Van Trip Part 6 - Italy

2/9 Genoa

Today we left France and moved on to Italy. The Tom Tom was misbehaving which made the journey difficult and challenged Jess´navigating skills to the max as we spent time driving round and round Genoa trying to guess the way. We did eventually arrive at the campsite in Bogliasco, to the east of Genoa, around 1 ½ hours later than planned. We decided not to venture into Genoa itself so enjoyed a swim at the beach. It had nice crashy water and very hot stones for sitting on. We then went for a walk around the town which had some pretty views along the coast and stopped for a nice beer in the sunshine before heading back to the campsite for a chill out and dinner of local specialities, foccacia, pesto and ravioli with walnut sauce.

3/9 Lake Como

The TomTom decided to work this morning (yay) so we were back on track on our way to Lake Como. Unfortunately we were stuck in a traffic jam for ages due to road works closer to our destination,Unno on the Lecco side of Como. The first campground we found was full but there was another one 1km down the road where we got a pitchright next to the lake! We had a stunning the lake and mountains. We chilled out in the sun until we were brave enough to go for a swim in the lake. It wasn't too bad once we were under(although as usual it took Marcus a little while to get in). There were a lot of fish in the water trying to nibble our toes. After our dip we walked to the next town, Vasenna, along the road with no footpath. It was a little scary with the Italian drivers zooming around the narrow roads. We got our nights supply of pasta and wine before heading back to camp. Luckily we didn't plan a night out on the town as there were massive thunder storms. We think there were about 4 separate storms that we were in the middle of. We enjoyed our dinner in front of the van nice and dry inside as the thunder and lightning roared and flashed around us lighting up the lake and the mountains in the distance.

4/9 Lake Como Day 2 - Bellagio

As there wasn´t much around where we were we decided to head to the down of Bellagio further along the lake. The bus seemed to come at irregular time (maybe about every 2 hours) so we decided to walk.In hindsight this probably wasn't the smartest idea as for most of the way we walked along a windy narrow road with no foot path and pushy Italians in cars, trucks and on motorbikes and bicycles. We walked 9.5km in around 1 hour and 40 minutes which we think was alright. Bellagio was very nice and fancy but also very touristy. We walked around the town and had lunch. Jess had an anchovy pizza while Marcus had a quarto stuchious (ham, cheese, onion and capsicum panini). Marcus also decided that while in Italy he should do as theItalians do and have a coffee. Jess suggested a latte while she had espresso. Marcus thought it tasted like coffee and didn't feel the need to have another. The rain started to comedown again so we walked around the shops in town and brought some yummy food in the deli before heading to the bus stop to get the bus. Luckily we were early as the bus driver tried to explain (not so pleasantly) that we needed to buy tickets before we boarded from a shop. We tried 3 shops before finding the right one and raced back to the bus to sit for another 15minutes before he decided to depart. It continued to rain for the rest of the afternoon so for the first time on the trip we felt compelled to watch some programmes on the laptop before having an early night.

5/9 Milan

We left Como and drove to Milan and found a camping ground next to a water slide park (although not open), The campsite also had apetting zoo which had a huge ugly sheep and goats and birds.  We caught the bus and the metro into Milan where we looked at the Duomodi Milano, a massive cathedral which we thought was really impressive- probably our favourite traditional cathedral so far. We particularly liked the stained glass windows. Next we went to the Galleria, an old fashioned shopping arcade, which had a cool glassdome. Marcus did as the practice suggests and spun on his heel on the bulls' balls to gain virility. Although plenty of women did this too Jess thought it made more sense to leave it to the men. Then we walked round the town a bit more before getting a gelato. Jess had raspberry and lemon, Marcus campari (ooooh yuck says Jess) and white chocolate. Refreshed we had a look around the outside of the palace before taking a break in the park. Once we regained our energy we headed off to look at some shops in the area which was meant to be not so expensive as all the designer shops in town. We didn't manage to buy anything as many were closed and a market was just packing up.We did see some nice apartment buildings with lovely courtyards.Although it has some nice sights Milan seems to be a place where people either live or come to spend lots of money at the shops. Not necessarily our sort of place but nice nonetheless.

