Moskito's

There's always mosquito's! It's a saying that, over the years has served us well and again we were ready. But let's get there first shall we.

We were in Fouras with a slow but effective internet. I always wanted to stay on a ranch and there we were. Fouras is a pretty town with enough to see and do.

We played the first round of the invitational open and this was Jake teeing off.

and playing her second with a net at the hard water hazard..........

and then a tricky one out of the bushes. Suffice to say that I managed a sneak win on the 18th, so first round to me.

We also decided to fish for sardines and cook them on our BBQ. We got a fine catch, which handily came in a bag.............

So there it was. What it doesn't show is the mess that results in gutting, deheading and cleaning those little buggers. Well worth it though and another of life's lessons learned.

So to Bordeaux and Camping Du Lac.

And on to Arcachon and the Camping Club...........

What happened to Bordeaux I hear you say? City life, the chance to mingle with the good people that we meet. Shops, bars and excitement!!!! Well, pop back to the title of this episode and it will give you a big clue. Camping by Le Lac in Bordeaux, as pretty as it looked, as soon as the sun started to go down, you could hear them. The Mossie's. And there was loads. So next morning, off we went to here. Arcachon. And thank the lord we did. This place is brilliant. The site is in a forest with camping pitches under vast pine trees.

The view from the van door

The walk to the town is wonderful, as Arcachon is an old fashioned coastal resort which has been more or less kept original. There is a lift from the park above the town, which takes you down to street level and this has been working for 125 years. Amazing.

Here's the town from the park and the balcony around the lift

and here's the lift from the street. It was built in 1880 something and is a piece of historical architecture

Now we are only 200 miles from the Spanish border, the houses in general are still typical Francais

but there is a definite change in the landscape and tree cover. It's a much drier area and Arcachon is actually built on a massive sand dune. In fact, only a mile away from us, is Europe's largest, The Great Dune of Pyla, which is 2.7 kilometers long, 500 meters wide and 110 meters high. I would have posted a photograph of it, if we had gone to see it. But when it was mentioned as part of the itinerary, Jake stated it was really just a big pile of sand and she didn't want to get any sand in her shoes.........

Now, what have we gleaned so far on this trip. It's early, so not much, but
all wine in France is good, it's just cheap or expensive
don't trust anyone. They may look helpful and accommodating, but there are hustlers everywhere
driving on the right is easy and the roads are empty
there's not much to do when it rains
I miss the football
Jake doesn't miss anything other than a few folk and her slippers

But all is well and we go on. One more stop in France and then it's Viva Espania.