IT'S BEEN 3 WEEKS

The GF is doing pilates twice a week and sticking to it; I started Spanish lessons but fell by the wayside......homework is a bugger when you could be off enjoying yourself.
The initial flush of winning the quiz faded and we came third the next week and then fourth. Our main rivals have reorganised into 2 strong teams and are snaffling the prize money. The whist nights are spectacularly supported and the competition is fierce for the €10 or so on offer to the winning lady and man.
The main event has been the Japanese lucky charm ceremony at which Joan's dragon was the star- 20ft long with 5 ladies underneath and made entirely of rubbish and gaffer tape. There are a couple of videos on YouTube with 2 more waiting to be uploaded.....I'll put a link in later. We found fireworks in a firework shop in San Fernando thanks to Laurent & Jacqueline whose son has a bike shop there (its complicated) and they very kindly took me over there. The dragon has been adopted by Martina and Jeanmarie who run LaRosaleda as they aim to use it in the summer.
The post ceremony party consumed much rioja and went on well into the night having transferred to the bar at some stage as the sun went down......it has been very chilly in the evenings and early mornings. After a glorious first week we had a few days of wind and rain but the sun returned last weekend and after the wind dropped it is most pleasant with spectacular sunsets.
We've walked on the beach and around the town; cycled to fruit farm for oranges and the bee farm for honey ( I've branched out from honey made from bees feeding on the orange trees to lavender honey and something labeled Extra Virgin which sounded intriguing).
Larry & Pat invited hired the camp car and invited us to join them on a trip to Jerez where we made the obligatory visit to the Terry's Bodega for a dozen litres of brandy (6 for me and 6 for Harry) .......its only at the bodega that you can buy the 36° instead of the 30° available in the supermarkets to combat drunkenness. At €8.10 a ltr. bottle  its extraordinarily drinkable . We had an excellent lunch an pottered around.
So all in  all, life is exceedingly pleasant at the moment, and with 5 evenings a week taken up with something the time just flies...........

IT'S embarrassing.......

Wednesday

We won the quiz tonight.........

GOSH....NEARLY A WEEK

Wednesday 14.1.14

Saturdays apres boules drinks became quite lively chez nous and was noteworthy in that there were twice as many people as had been playing boules for some strange reason. However it did reacquaint us with a lovely French couple, Laurent et Jacqueline, and result in an invitation to join them on Sunday morning for an oyster lunch. They have been full timing for 16 months and still crave the delicacies of la belle France so after New Year had a crate of oysters couriered from Arcachon which we know well as oyster central.
I had expected a nice demi-douzaine  so was rather overwhelmed to discover that the order had been 9 dozen which had to be consumed asap. Larry and Pat were also invited but both ladies declined oysters and made inroads into the pate,rilletttes,foie gras and prawns, leaving Larry and I trying to keep pace with Jaqeline shucking oysters for dear life. Don't know how many we consumed but we think that 2 dozen each wouldn't be far out. Accompanied with a fine Muscadet and then  Sylvaner, a very enjoyable afternoon was spent. Laurent is 70+ and was a professional photographer and is still accepting commissions. More later.

Weather has been a bit cloudy but nice and warm. Been down to beach twice and walked each way and its still lovely.
Nick & Barbara/Dave & Geraldine arrived Monday and we will see more of them in the next few days.
Excellent meal compliments of the management on Tues in preparation for the annual St.Sebastian festival on sunday
......as usual with a free meal, much wine was purchased to was it down thus writing off the rest of Tuesday.

The site is getting busier, especially with French visitors who are apparently shunning their usual playground of Morocco for understandable reasons. Regular readers will recall my comments last year about the enormous numbers of French  motorhomes in Morocco which now may well be in decline this year and thus hurting the Moroccan tourist economy.
And just to annoy anybody, I am not Charlie, because I don't agree that its OK to gratuitously insult somebody's religion and deliberately cause offence in the name of free speech.

