World Wide Womblies

Over the other side to Italy

2007-05-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

On reaching Italy – no border guards here either! We stopped at a lovely picnic site to get a closer look at these chaps!

They are ‘marmotti’ or marmots. Explained to us by a lovely Italian man that we met with his daughter Maya in Agliano Terme. He hspoke perfect English with no discernible Italian accent but he did have a slight southern Irish accent as his wife is Irish and they live in Italy and Ireland!

We were knocked out at the amount of splashes of red across the landscape created by the poppies in the fields and roadsides.

Everywhere is very flowery, doesn’t look like they use much herbicides on the land here!

We stopped at a fairly uninspiring camperstop in Borgo San Dalmazzo that was beside a railway and skatepark, but we did manage to fill up with fresh water and dump grey and chemical toilet waste. As Peter was quite tired by the mountain driving and not much sleep at Dalmazzo we stopped at Agliano Terme, North of Cuneo. This was a much better stop; on the other side of the road from a campsite in the countryside in a fenced off car park. Unfortunately both the water and electricity supply had been cut off. Further exploration by Peter (with his ex-fireman’s hat, or should that be helmet, on) revealed that there had been an extremely hot fire in a corner of the car park, which looked like a caravan or camper hooked up to the electricity supply had gone on fire and burned everything to a cinder.

The remaining electricity box had a dead snake and an active wasp nest in it!

We had a lovely relaxing afternoon and evening. As you can see we are getting lovely and tanned and fit!!

Me stuffing my face with olives!!Yum!

We used this picture of Peter to make a get-well card for our French friend Ludwig (Lu-lu) after a phone call from Laurent (Lo-lo) informed us that he had had a heart attack. You just never know do you, he looks so young and fit and healthy.

Willow and Hamish prefer to hide under the ‘van for the shade!

We carried on North via Asti, Allesandria and Piacenza through a very built-up, industrialised landscape virtually without cease and stopped at a camperstop in Soragna. We then carried on via Parma, Bologna (where the satnav lady got us thoroughly lost due to new roadworks!), Faenza and Ravenna on the coast. We stupidly went past San Marino as we did not know then that this one of the smallest states/countries in the world!

Looking for cooler temperatures and to get away from the industrialised flat plain we headed for the mountains again. Peter can’t get enough controlled decent practice!!

We headed for Urbania as we liked the sound of the camperstop behind the old monastery. The sign outside the front of the monastery advises that it has been taken over and restored by the community and is now a centre for music. Indeed the second night we stayed there a jazz band came to practice!

All this and free electricity!

The following day was lovely and warm and breezy so the washing got done and dried!

The Fort in the Alps!!

2007-05-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

Just before we crossed the Alps we passed this amazing place. I thought I recognised it from a film – the one with Oliver Reed and the elephant going over the Alps in wartime – Hannibal of the Alps I think ( does anyone know this?!). It's Le Fort de Tournoux

Anyway we turned round in order to explore. Something we do quite a lot! And it turns out that this was well worth it!

It seems that what we see today is the remnants of the German occupation of this area of France where they took over and added to an old castle/fortress built into the rock of the mountain. This complex of buildings behind the van date from the wartime and part of them house a contemporary art exhibition. This was closed, but we rather liked the impromptu art exhibition provided by graffiti artists!!

I spotted this painting on a wall inside one of the buildings. I think it dates from the war and could be a military division badge or something.

After exploring the buildings at the base of the mountain we decided that we had to climb to the fort at the top! Talk about mad dogs and Englishmen… this took us from about 11.30 am til about 2.30 pm - the hottest part of a very hot day!! Poor Willow was staggering as we walked back towards the ‘van! She doesn’t have Hamish’s stamina.

You can just make out the stairway tunnel - a series of openings/windows slanting down through the rock in this picture - under the topmost building on the right hand side.

We reached a wooden bridge ( which most likely was a drawbridge in the original building) but the gate was padlocked. The archway still contained some of the mechanism for raising a portcullis!

These are some shots of the van (the wee white dot in the centre) from the fort which prove we did it!

And the wee turret !

This was a gate that leads to the stairway through the mountain – locked too unfortunately!

Camperstops explained

2007-05-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

There are over 6000 designated areas for motorhomes in Europe, providing parking, dumping of waste water and chemical toilet waste, fresh water and overnight facilities. Not all provide everything but range from just a designated parking place in a a village or town specifically for motorhomes to places that provide all of the above as well as showers and toilets. These are available only to self-contained motor-homes only (the ones in Italy allow caravans also). They are generally provided by and maintained by the local community to bring welcome tourists and can be situated in the middle of a historic town, by lovely rivers, in tiny hamlets and are often in stunningly beautiful and/or historic locations. Like the one at Jausiers near the Alpine border with Italy.

And here behind a restored monastery in Urbania, Italy.

They are known as ‘Aires or etapes de camping-cars’ in France and ‘Aree de Sosta’ in Italy. They are identified by the official motorhome symbol.

French…

…and Italian!

We have become quite expert at spotting these!

The vast majority of these are free of charge including electricity sometimes, like the one at Pellegrue in Bordeaux and in Urbania in Italy. Some of the ones in more popular areas make a small charge no more than 5-7 Euros. These often take the form of blue cabinets that require coins or tokens to open the door to get at the various nozzles and dispensers.

The one at St Pee sur Nivelle charged via an automated credit card machine!

So between staying free of charge at camperstops and wild or free parking we can live for very little, only diesel and food to pay for!! This is well within the monthly budget afforded by the interest paid on our capital from the house sale and Peter’s pension. So no hurry really to find a house!!

Whistle-stop journey through France!

2007-05-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

The journey through the Pyrenees took us through many passes and gorges and tunnels through mountains and we passed by the road to Andorra after deciding we wouldn’t or couldn’t go to visit there. Something to do with not having the correct papers as Andorra is not in E.U. The border between Spain and France is actually in the middle of a town or appears to be. It may actually be between two towns – Puigcerda and Bourg-Madam - the first being in Spain and the second in France - but the border is just on a street with shops etc with nothing really separating the two!

Views of French Pyrenees.

We were heading for a camperstop up there in the mountains! The town of Bolquere was obviously part of the 2000 Winter Olympics as the place where we stopped was a ski resort called Pyrenees 2000! We went up to the bowling alley next to the camperstop hoping to have something to eat and a beer. We got the beer - an ice-cold Kronenberg (aah!!) but the cheeseburger was of the instant micro-waved variety (oh!) We were able to watch telly though - and caught the televised aftermath of the French presidential elections. We had spoken about this with Lolo and the others in Eguzon. They feared that the right-wing Nicholas Sarkozy was likely to be elected - and although we could not fully understand the rapid-fire French on the telly – we suspected that their fears had been realised.

Coming down the mountains towards Perpignan was a bit hairy at times also…especially for me - being left-hand drive and driving on the right put me in the passenger seat on the side with vertigo-inducing views down into the gorges!!

We stopped in the village of Olette to pick up a man and his son (and dog!) who were hitch-hiking to the next town of Villefranche de Conflant. They confirmed – and also lamented- that Sarkozy had indeed been elected as President. The young boy told us that there had hardly been any snow on his mountain this year. I remembered that we had a mild winter in Scotland also. Global warming?

We passed the’Pic du Canigou’ a mountain sacred to the Catalan people, and then whizzed along the road from Perpignan via Narbonne and Beziers, and headed for the Camperstop in Remoulins. Unfortunately it was full up, so after consulting the map for somewhere out of town to wild-camp, we stopped at this lovely spot on the wine route of the Cotes de Rhone area.

We spent the morning walking around and trying to get photos of elusive butterflies !! like this ‘scarce swallowtail’

and this beastie that we can’t identify – we sent an e-mail to the bugman of www.whatsthatbug.com to see if he can provide an identification!

And this Southern White Admiral…

The roadsides were covered in wild flowers including this weird orchid-like plant

and this greater mullein.

We stopped briefly at a roadside shop selling local Provencal products made mostly of olive oil and lavender. We don’t often do ‘touristy’ stuff but there were some nice (but very expensive) soaps, cheese, olive oil moisturisers and shower gels that we bought along with a bottle of local Pastis that we have developed a fondness for! We passed on the Absinthe though!!

On the way to the Alps we passed through the town of Tallard where, as this sign shows, the Tour de France will start. (One for Russell!!)

We stopped at one of the last villages in France before the Alps and Italy, Barcelonnette. The following day we stopped at the camperstop in Jausiers along from Barcelonnette as there were no services in Barcelonnette and we needed to dump waste water and top up the fresh water before crossing the Alps. On the way to posting some postcards I spotted this doorway with wonderful carving!

The camperstop in Jausiers is featured on the next post I’ve done giving more info on the wonderful camperstops in France and Italy.

Barcelona to France

2007-05-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

Over more mountains!!

These weird and wonderful mountain ridges look like a stegosaurus!

We made a detour to allow to stop off for a walk round Solsona and visit its Museo Diocesano y Comarcal ( Diocesan and Regional Museum) that houses the Museo de la Sal (Salt Museum) where they have a table where everything is carved out of blocks of salt –including the setting, the food and the weird pinnacled centrepiece. Unfortunately we got there too late as it closes early at 2 pm on a Sunday!! We did get these photos of the lovely cupola of the Cathedral though, the Moorish influence in the colours and stylised flowers can be seen.

These carved water spouts are great!!

First glimpse of the Pyrenees!

…and a final Spanish hilltop town!...

Caspe to Barcelona

2007-05-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

To get to the Mediterranean coast from Caspe you have to cross yet more mountains, ( no more brake fade, thank goodness!)

First glimpse of the Med at L’Hospitalet de L’Infant down the coast from Barcelona. After driving along some pretty hairy coastal roads (still a lot of steep hills/mountains dropping down to the sea!) passing some fishing villages and marinas we arrived at the campsite of Park Playa Bara near Tarragona.

This place is about a five star campsite/holiday villa and we hated it!! We stopped there as it is in the Camperstop book as being ‘motorhome friendly with special pitches and facilities for motorhomes’. They did and very good they are too. Very clean, good quality – quite posh in fact! But too ‘packaged for us – we spent the evening doing a wash in their laundry (quite a luxury getting the sheets washed AND dried). We were also able to use the internet on the laptop in the laundry (using their leccy as we don’t bother with hooking up - no telly!) as we paid to connect to their Wifi connection, to pick up e-mails and upload blog.

The following day we drove into Barcelona… and out again!

I was excited and looking forward to seeing all the Gaudi buildings but the roads were too narrow for the ‘van and we drove round and round looking for somewhere to park that would allow us to go on foot, but the place was crowded and we went round and round in circles round tiny streets as the roads had been barred off to vehicles …it was a nightmare !! It was very hot and we could not have left the dogs in the van to walk around by ourselves. We decided in the end to give it a miss and will have to return someday either by car or fly in for a weekend break etc. So no gorgeous piccies of wonderful Barcelona…sob! Just this one of a palm tree lined street on our way out!!! Oh – and this weird multi-storeyed troglodyte graveyard!

Lake Caspe

2007-05-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

The following morning was bright and hot so we decided to go for a long walk round the ‘lake’ we were out for about five hours over the hottest part of the day as befits all mad dogs and Englishmen!!

Here are some images of the lake.

Some of the wildlife …

A locust -

And a blue butterfly –

-a strange poppy –

- milk thistle ( a good tonic for the liver !)

and hounds-tongue with its seed capsules that look like flies eyes!!

… this is me with my boots and socks off cooling my feet in the river!!

