Petanque with the Pros

With bad weather breathing down our necks we left Capbreton early on Friday morning and headed south through Spain. After 385 miles we paused for the night outside Camping Valencia. You could park inside the site for 16 euros or outside for 6…we went for the cheapskate option and planted ourselves just outside the gates, handily close to some good dog walking and a petanque pitch. We had a quick game of boules before supper. It had to be quick because the Krays kept running off with the boules.

You know you’re in Spain when you see a Torros. These giant bulls crop up here and there by the roadside.

We had made friends with Kris and Nico…two guys in a smart new Charisma…on the site at Valencia and they had recommended Camping Marjal. We made this our next stop. It is a biggish site about 2 hours down the autoroute, just past Alicante. There is a lot going on here and we will probably put down roots here for a few weeks. We are on a good south facing pitch, fully serviced with water, electricity and drainage, and all for the ACSI rate of €16 per night.

Camping Marjal is impressively landscaped with palms and other exotic flora scattered about.

There is a great pool…we had a dunk yesterday.

Complete with elephants…

Tortoises…

And crocodiles.

The temperature gets up to the low thirties by the afternoon…its hard…sometimes you can only lie down and sip cold beer…

On Sunday we cycled out to the nature reserve at El Fondo, about two miles away.

We left the bikes at the entrance and walked around the ponds on these cool walkways, watching the dragonflies.

The olives are prolific hereabouts.

We went along to the petanque club yesterday and had a couple of games. Everyone who wants to play puts one of their boules into a big box then Jean-Claude…the French pro who organises the petanque…pulls boules out at random to decide who plays who. A bit like car keys in an ashtray at a wife-swapping party. Nia met a nice Dutch couple and I played with the formidable Jean-Claud…a bombing expert. Bombing is the technique whereby the boule is lobbed in the air to descend on the opponents boule, to knock it away from the piglet (the little ball in the centre of the court which everyone tries to get close to). Enough about petanque…its easier to play then explain…

There are a couple of public holidays coming up next Friday and Monday and Adrian…our next door neighbour…has offered to take us shopping to stock up with grub so I may go with him to the local supermarket this afternoon. I will go along to the basic Spanish class this morning, so thats today pretty much planned. The Krays have been fed and walked and are now snoring their heads off.