I’m washing the ceiling at 7am!

Thursday 12th September

A very cloudy and cool start to the day so we wore our fleeces and cycled into the village. No sooner had we found the market when the sun came out and we couldn’t get them off and into the pack quick enough. It was a nice little market and Joan bought a couple of pairs of crop trousers after we’d managed to persuade the stall holder to allow her into the back of his van to try them on. They seem ok and fitted well. At the next stall I got two shirts and a couple of stalls further on, 3 belts.  There was also a covered food market but it’s not very good quality, plus just like old time barrow boys, they don’t allow you to serve yourself, so unless we really want something, we avoid them like the plague. Back to the van for lunch, then I cut Joan’s hair and we chilled for the rest of the day.

Friday 13th September 

We’re on the move again, off to Ile-de-Re and we are really looking forward to it. Why? Well we have heard from so many people about how good it is, especially the lovely seafood restaurants and pretty little villages/ports. We left St Palais-sur-mer about 10am and expected to be there in no time at all as it’s only about 68 miles. It was a gorgeous day and forecast for about 30c all over the weekend, so of course there was lots of traffic and we didn’t get to Camping les Amis de la Plage at Le Bois until 1.30pm. By now frankly the sun was beating down and I convinced Joan to ignore the pitches we would normally have jumped at, in full sun all day, for pitch number 89. This spot gets sun first thing till about 10.30am and then is sheltered through the heat of the day by a few large trees, only to have the sun again from around 5.30pm, it’s perfect. 

I was a bit grumpy as I had learnt that the nearest Boulangerie is about a mile and a half away as the on-site shop is closed, damn. Anyway we decide to go and check where it was for the morning, plus checking out the “wonderful seafood restaurants” Joan was so looking forward to. I have to report that so far Ile-de-Re has totally underwhelmed me and if there were nice restaurants, they have all gone or closed for the season.  At this point I can feel all the people who’ve raved about the place sharpening there knives and gritting there teeth. Joan does NOT agree with me and as soon as we got back to the van she said, come on lets cheer your miserable face up, and get you on to the beach. WOW! All is forgiven, it’s great. With proper breakers, lovely stuff. It just means we will have to cook our own food, not really a hardship for us at all. 

Saturday 14th September

Got up to go for the bread and Joan decided she wanted to come with me. Yesterday I had accidentally done a “Ken Reay” and found a church for Joan with a mass on Sunday. What I also discovered was, they have a really good market every morning as well, and a supermarket, so things are looking up. Plus of course that lovely beach awaits us later. So after breakfast we headed back to the market, this time on foot. Turns out Joan, like me, is not too keen on cycling either. As we entered town the tourist information was open and recommended we use the busses to see more of the prettier places on the Island, so we may do that.

The market was quite big and Joan bought a nice handbag, then we entered the covered food market and bought a roti chicken. Next into the fish market where we found an oyster bar and she finally got the oysters she has been looking forward to since we got to France, with a nice glass of white wine, (I got a glass of wine). Next we purchased a load of very big prawns which we brought home and made a great prawn salad. Finally after a suitable rest, off to the beach about 4.30pm. Magic, huge waves to jump through and not too cold either. Back for chicken dinner and then Joan went to photograph yet another ‘amazing’ sunset, while I washed up, what a great day.

Goodnight  xxx

Sunday 15th September

A red hot day and we cycled to mass, then had another wander around the market which appears to be even bigger than yesterday, great. Home for a spot of lunch and then as it was far too hot for the beach we just sat outside in the shade and relaxed. I must admit we got lost in our books and didn’t realise the time so when we did finally get to the beach at 5.40pm the big waves had all gone as the tide was virtually right in. We still went in but it wasn’t as much fun so we must come earlier tomorrow. 

Joan wanted to see the sunset again so we nipped back to the van and I prepared a stir-fry to use what was left of yesterday’s chicken roti. Then back to the beach at 8pm for the sunset which apparently was amazing! (See pictures). I don’t get it but Joan loves them as all our pictures from other times will attest. After we got back to the van and had dinner, we watched an amazing film Joan had downloaded about the tsunami in Thailand. It’s a true story about a family who were caught up in the tsunami and it’s called The Impossible.

