11. Jun, 2016

FRIDAY 10-06-16

Oh dear that was a noisy night. The Chef, though much better, still insists on giving me her impression of a farmyard pig, never mind, she's nearly over it. Added to that, and much more annoying was the noise from the group of young men down near the campsite entrance and pool. They didn't settle down until 01:00.  I was up showered and fed in time to have a word with them down at Reception when they opened at 09:00. The chap there apologised if they caused us a disturbance. It seems they are all firemen, currently participating in some kind of big fireman's rugby tournament, and they're staying in the luxury tents halfway up the campsite. He says they should be gone tomorrow morning. I do hope so, big ego's with big mouths and beer don't mix. Whilst there, a couple called in and picked up a fresh baguette, it seems they'll take orders and get them delivered, so I ordered a couple, which will take the pressure of us having to find some in the village or using up our stock of part-baked ones.

This morning we decided we needed some exercise and to get off the campsite. We were going to walk the claimed 1.2 kilometres in to the town of Manosque. We were in need of a fresh baguette and fresh milk, something not too easy to come by in France strange as it may seem. So armed with my backpack, a shopping bag folded up inside it, the pocket camera and my wee money, we set off down the road. It was already getting hot, still mustn't complain, it certainly beats the rain. The downhill walk was probably longer than claimed, taking us thirty minutes.

What a surprise it was, there was no clue as to what lay up the hill and around the corner. It was a lovely small town with an Old Town at the heart of it. Very touristy with lots of lovely shops. We found a boulangerie easily enough, one of many, The Chef also purchased a couple of bits of fresh salad before later on discovering much nicer produce in greengrocers shops. Never mind, like I tell her, 'You've got to work with what you've got'. Despite enquiring at the Tourist Office the purchase of fresh milk eluded us, not one mini supermarket anywhere in the town. The Chef was feeling the strain a bit, but buying a bottle of cold water helped to refresh her. We decided to call it a day and return to the campsite, trying to walk in the shade where possible.

Upon our return we were greeted by amplified music from the large patio area outside the Geriatric Nursing Home just further up the campsite from us and over the fence. The performers sounded like a female singer who couldn't sing, and a trumpet/saxophone player with arthritic fingers and a haired lip, supported by taped backing music. They fell in to a category between being slightly too good to be pelted with rotten fruit but too bad for a place on 'Britain's Got Talent', yup that bad. But I suppose the punters were not in a position to get up and walk out, they were pretty much a captive audience.

After both doing a bit of hand washing The Chef went for a lie down leaving me to have it as background noise whilst getting on with other bits and having a short nap in the sunshine. The performance, if you could call it that, finally ended about 16:00, no doubt leaving some of the old folk who endured it concluding that old age isn't necessarily a good thing.

Around about 17:00 the fireman returned, and after changing took themselves off down to the pool.

This evenings offering from The Chef was a good old fry-up with fresh crusty bread, but sadly no wine as I don't suppose it really goes with it. I had to settle for a cup of tea.

Surprisingly enough two things happened. Firstly the firemen disappeared from the campsite having first had a really good practice with a couple of trumpets, and then we had a spell of light rain. The rain meant that it was unlikely the firemen on their return would want to sit outside in the area which had been prepared for them with a large-screen TV and external speakers, so because they were off site we got some peace.

The evening ended with us watching three episodes of 'Only Fools & Horses'.

The booklet I picked up from Tourist Information says there is a market in Manosque town all day tomorrow, so I think we'll go down there and take a look at it - and try again to find some fresh milk.

11. Jun, 2016

11. Jun, 2016

11. Jun, 2016

10. Jun, 2016

THURSDAY 09-06-16

The wind got up during the night with quite strong gusts, but I suppose that is just a peculiarity of the weather around the mountains hereabouts. The Chef had a rough night, lots of cramps probably due to her salts being low after shaking off her cold.

The morning was blue skies, warm, with the birds twittering, truly lovely, and it was already clear that today would be another hot one. I ambled up to the shower block for a lovely hot shower, something you don't always get at campsites, warm, yes, but not always hot. Better still I had the block all to myself so didn't hurry to get out. The Chef wasn't going to bother with a shower first thing as we had decided to spend some time beside the swimming pool this morning and soak up some sunshine.

Rosina said she felt that Camping Provence Vallée, here in Manosque, was the most restful site we'd stayed at on this trip and I had to agree. As far as we are aware we are paying €13pn plus 80 cents tourists tax and that includes electricity and 30 minutes free Wi-Fi a night. It's great value and just the sort of campsite we like. Breakfast for me was yet more Weetabix, I'm trying to help The Chef eat up the load we bought with us, as they are difficult to come by over here. To me it's like chewing a straw brick but at least they're inoffensive.

Down to the swimming pool we went armed with sunscreen, reading matter and a beach towel. We had it all to ourselves from 10:00 when it opened until 12:00 when we thought we'd give up until later, as it was getting pretty hot. The day was to top 30°C.

When we got back to the motorhome I decided to walk up to the shower block and have a quick shower as I had briefly braved the pool to cool down a bit. So it was that simple, stood under the shower dressed in swimming trunks and flip-flops, turned the tap off and stepped out to dry naturally, just like a dog, though I didn't shake from side to side.

Then it was back to base to sit in my reclining chair in the sunshine to finish drying off. How nice it was to sit there in warm, wet, trunks knowing that it wasn't due to an 'accident'. Which reminds me - the day we went for a walk from Villenueve-Loubet to Cagnes-sur-Mer whilst at the seaside last week, I had the overwhelming desire to spend a penny. I have never been anywhere that made it almost impossible for people to do so unless they spend money in a bar or restaurant. We did come across automatic loo machines on the seafront which charged thirty cents to use them. We didn't have the right change, and so put in two twenty-cent coins, but no, it wasn't the right money, it kept both of the coins, refusing to give me either change or access. That's why we had to cut our walk short, with few photographs taken, though further down the road in a small public park, behind a medium sized tree, a large patch of weeds are now wilting. After that experience I now carry with me two twenty-cent coins and two ten-cent coins, for such eventualities in future. I refer to it as my 'wee money'.

Lunch was the remainder of the barbecued chicken fillets from last night. Had we known, we could have shared one between us, as there was so much meat on them. I squirted sweet and sour sauce over mine, delicious, washed down with a lager shandy.

This afternoon was a bit wasted, we never got down to the pool again, The Chef sat frying in the sun on our pitch then took herself indoors for a lie down.

This evenings meal was a ham salad, The Chef having hers with lots of salt because she had yet to increase her salt intake today, washed down with a drop of liquid grapes, just so that I can get in my five-a-day.

I tried to upload today's rubbish down at Reception using my free thirty-minute slot, but for some reason the system seems to think I've had it already and won't let me back on until midnight.

We then took ourselves down to the petanque pitch for a game of big boys marbles. It would be so nice to understand how the game is played properly, fortunately nobody passed by to stand and watch us thinking we knew what we were doing.

Over on the other side of the swimming pool is a seating area which had about thirty noisy young men sat drinking, and preparing a barbecue. I'm sure they're not camping on site, but are friends of the young couple who manage it.