Van Trip Part 4 - South Spain

19/8 Seville

The next day was a long day of travel to Seville. It was a little disappointing and very hot (47 degrees one thermometer said!) It was disappointing because the only thing we really wanted to look at was the cathedral but when we got there we were told we were too late even though the Lonely Planet book said we had heaps of time. We couldn't have gotten there any earlier because the buses didn't run in the middle of the day. So we looked around the outside of the cathedral and then looked at the Alcamara Palace. It was really really hot so we were pretty slow moving but the palace was nice. It was built in the Moorish style with nice gardens and a fountain. It was certainly good to be inside in the shade. We then continued on a walk around the shopping area of town, the river and the tower (which is the only part remaining of the old city walls). We stopped in the Maria Luisa gardens to get rehydrated with agua. In those sorts of temperatures even sitting down was a sweaty affair. After a short rest we moved on to the Plaza de Espana which was built for the world fair in 1929. It is a massive half square building with a lot of tiled details respresenting the different major cities and regions of Spain. Our stomachs were empty and we thought by now it might be a reasonable time to have tapas so we headed along to Calle Santa Maria la Blanca for tapas and sangria. We enjoyed baby squid, anchovies and some yummy roll thingies and in the sweltering heat the jug of Sangria went down a treat. We got the train back to the campsite. Mmm airconditioning... However we needed to sleep with the doors to the van wide open because despite being night it was still in the high 30s...

20/8 Granada
The following day we drove up and over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Suffice to say in over 40 degree heat the Iceberg was feeling a bit worse for wear by the time we arrived at the campsite. The Sierra Nevada mountains are stunning though. Very bleak and stretching on for miles. Different than the sort of mountains we are used to. After stopping at the campsite we got the bus into Granada. We got slightly lost and took the long way to the Alhambra Palace, which involved climbing up a steep hill in the hot weather, and as a result we arrived 2 people too late to get into the palaces but were still able to look at the gardens. Again according to the guide book we had plenty of time, but they seem to do things however they feel like it in Spain. So we looked around the gardens in the still scorching heat (only 44 degrees today). The gardens were pretty, intricate and large around the 3 palaces which looked pretty interesting from the outside although in the heat we aren't sure. We got the bus back into town and had a wander around and saw a church and bath houses by the river before getting an icecream and heading back to camp. Unfortunately when we got back to camp we could see that pushing the Iceberg in the hot weather hadn't done him any favours and he had preceded to leak the contents of his radiator onto the ground. Luckily Marcus had remembered a thing or two from the days of the Singer Vogue and even more luckily there was an auto parts store across the road from the campsite. We managed to get some Bars Leaks (or the Spanish equivalent) and after running it through the radiator and taking a few drives around the block it was as good as new. Never leaked again.

21/8 Playa Charco
Next we headed to Playa Charco (which is on the Cabo De Gato coast) from where we had a beautiful view of the mountains from the beach. Marcus was unimpressed with some of the beach goers beach attire - not just the topless women which we had become used to but there were both men and women wearing less than that. We went for a swim and the water was much warmer than in Northern Spain. We enjoyed our swim so much we had another one at sunset. We slept in the van on the beach where the mosquitoes enjoyed their dinner - us.

22/8 Campello (near Alicante)
Today we headed for Cato de Gato to a beach near Alicante. We had a few hitches along the way with one of the tyres valves stopped working so Marcus needed to put his manly skills to the test by changing a tyre with a jack which was too short as well as helping a lady who only spoke Spanish fill her tyres with air. The tomtom also decided to play up today but we managed to stay on track and reached the campsite. We chilled out and took a much needed shower before heading to the beach for another warm and this time dumpy wave swim. Jess had to hold on very tightly to her swim suit as she wasn't keen to brave it all like the locals. Paella again for dinner and then some after dinner entertainment as the French children performed a dance for their parents by the pool..

23/8 Valencia
Today we drove to Valencia where we stayed at a campsite near a beach just out of the town. Once we arrived and got set up we caught the bus into town and wandered through the cathedral (Paleta De los Apostoles Miguelete). We enjoyed the audio tour but as usual it had slightly too much information to take it all in. The highlight was seeing the Holy Grail (the only one recognised by the Vatican). Not sure why Indiana Jones went to so much trouble when it was just sitting there in Valencia. We then though t it was time for a gelato and found a place that was in the world records for having 365 flavours of icecream on display. They didn't have that many today but probably about 100. Jess chose pina colada and violet while Marcus enjoyed donuts and mojito. We then walked through to a square Plaza del Ayuntamiento - which was surrounded by large, impressive buildings. It was then time to go back to camp via the super mercado.


