Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Monday, 26 August 2013
Delightful Dordorgne
Ah the Dordogne, and the town of Limieul at the confluence
of the River Vezere and the River Dordogne.
Camping la ferme de Perdigat is a fantastic site nestling at the base of
tree-lined hills along the Vezere. It’s
run by a husband and wife who’ve had the site for many years and they are
incredibly welcoming and have a lovely pool and restaurant/bar area set inside
an old barn which still has some of the old farm instruments fastened to the
walls. They had something going on, in a
very relaxed way, each evening, be it a bbq, band night with Monsieur on his
guitar and a couple of his friends on accordian and pipes, pizza evening,
boules...
We had given B,A and T the choice of evening meals for the week,
so in the weekly shop we lots of interesting ingredients.
We were treated to the following:
Ben’s bistro treated us to: Starters
– Mini meringues topped with creme fraiche and grapes
Main
– Cheese burgers as big as your head and frites
Dessert
– Chocolate brioche
Amy’s delicious diner created Starters - foie gras and fig and nut boursin (separately on toast)
Main
– Omelette, frites and green salad
Dessert
– Daddy’s special toasts with cream cheese and jam
Tom’s tremendous rest’t had Starters
– pate and saucisson
Main
– sausage and tomato pasta
Dessert
– ‘special’ chocolate pots and cream
On the 15th we left the site and cycled from the
farm into Limieul along the cycle track that Kev had come across after his
early morning mountain bike round route or ‘boucle’. We had a fab time with all 5 of us on our
bikes cycling along the dusty path, across the grass lawn infront of a
beautiful chateau that had been converted into gites, alongside fields of sunflowers,
apple trees and tobacco plants (yes I couldn’t believe it either but the smell
was very distinct and we saw them drying in large racks the next time we cycled
passed). Unfortunately some of the crops
were getting a good dousing from a large water system which was hitting about
50 feet of track. We all followed Kev
like sheep and by the time we got through to the other end we were pretty
soaked and laughing our heads off (well most of us anyway, a little pink
someone wasn’t very happy with her Mummy and Daddy at all!) We wandered around Limieul up and up through
the cobbled streets that wound around the town and finished off the trip with
Artisan icecreams and for Kev an artisan beer –yum! We joined several families for a river swim
in the fading afternoon sunshine then retraced our steps back along the track,
this time the pipe had fortunately finished its irrigation for the day. We managed to skype Kev’s Mum for her
birthday (I was a lovely beetroot colour having run around the block following
my latest instructions from ‘couch to 10k’, yes I was managing to keep it up). We dined at Ben’s Bistro that night.
The following day we headed to L’Abbaye de Cadouin for a
Medieval day. Lining the town’s square
were jugglers, imps on stilts who Tom took an instant dislike to, bands and dancers,
a blacksmith making knives, old fashioned wooden games to play with, archery
for everyone to have a go at and many stalls selling medieval style clothes,
jewellery, trinkets, knives. At night
they were holding an evening banquet, a candlelit procession around the abbey
and as a finale a fire spectacular, but we decided to head home as proceedings
didn’t start until 9.
We spent the
remainder of the afternoon lazing around the pool and as mentioned were treated
to an Amy special tea.
The 17th was a relaxed site day. Kev had headed off mountain biking around the
wooded hills and valleys of La Bugue for a couple of hours so we lazy lie-ins
didn’t rise until 9, then breakfasted leisurely with copious cups of coffee. The children went off to the play area for
football practice as Mia had informed us that it was the first day of the
Saturday morning season and I therefore wandered down to the pool and swam for
an hour, on my own in the pool, which was surrounded by cherry and marron trees
that provided enough shade for cover in the late afternoon but not too much in
the morning to make it chilly. I spent
an idyllic hour letting my mind wander.
Lunch was a simple but delicious of melted cheese on toasted baguette
with green salad washed down with a glass or two of rose. The children feasted on a picnic in the small
red wendy house in the park. Afternoon
school arrived at camp but as predicted not everyone’s mind was focused on lessons,
we’re all much better in the morning!
Next day was busy in holiday terms, with the alarm going off
at 8.05. The van was cool and dark. I was very tempted to switch it off and go
back to sleep but made a supreme effort and set off on my morning run just
after 8.15. I left camp and threaded my
way up the dusty pale yellow road between fields of sunflowers, plum and apple
trees, passed the artist’s house where last night came sounds of drums,
accordians and singing, around the mound and then right passed the gite with
the perigordian tower along the row of poplar trees which provided shade to the
small herd of limousin cattle and back along the river bank to camp. Having rinsed all of yesterdays wash and hung
the clothes up, so creating a widow twanky effect at camp we set off to meet the
sangliers of MonteMart.
Provided with three large carrier bags of stale bread we
descended passed a stubble field and a large open 4 Ha enclosure, wooded in one
area and with a large wallow pool of oozing mud. There were 6 enclosures of similar type with
animals at different stages – juvenilles, mothers and babies, mothers with
dominant boars and babies which were adorable with their dappled and fawn
coloured coats. The sanglier (wild
boar), unlike a domestic pig, has a really long snout, thin face, arched back
that falls away at the rear and a very long tail that it switches
continuously. Only the boars appeared to
have the tusks and they stood approx 1 metre at their shoulder – they also
tasted delicious in a rillette! In the
afternoon we headed to the caves of Rouffignac where we saw beautiful lined
drawings dating back 15000 years of bison, mammoth, ibex and woolly
rhinocerous. It was hard to believe
that the people who drew these animals in such detail would have actually seen
these animals walking around the outside of this cave’s entrance. We also saw scratches from the cave bears
that had lived there before man had come to the region and where they had
scoured out nests from the soft clay, which had since hardened, as they
prepared to hibernate.
Kev cycled back from Rouffignac and in the evening we
prepared to attend ‘la marche sous la lune’ in Limieul. It sounded idyllic but on arrival it was
simply a large repas. The scene looked
fantastic with 100s of people dining along trestle tables beside the river,
eating from stalls selling vietnamese food, pig on a spit and potatoes, greek,
indian and french food and lashings of beer and wine. Sadly we had eaten already so we headed back
to camp in the last of the sun’s rays and as the full moon rose in the
sky. Ben rode out ahead with a head
torch under his cycle helmet whilst Ames and Tom snuggled under fleecy blankets
in the trailer behind Kev. It sounds and
was idyllic. The camp was holding a
large bbq of its own so we sat and drank a glass of local beer and listened to
the band. Tom and I had a fantastic time
dancing together, first at the table then we moved onto the grass and finally
out onto the farmyard. The large barn
roof above us was silhouetted in the silvery pale moonlight. We left just after 10 but the music floated out
in the night air for a good couple of hours.
