Travelog for: Elephonse

Hi, I'm Elephonse.

Today I've been officially registered as a 'Toy Voyager'. I'm very excited.

My Mum, Helly, has made me a passport, so I can record where I travel.

My home - in Monsieur Alfonse, a Citroen 2CV - is being carpeted later and I'm going to help. Monsieur Alfonse was also fitted with a CD radio yesterday so I can have music while I travel.

Hurrah!

The photos show me and Monsieur Alfonse.

As Pierre Bear has been having all the fun recently I decided it was my turn. Unfortunately  it rained heavily all day and so I took just a short drive, in Monsieur Alfonse, to Devizes, especially so you can learn all about The Moonrakers.

The picture shows a large pond called The Crammer. The Crammer is very famous in Wiltshire for the following reason . . .

Many many years ago some Wiltshire men were smuggling barrels of brandy and were nearly home when the sun rose and they needed to hide the brandy ready for moving on again at nightfall. They hid the barrels of brandy in The Crammer. That night,  by the light of the full moon and using their rakes they started to fish the barrels out of the pond. Unfortunately some customs men passed by, and seeing they were acting suspitiously asked them what they were doing.

Quick as a flash the men replied that they were trying to fish a cheese out of the pond. The customs men, seeing only the reflection of the moon went on their way, laughing at the 'Stupid Wiltshiremen'.

Once the customs men had gone the Wiltshiremen retrieved their barrels of brandy and made their way home. Therefore Wiltshiremen are known for being canny.

That is why any person who is born in Wiltshire and lives there all their life is called a 'Moonraker'.

Just like Steve!

Well, things have been quiet this last week. Monsieur Alfonse - my 2CV 'home' - has had a 'Dicky ticker' (in true, Monsieur Alfonse, ''Allo 'Allo' style) and has needed a tune. I thought this sounded exciting as I like music a lot. I was therefore very surprised that the only music I heard was the engine note of Monsieur Alfonse.

It turns out that car engines need 'tuning' to make them run better. Still, once M. Alfonse had been 'tuned' he made very sweet music.

I watched and learnt, although I didn't get too close as I didn't want oil on my nice blue fur.

In just under two weeks I'm off to Normandy. I'm very excited, although I'll be leaving Monsieur Alfonse behind for a while and will miss him.

Now, where's my passport?

Today I went to Startford Upon Avon, or, Stratford Upon THE Avon as the locals say. I had a beautiful drive up through the Cotswolds, in Monsieur Alfonse, the scenery was gorgeous.

I didn't get chance to explore Stratford itself as I went to the racecourse to a Citroen Rally. There were lots of Citroens of all shapes and sizes there. I was told I would see lots of 'H' Vans. I was a bit scared as I wasn't certain what they were but I needn't have worried, they were just big vans with a bonnet which looks a bit like a pigs snout!

It is the Citroen 'H' Van's 60th birthday this year so there were lots of 'H' Vans there. I climbed on one so I could have a better look.

I chatted to my friend Travelling Bear and told him all about Toy Voyagers. I'm hoping he'll register soon.

We stayed about two hours and then we drove back home. In total Monsieur Alfonse & I travelled 150 miles.

Next week I'm off on my big adventure to France - well, actually Helly & Steve have kindly let me go with them on honeymoon. I've promised I won't get in their way!

I'm so excited, I'm off to France today, with Steve & Helly on honeymoon. I've never been to France before but Pierre Bear has told me all about it.

I am so excited I decide to sit on the dashboard and watch the whole journey.

The journey took ever such a long time. The M25 was closed so we had to drive through London, we only just made it in time.

We are travelling on a catamaran. Helly told me they 'Fight The Pirates', it sounds a bit frightening but she tells me it will be OK.

We arrived in Boulogne-Sur-Mer yesterday afternoon, after a fantastic crossing - no pirates to be seen anywhere! We then drove down to a place called Abbeville where we stayed in a hotel for the night.

On the way to Abbeville we stopped off at Nouvion, where 'Allo, Allo' was set. My car - Monsieur Alfonse - is named after a character from the programme, so I started to miss him a little bit. We've brought Bernice The Berlingo on this trip.

As we were leaving Abbeville this morning I got VERY excited. I spotted another blue elephant!!  Steve told me it's a place where the French wash their cars. I'm going to look for 'Elephant Blu' s all holiday as there are lots of these places. How nice to name them after me! (I hope I've spelt that right as my French isn't very good!)

On our way across northern France to the Manche region of Normandy we crossed a wonderful bridge called the 'Pont de Tancarville'. It crosses La Seine river and is near  a place called Lillebonne. You can just see the bridge in the background of the photo.

Sunday:

I rested today after my long journey yesterday as I know I'll be doing LOTS of travelling during the next two weeks. I'm  with Helly and Steve on their honeymoon. We're in a lovely Gite, called Hope Cottage, in the Manche region of Normandy - Find Cherbourg on the map, travel down to Valognes and then take the D2 south. Ste. Colombe, where the gite is, is about 8 km further on. It's a tiny village. I'll show you some pictures later.

