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!

Found an internet cafe

Todqy we are in Tours and I have just spotted an internet cafe at last! I have kept up to date with my postings but will have to post them on the blog at the weekend when we get home. We are about to head off to Le Mans where Keith will pretend to be a racing driver, he hopes! We have been gradually heading north, via Bordeaux, Angers and Tours. Typing is a little tricky here as the keyboard is not the same. All in all we have had a brilliant holiday and I shall bore you all to tears with the details on Sunday! That's all for now folks! Au revoir et a bientot

Thursday

Thursday 9th Sept.

This morning we had a little wander round Serignat, went to the post office, tried to go to the toilet - thereby hangs a tale! The French seem to take great delight in putting up signposts directing the unsuspecting traveller to places that don't exist, most commonly parking areas and toilets. We followed every lead in Serignat to find somewhere to park. I even went and stood in a vacant spot to guard it while Keith raced back to fetch the car from where he had illegally parked it, but had to beat a hasty retreat when a car made to zoom into it and showed no sign of stopping for the mere fact that a human being was standing in it! When we had eventually found somewhere to park, I saw a sign for toilets and, feeling that it would be expedient to take advantage before our next stop, set off to follow the sign. I found the local museum, the back of the post office and the police station, but toilets were there none. All I can say is that if there were any, they were extremely well hidden!

One reason why we were so anxious to visit this little town was that I had brought travellers' cheques with me. Yes, OK I know I can use my debit card in cash dispensers on practically every corner of even the most insignificant little town but when I last came to France, 35 years ago remember, travellers' cheques were the way to go. Nor did anyone at Barclays seek to dissuade me when I went for them. The problem is that when you try to change them here, they all but laugh in your face and insist that, non, madame, they absolutely cannot change them. So I'm not very impressed with either Barclays Bank or the local banks. The general attitude could be described as less than helpful!

On we went to the beach and stayed a couple of hours, long enough to brave the wind and choppy sea, more reminiscent of the Atlantic than the Med. Then off elsewhere to our little riverside haunt from yesterday for our picnic lunch before heading off to Agde to take some photos for Keith's dad, who often holidayed around here years ago. We called in at La Grau d'Agde also and bought some food for our evening picnic at a very French shop (not) called Spar, where the service was just as helpful and friendly as in any of our local Kwik Saves! :)

A la recherche........

Wednesday 8th

Many times, Keith and I have agreed that our idea of a holiday was not to lie all day on a beach somewhere. today, we succumbed to temptation and did just that. We had intended driving into the little town nearby called Serignan to have a look at the shops but it was market day and there was absolutely nowhere to park so we headed out of there and on to Valras-Plage, which we had visited very briefly the day before. It has a lovely beach, the Mediterranean, sun - what more can one want? I had had the foresight to bring my swimsuit and Keith his trunks and before we knew where we were, there we were - on the beach sunbathing, in the sea, swimming, generally relaxing and having a great time!
After a couple of hours, we realised what a terrible waste of a day this was and set off to find a shady, riverside spot in which to have our picnic lunch - Baguette, French cheese, fruit......very native! Unfortunately, we then found ourselves succumbing to temptation once again, this time at another little beach just outside Serignan itself. I spent more time sunbathing this time as the waves were a bit rough and Keith had the temerity to splash me (I love swimming as long as I don't have to get my face wet!) He, on the other hand, amused himself snorkelling and
stayed in the water for ages. As I write this, he is out for the count, snoring gently, exhausted with all the physical exertion. Men! They just can't hack it, can they? :)

P.S. Have spent the whole evening trying to post this! Blogger seems to have been most unco-operative this evening!

Tuesday 7th Sept.

Last night we had a lovely meal outside at the hotel where we were staying - that in itself is a treat - to be able to sit outside, with no breeze and not a breath of chilly air right up to 10pm. Up bright and early this morning, we headed off towards Sete on a beautiful early autumn morning. Jealous? You should be! :) There was a dramatic change in the scenery, from the endless flat fields of the north, now we were travelling through the Auvergne region with its mountains and superb views. I took photos again as we were driving but can't post them until we are back home with the benefit of broadband. The French seem to have invested heavily in their road system. Granted, you have to pay tolls on many of the motorways, but the driving is easy and, because the country is not nearly as heavily populated as Britain, the roads are far less crowded. Of course, in the towns, there is always the archetypal French driver who thinks that the rules of the road don't apply to him....no different to Britain then! Another outcome of the abundant space is that they seem to just build their motorways beside the older roads, rather than replacing them, so, when roadworks are necessary, the motorway can be closed off and the traffic diverted along the old route which is usually running alongside.
I am still intrigued to see the desolation of some of the little villages. Buildings stand empty, quietly rotting away and the whole effect reminds me of those old films which show soulless, mid-western American towns which seem to be totally bereft of human habitation. Keith got quite excited at one point when he saw a young mum with two small children walking along! On the other hand, some of the towns we have seen are very attractive, with lovely flower displays in the main streets, and obviously well kept, with no rubbish lying around. Their bins have lids, which deters wasps, and seem to be well used!
Anyway, the view of the Mediteranean in all its glory was well worth the long drive, although, as it was slightly overcast, it was not as blue as Keith remembered it from his youth. I persuaded Keith to buy some swimming trunks and tomorrow, we are off for our first dip! We will probably stay here until the week-end and then set off towards my old stamping ground, the south west, Bordeaux area and, in particular, Marmande, where I stayed with a family several times. I have long since lost contact with them and they are sure to have moved on, but it will be nice to see the area again.

