Category: Uncategorized

Some Delicious Lunches, and an Unwanted House Guest

We’ve been to a restaurant just outside Ruffec a few times now – it’s an old water mill that’s been nicely redone into a lovely restaurant that has really excellent food.

There’s a little white resident dog that wanders around – very cute but could use a bath.

After the first restaurant visit we popped up to the nearby town of Civray – it was a very important town for the resistance in WWII.  Since it was just past Remembrance Day there were still some beautiful flowers around the base of the war memorial.

The town also has a very old church that goes back to the 1100’s.  As usual I went in for a look while Colin and Max stayed outside.

There seemed to be many different styles of decorations, some of which were quite lovely, but overall the effect was a bit of a mish-mash.

We made a couple of visits up to the charity shop in Sauze-Vaussais – mostly for jigsaw puzzles and books, although they also have hundreds of DVDs and CDs.  It’s almost all Brits that volunteer there and shop there, and as it’s a charity for animals dogs are welcome.  Max always gets fussed over where ever we go.

Max still loves going to the campground for his daily run-around – he ventures off on his own and runs back and forth to us from time to time as we walk too slowly for him.

The rain every few days has kept everything nice and green…

…and the town has put up their Christmas decorations.

The Penalty Bar has had two very nice lunches – the second one was my favourite as it started with Coquille St Jacques, followed by whole baby chicken, then a lovely cheese plate and dessert.  I accepted a shot of cognac but Colin had to partake of it for me – he also had my dessert.  The lunch was followed by karaoke – Edith has quite a good voice but the other folks that got up and sang left a bit to be desired.  One lady was somewhat ‘entertaining’ as I think she had a more than a bit of wine with lunch, but she looked like she was having fun.

The local cycle club is celebrating its 130th year and had a really interesting display in the town library.

We did have one little bit of ‘excitement’ with a small visitor.  Colin noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye one evening – it was a mouse!  As we didn’t want to kill it we went to the garden centre the next morning and got a ‘live trap’ that we set with some of our precious cheddar.  It was a very crafty little thing, however, and three times managed to get the cheese out without triggering the flap.  We were finally successful in the end by baiting it with a  couple of half-open hazelnuts.

Colin let him out under a bush next to the parking area in front of the house – I hope he finds a warm dry place for the winter, as long as it isn’t back in the house!

We left for Spain on Dec 24th and had two quite long days of driving, although the traffic wasn’t bad and there was no ‘border’ check entering Spain. We arrived at the house on Christmas afternoon and it was so warm on the back terrace that I ended up in shorts and flip-flops – although it is not always so nice. It does get quite cold at night, although not yet below zero. I’m still getting lettuce, chard and collard greens from the garden and look forward to planting more than just the one raised bed in the spring.

Rio Luna again, Water Issues again, Pogacar Dominates again.

Having already decided to skip Saturday’s stage that ends in Villablino we went north on the same road that goes there, but then turned east to our ‘go-to’ campground Rio Luna.

In our years and years of traveling in the campervan we’ve been to dozens of campgrounds – and Rio Luna is our very favourite.

We’ve been there several times now and will drive miles and miles out of our way just to stay there – we love it!  It is very basic with showers, etc and a bar and also has many lovely hiking trails and very few children – a big plus for us!

Also they will let the dog in the bar and put the Vuelta on the tv for us – as long as there’s not an ‘important’ soccer game on.

We got to see Michael Woods make an extreme effort and get a triumphant solo mountain stage win on Friday – excellent!!

We took a couple of nice short walks, had some excellent coffee and just relaxed for a couple of days in a lovely place.

We left our little paradise on Monday intending to take it very easy on the way back to Saliente.

Taking the motorway for some time we covered a lot more ground the first day than I thought we would.  We took a different route than on we’d done before and went through some very lovely countryside.

Getting back to the house was great in some ways, and not so great in others.  We both love the area in general, and the house in particular but once again water was an issue.