6/9 Levanto - Cinque Terre

We decided to skip our scheduled stop to Parma and went straight to the Cinque Terra which Jess had particularly been looking forward to. We stayed at a campsite nearby in Levanto which had a horse and lots of bugs. That day we decided to look around the town and planned a full day for the next which we discovered was just as well as that day there was a train strike. So we enjoyed a wander to town to the waterfront and beach as well as picking up some train tickets for the next day. The beach was plenty busy but we decided to leave taking a dip for another day.

7/9 Cinque Terre

We head off early and caught the 9.30 train to the Cinque Terre(aka the 5 lands). The Cinque Terre are five villages that used to be only accessible by water and were famous for their rugged beauty, We decided to start with the furthest village away - Riomaggorie and walk back through each town. The first walk was the Della Amore - the walk of love. It was nice although there were a lot of tourists and the path was paved the whole way (we wanted some proper walks). The walk took us to the next town Manrula which we looked around. The towns are all perched on a series of cliffs over the water although the building of the railway and roads means that now it is mostly little restaurants and tourist shops. The next part of the easiest walks was closed so we had the option of taking the train back to the next town or do the hard walk (2 1/2 hours). After the first was was an easy 15 minute walk we were up for the challenge. So we headed up many steps (1 hour continuously uphill) giving our muscles a good work out and then we got to walk along through vineyards with stunning views of the town. This was (pant) more (pant) what (pant)we (pant) were after (gasp!). Where's the water? Maybe all the local food and drink we had been sampling had affected our fitness. It was all worth it though and we felt very satisfied at the end of it,particularly as we didn't have the walking poles that all the other tourists felt were necessary. Corgnilia was the town we next arrived in where we stopped for a snack and a sugary drink in front of a freaky mermanish statue. Back to the blue route we then walked to Vernazza. It may be that our muscles were feeling the pain from the last walk but this definitely was harder than the first with uneven paths and hills. At Vernazza we stopped for more water at the waterfront and were envious of the people swimming at the port. The sun had really come out now so it was rather sweltering. The final walk was to Monterosso which was another 2 hours of walking, again with some very step paths but we made it! We think we did at least 5 1/2hours of proper walking that day before reaching the campsite at 6.30pm. Pretty decent compared to the exercise we get in London. Exhausted back at the campsite we ate a well deserved Gnochi for dinner before collapsing into bed.

8/9 Pisa and Florence

Next on to Pisa where we are glad we decided only to stop long enough to see the leaning tower as there were many hustlers and we were very concerned that our van might not still be there when we got back as we didn't give any change to the lady who was begging by the parking meter. It was good to cross another obligatory tourist attraction off our to do list before moving onto Florence.

We got caught in a traffic jam on the way to Florence due to an accident, probably due to the Italians erratic driving. But it was worth the wait as the campsite was nice with views out over Florence.Chores were done; Jess - washing and Marcus - fixing the van door. We also met an English couple (we were not very good at meeting people on our trip) from the West Midlands who were nice to chat to. Turned out they had travelled the world in campervans and modified vans into campers for a living. We then headed out to have a look around Florence and Marcus bought an Italian Leather Belt (a belated anniversary present). We walked through the main square, checking out all of the imitation statues (although they are all still old in their own right) and the pont de ververe (a famous bridge with buildings on it, like in Bath and took the long way home up and down a hill next to a big wall. Once it was dark we headed back to Piazza Michaelagelo (where we had earlier seen a copy of David) to get a night view of Florence and all its pretty lights. It was just next to the camp ground so was an easy trip home to bed (although the Contiki at the bar above had other plans as the music went all night.)

