Gaudi to Cervantes

Gaudi's supposed masterpiece la Sagrada Familia was to me repulsive in the literal sense of the word, I could not get away from there fast enough. I don't know what it was but to me it was like a 60s fantasy film set of Conan mixed up with worm cast architecture.
I came down to the plains of La Mancha and although I haven't seen any windmills to tilt at I can imagine the huge flat sameness of the landscape could induce hallucinations. There was one small hill at Chinchilla de Monte-Aragon that stood out above the plain so I had to climb up to the castle to look at the panorama from there and the surrounding medieval town was peaceful, such a change from the madness of Barcelona.
Today I am going to the museum in Albacete and a village in a gorge somewhere before meeting up with Ian and Monique this afternoon for a good ole catch up.

Showers but clearing later.

Two words of warning, don't put parking tickets between your lips they remove skin when you try to take them out and Barcelona is a huge city, do not try to go everywhere on foot. Why am I always so surprised that I am not enjoying myself in cities, every time I go to one, I always say never again.
Yesterday it was raining when I put the cases in the car and on the scenic journey from Perpignan to Salou it was raining off and on, I arrived at my basic hostal and before I had the chance to unload it was raining cats and dogs. During a pause in the showers I got the cases in and went for an exploratory walk and you guessed I was like a drowned rather I got back to my digs.
Salou is the same as it was 15 years ago maybe a few more shops and restaurants, this is in the Spanish part of the resort, I haven't been to the real tourist resort.
I had really good noodles last night at a Chinese restaurant on the main drag, had to go back tonight, they are not proper noodles more that flattened type of spaghetti.
I've been in touch with Ian and I am meet him and Monique on Saturday. Going down to Albacete tomorrow.

Getting warmer.

The temperature is rising but so is the humidity in fact it is wet so I am heading south. Today's trip around the southern cities of Beziers, Montpellier and Perpignan were not impressive, a little like my gite in Carcassonne shabby chic but more shabby than chic and as for Narbonne Plage even Blackpool is not that desolate in the winter.
I am staying in a cheap and cheerful hotel in Perpignan tonight, the staff are friendly and obviously Anglophiles I even give the waitress the benefit of the doubt, although she was 6' 2" with size 11 boots and no bum, the food was excellent but I do feel that service staff do have a certain view on us Brits. When I asked for a steak the waitress immediately asked me "how do you want it, well done?" She seemed mollified when I asked for it medium but of course the chef had heard all this so he just removed the horns and threw it on the plate, I have had  a more cooked bleu in other restaurants but I am not complaining it was tender and very good indeed.

Admin day.

Today was a lazy day, up late and just sitting in the sun reading, I am on my fourth book so far. I leave here tomorrow and after an exploration of Beziers and Montpellier along with any cute villages en route  I will stop the night in Perpignan before crossing the border into Spain on Wednesday, I haven't decided where the next stop will be yet.

The bad news is there will be no photos on the blog, my old laptop has given up the ghost so after I take all the photos of it when I get home it will be time to say goodbye.

Hurricane, earthquake or other disaster.

Things are going too well, last night I found that I can use Netflix here in France so it was a late night on the box sets. Today was wall to wall sunshine for my exploration of the Cathar castles and medieval villages and the picnic in Rennes-le-Chateau was bliss, no tourists and views of the distant Pyrenees. This evening I asked my host Johan where the nearest laundrette was, he showed me where his washing machine and drier were and even provided the detergent, he is getting a good write up on Trip Advisor. So what disarsters are around the corner?
I have got to find a way of putting photos on this blog, everything was hunky dory until I upgraded to Windows 10, I think this poor old laptop will be for the crusher when we get home.
I have heard from my cave dwelling friends Monique and Ian in Andalucia I will give them a call next week to see if they can fit me in, it would be great to catch up, we haven't seen each other since I gave them the tour of North Wales two years ago.
Note to Kay, Perlembacher is sold in Lidl France but they have changed the name to Perlembourg and give it a twist off cap but it still tastes good.

Catch up

Wednesday was cold wet and windy but I completed my round of the D-day beaches and also found time to visit Pegasus Bridge which for me put the top hat on the whole visit. The next best thing was when a falcon went into hover mode only 20 feet away from me, it split its time watching me and searching the ground but it was there for at least a minute, magic.

