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There were lots of families, children & well just loads of people in general – and I commented to Dave that it seemed strange to me – for a (albeit sunny) Wednesday afternoon in February – that it was SO busy…

We found our answer a little later on entering a bar on side street, when I made a new French (Ukraine mum & French dad) bessie and discovered that it was a French Bank Holiday !!!

The bar was fab – dollies of all kinds covered every wall & crevice and there were four REAL swings (balançoire – I like to learn a new word !!!) hanging from the ceiling as seats at the bar – so we sat on two of them (see photie below !!!).  

It wasn’t cheap – €10 for a large beer and €5 for a medium-sized vin blanc… but when this lady (Catty) sitting close by said “Sante” to me, we struck up a conversation.  She had no English so I practiced my (very rusty) A’Level French on her and Jerome (the barman) interjected now & again to clarify things…

Two drinks later plus the swapping of mobile numbers with Catty promising to come & visit us at Pink Beach (!!!) we had another little wander around the shops then decided to have dinner in the main square at Le Lion D’Or (The Golden Lion) and O M G it was amazing…

The final leg to St Malo was only an hour and a half (with no tolls !!!) and we had identified a lovely little aire “Les Ilots” which was right by the beach, a 5 minute walk to the village centre & with a bus into St Malo right outside.

We were there by midday, popped the kettle on, had a late brekky then caught the 1:15pm bus into St Malo old town.  We bought a little card with 2 adult returns – for the bargain price of 6 euros !!!  So €1.5 for a 37 minute journey – bargain !!!  It was gorgeously sunny and warm and we spent the afternoon strolling around the city walls then around the familiar streets popping into the odd tat-shop…

We went into Saint Vincent Cathedral and it’s the first time (this entire 6 weeks I think) where there were REAL candles to light (as opposed to “put in your euros and we will set going a cheap, nasty, orange flickering electric light in a candle holder”…)

There was also a full-on fun fair just in front of the harbour and (as we are now a couple of oldies) we both agreed that we felt ill just looking at some of the rides (Dave watched one particular ride intently convinced somebody would “up-chuck” at the end and was most disappointed when nobody did !!!)

So after all the kerfuffle with the Péages on Monday (and taking the much longer no-tolls route) Dave decided we’d suck it up and do the next leg via the quickest, most direct route – which we’d earmarked as an aire du camping car in Nozay – just north of Nantes (see map)…

So we came across the Péage, took a ticket & when we got off (many miles later) – the dirty, thieving French b@st@rds charged us €39 !!!

Anyway – new me – adopt a “Let It Go” attitude…

So the aire was next to a lake and there was only one other Motorhome in the whole place… Nothing of any consequence to report other than dinner, alcohol, music & a Rummikub marathon !!!

So – as ever – Dave was itching to get on the road – so we bid a fond farewell to Donostia-San Sebastian before 10am and initially popped Bordeaux into the SavNav.

We were only 25km from the border and crossed into France at 10:10am. We hadn’t been travelling for very long when we came to a Péage (toll booth) requesting €2.90, so I bibbed the contactless point with the credit card, the barrier went up and we continued on our way…

Not very long after this, we came to another Péage – I didn’t notice how much for – I just grabbed the credit card, bibbed the contactless point again, the barrier went up and off we went…

Seemingly in no time at all, we came to ANOTHER Péage this time requesting €6.90, so (chuntering a bit about the theiving, dirty French… 🤬) I bibbed the contactless point with the credit card AGAIN & the barrier went up, etc.

I kid you not – within a few kilometres we then came to a FOURTH damn Péage this time requesting €3.90, so (not having a lot of choice) I HAD to bib the contactless point with the credit card ONCE MORE & the barrier went up, etc.

And by this time we were only just past the little sign below on the first piccie of the map – where it says “3 hr, 18 min Tolls” so THAT WAS IT !!! 😡

I asked Google Maps how many more Péages were coming up before Bordeaux and there was another one imminently and another in about 40km (ish)… So Dave pulled off just before the next Péage as he said there had been a road running alongside the motorway the whole time we’d been travelling and we’d go on that instead…

It was slower (obviously) as the parallel road went through all these pretty little towns & villages and there were roundabouts, etc. but Dave said it was more interesting than the motorways…

Once in France, we noticed that the fuel seemed quite a lot more expensive (anything up to €2.18 a litre) so when we came upon a Super U fuel station at €1.70, we filled up and nipped into the hypermarket…

€250 later – between the fuel & the hypermarket… 😐 (where Dave bought ANOTHER 15 metre “Magic Hose” for €20 – like the €12 one from Benidorm market but he says this one actually IS 15 metres… blue job… whatever 😐)

