Don't drink the Pepsi.

Wednesday 31st October 2018 - Peñìscola

We had a lot of rain in the night.....best time of the day for it to rain.  Hopefully that will be enough rain for the average monthly rainfall and we don't get any more.

Our first task was to drive to a supermarket and were caught out by a helpful member of staff who asked us what we wanted.  We didn't really know what we wanted and we didn't know how to tell her we didn't know what we wanted......hope you understand.  Anyway, we bought food to last us for two days to get past All Saints Day.

Our target today was a little place on the coast called Peniscola but first we wanted to stop at Tarragona which has lots of Roman ruins and is on the Via Augusta Roman road.

The amphitheatre is in a great position next to the sea.  Their was a chariot racing 'circus' that's only partially visible and a forum.  The cathedral was also worth seeing although we only saw the outside.

Someone must have nicked the steeple?

Tarragona is famous for its pyramids of people but we were really surprised to see this one.  It caused quite a stir, especially when Janice pushed forward and climbed to the top!

Certainly well worth a visit but we moved on.

I'm not sure what I can get away with when I talk about Peniscola.  We arrived at our site and cycled into the pretty hillside town that has beaches on two sides and a fortified castle on a hill on the peninsula.

The sun had come out but it was a quite a windy.  It was nice and quiet.  All the hotels and restaurants looked closed but we could imagine it being really heaving in the summer as the beach on either side was long and had hotels and apartments as far as the eye could see.

Here is the photo I posed for.........

This is the photo my naughty wife took!!  Needless to say we didn't try the Pepsi because we didn't know what they may have put in it!

I think that's as far as I can push it.......possibly too far!  

No hallowe'en costumes for us and no nick knocking on other motorhomes....it's not a bad idea now I think of it!

Off to Valencia tomorrow.

Viva Espania

Tuesday 30th October 2018 - Roda de Bera, Spain

You guessed it we have motored south into Spain.  We had plenty of thoughts about what we should do.  We thought about visiting Perpignan and then moving to Spain and stopping near Girona but the weather forecasts for that area seemed to be changeable, so we thought that we should head further south to get some settled sunny weather.

Today had actually been bright and pleasant all day.  We took an executive decision to use toll roads to help our journey.  This is the first time we have used them.....it hurts my principles!

The objective was to get south of Barcelona and find somewhere to stay for one night.  We stopped at the first service station in Spain.  It was pretty quiet, maybe because we stopped before lunch time.  We went to the counter to order two coffees and it suddenly dawned upon us that we now had to try and speak in Spanish.  I had to use all my six Spanish phrases in one go....

Buenas Dias 

Dos cafe

Por Favore

Gracias

Amigo 

Adios 

What little I know does come in handy for ordering coffee but I need to learn some more, I think.  It will probably all be food related though.

We got passed Barcelona with only a small delay for a broken down lorry in the middle of the motorway.  Then we headed to the coast to find a small site near the beach at Roda de Bera.  It's just for one night but it is clean and functional and fairly quiet.  One of the first things we did was go for a walk along the beach.  The temperatures were up to around 18 degrees so we were much warmer than yesterday.

Couldn't resist a paddle.

It was just as we like it.....empty of people.  There are no hotels and the nearest town seems very quiet although there is a big marina.  I'm not sure if I could cope with the likes of Benidorm?

We need to do some shopping tomorrow because the 1st November is All Saints Day and if Spain is anything like France it will be a public holiday and everything (I mean everything) will be closed.  We intend to move on to Peniscola before travelling to Valencia for the weekend but it could all change.

All I can think of to finish off the blog today is.....Espania por favore!  You will have visualise me clicking my castanets and stamping my feet!

Cassoulet

Monday 29th October 2018 - Castelnaudray.

This our second night at Castelnaudray, it is east of Toulouse, halfway to Carcassonne.  It is a place we have previously passed by but never stopped.  We stayed on an aire which is next to the Canal du Midi and on the edge of the centre of town.  The weather has taken a turn for the worse.  It's very grey and we have had a little drizzle but it is the cold wind that is taking the temperatures down to 5 degrees Celsius.  We only intended to stay one night here because it had electricity and we wanted to keep warm without using our gas on the van's central heating system.  However, we are staying a second night, partly for the same reason but mainly because winds of up to 55mph were forecast for this afternoon and I didn't fancy being blown around on the roads.  The advance forecast is for the temperatures to go up but it is still rather unsettled for the next week in the south France and north Spain areas.