Journey across Spain from San Estaban de Gormaz to Caspe

2007-05-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

We set off early the following day and travelled across a large part of Spain passing by Calatayud and Zaragoza; the journey took us through many types of landscape from flat plains of fruit trees and vines over mountains (where we found a complete toilet pot dumped that Peter left planted up at the side of the pull-in where we stopped!!) – We drove for miles after climbing up to and along the top of a plateau that was home to many wind turbines. We reached the campsite at ‘Lake Caspe’ not really a lake but inlet in the vast Rio Ebro where it twists and turns forming great expanses of water including the area known as the Sea of Aragon.
Here are some images from our journey

Stopover at San Estaban de Gormaz

2007-05-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

We followed the road along the valley at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, the mountain range that separates Segovia from Madrid until we reached the town of San Estaban de Gormaz. The temporary repair Peter made to the exhaust manifold decided to pack in and the Satnav found us a mechanic here! Miguel the mechanic and his son did a good job and we wandered around the town with its troglodyte dwellings burrowed into the rock that towers over the town.

The rain washes the mud bricks into interesting shapes.

View across the roofs of the town from trog tower!

The medieval church with its carvings above the cloisters is I the same lovely warm coloured stone as the surrounding rock. Some of the carvings can still be made out and depict beasts and animals and scenes from everyday life.

Segovia

2007-05-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

We headed for Segovia as there is a campsite just on the outskirts of the city that would give us an opportunity to explore this place. We bought a Green’s Guide to Spain, and read about the Roman aqueduct there and the medieval walled town and the various wonderful buildings. The old centre of the city, circled by ramparts, is built on triangular rock at an altitude of 3,280 feet. Segovia was an important military town in Roman times and became a wool town and industrial centre in the middle ages under the Moors.
We woke up to a cold morning and a fresh fall of snow on the mountains!

We walked into town with the dogs about five miles there and back plus the walk round the town. The Roman aqueduct is amazing! Built during the reign of Trajan in the 1st Century to bring water from the hills to the town; it is one of the finest still in existence and is still operating. It reaches a height of 92 feet in the Plaza del Azoguejo and is 2,388 feet long. This is a picture of the stone at the head of the aqueduct which is constructed of huge shaped blocks of granite.

We followed the aqueduct into the heart of the town where we saw this gothic merry-go-round!

This is the huge gothic cathedral that dates from the 16th century when Renaissance architecture was at its height.

Here’s Peter internetting in the plaza just in front of the cathedral!

This is the old ‘Jewish quarter’ I think, and the Iglesia de San Juan de los Caballeros. This is Segovia’s oldest Romanesque church, 11th Century. It was almost in ruins at the turn of the last century and was bought by the artist Daniel Zuloaga who converted it to his home and workshop.

This is a not very good shot of the ‘Alcazar’ – the Islamic Palace/fortress that stands at the end of the triangle of rock towering 320 feet above the confluence of the rivers Eresma and Clamores in the valley below. It was built in the early 13th century and modified in the 15th and 16th. A chemical laboratory was established here in the 18th C where the French chemist Louis Proust formulated his law of constant proportions.
Here's picture of the alcazar I got off the internet to show you!
Some views outside the town over the ramparts.

And some small interesting carved things!!

To celebrate Peter’s umpty-fifth birthday we had a meal in the posh restaurant near to the campsite. I had seafood soup and Hake done in the Basque style and Peter had asparagus and turbot ; we both had strawberries and cream and finished with coffee and a Spanish cognac… I could develop a taste for cognac, can’t to get back to France! We discovered from the wine list that they stocked the wonderful Paternina Banda Azul 2001 Rioja that we bought in Haro. I think the Spanish waiter was impressed that we asked for the Spanish wine list and chose something we knew!!

The weather took a turn for the worse and was pelting with rain when we left, it kept up all night and in the morning we watched a fellow (Dutch) motorhomer having to be towed out of the pitch he was in as he got himself bogged down in the mud!!

Salamanca

2007-05-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

These storks had formed a colony in some low-growing trees in the flat shrubby plain between the border and Salamanca.

I spotted these tiny yellow narcissus/daffodils.

We stopped over at ‘Camping Don Quijote’! This was quite a pleasant site along side a river, possibly Rio Tormes or a tributary. Quite handily there is a bar here so we sat and had a couple of beers and Hamish tried to get jiggy with the very small dog that lives there! He seems to have a thing ;o} for little dogs but he always ends up squashing them under his paw!!

These giant black bulls are everywhere on the skyline along the motorway.

Leaving Portugal faster than anticipated!

2007-05-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

There was a ‘medieval market’ being held in the town the day we left Vila Flor. We bought some ‘artisan’ bread and cheese and some lovely wild mushrooms; oyster and wood mushrooms. If you look closely you can see me making my purchases despite my non-existent knowledge of Portuguese!

The church here is quite impressive. The front is decorated with blue and white tiles. The area is quite famous for its ceramics and a lot of the houses make use of these to create cool shady porch/patio areas.

Here are a couple of street scenes taken as we were leaving.

It took us a while to work out that these trees are Cork oaks (actually I worked this out as I remembered that the scientific name for oak is Quercus from which the word cork is derived!) At first we couldn’t think why the bark was completely stripped but the tree continued to live; this would kill other trees.

We passed through miles and miles of olive, almond and fruit tree groves often surrounded by flower rich meadow…beautiful!

We stopped for a walk up a hill and discovered a triangulation point and panoramic views at the top!

In order to cross the border we had to descend quite rapidly to cross over at a dam over the river ‘Rio Duero’ Freixo de Espada a Cinta which forms the lake ‘Embalse de Saucelle that forms part of the border with Spain.

The descent is very steep and twisty and you can imagine my panic when Peter uttered words you only hear in films… “I’ve got no brakes!” I was busy trying to photograph a large crop of cactus out of the window at the time! He managed to get the ‘van to stop at the former border crossing pull-in. The brakes were smoking and the wheel was very hot.

Here are some pictures of this area…steep and hilly, not the place where you want your brakes to fail!!

After a while we set off very cautiously in order to get to a town with a mechanic. Thankfully the Satnav can show where the nearest things like that are … garages, campsites, banks etc.etc.

A while after Peter had a good look at things and the brakes were actually fine. I read this afterwards in the ‘Go Motorhoming’ book about mountain roads ; “ The most important driving skill is a controlled descent to avoid ‘brake fade’. This phrase does not put enough emphasis on a truly horrifying experience of discovering that your brakes no longer work.” I’ll f*@!!ing say!!!Aparently the excessive heat alters the characteristics of the compounds resulting in the loss of friction. Allowing them to cool down quickly and stopping as soon as we did prevented any permanent damage. Peter is now an expert at the controlled descent… just as well as we had the Pyrenees and the Alps still to cross!!

Portugal, Map of our Journey to date and Who's Out There!

2007-05-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

First of all, as requested by Richard I think, here is a map of our journey to date.

This request was made via the comments that can be left on the Blog. I’ve wondered a few times how many people, and who, are looking at the blog and what they think about it. Also, you’ve been able to follow what we have been doing and what’s been happening but we don’t know what’s been happening back home!

We would welcome comments on what you think of the Blog so far…What do you like/dislike, what would you like to see more/less of etc. Although we sometimes can’t get a good Wifi connection for a few days we usually manage at least once a week and can answer any questions…also it would be good to keep in touch and hear your news from time to time…bearing in mind this is a public forum!

The scenery on the Portuguese side of the mountains is stunning and seems to go on for ever.

We made our way to a campsite called Cepo Verde recommended in the Camperstop book as being motorhome friendly. This is in the National Park of Montesinho North of Braganca. We booked in for a couple of nights so that we could do some laundry. These are a couple of views from our placement looking over the swimming pool (unfortunately empty at this time of year).

We went for a long walk with the dogs up the hills through the woods, mostly sweet chestnut plantations and pines and oaks. This massive old chestnut tree is still alive!!

There were loads of very different flowers here too, I spotted these tiny little narcissi.

These are not cultivated garden ones as they are growing in old woodland areas, and must I guess be the original parents of the ones we buy in the shops. I always thought they were bred that way by daffodil breeders!

While looking at some of the tall lily type plants I spotted this butterfly. Then coaxed onto my hand and it opened its wings! It’s a ‘Spanish Festoon’ and is native to the Iberian peninsula.

You can’t make these out too clearly but they are weird little ‘pitcher plant’ like flowers , again very tiny and a bit like the arum lily.

This was the weirdest thing though…!

It was growing at the base of an oak tree and large rock rose shrubs. I have no idea if it is plant or fungus!!

This hole in the ground surrounded by a pile of sand is the home of a little wasp/ant thingy!

This whole area is coloured by the white and yellow broom bushes, they are smaller and more delicate than the ones in UK.

The next campsite was at a town called Chaves, but meaning ‘keys’ not that it was populated by Chavs or Neds as these delightful people are known as in Scotland! When we arrived at the campsite there was a rally or gathering of old Citroen 2CVs!

It had also started to rain as we approached Chaves and it rained on and off for most of the time we were in Portugal. The campsite here was on the outskirts of town and in a nice wooded area, very pleasant, but a bit too built up for us so we headed for Vila Flor a bit further south.

On the way we stopped at a couple of pull-ins for walks and to admire the scenery, still very mountainous but above all very flowery and colourful. One of the pull-ins had this new watering hole/picnic area, I'll leave you to translate this!

I don’t know whether it’s always like this or that the cooler period of Spring allows all the flowers to bloom etc. but it’s only April and most of the plants that are flowering wouldn’t be flowering until the Summer – July/August in the UK! The roadsides are purple with these tufty lavenders.

We really liked the Campsite at Vila Flor. It is the town municipal campsite set about 2 or kilometres from the town. It is set within a large area of woodland, mostly pines, sweet chestnut and cork oaks; and is hilly with huge boulders, probably from the ice-age left by retreating glaciers. The place resounded with the poo-poo-poo of hoopoes and cuckooing of cuckoos as well as the yaffling of green woodpeckers! That’s more like it! The site has many funny little concrete barbecues. And following a visit to Vila Flor for burgers, sausages as well as whole trout and skewers with salmon, white fish, octopus and peppers on and a folding table from the Chinese Bazaar, the rain let up for a while ‘til we had our barby! At least the rain provides some down time to keep up with the blog!

A little very dark almost black, red squirrel from the campsite at Vila Flor.

There are some more images from Portugal to be added at a later date as it's the uploading of pictures that takes the time and we have to move on now!!

Border country.

2007-05-02T03:53:00.000-07:00

As we approached the border between Spain and Portugal the land became much more mountainous, I suppose that makes sense when you’re defending your boundaries! This fortified town is in Spain just before the border, I think it is Puebla de Sanabria.

Approaching the town…and from behind leaving it!

There were no border guards or controls of any kind going into Portugal. You could see the stanchions where the old barriers were and the old buildings but they are obviously not required now with EU de-restrictions etc.

Miles of Scrub and Mud Houses

2007-05-02T03:42:00.000-07:00

If the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, then there must be no shortage of water as the Plains run on for miles and then scrub for miles and miles and miles as far as the eye could see and you can see quite far as it’s very flat. We stopped off at one of the very few pull-ins and stretched our legs with a walk up a hilly bit. We found a strange spring that had a little building built over it that poured into a pond. There were loads of frogs singing and croaking in the pond and with the birds and the cicadas also going it was far from quiet!

We saw this weird huge beetle here and these huge ants. The scrub is made up mostly of these pretty bushes of rock rose and heather.

We also saw this blue butterfly but it closes its wings when resting, I think it is a Common Blue.

Quite often the Satnav lady takes us on a wild goose chase and takes us through tiny little villages, mostly because Peter is too mean to pay the toll charges on the bigger roads! This has turned out to be the reason for us seeing some of the more out of the way places and strange and weird things…like these underground houses!

