Another week, another Brother, Pintxo's & Beers

Big Bull, Big Bill & Little Allan at San Sebastian (actually this was a cow).

We spent the night near Bordeaux in rampant heat (35 degrees C) in the little historic town of Borgon on the side of the Gironde Inlet. With the tide out, it was a muddy sludge. But it was so pleasantly hot. We got into Bordeaux Airport the next afternoon

Bar lined with Pintxo's (Tapa's)

Enjoying Pintxo's & a beer
(I'm not short, the table is high!)

Enjoying the street culture
of San Sebastian

reasonably trouble free and picked up Allan  & Nicky in 37 Deg heat - a shock for them leaving Dublin in 11 Deg. We had a 40 minute drive to our camp, which we had scouted 2 months earlier on our way back to UK

Nice smoky BBQ & beers at camp

Oyster beds at Cap Ferret Spit
(Huge tides in this area of France)

The UK has voted to leave the EU whilst here which took us by surprise as the BBC which we listened to while back in the UK for the 6 weeks was doing a splendid propaganda exercise to remain in the EU. Seems not every one listens to the BBC these days!!!!!! Don't know how the TV campaign was run!!!! Democracy at its best! Interesting times ahead for the UK.
We had 4 nights in the Arcachon Bassin staying at the Andernos Les Bains Motorcamp, where we did some bike riding on the great local cycleways, checking out some of the other smaller villages looking for a beer & shade, sometimes for a change a lovely Gelato. We drove out to Cap Ferret Spit, to the small fishing village at the end where along this part of the Bassin they produce all of Frances Oysters. If you love raw oysters with a lovely glass of white wine, this is the area to visit. Trying to a find a beer here was rather difficult. And as none of us were into raw oysters, the gastronomical delight was wasted on us. With charcoal bbq's set up all around the camp, Bill & Allan managed to cook up some very tasty meat dishes. Bill enjoyed the results enough that he is now keen to get back to charcoal bbq's once home
France is nice but so is Spain with having the big advantage of being cheaper to live, so we went south across the none existent Border to cheap fuel, food and grog. Bliss :)

We hadn't booked any accommodation as we thought being on the shoulder of peak time we would be fine! But guess what! It was more difficult than we thought. So when we found the lovely camp at Orio, a surf beach resort, we decided to book in for a week.

The waterfront at San Sebastian

Orio was perfectly located for us, in that it had lots of lovely walks in and around it. It is a popular beach with surf club. We noticed all the beaches we visited in this part of Spain all have life guards on them actively patrolling the beach. Allan & Bill decided

Bill & Allan catching the surf at Orio
Bill about to be dumped!

to go out and do some body surfing while Nicky & I watched on. They caught quite a few good waves before Bill had to come in as he was dumped heavily into the sand, jarring his shoulder. It's times like these you realise you are no longer 20! So we headed up to the camps pool where Bill managed some lengths that reassured us his shoulder was going to be ok. The pool was lovely and refreshing in the heat of the day.It was only 40mins by train back into San Sebastian - a destination we had marked on our map to do but the weather wasn't with us last time we came through. On our arrival into the city centre, we caught the Hop on Hop off Tourist Bus that gave an hour's worth of viewing and history of the city. We had a perfect day for walking around the old seaside port and historic town. San Sebastain and this region of the Basque People is famous for it's Pintxo's (Tapa's) - all the Bar's  counters in the Historic Centre (and everywhere else in this region) were lined with a variety of platters of Pintxo's. Our biggest problem was to find ones without an anchovy hiding inside them. They were very cheap and you could make a meal of them, with a beer for a reasonable price

Local cultural celebrations in Orio
The two large figures at the back are the towns Patrons

Enjoying a beer at the end of a big day!

