I have just taken Lucy out for her walk around the lake. All summer I have wanted and tried to get a photo of one of the herons which I often catch a glimpse of down there. Today, not having my camera with me of course, what did I come across but a heron sitting quietly beside the lake, minding its own business. So laid back was it that it didn't bother to fly off even at the sight of Lucy, who was being very well behaved as it happened. Ain't that just typical!!
Before taking Lucy out, I had been up since 5a.m. in a determined attempt to get my homework finished for tomorrow's Counselling class. I need to catch up with what I missed while on holiday. Needless to say, I got a bit sidetracked checking on emails and blogs so I didn't get it finished - hence the procrastination. Must try harder! :)
Still waiting for summer!
This morning we had sunshine - first time since we got back from France. Swimming in the Mediterranean seems very far away now! Every morning this week it has rained and Lucy and I have been for our walk under dripping trees and grey, misty clouds. The garden, never a candidate for Homes and Gardens magazine anyway, seems to have given up the struggle for this year and is bedding down for the winter already.
Admittedly, it's nearly the end of September but, hey! some of us are still waiting for summer!
AND to make matters worse, not content with their 'Back to School' campaign before the summer term is over, shops all over the country are now laden with Christmas-related goods! Whatever happened to taking life as it comes?
Admittedly, it's nearly the end of September but, hey! some of us are still waiting for summer!
AND to make matters worse, not content with their 'Back to School' campaign before the summer term is over, shops all over the country are now laden with Christmas-related goods! Whatever happened to taking life as it comes?
The invisible woman
This week it's back to normal with a vengeance! No sooner had the week started than Keith's son and daughter, who both work in the shop, went down with a severe tummy bug and have been off work all week. So Keith has been doing all the repairs on his own and I have been looking after the 'front of shop' as far as possible, with his expertise when required. We have coped, although Keith was in at 7.30 this morning to try and get ahead on the repairs as they have been coming in thick and fast, and of course he is very tired at the end of the day....
So tired that, when speaking to a friend on the phone this evening, he was bemoaning the fact that he has been in the shop 'on his own' all week!!!
Nice to know that the post-holiday diet has worked already and I have slimmed down to the extent of becoming the Invisible Woman!!!
(Don't worry, he apologised when I sat on his head! :))
So tired that, when speaking to a friend on the phone this evening, he was bemoaning the fact that he has been in the shop 'on his own' all week!!!
Nice to know that the post-holiday diet has worked already and I have slimmed down to the extent of becoming the Invisible Woman!!!
(Don't worry, he apologised when I sat on his head! :))
My review!
Well, after many weeks of waiting, the good people at The Weblog Review have reviewed my blog. I was quite happy with the review, with the points raised and with the score of 3.5 out of 5. If you would like to read it too, go here.
Car criminal?
Maybe someone could explain this to me:
Someone I know bought a second hand car for her husband to drive to work in. It had had one careful owner and had not a mark on it. As they live in a terraced house without parking, they have to park in the public car park at the rear of the house. From time to time in the past, their cars have been vandalised, but, of course, the police could take no action as there were never any witnesses so they just had to grin and bear it.
As the car had only been bought a few days ago, although insurance was up to date, they had not had chance to tax it, but they couldn't use it anyway as the battery had been removed and was on charge. That was of no account at all to the boys in blue as they carted it off because of its lack of a current tax disc. Remember, no battery in the car, so it couldn't be driven anywhere, and, they must have really had to look for it as it was in a little car park behind a row of houses not on a road. Still, they have their targets to meet, so anything goes and there was no way they were going to listen to the explanations of the owner, when he realised what was happening and ran out to confront them. So, the result was, he and his wife had to lose a day's work while they went off to the car pound to pay £80 for its release. Had they not gone immediately, but left it over the weekend, the bill would have been over £300.
To add insult to injury, when the car was taken away, it had been quite badly dented. The police have agreed to foot the bill for that repair......after the owner has spent another day getting 2 estimates from 2 different garages and then being without it for another day while the job is being done. He has the car because he works shilfts and has no other way of getting to work.
One might be forgiven for wondering which is of more benefit to the public - this heavy-handed bullying of an innocent car-owner, or the devotion of some effort towards doing something about the problem of cars being vandalised in that same car park. No contest, of course. Far easier to hammer the car-owner. Now tell me I'm being cynical!
