which way - WHICH WAY !!!

This is not a prayer from Bob on a roundabout but a tired Joanna in city traffic and a slack navigator. However Bob goes round and around several roundabouts before a change to the relaxed driver and the serious navigator. mind you the signposts don´t always help as you can see from one of the photos about castles.
No matter, we continue to make progress and find parking spots near the centre of big cities sometimes even overnight with a background of traffic, vans unloading, rubbish trucks etc. However need to be careful since meeting a German couple who had their tyre spiked and valuables plus documents stolen from the van as they were busy changing the wheel.
After leaving Carcassonne we made a 180 degree change in planned route and went to Toulouse to be part of a 10,000 strong crowd sitting on the ground in the city square with a big screen. Very noisy before the game and the Marsellaise but dispersed quietly at the end of the game, absorbing the biter English pill with resignation.
Into the Pyrennes for a walk into see the Cirque de Gavanie - spectacular rock face and autumn colours for the walk in. In fact the French Pyrennes were very beautiful.
Chugged over a series of cols (our intended tunnel route was closed) into Spain.
A walk around the hill villages in the Val de Aran, but everywhere new housing, road works etc as Spain cashes in on new found wealth and invests in the ski stations which looked good as we drove past.
In fact everywhere in Spain there are tower cranes and new buildings, along the Med coast, huge factories for ceramics. In many ways the larger towns provided the best impression of everyday Spain.
Down to Lleida for a couple of days, onto the coast at Peniscola (who thought that name up!) via a pretty village of Caleceite. Here we looked over the castle on the promentry, strutted the extensive promenade and ate the tapas with very cheap wine.
Down the coast to Valencia for a couple of days in this busy town. Into the now deserted America´s cup village, but very much enjoyed the centre of the city and the impressive new pavilions for their art and science museums. However so much construction along the beachfront but the new buildings all looking completely empty.
We are trying to cope with Spanish customs - a late start (that suits us) long siesta till 4 pm and late opening in the evening. However evening eating not always the late evening I had expected often all over by the time I have finished the apperatif. Tapas also varied and not quite the pleasure anticipated. Mind you Joaana makes up for it all with super cooking and the visits to some of the larger supermarkets are an education and pleasure in themselves to see the variety of produce available.
Valencia was the end of our penetration into Spain and now back at Peniscola !
Our plan to meet Katie in Barcelona on Saturday and continue northwards into France with Paris on the horizon.

Promenade en Provence

We left Grenoble early in the morning, in pouring rain, togged up in our winter woollies. Bob laboured onwards and upwards through dense mist, over the mountains (we must have missed some sensational views)into Haute Provence. Yay! Sunshine again.
Distracted by yet another local market, we delayed our arrival in Aix en Provence and stocked up on a delicious array of taste treats.
On down to Aix where we rendevouzed with Katie in the town centre. Bob is great in these situations, small enough to fit into any normal park, we were lucky to find a park en centre ville and stayed there for the next 24 hours. Very cheap inner city accomodation. Aix is a lovely city, very elegant, but lively. Full of the usual old winding alleys, lots of cafes and a big market down the main street.
We farewelled Katie later in the day. She had to babysit, and set off in festive mood to watch the French v NZ match all decked out in our NZ gear. Thousands of French people, a few condescending South Africans, a smattering of very friendly Australians and us! Quelle dommage! Say no more! We have retired our All Blacks gear and even temporarily hidden Bob's kiwi sticker. There was dancing in the streets afterwards. The crowds went wild, rocking buses and stuff so we thought it better not to advertise our allegiance too much at that point. C'est la vie!
Took off on a tour of Provence for 2 days with Katie. A bit of a whistle stop tour. We visited Cassis , completing a long walk to the Calanque de En Vau, where David used to climb the vertical rock walls. On to Marseille, where Bob triumphed yet again with a park metres from the old port. Had a compulsory Bouillbaisse on the quay surrounded yet again by mad rugby fans. Found Marseille very big and overwhelming so moved on in the morning through the Carmargue, lots of white horses, black bulls and pink flamingoes - great. Boring terrain, but great wildlife. Onto Nimes and the pont du gard where Katie impressed us with her knowledge of classical Roman sites, places we had never heard of!
Back to Aix to meet Katie's family - very pleasant. we moved on to explore a bit more of Provence - mostly Luberon ( a la Peter Mayle of A Year in Provence). Really dry landscape and overwhelmed with tourists and English residents; We were a bit disappointed and didn't hang around long.
On to another night in a town square. We are always discovering new things. The latest is that most town centres have carparks with a loo nearby. The standard of the loos vary considerably - from OK to simply dégalase. We are now firmly in squat loo country - although i have figured out that disabled people can't use squats so that is the one to head for. Squats might be more natural and so on , but they are obviously much harder to clean so no one bothers! Katie tells us that we talk far too much about toilets and associated things, but they have become an important part of our life living in a compact 'camping car'.
We have been making our way across Languedoc, stopping at villages and locks on the Canal du Midi. It is still very busy. Lots of boats and long delays at the locks. can't imagine what it is like in the height of summer.We are now in Carcasonne - very historical and attractive. Dominated by an old walled city on the hill, all restored and interesting to wander around although full of the usual tourist shops. have been whiling the last couple of hours away eating Cassoulet and enjoying the local vin rouge. We have treated ourselves to a couple of nights in a luxury camping ground, lots of hot water and only a short walk to the old city etc. All goes well, we continue to have a wonderful time. Am even getting the hang of the French keyboard now! Great to get responses to the blog. If we don't have your email address we can't respond. Our email is lynch.watson@gmail.com