On a day not suited for the beach, we headed back into San Sebastian with the Camper to stock up on supplies in one of Frances huge superstores and introduced A&N to our favourite sports goods store similar to Rebel\Katmandu but on steroids. Nicky managed a few purchases but Allan resisted (he was waiting for the shoe store he found a few days later!).After Orio, we headed further west along the coast to just out of Bilbao, another we had on our list to return to. We planned our trip so we could include a visit to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, a mythical enclave on the Basque Coast with a spectacular sea mouth and amazing views. I was a bit apprehensive of walking out to the church on the point, but the pathway was nice and wide, and the 231 steps up to it gave us a good workout to enjoy our beers later in the day. We ended up staying 4 nights in a camp an hour's bus ride outside of Bilbao (all the other camps closer were booked out) called Castro Urdiale. Unfortunately the standard of accommodation for A&N wasn't that great, we slept in our camper, but the Bar and Manager helped to make the stay enjoyable. This camp was just outside the "Basque Country" so the day we arrived Bilbao & Supermarkets etc were closed for a National Holiday, this little town was open as normal. The camp also had a lovely big pool, again complete with life guard, but the poor guy didn't have any clients until our second to last day, mainly due to the weather. But we did see him playing cards with a couple of young children who obviously found it too cold to swim.

The Guggenheimer Museum Bilbao

We didn't want to take the Camper into Bilbao as it was a large City full of motorways and flyovers, much easier to catch the bus for the 45 minute ride in. Lovely huge modern buses, seat 68 people and once they are full (which ours got by the 4th stop) that is it. They don't allow standing, and everyone is encouraged to put their seatbelts on. Very smooth ride and not expensive.

The Chapel of San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
Where we walked the 231 steps to the top

Interesting geology on this coast

While we were with previous brother, Bill had a lengthy discussion with Gman on things that should be on everyones bucket list and against Bill's better judgement, we accepted that the world renowned Guggenheim museum should be on it. So we visited it and Bill simply confirmed his judgement.  "Call me a heathen or plebbite but most contemporary art leaves me wondering !!!!!!!!, and I'm not really interested in the answers as there seems to be so much varying opinion amongst the critics. I did get to see a couple of Piscaso 's which I can comprehend, just, but the rest, Baaa Foohey"
We had a day in Castro Urdiales which is an old fishing village fill of history. It had an amazing Cemetery that the local wealthy people were dying to get into. And although there were some amazing Family Crypts, at the end of our lives, rich or poor, we all end up the same - ashes to ashes, dirt to dirt, the only ones really doing well out of it all being the church and the stone masons.

Could this be the new Family Crypt?

Although no longer in the Basque region, the Bars all had the Pintxo's, which we were able to enjoy for lunch as we strolled around the village.
It was an early start to deliver A&N to Bilbao Airport for their flight back to the UK for a few days before heading back to NZ. We had a nice couple of weeks looking  round San Sebastian & Bilbao areas with them, clocked up many many  steps on Nicky's pedometer app if is to be believed! We certainly felt like it at the end of most of our days. So back on our lonesome, with an enjoyable few weeks shared with Gman & Claire, then Allan & Nicky. Time to head to Italy for a HelpX assignment but not before one final drive, trapped in Bilbao's confusing complex motorway system, obviously designed by a deranged artist and undoubtedly being considered as an exhibit for the Guggenheim.

Le Boat - 6 Persons in a leaky boat on the lovely Charente

Le Boat on La Charente

Our troop of four intrepid lost kiwis was expanded further  with the addition of Jane and daughter Emily, friends of G&C who were in the area, more kiwis  in a state of confused travel and what better way to calm things down than take a river cruise.

Opening up for our entry

Bill helping Jane & Emily with Lock

The Le Boat reception lady had the "good English" and made us very welcome helping G & I to correctly fill in the hire details etc and showed us to the boat where she told us a  man would be sent to explain the boats workings etc. He was fluent in French but not much else which made for an interesting 30 minute briefing with a lot of raised eyebrows, quizzical glances, and interpretations of what he may or may not have been trying to tell us!!!! To be honest more was relayed between G & I simply with our eyebrows than was gleaned from our guide. Luckily with both of us having some boat experience and me with motor homes, we got most of it sorted pretty well except for the docking bit. This only became an issue after G handed me the helm for the downstream leg. Gently sliding into the wharf with about 2 knots up your jacksy (so to speak) does not make for a pretty tie up. Drifting sideways into locks and channels is hardly "course de riguer", never the less we got there.
Sitting at the bar on the riverside at one stop we asked the English Publican if there was any thing wrong with the river  picture, he glanced over all the tied up boats and with out pause said "nothing except for that boat over there round the wrong way", then left us crying into our drinks.