The first ones we saw looked quite old and we thought they might be tombs or suchlike. But then we saw that one of the chimney type things was smoking! We ventured through the little towns in the area all called Something de Los Oteros in the area South of Leon in Northern Spain North-East of the top of Portugal. After spotting loads more in many villages over quite a wide area we saw many that had built up entrances and doors with padlocks on. Perhaps they are inhabited all the time or maybe they are used during the extreme Summer heat or indeed Winter cold. We bought the Green Guide to Spain but there was no mention of these dwellings in there. Maybe there is a whole race of Spanish Hobbits still living in these underground burrow dwellings!

Peter really liked the houses made entirely with mud bricks and plastered with mud.

We passed quite a few that had been abandoned and were slowly being washed back into the soil. How’s that for eco-friendly and recyclable building!

Viva Espagne!!

2007-05-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

We crossed the border near Ainhoa where a couple of Guardia asked to see our passports and waved us on (after telling Peter to put his seat belt on!)

The scenery is quite spectacular, with passes and tunnels through some very high jaggy mountains!

And like on the French side, little towns nestled between high mountains.

We headed for Haro the main town of the Rioja area famous for Rioja wines.

The view from the road approaching Haro.

We found this campsite through the Camperstop book. Spain doesn’t have any recognised camperstops and wild camping is not recommended. The municipal campsite here is very good and reasonably cheap - 31 Euros for 2 nights. About a tenner a night.

We took the dogs for a walk into the town of Haro the next day, Saturday 21 April and had a good walk round the town. We stopped at a café in the main plaza that had seats outside and had a beer and some tapas, small colourful cold or hot hors d’oeuvres or appetisers made from a combination of meat, cheese and vegetables.

We also managed to find a bookshop that was open and bought a Spanish – English dictionary! We found a little shop selling bread and bought some beer (San Miguel-what else!) and a bottle of Rioja. The woman in the shop offered me two types one costing 1 euro and one at 5euros. The cheap one was a ‘normale’ everyday wine and the 5Euro one she said was much better. We took the 5 euro one- still only about £3.00. This turned out to be an award winning 2001 Rioja, which was absolutely gorgeous with vanilla fruity loveliness!!! We now wish we’d bought a lot more. And this from a man who ‘doesn’t like Spanish plonk!’

We ventured up to the old church with its sculpted spire complete with saints and gargoyle spouts. Peter especially liked the storks with their huge nests on the tops of buildings.

And spotted this carving of the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz on an old building ;o)

We had a lovely sunset that night accompanied by the singing of frogs from the swimming pool!

In the morning we heard a roaring noise overhead which turned out to be hot air balloons!

Bayonne, Biarritz and Basque

2007-05-02T03:18:00.000-07:00

We headed for the camperstop at Hendaye-sur-Plage thinking that this would be quieter than the huge stop at Biarritz (where you also had to pay… the first one we had encountered). The area from outside Bayonne, Anglet, Biarritz and down the coast through St Jean-de-Luz and Urrugne through to Hendaye is one huge built up area. We found Hendaye but after going round and round couldn’t find the Camperstop. We decided to head for countryside and a little place called St Pee-sur-Nivelle. The first ‘e’ in Pee should have an accent over it but I can’t find accented letters on this keyboard. This is a lovely spot by an artificial lake. There is a small charge for this one also – 5 Euros, but we didn’t have to pay as the barrier was up when we went in so we thought you paid as you went out. We discovered in the morning as we were leaving that we should have paid (all automatic done through credit or debit card) to get in which lifted the barrier. The barrier lifts automatically on going out. We think there was a ‘van parked near to the barrier that kept it lifted. We only had to pay 1 euro for the water and grey water dump in the end!
Some of the wildlife around the camperstop...
This is part of the Basque region and I knew they have a separate language and identity from the French and Spanish but had no idea just how different the language is. It looks a bit like Aztec with some Greek thrown n, all K’s and X’s!! Lots of the towns and villages have trees, I think they are plane trees, which they prune and shape to join up and form a canopy to provide shade in the summer. This was by far the best we had seen where the trees grow over and form a canopy over the whole road!

This avenue of trees was so narrow we only just got through!

This road lead us eventually to the road that crosses the border into Spain.

Bergerac, Bordeaux and Biarritz!!!

2007-05-02T03:01:00.000-07:00

Heading South and West towards Bergerac, chosen because we like the wine from there! We stopped off for a brew and to let us and the dogs stretch our legs a bit at a place called Sadroc, which despite its name is a very pretty little village that has one of France’s many camperstops. There was one other campervan there and the driver approached us and started chatting. Turns out he sold his pub in England and moved to Spain where they had lived for 5-6 years. They had just sold up there as they found it too hot and had bought a house in France not too far away. On asking him where we could buy the blue stuff for the portable toilet he gave us a couple of the fancy sachets you can buy to last us until we found a camping shop. I remembered about all the paperback books we had both read and offered them to the man’s wife. She was thrilled to bits as she was almost finished her last book! I remembered reading in one of the campervan books that novels in English are very expensive to buy over here and highly sought after. We have left books all over the place. Usually in a communal area in a camping site, with a note on the front saying to read and pass on! It’s quite nice to have a foot in both camps; the motorhoming community, usually older people with a bit of money and all mod cons, and also the younger ones in the Mercedes vans who don’t! Both of these groups have been very friendly and helpful, but I think we belong in spirit more to the younger lot though ;o)

We made it to Bergerac and found the camperstop by the banks of the Dordogne river. It was a lovely spot, had good dog walking areas and was well within walking distance from the town.

The only problem was that being so close to the town and being on quite a straight bit of road we were kept awake by lads on scooters and small motorbikes buzzing up and down. However we spent a lovely afternoon wandering around Bergerac after we had dropped off our washing at a launderette. Smalls etc. we can manage in the van but not sheets and duvet covers!

We sat and had coffee and crepes with rum and hot chocolate sauce in a covered terrace outside the café in a part of the old medieval town and looked at a coloured statue for ages before realising it was of Cyrano de Bergerac…Doh!! We discovered a Chinese shop selling loads of freshly prepared food and bought lots of samosa /tapas type little goodies and chow mein along with a nice bottle of the local Bergerac wine! We also bought a replacement for one of the tiers of our bamboo steamer as it had started to come apart. We use this a lot as it only takes one gas ring to cook tatties, carrots, beans and broccoli etc. saving on gas and steaming up the ‘van! …and a lot healthier too!

Bordeaux

We drove on to Pellegrue to the camperstop there and found this lovely little spot just outside the village. Again this was complete with free electricity, drinking water for refilling the ‘van and a chemical toilet and grey water dump all in lovely clean condition with reasonably flat hard standing to park on … you gotta hand it to the French for looking after their campers! We cooked and ate the Chinese food washed down with he wine and had a lovely peaceful nights sleep!

This is a picture of the curious ‘Roman bath-house’ like building that was situated by the camperstop( or the other way round!) it looked very old and was filled with water from a spring … the dogs certainly liked it! We walked into Pellegrue the following morning and bought some food at the market before moving off in search of the vineyard we had decided we would search out; part of the ‘France Passion’ scheme. We called into the town at Caudrot on the way to stock up with food supplies etc. and while we were waiting for the supermarket to open we went for a walk along the banks of the river Garonne, which was very swollen. The swollen river was fast and very muddy and had lots of trees and other stuff floating along. It seemed a bit sinister and I didn’t like looking at it in case a body floated by!

The area here is full of grape vines as far as the eye can see… well it would have to be to produce the amount of wine!! We found the vineyard of Chateau Majoureau and met Monsieur Delong who said, I think, that his children, who were working in the vines at present could speak English and later that night we would could taste some of the wine. I think that’s what he said! We had our meal and waited and waited. Monsieur Delong nor his children came near where we were parked behind his barns to invite us to the wine tasting and we were unsure whether to go to the house or not, so we didn’t! So no Bordeaux straight from the vineyard for us! We left a note thanking them for allowing us to stop as there was no one about in the morning…perhaps there had been an accident or someone took ill???!!!

Heading for the coast at Biarritz; and on the way we passed through mile upon mile upon mile of pine tree plantations in the area known as ‘Les Landes’ in Gascony. We stopped for lunch and to walk the dogs in a pine forest between Uzeste and Prechac.

I liked the patterns of the deeply ridged tree bark and the regular swirls of the cone.

On the way back I spotted this snake on the road and shouted to Peter to come and see it…he always walks way ahead of me!

I got this pic of it going into the grass where you can see by the zigzag on its back that it’s an adder. Just after this the dogs spotted a hare on the road and dashed off to chase it not heeding our calls one jot! They were not gone long and came back knackered and panting hard after running I the hot afternoon sun!

The pines are all in flower and everywhere and everything is coated with the yellow pollen, including everything inside the ‘van as it too hot to drive with windows closed!

We stopped at Tartas looking for an internet Wifi signal and spotted this Mercedes van as it drew in beside us.

We invited the young couple (Andreas and Elo) that were in it for a cup of tea and as they spoke no English we had a very short conversation about Mercotribe and they told us about a lovely area in Portugal we should visit.

Barbecue and Jam session

2007-05-02T02:50:00.000-07:00

The gasket finally arrived on Saturday, complete with new studs but no new nuts, we got some in the Renault garage in Eguzon and then we went back to the camperstop area at the ‘Pont des Piles’ where there was a tap for fresh water and a dump for grey water as we had left the campsite. Meantime we had found an internet Wifi connection we could tap into in Eguzon and had emailed Lolo as we had lost his phone number. Peter managed to fit the new gasket and I busied myself cleaning out the ‘van and puddling about with watercolours! We were heading back to the campsite for a shower but halfway up the hill we passed Lolo, Seb and Lulu in Seb’s car. They had come to find us to bring us back to Lolo’s house for a barbecue! We loaded up with food and booze at the ‘Super U’ supermarket on the way!

Some pictures from that night… Lulu - 'My English is very bad!'

Julie and Lolo internetting – trying to link up in virtual space with Sam and Pete!

Julie, Lulu and Sophie

Killer Lulu demonstrating classic Frenchman ‘shrug’!

Peter up a tree fixing up floodlight!

Lolo fire-breathing!

The next day Jay-Jay, Lolo and Seb set up their instruments and had a jam session in the garden, Lolo has a music studio in his truck complete with drum machine and mixers etc. They sounded really good, I particularly like the song dedicated to Bob Marley written by Lolo. You can hear some of the music from the ‘Rasso’ that backs the video on the Mercotribe website www.mercotribe.com that Lolo made with a montage of images from the weekend. The headlights that you see near the end of the video are from our van as we arrived!

In the evening we all went to a nearby bar/restaurant called the Cottage run by an Englishman!

And in the morning… a mist settled round the scene … and a mountain of bottles! We said our goodbyes to Lulu and Seb that night and in the following misty morning we bade a sad farewell to Lolo, with confirmation that we will be back for the next rasso around the 4th of June for Lolo’s birthday!

Off to Bergerac, Bordeaux and Biarritz!!!

Brenne and Lanternes des Mort and Dolmen

2007-04-25T04:25:00.000-07:00

We visited this area known as the ‘Park of the thousand lakes’ the last time we stayed in this area. The lakes are artificial made by monks in the medieval times to keep fish in. Peter canoed on one of the biggest Lac de Bellebouche and found some of the water tortoises that are only found in these lakes. They are tortoises and not turtles. He canoed out again to find them but it must be too early in the year as there were none to be found.

We camped there overnight and heard strange loud, chirping noises and Peter went to investigate… he found a pond near us with loads of frogs in that were all croaking and chirruping! The next day he took this picture but not a frog to be seen!