9/9 Florence Day 2

Today we headed off early to see the Statue of David at Retiat'Accademia. The queue wasn't too bad (although perhaps we have just go used to all the queuing in England). He was rather impressive. Much bigger than you expect. Most of the other work at the gallery was ok but not amazing. Maybe we have just seen too much fine art? Next we walked around the Dumuo which is white, red and green marble on the outside. The queue was massive so we decided we had seen enough cathedrals and not to bother going inside. We explored the town some more and looked around some markets. Jess rubbed the nose of a hog at the leather market which is meant to bring good luck. It sure helped her buy a new wallet at the market (also a belated anniversary present) before we tucked into some lunch. Florentine steak and capperchio sword fish, of course with a Chianti to wash it all down.It was very good considering there were a lot of really touristy restaurants around. The food and service at the one we found was great. We then wandered through the streets of the city again before heading back to camp for a restful evening.

10/9 San Gimigano

Today we travelled into the Tuscan countryside to visit the town of San Gimignano. It is a nice town with heaps of olive groves and vineyards around it. It is typical picturesque Tuscan countryside so of course it is heaving with tourists. After heading the wrong way on the bus from the campground we made it into town. It is a walled city with various towers, built by the medieval families competing with one another to have the best. Many have gone to ruin over the years but there are still about a dozen dominating the skyline. It didn't take long to get our full of the town but we enjoyed looking around and get a few gifts and some tasty artisan chocolate before heading back to camp. We had a beer in the sun and thought it might be noisy night as there was a Royal Enfield motorcycle reunion happening, however we didn't have any trouble and all the noise had stopped by a reasonable hour. (Yes, we are getting old.)

11/9 Sienna

Today was a short drive up the road to the town of Sienna . Once there we caught the bus into town again a walled medieval city. We were impressed with the ornate light fittings with red white and blue patterns. We later discovered that the whole of Sienna wasn't the same. We walked towards the centre of town where we saw a group of locals all wearing yellow scarfs with yellow and blue tights, they were all chanting and drumming. We weren't sure if this was some type of religious festival or what. We later discovered that Sienna is split into 17 different districts and this was one group of them. In each area of the town they display their local flags and the street signs and street light fittings each match the colours. It is to do with (we think anyway) the bare back horse races and the yellow people were celebrating a win. Marcus decided to buy a flag to join the winning team although none of them were particularly interested in sharing their winnings with him. We continued to wander around the town and we went into a large cathedral decorated all in brown, white and black tiles - Duomo di Siena. It made an interesting change from the usual cathedrals we had seen during our travels. We went and satin the main square, Piazza del Campo, the site of the bareback horse race and had some sandwiches. Sufficiently impressed with Sienna,but feeling the Italian heat we went back for a swim at the campsite´s pool (along with many other people.) We met another lady who had heard our accents and used the opportunity to offload her book which she had finished on us. She said her husband would be pleased. He would have probably been less pleased that we gave her four books we had finished in return...

12/9 Rome

Onwards to a big city today, Roma. We decided to stay at camping Tiber which was to the North but with transport into the centre. We didn´t quite realise that the road to get there was a popular stopping place for truck drivers looking for...company... Once we arrived at the campsite (pretty empty as the end of the camping season was now upon us) we headed into town by train for a look around. We made our way to the Spanish Steps - however no writers or artists wanted to make either of us their muse and the only attention we got was from the hawkers. On to the next site, the Trevi fountain(the real deal, not the one we had previously seen in Las Vegas.) It was much busier and bigger than at Las Vegas. We were impressed. Jess managed to squeeze in between the masses of people in order to throw her coin over her shoulder to ensure her return to Rome. Marcus didn't do it this time as we think a second coin means you will getan Italian lover - which Jess decided her husband did not need. Next we walked through the streets to the Pantheon a big roman temple which had been converted into a cathedral. The artist Rapheal was burried (although they had to dig him up once to prove it to non-believers). Through Rome we stolled along to a piazza with a statue with the man in the red blanker... We continued along the river before looking at an Egyptian Square and picking up some food for dinner. Pretty good going for our first day in Rome.

