Monze

_{Fun and games at the aire this morning. We had bagged the spot that was most level. When the couple on the space next to us left, some French people decided to move into it. The man twice nearly reversed over his wife! Then a second van came down to the lower level, that one nearly took off Marge’s front bumper. The trouble with the French is they must own a motorhome that is around 8 metres long (Marge with her storage box is about 5.5 metres), and they have to get involved with each other’s business, resulting in chaos and commotion.}

_{After a sweltering night, this morning was fresher, with a strong welcome breeze. As we set off towards Narbonne, on a busy main road used by many lorry drivers, we saw ‘the good time girls’ sat in their plastic chairs at the side of the road. Unlike the girls we saw touting for business in Spain yesterday, strutting about in their bikinis and high heels, these girls were well wrapped up against the wind, very sensible!}

_{Shortly after, we left the main road and headed inland, driving through the Fitou wine region. The grapes were being harvested, and everywhere were the small tractors and trailers used to drive in between the vines.}

_{A little further on, we had to negotiate a narrow road that wound around the bottom of the craggy rocks, luckily we were the only vehicle on the road and took it very slowly.}

_{As we headed to tonight’s aire we passed some buffalo in a field enjoying their lunch. They did not give us a second glance, as we took the opportunity to photograph them.}

_{We arrived at the medieval village of Monze early this afternoon. It has a stunning example of a stone Roman bridge. As with all the river beds in the area, the one here is bone dry. It would be interesting to see them, when they are full from the torrents of water that have tumbled off the nearby hills.}

_{We are now in the department of Aude, and the wine of this particular area is Corbieres. The aire is at the back of the village, and our view is of the grapevines, which come right up to our door. Even though the grapes have long been harvested, there are still some bunches on the vines and laying on the ground. They taste very sweet.} 

_{Some of us could not help trying to be funny with them!}

_{Although the wind is still brisk, the temperature is a much more comfortable 25c. Whilst boiling some eggs this afternoon the breeze blew a piece of kitchen paper onto the hob, which we did not notice straight away. It was nearly au revoir Marge!}

_{This evening we will take another walk out, probably up through the grapevines.}

Le Boulou

Whilst we enjoyed staying at L’Estartit again, it was not as magical as the first time, when the area was much quieter, and there were only about a dozen couples on the whole campsite. However we have enjoyed the weather, the pirate re-inactment and of course those hot tubs!

So after one last walk into town this morning, to buy some more pottery, to match our fruit bowl we bought last year, and to stop and watch yet more pirate activity, taking advantage of some photo opportunities, we returned to Marge. The temperature at 12 noon was 34c. Oh dear, Marge doesn’t travel well in the heat.

A quick stop at good old Lidl to stock up, cava at 1.95 euros per bottle, sorry cava fans, Marge is only a small van, and any available space is reserved for red wine.

So after adios Espania, it is now bonjour La France, we have crossed the border, and are staying the night at Le Boulou. We took a walk into the town this afternoon, being Sunday it was very quiet. The main road into the town was lined with giant cacti.

John managed to get a splinter off one, well he would wouldn’t he? The temperature displayed in the centre of town was 38c!

We think as we come up through France, we will soon start to notice a change in the weather. But this evening there is a nice breeze, to sit outside and enjoy.

The aire we are staying at tonight, is outside the wall of the cemetery, so we should have a quiet night! 

Quite close behind us are the mountains of the Pyrenees Orientales.

The van next to us is another small V.W. It is one month old, ours 23 years. Ours cost £10K, theirs around £80K, and their engine is 3 times as powerful as ours! The couple in it are Spanish, about our age, but nice and quiet. That is one thing we will not miss about the Spain, how noisy the Spanish are when in groups.

Tomorrow, we will head towards Narbonne and then turn left towards the direction of Carcassonne loosely following the route of the Canal de Midi which we cycled down to Narbonne a few years ago.

L’Estartit (3)

What a fantastic display of fireworks and special effects, costumes and acting we were treated to last night. So here are a few more photos from last night.

The campsite is busy with families who have come especially for this weekend, they are all really getting into the theme, with the children and adults all in pirate dress when they went out this morning.

Today we took a walk to the end of the promenade to see some of the Islas Mendas, a small and craggy group of islets. Then a look around the shops, the whole town has gone pirate mad, with themed window displays and the staff dressed of course as pirates.

After lunch, when the campsite was quiet, we took another turn in the hot tub, and a lie on the sun loungers by the pool. But the heat drove us back to Marge.

This evening another walk out to check on the events and soon we will be enjoying what we call our indoor BBQ, sausages, peppers and onions served in pitta bread. Because of the risk of fire, charcoal BBQ’s are not permitted on the site.

Tomorrow we set off once again, not wanting to become ‘brits abroad’ in the sun. We have enjoyed our stay here, but have missed our stays on the aires which are much quieter, also we have missed France and look forward to returning.

L’Estartit (2).

We realised last night just how quiet staying on the aires was.There are families on the campsite (with more arriving now), and being Spanish they can’t help but be noisy.

We started the day slowly, catching up on our washing and generally taking things easy. Around lunchtime we cycled to the outskirts of the town to a supermarket to pick up some supplies.

This afternoon, nearly everybody seemed to be out from the campsite, so we took the opportunity to go in one of the hot tubs for an hour and a half, then spent fifteen minutes on a sun lounger by the pool. If anyone had said to us before we left, that hot tubs and sun loungers would feature in a John and Angela holiday, we would have said “no way”.

We took a walk early evening into town, to see how preparations for this weekends pirate festival were going.  there were lots of stalls set up selling sausage, olives, pottery etc. We are always a bit wary of buying food for sale outside, with the heat of the sun and the flies never to far away. After a walk we returned to the beachside bar we went to last night for a drink. All around, there was activity, props being set up for reinactments and fireworks being set up for this evening.

Whist sitting outside the bar we got talking to a couple from south wales, they told us there was a very good ice cream shop in Mumbles.

After our dinner of paella, we will return to the town to watch the pirate festivities that will begin at nine o’ clock.

We went down and watched overlooking the beach, then up through the town where the pirates accompanied by a very loud cannon, and traditional musicians entertained the diners who sat outside at the restaurants.