Yesterday we only had a walk around the town.  In 1210 the town was controlled by Simon De Montford, who had a decent reputation as a Christian Crusader but he was keen on wiping out the local Cathars.  He brought Cathar prisoners from a nearby village and had their eyes gouged out and their ears, noses and lips cut off. One prisoner was left with a single good eye, so he could see what happened and could tell others as a warning.  Nice chap!  He now has a University named after him in Leicester.

Castelnaudray claims to be the true home of the Cassoulet as that was the food they ate during the 100 Years War siege of the town by the English in 1355.  The Cassoulet didn't do them much good as the town was ransacked by the English led by Edward, the Black Prince, son of Edward III.  If you don't know Cassoulet is a one pot meal of duck leg, sausage and mainly beans.  

The Canal du Midi just behind our aire de camping.

We walked around the outside of a Rugby Stadium whilst the local team were playing Cahors but we didn't want to pay the 10 euro entrance fee and neither did we fancy standing still for over an hour when we were already cold.

This is a picture of the town across a basin in the Canal.  It probably would be lovely if the sun was shining.

Today's objective is to make a Cassoulet in the slow cooker.  We walked into town to get the ingredients and were pleasantly surprised to see the market was on.  So we got the duck and the duck sausage from a stall and some nice herbs and haricot beans too.  This is what it looks like now...

I just licked the spoon I used to stir it....yummy!

We have been out for a walk to the windmill on the other side of town.

Again, it would have been lovely in better weather.  The views to the north would be extensive.  We are going to brave the wind with another little walk along the Canal and then shower ready for our meal.  The shower will be interesting as we are using our new lightweight microfibre towels for the first time.  It can't be worse than using a flannel to dry off so I don't expect a problem.

The nights are long and dark now as the clocks went back on Saturday.  We will get snuggled up and warm.  Still not allowing ourselves any booze although it is tough when we are in a wine producing area and the food is so nice.  The produce definately tastes better.  We had some of Tim's hens' eggs for lunch....so eggy with deep yellow yokes.

Janice has read the blog and has given her permission for us to have 'a' glass of red wine with the Cassoulet, even though it is Monday.  Yippee.  She's easily tempted.

Gristly Rissoles

Saturday 27th October 2018 - Grisolles, near Montauban.

We had a lovely night with Tim and his neighbours Kevin and Karen.  We have met them before.  They are from Essex originally and Kev was a professional bass player and Karen had been a hairdresser and an air hostess.  We had plenty of good conversation and a lovely beef bouginon made by Tim.

The weather turned during the day and the night became rather cool.  For the first time we saw Tim's wood burner in action.

What a stove it is too.  The picture doesn't make it obvious but it is about four and a half feet tall and heats the whole house.  Tim isn't short of a bit of wood!

As the weather had become overcast this morning we headed south in the van.  We were aiming for somewhere around Toulouse but not Toulouse itself as we had been there last year.

We are going to try and be good for a while after enjoying too much good food and drink over the last few days but although we have been in France for a whole week we haven't had a pain aux raisin.  So, I put the omission right.

My food art is going through a surreal phase at the moment...sorry!

We called for a late afternoon walk at Cahors....another place we visited last year.  Then we settled for our overnight stop at a place called Grisolles, south of Montauban.  It is just a car park but it is an authorised place for camping cars, close to the town centre and next to the canal.  The local council seem to be in the process of refurbishing the waste water and toilet waste facilities.

The canal is nice with some exercise equipment along the bank, we couldn't resist.

The town had a nice looking church and not much else.

Since we have been in France we are noticing the differences between here and the U.K.  The food tastes of actual food....it still a national disgrace that we put up with cheap supermarket food that has lost its taste.  It might last longer and look good but give me the best taste every time.  Also, the facilities at all small towns are vastly superior to towns in the U.K.  Floodlight football pitches in all villages and towns.  The communities seem to have a greater civic pride and have cleaner streets and better floral displays and statues.  Town centres retain their character because all the large stores are kept on the edge of town.