Monday 16th September

6.20AM!! Don’t ask me why but I heard this really loud zzzzzz noise in my dream which I suddenly realised was real?!?!?! I awoke, grabbed my torch and started frantically killing mosquitos, at least 10! all of which were full of blood. (Which we later had to wash off the ceiling). Meanwhile a not very happy small person erupted out of the bed because she’d been woken up by a mad man leaping about and hitting the ceiling! After a brief explanation she joined the hunt and we got some more. As I’m sure you all know, as soon as you think they are all dead you hear another. By now my torch has been replaced by the light but I swear they hide when you switch the light on. 

Finally we settled down and turn the light off, all’s well, let’s sleep. It was then I realised Joan is sitting up in the dark. The light suddenly goes on! What are you doing pet? I asked. The reply is priceless. With a totally straight face Joan said, Shh, I’m trying to surprise them! We hope and pray our neighbours slept through the resultant hysterical laughter.  She wasn’t laughing very much later when she realised she had about 10 or more bites on her arms, fingers, face and back, anywhere that wasn’t covered in fact.

We did manage to doze a bit after that but it was obviously going to be an early one today. At least at that time 7.30ish, it is quite cool, and I cycled off for the bread. Obviously the events in the early hours and the resulting loss of blood had slightly unhinged Joan because in my absence she had cleaned, hoovered and sorted out the washing. So after breakfast we bunged it into a washing machine, hung it all out around the awning, and relaxed by the van. By lunch it was all dry, folded and put away. It’s amazing what you can get dry at 29c. We made sure we were on the beach a lot earlier and actually caught the start of the big rollers, lovely stuff. Then it was back for a shower and off to the only restaurant outside the site for our dinner. This was only fair as I had been a little disparaging about the restaurants in an earlier blog. As it turns out we had a very nice dinner, Joan enjoyed Moules with white wine and mine was a burger with red wine, which was very tasty.

Hope you are all we well. XXX

We get blown away by modern art

Tuesday 10th September

Boy did it rain last night! Its bright and sunny this morning though and we set off for St Palais-sur-Mer. It’s only about 70 miles but very slow as it’s a coastal road which at times was very narrow, and my passenger becomes extremely nervous. When we reached Royan we decided to stop and spend a little time there. They have a strange attitude to vehicles and assume that the people in them if allowed, will stop and spend money, amazing! Thus they have a thriving economy. Wouldn’t it be great if instead of our councillors spending thousands going to America, they could pop across the channel and learn how to save our high streets. (Sorry, rant over).

As we were parking we saw the most incredible modern church. I know the word magnificent is over worked but this really was an amazing building from the outside but when you went inside it did take your breath away. As Joan said, it was like a huge theatre and we spent some time in it. 

With just another 8 miles to do and arriving at 1.30pm, we thought we would have no bother securing a pitch but the place is heaving and the couple at the desk are frantically trying to help everybody. Plus a Dutch bloke is giving them hell because he has an enormous van and demands a particular large sunny pitch which was already booked. We are polite and get sorted pretty quickly and have a lovely pitch, number 135 with electricity and water, a luxury for us. 

Having set up and lunched we chilled for an hour then set off to see the sea and have a look at what the restaurants along the beach side road had to offer. We walked so that if necessary we could stop if Joans knee started to play up but it was fine and I think a cycle ride is on the cards tomorrow. 

Wednesday 11th September

Is it me? I think it’s pretty common knowledge that I enjoy our morning baguette and it’s my job as Hunter Gatherer to go out and catch it. This morning was no exception.  Off I cycled, happy in the knowledge that I would soon return and enjoy my breakfast. I walked into the shop and asked in reasonable French for “une baguette s’il vous plait”. Only to be faced with a quick quiz. Yes sir, do you want? and the lady proceeded to point to and list four different breads all of which looked long and cylindrical.  Very much like the simple baguette we know and love??? Fortunately, I appear to have chosen the right one as it tasted good.