24/8 Valencia Day 2
The next morning we set off to check out the a big food market. It was quite impressive and had a lot of interesting seafood - although we didn't buy any as we planned to spend the day out and were concerned it would go off. Instead we had some pastry treats. We also tried Horachetta with fartons. Horachetta is a milky drink made out of tiger nuts and the fartons are sweet bread sticks (as well as being hilarious to ask for...) The drink is famous in the area and what Valenicians drink to cool down on a hot day. It certainly helped with that. We also bought our very own paella pan and picked up some fruit for later in the day. We then headed to the newer part of town where there are many huge aesthetically pleasing buildings surrounded by parks. It was quite a contrast to the old town. The housed museums and events centres and the aquarium but we decided we didn't need to go inside, despite the lure of animatronic robots. As Valencia is the home of paella we thought it was time we tried an authentic one. So we went to Las Arenas (via a rather long walk) which is near the port (and the America's Cup area) as well as the beach. We found a nice restaurant where we had sangria and seafood paella. Very tasty with prawns, mussels and things like prawns with big claws (which we now know to be langostines. It was very nice and relaxing with a seaview. Exhausted by the day we headed back with a tram and a bus.

25/8 Barcelona
Next on our trip was Barcelona so we headed there and found another beachside campsite around 20k outside the city centre. The drive was quite long so we relaxed in the afternoon. Marcus put up the awning to shelter us from the sun and Jess went for a swim at the beach. It was quite warm but a little strange having planes flying over head.

26/8 Barcelona Day 2

Today we decided it would be a Gaudi day. Gaudi is a famous architect from Barcelona who designed buildings inspired by nature. First we got a bus and metro in to the city to see La Sagrada Familia (a huge church). It was a very long line all the way around the block to get in but luckily it moved quite quickly. It was really different than any other church we had seen. It was really cool and impressive.  Construction started in 1882 and is still not finished! There was also an interesting exhibit in the basement all about how it was designed and Gaudi's inspirations. We then went to one of Gaudi's other designed building, Casa Mila, this time an apartment building. It didn't look like much from the outside but the roof top was very cool. It had lots of figures and different shapes similar to the church but still worth seeing as well. We also wandered through an apartment within the building. This was more subdued but you could definitely see that it had flourishes of the nature inspired design in it to. Lots of curves and smooth lines. We checked out some more Gaudi buildings up the road but didn't see the need to go into these ones too. As if that wasn't enough we then headed out on the metro to Park Guell which was planned to be an independent village for the rich but never got completed. Again very cool sculptures and buildings - even a lizard and again all designed by Gaudi. An interesting walk up to the park as there were even escalators on the foot path. Back to the campsite just in time as a storm was brewing. It didn't last long though and we enjoyed a nice walk along the beach after dinner of potato cake, chorizo and salad.

27/8 Barcelona Day 3
We started our next day by heading to a market famous for cheap clothes but it was rather disappointing. They were renovating the building so it was in a temporary area. The food area was ok but not as good as the market in Valencia. The clothing was nothing to get us excited either. Afterwards we got a donut to keep us going before heading to La Rambla - a famous street in Barcelona. It is a long straight boulevard from the harbour to the centre of the city. It was quite busy with lots of stalls. We particularly enjoyed the baby hampsters. We then went to a big food market there. We had empenadas (Spanish pasties), juice and fish ball kebabs. Can't help but enjoy a good food market. We then wandered down the end of La Ramblas and saw the Christopher Colombus statue. We walked along the waterfront but it wasn't very exciting so we made our way into the Bari Gothica which is another area in Barcelona. We wandered through the narrow lanes past the cathedral and had pinxtos and beers at a bar. Not as good as in San Sebastian but still tasty. It was quite windy when we got back to camp so decided to put our feet up and pass on the swimming today.

