had been a good week, no it had been a great week, not only had the sun shone which meant that as we were based out of Elsie, Elsie we remind you is our newly purchased VW T5 campervan who you'll hear much more about during the next few blog posts, sleeping in her during the night but with the good weather able to interact with the family during the day. 

Family time

The week down there had also enabled us to meet up with our youngest son who was on leave from the super yacht where he works and after some sad goodbyes to him towards the end of the week we welcomed our middle son who was able to join us, with with his wife who was heavily pregnant with our fourth grandchild, as it turns out a beautiful baby girl called Winnie who was born a couple of days ago at the beginning of September 2020, for his birthday celebrations, a tad early, but we all made a fuss of him as he celebrated his 31st birthday.

Ready for the channel crossing to France

Back to this early Monday morning, we woke before the birds, which in England during the summer is pretty early, and made our way down to Portsmouth to catch the ferry which would cross the English Channel and deposit us in French soil in Caen around six hours later. Elsie made her way confidently onto the deck and enjoyed a smooth crossing with her friends, other campers, motor homes, lorries and cars, and due to the Covid-19 conditions we had to book a cabin so spent most of the time there catching up on some much needed beauty sleep with the expectation of a busy day ahead.

Covid-19 style channel crossing

As you know we drive on the left hand side of the road in England, the correct side, with our steering wheel on the right, in France they drive on the wrong side of the road and therefore seeing as we were driving a German made VW campervan built for English road conditions the first trick that myself and Elsie needed to learn, no ensure, was that I kept to that wrong side thus negating the opportunity of other road users either hitting us/me or me hitting them! Once I'd mastered this the next challenge was to find the right road out of the port and with google-maps open we made our way confidently yet tentatively out onto the tarmac and into another world, OK France.

D-Day landing memorial in Normandy

Before we go any further I neglected to say that in the planning of this trip I had studied many different websites seeking advice about many things, the best places in France to visit, what not to miss, best camping sites, free parking (both for day and overnight stays) beaches, restaurants (OK I didn't research those as this was to be a trip on a tight budget and French restaurants were going to be well out of our price range), within all this searching I stumbled over a web based community called France Passion, started some 28 years ago it has established a network of over 2000, mainly organic, farms who in return for hosting a few campervans/motorhomes, or camping cars as they are known in France, have a captive audience who are all too willing to come taste the delights that they have been busy creating and producing over the year. 

Elsie all set up for our first night at a France Passion site

More often than not these little farms seemed to be the ones that grow grapes and are commonly known as vineyards or vignes as we have subsequently found out the French call them after visiting quite a few during this trip, who produce some amazing local and internationally recognised wines. There is no obligation to purchase anything but more often than not who wouldn't want to buy some fresh produce from the very farmer who grew it around the fields where you would be spending the night?

We duly signed up and received our membership cards, log on details for the website and a handy book that was to become our bible for the next seven weeks. These France Passion sites were a godsend and it was towards one of these in northern Normandy that we were headed, headed that is after we had made a visit to the D-Day landing beaches, those beaches upon which my great uncles regiment had landed in June 1944 and on which we now found half of France as unbeknownst to us this middle of July Monday was a public holiday, well it actually wasn't but the next day, 14th July was Bastille day and those clever French families had cunningly booked off the Monday to add onto their weekend, also called weekend by the French by the way!, creating a perfect four day break just as we arrived. 

The beaches, long and flat as they are, were crowded, as were all the little coastal roads which was fun as we sought to gentle break ourselves into this driving on this wrong side of the road lark, however we managed to park, walk and view a couple of memorials and as we traveled further down the coast saw the very beach, Gold Beach, upon which my great uncles regiment had landed as they pushed through France he in his Tank, he was the driver, through Belgium, Holland and eventually across the Rhine as the Allies defeated Hitler and his Nazis in the second world war.

I hope you've got a nice cuppa to keep you company because as you can see this could be a long post as we seek to share the first week of our 'Tour De France', so if you are sitting comfortably I'll continue.

After heading west along the coast we cut inland, down country lanes towards Vaux-sur-Aure and a farm that grew apples and other fruits, mainly using those apples to make the local alcoholic beverage called Calvados, a cider brandy produced in a similar way to Cognac and Armagnac which we were to taste as we ventured further south into the grape growing regions of France. Unfortunately we didn't meet the owner but were shown to our 'parking spot' in the middle of these beautiful apple orchards that reminded us so much of those we knew in Grabouw, South Africa, where we'd spent seven years of our lives, but that's another story which many of you will already know about.

