Blog Archives

Sword Beach to Hendaye Plage

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Peter and Nia — 5 Comments

On Tuesday we woke to a chilly 2 deg C in Ouistreham and after a brief but bracing walk on Sword beach, (one of the the D-day landing beaches, just by the aire) set off south. We landed at the…

Tagged with: Aire, france, futuroscope, hendaye plage, Mavis, motorhome, photography, Poitiers
Posted in 2016 Spring, Aquitaine, hendaye plage

Stuck in the Mud

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

Mimizan Plage, a few miles down the coast from Biscarrosse, is very nice but they don’t let dogs on the beach. Luckily there is a good bike ride south through the forest which brings you to a dog-friendly beach. The…

Tagged with: Aquitaine, capbreton, Colin, cycling, digger, france, Hossegor, Mavis, Mimizan, motorhome, photography
Posted in - France, Aquitaine, Autumn 2015, Capbreton, Mimizan

Blood Moon and Basque Tarts

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 6 Comments

I was a bit concerned that Colin (or maybe even Nia) would turn in to a werewolf last night, with the supermoon eclipse but all is well this morning…I have checked N’s palms for hair… no more than usual. This…

Tagged with: Aquitaine, Biscarrosse, bloodmoon, border terriers, canoe, Colin, france, Lac, lunar eclipse, Mavis, motorhome, Navarrosse, photography, supermoon
Posted in Aquitaine, Autumn 2015, Biscarrosse, Navarosse

Camping It Up in Parentis-en-Born

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 6 Comments

Lake Biscarosse Parentis is about 100 miles south of Hourtin; we drove here on Wednesday and spent the night on the aire at Gastes. The aire was popular but we got here early and found a pitch overlooking the lake…

Tagged with: Aquitaine, Biscarosse, camp waiter, cycling, france, Gastes, Mavis, motorhome, photography, Ste Eulalie-en-Born
Posted in - France, Aquitaine, Autumn 2015, Gastes, Ste Eulalie-En-Born

Baguette Bacon Butty Blowout

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 12 Comments

We rose at the crack of dawn (ish) and left Ile d’Oleron at 9am for an appointment with the Royan ferry at 11am. Well not an appointment actually….you just turn up, pay them 47 euros and they cart you over…

Tagged with: concorde, Cordouan Lighthouse, cycling, france, gironde, Hourtin Port, Mavis, medoc, motorhome, photography
Posted in - France, Aquitaine, Autumn 2015, Lac d'Hourtin

Chicken Teriyaki. On the Barbecue.

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 6 Comments

The Ile d’Oleron is a seafoody and viney chunk of land attached to mainland France by a long bridge or viaduc, a little below La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast. We arrived here on Thursday after a short hop down…

A Night on the Thouet

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 4 Comments

Mavis started first time with her new battery and positively skipped down the Routes Nationale to an overnight stop at Montreuil-Bellay which is a historic little town on the Thouet, a tributary of the Loire. We passed Saumur, about 10…

Tagged with: Aire, france, Mavis, Montreuil Bellay, motorhome, thouet
Posted in - France, Autumn 2015, Montreuil-Bellay, Pays-de-la-Loire

Geoffrey the Handsome

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 10 Comments

To add more detail to our journey here, the channel crossing bit of the trip to France wasn’t quite as straightforward as it might have been. We were parked right at the sharp end of the ferry, as previously noted,…

Tagged with: battery, Brittany Ferries, cycling, france, Henry II, Le Mans, loire, Mavis, Menhir, motorhome, photography, Plantagenets, Pont Romaine
Posted in Autumn 2015, Le Mans, Pays-de-la-Loire

Goodbye Jeremy

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 6 Comments

We left Portsmouth at 8 am on a showery morning and set sail for the land of baguettes, wine and other lovely eatables (as well as many non edible delights). Steaming out past Portsmouth naval dockyard, if you look carefully…

Tagged with: Caen, france, Jeremy, Le Mans, Mavis, motorhome, Portsmouth, Sarthe, Yvré-L'Évêque
Posted in - France, Autumn 2015, Caen, Le Mans, Lower Normandy, Pays-de-la-Loire

Montigny, Le Cateau Cambresis, Arques and Home

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Peter and Nia — 2 Comments

We crossed Northern France in a series of short hops, together with Joy and Alan who by good luck happened to be crossing the channel the same day as us. First stop was a small aire in the hilltop wine…