28/8 Andorra

We headed off from Spain today to a little country called Andorra. Along the way we enjoyed the scenery of mountain hill tops which were much different from the beach scenes we were now used to. When we arrived at our campsite just outside of Ordino we spotted An'Dora'ra the explorer! Andorra is meant to have cheap electronics so we headed into town and got ourselves a net book before going back to camp and having a short walk. It was much colder in Andorra and in the morning we could even see our breath. It was only 12 degrees. This was very cold compared to the temperatures we had been having. The trees were also starting to loose their leaves. Was summer over and Autumn beginning?
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Van Trip Part 3 - Portugal

13/8 Porto

The next day we left Spain crossing the border into Portugal where our first stop was Porto. After discovering the first campsite we went to had disappeared we headed to a campsite on the other side of time near the beach at Saligouous in Gaia. The campsite was quite different from some of the previous ones so far. This looked as though it was full of permanent residents complete with their own gardens on some pitches. Later though we decided that this may be their alternative to a holiday home as many of the homely looking pitches were closed up. We caught the bus into Porto and after the journey we were feeling a bit peckish. We had read that there is a sandwich (francesionos) that Porto is famous for so we thought we would give it a try. Basically it is an assortment of meat (at least 4 types I think) in between bread with a fried egg on top all smothered in grilled cheese and a special sauce. If that wasn't enough calories it also comes with a huge bowl of fries. This is one of those times that when the food arrived we wondered why we didn't decide just to share one. I don't think I'll be having one of these again but I could imagine it would be a good alternative to a Full English to help a hangover. Feeling full but a little ill we headed to Torredos Denigos - Portugals highest tower. We climbed the 225 steps up the tower which was built between 1754 and 1763 and were rewarded with a good view of the city. Marcus' top travelling tip: Always climb the highest building you can find. We then went to a port shop where we decided to buy a few bottles of white and tawny. We then looked at a little market before heading to a book shop. It wasn't any ordinary bookshop it was actually rather spectacular with a very grand staircase and glass ceiling. I think there were more tourists than patrons in there though. Next we walked around the town and looked at the cathedral & the palace de Bolsa, along the waterfront and back to the campsite as the mist returned. We had our first port in Porto, a white port with Lemon and Tonic Water, our new favourite hot weather drink.

14/8 Porto Day 2

We decided to stay 2 nights in Porto (even better when we discovered that the campsite was only €20 for both nights). So on our second day we decided to go to one of the port caves for a taste of the local tipple. Porto is situated either side of a river with steep hills on either side so there are caves all along the south side. We wandered up the river looking at all the port houses until we found one that had a tour leaving, The tour was well done and not too long or touristy and we learnt a lot about port before sampling a few. We even brought a bottle of tawny. Not just white port on this trip. We thought about taking a ride in one of the boats they used to use to transport the port barrels but with the tourists all clamoring aboard we decided it was not our scene Back to the campsite to chill out and another night at Uno (although Marcus hadn't been as willing to play as Jess had hoped so far throughout the trip).

 
15/8 Bussaco Forest
Today we headed away from Porto further south into Portugal to the Bussaco Forest which is a walled forest where monks used to live tending the trees. We walked through the forest and saw many buildings and Jesus related statues as well as the Palace hotel where you could stay, although it was out of budget for this trip. It was nice and relaxing and although the town was a bit touristy it was not rushed and busy like it had been in many of the other places we had visited so far. After deciding we had done well walking up and down the hilly tracks we slowly wandered back to the van. Along the way we picked up some fresh (and yummy) coconut bread from a local stall and filled up our bottles with fresh spring water from the fountain at the town of Luso before finding another roadside rest stop for the night.








  16/8 Lisbon

The following day we drove to Lisbon and stayed at a cool campsite with lots of trees and we were able to park where ever we chose (not like camping in the UK where the demand exactly where you park - apparently due to fire safety). We had a quiet afternoon of doing chores and a swim at the campsite pool before venturing into town for dinner. We heard that Bairo Alto was the place to be at night so thought we would check it out. It was definitely the place to go out, with lots of trendy bars tucked into the streets. We stopped for a drink in a place with random decorations and cool looking people hanging out before moving on to dinner. Unfortunately we weren't too impressed with the food. We made the mistake of going where the people were rather than with the menu and unfortunately the people were all tourists. Got to help an English family who were more lost than we were orient themselves in the city though . Lisbon is built on a series of hills and Bario Alto is up on one of them so after dinner we went for a walk and found a square overlooking the main city where we got to see the pretty lights of night time Lisbon.


