Well our last night was a fun night with Sue and Ray, or Donald and Jacqueline from Benidorm in Neil's mind!
They were great hosts and laid on some nibbles too for us. It amazes me how kind people have been when we don't even know them and they welcome us into their little spaces with open arms.
Monday morning we had a 4 hour drive to our next site near Bordeaux and so far we have avoided the toll roads and the journey has been quite easy on the French roads so far. We stocked up with food at Aldi and Super U on the way down as we are never sure if there is a good supermarket close to the site.
Our next site is a Yelloh Village, they are a french owned company with mainly french sites and one in Lagos Portugal where we will be staying in October. The resort is set in a forest of pine trees with a huge beach and view of the ocean at the bottom of this 350 pitch site.
It is a popular site because it is next to Europes Largest Sand Dune (Grand Dune Du Pyla) which is a big tourist attraction and popular with thrill seekers for Parasailing.
We have been so lucky with our pitch as there are only 4 pitches that are frontline seaview and only 8 pitches that are situated out of the pine trees which looks quite dark and not a lot of sun gets through. Bessie has a panoramic view and it is stunning, and you can see for miles!
Bessie down the bottom!
Site Pool
Our first morning here we went for a walk along the beach and up the massive dunes, saw a world war two bunker in the sea and more jellyfish!
We are situated down on the front of the site and of course everyone else staying on the site wants to come down and look at the view, thats fine. But some here think they can pitch where they like, now bearing in mind the 8 pitches down the front are full they still think they can come down and get in somewhere! One of them decides to park right on the front where there is no pitch in the walkway that is for guests to view over the cliff and stay the night! A lady with drawn on eyebrows knocked on Bessies door and asked if she could look inside her, I didn't mind that.
Another couple of lads decide to pick up the bench thats for people to view from and take it back to their tent! Another couple have strung up a rope between two trees and are trying to walk along it in high winds!
This is a lovely site but its strange! Another motorhome came in and parked on someone elses pitch just because there was a space? The nextdoor neighbour has hung out his washing on the path leading down to the beach when he has the same fence outside his pitch?? I don't know if its a british thing but we don't like anyone else on our pitch, we mark our boundary and that is our space but that doesn't happen here people walk where they like and will have a peer in at Bessie! If it wasn't so windy I would be getting the windbreak out and marking my pitch out! Can you tell I didn't get much sleep last night! We had 60 mile an hour winds and Neil snoring in-between so I am a happy bunny this morning.
A new pitch was created!
The Neighbours Pants!
Hippie Caravan!
The washing and shower facilities are good plenty of hot water if you look up whilst having a shower you can see the pine trees as they are covered but you access them from outside. If too many people are showering then you get a shot of cold water to wake you up but the strangest thing is
if you need the toilet you have to get your toilet roll, seat cover and soap from the wall outside before you go in!
A few days in to this site and it is growing on me as there is always something going on, we have met 2 lovely english couples and were invited in for an obligatory glass of wine again on a walk down to the site shop, which of course you can't refuse. Last night about 10pm we were just about to close up for the night and a Paraglider landed from out of the dark right in front of Bessie, I wish I had my camera to hand it was amazing he could land in pitch black with a cliff edge one side and pitched motorhomes the other!
I think this must be heaven for paragliders, there must of been 20 of them flying out yesterday one looked like a giant fly and they fly right over Bessie!
Bessie and her view.
A cooler day and a few rainstorms later the forecast is sun for a few days so we climbed the Dune today, one word to describe it.....Invigorating!
Woohoo!
The Dune rises above the forest on the right.
Neil on his way to the top!
Some mad woman!
Gin O'clock!
Bessies view at sunset
Chilling in the Sunset.
Yesterday we biked about 5 kilometres past the Dune and into the next resort of Le Moullieau, our campsite had a cycle path most of the way to it. The resort was mainly large expensive holiday homes all closed up until you got to the centre there was a lot of men dressed up in Navy blazers and coloured chinos, orange yellow green etc! There turned out to be a high society wedding about to start at the top of the hill so we followed the crowd in our shorts and flip flops and had a little look.
The Dune!
Can you see the person walking along the top?
21st September.
Today we head south again to Biarritz, we said goodbye to our lovely Irish neighbours. They are keen paragliders and are spending 2 weeks in their converted motorhome, they live in Tipperary, Southern Ireland they are both in their 60s but an inspirational couple with all they do. Back home he does kite surfing and mountain biking and they are a lot fitter than Neil and I but a great couple! I am partial to the Irish accent!
We needed to stock up with provisions and Diesel so stopped again halfway to replenish the liquid supplies too! I found 2 boxes of red wine (merlot) for €9 each, on the box it says 24 glasses! I was recommended this wine and had a tasting with a fellow motorhomer so I know its a good one!
Neil likes the Desporados and they are a lot cheaper than the UK so Bessie is now full up again!
Our next site along the coast is in a resort called Bidart, it is a few kilometres from Biarritz called www.pavilion-royal.com Bessie has been lucky again and we have another Seaview pitch with the Pyrenees in the background, another stunning view. This is the last booked site on our list, many have said you don't need to book sites this time of year which is true but if I hadn't booked these sites we would not have got these frontline pitches. This morning when we left our last pitch the German couple pitched behind us saw we were getting ready to leave and moved his chairs and table onto our pitch before we had left! Neil asked him politely to move his things until we had gone!!
The view from the site in Biarritz
Looking up at Bessie.
Neil cooling off after a long drive.
So far Washing clothes on the sites machines have been around €5 a load and around €3 to dry clothes I have been doing a wash and dry once a week and hand washing some bits in my Scrubba! Wifi varies on some sites the more North of France the wifi was included with the pitch price but most of the sites charge extra on an hourly basis €4 an hour if you just want to check emails etc. Or a cheaper way if you are staying 5 or more days is to buy a weeks worth at €15-€19 euros, seems a lot but when you can catch up with free uk. t.v online, write my blog and send emails etc it is worth it to us.
Oh by the way Neil said the longer he is in France the more school french he is remembering. He asked for Pomme Tits the other day instead of Pomme Frittes!...chips! Well done Neil!
24th September
After a rough night of strong winds and rain the sun did shine late morning. We decided to hop on the bus into Biarritz 3km away. Biarritz centre is centred around the Grand Plage and a rugged coastline.
The very old elegant buildings stand proud amongst the more ugly modern blocks of apartments.
Expensive boutiques, chocolat shops and restaurants line every street you can see. We treated ourselves to a 3 course lunch special of tomato and mozzarella, hake fishcakes daulphinause potatoes and a mixed berry panna cotta for dessert. A lot of the french restaurants offer a lunchtime menu for a set price all in which is better value.
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