Back home now after our week in France. Had a good time and know it won’t be long before we’re away again.
Spent our last night on an excellent campsite, Camping La-Bien-Assise – pictured above – just 20 minutes from Eurotunnel and the Calais ferry port.
As the name suggests, it’s in the grounds of a chateau with beautifully tended gardens and an upmarket restaurant in which we enjoyed our last meal of the holiday. Would recommend the Salade Lardons Chevre Chaud from the cheaper of the two reasonably priced set menus.
It provided us with the perfect end to the break we thought might well be thwarted by Covid and the quarantine.
Next morning back in the UK we stopped at Folkestone Services and what a depressing contrast it made with the French aires. There was very little open, just basic food options, dirty toilets and sadly lots of rough looking people.
The three hour drive back home – M20, M25 through the Dartford Tunnel and M1 – was busy all the way with roadworks for what seemed like half the route. We certainly need our roads fixing, they are in a far worse state than those in France.
Despite the journey it was good to get home and relax in our now overgrown garden – needs an urgent mow and weeding session which will be a priority for the day.
Other jobs include unloading the van, getting the gas bottle refilled and other assorted checks, repairs and replacements ahead of our longer three week holiday starting mid-August.
Coming home, always feels good to me once the journey is over. It makes you appreciate home life and also acts as a bit of a reset physically and mentally. I feel less achy than I did before the break, also feel better in myself, a bit more relaxed, sleeping better.
I feel invigorated to get on top of various jobs round the house, am ready to pursue my pursuit of purpose with new vigour. Still not sure what this but it could involve some sort of paid work or volunteering.
I can also resume some of the routine I had in place pre-lockdown which included a weekly trip out, regular tennis matches, seeing friends and having the kids round.
I still feel anxious about using public transport so will do the trips in my car rather than on the train. I’m also not rushing back to the gym which were a big part of my pre-Covid routine. These are set to reopen two weeks today.
This year is already half gone, I’ve started to notice that the nights are beginning to draw in. Now is the time to make the most of all that’s left of this surreal year, we call 2020.