It’s a lovely sunny day and as I predicted we are going to cycle into the town. There is a really nice track running all along the seafront which then turns into the town. The trip there was without incident or injury and I think Joan is getting fed up with my concerns as all seems well in the knee department. 

We selected a restaurant by the scientific method of which one did Moules with Thai sauce and had something I could eat which wasn’t fish. Joan’s meal came with an ice cream which I had. She ordered the most enormous ice cream sundae and then had the cheek to say gosh I’m full!! After that to help it go down, we had a stroll up to the church and then cycled back to the van. I am delighted to report that the knee is behaving itself so enough about the knee (unless it plays up again)

Great! Goodnight xxx

Wined and dined in style

Monday 9th September

Our day begins very leisurely as we have no baguette sadly, but we do have a pleasant day ahead we hope starting with a trip on a little white train. We go to the Chateau at 11am for coffee and felt a wee bit silly as we seemed to be the only ones going but we had seen a crowd of French people being taken around the winery. Later we were to learn that they do a special trip for English speakers in the afternoon.

Next as promised the little train appeared and at the same time so did lots of others and we all boarded for what turned out to be a very pleasant trip into Blaye, around the old town and then the Citadel. Then to everyone’s surprise and delight it turned into the citadel and drove over a drawbridge and went inside. All the while we were given a running commentary which was most informative. 

When we returned at 12.30pm we were taken into the restaurant and directed to our table which we shared with four others, a French couple, Francois & Marie, and a couple from Finland, Ekku & Sari. At first I thought Ooer! We’ve been sat apart as we were on one side of an oblong table and the other four were opposite, but as it turned out it was to ensure we received a translation of everything. As you can see from the photos everything was laid out beautifully and the food was excellent. 

The menu was a 4 course meal with a different wine for each course. Starting with Pate, a seafood cocktail and a melon compote to cleanse the palate. For the main course we chose Lamb shank with mashed potato & salad garnish. Next came a very nice cheese with jam and finally a desert. Mine was ice cream and a very alcoholic sorbet, Joan had gateau, plus as we had decided it would be our anniversary meal we also purchased a glass of the Chateau’s best wine.

This is the others making a joke

We initially broke the ice with the others by offering to take photos with their phones and from then on we all chatted away like old friends, which made the whole experience so much better. I must confess this was helped because they all spoke English and by the very frequent filling of the glasses! Poor old Ekku could not join in the drinking as he was driving, and so his lovely wife helped him out, aren’t wives wonderful? 

At this point we should have gone on the tour of the Chateau but it was only for the two of us and we politely declined as frankly we enjoy drinking it, but couldn’t give a........well I didn’t want to chance Joan’s knee. To be honest I think the young lady was not sorry and we returned to the van and promptly fell asleep. This whole day had cost us €38 each and it was well worth every penny. We had a great time and Sari came to our van and gave us their details which was rather lovely of her, so now we will have to try and go to Finland some time in the future.

But you know what’s been the best thing today? Joans knee has not hurt all day!!

So fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Good night xxx

We’re staying at a Chateaux

Thursday 5th September

Our 21st Anniversary, thank you all for your good wishes, it is much appreciated.

It’s another red hot day and the only fly in the ointment is Joan’s knee which is really sore. In an effort to gain maximum brownie points I got a pain au chocolate for Joan’s breakfast and made a chicken curry for our candle lit dinner, spoilt by not actually having any candles! 

People are very kind, before they left today John & Jane from Norfolk came to enquire after Joan’s knee. The other nice couple we met from Morpeth, Keith & Sue also popped by.

The Observant among you will have noticed that I’ve nothing to report.