THERMAL VESTS TO SHORTS & SANDALS IN 24 HRS

Saturday 10.1.2015

Wednesday night down to -5° and woke to another day of thick fog which lasted for over 150 miles but as we dropped down off the plateau after Caceres at least the temperature began rising. Came out of the fog 50 miles from Seville and then stopped at Jerez to top up the LPG as there still appears to be nothing nearer to Conil. Despite Repsol installing more autogas points, there is a black hole from Jerez to Algeciras even though Cadiz is a major city. As we are not staying so long down here this year , we shouldn't have to go back to Jerez to refill especially if the weather remains as warm as it is now.
So arrived Conil 4pm in bright sunshine and big blue sky all round. New van is too long for our pitch of the last 4 years so we have a bigger one close by but not in the same avenue...which may deter the usual suspects from dropping by for a beer or three........but unlikely. Apart from Paul & Marianne who can't make it because of ongoing problems with Paul's shoulder (which may spare my liver further damage) the same crowd are here so much renewing of acquaintances . Our first job was to drive up to the van wash
facility and I managed to blow the horn when passing the boules pitch just as Harry was throwing and he said words which should not be repeated in polite company to much laughter.
It took a lot of high pressure washing to get 6 days grime washed off and it took two of us to do it but now we are clean again.
Thursday night is Whist night where
the GF won the ladies prize of 9€ so we are starting off well. Quiz night starts next Wednesday and in the absence of P&M it had already been decided that we would team up with Harry & Joan......the bidding in the transfer window was extremely competitive apparently when it was known that we would be looking for new partners. We shall be the dream team once again.
Friday was spent sorting ourselves out, erecting awnings etc and generally getting comfortable which included getting the shorts out as it is so warm. A walk up to the supermarket for wine & beer, boules in the afternoon and an excellent flamenco show in the restaurant with a meal for 8€.  to round off an excellent first day.

THE WEATHER COULD BE BETTER.....

Tues.6.1.2015

Started raining on the Bordeaux ring road and never really stopped all day. The works on the A63 have finished and whilst it is a cracking road all the way to the Spanish border, it is also expensive. The alternatives are fine if you have time but will inevitably use more fuel anyway so no choice really. Bordeaux to Burgos was an easy drive except for the fog,low cloud and rain and the temperature around 3°.
Burgos is new to us, a campsite on the river within walking distance of the old town and must-see cathedral so intend stopping 2 nights. Arrived 16.30 and had nice walk along river to stretch legs. Tonight is epiphany and town deserted but must have been a procession somewhere.

Wed.7.1.2015

Extremely cold overnight, down to -3.5°
Woke to thick fog and a frozen water tank.....might not have enough in it. Found a button that says tank heaters which I've ignored up till now but it seemed to do the trick. Fog and temp  seemed set and  so decided to forgo the delights of burgos until another (warmer) day. So drove for 250 miles or more in freezing fog that seldom gave more than 100 yds visibility, and about 30 mins of warm sunshine. The dashboard readout only went above 0° for a short while and mostly hovered around -2.5°. Arrived Caceres about 16.00 intending to stay on aire but the temperature decided us to find the campsite on the outskirts so that we could be nice and warm for €16 (£12.80).
Spanish diesel similar price to france @ €1.11 ltr or 90 p

SNOWBIRDS HEAD SOUTH.........

Or Les vagabonds d'hiver as the French call themselves, are sitting in Bordeaux surrounded by thick fog having only had a fleeting glimpse of sunshine and blue skies........

Left home on Saturday lunchtime anticipating queues on the M25 at Blue water etc but sailed through of course, and the new toll system at the Dartford crossing which has done away with toll booths in favour of number plate recognition appears to have eliminated 10 mile tailbacks ( I've opened an account and registered van and car so the charge is £1.67 instead of £2.50 per crossing )
The van was loaded as usual but we now have more space so cupboards not overflowing. I also managed to spend a small fortune before Xmas having some extra electrical tweaks, not realising that the labour charge was going to be £67 per hour...I also had Simon from Dave Wallis Car Audio adapt the Cobra alarm to include a loop to wrap round the bikes which are now much lower on their new Thule rack ( which is brilliant) so that they are alarmed as well.

