Having finished all the USA states – although we will be visiting again for sure – this year we are heading to Europe.
Our initial plan for this tour was to cover France and Spain. France was probably the first priority for me as I have had a desire to be part of the 80th Anniversary celebrations of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Then, as there were lots of other parts of France we had a desire to see, we thought we would travel south and venture into Spain as well.
However, after lots of planning, Adrienne found us having difficulties with car hire arrangements between the two countries – so we decided to dump the Spain side for another occasion and instead head over the Channel to England and parts we had not visited on previous tours to the UK.
And as it has turned out, we will have Erin with us for about a week as she had planned to be in England around the same time visiting a close friend.
So our final plans are set, well, subject to changes, and we will soon be away !
First we head to Paris via an overnight stop in Tokyo again. Our Paris visit is only just an overnight stop near the airport and then we have four nights around Normandy. This is split between 2 locations as early on Adrienne found we had left our plans about 3 years too late to book or we were not prepared to pay $1,000 a night for a room ! Luckily we seemed to have picked up a cancellation as the first 2 nights are near the coast at Port-en-Bessin whilst the next 2 nights are further out at Barneville-Carteret, also on the coast but the Jersey and Guernsey coast.
There are many, many events planned around D-Day – some have already started and carry on weeks after the actual day – so whilst we have picked out a few, that may change rapidly on the day depending on traffic, crowds, weather etc. – but whatever happens I am really looking forward to it.
We couldn’t go to France and not visit the Somme area again – this time to visit the Sir John Monash Centre at Villers-Bretonneux, which had not been built when we visited last.
Then its off to England and Wales. We are giving central London a miss and after a couple of days around Windsor we collect Erin and make our way through the South West region – Dorset, Devon, Cornwall – for about a week.
After saying our goodbyes to Erin in Bristol, we will then cross the border into Wales. Taking in the Welsh (and nearby Shropshire) countryside, we will then move north to visit Liverpool, the Lakes District and Hadrian’s Wall before heading east to Newcastle and the North Yorkshire Moors.
Finally, in England anyway, we have a stop in Oxford.
As the end of this tour coincides with our wedding anniversary, and as we have to get back to Paris anyway for our flights home, we have decided to spoil ourselves with a couple of nights in a French chateau in Amboise – before flying home via Tokyo again.
We have lots planned along the way – can’t wait to get underway !
