Monalia's World

When we first set out on this camping adventure we had great hopes to go as far as Gran Bretagne, but with only 6 days to get home in we decide its more sensible to try to head for the Bordeaux region on the way home, where we know the beaches are nice and camping is popular.

We stop at Le Rochelle for lunch:

Le Rochelle dans la pluie:

After which we start our search for a campground. There are plenty of campgrounds but they are all full so we continue on until we find a space at a small funky campground near Rochefort.

The facilities are not deluxe, but they’re fine for the night.

Here I finally get around to photographing the inside of our campervan:

Quixote shows off the bed that drops down from the roof.

Coffee in the morning, plus a couple bathroom pix;

The interior space is tiny and efficient (Italian design). However, compare the next photo of the campervan itself next to a castle in order to get a sense of its true size:

We head for the nearest beach in the morning, where Mark takes his first Atlantic swim:

We are somewhere near Mimizan.

After his swim we all climb back into the camper to see if we can find a campground along the coast. Camping in August in France is not advisable without advance reservations we learn. Most campgrounds are full. But we find one in Mimizan. Our spot itself is not the best, but the location is beautiful for walking. Quixote and I explore:

The next morning we head towards St Jean de Luz. En route Mark pulls over and we take photos of the lumber piled up along the highway:

I love posing my dog in surrealist settings…

In St Jean de Luz we spring for 5 star camping. This campground is bustling! Although our spot does not feel very private, we have a view through our trees to the beach, which makes us happy. People are polite and friendly.

After 10 days of camping together, its amazing we all still get along. We all have our moods, but we know each other so well, and overall we have been laughing a lot more than bickering. Mark has decided that we will head to the lake in Spain, just below Pamplona, that Mark and I stayed at on our first camping trip not long ago. Cristina tries to convince him to go to San Sebastian but that would put us way behind schedule. I entertain myself shooting “creative” shots in the back:

We manage to find our campground and although the lake is much smaller now with the August heat, it is just as idyllic and proves to be a great spot to spend our last night of camping.

The other campers here in Spain drive funky vehicles. There are no posted rules or regulations. It’s nice.

Pristine grounds, with only a couple other campers sharing the site:

The drive back to Barcelona is uneventful. We learned from our first camping trip to clean the campervan up while in the campground, so we’re not stuck doing that on the spot when we turn it in.

I know I should do a better job with the narrative on these camping in France blogs, and maybe in the future I’ll revisit them and flush it out. But for now these photos will have to do. Although all this happened in August, I’m only getting around to posting now, which explains the perfunctory narrative.

I doubt we’ll be going on many more campervan excursions, as they are extremely exhausting for Mark, the driver. Quixote and I were smart to just hang out in back, even though I missed a lot of the passing countryside.

Au revoir!