Spot the odd one out!

The locks were an ongoing part of the river cruise with them appearing 4 or 5 times daily, to keep us on our toes. They were a manual variety, easy to master but some effort required.

Weirs everywhere

Filling the lock

G man took the helm (however wouldn't don the captains hat) for the first leg up the river. This worked very well with him barking orders at all and sundry and went swimmingly well so to speak.
Having 6 on board made for shared exertions and gentle cruising, albeit a watchful eye always being required to sail the right channels with comprehensive river notes to prevent groundings and shooting off the weirs. Though did think  at speed some may have been manageable, however Cpt. Pugwash kept a steady hand on the helm and entertained no such thoughts.
The 7 day cruise was 3 days up from Jarnac, a night at Angouleme, "safely" seeing two of our crew off, on their way back to NZ, then the somewhat diminished crew, taking 3 days back down the river. The night in Angouleme was to be a celebration of Jane's birthday, but the eating got overlooked after some Tapa's in a Spanish bar at the start (like one does when you visit France!), so there were a few suffering the next morning. The crew reduction did mean some extra work for all and with Commander Tyles at the helm for the return leg made for some inspired docking manoeuvres. The least said the better, however no boats or docks were seriously damaged in the making of that return leg.

Trying to find the Bar in this village.

A stroll through Trois-Palis

We walked and biked many small communities and villages some with out cafes, others with and was generally a low key  relaxing journey to allow G&C a wind down after their previous 5 weeks of driving and guiding round France. Also Jane &  Emily and ourselves a new experience cruising a river that I would liken to the lower reaches of the Wanganui. We visited the pretty village of Trois-Palis with a Chocolatier Factory, where we were shown a great demonstration via video and then a staff member on all that is involved in making their products. We were unaware of the labour and time taken to produce products that are so easy to consume. So of course we were all happy to support them before moving on.
The Charente was a slug of water interspersed with weirs and locks and in its day a main avenue for trade & commerce. The stretch we did is mostly leisure these days but still some commerce happening from Cognac down to La Rochelle.
Many rivers in Europe are still the life blood of big industry with large factories

The finer points of Chocolate making 

Cycling off to Saint Meme for a baguette

crowding the banks, originally using vast amounts of water for power, and processing materials. The legacy being polluted waterways, and not so scenic vistas but undoubtedly where the industrial revolution took hold and remains in many cases.
 Split Enz six months in a leaky boat did come to mind with all the rain we had, but we didn't let it deter us and fun was mostly had.The weather was untypically damp with the launch being not the newest in the fleet leaking at various points on to bedding etc. This was a nuisance needless to say and the hire company did dispatch a repair crew to further tape window flashings. Another heavy spell of rain later in the trip showed more leaks which we managed to live with.

Feeding the family off the back of the boat

The Charente was heavily exploited for transport ,and industry, tanning and paper being big on the river, also the milling of grain. The rivers are also the recipient of treated effluent from all the towns and villages ridding their waste into rivers.
The river was not by any stretch clean as we know it, however bathing was being done by kids at one stop and fishermen were abundant the full length in all weathers as is their want.

Claire enjoying the picture

Another lovely village

During the French briefing I attempted to ask about where to dump our waste tank. He raised his hands and shrugged , obviously not our worry, till we used the toilets and it was obvious where it went. Amazing. And no we didn't try the fish at the cafes and didn't go for a swim, even if weather had permitted. It did make for many alcohol induced conversations of where and how our ablutions may fare in their long lonely journey to the sea.
All in all an  enjoyable trip was had, with family, new friends, quaint villages, gentle scenery, good food and many wines.
From here it is now off to Bordeaux to meet Allan & Nicky for some more days of relaxed exploring, no clear itinerary as yet, just a desire to see more of this huge continent, without the stress of needing to be any where anytime!!

The Charente region and villages (Roman ruins, self cleaning toilets and a Doppelganger)

Out the front of our Gite - the two story one next door stayed vacant thankfully

As we had arrived a day early, we had time to investigate the town of Cognac to get info from the Information Centre. Once again we were greeted with another passing thunderstorm. We stocked up on food for the next few days with the knowledge of France's closure of shops/supermarkets on Sundays  The weather has certainly been changeable. Some cool and then a couple of hot days suitable for soaking in the pool.

