Oh, what a beautiful morning...

We appear to have the site almost to ourselves. Can't believe this is peak season. Just lovely.
An update on the maintenance of Rosie: She appears to be mechanically robust (touch wood!) - she's now accumulated just under 163,000 miles, so about 12,000 in Europe, with only minor servicing, plus one suspension bush required at the last MOT. That's mainly a few big journeys, but I think it helps that we use her occasionally as our second car - stops her seizing up in between trips. We're glad we got that engine rebuild after buying her. The interior, which is also original and therefore 23 years old, is standing up well to the abuse of three children - and even the three-way (battery-gas-mains) fridge still works, though it needs to run on battery or mains for a while to warm up before the gas will light. I had to change the pump for the drinking water tank a year or so ago, but that was it. However, it is in the area of oxidation that we should perhaps be more concerned: Rosie is showing some classic 'hidden rust' development in some of the side-seams - a typical place for T25's. With peeling lacquer on one side, she also needs a respray anyway, so I'll treat the small patches of rust for now, followed by the full job when we can afford it. I wonder how she'd look in radiant orange?!

Being Spontaneous

The beauty of owning a camper is being able make spontaneous camping decisions. This time, we've headed to one of our favourite sites: Parsonage Farm in the New Forest. After throwing a few essential food items (i.e. marshmallows) into Rosie, we set off, via the pub, for our preferred field. It's a game of Uno in the dark (pictured), followed by some 'smores', watching the deer and bat antics, some star gazing and now finally bed-time. We're all in the van tonight, so it's going to be pretty cozy! 'Night! PS: We HAVE been camping a fair bit that last few years, but I've either forgotten to post, or we've used the car and tent. Last weekend we were in Pembrokeshire with cousin Liz and company - and will post pics from that soon - just lovely it was and we can't wait to get back there. P

At the 'Moulin et Chateau de Villeray' Restaurant

Sorry for the dodgy exposure. Thankfully the place was much, much better at feeding us than taking our picture... Yum!

Tamarisk, Hawthorn and all things nice

We have been staying in the Parc Naturel Regional du Perche, at L'Esperance, Dorceau. The site, Forest View, named by a pair of Yorkshire exiles that run it, is so called because of the (above titled) trees surrounding the lake we are camping beside (you can just make M out, sillouetted againt the sun reflected off the water). A lovely place to spend our last few days in the country.

The journey from Sainte Foy La Grande was by far our longest yet at 340-odd miles, but the kids did really well, passing the time with reading, watching the changing scenery (went from shouting 'grapes' to 'wind turbines' and 'cows'), time on their DS's of course, some times-table practice (what task masters we are), a movie and, finally, going a bit nuts.

After exploring the stunning area (that may be familiar with readers of Proust? No? Me neither, not yet anyway), for example the village of Combray ('Remembrance of things Past'? Apparantly..), our last night, tonight, has been spent at the fabulous restaurant Domaine de Villeray - a fine (though expensive) way to end our hols!

Tomorrow we head for home turf, and whilst it will be lovely to be back to creaure comforts (and a house that doesn't have scaffold on it anymore - hurrah!), we know we will miss France, even after over two-thousand miles. The kids favourite locations involved body-boarding in the sea (the boys, Soulac sur Mer) and the pools (M, at Versailles and Sainte Foy la Grande). Ours was certainly the Pyranees, defined by amazing walks and the views early and late in the day. Incredible.

We feel we've got to know a few spots of the country and look forward to our next trip. However K reminds me that Spain is on the list, and we've had a couple of calls to Italy and Switzerland, then there's Wales and Scotland... Which reminds me, we'd better get Rosie in for her 160,000 mile service!

Will post a few more pics later.

A much needed cafe stop...

It is, phew, quite warm here. After the Grand Theatre, the Grand Place and a few other grand this and grand that in Bourdeax we take a much needed liquid break. To get the coffee the way we like it (i.e. not as fiercely strong as the French have it), we ask for two espresso with "plus de lait".

We will soon head back to Rosie (and we hope we make it out of the 2m-height-limit underground car-park with our sun-roof intact!).

Cooling off at Place de la Bourse

Of course the boys proceeded to start a full blown water fight... oh well, at least it was warm enough for all of us to walk around Bourdeax in wet clothes!