So whizzed down to Tunnel, put on first available so no wait, at 18.20, and heading into Calais 35 mins later, at which point the phone went and the Phantom tracker centre said our motion sensor was going off and did we know that the van was in Calais?.......
This is a new bit of kit fitted when I bought the van and upgraded the Phantom tracker. When switched on it sends an alert if the van is in motion so that if somebody stole the keys and disarmed the alarm system, when they drive off the motion sensor alerts the centre and reports every 30 secs.
The switch is hidden under the steering wheel and I didn't know it had been fitted at first and nobody bothered to tell me that it had and where the switch was. This caused a lot of grief when I drove the van for the first time.....
So I couldn't work out why it had been triggered in Calais when I had already driven to the channel for 21/2 hours...( my first fear being that the installation of the new bike loop had buggered something )......
Then it dawned on us that we had been trying to find a handy safe place for the mobile phone (the GF's shelf being cluttered with iPods,notebooks,sweets,mints,chewing gum,cables,chargers etc) and she spotted the shelf space under the steering wheel and stuffed the phone in it...... managing to knock the rocker switch from off to on. Red face and call to phantom  to apologise for stupidity and assertion that the switch must be off as I hadn't touched it for 3 days.( the switch can't be seen so very difficult to remember which way is on or off).
Great start !......but no damage....

Cold overnight but soon warmed up Sunday am and pleasant run down to La Suze sur Sarthe, just south of Lemans.
This aire was flooded last year but fine this. It has even been tarted up with full electric hookups for 6 van.....and as there were only 5 there at 3.30 we were lucky. They charge €5 but the machine wasn't working so we walked up to the village and bought our first tarts aux pommes .

Monday morning cold and misty......filled up with fuel at SuperU for a mere 90p a litre (£1.20 last year) and as we get better fuel consumption  things should cheaper this year.
Straightforward run to Bordeaux. With 50 miles to go the sun came out and the sky was blue all round....then we ran back into fog as we neared the rivers and as it gets dark its getting foggier.