These guys know how to repas, we need to bring it back to the Island!
We left Limieul on 20th and headed to one of our
favourite spots in France, beautiful Brantome and the village of Cantillac, the
home of la famille McNally. As their
lovely home is located on the top of a hill, we had to plan our route of ascent
very carefully. We left the van on one
side of the hill and did a reccy, then Kev dropped us off at Sue and Simon’s
along with the 5 bikes, awning and poles then he and Simon retrieved the van
and brought it up the least vertiginous back route. Within 15 minutes the van was secured on
their gravel drive and we were catching up under the arbour over their
patio. We had a wonderful couple of days
together.
The first night was the usual
let’s stay up late, drink lots of vino and put the world to rights. The next day we managed to get out for a bike
ride to St Jean de Cole (just) along a green way and then spent the afternoon
larking in the pool. With not such a late following night Sue very
kindly let me spring clean the van (duvets, bedding, clothes, flooring,
upholstery, cupboards- the whole van looked the shiniest it had all Summer and
smelt so clean and fresh!! The boys went
out for a mountain bike ride in the afternoon, whilst Sue and I ventured into
Brantome with Ames and Tom to feed the ducks and have a mooch around the
boutiques. It was baking and the heat
resonated from the stone walls. We were
glad to get back up to the pool for the last of the afternoon’s sun, which
lazily turned into evening with aperitifs on the pool patio which looks out
over a sea of trees and a relaxing dinner and late night chats. Many thanks to Sue, Simon and Ruairi for their
wonderful hospitality and the run of their beautiful home.
On the 23rd, with heavy hearts, we started our
journey north, a journey of 9 hours. All
went without a hitch and we arrived in Les Petit Anderlys just in time for our
last Lidl run and a sunset dinner.
Yesterday we walked to the market in Anderlys town, a little further
than we had expected. The weather really
had taken a turn for the worst and by late afternoon the rain had set in
(booooo!) Today we endeavoured to do
some last minute ‘french’ shopping then spent the afternoon hunkered down in
the rainy weather doing the last of the scrapbook challenge, writing blogs and
starting to pack the van up. The weather
is supposed to improve slightly for the next couple of days, but I think that it’s
time that we look to the north and head home to see our wonderful friends and
family. You have been in our thoughts
often and just wish you could have come with us, perhaps a little part of these
blogs have let you do so. Thanks for
sticking with me, it’s been an amazing adventure. We’re already planning to do it all again in
9 years time – roll on Oz!!!!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Go West
The trip into the west and to the town of Andernos Les Bains
went without a hitch, oh except when we
tried to drive under the underpass in Biganos and nearly lost the caravan
roof. The height of the underpass was
2m6, our car+ bike / caravan height was also 2m6. We scraped through with nothing to spare and
a stream of angry French drivers behind us blaring their horns and showing
their frustration and disbelief with expressive arm movements. Camping Fontaine Vielle is a lovely site
right on the edge of the Arcachon Basin, unfortunately for us as we arrived
late in the afternoon and this being the height of the French summer holidays
they only had 1 pitch available for the week.
This was the size of a postage stamp, on an angle, surrounded by
shrubbery and oh yes, the electric point was too far away for our long electric
cable. We made the best of it for the
first night, even went so far as erecting the awning, and by the following
morning a larger site + electric had become available. We re-packed, shuffled up the site 100 metres
and set up camp again. Ben set up a
games afternoon for us, a whole afternoon that is. He was in a very happy and content mood as he
set off that evening to find out what games entertainment was being provided by
the camp and was delighted when he came runner up to the 15 year old winner of
the jousting-style knockout game!
During the rest of the week we spent our time cycling on the
cycle track up to the local town and walking to the end of the promenade to
look at the crab population, climbing up Dune de Pyla, the largest sand dune in
Europe, and running down the other side (the children that is, Kev and I were
lumping a cool box full of lunchtime goodies and a bag of towels/ swimmers with
us), cycling to Cap Ferrat (Ames and Tom on their bikes for the first couple of
miles then we locked these up and continued with them in the trailer along the
cycle paths through the dunes to the long sandy beach with huge Atlantic
breakers – Ben was spotted at the front of the group of swimmers!!
Then
returned back through the dunes to their bikes and watched Tom leap back on his
bike and cycle a la Ca-ven-dish back to the car. Unfortunately his sprinting with gusto ended
in disaster as he tried to out race his brother and came a cropper on the
tarmac, but he was very brave and within minutes was back on again and cycling
at speed. )
The Arcachon Basin is a lovely protected stretch of
coastline and has the most glorious sunsets.
I managed to get a couple of cool early morning runs along the esplanade
beside the basin (think a very large Gansy Bay) with the boats bobbing at
anchor and the sky a milky blue wash, arrghh just lovely.
Tarn-tastic
A great deal of holidaying has happened since we said good
bye to the Johnstons. We spent the
first week of August in the lovely region of Quercy, which is south of the
Dordogne. We arrived on the 30th
July and spent the first 2-3 days swimming in the municipal pool which belonged
to the site but could also be used by the locals. It was set into the hillside in a
kidney-shape and the water was fabulously cool when the weather was so
hot. In the mornings we focused a little
on school, be it maths or scrapbook challenge, then after lunch lazed under the
trees on the pool’s grassy slopes reading and playing cards.
On the 3rd we headed over to the beautiful town
of St Antonin Nobel Val on the Aveyron River.