13/9 Rome Day 2

Today we decided to head to Vatican City for some religious enlightenment. We were expecting a huge queue but we were inside within 15 minutes. The Vatican museum was rather overwhelming with alot of art to see. Jess particularly liked the map room with all sorts of ancient maps of the world and it cities (at least the ones they knew about. The Vatican Museum is kind of like the British Museum in that it shows all of the “treasures” pillaged by the catholic church over the years. It is worth getting to the end of it though, as that is the famed Sistine Chapel, with Michaelangelo´s famous masterpiece painted on the ceiling. 4 painstaking years of hard work. It has recently been restored, so the colours are bright,but the crowds make it difficult to get a proper look. After some authentic(ish) Italian for lunch we wandered down the road to St Peter´s Cathedral. (Sorry St Pauls, but it is significantly more impressive with the massive square out the front.) We got inside and decided before visiting the inside of the Cathedral we would climb up the dome to have a look around the city. You could get a lift up halfway, but being cheap and determined we decided we would walk the whole way up the spiral staircase. The first half wasn´t too bad,with a wide spiral staircase and plenty of room. However the higher we got the hotter it got, the tighter it got (walking on a lean) and the more crowded it got with the pace moving at a crawl. However an hour or so later we were at the top checking out the impressive vie wall around the city of Rome. The fresh air was also appreciated on our sweaty bodies. As always the trip down was quicker and before we knew it we were visiting the inside of the Cathedral we had just been on top of. The place is huge inside, being barely able to see from one end to the other, but what more would you expect from the home of Catholicism. Even the alter covering the remains of St Peter(apparently) is huge. Somewhat exhausted and feeling sufficiently spiritualised we made our way back out to the campsite and collapsed into bed.

14/9 Rome Day 3

It was a big one to start our final day in Rome, the Colosseum.The queue we had been waiting for had finally arrived so we stood dutifully under the arches waiting for our turn to buy tickets as other people shoved and pushed in around us. It was worth the wait, however, as we emerged into the sunlit amphitheatre, home of many gladiatorial combats of the past. The place really is huge and although you have to use your imagination to see what it would have looked like in operation (as it is really only the stone part that is left) that isn´t too difficult a task. We did the circuit and then checked out the exhibitions inside. Nero seemed to be the man to read about at the moment and although he was famous for fiddling while Rome burned, in fact he was responsible for much of the building work which is now considered of historical significance.After our visit to the Colosseum we crossed the square to the Roman Forum, the centre of life in ancient Rome. This area is full of ruins of various temples and other important buildings of ancient Roman times. The area it takes up is pretty massive and there are all sorts of columns and arches to keep a historyphile happy. As some of the ruins are very ruined you do have use your imagination more than a little to guess what it was all like though.

After our trip around the forum in the blazing sun we ventured up the Palatine Hill, the area on the hill above the forum now populated by the ruins of the homes of the rich and famous during Roman times, including Nero. As interesting as this all was we were starting to suffer some ruin fatigue, so after looking at the main buildings (and a few more because we couldn't find the exit) we left the Palatine Hill, grabbed a Gelato and jumped on the train back to the campsite. It was now the perfect time for a swim at the campsite pool before settling in for an early night.

15/9 Perguia

Today we bid farewell to Rome and made our way North again to the hilltop town of Perugia. We were a bit worried on arriving to find that our planned campsite had closed for the season, but fortunately we were able to find another one further up the road. It must have been close to closing with only us and one other person staying there. We managed to catch the local bus and this took us into the town and up the hill to where Perugia's old centre was located. Unfortunately we arrived right when everything was closed, so we did a few laps of the town, looking at the nice old buildings and streets and churches, but couldn't help feeling it was more of the same that we had already had. We checked out the view over the countryside, indulged in some local cakes and generally took it easy. The bus didn't run either for several more hours so we didn't have much else to do but chill out. When the bus did come people were starting to appear into the town again, but by this time we had had our fill of Perugia so instead made our way back to the campsite.

