Bee happy …. take a European road trip

Mr Happy and I have recently taken a European road trip, it was the first time that we have driven abroad.

We took our VW Golf with us and I managed not to pack too much as I also needed space in the boot for any purchases along the way J. Mr Happy enjoyed getting the car ready checking with the car insurance company we were ok to travel in Europe, they also gave us European breakdown cover through the policy, just in case! Although we were lucky enough not to need it.

We also took the Euro Tunnel for the first time as well. We travelled upstairs on the way there, it was like the Italian Job film getting onto the train.

 We visited France and Switzerland.

The first stop in France was Laon. Our French is quite basic but I think we managed quite well! Smiling a lot also helped.

We did manage to find a hotel on the fifth attempted in Laon as it was a French Bank Holiday, if we had booked in advance it just wouldn’t be a road trip.

It was really beautiful here and was a real shame that we didn’t have time to stay longer.

We took the auto routes into France and Switzerland and paid the toll charges but this made the driving so much easier as the roads were so clear and easy to drive on.

As you can see the weather was wet for the first day of travelling but then the sun came out and stayed out. 

Once we entered Switzerland we went through many tunnels, this was different as we don’t have tunnels like this in the UK.

Switzerland is so beautiful. We stayed in Wilderswil but explored around the Lauterbrunnen and the Interlaken area. 

Hotel balcony view

This was the view from our hotel balcony. In the background is the Jungfrau Mountain which is the highest mountain in Europe.

There were lots of these water troughs throughout the villages with running water on each.

While exploring we came across this old bridge and church.

This bridge dates back to 1738 and was recently damaged in a flood in August 2005 but it has since been fully restored.

We will definitely be returning to France and Switzerland but hope to stay longer this time.

On our return home we had some bad luck. We were travelling through a small village a couple of miles away from our house and this crop sprayer was cutting the corner, didn’t see us and drove straight into the back of the car. Mr Happy was not so anymore L

The car insurance took care of everything. They came and took our poorly car away and left us with another one until ours is fully repaired.

The damage doesn’t look too bad but it pushed the petrol tank and suspension back. We only just managed to drive it back home, with it creaking and groaning all the way.

The car is a Blue motion so there is a lot of clever technology which recovers the energy when braking to use later and it is very expensive to put right but great for the environment.

My lovely neighbour came round later that day to see if we were ok and brought this embroidery round that she had made on her machine to cheer me up incorporating my favourite things, a bee and crown, she knows me so well!

I decided to put this gorgeous embroidery in a frame for the living room wall and added a little lace top and bottom.

I know this has been a long post but thanks for sticking with it!

Bee happy x

Have a delicious day!