Heading North

In our last blog we were enjoying our long stay in St. Aygulf, we really loved the beach there and went almost everyday to soak up the sun and swim in the sea- we even saw some fish- which was a nice surprise to just sand, sand, sand!

Daniel Craig, eat your heart out

In the sea

We left here on the Monday and started heading North and ended up in Chateroux Les Alps , which took about three hours as it was all windy and mountain roads and through the French Army training ground- we didnt see any soldiers or tanks though so either they are having a holiday OR are doing their job very well...
The campsite we arrived at only had one more day left of low season- ACSI price at a lovely 14 euros for the night. And the place was beautiful as it was surrounded by mountains and streams, as well as offering free wifi and practically a toilet block per campervan! The toilet facilities were very modern and cleaned everyday and the showers were the best that we have had since being away as they were power showers that stay on allll the time! HEAVEN! However, we did only stay here for one night due to cost, deadlines and there didn't seem to be that much to do but it was a nice stopover.
In the morning we left early and started to make our two hour journey to a campsite near Grenoble... the first hour drive was very tight, very narrow and very steep mountain roads so we were very happy once we cleared that part of the journey. with this in mind, I hope you can imagine our dismay and dread when we were sat at some traffic lights and Steven announces that he has left our priceless ACSI discount card with the owners at the previous campsite!! (This happened because the campsites ask for the discount card as a deposit until the morning we leave)
So, we did a quick U-turn and made our way back through the very tight, very narrow and very steep mountain roads in Bert the Merc, to the campsite to get our ACSI discount card back. And then back we went for the third time of the day, up the very tight, very narrow and very steep mountain roads back to the traffic lights but instead of turning back, we actually got to see something new and different once we had been in Bert the Merc for over three hours, with just over an hour left to go until we reached the next campsite. Luckily, the views had been brilliant and we got loads of photos which is one of the many perks of not going on the toll roads!
When we eventually arrived at the campsite near Grenoble we were exhausted and were looking forward to spending a few nights on the campsite which had a swimming pool and a pebble beach into a stream, so we hooked up and went for an explore! Quite quickly we new that this was not the one for us as the toilet facilities looked like they hadn't been cleaned in...well... a disturbingly long time. We are talking clouds of flies in the toilet cubicle, and the pebble beach was pretty but was more of a rock beach so you couldn't lie down or even go in without breaking your foot, so we chilled for the evening and then left the following morning. We must add that a positive to staying here, albeit briefly, was that when we went to pay we were charged 14 euros without tourist tax, whereas we thought it was going to be at least 16 euros. Every penny counts!
We knew that there was a five star campsite about an hour and a half away that was still accepting ACSI discount so we headed there, praying for better luck. And my, oh my, we got it!

Lake Annecy

This five star campsite is located in Doussard, which is just off from Lake Annecy, and has a pool and bar and restaurant- and has been the friendliest campsite we have been to so far. Absolutely loved it! We only wished we had come here sooner as only stayed three nights- we have even said that we would go back again for a holiday in the future. The facilities were lovely and we got our baguettes from the little cafe in the morning, and we even treated ourselves to the home-made pizzas from the restaurant on the second night! we were also given a map of the cycle routes that went around the lake and to surrounding areas. Out first bike ride was on our first day and lasted a couple of hours as we got to half way around the lake and then had an ice cream at one of the cafes on the lakeside. The cycle route was brilliant, and there were pro cyclists everywhere but also families so was very welcoming and easy going as long as you stayed aware. When we came back from our bike ride we were chatting to one of our neighbours who mentioned a waterfall that can be cycled to- they had driven there but we fancied the cycle.

Cascade D' Angon

 This route was a different one to the day before which was ideal but we did still get to see the lake, it was about 6km to the bottom of our ascent to the Cascade D'Angon. The climb to the waterfall- Cascade D'Angon took about an hour to walk, and was totally worth it! Beautiful view and something that we probably would never have heard of or seen if we hadn't spoken to the couple next to us. After an explore, had some leftover pizza for lunch and took some piccies we headed back to Bert the Merc and collapsed in a heap by the pool :)