This was to be our first real night camping in Elsie, we'd slept in her at our friends field in Essex, our eldest sons home in Bradford on Avon and even outside of our middle sons home in London, right next to a skip which was interesting, however tonight we could test out all the essential items that we had bought to make our time in Elsie a little more comfortable. First item to come out was the porta potti, I won't go into too much detail but this was to be a true blessing when camping at places without access to a W/C, this was housed in a 'pop up' tent which literally popped up in less than 10 seconds, 'popping' it down proved to be a little more tricky but with the help of YouTube, accessed via 4g on our phones, we eventually worked out a quick way to do that and all was well (but we are racing ahead, we didn't need to worry about that until packing away in the morning!). The next niffy piece of kit was a rear awning, this 'tent' literally sat over the back of the open tail gate and with a few pegs to hold it down formed a great private space for us to dress and keep bits an pieces that we didn't need in the van at night. With the last accessory installed, this a simple side canopy which located in a track running along the side of the van we were set, gas on, kettle full and a welcome cup of Rooibos tea we were set.

The farm was huge, not only the land but the house too, we went to find out where the nearest toilets were, yes we had the porta potti all set up but why use/fill that when there is a free one to use, where we could fill up with water and also to see if we could taste the wares which we had read about in the hand book. A lovely young lady explained in broken English, us understanding her with our broken French, about the farm, Calvados and the ciders that they produce. The Calvados was lovely, quite hot and fiery, but was slightly out of our price range, we had you see set out to purchase at least one item, I mean who could buy just one tomato or potato if they were on offer, from each of the France Passion places we stayed at and being the first night opted for the slightly cheaper but no less tasty cider (we actually bought three bottles, one to enjoy with that evenings meal, one that we drank long the way and the last which we will open to wet dear our dear daughters head when she arrives).

We were joined by a few other motor homes during the evening but such was the space afforded to us we didn't even hear let alone see them once we had all settled down for the night. Elsie has three sleeping spaces, the rear awning, which we did use later in the trip, a bed towards the back of the van which is made up of the rear seats folding down into a double bed and our favorite a bed in the 'pop up roof' which is also a double and although a little challenging to climb into affords an open feel with canvas sides, windows and vents to three of the four sides and it was up there that we stopped for this first night and many others to come.

Shower time

Another accessory that we had purchased before the trip was a 12 volt shower, powered yes you've guessed it from the 12 volt cigarette lighter, of which Elsie has a few, either run off of the standard battery or the leisure battery which can be topped up by either running the engine, basically as you drive along, very handy, or via a solar panel which we had also bought prior to the trip which provides a trickle charge to keep that battery in tip top condition too! Anyway back to this shower, well I had also created a 'shower screen', made out of white tubing bought from Screw-fit and a shower curtain, plus we had bought a solar shower bag, this is basically a 20 liter black bag which you fill with cold water then position in the sun and with miracle that takes place where the direct sunlight warms the water which you can then add to the collapsible shower bucket, sink the shower pump into the bucket (which is now hopefully full of warmish water), press the button and stand under a warm(ish) shower for around 5 minutes, 2 and a half minutes each if sharing with another, I was, Maz, who you'd probably have guessed had also joined me and Elsie on this tour, or less time if you are sharing it with more people, dogs or other things that need to be showered down each day!

The weather was slightly overcast when we woke but we were keen to get out for our daily run, the evening before we had ventured out around the farm and found a little 'green way' (again something we would find again and again as we traveled further) that after checking on the map showed a circular route back to the farm, I ran twice round making a nice 10km run our first in France for a while and Maz completed one lap at as you've deduced 5kms, got back and although the water wasn't too warm from the solar bag we topped it up with hot water heated on the gas ring and had a lovely shower in the apple orchards of Normandy, a successful first day and first night.

After breakfast we packed, an exercise that we would repeat and become very adept at over the next few weeks but this first one took a little time before we made a 200km journey to our second and as it turns out third night stop at a friends holiday home just south of Saint Malo. 

