Our 3rd Anniversary!

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Well it's 3 years since we set off with all our belongings to start our new life in France! A bit of renovation and onwards & upwards with the chambres d'hotes! Or so we thought!
Actually it was a nightmare of a journey. There were storms in the English channel--which proved to be the least of our problems. As it was, I drove the pick-up with cats in a cage, and dogs--loose,all in the back. Geoff drove the Ford transit & pulled a small trailer--all of which were grossly overloaded!
We set off from Anglesey at noon to get the 11.30pm ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. I am not a keen driver. We normally travelled together to France, and Geoff always drove--but needs must!
We decided to meet up for a coffee in Oswestry, but I was having problems with the animals. Rosie the labrador didn't want the cats in the pick-up & was getting highly aggressive. I felt there could be a bloodbath if I didn't do something!
Leaving Geoff to potter on, I headed for the pet shop. £15 poorer and the dogs wearing muzzles seemed to be the answer--for 5 minutes! That's how long it took Rosie to get hers off!
Plan B had me chaining Rosie to the back of the pick-up--out of reach of the cat pen. Fortunately this worked & in spite of the delay, I got to Oswestry only 3 minutes behind Geoff.
Next stop was meant to be supper at Warwick with my Dad. I'd just got onto the M6 when I had a phone call from Geoff. The good news.................. storms in the Channel meant Brittany Ferries had called to say they weren't leaving until 2 am. This was good, because the bad news was that the transit van had broken down & he was waiting for the AA!
This is a long story--with a lot more breakdowns! To cut it short, I arrived in Portsmouth with animals and trailer at 1.45am! I was the last vehicle on the ferry that night as the transit van stopped at the entrance to the ferry terminal and couldn't make it the last 400yards to the ferry in time!
I made the crossing on my own, drove down through France in atrocious weather and arrived at my new home in France---toute seule!
Getting the electricity started was no problem, but I didn't fancy sorting out the water as it was already dark! I found a bottle of water, and better still, a bottle of wine!
I took the dogs along the 'chemin' to stretch their legs and then sorted out the cats . I lit the fire and made supper.
What happened to Geoff............... oh, he got the 3pm crossing the next day. He then broke down on the 'periferique' de Caen, where he was towed off to a garage. 2 days later I borrowed a big trailer from our neighbours and drove up to Caen--leaving the cats in the house and the dogs in their new kennel.
The garage owner lived alongside his business. It was the Sunday before Christmas & his wife was entertaining the family. She wasn't really too pleased to see us put all our worldly goods onto the forecourt from the transit van ( now deceased) and then re-loaded it into the pick-up and trailer! It took us nearly 4 hours.
We arrived back at Maureville at midnight.
And all that doesn't tell you what we 've been up to this December--- but I think I'll save it for another day!