Oleron Sainte-Marie

Time to move on today so we packed up and waved goodbye to our lovely, super friendly receptionist at Capbreton. Cannot recommend this site and town highly enough. But the decision had been made to skirt the french side of the Pyrenees before we decide whether to go down through or Italy .......... as we progressed on the road to Pau, the weather just got better and better - there is still a chill, but Homer Simpson cloud gradually gave way to clear blue skies. We are so taken with the landscape here -rolling hills and hedgerows, so more stock around, chickens, sheep, cows - a lot of fromage and yoghurt sales signs around as we drove. We followed the river most of the way criss crossing it as we followed the minor roads - another decision made as we have grown more confident with our map reading skills. I hasten to add we do have a sat nav which we do use occasionally - most of the time Al uses it to ensure we are accommodating the speed restrictions - we put the sound off so its the perfect companion. But I do love to read a map and it does make me feel useful and, more importantly, alert. Anyway this campsite is in the heart of the Pyrenees Bearnaises area.

I feel I want to share some my own personal observations of France two weeks in and I have to say I’m falling in love with it. You cannot help but compare home particularly when you shop but to me it is glaringly apparent some of things we have lost at home. For example, the freshness of the food here - it became obvious when I first arrived I was buying fruit etc for the week. When it started to go off the following day even in the fridge - you learn to shop the French way (yes, I’m on holiday so I have the time), shopping daily for your baguette (god, don’t start me of those little devils, one a day and demolished with fervour by us both). When you go into town, you visit the patissserie, then the boulongerie, then maybe pop in the dress shop or wherever, but what you really do notice is, the same lady you saw in the first shop, you see having a good old yarn (in french of course), with people in all the other shops. In other words, they seem to stop and smell the roses - a community in harmony, not in such a seeming rush. Now, I’m not into knocking what we have at home - but I do think we have lost something somehow. Our high street reflects what we demand of it, so we are bereft of the local Greengrocer, Butcher etc - it just brings it home to you sometimes, that not everyone still has their partner, not everyone still has their family close by and not everyone is gregarious and finds friends easily. By doing all our shopping in Supermarkets, we are losing the thriving community so many of us crave. So on this Valentines Day, I am hoping we can all spread the love and make someone’s day by stopping in the midst of our busy lives and along the way make someone feel happy and valued. And maybe, we can alter a shopping habits a little and, with those little changes by a lot of people, we can bring back a little of what we have lost.

Sorry, I digressed! So as we made our way around the lanes, towns and villages, we found a lovely campsite on the edge of a village called Oloron Sainte-Marie and after all I said about the rolling hills the area is as flat as a pancake! But Rising above it is the edge of the magnificent

Pyrenees. So beautiful it takes your breath away. A more expensive site around 17€ per night, but we are going to explore this area over the next few days. Alan is a huge fan of the Tour, so we shall see all the areas he has watched lovingly on the TV for a good many years,

Take care and nighty night.