17/8 Lisbon day 2
We planned to stay two nights in Lisbon so today we headed off to see the sights. First up we went to Belem, which is an old area on the way to the main city. There we had their special custard tarts, Pastrjese of Belem, which were first made in 1837 although ours were much fresher. Yum! We had seen the queue going right down the road the night before so were lucky to time it a bit better and not have to wait long. Unfortunately we were not so lucky about seeing the monastery across the road. We stood in a very long and hot queue for about 45 minutes. However, it was a very pretty building with lots of parlours - typically portuguese gothic which is called Manueline. Then we headed into town and made use of our daily travel pass by using the elevador (the first elevator originally run by steam but now by electricity). It takes you up the hill we were at the night before. It is supposed to be a tourist attraction but considering it goes so fast you can't see anything it was probably one worth missing. After walking back down again we then headed up the hill on the other side of the city centre (a rather hot and sweaty walk) to see the fortress/palace which overlooked the city. We saw both baby peacocks and baby kittens at the archaeological site and we enjoyed good views across the harbour. Not the best castle we have seen but certainly worth a visit if you are in town. We then wandered back down the hill and to the large square in front of the Portguese Parliament at the waterfront before jumping on the bus and heading back to the campsite sufficiently walked out for the day.

18/8 Olhao (near Faro)

It was an unscheduled stop in Portugal today but we decided we needed to break up the trip before moving into Spain. We walked around the salt flats trying to find a beach, but the beach was a bit muddy and yuck so we ended up chilling out in the sun at the campsite for a much needed rest day. We knew we were getting further south, It was HOT!

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Van Trip Part 2 - North Spain

7/8/2011 San Sebastian

The next day we woke with optimism that today would be a better day. We crossed the border into Spain. The day didn't  go well to start again as the camping ground at was full and so was the field next to it apparently. As there were no other camping grounds near San Sebastian we parked in town to have a look around. It is a very pretty city, built up on the hills around the harbour with a nice stretch of beach all along the promenade. We walked along the beach into the old town where we stopped for some pintxos (little snacks that you buy from the bar from a couple of Euro each) and Sidra (spanish cider, which they pour from a height to make it bubbly). Jess had pinxtos that looked like a lizard but was actually a sardine and another seafood one. Marcus had chorizo/bacon and fish. Mmm tasty. After a bit more of a wander through the city we headed back to the van and drove along the coast hoping to stumble across somewhere to stay. We parked up in a seaside town called Orio (not where the biscuits come from). It looked like it was all ready for the influx of tourists but they hadn't arrived so there was plenty of space to park. After a walk around we went to the beach. It was a little cold for swimming so just sun bathing today. As the day wore on the crowds did in fact start to arrive and by early evening it was quite busy around the place. We found a little bar by the sea for a jug of sangria before heading back to the van for some pasta for dinner.

8/8/2011 Santander
It wasn't too far to our next stop, Santander, and we were praying that we would find a campsite as it had been a while since we had had a warm shower. Success at last! Arriving early we found a spot at Camping Cabo Mayor so we decided to stay for two nights. Once we had settled in it was time to do some chores (our clothes hadn't been washed for a while either) before exploring  the town. We walked in along the beach, which was golden and busy with a nice promenade and parks scatterd along its length. This seems to be what Oriental Bay is going for, but this is much nicer than Oriental Bay (sorry Wellington). With the warm weather we enjoyed an icecream and continued into the town centre. We went to the supermarket to pick up some supplies but it took a while as the shop went into darkness and the siren started. It was ok though we didn't break it and it wasn't too long until we were back at the campsite. We had a chorizo medley for dinner (normal chorizo, liver - we think and a white one - maybe pork or chicken?)