              Cascade D' Angon

Riding through a tunnel

Cascade D' Angon

Trek to Cascade D' Angon

Our three nights quickly whizzed by, we left Doussard on Saturday morning and headed to Chalet Sophie, which is in Morzine, in the French Alps, to meet up with Stevens family! This drive was full of more mountain roads and cool views as we saw snow on the tops of the mountains more and more frequently, and the roads were packed with motorbikes, especially Harley Davidsons (we later found our that there was a convention in Morzine, that a few years ago had seen Status Quo play for free!). Meeting up with Stevens Mum and her partner-Dave, Uncle Tony and Aunt Ginny and Nanny Jan was great! The chalet is amazing with a hot tub! We got some rather quizzical looks when we declined the two beds in the chalet for our bed in Bert the Merc- but he is our home and we wouldn't dream of sleeping anywhere else when our own bed is so close!
After doing a quick food shop and unpacking, we all sat outside in the sun and had a very good catch up- it is surprising how nice and refreshing it is to have other people to talk to instead of just the two of us! We also got given some goodies from home which included a kindle for Steven, Modern Family, The big bang theory and Breaking bad box sets, lots of spearmint polos, a book for me :) some English biccies and other home comforts :)
We chilled for the rest of the day, nattering and sunbathing and reading in the hot tub- absolute heaven! It has been a holiday from out holiday! Oven cooked meals and loads of variety, constant wifi and no cooking for me! Me and Steven are going to cook for everyone tonight as a thank you as it has been brilliant, and its not over yet as they don't leave until Saturday and its Wednesday today!

On Monday we had a day trip to Les Gets and got the gondola up Mount Chery- it was weird to see that the ski and snowboard holders had been taken off and been replaced with mountain bike holders. But that is what the mountains are used for in the summer and it was packed with mountain bikers in all their gear! Once we got off of the gondola me, Steve, Tony and Ginny went on the chair lift a little further up to have a better view! We even saw Mont Blanc and I saw it first!! YAY! The blind one wins again- thanks for the contact lenses Mum :)

On the gondola with Nanny Jan and Jo

On the chair lift

Monument of mountains

On top of Mont Chery

Chair lift!

Up the top was brilliant and there was a monument at the top which showed what mountains you could see as you walked around the monument- was very cool and handy! We then got the chair lift back down, which was another first, and had some lunch while looking at Mont Blanc. We then went back down the gondola and explored Les Gets which was a really nice town and had a nice ice cream!

Back at Chalet Sophie we all started to plan our 'Three countries in One Day' trip for the following day.
Which started by having breakfast in France and then travel through the Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy- which as exciting as it sounds, is just a 11.6km tunnel and cost 40 euros...
In Italy we were faced with tunnel after tunnel after tunnel until we finally got to see the Italian Alps! We drove to Aosta for our Italian lunch and ate in true Italian style with pizzas! We walked around Aosta centre which looked very Italian and pretty, and we found some very cheap but delicious ice creams down a back alley- six ice creams for 9 euros!
Back in the cars we followed Nanny Jans satnav which was programmed to take us into Switzerland, over St Bernards Pass. On route to our destination the satnav thought it would be fun to take us through a housing estate and then up a narrow road... well I say road, what I mean is not a road for cars but maybe for a bike.. or a person.. we did manage to squeeeeze through, rubbing the wheels on the wall, but thankfully we were not in Bert but in normal cars!

Thank God we weren't in Bert!

After this we stayed on normal roads and started driving on St Bernards Pass which was the best road we have driven on- ever! We even saw snow and stopped on the side of the road to play in the snow on the side of the road! In flip flops and shorts! When we got back in the car and continued up the mountains until we saw snow next to a mountain stream and had to stop again :) We walked in the stream and were shocked to find that the stream was colder to a point of painful than playing in the snow! We even had a refreshing slurp which was tasty and relatively clean, if not a bit gritty!

Eventually we did get back on the road again and drove over the St Bernards Pass and carried on through Switzerland to our dinner time stopover- Le Bouveret. Which was on Lake Leman and very picturesque and very Swiss. We had our dinner at a lovely restaurant which overlooked the lake where Steven, Jo, Dave and Nanny Jan had Mussles, Tony had lasagne, Ginny had carbonara and I had pasta and prawns in an orange sauce! Yum yum yum. We then headed back into France which took about an hour and a half, but our three meals in three different country challenge was a success!

Our stops so far

Today we are having a chill and can hear the thunder on the mountains while we blog and look through all our photos! Tomorrow our plan is to go to Geneva as we want to visit the CERN facility and go get wet under the Jet D'Eau!


Much love and happy camping!

French Army Base

France's 'hole in the wall'

Just some of our routes!

Why wouldnt our satnav
take us down here?

Mont Blanc

Steven in Italy 

Playing in the snow in Italy

Playing in the snow in Italy

Playing in the snow in Italy

Playing in the snow in Italy

Playing in the snow in Italy

Mountain stream in Italy

Colder than we thought!

Freezing!

Ginny dipping her toe in

Slurp slurp- mountain water

Tony in Italy

Another hairpin

 

Italy :)

Flipflops in the snow

2238  metres

wall of snow in July!

St. Bernards Pass

Switzerland

Mussles in Switzerland

Bert's ski shop :)

Sunny South of France

As promised here is the second part of our trip since Barcelona to date!

