We are in Evora, our last stop in Portugal – heading to Seville in Spain tomorrow. 

 Spent 2 days camping in Lisboa (Lisbon) – 1 day exploring Lisbon itself and 1 day in Sintra which is in the hills above Lisbon, 40 minutes by train.  Quite picturesque with huge gardens filled with established trees and a surreal mixture of history and fantasy with extravagant villas and palaces. We visited the Pena Palace which was built in the 1800’s and looks like a miss-matched fairy-tale castle.  It was built on the site of an old monastery and was dressed beautifully inside.  Next we trooped down the hill (very thankful that we’d spent the Euros bussing to the top) and explored the Moorish castle – a military fort dating back to the 8^th century.  Lots of very steep stairs – Good workout to combat all the cheap red wine that we keep consuming.  Spectacular views – you could see the enemy coming for miles.  Wouldn’t pass “osh’ in NZ though.

Today we cycled into Evora and went to the “Capela Dos Ossos (chapel of bones) They used over 5000 bones and skulls to build the walls and they represent that life is fleeting.  The saying over the door translates to ‘We that are here, await yours’. 

Very hot today not that we are complaining.

Saturday 26^th May

Started the day with a trip on our bikes to the local market to stock up on fruit and vege.  Put the boys in charge of buying bread.  Ever adventurous they bought what they thought was a date something or rather but when we cut into it we found that it was a bread with sardines in it – yummy!  Have been experimenting with Portuguese pasties BUT they seem to all be filled with the same yellow custard like substance.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the town of Tomar.  The highlight was visiting the Knight’s Templar castle – a massive complex.  Although much of it has been destroyed, the basic structure still remains. A rabbit warren of rooms covering 3 floors.  The highlight was the charola (church) which has been lovingly restored to its former glory with vibrant paintings and an ornate gilded altarpiece.  We of course bought some Templar wine to sample with our bbq dinner.

 Sunday 27^th May

Bikes out again and we cycled to a local village to experience the Tabuleiros (tray) Festival.  We’d been warned it was ‘hilly’ but turned out to be more like riding up the Bombays.  Thank goodness for gears. Kept thinking this will work the wine and nibbles off my rear!  Well worth the effort.  We arrived in plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere of the buildup.  The ladies carry these massive reed towers decorated with bread and flowers on their heads, accompanied by a male partner (in case it gets too heavy), a band and flag bearers.  Very colourful and festive.   On the return trip we visited a huge roman aqueduct.  Tonight we are eating out at a local restaurant an English couple who live in the village recommended to us.  The Portuguese are very pleasant to deal with and many have enough basic English to communicate.  The camping and food is cheaper than Spain and the showers better than France.    

We spent the morning in Coimbra.  Visited the ‘Fado’ centre and the university which is the 3^rd oldest in Europe occupying the site of the 1^st royal palace of Portugal.  Has a very ornate library, chapel and old throne room which is now used for important academic ceremonies.  We are now in Tomar – and plan to visit historic sites in the area and the city of Fatima in the next couple of days. 

                        View of Porto from Taylors Terrace

                              Guggenheim Museum Bilboa

Thursday 24^th May

Blue skies and sunshine at last! Tuesday we drove to Porto.  Very scenic crossing from Spain to Portugal.  The countryside was very steep, green and cultivated – often terraced a bit like parts of Asia is.  Lots of pretty villages more like France.  The hillsides were dotted with cream houses with terracotta roofs – a contrast to Northern Spain’s brightly painted, gaudy colour schemes and huge apartment complexes.  Porto (Oporto) is a large city but very attractive.  We biked around the foreshore where the Atlantic rolled in onto the golden sand and treated ourselves to Gelatos.

Wednesday we bussed into Porto and spent a lovely day exploring the city.  The highlight was visiting the Taylors Port Caves where we took an excellent tour then sampled 3 different types of port on their terrace overlooking the city.

Today we visited our first Portuguese supermarket and stocked up.  The boys are barbequing a split chicken tonight which we bought for about $5. We have driven to a camp ground just out of Coimbra and plan to go in to the city tomorrow morning.

Monday 21^st May

We have been working our way along the coast line of Northern Spain.  Very steep, lush countryside with the most amazing viaducts – a huge engineering feat.  The view of the coastline with its golden sandy beaches was beautiful.  The weather continues to be cool only reaching a high of 13 or 14 degrees if we are lucky – often sitting around 12 degrees.  We have had rain but fortunately it has not stopped us doing anything.  Mostly it’s just been overcast. 