The route around the town took you passed an old byre where they shod
cows!, down narrow alleyways with houses dating from medieval times, to the
quay where we saw a snake cooling itself off in the river and then through the
back streets to a small square (20 ft x 20 ft) which had housed 6 bakeries. We lunched by the river then visited the town
of Bruniquel, which has a tower named Brunhilda. In the 6th century Brunhilda,
daughter of the king of the Visigoths, and her sister-in-law were at war. Brunhilda,
was killed brutally by being tied by her hair, an arm and a leg to the tail of
an unbroken horse and smashed to pieces (how horrendous!) I really couldn’t forget this tale as I
walked up the idyllic hillside passed artisan shops, where you could hear the
bees in the jasmine and pigeons in the roof spaces. The afternoon was spent river swimming and we
saw another snake cooling off in the shallows.
Ben and Ames had great fun floating down the middle of the river (at
speed) then walking back up to do it all over again.
The following day we had an idyllic bike ride from Camping
Fleuriel along the river. We’d spent the
morning looking around Cahor for an inner tube as Kev’s bike had had another
puncture, but to no avail. We located a
bike hire place set in a small bamboo plantation (trees 30 ft high- think
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) where Kev could hire a bike. We set off with Tom
in the front of the trailer and Ames sat behind, but they soon swapped as Tom
was dragging his feet on the floor causing severe friction! We travelled along a wooded area, passed a
chateau undergoing sever restoration (quite a large project) and down a steep
hill to the river floor. We cycled
through vineyards, hamlets with Perigordian style houses and a tower (for Amy!)
We picnicked by the river at a stone
table and chair set under a hazel tree.
On the journey back poor Kev got another puncture (this time on the
hired bike) so had to cycle like the wind before the tyre deflated with Tom and
Ames clinging to the inside of the trailer for dear life (good training for the
End to End!) Ben and I had a wonderful afternoon talking all the way there and
back. In the evening we all lay on our
backs bedside the van’s awning on a rug and did some stargazing.
Another lazy campsite day followed – it was stinking hot so
not much else to do, however we did have an afternoon of mini golf en famille –
it got more and more competitive as we went along!
In the evening we went for a fantastic
randonee around the countryside of Montpezat de Quercy. We set off from the main square, about 35 of
us) after exchanging our registration vouchers for a billet de repas. Down the hillside, along the edge of a large
stubble field that had just been cut and at the bottom of the field turned towards
the far corner. In the bushes alongside
the fields signs said ‘refuge’ – a safe haven for the local wildlife from la
chasse (the hunt). The route was lined
with oak trees and as we walked the guy in charge pointed out various things, a
particular old oak tree, a brook where a miracle carp was found, the wallow
hole of a sanglier (wild boar). At the 5
km refreshment point Kev, Ames and Tom peeled off and joined us later at the 10
km finish for the evening meal. Ben and
I continued for the extra 5 kms and spent another wonderful 2 hours talking and
laughing. The land rolled out in front
of us, beautiful chalk inclines and synclines planted with peach, apple and
plum trees, wheat (ble), barley and huge fields of sunflowers. As the sun set over the large sun flower
field and the sky above turned to a purple-blue hue, it was idyllic. Air smelt heavy with life.
We arrived back at the Marie’s square about
9.30 and by 10 several glasses of rose had been quaffed, coke and orange juice
for the children and the repas started- soupe l’oignon, saucisse et chips,
citron pain/ gateau and a peche. We left
just before midnight having met new friends and having had a fantastic night to
remember.
We met up with our sister and brother-in-law, Sharon and
Paul, with their children Harry and Libby the following day in the town of
Soulihac. We’d agreed to meet at the
Tourist Office which all went swimmingly, but we must have been rather noisily/ excitedly chatting as one of
the staff pointedly came over and asked if she could help us, ie be helped or
get out! Just as we’d acquired some
information the fire alarm started blaring and people were running frantically
around. Kev had been leaning against a
wall where the alarm was housed and obviously lent a little too hard! We scarpered pretty quickly to find a bar and
continue our chats. The children were
very excited at seeing their cousins and being allowed coke to drink! We headed off for a river swim at Soulihac,
on a gorgeous grassy spot opposite a gorge wall on the Dordogne River – a
perfect place to while away several hours over a lazy picnic. The girls chatted as the boys wallowed in the
water. We all swam to the far bank. In the evening we headed into another
beautiful old medieval town for dinner and were herded inside as their
understanding was that a grande orage was about to arrive. Clouds were gathering as we said our goodbyes
and left the valley. Lightening could be
seen behind us, Ben exclaimed at every bolt as we all listened avidly to Roald
Dahl’s ‘Matilda’. (Should mention here that I was driving so that my boy could
have a couple of beers during the day).
Then suddenly the storm was upon us.
It’s a very primeval feeling to be so surrounded by such earthly
power. The sky was dark except every
time the lightning bolts struck and by the time we reached a long stretch of
hillside it was everywhere – in front, behind and to both sides. I drove like I was being chased and can
remember the hairs on my arms standing up and having goose bumps everywhere. There was a huge flash in front of us, it could
only have been 200 metres. We flashed
past the start of a metal bridge, it must have been spanning a gorge as it went
on and on, talk about the Bridge of Kazadoom!
The rain by this time was torrential, we were in the middle of nowhere
and other headlights few. We pulled over
to let the worst pass – BOOM, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM (it was
like the T-Rex scene in Jurassic Park.)
I had to set off again as the rain was relentless and I’d heard stories
of hail the size of golf balls. We sped
home along flooded roads and arrived at the site just in time, behind this
storm another had appeared over the hill
to descend. Kev and Ben stood under the
awning watching as I curled up under the bunk with Ames as T-Rex hit again and
again. Tom slept through the entire
thing and by morning the sky was grey and the temperature had fallen but at least
the terror of the previous night was over.
It’d been a rather busy and interesting few days in this
idyllic location. The following day we
chilled and made plans for our trip into the west and the Arcachon Basin.
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Le Famille Johnston
And so it came to pass, after 69 days of waiting, Amy and
Ellie were reunited. I actually missed
the grand reunion, Mia saw it all and said it was very moving, but it was
lovely to see them together again and they were inseparable for the next 7 days
(24/7)!
We’d set off from the previous campsite with Kev’s words of
“we’ve never left camp so early, we should be there before 12” ringing in our
ears. This was before we followed the SatNav
which took us straight into road works.
