Towards Bordeaux

30th January

Woke to pouring rain at about 8.30. The other couple of motorhomers had already left. Our first priority was a Supermarket so after handling the domestics of water fill up, loo empty etc. We set off in search. France is amazing. The infrastructure must have cost a fortune. In seconds out of a village you are on a dual carriageway or a large roundabout with signs pointing all ways and actually we are lost. On the horizon i spy a Le Clerk sign which turns out to be a glorious hypermarket. I am in heaven. If we hadn't had to get on the road, i could have spent hours there buying clothes, shoes, new dinner service, and OMG I had forgotten the fish counters in France. Beautiful. A sole for me and Jc will be eating pork with camembert. I think we can roast that - maybe!

So very late setting off, and spent the day driving through solid rain to an Aires north of Bordeaux. At the same time trying to avoid the big motorways with peage. We were reasonably successful but the non peage roads are much busier and whilst driving along at about 65mph minding our own business, a VW van pulled in front and ping, a stone jumped up and chipped the windscreen, just in my line of sight. How unlucky! No idea what rules there are here but in Uk I think you have to get it replaced. So we wait till we get back on that one and fingers crossed it is not too deep.

The Aire is in a small village just off the N10. It is right by a lake and there is space for about 5 motorhomes. We were the only one there. Parked up and walked into the village. The Hotel de Ville looked very run down on the outside with paint peeling off everywhere but looking rough the windows tables were set up and just maybe we could get something to eat here later. The sign on the door in French intimates it would open at 6.00. Otherwise there was a bar and a pizza restaurant which looked good. I walked back later to find the hotel is only doing lunches and the pizza place js closed on monday. So chez Wishstream tonight with sole and pork. Umm.

We are planning to go to Porto to call in on one of my surveyor friends who has just moved there. He texted to say there is a massive low travelling across from the Atlantic towards Uk and France and Porto will catch the bottom of it. So we need to decide whether we will give Porto a miss this time. We are very delayed already as the house we have booked in the Ria De Formosa is from saturday 4th Feb, and we will not make it by then if we detour to Porto. Too tired to think about it now as the bed needs to be made up and because of last night we will keep the arrangement as 2 singles.

Of course, it is colder than planned and both dogs wanted to come up on the beds so another hopeless night, coupled with Jc reorganising his berth at around 2.00am to try and accommodate Kicker better. Bloody dogs.tomorrow night the full double will be made up and everyone can sleep where they like.


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