Anyway – the point is – see how much we SAVED 💰 by NOT going on the Péage roads 😂😂😂

As we’re pretty much on the home stretch now – and past sightseeing – so we decided to press on a little further north of Bordeaux to a place called Mirambeau. When we were almost at our destination, Google Maps took us down this single track set of roads with ditches at the sides and blind bends and this bleedin’ juggernaut 🚛 came out of nowhere – legging it down the hill towards us and (very kindly) went onto the grass at the side in case we collided. I was already a nervous wreck telling Dave to “slow down” and “bend coming up” but the lorry incident just finished me off 😳

Anyway we arrived at an “aire” which used to be a campsite so it was really lovely – with grass & hedges & individual pitches – and water & electric included – for the bargain price of €8 for 24 hours – result !

It WAS about 4:30pm by then – and Dave was tired but he plugged in the leccy whilst I assembled fresh bread, butter, pate, cheese, crisps & pickles with a cup of tea & coffee.

THEN – as I now addicted & needed a “fix” as we hadn’t played for 2 days (!!!) – we popped on 🎵 da tunes 🎵, poured a couple of glasses of vino and got out the Rummikub !!!

3 games later and I was the winner of the match 🏆 🥳 !!!

Then Dave went to bed and I did the blog – everyone says to be happy you have to find your passion – well I’ve decided that Rummikub 1️⃣ and writing ✍️ are my passions and make me happy 😊

So AFTER Dave & I had attended Mass, we decided to get our steps up and walk up Monte Urgull (where the Jesus Sacred Heart statue looks over the city…). 

When we left the campsite before 11am (in the shade) it was “pretty fresh 🥶” so I put on layers (as I have learned to do this holiday) and I needed them as we cycled into town… But after Mass it was early afternoon – and WARM 🥵 – so quite soon – as we started our venture up the hillside – we were taking off our layers…

See the piccies below taken from viewpoints at various points on the journey – the one where I’m smiling in the red jumper – with the beach in background – I was BOILING 🥵 and wished I was in my bikini…

At the top was Jesus ✝️ (well his statue anyway) so I had a piccie taken with him 😊

AND (also at the top) there was a castle which housed a museum (which was supposedly OPEN) but which wasn’t – but luckily we weren’t that upset 😐.  There were a few original canons and Dave told me to straddle one “QUICK BEFORE SOMEBODY COMES” – which I did – but the photo after is one of the bars they would have put me behind if they had caught me !!! 😂 

Then we made the descent down into the “old town” and we were only going to get a coffee – and a tea for me –  in the sunshine 😎 but  everywhere was really busy so (especially as I needed a wee 🚾) we went inside a bar…  And it had pintxos – as most of the bars in Donostia-San Sebastian do… (and as had the previous few places we had visited – Burgos, Caseres, etc.). 

In my mind, I interchanged the word “Tapas” with “Pintxos” BUT…

Tapas is normally just a smaller sized portion of a main dish, served in a plate, which you eat with cutlery (and see previous piccies of meatballs, Russian salad, pigs’ cheeks, chorizo, etc.) whereas…

Pintxos is normally served on a piece of bread, served usually with a cocktail stick which you can eat in one or two bites.. (see piccies below).

And I ordered Dave a “cafe con leche” but they only had RED or GREEN tea so I ordered a Tinto De Verano (half red wine & half Lemon Fanta in this place) plus we had a few pintxos…

Then (as they had no Jerez) Dave opted for a Martini Rosso – so I had another Tinto De Verano – and we had a few more pintxos…

Then we had ANOTHER Martini Rosso and ANOTHER Tinto De Verano and one last pintxos…

Then we cycled back to The Van, had a little rest, made some dinner & watched a romcom rather than a “TRILLER” (as my Irish 🇮🇪 mother called them & loved watching) – for a change ❤️ (“Your Place Or Mine” – Reese Witherspoon & Ashton Kutcher – a bit lame (as my sister would say) but watchable…)

Accompanied with a cup of tea ☕️ & some Milka 🍫 – perfect end to the day 😊

God and I have had a complicated relationship since we moved to Pink Beach 🏝️ and (after being so devout during lockdown) I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I’ve been to Mass ✝️ on a Sunday since moving to the Isle of Wight…

However – on the way out of the Basilica of Santa Maria 💒 on Saturday afternoon, I asked the ticket lady what time Mass was on the Sunday and she said 11:30am. I gave My Dave the option NOT to go (and go & get a coffee etc. which he had done in the past) but WE got up, cycled 🚲 into town, locked up the bikes and WE were sitting inside on the third to front pew at 11:15am…