Seeing as though we were so close to Bayeux we were keen to see if we could visit the famous tapestry depicting the last invasion of England, by anyone, in 1066 when William Duke of Normandy defeated King Harold at Hastings. Unfortunately the museum hosting the tapestry was only taking a very few visitors and waiting around for another three hours for the next batch of tickets to be released didn't agree with our days plan so after a quick coffee, black of course, we made our way to the place we had earmarked for lunch the mightily impressive Mont Saint-Michel which stood majestically out in the channel like a castle from a disney movie, except this was a real castle.

We arrived at our friends home in Plorec late in the afternoon, we'd been to their home on a number of occasions but they had completed quite a lot of work since we were last there and it was good to see how the house is being transformed. We had the run of the place, including the option to sleep in the house, our first 'real bed' since we stopped with my sister just after we'd returned from Zambia in March, it was too tempting so we said our good-nights to Elsie, reassuring her that we'd see her in the morning and went to sleep in a real bed in a real house.

Running the green-ways

Its been my desire to run 2020 kilometers in the year 2020 so my daily runs have not only become a habit but they have enabled me to get out in the fresh air in some beautiful places including those in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe so I was keen to continue that in France so I went out for a run whilst Maz did a work out in the orchard of the house where we stayed. 

Another thing we wanted to do whilst we were in France was to visit as many local markets as possible, however we only just made it to the nearest one that was taking place in Marignon as with all markets we ended up visiting it finished at midday. We made it with around an hour to spare and we made sure we bought some fresh veg, olives, tapenade and pickled garlic which we enjoyed for lunch for the rest of the week and beyond.

French markets are so interesting, firstly it seems like the whole of the surrounding area descends on them, so much so that roads are closed, a good thing, and cars end up being parked all over the place making it hard for late comers, like us, to find a suitable place to park without blocking drives, doors or roads, a bad thing. The fayre is normally quite similar, fresh fruit and veg, a stalls selling local wines, beers or cider, dried meats, always a few stalls displaying a wide range of cheeses and fresh meats, huge pans full of paella (fish and or meat dishes) or other sizzling pots full of hot food, rarely a burger or kebab van, thankfully, often stalls peddling products produced in Africa, often West Africa but we have met up with some very nice Malagasy who have their traditional straw bags and hats and yes the clothing stalls, handmade jewelry, a hat seller, some guy demonstrating the next household cleaning product or kitchen saving device but most of all full of happy people out for a morning in their local town browsing, buying, chatting and basically enjoying themselves. 

We spent the afternoon in the orchard reading and planning our next days route and stopover, then after another lovely meal, this time prepared and cooked by Maz in a real kitchen with a real cooker, we made our way to bed with only the crazy church bells to keep us company, they seemed to ring at random picking their own tune, and or not a tune, without much thought of what it might sound like to those sleeping not 50 meters from the bell tower i.e us!

Elsie was ready, waiting and raring to go, we had another 200+ kilometer journey ahead of us, which seems like quite a way to go, missing out on some great towns, villages, sights and sounds but we were really keen to get down to the Loire valley and experience some of the places that we'd been looking forward to visiting via the France Passion book. That said we made sure not to miss the castle seated above the Loire in the city of Angers and after having lunch there overlooking the river in the hot sunshine we made our way to a small vineyard called Domaine de Tartifume. 

A night in the vineyards

I'm not sure what we were expecting from our first stop at a French vineyard, as you'll know we spent over seven years South Africa, many of the farms around Grabouw and Elgin were vineyards plus if they weren't right on our doorstep it was only a hop step and a jump to go to the more touristic regions around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, still whilst many of these weren't the huge Spier, Boschendal or Beyerskloof estates most of them were all a lot bigger than this tiny little vineyard we'd just turned up on.

We made an effort to contact the owner but with no reply so left a message on his answering machine we decided to follow the 'France Passion' signs up through an old farmyard to a beautiful location set up above the wine cellar, under a tree and overlooking the valley below and vines behind. After a few minutes we saw the huge sliding doors to a big barn open and out walked an older man who we expected to be Benoit who we'd left and answerphone message with just a few minutes before, instead it turned out to be his father, it seemed that Benoit was away on holiday and dad was overseeing the operation, including directing the France Passion motor homes to their place, (he failed at that one and we were the only one there!) and completing the wine tasting that we had been looking forward to since the early stages of planning the trip.