Friday 6th September

Gosh what a shock, it’s freezing this morning! I suppose that’s what you get with a clear sky but then as soon as the sun rises, which is quite late here, it’s really hot again.  The temperature is rapidly rising by 10am and Joan is rapidly going stir crazy as she is severely restricted, basically having to stay close to the van. Any form of exercise causes quite a lot of pain. She is now taking tablets regularly but refuses to visit the quacks. She ignores all my helpful suggestions, like having her leg off, hiring a car or flying home. You just cannot help some people. On the up side she is talking about getting her paints out, a skill she has sadly neglected of late. 

Saturday 7th September

Really cold again until about 10am when the temperature rises rapidly to around 25c by mid day. Joan is going stir crazy as this bloomin’ knee of hers is still so painful. The painting idea got as far as getting the paints out but she is so fed up, her mojo won’t work. I cycled to the shops and back only to be told I’d forgotten some things, so off back again. 

This all sounds a bit miserable but its not, we just sit around in the sunshine reading, eating and drinking, pretty good really. We’ve also been visited by Keith and Sue from Morpeth. Which really cheered Joan up and would you believe it they said why don’t you take our electric bikes for an afternoon and see if you like them. So generous, but they do seem very generous people and we’ve really enjoyed chatting to them. We did give their bikes a try on the campsite and they certainly seem to be a possibility for the future. They have also suggested several places we might like further up the coast and on Ile de Re that they could thoroughly recommend. Afterwards Joan said she has never met anybody with a negative thing to say about Ile de Re so we’re looking forward to that in a few days time.

After a while though, enforced resting is a drag so we decided to see if Joan could manage a stroll slowly to the beach and view the sunset. After all, we came to be by the sea and have only been once on our first day, as the pool was so good. She managed it there and back ok but the sunset was a bit disappointing, ho hum. The important thing was the knee was ok when we got back. Fingers crossed it’s improving.

Sunday 8th September

Sadly, even with all the tablets Joan has NOT had a good night, with the pain waking her up a couple of times. Fortunately today all she has to do is sit in church and then sit in the van all day as we are moving on. We left the campsite at 10.30am with a little reluctance as we have really enjoyed it here, but rain is forecast for tomorrow and that would never do. Heading for the church in the town of Mimizan for the service at 11am I dropped Joan off and headed off to find parking somewhere.  Less than a mile further on I found a supermarket, great. I nipped in, got some supplies and returned to the church as Joan came out. Her knee is really worse than ever and for the first time she has mentioned going home!!! She has however agreed we may need to seek medical advice first, hurrah. 

Today being Sunday though, we just drove the 100 miles to our next stop at Blaye north of Bordeaux. It’s an Aire at Chateaux Marquis de Vauban but unlike any we’ve been on before. On our arrival at 2.30pm it was pretty full but we managed to get a spot. Next, an English couple directed us to a door where we had to register. A lady appeared and was most concerned that we had enough room and offered us the opportunity to park amongst the vines. The Aire is free and they supply free electricity, water, waste disposal and toilets. In fact the only thing not on offer is morning coffee in bed! Shame.

We’ve been invited to a welcome glass of wine at 5.30pm and Joan has spotted an all inclusive day for us on a brochure in the office which she is hoping will be possible with her knee, but I’ll report that tomorrow, fingers crossed. The welcome glass of wine turned out to be about 30 of us sitting at several tables where we were served an aperitif of red wine mixed with Creme de Cassis and chilled. These were not the usual mini wine glasses beloved by the French bars, but large ones. Then out came pretzels, crusty bread and pate, and small slices of a type of quiche. By now, considering the whole Aire was free, we were expecting some kind of catch, a sales pitch or something, but no, only the owner of the vineyard talking about the history of the wines they produced. They were mostly French around the tables with about 8 English people so it was translated for us by a sturdy young lady, who when not translating, was hoovering up all the spare bits of food when the owner wasn’t watching! Priceless!

Goodnight xxx

Is it Orrisson, swimming daily or cycling that done her knee in???

