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
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