Chilling in Calogne

From Barcelona we then drove to Calogne which was a lovely campsite with a small but lovely beach- actually warm enough for us to get in and have a swim, the Saturday night we just chilled and Matt cooked us chicken on the Barbie, but as we were all quite tired from the day of stress, panic and then relief that The Slug was back on the road, we had an early night.
Sunday was San Juan so all the Spanish were gearing up for a party night, we chilled by the beach during the day and went for a swim, the beach was down a hill and there was a ‘train’ that took people down to the beach and back up every twenty minutes- this ‘train’ was actually a tractor with a trailer/carriage behind it. Nevertheless we young legged folk did walk it!

The Sunday night we went up to the bar and restaurant up at the top and had dinner and drinks- Steven had Paella (pronounces pie-yey-ya) which looked and tasted yummy! Bri had a bucket of Muscles and a salad- the muscles were so tasty! I had shoulder of lamb which was also very yummy and Matt had a burger. Which was very unimpressive in comparison to the rest of ours ;) !!

Steves scrummy Paella

We then went back to the vans for some wine and sangria to then be tempted back up to the bar when the karaoke started going- Steven crashed some Spanish lads’ version of The Eye of the Tiger and then volunteered to sing Kylies ‘I just can’t get you out of my head’ and practically carried a Spanish waitress who barely spoke any English to sing with him. It was hilarious. Matt then dared me to go up there in promise of a free jug of Sangria, so I helped a Spanish lad out with the YMCA which was fun and then had to go solo with Britney Spears’ One More Time. Why we do Karaoke is something I will never know but we cannot stay away even though we definitely should! After our singsong we headed down to the beach to watch the San Juan fireworks. And then stumbled into bed.

Before all the sangria and karaoke-

              Steve and Matt

Em and Bri

We left Calogne sooner than we probably would have so that we could help Matt and Bri get The Slug fixed as we found a Ford garage in Perpignan in France (we realise that we missed out quite a lot of Spain but are meeting family at Mont Blanc in July so knew we would either have to miss Spain or the coast of France so we chose to miss Spain this time round but go back in the future) so we dropped The Slug off at the Ford garage and all four of us went to the camp site- Saint Marie Plage this was not the way it had been described in the ACSI book- we were quite unlucky with the weather anyway as it was really, really windy, but the beach was horrible- it wasn’t exactly sand, more like broken up concrete so we couldn’t go there and relax, the pool was nice but very cold but we did sunbathe by the pool as that was nice, but the pitches weren’t great and even though we had Bri and Matt, in their tent on our pitch the campsite manager charged us over double to have us all on one pitch which worked out to be more expensive than if Bri and Matt had had their own pitch with just there two man tent on.

Ozzies roughing it in their tent

Which made no sense and we were only told this after our three night stay at this campsite and so couldn’t do anything about it. So we had a couple of boring and windy days in Perpignan but The Slug got fixed and we know never to go back there again! We then headed off again to Serignan! This is a five star camping site and you can see why! Both The Slug and Bert the Merc are on one pitch it’s so spacious- the awning is out too! It is a very family friendly campsite so there are a lot of children around so the pools are pretty rammed but everyone is so friendly it doesn’t matter! The beach is nice and has loads of lovely shells on it but the water is f-f-f-freezing! I got my results the day before so we all went out for celebratory drinks and a meal as I did well and got the 2:1 I was hoping for! We went to the on-site restaurant and had tapas for starter which was mouth wateringly good and so big that for a main meal we each got a burger and were stuffed! We then walked across the beach to a bar which looked nice and had some wine and beers there while a French DJ was entertaining everyone, this was a great night and a great way to celebrate! Bri and Matt headed back over to Spain after Serignan as they are going to Pamplona for the running with the bulls and then going to Portugal. So after Serignan we parted our ways but will hopefully see them and The Slug in Croatia and/or Italy in a few months and then in Australia! We are carrying on East along the coast and hope that the sea continues to warm up!

