Spot the new accessory?Had a lovely last morning in Paris catching a quick coffee with a dear friend from days of yore and her new bebe. It seemed completely natural to be sitting chewing the fat over a cup of coffee in the Bois de Bologne camping ground - all was right with the world.
Later in the morning we put on our armour and negotiated our way out of Paris, this time avoiding driving around famous landmarks camouflaged in a metallic whale suit.
We headed for Belgium and a night in whatever turned up - we were aiming to be south of the Dutch border ready to drop off the Whalesuit the next morning. Instead we went off the beaten track as we are wont to do and found ourselves in the Netherlands just out of Breda at a place called Liesbos.
We seem to be on a Mona Lisa kick at the moment with this lovely example complete with clogs suffice to say the OC doubled over with glee and mirth when seeing this:
And it seems that there’s quite a stiff competition going on for window displays – each more extravagant and kitschy than the next:
We were indeed fortunate to be in the countryside opposite a farmer who was ploughing about 40 kilos of ‘compost’ per square metre in to his field. The entire area smelt of the best and worst of country life, which didn’t really matter as it was lovely and mild, and truly just another means of remembering a place you once stayed at.
An uneventful trip to drop the campervan off, the Cook reverting to his bottle washing duties giving the van a good clean inside before we dropped it off. The inspection on return is a little nerve wracking and imagine our surprise when we were told of 130 Euro extra cost for cleaning the interior (which was seriously, a few footprints on the floor from entering and exiting over the last couple of hours). A sharp intake of breath was heard by all while moi….well I just started giggling nervously and the OC joined in although she didn’t know why, while The Cook muttered that he wasn’t bluddy paying that! A quick reference to our copy of the agreement which stated the payment would be for ‘extra interior cleaning’ resolved the matter promptly and everything ended with a smile and a handshake…..which is perhaps just as well.
Then to Rotterdam for half a day in the sun while we worried why the luggage storage at the central railway station wouldn’t accept Aunty Visa. For some hours there we worried that the card had been skimmed somewhere in France perhaps and it wasn’t helped when it appears the system went down when paying for lunch. However dear readers, we have used it since and all seems well. We are now at the Eeekhoornnest which translates as the squirrel’s nest although we have yet to see one.
We did see a squirrel and a perky wee beggar he was too but that was in Stratford Upon Avon close by Shakespeare’s grave….uncanny really.The weather here is warm. It is ten past ten in the evening and I am outside sitting in a t-shirt basking in the warmth. Apparently it is the hottest 13th of April in forty years…and we have three more days of temperatures in the high twenties if the forecast holds true.
Tomorrow we visit Amsterdam
