Slowly making our way home

Tonight we are parked on a municipal Aire in Bellac, a little north of Limoges. It was dark when we arrived so we don't know much about where we are. But it looks like a pretty town and apparently it has a Roman bridge over the river. We shall explore tomorrow. Our initial plan was to stop in a town called Nieul, again a munjcipal Aire and just outside Limoges. When we arrived however the water had been turned off. It's winter and many places turn off their water to avoid the pipes freezing and bursting. We're nearly out of water so we set off to where we are now and...... no water, tap turned off. We have enough to last the night and we'll find some tomorrow.
Last night we had a delicious meal here:  http://www.aubergesaintjean.com. It really was fabulous. We stayed here last night: http://www.chateaudecourtebotte.com/?lang=en. It was our wedding anniversary treat and very self indulgent but you're only married for 44 years once right? Before we left for the meal the owner of the Chateau, Isobel, offered to pick us up in her car when we had finished as it was a cold and damp night. We didn't like to trouble her but as we were leaving the restaurant Manuela, who runs the front of house whilst her husband is the chef, also then offered to give us a lift back to save us walking! I can't imagine that happening in England.
This morning at breakfast Isobel asked if we had been to the village of St Emilion, a few kilometres down the road. We said that we hadn't and she insisted that we must go. So, off we went for a bit of sightseeing. We didn't regret her suggestion. She said we must visit the underground church. We had to call at the Tourist info centre first to arrange a guided tour and the next tour was at 11.30. No English guides on a Saturday but we understood the gist of the commentary. The church is 38m long, 20m wide and 11m high and was not built, as such, but carved out of the limestone rock in the twelfth century. Later a gigantic bell tower weighing 4500 tons was added. It's truly amazing and we had seen nothing like it. Some of the original bas relief carvings remain but little of the original decoration. The church was abandoned during the French Revolution but reconsecrated  in 1838. Attached is a chapel, built in the thirteenth century and catacombs dating back to the eighth century.
Isobel advised us also not to buy wine, should we be tempted, from the many, many shops throughout the village. It seemed that every second shop was selling St Emilion wine and we wouldn't have known where to start. Go to Maison Du Vin she advised where all the wines were sold at the prices you would pay if you bought directly from the Chateaux and the staff would be only to pleased to offer advice and recommendations. We had a quick look around before we embarked on the tour of the monolithic church and then got back just before they closed for lunch. Inevitably we bought some wine after accepting the advice of the staff so that's the wine for Christmas lunch sorted!!
Even without the guided tour and the wine, St Emilion was a great place to visit. Narrow streets of cobblestones, some of them so steep we were nearly on our hands and knees! The steep streets are called Tertres and and the word is specific to St Emilion , there are 4 of them and I think we climbed them all !!  Fabulous Chateaux and the whole village surrounded by hectares and hectares of vineyards.
Tomorrow we're going to head off toward Tours and the Loire valley seeking out some wifi and no doubt some wine on the way.

Sunday 15th December.
Tonight we are parked up in the middle of a vineyard in Chancey, between Vouvray and Amboise. We didn't arrive until the sun was setting after failing to find another one of the places we wanted to stop at tonight. Actually we found the place we wanted to stop at after searching for 45 minutes all around Amboise with not very good directions only to discover that there was no one about. We could have just parked up until the morning but we were running low on water and needed to find some before tomorrow. France is great if you're driving around in a Motorhome as I think I've said before. There are plenty of places to park up for the night and very often even the smallest villages will have a couple of places reserved for Motorhomes with varying levels of facilities offered. The problem at this time of year is that although there are places to park, the water supply has been turned off to prevent the pipes freezing. As we have passed through towns and villages over the last couple of days we have stopped at the local facilities but there has been no water. We could have stopped at campsites but we are trying to save pennies at the moment so this is where the France Passion stopovers come into their own.
We arrived this evening and the guy here immediately offered us water although he had to turn on several taps to get a supply to the van and then showed us to a great spot to park on the top of a hill where we are surrounded by vines in every direction. Ok, so tomorrow he has invited us to taste his wine before we leave and inevitably we'll buy a bottle or two but I'm sure we're both happy with this arrangement.