Simple display of wines at the cellar

After setting up Elsie for the night and having a nice cuppa we were due down at the cellar to enjoy our first wine tasting in France, France the world renowned "home of wines", we couldn't wait. Well the wine tasting was, um how should we put this, interesting, we had agreed a time with Benoit's dad for a tasting, arriving bang on time, he wasn't anywhere to be seen, then after a few minutes he appeared from his home, next door to his sons home, opened up the 'tasting room' and at a tiny bar opened the fridge and asked us what we'd like to taste, Rouge (Red), Rose with an accent which my keyboard doesn't have (Rose) or Blanc (White), "everything we" said and he duly obliged. Now we must state that he didn't speak any English and our French is pretty much none existent so questions like, 'what type of grape?', or 'how many hectares of vines do you have?' (24 hectares actually, I just looked it up on the internet), and the normal exclamations of 'oh I detect slight floral tones on the nose' or 'this is definitely a heavily wooded red that must have been in French oak barrels for around 18-24 months' were irrelevant, but what was to be commended was the quality of the wine, the fact that we were joined by his friends, perhaps some other French visitors, the dog and the welcome we received.

A morning run towards the woods,
can you spot Maz?

After a very very peaceful night sleeping 'in the pop up' with the window sides down but mosquito screens up we were keen to get out to explore the surrounding vineyards on foot at around 4 minutes 45 seconds per kilometer pace, or at least I was, Maz was quite happy snuggled up in our four season sleeping bag, complete with reversible top and bottom for summer and winter, but after a minute or so she was jumping out of bed, OK maybe not jumping should we say slowly sliding from the top bed onto the head rest of my drivers seat then onto the seat before stumbling bleary eye'd onto the floor fumbling around in her bag for her running kit (mine was easily accessible in one of the handy cupboards ready to don at any time)......it was a beautiful morning and we couldn't waste a second it was at least 6.15am!

Another night in the vines

The run was stunning we ran through the vines onto a nearby road, up the hill turning right towards the woods, where we had actually walked the afternoon before reccying out this possible run, and then right back again to complete the loop, I was therefore surprised that I hadn't passed Maz on my third loop but had seen her go on further into the vines and therefore was wondering the whole way around the next lap where the heck she might turn up!....navigation isn't Maz' strong point and there's a story we won't go into here when we were in Bujumbura, the capital city of Burundi, where Maz got lost on a 600 meter loop around a square blocked neighborhood...what Maz is great at though is cooking, loving people and making sure everyone is OK, I'm great at navigation, lets leave it at that!

After filling up the collapsible bucket from the tap which was located by the wine cellar, remember down hill and through the old farmyard, I bought it back ready to add the water we had been warming on the Gas stove, Elsie is equipped with two separate gas rings. I'd just put it down and had setting up the shower but when I returned ready to pour in the warmish water the collapsible bucket had actually collapsed all by itself leaving the 20 liters of water all over the floor and me needed to make the return journey down hill and through the old farmyard yet again! Oh the joys of campervannning but no one else was around, the sun was shinning, we didn't have far to travel to our next stop and hey we were alive and kicking what more could one want.

Showered, fed and watered we were ready to make a short journey westwards along the Loire to our next stop, another vineyard, but such were the temptations along this pretty drive to pop into others along the way we couldn't resist and after passing through Juigne-sur-Loire we saw signs to Domaine de Gagnebert in a place called Moron, not the most enticing of town names!, and enjoyed a tasting again at this small vineyard. Onward and westwards we drove, glimpsing the wide and shallow Loire through the stunning countryside with pretty towns dotted along its banks.

Just returning from a morning run.

We arrived at our next stop, which was equally if not better located than the last, a lovely little vineyard called Les Vignes de I'Alma owned by the Chevalier (Knight in English) family, now we are closely related to a couple of Knight families, both mine and Maz' sisters marrying a Mr Knight, not the same one I'm glad to say, and not even related, only by us which is strange. 

The parking/camping area was wonderful, a beech hedge providing privacy with a few Plane trees providing some much needed shade, all set in the vineyards where they produce some very traditional white Loire wines of the Anjou region, thus dominated by Sauvignon and or Chenin Blanc grapes. 

