Well day 29 and a monumentous day… Fraser ditched the stabilisers! Go Fraser!

After last nights change of plan and a really early bed for Fraser we expected an early morning…. Which we didn’t get. 10am saw us all still laying in our beds! Oops…. As stew reminded me we were eating breakfast at 11:30, after I cycled to the shops for the pastries ( and what a delicious selection we had too!) it was really obvious that Fraser was really under the weather. He was restless in the night, a snot box and had a raging temperature. We dosed him up and I stayed back whist stew and penny went for a 20km bike ride though the forest cycle paths. I did the washing and read my book! These things need to be done. Throughout the morning ( well afternoon but it felt like morning) Fraser kept trying to stay chipper and go out for a little scoot around the camp site on his bike and en coming back and laying his head down. Poor scamp! When stew and Penny got back he was feeling much better and decided it was time for the stabilisers to go!

2 passes of the field and he was off! Still lacking confidence but certainly having the ability now! So proud of him!

We had a cycle to the lake and a wonderful paddle on the lake, stew and I floated in the water whilst the kids made sandcastles and just had a great time. We really felt like we were on holiday.

Back for a shower and then the main event! Every year we have to make a pilgrimage to our favourite restaurant… In the world. It’s by the lake and you sit on plastic chairs and simply enjoy wonderful food. The children behaved wonderfully, engaged in great conversation and were really entertaining….. I couldn’t be happier right now…. The children are settled and I’m off to have a wine with my lovely husband! Night all!

Well…. Last night we had a really late night, so today we woke up at 10am, and I’m sure that that was only because we were too hot.

We went to the toro piscine…. Which I think means bull in the swimming pool! I’d been to a bull fight years ago down here, but this was nothing like it! Basically there was an arena, bulls, and then a load of 20 something lads who took part in all sorts of silly games whilst trying to avoid getting got by a bull. There was also a donkey derby and a children’s race. It was one of those things that had to be seen to be believed and would never be legal in the uk. I must also add that there was no killing of bulls just playing with them, and they seemed to very well know the score. It ended really late, and the children were a happy mixture between exhausted and excited…. Not a peep was heard from them until the morning!

When we eventually did Get up, we had breakfast, then chilled for a bit whilst the children played at the park with their new friends. Then we readied and headed off on the bikes to the beach. Here there is one huge long sandy beach, with powerful waves and hundreds of extremely talented surfers. We went to one of the beaches and went in the sea for a paddle. We all had great fun paddling in the waves, but as Uncle Stew learnt a few years ago, the power of the waves and the rip is incredible so, and the lifeguards know the water. Once the conditions changed and the blue flag changed to amber we decided the time was rut to head towards the lake. The lake is tidal and just around the corner, and so we could play happily in the sea without the throng current. Penny and Fraser are both now so confident in the sea they didn’t understand quite how dangerous the sea could be.

After an ice cream we headed back to camp, planning on having an hours rest before heading out to dinner. Unfortunately the children were just too tired to go out and we changed plans. Penny made some new friends and Fraser fell asleep really early. We’ve had a really relaxing day, and I’ve got a link nose!

I’m doing the post early today as we are planning on taking the children to the “toro piscine” which is kind of like a bull fight, only they chase the bull in and out of a paddling pool from what I can make out…. No killing involved! It’s really late so I might only have chance to pop a few pics on when I I get home.

This morning it rained…. Only for about 30 mins but it rained really hard… So we all just stayed in bed. I read, stew snoozed and penny and Fraser played some game involving each of the having an American accent. By the time we got up and I collected the pastries and bread, it was getting on and I needed to pop out to the shops.

I headed to the supermarket, and hit a huge queue…. I don’t know why, but it took an hour to do 15 minute trip, so I turned on the radio and waved….. You have to do a lot of waving in freckle! There was also a moment when for a split second I believed I was being smiled at by 2 of the most beautiful young men…. They honestly looked like models, but then I realised that the lady they were eyeing up was freckle! Never mind. Stocked up I returned to camp, where I started the busy job of package removal… As we have the smallest fridge in the world, I have to take literally everything out of the packaging and put it all in plastic bags to get maximum space! It’s quite an art!

A lunch of cheese and bread (what a surprise) and then we had a quick game of pentaque. I picked up a beach set at the supermarket and the kids love it!

As tonight is a late one the kids have been for a sleep this afternoon, and stew and I sat in the sun with our books, and a few tunes playing in the background… With the children now awake, stews just poured me a wine and we are considering lighting the bbq.

More on the bulls later!

Good evening from the sunny and hot south of France!

Another fab day of holiday fun today. After a slow ish start, 3 coffees before some pastry, we eventually got going. Last night was a really wonderful evening with a lot of laughs and fun, little sleep and lost rucksack!

My vivid dream of being woken up in the middle of the night and evicted, turned out to be just a dream and we managed to avoid the. €148 they wanted us to pay for a 2 night stay, in a postage stamp sized pitch. I think the key is to book early for this great view, access to a wonderful beach with spectacular views. But don’t expect a quiet night or nice showers!! The food and company was second to none though.