Bert the Merc and The Slug in Perpignan

We drove for two and a half hours to a campsite which was described as a four star campsite 'positioned directly on a fine sandy beach'. This campsite in Stes Maries-de-la-Mer was in the middle of nowhere and was more a barren desert with actual tumble weeds and the beach was boarded off by huge rocks preventing anyone to go swimming, there was a smaller beach in an alcove but this was not easy to get to and was more of a substitution to the promised beach and not really a proper beach. Needless to say we stayed there for one night and then headed out the next morning. This was on the Sunday and we quickly realised that we were pretty low on diesel so we were keeping our eyes peeled for a petrol station open on a Sunday morning... after two closed petrol stations and two with very low height restrictions we were getting pretty desperate when we finally found one attached to a supermarket and filled up from there, but this searching had cost us precious time so when we finally got to the campsite in Cavalaire-sur-Mer it was about 2pm. It took us so long as we were driving near the Alps and so the roads were winding and steep forcing us to keep Bert the Merc at a slower pace than usual, we then stopped for lunch at a bakery and drove past a British camper that had been staying directly opposite us in the previous campsite! Bizarre! When we finally got to the campsite at Cavalaire-sur-Mer they had closed for lunch so we parked Bert the Merc and headed down to the local beach which was down quite a steep hill but presented a beautiful, small beach. After going for a bit of a paddle we headed back to Bert and waited for this campsite to open only to find that the British camper that had camped directly opposite us the night before, and who we had seen on our way to this current campsite, was parked in front of Bert the Merc, waiting for the Cavalaire-sur-Mer campsite owners to get back from their lunch. I kid you not.
So we started chatting to them while we waited and when the owner did come out we asked how many spaces they had left for campers. He said one. Awkward... We told them to have it as we had seen a campsite just down the road so it wasn't an issue. The campsite further down was really nice and had three spaces left! highlighting the fact that France and the coast in general is about to get mega busy! We set up Bert the Merc and cycle down to a different beach which is a five minute bike ride away but is flat and leads to a much bigger beach. We really liked it here and there were loads of cafes and bars on the sea front so it really had an atmosphere. We stayed at this campsite for two nights as we were paying non-ACSI price, so 26 euros a night, and wanted to keep heading toward Nice so that we were closer to the Alps in preparation for our journey up the Alps to see the views and meet up with some of Stevens family :)

We got up early and left before 9am as we wanted to get to the next campsite at good time so that if it was full we had enough time to regroup and find an alternative without being rushed. We arrived at St. Aygulf, just North of St. Tropez, at about 10 and happily discovered that they had spaces and still offered ACSI discount offers until the rest of the week, which has become rarer as the high season begins, and we book ourselves in for six nights. We can really relax and get comfy here, the campsite offers a pool which is really nice and big, and the beach is a ten minute walk but we have cycled there the more recently which is really easy and takes five minutes tops! On our first walk to the beach we did find ourselves traipsing through the very nude and populated nudist beach. It is the first one either of us have been on and it was quite a surprise at how very very naked everyone is. All ages, all sizes and not a stitch in sight! Further up we found the regular beach which we keep to and the sea is lovely, lots of boats and jet skis in the distance and lots of small fish in the shallows. We love it here! Four more nights to go until we leave and we are heading to the beach bar tonight to see what that's like, and then we will be heading to the Alps! Very excited, and we will keep you posted.



Much Love and Happy Camping! xXx

Barcelona!

In true Freddy Mercury style we have been to Barcelona!

Bert the Merc, Em, Bri and Matt at Barcelona Campsite

We apologise that it has been a while since our last post but we have been without Internet for almost two weeks!
So, we have a LOT to write about so prepare for a blogging marathon! I will break it up into places so that it is easier to read but let’s hope for the best anyway!

Last time we blogged we said that we were on our way to Barcelona! This went as planned and we stayed at a camp site just outside of Barcelona, Camping Tres Estrellas, we were only a half hour bus ride away from the centre of Barcelona and the camp site was right on the beach and had a cracking pool- the best we have seen as of yet (!) but we were pretty much on Barcelona Airports doorstep and we can tell you that they have at least one flight coming out of Barcelona every 5 minutes. We can assure you, however, that Barcelona was worth it and we stayed there three nights (Wednesday to Saturday morning). The Wednesday day we just chilled by the beach and by the pool and started chatting to a young couple from Oz (Bri and Matt) who were also travelling around Europe in a campervan (The Slug) from London and they are going back to Australia about a week after us! They went into Barcelona on the Wednesday afternoon while me and Steve chilled by the pool and when they came back we met up with them at the bar to see what they thought of Barcelona. Down to pure coincidence they had walked past a Travel Bar which is from the company Travel Bound who offered a *FREE* walking tour of Barcelona!

The Slug

On the Thursday, me, Steve, Bri and Matt all went into Barcelona on the bus and headed for the eleven o clock walking tour of Barcelona. This was amazing and we all would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Barcelona as the man we had- Chris (Who was also from Australia!) was so knowledgeable of the history of Barcelona and where all the secret places to go were and what they meant, which we would have never known or understood if we hadn’t gone on the tour. Like the fact that the Catalunyan people who live in Barcelona are currently fighting for independence from Spain, they even have their own language, and they want Barcelona to be the capital of Catalunya, due to this passion to enable independent we saw many flags in Barcelona and in surrounding areas which represents their support for Catalunya to be independent from Spain. We also got to see remains from the many wars that have affected Catalunya and we saw the café which Ricky Christina Barcelona was filmed.


After the walking tour we had lunch at another Travel Bar and decided to go on the free Gaudi bike tour which was at 4pm and then go to a tapas and flamenco evening as a four. The cycling tour took us to see the beach, which is known as an artificial beach as the sand on the Barcelona beach is imported from the Sahara desert and the palm trees imported from Egypt in preparation for the 1992 Olympic Games. Then we cycled to the ‘Modernist Block of Discord’ which showed how Gaudi designed a building which was based on nature and so had no straight lines which was and still is completely contrast to those buildings surrounding it.


