Meeting Parents in Saint Palais sur Mer

Saturday 20^th September

We had decided to meet up with K’s parents, who were also travelling in France, at a place near Royan called Saint Palais sur Mer. It was a two hundred and twenty mile drive, so we set off early for the trip, pausing at the Carrefour in Saint Jean de Luz for some groceries and petrol. We were going the toll motorway route, so we knew that it would all add up. We arrived at the Puis de l’Auture campsite at just gone five in the evening. It had been a very hot trip, and we were both nearly melted.

The parents were waiting near reception, and after greetings and finding a pitch, we registered at got set up. A very good site, with clean showers and toilet blocks and useful amenities. We waited for the reception person to come and ‘plug us in’ to the electricity supply. We then had a much welcome drink, showered, and then sat in the sun chatting. The parents had prepared food, so we ate chicken and ham with salad and potatoes. It was good. We sat and chatted, drinking wine, for quite a while then, as it became cooler, retired to our respective vans for the evening.

Sunday 21^st September

We surfaced about ten o’clock and I did some washing, put the awning out, and K found the bunting that she had made – so that went up as well. Very pretty. I found that I had been bitten twice on the face by a mosquito – devil insect! Both bites are rising nicely. I took some anti-histamine to help stop the itching.

We just sat about in the sun and chatted again. After lunch the four of us went for a stroll along the sea front, found our way down to the nearest beach and went for a paddle. The sea wasn’t too cold. We took a slow walk back to camp, took in the washing and then sat around again until I decided to have another shower and then it was time for me to prepare the evening meal.

We had stuffed mushrooms to start, and then a dish that I based on Portuguese cooking – chicken and chorizo sausage baked with haricot beans and rice. There was far too much – so the rest would be lunch the following day. By the time we finished eating it was quite late, so we all just packed away and went back to our respective vans for the rest of the evening. We watched the first ‘Star Trek Next Generation’ on the computer and then retired to bed.

Monday 22^nd September

It had been a windy night, and the day didn’t seemed to be any different, so I took in the awning and, reluctantly, the bunting. After breakfast we decided to go for a bike ride into the town of Saint Palais sur Mer – which wasn’t too far, and had a cycle path most of the way. We parked up on the sea front, close to the very nice beach, and walked through the shops. Some were closed because of the end of season. The place had a bit of a ‘Thirties’ feel, I thought. I could imagine a Poirot mystery being based there. We rode down to the Pleasure Gardens and found the lake and a gaggle of school kids  learning to kayak. We also found a supermarket, so nipped in to buy a few things before returning to the van for lunch.

After polishing off most of the remaining chicken and rice, which I heated using the microwave oven provided by the camp, we decided that we would ride off again, but this time in the other direction, towards La Palmyre. We said goodbye and set off. It was a much longer ride this time, and we were well on the way to the lighthouse at the end of the headland before we decided to head back. 

About a third of the way back I got a puncture in my rear tyre. I had some ‘instant repair’ stuff, which almost worked, and partially inflated the tyre. We decided that K should ride it, being smaller than me, and so I took the saddle bags off and put them on K’s bike, which I rode. We set off. The tyre seemed to be OK – and wasn’t going down any more. After about a kilometre the battery on K’s bike went dead, and we had quite a way, and some big ups and downs to go yet. I did a fair amount of unassisted pedalling – funny how you get used to having electric power when you need it – up and down the path all the way back to camp.

I pumped the tyre up when we got back, and it seemed to hold. We sat for a little while and had a drink. I prepared pork chops with apple and mushroom sauce for the evening meal. I had marinated them all day in white wine. We had potatoes and French small peas and carrots with them. It was windy and quite cool so we ate in our van, and then spent a long while drinking wine and chatting, eating cheese and chatting before the parents decided it was time for bed and returned to their van. It was a nice evening. It took K and I quite a while to wash up and tidy the van ready for bed.