We went over a week with no water, resorting to fishing jugs of water out of the pool so we could flush toilets.  And of course the day after getting some agua from the tanker guy the co-op finally delivered also.  At least we’re topped up and are considering getting another large tank installed for a backup supply.

We managed to get a small fall crop of veggies planted in one of the raised beds – little seedlings of lettuce, kale and onion, as well as seeds of carrots, beets and chard.  It’s nice to look forward to harvesting our own food even though it’s only a few things for now.

We’ve had some fierce winds as well as some lovely sunsets.

A few days ago we took a day trip to the village of Gorafe – a place we’d seen on a video about the cycle race along ‘The Badlands’.  The route is both beautiful and brutal and passes through a desert and down to the coast.

Unfortunately at this time of year there’s not much happening – Colin asked a local lady where a restaurant was and we found it by following the voices from above (it wasn’t really marked but we could hear talking through the open windows).  They weren’t doing lunch but the owner was kind enough to make us a small plate of tapas so we didn’t starve.

We stopped at a restaurant we’d passed near the highway and did get a good lunch – as usual we were almost finished as more and more folks arrived to eat.

We also need to replace the pump that moves the water from the upper tank into the house – it’s not pleasant to be partway through showering and have the water die out.  Luckily hitting the reset button on the pump is getting it going for now but a new one the doesn’t stop spontaneously will be nice.

We enjoyed watching the cycling world championships on tv and were so happy when Remco Evenepoel won the time trial and Tadej Pogacar won the road race – and in great style too having gone on his own with just under 100 km to go.  He’s going to look very good in the rainbow jersey for the next year!

Finding the Vuelta

Leaving the lovely park in the morning we tried once again to find the climb on the next day’s route.

We knew we were on the right roads part of the time but just didn’t know where all of the turnoffs were as nothing was marked yet.  We back-tracked to Baiona and decided to go a bit west just for fun – once again we’ve found the Camino! – 150 km to Santiago.

And there’s a parking area with fantastic views of the ocean and a lovely smooth foot/bike path.

We stopped to take in the views and I laughed a bit at the fact that some folks, when presented with breath-taking vistas choose rather to look at their phones!

…

After a bit more to-and-fro we were once again heading north along the coast when we saw a large group of riders making a turn inland – today is the rest day and it was the entire Movistar team doing a recon of the final climb and then down into the finish.  The road was not marked and if we’d timed it differently we might still be circling the area!

There were quite a few nice wide places to pull over so we got a bit ahead of the team so I could hop out and take some photos.  They were very happy to see us and Enrique Mas posed for a photo with a team-mate as they rode past.

We found a spot for the night on the route and finally relaxed now that we knew we were on the right road.

In the morning the fellow from the campervan that was parked near us was busy putting Belgian flags up everywhere, and he had a lot of them!

We put a few of ours up as well, and as usual as the day progressed more and more fans showed up parking where they could along the road.

There was a bit of excitement at one point when a fan coming down the hill on his bike crashed and the ambulance had to come.  There were police with flashing lights directing the traffic and the ambulance took the guy away up the hill – it seemed like a collarbone or shoulder injury so hopefully not too serious.

The race arrived right around 5:00 with Wout van Aert in the lead (we found out later that he won the stage).

Roglic and some of the other main contenders were about five minutes behind.

As soon as the race passed…

…we started to pack up and were on our way to our next chosen race watching place for Thursday.  We made it to the city of Tui and found a Lidls to stock up on food, then continued on past Ourense looking for a stopping area along a secondary highway.  We did find a place to stop but it was one busy little road and the cars and big trucks just whizzed past all night long – not much sleep happened!

Back to France and Not Getting to Italy

We had to return to France again so Colin could refill his most important prescription – they’ll only give him four weeks at a time because of the cost.

The trip back was pretty good and we took basically the same route as we did the last time at least until we got past Pau.

We stopped before the border to have a bite to eat at a nice pullout in the Valley of Aragon – a very pretty area.