Someone I know bought a second hand car for her husband to drive to work in. It had had one careful owner and had not a mark on it. As they live in a terraced house without parking, they have to park in the public car park at the rear of the house. From time to time in the past, their cars have been vandalised, but, of course, the police could take no action as there were never any witnesses so they just had to grin and bear it.
As the car had only been bought a few days ago, although insurance was up to date, they had not had chance to tax it, but they couldn't use it anyway as the battery had been removed and was on charge. That was of no account at all to the boys in blue as they carted it off because of its lack of a current tax disc. Remember, no battery in the car, so it couldn't be driven anywhere, and, they must have really had to look for it as it was in a little car park behind a row of houses not on a road. Still, they have their targets to meet, so anything goes and there was no way they were going to listen to the explanations of the owner, when he realised what was happening and ran out to confront them. So, the result was, he and his wife had to lose a day's work while they went off to the car pound to pay £80 for its release. Had they not gone immediately, but left it over the weekend, the bill would have been over £300.
To add insult to injury, when the car was taken away, it had been quite badly dented. The police have agreed to foot the bill for that repair......after the owner has spent another day getting 2 estimates from 2 different garages and then being without it for another day while the job is being done. He has the car because he works shilfts and has no other way of getting to work.
One might be forgiven for wondering which is of more benefit to the public - this heavy-handed bullying of an innocent car-owner, or the devotion of some effort towards doing something about the problem of cars being vandalised in that same car park. No contest, of course. Far easier to hammer the car-owner. Now tell me I'm being cynical!
A French bog blog!
I could hardly let our French holiday go by without making some observations on 'toilet experiences' now could I?
During my holidays here in my youth, I was periodically horrified by French toilet arrangements. Whenever we ventured into the countryside, there was a choice between stopping by the roadside and venturing into thick undergrowth or being faced with a delapidated shed somewhere in the wilds containing nothing more than a very smelly hole in the ground. In towns or villages, we would have to go into the local bar and run the gauntlet of passing through the men's toilet to reach the ladies' - yes really!
So, what has changed in 2004? The phrase ' from the sublime to the ridiculous' springs immediately to mind! There have been the occasional holes in the ground, but cleaner these days and better maintained and the old pavement 'pissoirs' have undergone a dramatic transformation. These days, you insert 20 or 30c, the door opens and you step into a newly cleaned and disinfected toilet heaven, with a proper toilet and one of those all in one wash basins which shoot out soap and water and then dry your hands afterwards. Some of them have instructions in French, English and braille and even a sound recording, should you wish to be so entertained. Once you emerge into the sunlight, the whole thing is cleaned and disinfected ready for the next occupant. However, the king of all bogs was to be found in a ChampionU supermarket just on the outskirts of Vire. There, the toilet seat was wrapped in a tube of plastic. Before you sit down, you press a button and the plastic moves on to be replaced by a fresh length just for you! Technology gone mad or wot!! Unfortunately, I didn't read the instructions until after I had finished, so inadvertently missed out on the benefits!
But the real piece de resistance is obviously linked to the French sense of humour. I have lost count of the number of times I have searched desperately for a toilet during our holiday, only to be gladdened by the sight of a notice advertising the existence and location of one and subsequently to have my hopes dashed because either there was no sign of it or, worse, it was locked! Now I know why it is regarded as quite normal to stop at the roadside and plunge into the undergrowth!
During my holidays here in my youth, I was periodically horrified by French toilet arrangements. Whenever we ventured into the countryside, there was a choice between stopping by the roadside and venturing into thick undergrowth or being faced with a delapidated shed somewhere in the wilds containing nothing more than a very smelly hole in the ground. In towns or villages, we would have to go into the local bar and run the gauntlet of passing through the men's toilet to reach the ladies' - yes really!