After enjoying another tasting, find out where the toilets and water filling point were we had a gentle stroll around the vines only to return to be greeted with another motorhome parking up in our little secluded area, now we knew that this site/stop advertised four spaces for campervans but after last nights lonely stay up on the hill in Coutures we were surprised to see anyone. The couple in the van were lovely hailing from Brittany and who were returning home after spending time travelling around France much like we were doing, they were quiet and so were we and after another delicious meal prepared by Maz on our two ring burner, how does she do it?, we popped up the top and climbed into bed opened the side windows and were greeted by dark skies dotted with tiny twinkling lights, eventually we worked out that these were huge banks of wind turbines and throughout the night as I woke I was fascinated to see them flashing away on top of the far off hills around us.

When stopping on a vineyard in France, why not!

Again we woke early so I decided to run into the nearest village to see if I could pick up some fresh French baguette or croissants, either I was too early or they were very lazy but the store wasn't open so after running back we had to make do with our standard breakfast. Now you may be aware that we try to maintain a wholefoods plant based diet, where possible wherever we are in the world, easy in England, harder to do in Korea or Africa but not too bad here in France where we had found, abet with a little difficult the base of the meal (yes breakfast is a meal and possibly the most important one of the day as what you eat for breakfast will sustain you well on into the afternoon) oats, with those oats we add a great number of berries, including goji, blueberries, cranberry and sultanas (which I know aren't berries), lots of seeds including ground flax, hemp, sunflower (more about those stunning and beautiful plants later on in the trip), pumpkin and chia, nuts including walnuts and activated almonds, as well as prunes, banana and peanut butter all topped off with some dairy free milk and a shot of B12, yummy scummy, healthy, nutritional, wholesome and not a gluten filled wheat based stodgy baguette in sight, why did I run into the village again?

We loved the quietness of this site so much that we asked the manager of the place, he lived off site so we really were the only ones there (other than the other van), if we could stay another night, of course he replied, which was great so I popped into the tiny cellar to procure another bottle or two of their finest (but very reasonably priced) white wine to sustain us for that evening, which was even more peaceful than the night before as the French couple had moved on and left the whole place to us, paradise!

Beach day

Who would have imagined that by the next afternoon we'd be swimming in the Atlantic ocean, sitting on the beach, enjoying a beer at the beach bar, looking forward to a couple of days rest, oh this travelling around putting up and packing away lark is quite tiring you know, and spending time in the beach city of La Rochelle, OK well yes I did because I'd planned the trip but I bet you hadn't guessed that's where we were headed...not only that I had booked us into an AirBnB for us to catch up on some WiFi and laundry time.

Maz on a morning run near La Rochelle

Prior to the afternoon on the beach we'd travelled slightly south west for around three hours and arrived just south of La Rochelle in a tiny beach town called Aytre. After being greeted by our host in his house which was entered at street level but then had an outside terrace down to a lower floor and courtyard garden where we enjoyed breakfasts the following morning, this time we were opposite a stunning little boulangerie where I did pop over to pick up a vast array of goodies, we were on holiday don't you know! , we walked to the beach, through a slightly dodgy area surrounded by boarded up flats. Once at the beach we were greeted with a sight of people enjoying themselves in the sea or just sunning themselves on the rocks or sand. Sand isn't my favorite kind of beach, I mean I love sandy beaches they look stunning but should there be the tinniest gust of wind or wettest bit of skin (after getting out of the same said sea) then woe betide you if the dammed stuff doesn't want to stick to you skin, get into your hair and clothes and become best friends with you joining you as you travel home with and then follow you around for the next few days turning up in some unexpected places.

Three towers overseeing the port of La Rochelle

Maz had visited La Rochelle as a teenager and really enjoyed that French seaside town feel, this was my first time there so after we'd had a quick run, OK I ran for around 14kms down to the beach and along a prom, Maz did a respectable 8km, and after we'd stodged up on french pastries for breakfast, as mentioned before, we caught the local bus, conveniently positioned outside our AirBnB, and went into the port area which has been tastefully revamped, no doubt with EU money, with bars and restaurants all set out in a pedestrianised area around the huge old harbour (Vieux Port). A harbour that has to be said is dominated by the three medieval towers, (The Chain Tower, the Lantern Tower and Saint Nicolas Tower) we didn't take the time to go into the towers but did take a leisurely stroll to the new marina before enjoying a quick Belgium beer or two at one of the port side bars, spent an hour or so people watching and then wandered around the old town arriving back to a pizzeria that we'd spotted earlier for a lunch of you've guessed it, pizza, so traditionally French I know!

