better prepared

Nearly three weeks in the UK and I haven’t thought of blogging.  It’s been a busy visit what with visits to the dentist and opticians for me, a service, MOT, welding work, wheel alignment new windscreen and failed attempt for new music system for Percy, it all takes time and is absolutely necessary.

Those were the obligatory chores, the fun times were spending most of the time with friends and family, catching up with folk that I haven’t seen for years, swapping stories, good food and wine and generally being with the people that I love and that matter to me in the UK.  I never get to see everyone, there just isn’t time but I try to ring the changes and make the most of every visit.  

It’s never really a time that I think of blogging, not intentionally, it’s just how it is.  It’s time being ‘at home’ even though I flit from place to place and am never static for that long.  Perhaps that will change now that I have a longer term project on the go.  My trips back to the UK being more like travel and the periods in my new home being more settled.  That’ll take time to come true whatever as there is a massive journey to undertake on that plot of land without going anywhere.

I am more prepared, now that I am on my way back to france.  Percy arrived back with empty cupboards, feeling lighter than he had done since we set off over a year ago, most of his load stored in a neighbours barn whilst we are away.  During the last few days I have emptied all my possessions from Dad’s garage, thoroughly sorted them and chosen those items that I think shall be the most useful.  Tools and equipment, tents and camping furniture, books from the loft and bedding for guests, my own strimmer for cutting down the weeds and a hammock for lounging under the big oak tree when it’s too hot in the heat of the day.  

Poor Percy is fuller with things that I have ever seen, hopefully not excessively, he is a transit van after all, but the journey back to Vieuzos will be quicker and more direct.  I’ll be on a mission to get there, with a mission to continue once I arrive.  I may be gone from these pages for a while, until I get power and a phone line, not that on the odd occasion I won’t think to use the internet cafe up the road or a visit to friends and have a sneaky ten minutes on line.  

private viewing

Torrential rain convinced me to stop earlier than planned and the tourist office provided me with a local map guide of garden possibilities, the most interesting, an orchard of historical varieties of french fruit trees, open solely at the weekends and in the afternoons, it was a bit out of the way and quite a long time to wait seeing as I had arrived early afternoon.  I dodged the downpours to try and find a well promoted pottery exhibition in the town but was let down, the signage lacked somewhat and after an hour of searching the streets and an absolute soaking, retired to a bar to contemplate my next move.  A day to wait was too long just for some fruit trees, plus I’ll probably be passing again and can plan specifically to arrive at the right time.  I stayed over night and set of bright and early into a new sunny morning.

French tourist offices are there to promote their departement and possibly , though to a lesser extent, the region, so if the office is located on the border of two or more departements they will only provide you with tourist information for that specific departement even if there are fascinating things to see a mile or so away over the border.  I wonder if it is the same in the UK, perhaps I should be a tourist back home from time to time.

I jumped regions and found an interesting flier for a private garden, open weekends only during the summer months.  Being Sunday I was in luck so plunged into the countryside, sat nav in full swing, to find this out of the way location.  The lady of the house greeted me with a smile and explained that, due to the chance of downpours that visits were not available today, the ground was muddy and too slippery and she feared that I may take a tumble.  I asked if there were some areas that were flatter that I could see, but she was insistant that it was not to be.  There were ruins of an old castle next to the gardens and she kept gesturing towards them and the moat as she explained the situation.  I thought it was a bit odd that I couldn’t even explore the obvious flatter areas around their house but decided to go on my way. As I left a asked if there were other gardens open in the area, “Gardens” she said “you want to see the gardens” “Oh, that’s nothing to do with me, that’s my husband, he does the garden tours but people only ever come to see the castle remains so I just assumed that you would too”  She hurried off to find her husband, a friendly talkative chap, who appeared to have been taking a nap, who she explained would be giving me the tour.

I would have been quite happy to have wondered around for a while on my own, but to have a guided tour was something rather special.  He was passionate about the space that he had created, drawing inspiration from greek and roman mythology, the transformation of spirits and gods of the time into worldly beings, the colours and moods they represent and are depicted in myths and legends and how he interprets them into his designs.  It took all my french and a bit more to keep up with the names of mythological creatures and the reasonings behind his ideas, it was fascinating a concept,  linking the two, seemingly unrelated topics, that I had never come across before, but with the explanations provided made perfect sense in the setting.  

