Thursday 9th May - Estamos en Casa

The Bay of Biscay is remarkably calm for our trip and by the time we wake at 08.00 we have completed the bulk of the 477 mile sailing. This crossing is rather more civilised than the one into Saint Malo as the alarm does not go off until 09.00. By then we are showered and raring to go. After breakfast we head up to Deck 10 in the hope of indulging in a spot of whale watching.
The crew of the Pont-Aven includes an official whale watcher who reports back her sightings every 30 minutes.
It is to be hoped that she is not on piece rates as this morning drew a total blank. There were very few birds to watch either.
We did get our first view of Spain, snow capped peaks somewhere to the west of where we are heading. In no time at all we are disembarking and pass through immigration with minimal queuing.
 The drive to our accommodation in Renedo should take about half an hour and we switch on Gertie Google to help us navigate. She has developed a nasty habit of saying "Leave the roundabout NOW!" which is a bit disconcerting. Eventually she settles down and after one missed turning we arrive at our digs.
Our apartment is actually on the far side of the complex and is nicely fitted out. There is an underground car park and an efficient lift to get us up to floor 3. The place is really well equipped but lacks a kettle. Good job that D brought one just in case. After a cup of tea we head out to the supermarket. Our Spanish favourite, Mercadona, is only a few kilometres away so we go for it.
There is a deal on juicing oranges so it is a good thing that D packed his orange juicer. Supper tonight is raclette, although using Spanish cheese as a substitute. When in Spain do what the Swiss do.
Today's mileage is a modest 30.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday 7th May - Un Poco de Espanol

Image
This blog may be a bit of a slow burn but bear with us. Our latest trip involves a twenty and a half hour ferry trip across the Bay of Biscay and then a tour of the delights of Cantabria, the Basque Country and Bordeaux.  Day one is the rather dry bit, driving South towards the ferry. We set an early alarm and are on the road before 08.00. The packing involves using most of the available space in the car. Various essentials go with us but we hope to be able to live off the land once we arrive. The motorways are on their best behaviour and we make good progress towards our first stop, Tetbury, where we have an appointment to catch up with old friends. Refreshed by tea, cake and conversation we resume our progress towards Portishead, outside Bristol. Here we have a room booked for the night.  It is one of three available at this venue. We are pleased to have avoided the premium for the Garden Lodge option. We enjoyed an old favouri...
Read more

Wednesday 22nd May - R versus the Machine. Scores 10k plus.

D wakes early today and skips to the boulangerie. By the time we have finished breakfast the sun has broken through. The forecast is a bit mixed but better than yesterday. We have a plan which involves taking a tram into town. This nearly fails at the first hurdle as no trams appear to be running at our local stop. We walk one stop east, to the mainline and are soon heading further east  Our first target is the Jardin des Plantes, opposite the main railway station. These gardens are well laid out and beautifully maintained, with the best plant labelling regime that we have ever seen. Bordeaux should send a delegation here to see how it is done. Unlike Bordeaux the Frog Chorus are not shy here, nor are they restrained.  There are various sculptures dotted about, some quite orthodox and others a bit wacky. R declares it the best garden she has visited for quite a while. We move to Phase 2 of our plan. Our ticket covers buses as well as trams and we cross the station to catch a n...
Read more

Monday 20th May - Cooking in a Bedsitter

Today's weather forecast is not very promising. It is raining when we get up. D proves the assertion that it is never too late to learn by successfully toasting Turkish bread in a dry frying pan.  Before our visit to the vineyards there is a bit of housekeeping to do. It is some sort of Bank Holiday so everything opens a bit later. The big Carrefour supermarket nearby has a self service laundromat and we get there just after opening time. With a bit of help from a French lady we get our washing under way. This allows us to join the mob waiting to storm the front gate of the Carrefour. Fortunately the shutter goes up bang on time so there are no unseemly incidents. D resists the lure of a bargain pack of 10 wine glasses for 5 euros. We have only broken one. A suitable specimen is found for a euro and we also find replacement non-stick pans for our venerable travelling raclette machine. There is just time to grab some food and wine before we have to return to the laundromat to switch...
Read more