9/8 Santander Day 2

We started our second day in Santandar leisurely and walked up to the Lighthouse (al Farode Cabo Mayor) which was near the campsite. We got a fantastic view up and down the coast but we hurried away once a bus load of tourists arrived. We then walked along the waterfront. Halfway to the main town is the Magdalena peninsula where we had a walked around the mini zoo and the King's palace when he is in town. Then we laid out at playa de bikini (but some people forgot their bikini tops!) where we had a swim at the nice calm beach and  then headed off to get some food in town. Then it was back to the campsite for a rest before heading out to dinner, our first dinner out since we had started our trip. We had been told  that Barrio Pesquero was the place  to get fresh seafood meals. We wondered if we had it right as we headed along through a dodgy neighbourhood in the port area. With hungry tummies we were starting  to think that we might be out of luck. Then we turned a corner where there were around half a dozen restaurants on one stretch of road where the vendors were competing for our patronage. Not as intense as brick lane but similar on a small scale (and in Spanish). Once we chose which restaurant we decided against the special set menu. A couple along from us were struggling with their mega plate of prawns, and that was only the first course. After referring to our Spanish phrase book Marcus settled on a monk fish fillet and Jess had a hake fillet. The fish certainly was fresh and we enjoyed a nice bottle of Rioja to accompany the meal. They didn't speak any English and we didn't speak much Spanish but it all worked out. You could tell the fish was fresh because through the back door of the restaurant the fish was all sitting on ice having just been unloaded from the ships. Feeling satisfied with our first dinner out since went away we headed back to the camp for a good nights sleep.

10/8 Gijon

Off again the next morning this time to Gijon, further along the coast. We were lucky enough to get a spot at a campsite on a peninsula right next to the sea.  We walked along the waterfront and passed some nice statues - the solarid (a metal looking spider thing) and Monumento ala Medrodel Emigrate - which was a really sad looking lady whose family must have moved away.  It was feeling a bit like we were back in Wellington as it was rather windy. We were glad we decided not to make today a beach day not only because of the wind but as there were millions of  people crammed onto  Playa de Sun Lorenzo. Gijon was pretty similar to San Sebastian and Santander with a city next to a long beach and a promenade to walk along. Unlike its neighbours, Gijon was clearly poorer with the buildings being a bit more run down but was good for a slight change. We ventured into the old town where we saw the house of Jovellananos (a composer we think as there was someone playing music outside). We then continued past all the people drinking cidre in the sun to Parque Como de Santa Catalina an old military battery but now home to another giant sculpture on the hill. Nice panoramic views too. Marcus was then feeling rather tired so we headed through the town via the supermarket to our campsite where he had a snooze while Jess chilled out in the sun.  We had a lovely dinner of chorizo and prawn paella made by Jess - pretty yummy with the cidre we had brought in Santander.

11/8 La Coruna

We stopped along the trip today to visit the Tower of Hercules an old lighthouse in the city of A Coruna. We climbed up it along with the other tourists and could see all around including the ruins on the ground. The Tower is the oldest working Roman lighthouse although actually only the foundations are ancient, the rest having been rebuilt in 1791. After the strong winds encouraged us back down we went on a long drive  trying to  find somewhere to stay. After driving along the coast, through hills, in and out of forests and through little towns and we eventually settled in a rest area not too far out of town where we almost go eaten alive by the bugs.

12/8 Santiago de Compostela and Vigo

We were eager to get on our way today. We stopped at the nice old town of Santiago de Compestella which is where a lot trekkers end their walk across Spain (the one our friend Tree did but we don't think she made it all the way). It is a huge christian pilgrimage and the tourists around did have the look of pilgrims moreso thsn they normally do. We went into the cathedral to have a look. There were loads of people singing and praying. We also looked around some nice historic buildings taking in the Christianity. Before heading on our way we had some churros with a mug of hot melted chocolate which although delicious made us feel a little sickly by the end.

Back in the van we headed to a beach near Vigo called Playa de America where we parked up for the night. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun and eventually got brave enough for a swim although it was mighty cold so only lasted a few minutes.

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Van Trip Part 1 - France

29/07/2011 - London to Dover
As Friday 29 July rolled around we finished our last day at work and rushed back to the flat for a last pack up of our things. After saying our goodbyes to our flatties we headed off to Dover. There were even fireworks in the sky as we drove away celebrating the start of our travels. We decided for our snack on the trip that we should have an English porkpies as we were looking forward to some European cuisine in the weeks to come. Our ferry was for the next morning so once we finally got through all the evenings traffic we parked up on the promenade in Dover for our first night of free camping in the Iceberg complete with both sea and garden views - oooh la la (oh wait we're not quite in France yet).