Fairly formal plantings around the house, in various themes of colour and form, slowly transitioned, with distance into wilder and wilder areas, melding into natural woodland towards the boundaries of the property.  Clearings here and there with garden art, sculptures, gazebos and other points of interest, a small ornamental potager (vegetable garden) surrounded by wicker hurdles, a collection of citrus - standing outside in their pots for summer and an oriental themed area with japanese maples, prostrate conifers and decorative glazed pots.

I was so engrossed with discussions, and with such a personal visit, completely forgot to take any photographs.  It enabled me to concentrate on the subject without focussing attention on framing shots and getting angles, I probably remember more of this garden than I do of the others where I happily snap away, documenting my visit for later reference.  We strolled the gardens for about three hours, talking constantly, discussing the various aspects along with the trials and tribulations of gardening, the fact that he had never envisaged opening the garden to the public at the start and more amazingly that he lives and works in Paris all week, only spending the weekends in the country.  I couldn’t discover the nature of his work, but he  has certainly achieved amazing things in the time that they have had the house.

percy needs an MOT

Percy is due for his MOT, so I’m heading back to the UK for a bit.  I booked the trip ages ago, thinking that I would have been well and truly installed in Vieuzos, but paperwork has been slow and my departure feels far too swift, I’ve hardly got my feet on the ground and I’m heading off again.  But go I shall and will make a good trip of it too.

The journey started well, with the dates of a new month not corresponding with the days of the week, so I set of a day early, thinking my ferry was on Tuesday the 2nd, and not on the Wednesday when it actually departs. I had an extra day to get to Calais. The early start was not without reason, as I was to find out en route.  First stop, Chalets Tendille on the outskirts  of Toulouse, to pay deposit for my chalet.  There was an offer on special offer, almost the exact same building that I had chosen, but in a thicker and so more solid insulating wood, with higher quality window and doors, floor included (the other model it was extra) all for less that my original choice.  Even with an additional window I am saving on my original purchase price.  I had nearly put a cheque in the post to save time!!

Chalet ordered, my next scheduled stop was at the channel, some four days later, so I took my time.  An online calculator suggested that the journey, using motorways, should take about 12 hours.  I tend not to use paid motorways, as my speed doesn’t warrant the extra expense, plus it’s rather nice to see some of the countryside up close and pass through some of the smaller interesting towns along the way.  I increased my driving by half to 18 hours and wasn’t far out.  With a few diversions taken into account it actually took 19.5 hours for the 817 mile journey, comfortably spread over four days with plenty of time to stop off along the way.

To break the journey I did gardens, gardens of all shapes and sizes, in search of inspiration and ideas for when I get going.  The first, a newly opened site, linked to the art  museum of Cecile Sarbourdy , an interesting concept of entertainment and ecological ideas, demonstrating green manures, a mixed fruit orchard, herb gardens and a demonstration garden of the huge variety of plants within the cabbage (brassica) family, along with more formal, established gardens to the front of the museum.  A fascinating idea and somewhere I’d like to revisit in a few years to see how it develops.

part of the cabbage collection

an orchard, the first season after planting

green manures, planted for all to see.  Thew will be dug in to the
ground or composted before the seed sets.

an older formal part of the gardens

percy in the snow

The snow remained pretty much everywhere from that morning on.  I left later that day for a week in the UK, fully prepared to return to a damp grey valley, how wrong I was.  It had continued to snow sporadically throughout the week and as I returned to the mountains became increasingly worried about retrieving Percy from his mountain hideaway so that we could continue our travels.  Way down at 500m there were mounds of snow on the sides of the roads, evidence that the snow ploughs had been out already.  Further into the mountains, climbing, there was more snow than I could remember from previous years when arriving at the start of the ski season.  Now, there was another month to go and it looked like a midwinter scene.  The tiny road up to Barrancoueu, Pierre’s village, was clear, just, with deep snow everywhere around,  it was odd to see the poor trees struggling under thick coats of snow, still clinging on to their autumn leaves and fields that had been vibrant green not that long ago transformed into a black and white wonderland.  Time to get out there and enjoy.

all covered in snow

a good bit of insulation!!

biarritz

Biarritz has been a fairly topic of conversation when beaches and surfing has been mentioned in the past, so as I was passing closer than I had ever been, it seemed a shame not to take the opportunity to visit.  The weather was still exceedingly warm and sunny for the time of year, so I headed there immediately I had crossed the border.