A quick u-turn with 7 metres of van behind and we set off up the trunk
road, only to take another wrong turn (Kev was listening to the local radio
station and got a bit distracted!?!) Anyway,
we managed to get there before the J’s arrived so there was some semblance of
order by the time they reached the site (I’d just forgotten the baguettes but
that was only a minor hindrance with Lidl around the corner!)
We spent a relaxing afternoon around the pool as the
children frolicked in the water and zoomed down the waterslides. Excited chatting and drinking vino with
friends continued (as it tends to on that 1st night) later than it
should, and at 12.30 (eek) the next door caravanner poked his head out of the
window and reminded us (all in French) that it was very late, he’d been
listening to us for a long time and it really was time we went to bed!?! We reduced our volume significantly and
within an hour decided that yes it probably was time to head off to bed.
As breakfast the following morning didn’t occur until about
10 (Mia v kindly took on the role of ‘Pancake Provider’) we thought we might
have missed Monsieur Frenchy (or The Greyback as he became known) but oh no, he
was having breakfast en famille. Oh the
shame!!! Don’t worry we only had to
endure it for another 5 days.
Somewhat jaded we managed to grab beachwear and a picnic
lunch together and setting off in 2 cars sped off for Canet Plage. We were met by a beautiful expanse of white
sand, blue sea and sky. There was lots of
playing in the waves (Amy and Ellie were spotted holding hands and jumping over
the surf whilst the boys lay in the breaker zone being rolled over by the
waves) and diving for fish. We headed
back for a steak bbq and for the girls an early night (the boys not quite as
early!)
On the 26th we headed into Perpignan for
lunch. We’d asked Kev to go on Trip
Advisor and find a restaurant with good reviews and La Creperie au Theatre had
come up with several stars, so having parked our cars on a lovely boulevard and
then re-parked them in an underground car park having realised we could only
stay in the former for a couple of hours we ventured off. It was hot, it was after 1, the children
didn’t want to walk any further, it was hot (did I say that already!!) and
having walked through a lovely square with fountains playing, La Creperie
didn’t live up to expectations, so we all agreed to turn tail (much to Kev’s
relief) and headed back to the square for a lovely relaxing lunch. The children adored playing in the fountains
and the wall behind where we were sitting was so strewn with clothes drying by
the end, when I went to get “L’addition” and the waiter asked where I was
sitting and then said, “ avec les vetements” I knew it was time to go home!
The following day was planned as a market and beach day but
as we advanced towards the coast a brouillard or fog could be seen hanging over
the area and the wind on arrival at the promenade would give Ramsey’s easterly
a run for its money. A little
sandblasted we walked along the seafront to the market where after a couple of
minutes of browsing we sent the big boys off for beers whilst Mia, the children
and I parted with our hard-earned Euros.
They had a lovely time buying flip-flops, friendship bracelets, cherries
and ice-cream before being caught up by Tim and Kev. Having got the low-down from the local
Tourist Office we headed back to the cars (T/M+ children on the promenade),
(Kev, Ben and me on the beach – it was refreshing if not a little sharp on the
legs - the boys were running in and out of the surf and collapsing the sand walls
that had developed) and then to an inshore lake.
The position of the lake was beautiful, the Pyrenees as a
backdrop, however the lake contents were not to be pondered over. Anyway it was 35+ in the shade and it
provided a much needed place to cool off.
The children had the most fantastic time with Tim and Mia on the lilo,
they all got on so well and bickered and laughed so much!
That night on scooter, bike and foot, we wended our way up to
Canet old town to listen to their festival.
It was truly magical. The old
stone walls radiated the heat of the day and sandwiched between the town hall
and the church, a rock band blasted out their ballads. Everyone was having a ball. I chatted to elegant local ladies about their
jewellery, their family and line dancing (country is big in France although
these particular ladies couldn’t believe its popularity) and when ABBA’s songs
came on Mia and I raced onto the floor together. Great fun!
By midnight we were wending our way home and Ben J pointed out the
lights in the sky. Oh it must be lasers
or something. It was actually the
largest lightning storm over the Pyrenees I’ve ever seen. It was fantastic to witness and must have
gone on for at least a couple of hours before we went to bed and then came over
us about 4am as a deluge.
A relaxing pool day followed where les parents read lots of
books and the children frolicked and played in the water (dived, swam, slid,
played piggy in the middle, catch etc etc.)
Oh I haven’t mentioned that Mia and I went out for an early morning run
(oh so virtuous, but has given me the kick that I needed to get back into
it). Had a very giddy girls lunch (yes
you had to be there!?!) followed by a girls bike trip to Lidl where we filled
the children’s trailer with goodies for that night and the next couple of
days. For dinner Mia treated us to
grilled prawns on the BBQ, followed by salmon steaks for the girlies and
entrecote for the boys. Aperitifs were
escargot which all the children tried (well they were bribed with E1, but heh
at least they ate them) and the adults managed to swallow down. Kev’s was particularly tasty looking with its
antennae pointing out –uurrghhhh!
The following day we somewhat belatedly headed to Spain (as
you do!) via Argeles and the coastal road to Port Bou. We passed the old border gates (now somewhat
run down and graffitied) down incredibly steep hills and s-bends to the small
bay and town (which was really rather run down but at least we were over the
border). The boys unloaded us all by
the grey shale beach and parked the cars in a cavern underneath the railway
lines. It was a huge structure, some
30-40 metres high, like the side of an amphitheatre.
We lunched and swam from the beach. The children were telling us all about the
fish they could see, including a tuna!!! Ben G, Mia and I stole ourselves out
to the diving platform some 50 m from shore. It had started out with the whole gang of
children but little by little they dropped off until just the 3 amigos
remained. It must be said that it was
slightly scary diving into the inky abyss, but when your 8 year old son is
doing it, you just have to get on with it!
Back in France we ate out at a lovely seafood restaurant
overlooking a leisure/working harbour.
The children’s moules-frites were the same size as the adults, yet they
scoffed them down with gay abandon with Amy and Ellie picking up the
remainders. Mia’s calamari a la planxa
has to be mentioned for the sheer rubberiness and size. She has to be congratulated for the way she
tackled this dish, but be warned, choose wisely for this is not a dish for the
faint-hearted!!!! x
And so, the last day arrived..... After another leisurely breakfast (had they
been anything but all week!) Tim’s chocco rice was preferred to Kev’s chocco
shells (sob, sob), I booked a session sea-kayaking for us all at Argeles-sur-Mer. In boat 1 was Mia, Ames and myself, boat 2
Kev, Tom and Ben and boat 3 Tim, Ellie and Ben.