…

Crossing the border we encountered evidence of the recent protests such as the upside-down town signs, although without the tractor blockages.

The flooding at the campground and hippodrome has mostly gone down…

…and the irises in our terrace boxes are flourishing.

We got a new pressure washer and I finally had a go at the terrace – what a difference!

…

I didn’t get Colin a cake for his birthday so I (quite reluctantly) made him one a couple of days later.  My first-ever cake was a success!

A lovely carrot cake with cream cheese icing – a bit too sweet for my taste but if I ever make another one I’ll use a lot less sugar.

We’ve had water coming into the spare bedroom with all of the rain – looks like we need some work done on the roof.  We have poly and towels over the bed and on the floor to try to mop it up.

We’ve been working on our ‘to-do’ list and the most recent accomplishment was hoisting Colin’s vintage 1965 Viking ‘Severn Valley’ that he raced on successfully in ‘65 and ‘66.  It’s now hanging proudly above the lounge.

And since we can’t make it to Italy as planned we’re watching the Giro on TV.

Flooding in France, Lack of Water in Spain

The town of Mansle is doing lots of ‘beautification’ work – putting in planters and some lovely cobbled sidewalks, etc.

It’s a bit of a pain while the work is being done but should look great when it’s finished.

The nearly constant rain has caused the local rivers to flood and the Charente is no exception.

We can’t take Max down to the campground for his run anymore as it, as well as the hippodrome next door are completely under water.

Colin goes out each Wednesday afternoon driving the ‘pickup’ car for the local cycling club and I’ve developed a habit of popping down the the kebab shop for a donair and fries to eat while he’s gone.

Max is ok when he’s with me but he does look for Colin.

They’ve completed pruning back the trees around the square – it’s amazing that in a few months they’ll be shading the whole place again.

The trip back down to Spain was good – a bit of rain on the way but not too tough.  Getting back to the house was great – and the weather was so much better than it had been for weeks in Mansle.

There’s still a lot to do in the garden – getting water at first was a bit of a pain, but once the local orchardists and farmers started using it again we had no problem.

The pellet burner was great – having it on for a couple of hours a day gets the radiators heated and the whole house gets warmer.

We haven’t been out on our bikes at all, and both Colin and I were struck down with covid (we think).  He got sick several days before me and we both lost almost two weeks being unable to do anything.

Max has settled in very well – he just needs at little more exercise to work off some of his energy.  He’s a very well behaved fellow with an extremely gentle disposition – I think Colin lucked out with him.

Off to the Races Again!

After corresponding with his oncologist back in France who told Colin that his most recent blood test wasn’t that bad we decided to go ahead on our planned road trip up north to see some of the Vuelta.

On the first day we made it a fair distance – past Toledo and on to the shores of a reservoir/lake.  We were looking for a park-4-night place but ended up just pulling over on a very wide spot with a lovely view.

The second day’s travel was much shorter as we stopped in the hilltop village of Portillo – you could actually see Valladolid in the distance to the north.

We stayed at the park-4-night for two very rainy, stormy nights, emerging from the campervan during one break in the rain to walk to a local restaurant for lunch.

Along the way we noticed many gray gates that we could see weren’t made to keep people out, and realized after awhile that they were for the bulls.

Before leaving on the second morning I took a walk to a nearby viewpoint – there were wonderful views in all directions.

The trip to Valladolid was quick and easy – we knew exactly where we wanted to go and for once the GPS took us right there.  It’s just to the south of the city in a large nature park with plenty of excellent places to spend a couple of nights, and most importantly it’s right on the Time Trial route for Tuesday’s Vuelta stage.

On the Sunday afternoon there was a huge group of motorcycles that rode past, accompanied by police – not sure what that was about but it was kind of impressive.

With Monday being the first rest day of the Vuelta we got to see many of the riders doing a re-con of the course.  We were joined at our chosen spot by a couple of campervans from Belgium, one of whom had a Giro wolf and a Vuelta bull in his front window – also a moose from a race in Norway.

