EDITORIAL

Having just returned from a two week holiday, I have had a bit of a rush putting this edition together, so apologies this month for any deliberate mistakes!  I suppose next year I will have to plan our holiday dates better!
France was wonderful and we were in the Perigord region (or Dordogne area as us Anglaise call it!)  Very nice part of the country and we swopped four wheels for paddles and took to the river for a couple of canoe trips. Very nice!  The journey down was easy, the Autoroutes are great, long empty carriageways with lots of stopping places at regular intervals.  They are worth the toll money.  We managed the Peripherique round Paris this year (me driving, Ralph navigating) without coming off at the wrong “Porte”!  We decided that travelling through Paris early on a Thursday afternoon beat trying to fight a way through on a Friday, which is what nearly always happens to us.  “Should be easy on the way back!” we thought “Thursdays are obviously lighter on traffic”!
HAH!  B*****y French decided to close one of the main autoroutes outside Paris which takes you onto the Peripherique, so we crawled about 10 miles in two hours on side roads instead.  Along with half of the Netherlands Caravan Club!  I have a question;France is a bloody big country, so why oh why haven’t they built an autoroute around Paris instead of making all routes go through Paris!!! I know the M25 can be a pain in the butt at times, but at least it does go around the London area!
Another suggestion, perhaps the Traffic Master people could invent Traffic Master that works in France and speaks English.  It would have been helpful to know we were going to hit a “Bouchon!” earlier in the journey!  Oh well, put it down to the Paris experience!
My, some of you have been busy while I was away, I thought I would have an Oakleaf on my hands and I have been inundated with copy.  I have tried by best to fit it all in.  Chin even managed to send me his contribution before the deadline date! Well done, Sir!  I will emphasise here what Chin mentions re Marshals.  We need you to make this year’s Spotted Dick and Custard another successful event.  Do give Chris Scudder a ring and volunteer, there are marshalling points up for grabs!  There is also the BIG event in October, The Rally of Kent. We will need as many of you as possible to make this inaugural event memorable for the right reasons!
Don’t forget the Find a Pub in Kent Night on the 15th August, The Spotted Dog at Smarts Hill near Penshurst is the place.  You may well recognise the landlord as none other than Jon Miles.  Look forward to seeing lots of you there!
I’m off to load my washing machine for the umpteenth time! That’s the trouble with holidays, it generates too many dirty clothes!  (You should see our Ryan eat chocolate ice-cream!!  Hmm. Maybe not!)

Dawn

The Acorn : August Edition