30/07/2011 - Calais and Jumieges
The next morning we woke early after an ok sleep - hopefully we will get used to sleeping in the van. We sat on the waterfront to have the first breakfast of the trip, bread and coffee. Looked like it was going to be a nice calm trip on the ferry. Too late for the good weather now England... We headed to the port and boarded on our Sea France Ferry to Calais. We enjoyed the nice views of the White Cliffs of Dover and of the coasts of France on our trip. We had looked into the cost of tolls before we starting our trip so when we arrived in Calais we decided to take the scenic route to Rouen to avoid the extra charges. It was nice to drive through some small towns and to see some sporting figures on the roads as we passed by. The good thing about the roads in France is that there are lots of signs with pictures of the local attractions so it is good to know what is in the area. Every town seems to have its own one. Once we arrived in a camp ground in Jumieges we decided it was going to be too much of a mission to head into Rouen itself and instead chilled out in Jumieges.  We walked into the small town and looked at the abbey of Saint-Pierre-de-Jumieges and had a nice walk along the Seine. Along our way we saw some really cute horses - they were very considerate to each other and stood top to tail in order to keep the flies out of each others faces. Or at least that's what we think they were doing. Of course travelling is all about the food and drink, so we picked up some cidre (French cider) and camberet which we enjoyed back at the campsite.

31/07/2011 - Bayeux
We headed off to Bayeux today and saw a cute bridge along the way. When we arrived at Bayeux we looked around the town and Jess even managed  to try out her language skills and order some croissants. We figured as we were travelling through foreign countries we should at least be making an effort to learn the language, so each morning consisted of listening to a few podcasts and stumbling through the phrases they were trying to teach us. Our French wasn't too good so first off  was Coffee Break French with Mark and Anna. Bonjour! One of the biggest attractions in Bayeux is the Bayeux tapestry so we thought we would check it out. The tapestry depicted the Norman conquest of Britain which culminated in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It was very impressive and the audioguide gave you just enough information to keep you moving. After finding a campsite  we headed to Omaha Beach which is one of the D-day landing beaches. There we went to the museum and the American cemetery. It was good to see the history although a little depressing. It is amazing to think that there were people dying  less than 70 years ago on those beaches where kids were now swimming. Back to the campsite we had a dinner of brie, ham and salad as well as, of course a baguette. French bread is certainly much better than the stuff they call bread in London. We also tried a local tipple, Calvados. It is basically an Apple based spirit. There wasn't much of a taste of apples though. Jess can't say she was much of a fan and although Marcus kept drinking it eventually he had to give up too. Every country seems to have their "local" spirit which tastes like turps. In France it is calvados.

1/8/2011 - Mont-Saint-Michel and St Malo
We successfully ordered bread and paid in french today as we had struck our first campsite that couldn't speak English. Not too difficult to communicate the basics but more lessons in the van followed. Today we were heading to a site that we had been looking forward to, Mont-St-Michel, which is an abbey on an island. It used to only be able to be accessed by boat or when the tide was right out but now there is a joining road which allowed us with the rest of  the hoards of tourists to visit. It was really beautiful despite all the tourists. It just required us to use our imaginations a little more to appreciate the beauty behind all the people. There is a road which spirals around from the bottom to the monastery situated at the top of the island. The monastery was huge and there were spectacular views from the top as well but the crowds eventually made us decide it was time to head back to the van and carry on with our journey.

Back in the van we headed on to the port city of St Malo. This was a little bit more stressful  due to narrow streets and no where to turn around but we finally found a camping ground (Alet) which is near Forte de la citie which had views in all directions of ports and beaches and St Malo itself which is a walled city. It used to be a pirate haven, yarrrr!  Once we settled in we went for a walk to the Forte by the camping ground and then into St Malo where we blew today's budget on macaroons (I think it was worth it though!).  We walked along the city walls and enjoyed the views. Its a shame they still let traffic into the city as it would be much nicer if it was pedestrianised. I guess that is the tourist in us, rather than the people who have to live there. Back to the van where we did the first proper cooking in the van - red wine chicken (not too foul at all - oh no the bad jokes of the trip started this early!) Le clutiere red wine alongside -we could definitely get used to this.