We had great fun riding the waves from the beach (peaks and
troughs). We girls got in a great rhythm
and left the boys for dust. You could hardly see Ellie for her pink hat and
large orange buoyancy aid.
There was a fair amount of squabbling going on in both boys
boats whereas the girl’s boat was a picture of calm and camaraderie!!! 300 m from shore Ellie and Amy swapped boats
and then when nearer the shore we played some games, one of which was to stand
up when your number was called out. I
swear I didn’t wobble the kayak, but somehow my no.1 paddler fell in!!!!
We afternooned on the beach, under umbrellas and in
chairs. The beach shelved quite steeply
with adults soon out of their depth in 3 m.
The boys dived from Tim’s shoulders and Kev threw them and the girls
into the air like seal pups (too much Attenborough) but they were all squealing
with delight!
A last supper was had and we chatted late into the
night. We’d put the children down to
sleep in our van. It made me sad when I saw Ben J give both Ben and Tom a hug
goodbye and then later to see Ellie lifted from her bed beside Ames after their
inseparable week together, so that she could start her journey home.
Whether it was the late night chats, the tawny port or that
we knew that our friends had an early start, when Tim knocked on the van to say
that we had Ellie’s hire seat and they had Tom’s we were both awake. A 5am seat swap is nothing between friends.
We’d had a wonderful week together and later that morning we
set off for the hills north of Toulouse for a week of low-key relaxation and
recovery.
Hello From The Herault
On 22 Juillet we moved from Anduze, south west to the wine
lands around the Herault region. It was
intensely hot as we arrived at our new municipal campsite where we ‘enjoyed’ a
lunch of Crackerbreads avec rillette de poulet as we waited for the campsite
office to open. The boys running the
site came over to let us know they’d opened for us, but were then horrified
that I’d terminated my delicious lunch early just so that I could check
in! The site was fine (although no pool)
however we’d pitched on top of a giant ant nest and below the same species of
raspberry-like fruit tree as in Italy (see earlier blog) so that by the end of
our short duration we had a bug infestation, our floor mats were covered in
sticky fruit and the top of the van & awning were splattered in berry-poo!
To escape the intense heat of the site, we ventured up to
St-Guilhem-le-Desert, a pretty village set deep a river gorge where the R. Verdus
flows into the R. Herault to do a spot of canoeing. As the youngest member of our party was only
just 4, ‘Rapido Canoeing’ allowed us to tackle the cliff course ‘a tranquil
section of river’ for 4 hours, although being France they shrugged and told us
we could take as long as we liked. We
spent an idyllic few hours slowly paddling upstream (although ask the boys and
they will tell you of the ‘great speed’ they advanced towards the river’s
source!) We passed a river cafe with sun
loungers and little round tables sunk into the water, and a sign telling of
boisson froid in the apres midi.
We disembarked just short of an old mill and wiled away a
couple of hours eating, chatting, swimming in the reed beds, throwing bread and
ham to the local fish population (we enjoyed a surprise visit from a fresh
water crayfish/ lobster who found the ham most delicious!). Unfortunately I was still incapacitated with
my knee injury so couldn’t partake in a cooling dip but it did mean that I could be the official
photographer for the day.
On return to camp and after tea we watched ‘Waking Ned’ on
the DVD as the children hadn’t seen it (although I think we enjoyed this
umpteenth viewing just as much) and made sure that we had an early night as
tomorrow the Famille Johnston would be joining us on la grande vacance!
Ben's Journal- 3
Mardi dix-huit Juin
Today we drove to camping Italy and on the way we
watched Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Mercedi Dix-Neuf Juin
Today we went in the pool and on the slide (it was very
fun!)
Jeudi Vignt Juin
Today we went to Venice to see the bridge where Daddy
asked Mummy to marry him. We saw lots of glass animals inside glass windows.
Vendredi Vingt ET UN Juin
Today we went to a campsite next door and it was HUGE!
It had 2200 places and covering 1 whole mile! In there we went in rubber
doughnuts on a rapid river.
Samedi Vingt-deux Juin
Today we went to the beach all day. Me and Amy went on
some inflatable bouncy castles but the total wipeout zone was my favourite with
and a cylinder wipeout.
Dimanche Vingt-trois Juin
Today we went on a miniature rollercoaster called Gold
Mine which had a sneaky twist bump! Daddy and Tom went on a car ride 2 me &
Amy went 1.
Lundi Vingt-quatre Juin
Today we went to Lake Garda so we set up camp. Then we
went to the lake for a swim.
Mardi Vingt-sank Juin
Today we went geocaching at Lake Garda and it was
sssssssssssssso tricky to find.
Mercedi Vingt-six Juin
Today Amy, Tom &I had sports day and my time was
seven seconds for 150m. All the other games I won as well.
Jeudi Vingt-sept Juin
We walked along a pier and we skimmed stones and I got
an 8*. Unfortunately we got lost but Kevan put us back on track. We succsediengly
had an ice cream, I had Mangue Saubey and it was scrumdidlyumptious.
8* = 8 skims
Samedi Vingt-Neuf Juin
Today we got a mahoosive boat across Lake Gada to have
a meal at a restaurant. I had moules<mussels>Yippee!
Dimanche
Trente Juin
Today tom, Daddy and I went on a lilo voyage and tom
fell off so he screamed his head off.
Lundi UN Julliet
Today we went to France and it was a lot cooler than
Italy.
Mardi Deux Julliet
Today we went to an extremely big market & didn’t buy much, but after all our hard walking we got rewarded with some lunch.
.
Today we went to an extremely big market & didn’t buy much, but after all our hard walking we got rewarded with some lunch.
.
Mercredi Trois Julliet
We went to watch the Tour de France to cheer Cavendish
on. It was really quite scary because
the cameras were on us and I did Gangang style.
We had a massive lunch including the things we caught from ‘La
Caravane’. After we watched the Tour de
France we went to meet my Granny and Grandpa in Cavaillion.
Jeudi Quatre Julliet
Today we cycled into Cavaillion town. It was really hard and when I got there I was
tired out as I was the only child cycling.