16/9 Bologna

Having learnt our lesson from the day before, we waited around at the campsite for a while before heading into Bologna so that we would arrive a bit later in the day. What a difference a few hours makes. Upon arriving in the city centre the place was teeming with activity. After checking out the bookshop where we bought some English language classics we wandered down the main road toward the centre of town. It was full of designer shops, and markets in the side streets, and had cool little archways which covered the footpaths in places. This was very welcome as there was a touch of rain around the the place. The main square featured the impressive Fountain of Neptune and had pretty buildings and lanes all around it. We made our way down one of the little lanes and it was full of shops selling all sorts of local food. Our mouths dripped as we stared through the windows but our budget only stretched to a couple of Cannoli each. Yum! One of Bologna's landmarks are two towers next to each other which tower above their neighbours. They could be cool, but unfortunately are situated right in the middle of a roundabout with power lines all around them so you don't get much of a view. They are nearby the university so we had a quick look around the ancient university buildings. They were a hive of activity as this was the start of the university year so there were people selling books, looking for flats and generally hanging around. We ventured back through the middle of town to St Dominic's Basilica which has a statue high on a pillar in front of it and has a beautiful white interior with ornate paintings throughout. Happy that we had spent our afternoon well we sat back at a restaurant on the main square for a couple of drinks before finding the bus to take us back to the campsite.

17/9 Verona

We continued our trip north. We had intended to visit Verona but a mistake in TomTom programming meant we ended up at Lake Garda. However, after driving around the town of Peschiera del Garda for a while and not finding anywhere to stay we decided that our initial plan was the one to go with so carried on down the motorway to Verona. We were a bit concerned upon reaching Verona, driving along the beautiful riverside, up the hill above town to where we thought the campsite was, only to discover that it was closed. Fortunately it was only closed until 2pm when people could check in. We parked up next to the various other campervans that were there and took the short walk down the hill to the river and then across the beautiful old bridge which took us through the city walls and into the old town of Verona. Verona had many more tourists in it than other places we had visited, but the place was definitely picture postcard material, with narrow streets, balconies looking over pretty squares and people trying to sell you stuff. It was still nice to wander around within the city walls, taking in the atmosphere. We reached the main square, full of people and with a big old Colosseum in it. Unlike in Rome, this one is still in regular use, hosting concerts and other events for locals and tourists alike. Instead of joining them we found ourselves a local cafe to sit down for a drink and watch the world go by. We saw every second person was drinking a bright orange drink out of wine glass. It looked a bit like Fanta but we assumed it had to be something else. Turns out it was something called Aperol Spritz and we thoroughly enjoyed ours. Conscious of the time we made our way back to the camping ground where we were able to check in. The place was really built for tent campers so we squeezed our van between two trees, wondering how we would get it out again in a couple of days...After some dinner we went for a walk to the citadel up the hill where we got a fantastic view of the city all lit up at night. Very pretty and you can see why Shakespeare chose this as the setting for his most famous love story.

