Harry! Harry! Harry! Wake up – I’ve been to Spain and back! 

So what? Leave me alone … 

Big humbug! 

You’re lucky to get back safely; bad stuff happens to GB cars over there. 

Not this time! 

Well that’s good. Now, write your postcard and let me sleep … 

Vache Espagnol! Et tu vas cesser de ronfler ou quoi ?

Labenne, Wednesday 26th October. Well, Monday was wet on and off all day, so they stayed around here doing jobs and organising, then late in the afternoon they went shopping and afterwards SHE cooked her specialité, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Yummy. Then they watched ‘Indiana Jones et le Dernier Croisade’ – in French!

Tuesday was much better. They had lunch here again, but then we set off up the coast and first we came to Capbreton, where we drove past a very busy harbour, where the water was quite calm, then suddenly came alongside this channel brimful of rolling green/blue waves.

Several waves came over the wall and one nearly wet my tyres!

They decided against having a coffee or a glass of wine on this terrace!

On the way to the next village we found this lake, or étang as they are called, and there are lots of them just inland from the sea.

They were hoping to find a cake shop to buy something for ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ but although there were lots of shops and kiosks and bars and cafés at the next stopping point, everything was shut up! It was like a ghost town!

More good views of the sea, though. 

On the way back they shopped at a big LeClerc and bought a helping of Agneau Printanier (Lamb and stuff) for supper. 

Today we actually got on the road by half past eleven! An hour later they were looking for somewhere to have ‘elevenses’ (coffee and the pain au chocolat they’d just bought), when they found this little village (Bidart) with this super little beach:

After that we went through Bayonne (which was rather difficult!) and on into Spain. HE didn’t like it, and just wanted to get back to France – it is true that there seemed to be even more cars too close to my back bumper there than there are in France. So after a quick (?) drive round San Sebastien (Not nice! SKT) Told you!  – we turned around and headed back towards France, but not before filling me up with petrol, which was a lot cheaper than in France! and popping into a centre commercial where HE bought a camera for e50 because his is not working and he’s fed up of having to wait his turn to use HERS! But he still hasn’t used it because it needs a ‘micro card’, so he can’t just take the one out of the other camera.

Back in France, they found the sea front at Hendaye and sat on a bench for a late lunch, watching lots of surfing activity in the waves in front of them.

Then we drove over a corniche with some excellent views…

…and down into St Jean de Luz which is quite nice. After some discussion, we went into Biarritz, where the beaches and harbours are really nice and with the state of the sea today, quite spectacular: 

Getting out of Biarritz was slow, but eventually we joined a section of motorway (tolled) and even then ran into a traffic jam – very unusual on French motorways! Back here 8-ish, they worked together to produce a supper of turkey in white wine, and here we are. Harry wasn’t interested in hearing about our day, but maybe one or two folk will be. I’m tired, too, now, …. Goodnight!

Harry! Harry! Harry! Wake up – I’ve been to Spain and back! 

So what? Leave me alone … 

Big humbug! 

You’re lucky to get back safely; bad stuff happens to GB cars over there. 

Not this time! 

Well that’s good. Now, write your postcard and let me sleep … 

Vache Espagnol! Et tu vas cesser de ronfler ou quoi ?

Labenne, Wednesday 26th October. Well, Monday was wet on and off all day, so they stayed around here doing jobs and organising, then late in the afternoon they went shopping and afterwards SHE cooked her specialité, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Yummy. Then they watched ‘Indiana Jones et le Dernier Croisade’ – in French!

Tuesday was much better. They had lunch here again, but then we set off up the coast and first we came to Capbreton, where we drove past a very busy harbour, where the water was quite calm, then suddenly came alongside this channel brimful of rolling green/blue waves.

Several waves came over the wall and one nearly wet my tyres!

They decided against having a coffee or a glass of wine on this terrace!

On the way to the next village we found this lake, or étang as they are called, and there are lots of them just inland from the sea.

They were hoping to find a cake shop to buy something for ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ but although there were lots of shops and kiosks and bars and cafés at the next stopping point, everything was shut up! It was like a ghost town!

More good views of the sea, though. 

On the way back they shopped at a big LeClerc and bought a helping of Agneau Printanier (Lamb and stuff) for supper. 

Today we actually got on the road by half past eleven! An hour later they were looking for somewhere to have ‘elevenses’ (coffee and the pain au chocolat they’d just bought), when they found this little village (Bidart) with this super little beach:

After that we went through Bayonne (which was rather difficult!) and on into Spain. HE didn’t like it, and just wanted to get back to France – it is true that there seemed to be even more cars too close to my back bumper there than there are in France. So after a quick (?) drive round San Sebastien (Not nice! SKT) Told you!  – we turned around and headed back towards France, but not before filling me up with petrol, which was a lot cheaper than in France! and popping into a centre commercial where HE bought a camera for e50 because his is not working and he’s fed up of having to wait his turn to use HERS! But he still hasn’t used it because it needs a ‘micro card’, so he can’t just take the one out of the other camera.