Synchronised swimming trialists

We met at the Gite (Villa)in the afternoon, which looked promising with adequate accommodation, a good size pool, and no neighbours to share. We now await the passing fronts to pass, the weather to warm up a bit to allow some bike riding and swimming. Perhaps even a cafe or two.
It was a good catch up with G&C after not seeing any family since Amanda & family in Sursee  at Xmas and G&C personally for 14 months or so. The wine & cheese flowed freely while we discussed our next 3 weeks together in the Charente/Cognac area, which will also include a 7 day self drive boat trip on the Charente River.

Still trying to find a good coffee

Echallat is a small village which sadly is not currently supporting any shops, cafes or boulangeries, but will make our 7 km ride to the next village cafe and roman ruins worthwhile.
The weather has remained defiantly cloudy but has not stopped daily excursions to nearby points of interest with dramas involving self cleaning toilets, stone throwing birds, and lack of  toilets  at the ever interesting Dolmens ........

Oradour-Sur-Glane was on G's list of must visit. It was a very sobering wander through the destroyed town where 642 villagers were machine gunned and burnt (including more than 400 women & children put in the church) in efforts by the Nazis

Oradour-Sur-Glane Village Ruins

to brutalise the french into submission. The town is left as it was found after the bodies were extracted, most not identified (the Nazis being thorough to burn all evidence). A war crime of horrendous proportions, with little justice ever being served, 3 generations lost  in some cases in as many hours. The Oradour Martyr

Burnt out main street of Oradour

Museum there describing the rise and rise of the Nazi War machine saying these atrocities not being the work of a madness or madman but an instigated system indoctrinating a nation for all to believe and follow in, justifying their actions against what we all know as evil and wrong......It could never happen again... but does. Mans ability to visit horror upon mankind knows no boundaries.......God save us........ No not even that.........

Fields of wild poppies

On a cheerier note the area has roman ruins and ancient Dolmens to pique ones interest, hopefully sharing this interest with G&C, tho it seems three dolmens in one day was pushing the barrow a little far, if you will excuse the pun.

The country side here in the south-west is picturesque, fields of wild poppies everywhere, with village rolling into village, church spires always to be seen guiding you, and small village squares anchoring the communities together, though not the bustle of earlier years.

Riding through the local countryside

Villages full of canals

Looking out over the beautiful
village of Aubettere

Got the "Missing you" Blues

Amazingly though, the village schools seem to be thriving, no busing kids to the larger towns, not till post primary anyway at least.

Sample time in the Cognac House Baron Otard

We spent a morning doing a tour of one of the 200 odd Cognac houses of the region, Baron Otard, interestingly of some Scottish heritage and ultimately out of Viking stock, in the old castle of Cognac. The interesting tour featured the history of the castle of King Francois I birthplace and later to become a Royal palace through his marriage, where he often returned. Parts of the palace are Eleventh C. and now is a giant store to manufacture and importantly age the Cognac over many years in an ultimate blending of spirits to form a bottle of the liquor. Retailing out the door at near 4000 euro for the crystal decanted retail budget pack. Thankfully they do an SOP more in our price bracket at 28 Euro however on this occasion have stuck to our 1.50 bottle of Merlot.

King Francois I
Do we know his doppelganger?

Interestingly King Francois's bust, held here being his birthplace, passes striking similarity to a good friend of ours, who often is heard with his french accent, I will leave those that recognise this bust and (indeed himself) to their own conclusion, there could well be a royal connection here as it is a much touted tale that this King had bedded over 2000 woman......and had countless off spring no doubt.....
A visit to La Rochelle (on Sheryl's must do and Claire's with having good friends living there) also a highlight. We spent a night there in a

Port of La Rochelle

lovely central hotel in the historic part of town and hiring bikes for the 24hrs enabled us to have a good look around. The old port towers are now days famous for tower diving as sponsored by Red Bull, not whilst we were there thankfully but still busy enough. We wandered around the old port area at night and it was gently humming. It was nice enough that we may consider returning should we venture back this way.