No Maz no!

What does one do on a hot and sunny afternoon after a couple of beers and a very white breakfast and lunch, yup you've guessed it again, we went to find the nearest beach, not an easy exercise but one that we achieved, and slept on the beach. After an hour or so Maz took to the water for a swim, which looked lovely and seeing as though the wind wasn't blowing but that we were sitting on a sandy beach I did venture in for a dip too with the knowledge that the hot sun would dry out my now browning skin before the sand could jump all over me and return home (to our AirBnB) on the bus with me.

We'd really really enjoyed our first full week in France, England seemed miles away and with still six or seven weeks left of our Tour De France we went to bed happy with the knowledge that we'd connected with our family back home or in Croatia and were looking forward to what the next seven days might bring.

Thinking of others during this ultra lockdown

It's hard to know where to start, we are living in such a different world to the one that read the last real update back in February when we were in Zambia sharing the Leadership for Life programme with our friends in Kabwe. As with us we're sure that your lives have been full of challenges wherever you are reading this.

We had some very sad news during the early part of the Corona virus lockdown when my (Tim's) uncle was taken into hospital with the symptoms showing that the virus had infected his body and although he was only 75 years old and with all the amazing medical help that we have here in England to help him he unfortunately passed away on what was on his and my Aunts 43rd wedding anniversary, all very sad for all of us.

Celebrating Dad's 79th birthday, social distancing!

As you'll be aware much of our time is taken up travelling around the world, mainly Africa, sharing the awesome Emerging Leaders 'Leadership for Life' and 'LEAD NOW' programmes, calling out that amazing amazing potential that lies within each and every person.

However this year we had in fact planned to take a few months off this summer, so we didn't actually have any planned trips that had to be cancelled, however it has been strange not to be planning for the next trip, which could/should have taken us back to South Korea in August.

With our sad news about my uncle our hearts were gladdened by the news from our middle son and his wife as they announced that they were pregnant, the little 'babywalker' is expected to arrive in mid September, so the trip to South Korea would perhaps have been postponed as we really want to be around for the birth of our fourth grandchild.

Although we have had some enforced downtime we have continued to keep ourselves busy, Maz has been shopping for my Mum and Dad, as well as for our friends who we are staying with in our caravan in a delightful spot in Buckinghamshire. With all the queues and three sets of shopping lists and other errands that needed to be undertaken Maz has often left for her weekly trips before 9am and not returning until well into the afternoon, however we mustn't complain other than a few basics such as tinned tomatoes, loo paper, disinfectant, flour and sugar we have been able to obtain most of our normal provisions and we are thankful for that.

Making soaps to sell with the funds raised and set by us

Our attentions have been led elsewhere and with a large collection of friends who live in some of the most challenging nations in the world, real people living real lives in places where we have visited. We have been able to keep in touch with those who we know, mainly in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Madagascar and Zambia, where we have been hearing some very harrowing stories around the daily issues that have been heightened during this unparalleled time.

We have been able to encourage these friends highlighting some of the key principles that we have shared via our training with them, communicating via WhatsApp and FB messenger where people have access to the internet, however the plight of the inmates in the Malagasy prisons and challenges faced by those living in Zimbabwe meant that we took up the batten to look to raise funds to send over to help those most in need.

Ensuring the funds are properly distributed in Zimbabwe

It seems like everyone has had to tighten their belts, cutting back on some of the daily wants or needs but we have been overwhelmed by the response to our cries for those in need and with the help of a FB fundraising page we were able to start sending over some regular amounts to those in greatest need.

However I (Tim) didn't feel like we had done enough and therefore sought to challenge myself, and a few others, to run an Ultra Marathon distance over the night of the 20th June. I had planned the route to be a demanding 7,5km loop up and over the hills, cattle grids, fields and back roads around the village where we stay, during the night, starting at 9.30pm and running until we had completed at least six loops or 45km (just over 27 miles in old money).

