Campsites, decisions & New Look.

5/5/12

'Les Criques De Porteils' Campsite just between Argeles sur-Mer and Collioure. A lovely campsite with on the Collioure side all the beauty of the mountainous terrain where the Pyrenees finally meet the sea and on the Argeles-sur-Mer side the start of the long flat sandy beaches of the River Tech plains.

This is my 5^th night here and as such fulfilling my plan of just stopping for a few days and relaxing. I've got an ACSI card which is a fixed price contract for any sites in the ACSI book of campsites throughout Europe. It does not operate in the high season but at these off peak times it is good value for money. It certainly is a nice change having all the facilities, toilets, hot showers, mains hook up and shop on site plus internet. All washing is now up to date and I now have clean clothes to wear and crisp air dried bedding.

Tanya is once again fully groomed, clean and looking really well. I got quite an audience of neighbouring motorhomers watching the grooming operation and in particular the use of the elctric shearing clippers. I must have been doing pretty well as I was requested to do someone elses dog. This dog was a large and lively labrador whose parentage at some stage had involved a cross with the shaggiest of shaggy mammoths. It certainly could have done with a shampoo and a clipping but I politely declined the owners seemingly tongue in cheek request. Thankfully it was accepted as such and a good humoured conversational 'Tanya Shearing' continued.

Cloudy today but we have enjoyed a few days of beautiful sunshine on this high and westerly facing pitch overlooking the sea and the town of Argeles-sur-Mer. Today we are relaxing after two days of strenuous exercise. We walked the hills and vineyards to the imposing hilltop forts overlooking Collioure while yesterday we cycled all the way out to Cap Bear beyond the next village of Port-Vendres and climbed to the hill top fort above that. Hard work going up but yesterday it was exhilarating coming back down on the bike. Only problem is this camp site is on a hill so whichever way you go the last bit is always uphill.

When on a campsite such as this there is also the double whammy of meeting other people, or I should say couples for that is what they invariably are. Usually there is a fair smattering of English speaking available and this campsite has been no exception. I say double whammy as on the one hand it is mentally rewarding being able to chat away and listen to other couples adventures and lives. On the other hand it is hard maintaining the OK'ness about 'not being a couple' if that makes sense. The majority of the time there is no problem but I do notice that a glass or two of wine has an uncanny ability to rip away any emotional equanimity or stability. Last night was a typical example with, after a glass of wine and a very pleasant hour spent with Ian and Julie, my temporary neighbors, I was quite affected later. My tired and slightly alcohol affected mind fetched out all the memories of past holidays with Kate etc etc etc. Difficult. Thankfully a good nights sleep always refreshes the mind. The equanimity/stability, or facility to cope with whatever, was back on line this morning. Which is more than I can say for the campsites internet which has been down since last night.

I have also been pondering over how to organize the problem of my defunct Mobile phone. I have sent it back to my son Mark in Swindon, UK, for it to be returned to HTC, repaired and returned to my son's. I was then going to get it sent down to a friends home in Spain and travel down to there to collect it. However; I have now decided to change plans again. I looked at the map and pondered to myself; 'that is quite a long way down the Spanish coast.' This is quite relevant at this stage of my Journey where the original rough plan was to spend May and June slowly working my way back toward the UK. Going down the Spanish coast also involves passing Barcelona. On enquiring at the local tourist office I was surprised to be advised in no uncertain terms a UK registered motorhome with a single occupant would be a prime target for the criminal gangs rife around the area. This was unfortunately reinforced by a couple on this campsite who a few days earlier had a nasty incident at a rest spot quite a way from Barcelona where they were lucky to be rescued from a complete robbery by a van driver who pulled in a few minutes later. As you can imagine it was very traumatic for them.

Basically it would mean a long detour and really, I do not have to do it. So I have now made the decision for the remainder of this trip to stay in France. I'll tackle Spain and Portugal from the West coast next Winter.

Anyway; with my new look there might be quite a bit of bother if I had to produce my passport!!!!