I’d like to say it was a wonderful, life changing experience 💥 but it wasn’t 😐 

There was nice music (from a speaker system) playing as we walked in (as there had been the day before) but the (pretty massive) church was empty bar one of two very old ladies…  About 11:25am, an old man in a jumper came out from the back to light the candles on the altar.  Just after then a nice looking lady (a bit older than me) came out to place the bible – at the right page – on the lectern.  At 11:30am, the bell 🔔 ding’d (???), we all stood up and the old man in the jumper who had lit the candles came out from the side of the altar dressed as a priest with the nice lady (& I think her hubby) – just in their ordinary anoraks – and they bowed in front of the altar and then took a seat at the side.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Back “at home” (in Yate) – as far as I am aware – Father Jim still has altar servers who dress in white robes (Holly used to be an altar server ❤️) and they ALL bother to WALK UP THE AISLE (i.e between the pews – the whole length of the church) whilst the congregation (no matter how few turn up) 🎵 sing 🎵 a hymn – without music…

Even though – as we walked in –  I looked for hymn books / any form of documentation (as previously abroad – we’ve had English translation sheets of the readings and also once in France there were hymn books with the full Mass at the back so I could join in) but there was nothing.  I thought it may be due to COVID – as you STILL see (particularly old) peeps wearing masks OUTSIDE when they don’t even need to… but no.

NOBODY in the congregation was invited to sing a hymn – even though it was Sunday (and only the Catholics reading this will understand).  On any other day than Sunday, you can get away with a 25 minute Mass with no offertory (i.e. you don’t need to give any 💰, no homily (sermon 🗣️) and it’s all very speedy but SUNDAY is different – you are supposed to CELEBRATE Mass 😐 

And for me – that means 🎵 SINGING 🎵 !!! 

The (only) highlight was – at the beginning – the nice lady & the priest did sing a short tune and they did a harmony & it was lovely 🥰 and I hoped that there’d be more but sadly not…

I was brought up to believe that it was deemed irreverent to turn around in Mass so I asked Dave to (as he’s a heathen & it won’t matter for him 😂) and asked how many peeps were “in” & there was probably only 30 or 40 tops – and it was SO sad that such a beautiful place of worship – on a Sunday – wasn’t bursting at the seams – just for an hour (when they have 167 left in the week to do whatever else they need to…)

And it was ALL OVER by 12:15pm – 45 minutes – call that a celebration ?

Rant over 🙏 if you got to the end !!!

ANYWAY on Saturday – AFTER we had gone along “The Prom” in San Sebastián and then “done” the Basilica of Santa Maria – we then did the “Hop On / Hop Off” City Sightseeing Open-Top Bus Tour.  This is now our third one – as we have done Sevilla, Cordoba & now San Sebastián…

BUT (never start a sentence with “but” 😂) we both agreed – even though it was the same company and even the same lady speaking on the audio guide – that it was (sadly) the worst of the three.  That said – here are some of the titbits that we gleaned…

A massive part of the city was destroyed in 1813 during the Peninsula War so pretty much everything has been re-built since then… (even the “old town”…)

The audio guide stated that all the new buildings were built at the same height and that there had to be no “sharp” corners on them – all corners (or quoins as Mr Google tells me they are called – which is French for “corner”)  had to be all curved or “cut off” so they were aesthetically pleasing to the eye… (but once Dave & I started looking, we found LOADS of buildings with normal “sharp” corners… !!!)

And it is a fairly pretty city and with most buildings on the main streets having little juliet balconies but there are also – what I thought as we went past – some modern (pretty horrendous) efforts too (e.g. The Kursall Congress Centre where is basically their main concert hall.  In the daytime yesterday when we went past on the the bus, these “Two Cubes” (as the building is apparently referred to) looked horrific to me but I have just googled photos and most of them are at night when – lit up – it actually looks cool – see piccie of it looking like a Rubik’s cube below…

Also – just off the front – built between 1882 & 1887 is – what was originally – The Casino but sadly the prohibition of gambling in 1925 put a stop to all that and the beautiful twin-towered building is now the City Hall.

Another interesting fact is that a lot of San Sebastián has been “reclaimed” from the sea !!! We were WELL inland on the bus tour when the audio guide lady announced that where we were used to be the water’s edge !!!

And finally (with the triv…) San Sebastián is named after the Monastery of Saint Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay; the history of which started in 1181. The Basque name for San Sebastián is Donostia; that is why it’s official name is Donostia-San Sebastián and the residents are called Donostiarras, 35% of whom speak the Basque language…

We then noticed as were going around the old town that it’s a bit like Wales – where they have a sign in Welsh & in English – here they have a sign e.g. for a bar / restaurant and it is in two languages too – e.g. “Taberna” / “Jatetxea” and here is the Basque flag (Ikurriña)…

We were wandering around the streets of the old town and came across this lovely church – so paid us €3 each to go in… The church itself was lovely but the added bonus was a little museum at the back of beautiful artworks, some dating back to as far as the 16th century…

I’m a sucker for a nice oil painting but was also particularly taken with the unusual depiction of Jesus’s Crucifixion…

We went upstairs where there was a lovely little exhibition and (yet another !!!) nativity – this time (if you look closely in Piccie 3 below) not only with shepherds going to visit the Baby Jesus – but some bagpipers too !!!