18.09.2014......TIME FLIES

Well I started this 13 days ago but got bogged down with explaining our delayed departure due to the untimely and completely unexpected passing away of Valerie and the subsequent events. Nothing I wrote seemed right so I am starting again without further explanation.
Of course, this trip was eagerly awaited as it was the first real run in the new van which I bought without consulting the GF after the last one pissed me off once too often. Being the longest and heaviest yet didn't over please her but I think she appreciates the change .....more anon...
So leaving Uk on 5/9, overnight at Gravelines  aire which was packed when we arrived at 21.15......seems that weekend was a big 1945 liberation memorial celebration so lots of people there for the parades. Had to do a three point turn on the quayside in the dark to slot in and my first real attempt at close manoeuvres with an automatic for a long time. ...fortunately I managed to avoid falling into the sea.
06.09.2014
To Aachen for no good reason other than not having been there before. D&M are a week ahead of us in northern Germany and we plan to meet up on the 11th in Fussen.
Find private aire for 15€ a night, walking distance of city centre. Spend Sunday in city, commemorating 600 years of something to do with Charlemagne/cathedral/potato soup/sausages/ and huge craft  market in old town where we get mistaken for pilgrims and given free potato soup/sausages/beer. Cathedral is ace and top spot contender. Excellent day.
08.09.2014
Receive text from D&M who are not in northern Germany  having damaged waste water tank on bloody Belgium potholes ( Belgian roads are an absolute disgrace and I'm not going there again. Ever.) and are on the Moselle . Agree to meet up at Bacharach on the Rhine in pleasant aire on riverbank. Meet at midday, and with new bike rack system am able to unmount bikes in 5 mins and off for ride along riverbank . Brilliant.
09.09.2014.
Original plan of going to Slovenia and lake Bled has altered as we are 2 weeks behind, but still intending to head slowly south to Fussen, through Austria into Italy and now head to Sanremo and then round to St.Tropez/Cavalaire sur mer.
Tonight we go to Bad Turkheim just to early for what is described as the biggest wine festival in the world which starts in 4 days time. Personally I'd hang around as it looks like being fun but we settle for cycling in and looking around at the festivities being assembled. Town is home of a Saltine - a huge wooden structure housing an enormous wall of blackthorn twigs 333 metres long through which saltwater from a spring is pumped, the resulting fine mist recreating  an ozone atmosphere through which you can walk for 1.50€
to benefit the respiratory system......seriously. I had 1.50€ worth and felt much improved.😇
10.09.2014
Let's go to Alsace. Pleasant run from Germany to France and pitch up at a winery in Eguiseheim  which is an extraordinarily pretty little village with the prettiest church we've ever seen anywhere. Worth a detour if you pass that way. My bike playing up.
11.09.2014
Let's go to Germany ( didn't we just come from there ?)
Head to Uberlingen on lake Constance (Bodensee) and aire but weather unpleasant. Mean to stay a couple of days but move on to.....
12.09.2014
Reutte in Austria, south of Fussen. Nondescript  campsite rather waterlogged. Move on to.......
13.09.2014
Glorenza, just into Italy. Very scenic route as given to us by Big Malc, avoiding motorways and thus the necessity for hiring  toll boxes for the cab, being over 3.5tonne. A slow route, made worse by being a Saturday and route of a long distance enduro bike race that was hell to negotiate on narrow mountain passes and for which we kept being held up by polizia where they rejoined the main road after off roading. Began to hate them.
First attempt to find aire is thwarted by 3.5m archway through town walls which I chicken out of attempting as it looks too narrow and cannot decide where the 3.5m height is measured as shoulders of arch look low.
Subsequently watch bus go through so would have been OK but track down to aire is down v.narrow rock sided alley and disaster waiting to happen. Park illegally ( as we realise later) in car park bus spaces and walk round town. Decide to push on somewhere else. On way out, M rings us from behind just as my handbrake jams on at traffic lights as the extender has worked forward and cannot depress the button. Not receiving an answer, M jumps out, and runs up to tell us she has spotted a campsite as I wrestle with handbrake on steep incline, petrified that if it releases suddenly I'll probably roll straight back into Derek. I may not have been very diplomatic but I did apologise later. Free handbrake by punching extender hard enough to shift it back a few  cms which brings it close enough to depress button. Later repositioned and bolts tightened. Am not happy bunny and drive off uphill and out of town. Spot a campsite below us in valley so take next right and work our way back to very smart campsite who want 42.50€  but have an aire in front with all amenities for 15€ which we take. Cracking views of mountains and glaciers across the valley. Walk back to town through orchards which us very old and pleasant.
14.09.2014
Bloody Italian roads and difficulty finding Aires so management decision to go Monzambano from where we cycle to lake Garda in the sunshine along the river mincio which was exceedingly pleasant.
15.09.2014
To Genoa, or Arenzano to be precise and extremely scrubby but typical Italian campsite. We pay ACSI price of 15€ which is still too much but how much worse for Brits we talk to who had not heard of ACSI and had to pay 33€ and be woken at 2am as dozens of  Polish rally cars arrive and commence noisily  putting up tents. Site has own beach which is black stone and still not worth 15€.
16.09.2015
D&M discover that campsite we have sold them at Sanremo doesn't take dogs so try to figure out Aires.. Locate one at Santo Stefano but when we get there, suddenly find ourselves committed to narrow, steep,twisty lane into the hills above town. Arrive at (totally empty) site, park outside knowing we will not be staying, awaiting D&M , when owner rushes out , insists on showing me around empty bomb site and tries to book us in at 25€ a night as big favour. D&M arrive equally shattered by approach road and when we say we're not staying, the price drops to 20€ . Almost tempted to haggle to see how low he'll go. Now have to turn round to retrace route and suddenly empty hillside becomes Piccadilly circus farm machinery and the corporation dustcart.. I lose my cool and management decision to sod Italy , I'm off to the French Riviera. So off to civilisation and aire at Ste. Maxime where we watch Czech motorhome drive off in a huff and reverse into German motorhome. Find Carrefour and excellent soupe  de poisson and tarts aux fraise to go with our trout salad..
17.09.2014
Arrive Port Grimaud and Prairie de la Mer.  Site heaving and at 9.15 there are 6 vans ahead of us waiting to get in. Ring Cavalaire to find they are full too so join queue and wait about an hour and a half but we do get 2 good pitches together so here we are for at least a week and maybe longer.