15 EAR BUGS, AMERICANS AND ST. EMILION
Part 14 was never issued – but NOBODY noticed! Is there a hint there?
I just wish that the photos that I add carefully in the right order would stay where I put them! Still, untangling them gives you something to think about!
Another view of our old chateau
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’ve just had to carry out a surgical procedure on Glenda. A tiny bug had decided to get out of the sun by sheltering in her right ear. She could feel it (and hear it) tromping around in her lug-hole. Not a nice feeling! It was well out of sight but my medical training with the cub scouts came to the rescue. Blow into the ear. Second time successful. Lucky, because the only other treatment I remember from my scouting days 60 years ago involved a marlin spike. But thinking about it, that was probably more to do with getting stones out of horses hooves!
But I’ve missed a day. Saturday. Shortly after we arrived in Rauzan, a Czech camper van had rolled in opposite onto a pitch that we wondered if we should have gone onto because it had loads of shade. And in 30+ degrees you do need a bit of shade. Anyway, the pesky Czechs have collared it! It later turned out that the Czechs were actually citizens of Buffalo in Trumpland. Hi Glen and Ann!
As they hadn’t had any alternative but to hire a camper, we took pity on them. They weren’t REAL camper-vanners! We unloaded the car and turned it back into a four-seater for the first time in weeks. All four of us then took off for a visit to St Émilion.
Views of St Emilion
Afterwards we went on a ticky tour of the vineyard-covered countryside just to the north of the River Dordogne. We stopped at a restaurant – Les Marronniers at Montagne. It had a delightful little shady arbour for a beer and a few pints of cold water! Then the restaurant closed and all the staff went home leaving us in charge.
We finished off the tour with a short walk along the north bank of the Dordogne at Castillon la Bataille. It was too hot for much activity but we stopped off at the municipal campsite to “check out the place for next year” (and, coincidentally, for the girls to use the facilities). Home for a swim before the four of us went for yet another birthday celebration meal. This time at La Maison – again. We were the first to arrive and the last to leave. Owner and chef, Christian, and his wife, Sylvie, made us feel really welcome.
Ann and Glen helping us celebrate yet another birthday at La Maison
As darkness fell, I re-packed the car with all the stuff we’ve hardly used on this trip, covered the chairs and table for the night, brought in the washing, closed down the windows and it started to rain. A short sharp thunderstorm broke our drought and then cleared off to the north.
Sunday seems to have gone in a heat-haze of laziness. Swimming in the pool followed by lunch (rather un-memorable and over-priced) at Le Caffé Cuisine in Branne. It was somewhat pretentious, sadly lacking in choice on the €30 menu and grossly undercooked on the steak front. And we don’t like fish/crustacean soups… Anyway, while disliking our soup, we got talking to a couple of ex-pats on the next table who thought the meal was the best thing since sliced bread – so it’s “horses for courses”. We just backed the wrong horse today!
Our new found friends did impart the news that the French Government, in its wisdom, has lowered the national speed limit from 90 to 80 kph on all but dual-carriageways. Effective today! I wonder if the local lads and lasses will take the same amount of notice of the new limit as they did of the old one! Don’t think we will have much of a problem. We tend to drive about that speed with the caravan in tow or possibly less while meandering around the country lanes without it. If they really want to reduce the number of serious accidents (their stated aim) they should raise the age that young French lads can drive by 10 years (and by 15 for the girls). Clamping down on drink and drug-driving would also help – but they need to leave us non-long-term-Europeans alone as we head home from the restaurants.
This site is red hot keen on the World Cup Football. Every match is shown in a covered outdoors area near the pool. I have just watched the end of the Spain vs Russia match. At the last minute, after apparently controlling the ball for 75% of the time throughout 120 minutes, the Spaniards managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the penalty shoot-out.
On Monday we were reminded just what a dreadful bottleneck is Libourne. A few years ago we just snuck through one stupidly narrowed bridge with about one inch clearance either side of our last caravan. The new one literally won’t go! The traffic calming measures in town are ridiculous and the one way system, the road closures and deviations compound the problem. Mental note – DON’T tangle with Libourne while towing…
We had gone there today for lunch with Daniel and Mylène his new partner. We first met Daniel in February 2007 in Denmark. That is the TOWN of Denmark in southern Western Australia. Lunch at Le Grand Café du Lac. Followed by a walk around the lake – originally a gravel extraction pit now a water sports area with a long rowing course. Sadly, the area had been colonised by hundreds of travellers. And they all had magnificent bran new caravans and cars. Some of them protected with anti-grêle netting. It looked more like an up-market convention of car salesmen or gardeners and gutter-cleaners to the nouveau riche than a horde of wandering folk.
Travellers caravans with anti-grele netting