In Bilboa we visited the Guggenheim Museum an architecturally spectacular building – all stainless steel tubing.  Some of the exhibitions were a bit weird though!  From there we drove to Lugo, a Roman Wall World Heritage Site.  The city was founded in 15 BC century and the wall built in the 4^th century. So very old.  Very quaint building within its wall – a contrast with all the huge apartment blocks outside and throughout Spain.  Today we are in Allariz a cute village which we have explored with our bikes.  It has preserved its medieval layout and is lovely.  Tomorrow we move on to Portugal. And will re-enter Spain in the south. The Spanish people have been very friendly and helpful though we are struggling a bit with the language as unlike French we do not recognise many words.  Now we have to get the phrase book out again and try Portuguese!  All part of the adventure!   

Friday 17^th May

Hola from Spain! Spent Thursday exploring Biarritz by bike.  Today we drove to San Sabastian and are staying high in the hills above the town.  We negotiated the steep incline back to town by bike and spent the rest of the day cycling around, eating tapas (the basque word is pintxos) and drinking sangria.  Fortunately we were able to catch the bus - with our bikes, back to our camp site or it would have been a long walk back to pushing them- the road’s THAT steep!  

Had crepes at dune de pyla camp, windy and cool, but ok behind the glass. Watched the sunset over the atlantic. The crepes were great. We are happy because we are picking up van tomorrow.

                                        View of the saint Emilion from the bell tower

                                                     Bordeaux City fountain

                                 These ornate mary-go-rounds are in many towns

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Well we have criss-crossed Bordeaux as we waited for our van to be repaired.  Saturday we headed to Saint Emilion, a medieval village in the heart of Bordeaux wine growing area. (Our new favourite place in France).  It is a world heritage site. We stayed in a ‘Yelloh’ camp in a 2 bedroom chalet.  Well equipped with a heated pool which Michelle and I paddled in (no togs – dam!) and a reasonable cost.  We spent the weekend happily exploring the village’s cobbled streets, sampling a variety of macaroons, and sightseeing in our rented car all around the jurisdiction (local area) of Saint Emillion.  We also did a tour of the underground church and the catacombs, climbed the Monolitic church bell towers 196 steps for a panoramic view of the local area, purchased goodies at a local market and did a wine tour of Chateaux Cardinal Villemarine cellars carved out of solid rock – complete with a wine tasting.  Of course we purchased and consumed local wine.

Monday we returned to Bordeaux city retrieved our bikes and spent the day cycling around the city.  As the van was still not ready we launched plan B and headed in the opposite direction out to the coast and another ‘yelloh’ camp this time near Arcachon.  Our highlight today was visiting the ‘Grand Dune du Pyla’ the highest sand dune in Europe.  We took silly videos of us running very slowly (we are all old people who are afraid of injuries) down the dune.  The view from the top was spectacular but it was very windy.

Great news – our van has been repaired and we will pick it up tomorrow and head down to Spain on Thursday. 

