Our Trip to Assen

Breakfast at the B & B Villetta was delicious starting off with a lovely fresh fruit salad, followed by fresh bread bought from the bakers that morning.  After paying the bill and packing our bags it was time to set off.

Paul and Steve loading the bikes.

..and the other guys staying at the Villetta

Our Trip to Assen

We left home about 6.30am to get to Dover in time for our ferry to Calais. It was a lovely sunny day and so I felt wearing my "summer jacket" would be OK.  I was feeling quite nervous as I didn't know how I would be on the bike with my dodgey hips!  Painkillers taken all I could do was wait and see.  We got to Dover in good time and boarded virtually as soon as we got there.  There were lots of other bikes of course on the ferry.  We arrived in Calais in about an hour and 10 minutes which was a pleasant surprise!

We headed off up the road through France, Belgium and suddenly found ourselves in Holland - Paul noticed the car registration numbers were Dutch!!  We were travelling through some lovely countryside.  We stopped off at the only bar in this village where the people were not so friendly and had a couple of diet cokes in the only shade we could find and moved on.  I was so pleased I had my thinner jacket on!!

We came across and fruit and vegetable shop en route which looked quite attractive.  It had some pigmy goats in the garden so we pulled over for a look!  We bought a very large punnet of strawberries and a bottle of homemade apple juice.  The shop was very popular with people coming and going constantly in cars and on bicycles.  I cannot get over how many people ride bikes over here but with the excellent cycle paths everywhere I should not be surprised!!

Paul sampling the strawberries surrounded by some of the many bicycles there! and me below with my lovely cool summer jacket!

Some of the flowers on display outside the shop.  If only we had room to take some home!

Paul had planned a route across the islands on Zeeland to get to our B & B in Zonnemaire.  We crossed all these bridges linking the islands.  There was the choppy North Sea on our left and the peaceful waters to our right.  There were marinas and beaches here, all looking very inviting in the heat.  We stopped for a snack lunch and another drink at Vrouwenpolder.

After a refreshing break here (it was quite windy!!) we continued our journey to Zonnemaire and the Bed and Breakfast. We arrived there at the Villetta about 4pm and were met by our host who spoke fluent English and took us in, introduced us to his wife who showed us the facilities and took us to our room. The rooms were all decorated in specific colours. Ours was red!

We got changed and settled down in the garden outside our room waiting for our friend Steve who was riding from St Helens to meet up with us. 

                            

  

He arrived about 6.30pm and we made our way into the village to get something to eat.  We found a really nice bar/restaurant with some very friendly people there.... Paul made a new friend, called Peter, who helped us translate the menu etc etc.  We all had mussels  which were absolutely delicious!  Shortly after we arrived another 4 English guys arrived for dinner.  They were also coincidentally staying at the Villetta.

Mucking around

Was messing around in the garden trying to get together a "Country Living" kind of shot...

Not too good but I will keep on trying!!

Scotney Castle

Took ourselves off to Scotney Castle to take our minds off Pumpkin.  It was one of the hottest days of the year so far.

This is the main house now open to the public.  The last owner died in 2006.

This is the view from the top of the hill.  It certainly is a beautiful place, especially on such a sunny day.

The old castle.... beautifully reflected in the lake.

This white wysteria is a sight to behold. The scent was absolutely delicious.  A magnificent specimen.

A Canada goose and its young.

The courtyard

The wysteria through the archway

Pumpkin

Today we had to say goodbye to our beloved cat, Pumpkin.  It was a such a shock and we miss her dreadfully. She was the youngest of the 3 kittens born 15 years ago. We will never forget you my little Pumpkinella, R.I.P.