The Last Supper!

A year ago I never thought that I'd be sitting in a Motorhome writing a blog post about our time away in Europe and what an amazing time we have all had. I'm not intending for this to come across as me writing this in a gloaty way at all, but we really have had an amazing time. It's thanks to my wonderful husband Ed for his crazy idea in the first place, and also his sheer determination to make it all happen. Oh, and rather a lot of money too! But it hasn't been money wasted, far from it, it has all been money well spent. You can not put a price on the experiences that we have had, and shared together. We have had many happy moments and discovered many lovely places together as a family. 

So now, our last night in Europe is here. We've had the last supper, a Thai Green Curry using a sauce that we picked up in France months ago!!! We are sitting in the aforementioned motorhome, named by Jasper and Maya as "Hugo", and we are enjoying a bottle of red wine to celebrate our successful road trip. Whilst the wine is from France, it's a recent purchase as no liquid refreshment we have bought along the way has lasted very long!!! Some of the vineyards and subsequent wines that we have discovered have been real highlights for us, none more than in St Emilion where our host was a font of all knowledge on wine. Wild, vast, sandy beaches have been discovered and claimed as "ours" in the South of Portugal, and in Italy we loved the small rural villages and towns such as Alberobello. In Munich, we feel we have a second home thanks to our new friend Christian Föppl. We have a favourite coffee shop in Hildesheim, Germany, where on our second and third visits we were shown to our table and asked if we wanted the usual, and we've also eaten some delicious foods, notably the fish and chips in La Cotiniere and the pizzas in Napoli, although Ed's usual Friday night specials are a close second (sorry Ed!). A major highlight for me was the holy grail of Carcassonne; it's a long story as to why that's a special place, but thanks to our good friends the Family Colling for introducing the place to our minds.

So with fond memories, (no doubt helped by the wine!), we now find ourselves having an early night as we need to set an alarm clock for tomorrow. Our Eurotunnel slot was booked rather hastily last week, and we have a few miles to cover before we hit Calais in the morning. We have covered just over 9,000 miles in the last 7 months, seen 15 countries, visited 10 capital cities, and enjoyed almost every moment! If you have been part of our journey, however great or small, THANKYOU too for your friendship and support. 

If you ever get the chance to do what we have done, go ahead and do it. Don't think about the "what ifs" think about the "what will", and take the chance. I'd do it again, glady! Best get saving now again!

Clare 

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