Spanish Sunshine 2023

 Sunday 5 March Came today from near Le Mans to our often frequently Neufchatel-en-Bray.  It's been quite a miserable cold day, so didn't stop by the Seine as planned.  Our afternoon walk took us along the old railway line path and John climbed into this bush to find a geocache that we've missed on previous visits! Monday 6 March Not much to show for today either .....  Travelled to Merlimont in sunshine, but that had all gone by the time we got here - replaced by very blustery wind!  But of course, we had to have our walk!  We couldn't stay on the sea-front very long - even nearly blew my bobble hat off - but the huge beach still looks inviting.  Wonder why there's nobody on it .... ! So we walked all around the town instead, up and down residential roads, admiring some houses and wondering how some remain upright, passing the church and the Boulangerie that we plan to visit in the morning. So rather than end this blog on a dreary note of grey sky and...

 Saturday 4 March A day off from travelling today, so after a lazy morning, set off to explore the area.  Our first stop in the parc des Sittelles opposite our Camping-Car Park was outside the Karting area, watching these two zooming around the track sometimes overtaking each other. The nature reserve has been created from old sand and gravel pits.  At this bird hide, we had to answer some questions about the soil and take a photo showing we have been here - all for a geocache!  We sat on the step on the right of the picture, to eat our lunch and watched the birds through the gaps.  Forgot to take a picture of the lake, but did zoom in on this heron. Then we walked to the village of Montfort le Gesnois and admired the roman bridge over the river (a minor one, can't remember name). Crossing over the bridge, avoiding a few cars as the Romans tended to build narrow bridges, looked over to the weir and the shell of an ancient builing. Looking down on the lavoir - wh...

 Thursday 2 March We left St. Germain-les-Belles around 9.30 this morning, where the grass was frosty and the little lake was partly frozen over ....Brrr So we continued our journey north, stopping off for our lunch at the Camping-Car Park at Moulismes where we'd stayed a night on our way south - seems ages ago - well it is 5 weeks.  We had come off the motorway and followed the River Vienne, passing the Chateau Touffou on the opposite bank. We came to another CCP at Lac St. Cyr - yet another lake - a big one this time.  Although still chilly, the sun shone all day, so a very pleasant walk this afternoon. A standing stone near the lake. We are not sure what birds they are, but they entertained us for a while as they formed and reformed various shapes above us. This is quite a busy evening here but there are still quite a few spaces left.  In fact there's one between us and that black-fronted van behind us.     At around 8 o'clock, when dark, and we wer...

 Tuesday 28 February We continued our journey north this morning from Castelnaudary to Souillac on the Dordogne.  Although we'd had a sunny drive, it was rather dull and chilly when we went for our walk around Souillac.  Some interesting buildings to see. And of course, the river.  We've been here several times in summers gone by, but it all looks very drab in the winter. The summer clothing has all been packed away again! We are staying at a very spacious Camping-Car Park between the river and the town. Wednesday 1 March A shorter journey today, so decided to come off the autoroute and discover the 2-star (ie worth a visit) town of Uzerche.  It is on the River Vezere, with the town built up the hillsides either side.  We parked at the old railway station.  The trains would have gone from here across the very long viaduct - this is now a footpath. Here are various views as we did our walk around this very scenic town. It was lunch-out day today, so - a...