Sunday and Monday 9th & 10th June Our drive from Oudon to Barneville-Carteret was very smooth and quiet after the howling winds and rain we struggled through on Friday. A couple of podcasts and a few playlists made the four and a half hours fly by. Talking of flying by, as we got closer to Cherbourg we … Continue reading

Saturday 8th June  Once upon a time, for over one and a half thousand years, Champtoceaux was one of France’s major cities. Now it is a quiet backwater and it has been for the last 600 years. How the mighty are fallen? When the Romans invaded in the first Century BC, Castrum Sellense was already one … Continue reading Oudon

Friday 7th June The forecast was spot on! At three o’clock in the morning Alf climbed on to the bench below our bed so that he could reach up and tap me on the back to tell me it was windy. When I didn’t respond with the enthusiasm he was expecting, he began to pant into … Continue reading Alf and the Blustery Night!

Sunday 2nd to Thursday 6th June [Editor’s note: Let no-one say that Lesley was lazy in Lacanau, she was extremely busy walking, jogging, cycling, paddling and doing her calisthenics and yoga.] The last six days have disappeared in a bit of a blur. We did all the usual Lacanau things; strolled along the shore to … Continue reading Lazy Days in Lacanau

Saturday 1st June Once again, we are back in our favourite campsite and It’s busy! We didn’t realise that Thursday was a public holiday in France, Ascension Day, and most people took yesterday as a bridging day to turn it into a four-day weekend. This, coupled with the good weather forecast, has brought all of … Continue reading Le Tedey Again!

Friday 31st May “Gudbuy to Spane, Gudbuy to Spane”, as Noddy Holder sang on his way home from his holiday on the Costa Blanca in 1972. Today we left Spain, five weeks after we arrived, pasty-faced off the ferry. Thank you, Spain and Portugal we have really enjoyed our time, with you. We have been … Continue reading Gudbuy to Spane!

Thursday 30th May Zarautz! If you are come across a place that begins and ends with the letter ‘Z’ there is a good chance you are in the Basque Country, that fiercely proud region that straddles the western border of Spain and France. Many of the Spanish regions we have visited have had their own … Continue reading Zarautz!

Wednesday 29th May The sun rises late in the mountains. An hour and a half after official sunrise the first warming rays began to touch the van and lift the chill that had descended last night. The drop in temperature had no way affected our mood and in the bar last night we were still buzzing … Continue reading Naranjo des Bulnes

Tuesday 28th May Five hundred men took five years, at the beginning of the last century, to build a canal 17 km long, through the Picos de Europa to power a hydroelectric scheme. In doing so they created a service track that is now one of the world’s best day walks. The Cares Gorge Trail … Continue reading The Cares Gorge Walk

Monday 27th May Alf and I jumped out of the van this morning into a damp mist. By the time we had completed a circuit of the car park it was a steady drizzle, and not long after we shut the door, heavy drops were resonating on the roof. There was no doubt about it; … Continue reading The Wet Day!