There are some downsides though to being in France.  The dogs are very yappy, people wear big coats and hats when I think it is still T shirt and shorts weather and French camper van drivers seem to prefer to park as close to our van as they can...even when there is plenty of room elsewhere!  Do we have a magnet in the van that we don't know about?

Good news about the mattress topper.  You may remember that it was responsible for the bed not going fully up over the drivers seat and then the bed came down (hitting me on the head whilst I was driving).  Well it has survived a mattress topper review, since Janice repositioned it the bed stays up better and now we can keep it, hooray!

Lastly, I must explain the title of the day is a play on the town name of Grisolles.  It sounds a bit like Gristle and Rissoles put together.  Between Janice and myself we weren't absolutely sure what Rissoles were, but I thought they were either fried up corned beef patties or battered slices of spam?  I'm still not sure...I bet you are already salivating at the thought.  Anyway, my word play could have been worse, I could have used a different word to go in front of ...soles but enough said about that!

We are still expecting cool weather for a few days and maybe a little rain.  It's not what we came for!

Not Cricket.

Friday 26th October 2018 - Cussac

On Wednesday we said our fond farewells to David and Wendy.  It has been great fun travelling around with them.  We headed to a free aire de camping at a village east of Angouleme called Touvre.  The village didn't have any shops but it served its purpose as it was a 10km cycle ride into Angouleme.  It is a place I have been past many times but I have never been to see what it had to offer.

This is the river in Angouleme looking up to the historic city centre on the hill, where the steeples are.

The cathedral was distinctive and well worth a visit.  We had a nice coffee in the warm sunlight in a old square facing onto the Palais de Justice.

Yesterday we drove to our friend Tim's house in the Limousin countryside.

As normal we were amazed by the tranquility of the place.  It's like a 'Little House on the Prairie'.  We had a lovely welcome and a fantastic macaroni cheese meal, made with garlic and herb roulle cheese.....followed by a few glasses of wine.

Today we have had a lazy day around Tim's house and woodland.

This is his lake!  We picked a few sweet chestnuts for our aperros and made a little friend....

I couldn't get rid of this little cricket, I had to give him the brush off.  We saw a proper grasshopper later that was about four times the size of this chap and proper green coloured.  I suppose the title should have said that it is cricket!  We also collected some mushrooms....

But Tim warned us off trying them.  I think we will take his advice.

Tim has given us some of his chicken's eggs.

They came from Linda and Christine (he has named his chickens after a couple of ex police women).  I never though I would be looking forward to eating police women's eggs!  I better not fully name them.

Tonight we are eating in and a couple of local ex-pats are coming over for a beef bouginon.......I can't wait.

The weather is supposed to be turning cold tomorrow so we are travelling south pretty fast.  Not sure how far or where we will stop but that's part of the excitement of our travels.

Flogging a dead horse!

Tuesday 23rd October 2018 - Jarnac, near Cognac.

By the way, Disraeli lived at Hughenden which is close to Cliveden.  I must have read about it and got confused.....not unusual.

Sorry I have left such a big gap in the blog.  We have been travelling around with brother David and his wife Wendy (known as 'Windy' to her French friends, as they can't pronounce Wendy properly).  Their motorhome is a Benimar and David has joined a Facebook group of Benimar owners, they are his 'Benimates'.....the only mates he has!  Aren't I cruel to my family, they are lovely really and we have had loads of fun.  We have been having early evening boule matches and alternating our dining location...one night at D&W's van, the next at ours.

On Saturday we stopped at a site just outside La Rochelle, near the port area.  We cycled into the city and had a lovely day walking around the old harbour and shops.  It is really beautiful with white stone buildings and old towers at the harbour entrance.

On Sunday we moved to Soubice, across the Charente river from Rochefort.  We were about 10km out and had to ride over a massive road bridge to get to the town.  I have been here about 6 years ago but it is really well worth a second visit.  The sailing ship L'Hermione is a true recreation of a sailing ship  that Lafayette sailed to America in.  It is in harbour at Rochefort alongside a mock up sailing ship with full masts that is a high rope course for the public (at a price), kids were having great fun.  There is also the Corderie Royale which was built in 1666 for making rope.  The buildings are really long and thin.  We went into a cafe in the town square to have a 'panochet' (French for shandy), and we were serenaded by a busking accordion player.