18/9 Verona Day 2

As Verona is the setting of Romeo and Juliet, the city has taken this opportunity to capitalise on it from a tourism perspective. All the major sites from the play are represented somewhere in the city and we decided to take ourselves on a tour around them. Most of them are just pretty buildings which had previously been lived in by their various namesakes from the play, so Romeo's house, although pretty, was not open to look around. Juliet's house is something different all together and the tourists were there in their droves. As you enter through the archway the place is full of graffiti from lovers writing messages to each other. Jess was keen to profess our love. Marcus felt defiling of private property was not really romantic...In the square pas the entrance way there is a statue of Juliet, situated below the 'famous' balcony. It has had its fair share of hands rubbed across, the bosoms seeming to be the most popular point. We made our way into the museum which, considering the hordes of people outside, was very empty. It was pleasant enough, giving us some insight of what life must have been like for people living at that time, interspersed with the fiction of Romeo and Juliet around the house. Jess stood out on the balcony, but with nobody serenading her she had to stay with Marcus. We made our way away from Juliet's house checking out the city walls and the ancient Roman ruins along the way to Juliet's tomb. We weren't really sure what this was going to be, but it turns out it is an old monastery that has been rebuilt after being largely destroyed in WWII. It now houses a collection of Italian religious artwork, both old and modern which we had a look around. At the end of the tour is a downstairs crypt with an empty tomb in it. This was Juliet's tomb. We weren't sure it was worth the walk but at least we saw some art. We wandered back into town and through the main square again to check out the city walls on the other side of town, by the river. They were pretty impressive, with fortifications to keep invaders at bay. There was something in the air though, rain, and lots of it. It started pouring down and eventually we decided we were not gong to see any more so walked back up to the campsite. The rain stuck around all afternoon so we passed our time in the common room. The campsite was packed out with people looking for somewhere dry. We met any American family who were big Flight of the Conchords fans and couldn't believe they were meeting real NZers. Their kids seemed a bit disappointed that we were not personal friends with Murray though...

20/9 Venice Day 1

The rain was lifting in Verona in the morning but it was time to move on to our last destination in Italy, Venice. The drive wasn´t too far and before we knew it we were setting up camp at Camping Fusina (Marcus had some vague memories from last time he was there.) After a few chores we were in the ferry and on our way across the water to the magical city. There were ominous clouds in the distance so we crossed our fingers that we wouldn´t get too drenched. The ferry pulled in and we started weaving our way through the narrow lanes and squares of Venice. We didn't really know where we were going but just followed the crowds past all the little shops and over the canals until.we reached St Marks Square, the centre of Venice and site of the round domed St Mark's cathedral, the Torre dell'Orologio and many many pigeons. We carried on a little further until we got to the market on the Rialto Bridge but those clouds were getting ever closer so we decided to instead pick up some bread, prosciutto and Fragolino (yummy Strawberry wine) for dinner. After a few wrong turns we made our way back to the ferry to the mainland before the rain arrived. There were a few spots of rain on the ferry ride, unfortunately the storm had beat us back to the mainland and we had to make a dash from the pier back to the van through the pouring rain. We were well and truly soaked by the time we arrived, as was the washing we had put out before going out. After putting the clothes and ourselves through the dryer we put together some dinner and watched the storm continue to erupt over Venice from the safety of the van.

21/9 Venice Day 2

 Fortunately the rain had cleared by the morning so were able to get on the ferry again and have another go at looking around Venice. As we were not in a hurry today we took the roundabout way to get through town, stopping at the shops and galleries along the way. We wandered along the canals and through the market on Rialto bridge to take us through the quieter area on the other side of the Grand Canal. It was still very touristy but somehow Venice is so magical that it gets away with it. We stopped at an Italian restaurant we had read about and although it was chock full of tourists the personal attention from the owner helped it feel authentic. He recommended us some very tasty local white wine and we tucked into excellent seafood pasta, complete with squid ink which ended up all over Marcus' face...This was easily the best meal we had in Italy. We did eventually have to leave and carried on deeper into Venice, now into the Jewish quarter, which was a bit more normal, being largely devoid of all the tourist trappings. Jess attempted to befriend a cat (on advice from Marcus) but the cat wasn't having any of it, and Jess wondered if her stance against cats was still the right one. We pondered getting a ride on a Gondola, but the price and obvious lack of interest of the Gondoliers made us decide to spend our money elsewhere. Satisfied with our time in Italy, we wandered back through the streets, a bit more leisurely than the previous day, and caught the ferry back to the campsite.
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Van Trip Part 5 - South France