So, what has changed in 2004? The phrase ' from the sublime to the ridiculous' springs immediately to mind! There have been the occasional holes in the ground, but cleaner these days and better maintained and the old pavement 'pissoirs' have undergone a dramatic transformation. These days, you insert 20 or 30c, the door opens and you step into a newly cleaned and disinfected toilet heaven, with a proper toilet and one of those all in one wash basins which shoot out soap and water and then dry your hands afterwards. Some of them have instructions in French, English and braille and even a sound recording, should you wish to be so entertained. Once you emerge into the sunlight, the whole thing is cleaned and disinfected ready for the next occupant. However, the king of all bogs was to be found in a ChampionU supermarket just on the outskirts of Vire. There, the toilet seat was wrapped in a tube of plastic. Before you sit down, you press a button and the plastic moves on to be replaced by a fresh length just for you! Technology gone mad or wot!! Unfortunately, I didn't read the instructions until after I had finished, so inadvertently missed out on the benefits!
But the real piece de resistance is obviously linked to the French sense of humour. I have lost count of the number of times I have searched desperately for a toilet during our holiday, only to be gladdened by the sight of a notice advertising the existence and location of one and subsequently to have my hopes dashed because either there was no sign of it or, worse, it was locked! Now I know why it is regarded as quite normal to stop at the roadside and plunge into the undergrowth!
Nearly the end
Friday 17th Sept.
Our last day today! Yesterday we had a stroll around Tours and managed to find the house where I had my flat during my 6 month stay here. We did a little more present shopping and then carried on north again, this time to Le Mans. Keith was really looking forward to this stop because of its car racing connections and he enjoyed going vroom, vroom on the Mulsanne straight, which, of course, I had never heard of. I further showed my ignorance in being surprised that the 24 hour race consists of racing round the same circuit for 24 hours. For that length of time I would have thought they would at least go round the whole of northern France - it would be much more interesting too! Of course, we had to visit the museum. A great time was had by all! We did manage to find a place to lay our heads for the night without any trouble this time and enjoyed a very pleasant dinner. Angers and Tours are both very elegant towns and Le Mans suffers by comparison. We did venture into the centre but were disappointed - a very ordinary place.
Today, we set off once more, ever nearer the end of our holiday. We drove past Alencon and Vire to our destination for tonight, St-Lo. Once we'd checked in, we drove into town to have a look around. It is an interesting place in that it seems to have suffered badly during the war, so much so that hardly any of the buildings seem to date from before the war. It was obviously an old walled town with a castle once upon a time and some of the castle wall is still remaining but there is one church which must have had its bell tower demolished and replaced after the war by a concrete one which looks very peculiar and does nothing to enhance the church. There is another, bigger church which was obviously very badly damaged and we managed to track down some old photos showing how it looked originally. During the bombling, it lost one tower, the other one was damaged and much of the front too. The plainness of the stone which has replaced the missing parts is startling and emphasises the damage suffered.
So tomorrow, Cherbourg and the ferry back to England. We have enjoyed this holiday so much, especially as it has been some years since either of us had had a proper one. Things have changed, of course, but people still retain the politeness that I remember and the elegance and attention to detail is still there. So, too, is the slower pace of life. We have been constantly amazed that long lunch breaks are still a widespread feature. Practically all shops are closed on Sundays and Mondays too, most close for one and a half to two hours on other days and rush hour seems only to start at 9a.m. We even saw a hypermarket petrol station which was closed for an hour at lunchtime and closed for the night at 7.30p.m. So, for people working full time, there must be a real problem if they have banking or shopping to do during their lunch hour - everyone else is on their lunch-break too.
Lastly, something I don't remember from the past is the graffiti - often quite artistic if lacking in originality, it is everywhere. I would love to know who on earth treks out to the middle of Les Landes or halfway up the Pyrennees to graffiti on any and every available wall and, more importantly...............WHY!!!
Our last day today! Yesterday we had a stroll around Tours and managed to find the house where I had my flat during my 6 month stay here. We did a little more present shopping and then carried on north again, this time to Le Mans. Keith was really looking forward to this stop because of its car racing connections and he enjoyed going vroom, vroom on the Mulsanne straight, which, of course, I had never heard of. I further showed my ignorance in being surprised that the 24 hour race consists of racing round the same circuit for 24 hours. For that length of time I would have thought they would at least go round the whole of northern France - it would be much more interesting too! Of course, we had to visit the museum. A great time was had by all! We did manage to find a place to lay our heads for the night without any trouble this time and enjoyed a very pleasant dinner. Angers and Tours are both very elegant towns and Le Mans suffers by comparison. We did venture into the centre but were disappointed - a very ordinary place.