The Corderie Royale.

On Monday morning we persuaded David into doing our morning exercise regime.  We couldn't keep a straight face when he was trying the thigh stretch whilst standing on one leg....he was all over the place.  It only goes to prove that you can 'flog a dead horse' but that isn't why I named the blog!

It wasn't very elegant.

The reason the blog was so titled is.....

because we found this horse and chariot in a supermarket entrance!  It definately needed some flogging!

We moved on again to Royan and its fantastic golden beach and concrete space rocket style Cathedral. It looks a bit like a space rocket launching pad.  We cycled down the promenade to an old lighthouse for more stunning views of the coastline.

All so lovely.

The weather throughout this time has been glorious as you can tell from the photos.  There has been a cooler breeze but the afternoons have been lovely and warm.

Today we moved to visit Talmont-sur-Gironde, a small, beautiful village on the coast.  It had an old Romanesque style chapel overlooking the coast.  We had lunch and then travelled to the brandy making area near Cognac.  We stopped to wild camp on a car park at Jarnac, looking over to the Courvoisier headquarters (sadly the tours are closed out of season, so no samples).

Talmont.

We won the boules competition for the first time and Janice and David won at whist.....don't we live an exciting life!  We had plenty of drinks on our final night with David and Wendy.

The victorious boules competition.

Spot the Crustacean!

,Friday 19th October 2018 - Apremont, Vendee, France.

We have fitted in quite a bit in the last two days.  We were crossing the channel on Thursday evening/night to arrive in St Malo this morning.  However, earlier on Thursday we fitted in another NT property to fill our day.  We had several choices but we picked Cliveden, on the basis that it was Benjamin Disraeli's home.  How wrong could I be!  It turned out to be originally built in the 1600's for the Duke of Buckingham but it's current appearance is largely due to the rich American family the Astors.  They became totally integrated with high British society and Nancy Astor became the first female MP to take her place at Westmister.

Not a bad country pile?

The house is actually leased to a posh hotel and the NT are allowed to do tours for 6 hours each week.  We managed to get on a tour.  If you don't manage to get on a tour you can book a suite for around £1,200+ per night.  Alternatively, call into the hotel and ask if you can have a coffee in the lounge and see what response you get!  The guide was very informative and we learned that the house was where the Profumo Scandal first started (John Profumo, a Government Minister who met Christine Keeler, 'an exotic dancer' who was also seeing a Russian diplomat).  More recently Meghan Markel spent the night before her wedding to Prince Harry at the hotel. 

We walked around the gardens and had a lovely day. 

We set off to Portsmouth to get the ferry.  Apart from driving on the M25 traffic jam for about 15 miles, qwe were still at the docks in plenty of time.

The sailing was good.  We enjoyed the Brittany Ferry restaurant and I was tempted to buy a duty free bottle of Black Bush whiskey which was good value and we had a dram before bedtime.

The morning arrival in France was on time and the sky was beautiful and blue.  We managed the driving on the right and stopped off at an old town called Dinan.  I have been previously but Janice hadn't been.  There is the old town centre and a steep hill down to the Rance River.  It was really beautiful.

I had visited with my brothers on a cycling trip and we had enjoyed trying (and failing) to cycle up the cobbled hill to the old town.

We bought some stuff for lunch and then set off towards David and Wendy's house.  We had an alfresco lunch enroute.

Then Janice took over the driving.

Here she is driving across the bridge over the Loire.

We arrived at David and Wendy's house and in the afternoon we visited St Gille Croix de Vie.

Usually David and I manhandle Wendy in a photo but this time it was the girls turn to manhandle David.  We had temperatures up to 20 degrees and gorgeous sunshine.

Here is David having a little problem with 'crabs'!  He is a fool.....it runs in the family!

We are staying at D & W's house tonight and will both set off in motorhomes for a few days.  We are aiming for the La Rochelle area.  Wifi may be scarce, so I don't know when the next blog will be.

I am still wondering where Disraeli lived?