Thursday 29th August
Another hot day starting, so up early. Off I trot to get the bread and the bloomin’ supermarket doesn’t open until 9.30am!!! We decided to get started and stop as soon as we manage to find a Boulangerie open, which we did. Places to stop were a bit sparse but we spotted a place near a field which may or may not have been legal, but we chanced it. The main conversation this morning is of course, will Pam & Colin’s alarm man manage to fix ours or will we need a new one? We have great faith in them and know they won’t allow any shenanigans! Our journey today is about 150 miles to an Aire at Montmoreau which has all facilities. It did NOT, and actually Joan felt very isolated plus there was no shade and the sun was beating down. So after a spot of lunch and a bit of humming and harring we decided to move on. It was about 4pm as we heading for another Aire about 15 miles further at Chalais which turned out to be a delightful little Aire overlooking a park. It had all facilities except electricity and was shady and quiet.
Having rested we decided to see if we could find the church. This was a definite test for us as it is situated at the highest point in the village. However we were determined to see it and so we climbed up this path, to paraphrase my old friend, “the last time I saw something that steep it had a ladder up it!!” However we made it and entered this very old church where we lit a candle and then staggered back down. I’m not sure about Joan’s idea to walk the first five miles of the Camino on this evidence.
Having rested we decided to see if we could find the church. This was a definite test for us as it is situated at the highest point in the village. However we were determined to see it and so we climbed up this path, to paraphrase my old friend, “the last time I saw something that steep it had a ladder up it!!” However we made it and entered this very old church where we lit a candle and then staggered back down. I’m not sure about Joan’s idea to walk the first five miles of the Camino on this evidence.
Hurrah, we finally got the email from Pam to say she and Colin had been to ours with the engineer and everything was now working well. It is surprising just how worried we were about it. So thank you both very much, XX
We’ll sleep well tonight I’m sure.
Friday 30th August
Left about 10.15am in wall to wall sunshine not really having a definite destination in mind. Very unusual for us, Joan usually has it all planned to ensure I don’t drive too far. The point is we are contemplating stopping for a couple of days on a campsite with an outdoor heated swimming pool. Unfortunately we were unable to find one so we ended up at an Aire at Mont de Marsan. Again it is a little disappointing as it is supposed to have some facilities but has very little plus it cost €9.20, a bit steep to park on a bit of grass. However it is very shady and peaceful. I cooked alfresco because its far too hot inside, 28 degrees outside! There’s not a breath of wind so even with all the doors and windows open in the van, it’s sweltering.
Good night XXX
Saturday 31st August
We left the Aire about 8.30am before breakfast as we had to drive to a Boulangerie, (It may well not be spelled correctly but none of our critics has messaged the correct spelling!). YET!
It is really misty today and Joan is worried as we will be climbing soon but I’m sure it will burn off. The place we got our baguette from was an amazing place, it was just out of town on the D933. (This road goes all the way to our destination so its easy route finding today). Anyway there was a steady stream of cars going in. And the car park was almost full. Inside the smell was wonderful and I realised they were also doing breakfast sandwiches plus pizzas and a huge range of breads. Plus just outside the door they were selling rotisserie Chickens.
Anyway having got our baguette we drove about 2 miles to a little picnic spot which amazingly also had a fully functional spotless electronic loo. However Joan panicked because the door didn’t spring open when she pressed the button to come out and she thought she was trapped.
There’s only another 70 odd miles left to St. John-Pied-de-Port, the place where our Camino started in 2016. The Aire has 12 electric points but they are all full. So we parked and set off to the old town to reminisce and enjoy a spot of lunch. It was great just wandering around and remembering arriving and finding Angela and Paul sitting enjoying a beer. I could remember most places but we disagreed about where we had bought our sandwiches on the way out of town. We also managed to visit the church which had been closed that morning.
Next we had a very nice meal and then returned to the van in the hope that somebody had left and a plug in would be free, but no luck. Joan had wanted to do her hair and an electric plug-in means she can us her hair drier, an essential part of the process. However I approached a lady at a van behind us who had one and she was happy to let us use it for 15 minutes so all was well.
It is a lot cooler tonight, well its 25 with a mild breeze so much more bearable.
Good Night All XXX
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