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Well, we left UK as planned on Monday 27th September 2010 @ 07,30am with a wave-off from Sandy & Lisa, however we left with fond memories of fishing at Dennis's place and catching a 16.5lb grass carp in the dark (photos are too poor to publish but trust me it was a 20 minute epic fight in the dark to get it in), a game of golf with Roulston to help him get back into it after his op on his hand (still kicked his ass though even though I ended up with massive blisters on the back of my ankles), a chat and cakes with Ros & Betty, a few bevvies with Pete & Jane on Friday night with a chonky to follow, a meal with Doug & Mary on Saturday and Val having a good night out with her mates from work to see it all off.
We got to Dover without too much trouble on the M25 @ 11.00am. The crossing was very calm & Val was only a little queasy (thank god). We bought a sticker on the boat to remind us to drive on the right, which might prove to be a good investment. Having landed @ Calais, we drove south (the sat nav is a blessing in disguise even though when the voice says the French name she sounds drunk). After checking out a few camp sites, we sttteled in ST VALERY (yes thats true vals namesake) and ate in a reasonable restraunt. That night it poured down so our initiation into camping was NOT GOOD, but the site (although quiet) was't too bad.
We packed up all our wet gear in the morning (Tuesday) and set of again trusting the sat nav. We eventually ended up in Saumur on the river Loire, a beautiful site in the middle of the river, looking up towards the castle. Set up the tent and let it dry out, (weather was pretty good) and we decided to stay 2 nights and have a rest from travelling. It was here i had an altercation with a French tree which had positioned itself too close to the car and the tree decided it was going to dent the bumper (WORDS cannot express our thoughts at this moment). We had a lovely time around Saumur town, eating and drinking and in the afternoon I stupidly challenged Val to a game of Boules, she was on fire and I lost 2 - 0. (she did let me score a couple of points whilst she ploughed on to 11 and I severley had to hold back from throwing the boules in the river).
On Thursday we drove on and ended up staying in DAX. This was an exceptionally good site in the south west of France. On Friday morning we left DAX and headed of to Lagos in Portugal @ 09.00am. We stopped in a French village to exchange some travellers cheques but I made the mistake of going into an Estate Agents believing it to be a bank (turning out to be very funny to the French lot inside the estate agents - hate the French anyway). Eventually found out we needed a post office to exchange the travellers cheques, found one and then got underway again.
The sat nav got us a bit lost around Biaritz (which was a very nice place) and eventually we headed off to Spain / Portugal via Salamanca. We had totally underestimated the distance we had intended to cover (our target was to get to Lagos in Portugal by tonight). We drove on and on and on and on until eventually we got to Lagos just before midnight (15 hours drive) where we were totally knackered but we managed to book into a hotel by the marina and got a decent nights sleep.
Got up early, had breakfast and set of to meet Caroline at the apartment at 10.00. The apartment is great, the weather is hot, the sky is blue and this is it. We went off to the local intermarche to stock up on food (and booze), went for a stroll around Lagos, lit the BBQ had a glass (or 2) of wine and settled in.
- comments
sim piece well done olds! great blog, "hate the french anyway..." lol sounds like your having loads of fun already :o)
rose hi val stuart glad to see you have arrived at your destination looks good wish you all the best in your new adventure all our love rose & alan
Carol & Norm Wow! it sounds fab, we do envy you both. Just enjoy every minute of your new life, it sounds like heaven xx
Kate Sounds like you had a great time! What an adventure! Have fun and keep us updated!! :o) x