Not such a quiet day.................but still quiet.

Hazel and I went for a late swim this morning and crossed with Paul coming back from his morning visit to the pool. After a snack lunch, we all went out to the local town beach and wandered along the front until we came upon a very nice beach cafe that also happens to be the cheapest in the area. There we sojourned for a while until Paul decided to go for a walk and Hazel for a swim. I walked down to the waters edge with her and exercised myself by taking several photographs of her both in and out of the water. We then waited for Paul to return and all walked back to the car. We have now had a pleasant meal together and I am using this opportunity to catch up on my blog and maybe chat to Russ for a while. He wasn't able to get online yesterday due to external forces so we might make it this evening, or not as the case might be.

Bonus time, not only spoke to Russ but Sal came on line as we finished and Hazel and I had a short chat with her too. Good day.

A quiet day.

We went to the pool and vegged then we bought some food and then we came back to the 'van and vegged. Hazel prepared a smashing meal and we are all replete, I am now waiting to chat to Russ via ooVoo. Life is good.

This is where we are.

Just to be awkward,

we did both. It was a beautiful day and we got away early so we just ploughed on. The trip into the Pyrenees was long but very good fun as there is so much to see. We drove in, of course, via the French main road. Even now, in late May, it is snowy at the top and the road goes above the snow line. We stopped a couple of times to take photographs and I also took some whilst we were moving. This one, to the right, was taken whilst we were above the snow and before we dropped down to the plateau at the top. Once past the snow, we drove into Andorra and took the road through to the capital city. We stopped to get some food and fuel, which is very cheap there due to no tax levy, and then drove out on the Spanish road. After a check by Spanish customs, we dropped down to almost sea level and took the coastal road back into France. It all sounds very  easy, and it was, but it took us nearly nine hours to do the round trip.

Panorama taken from the highest point on the French road into Andorra.

Panorama taken from the coastal road between Spain and France on our return journey.

Now there's a thing!

I sit at a table, I have a glass of aniseed cordial in my hand and the birds are singing. And, I am out on the terrace in front of the super duper deluxe caravan with doors that go all the way back and let the inside out and the outside in. Life is very cool, especially when the air conditioning is at full throttle! The party in the background is one of a series held each evening as soon as the rule about no motor traffic after seven comes into force. Next door begin the movement to the road and the family opposite join in soon after. The family around the corner bring their goodies to the tables and, after a sung grace, they all dig in for a couple of hours face stuffing and fun. Needless to say, they are all very nice people and we all get on very well together. We have not been invited as, I assume, they are all one big family and have this holiday every year just for themselves. We did a major shop today and spent a lot of money in the local supermarket. I finally got my syrop d'anis and have been savoring it all evening. Hazel has gone mad in the galley and produced a pork surprise that tasted very nice.

Tomorrow may be an interesting day as Hazel wants to laze by the pool and Paul and I intend either a drive into Spain via the corniche road or an all day excursion to Andorra, a tiny country at the top of the Pyrenees range of mountains.

Meanwhile, down south...........

We left our previous site at about 08.50 this morning and arrived here on the Med almost exactly seven hours later. This included several stops for various indulgences......... The difference in weather is remarkable, we have moved from severe hail and flooding to severe sun and wind. On balance, this is better.

Too much heat!!!

Hazel and I went down to the pool yesterday and decided to try out all the free facilities............... I'm glad they were free! The pool itself was very nice and I enjoyed it. The steam room was horrendous, I couldn't even get into it due to the fact of it seeming to burn me and me not being able to breath in there... Scary, very scary. The sauna wasn't quite so bad but it still seemed to be burning my face the whole time. I stayed about two minutes.

View Larger Map This is a close up of the area of the camp site where our caravan is. You can zoom out to see where we are relative to the rest of France and Switzerland.

It is better to be born lucky than to be born rich.

If no one else has said it before, I'm saying it now. We went to Montraux today and, although not the greatest place in the world, it was very pleasant and the weather was good. We arrived back at the site to find it laid waste by a freak storm that rained hailstones the size of golf balls all over the local area. The hail had shredded the foliage in the trees and dented several cars, it coated the road in ice and one hail stone hit our courier on the head and really shocked her. We got away with an upturned table...............

The new photo on the right is courtesy of Kathleen, our courier on the site who had the presence of mind to record the whole thing.