Next we cycled to Casa Batllo which was amazing! It was designed to look like a dragon, as it had bones as the windows and balconies and the chimney was in the shape of a sword, to represent the dragon being killed.

Sagrada Familia

We cycled through Park Ciutadella which is full of water features and statues. (Photos of all of these sights are at the end of the blog as there is a lot!)The next was the most impressive, the famous Sagrada Familia. This was incredible. If you don’t know about this then it is a huge church but doesn’t actually look like a church- it’s all weird, different, and unusual and was inspired by nature as well as Christianity. It is still being built now and they hope to finish it in 2026 as that will be 100 years after Gaudi’s death. The East facing side of the Sagrada Familia is based on the birth of Jesus, this is symbolic to the rising of the sun, and so the west side illustrates the death of Jesus as the sun goes down. The North side doesn’t have anything on it but the South side is still being built and is rumoured to represent the seven sins and heaven and hell. We didn’t have the opportunity to go into the Sagrada Familia on the bike tour but decided to come back to Barcelona the following day to get tickets to the Sagrada Familia! And boyyyyy was it worth it!!! I cannot express myself enough when strongly recommending a visit to Barcelona anyway but the Sagrada Familia is something so unusual and incredible, that it would be such a waste to go to Barcelona and not make the visit to this incredible church.


After the Sagrada Familia we cycled past the Monumental Bullring and learned that bull fighting had only just been made illegal in Barcelona- there had in fact been bull fights in this stadium just last year! Next we cycled under the Arc de Triomf which was not built of white brick but of red to show the Arabic influence on Barcelona and is as impressive, if not more so, as the arc de triumph in Paris, as the Barcelona one is not located in the middle of a roundabout!


We then cycled back to the Travel bar for a drink and then started heading to the tapas and flamenco bar. First was the Flamenco show which was so good! We have never seen a flamenco show live but have seen it on TV and stuff but it does not do it justice at all! It was such a powerful and exhilarating performance- the woman’s leg muscles were so impressive and the speed of which she moved made you just stare at her. After this finished we walked back to the travel bar for our tapas and me, Steve, Bri, matt and two Japanese girls had a table together as we had all been on the bike tour together, and the tapas started coming in! Yum yum yum! It was delish! Lots of cheese and calamari and peppers (or capsicums to the Auzzies) and bread and croquettes and lots more! And we had sangria on the side.

Tower in Sagrada Familia

The two Japanese girls were lovely and knew good English so we talked to them about Tokyo and where they had travelled before Barcelona- which has definitely made me and Steven want to go to Tokyo, so that’s another city on our loooong list of ‘Places to go’. It was then about midnight when we decided to get a taxi back to the campsite! Me, Steve, Bri and Matt met for breakfast the following morning and agreed that it was definitely worth getting the bus back into Barcelona to go into the Sagrada Familia and have no regrets, so we headed in just before midday and started walking to Sagrada Familia, which was definitely further away than we had first considered but Barcelona is a beautiful city so it was an easy walk. After finally getting our tickets (we had been told that you can buy tickets in a bank and skip the queue but after finding and walking to two of these banks and finding that they both did not work we just got into the line, which wasn’t as bad as it looked- it only took about 20 mins!) we headed into the Sagrada Familia. I don’t think any explanation of what we saw will truly represent this incredible architectural work and art but we have some photos for you to see- if any of you do get a chance to go we would strongly recommend it and would not hesitate to go in again once it has been fully completed. We paid extra to go up into the towers and I will say that this was great but if you have a fear of tight spaces then maybe not the place for you as it is tight! But is fantastic all the same!

Steve in a tower in Sagrada Familia

Em walking down a tower in Sagrada Familia

After this we got an ice-cream and started heading back to the bus stop- it was about 5pm- and we were all very tired after the hectic two days in Barcelona! We had a BBQ that evening at Bert the Merc and decided to get up and go the next morning and head to Calogne! So there we were driving in convoy, Bert and then The Slug (Bri and Matts ford Transit) and we decide to stop at a supermarket and get a few things. When we stop Matt runs over and says that The Slug is making some dodgy noises and the left wheel is hot to the touch, Steven has a look at it (to those who don’t know- Steve is a mechanic) and says that they need to go to a garage because it looks like the brake has seized on. Luckily there was a garage just down the road from the shop so we drove there. Unluckily we had forgotten that this day (the Saturday) was the start of the Spanish bank holiday San Juan- they were going to be shut until Tuesday and there was nothing they could do, to this Steven said to Matt and Bri to drive The Slug down the road to a back street so he can have a look at it- and he found that it wasn't the brake caliper itself but the hose that fed the brake caliper the brake fluid that had internally collapsed and so maybe he could do a temporary fix to get them to the next campsite which was only an hour and a half away. A jubilee clip, a bit of metal and some improvisation- and The Slug was ready to go!