Monday 2nd September

Today we are leaving and we have a small problem which may or may not turn into a big problem. Basically when we arrived on Saturday at around mid-day we got a ticket for 24hours. However we were on our way up the mountain on Sunday when we realised it should have been renewed so we decided to worry about it later. Well now it’s later and we are hoping to sort out something to get the barrier to raise. It’s not that we don’t want to pay, but it is highly likely there will be some sort of fine to pay. First of all we need to sort out our water etc and it seems, so do the rest of the vans on the Aire, there’s a very long queue. Finally its the moment of truth at the barrier. Our first attempt is refused and we are referred to the main machine. This looks ominous, the machine offers us 24 hours for a fee or 23 hours free?! Needless to say we are out of there pronto. While I’d been queuing Joan had been to the shop for a baguette so we decided to have breakfast a bit later and got onto the road. 

Now I have to report a momentous occasion which I am reporting on here so it goes down in history. I should add it has also been reported on video. Monday the 2nd of September 2019 after nearly 21 years of marriage, BRYAN WAS RIGHT!!!! 

I feel some explanation is necessary. As we left St.Jean we were a wee bit unsure of where the right road was. When we came to a ‘T’ junction, left said St Jean, right said Bayonne, Pau and Dax, so I turned right. This resulted in remonstrations and accusations of lunacy, and other bad words! About 2 miles further on my decision proved to be correct. So BRYAN WAS RIGHT!!

We were on a very slow road but it didn’t matter as we were heading for a campsite with a heated swimming pool, only about 110 miles away, called Club Marina Landes at Mimizan Plage. We arrived at 2.30pm and were delighted to find it is an excellent site with the aforementioned pool plus a big open air pool, health spa, really good restaurant, crazy golf course and shop. The receptionists were really nice and played a joke on us, letting me try to book in French, then after having encouraged me to torture their language, gave us all the information about the site in perfect English and in hysterics. 

It’s red hot again today and we are tired so no swim, perhaps its yesterday catching up with us. After a refreshing shandy we strolled up to the beach which is about 1/2 a mile away. It looks great, miles of sandy beach in both directions. It is however very windy today. Then back for coffee, shower and then stroll around to the restaurant for a really nice meal. Those who know me will know that I do not like to order a burger, but at this time of year the menu is somewhat limited and I don’t eat fish. The result was the best burger I or Joan have ever tasted and we’ve had proper ones in America.

Tuesday 3rd September

Started sunny but quite chilly first thing at 16c. By the time we’d breakfasted (Baguette from site shop.), it had warmed up to 21c and we finally got the bikes off and cycled into Mimizan Plage. There is a good cycle path most of the way and where you have to go on the road there are cycling signs to show you have right of way. Makes you feel really safe, plus everybody gives way to us which is quite embarrassing as we are not very fast. We met another English couple and they said, it’s daft but we keep giving way to cars and vans and we cause confusion! The little town is really good with loads of cafes, restaurants and a covered market for foodstuff plus the usual bric-a-brac, ice cream and clothes shops. Just outside of the main shops there is a big car park with a supermarket, garage, bike shop and pharmacy. Having picked up a few bits and pieces we returned to the van to relax and around 4pm we went for a swim. By now it was red hot again around 28c and we tried both pools. Needless to say the outside pool was a bit nippy but we soon warmed up on the poolside beds. Later a funny thing happened, we were approached by some young German ladies who asked if we spoke English? It appears that many Germans speak English but no French, amazing.

Wednesday 4th September

Another cool sunny start but it soon became scorching as we returned to the town for a proper visit. We are now getting into the relaxing mode and that would be good if it were not for the fact that Joan’s knee is really giving her jip!  So much so that she is taking tablets for the pain. It seems that this is payback for our trip to Orrisson, I hope it stops soon. Anyway when we got to town we just locked the bikes up and spent a few hours just wandering about. Later we had a very nice lunch at a restaurant overlooking the sea, followed by an ice cream cornet in town then back to the van for coffee and a swim, lovely stuff.

The only other thing to report is a strange but pleasant phenomenon. Every day we sit outside our van and we seem to be a magnet for everyone that passes. Loads of people stop to chat, mostly Brits and some days its 2 or 3 couples even if we’re sitting with our heads firmly in our books, we must just look approachable.

Bye Bye xxx