Today, we set off once more, ever nearer the end of our holiday. We drove past Alencon and Vire to our destination for tonight, St-Lo. Once we'd checked in, we drove into town to have a look around. It is an interesting place in that it seems to have suffered badly during the war, so much so that hardly any of the buildings seem to date from before the war. It was obviously an old walled town with a castle once upon a time and some of the castle wall is still remaining but there is one church which must have had its bell tower demolished and replaced after the war by a concrete one which looks very peculiar and does nothing to enhance the church. There is another, bigger church which was obviously very badly damaged and we managed to track down some old photos showing how it looked originally. During the bombling, it lost one tower, the other one was damaged and much of the front too. The plainness of the stone which has replaced the missing parts is startling and emphasises the damage suffered.
So tomorrow, Cherbourg and the ferry back to England. We have enjoyed this holiday so much, especially as it has been some years since either of us had had a proper one. Things have changed, of course, but people still retain the politeness that I remember and the elegance and attention to detail is still there. So, too, is the slower pace of life. We have been constantly amazed that long lunch breaks are still a widespread feature. Practically all shops are closed on Sundays and Mondays too, most close for one and a half to two hours on other days and rush hour seems only to start at 9a.m. We even saw a hypermarket petrol station which was closed for an hour at lunchtime and closed for the night at 7.30p.m. So, for people working full time, there must be a real problem if they have banking or shopping to do during their lunch hour - everyone else is on their lunch-break too.
Lastly, something I don't remember from the past is the graffiti - often quite artistic if lacking in originality, it is everywhere. I would love to know who on earth treks out to the middle of Les Landes or halfway up the Pyrennees to graffiti on any and every available wall and, more importantly...............WHY!!!
Angers and Tours
Wednesday 15th Sept.
We had problems finding a hotel last night. We tried several around Nantes but for some reason, they were all full, which makes one wonder what the huge attraction of Nantes is - seemed like just another industrial town to us! Finally we carried on to Angers, where we did manage to find a hotel with room to spare but only for one night. This morning was shopping time, or at least, it would have been if we could have found any shops which were not designer outlets with price tickets to match. However, we had a wander round Angers, which I have visited once before to see the castle. It is a very pleasant town with lots of old, interesting buildings and, it actually had toilets too, which was a bonus! We had a coffee and baguette beside a fountain and watched the world go by. I was always impressed with the French women's fashion acumen and still saw signs of it today looking around the town. Even students wear their casual gear with a certain panache. I used to envy this ability of theirs to always look smart and I decided today that part of the secret what used to be called 'deportment', in other words, they stand straight and walk well.
This afternoon, we carried on towardsTours, where I spent 6 months in 1969 (no, I was not involved in the student riots of the time!) but got diverted when Keith spotted a sign for an air museum outside Angers. We followed it - otherwise he would have cried all night! - and discovered a very new aerodrome and the museum. Keith got to sit in one of the planes and I took a photo of him!
This evening we have managed to find a room at the first attempt, but again, only for one night, which leads us to wonder what is going on in the hotel-world around these parts. Do they take one look at us and decide they can only bear to have us in the building for one night or is there someone following us around, booking rooms ahead of us so that we don't stay in any one place too long???
Oh and I finally managed to change some of my travellers' cheques, in Credit Lyonnais, Angers!
We had problems finding a hotel last night. We tried several around Nantes but for some reason, they were all full, which makes one wonder what the huge attraction of Nantes is - seemed like just another industrial town to us! Finally we carried on to Angers, where we did manage to find a hotel with room to spare but only for one night. This morning was shopping time, or at least, it would have been if we could have found any shops which were not designer outlets with price tickets to match. However, we had a wander round Angers, which I have visited once before to see the castle. It is a very pleasant town with lots of old, interesting buildings and, it actually had toilets too, which was a bonus! We had a coffee and baguette beside a fountain and watched the world go by. I was always impressed with the French women's fashion acumen and still saw signs of it today looking around the town. Even students wear their casual gear with a certain panache. I used to envy this ability of theirs to always look smart and I decided today that part of the secret what used to be called 'deportment', in other words, they stand straight and walk well.
This afternoon, we carried on towardsTours, where I spent 6 months in 1969 (no, I was not involved in the student riots of the time!) but got diverted when Keith spotted a sign for an air museum outside Angers. We followed it - otherwise he would have cried all night! - and discovered a very new aerodrome and the museum. Keith got to sit in one of the planes and I took a photo of him!