We have three days left in France now before we scoot under Le Chunnel early on the 19th. Although we'll be happy to be home for Christmas and to see our family again, at the same time we'll miss wandering about doing whatever we wanted to do with nobody to please but ourselves. We've discovered that two people can live in a small metal box smaller than the average kitchen and not attempt to kill one another and apart from the odd navigational dispute we haven't had too many crossed words either! We'll have travelled over 4,000 miles by the time we get back to Bingley and we'll have been away 42 days. We've met some lovely people during this journey and everybody we've met has been readily forthcoming with help, advice and many tips which have been more than useful on many occasions.
 I just hope I can remember how to drive on the right side when we get back to the UK. Although I've driven in Europe loads of times before I thought it would be a problem dragging a six and a half metre Motorhome around on the "wrong" side of the road with r/h drive. Previously the biggest problem always was overtaking on single carriageway roads but with the Motorhome you're sat up nice and high and can see over other cars so that's no longer a problem. Not that I do a lot of overtaking, of course. Never did.
So we'll be home by tea time on Thursday the 19th and I'll be looking forward to a pint of decent beer by then (hello Mo & Bill).
Still looking for wifi!!

Monday 16th December

We are parked at a campsite at Marcilly-Sur-Eure near Dreux.
 We had a quick degustation this morning, Vouvray before breakfast and very nice it was too. The vigneron (I think that's the right word) only had a sip with us as he explained that he was trimming his vines with some dodgy electric secateurs and he valued his fingers. Anyway, we bought a bottle or two and we now have a nice selection of wines for Christmas and New Year all bought directly from the vineyards.
The Campsite we are on is very pretty, or would be in spring or summer. At the moment although we have had a couple of bright sunny days by late afternoon it becomes cold and damp. We arrived in daylight and after being ripped of to the tune of €9.00 for 24 hours wifi found that there was no water on our pitch. Taps, but no water. After explaining to the management that I could have parked anywhere with no water and saved myself the €16.00 campsite fee the maintenance guy reluctantly came and turned on the water for us.
We were going to take another two days to drive to Calais but have decided now that we'll push on tomorrow and stop just outside Calais for a couple of days at Wissant where folk have mentioned there is a pretty Aire and we can relax for a day before the tunnel. Thanks for the comments, by the way, keep them coming.
Pat

Dordogneshire

We are today living the dream in Dordogneshire, as my son in law's father calls it. It's our wedding anniversary and before we left the UK Phil's sister Helen very kindly gave us a gift of some money to spend on celebrating today. So we are in a fantastic Chateau in a beautiful room with....... A BATH!!! We haven't had a bath in five weeks. We've showered every day in case you were wondering but a bath is such a luxury. And it's a massive bath. Oh yes, and the bed is massive too. We're shortly off for a meal at a local restaurant which has been getting rave reviews so we are really living the high life at the moment.
We stayed just over the French border a couple of nights ago in Basque country just south of Bayonne and last night on a campsite just north of Bordeaux. The weather is a bit miserable at the moment, grey and damp, so we're not seeing this part of France at it's best. It's been cold at night in the Motorhome but we've been resisting leaving the heating on all night. If it gets any colder I think that policy may change.
Tomorrow we head off toward Limoges. We're trying not to use toll roads on the return journey and to avoid campsites so maybe not too many opportunities to find wifi over the next few days.