As the sunset on the longest day I was joined by my brother-in-law Chris, and good friends Pete G and Tref for the first lap, we kept up a good pace as the sun dropped, Tref handing over the batton to another running buddy, Frank, who then joined us for a total of four laps, at around midnight Ross B joined us for a loop before taking a nap with the five of us (myself, Chris, Pete G, who also completed four laps, Frank and Ross) setting off on what was a crazy last lap where we were all feeling the pain of the hilly climbs taking us past 52km (32 miles) in a total running time of just over five hours, not bad for a bunch of olde boys!

In the process we raised over £7,500, all of which has been sent to four projects in Madagascar, including those looking after the families of the children who attend their schools, inmates in two prisons, three sets of our friends totalling over 100 people and their families in three different cities in Zimbabwe and our good friends who are doing some amazing work in Zambia.  

If you feel like you want to give in support of our amazing friends then please either get in touch via email etc or click on this link to the Facebook fundraising page.

We are hearing of some wonderful stories from those who have received the funds, enabling them to buy much needed and hard to obtain daily provisions, starting up income generating projects such as mask making, peanut butter production, gardens to provide further food, buckets to collect water from standpipes, and medical needs as well as soap and hygiene projects for the inmates in the prisons in Madagascar and Zambia.

It's been a tough time for all and we're not sure we are out of the woods just yet with spikes of infections being reported as I type and with news of another 15 days of inforced lockdown in Madagascar and we are thinking of those people impacted by this.

Trial run for Elsie in the fields where we stay

During this time we took the opportunity to sell our trusty X-Trail and bought ourselves a VW Campervan (named Elsie) which has been a total blessing and just yesterday we booked a ferry crossing to France, where we hope to have a few weeks travelling around, sorta self isolating and we'll keep you updated of our travels via FB and Instagram as normal.

We sign off now asking you all to stay safe and to continue to look out for others in this shape shifting world of ours.

St George and the dragon

Today is a very English day, it's the day of our national saint the one and only horse riding slayer of the dragon, St George, and its around this that I'm gonna build this post.

Our dear St George isn't the most well known saint, surely that must go to the pin up of saints him of snake chasing fame St Patrick who so many pledge allegiance too on the 17th March when it would seem that the whole of Ireland plus the United States, who don't actually have their own patron saint, along with anyone who is up for a good time dons a green leprechaun hat complete with built in ginger beard and head down to the nearest bar selling Guinness and spend the night getting drunk whilst singing classic irish songs by English born Shane Macgowan and his Pogues!

National saints days or national days, like the 4th of July, when our own little nations gather around a common flag are celebrated in different ways around the world and from my point of view can seem quite jingoistic with thoughts poporting the fact that our saint is better than yours, our flag is bigger than yours, our nation is richer that yours, which then leads to resentment or apathy from others be they nations or individuals who feel belittled by all the flag waving.

I believe that at this time as the world suffers together, not individual nations, although I'm sure that some would love to continue to think that they are either immune or separate to what is sweeping over this world, my hope is that we become more united during this time. It would seem to me that it's our own individualistic, self centered lives have contributed to the plight that we are now enduring. Life has become all about me, my life, my house, my car, my family, my youtube, Facebook or Instagram account, my bank balance, my pension fund, my political party, my nation, my ideals and my thoughts, however as we continue in this lock down state what are the things that we crave?

Being outside together, interacting with others and we are finding out that we are not individuals locked away, we want to be free.

As we continue through this challenging time I feel that we are looking to a common saviour, so today as we celebrate the life of our patron saint it's my hope that we might indeed find a way to slaye this new dragon which is causing so much suffering and pain, riding under a banner of a red cross, and whatever your belief, this red cross represents grace, salvation, redemption and help coming from near and afar.

This isn't just a day for Englishmen to celebrate, its a day when we need to unite together for the better of our world.

Training up local Zambians

Helping to shape the Driven Ministries vision for 2020

After taking the short flight from Harare to Lusaka we have returned to Kabwe, a town built around a lead mine, now closed, where our friends Chris and Rebecca Viola have set up a project called Driven Ministries after a move from the USA with their four children to help disciple people, especially children, living in the large compound (think of a more spread out South African township) of Makalula.

