Arjuzanx and other places and more wetness!!!

Ok apologies for the radio silence for a few days. Some of us have to work you know. Let's get you caught up without any further ado.

I promised you pictures of Arjuzanx and I am going to have to modify that slightly to say picture, singular. I only took one of the war memorial. It is not the best picture of what I thought was one of the nicest war memorial's I have seen. The guy on the top was all painted beautifully and it was really striking.


We stayed a couple of nights in Arjuzanx but the weather was awful. I was working and Sheila was confined to book reading and cooking. I must say the food on this trip has been pretty awesome. We often think let's eat out and so we go to the local restaurant. We look at the menu and the prices and think, sod it, we're not paying that. Sheila makes something ten times better for a tenth of the price. It is a no brainer really. Pork teryaki (or however you spell it) tonight. Might just open a bottle of my favourite 2 euro a bottle red, push the boat out a bit.

Onwards and northwards our journey took us to the town of Cognac. Remember you can follow the journey here 
We got our spot by the river in a nice little site but sadly (a) it poured with rain almost the whole time and (b) it was very cold to boot. We had planned to stay a couple of nights and see the sights of Cognac but after a quick walk round this morning in the fair but freezing cold we decided to move in search of something better. Cognac (the drink) incidentally is only called cognac if it is made from grapes grown in the Cognac region. I didn't actually realise it was made with grapes, I would have bet my shirt that it was something elsealthough I would have been pushed to suggest what. Anyway grapes it is and Martell was my mum's favourite tipple so when we passed the Martell factory I grabbed a picture. I could have gone into the shop and grabbed a bottle too but decided against it. Probably much more than 2 euro! If mum had still been around I would defintiely be heading "home" with a bottle for her but alas no.
Martell Brandy Factory

Here is a picture of another one of those old church buildings. It was a narrow street and I could't really fit the whole building in. Looks pretty old to me. They really made the effort in those days.
Old church building in Cognac

With no guarantee that it would be any better we packed up and headed north west towards the coast. We have been in La Rochelle before so we knew that it was quite pretty. We were hoping for some slightly warmer rain but as we got closer and closer the sun threatened to break through. Then it did! It did break through. We found our camping spot and had a quick cuppa then it was off to explore in the sunshine. It was really pleasant in the sunshine but chilly when the sun dipped behind a cloud or if you found yourself accidentally on the wrong side of the street and in the shade. Still, a hundred times better than when we were in Cognac.

La Rochelle is a seaside town with loads of boats in the harbour. We saw a guy taking delivery of his brand new yacht. It was minted and they were removing the polythene off the cusions. We hadn't eaten so started investigating the many, many restaurants. The menus looked, well let's be honest, expensive. I am not a mean skinflint but I like to feel that there is some value for money and it seemed a bit lacking in the value for money department. We found a boulangerie and purchased a filled baguette and a filled wrap. They were quite delicious as we sat harbour-side in the sunshine eating our bargains. Well, relatively speaking, bargains.

Some La Rochelle scenes

OK so you are pretty much up to speed with events except to say that after lunch we were needing to use the facilities. Looking around for a sign I spotted one that said "toilettes 4 min" with an arrow seemingly indicating the direction we should head. Our French is not that great but we felt confident that we knew what this sign meant. Now I know what you are thinking. There were no facilities, or they were disgusting or locked or some other similar challenge. But you would be wrong, they were right there, open and on the door was a sign saying that these facilities get disinfected after EVERY use. Now I am busy reading the said sign while I am guarding the outside of the door and Sheila is insidedoing whatever women do inside a toilette. I am thinking, they can't be disinfected after EVERY use surely. There was no sign of a person lurking waiting to do the business before each new use. Well as I am pondering the issue the door opens and out steps Sheila soaked to the knees. Absolutely drenched from the feet up to the knees by the automatic disinfecter that disinfects after EVERY use. I was trying my best to look and feel sympathetic but confess the thought of the automatic washer coming on before she had finished doing the things a woman does in there made me chuckle inside. At least her breeks were not around her ankles when it came on or that would have been a complete catastrophe. I would have had to laugh out loud then. Anyway it was a still sunny and a significant walk back to the motorhome so by the time we were back she was practically dried out.

We have had a siesta and I have typed this missive, the tea is cooking and a bottle of 2 euro red is calling out to me. Have a great day wherever you are.

D&S and MJ









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