REFUGE FROM THE BIG FREEZE

We drove west along autostradas all the way across the Italian country-side to the French border, reaching it by dusk.

We had aimed to get to Nice by 19:00, which we did, so we pulled into an Aire [off-road comfort stop places] and warmed up some left-over chicken stew for supper. Not feeling tired yet, we decided to push on, otherwise we would have to drive 15 hours the next day to Vendèe. We drove until 23:00, then snuggled down for the remainder of the night in another Aire. But ...... about an hour into our slumbers we were rudely awoken by 3 men trying to break into the front of the van. Fortunately, when they saw us peer out behind the curtains, they jumped into their ready-and-waiting car [parked beside us] and sped away on the autostrada. Although it left us mighty spooked for the night we were very thankful that neither ourselves, or the van, was injured.

As it happened, we ended up driving for another 15 hours the next day, as we were determined not to sleep another night on the road. We decided to avoid toll roads, as it would have saved us only an hour, but would have burned another hole in our pockets, as toll fees are ridiculously expensive. We were however surprised to find ourselves climbing over several mountain passes, up to 1045m, in the Cevennes National Park, which was not clear from our map. There was plenty of snow on the ground, it was very misty, and rather hair-raising when looking at the looooong drops beside the winding roads.

At one point we went around in a circle, as David refused to follow Molly’s directions [our Satnav] when she wanted us to head south for 27km over some more passes, but eventually he relented when he realised it was the only way. We finally arrived at La Maison, Vendèe at 23:00, to the sight of Christmas lights twinkling in the house windows. So although exhausted, we were immensely relieved to be warm and with friends [2-legged and 4-legged]. What a treat to see Max, Minnie and Claudette, the fine felines, again.

Bob and Bear have been very welcoming and provided us a soft place to fall, until the weather conditions improve such that we can cross the Channel back to the UK. It has been a time to catch up with our blog, watch birds and squirrels feeding, make some repairs to the cupboards in the van and take the cats for walks in the snow.

We were lucky enough to catch sight of 2 roe deer in the back garden at dusk one evening. Daily we look at the weather conditions in the UK on BBC 1; heavy snow-falls, sub-zero temperatures and black ice on the roads, causing severe survival conditions. Here in Vendèe we are having some light snowfalls and temps of -8 °C to +3 °C.

The cats tend to cramp one's computer space - but Sandi doesn't mind!

They also know that Bear's lap is really warm

Claudette having her turn in the new cat bed

No opportunity to sun is wasted

Bear, a great bird-lover, had erected a bird-feeding structure outside the kitchen window, and it was fascinating watching the colourful variety of visitors feeding on the sunflower seeds, peanuts, niger seeds and suet balls. She spent many hours each day cracking garden-harvested walnuts for her beloved birds - and the squirrel box wasn't forgotten either. We saw great tits, blue tits, marsh tits, nuthatches, green finches, chaffinches and a few gold finches who were attracted by the niger seed. And of course robins, blackbirds, thrushes and lots of LBJs.

Blue Tit

Marsh Tit

Goldfinch

We thoroughly enjoyed our visits with some English friends of Bob and Bear, Maggie and Robin, who have been farming in the area for the past 20 years. Robin showed us a 1936 wood-frame truck he had bought in Paarl and shipped back to France, still bearing its original CJ licence plate! We walked around their pond which was frozen as solid as we felt. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Bob found an abandoned beehive in the snow, and managed to extract several bottles of honey from the comb.

Sandi relishing the thought of eating her huge pomegranate - a New Year's treat bought at a Venetian foodstall

Bob and Bear took us to Emmaus, which is an organisation that provides shelter and work for disadvantaged people. David bought a French clown doll for 50 cents in the shop, but the bric-a-brac on sale outside was covered in snow and ice!

Bob and Bear on a shopping trip to Roche-sur-Yon

David enjoying a tarte au citron

Many good meals were prepared and enjoyed in the big kitchen

After two weeks the weather forecasts in the UK finally improved, and we could book a ferry crossing from St Malo to Portsmouth. Sadly we bade farewell to our friends, the cats and the warm snug. we drove up to St Malo in the rain, arriving at the ferry in the dark. After a good supper on board we tried to settle down on the recliner chairs we had booked for the night. In spite of having a wide-screen TV to ourselves, we had difficulty settling down as we were irritated by some rigging outside which clanged all night long.

Arriving in Portsmouth next morning, the sun was shining [yippee], as we drove down to Ebford. We noticed that all the snow and ice from the previous week had melted, and were awed, yet again, by the power and wonder of Nature.