Monday:

Today I went to St Sauveur Le Vicomte, a very small town near to where we are staying at Ste. Colombe. The picture shows the ancient chateau which you can walk around.

After that we drove on to Ste. Mere Eglise which is famous for it's World War 2 history. The church spire has a full sized model of a parachutist who got stuck as he tried to land. The parachutist was a man called John Steel. Look very carefully and you might be able to see it in the photo.

I had a very lazy morning today. So, after a very late breakfast - brunch - I set off to the east coast of Manche.

The nice thing about visiting France at this time of the year is that the beaches are deserted.

The photos show me at Utah Beach, which is very beautiful with its dunes. Helly told me that when she's been here at other times she's seen 'trotters', French horses pulling small carts that are used for racing.

I'm glad they weren't there today as horses that aren't circus horses are sometimes scared of elephants.

Today we travelled around the north coast of Manche. We found some gorgeous beaches and then decided to find some ancient stones - megalithiques. We parked at the bottom of a track and Helly gave me a lift in her hand bag.

I was Ok as I wasn't walking but it was a long walk uphill to find the stones.

When we got there we found a small burial chamber. As I live only six miles from Avebury stone circle in England I was expecting something a little more exciting. Poor Helly was really puffed, so I lay on my back on the stones and gazed up at the sky, pretending I was as puffed as she was so she wouldn't feel left out!

Still, the climb was worth it for the view!!

I set off early with Helly and Steve today to visit Le Mont St Michel.

Le Mont St Michel looks very similar to St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall. It is an island and abbey, virtually surrounded by water.

I stayed in the car as it was a lot busier than other times when Helly & Steve have visited and I didn't want to get lost amongst all the small alley ways and hoards of people.

However, I think I got the best view, from the car park!

I went for a great drive today! First I visited St Vaast La Hougue, which the locals pronounce 'St Va'. I walked out to the Fort along a beach which was made of broken shells. There must of been millions of bits of shell.
Then I went up to Gatteville Le Phare and the second tallest lighthouse in France. I very neally went up, but was too scared. Maybe next time.
Finally I went around the top coast of Manche, towards Cherbourg where we found some more standing stones near St Pierre Eglise. These were more impressive than the others we saw and totally deserted, unlike when I visit Avebury or Stonehenge back in England.

Oh, what a day! I thought I was excited spotting a 'Blue Elephant' earlier this week.

Today we were heading south, towards La Haye Du Puits when I spotted two 2CVs coming towards us. I waved and got Steve to flash his lights. They waved back, do you think they knew that my 'home' in England is a 2CV?

Then, about five minutes later three more came by, followed by another three. Well, by this stage I was standing on the dashboard waving like crazy and jumping up and down in excitement. Steve very kindly agreed to turn around and follow them. We followed them for miles, back up the way we'd come.

Eventually they turned off at Carteret and drove to the beach.  We got out and introduced ourselves, explaining that in England Steve & Helly have two 2CVs. I was a little upset that they didn't explain that Monsiour Alfonse is my 'home', or that Pierre Bear also lives in our green and white 2CV called Molly. I'm not sure why they didn't!

Anyway, I was just too excited to be upset for long. After about half an hour about TWENTY FIVE 2CVs had turned up from all over France. They were on the tenth tour of Cotentin - the north part of Manche.

Even more exciting was that Steve & helly recognised some of the cars from other 2CV events they'd been to AND most of the people there will be at the French national next year at Dunkerque. I'm going to be there too to complete one of my missions.

Some of the cars had cows painted on them. I looked for an elephant but couldn't see one. I did see that one of the vans had 'I love my 2Cv' painted on it. I asked Steve if he could paint that on Monsieur Alfonse's bonnet when we got back. He said he'd think about it . . . that usually means 'no'!

Steve & Helly are going to write up about today in more detail for their local 2CV magazine next month, which you can read on the Swindon Association of Snails website. They took lots and lots of photos for me, so I can look at them this coming week if I'm feeling homesick.

I was so sad when it was time to go as the group was driving to Cherbourg to go camping for the night before going to Barfleur the following day. I hope that if they do the tour next year I can join in too!

I had a lovely day, staying quite local to the gite.

First I visited Le Pou, or more exactly, the beach there - thoroughly deserted again. Wonderful!

Then I went to St. Sauveur Forest for a walk and picnic.

Finally Steve & Helly found a fantastic viewing point just outside St. Sauveur itself. Right on top of a hill are three deserted windmills. You can climb one of them and at the top there's a viewing platform. I had to be held onto very tightly as it was blowey and I'm not very heavy for an elephant.

I looked for some more blue elephants but couldn't see any. However, Helly told me not to worry as that meant I was unique. I could see for miles, it was FANTASTIC!