2/8/2011 Carnac

The next day we ventured inland a bit towards Carnac to see Stonehenge's French cousins. These rocks have been most famous for being the rocks that Obilix, from Asterix comics, carried. It was kind of like Stonehenge but they were much smaller. There were many more of them everywhere though, as well as all the celtic paraphenalia that goes with them. We also appreciated the sunflowers fields which were dotted along the roads. We decided we better have a crepe for lunch before continuing on our journey. We headed to the beach at La Trinitie and found a campsite before heading off to the beach. Unfortunately the weather was a bit overcast and we thought it might even rain so we headed back to the campsite to read until the weather cleared up again. We didn't really know anything about La Trinitie and it turns out it is basically just a holiday resort swarming with English tourists paying lots of money for their campsites. Oh well. When they sun came back we headed back down to the beach for Jess' first swim. Marcus wasn't brave enough to go all the way in though so he just had a little paddle. It wasn't quite warm enough but there were plenty of others giving it a go; both young and old. The beach looked much nicer the second time around as the tide had come in to hide all the gungy sea weed. Back to the campsite for a shower and dinner - on tonight's menu chorizo and red wine risotto matched with a Cote du Rhone. Ooo la la.

3/8/2011 St Hilarie de Reiz
We drove off again with the aim to have a relax at our next campsite. Unfortunately the campsites in the area were of the family holiday resort variety, with giant waterslides and family entertainement. Not really our scene. Luckily we arrived at Plage de la paree Preneau where we happened to stumble upon an Aire de Camping where it is allowed to park up and camp for free.  We were feeling hungry so we decided to walk the 'short' distance to the shop to get our supplies for the night. However, what was meant to be a 1km walk turned into a 5 hour trek, complete with blisters and sun burn. Should have checked the map... We finally reached St-Giles-Croix-de-Vie where we were able to find an open shop before heading back to the van exhausted. At least we got to walk along the beach on the way back. We decided we needed to head to the beach to relax after that so we went for a quick dip. This time Marcus was slightly braver and went in up to his waist. There was an upside to the long walk though - we found a battery shop, Monsieur Batterie - as we had found that our leisure battery had decided to use this time to give up. That night we were rather exhausted so after our pasta dinner we had an early night.

4/8 /2011 La Rochelle
A good start to the day as we headed back to Monsieur Batterie to see about  getting a new battery. We were a little concerned of our lack of french and a hefty price. However the man at the shop spoke a little English and was very helpful and set us on our way with a new battery (much  better than the last) and only €200 lighter in our pockets. We also managed to buy some yummy brioche before we set off to La Rochelle feeling much happier.  When we arrived in La Rochelle the first campsite was full but they directed us to another one where we set up for the night. The weather wasn't looking its  best with on and off rain but that was probably just as well as our skin could do with a  break from the sun.  We then caught a bus into the town where we wandered around and checked out the 3 towers at the port (la Chaine, la Lanterne and St Nicolas) nice white stone buildings.  The town centre is built around the old port area and was still teeming with tourists, despite the weather. It was certainly very picturesque. The sort of place you can imagine yourself spending a luxury weekend sway, sampling the local wines. As we are on a budget, however, we instead enjoyed some nice flan and apple tarte before heading back to camp.

5/8/2011 Teste De Buch

Our plans didn't go to plan today. Our aim was to go to a camping ground where we could get a train into Bordeaux but the camping ground we wanted to go to no longer existed. So we headed off to find another camping ground but alas no luck. We continued further and further away from Bordeaux and after much driving around we finally settled on a camping-car spot in  teste-le-buch near a surfing town called Biscarosse. France is well set out for campervans. This place was massive and well sheltered under the trees with a toilet you could use too. We were lucky to get a sport. We saw plenty of people later on who had to turn away. Giving up on Bordeaux we went for a walk to the town to get some food and see the beach - a much different attitude to the places we had previously been. The town was busy but not bustling. Felt a bit like Mount Maunganui. We sat on the beach and watched some of the local surfers before wandering back to the van. For dinner Jess made duck breast in toffee apple sauce - the duck because it is very french and the sauce as a Normandy speciality. Bon appetite. Marcus claims this was the best dinner Jess cooked on the trip. As we didn't get to Bordeaux we drank a red wine from the region instead.

