2020: Life in a Pandemic!
Our first winter season ended in disaster! Not only had Jonathan ruptured his Achilles’ tendon, but a Coronavirus pandemic changed the world for everyone. Our plans to sail to the Mediterranean were clearly not going to happen, so we looked for alternative plans closer to home, and ended the year returning to work: so much for retirement!
The Blog posts (click on the pictures to read and see more)
12th March 2021
You might be surprised to see a picture of fishing boats rather than ski slopes! Again things have not gone quite according to plan…
31st December 2020
Finally! our first “winter”post for the 2020/21 season, and just before the New Year. It has not been the winter season we had hoped for, and we are still in the UK and living through the Cornish winter storms on our boat. Things can only get better…
30th November 2020
Plans for the coming winter are already on hold as the second wave of Coronavirus has put both France and the UK back into national lockdowns. We have been living on Merryn, enjoying a few walks, and learning to bake bread.
September 2020
Events conspired to stop us sailing to the Med this Summer. Not to be put off, we hatched an alternative plan: to cycle across the Route des Grandes Alpes from our apartment in Ste Foy to the Mediterranean coast at Nice. 550 km, 13 cols, and over 13000 vertical metres of ascent later, we got there… then we tried to cycle back! Follow our travels in a series of blogs, videos, and annotated maps.
27th August 2020
Decision time, as the UK weather makes a cycling trip in France seem ever more appealing
18th August 2020
Back in the UK. Looking out across Falmouth bay in the rain and mist, our thoughts turn to our last cycling trip in France: a route up the col de l’Iseran, Europe’s highest paved pass.
6th August 2020
Five months post Achilles injury, we cycle up to the Col du Petit St Bernard
1st August 2020
A cycle around Lac d’Annecy: 41 km, but nice and gentle, and with plenty of opportunities for a cooling swim in the lake
23rd July 2020
A few weeks of beautiful weather giving us more opportunities to walk, swim and cycle in the mountains.
13th July 2020
A day trip to Val d’Isère, and a quick (and selective) tour of the resort in the Summer. For Jonathan, it was the first day back in Val since his ankle injury.
6th July 2020
Hurrah! We have got back to France with the continued easing of restrictions, and are now enjoying the mountain life. The great weather goes on, and we have been barbecuing, walking in the mountains, swimming in a lake, and Jonathan continues to recover from his Achilles tendon injury.
9th June 2020
Time passes, and life seems to be inching towards normality. We got back to Cornwall and to life on board Merryn, albeit with no immediate prospect of sailing. Beautiful weather has helped both my rehab and get some overdue work completed on Merryn.
4th May 2020
Not quite how we planned the start of our summer in retirement… On our return to the UK from France, the Coronavirus lockdown continues and life is very strange. No prospect of setting off across the Biscay.
8th April 2020
Farewell to Ste Foy and the beautiful mountains
2nd April 2020
A snapshot of our daily life under the twin confines of a broken leg and the global coronavirus crisis
22nd March 2020
Retirement plans all awry, and changing by the day! Here’s quick update on how we are keeping ourselves occupied, with one leg out of action, during the Coronavirus crisis.