A smart, well proportioned beach town, with cliff top hotels, a casino, interesting shops and plenty of moneyed inhabitants.  Interesting when mixed with a large beach bum/surfing population who lived for the next storm and the perfect wave, a can only imagine that both parties tolerate each other and get on one way or another.  With Percy I didn’t fit into either category, but into the weird and wonderful world of the motor home traveler, not that I really feel at home there either.  Just as well as I spend very little time in the allotted camper van parking area as the town and beach are so much more enjoyable.  

The sea was rough with brilliant waves for surfing.  I momentarily wished that I had packed my wet suit and body board, but logistically there really isn’t room.  Swimming is a close second, though after the med last month and the chilly river beaches I had enjoyed in Portugal I severely braced myself for the freezing atlantic waters.  What a pleasant surprise, in comparison to icy river dips, the sea felt warm and playing in the waves was great fun, I lasted a good half hour before feeling the chill and quickly warmed myself in the sun afterwards.  A couple of mornings cycling round the town and the afternoons beach side was a great treat and a wonderful way to pass my birthday, I treated myself to a cliff top restaurant meal to celebrate the passing of another year and the renewed opportunity to further my plans.  Tomorrow the search would become No:1 on the agenda once again.

spot the surfer

the southern side of town

sunset over the spanish coastline

funky modern aquarium

18 October 2013.  birthday boy.

yes Milady, I stayed in Milady

portugal through spain towards france

I stocked up with stores and provisions for the future at the local market and shops, treated Percy to two new tyres (much cheaper than in france) before heading off once again.  Through the hills of Sierra d’Estrella, across the border into Spain.  

It was the first time that I had been in Percy alone since leaving the UK which made it kind of strange for the first day or so.  No one to chat to or marvel at the scenery, no one to map read or program the sat nav.  On the other hand it was peaceful and there was no one to explain to when I took unplanned diversions or stopped for an hour or too to look as wood burning stoves, agricultural machinery and second hand junk. 

Spain passed quickly, with one overnight stop in Bergos, somewhere I would happily visit again, though apart from that, not the most interesting route.  I shared it with a huge quantity of trucks, mainly portuguese, heading in the same direction, up to northern europe with their cargos of goods.  I was glad to get the main part of the journey behind me and return to france.  

Next stop the beach for a few days, a little pause to gather my thoughts, enjoy the last dregs of summer and hopefully get a final dip in the sea before winter.

evidence of a recent forest fire

well burned but with a little regrowth

Percy taking a break after a long climb

road and rail pass through a huge gorge

back on the flat........again

suburban apartment blocks ( could be anywhere in (Spain)

crossing the border

I did hesitate, when entering Portugal, whether to follow the estrageros (foreigners) instructions and log my credit card for the automatic tolls but I’m glad that I did.  Three days ago, as I left the country, the border police took my passport and registration documents and checked that all was in order before letting me leave.  I cannot imagine the amount of hassle that would have caused, all for fifteen or so quid I spent.  You put in your card, the machine has already read your registration plate and it gives you a receipt.  As you travel the motorways, the vehicle passes under camera gantries that automatically note that it is your vehicle and deduct the appropriate (displayed) amount from your card.  No slowing and stopping at a toll gate, no scrambling for change and clambering to the wrong side of the cab to pay, no wondering if the barrier will close too soon.  You just drive and it automatically does the rest.  Big brother is watching you all the way.

