2026 – Roëzé-sur-Sarthe (France)

We’d visited Ali’s friends Ali W and Pete for the last couple of years, and Ali had visited the year before with her mother, but a return visit in June ‘26 was very much in order.

Particularly after the electoral disappointment of May, where I unexpectedly lost my County Council seat.

Ali suggested I was undergoing a form of grief.

The format of the weekend was similar to previous years, an early morning journey to France on Thursday, returning on Monday afternoon.

We left home at five forty-five on Thursday morning, and were over the Dartford Bridge in good time. Our scheduled train wasn’t until 9:55, but we were unsure as to how the border controls would be operating. We still had time to stop at Maidstone Services for a sneaky breakfast, arriving at the Channel Tunnel just before eight.

Unfortunately, services were delayed; we were first advised of fifteen minute delays, but these soon extended to ninety minutes. We sat in the terminal building killing time and using their free wifi.

We were called at ten fifteen, through passport controls and into the queue for the trains, where we sat baking for over an hour, finally boarding just after twelve and setting off at twelve twenty and arriving in Calais at two, local time.

We did, however, meet an interesting chap with a beautiful Alfa Romeo GT. When we commented on it he explained that he’d had it bored out from 3.2 to 3.7 litres, then had it tuned, and was embarking on a road trip to and around Italy, including Maranello (the home of Ferrari) and the famous Stelvio Pass.  A real ‘petrol head’ he further explained that he currently works for McLaren in their design studio, having previously worked for many car manufacturers in the past, including contributing to the design of Ali’s Skoda.

Our drive down from Calais was much smoother than our tunnel experience; the Skoda’s SatNav guided us through Rouen – a bottleneck in the past – and down to Roëzé-sur-Sarthe. We arrived shortly after six and were – no pun intended – warmly welcomed by Ali and Pete.

We enjoyed a couple of cold drinks after unloading the provisions we’d brought down, then Ali, Ali W and Pete took a dip in their (cool) hot-tub.

Miles had shared the video from his recent  wedding to Michaela, so we watched that with Ali W and Pete, then settled on the patio to catch up. I heard the sounds of distant thunder, and we were hit with a brief but heavy storm, sat under a gazebo. Pete finally fired up the Barbecue at about ten thirty, we enjoyed chicken skewers and sausages with a selection of salads, then a sumptuous cheeseboard, before finally crashed out shortly before twelve thirty.

We slept well, it had been a long and tiring day, and woke refreshed on Friday morning.

Ali W and Pete had to whizz out to get tyres fitted on their car so, while Ali showered, I drove into the village and bought baguettes and pains au chocolat. My first solo expedition in France and mission accomplished successfully.

I’d brought an interesting book and settled down to read, while Ali W and Pete’s three new chickens pottered around, chuckling to themselves.

Ali W and Pete returned at lunchtime, and we enjoyed a healthy lunch of cold meats and salad, with the aforementioned baguette.

Pete spent the afternoon working on his new front door, then later in the afternoon we returned to the swimming lake that the two Alis visited on our previous visit. I went with them, but chose to continue reading my book, under some trees, with a pint of Grimbergen beer.

We had another drink when the ladies returned from their swim, then retired to a bar outside Roëzé-sur-Sarthe for a drink and plate of cold cuts.

Pete cycled out to join us, but we all chose a tactical withdrawal when it looked like they had a singer preparing to play.

Having filled up with cold meats and cheeses, once again we didn’t eat until late, this time it was barbecued Salmon skewers, at about ten thirty. We crashed relatively early at about eleven thirty.

Our plans for Saturday were fluid, options included visiting a microbrewery and pub in Le Mans, but Pete and I headed out to his local B&Q and then, just after midday, we all enjoyed brunch of eggs laid by Ali & Pete’s new chickens.

In the afternoon, the two Alis and I headed off to visit a delightful Chateau ‘Le Lude’ in the nearby village of Lude, on the River Loir (not a spelling mistake).

We spent a jolly hour or so exploring, then called into the U supermarket on the way home; we’d visited on previous visits and had a short, but focused shopping list.

Then another evening of hot tub dipping, chatting and drinking, with another alfresco dinner including some very tasty ‘Mexican spiced’ pork chops.

Initial plans for Sunday included a trip to Pete’s grandchildren’s school fete, but the weather remained stifling, so we were advised that children’s performances were cancelled and we weren’t obliged to attend.

Instead, after Ali and I had whizzed out to refuel the car for our return journey, we all simply chilled all afternoon and evening.

Ali W prepared an excellent Spinach, Lentil and Cashew nut curry, with any surplus rice being served to the chickens.

We left Ali W & Pete’s at eight forty-five on Monday morning; Ali (it gets confusing) drove all the way to Calais. We stopped briefly for another foray into the Boulangerie – for ham and cheese baguettes –  and a couple of swift bathroom breaks.

We arrived at the ‘Le Shuttle’ terminal at Calais at about one thirty and just had time to enjoy the baguettes (a great suggestion by Ali W) before being called through border control; which was surprisingly swift. We then boarded the train at three thirty (on the upper deck again) and departed just before three forty-five, arriving in Folkstone forty minutes later, around three twenty-five, local time.

Unfortunately, there were delays at the Dartford crossing. The tailbacks started at the M20 junction, three lanes of stationary traffic for almost six miles and forty minutes.

We finally arrived home just after five thirty, a seven hundred mile round trip, but a wonderful and relaxing weekend.