Back in France, they found the sea front at Hendaye and sat on a bench for a late lunch, watching lots of surfing activity in the waves in front of them.

Then we drove over a corniche with some excellent views…

…and down into St Jean de Luz which is quite nice. After some discussion, we went into Biarritz, where the beaches and harbours are really nice and with the state of the sea today, quite spectacular: 

Getting out of Biarritz was slow, but eventually we joined a section of motorway (tolled) and even then ran into a traffic jam – very unusual on French motorways! Back here 8-ish, they worked together to produce a supper of turkey in white wine, and here we are. Harry wasn’t interested in hearing about our day, but maybe one or two folk will be. I’m tired, too, now, …. Goodnight!

Wednesday, 12th October:

Waking up near that lake was quite pleasant, but the boating area, like the restaurant and bar, was all shut up.

The sky was competely grey, but at least it wasn’t raining. There was a lot of wildlife all around, including a heron on the platform out in the lake. There were quite a few anglers around, too.

Back on the road, we drove across country towards La Rochelle and then on to the Island of Oléron, where THEY had stayed in 2003, in Box II. (August 2003 was record-breaking hot, with people dying from the heat and further travel southwards in that van was uninviting!) 

Not far over the bridge we came, as planned, to Camping La Brande and booked in there for at least three nights. ( www.camping-labrande.com ) And finally, the next morning (Thursday), later and further south than the forecast had given to believe: THE SUN SHONE! Most pitches here are well shaded, which is what people want for most of the season, but at this time THEY would have liked sun on the pitch for at least some of the day; the attempt to arrange this (choice of pitch was free) failed completely, as the sky was still overcast when we arrived, and they got the geography wrong! But there are sunny bits nearby – it’s just that they keep moving!

THEY saw a weather forecast saying it was going to improve from the south through the week and be very warm with above average temperatures by the weekend. (‘Sunshine in the south’? When did we hear that before?) So they packed up on Monday morning 10th October, with help from some nice German neighbours and stuffed a wet, muddy ‘Harriette’ (the awning) into a black bag and then into Sally’s boot, and with only a little sliding we got off the pitch and onto the road.

We did 307kms that day, most of it through rain of varying degrees, and parked up for the night in a motorway lay-by with lots of lorries, and, as it turned out in the morning, one other motorhome. They made what they call a 3-tin meal and had quite a good night.

It would be good if HE knew how to get maps onto this journal, but anyway – from Baie de Somme we headed for Rouen, then Caen, then Nantes, basically travelling South-West, but ne’er a glimpse of that promised sunshine!

After Nantes Snooper Sat-Nav (special for caravans and motorhomes – they’ve lost Tom-Tom, temporarily, they hope!) began to do odd things and seem to be taking us to Poitiers, which they didn’t want, so they overrode it and began navigating themselves. At a place called Les Herbiers they found a big Hyper-U where a helpful assistant in the Orange shop explained why their French phone wouldn’t work, and sold them a new SIM (‘Puce’ in French, which means ‘flea’!) so now it does work, but with a different number: 00 33 6 44 32 77 28, if anyone wants to use it and save THEM the cost of the international call. But the UK mobile is still switched on and using that means THEY pay the roaming charge – it’s a no-brainer!

(It’s a bit long for a postcard is this – and where’s the picture?! – OK, coming up.) After Les Herbiers they saw a sign to a motorhome service point, which could just be somewhere to let the waste water go, or it could be a stop-over place. There  were signs to a campsite, too. Anyway, the followed these signs till we came to this lake:

Just beyond the lake, where there was a boating area and a pizzeria / creperie, but all shut up, was the campsite, also closed, with the motorhome service point just outside it. There was also this overflow carpark, on grass, with several motorhomes already parked on it, so we joined them (bit bumpy!).

Having bought a helping of ‘Couscous’ as ‘Plat du Jour’ back at Les Herbiers (a feature of French supermarkets which is missing in England), evening meal was taken care of and we spent a very quiet night – apart from HIM making nocturnal noises, which his recent operation was supposed to have sorted out …

Sorry, no current photos of this episode (weather too bad!) but you can see some pictures of the campsite here: www.fermedesaulnes.com . THEY thought they deserved a break after travelling almost non-stop since leaving Garth View on Oct 3rd, so we did only 69 kms on the 7th and made for this excellent site very close to where SKT stayed witth Rachel, Vik and Scout, 3 years ago, in some old box – sorry! – campervan.