I digress.

and on and on and on

salamanca for morning coffee

Salamanca was much quieter the following morning, an ideal place for a cultural saunter and a cappuchino before a day on the road.  Beautiful yellow stone buildings, ornate beyond belief, somewhere religiously important judging by the buildings of old and more specifically when seeing the ‘Universidad Pontifica’.  You can get a degree in priest or bishop or monastic management perhaps.  Who knows.  Yet it was definitely good for a visit, some historical insight will be good one day, perhaps to explain it’s being there and it’s grandness, but great to start the day.

Little did we know then, that we’d be leaving culture and Spain later that day and arriving in good time for dinner at Peter and Michael’s rustic and basic place deep in the Portuguese mountains.   Charmin informed me that our journey time to final destination would be four or so hours, so we went for it without hesitation.  That would give us two full days before Peter headed back to England, a decent time to catch up and spend some quality time.

Zaragza to Madrid

municipal campsite with apartment blocks in the distance

the smartest shower blocks I've seen so far

vast, arid scenery

more vast, arid scenery

After some good going early on, we missed out a stop and continued into the capital.  Our roads had been dual carriage way, fast and straight but quite boring to drive.  Optimum speed 53mph for fuel consumption gave us plenty of time to enjoy the endless plains of central spain.  The landscape in late summer was very dry, flat (on a large scale) interspersed with deep, fairly steep sided valleys and gorges, the agriculture varied and lush in the low lying, moister areas and rough pasture, scrub land  and a bit of grain up high.  With us being so quick, we decided that a day in Madrid would be good so we booked into the campsite for two nights, I took a dip in the pool before relaxing in the warm evening air.

after Barcelone

Where was I last?  Barcelona, that seems like an age ago, it probably is, come to think about it, the weeks fly by and the nights are drawing in again and I’ve moved on and on and on.

Joy and I crossed Spain with Percy at a speedy pace, managing to spend three nights with my brother before he headed back to England.  Our journey was enlightening, I had never seen much of Spain before, so it was all new.  We drove most of the first day avoiding motorways with tolls but on fairly fast dual carriage ways and got to Zaragoza mid afternoon, we stopped once en route to check out a crazy housing development and also took photos of the scenery as it flew by.  We booked into the campsite and then took a ride into town to see a few sites.  To the town centre was easy, Percy and I are getting more accustomed to city driving, the traffic, pedestrians and amazingly uninformative road signs that we had been warned about.  But where to park?  we circled the old town for a good hour, all the opportunities were height restricted and frequently underground, something I hadn’t really encountered before.  Further out, we discovered other car parks but all full and decidedly difficult to manouveur in .  We aborted our attempt to visit   returned to the camp site, cooked on board and checked out the plan for the following day.  Next time we’ll take the bus into town.

across spain

The next leg of my travels is with Joy.  I dropped the girls off at the airport with all their luggage - bicycle, child seat for car, child seat for bicycle, toys, regular luggage and the van felt suddenly larger, more spaceous.  Well, it would, four down to two and plenty fewer belongings. 

From the east coast of Spain, across Spain to nearly the west coast of Portugal, I am off to visit my brother.  He’s been living in Portugal for just over a year now and I am so excited to see what progress has been made since my visit last year.  We have chatted loads, but to see it all in reality is going to be great.  

Joy and I spent a couple of hours plotting campsites on a cheap map just so that we had some idea of where we might stay on our journey.  The idea is to catch glimpses of places en route rather than to visit them in depth.  Our timescale is limited as my brother heads back to England for ten days soon and we want to overlap before he leaves.

We visited Barcelona for a day before leaving.  It was Catalonia Day, the local region of Spain that is aiming for independence, and a local holiday.  Many shops were closed and tourist tours were limited to the morning so we made the most of those and spent the afternoon in awe of the vast numbers of people filling the streets in clebration/demonstration of the day.  Spot the Catalan flag!!

(still slow internet................º

traveling light as usual.....