More to come soon!
Much love and Happy Camping!


P.S. Click on the photos for full size images :)

Some more photos of us in Barcelona-

Inside Sagrada Familia

Matt, Bri and Steve

Park Ciutadella

Park Ciutadella

Park Ciutadella

Bike tour on cool cruiser bikes!

Inside the Sagrada Familia

Space Invader graffiti in Barcelona

Mountain we climbed ;)

Flamenco and Tapas

In front of the Sagrada Familia

Sculpture to represent the mountain of men
competition

Organ in Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Gothic Cathedral

'Artificia' Barcelona Beach

Top of a Tower of Sagrada Famila

Casa Batllo

Rain Rain Go Away.

Hola from Spain!

Bert the Merc <3

Yes it is true- we have crossed another border! Took us a while to figure out that we had in fact crossed the border as there is no 'WELCOME TO SPAIN' sign... the language and the font on signs just changed slightly and then its Hola Chica's and Au Revoir Madame's!

But hang on, I feel we have skipped a few steps so lets go back to our last blog and go from there :)
So... we were at the lovely campsite near St. Jean-De-Luz and we stayed there for a whopping 5 nights! As the first three nights were so good that we weren't ready to leave yet! Throughout our stay at St. Jean-De-Luz we did venture out in the kayak! Our first time!! In the sea....when the tide was coming in.... It was brilliant! We managed to mount the kayak successfully- with water, sun lotion and camera in tow (the waterproof one) and paddled out together, in sync and perfect harmony.... and then the waves came. I swear it had been flat as a pancake the whole day which is why we decided to give the kayak a go and as soon as we were out of the shallows it picked up. A lot. We were doing pretty well with hitting the waves head on and Emily was starting to accept that, no, this was not going to be one of those kayak experiences when only her ankles get wet. She was drenched. Steven, as ever, was uber supportive and caring, and decided the best thing to do when the waves hit us head on was to duck behind Em so that he only got a tad damp. So, there we were having a nice kayak and paddle, we saw that there were less big waves coming our way so decided to kayak to the side instead of head toward the horizon as we didnt want to go too far out. It was going really well until a huge huge huge wave started to form so we quickly started paddling on the right so that the kayak and us faced the beach- hoping that we could 'ride' the wave a bit as it was too big to face head on. This was insane! So much fun and we did manage to catch it for a bit- making sure that we stayed straight.

Bert in St. Jean-De-Luz
(Click me to Full Screen the Pic)

Which became more and more difficult the more we stayed with the wave. To the point which we were no longer straight but more to the left. So much so that, yes you guessed it, ooooover we went. It happened so fast! We were both under and when we surfaced Em had hold of the kayak (brownie points for her) and she still had her sunglasses on somehow! And we each had our own oars. But the waves were still coming so we had to wait it out a bit in the depths until Steven found a rock to stand on so he could steady the kayak as Em got back in it and then he followed.
Well. after that we paddled for a bit but the water in the kayak was getting a bit much so we headed for shore. considering the ease of which we got in the sea we thought it would be a doddle. This was not the case. After many falling overs on Emily's behalf and Steven losing the will to live, we got out, and we got the water out of the kayak, and we walked back to Bert the Merc. This whole escapade happened in less than an hour. We are still so keen to get back out there but only in less wavey conditions and maybe we wont go fully clothed and we will leave Ems bag with Bert... But next time maybe we will be less preoccupied in order for us to actually take some photos! :(

What a view!

In those five days at St. Jean-De-Luz we also went for bike rides most days and bike rode into the centre of St. Jean- De- Luz which was beautiful and we would definitely go back there as the beach was sandy and smooth and didnt have loads of huge rocks and boulders hidden in it so definitely worth a visit! We had our first meal out too- Pizzaaaaa yum yum yum! And we had a look around the shops. It wasnt warm enough for ice cream so Steven just had a waffle filling with Nuttela and then we cycled home again :)

St Jean-De-Luz

On the day we left St. Jean-De-Luz we had rain which was fine as we were just driving to Orio- in Spain! When we got there is was cloudy but not wet so we had a look round. The campsite we stayed on was a few minutes walk to the beach and was lovely- the best beach we have seen so far we reckon. As it was lovely and sandy but the waves were big too! We messed around on the beach and saw how close we could get (fully clothed) before we got soaked taking equal steps at a time. Hehehehe! There is also a hilly area which linked to the beach which we walked up which was very steep but led to some amazing views and as it was mild and overcast it was a nice walk! But unfortunately the weather only worsened and it started chucking it down. We only stayed in Orio for the one night as we feel there is no point sitting inside Bert the Merc doing nothing but paying for it. So we headed off again in the morning.