In addition on race day they put out a large teddy bear in Jumbo kit that they called ‘Wout van Aert’ – since he’s not riding in the Vuelta I guess he’s just hanging out enjoying the sun and watching.

As usual on race day more and more folks arrived to watch – we’re just before the 8 km to go marker and at the top of a very small hill.

Throughout the morning most of the racers did a lap or two of the course…

…as current world TT champion Remco was in the rainbow jersey.

I got a decent photo of Ganna approaching us with the photo-moto right behind him – he ended up winning the stage.  If only he was on a different team I would be a huge cheerleader for him.

The crowds at our place got so big we even got our own police guards.

Remco flew by…

…and shortly after the current leader Sepp Kuss, who managed to keep his overall lead.  Remco did make up a bit of time on his main GC rivals so it was a good day overall.

As per usual within a very short time almost everyone had left the site…

…and another quiet night was had.

To the Sea, Wasp Killing, Stray Dogs Rescued

We decided to take an overnight trip to the coast, heading first to the town of Carboneras.  It seemed very pretty, and not too touristy but there was nowhere to park so we just kept driving north along the coast.

We stopped for lunch at the village of Sopalmo that was a bit away from the sea but seemed quite nice.  It had lots of pretty white houses with lovely blue flower pots everywhere.

Henry had his first ride in his pram – he seemed to like it alright and we definitely made better time from where we parked to the bar/restaurant we went to for lunch.

We both ordered well-done hamburgers and ended up with almost raw meat.  The potatoes were excellent, and the rest of what was in the burgers was tasty but Henry got most of the meat.

After lunch we drove a bit further north and stopped at a really nice looking beach with ample parking as well as a fort.  This spot was used as a port hundreds of years ago as the water gets deep very quickly.

There was a placque giving the history of the place and part of it was in english – we just weren’t sure why it would have been manned by four people, three of whom were bullfighters.

You could see Mojacar in the distance to the north and we knew it would be very crowded, but there were very few folks at this beach.

We had intended to stay for the night but it was beastly hot, so almost at the same time we asked each other ‘should we just go home’?  And so we did.

We got back to going for bike rides every second morning, one day making it to Taberno for coffee.  On another day we rode down to the cafe at Llanos de Los Alleros.

After our coffee we explored the village a little bit – we’ve passed by it many times as it’s right on the way to Albox but we’ve never left the main road before to see the actual village.  It was quite nice, with a lovely church and another cafe.

We had some company for lunch last week – we made good use of the sunroom, and their kids enjoyed the pool.

We are once again having water issues – this time we know the water is flowing in the channel but we can’t get hold of anyone to ask for it.  That’s one of the more frustrating things about living here – we know we can call the tanker guy but we do belong to a ‘co-op’ that currently isn’t responding.  We’ve now contacted the local facebook group to ask for advice – hopefully someone will have a different phone number or something so we can get the water we need.

We’ve discovered a couple more wasp nests and are pleased with the dozens of dead wasps, although there are obviously more nests to find as there are still a few that dip into the pool for water in the evening when we swim.

The birds are emptying the feeder almost as quickly as we fill it – we’ve also made a water bath for them and they seem to like it.

We found out on the local facebook group page today that the two dogs we feed in Las Pocicas have been taken into someone’s care.  Last year’s puppy (who is named Chica) has been taken to the vet’s and has been ‘fixed’ and is doing very well. Mama Luna and her six new puppies are all in a couple of homes now and will be well cared for – we were so happy to read that as we look for them every time we pass through. We think they were rescued by a couple of brits we spoke with one day, along with help from a ‘sweet little spanish woman’.

(Photo from facebook group post)

Haircuts and Artwork in Chirivel, Agave Blooms

Progress on the garden is moving along – our wonderful gardeners come about once a week and we just keep getting more oleanders and geraniums and having the watering system extended.