Saturday 12th 8am

Les miserable! Disaster has struck!  Friday stareted well with fine weather as we headed off towards the wine growing region.  We stopped the the supermarket for a wee stock up.  We left Nick in the van and happily trolled the shelves trying to decipher the writing on various products - always fun.  As Greg tried to control Michelle and I as we shot off in different directions, Nick waiting patiently decided to start the van only to find our little machine was being unco-operative.  Luck was with us - Spotting a mechanic across the road he managed to explain the problem and they came across for a look.  No joy!  The shoppers returned to be met with the news.  Greg and Nick fiddled and poked around - even used the manual but only succeeded in spilling deisel across the car park.  Michelle and I set off in search of help in the form of some sort of information centre but it was mid day and many shops close until 2pm.  Our second piece of luck - we spotted a Ford sign along with what turned out to be a lovely french man who after we explained the situation sheperded us towards his car and drove us back to rescue the boys. He too poked around then drove off returning with a mechanic and a machine to test the battery.  More poking around but to no avail.  In broken french he told the boys to come to the dealership at 2pm and he would ring for a tranporter. After lunch we did this and burley Christoff the transporter man arrived.  Now the truck only had space in the cab for 2 so Michelle and I were told to hide in the camper and we were winched on - a bit of a unnerving experience!  As we lurched from side to sde Michelle and i told ourselves "it's all part of the adventure".  Nick and Greg were concerned the camper would fly off with us inside if a low bridge didn't collect us first.  however, we arrived at the Ford centre in Bordeaux and after some skillful manoevering on Christoffs part arrived at the garage.  100 Euroes lighter Christoff departed.  The next 2 hour various mechanics again poked and prodded, used various computers but to no avail. Friday 5pm in France we needed a new plan. One of the mechanics drove Nick to collect a hire car the guided him all the way back.  We frantically threw gear and food into the car as they needed to shut up shop, set the alarms and return home.  Off we set through rush hour traffic back to our last camp groung to stay in a chalrt there.  Here our luck ran out.  All booked up.  We were directed to local hotels and after 5 attempts eventually found a vacancy.  off to the supermaket to purchase a portable BBQ then to the local park for a cook up kiwi style to use up some of our meat.  What a day.  Everyone stayed in good spirits despite our bad luck.  We have meet nothing but kindness as everyone has tried to help us.

Thursday 10th

The fine weather has returned.  We spent a pleasant day on Wednesday in the city of Bordeaux visiting all the tourist sights and just wandering aimlessly. For such a big city it was clean and they have retained all the old buiding in the centre.  Michelle visited the dentist and has had her tooth 'glued' on and can smile again.  We had a beer at cafe and people watched. (6 Euros)

Today is an RW day- rest and catch up on the washing.  Extremely hot though we are not complaining.  Managed to take the bikes out on their first outing and ride locally - though I'd have to say I almost melted.  Michelle at the dentist having the prep work done for her tooth being repaired.  Later we are heading into the city to sample the local cuisine.

             You know you are in a castle when you pass these!

                                        Fine weather at last! Nick at Chenonceau

                                      Michelle, Greg and Sue at Dover Castle all rugged up

Wed 9th Bordeaux city

Fine weather at last and much warmer though Michelle and I still needed coats. Yesterday we visited Chateau Cherverny located near Bois which is lived in by the current owners. We had a superb self guided pamphlet to guide us which included random interesting facts such as people in the 16th century slept sitting up as the lying flat position was reserved for the dead!  Each room  was beautifully dressed.  Greg and I took many photos of beds - not sure was freud would say about that!  But they were so amazing. Another thing we are all in awe of are the massive tapestries which decorate the walls.  An army of skilled workers must have spent months ot even years creating these master pieces.  There was also a kitchen garden and kennels housing over 100 french hunting hounds.

In the afternoon we toured Chenonceau Chateau.  Built in the 16th century it spans the river Cher and has 2 magnificant french style formal gardens.  During WWII one side was in the occupied zone and the other side was in Vishy France.  The Resistance was able to use the south door to pass a large number of people into the fee zone.

Thurday.  Raining on and off all day.  Today we spent the day travelled to Bordeaux. The scenery has finally changed fron canola and barley to grape vines.  Of course we ate more pastries - after all there was not a much else to do.  Tomorrow we plan to visit the city centre. Michelle also has a dental appointment to see what can be done about her broken tooth.  That will be an adventure in itself - though definately one she could do without.  Hopefully the dentist will have some basic english that is better than our french!!!

cheverney

Camper now well set up.  Michelle and I enjoyed power shopping to set up our little home away from home.  The boys just rolled their eyes as we loaded all the 'essential' items into our trollies.  After a trial run in Wales we have headed to France  -crossing at Dover (after checking out Dover Castle).  We travelled down to Normandy and stopped at the fishing town of Dieppe.  We explored their Catherdral and wandered the streets salivating over all the delicious patiserrie and delicatesan items - all beautifully displayed.  From there we headed southeast travelling past fields of golden canola that seemed to shimmer- wedged between bright green barley with alien like wind farms dotting the horizon.  In Rouen and Orleans we visited spectacular gothic cathedrals and ate more patisseries. Today we visited our first Chateau - Chambord.  Built by Francis 1 as a hunting lodge - the builders obviously got carried away as it has 426 rooms and 282 fireplaces.  Francis reigned for 32 years but only spent 72 days at this chateaux.  Nice to have so many other homes to stay in.