Southern France

Six-Four Les Plages – never heard of it?  Neither had we.  Found the most amazing remote campsite perched on a hill 1.5kms from the beach and thought – close to Toulon, bar open most hours, nice people, cheap vino (€4.90 per bot.)  Gave Cally a few days off, visited Jonny... in Toulon; ate gorgeous food and tasted the regions cheaper brands of vin rouge – life’s tough.

Refreshed and revived we punched south, along the coast to Narbonne and spent two nights at Camp Nautique where we got keys to our own personal sanitare house.  No sharing the loo with oddbods - pure bliss.

To be honest it hasn’t always been a bed of roses.  Overnight we discovered the ACSI mapbook (tells us where the campsites are) was LOST.  Major panic… Mrs L is still not feeling friendly towards Lloydy.  All that can be said is aforementioned missive was found (Lloydy’s side) after a rigorous clearout of tempers and Cally!  And while we're doing the confessions - eight and a half weeks in 18sqm in a rectangle will challenge the strongest marriage.  So be warned if you're thinking of doing Europe in three months like us.

On to more important things - Sundays in Italy and France are for rest.  So we whiled the hours away at lovely food market in Centre Ville plus paella and a succulent octopus in marinade so all is well.  A visit to Carcassonne’s fairytale village in the afternoon rounded off a splendid outing however, we headed back to Narbonne Plage ‘cos we’d heard the Tongan Rugby boys were in the neighbouring town.

No Polynesians but we discovered … rice paddies and flamingos.  Some of life pleasures come from the most unexpected quarters.

Cally is coping well with the driving, so this week we’re headed through Spain towards Portugal.  This morning we found ourselves sat in the biggest campsite this side of the black stump - Parc de Vacances - Vilanova Park. 

This evening we'll be roughing it at a gratis truck stop in La Joyosa (Hoyahstar).  We're making friends with the bar staff to make the stay more bearable.

Our thoughts are with our families and friends … hope you've all had a safe Guy Fawkes.

PS:  The wi-fi is shit-e so pictures will follow!