We headed to he pool and really enjoyed playing I the water with all the children, and Steffan’s underwater camera made an appearance!

Lunch in the bar was delicious, with huge pizzas to share washed down with a beer, too. Regretted shortly after as the time came to once again climb the “snow mountain” sand dune but this time with the children. Once we started climbing it was apparent why people were going up first thing! The sand was burning hot and the children soon began to flag… That was until penny make it high enough to run down and feel how fun it was! Soon there was a family descent, such fun!!

We left and headed to our most southerly destination…. Messanges…. The road was clear, the sun was shining and the tunes were pumping in Freckle! Before long we were setup with the bikes off and ready for a ride into town for an icecream.

Home for bed, 4 tired scamps after a busy day…. Tomorrow we need to buy food and find the beach…. This really is the life! We know we really are lucky to have this wonderful experience! Cheers everyone!

What have you done today to make you feel proud? Well heather… Today I’ve climbed Europe’s highest sand dune! But more on that later….

This morning we woke after having to head to bed early due to 6 drops of rain! We packed hastily, managing even to shower and be off by 10:30. Leaving behind the beautiful fields of vines to see the sea again.

We weren’t entirely sure where we were going to end up sleeping due to over priced campsites and apparently today being black Saturday, with everyone in the whole of France being on holiday. But currently we are squatting on Gemma and Steffans pitch in a very full but fantastically located… Not making eye contact with anyone official looking.

We celebrated our arrival with a beer or two and some lunch (bread and cheese obviously) before Gemma, Andy and I set off for the top of the dune. The campsite is at the base of the dune, with some pitches precariously close to the bottom. The view from the top was was amazing and with the sweat and showing my bottom to all at the bottom…. It was worth it, especially to get to the coming down bit.

We returned from our quest to a happy crew ready for the track to the beach…. And it was completely picturesque…. Photos to follow

An entertaining evening is underway, with hilarious Germans parking vans, bites upon bottoms and lots of giggles, friends and yummy oysters…. Until tomorrow when reception is better…. Bon nuit

This morning we planned to get up early and get out to make it to montilivet, so I could go for some oysters. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go since being pregnant with penny. We visited shortly after I found out I was expecting her and as I wasn’t in a position to eat oysters or drink wine. I thought today was going to be the day! Unfortunately due to some excessive port consumption, cheese eating and putting the world to rights, I was slightly slower than anticipated…. As was my cheese eating Partner in crime Ella!

I did a quick load of washing as we were running out of pants again. And we were ready for the off. As we approached the market it started getting really busy and touristy. The market was certainly big, possibly 10 times larger than the last time we visited. We went through and went to the beach…. At this point I don’t know why we carried on walking, but we did, and the kids played on the beach,then we messed about buying chips for the children and non oyster eaters and by e time we got back to they oyster stall… It was blinking shut! I thought I did really well not to have a paddy!

We left the market and headed back to the campsite, on a scenic route. And headed back towards the camp. We passed the invisible circus…. Which all the posters told us was in st Laurent the day before but try as we may to find it we were unable to track it down.

Stew and I popped to the supermarket and left the kids for a short time with the palmers so we were all stocked up for a couple of days. They headed over to pool and stew joined them whilst I had a glass of wine and sorted the washing. The palmers then had to head off and we popped out for a bite to eat. An early is bed time tonight, following a bit of story, and daddy rejigging the trailer to ensure maximum space for wine on our return.

We’re not quite sure what tomorrow will bring… Poor Archie is still broken and we were hoping to catch up with the Hargreaves… We shall see where we end up! We have sat this evening wondering if we continue to push on south as we are having such fun in the sun here… But I think we will!

I’m really tired out this evening so I think I might be in my bed shortly! Night all!

Evening readers!

Another bright, cloudless day in this beautiful wine region for our happy team of campers. Late start for the scamps, 9 o clock before waking up, very happy mummy and daddy! We got the children up when we went to bed last night to see the stars, they are amazing here. Penny got up and looked up and said “wow, they are beautiful” this morning she said, “why did you not get us up to see the stars? You PROMISED!” Obviously she forgot as we sat outside with them for 20 mins with a G&T!! Lucky us, saw the second shooting star of the trip together.

Penny got a new tooth brush after her visit to the doctor yesterday and it has a sucker on the end, she used it to stick it to Freckle’s roof and clean her teeth no handed! This was well needed as she had stolen the marshmallows yesterday. Fraser joined in to the telling off of P only for us to find out he had received the stolen goods, but was adamant he wasn’t part of the theft!

A lovely swim in the pool was followed by a game of hide and seek with walkie talkies whilst the adults chilled with a coffee and sneaky croissant – after Stew had been out for a ride to the local town to finally track down an open shop, it was a bank holiday here today and everywhere was closed.

I was on edge all day today, my brother sent a text to say my sister in law was in labour! After what seemed like an age and reacting like a cat on a hot tin roof to all text messages, John phoned! I am the proud auntie to baby James William! Well done Sam and John, we were all really thrilled by the arrival of baby Townend.