Sunday 5th Sept.

Having arrived at Dover early, we took the opportunity of visiting the castle, although it was so hot, we didn't have much energy for walking very far. However, we got an earlier ferry and arrived in Calais at 4pm (3pm in U.K.) Keith set up the GPS to take us to Etaples sur Mer, where we had booked to spend the night. While we were waiting to disembark, I suggested he could do a sales pitch for GPS to the couple in the car in front of us, who were using ordinary maps! How archaic can you get?? However, he declined the offer, rather to my surprise.

So off we went, out of Calais and towards Boulogne, past the famous flat cornfields of that part of Northern France. We noticed that the roads seemed much less busy than in Britain but also, Keith remarked on the fact that, unlike the sixties, which was the last time either of us was in France, all the cars are the same - all jelly moulds, as he calls them, no distinctive 2CV's to be seen at all. We also had to pay road tolls on the motorways, which was an unwelcome innovation since our last visits!

And so we continued.....We did pass a sign for Etaples, but the GPS wasn't having any and, as Keith pointed out, there could be more than one Etaples. On we drove......kilometre after kilometre, towards Reims. I had a very simple map of the location of our hotel, which I tried hard to reconcile with the way we were going but, as Keith never makes mistakes with directions and neither, he said, does the GPS, I assumed that it was me getting it wrong. However, when Keith noticed that we had now clocked up nearly 100 miles. we thought we should pull over and investigate. It was then that we discovered that Keith had typed in Etables instead of Etaples and the GPS was trying to take us somewhere near Bordeaux! There was no way we were prepared to retrace our steps, so we continued. Keith negotiated his way through Reims without incident and we continued in search of somewhere to stay. Now you would think that Northern France, beloved of so many of our compatriots for the duty free trips across La Manche, would be bristling with Travelodges or the like - not that we were looking to repeat last night's experience, but any port in a storm... Rien, nada, niente! Finally, when we were beginning to think we would be spending the night in the car, we came across a hotel, which is really a neat little bunch of chalets and so, eventually, we found somewhere to rest our weary heads!

After a very pleasant dinner, here I am .......blogging before I crash out for the night. I should be able to post this in the morning - the signal on our mobile phones is good here, so, till then, good-night at all........Bon soir et bonne nuit!

(And the moral of the story is.........get your spelling right if you use GPS!! :))

Monday 6th Sept.

Today we set off further south, having decided to leave Paris for another time. There is no way we could do justice to it in a day - I think we need to keep it in mind for a holiday in the future and visit properly. So our route took us south west of Paris towards Clermont Ferrand. We travelled through more of the flat, open countryside so characteristic of these parts - huge expanses of cornfields. We saw the outline of Chartres cathedral in the distance and I did try to get a photo of it, but didn't manage a very good one. I have taken some photos from the car as we have travelled, but because we are driving on the right and I am on the left of the car, that technique doesn't work as well as it does in Britain.
We stopped at a couple of service stations - not nearly a big and complex as those in Britain, and remarked on the 'sameness' of products on offer. We could almost have been in service station shops off any British motorway - another effect of the E.U. - an insidious loss of each country's individuality. Where we got off the motorway and drove through small villages, it was much more as we both remembered it. In fact, in some cases, it was as if time had been frozen in the 50's. There were many garages, shops and restaurants that had obviously been the casualty of main roads and motorways being built nearby.

We are now in a small hotel just outside Issoire for the night. (Got your map of France? Follow with your finger! :)) Tomorrow, we should make it to Sete, where we plan to stay put for a few days.
Last night was too late to try for an internet connection, this morning. Keith's phone needed recharging. To my annoyance, my phone just won't play ball as regards enabling me to go online at all, and here, guess what! No signal again! So. I'm not sure when this will hit the ether - soon, I hope!

Ashford

Well, we had an uneventful journey down to Ashford, where we are staying overnight in the Travelodge, which is conspicuous by its lack of air conditioning! It has been about 28C here today and the heat is humid and heavy. Keith was hooted at loud and long by white van man because he had the audacity to slow down on the roundabout to the Travelodge - they must be really stressed down here in the south east! Glad I live in the relative sanity of the wilds of North Wales!
We had a bite to eat in Pizza Hut - loud music, loud voices and too many children running around and since then, Keith has been working hard at creating an internet link through one or other of our mobile phones, but, would you believe it? - no signal for either T mobile or Three!! Thought this was supposed to be the civilised part of the country!! lol. Tomorrow - a leisurely drive to Dover and the ferry. France, here we come!
That was yesterday. The night presented us with a choice - window open + air to breathe + noise or windows closed + no air + sleep without noise but also without breathing! I alternated between the two and so did not have a good night. Keith, on the other hand, unusually, slept like a log! More later, hopefully, if I manage to get this uploaded! Au revoir for now.