SITGES to CARCASONNE 16th May 2007 (Wednesday Sunny 23º - 16º and showers by the time we hit Carcassonne). This morning I ring my Nephew Mitchell who is only 300 kilometres away on a working holiday in Valencia. I think the call makes us both feel a bit home sick. He answers the phone sounding like he had been up late partying, which is exactly what 23 year olds do in Spain. Go figure. He is thinking about coming home in September for a mate’s wedding so we shall see him at that time, even though we are close to him now it is a 600 kilometre round trip that would set us back several days. A big day in the car today. For today we head back into France and in particular to Carcassonne. The ... read more

SITGES 14th May 2007 (Monday - Light rain clears to Sunshine with a light breeze 24º) The Platjadour bungs on a great brekky. Best since St Emilion and we plough in. A brisk walk to the Sitges Railway Station burns off the second plate of scrambled eggs but doesn’t budge the cake that I finished off at breakfast. Yes, the Spanish eat cake at breakfast - I like the Spanish. We jump the train to Barcelona today and enjoy a nice ride along the coast with views out across the Costa Dorada and Costa Brava. We alight at Barca de Gracias and emerge into the sunlight. After walking for a while we start to get an understanding of the size of Barcelona and realise that we would need a week to see the place properly under ... read more

ST JEAN de LUZ (France) to LLEIDA (Spain) 12th May 2007 (Saturday - Sunny and 23º in SJDL and much the same in Lleida) After such a quiet day yesterday who would have known what our first taste of Spain had in store for us today. We bade farewell to the Madison Hotel and St Jean de Luz and head once again to Spain and the city of Sans Sebastian. It is only fair and reasonably that we give this City another chance and seeing as it is sunny and 24 degrees it is a much nicer place to see and be. We drive around the shoreline and through the City before heading out onto the Auto Route. We learn more about tolls today. We arrive at a tollgate needing to pay 1.50 euros and we ... read more

BIARRITZ to ST JEAN de LUZ (via Sans Sebastian) - 10th May 2007 (Thursday Biarritz 27º Sunshine: Sans Sebastian 17º and Overcast) We wake and decide to move on. This is the beauty of our mode of travel - if we like a place we stay and if we don’t we move on. Its not that we don’t like Biarritz it just doesn’t hold much for us (and besides our Sunglasses aren’t big enough). The car is on a meter and I go out to provide it with an endless stream of euros but it is Hors Service (Out of Order). This pleases me greatly until Deb points out that there is another machine just across the street. Petit De’jeuner is taken at ‘The Passage’, a funky little café/shop across the street from the Bellevue. It ... read more

St EMILION - 8th May 2007 (Tuesday 21º Partly Cloudy) Today is a Public Holiday to mark the Liberation of France and the end of WWII. Homemade crepes with castor sugar for breakfast. C’EST YUM! Today we are going into Bordeaux for a look around this big city. We drive to within 5 kilometres of the city centre, park the Ford Focus Ferrari and wait to catch the train. Well it looks more like a Tram but we are assured it is a train (see photo). This city is in the process of reinventing itself. The current Mayor has embarked upon a modernisation and beautification program. He has ordered the boulevards be restored and widened, he has given right of way to pedestrians in areas formerly governed by l’automobiles, he is responsible for the modern train/tram ... read more