6/8/2011 Bassin D'Arachon and Biarittz

Early the next morning we headed to Bassin D'Arachon, a slight backtrack, to see a huge sand dune. This had been recommended by our french flatmate in London, Cami. In Marcus' words it was 'really big and sandy like being on a sand dune, you know like the book Dune'. Well no Marcus you know I don't read your silly sci-fi books but yes it was big and sandy but a five year old could have come up with that description.  It was worth seeing though. There were plenty of people scrambling up and over including some buddhist monks who seemed to be enjoying it too.  We then headed on to our next destination Biarritz. It was school holidays throughout Europe, so very busy. Unfortunately we had another day where things didn't go quite according to plan.The camp grounds were full and the traffic was everywhere. We managed to find a park on the road not too far from  the beach at Bidart. After all the driving and hot weather we needed to cool off a bit After 2 swims, some sunbathing and reading we headed back to the van with the plan to head closer to Biarritz to find some dinner. We  thought we deserved a treat as we hadn't eaten out on the trip so far. No such luck - the streets were very busy and narrow and no where to park. Feeling very grumpy we  gave up on eating out and headed out of Biarritz and parked up further south down the coast at Guethary, next to a beach. We made do with bread for dinner as by then heavy rain had set in. An early night for two very tired campers.

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July

We started into July with Tree’s 4^th of July party. It was a good chance to dig out some old costumes which we hadn’t used for a while. (You will have to look at the photos to see which, but suffice to say they both went down a treat.) Everyone really got into the spirit of the night, with some cool costumes, beer pong and cheesy American hits keeping the night going into the early hours of the morning. Luckily Tree only lives around the corner so it was nice to be able to walk home (changed out of our costumes to avoid unwanted London muggings.)

We decided to get some culture into us with a visit to the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. We weren’t quite sure what the deal was, but turns out they have a large exhibition of original artwork every year for which you are able to buy the limited edition prints. Suffice to say the prices were high so we weren’t really in the market for any art but was good to see what the intellectuals get up to. After that we went for a wander around St James’ park and around Westminster, where we haven’t actually spent all that much time since arriving in London.

We also made it down to Clapham to Forrest and Laura’s place for Laura’s birthday. Was good to catch up with them and the likes of Monique, Matt, Fagan and Cameron (who had shrunk into virtual non-existence as a result of an extensive exercise regime he had been undergoing.) He was happy to share all his secrets with anyone prepared to listen. We like cake too much for that though.

We also had a couple of other birthdays in July. First we were out to West London to visit Abbie for an afternoon birthday BBQ. Considering it had been a pool party the year before it was a bit of a let down for Abbie that this year we all had to be rugged up against the cold. Blasted London summer! After our last catch up with Abbie before she goes home it was back to Islington for Ash’s birthday at the HUGE Wetherspoons converted from an old theatre on Holloway Road. We arrived pretty late so the place was closing not long after we arrived but that didn’t stop the birthday girl and it was off to Big Red, a rock bar up the road. We had never been sure about the place, with flaming skulls painted on the outside, but once we got in there we had a great night listening to our kind of music before again being lucky enough to walk home in the early hours.

We finally got a bit of sun the following day so we made the most of it with a relaxing afternoon at Regents Park. Was good to just enjoy some sun and read our books. We didn’t stay late though. This was our last weekend in London before our big van trip so we had organised to have a dinner with the flatmates at, where else but, Ziloufs. Had to get in our last dose of ribs and pork belly.

You would think that with our next week being the last before we left London we would be spending the evenings sorting out last minute plans. We were but it was also while going out for dinner with Michelle and Jason, who were also off on a long trip, but they wouldn’t be coming back as their planned destination was Melbourne where they were planning on starting afresh. We met in Stoke Newington where we had some tasty Mexican fare. Not too hot to burn our tongues off though.

It was another dinner as well that week. This time a last taste of Le Mercury with a few of our friends. Turns out July is the time to leave London because it ended up being a small event. As we were still coming back to London again we couldn’t be too jealous for those of our friends who chose to go to the other leaving dinners. Turned out to be a great night though and we left lingering with plans for a dinner club…

And with the week and the month coming to an end it was time for the biggest trip yet. The Iceberg was going to take us around Europe…

https://picasaweb.google.com/JessicaLMcMillan/July2011