The map we bought in France has paces of interest marked on it and we noticed several called ‘Lanternes des Morts’. We had no idea what these were and even the people we asked at the ‘Rasso’ did not know what they were. On our way to the Brenne we passed through a village called Ciron and I noticed that there was a Lanterne there so we investigated… and found this!

When we eventually found an internet connection I ‘googled’ Lanternes des Morts’ and found an entry in a French version of ‘Wikipedia’ that once translated informed that these dated mostly from medieval times – 10th/11th/12th century and by raising a lamp by a system of pulleys to the top, a light would shine over the countryside to guide the souls of the recently departed home. If my translation is correct, I believe more modern Lanternes were erected in the graveyards dating from the First World war and that there may a few in the UK.

We hunted down a couple more local Dolmens, this one in a field near Montchevrier called the ‘Pierre de la Marthe’ and this one the Dolmen de Passe-Bonneau near St Benoit-du-Sault.

We spotted this statue of Jeanne D'Arc as we passed through Orsennes.

We also found another Lanternes, this one is at St Agnant-de-Versillat just North of the town of La Souterraine.

This one is actually in a graveyard and unlike the one at Ciron this one is hexagonal.
We walked round the graveyard and spotted this memorial plaque on the grave belonging to Albert Labrousse.

It says … ‘To the memory of the martyr Albert Labrousse born 9 November 1896 arrested by the traitors of Vichy assassinated on the 2nd of August 1944 in a torture wagon by Hitler’s monsters’. Strong stuff eh! For those who don’t know Vichy is a large town in the Allier district of the Auvergne region in Central France that collaborated with the Germans during the war.

Meeting ‘Mercotribe’

2007-04-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

The new gasket hadn’t arrived by Good Friday so we booked another 5 days at the campsite with a view to making it a base for exploring the area. We went to the supermarket in Eguzon to stock up with food and wine and beer, all the necessities! And a trip round the village for fresh bread from the excellent boulangerie. When we were on our way back to the campsite Peter noticed a piece of paper under the windscreen wiper.

I was quite pleased with myself that I was able to understand most of it. It was an invitation to a gathering of Mercedes trucks that was being held very near to our campsite at the bridge near to the dam across the Creuse.

We had no idea what this was going to be. We were a little reluctant thinking it might turn out to be a real anoracky do, with lots of old men and their vintage Mercs! We couldn’t have been more wrong! It was actually the meeting up of people from all over France and other Francophone (French speaking) countries who live in or go travelling etc in old Mercedes vans and trucks – camions - who otherwise meet up in virtual space through an on-line forum and call themselves ‘Mercotribe’. www.mercotribe.org is the web address. Here is their banner/logo.

We were the oldest people there, but despite this and our lack of fluent French, and only a couple of English speakers, we were immediately accepted and felt very welcome.
Here are some of the various vans and trucks.

… and some of the lovely lads we met …

especially lovely Lolo ( Laurent Kami) a French white Bob Marley who we have a special connection with … That's him again on stilts!

and Lulu (Ludwig… yes that’s his real name, don’t know his last name) with Jojo (from Paris)…

and Syb or Seb (Sebastian whose real name is Pierre!).
This is Lulu being dragged off by Seb as he is trying to make sure he gets to sleep and goes to his work in the morning!

Mercotribe collect money at their meetings for an organisation called Azzeka, a charity that cares for children in Morocco, by selling bottles of Moroccan wine (good wine!) and selling cooked food – lamb tagine (also very good!).

We stayed there overnight, and although the ‘rasso’ short for ‘rassemblement’ meaning a gathering or assembly, was going on until Easter Monday, we decided to leave and come back on the last day as we felt a bit out of place not speaking French and being older. We did a bit of Touristy sight-seeing at the weekend to Crozant and Fresselines; both villages famous for art-related reasons. Crozant is famous for a school of painting that was started by an artist living there and Fresseline is famous as Claude Monet lived there and did a lot of paintings of the area including the ruins at Crozant.

We came back on Monday night, which we thought was the last night but just about everyone had gone, but Lolo, Lulu, Seb and Jojo. They were all having a drink in Jojo’s caravan and they invited us to join them.

We stayed up late talking to them, luckily Lolo’s English is very good! We found out that when they were at school and learning English they had a book similar to our ‘Janet and John’ books (if you’re as old as us!) where the main character is called ‘Brian’ and one of the phrases that was quite popular was ‘Where is Brian? Brian is in the kitchen’! I told them that my Dad is called Brian and he is often in the kitchen doing the dishes ! They were taught to speak English as though they had a potato in their mouths to get the vowel sounds! This became a sort of catch phrase with us all. Where is the sister of Brian is also featured and Lolo said at one point “where is the daughter of Brian? He doesn’t know…somewhere in Europe!” We stayed overnight there again. We swapped email addresses and phone numbers with Lolo to keep in touch when we left to go to the post office to see if the gasket had arrived. He invited us to his home in a village near Eguzon to fit the gasket, but it had not arrived and we decided to go and visit the Brenne Natural Park area for a couple of days.

Eguzon encore !!

2007-04-25T03:52:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in Eguzon on Monday 2nd April and went to ‘Les Nugiras’ the municipal campsite a few kilometres from the village. The cost is very reasonable – 5.60 Euros per night for a place and 2 people (about £3.75 per night). This includes all the facilities except electricity hook-up, which we didn’t bother with, and washing machine, which we did!

The gasket that Peter had fitted in Aberdeen blew again, as he had not used new studs and nuts) and was making a noise so Peter phoned Bell’s Trucks in Spennymoor near Darlington, near where his brother stays in Mickleton (see previous post!) as they do Mercedes parts, and got them to send out the bits to the post office in Eguzon. We booked in four days initially. We also decided to do a bit of house-hunting as we had seen a few old properties we liked the sound of on the internet.

We approached one of the ‘immobliers’ – estate agents offices I Eguzon and I prepared what I needed to say in French in my head – only to be met by a ‘hello’ in a Herefordshire accent! Hilary had previously run an auberge – an inn with a pub and this was her first day in her new job in her new office. Unfortunately the company catered specially for the Brit market, and so unless you wanted to pay through the nose, or join a British Ghetto, they did not have the kind of property we wanted. Finding some of the properties was an adventure in itself as directions tend to be very sketchy. This is probably deliberate as negotiations with the seller could prove to be a lot cheaper than through one of these agencies. Anyway there were no properties anything like what we wanted so we have put house-hunting on hold for a while as we have found that we quite like this nomadic life and discovering new places!

End of part 1

Rodez

2007-04-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

Heading away from the snow we decided to find out what the country was like south of the Central Massif and headed for Rodez.

We found a Camperstop that was by a park near a river and had drinking water and dumps for chemical toilet etc. Perfect – what a great country this is!

Walking the dogs through the park we saw this stone crucifix on a medieval bridge crossing a mill-race.

Hollowroot Corydalis cava a member of the Fumitory family, which doesn’t grow in Britain.

Jay Garrulus glandarius.

Speckled Wood butterfly Pararge aegeria

...and this big shiny beetle… I’ve no idea what his name is…possibly ‘Alexander’ (one for Pooh fans) ;o)

There are loads of these graveyards with the graves covered with greenhouse like constructions… no idea why.

I managed to get this picture of the hill-top chateau at Onet le Chateau just outside Rodez as we whizzed by!

Enquiries at an estate agent in Rodez revealed that house prices were way too high for us in this popular area so we headed back up to Eguzon, the area we knew and liked.

Le Pont Chretien-Chabenet, Eguzon and a night on a bare mountain!

2007-04-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

We whizzed through Nantes and Poitiers and as we are quite close we deviated towards Argenton sur Creuse and the area where we spent a holiday three years ago. We knew there was a little campsite near le Pont Chretien and headed for there but it was closed. We had a look around Pont Chretien but there was nowhere to stop. So we headed for the nearest camperstop in the book which was at Eguzon. Failing to find the camperstop we found a pull-in near a small river ( La Claviere) that had plenty walking through woods and meadows, and spent a lovely night there.

These plants were all from around the area where we camped up near Eguzon.

Cowslips Primula veris meaning pensiveness or You are Divine! The heady scent of cowslips is said to calm the nerves and the wine that is still from them today, noted for alleviating insomnia.

Germander Speedwell Veronica chamaedrys In the language of flowers the Speedwells represent Semblance and female fidelity.

Wild Strawberry Fragaria vesca - a natural remedy for digestive problems and diarrhoea can be made by infusing 2 teaspoonsful of the chopped leaves in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drink three cups daily.

Lungwort Pulmonaria officinalis- it is a so-called ‘signature plant’ because in ‘the Doctrine of Signatures’ –that stated that the shape, colour etc. of a plant gave an indication or ‘signature for its beneficial properties or uses. Because of the blotched lung-like leaves it was seen as a remedy for chest complaints. The leaves and stems are, however, diuretic and expectorant; so an infusion can help soothe sore throats and coughs!

Sorrel Rumex acetosa – The leaves of sorrel have an acidic, lemony flavour and can be added to salads for a ‘zing’! Sorrel soup is a country favourite now gaining popularity through ‘The Covent Garden Soup Company’

Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea called ‘pixies’ in Somerset – anyone picking it is likely to be ‘pixy-led’.

Maidenhair Spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes – growing up to 15cm on walls and rocks.

Wood Anemone or Windflower Anemone nemorosa

Burnet either Greater or Salad Burnett, probably Greater Sanguisorba officinalis – The name comes from sanguis (blood) and sorbere (to absorb) and refers to the plant’s ability to reduce bleeding.

Ground Ivy Glechoma hederacea- formerly used to clarify and flavour beer and known as ‘alehoof’.

And finally… an odd one –these low growing purple flowers that I have never seen or heard of! I think they are parasitic and will have to do some internet investigating!!

These caterpillars were in a meadow and the warm sunny day had brought them out of hibernation. They are caterpillars of a Fritillary butterfly that spend winter in a silken tent.

We saw these butterflies in a wood just before Argenton where we stopped to walk the dogs.

A Camberwell Beauty Nymphalis antiopa this must have just come out of hibernation as it was a wonderfully warm day, the warmest since our arrival.

And this Large Tortoiseshell Nymphalis polychloros now extinct in Britain.

We studied the map and decided to head for Riom es Montagnes which was up in the mountains of the Central Massif to see what this area was like. We passed through Aubusson, Ussel and Bort les Orges (a lovely little hillside town as a lot of them are).

As we drove through this area where it took us through hillier terrain, it took on a distinct look of Scotland with pine forests with lots of moss and lichens and blue hills.

Looking at the France Passion book, we saw that there was cheese farm that sounded as though it was nearby and looked like it was on the map. Little did we know that the apparently short distance was up, and up and up round and round little roads up a mountain. We eventually found the farm high up in the mountains, introduced ourselves and settled in for the night. We were a bit taken aback when we woke to this scene!

It continued to snow all morning and we were worried we would not manage to get out, but with Peter at the wheel of our trusty truck we slowly wound our way back down the mountain when we were able at last to breathe out a sigh of relief!!

Carnac

2007-04-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Carnac and went to the museum to get info on where the tombs and circles etc. were. I bought a book and was given a free map of the megalithic sites in the area around Carnac. It’s amazing the place is just crowded with massive dolmen and alignments of many, many huge stones.

Here are some views of one of the longest alignments at Menec, just outside the town of Carnac.

And this one at Kerlescan or Kermario ( I can’t remember which it is now!) a short distance away also has a dolmen, a tomb of huge stones which would have been covered over with a cairn of smaller stones.

We found a campsite near Vannes about 20 minutes from Carnac that was beside an aerodrome and army parachute training base. We stayed two nights here and saw loads of these guys drifting down on parachutes!!

We tracked down this huge chambered tomb at Mane-lud near Locmariaquer, another lovely seaside town along the coast from Carnac. A house has been built right beside it as you can see. There were many carvings on the rocks inside the passage and chamber.