This evening we have managed to find a room at the first attempt, but again, only for one night, which leads us to wonder what is going on in the hotel-world around these parts. Do they take one look at us and decide they can only bear to have us in the building for one night or is there someone following us around, booking rooms ahead of us so that we don't stay in any one place too long???
Oh and I finally managed to change some of my travellers' cheques, in Credit Lyonnais, Angers!
Andorra and on to Marmande
Sunday 12th
Well, I'm afraid our internet connection has finally run out and it seems to be impossible to reconnect. So Net2Roam has cost us an arm and a leg, has sold us extra hours but with no chance of using them because the contract has run out. Anyone out there thinking of using it, the advice is don't. The connection is supposed to have been about 48kps but in fact it was slower than using Keith's mobile which connects at 9.6kps (and also costs a fortune) so I am afraid you will be reading this after we get back to Wales.
Anyway, enough moaning - yesterday we left Sevignon and head south to Andorra. The journey was fantastic although very winding and wiggly, through the Pyrenees. We were heading for Andorra La Vella, the capital, but eventually stopped short of that at another town called Encamp. Back in the sixties, Andorra was the place you went for bargain priced leather goods, so I was hoping for some fantastic buys but, alas, time marches on and although French and Spanish seemed to be flocking there to spend their euros, we did not see anything which struck us as anything like a bargain. Designer gear abounded, but not discount prices. I suppose I had been hoping for a continental Cheshire Oaks (out of town discount shopping centre) but I was to be disappointed. Not only that but they obviously don't have a thriving noise abatement society there either so it seems to be de rigeur to have your car stereo blaring at an unbelievable level of decibels as you hurtle murderously down the street, oblivious to other traffic or pedestrians. To add insult to injury, while we were walking up the main shopping street, a wedding party drove down, every car horn sounding at full blast. Apparently a quaint local custom!
However, it was fascinating to see and hear the mix of French and Spanish all around and to notice the difference between the two races. During our time here, with very few exceptions. any French people we have come into contact with have been unfailingly polite. They make a point of greeting each other. The Spanish and Andorreans, on the other hand, judging by yesterday's experiences, think nothing of pushing in front, barging through people and generally ignoring all around them. I know that's a generalisation, but that was our experience of one day.
After less than an hour, we had had enough of the noise and jostling and beat a hasty retreat back to the car park and out of Andorra. At least we can say we have been! We found a pleasant little hotel back in the Pyrenees where we stayed the night.
Today, we intended driving across to Biarritz , which we did, and staying somewhere near, which we didn't!
Sunday in France is a no-no as regards the intrepid traveller! No supermarkets open, and........in Les Landes, where we are now, at least.....no hotels open, it seems! I can only think that, having cared for visitors all through the summer, they have decided enough is enough and taken themselves off for their own holidays. Those who are still around don't seem to bother opening to new visitors on Sundays. We found 4 hotels, none of which were open, before finally finding our present one in a little town on the Atlantic coast, some way north of Biarritz, called Mimizan.
Camping areas are two a penny, but no hotels ...AND ...once again, no toilets!! I was threatening to disappear among the bushes at the roadside before we arrived here! What is it with the French? Don't they feel the need to answer the call of nature once in a while?
Tomorrow, we are planning to visit my old stamping ground, Marmande, a town to the south east of Bordeaux. I am looking forward to 'revisiting my youth'!
Tuesday 14th Sept.
Yesterday was a strange day. We set off from our night's stay in Mimizon towards Marmande. Having spent the first part of our holiday visiting the places where Keith spent family holidays when he was growing up, it was now time to revisit my old haunts. When I was at school, there was an exchange system in place whereby pupils interested in improving their skills in French and learning more of French life and culture, were paired up with like-minded French students and each spent a month in the other's country. So Dominique and I were paired up and were one of the successes for we visited each other not once but for three years in succession and we met up again while I was in college and had a 6 month stay in Tours as part of my course.
