Tales from the Cottage

Sunday, 28 April 2013

Monday, 15 April 2013

Sunday, 14 April 2013

Today was our first full day in France. After a leisurely breakfast we got ready and headed out to the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild where we had booked to have lunch in the tearoom - it was delicious.

Then we went for a wander through the villa, these are some views of the gardens from one of the balconies.

And this is a view of me with my new hairstyle:

After the villa we drove up to San Remo in Italy - not quite as interesting as people had told us, but perhaps the pouring rain that had started had put us off.

Back to Cap Ferrat via the viaducts and tunnels between and through the mountains - Ange didn't enjoy the viaducts one bit, Amber was very sympathetic.

Before we went back to the villa though, we stopped in Beaulieu sur Mer to go to the Super U (a large supermarket). This was Ambers fave part of the holiday so far as she got special chewing gum, perhaps next Easter we'll just take a staycation and head to Sainsburys and Tesco locally?

Saturday, 13 April 2013

01 April 2013 - France

Today was day 1 of our Easter holidays - the alarm went off at 03:00 and we began the process of getting ourselves up and out and off to France. After breakfast we made rolls with sausage for the in-flight snack - 100 times better than what Easyjet would serve up believe me :)

Got to the airport easily enough, crawled through the security process - any reason why there are so many security desks if only 2 are going to be manned? - then picked up our currency and headed to the gate to await the call.

The flight took 2hrs and 20mins from Edinburgh to Nice, coming in over the sea you think you're going to land on it but no, at the last minute, the runway sneaks out into the sea and you land safely.

After collecting the luggage we headed over to the new (to us anyway since we were last here 2 years ago) car rental centre and picked up our Clio. (This came to be known as Clio no. 01 - but more later....).

With hardly any problems driving on the opposite side of the road we got to the Villa Pas Mai ahead of schedule, so much ahead we decided to go into St. Jean de Cap Ferrat to grab something to eat in order to give Alain & Cathy an extra hour to finish preparing the villa. After a quick pit stop at the local boulangerie we headed to the Paloma Plage and sat above it enjoying our lunch.

Back to the villa, Ange unpacked while I snoozed - for a good hour :)

We then drove up to Eze for provisions, it being Sunday this was the first town we went through where a supermarket was still open. Back to St. Jean to pick up a couple of pizzas for tea, then an early night for all of us, having been up since 03:00, 18 hours later at 22:00 we all crashed.

Saturday, 2 March 2013

02 March 2013 - Pitlochry

Would you get your hair cut here?

01 March 2013 - Deanston Distillery

Today, lunch was taken at the cafe at Deanston Distillery - and a very fine haggis and cheese ciabatta it was indeed.

Originally the distillery was a cotton mill - dating all the way back to the late 1700's - however in the 1960's it became a distillery.

Sunday, 6 May 2012

29 April 2012 - Dunollie Castle

Next stop - and only a few miles down the road from Dunstaffnage Castle - was Dunollie Castle. While Dunstaffnage isn't exactly in the best of condition, its a whole lot better than Dunollie.

This is the view from inside the castle - first floor.

Double glazing is missing.

Safety sign letting you know of "recent" stone falls. Dated 1997.

Sign underneath asking for donations to help repair Dunollie. Doesn't seem like they've been given too much in the last 15 years.

View from the castle looking back towards Oban - the ferry is on its way out to the islands.

29 April 2012 - Dunstaffnage Castle

Today, we headed towards Oban and our first stop was Dunstaffnage Castle. This castle was apparently built before 1725 and has some pretty strong historical links as not only was it captured by Robert the Bruce, it was also a prison for Flora McDonald - that pesky Bonnie Prince Charlie has a lot to answer for.

10 March 2012 - Cottage

Look at our new neighbour - he's a bit scary.

Sunday, 23 October 2011

Sicily - Hire car

When we arrived at Catania airport late at night, it took us a wee while to find the car hire desk, but we eventually got to it and went through all the paperwork etc. The girl on the desk said that the car had no damage but we should check it before we left. As it was around 11 at night and dark it wasn't easy to see any potential damage however after a quick look round we saw a few scratches and this on the wing mirror:

Drove the car over to the car hire desk and pointed out the wing mirror - apparently, that sort of damage "is nothing". I began to get afraid of driving in Italy - and this was before I had to follow a police car at speed through the countryside, but thats another story.