Barcelona from the city tour bus

Magic fountain during the day

memorial for when Catalonia lost independence and was  merged into Spain

Catalan flag anyone?

traditional Catalan costume

A happy Joy in front of the official Barcelona football memorabilia shop

the coast

Our descent from the hills to the mediterranean coast was stunning, Charmin Garmin our sat nav unit took us cross country through amazing scenery, along tortuous, narrow, winding roads, past rock escarpments, up and down steep sided valleys down onto the coastal plains.  We stopped to check out a Cathar castle and have some lunch before arriving in Argeles sur Mer late afternoon.

Argeles wasn’t at all what I was expecting, I had visited Collioure in the past, the next town down the coast and was hoping for something similar.  How wrong could I have been.    (several paragraphs deleted here)

The positives were that the campsite was well equipped with a great pool complex that kept us well occupied, we had good friendly neighbours and we hadn’t actually booked a week, so we stayed two days before packing up  and heading on down the coast.  It was such a traumatic experience for Jacqueline that even a drive through Collioure couldn’t sway her to stay in France and we headed south into Spain.  Charmin Garmin did his thing as ever and directed us all the way to a campsite in Sitges the seaside town where we were to stay for the next ten days.  He did take us off the major route around Barcelona to give us a sneak taster of what rush hour traffic on one of the major arterial routes was like.  I took a deep breath, followed his instructions and came out the other side none the worse for wear.  I sure am getting used to van driving in foreign countries.

(no photos, very slow internet connection)

the end of another year

Another catch up posting after having been in the UK for a while.  I am back at Chalet Lou Rider for the winter again, my fourth season here and the place that I have spent the most time during my last four years on the road.

Christmas flew by in a blur of meal preparations, serving drinks, washing up and helping the new team get acclimatised to their new environment.  We are now in a slight lull before the excitement of New Year celebrations kick off, I have time and I am in the mood to write.

Where had I got to?

Matty and I returned to the Dordogne, to Matt and Wendy’s for a couple of weeks for a promised introduction into willow weaving as a thank you for the efforts we put in back during the summer.  Ben, one of the summer team joined us too, it all felt very easy and a bit like coming home.  We laughed, ate and drank as well as we had in the summer, enjoyed gite accommodation (indoors), got to see our roundhouse creation again which looked more amazing than before, and became part of the family for a second time. 

Hurdle making in progress

The finished article

We coppiced various varieties of willow, learned the basics of hurdle making and started a long curving in situ fence for one of their future projects.  Due to a prebooked flight I left before it was finished, but have seen the finished result, it looks amazing,  missed to salmon trap and fan lessons, but with a decent book, can’t imagine that it is hugely difficult to master in the future.

freshly cut willow varieties, with in started situ fence behind

progress with the curved in situ fence

I flew back to the UK at the end of November, in time to celebrate Mum’s birthday, make flying visits to some of my favourite friends and catch up with news and goings on.  It is always great to spend a decent amount of time with folk and share some love where I can.  Work on allotments, choosing Christmas Trees, reading books and playing with children, cooking meals and turning compost, walking dogs and shopping.  It’s all good fun and contributes to making life run smoothly.

My brother was home for a week too, so we got to spend a day together and almost has a whole family Christmas meal, unfortunately not everyone was able to make it.  He, however is much happier than when I visited him in Portugal and his house project is coming on leaps and bounds.  The track is finished, the house reroofed, has a new floor inside and a temporary wood-burning stove, he and his partner moved in on Christmas eve after several months in a caravan. I am so glad that they have somewhere warm and cosy to spend the rest of the winter. 

Windy's new roof

The land that I am looking for has been somewhat elusive this last year so I decided that another winter season at the chalet would allow me to pass the worst of the winter somewhere enjoyable, warm and in a location that might allow me to visit land possibilities should they arise, continue to improve my french and learn further kitchen skills from our great chef Mark.  I arrived by Eurostar again, by far the most comfortable way to travel with extra luggage, complete with hundreds of tea bags and other english supplies, straight into a busy chalet.  

Chalet Lou Rider

My quiet morning is disappearing fast, with reservations coming in for lunchtime, new guests arriving and an extra ten eating tonight.  I’ll be needed in the kitchen soon to lend a hand and keep things running smoothly so I’d better upload this whilst I have time.  Wish you all a Very Happy New Year and hope that the coming year is a good one for you all.