In fact we were closer to this spot (Quend, on the Baie de Somme) this time than they were then when Rachel took the photo (which appeared in MotorCaravan Magazine!). BUT! No sunsets this time … no sun …. just cloud and wind and rain, and more wind and rain … THEY did use the swimming pool, though, which is completely covered at this time of year, and enjoyed a meal at the ‘Piano Bar’ where the atmosphere was great, the music discreet and the photo (go to ‘Prestation – services) doesn’t do it justice. The bar is on a mezzanine looking down on the entrance level with a log fire in a huge inglenook. The food was good, too, though a bit expensive for a campsite. 

Sally says they did actually drive through St. Valery one evening while looking for a supermarket. Apparently HE knew they were close to one they used to use three years ago when they saw this water tower in Le Crotoy. 

Here we are waiting to board our Norfolk Line (DFDS) Ferry to Dunkirk. Sailing time 4pm, 6th October. Fortunately, the crossing was not too bad. ‘Choppy’ at worst. On the other side – easier for me, Harry, because once in France everything is the ‘right’ way round, since I’m left-hand drive, we headed down the coast towards Calais and Boulogne. Boulogne was very difficult with road closures and poorly-signed diversions – and it was dark by then –  (THEY had to uncouple us at one point because we went down a dead end and couldn’t turn round!) However, we did find – by accident! – Boulogne’s ‘Aire de Camping Car’. Lots of motorhomes were already parked up, but it was on a cliff-top and blowing a gale. I was rocking like mad and they decided not to stay. They drove back to a motorway service area and stopped there (one they rejected on the last night last year, in fact). It wasn’t a bad night and there were croissants and pain au chocolat for breakfast from the shop, so not a bad choice.   

The trip to Devon (below) was a couple of months ago, and we feel we’ve earned a ‘real’ holiday! In the end the Devon escapade did help and we decided that we would persevere in the quest to buy and live in France. That’s if we ever sell Garth View. Two parties have ‘expressed an interest’ but without making an offer – they’re waiting for funds, apparently.

In what way have we ‘earned’ a holiday? Well, we’ve made considerable changes at both Murton View (MV) and Garth View (GV). The kitchen was removed from MV:

And a new one delivered:

We removed the carpet from the living room at MV (the carpet fitters said it wasn’t worth moving; Carol said it was so we did it ourselves) and Carol discovered new skills in carpet laying, first fitting underlay and gripper rods in the guest room (at GV) – which she had painted by then – and finally fitting the ‘not worth moving’ carpet. Well, it may not be perfect, but it’s a great improvement on what w
as there before!

Meanwhile, the new kitchen was installed at MV, and we think it will make the flat an even more attractive prospect to possible tennants.

(Tiling still to do)

We disposed of all the packaging ourselves

– it’s surprising how much you get into the back of that little car (the C1) – involving several trips to the tip to save the fees and costs of getting the installers to dispose of it (private vehicles access the tip for free, vans have to pay).

Back at GV we moved all the furniture out of ‘our’ bedroom and put it all (except one item) into the newly-carpeted and decorated former guest room:

First the wardrobe:

Then the tallboy (would it fit? Yes it would!)

The bed takes shape:

The one remaining item:

The trip to Devon (below) was a couple of months ago, and we feel we’ve earned a ‘real’ holiday! In the end the Devon escapade did help and we decided that we would persevere in the quest to buy and live in France. That’s if we ever sell Garth View. Two parties have ‘expressed an interest’ but without making an offer – they’re waiting for funds, apparently.

In what way have we ‘earned’ a holiday? Well, we’ve made considerable changes at both Murton View (MV) and Garth View (GV). The kitchen was removed from MV:

And a new one delivered:

We removed the carpet from the living room at MV (the carpet fitters said it wasn’t worth moving; Carol said it was so we did it ourselves) and Carol discovered new skills in carpet laying, first fitting underlay and gripper rods in the guest room (at GV) – which she had painted by then – and finally fitting the ‘not worth moving’ carpet. Well, it may not be perfect, but it’s a great improvement on what w
as there before!

Meanwhile, the new kitchen was installed at MV, and we think it will make the flat an even more attractive prospect to possible tennants.

(Tiling still to do)

We disposed of all the packaging ourselves

– it’s surprising how much you get into the back of that little car (the C1) – involving several trips to the tip to save the fees and costs of getting the installers to dispose of it (private vehicles access the tip for free, vans have to pay).

Back at GV we moved all the furniture out of ‘our’ bedroom and put it all (except one item) into the newly-carpeted and decorated former guest room:

First the wardrobe:

Then the tallboy (would it fit? Yes it would!)

The bed takes shape:

The one remaining item: