Visit to England and France.

[Tom Lathrop]

Our oldest son and daughter in law are treating Liz and I to a narrowboat cruise in England this summer for our 50th on the Warwickshire Ring for 10 days. Afterwards we are planning on taking a ferry from Portsmouth to Saint Malo where we will stay with a friend for a few days.

I know there is a Naval Museum in Portsmouth but what other points of boating interest will be on our route? A day and a half in London for the usual tour. Birmingham?, Coventry (cars)? I plan to visit the Normandy beaches also and Saint Malo looks like a good place to see boats and etc. My ancestors are from France by way of England so I have both limes and frogs in my blood.

[Clencher]

Tom, if you like historic ships etc believe me you could spend at least two days in the Dockyard (Naval) Museum in Portsmouth, no sweat. The restored HMS Warrior is fantastic, and then there's HMS Victory and the Mary Rose, all in one place. Spinnaker Tower nearby, is good for a panoramic view of Portsmouth Harbour, the Solent and the Isle of Wight. Also in Portsmouth is the D-day Museum and Royal Marines Museum. First hand stuff this Tom, both my daughters live in Portsmouth and every time I visit I just have to have a 'fix' on board HMS Warrior or Victory. One word of caution - everything is expensive! Birmingham and Coventry I can't comment on but I'm sure somebody will.

[Thorne]

What towns does the Warwickshire loop take in? 10 days on a narrowboat ought to take a long senic time to see a small area, so you'll have plenty of time to tour locally.

[Tom Lathrop]

What towns does the Warwickshire loop take in? 10 days on a narrowboat ought to take a long senic time to see a small area, so you'll have plenty of time to tour locally.

Narrowboats are slow and there are many-many locks to operate but there will be time to do some local touring. I don't remember the total distance for the 10 days but it is not very much.

The oxen are slow but the earth is patient.

[DerekW]

Hi Tom

We spent a few days pottering around Brittany last year - I found St Malo less than exciting boatwise, but perhaps I just wasn't looking in the right places. From atop the city walls, we did see a good size schooner with a 'ruse de guerre' beating in -probably La Recouvrance, out of Brest.

Depending on your travel dates, you might think it worth making a day trip from St Malo to Douarnenez or Brest for the big festivals running next summer.

We managed to catch the 'Route de Cidre' at Dinan on the Rance, and that was very jolly - wooden boats rather than ships - a floating cider tasting session and semi-race towards a big party on the quay. 'La Pauline' (http://www.lapauline.com/) was probably the largest boat there.

cheers
Derek

[Clencher]

Bad news guys. I was going to suggest Tom, that if you were in London, to take a river trip to see the Cutty Sark being restored and visit National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.

On our news this morning the Cutty Sark has caught afire overnight and from the aerial film I just saw looks more or less burnt out. Very sad.