Le Vin Rouge et Le Van Bob

Vans, vins, villages et voyage. Another beautiful day as we cruised into Roscoff harbour. Spent rest of day cleaning up in a camping ground, buying a new sim card for the phone and soaking up the French atmosphere. Next day were shown round Dournenez by Katie's Australian friend Megan. It is a delightful fishing town, still lots of fishing but lots of history too. Also visited the Pointe de Raz nearby, the western most point of France, and other local touristy things.
Visited both Katie's host families,who were both very gracious and patient with my French. I am making a big effort not to rely on David too much. Enjoyed a platter of Fruit de Mers in a little restaurant at the old port. It was delicious, but later that night trouble set in and Joanna suffered for several days from a rogue oyster. Put a damper on visits to Quimper,Concanneau and La Rochelle.
Three days in the Dordogne.It is amazing how the landscape changes so dramatically in a few kilometres, houses,landscapes,wine and food. We are real suckers for every village market that we see and are good at trying the local fare. Andouilettes, cepes and artichokes etc. Bob's kitchen is a bit limiting but we do pretty well.
The Dordogne is stunning. Wonderful soft stone buildings, rivers, chateaux galore, cliffs and troglodyte houses, little alleys and all that stuff. We just wander around and soak it all up. More brilliant overnight stops. Have now cottoned on to the economical French municipal camping system catering to the thousands of enormous 'Camping Cars' that crowd the touristspots.They are mostly owned by French'Gris cheveux',(grey hairs), who appear in force as the school holidays end. Bob is completely dwarfed by these monsters.
We visite mostof the main Dordogne sites finishing with Rocamadour.
Next day a 550 km hop across France on the autoroutes. Poor Bob doesn't get the full value out of autoroutes with the maximum speed limit of 130kph.
Have spent the last 2 days on the Vercours Pateau above Grenoble with David's friends the Phelipons, from his work days in Grenoble and our time in Lesotho.Two fantastic walks with the most stunning cliff edge views I have ever seen. Grenoble is surrounded by sheer cliffs up to 1500 metres above the town. You can stand on the edge and look down. Formidable!
Now 2 days attending to business - bank, some TLC for Bob,doctor.blogs etc.Some superb French cuisine at Chez Phelipon.
Next on to Aix en Provence to meet up with Katie.

Blogs,Bogs and Bob

It has been a long time between computers. After the last entry we crossed the 'border' into Northern Ireland. Joanna was looking for the birthplace of her paternal grandmother. We tried to ring our contact there, diligently using the Irish prefix. We failed so we just turned up at her front door. She explained that we had crossed the border and were now in the UK again! This was about 1km from the border! Successfuly found the old schoolhouse where they lived and the churchyard where my great grandfather is buried.
Thence down the west coast of Ireland. Loved Connemara - the bogs, the soft, gentle landscape and wonderful little bays dotted with old fishing boats, all very charming, natural and untouristy. We had some superb overnight stops, by beaches and little harbours. Moved into Kerry,the beautiful Dingle and Bheara peninsulas. The Ring of Kerry crowded with tourist coaches. Had good Irish weather - Atlantic mist. A few good pubs to watch the rugby,lots of Guiness, and finally to Mizen Head where we saw the Fastnet Rock.
Finished our time in Ireland with a desperate dash across Cork to Rosslare to catch the ferry to Brittany. What a great trip, felt as if we were on a cruise ship. A calm sea, treated ourselves to an elegant dinner,followed by big screen rugby in the bar, to watch Ireland v France in a bar full of both nationalities.
We have been looking for a name for the van. We realised it was in front of our eyes - on the number plate. N102 BDB. The D looks like an O, so Bob it is.