Blogs from Pau, Aquitaine, France, Europe

Bonjour à tous, Ça y est de retour en France, un peu plus tôt que prévu. Hier au soir, vers 18h, l'orage grondait, vers 20h, il a éclaté, très violemment, et il a plu toute la nuit. Ce matin, le ciel est toujours noir, bouché et la pluie n'a pas cessée. C'est une déception, car je pensais bien profiter de San Sebastian, et de ça baie, qui fait la réputation de la ville. Je fais les 30km pour me rendre à San Sebastien, dans des conditions épouvantables, la route est mauvaise, la circulation intense, un ciel de fin du monde, une pluie torrentielle, et une température de 18°. C'est assez dingue, d'entendre à la radio, car j'ai retrouvé des stations françaises, d'entendre parler de canicule et sécheresse, alors que je ne suis qu'à quelques kilomètres. En ... read more

What a night it was? Hot and sweltering. The temperature here in this part of France had reached the heady heights of 28 degrees . We slept well apart from one blip when a larger than life motorhome rolled up late in the darkness and tried to park. He left his engine running . He left his lights on whilst he tried to find the electric sockets. He set off again round the block , parked up again , lights on , engine running until in the end he found his place for the night but that was only after disturbing the whole of the site. We woke up to croissants and jam and set off around Futuroscope and Poitiers. Familiar roads but empty this time of the morning. As we drove through each peage the ... read more

Today was a travelling day. We could have left everyone wondering where on earth we were and just missed this day’s blog out completely. But then you might all be worrying about our whereabouts and getting in touch with the authorities. Needless to say the day was uneventful and we made it safely to our destination. We were sad to leave Beynac as it has left us with some wonderful memories. We assured the owner we would write a positive review on the booking website. We even had some washing done for us for free. It came back neatly folded or ironed in the bag we provided. Such luxury. We decided to go with whatever Miss GPS planned for us. We were not going to have another nasty experience by ending up in the wrong part ... read more

I’ve discovered that bad days happen, even in France! Somewhere between taking a week to find out you have to go to la poste to exchange money NOT THE BANQUE (and waiting an hour at each), being called dramatic and ugly (among other not-nice things), failing my expose (and having to do another), catching the plague (and everyone thinking I am hungover), and all the while not understanding most of what is going on around me (my brain no longer works in French OR in English), I have learned a few important things. The only thing you need to know how to say to survive in France is “ça va” It pretty much covers everything. The cure to a terrible day is incredibly simple; a baguette, cheese, and éclairs! Solves all ailments. And for some reason, ... read more

It's my first weekend here in Pau, so I decided to explore my surroundings. I always find that the best way to become familiar with a place is to get lost in it first. So, I had planned to meet up with a friend at the bus stop Halles at 10 am. I decided to walk to the bus stop that we were meeting at rather than to take the bus since my house is about 20 min away from it. I got there about a half an hour early so I just wandered around the area making sure that i was in the right place. Neither of us have cellphones, so it is very important to be at the right place at the right time. Finally around 10 I wandered over to the bus stop ... read more