Hit the Road Jack

I have finally had the opportunity to catch up on my blogging :) sorry for the long absence, but we've been just a tad busy!

After six months in France's Tarn Et Garonne, it was time, once again to move on.

Steve and I had found a cortijo in Spain, in a place about an hour and a half north of Granada. However, before we got to that, we were heading back to the UK for Christmas. But before we do THAT, we were off to Brittany’s Cote D’Armor, specifically to Dinan for a three night break in a hotel.  It had taken Steve the best part of the previous day to load all our stuff in the Land Rover. I must take a moment here to reflect and ask myself why, WHY did we think we could buy more and more stuff here in France and still expect to be able to cram it all in when we left. Bearing in mind that the Land Rover had NO space to spare when we got here. Sigh.

Hmm, full up?

It was touch and go at one point as to whether or not I would actually be able to accompany Steve or whether I would be on the train!

Ooops, forgot this lot!

After much standing and staring and thinking – Steve not me – he of course got it all in. Once again, I was not permitted to assist in this most manly of tasks, and pretty thankful I was about that I can tell you. Actually, when we looked around, we realised that he only thought he’d got it all in. There were still loads of other things we’d failed to allow for. After much sighing and muttering; it was done and it WAS all finally in, THEN we were set.

Once loaded, all that remained was to bid au revoir to our hosts Polly and Howard, and all our four legged friends. Grolsch the German shepherd came into the cottage for the last time and went into a state of shock to discover Steve stood at the sink. This was a sight he had never witnessed before, and one, which I assured him was unlikely to happen again for some considerable time!

Don't worry Grolsch, he's not ill

The goodbyes were said, and we hit the road at 8:45 am, only 15 minutes behind our deadline. By 9:00 precisely, I was eating! I honestly do not know what it is about road trips, whether it’s boredom, or genuine hunger, but I seem to spend the whole time consuming food. Mind you, I had warmed up 2 of those delicious French quiches from the local bakery, the ones with leeks in, and knowing they were there, wrapped in foil was too much to resist. “Want one”? I asked Steve, secretly hoping he’d say no. He regarded me for a moment and then shook his head. YES! I thought, now I can have them both.

Steve’s reluctance to have one was in part based on the fact that they contained particles of vegetables. In this case, leeks. The French word for leek is poireau, so to me, the little quiches were always “Hercule’s” – get it? Hercule Poirot J ah well, moving on.

There is always so much lovely food to be had!

The sun was shining and there was that low mist hovering in the valleys, giving the day a mystical Magickal feel (yes there IS a k in Magickal) the birds came to see us off, including an unusual buzzard wearing white plumage, which I took as a good omen. Herons stood in the fields, kestrels fluttered overhead and we even saw an eagle way up high.

I continued to munch, and noted that Steve had gone onto automatic pilot; eyes focused, mouth in a determined line, and his gloved hands gripping the wheel. He had one goal, and one goal only; to get this overloaded beast to its destination 410 miles away, with as few stops as possible. Dinan, here we come.

Okay he took a hand off the wheel to wave

Of course, following the tasty Hercule pastry I naturally needed coffee. Unfortunately this was out of the question for quite some time yet. In cramming everything in, the three flasks – yes three; sigh – had been packed tantalisingly out of reach. So why three flasks I hear you ask; well, I like filter coffee, Steve drinks decaf, and then we needed the hot milk in another one – voila, three flasks.

Putting thoughts of coffee from my mind, I gazed out of the window at the beautiful French countryside as it whizzed by. Soon, we were in the flat broad landscape North of Bordeaux. With the Bee Gees, Tina Turner and The Beatles, to help us on our way, we sped along with the Land Rover eating up mile after mile on the wonderfully clear peage (Motorway).

We finally stopped just after passing through Niort and I almost fell out of the door in my haste to get to the coffee. We had a picnic on the bonnet of the Land Rover and bought an 82 sticker to show the solidarity we feel for the Tarn et Garonne region we had left behind. As I packed up the picnic, Steve looked wistfully in the direction of the shop we’d just come out of, “There are burgers in there” he said with a trace of sadness as he eyed the cold boiled egg and half a left over quiche options. 

Moving on.

We hit the road again ……………… wait …………………. Is that hunger I feel!

So far, Steve had eaten half a quiche and a piece of chewing gum. Mind you, it was a fairly big piece of gum and it did have a liquid centre J

We finally reached Dinan in the late afternoon. The hotel was one of the Mercure chain, and set right by the river, it was just perfect. We threw our stuff into the room and headed straight out to explore. Up and up and up we climbed along the quaint cobbled streets, until we reached the centre of the town.

The Hotel Mercure in Dinan

Right by the river









Dinan captured our hearts with surprisingly little effort. Both of us felt an immediate affinity for the place. Its age, its history and its overall charm. We felt at home and our three days there went by all too quickly. 

Looking down on Dinan

Such a quaint little town

The old 13th Century bridge

And a stunning viaduct

And coffee of course

There is ALWAYS time for coffee

Being Christmas helped as there was a market, the streets were gaily lit and the atmosphere was one of joy and happiness. 

The stalls at the Christmas Market

Posting my letter to Santa. What? I've been a good girl

Plus as a huge bonus, we found the best burger bar in the world EVER.  Run by its wonderfully eccentric chef, the place could seat 14 people at a squeeze. Thankfully, we’d booked and quickly realised why this was a must. Within five minutes of opening, the place was full to capacity and people were being turned away.

Ahh, a heart attack on a plate!

There is one item on the menu – burgers. Mind you, there are then over a dozen varieties, and we went for a fairly straightforward burger with cheese, mushrooms and onions. Oh boy, it was quite simply the best ever. No wonder this place is so popular. The choice of dessert was as varied as the main menu – cheesecake or cheesecake. We went for the cheesecake, and again, it was heavenly. Needless to say, we went back for more the following evening J

Steve with chef and waiter

The delicious cheesecake - we were too slow with the camera!

Our time in this town of delights went all too quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to hit the road once again.

Goodbye Dinan, we'll see you again

We made the relatively short two hour trip to the Caen ferry in readiness for setting sail for Portsmouth later that day. The ferry was large and comfortable, but we had our own cabin, so after some exploring, we stayed “home” and got some much needed sleep. Well, that is, after we'd done a bit of duty free. I have no idea what Steve meant when he said  "that's not very fair".

My goodies

Steve's goodies - what's not fair? He he

Me at 5.30 am the next morning before we disembarked, looking happy as I have coffee and pastry. I see all that face cream didn't help then

It had been a busy few days, with more to come, and so with many happy memories floating in my head, the rhythmical rocking of the boat lulled me to sleep.

Good night everyone, next stop the UK, a lot of visits to family and friends, plus 2 gigs xx

Freya