On our way to the Pyrenees

We were initially heading for Pamplona way as we wanted to check that out but the whole day was thunderstorm full so we stopped at a petrol station and had our lunch and then re-evaluated our plan which resulted in us going full whack. Another three hours driving and then settle. We ended up in Solsona which is where we are blogging from! Very nice area and lovely people but it is just a one night stop as the weather is still rubbish and we want to be proactive! The drive here though was incredible though! We drove through the Pyrenees, practically through the clouds sometimes! And the tunnels they have through the mountains are so weird. But so cool- we went though one which was about a mile long! under a mountain! We also got to see thunderstorms build and release over the mountains while we were driving and went around a beautiful reservoir which was more green than blue, with trees and boats in! We stopped and took a few pics so here they are :) This reservoir is known as the Sea of the Pyrenees.

Sea of the Pyrenees

We also saw this bridge which, as you can see, has some vital aspects of it, missing!

Boredom? Lack of funding? Or just a challenge?

So here we are in Sol Sona, trying to plan our next stop which we think will be...BARCELONAAA. Which we are very excited about! Unfortunately, we think that we will have to leave most of Spain to another time as we want to be able to spend four to seven days in one place and really set up camp instead of staying in many places for just one or two nights. So we are going to head to the East Coast and Med after Barcelona! And tan our English bodies.

No rude pics this time but loads of info and here is a pic of where we have stayed so far :)

Much love and Happy Camping


P.S. Thunder and lightning have found us once again! Ah the joys of European thunderstorms!

A Couple of random doggies
running down the Single Carriage-Way! 

Pretty and Pink

Hello Hello!

Rainbow Omelette by Chef Hall  

It has been five days since our last post and bliiiiiimey have we been moving! We are currently sat in Bert the Merc in St Jean-De-Luz on a lovely campsite which backs onto Erromardie beach! It is beautiful here and we have been on the beach all day, sunbathing and paddling :) its a bit rocky here but we don't mind at all! It has been beautifully sunny today and yesterday (hence the name of the blog... Steven is looking rather pink but hey that's what after sun is for right?!) and we welcomed it, as did everyone else in France as the three days before were overcast and even a bit wet!!! I'm pretty sure we were blamed for bringing English weather with us but now its sunny again the smiles have returned- Phew!

To be honest the first day of overcast weather was welcomed as that was the day we travelled from Argenton sur Creuse to an English run camp site in St. Foy-la-Grande which is on the banks of the Dordogne and was about five hours of being on the road. I can tell you now that it was not worth it. The campsite itself was nice enough but the 'scenic' and 'picturesque' local village was...not. Plus there was very very very little there so we only stayed one night. We did, however, make friends with a black Labrador puppy.

Bert the Merc in the Forest near Pilat Dunes

After a wet and underwhelming night here we headed on towards Bordeaux and ended up on a campsite which was in a massive pine tree forest and linked to the Pilat Dunes, this was really cool and felt very private and wild! As it was mild we were able to walk all the way to the top of the dunes... this sounds like a small achievement but do not judge until you have at least googled these dunes or actually walked up them. It was like a mountain. A small mountain but still a mountain all the same.

Top of the Dunes 

 At this awesome campsite there was opportunity to go paragliding off of the dunes which looked amazing and loads of people were doing it so we had to adjust to the sight of paragliders passing Bert the Merc throughout the day quite quickly! When we were climbing down the dunes a certain paraglider started to drop near the sand and someones German Shepherd thought that this was a FANTASTIC game and was sprinting toward this mans dangling legs and jumping up to try and catch him... this dog could jump pretty high too! (I do know a special dog who can jump a bit higher though !)  Luckily the man did get away without the dog in tow but it was a very funny scene to watch!

Nevertheless, we were on a mission and even though this campsite was nice, it wasn't perfect (we wanted beach, sun and a nice campsite!) so we continued our hunt for the perfect campsite for us and Bert the Merc :) so we headed to Biarritz!

The campsite we stayed on last night was in Bidart which is a few kilometres from Biaritz but promised a good beach just across the road! This was not a lie and the beach was gorgeous! But due to the wet weather and the nature of the campsite (on a hill) it meant that parking Bert the Merc was a bit of a palaver and we kind of slept on the wonk so we wanted to move on and see if some of the other campsites in the area were any better! We drove through Biarritz and even though it looked brilliant and we desperately wanted to set up camp and go explore ( we saw this cove-y bit which was over the sea and you could walk to on a rope bridge thing which looked amazing!) but it became painfully apparent that Biaritz was not camper friendly. At all. there was height barriers, and signs to say that campers could not park here, there and everywhere, and no campsites anywhere near Biarritz- the closest one we found via the satnav was 4km away and that wasn't 4km away from the centre, it was 4km away from the aire we found which wasn't close to the beach or centre :( it was gutting. However (!) we have put it on our 'holiday' list as we definitely want to go there as it does look cracking and beautiful but unfortunately Bert the Merc and the like, couldn't fit anywhere and weren't exactly welcome. So we had to find an alternative!

