Week 190 - France

We came back on Monday from a week’s holiday in France, which is why these weeknotes are a little late. Sorry about that.
We stayed at a Center Parcs, this time Le Lac d’Ailette near Laon. This park was much bigger than their De Haan site we’ve visited the last couple of years, but it’s just as well-suited to our two energetic sons. It was busier at the weekend but never overwhelming.
Our cottage was by the lake, with a big deck facing the water. We watched swans, geese and many ducks splash around in the glorious sunshine. It was a beautiful location for a holiday and that’s without the big water park and other facilities nearby. We all swam/slid every day and also used the climbing structure, mini-golf, indoor football and cycle hire.
Correction: I didn’t cycle; my ankle was (and is) sore from my footballing mishap last week. I should have spent more time resting it but I was determined not to miss out on the other activities.
I managed to practise my French skills which, 28 years after my A-Level, are still just about passable in conversations about broken lighting and meals. I was pleased that locals didn’t switch to English and humoured me. My family were even very mildly impressed.
On our only day-trip away from the park we visited nearby Laon. It wasn’t worth the effort. We drove to the top of the hill, walked around the cathedral, wandered the streets, found a playground and then drove back.
I brought my Apple TV box on which I’d pre-installed NordVPN for watching region-locked TV when the boys were in bed. Actually there was one very big reason: Arsenal v Real Madrid on Tuesday. The coverage mostly worked - the connection to Amazon Prime Video kept timing out - but the result (3-0!) massively compensated for any frustrations.
And it should be noted that it’s effortless and cheap driving an EV on fairly long journeys (~300 miles) from the UK into France. We topped-up using Tesla Superchargers at Folkestone and Saint-Quentin while using the toilets and having a coffee. Easy.