In the last few days we've spent most of the time chilling by the pool at the gite. Whenever we go anywhere, the boys have got into the habit of saying "what are we doing next?", after every site, as if there is some grand plan, and M has asked to go home to be reunited with the rest of her cuddly toys (we brought three or four - if we brought them all they would fill Rosie).

Rosie is a squash and a squeeze...

K again demonstrates some fantastic parking ability, this time in Bourdeax, having to negotiate an additional dimension this time. The only sacrifice, other than jangled nerves, was having to move our fire-wood into the cab temporarily.

We eat in fine style in Saint-Emilion

Hello Sainte Foy la Grande...

Temperatures have shot up since we've been in the south, so we were very happy to find a pool at our gite (we're giving Rosie a rest)... It's now late and M says "I'm tired, can we go now?". More later.

Goodbye Pyranees...

K has some peace...

The rain must have taken the clouds with it because it has been clear blue all day today. K provides us with some very subtle hints that she needs some alone time so it's time for an outing with Dad for the afternoon. This involves a trip to another 'cirque', this time 'de Trounouse' I think. Rosie manages the big mountain road hills despite the heat. We find a beautiful spot by a snow-melt river that just so happens to also have some old shack selling ice-creams - yum - much needed today. The kids spend ages chucking stones into the water, and by the time we return mum is sane again and all is well. Tomorrow we heat north again...

Can't climb...

...any further than this on a road bike! It was early, so I think I was the first up this popular road climb. At the top, the Cirque de Gavine, a series of high-drop waterfalls arranged in an arc (you can just about see some of it in the top of the picture), looked stunning in the early sun. Legs are tired, time for breakfast...

The weather closes in...

The walk today was great, involving spotting a lot of unusual grasshoppers, flowers, a stream and a snake (picked up by a chicken!). After a lovely day, in the evening the clouds close in and the rain comes down, so we go out for food. After a lot of pizza and ice-cream, the kids go slightly stir crazy in the van... now we are off to a rather damp camp site - 'Uno' anyone!?

The highest crepes in the world...?

Great after the hike (a mile at most!), as was the cup of tea!

We go for a hike

The best site ever..?

Possibly... this spot just ouside the village of Gedre is certainly up in the top three with these incredible panoramic views from Rosie's 'doorstep'. And after being greeted with a smile, this heavenly view, and a glass of home-made sangria each, last night we were ready to call it the best yet. I'm glad because it was quite the trek from Soulac-sur-Mer. This is the sort of place that makes one want to stay forever... (though I suspect the winter would be harsh and the kids rate the beach sites higher).

Quote of the day was M, sitting beside the campfire, deep in thought and then suddenly asking "what happens when fish fart?". A classic. Of course almost equally funny were the ensuing suggestions, from "they make more bubbles" to "they swim faster".

Tomorrow we'll be finding a M friendly hike, oh, and of course, finding out what the local culinary delights are...

Approaching the Pyranees

French side more lush than what I remember of the Spanish side...

Hurrah!!

Why the victory cry!? Why because we have found a garage that has the french to ACME LPG adaptor so we can fill our gas tank. The photo poorly captures this match made in heaven. It is satisfying victories like this that make no sense unless one runs a contraption like Rosie...

About 100 miles to go to our Pyranees site, and the terrain is certainly starting to present some challenging hills for Rosie to climb. Not that the kids appreciate it: "Can we go on our DS's yet!? Pleeeeeeeeease!?"

Last day of sea, sand, boarding and ice-cream (OK, maybe not ice-cream) - so we make it a good one, playing frisbie, yard-ball, castle-building and pulling Mae at high speed across the waves on a body board (hilarious). We stayed at Soulac-sur-mer 2 nights longer than originally planned, but it was well worth it.

The only mishap so far is that the french lpg adaptors don't work on Rosie (should have bought the adaptor in the UK - doh!) so we have to run the fridge on the battery - but this is fine with the new solar charger (so cool) - and cook outside on the camping-gaz outdoor cooker (so nice).

Food: As well as sampling French ice-cream (a lot), we've been enjoying some lovely grub from local markets - incredible fruit, cheese, bread and veg (stuffed olives to die for) - though we don't always agree, for example a Gouda that I thought was a bit like some English cheeses Sam declared "Uggh! So NOT like cheddar!!"

Next stop, the Pyraness...

Time for ice cream!

After a long day body-boarding and building sand castles, it's time for ice-cream (and waffles etc)! Today was a hot one!