Dominique's family owned a shop selling seed and related merchandise to smallholders from the countryside around Marmande. She had a younger brother and sister and her Swiss grandmother lived with them. The pattern was that she came to us for a month over Easter and I went there mid July to mid August. Those holidays were among my happiest memories. I used to tick off the days for weeks before I went and was always heartbroken to have to come back. I fell in love with the French way of life and used to dream of someday being able to settle and live in France, but more of that at a later date. We went for days out at the weekends certainly, but mostly, we amused ourselves during the mornings and after the required 'siesta' after lunch, set off for the local river, the Garonne, for a swim and to sunbathe, That is where I learned to swim the first year I was there. It took many hours of effort on my part and patience on the part of Dominique and her family but I got there in the end!
Of course, knowing such a thing would be impossible, I nevertheless, cherished the hope that yesterday's visit would result in some rekindling of a link with those happy visits. I have long since lost contact with the family, more due to lack of effort on my part, I think, but I kept thinking that maybe the area would not be very changed or that there would someone I could ask for news of the family. Of course, with a gap of 40 years, common sense would indicate, not only that this was highly unlikely, but also that it's the kind of thing that only happens in novels!
By coincidence, Keith parked right outside the shop, now completely unrecognisable from that of my memories and closed to boot - Monday, as well as Sunday, everyone closes! All the other shops in the street had changed too, of course, as well as most of the area. The only part I recognised was the church. Having stood the test of time for hundreds of years, it was not likely to undergo much change in the last forty. I kept walking up and down the street, willing the past to merge into the present, searching for some small clue that would provide a link, but ...nothing. We walked under the trees where the men still play boules and Keith picked up a large conker from the ground and gave it too me as a reminder of my visit, and so, after about an hour, there was nothing for it but to set off once again and leave Marmande in the past and in my memories.
We had a quick visit to la Baie d'Arcachon in the afternoon but the weather was not very good and we turned towards Bordeaux for a hotel.
Today we decided we should lessen the distance between our present position and St. Lo, where we need to be on Frday night, so we headed north towards Nantes, taking a detour east to Les Sables d'Olonne where Keith wanted to visit a motor museum. We had some problems finding somewhere for tonight as, for some reason, everywhere around Nantes was full, so we pressed on to Angers, where we are now.
Did I mention that Keith has been strangely fascinated with the local hypermarkets here, called HyperU? This is where he insists that we buy copious quantities of butter, soft cheese, fruit and salad for our picnics, which is fine, except that, as I keep reminding him, we are travelling without the use of a fridge, so need to be careful not to buy too much at a time in case it goes off, I am expecting us to go down with some devastating form of food poisoning any day!
Well, I'm afraid our internet connection has finally run out and it seems to be impossible to reconnect. So Net2Roam has cost us an arm and a leg, has sold us extra hours but with no chance of using them because the contract has run out. Anyone out there thinking of using it, the advice is don't. The connection is supposed to have been about 48kps but in fact it was slower than using Keith's mobile which connects at 9.6kps (and also costs a fortune) so I am afraid you will be reading this after we get back to Wales.
Anyway, enough moaning - yesterday we left Sevignon and head south to Andorra. The journey was fantastic although very winding and wiggly, through the Pyrenees. We were heading for Andorra La Vella, the capital, but eventually stopped short of that at another town called Encamp. Back in the sixties, Andorra was the place you went for bargain priced leather goods, so I was hoping for some fantastic buys but, alas, time marches on and although French and Spanish seemed to be flocking there to spend their euros, we did not see anything which struck us as anything like a bargain. Designer gear abounded, but not discount prices. I suppose I had been hoping for a continental Cheshire Oaks (out of town discount shopping centre) but I was to be disappointed. Not only that but they obviously don't have a thriving noise abatement society there either so it seems to be de rigeur to have your car stereo blaring at an unbelievable level of decibels as you hurtle murderously down the street, oblivious to other traffic or pedestrians. To add insult to injury, while we were walking up the main shopping street, a wedding party drove down, every car horn sounding at full blast. Apparently a quaint local custom!
However, it was fascinating to see and hear the mix of French and Spanish all around and to notice the difference between the two races. During our time here, with very few exceptions. any French people we have come into contact with have been unfailingly polite. They make a point of greeting each other. The Spanish and Andorreans, on the other hand, judging by yesterday's experiences, think nothing of pushing in front, barging through people and generally ignoring all around them. I know that's a generalisation, but that was our experience of one day.