And there was a glass section in the floor – looking down onto a little chapel – it reminded me of going to Blackpool Tower with Dave & the kids in 2004 – and Dave wouldn’t stand on THAT glass floor either !!! 😂

• Location: 43° 19′ 25.75″ N 1° 59′ 11.51″ W

WOW – what an lovely unexpected surprise this place has turned out to be !!!

We have been steadily heading north for a week, have been inland and generally it’s been cooler (obvs) than in Nerja so I just wasn’t expecting today…

We got up, showered, had brekky & bibbed off on the bikes and after about 5 minutes we were at the beach – La Concha Beach !!! (which means “shell” after the shape of the beach)… As we’d gone straight to the aire yesterday, I’d completely forgotten that we were even ON the coast 🏖️ !!! And I just wasn’t expecting it to be SO warm 😎 and busy and touristy (but not awful – just right) and well just… brilliant !!! – and (shhh) it has (maybe) made me start to appreciate that I live on the coast and I can see the sea 🌊 every day too…

Anyway (and I have had a glass and a half of Penescal – FAB vino rosado “fruity & sparkling” wine – remember ? See a previous post !!!) enough of all that – let’s get on with it…

Piccies – first one is of Santa Clara Island – which is literally a stone’s throw (500 metres) away from the beach and between June & September there is a boat service taking you there & back to the beach bar and to sunbathe. Two bits of trivia – there is a lighthouse which dates back to 1864 (although not visible in my photie below 😐 ) plus the island became a place of quarantine for the sick when the plague devastated the Iberian Peninsula in the late 16^th century…

Piccie No 2 (which looks very similar to Piccie No 1) is actually of Mount Urgull and is topped by The Sagrado Corazón (“Sacred Heart”) statue, measuring over 12 metres in height which has blessed the city since 1950 (and there is a closer shot of the statue in Piccie No 3)…

We continued along the beachside cycle path and came across 2 clock towers – the first one telling the time and the second a barometer – which is really a weather forecaster; if the needle is to the left, it means low pressure, suggesting “storm coming”, if the needle is to the right, it means “calm weather” – and as you can see – it’s DEFS pointing to the right !!!

A bit further along the front – drawn in the sand – was the most AMAZING drawing – check out the piccie below – I’ve never seen anything like it !!! And when we came past on the way back (some hours later) it had been washed away… Apparently the guy does a new drawing every day and peeps throw money down onto the beach for him…

THEN we came across a little puppet show – with a difference – it was The Beatles !!! Dave remembers the guy from when he was there before (and HE was still there – some hours later – on our return too…). So he has tunes by The Beatles playing and he makes John, Paul, George & Ringo dance to them !!! REALLY entertaining !!!

There was a MASSIVE bear (who you could have your photo taken with), an APE, a lady doing hair braids, a carousel… It was FAB and I really enjoyed just wandering through it all…

Dave has been saying how much I would enjoy San Sebastián the whole time that we have been away and we wanted 3 nights there so we decided to give daytime Burgos a miss as it seemed to be very similar to all of the other inland medieval 🏰 places that we have visited in the last week…

It wasn’t a long drive & we arrived at the “Area de Autocaravanas” mid-afternoon and (as has been our recent new habit) popped the kettle on, had tea & muffins & got out the Rummikub 1️⃣ (closely followed by copious amounts of Jerez & crisps !!!). Dave was on fire 🔥 and whooped me for a change !!!

We considered going into town but it seemed like too much of an effort so we put on 🎵 “da tunes” 🎵 and I chucked these GORGEOUS pinky-coloured sausages into the oven (I’m actually NOT a sausage person but I just LUV those ones that we pick up in the hypermarkets in Europe !!!) and did a lovely rich pasta sauce to accompany them plus some bread & butter.  Dave said it was better than any meal out – awww 🥰 (the way to a man’s heart IS through his stomach 😂)…

Then we snuggled up in bed with a cup of tea, some Milka and Gerard Butler & Morgan Freeman AGAIN – WOT A TREAT !!! (This time “London Has Fallen”) – what’s not to love ??? !!!

So – an absolutely FAB day but not much in the way of info or culture re San Sebastián – but no matter – there’s always tomorrow !!!