We went in search of others but they were in a poor state. We came across a little chapel of St Madeleine where we spotted this little building. It houses a special sort of font thing for blessing cattle!

Some plants we saw around Carnac …

Butcher’s Broom Ruscus aculeatus or Jew’s Myrtle. Butchers apparently found this plant useful for sweeping their wooden chopping blocks. It was also used by grocers to protect Christmas displays of bacon and cheeses from mice.

Lords and Ladies (flower) Arum maculatum covered in previous blog.

White Campion Silene alba meaning youthful love in the language of flowers.

Meadow Buttercup Ranunculus acris a more delicate plant than the more common creeping buttercup R. repens. A posy of buttercups can mean prosperity or ingratitude in the language of flowers. Irish farmers used to rub their cow’ udders with buttercups, in imitative magic, to increase the milk yield and the richness of the butter!

And this white member of the fumitory family which I have yet to identify its name etc.

We also spotted this Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni The herald of spring!

Heading off towards Clermand-Ferand tomorrow! Saw these wonderful tree stump characters decorating the area around a pub/auberge on the road from Carnac!!

Don't know who this is!

St Malo

2007-04-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

We travelled to the Campingcar aire de Service by the marina just outside the walls of the old town. We then walked around inside this medieval walled town.

We particularly liked this gargoyle with its topknot of weeds! And some nice Gothic touches to the architecture.

And also this sign for the road of the cat who dances.

The walled fortress accessed by a causeway looks pretty safe from hordes!

We didn’t fancy staying at the camperstop overnight as there were lots of lads on little bikes and scooters going about and probably would be until late at night, so we trundled off to find somewhere a bit quieter! Then on to Carnac where I knew there were lots of megalithic tombs and stone circles.

France!!! Our first ‘Camperstop’ and ‘France Passion’ stop.

2007-04-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

After arriving with no problems from the dogs or at controls, we headed for our first stop. This was at what are known in France as ‘Aires de Campingcars’ these are areas specially provided for motor-homes/campervans only – no caravans! They often have drinking water so you can fill up; dumps for grey water and chemical toilets and most have places to stop over for a night or two. Some even have electric for free or a couple of Euros!! How’s that for being camping friendly!!

This is the one at Berck-sur-Plage by the light house near the dunes. Fantastic!!

Then heading towards Saint Malo, where Peter had been with his Mum on their tour of the Channel Islands and the North of France and Paris before she died, we stopped off at a cider farm – part of the ‘France Passion’scheme. This is a scheme only for campervans again, that allows you, once you join by buying the book at about 6 or 7 Euros, to stay for free at one of the participating farms, vineyards or similar. The only thing you have to do is go and say hello and introduce yourself and say goodbye when you leave. Tasting and buying their produce is offered also!!!

Here are pictures of the house and barns of Pascal Beaumesnil’s cider farm, which is just outside a little village called St Aubin de Scellon. We loved the old buildings that Pascal and his wife and parents were renovating. We also loved his cider and apple juice!!

We took the dogs for a walk along the country lanes, it’s very flat here and you can see for miles; unfortunately so can the dogs…They spotted a deer and ran after it. They were away for ages, had probably ran for miles, and we were getting worried about them, thinking all sorts of things that could have happened to them or by them. We kept whistling and Hamish eventually appeared but no Willow. She doesn’t have Hamish’s stamina for long runs. We eventually saw her coming back, but we could see that she was absolutely knackered and resolutely following the trail they had made back. We were whistling and calling but she was obviously focussed just on following the scent back. Peter ran down the road to head her off and she eventually saw him and stopped!

We chatted a while as best we could with Pascal and he showed us inside the old barn which was still in its original state. He has recently bought the place and is doing it up. They just finished roofing and insulating the new barn where they were already bottling the cider made last year.

After buying some of his cider and apple juice we left and headed for St Malo.

Folkestone

2007-04-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Booked into a campsite in Folkestone and booked our ferry to Calais from Dover. The campsite was on the white cliffs this area is famous for and there were lots of walks in the wilderness bit near the campsite down the cliffs to the sea. Great for dog-walking!

Views from near campsite …called Little Switzerland!!

The wooded area seemed rather primeval with the vines, moss and ferns!!

Plants and flowers we saw here were…

Lords and ladies Arum maculatum not quite out yet. Some of this plant’s other names are Cuckoo pint, parson in the pulpit, wake robin and priest’s pintle… some of these refer to the flower’s sexually evocative, phallic shape! Its seeds apparently make hens drunk and the root was pounded to make a flour like sago and was also used to starch the fine, light Elizabethan lace ruffs.

Stinking Iris Iris foetidissima these are the bright orangey-red seed heads of the purpley-brown flowers which grow in chalky scrubby areas in South England and Wales only. Also known as ‘bloody-bones’ or ‘stinking Gladwen’ and only eaten by the very hungry as it truly stinks!!

This lovely sun-dappled primrose bank…

And the Hartstongue fern Phyllitis scolopendrium here you can see the rows of dark brown spore cases on the undersides.

Fernseed or spore has long been thought to have magical properties…

‘We have the receipt of Fern-seede – we walke invisible’ (Henry IV, act ii, scene i) Shakespeare referred to the most celebrated outcome of carrying fernseed. On the eve of Saint John at midnight, the spore was collected on a pewter dish and must fall unbidden – no shaking or knocking the fern allowed - and it was not to be touched by human hand.

Tutsan Hypericum androsaemum, from the French ‘toute-saine’ – all-heal. This plant has a medical reputation for healing and was also used as a ‘bible or book leaf’for scenting and keeping the page in a book or bible and warding off bugs.

These vines and twisted trunks of a clematis probably Old man’s beard Clematis vitalba that can grow up to 20 metres and common on scrubby chalkland and famous for its fluffy seed heads.

On to Havant

2007-04-12T08:31:00.000-07:00

Stopping off overnight at a site in West Meon near Petersfield, we carried on and popped in to see my Nan in Havant, near Portsmouth. My aunt Helen also popped in by to see us and we showed them some of the pictures we had taken on our travels to date. Nan doesn’t use the internet so we send postcards of where we’ve been.

Great Yarmouth and East Anglia

2007-04-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

We journeyed on to Great Yarmouth to visit my brother Andy. Met him at his local ‘The Albert’ ( forgot to take piccies!) and had a fish supper with Andy at home. We thought we had found a pub nearby with a campsite but when we got there it was all closed up ! We journeyed on to Sizewell ( of the Nuclear Power Station fame) and pitched up at the ‘Vulcan Arms’, there’s been a pub there since the turn of last century so, sadly, nothing to do with ‘Star Trek’!

Although one of their publicity leaflets does have a little picture of Mr Spock saying “It’s the logical choice, Jim!”

Pictures of the beach and campsite showing the very near proximity of the power station!

Went for a walk along the beach and saw this place ‘Sizewell Hall’ once a stately home now a Christian religious retreat, we were informed by a local resident.

Also found these plants…

Alexanders Smyrnium oleraceum, a biennial plant associated with coastal areas in England, Wales and Ireland. Nothing in flower language or folklore books about these. Collins’ Herbs and Healing Plants advise they can aid digestion and the juice can be used clean cuts. In ancient times the Roman’s used these in stews and they were planted as a vegetable in monasteries. As it said the young stems can be eaten like asparagus, we did, along with…

Sea kale Crambe maritima.

…and finally the first spotting of primroses Primula vulgaris… we didn’t eat these!!

Grantham

2007-04-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Referring again to the ‘pubs with camping’ info we located ‘The Dirty Duck’ just outside Grantham.

Picture of pub and close up of the wind-vane which gives a clue as to the origin of the pub’s name ;o}

Some views of the canal and lock gates by the pub. This is part of the restored Grantham canal.

More early spring flowers…

Red Dead Nettle Lamium purpureum the little booklet from Middleton gives vexation, cruelty, spite as the meaning for nettle flowers but this may just mean stinging nettles!

Dog’s violet Viola riviniana , violets meaning faithfulness. Unlike Sweet Violets dog’s violets , appearing earlier than the latter, have no smell. The colour of violets and their drooping heads made them the symbol of death and ill-luck; and to dream of them foretold a death or epidemic.

White Dead Nettle Lamium Album

Blackthorn blossom meanings etc given on Mickleton blog.

Catkins on Willow Salix Alba the White Willow, meaning mourning or forsaken in the language of flowers, and willow has many funerary associations and has always been used as a funerary herb. Branches of willow were traditionally placed in coffins and young willow saplings were planted on graves. Nice to thin k this tradition and connection are being kept up-to-date in the modern ‘green burials’ often incorporating a wicker coffin woven from willow stems. Known as ‘Saile’ in Irish/gaelic and representing s in Ogham. The willow is famous for the discovery of Salicylic Acid in its bark, the forerunner of ‘Aspirin’.

View of Belvoir Castle from the road coming from the pub.

Quick jaunt to Rhyll

2007-04-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

Crossed over from Yorkshire to Rhyll in North Wales to see son Joe and meet his girlfriend and their unborn son!

Had a nice meal with them at the Maykey pub where we were allowed to camp overnight in their carpark; none of the campsites in Rhyll were open, or permitted campervans!

Mickleton County Durham

2007-04-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

We had looked on the internet and found a site that provides info on the pubs in UK that have campsites or stops for campervans and found that the Strathmore Arms near Mickleton was one of those listed and decided to head for there for a couple of days first in order to give James a couple of days warning of our intending to visit as he had requested. However, coming out of Middleton-in-Teesdale we spotted James walking up the road towards Mickleton. He had been shopping and missed the bus home, what a coincidence!!

James looking quite distinguished and not unlike Gerald Durrell, I think!!

We gave him a lift home and after having something to eat we went to the Kirk Inn pub in Romaldkirk another lovely little village a couple of miles from Mickleton where the excitement for the night was a dominoes match…! Our friend Gus (James’s landlord!) from Mickleton was playing for the Kirk against the Blacksmith’s team from Mickleton so there was a frisson of friendly rivalry!!

Picture of Gus caught demonstrating his gift for exaggerating!!

And Paul, the landlord of the Kirk, who used to be a fashion designer and has a passion for hats and a Bentley!!

We had decided to get the brake discs and pads renewed in Mickleton as Gus had helped Peter before with the replacement clutch and there was a garage in Spennymoor near Darlington that was able to get hold of parts for the ’van. So we spent the next few days in and around Mickleton. There are nice walks along the disused railway line from Mickleton 2 miles to Middleton and 2 miles in the other direction to Romaldkirk and were great for walking the dogs. I picked up a few lovely little books - The Ultimate Language of Flowers by Rob Cassy;Herbs and Healing Plants by Dieter Podlech; Discovering the Folklore of Plants by Margaret Baker, I aldready had A Tree in Your Pocket by Jacqueline Memory Paterson, and these provide a wealth of interesting info on plants and trees.

Some pictures of the countryside here …

And some early spring flowers…

The Lesser Celandine Ranunculus ficaria whose meaning in the Language of Flowers is ‘Pleasure in store’. This little plant has also been known as ‘goldy knob’ ‘golden guineas’ and in France is known as ‘bouton d’or’ or golden button.

Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara meaning ‘Justice will be done’ in the language of flowers. Coltsfoot is a well-known and recognised plant for the treatment of coughs. The plant has also been known as ‘son of the father’ as the flowers precede the leaves and ‘poor man’s baccy’ as it can be dried and smoked. Dried coltsfoot can still be bought as a smoking mixture to treat asthma.

Dog’s Mercury Mercurialis perennis . I can’t find any info in the books that I have at present that give any further info on this little plant.