Change in the weather

We are parked on a campsite in Villafranca, between Zaragoza and Pamplona. It is described as a new campsite with excellent toilet facilities. Unfortunately we have no idea what the surrounding countryside or the campsite is like as it was pitch black when we arrived. The money spent on the toilets was taken from the lighting budget possibly.
We would have been here in daylight but for a bridge over a river on our route which was closed and being repaired. We spun round to take a different route and after 20 minutes driving around a massive new housing development arrived back at the bridge. Re-programmed the sat navs and set off only to return to the bridge 20mins later, albeit by a different route. By now it's dark, we're tired and we're lost. After reprogramming Helen & Bernadette, our (not so) faithfull sat navs with a route involving a massive detour to avoid the bloody bridge we arrived here two hours later than planned. Nobody in reception but a phone number to ring for late arrivals like us. "Park anywhere" says David "I'll see you in the morning". So, we've parked somewhere, found the electricity, enjoyed a meal of Lidl's finest and we're about to hit the hay.
Last night we stayed in Navajas, a small village about 40k north of Valencia. It was a long, long drive from Almeria and a severe change in temperature! It was freezing last night, everybody's windows we're iced up this morning. It was the first night we slept with the heating on but we still couldn't get warm.
We've been spoilt in more ways than one in our time spent in La Garrofa. The days have been sunny and warm and the nights mild. It was a wrench to leave yesterday and say goodbye to folk we had met and who in the course of a week and a half had become friends. But we'll be back there again in mid January to renew those friendships before we set off to Morocco.
For now it's a matter of planning our route back to Calais. Tomorrow we are heading for Hendaye which is between San Sebastián and Biarritz. The site we have chosen looks ideal so we may just chill there for a couple of days.
Those of you following this blog may remember that I damaged a window on the Motorhome at my daughter's house in St Etienne in early November. Since then I have been in contact with the company who manufactured the Motorhome, various companies who specialise in Motorhome parts, especially windows, and also breakers yards in an attempt to find a replacement window. I've contacted companies in England, Wales and Italy without success. The company who produced the Lunar Motorhome have been less than helpful and considering the vehicle is only 5 years old I would have expected a better response from them. But, good news arrived today. My daughter has also been on the case looking for a new window and, hopefully, she has come up trumps. A firm in the UK say they can provide a replacement so a big, big thank you to Catherine for all her hard work and persistence. 

Sunrise Madness and a Flea Market

An elbow in the ribs this morning told me it was dawn.  Wake up! Watch the sun rise! Lay there for a bit watching the horizon become red. Thought I should take a photo. Thought a bit more and then scrambled out of bed, found the camera, tripod, trousers, t shirt. Fell out of motorhome door a bit sleepy still and I'd missed it. Sun was up above the horizon and a yellow ball in the sky wasn't really the photo I'd hoped for. I have one more chance tomorrow and then we are starting the journey back to the UK. Tomorrow we set off for a campsite a little north of Valencia and then we'll head north through Zaragoza, San Sebastián and then back into France.

Today the folk here held a flea market. Some weird and wonderful stuff for sale that people had found in the back of their vans and some crafts they had made specially together with some delicious food. Another chance to meet folk and compare journeys whilst scoffing tortilla and sangria. Phil bought a hat which our neighbour here had crocheted; very cute. I bought her  a 12v DustBuster which she is really pleased with. I know, I just have a talent for sniffing out the perfect gift eh?


We've met some really nice people over the last few weeks, especially here in La Garrofa. Everybody is free with help, advice and suggestions. When we met new people socially back in England the question after a little while would be "What do you do?"  Here it's "Where have you come from and where are you going?" So you swop stories about the places you've been to and learn about the best places to stop where you're going next. After a year or so of doing this I reckon you could ditch the maps and sat navs. But perhaps just not yet for us novices. At the moment we're running two sat navs; a Garmin and a Tom Tom. They don't always agree on the route to our destination and do they ever whinge when we take a wrong turn or detour. I've christened them Helen and Bernadette. Phil is sat beside me with a map. Driving through medium sized towns is all the fun you can imagine. If Luke Skywalker thought he had a difficult run he should try getting a Motorhome through Valencia with three conflicting guidance systems! Anyway, tomorrow's journey should be pretty straightforward, A7/E15 all the way. 

