Looking back at 2018

At the start of the year I looked back at 2017 and wondered if I would achieve more in 2018... 

1) Family Fun

We have certainly had some fun this year including a prize winning holiday to France: 

And my daughter and I discovered the joys of wild swimming in the hot summer:

We also had 2 working holidays with Single with Kids making new friends and having lot of fun.

2) More Running

Puy du Fou Historical Theme Park

Before we went to France I had seen some Instagram photos of Puy du Fou historical theme park. So we booked some advance tickets to go for a day. It was an hour and a half drive from our campsite so an early start but it was definitely worth it!

On arrival we had to pass through a bag check and security scanner but it gave us time to check on the day's timetable. We only managed to acquire a Spanish version (and later discovered we could have installed an app!) but it was enough to realise that the Dance of the Phantom Birds was the first thing to go see. It was raining as we crossed the park, typical it was on the furthest point, and joined the huge crowd in the arena. I could understand enough of the French to get the gist of the show, not sure what my son understood! But we could all appreciate being close up to such an amazing variety of birds:

Next up it was the Knights of the Round Table. This was when we first discovered how the sets for the big pieces could actually move so much. Again the words went over my son's head but there was enough action with sword fighting etc for him to enjoy the show:

We then had to queue for a while to get into the Vikings show. It was worth it to be right at the front. This show had a bit of everything from fighting, longships and trained animals:

Chateau and Velo Rail at Commequiers

One of days out was to the Velo Rail at Commequiers. We first discovered the joys of the Cycle Trains when staying in Seine et Marne in 2013 and so were keen to have another go now that my son was tall enough to pedal! 

We allowed time to picnic on the way having pre-booked for 2 pm (be warned its very popular so you have to reserve...). So we hunted down the Chateau Commequiers:

Unfortunately due its state of disrepair the castle has been closed for access since 2014 and they are raising funds to rescue it. They still use the grounds for a medieval spectacular in August:

Hidden in the woods we discovered a children's play area:

Reasons to be Cheerful A French Holiday #R2BC

Its June already - nearly half the year gone - so the hosting baton passes back to me from Michelle. She and I have both just returned from France so I am sure we will have similar reasons to be cheerful! I hope people will find plenty of things that have made them smile over the past week and can link up and visit each other. I will comment and share all the posts that join in.... 
Meanwhile here are my French reasons to be cheerful:
French food 
I love French food and had a chance to sample from yummy desserts and gallettes whilst staying in France:

Beautiful Beaches

I have already mentioned the beautiful beaches we visited at Les Mouettes and Noirmoutier. The Vendee coast is mostly unspoilt and so clean:

Chateaux

Some chateaux we only saw from the autoroute but we did get close to a few although Commequiers chateau is in danger of falling down:

St Jean de Monts - Panoramic Wheel

On our way back from Noirmoutier we stopped in St Jean de Monts for an ice cream. As we parked up we spotted the panoramic wheel:

Now as a family that is scared of heights some of us are mad enough to confront those fears when it comes to giant wheels! My son has now grown up enough that he will do things that scare him:

This was a video I made as we went up to the top of the wheel:

#CountryKids Ile de Noirmoutier

On the second day of our stay the adults voted for an exploration day by driving up the coast to the Ile de Noirmoutier. The island can be accessed by 2 methods in a car. Traditionally the only way was to cross on the tidal road at low tide (unfortunately we had the wrong year's tide table so missed our chance!). Instead we had to cross over on the modern bridge which is one of those wonderful bits of French construction:

The island is a thriving salt producing area and we drove past many of the salt fields:

As its low season for tourism we found it easy to park up in the market place and it was only 50C for 3 hours parking! Then we wandered down along the harbour to look around:

Looking back on 2013

Think it's good to start the new year by looking back at my highlights of 2013 which was a pretty good year! 

1) Running

I took up running at the end of January after 20 years! Following the Couch to 5K programme and then 10K runner app I have got myself hooked. I only started logging my distance properly since May and I've racked up 276 km - wow. Included in this was the Cancer Care Star Walk 10 km run, the Preston Race for Life with my daughter, a Grasmere Gallop fun run, the Heaton Park Race for Life with other bloggers and my first serious race the Langdale Christmas Pudding 10 km. Its a revelation that I am enjoying it so much and with lovely landscapes to run through I'm sure I'm going to keep on going...

2) Holidays

We were super lucky this year and actually went on 3 holidays which is unheard of! First of all a bargain half term break at Butlins Skegness as we were lucky and our half term was different from most parts of England so it was cheaper. Then my parents took us to France for a fortnight. We stayed in both Carnac and Seine-et-Marne plus the children had earned us a trip to Euro Disney (have just realised I haven't blogged about that...):

Then we were chosen as Butlins Ambassadors for 2013/14 and so we went to Butlins Bognor Regis at October half term. We will make up for this excess in 2014 as we have no plans for any holidays at all...

