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Published: August 20th 2008
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Well we are back in North London. It is amazing how fast 3 months has gone by. Well 11.5 weeks anyway. It seems like only yesterday we were sitting in North London desperately running around trying to get away and now it is over. Bettie performed like a charm and made us fall in love with old campers, such a great vibe and perfect way to travel. Apart from a few minor issues she came through for us so all you doubters get the ketchup out and prepare to eat your words!. That goes particularly for my Dad who made a few comments in Mums name ;-). It has been quite some trip we have travelled near 4000 miles consumed some 1000 litres of fuel, cycled up some of Europe's biggest hills (as opposed to mountains for the pedants), run with bulls or rather watched young people run with bulls, surfed, sunbathed and generally marvelled at the splendour that is the west coast of France. Portugal or rather Ericeria is our favourite individual place but the French West coast really surprised us as somewhere we could live. We have seen many beautiful sights and met some great people and really that
is what the travelling is about as without the people it is all just another pretty hill or beach which does become monotonous when seen in the quantities we have. Oh and the biggest achievement? Debs and I living in a Van 24/7 for 11.5 weeks, free camping and generally living a completely different lifestyle and we are not only still married but closer for it! Oh and much to Debbies consternation I've lost over 10 kg of banker flab and am feeling healthier for it!
It is really sad to see the end to sleeping in a Van and tripping to new places every day but sailing in Greece, going native/yogic in India and back country Canada will I'm sure take our minds off it. Still we shall miss the freedom and would encourage everyone else to give it a crack.
As for the last week..... well we have free camped our way across Brittany and Normandy. We left Vannes and headed to a surf spot called La Torche. Fairly typical Brittany beach which definitely has some potential for great surf but was flat when we arrived. The one cool thing as shown in the first photo
was the rock garden that had sprung up along the beach. You can only see a few in the picture but there were loads of cairns all over the beach and rocks something I thought was pretty cool.
After La Torche we headed out to a small town called Crozon which again had a good surf beach and again was flat. We stayed in the municipal overnight and looked wistfully at the flat surf but did notice a hole in the rock. The municipals are the council run camp sites and about 10 euros a night versus 30 in the private ones!. Needless to say we wished we had stayed in municipals the whole time after a few of these.
After Crozon we headed inland to a little town called Huelgoat. It was stunning. We realised here how much we missed of the French countryside by sticking to the coast. It had a lovely little lake and was surrounded by 600 hectares of national park bush and it is home to the Chaos a riverbed of boulders of unimaginable size.. it certainly must have been a big flood to put the rocks in those arrangements.
Heading North
we reached Perros Guirec a very commercialised port that reminded us of the English ports with it's mix of the riche and their yachts and the chavs.. We again stayed in the municipal camping here and found ourselves surrounded by 16 year old French girls with strollers and a hefty cigarette habit.. curious but interesting. There was also le port miniature where grown up's would go sail dinghies decked out like ocean liners and oil tankers.. weird.. but hey each to their own.
Heading East we travelled to the fairy tale island of Mont St Michel, a fortified island dating from the 5th century. Legend has it that "the archangel Michael appeared to St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in 708 and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction, until Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger." A fate I'd like to see happen to more bishops.. ;-).. But anyway a seriously beautiful place steeped in history and conflict. Weirdly loads of lord of the rings memorabilia on sale here.. guess it's partly due to the fairy tale vista.
The final stop on the tour was
the Normandy beaches that saw D-Day on June 6th 1944. Truly a moving experience to remember all those that gave their future for freedom. Something I believe it's important to remember as my granddad Dennis beat it into me that we the younger generations take a lot of things for granted that people had to die for. The photo's hopefully do the place justice and a must visit.
Anyway after Normandy and in the middle of a torrential down pour forecast to last a few days we decided to cut the tour short by a few days and drive non stop back to London via the Euro tunnel. 6 hours driving in France on a washed out highway we got to the Eurotunnel and then two hours driving to get back to North London and we were done.
The next few days are for chilling out and catching up with friends before heading for Greece and 3 weeks of floating around the Cyclades and hopefully chilling followed by a week in Athens and then back here for 6 weeks.
In all a great Van tour! Thanks Bettie we never doubted you.
Sam
Hi Everyone
Really looking forward to catching up with you all, glad and sad to be home, as Sam said we had an amazing 3 months and its hard to believe it is over.
Now that we are back i have realised what i have missed since being away and i discovered that the things i missed most from London are things that i would normally really take for granted, but i am glad that i can see what important!
Most important:
Family and Friends
More of a luxury:
A toilet with a seat that you would want to sit on
A shower which runs for more than 4 second intervals
Not having to shower in flip flops and pee in a bush
More for the spirit:
Gym, Yoga and Pilates
For the diet:
Porridge, Falafels and Skinny Cow Ice Cream
For the Shallow in me:
Gossip Mags and Trashy TV
Debs
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DebzandSam
Debbie and Sam Tuck
For sure!
Defo to meet up when we are back... we need some people to bike and chill with in Aucks!! See you soon.