Busy Day in the Bay

Busy Day in the Bay

Just missed the sunrise this morning. Opened the blinds to be dazzled and blinded by the sun a few degrees above the horizon. I'm guessing you folk in the UK didn't quite have the same experience this morning? I understand it's been a bit blowy there eh? Bit of rain? I'm telling you, we are feeling your pain big time. We've been looking for clouds all day so we could get a feel for home but no success at all. Chins up eh?

Funny how quick the days go here. By the time I've done the water emptying/carrying thing, had a shower and breakfast, wandered about chatting to folk, checked emails and had a coffee at the bar before you know it's time for lunch. Hard life doesn't begin to describe it.

In between times we've had a busy day in the bay. Lots of small fishing boats and pleasure boats (it's a holiday here today). Not to mention the guy who snorkels his way across the bay and back every morning. No one knows where he comes from. Sometimes he drags a collapsible life raft behind him. We thought of fishing with a sausage for bait to see if we could catch him. The fishermen in their small smacks wave back when they see the glint of my binoculars which is nice. We watched one trawl half the bay for very little return, there were two guys on the boat and by the time they'd paid for diesel I don't think there could have been too much left for them. There was a massive factory ship anchored a way offshore earlier in the week and we would watch the medium sized trawlers drawn toward it. It's gone now which is fine by us 'cos it kind of spoilt the view a little bit.
Somebody said there would be a Christmas Market in Almeria this weekend so we'll probably catch the bus tomorrow to have a look around. We need a bit of shopping anyway to top up supplies until we leave here on Monday to start the journey home.
Anyway, enough of making you jealous and hating us. It's almost Friday evening and that means just one thing at La Garrofa. Yes, it's BINGO night. Sharp at 8pm. So I'm going to pop up to the bar (best wifi reception) and post this before it's time for "eyes down and looking".

Still in La Garrofa

Well, we're still here. The weather has been good for the last few days and the location is ideal so we can't really see much point in moving. We're going to set off after the weekend for the journey back to Calais. Rather than retrace our route here we are thinking of travelling back via Granada, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid and then to San Sebastián and on to Bordeaux. We have to be in Calais for the 18th so we should have plenty of time for a leisurely journey if we set off on Monday. We'll miss this place and the people we've met but I suspect we'll call in to see them again in January. There was an "international darts tournament"here on the campsite last night. I went out in the first round to a Belgian lady who had only ever played darts once in her life before!! She then went on to defeat her husband before being knocked out by a Welshman who last in the final to an Englishman. All good fun.

Not much else happening really. We caught the bus to Aquadulce yesterday, wandered about a bit and caught the bus back! Today we felt we needed some exercise so got the walking boots on and set off up the dried riverbed from the beach here and walked through gorges and small valleys for a couple of hours. At midday! It was hard walking over pebbles and rocks and hot and windless. Not much growing apart from thorn bushes, mountain thyme and one acacia tree. There were some ramshackle sheds and enclosures where until a few years ago a few goat herders lived. Apparently the police moved them out when they started tapping into the aqueduct for water!

I'm off now to buy some more wifi. Which I have now got, obviously. 

Stuck on the beach!!