After less than an hour, we had had enough of the noise and jostling and beat a hasty retreat back to the car park and out of Andorra. At least we can say we have been! We found a pleasant little hotel back in the Pyrenees where we stayed the night.
Today, we intended driving across to Biarritz , which we did, and staying somewhere near, which we didn't!
Sunday in France is a no-no as regards the intrepid traveller! No supermarkets open, and........in Les Landes, where we are now, at least.....no hotels open, it seems! I can only think that, having cared for visitors all through the summer, they have decided enough is enough and taken themselves off for their own holidays. Those who are still around don't seem to bother opening to new visitors on Sundays. We found 4 hotels, none of which were open, before finally finding our present one in a little town on the Atlantic coast, some way north of Biarritz, called Mimizan.
Camping areas are two a penny, but no hotels ...AND ...once again, no toilets!! I was threatening to disappear among the bushes at the roadside before we arrived here! What is it with the French? Don't they feel the need to answer the call of nature once in a while?
Tomorrow, we are planning to visit my old stamping ground, Marmande, a town to the south east of Bordeaux. I am looking forward to 'revisiting my youth'!
Tuesday 14th Sept.
Yesterday was a strange day. We set off from our night's stay in Mimizon towards Marmande. Having spent the first part of our holiday visiting the places where Keith spent family holidays when he was growing up, it was now time to revisit my old haunts. When I was at school, there was an exchange system in place whereby pupils interested in improving their skills in French and learning more of French life and culture, were paired up with like-minded French students and each spent a month in the other's country. So Dominique and I were paired up and were one of the successes for we visited each other not once but for three years in succession and we met up again while I was in college and had a 6 month stay in Tours as part of my course.
Dominique's family owned a shop selling seed and related merchandise to smallholders from the countryside around Marmande. She had a younger brother and sister and her Swiss grandmother lived with them. The pattern was that she came to us for a month over Easter and I went there mid July to mid August. Those holidays were among my happiest memories. I used to tick off the days for weeks before I went and was always heartbroken to have to come back. I fell in love with the French way of life and used to dream of someday being able to settle and live in France, but more of that at a later date. We went for days out at the weekends certainly, but mostly, we amused ourselves during the mornings and after the required 'siesta' after lunch, set off for the local river, the Garonne, for a swim and to sunbathe, That is where I learned to swim the first year I was there. It took many hours of effort on my part and patience on the part of Dominique and her family but I got there in the end!
Of course, knowing such a thing would be impossible, I nevertheless, cherished the hope that yesterday's visit would result in some rekindling of a link with those happy visits. I have long since lost contact with the family, more due to lack of effort on my part, I think, but I kept thinking that maybe the area would not be very changed or that there would someone I could ask for news of the family. Of course, with a gap of 40 years, common sense would indicate, not only that this was highly unlikely, but also that it's the kind of thing that only happens in novels!
By coincidence, Keith parked right outside the shop, now completely unrecognisable from that of my memories and closed to boot - Monday, as well as Sunday, everyone closes! All the other shops in the street had changed too, of course, as well as most of the area. The only part I recognised was the church. Having stood the test of time for hundreds of years, it was not likely to undergo much change in the last forty. I kept walking up and down the street, willing the past to merge into the present, searching for some small clue that would provide a link, but ...nothing. We walked under the trees where the men still play boules and Keith picked up a large conker from the ground and gave it too me as a reminder of my visit, and so, after about an hour, there was nothing for it but to set off once again and leave Marmande in the past and in my memories.
We had a quick visit to la Baie d'Arcachon in the afternoon but the weather was not very good and we turned towards Bordeaux for a hotel.
Today we decided we should lessen the distance between our present position and St. Lo, where we need to be on Frday night, so we headed north towards Nantes, taking a detour east to Les Sables d'Olonne where Keith wanted to visit a motor museum. We had some problems finding somewhere for tonight as, for some reason, everywhere around Nantes was full, so we pressed on to Angers, where we are now.
Did I mention that Keith has been strangely fascinated with the local hypermarkets here, called HyperU? This is where he insists that we buy copious quantities of butter, soft cheese, fruit and salad for our picnics, which is fine, except that, as I keep reminding him, we are travelling without the use of a fridge, so need to be careful not to buy too much at a time in case it goes off, I am expecting us to go down with some devastating form of food poisoning any day!
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