12th to 16th May
It was very hard to leave Julie and Hana, Joan seemed a little dewy eyed as usual. It is always hard but this time it was just the fact that they were there all alone with so much to do. However as soon as we met Kathleen and Ken they quickly cheered us up. You have to say they are always so upbeat and pleased to see you, plus we knew we were going to see Julie and Hana again quite soon as they were coming to dinner with us all in our van on Friday.
We arrived at La Nautica camping at Narbonne before K&K and sorted a couple of nice pitches for us. They had been to this site before and highly recommended it as each pitch has its own private facilities. The first thing we had to do of course was hand over the tea bags and the book Kathleen’s daughter had given us, sadly Ken refused to wear the TuTu Kathleen said was his dress uniform so it was done in mufti, then it was time for a beer and some catching up with each other.
Thursday we got our bikes off and rode them for the first time this trip! We all set off for Narbonne, Joan and I taking the direct route and K&K going the long way around as they ride all year round and are pretty fit. We had started with some trepidation because I now had Joan’s bad head cold and a really bad cough plus we had to battle against a very strong gusty wind. We only went as far as Lidl to get the ingredients for tomorrow’s dinner and then returned with no problems and thoroughly enjoyed it, the round trip being some 9 miles. We later discovered we had only been two streets from the centre! The only fly in the ointment all the time we were on this site was the extremely high winds, which kept the temperatures well down and prevented the leisurely sitting out after dinner and sipping drinks.
Friday starts with great excitement as Joan is going to bake in her Remoska!!! I was to make the main dish, Chicken stir fry with rice and noodles. Joan started making a ‘Date & walnut cake’ plus a ‘German apple cake’ (both recipes courtesy of Chris Carville). I really cannot tell you just how wonderful the van smelled. Kathleen saw the German apple cake but Ken didn’t and she wrapped both in foil and put them away so she could surprise everybody later. Julie & Hana duly arrived and we all enjoyed a lovely evening. Finally Joan produced her two masterpieces and everybody was delighted, especially as they tasted even better than they looked! Ken who loves his food instantly declared his undying love and affection for Joan on the condition that she produces one or other of them on a daily basis!! Julie left about 9.30pm, but we did not worry too much as they only had about 12 miles to go and to be honest she is more French than the French. We were highly amused when this French man refused to believe she wasn’t French when they were chatting in Canet.
The next day we took K&K to Julies and as we reached about half way she texted us to say the road into the village was closed as there was a massive car boot sale! We misunderstood her message and continued and by good luck and a lot of giving way by locals we managed to get through, phew! I thought I had put you off until later she said, I wanted to do things for tea! In the event we all had a good time and Kathleen demonstrated her animal training skills by making all the dogs sit. We left for the final time with loads of eggs as Julie has her own huge Common Market egg glut! As we turned onto the main road, boy were we glad we hadn’t waited till later as the traffic was horrendous coming out from Narbonne and was hardly moving. Fortunately for us we were headed the other way and apart from a minor hold up at a roundabout got back to the site easily.
17th May we left Narbonne and travelled to St Martin de Crau, some 140 miles for a brief overnight stop. Sadly we still had the very strong winds and were seriously wondering just how far we would have to travel before we got warm barmy weather. The following morning we continued to Port Grimaud, another 130 miles and at last it seemed to be getting warmer. Les Prairies de la Mer is an adequate campsite in that we have a reasonable pitch, we can get bread and papers and the office are very helpful. It’s also in a brilliant position for cycling to various places all on proper cycle tracks and is right on the beach. The downside is that it’s enormous and the facilities are a bit far away so we tend to cycle to them. Nobody who knows Joan will be a bit surprised if I tell you that after her first shower she left to return to the van, while I shaved. After a brief interval I heard a voice say “Bryan, which way do I turn outside to get back to the van, every road looks the same? “
Since arriving here we have cycled to St. Maxime (9 miles) and St. Tropez (11miles), on these trips we tend to follow K&K so we can hang back if we get tired. However Ken stopped to take a photo and when we arrived back he had still not appeared. After a while it became apparent that something was seriously wrong and given his health record we began to worry so I returned to find him. He was ok but had a puncture and walked the last 2 miles!
Actually you wonder why we all love this cycling lark when you see what happens. Gina and Bob a lovely English couple who are on an adjacent pitch came back the other day and poor Gina had come off her bike and had a huge bruise on her shoulder and had also ripped the skin off her knee and all down her leg , it looked pretty bad. Step forward nurse Kathleen with some sort of new type of dressing which she put on and it seems to have helped a lot.