The afternoon was wine tasting afternoon. We got all sorted and cycled out to the green countryside to find a cool Chateau to let us taste their produce. He wrong could we be……despite the many Chateaus, none were open, due to the bank holiday! We settled for a long bike ride though the beautiful countryside, to a town on the Gironde coast, possibly the most ugly town in France! It was hot hot hot, so we stopped for a drink in a funny little place. Stew’s granny Wallace served us with drinks!!!!

On return from our 17.5 mile cycle we all dipped in the pool for the second swim of the day.

Story time and an illegal bbq followed before finding our hilarious talents over some cheese and port.

Well hello there blog readers. Today’s report contains pizza, doctors, bikes and pharmacies…. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin….. With how we began, a bowl of porridge… I the sunshine.

We couldn’t really get ourselves going at any kind of speed this morning, particularly as it involved penny needing to have her hair brushed so she looked “cute”…. I’m sure it’s nothing at all to do with a certain new friend Tom who she has taken rather a shine to.

The kids had hot chocolate with marshmallows after breakfast whilst we enjoyed a coffee and a relax in the sun for a few mins.

We got ready to go for a bike ride into saint Laurent, through the vin yards and onto the tiny but immaculate town. We needed to go into town so that stew could buy some swimming trunks ( budgie smugglers are required over here) so he didn’t need to wear my swimming costume again! (His wedding tackle fell out yesterday when he jumped in)… We also needed to get penny seen by someone as she had what appeared to be an abscess on her gum. The pharmacist couldn’t help us which meant we needed to find the doctor. Whist we assessed our options over doctors we stopped into the square for a pizza and a glass of wine…it was proper French lunch time with the children pottering around the church, and us enjoying the sunshine and some great food.

After lunch we headed to the medical centre and were whisked straight through to see a really nice dr, who prescribed some antibiotics and ibuprofen. The strange things is its all done on weight so we have a syringe marked with weight so we correctly dose her for the both drugs. Another minor disaster dealt with quickly and efficiently.

We headed back, with penny clutching her new toothbrush as a prize for her bravery, in time for a cuppa and a slice of cake before the children headed off to the pool for much fun on the slides.

All in all a relaxing day…. Hopefully we might get to visit a vin yard tomorrow, but as its a bank holiday here.

So we planned this morning to be up and out this morning and get the 10:30 ferry to Blaye. It didn’t quite go to plan as stew started the day with a tactical chunder following a dodgy sausage last night. Things started a little slower than planned!

The children started with a swim in the pool, once again to themselves whilst i read another 3 pages of my book. The final packing done off we drove…. With the roof up. The first tree we hit we remembered, the roof was up. Oops.

We left and hit the supermarkets to stock up before racing to make the half 1 ferry…. Nearly leaving stew behind as he was at the bank.

The ferry was a funny affair, all passengers had to get out and walk into the ferry. It took about 30 mins to cross the murky river, and then we were in the land of wine. I can’t describe to you the view as I was driving. Clearly the area is very affluent, with newly laid roads and immensely manicured vine yards and the most beautiful buildings and chateaus dotted around. It was breath taking… And pictures really couldn’t have done this justice.

We arrived at our new campsite and met up with some of stews friends. It was hot! We set up the vans and hit the pool, which had slides! Great news… Now we are chilling, frasers soundo and penny is watching a file with her new friend!

Today started in wonderful unbroken sunshine beaming through the trees above our pitch. Silly us didn’t order bread yesterday, so Stew was sent to the local village on his bike to get bread. The instructions were a right turn out of the site and right at the end of the road. Half an hour later in rolled a sweaty husband having taken a wrong turning and an impromptu tour of the French countryside! Meanwhile I enjoyed my coffee, then stews!

After breakfast of bread (of course) croissant and pain au chocolat, Stew took the small ones to the pool. They stayed there all morning and loved it! I was a domestic goddess and did the washing before joining team Adamson at the pool.

After the daily bread and cheese lunch we made a little cinema in the back of the van and streamed a Harry Potter film – Goblet of Fire. It was really dark in there and we put the iPad through the speakers so loud too. Stew joined the smalls, I cleared up and then downloaded a new book…. A book, an actual book! I even read 4 pages!

Next stop of the day was the supermarket for some butter……for the bread and some local wine! Stew had seen a sign saying a supermarket was in the opposite direction to the closest town, five mins away. Well, it wasn’t five mins on a bike I can tell you! It was about 4km away and the whole way was uphill! It is a pity that the children’s jaw energy can’t be turned into pedal power as the pair of them chatted their way up the hill on the tag alongs whilst Stew and I arrived in a sweaty mess! It was quite a hill and in the distance we could see Bordeaux.

Off to les lacs for a bit of bouncy castle fun and a play in the park. The girls won the race home! Daddy then cooked tea on the communal bbq whilst I went to get some frites from the camp kitchen. A couple of chapters of “Gangsta Granny” and P and F went straight off to sleep leaving Mummy and Daddy time to drink some local red and pack the bikes away for tomorrow’s adventure of moving across the Gironde to the Medoc wine region…..mmmmmmm!

Oh and a message from stew to our Aussie followers…. Retaining the ashes was not good enough! LOSERS!