Soon after that we et up with Granny & Grandpa and Grandpa bought us
a drink – I had coca-cola.
Vendredi Cinq Julliet
Today was Tynwald Day and we drove to a parking space and
had lunch. I climbed a tree and
pretended to be a monkey. After that we
went to an ancient village called Bories.
All the houses were made of stone and they were not much bigger than
me. Not long after that we went to
Rouisillion and the Ochre mines.
Samedi Six Julliet
Today we had all day with Granny and Grandpa. We spent quite a lot of it at the pool. Grandpa taught me the art of diving. Before
we went to the pool we played a lot of games.
Dimanche Sept Julliet
We spent all afternoon at the pool and I did a heap of
diving.
Mardi Neuf Julliet
Today we went to Carpentras and Amy, Tom and I went in
Granny and Grandpa’s car – it felt very strange to be in a different car with a
different caravan behind. The company
that ran the campsite was called Flower Camping and the site was called Lou Comptadu.
Merecredi Dix
Julliet
We went to a medieval town and saw sculptures made of all
kinds of different material. After that
we went to go for lunch, I had a croquet monsieur (which means a cheese and ham
toastie). After lunch we walked to a dug
up roman town and the first house that we saw was humongeous. It felt like I would have exploded if I’d be
the owner. In the museum I had a talking
device which was in English and I went around pressing numbers and hearing
about the different objects. One of
the funniest objects I saw was a statue of a naked god with no arms. We walked through a tunnel and came to an
amphitheatre. I found lots of different
passages and secret by-ways. When I
sat on a chair in the amphitheatre (really high up) I felt just like a roman
sitting up high on there on the stands.
Jeudi Onze Julliet
Today Daddy went up a mountain called Mount Ventoux. We found it quite hard for getting up there in
the car but Daddy found it even harder to climb up it on his bike. While we were waiting for Daddy to come a man
came by and Mummy helped him by giving him lots and lots of our crisps! I was
very proud of him.
Mercredi Douze/ Treize Julliet
We went to the pool next door and Grandpa did ‘Monster
Attack’ and I did huge amounts of diving.
The highest I dived off was a 5 metre board. As well as this I went on the 3 metre
board. The 5 m was a platform, the 3m
was just a board.
Vendredi Quatorze
Juillet
We tried to find the 50 fountains of Les
Pernes-Les-Fountains. We found 4! Before we tried to find the fountains, we
went to a melon festival where I stroked the donkeys and tasted quite a lot of
melons. At night we went to the fair and
Grandpa gave us money to spend and I went on the bumper cars, whirling ‘village
of love’ which wasn’t really scary but did make me feel sick. The other ride I played was a grabber
game. I nearly got a prize but I missed
the last one by an inch. Then off we went
to the fireworks, we got there just in time and it was amazing.
Samedi Quinze Juillet
It was Grandpa’s birthday today and one annoying thing
happened and I will tell you about it later.
After the bad happening had been and gone, we had lunch. I got annoyed with Mummy and Daddy for not
allowing me to make lunch for everyone but they let me make a special sandwich
for Grandpa, it was so special I don’t want to tell you about it. Later on we went to the pool and did Monster
Attack again for the fourth time of being there. For tea we had a BBQ and Granny made a
nectarine tart for pudding and Mummy made a chocolate birthday cake. For tea Grandpa wore his camel t-shirt.
The Hudsons
Look who we bumped into.... my sister et al. What are the chances of that?
A lovely day was had swimming in the Dordogne river
Kev
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Return To France
Lettres de France, Juillet
It has been some time since I put pen to paper, we were just
about to leave Lake Garda to return to France.
It wasn’t procrastination; it’s just that an idle life can be incredibly
busy!?! I sit and write under a moonlit sky at the
edge of the Cevennes in the campsite ‘Castel Rose’, Anduze. To my left is the river where kingfishers and
frogs are calling, a nearby camp has croony French music playing and straight
ahead rises a limestone escarpment, which has turned from pale pink to white as
the sun sets and the moon rises.
Well the last three weeks have gone by in a blur. We spent a
fantastic day in Lorgues (Provence) on the intermediate sprint line of the Tour
de France. We were not more than 10
metres from the line and right behind the barriers where we draped our large
Manx flag to encourage “Ca-ven-deesh” on his way. An hour passed quite happily playing cards,
lunching and banging the advertising boards when any vehicle went passed on the
course. And then came ‘La Caravane’
comprising of all the publicity cars and vehicles; vehicle after vehicle –
Evian girls upside-down spraying the crowds with water, giant blow-up figures on
bicyles, Haribo cars..... it took a good ¾ hour for them all to go passed and
by the end of it the children had a nice supply of freebies! An hour later the first 6 riders had come
through and then we saw at the end of the road the start of the wave that was
the pelaton. And then they arrived, Cav
was at the front, barging his way through but unfortunately at the last minute
the rider next to him swerved in front and he lost his position. It didn’t stop us from shouting “Ca-ven-dish,
Ca-ven-dish” at the top of our voices, felt so proud! A very excited Radio Bleu presenter later
informed that Ca-ven-deesh had won the stage and the car exploded with cheers.
On the crest of this excitement we rode into Cavaillon,
faces still painted with the 3-legs of Mann, to meet up with Mum and Dad. We got out of the car and walked the last 50
metres to the emplacement. They were sat
outside their van, glass in hand, and it was just so lovely to see them. After much hugging and animated talking we
set up camp alongside and talked late into the night (Kev was rather jaded the
following morning, nothing to do with only half a bottle of whisky remaining!)
The temperature was in the mid 30s everyday whilst we were
together, which meant that we were quite happy to spend time on camp playing
games in the shade or going to the municipal pool next door (a little
antiquated but with a great diving board).
We did venture out to nearby Cavaillon for drinks; we cycled into town on
our bikes, M&D went in their car (I’m trying to encourage them to get
electric bikes – great for any kind of hill).
On meeting them at the bar, the children greeted them so
enthusiastically it was as if they hadn’t seen them for weeks, never mind an
hour.
We managed to head off for a whole day on 5th,
visiting a dry stone ‘Bories’ village near Gordes late morning and Roussillon
and the ochre mines in the afternoon.