Safely made it over the bridge in the background
to the Island Ill De Re for a cold beer

 A good bike ride was had over a large notable bridge which Claire & Sheryl could be heard grumbling about as it slowly came to view, but once on its dedicated cycle track presented no problem and we were all rewarded for our intrepid crossing with cold beers. We were in much enhanced moods for the return crossing.
 We have visited many small villages and some larger towns over our two weeks in this region, usually supporting a cafe for lunch or coffees and beers and some historical backdrops to keep one interested. Now with the coming week on a canal boat, may the weather warm and the sun shine. Please!!!

Bill catching up with G

Another river village

Chateau La Roche Courbon

MOT's, Insurances, Flights and return to France

Bill & Owen in a "Drag" - Owen won

We returned to our wonderful hosts at Nobs Crook in Winchester to renew vehicle, travel  insurances, MOT ( equivalent to an annual WOF), a full service on the van, road taxes ( equivalent to vehicle registration), minor maintenance & clean the vehicle in preparation of another 5 months travel in Europe before returning to sell the van and head home for Xmas in NZ.

It was an expensive week (this time last year Bill had a rant about the Insurance companies wanting and arm and a leg to cover our vehicle for 12 months, and now we have renewed it only for 6 months and they still wanted an arm but only half a leg)
While sorting all these issues over the week, we also managed to sort our return flights home via Perth (to check out Rocky and her life in Perth) then home. And Rocky is also flying in over Xmas. It will be a jolly old time for sure.
During the week Bill managed a few jobs for our hosts (Kath was going mental with squeaky cupboards) and their lovely neighbour Chris who had a few issues to sort with her campervan. As well as a few social evenings with their friends and just enjoying the evenings in the back garden with Hobbs, Ella, Ruby and Pip (their 3 dogs & cat - but don't tell them they are animals as  they don't think they are!) Also added to the Reeve's menagerie are 4 hens (with lovely upmarket hen house) and 6 baby chicks, so cute and fluffy. I went with Kath to get 3 of the chicks from a Poultry Farm and had quite an education on cocks, hens & baby chicks

I also enjoyed doing some gardening after having quite a break from doing any, and cooking the evening meals most nights (great to have access to a full kitchen again). You should have seen the Game Pie Kath suggested I make from Owens earlier hunts (rabbit, pheasant, guinea fowl, and venison (the only bought ingredient). It was very tasty and huge.
So after a busy week we headed off on Sunday to spend the night just out of Dover before crossing over to France on the Monday.

La Vonne in France

Cunningly we arrived in France (crossings are uneventful, cool and not so scenic) with little diesel in our tank as it 25% cheaper in Europe. But un-be known to us there was a fuel distribution strike on, 20% of stations out of fuel already and queues at many places. We got lost leaving Calais and drove into suburbia,  fluking a

Bill with more Dolmens in France

reasonably quiet station allowing full fills and virtually no queue, then we found out about the shortage!!! Whew.....Down the coast, weather warmer, still not brilliant but only 20miles from England so what do you expect. The history along here is visibly WW2. Gun emplacements and bunkers run from the Spanish border all the way up to Norway apparently, the "Atlantic Wall" to deter invasion from Britain and assist an Invasion of Britain. We all know how the story ended but the devil is in the detail which generally comes as a eye opener for us.

Bill made me move a rock or two

One area, Cape GrisNer, was spectacularly pocked to this day as over 6000 bombs from 600 planes had been dropped in one day to silence the guns that were firing into England. The plaques on site don't actually say how successful this was, there are still intact bunkers etc, so .......
We bided are time as we had a few days to get to Echallat to meet up with Gman & Claire so dawdled directly down so as not to waste fuel. Arrived at our  Gite during a raging electrical storm (S wouldn't leave the van) only to find they weren't expecting any one till the next day.... and where in the world were G&C.......to add to our woes our phone was not cooperating at all. However with the sun once again shining (did I mention once we got away from the coast the weather picked up many degrees andit now toooo hot) we made contact, to be informed we were a day ahead of ourselves, embarrassing to "She who is seldom wrong", but not an issue with the myriad of camping spots in France. So within the hour we were ensconced in the small village Aire of Hirsac for the night eagerly awaiting our rescheduled scheduled rendezvous with G&C. Life is never dull. Ironically awakened in the morning by the smart phone reminder that we were scheduled to meet G&C at Echallat during the day.........