Normandy 2022

We cleared up the billet, handed in the key and headed of to the parks for one last time. We had a few rides for William’s sake then did a final bit of shopping. We then had lunch headed for our respective cars. As Val has a blue badge we weren’t parked close to one another.    We regrouped outside the park and drove the 200 miles to the tunnel terminal in convoy where we checked in and waited for our allocated train. We boarded the train which left slightly late but it was a comfortable journey. Back in the UK we had a steady uneventful ride home. I hope you’ve reading about our exploits. Attached are some photos of Disneyland Paris. Finally we droves hundreds of miles on French roads and they were very smooth, no potholes, no lines of cones for miles on end for no apparent reason and verges cut back so no overgrown vegetation obscuring road signs. 

Friday 19th August. We loaded the cars and left Center Parcs and headed for Disneyland Paris. It took a few hours but was a comfortable ride. We arrived at the Davy Crockett Ranch, it was too early to gain access to the accommodation but we were given our park passes so to the park we went. First stop was to the information desk to get Val’s disability pass then we wandered about seeing shows and taking rides. I even surprised myself by going on a white knuckle ride. We then had dinner in the park then drove back to the ranch and collected the keys to the billet. After unpacking and unwinding we turned in. Saturday and Sunday we returned to the parks and had two fun filled days taking in many attractions. We had a character breakfast where we met and took many photos and William also collected autographs. Sandra had arranged a visit to the Avengers so I was all geared up to see Purdy and Emma Peel but not so, but was I disappointed? Absolutely not, I met Captain Marvel, Wow! She was lo

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that Steve and I went on a Segway experience. You may have gathered that by the photo. Despite how it looks they are actually quite stable. The 18th August is a significant day for the family for my uncle William Wallace ( no not Braveheart) was killed this day 1944 whilst serving aboard HMS Fratton during the Normandy invasion.    It being the actual anniversary and the fact we weren’t that far away we decided to visit the CWGC cemetery at Ryes where his late daughter nominated a grave to an unknown sailor as being his as he has no known grave. We also decided to see the D-Day memorial that bears his name as it was close by.  We arrived at Ryes and found the nominated grave, William, our grandson placed a poppy post on the grave and we placed a wreath. We then moved onto the D-Day memorial. It’s a magnificent structure. We found his name and that of his shipmates that died with him and placed a cross of poppies there. After much photo taking we

We all woke fairly refreshed after the previous long day. We sat on the patio overlooking the lake and had our continental breakfast. We all then went over to the pool for a swim after a while Val & I left the pool and went for a walk round then we all met up at the billet for lunch. After lunch we went exploring the site and to check out the activities and discovered the pony trekking. William just had to have a go so off he went around the site. When he returned we found a restaurant and After a lovely meal we returned to the billet and relaxed with a beer. The following day William had a pirate experience booked but when he arrived we realised it wasn’t for him so we exchanged that experience for a Safari drive. We had lunch which William shared with the ducks, literally eating out of his hand. We then walked across to the centre where he drove a mini Land Rover Defender and whilst he had control Steve followed with a remote that would kill the motor in the event of an emergency

Forgive the first two post they are simply admin to help me set up. Also the title is a misnomer for while it’s called northern France our exploits actually started here in the UK. On Sunday 14th we drove down to Portsmouth and visited the historic dockyard. We met Steve and his family and set off exploring. First was a harbour tour seeing our two great aircraft carriers and other warships. We also saw the MV Normandy our transport to Caen. Back on shore we visited the Mary Rose and HMS Victory. Both really interesting. We then we went to the hotel to prepare ourselves for our early start the next day. Monday 15th Early start and we drove to the port and boarded the MV Normandy, we found our seats then prepared ourselves for our six hour voyage. It was a present trip and we arrived and disembarked and drove the two hours to Center Parcs. We found our billet then relaxed for it’s been a long day. Photograph of our ship and our back garden

With just a week to go it’s time to get our stuff ready for our trip to Normandy then onto Disneyland Paris.