The temperature soared and as we sat in the old olive grove having lunch,
the heat radiated off the stone walls making it feel even hotter. I took the children into the village, Kev
very valiantly agreed to stay behind – he was reading Wolf Hall at the
time. The bories are stone huts and
houses often just a single dwelling for storage or animals, but this particular
one had several houses and outbuildings and had been used up until the middle
of 19th century. We had a
great time imagining what it used to be like, who lived there, what they did –
silk worm breeding amongst other things!
It was so cool inside the thick stone walls and then returning outside
again the heat hit you once more.
The road to Roussillon wound through field upon field of
lavender, the air was hot and dry and hung heavy with it. Wish I could bottle it up and bring it home
for those cold, damp winter months! We
met up with M&D at the bottom end of town.
The children by this point were struggling with the heat – Tom had Dad’s
panama on, Ben my straw hat. Having come
across and watched another wedding in full swing – this time a very white
frothy-style dress and the groom sweating profusely in a shiny grey suit with
shirt and cravat, we took in the panorama then headed down a narrow alleyway
for long awaited ice creams.
Having had the most fabulous ‘show tea towel’ purchased for
me by Daddy – girls, you’ll love it! we headed off to take in the ochre mines
in all their glorious colour. Tones
ranged from white to deep yellow, from red to almost purple. We unfortunately lost Dad along the way but
the rest of us survived and Ben and Tom, by this stage topless due to the heat,
looked like a couple of ‘lost boys’ so covered in ochre dust!
Kev and I managed a days walking, up a track on the Mount
Negre range of hills that we’d seen on the OS map. The walk up was tough, through oak shrub
(here we go again!) and rocky outcrops, but the view at the top was stunning,
across the plains on either side of the hills.
We did get rather lost on the way back down and not having a map or GPS
really didn’t help, but I needn’t have worried, Kev was like a homing pigeon,
straight back to the car! The children
had a fabulous day hanging out with Granny and Grandpa. Ben and Grandpa spent much time together
practicing the art of diving – he’s doing some really good dives now and so
confident! so much so that at the 2nd
site’s pool he headed off on his own, not just off the 3 metre diving board but
off the 5 metre diving platform many times!
Kev and I both plucked up the courage to do this, all I can say is that
it took the wind out of our sails and neither had a repeat performance!
The second week we moved slightly north to Carpentras, the
campsite LouComptadu and the smallest pitches we’d seen to date. After some effort on behalf of the van’s
motor movers, we struck camp and were ready for another weeks partying! Visited a beautiful hilltop medieval village
at Vaison-La-Romaine where we were treated out to lunch by M&D. The restaurant was seated at the foot of the
old town walls, they had games and colouring for the children and the rose was
chilled and crisp –ah, perfect! Tom had a sandwich as big as his head and Mum
and I enjoyed a particularly delicious goat’s cheese salad with a nut oil
dressing.
Feeling in particularly good spirits we then headed down the
road to the site of the Roman ruins (Gallo-Romain) but Roman still the
same! They had a museum full of Roman
artefacts which I could have perused for hours, but with tiddlers and a husband
at foot, we left after half an hour and then wandered around the outlines of
the villa, and then through a tunnel under the hill (you could still see the
inlets where the oil lamps would have been placed) and came out into a large Roman amphitheatre. They were holding a
concert there that night and were sound-checking their systems. To sit some 20 metres in the air and look
down on a stage, with music sounding out all around, and then in the distance
the Provençal countryside – it was unforgettable.
The day before La Tour arrived back in Provence to climb the
infamous Mont Ventoux, Kev decided that he would very much like to try its
ascent for himself. We knew it would be
busy but really had no idea quite how busy!
Some said there were expected to be ½ million people up the mountain,
lining the route in preparation for la Tour’s ascent the following
afternoon. However many people there
were, it was bedlam, with cyclists of all kinds, motor-homes, cars, motorbikes
and gendarmes all trying to get up a steep mountain track. Kev did brilliantly and got to the top in
just under 3 hours. We were very proud! and it made it even better when we watched
the Tour guys ascend it the following day and realise what they have to go
through.
We had a lovely last day with M&D celebrating Dad’s
birthday, although the day hadn’t started particularly well as Dad’s car had
broken the previous day (the alternator was knack*d) and there were lots of
discussions with the caravan club and insurance company. We’d gone to the local Opal garage at 8am
that morning where they’d given the Gallic shrug and explained that their
mechanics were currently on their grand vacance and wouldn’t be returning for a
week!! Anyway, long story short, the car
was taken off at 11ish and returned the following day all better.
The birthday started afresh: we handed over an assortment of
presents; for lunch Ben made Grandpa’s sandwiches – Camembert and crisps and
the afternoon was spent lounging in the pool.
Sundowners were had on a beautiful rooftop terrace bar in the hilltop
village of Venasque (go, it has the most amazing views) then the day was
rounded off with a BBQ and crisp white wine and chats over birthday brandy late
into the night.
It had all gone by so quickly, but what a lot of lovely
memories: Amy and Granny singing Amy’s times tables, Tom whooping everyone at
cards whatever game, playing ‘monsters’ in the pool, lots of swing ball (Tom’s
birthday present), eating rice pudding and clubbing together in the supermarket
to buy some for Grandpa’s birthday, swimming under G & G’s legs at the
pool, Tom checking his ‘banker’ – regularly!, going to the fair –Ben’s bravery/
Tom & Amy flying through the trees on the bungee trampolines, Amy
water-colour painting with Granny, Tom chirping up in the back of the car when
moving from Cavaillon to Carpentras “we’re lost, we’re lost”.
.... and now we’re here.
We’ve survived a huge thunderstorm (awning completely flooded out –
shoes floating, mud everywhere), and yesterday Amy spent all day lying on the
bed with a raging temperature but today we’ve swum, been adventuring and Ben
has bought his first fishing rod (Tom has a net – I wonder who’ll be the most
successful?!?) Tomorrow the plan is to go
up through the Tarn Gorges to Mont Aigoul.
The adventure rolls on....
A bientot. xxxx
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Le Poupe de Jour - Ow 2
Tripping the light fantastic on top of Mount Aigioul, having spent a very interesting hour at its summit building a teepee and visiting the meteorological station, I went A over T, met the bedrock and with a combination of weight and speed, stupendously grazed my right knee, toes, left arm and both hands! Really sore- sob, sob. 
