Barbara's travels continue 2018

After a lovely trip from Nyon to Lyon by train, following the very full and fast- flowing River Rhone through wooded valleys with steep rock faces, I arrived in Lyon and settled into our really cosy appartment, minutes' walk from the old town. It is perfectly located in the very quiet and untouristy St Georges area. Great! Our next door pub had this fabulous sign. Would like to see it everywhere! Whilst waiting for Pam to arrive from Brittany, I explored close to home. Lyon's old town is a maze of narrow, cobbled streets, mainly lined with bars and restaurants, but occasionally with almost secret passageways, winding their way through up to four different appartment blocks, such as this one. After a happy reunion with Pam, it was wonderful to explore the old town together. We knew storms were forecast for the afternoon of our first day, so set off early up on the funicular to the top of the 300 m high Fourviere hill, with the magnificent Basilica at the top. I had visited it be...

What more can you want in life? I felt I had it all today, apart from family. As I sit here writing this, the gentle breeze is brushing against my cheeks, the birds are chirping continuously in the warm late afternoon sun, the waves of Lac Leman are gently lapping against the shore,and in front of me is the majestic Mont Blanc, clearer than I have ever seen it before from here. Added to that, wrapped around my ambling visit to this gorgeous little city of Nyon, with its spectacular views over the lake, , I am meeting with very dear friends of mine from this area. From my teenage years, Jonathan and his wife  Ineke, from homestay times, Fred, and then tomorrow Murielle, or Clic le Clown, as she is known in her professionl life, who trained to be a clown at the Polytech in Christchurch. An incredible 24 hours of people and places, combined with wonderful moments to sit alone and simply enjoy everything around me.  Although I have been to Nyon on a couple of occasions before, wit...

How lovely it was to be back in Lllantwit Major again, quite manic at times, but such a comfortable feeling to be surrounded by family, 11 of us on the Friday evening plus three dogs. It was quite peaceful considering how many of us were together in one room but every now and again the dogs had a barking fit and then the decibels rose considerably.  It was so wonderful to catch up with Bethan, my great niece, and her gorgeous spoodle , Meek, again. Molly, Ceri's gentle little Jack Russell, was pleased to get attention too. Daisy, another great niece, recently returned from her trip to Sri Lanka, certainly had her hands full here! Ceri, my niece, was sadly missing at the family reunion because she had to work, but was back the next day to help me fulfil my desire to go camping again. We could not have wished for finer weather, but perhaps 10 degrees warmer might have been more acceptable overnight! Llangennith Beach, a magnificent stretch of golden sand beach, was easily accessible...

Where have the past months gone? Now it is nearly February and I haven't written for two months. Oh yay?!in the meantime, I have also become a registered wedding celebrant and am waiting nervously and excitedly for my first wedding! Website is https://barbarahardingcelebrant.weebly.com/ Christmas has flown by, and of course the inevitable finishing up of my best ever Christmas cake. I was sad to see it go, but pleased too that I could stop being tempted to snack on it! Christmas at Mark and Emma's new home was fabulous, with Mark in charge of the kitchen, and David and Emma's parents also there, all of us contributing to the day and the incredible spread of food. What a fantastic house they have. We all stayed the night - plenty of room. Stormy was unimpressed by the invasion of his new home and took himself off to bed, under the covers! David was keen to try out SUP before purchasing a board, so he and Mark set off one day from the beautiful Corsair Bay, in near perfect c...