Paris to Biarritz

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Howdy all.  I do hope you're all well.  I have been writing the odd bits and pieces offline on the trusty iPhone but have sorely failed to get online and post anything.  So starting afresh on the laptop in a bar in Bidart, here goes.

Paris to Biarritz in one entry (sans photo's - they'll have to come later when I sort that bit of it out - *edit - photos now added!*).  Oh yeah - all apart from the following I took in the gay district of Paris specially for Mark "Bear" Speed.  Mark - I looked for you inside but couldn't get through the crowd of sweaty men.

I'll try and be concise.

Started off in the UK to test drive everything and say cheerio to the folks.  No problems (more on that later) so we did Bristol, bought a roof box and visited Joe, Rox and Edna.  After their kind hospitality headed to Birmingham to see my brother and family (and fitted the roof box).  Then on to Stafford (Lucy's family), Alton Towers, then Leicester (my parents).

Finally did a long drive to Dover to grab a ferry to Calais.  A tip here.  Always buy your ferry ticket online and in advance.  Turns out it's twice as expensive to just rock up!  So bought a ticket for the next day online and camped in Dover.

Next long drive was the Dover Calais crossing then on to Versailles.  We had pre-booked a campsite for 4 nights near to a train station with easy access to Paris.  Had a great time exploring the palaces of Versailles, the Louvre, Bear's Den, etc., etc.

Next stop the Loire valley and a night in our first Aire de Camping Car (sometimes free, always cheap, always a car park, occasionally with mains hookup) in a little village not far from Orleans (forgot the name unfortunately).  The next day continued south toward Limoges - we did see a chateaux somewhere but the weather wasn't up to much so we kind of rocketed on in search of the sun.  The only moment of note was my trying to describe the odd noise the van was making to a French mechanic!  Not pretty.  Anyway - his diagnosis was "pas grave" so on we plough.

We then motored south of Limoges to the Dordogne and Sarlat-la-Canéda via Montignon through some biblical storms. Fortunately the sun came out for us to then go down a cave and see some convincingly faked cave paintings at Lascaux II. Lascaux I is 200m away and closed to the public due to some kind of ideals of preservation. The 50 year old copies of 17,000 year old cave paintings were good, probably better than the Mona Lisa. Bit of a chicken an egg, painting and art.

Stayed in a really nice campsite just outside Sarlat.  Did some washing and cycled the 2km to Sarlat's medieval centre up and down hills a la Plymouth but in scorching sunshine.   Beautiful place and great for a beer in the sun.

Moved on a fair bit again this time west toward Bordeaux.  Stopped off at the awesome chateau Beynon (photo below).  Oddly this used to be British land in King Richard's time.  It's incredible, perched on a cliffside overlooking the Dordogne (river).  We then stopped the night in another car park in Saint-Émilion.  We'd originally planned to stay in Bergerac but turns out it's a bit poop.  Saint-Émilion is yet another stunning medieval town surrounded by vineyards.  For those who like their wines they'll have heard of this place.  Can't comment on the wine as we're rigidly sticking to our sub-4 euro bottles.  Again photos to follow, but worth googling "Saint-Émilion" to get the idea.

We then motored on to the Gironde (a giant sand bank west of Bordeaux).  Stayed a few nights next to lakes and next to the sea.  Sun, sand and surf.  That's what I'm talking about!

So then onto where I am now.  Lucy has sadly had to fly back to the UK to attend a funeral leaving me on my own around Biarritz.  She's back tomorrow and we'll do some more exploring.  But I have to say Biarritz is easily the highlight of the trip so far.  If you get the chance fly here for a week (Lucy can tell you the Ryanair flights to/from Biarritz airport are dirt cheap).  I've been surfing, explored on the old bicycle, done a bit of shopping and am now sat in a bar in Bidart having a beer and typing this.  Highlight has to have been cycling back from the cinema last night (I went to see Dark Shadows - so so, bit poor really) and seeing the beaches of Biarritz set off by a background of the Pyrenees, the sun setting out to sea and the lights of Saint Sebastien on the Spanish coast.  Next stop Spain! :-)

Love you all.  Ralph.

More Photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/101454232293966616010/albums/5861908235063304753?authkey=CK76w4Wp1MWn-wE