We both got haircuts again in Chirivel – mine is the shortest it’s ever been and I love it!  The park across from the hairdressers is actually very lovely and has lots of interesting sculptures, including a carving in a large dead tree.

We’ve gone out for lunch a couple of times – the last time in Los Cericos I got the grilled calamari and was it ever delicious.  I fed little bits of it to one of the bar cats – they’re usually kept outside but the small female snuck in and mooched off me.  She’s just a kitty herself but is already pregnant so I figured she could use some extra protein.

Work on the house is also progressing – our carpenter has done some work on the doors to prevent wind and rain from getting in, and also has painted the french doors.  Things are looking good. 

Water is, as usual, a bit of a challenge.  We ended up once again getting the tanker truck to deliver the other day – he topped up the pool and filled up the bottom tank in no time.  Not cheap, but at least when we turn a tap on or flush a toilet water comes out – seems like a luxury!

Our agave flower is nearing its end – the ‘trunk’ is starting to bend a bit and sometime soon it’s going to break and the main plant will die.  At least we’ll get a lot of seeds for replanting.

The cherry tomato plants are going crazy, and it looks like they’re all different – nice round orange ones (that might turn red) as well as oblong ones that look slightly striped (kind of like miniature watermelons).

The main part of the centre of Albox has become car-free and it’s lovely to walk around – the fountain is very pretty and it’s much more relaxing not having to dodge cars.

There have been several unfortunate accidents with the little birds.  We’ve found at least four of the poor things on the terrace – they likely fell out by mistake as they had not got their feathers yet so couldn’t have been learning to fly.

We’ve located and destroyed three wasp nests so far – not huge ones but they seem to be very aggressive.  They like to get water from the pool so they’re very annoying in the evening when we go for a swim.

We had a nice day trip to Villaricos on the coast to visit Ann and Ernie.  Having lunch at the restaurant next to the pool was excellent – I had homemade Thai fish cakes along with a roasted goat cheese salad – very tasty.

Lake, Castle, Home…Happy Cat!

Feeling a little better we began to slowly make our way again, going a little bit south to Orbetello.

It’s kind of an island, but has three different ‘causeways’ connecting it to the mainland.  We drove to the northeast corner and the small town of Porto Santo Stefano, which seemed to be a fairly prosperous place.

It had a lovely boardwalk and lots of cafes/restaurants, in addition to being both a fishing port and marina – also had some rather nice yachts.

We stayed for one beverage, then as we went to get back in the campervan the local coast guard fellow came up and told me that parking there was not allowed.  I explained that we were leaving right then and he was ok with that – he didn’t know we’d already been there for almost an hour.

We then headed basically east as I wanted to see Lago di Bolsena – it was one of the places I had thought I’d go to at the beginning of my very first bike trip back in 2017, but sadly never made it to.

It was a lovely drive and I was glad to have seen it – we had lunch in the campervan on the shore of the lake.  Colin’s still not feeling 100% so meals are a bit sparse – at least his are.

Overnight camping was not allowed so after lunch we continued north a bit to the town of Torre Alfina.  It has a nice large car-park and a very well-preserved castle from the 1600’s.

We went for a walk and got a gelato cone – a bit sweet for me – then continued on up to the castle.

It seems to be a bit of an ‘artsy’ town as there are wall murals, strange statues and artwork all over.

There was a couple having a photo-shoot at the top of the castle so I had to wait a bit before I could get a shot of the views from where I wanted.

They were pretty nice, especially when I told them I was from Canada, and I took a quick photo or two and then we left.

The drive down to Ostia the next day wasn’t too bad, and we got around Rome without much slowing down.  We parked in the same car-park right across from the Sea that we’d used before – there seem to be quite a few campervans that are permanent residents.

I walked to the nearest pharmacy and got a couple of things for Colin’s cold, although he does seem to be doing better.

Up early the final morning and off to the airport.  No problem at all getting checked in – they didn’t even ask for a covid vaccine certificate or negative test.

Three flights later – and I’m home!  The cat is happy…