San Sebastian, or Urkkkzz Zkuuzkkzz

Here in Basque country, the language is crazy. It's like a more obscure version of Welsh, with plenty of U's, K's and a whole ton of Z's. It's a lovely contrast to Biarritz, only 30 miles away, which is the worst place in the world.

I discovered a new, deeply enjoyable sport in Biarritz, which involved wandering from bar to bar, pausing to allow one's jaw to jar again and again against the pavement at the genuine ridiculousness of the prices. One was charging 2E50 for - brace yourself - 150 ml of lager. That's about a half a thimbleful.

But San Sebastian is cheap(er) and deeply lovable. We drank lots of vine, beer and cider and ate tons of tapas. As such, we didn't take any photos, busy as we were, fillingn our faces. So here's a picture of Gem beating me at Mini Golf on a campsite in Cahors instead.

This Photograph Needs No Caption

Or accompanying text.

Yes, we did drive 50 miles out of our way for these pictures.

Martel (not the Cognac)

After several days of MASSIVE CAKE CONSUMPION and travel through France, we made it down to a place called Martel (near Cahors). It's very hot down here, and we've camped in the one emplacement on the campsite that has no shade whatsoever. I have to keep going for lukewarm showers and lying in the shade cast from an open car door.

Still, the most important experience in France is eating the vast array of incredible cakes. Here is a photo of a Religieuse:

Which is probably named because only God him/herself could fit the gallons of gloopy chocolate custard that abounds within the choux pastry. The Best Cake Yet is the amusingly named Un Gland, which is as delicious as it is hilarious. There is no existing photo of un Gland, as I eat them faster than even the fastest camera shutter speed can hope to manage.

NEWS OF INTEREST ONLY TO MEN, PROBABLY:

• The in-car 12v -> 240v 3-pin plug converter/adapter works a treat
• The penknife is currently the most useful tool for day to day man stuff
• The Nissan Micra has had no major incidents so far, exept for the windscreen, which is now a dead bug graveyard/slaughterhouse.

Finally, here's a picture of us on a bridge somewhere, and one of Gem eating the Best Nougat Ever, from Sancerre, which was so good, you'd kill your grandma for it (and probably would have to to get the money to afford it).

Il pleut...

So yesterday, on the day when we drove for ever and ever and were up for about 20 hours,  we arrived in the Somme and guess what? It was raining, a bit like it does in the Somme. In fact, it was torrential. So we stayed in a cheapo inn and drank Pastis with a guy at the bar who engaged me in a long conversation about pomme de terre in French. 

But today it's sunny. Proof:

and we're staying in a campsite with a swimming pool and a bar with wi-fi (hence post). There should have been a photo of Gem jumping into the pool, but I forgot to press the button as she was jumping.

Now we're off for snacks and wine, and hopefully no rambling conversations about root veg.

A Bientot!

PS: If you acxtually want to keep up with events as we infrequently post them, but can't be bothered to use the internet, enter your email address into the  box on the right and get it whizz-bang automatically!

Not Gone Yet...

But we have spent many hours trying to cram all our crap stuff into the car. And guess what? After only four hours, it all fits! We left out unnecessary items, like food, bedding and the camping gas cylinder.

Most exciting moment was when Joe managed to enable the car radio code by mistake, and then couldn't unlock it again, and then spent an hour panicking about the premise of three months with no music before the kind lady at the Nissan Garage calmly sorted it all out, and then Joe had a lie down in a dark room where there was whale sounds playing.

Leaving tomorrow at Stupid O'Clock!