Overnight the campsite experienced what can only be described as a deluge.
Sleep was difficult as the rain hammered on the van. Miraculously for it’s age, the van remained almost watertight.
Not the awning though.
It’s now 17:28 Central European time and am on board the Eurostar, destination London.
Accommodation was the 5 star caravan, chez Monsieur Bell. The caravan is vintage 1995 and doesn’t look a day over 25 years old. The good news is that a newer model will surely be available for next year before chez Bell becomes a mass of tangled plywood on a French autoroute…
Friday was a beautiful day on the south west shores of France and a very relaxing day was followed by a cycle ride early evening to the harbour at Guethray. A couple of beers overlooking the bay and then back to Tamaris Plage and a fine fish bbq.
Saturday and the nice weather had departed leaving a somewhat grey and cooler day. The copious amounts of rain forecast fortunately didn’t appear and we were able to cycle to St Jean de Luz in the afternoon and a fine dinner at a basque restaurant in the evening.
Sunday we walked to Guethray and then caught the RER train to Hendaye and then the Metro to San Sebastian. A good and fortuitous decision not to drive as a major wine festival was in full flow. Luch was a beer and tapas at a local hostelry.
Evening dinner was at the local pizza restaurant.
15:43. Just arriving in Bordeaux. Just one section of the journey left now down to Biarritz.
There’s a small question mark over the inclusion of this trip in the Caravan Ramblings blog. After all this is a rambling to stay a few days in someone elses caravan – still it should provide some context to our own travels and experiences.
The day began long before dawn and a wake up call at 4:25. The Eurostar departure was at 07:55 and this meant catching just about the first fast train out of Reading into London Paddington. The drive from North Hampshire to Reading station took exactly 30 minutes as did the train journey into Paddington.
Another 30 minutes to cross London to St Pancras International meant a comfortable one hour to check in at the Eurostar terminal. The Eurostar departed per schedule and it’s now 08:36 and we are somewhere under the English Channel.
We travelled for much of the route at 300km per hour. Wonder if the TGV will be much faster.
Still with only an hour to cross Paris to Gare de Montparnasse everything needs to go according to plan.
Arrival in Paris was just two minutes behind schedule but the Metro ride to Gard de Montparnasse only took around 20 minutes. Am now waiting for my TGV to depart for Biarritz. Hope I’m in the right part of the train because it splits somewhere with half going to Toulouse.
It took 2.5 hours from waking to leaving the Black Knowl site which was just about as expected. The journey home was un-eventful and took around 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The caravan has been emptied and cleaned inside so tomorrow it needs a good wash and then it’s being put to bed for the winter.
We also spent some time cataloguing where everything is being stored so hopefully the first outing next year should be fairly organised.
CaravanRamblings signing-off for 2015… 🙁
We leave Black Knowl tomorrow so took full advantage of the nice weather to dismantle the awning and prepare for home.
We visited Lyndhurst in the afternoon and then hiked some 5 miles in a circular route from the campsite, passing nearby Aldridge Hill camping ground. We wonder whether to try that kind of “off grid” camping another year; no electric hook-up or toilet block there…
Today we cycled south from Black Knowl on a 16 mile circular route, much of which was off road. Part of the route was closed off as the horses are being rounded-up by their owners (all the animals in the Forest aren’t perhaps as “wild” as one might imagine).
Lunch was at the Rising Sun in Bashley. Moe and Sue’s desert perhaps also not so authentic.
A fine day with the weather staying dry for much of the time. In fact a nice BBQ in the evening although the temperatures are dropping substantially as summer draws to a close.
It was another very wet night overnight and the rain didn’t ease off until just after lunch. Moe and Sue spent the afternoon at the Beaulieu Motor museum (on the day Lord Montagnu passed away) whilst I embarked on a rather soggy 8 mile cycle ride through the forest.
I did however stumble across a herd of deer and whilst I managed to take lots of pictures, sadly most of them were out of focus. This was definitely one of those occasions where a proper camera would have been really appreciated. I just don’t think the phone knew precisely what to focus on.
The heavy overnight rain very much in evidence again.
Still, the weather forecast looks a little better for the next couple of days…
Another grey and overcast day for the bank holiday weekend. There may be a nice day or two sometime next week. Ever hopeful.
Moe and Sue spent the morning trekking around the New Forest on horseback.
In the afternoon we walked 5 miles on a circular trail from Brockenhurst.
A tougher ride today. The trip to the “Drift Inn” for lunch was around an 8 mile cycle ride from Black Knowl and predominantly uphill through the Forest tracks and trails.
There seems to be a bigger variety of animals roaming the Forest this year and more in numbers too. The traditional New Forest ponies, donkeys, Shetland ponies and Highland Cattle.
Timing of our arrival at the “Drift Inn” was not ideal as a coach load of seniors had just arrived 2 minutes earlier. Initial service was a nightmare as they ordered their pint glasses of tap water and then proceeded to eat their pre-packaged sandwiches in the garden…
We caught the train from Beaulieu road back to Brockenhurst and then cycled back to the campsite.
The weather stayed fine and dry for the duration of the trip but the rain started just as we arrived back on site. It’s now early evening and it’s still raining posing a question mark over tonight’s BBQ.