Thursday saw me heading down south, I enjoyed the non-motorway route and the unexpected lunchtime picnic with the temperature at 16 degrees was a real bonus for November. Thursday night was spent at Limoges Ibis hotel close to the train station - interesting offers are available from some local girls but the highlight for me was a meal at a Vietnamese restaurant strangely enough called the Saigon. The food was lovely but the staff ( a waitress the same age as me ) and the ambiance hailed back to the sixties. 
I am now staying in a quaint gite in Carcassonne for four days and the huge bonus is it is self catering so I am enjoying the local produce and saving money at the same time. Seriously although I do like French cuisine it it is both good and healthy to get back to basics, cheese, salad, olives etc plus lots of local vino. 
Today I walked over to the medieval city, it is magnificent but just another castle and walled town. I had thought I might feel a little something after all my reading and research but no, nothing grabbed me. The more interestsing thing was it was market day I bought baguettes, vegetables and wine but mostly people watched. tonight is chill out night.

A full day.

To keep you in the picture, when I say we on this trip it is just Magda and I. Marmalade couldn't be bothered with a second European road trip in twelve months and Harry cried off after she said no I get the impression he was worried about his reputation. 

I was in Bayeux cathedral before 9am this morning and the only other person there was the cleaning lady, it was it was quite spiritual and I value the experience. It is hard to grasp that this beautiful magic place was built nearly a thousand years ago and in less than 30 years without all the machines and expertise that we have today. Why is Gaudi's masterpiece taking so long and Liverpool's Anglican cathedral took nearly a hundred years to finish. I lit a Remembrance candle for Jan, I know she would have liked that.

My next stop was the Bayeux Tapestry, again I was early so I avoided the crowds. The entrance fee includes an audio guide which I think is there to hurry you through the tour as there is no way of pausing it but I just took my time. The tapestry itself I found to be quite naive in places and it obviously tells the tale from the Norman point of view but there were some parts of it that I certainly was not taught in school.

From there I went to the Bayeux Battle of Normandy Memorial Museum which is great for setting the scene and following through the 100 days after the invasion. The Bayeux British cemetery is next door and the 4000 graves there is a sobering experience.

The French have the right attitude, at lunchtime most businesses and all government buildings close for lunch (even the pay car parks are free from noon until 2pm) I ate my apple and went up to Utah beach one of the American landing beaches, after that I went to the other beach, Omaha. By then it was 6pm so time for a pint.

A friend recently told me that there is nothing less attractive than a skinny old man and after my recent weight loss I was beginning to fit that description but after two wonderful nights of plat du jour at my hotel I am in danger of becoming the skinny old man with a paunch. I have had the plat du jour at lunch time before and it has been good but not brilliant, in this hotel it is what French food is supposed to be, the tenderest beef I have ever tasted, fish that even I enjoyed and the steamed vegetables includes celeriac and chestnuts - amazing, I suppose that is why all the other restaurants in town are empty and this one is full of locals.

Moving on part 2.

Wow, nearly six months since I was last abroad and it shows, all my linguistic skills have gone out of the window, I was stuttering and stumbling through ordering  my meal tonight but to give the waiter his due as long as I was trying he stuck to French, when I ran out of words and was sitting there like a rabbit in the headlights then he spoke fluent English, he earned his tip.

I had a lovely weekend,  I saw everyone of my southernmost family and they are all looking good and sounding positive, what more could I ask for, thank you all for putting up with me.

I was early for the ferry so they put me on an earlier sailing, thank you P&O.  Ferries and probably cruise ships don't do it for me, I want to be hands on when I am on the water, I can't relax and read a book when some numpty is on the helm.

My road trip here was slow and sedate avoiding motorways (especially the toll kind) but it gave me an insight into fuel prices, basically away from the motorways they are the same price as at home. The olde worlde houses here are amazing and Bayeux is lovely but the outstanding building is the cathedral, hopefully I will get there tomorrow, I also plan to view the Bayeux tapestry and maybe some of the invasion beaches.

The come back moment happened when I saw the cathedrals of Rouen on the skyline, it could be a good starting point for a tour of Normandy and Brittany maybe in autumn next year. I will try for photos tomorrow, the nighttime shots did not work out.