29/8 Carsaconne
As we descended down the mountain out of Andorra and back in to France we decided to stop off along the way at a prehistoric park. There were loads of signs around which seemed to be suggesting prehistoric cave paintings. Alas, we made a bad choice on the place we went to. It was designed more for children and had a museum and you could do your own cave paintings. Everything was a modern artificial version of what the actual prehistoric sites looked like. Not really our cup of tea but at least we got to stretch out legs. Back in the van we headed on  to Carsaonne which is a walled fortress and medieval town. It was a nice town, although was a bit packed with tourists and the shops were for the tourists too. We headed into le cite, wandered around on the walls and saw the castle and the church. As we were back in France we had a crepe and wandered around the narrow streets before heading back to the van. It was tinned cassoulet with toulouse sausage back in the van. A step up from baked beans and sausages but possibly not the most authentic cassoulet anyone has ever had.

30/8 Avignon

Next stop Avignon where we stayed at a little shady campsite across the river from the old town. St Bernades Pont was our first call. Apparently there is a famous nursery rhyme about it.  It is a half bridge (ie. half of it is gone) with a lot of history some of which was interesting, such as the town folk thought St Bernades had been influenced by fairies as he believed he was destined to build a bridge.Most of which was the standard audioguide stuff though. Too much detail. We lasted through it all though because we wanted to hear the nursery rhyme.  Unfortunately after all that listening we didn't remotely recognise the rhyme about dancing on the bridge when we heard it. After coming back off the bridge we decided to go to the Palace of the Popes. Apparently there were 7 or so popes who had previously lived in Avignon when there had been trouble in Rome in the past. The palace was very big and came complete with another detailed audioguide. Some of the massive rooms were pretty impressive, and the view from the top of the castle on that sunny day was great. But after an information overload we decided we needed to buy cake from a boulogerie and sit by the river to eat it. We then headed up the hill to the gardens where we got another lovely view of the town and beyond.  By then it was time for dinner back at the campsite and then we went for a walk along the river which was very pretty with both the town and the bridge all lit up.

31/8 Nice (via Marseilles)

Today didn't quite go according to plan. We were aiming to stay in Marseilles but the city proved much too big and after a long time stuck in traffic and unhelpful directions from the TomTom we found ourselves in a tunnel and by the time we got out the other end we were miles out of the centre of Marseilles. We took that as a sign that Marseilles was not the place for us and decided to move on to our next destination, Nice. Hopefully that would be a bit Nice-r.... We took it easy at a campsite we found near the beach west of Nice. As the man had explained to Jess when we checked in that men had to wear undie togs to go swimming at the pool we decided we best go to the beach for a swim. The current at the beach was strong and the beach itself was very little (all the nice beaches on this part of the Mediterranean tend to be private) but we nonetheless enjoyed our swim although it was a bit on the cold side.

1/9 Nice Day 2 & Monaco

The next day we caught the bus into Nice itself to have a look around the old town where we saw a market and some churches. We treated ourselves out to lunch but weren't very impressed (that's what we get for cooking yummy meals in the van). Nice itself is a funny collection of narrow streets and wide boulevards pushed up against the hills on one side and the sea on the other. It was pretty but not somewhere we really felt like spending a long time. So after we checked out the promenade we decided to try out luck in Monaco. There is certainly a lot of money there and the casino buildings were rather impressive from the outside. We didn't try our luck inside and instead we kept moving along the waterfront into the old town where we saw the palace which used to be a monastery but Grimaldi had tricked the monks by dressing as a monk and then stabbing them all  - so  his family became royalty. Not the most auspicious of beginnings and its probably not worth the risk trying that now. Get yourself shot. Monaco overall didn't much appeal to us either. Big apartments built up against the mountains with giant yachts in the harbour you just couldn't help thinking it was trying to hard...It was a slow trip back to Nice and the campsite with traffic backed up for miles and miles but after a combination of walking and finding a bus that was moving we finally made it back in time for sleep.

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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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