France 2022, there and back again

By shendyNo Comments
These are from the journey down to the gite and back - we always drive, and have started to spend a few days on the way. We could drive all the way to the gite in one go but there are other bits of France we want to visit and it breaks things up a bit - it's 400 miles from Caen/Ouistream to Bordeaux but it's autoroute the whole way and actually quite an easy drive. As an aside, we bought a "Bip n Go" device, which enables you to use "Telepeage" on the autoroutes, meaning we didn't need to use cards to pay the tolls - roll up to the Telepeage lane and the device will beep and the gates open. So easy, it made the journey a lot less stressful for SWMBO, who always had to manage the tolls given the tickets etc are always on the left. It cost something like €20 to buy and activate, and something...
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Clevedon & Portishead, June 2019

By shendyNo Comments
We don't visit other towns in the area quite as much as we should, so made the effort to go out to Clevedon and Portishead on a midweek day off. Obviously one has to visit Clevedon pier - although with our customary bad timing, the far end of it was closed off for decoration work.We also ambled along to the open air pool, which is somewhere I need to investigate more from a photographic point of view - I'm thinking long exposures with smooth water, smooth sea and just a hint of a line between them.Some bits of it made me think of 70s eastern Europe, stark concrete that's seen slightly better days. We also headed over to Portishead as I'd see that there's an art trail and one of the exhibits had caught my eye - "Full Fathom Five" by Michael Dan Archer, the stone columns.And as we found, some of the buildings around the marina photograph quite well too....
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Cornwall 2016

By shendyNo Comments
We spent a week in Cornwall (or more specifically The Lizard), ambling around various villages and coves. Kynance Cove was as glorious as ever - I think this was the third time I've been there and there have been spectacular waves every time. A lovely place. Porthcurno and the Minack Theatre are favourites too. Mullion Cove was new to us, as was Coverack where a chance spot of a notice in a shop window led us to the Terence Coventry Sculpture Garden - chock full of really interesting modern sculpture....
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Exmouth Boat Trip

By shendyNo Comments
Friday was a lovely evening for a boat trip up the River Exe from Exmouth - warm and sunny but with some good clouds to photograph, good company and nice food - all with some really nice live music. I've been on similar trips the last couple of summers but instead of turning round at Topsham, we went all the way up to Countess Weir (apparently) - something only possible a few times each year. This included passing under the M5 bridge, which was wonderfully lit by the evening sun. Less nice was the sewage treatment plant... As usual, we seemed to attract a bit of attention from passing boats (we even made it into the Exeter Express and Echo) - have these people never seen a naturist boat trip before?...
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