Several of the shrubs and trees along the railway line are coming into bud, like this hawthorn, and sloe bush with many species of lichen.

Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna meaning Hope. Marriage. Hawthorn has a long history, holy to Pagans and Christians, and is often portrayed as one of the leaves in representations of the ‘green man’, a fertility figure on churches and pub signs. Known in Irish/Gaelic as ‘Huathe’ and by the Ogham letter h. A spring-goddess associated with hawthorn is ‘Blodeuwedd’ consort to the sun-god Llew Llaw-Gywffes – Blodeuwedd is represented in the May-Queen in May day festivities. The most famous Christian legend concerning hawthorn is the Glastonbury Thorn, which sprouted overnight from Joseph of Arimathea’s staff when he rested on Wearyall Hill; and was ever after known to blossom on Christmas Day.

The blackthorn or Sloe Prunus spinosa meaning Adversity. Known in Irish/gaelic as ‘Straife’ and the letter z. Both Hawthorn and Blackthorn are believed to have formed Christ’s ‘Crown of Thorns’ and both have superstitions attached to them because of this.

The following evening we stayed at home, but had a pint or two in the Blacksmith’s Arms the following night.

River Tees from the Wath Bridge
Went for a walk down and across the Beckstones Wath Bridge near the village and saw this ‘tortured oak’ along with these interesting bracket funghi . We spotted these tracks in the mud and wondered if they were from a rat or a ferret maybe?

The Oak tree Quercus robur meaning longevity and a happy life ahead with bravery and hospitality the meaning for the leaves. Known in Irish/gaelic as ‘Duir’ and the ogham letter d. In pagan times couples married underneath an oak tree before the Christians substituted the church. The galls found on oak twigs are powerfully astringent and were also used to produce a very black ink.

Our last night in the area was spent in the Strathmore Arms along with Gus and his lady Fran; James; and Paul who lives in a caravan behind James’s house next to Gus’s garage!

View of stream from the parking place opposite the pub

Rock formations resembling those at Giant’s Causeway and made of the same rock –basalt.

Off to Wales!!

Back over the sea to Scotland… Edinburgh

2007-04-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

Stopping briefly at a couple of campsites around Dumfries we made our way to my sister Jeanette’s home in Edinburgh where she stays with her partner Cameron and their two little girls Ailith and Rhianna (known to most as ‘Boo’ !!)

They live very close to the new Scottish parliament building, we quite liked this view of the side of the building.

We picked up some books we had ordered from the internet and got delivered to Jeanette’s address. These were on motor-homing and included books on where to stop overnight for free or very cheaply in France and the rest of Europe. It seems that the rest of Europe ie not UK or Eire is very motor home friendly.

Off the next day heading for Mickleton, County Durham, where Peter’s brother James lives.

Pictures of the border stones on the A68!

Bye, bye Scotland!!

Dublin

2007-04-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Found the large camp-site in Dublin that was open all year round; really nice place next to big park that was great for walking the dogs.

Discovered we had a tyre with a big split in it. So set about trying to locate a replacement. It seems that this is an unusual size and probably an original as no-one had heard of the size. In the end we had to wait as five new tyres were ordered to replace all the tyres to the same size 1 cm smaller!!

1/3/07

Went into Dublin centre for a rake round the shops. Parked near St Stephen’s Green and walked to Grafton Street and the Daisy Market. I got some new silver Celtic earrings and a box easel. Peter got a little dish aerial that enhances and directs wifi signals to boost the strength so we can pick up stronger internet connections. That has been the major problem with uploading the blog – not enough strong enough signals. We both bought a pair of good binoculars and a selection of green and black teas and coffee beans along with a cute teapot and bowls for me and a little tisane mug with a lid for Peter.

Peter told me about the famous ‘Dublin doors’ Georgian houses with different fanlight designs etc. I only managed to get a couple as we were passing as we kept forgetting to bring the camera!

We then went looking for Peter’s old haunts from when he lived and worked in Dublin; Rathfarnon, Rockbrooke up in the Dublin mountains. Here’s a view of Dublin bay from the mountains.

Did a spot of dog walking then went into this pub, the Merry Ploughboys in Rockbrooke.

We had saved having a pint of Guinness until Dublin to be nearer the source ! It 9 or more correctly they) was worth the wait!! They went down like mother’s milk , as they say! We asked the owner if we could stay in the carpark overnight so Peter could have another and we discovered that the pub was owned by a musical group of the same name and that they were having a musical night that night and we were invited. We had a meal first though at the pub which was famed for its good food. I had a seafood grill; salmon, scallops, mussels and cod. Peter had roast lamb. Gorgeous and well recommended if your ever in Dublin!

We went upstairs to the little theatre/stage area and watched a great performance of traditional Irish music with intervals of ‘River Dance’ style Irish dancing. I went up to the bar to get another couple of pints of Guinness and when I went to pay the waitress told me that she had no till that night as it was a work’/business function night and all pre-paid so she couldn’t take my money!! Had we fallen asleep and were dreaming! All this and free Guinness!! We weren’t greedy though and only had another pint each after that. This is a poster style placemat that we got with our meal.

We liked this lorry that was in front of us in Dublin!

Clogheen again and the start of the Sheelahunt!

2007-04-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

Back in Co Tipperary again on our way to Dublin. Along with the map of antiquities on Beara we bought a booklet by Jack Roberts and Joanne McMahon entitled ‘The Sheela-na-gigs of Britain and Ireland – An Illustrated Map/Guide’. I have known of these strange carvings for some time years and found them fascinating. The Sheela-na-gig is a carving of a female image depicted as naked and posing in a manner that accentuates and draws attention to the vulva. They were erected on many churches of the medieval period and were almost always placed in a prominent position such as over a doorway or a window. They seem to be carved in a symbolic form rather than representational; many from far-flung places possess similar features – the staring eyes, big ears, prominent ribs – and all are featured drawing attention to and displaying the vulva. The vulva has been revered for centuries as the central and most powerful symbol for virtually all older cultures since remote antiquity. Unlike the ‘fertility’ or Mother Goddess image where the breasts and belly are overtly emphasised, direct reference to the genitals usually symbolises death, life and regeneration. I found these excellent websites that discussed and provided possible explanations for the Sheelas. http://www.sheelanagig.org/ and http://www.irelands-sheelanagigs.org/

We decided to go on a Sheela hunt in the area starting with The Rock of Cashel.

This medieval castle and cathedral is a prominent landmark in Cashel and many intricate carvings can still be seen.

I had to ask a member of staff to show me the Sheela as I could not locate it. He had come to ask me to leave as the winds were increasing in this high and exposed site where there was a danger of falling masonry as there were parts of the building being renovated.

This Sheela was in an ‘occulted’ position; hidden, and placed sideways on the building in order to conceal it.

I took this picture of the sunlight through clouds out of the ‘van’s window as we were driving along. I used it as the background for a birthday card for my brother Steve.

We then found this Sheela on the wall of the old church at Shanrahan near to Clogheen. And also this disembodied head, which might have belonged to another Sheela.

This one was behind a tombstone and the picture was taken towards the end of the day so the light wasn’t very good.

We didn’t find the other much better one one, but here is a picture of it from the website mentioned above.

We looked for the Ballynahinch and Thurles Sheelas but the map/guide is very vague and without very detailed OS maps we hadn’t much chance and didn’t find them. Here are pictures of what we would have found!!

We did however find the Sheela carved on the old abbey at Holycross. Unfortunately this one had been defaced ( defigured!) a lady in the abbey shop thought that this occurred when the abbey was undergoing restoration in the 1970s. Many of the Sheelas were defaced or removed, hidden and buried, or totally destroyed.

The practice of carving Sheelas began sometime in the early Christian era and for various reasons spread rapidly during the medieval period; the 11th – 15th centuries. This ended abruptly at the beginning of the 17th century, corresponding with the reformation or heavily puritanical take-over of the religious system. The Sheela-na-gigs began to disappear , removed and hidden away or cast down along with other so-called heretical images.

The Sheela at Kiltanane Church, Co. Tipperary was stolen in 1990.

Here is a link to an interesting site that provides a downloadable game featuring an advert for the return of the missing Sheela. Tiger Tom’s Tipperary Showdown. http://www.tigertom.com/free-online-game.shtml

This game is a ‘shoot-em-up’ where you shoot ghosties and ghoulies in the various towns and places of interest in Tipperary.

We had an excellent Indian Takeaway from a little place in Clogheen, the garlic naan was handmade with loads of sliced fresh garlic in it. The next day off to Dublin.

Off to The Bear Peninsula, Co Cork.

2007-04-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

We left Clogheen and headed for this area because it had two campsites open all year. We passed through Clonakilty and Skibbereen, both well-known musical areas and known to me from the Waterboys website and forum www.mikescottwaterboys.com. We also passed signs for Dunmanway, which I have an inkling featured in Pete McArthy’s book McArthy’s Bar being famous for the New Age settlement there. The added bonus of the site at Adrigole was that it was located behind the Glenbrook pub! After sorting ourselves out we had a few beers and games of pool that evening.

Another rainy day spent reading the following day and down to the pub at night for more beer and more pool!

In the morning we went for a long walk into the hills where I bathed my feet in the icy waters of the waterfall. Too old and fat to caper about totally naked under waterfalls these days…besides it’s still only February!!! We past a ruined church at Kilcaskin where there was a standing stone with Ogham carved down the side. Ogham is an ancient form of writing comprised of short lines cut across a continuous long line superficially resembling a tree branch with twigs; each letter is named after a plant, tree or mineral. I sometimes incorporate Ogham into my designs for handcrafts, jewellery and knitwear along with patterns derived from Celtic and Pictish designs. Unfortunately the stone was very weathered and the Ogham writing not really visible so not worth photographing.

On our last day we went to the other side of the peninsula via “the Healy Pass” an extremely windy mountain pass, built like the Vee road during the time of the famine. This road had an even more impressive shrine!
The other side of the island looking towards Lauragh.

We had purchased a booklet entitled “Antiquities of the Beara Peninsula” and attempted to locate some of these tombs and stone circles. Despite some excellently negotiated tiny winding roads by Peter, we failed to find things from the indications on the booklet which turned out to be quite vague and the distances unrepresentative. We did find this group of tombs and circles at Cashelkeelty, however, and some stunning scenery !

We finally left Beara and headed for Carrigtwohill campsite near the city of Cork.

Hamish developed diahorrea on the way, which is a nightmare in a campervan ! Unfortunately the campsite was very basic… no hot water and no washing machines!! So we bagged up the bedding in bin bags and headed back to Parson’s Green which wasn’t very far away and had industrial sized washing machines and hot showers!! We stopped off at a vets that we passed on the way and got him checked over and picked up a prescription for antibiotics and powders to “dry him up”!

It’s a long way to Tipperary

2007-04-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

After a brief stop off at Galey Bay by the shore of Lough Ree, we sped through several counties - Roscommon, Laois, Westmeath, Kilkenny, and ended up in Parson’s Green http://www.parsonsgreen.ie/ campsite near the village of Clogheen Co Tipperary.

We bought a booklet of campsites in Ireland and this gave us Parson’s Green as one of few that were open all year round. They have a small zoo with emus, ostriches, llamas, sheep, goats, deer as well as ducks, chickens, pheasants etc and very good in and outdoor adventure play areas for kids. There was also a pond/small lake and pony and trap rides (during the Summer months). It would be a great place to camp with young children; and the people were friendly and helpful too. One of the ladies that worked there, Josey, sounded just like Mrs Doyle from Father Ted complete with a liberal sprinkling of “fecks” !!

Once we had settled in we went for a walk into the village where Ger Flynn the butcher gave the dogs a big bag of fresh bones!! We liked the look of his shop!