Sunday Joan and Kathleen wanted to ride to St. Maxime to go to church which we did and spent a very pleasant day there. On these occasions we tend to eat a large meal at a restaurant and just have a snack at tea time which we find works pretty well. On our ride back we stopped for an hour on a nice sandy beach and tried to get into the sea. The water is still a bit cold and it’s very stony at the water’s edge and for about 6ft into the sea so only hardy Joan actually immersed herself fully.
On Monday the 24th we took one of those little tourist train things up to Grimaud as we had been told it was too steep to cycle. It is a medieval hanging village with lots of picturesque little streets and alleys plus a ruined castle which provides a really good view of St. Tropez Bay so we had to go up of course. I wonder sometimes why we bother when we have castles in much better nick on every corner at home. Having said that we had a lovely wander around in sweltering sunshine and enjoyed a beer before returning. We then spent an hour on the beach but as it was quite windy Joan just topped up her tan and we didn’t attempt to swim.
Usually we meet lots of people from all over Europe and enjoy talking to them but this year apart from a very nice German couple at Narbonne who had very little English we seem destined to meet other English couples like Bob and Gina who we have got to know quite well over the week we have been here. Bob was in the Air force and met Gina in Cyprus when she was sweet sixteen. They have a huge motorhome and are very friendly, a lot like us, we have spent most evenings all together, enjoying a chat, and eating Gina’s cake and chocolate orange, Ken’s chocolate and then finally Joan’s German apple cake.
At this point you must be wondering to yourselves, why is it all going so well? This is really boring, we expect at least some small disasters. Well never fear, we try not to disappoint and this holiday is no exception. Apart from the fact that our sat-nav seems incapable of finding accurately anywhere we put the co-ordinates in for, there have been a couple of things.
First, on our arrival at this campsite I went around to remove the bikes only to discover that the special lock for the bikes was missing and was probably lying back at Narbonne somewhere.
Secondly you may or may not know this but I have a square blue bucket which is my pride and joy as it comes in soo handy for all sorts of tasks. The main one being taking our dishes to the washing up point then holding under a shower to gather hot water to wash up, this is necessary because the water provided is at best tepid. About a week ago I dropped it but thought nothing of it until that evening when I held my bucket up to the shower head and got soaked as it ran down my bloomin arm, well at least it was warm! Fortunately I was able to superglue it until I can replace it.
The third thing, they go in threes don’t they? Well our special low wattage kettle would not boil. It would got fairly hot and then switched off. I am sure you are thinking, well buy a new one, but it is not that simple and to date we have been unable to find one. I did strip it down in an attempt to disable the thermostat but failed miserably, so we were reduced to boiling the kettle so far then transferring the water to our gas kettle. We did this for several days and then it just started to work again so we are not sure we can count it really, except that now it will not switch off since I interfered with it.
For those not skilled in travelling around Europe for months it is necessary to conserve our gas as typically it is not available anywhere else. What this means of course is we are extremely miserly with it and usually return with loads left. This year of course we have the added advantage of the Remoska, recommended last year by our good friends Ingrid & Joe, in which so many complete meals are now cooked. So this is saving us lots of gas plus providing some wonderful moments including lovely cakes and a scrumptious Toad in the hole (see picture)
As yesterday was to be our last day all together Joan planned a surprise pudding and produced another German apple cake which was enjoyed by all. She also had a little cooking school in the van. The thing is Kathleen always says she cannot cook which is nonsense because she made a very tasty spagbol for us all a few nights ago and the last time we went to her house she had cooked one of Reena’s super curries. However she wanted to learn how to make cakes so had bought the dates and walnuts and she, Joan and Gina went into the van and they all emerged some time later smiling. After several nipping in and consulting timers it was done and Kathleen was walking around beaming and said she was going to do them at home. Ken said, Joan if I end up with a wife who bakes cakes I honestly don’t know how I will ever thank you. Quick as a flash Joan hissed at me, I told you I should have brought my Northern Goldsmiths brochure! That’s my girl.
26th May and we’re off again this time heading for Italy via Frejus which by the way has an accessories shop (bucket & Kettle) plus C&A’s and apparently a very good campsite with private facilities. Nobody reading this will be at all surprised that we were able to find the C&A’s with no trouble at all but the shop and campsite remain a complete mystery. However after some considerable time in C&A we did manage to successfully buy a pair of denim shorts which are wonderful because they can be buttoned at the side into shorts or lengthened so one can go into churches, lovely.
So there you are, I apologise for this being so long but it is the first time we have had wi-fi at a reasonable rate (€50 a week since we left Julies and of course when we stay somewhere there is no popping into Mac Donald’s. We left Kathleen & Ken today so God knows how they will survive until we see them again in Italy tomorrow but I am sure they will manage.
Lots of love to everybody
Joan & Bryan XXXXX
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