La Poupe de Jour - Ow!
My bike has a habit of derailing when under pressure.
Cue the Intermache car park with a backpack of food ... I set off with my left foot pushing off on the pedal while throwing my right over the seat. The stress makes my chain come off, I fell onto the bike - knee on pedal, ear on front wheel - and I'm left bleeding on the car park tarmac with a couple of on rushing Frenchmen asking 'Ca va?'
Plus the force of ear on wheel buckled my front wheel
Friday, 5 July 2013
Mark Cav-en-deesh !!
Here we are (in national dress with flag) waiting for Mark Cavendish in Lorgues for the intermediate sprint of stage 5 of the Tour de France on Tuesday.
And here’s Cavendish (on the right) having a tête-á-tête
with Peter Sagan (in green) as they cross the line. He won the stage 3 hours later in Marseille
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Greetings from Garda
We
have arrived at Largo di Garda, on its south-west shore, at the town of Manerba
del Garda. The site, Camping Zocco, is
approached by a track that becomes steeper and narrower as you descend. Had the sat nav lead us in the wrong
direction? Would another van come up the road towards us? Will we need
to....reverse!?!!! – such are the questions intrepid caravaners must worry
themselves with!!! Anyway needless to say good old sat nav worked (I knew it
would!) and we are now ensconced in an olive grove that overlooks the
lake. We can’t quite see it from our
plot, but we know it’s there and we didn’t like to risk heading down to a lower
terrace our clutch being the way it is (read earlier blogs for more info!!!)
The
weather was glorious until Thursday evening when a huge thunder storm
descended. On day one we went on a
geo-cache that took us all around an archaeological site high up on a promontory
and gave us fantastic views of the rolling countryside in the foreground, the
lake and a backdrop of the mountains to the north. Unfortunately no geo-cache was located but
the treasure-seekers appetite is now whetted!
Wednesday
after a morning of school (yes Mr Gellini was teaching again!) in recognition
of Sulby School sports day we held our own sports day on the football pitch
above the swimming pool. We had javelin
throwing, egg and spoon (badminton racquet and shuttle-cock), skipping race and
flat racing against the stopwatch, even I joined in!! There was excitement,
disappointment, tears – just like the real deal.
We then headed to the bay of Salo – long
stone esplanade, tall cyprus trees, boats bobbing at anchor, crystal clear
water.....restaurants with starched linen... I’ll stop now!
On
Thursday morning Ames and Ben French studies continued; les cours... ‘A la
plage’ whilst Tom sat with Daddy in the gardens next door and played cards
whilst Kev down-loaded the next installment of Sat Nav for France... exciting
stuff this travelling malarky! In the
afternoon we went on an intrepid walk from Manerba along the coastal footpath
to the viewpoint at Belvadere. As
Gelling adventures want to, it turned into somewhat of a more adventurous trip
as we navigated the stony, uneven footpath with sheer drops down to the lake,
but that was the least of our worries.
As we dropped through woodland and scrub to the bottom of the cliff we
were passed by several good-looking men who all smiled courteously as we made
room for them to pass. It was only as we
reached a dead-end at the bottom of the slope that we realised we had hit upon
something of a Hampstead Heath area and quickly turned on our heels and marched
our off-spring back along the hazardous drop-off to the top-path and into town
for well-deserved ice-creams!!
On
Saturday we had a fabulous trip across the lake from Maderno to Torri del
Benaco. Although the weather was still
rather inclement, we wended our way along the terraced shoreline, with glimpses
of sumptious weekend get-aways from Milano with steep terraced gardens, hanging
with ivy, vines, citrus fruit and large square canopies strung to provide
shade. The boat set off, just in time
for Ben and Tom to decide that they needed the loo (so I missed the initial 5
minutes!) but the scenery as I looked out from the porthole was stunning. The light being the way it was gave an
unrealistic 3-dimensional view of the landscape, with the shoreline in the
foreground, the near hills centre and the mountains in the distance (I know
that the photos just won’t do the scene justice.)
We
wandered around the east coast town though the back streets (that smelt of
Alpine villages) and came out on a square that faced the lake. A wedding ceremony was spilling out of the
square’s church, people dressed in their finery – ladies in short silk dresses
in vibrant colours, fascinators pinned to their coiffured hair, perched upon
tritty-trotty heels, the men in sharp dark suits many sporting sunglasses. The bride had arrived on a large black
speedboat (only in Italy!) and we managed to gain a glimpse of the couple
(obvious from their beautific smiles) but unfortunately missed the dress.
Lunch
was simple but delicious, pizza with a carafe of rose overlooking the lake,
with the mountains behind. Ben had a
huge bowl of mussels and was fortunately most well afterwards – didn’t really
feel like clearing up in a small van!
Today,
our last in Italy, has been most relaxing.
Tom woke up early (well 8.15) and I took him and his beloved pack of
playing cards down to the lake, wandered along the wooden pier that projects
into the lake some 20 metres, and sat playing ‘give away’ and ‘ocky knocky’ as
the sun rose higher in the sky and the lake slopped under our feet. Having had our wholesome breakfast of
baguette and jam (& the obligatory coffee) we gave the inside of the van a
quick clean whilst the tiddlers dammed the stream to the side of the camp, then
went up to the pool. Although the sun
was out and the place was the busiest it’s been since our arrival the water was
still freezing. I managed to push out my
usual 30 lengths!?! :-) and the children
managed a few minutes splashing around, particularly ‘king of the pool’ who has
now mastered back flips under water, but my husband didn’t stay in for long!
After
a lunch washed down with peach bellinis, this afternoon we’re wandering down to
the lake to try out the lilos that a kind Dutch couple gave to us on their
departure, then it’s packing up camp, chicken breast with Boursin for tea and
an early night after watching the Italian-set ‘Stealing Beauty’ with the divine
Liv Tyler.
Tomorrow
we have a day-long journey west, back to France and to the town of Draguignan
in order to take in an early stage of La Tour on the 3rd July before meeting up
with Mum and Dad in Provence.
Hope
that this blog finds you all well. Arrivederci for now! xxx
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