We also liked this Guinness advert mural on the wall of the pub; especially as the artists attempt at Lara Croft bears a striking resemblance to Eva from one of her self-portraits!!!

We spotted this ruin looking quite picturesque and these old advertising signs nailed to a wall made us smile!

The following day started out fine and bright so we headed up to the well known beauty spot called “the Vee” up in the mountains. We initially thought it was called the Vee after the vee shape in the mountains from the Bay Lough where you can look through to the valley below; but it turns out that it is named for the hairpin bend in the road that looks like a huge letter V !!

A Banshee type ghost is said to haunt this lough where she was drowned after playing fast and loose with the men of the area!!

We had just reached the lough, about a mile from the car park, when the heavens opened and hurled rain and hailstones at us ‘til we reached the top again! Luckily we had the ‘van with us and soon warmed up with a brew! These shrines to Mary are everywhere in Ireland; this one had just had fresh coat of paint. She stands near the carpark at the top of the road to the Lough.

The road through the mountains joins Co Tipperary with Co Waterford and is one of many so-called “famine Roads” built during the potato famine of 1845 to try and improve supplies to the rural areas where so many people were dying of starvation. The famine was not just down to the blight that ruined the potato crop throughout that year but through the deliberate exporting of food to the UK that continued during this time by absentee MPs and landowners.

The rain tipped down throughout the following day so we spent a lovely lazy day cozied up in the ‘van curled up with coffee and books!!

We left the following day heading for Co.Cork

Is this the way to Crossmolina !

2007-03-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

On the way to Achill Island (recommended by Mike Gorman – thanks Mike!!) we had to hunt for a new gas fitting as Calor in Ireland don’t have the same fittings or gas cylinders as the UK, and we were fast running out! After much phoning and running around between Ballina and Crossmolina we finally found the Calor gas depot cunningly disguised as a Driving School! We got a new gas regulator fitting and one of the cylinders re-filled.

After a brief tour around the island, it’s joined to the mainland by a low bridge, like the one that you cross on the A87 between Invershiel and Inverinate on the way to Skye, we pitched up right on the beach behind a wall of pebbles.

The day we arrived we saw this odd cloud formation on the hill, the following day I saw this other cloud rolling down the hill, dramatic huh!

The surf here is fantastic and makes a hell of a thundering noise constantly as it pounds on the beach. You get used to it though and it diminishes a bit at low tide.

We were amazed to see the huge buds of Gunnera starting to emerge, there were large patches of it everywhere and along with hedges made from tall strap leaved plants something like cordylines, it must look quite jungly and tropical here in the summer!

We walked along to the end of the pebble and sand beach for about two and a half hours to the base of the cliffs in the early morning, I really like this picture I took then of Peter and the dogs.

In the afternoon we watched the surfers and had a fire in the evening.

We walked to the other end of the beach the next morning and spent some time rootling around in the rock pools where we found little edible crabs (Cancer pagurus), common blennies (Blennius pholis ), rock gobys (Gobius paganellus), hermit crabs (Eupagurus bernhardus) and two firsts for me, two little pipefish (Syngnathus acus) with their cute little seahorse faces and some tiny little broad-clawed porcelain crabs (Porcellana platycheles).

We went over to the other side of the island stopping off at a megalithic tomb on the way.

The weather forecast told of worsening weather, gales again, so we headed inland.

Go West

2007-03-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

Looking for some wilder remoter areas we headed West initially towards Glencolumbkille ( or Gleann Cholm Cille in Irish Gaelic, seeing as how this area is part of a Gaeltacht or Gaelic speaking area) County Donegal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaeltacht . We went via Londonderry, or Derry as it is known in the South, Limavady, Strabane, Stranorlar, Ballbofey, Donegal and Killybegs. Killybegs is the largest fishing port in Ireland, so the Town name sign informed us. We got there after dark and reached as far as Carrick ( An Charraig) and decided to stop. We got some groceries from the local shop (not just for local people!) where we bought some wine, apparently the shops sell bottles of wine but you have to buy bottled beer from the pub! After being informed that there were no campsites nearby the woman at the shop assured us that we could stop in the large carpark by the shop if we tucked into the side so that the Garda ( Garda Siochana – Guardians of the Peace, in other words the Police) wouldn’t bother us. The Garda didn’t bother us…I wish they had come past as from around 9pm ‘til 1am at least, the local boy racers buzzed up and down the street doing ‘doughnuts’ in the carpark… they also thought it funny to beep their horns quite a lot too!

We moved off pretty early in the morning and carried on to Glencolumbkille, as the signs advised us that there were megalithic tombs and Dolmens to be found there. We stopped and hunted around and even asked some people there but were unable to locate these massive structures!! We did however find this lovely beach with fantastic surf waves.

And this little folk museum with a thatched roof.

Looking at the map we decided to head for the Belmullet (Beal an Mhuirthead) peninsula or Achill Island ( Oilean Acla) Co. Mayo, as they looked even more remote. On our way back we stopped at a layby just outside Dunkineely as we had picked up a wifi signal and were trying to catch up with emails etc. A little green car drew up on the other side of the road and an elderly gentleman approached us. He introduced himself as Mike Gorman who lived in Dunkineely. He told us he had been thinking of getting a campervan and inquired where we bought ours etc. We invited him in, showed him around and gave him info re Ebay (where we bought the ‘van from). We gave him our email address (Womblies@hotmail.co.uk) and he gave us his. Funnily enough he also names his old dog Henry in his email as we have our old dog Womble in ours. He explained that he writes children’s stories entitled Henry and Me about this dog who has no back legs, and that he also writes poetry and admires W B Yeats. He quoted Yeats’ “ The Lake Isle of Innisfree”

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

He then asked us to wait while he went home to bring back some info on Yeats for us and copies of some of his own poetry. He was gone quite a while, and explained when he returned that he had written a poem about us and our meeting. This is a copy of what he gave us –

At the Roadside

This place is like a magic carpet
The changing weather causing,
A continuous mood change to the sea.

The wind is moving the waves like a painter
Wielding his stubborn brush,
Creating a beauty in colour and shade.

Sea splashes and hazy rain on his
Jacket reflecting the sunbursts and
Glinting, glinting..

Now and then a melody on the wind
A piano – In this wind,
I raise my field glasses

And there in the distance a large house
Still larger windows, - overlooking the sea,
There she is ---Playing at her piano.

No wonder the Irish have stories about
Banshees and goolies and things that go
Bang – in the Knight ---‘Knight?’

‘Oh’ yes dear lady. A Knight, I hear you say,
‘Oh yea’, ‘Oh yea’, It was a knight,
Riding the biggest Sea Horse you ever saw.

A magic carpet of green.
Each time I step on it I hear another Legend.

I should
have stayed in bed.

Mike -------I think

Julie and Peter Hope you find your
Green field, yea I’m sure you will

Mike Gorman, at the roadside.
St. Valentine’s Day ‘07

This is another one of Mike’s poems, an homage to his hero, I think?

Drumcliffe

Ben Bul Bin, I am here
Not to see you did I come,
To see a friend at Drumcliffe,
To get some business done.

I feel the pull towards you come
When I enter your domain,
That towering mount above me
The footprint of Ben Bul Bin.

The awesome presence I felt, therein
Ben Bul Bin, when I came
The footprint of the ice is there
So glad am I to feel your name.

Names and stories of the past
Call out to me, I feel them,
I can’t ignore these feelings now
As I gaze on you Ben Bul Bin

Now to your home I came my friend
To learn your ill therein,
So no approach, I’ll make tonight
I’ll turn towards Ben Bul Bin.

I cast my shadow at your door
I’d like to say hello,
To leave you in Peace, tonight my friend
Towards Ben Bul Bin I go.

Ben Bul Bin, I am here
Not to see you did I come,
To see a friend at Drumcliffe
To get some business done.

WB Yeats is buried in the cemetery at St Columba’s Parish church in Drumcliffe under the shadow of the mountain Ben Bulben near Sligo. His Self-penned epitaph on his grave reads –

Cast a cold Eye
On Life, on Death
Horseman, pass by!

Some time later I visited www.yeats-sligo.com and read some of Yeats’ poetry, I particularly like this one –

Men Improve with Years

I am worn out with dreams;

A weather-worn, marble triton

Among the streams;

And all day long I look

Upon this lady's beauty

As though I had found in a book

A pictured beauty,

Pleased to have filled the eyes

Or the discerning ears,

Delighted to be but wise,

For men improve with the years;

And yet, and yet,

Is this my dream, or the truth?

O would that we had met

When I had my burning youth!

But I grow old among dreams,

A weather-worn, marble triton

Among the streams.

The weather took a turn for the worse on our way round the coast, blowing a gale and raining stair-rods so we unfortunately didn’t manage to go and pay homage Yeats’ grave.

We stopped in Bundoran to get some milk and bread etc and were advised by the woman in the shop “not to stop and camp in Bundoran or we’d get ‘riddled’”!! We were not too sure what this meant, but decided not to hang around and find out. We managed to find a pitch at a campsite that was closed but they let us stay on their hard standing seeing as how we are self-sufficient. Pretty uninspiring and unwelcoming really!!

The next place we stopped, Ballycroy Co. Mayo, was much better. We had to stop on the way as the weather continued to worsen and we took stopped at Cleary’s pub and grocer shop and were permitted to pitch up in their car park for the night, just as the storm came to a head with thunder and lightning above our heads. We had tea then spent the evening in the pub playing pool and drinking Smithwicks!!

Cleary's bar and grocery shop with Ballycroy Post Office at right angles!

Irish Post Offices, post boxes and vans are green!

Two ferries in two days!!

2007-03-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

Travelled on down to Stranraer, well Cairnryan really, and caught the ferry over to Larne. Quite a few shouty Ian Paisley types on the boat…hope they’re not all like that!!

Thank goodness for SatNav, our little TomTom took us straight to Eva’s door… We’d never’ve been able to negotiate going through Belfast city with all the lane changes without it guiding the way. We took the dogs a walk up to the park then went out to the pub for a meal and a couple of beers. I had Salmon with Colcannon; mashed tatties and cabbage, and I think maybe neeps are in there too along with a bit of bacon ! Nice, but a bit too salty for me!

We saw, but forgot the camera so couldn’t get a piccy of, the heavily armoured police cars and stations that are still around. Will try and capture this bit of social history for you on our return visit!! Also a few of the nice wall murals they have and the red, white and blue kerbs etc.

We drove around looking for a place to camp after several phone calls came up with nothing open, and eventually a lovely bloke who owned a campsite that was closed let us camp there on the entrance-way. This was near the Mourne mountains and we went for a walk with the dogs round Tollymore Forest Park.

We managed to find a campsite just on the outskirts of Belfast city run by the local authority at Loughshore on the Belfast Lough. It is a one star rated site so quite basic. The place was clean, tidy; the showers were awesome… lots of hot water delivered at skin pummelling rates aaaaaahhhh lovely! And it was run by a lovely friendly bloke. We got a taxi from there into Belfast and after another night in a Belfast pub drinking Smithwicks (we’re saving the Guinness drinking ‘til we hit Dublin!) we headed off up to the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim. Some of the Irish towns and villages have gteat names. We passed by or spotted on signs... Ballymoney, Moneyglass, Moneydig, Ballybogy, Muff - on the Innishowen peninsula where we are reliably informed they have a diving club ;o)

Those who know us well will know we love our ales, we have found a couple brewed in Belfast - Belfast Ale and Clotworthy Dobbin! What a great name! Both brewed by the Whitewater Brewery in Belfast.

A While in Bute...

