Weekend in Arcachon

After a couple of days with Lizzie and family just outside Bordeaux we set off for a weekend camping with all the family and one extra (Lewis's friend Harry). Adults to sleep in the camping car and children in the very large tent. Hence not much sleep for any of us on Saturday night! However a good time was had by all.
We found a lovely campsite 'La Foret' next to the dunes of Pyla. The campsite had all amenities you could need including a very cold pool, and was set in lovely surroundings of pine forests. The pine cones were bigger than any I've seen before and the bird life was fantastic. We had swallows, martins, redstarts, sparrows and very small little rock sparrows that were very much like your ordinary sparrow but smaller, more distinct markings with a black stripe above each eye - had to look them up in my bird book and they're only found in southern France and Spain.
Main feature of the weekend was the dunes - they're enormous - around 100 metres high and stretch for 15 kilometres along the coast from the Arcachon basin. From the site there is a metal stairway going straight up the dune finishing about 20 foot from the top. The kids were up like lightening but it took me ages to climb up - a bit scary when you're about 300 steps up (there's 410 altogether), however I reached the top and the view is tremendous. We took a parachute type kite - which got into a real mess as the wind just wound it round and round and Josh took his small remote controlled plane which worked very well until the battery ran out. Altogether I managed the dune twice but avoided it Sunday as it was so hot - something like the Sahara at mid day - however the bar, restaurant was no mirage and we could take shelter in it! Eric and I stayed for Sunday night as well to have a bit of down time and relax in it's beauty (and also to have a very nice meal for two in the restaurant). Set off Monday morning back up to Dixme to do a bit of washing and clean the sand out of the camping car before heading North again.
Pics of campsite and the Dune

Overlooking the atlantic ocean - from the top looking over the other side of the dune - sand bank in the middle.

A bit like the poster - footprints in the sand in real life.

Had to stop four times on he way up - but made it!

Laura and Harry waiting for the call to let go. Its a parascending paradise as well - they just jump off and go up with the thermals

Family barbeque

Didier in charge - more smoke than fire

A very French Laura

I'll grab the first one!

How's this for doing homework

This is Thouars Chateau which is currently used as a student college - behind it there is another old building which houses the museum of the second world war. We visited it with mum as there was an expo on of the French resistance - all local women. Their stories were unforgettable - one woman was over 80 years old when she was caught by the Germans - they detained her for only three weeks and then let her go on grounds of being 'too old'. There's hope yet!

A little more

Mum wanted a bit of something for her lunch so asked for a ham sandwich and a few chips- result below

Ann and mum have gone back to the UK now so leaves just Eric and I - we've spent a couple more days in Dixme just chilling before coming down to Bordeaux - have added a couple more photos of us just getting ready to go out for a meal in Quinge (a new restaurant a few kilometres north) - it's a very small village -, the restaurant opened on the 2nd May but we'll definitely be going again. We had a four course meal with a litre of wine and coffee at the end followed by a brandy on the house. It cost us 16 euros each (around £14 per person).

We're now just outside Bordeaux - in the middle of the vine country - lots of little country lanes- so we've borrowed a couple of bikes from the kids and have done a little bit of exploring.

As we've still got an abundance of cherries - I'm cooking clarfoutti tonight (it's a bit of a cheat though as it's a packet from the supermarket) - recipe as follows:

Place freshcherriesin a buttered dish, mix one of the sachets (there are 2 in a pack) with half a litre of cold milk and whisk, pour over cherries and bake in oven on no.7 for about 40 mins. If it works - I'm bringing some back - can take orders!









At last I've managed to get onto the blog - internet access has been a major problem - anyway with patience -have eventually managed it through the French dongle - borrowed from Liz.
It feels like I'm in a different world not just over the channel - we set off about three weeks ago 'ish' stopping off in Boulogne sur Mer to meet up with my sister and mum. Stayed on the 'Aire de camping car' which was free! The next day travelled down to Broglie and camped for the night - another 'Aire' which cost 5 euros for four of us and then continuing down to Dixme- a joint home we have in the south of the Loire Valley, just below Thouars. The birds here are amazing - there are goldfinch, blackbirds, sparrows, cuckoos and woodpigeons just twittering all the time and breaking up the silence as there are no main roads around for miles (or kilometres).
We've been here a couple of weeks but spent a few days earlier this week touring the Loire Valley between Tours and Blois, staying on campsites (mainy for the facilities as there was four of us) in blissful peace and tranquility except for the birds and the frogs of an evening. We visited a few chateaux's and seem to have eaten and drunk far too much - but has been a fabulous few days.
We arrived back on Friday and gathered cherries from the garden - for lunch we had a little pate or cheese as a starter with a bit of baguette followed by crepes with home made cherry compote and icecream - it was 'heaven on earth'. We later made pots of cherry jam - the remainder we've left on the trees for the birds - they usually have them anyway as we're not usually here at this time of the  year.

Attached photos of Azay le Rideau chateau and cherries have put other photos on facebook