3) Fun in Cumbria

We have been lucky and with so much on our doorstep in Cumbria we haven't needed to travel far. Our National Trust membership has been well used with Sizergh Castle, Wray Castle and Fell Foot Park all having multiple visits. We are Forestry Commission ambassadors for Whinlatter and have made great use of that too. Our local ramblers started doing Mini Rambles for families with shorter walks with time to stop and play. Here's to more fun in this beautiful county in 2014:

Of course there was a whole lot more we did but these highlights all stand out. Feel free to browse the archives and see what the Willoughby family did in 2013! Hoping that 2014 is another cracking year.

Oh to be back at La Grande Metairie...

Sponsored Post

It's cold and its wet and all it took to make me wish I was back at La Grande Metairie was the arrival of a case of the beer that my dad and I enjoyed drinking in Brittany:

It takes me back to the week we spent on the campsite with my parents enjoying its 5 star facilities including the pool complex:

Only the Brits wanted to swim on wet days!

My children just had so much fun getting water confident jumping into the water that was deeper than they could stand up in:

Or just messing about in the rings we bought at the campsite shop:

There was even a chance to try out pony trekking:

Postcard from Provins, Seine et Marne

Provins is a medieval walled town in the Seine et Marne department of France not far from Paris. It has UNESCO world heritage status. The courier at our second campsite Les Etangs Fleuris had suggested it to us when he learned of our love of history. It was certainly an impressive site when we approached the walls:

The heart of the medieval town is full of narrow cobbled streets and ancient houses:

We purchased tickets to get us entry into the main attractions. The first of these was the Granges aux Dimes (on left above) which housed a fascinating museum showing how the town became so important due to the wool trade. There were audio guides available in English and wax work models showing how things were done when the town was the 3rd most important place in France:

We left the cool of the museum to wander past some incredibly old buildings:

To reach the Tour de Cesar:

Despite the name it was built not by Julius Caesar but by the Counts of Champagne in the 12th century. There were amazing views from the top of the tower of the roof tops:

The audio visual display in the hall also had some English subtitles. By now everyone was very hot as it was around 33C so we headed back to the main square just in time to get crepes and cider:

There was a wonderful hand pump water fountain in the middle of the square to fill up our bottles:

Not all the buildings are medieval but none of them appear to be modern:

Our tickets got us into the museum of Provins which was full of all sorts of items from the town's past. The children got very little out of this one as there was nothing in English. Good job they like looking at old things any way:

Then it was time to descend into the sousterrains which are a catacomb of underground storage facilities dating from medieval times. You can only do guided tours down here and I had to translate for the children. A wee bit creepy down in the dimly lit caves:

We were back to the surface in time for the bird of prey show on the ramparts:

There was a huge range of birds from small:

To large:

It was a fabulous show and we got pretty close to some of the birds:

It was a shame the day came to an end and we had to leave. I for one would love to go back on a cooler day to explore more.

#CountryKids Carnac Megaliths and La Grande Metairie

Time to have a sneaky peek back at our last full day in Brittany this summer. It was a grey day but we headed to the famous megaliths as on one day a week they had a tour in English:

In summer months the megaliths are fenced in to help protect the vegetation from too many people trampling it down. This means you can only go on tours. I can remember doing one at my children's age where the guide only spoke French but did it slowly!

One thing you aren't supposed to do is pretend to push the stones over but I only got told that after this shot:

Its such an incredible place and hard to imagine how neolithic people managed to construct all the straight lines with such huge rocks:

The tour guide told us plenty of fascinating things about how the stones such as the stones being bigger on the ridges and shorter in the bottom of the valley:

And they haven't come from very far away and you can see which side of the rock was underground and which one was on the surface if you look close:

Afterwards my son decided to join me to run back to the campsite alongside the standing stones and through the woods:

It was well signposted and we weren't super speedy:

He was treated afterwards to another go in the lazy river at the pool complex (please not many other people braving the chilly air!):

Then we retreated to the warmer indoor/outdoor pool with its retractable roof. It was 1.5 m deep all round so perfect for jumping into:

Plenty of room for water play:

Then the kids tried pony trekking (shortly after this shot my son asked to get off as the pony kept shaking and he didn't like it!):

Big sister actually managed the full ride and loved it even if her pony didn't always agree with the direction we wanted to go:

In the evening the kids had a brief dip into the junior disco before rounding off the evening with air hockey:

All in all a great way to end our week in Brittany - more to come from our second week in France...