2007-03-06T10:35:00.000-08:00

Isle of Bute, Argyllshire

We travelled on down from Ballachulish towards the Isle of Bute. We had intended to visit Julie’s uncle Alan and his wife Alison who live in Rothesay, the main town on the island, but they must have been away for the week as we never managed to reach them at their home or mobile phones. We stopped off at a lay-by near Tighnabruich overlooking the Kyles of Bute. The following day we headed back round the coast and crossed over to Bute on the ferry at Colintraive. We bought a ‘Hopscotch’ ticket that permitted us to cross back again from Rothesay to Wemyss Bay thus cutting out a long journey all the way round via Glasgow.

We camped at Ettrick Bay the first night and Peter fished from the bay when the tide was coming in until it was too dark to continue!

I can’t find any other pictures from our time on Bute… I think we kept forgetting to take the camera with us each time we went for a walk. We went round the island visiting the chambered cairns at Kilmichael where I got a few twisted Honeysuckle sticks to make into Runestaffs. We camped at Kilchattan Bay for a couple of nights. I was delighted to find a wonderful source of sea glass and ceramics at an old midden there where people would have dumped their old and damaged glass and stoneware bottles and jars and crockery. The tumbling of the waves on this material on the shore rounds and smooths off rough edges and frosts the glass. I had built up a small collection of these materials when we stayed for a while at various places along the top North Eastern coast – Findochty, Fraserburgh, Portnockie etc for a week when we came back from Skye.

I have ideas for making jewellery, buttons and closures for knitwear clothes and bags using these along with glass beads and semi-precious stones.

Off at last ... first stop Ballachulish

2007-03-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

We went to Ballachulish to visit Peter’s son Richard who works at a hotel there.

We parked the ‘van in the car park outside the Tourist Information building in the town.

The next morning was clear and frosty and we went for a walk along the shore and old harbour with the dogs.

The sheds here are made of Ballachulish slate; I like the composition of this picture and may get round to painting a picture of it sometime!!!

Later on we went round the coast and Peter picked a bagful of large mussels uncovered at low tide and I made mussels in garlic and white wine for dinner when Richard joined us after his shift. Peter must have eaten a bad mussel as he was very sick later that evening… I was quite fine and I can only imagine Richard was OK too as he didn’t phone to say otherwise!!!

Off round the coast towards the Isle of Bute tomorrow.

Back to Woodside again for a while...

2007-03-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

Back in Woodside again…

Willow looks very happy with her new look!

The dogs are sitting in their own personal space at the back of the ‘van. This was originally a permanent double bed; we covered the mattress in a thick tarpaulin then an old sleeping bag and picnic rugs. The stair-gate was a later addition necessary to keep the dogs in their space when we are driving or when they are left on their own to keep them off our seating and dining area.

The cast iron coffee grinder found in a junk shop has come into its own; we hardly ever drink instant coffee now!!

We continue to take the dogs for walks along the river Don behind my parent’s home by what is now the Woodside Sports Complex but formally known as the Lad’s Club. We found these Oyster mushrooms one day on an old beech tree.

We took them back and had them fried with smoked bacon, wild rocket and tomatoes!

Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) form tiers of brackets on the trunks of deciduous trees usually beech. These mushrooms can be found at all times of the year and it’s worth looking for them during winter months when there are very little other wild mushrooms around. We have also found other edible ones that can be found during winter months – Jew’s ear fungus (Hirneola auricular-judea) and velvet shank mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes).

I have taken quite a lot of pictures of trees that I might like to draw/paint at some later date. Here are some of my favourites!

On one of the days we were walking the dogs, Peter spotted a deer ahead of us and indicated to me to put the dogs leads on in order to give the deer a chance to run away without the dogs seeing and chasing it. The deer ran off but must have panicked and ran and jumped at a high security fence surrounding an electricity sub-station. It must have bashed into the strong straining post as it knocked itself out. We went to investigate and saw that it was out cold; it then began to roll its eyes and was kicking its legs. We didn’t give it much hope and were unsure whether to kill it quickly to avoid suffering or to leave it as it might only be concussed. We decided to leave it hidden in undergrowth and Peter would return later to see if it was still there and dead; if so he would take it back and butcher it for the meat, so that it would not go to waste. We hoped that it would not be there, but it was. Peter soon made short work of butchering the carcase into cuts and joints to eat and freeze.

We consulted Lady Claire Grant-Russell McPherson’s book “I Love Food” for venison and roe deer recipes. Mum and I made Collops of Roe Deer with Blueberry and Thyme Sauce for dinner! I gave this book (a signed copy from Morgan McVeigh’s!) to mum for Christmas one year. It has many excellent recipes using good, seasonal and wild foods and I ordered a copy from Amazon to take with me.

We went to Russell and Lyn’s home for dinner one weekend and they presented us with a copy of Rick Stein’s “Fruits of the Sea”; this will definitely be useful for when we stay at coastal places at find or buy fresh sea food!
We have also bought a copy of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Cookbook. This also has sections and recipes for seasonal and wild foods. I have also bought a copy of Roger Phillips’ “Mushrooms”. This is a comprehensive guide to identifying mushrooms and fungi and will be essential to identify fungi before eating!! Roger Phillips also has an excellent searchable online database at www.rogersmushrooms.com

Forced stop off for a while...

2007-03-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

4th January 2007

The wild weather continued for much of the rest of our stay and there were gale force winds when we tried to leave the island. The Skye bridge was closed to high sided vehicles and we decided to wait a bit before crossing. We eventually braved it when a couple of bigger vehicles left to cross over !

By the end of the day I had succumbed to the ‘flu with a nasty gastric twist…not great in a cramped camper and we eventually found a secluded lay-by near Invermoriston to hole up in whilst the bug ran its course. This is a couple of pics of the rushy, tumbly river that ran alongside the lay-by that I never saw, seeing as I was tucked up in bed for two days!!

Over the Sea to Skye for Hogmanay

2007-03-06T07:52:00.000-08:00

This is the house where we all stayed this and last Hogmanay. http://www.duncaansc.co.uk/
The house is called Duncaan after the very conspicuous and well-known landmark of Dun Caan Mountain on the Isle of Raasay that can be seen from the windows of the house overlooking the sea and Raasay. The house has three double bedrooms and a bunkroom with bunkbeds. It has a spacious kitchen with dining area with a utility room next to it where we were able to house our dogs. There is also a conservatory leading off the kitchen/dining room.

The hill behind the house is called Glamaig and Peter climbed to the top last year.

View of Isle of Raasay and Dun Caan Mountain from the shore front outside the house.

The kitchen and dining area of Duncaan from the conservatory. This picture is from the murder mystery night that Lyn and Russell had organized for the second night that we were there. We all had our own characters that we had to act out according to the instructions and lines to say from cards as part of the game.

From left: Aidan, Lyn, Russell, Mark, Mhaya (in front of Mark), Jodi and myself (seated).

Here are pics of some of us in our ‘costumes’. I can’t remember everyone’s character names but the title was ‘Death by Chocolate’ and took place while we were enjoying a three course meal prepared by Lyn and Russell.

Lyn Russell Mark

Me ( as Dr Doris Johnson, eminent eccentric archaeologist!!)

Peter recovered enough from his worst symptoms to join us all at the pub at The Sconser Lodge Hotel (www.sconserlodge.co.uk ) after ‘The Bells’ at midnight. The hotel is only a short distance walk from the house; which is just as well as this year the weather was dreadful and decided to herald in the new year with howling gales and rainstorms of biblical proportions! A couple of ‘likely lads’ came down with musical instruments and we all had a bit of a sing-song. Particular thanks must go to Norrie Macleod (on guitar) who lives just up the road from the house and kept us all entertained with his huge repertoire (ooh er missus!!).

The kids manage to beat us all to the best seats in the bar… they start ‘em young in Skye!!

Mhaya suffers some of Russell’s worst chat up lines with good grace!!! She’s gonna go far that one!

From left; Norrie, a friend of Norrie’s whose name escapes me now, but I do remember that he is a criminal justice social worker!!, Lyn, Russell holding their dog Rudi, and Jodi.

And finally… a great Hogmanay picture of Jodi, Mark and Mhaya with me, Lyn and Aidan in the background with only just over an hour to ‘the bells’!! Jodi’s T-shirt reads “Warning: Scottish and extremely HOT”!!!

We had a great time at the hotel and left to first foot Norrie and his wife Fiona at their house up the road.

A moody, atmospheric sunset over Norrie’s house taken from Duncaan.

We were welcomed in to a bowl of chilli and were entertained by tunes from Norrie and Fiona’s daughters Alais on the recorder and Aoife on her harp; albeit a bit reluctantly, Alais playing from the sitting-room next door and Aoife grudgingly played with initial reluctance which seemed to melt away as she stroked and plucked the strings to make music that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, harp music with attitude. Thanks to this talented family for making this one of the most memorable Hogmanays ever; the most memorable being the millennium Hogmanay when we climbed up Bennachie on a cloudless, starlit night by the light of flaming torches and candles in jars… but that’s another story!!!

2007-01-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

December 18th – 28th 2006

Well, we finally made it out of the house and into the ‘van. First stop Woodside, Aberdeen to park outside Julie’s parents’ house where Peter is going to build a fence round their garden. The weather has been extremely cold, down to minus 5 or so. But with the new heating and two quilts and an electric blanket we are warm and toasty in the ‘van!

Despite intensive building all around the Woodside, Persley, Danestone area, there are still some remnants of the woodland areas around and along the river Don where Julie grew up; and we have been walking the dogs there every day. There is still a lot of wildlife here and perhaps more so as their habitat keeps shrinking. The tree lined corridor along the Don provides habitat for deer, foxes, squirrels and many species of birds.

The weir beside Persley bridge.

Mum, Willow and Hamish with next door neighbour’s dog Missy down at the football fields on a frosty, bright morning.

This is one of several squirrels that regularly visit my parents’ garden and steal the bird’s food! There were no squirrels here when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s so I can only assume that they are coming in to the houses as their habitat is disappearing. My parents feed the birds all year round and during the week we stayed there we saw blue, coal and great tits as well as, for the first time for me, long tailed tits, which was a great surprise and delight! Blackcaps and treecreepers were other not so usual visitors as well as the usual robins, blackbirds, chaffinches. On one day a sparrowhawk visited and took a small bird; a buzzard came down to try and scavenge but some crows came along and chased it off! The dogs chased a deer along the river and we saw but the dogs missed a couple of deer on the rough ground beside the lad’s club rugby and football pitches.

Peter was surprised to see cormorants on the Don with their wings spread to dry.

Can anyone guess what this is? It looks like sea life but it’s nowhere near the sea!

December 28th 2006

We set off for skye a day early to have a leisurely drive with a stop off somewhere along the route.

Kingston, Garmouth near Mosstodloch. The Lein Nature Reserve.

Miles of pebble beach. The weather got milder and milder as we drove north along the coast. We made a little fire on the beach and went for a moonlight walk up to and beside the firing range. In the morning we walked for a couple of hours and collected some driftwood treasures and Peter found a length of good rope from a washed up lobster pot.

Peter’s art installation on the beach!!!!

Next stop Skye

2006-11-14T03:57:00.000-08:00

Will it ever fly????

Tuesday 14th November 2006 (T - 34 and counting )

Julie and Peter doing our 'models with long leg pose' Doesn't the garden look great!!

Quarry Croft at it's best... the next place will have to be Shangri-la to beat this!!!

Just been tidying up some storm damage to the willows, and everything is getting ready for the winter.

As soon as the weather is right, The old bus is going to have a face lift with some Celtic designs.
Old faithful is almost ready to hit the road...we now have hot and cold running water and a complete electrical system. There are working cooking facilities and a fridge for the wine, but as yet no heating....so back to E-bay.

Julz is away brushing up her french...I think she is taking this far too seriously, after all we both use makaton and everybody in the world speaks English, or at least understands it if you speak loud enough.