Stuck on the beach

We are parked at La Garrofa campsite just outside Almeria. We arrived yesterday and found a spot offering plenty of sunshine - we thought. As more folk arrived and parked around us our sun diminished. This time of year it's pretty low in the sky so a Motorhome parked to the north of us is a disaster! We had a look around the site and decided where we would like to be and noted the spots in case we had a chance to move. (More on the move later)
The bar/restaurant on the site was offering a three course meal with wine for €8.50 and as we had only had one meal in a restaurant since we left England we thought we would give it a go, especially as this was the first site we had been on where the bar was open. Last night, also, was Bingo night! We looked for somewhere to sit without listening to the bingo caller but it was either in the bar with bingo or outside. It was a little chilly so we thought we'd put up with the bingo and sit inside. An excellent choice! The bingo caller was a long time resident Scot. The players were a mix of Dutch, Belgium, German and English folk and the whole thing was a laugh from start to finish. We got chatting to more folk in one evening than we had in all the other sites we'd stopped in so far in Spain.
Today we took the bus to Almeria. I'm not sure if it's a city or a town but it has a Cathedral (which was closed!) so by uk standards it's a city, right? There's a big covered market in the centre of town, upstairs are maybe 50/60 stalls with fresh veg, meat, charcuterie all looking appetising and downstairs the same number of stalls selling fresh fish. Everything looked delicious and we had to resist buying a little of everything. In the end we bought some bread.
A bit peckish by now we wondered the back streets until we found a small tapas bar; some Iberian ham, Calamari, sweet pork, frittes, delicious fish balls, a couple of glasses of wine, coffee for €12.
The Alcazaba de Almeriawas our next stop www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/alcazabaalmeria. The site dates back to Roman times and was an Islamic seat of power in Spain until the 12century when it was occupied by Christians and then retaken by Islamists and held until the mid fifteenth century until Catholic monarchs finally conquered the Alcazaba and from which time the site took on a primarily military character.
It was free for us to visit and a really fascinating place. Only partially restored but enough to give you a feeling of what the place must have been like.
With tired feet we found our way back to the bus station. Back to the campsite and a quick survey showed that our favoured spot was still occupied however there was a spot on the beach. A bit tight to manoeuvre in to but hey, the views were amazing, sunshine all day long, the sound of waves lapping not 20metres away. I checked with the campsite folk, was it ok to move there?  No problem.
Everything packed away we rolled down to our spot after checking with the folk either side that it was ok. Yes, they said, you're more than welcome; please join us. The beach is pebbly, the pitch we wanted was sandy. First drive in was ok but not really where I wanted to be. Reverse out, drive in but wheels slipping on sand. Reverse out even further, take a run at it - still can't get right where I want to be. Reverse even further to get a really good run - fall off beach and ground van! Couple of guys rock up to give a push, no go. Few more folk arrive to give push, no go. Half of campsite arrive to give push and here we are. Forever probably 'cos I don't know how I'm ever going to get out of here.
Tonight was the walk of shame to the bar where I bought drinks for all the folk that had helped us out today. People from New Zealand,Spain,Holland,Germany,Belgium. And it was my pleasure to do so!
Tonight we are "on the beach" and tomorrow morning when we open the blinds at the back of the van we're going to see the sun rising over the sea.

Monday 2nd December

We'll, we didn't see the sunrise yesterday, firstly because it was a grey day and secondly 'cos we didn't get up early enough. Most of the night was spent listening to Eucalyptus branches falling on the roof in the high winds. Some of them felt like bricks dropping on us. Yesterday was spent clearing them off the roof and raking them from the surrounding area. Then it was siesta time and then up to the restaurant for a fabulous Paella and a chat with a few more folk who had just arrived. We keep bumping in to people that we had met a few days or a week ago, I suppose at this time of year there are only so many campsites open so it's inevitable, I guess.

Today we did see the sunrise! We pulled the blind up at 8am and lay in bed watching the sun rise above some low lying cloud and turn from orange to bright yellow. Fantastic. We've had eight hours of sunshine today. Another couple were doing a supermarket trip today so we cadged a lift and stocked up with supplies for a week or so. Then it was back for lunch on the beach. We're thinking we might stay on this site until it's time for us to set off back to Calais. The weather won't be better anywhere else, we're in an idyllic spot and the people here are really friendly. We can catch a bus to Almeria or Aquadulce, both about 10/15 minutes away so it's got a lot going for it. The only downside is the poor wifi. I bought a day's worth last Friday and couldn't even get my emails. I've since learnt where the best reception is so I'm off know to buy some more and hopefully update the blog. Failing that I'll have to wait until we are next in Almeria and find some free wifi there.