So here we are in St. Jean-de-Luz! And we love it! The campsite is lovely and cosy and FLAT(!) and the lady who runs it is so friendly! The other campers seem really nice too and the facilities have recently been refurbished. It literally backs on to the beach! We have booked ourselves in for three nights which will be the longest amount of time we have spent at one place since we left home! We were sunbathing today and even though Steven 'never burns' he is nice and pink! I did put factor 30 on him as I know he does in fact burn but apparently that sun wanted him good and proper. We are going to go surfing tomorrow and possibly venture out on the kayak! We also had our first BBQ tonight! You are probably wondering why we haven't been having these everyday since we left but it hasn't seemed right yet, but tonight was the night, kebabs, sausages and the trusty potato salad! And, of course, finished with Marshmallows!!! Yumyumyum!

The French do have a sense of humour... 

Just wanted to give a shout out to the birthday girl, a wonderful Mum and beautiful lady- Happy Birthday Mum/Jo! Hope you have a G&T from us!

Much love to all and Happy Camping!!

Lost....In France

Okay so we aren't actually lost but that song has been in Stevens head since we left Calais!

We are four days in and have been having a cracking time, but have had to come to terms with the fact that there is no such thing as 'beginners luck' for us... Bert suffered a stone to the left headlight on our way out of the UK, we have had a gas leak, and got stung by the Toll Road demons of France all in the first 24 hours.

However we have duct taped Berts poorly eye and magically fixed the gas leak by cleaning a gas valve with the help of a french mechanic, who was also the owner of the first camp site we stayed in, and have learnt how to make the satnav avoid toll roads and we know what they look like on the map now so hopefully we wont be stung again... we have resorted to pasta and beans for the next few days in hope to limit our spending. Scurvy anyone?

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Our First Night in France

Okay, so now you all know we are alive lets get to the details- the first day was a tired, expensive and loooong blur but the camp site we stayed in was beautiful, we have been using the ACSI camping card to find places to stay and the first one was in Bresels- Camping de la Trye, which looked to be a bit of a wild card as even though there was a swimming pool in the photo we are aware that most French campsites dont open their swimming pools until August, and the further description was quite plain. So when we turned up at Bresels we were blown away by the scenery (there was a small stream with a bridge at the far end of the camp site and so many flowers and trees throughout the site) and the facilities were incredible- warm and spacious showers and toilets, the swimming pools area wasn't open yet but it had recently been renovated and looked awesome! And there was a trampoline to play on! We were very impressed but needed to keep moving as the lure of Paris was becoming too much for us :)

The next day we headed off (after the gas leaked was found and then fixed) and ended up in a lovely area on the outskirts of Paris called Maison's Lafitte, where we stayed was on a small island too which made it very exciting, the village of Maison's Lafitte was beautiful and ever so friendly, and where we stayed was walking distance to the train station which was a 20 minute ride to Paris. Sorted.

Paris was brilliant as expected but not as expensive as we had expected which was a result, we left Bert at about 9 a.m. and got into Paris at 9.30 ish and headed to the Eiffel Tower; we even got a discount because we are under 24! There was a strike going on pretty much under and in front of the Eiffel tower about workers rights but that was controlled and we think it resulted in less people being around as we didn't have to queue for a ridiculous amount of time. We then had lunch in front of the Eiffel Tower on the green gardens which was lovely but we were on a mission so started walking from the Eiffel Tower to the Notre Dame! This was long and it was hot hot hot (34 degrees) but the sights we saw made it worth it and it was free... well Emily did need an ice cream at the end but she did share it. Kind of.
The Notre Dame was insanely beautiful and breathtaking and just incredible just from the size of it! Would definitely recommend it and would go in again! we did start to queue for access to the towers of the Notre dame but we waited for twenty minutes without the line moving at all and being about 100 people strong and decided to call it a day and started heading back at about 3pm.

We stayed in Maison's Latiffe for two nights without any hitches I might add and then headed off for a long drive to get as far as we could but still be comfortable. We drove for about 4 hours (France is bloomin' huge!) but did stop a couple of times to break it up for lunch and fuel and to take a photo of this sign that made us laugh a bit...

We are now camping in Argenton sur Creuse which is a lovely site which backs on to a calm river which turns into a raging and current filled river of death half way down which is interesting to watch but needless to stay the kayak is staying in the cupboard another night! This campsite is the first to provide free wifi which is why we haven't been replying to anyone and haven't blogged up until now. Tomorrow we are going to head off again as we want to get as close to Bordeaux as we can but don't want to get uncomfortable so we have a few campsites that are long haul and short haul distances away so the options are endless! We have met a lovely couple on this campsite (Dom and Jill) who are also in a Mercedes Sprinter!!! So... HI DOM AND JILL!

Right, we are off to go do traveller things now!
We will keep you posted if anything exciting comes up :)

Happy Camping!