Evening training session at Maplehurst Guesthouse

We've been in Zambia for just over three weeks now, and although this nation has its own challenges, which we will share with you later on in this post, they are nothing compared to its close neighbours Zimbabwe, where we were able to experience the daily challenges as we often had to cater for ourselves and where we were when we last posted an update.

This is our third visit to Zambia and on our two previous visits we had been hosted by the Violas in their home which sits along the Great North Road, a major transport route enabling goods to travel to and from the port of Dar el Salaam in Tanzania right through Zambia, Zimbabwe and on to Botswana and South Africa. This time we are staying in an old converted farmhouse that the team here have been renovating into a backpackers/conference centre with the desire for it to not only be a place where people will be trained in the basics of the hospitality industry but to be a means of supporting that ministry via the profit that it makes.

Training of Practitioners 

Our first week enabled us to invest into the lives of the Driven Ministries team, helping them to shape their future plans for 2020 by running through the basic principles of the Leadership for Life which look at Team and Project. It was great to help the team come up with a shared vision as well as values and behaviours for each of the different expressions of their various outreaches which include a daily sports outreach programme, similar to the one that we ran at the village of hope, a prison ministry, back to school programme and investment into local church leaders.

We deliver, they read, they deliver

Last week we ran a week long trainer of practitioners, we were joined at the conference centre by 10 people who we had already delivered the Leadership for Life programme into, either during our last visit with Driven or at the E3 Initiative conference that we ran in Pietermaritzburg in November. Each person who attended has to prove that they have applied what we shared with them into their own lives, starting a project that used the principles for the benefit of others.

One guy had started a 'gaming shop' in his local community, he started the 'business' with a TV and cellphone, he sold the cellphone and used the money to buy a Playstation and opened up his 'shop' to the young people, charging them a small fee to play games, the profits of which he used to pay the rent and electricity, as well as purchase another PlayStation. As he spent time with the young people he heard the stories of the children who were attending the 'shop' during school hours, many of them had dropped out of school so he actually paid for some of them to return to school to further their education, a leader exists for the benefit of others! 

Game Shop Owner now becomes
a practitioner to share the
programme with his community

These are the kinds of stories we are hearing from those who have attended our programmes and who have understood that they have amazing potential and by changing their thinking can start to write a different story for their own lives and the lives of those around them.

We had a great time with those who came to be trained, they stayed at the same accommodation, with the Driven team doing an amazing job as they hosted their first conference with the delegates staying over and being fed and watered. As in Zimbabwe we have experienced issues with power outages, these are scheduled which makes it easier to plan around, but which caused problems with the supply of water that comes from the borehole, that borehole needed electricity to pump up the water to the holding tank, but the team did so well working around those issues that we hardly noticed as we taught during the week.

Selfie in the community

It was great to send the 10 people out on the Friday afternoon with the knowledge and confidence that we had seen grow in them as they demonstrate that they had understood the principles that make the Leadership for Life programme so powerful, not only by them reading through their manuals but also by them delivering the programme back to us as we critiqued them in the way they put the points across via the various activities that help people to remember the key points.

Driven Superstars play out a 1-1 draw

As we intimated in the first paragraph Zambia isn't without its challenges and these could be seen as we had the chance to watch the Driven Superstars play a league game of football, held in Makalulu, where we were joined by a crowd of hundreds of people, mainly children who were showing signs of poverty that is rife in that area. The Superstars played out a tough 1-1 draw with a local team, a fair result given the condition of the pitch which was mostly made up of compacted sand and made it hard for the game to gain any actual rhythm.

Zambia is also currently going through a spate of violence where people are being gassed in their homes whilst they are sleeping, it seems to be linked to ritual killings where body parts are being used in traditional African religions but the government and police have stated that this isn't the case. However this news is being shared both by the media and also word of mouth which is causing people to live in a state of fear which is therefore having knock on effect to their mental health and well being.

Out running in the local community

Other than our busy days training we have been able to get out for long walks and runs around the local fields, which has helped to refresh us, as well as reading for extended periods of time, I have also just updated 'the books we are reading list' to the top right hand panel of this page. 

We have also enjoyed a braai with some of the Violas friends as well as taking part, and winning, a quiz night that was also held at the conference center.

This time next week we will be back in South Africa, Durban to be more specific, where we will be running another Leadership for Life programme with a good friend of ours who has invited us to invest in the local people that their church is supporting, we will update further once we are there.