White Cliffs of Dover

Reaching Calais put hairs on the back of my neck. I felt sick, sad, tired and much more. The site Jake had picked for our final stay was only 5 miles from the tunnel and was in the grounds of a beautiful chateau. It was cold, the North wind was making its way down from Orkney as if to 'welcome' us home. It rained, poetic tears I thought.

Still we've still got two weeks to go through Britain, staying with Bill, my dad, Easter with Lesley and Dave and finally meeting up with those friends who came to Troyes with us all those years ago. Full circle it could be said.

Before leaving Troyes we found a friend for chicken. He waved at us from the shop window and we waved back. Welcome Bastille, or Bas as we now call him. Our garden is growing by the weeks.

Troyes Revisited

The drive from Anse to Troyes took us through Champagne country, fifty miles of it, nothing but grapes and vineyards and cellars. When time allows, and the weather is better, it will make a trip on its own as there are so many places that you can stop and sample the Champers. Difficult when driving, but as a holiday, it must be great.

Troyes was to be our last long stop before hitting the French coast, in fact we stayed for five days as the campsite and the town were a joy. Now the revisited part is going back a lot of years. When Jake and I were kiddies setting out on our adventures together we went on a three week camping trip with some great friends of ours to the South of France. THAT trip could have a book written about it on its
 own, however one of the places we camped was Troyes, with its massive Gothic cathedral and medieval streets. It has always stayed in our minds and here we were back again.

It's a fabulous place and like Palamos in Spain, I would really recommend a visit if you are ever in
the area. The weather turned warm, the sun shone, and we found several places to eat that wasn't
pizza and not expensive. Mon Dieu!

Here's a selection of photos that I hope capture the magic of the town.

There's one of these in most large French towns, but this was particularly pretty.

Part of the Cathedral.

The old Church.

Like Gargoyle's?

So it was with some sadness and trepidation, that after almost seven months and many amazing happenings, we left Troyes and headed to our final campsite near the channel tunnel for our crossing back to the UK. 

We had set out to find interest and laughter and to rediscover ourselves. We have certainly done all of that and more and have met some folk along the way who will be friends forever. Most of all, Jake and I have gotten back to the way were when we got together. It's been amazing!

It Comes Together

The next overnight stop is a small town called Anse, near Lyon. Quick stop for dinner and sleep, however the one restaurant in the town was an Italian, (surprise surprise) and was called Pinocchio's. Now, remembering my struggle to leave Benidorm it was ironic that we ate in this place, but there was more to come. The place was packed full of Pinocchio memorabilia and this was on the bar!!!!

Pinocchio on a bloody turtle. Who would've thought. Serendipity it an amazing thing.

Sur le Pont d'Avignon

Having left the UK in August for our first ever road trip, then Spain for 5 months, we are now just back in France for the sloooow crawl home. Now I'm not anti any nation and speak French enough to enjoy good wine and food, however, it's sooooooo bloody FRENCH. After Benidorm, Benicassim, Benicarlo and the rest of the B's in Spain, all of a sudden it's all chic and slim and hair and tight bloody trousers!! 

We have arrived in Avignon, which by the nature of the place has a history according to Le Song! Here is a picture of the famous bridge.

It actually costs £16 to go walk on the thing, so we to a bar where we could spend the money we didn't spend and then took a photo of the thing, history, pah!

Actually, Avignon is a beautiful place, full of beautiful people who ooze class. For the first time since leaving the UK, we felt a bit trampy as we weren't dressed in white flowing cotton and pointy shoes, or have hair that has been coifed, scrunched and moulded into the latest style.

The town is surrounded by high high walls and must have been some place back in the days when people rode horses and pulled carts.

The locals have a great sense of humour when it comes to their statues.

We stayed in Avignon for three days at a great site next to the river and a ten minute walk to the town walls. We could really begin to feel the change in the weather as the further North we drove, cooler at nights and just a hint of things to come.

We still struggle with the food in France. It's still pizzas and pasta in most places and if you want typical French food, it will cost! Still there no such thing as a free lunch and I'm sure that phrase was invented by Le Francais!

Chalk and Cheese

When I was a kid, the place that all Brits used to go on holiday in Spain, was Lloret de Mar and I wanted to visit this place to see if it was still the place to go. NO! The resort is like a broken down Benidorm in so much as there are bars and nightclubs, although not many, but everything is so run down. And it appears that the Russians have started to go there en masse, so the town is changing to a
Eastern European bolt hole!

Plus, when we arrived at the campsite, it was the first day they had opened since closing at the end of September. We were the only van on the site until late in the evening when a couple of Germans arrived. The shower and toilet block,which were open to the elements, had not been touched for six
months. Even the toilets had the crap from last September round the bowls. The floors were ankle
deep in leaves and bird droppings and the place was filthy!!!!

We stayed one night! Sad really, but at least I now know that we won't be visiting there again any time soon.

So off we hop up the road to Palamos. Now this place does have history for me, as a I visited here when I was about 22 years old. It's great, it's the total opposite to Lloret, in so much as it's small and pretty and frequented by a different type of visitor. The shops are full of really nice goods and we
both bought a pair of fashionable shoes which won't be available anywhere else on our travels. The campsite is small but positioned on the cliff overlooking the town and is clean and well appointed. We will definitely come back here when we can and I can recommend it to any potential visitor.

The view from the campsite

Street in Palamos

A great little bar in Palamos, very bohemian.

So Spain was done. We had entered in the North in September of last year and here we were ready to cross the border and go back into France for the next stage of the trip.

At least I can speak the bloody lingo!