No kidding, you won’t believe what’s in the car wash

21 August 2013 by Sara Holden Posted in Blog Tagged car wash, CharlieCharleston, circus, extraordinaryplaces, France, Goat, llama, Prades, Pyrenees 1 Comment

“I’m just going to swing in here and give Charlie a quick rinse” said Geoff, as we headed into Prades, the nearest largish town to do some shopping.

It was hot and I was sleepy, until he added “There are two goats in the car wash and a llama under the tree.”

Just a rinse?

Car wash neighhhhbours

And so they were. The goats were roaming free and the llama was tied up under a tree alongside the butane bottles.

Not so much a tiger in your tank, but a llama in your gas bottle

As you might imagine – a series of bad jokes followed about smelling like a goat and needing a wash.

They upped and huffed-off for a while once Geoff fired up the hoses, but came back for a final inspection just before we left!

Deux Chevre, Oh!

Is that a 2CV in the car wash?

Staring at goats

The humdrum explanation is that there is a circus in town and they were being let out for some air …. No, not at the tyre pump….

Birthday treats

13 August 2013 by Sara Holden Posted in Blog Tagged birthday, CharlieCharleston, donkey, extraordinaryplaces, meteor, meteor shower, Spain, troll dog 7 Comments

After all my talk of having stars fall out of the sky for me on my birthday – we thought that we should prepare properly. So we packed beer, gin and a kettle!

Although we are camped in the mountains there is still a little ambient light coming from the nearby village, so Geoff and I went on a reccie the day before for the best viewing spot…..

Finding the right spot for viewing

What about the view from here?

Not much more than a cow track

helped by some locals who knew the hillside tracks better than us.

No, this way is better!

We camped out late into the night and although we didn’t see as many meteors as we had hoped, we still had fun. I managed to take my first (not very good) photo of star trails.

Star trails

The remote didn’t work so I taped it open with a bolt and some gaffer tape and let it run for forty minutes. Any suggestions of how to do it more professionally are welcome!

During the day Geoff found a donkey farm for me to go and pet baby donkeys – too cute for words – and their troll-dog buddy who lived in a wall!

Cute birthday donkeys

Why the long face?

Donkey’s noses are the best

Troll-dog

Medieval troll-dog

Then in the wee small hours we got up again and watched some more meteors – what a great birthday in an extraordinary place!

Thanks for all my birthday wishes – today we are off to France… more coming soon!

Cheers!

11 August 2013 by Sara Holden Posted in Blog Tagged drink, extraordinaryplaces, sangria, Spain 2 Comments

Forget that “cheap red wine with an old orange thrown in” drink that is unpleasant and sickly – here is the recipe for the best Sangria I have ever tasted…..

Chill a jug.

Pour equal measures of:

Licor 43

Cointreau

Martini / Vermouth

A dash of whisky peach

A can of orange/lemon fanta.

This – with the ice – should ¾ fill your jug. Top up the rest with two spoons of sugar and red wine.

Fruit – only if you have time for it to ferment for at least half a day and give extra flavour – oranges and apples.

Take out onto a sunny terrace, stir with a long wooden spoon, pour and admire the view.

Cheers to that!

No Bull – We’re in Spain

2 August 2013 by Sara Holden Posted in Blog Tagged 2CV, Bull, CharlieCharleston, extraordinaryplaces, Spain 2 Comments

But the internet connections at the campsite is not great – so standby for a flurry of stories when I am able to post them!

Big Bull

Ten-Up in a 2CV

2 August 2013 by Sara Holden Posted in 2CV, Blog Tagged 2CV, CharlieCharleston, extraordinaryplaces 3 Comments

“You’re making the little car work very hard, don’t you think” an elderly man commented at the campsite the other day as we loaded Charlie to the gunnels as usual.

“I used to have one of these cars when I was a student, he added. “It was great for parties. We would take out all the seats apart from the driver, roll the roof right back and the we could get ten people in it, standing up.” And that’s not working the little car too hard, we wondered????

Then with a fond grin he remembered “one time there were only eight of us, so we picked up a couple of hitch hikers too. They were pretty surprised.”

It seems almost everyone we talk to has a fond memory of a 2CV .. what’s yours?

Getting the best view in the house

Time passes as grains of sand through an hourglass

22 July 2013 by Sara Holden Posted in Blog Tagged Bordeaux, Dune de Pilat, extraordinaryplaces, France, sand dunes 1 Comment

And so the days of our lives go pretty slowly trying to get to the top the largest sand dune in Europe – Dune de Pilat in the Bassin Bordeaux.

Slowly and in my case… panting like a broken down horse. But at two hundred metres high and shifting around 15 meters in height depending on the season, even though it was quite a hike to get to the top, but the view is stunning – with sand and sea as far as the eye can see and beyond. Hiking up in one thing – getting down can be done in a variety of ways – people have surfed it, skied it, mono-boards, run, rolled and strolled. We stood and watched three young French lads throw themselves off the side of the dunes in spectacular, sand shifting sumersaults, “go-proing” themselves as they tumbled, and then we took the stairs.

Between the sea and the forest – the largest sand dune in Europe

As far as the eye can see – Far far out to sea

How many steps to the stop… this is just part one!

Flying high above Europe’s largest sand dune

Deceptive to the eye – it stretches high and far