Les aventures d’une famille franco-anglaise

 Our last full day in Cardiff, we could not have been luckier with the weather. My cousin in France said it was wet over there.  As the tide was higher, first thing in the morning, we tried crabbing, though we found out it was much less common than in North Devon. We saw hardly any other crabbers. I don't know how our "Devon" bucket went down with the locals but no shop seemed to be selling buckets, so good job we brought our own. We still had some success! We were not going to swim in the sea but I found an idea: the Waterfall country! And we were not disappointed. We were near Glynneath although I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the waterfall we saw as it had a Welsh name. Swimming there was not possible either for a different reason: there was once an iron mine making water look very brown. However, several people were having a paddle and went behind the waterfall, my daughters could not resist following them, though again, we almost avoided wet socks, u...

  Our second day in Wales was not overly sunny but dry. The morning, our younger one was due to have a horse riding session, which she sent to, but her older sister was not so lucky with her surfing lesson that was cancelled due to a sewage problem 😞 Notre seconde journée au Pays-de-Galles n’était pas le plus ensoleillé mais il n’a pas plu. Le matin, notre fille a pu se rendre à sa reprise d’équitation prévue mais sa sœur aînée a eu moins de chance, pour son cours de surf, annulé dû à un problème de déversement d’égout compromettant la qualité de l’eau.😞 The afternoon was a bit sunnier, so we found Rest bay near enough Porthcawl, where we had no rest because our girls again wanted to climb the rocks, and at least this time, they found a couple of fossils 🙌 And the scenery was well worth the visit. L’après-midi fut plus ensoleillé, donc nous avons trouvé Rest Bay, près de Porthcawl, mais pas pour nous reposer, nos filles voulant encore une fois escalader les rochers et cette foi...

  Welcome to Wales! As I expected, everything is displayed in two languages, which reminds me of the Basque Country, where I have been holidaying many a time since I was an infant. The only thing that surprised me was that sometimes, the Welsh version comes first, sometimes the English version does so I kept reading the wrong line. It was raining a lot on our first day, and our friends who now live in Cardiff must have thought we would have a bad impression of their new region! Thankfully, the rain stopped for an hour or two, so on our friends' recommendation we went to Ogmore-by-Sea, South Wales, on the Bristol channel where the tidal range is very high. We did not come to South Wales hoping to have a swim on the Easter week-end, but I was surprised to see a sign saying that swimming was recommended against, seemingly all your round, not because of the temperature, but because of the water quality... Bienvenue au Pays-de-Galles! Comme je m’y attendais, tout est affiché en deux lan...

While I admit that England is not great as a skiing holiday destination, it is perfectly possible to spend time outside and last winter did not disappoint! Bon, je l'avoue, pour le ski, l’Angleterre ce n’est pas idéal. Néanmoins, il est tout à fait possible pour les familles de passer du temps dehors et l’hiver passé n’a pas été décevant. My last born is into horse riding, and England has many riding centres offering hacks in all weathers, with young leaders if needed. It is an expensive hobby, but at the Hook, near Nottingham, one can go an a one hour hack for £20, it is worth it! Ma seconde fille adore l’équitation, et en Angleterre, de nombreux centres proposent des balades à cheval, accompagné si besoin. C'est un sport très coûteux, mais il est possible de faire une balade pour 20 £ l’heure au Hook, tout près de Nottingham. Cela en vaut vraiment la peine ! There are many parks to choose from, with great playgrounds for children up to the age of 12 or so, such as Wollaton Pa...

Bonjour à tous, Maintenant que les beaux jours sont de retour, et que je suis bien remise de ma fracture de l'été dernier, rien de tel qu’un bon circuit à Sherwood, à environ 50 minutes de route de chez nous. Les enfants n’étaient pas en reste, l’aînée ayant aujourd'hui 13 ans, et sa petite sœur, grande amatrice d'équitation, bientôt huit. Hi all! Now the sunny days are back, and I have recovered from my injury last summer, nothing beats a good biking track in Sherwood Pines, a 50 minute drive away. Children tagged along, with our firstborn now aged 13, and her horse loving sister is almost 8. Nous avons opté pour la route bleue.  Le niveau de difficulté était dit "modéré", mais j'ai trouvé ça sportif. Le parcours vert est dit le plus facile, donc convient parfaitement aux jeunes enfants capables de pédaler, le rouge est dit le plus difficile, nous ne l'avons donc pas testé. Je n'ai pas pensé à prendre de photos des passages les plus difficiles de notr...