Oranges everywhere!

With food in the fridge, diesel in the car, laundry on the line and the idiosyncrasies of the house partially mastered, we set off today to explore a bit.  First stop was the little nearby town of Ondara – we walked round looking for a the weekly market but couldn’t find it!   Back to El Cid’s just outside Benidoleig for a cup of coffee on the terrace while above us a bowls match was being played so lots of English voices.  A short ride then took us to Orba – on the way we located the garden centre where we’d been told we could buy logs and kindling for the burner in the living room. We then checked out our nearest supermarket Masymas – smaller and nicer than the big hypermarket Eroski where we shopped on Monday with quite a few UK brands.  Derek still keeps dragging me over to the wine section to amaze me with the cheap prices (€1.79 for a bottle of local Shiraz) – I was just glad to see they sold porridge oats.

We decided to try lunch at Pepe’s in Alcalali – a busy, family run, good value sort of place – we liked our main courses but starters and desserts were disappointingly bland.  Our lack of Spanish is very frustrating.  Tummies full, we had a nice drive through lots of orange groves and pink blossom down to the coast at Denia where we looked at the boats and strolled on the sand a bit.  We saw the Balearia ferry coming in from Majorca – we’ll be on it in a couple of months time.

Back home, we unloaded the car and had a cup of tea on the terrace in the last of the day’s sunshine.  Still full from lunch!

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Just in case our blogs with their constant theme of sunshine and cheap wine are getting on your nerves, I thought I’d share a few plumbing and electrical problems with you.

First – we are under strict instructions not to put any toilet paper down the loo – it has to go in a little bin!  I’m coping fairly well with this although it does require a degree of alertness in the bathroom that I can’t always muster.

Second – Spanish electricity!  On our first night here we managed to trip the household fuse several times as we merrily activated heaters, dishwasher, kettle etc.  A flick of the fuse switches in the cupboard seemed to restore power – last night however we blew the main fuse and lost all power.  Spanish electricity is limited and you can only use so much before the system says no.  So . . . we spent yesterday evening wrapped in blankets reading by candlelight and went to bed rather fed up.   Our friendly landlord appeared this morning with an electrician and all is fixed – we had a chat about the problems of overloading the system and he brought a gas heater for emergencies.

Back to paradise – Derek has gone out for a bike ride and I’m writing this sitting outside in the sunshine (true) –  I’m drinking a glass of cheap wine too (not really – it’s just a cup of tea!).

Had a wander round the garden taking a few photos which are in the gallery below.

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 After two very happy months in the south of France, we’re off to Spain for the month of February.  Our last day in Pezenas is a cracker so as well as packing up, Derek goes for a final bike ride in the sunshine and after lunch we do  our favourite walk around the vineyards and home via Tourbes.

We set off at 7.30 am hoping to get the first stage of the journey done before we are properly awake.  The temperature dropped to 3 degrees as we approached the Pyrenees but gradually crept up and up as we went further south – 20 degrees and gloriously sunny when we arrived in Benidoleig.  The 500 mile journey was fine.  We stopped  three times for food, drink and wees at rest areas on the Autopista AP7 and motorway tolls cost us about 50 euros in all – but an easy, trouble free journey.  We had downloaded some radio 4 programmes to help pass the time, playing them from phone and iPad through the little speaker that Danny bought me for travelling.

The villa – Atalaya del Sol – is a real wow.  It has an elevated position with fantastic views and is a mature house, full of character and a bit like a labyrinth with lots of different rooms and seating areas inside as well as paths and patios outside.  The kitchen is modern, the telly is big  and there are four big dining tables inside – a total contrast to the little townhouse in Pezenas.  We awoke this morning to blue skies and sat by the pool marvelling at our good fortune.  After lunch, Derek went for a bike ride and managed to conquer the climb home – it’s a very long way uphill!  Needless to say, he has opened a bottle of (cheap – 3.99 euros) champagne to celebrate.

A lovely afternoon – a short drive northwards up the A75 took us to the medieval village and monastery of St Guilhem-le-Desert.  It is immaculately preserved so is a really magical mixture of ancient buildings and modern people, cars and cafes – we really enjoyed strolling around all the little alleyways and looking at all the doorways.  It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has car parks geared up for lots of visitors but on a Wednesday afternoon in January, there was hardly anyone around.  It’s rather nice seeing these places when they’re quiet.

We also stopped at the nearby Pont du Diable – a very impressive arched bridge – and had a stroll around there on our own too.  The dramatic scenery is a result of the gorge created by the Herault river.

All of this got just a half page mention in The Rough Guide to Languedoc & Roussillon so it really exceeded our expectations.  Blue sky and sunshine helped!

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January 26th – Sunday morning

The weather is perfect for a ride so I plan to return to La Rouquette. There are loads of cyclists out today many in their shorts!

The climb is still tough and the descent a bit quick especially around the hairpins but the run home is a delight. I manage a fast pace and get back in under 2 hours.

One more long ride in the week I think as long as the weather holds and then the roads of Spain beckon.

It’s our last week in the south of France – this time next week we’ll be in Spain and Derek will be reaching for a glass of Rioja rather than a Languedoc red.  We’re planning a quiet week re-visiting some of the things we like best, doing a bit of maintenance (I’m getting my hair cut, Derek’s getting his bike serviced) and planning the next stages of our trip.

We’ll be in Spain in a villa between Valencia and  Alicante for the whole month of February – Julia and Martyn are coming to stay for a week and so are Danny and Brittany.  In March we are driving into Portugal – the first two weeks in the Algarve and the second two weeks further north near Lisbon.  Our plans for April involve much more moving around and at the moment include 7 different bookings!  We’ll basically be in Spain and Mallorca where Derek is hoping to meet up with the Shipston Cycling Group who are having a cycling holiday over Easter.

At the end of April, we will be driving back into France and have re-booked La Grange where we started – it was such a nice house and we will need a month staying in one place to recuperate!  For the last week of May, we have arranged to go to Guernsey to stay with John and Rachel and from there we hope to head up to Scandinavia for June.  If all is well, early July will see us in Belgium for a bit of the Tour de France.  We will have to return to the UK after that as the Volvo’s MOT runs out!  We will need somewhere to stay in the summer so if anyone would like a house-sitter, please let us know!

Things we have loved about Pezenas:

The weather – it’s definitely winter here but you see some blue sky and sunshine almost every day – it really lifts the spirits to be outside so much.

Food and drink – lovely coffee in Café des Arts, cheap prawns (9 euros a kilo), apricot tarts, Picpoul de Pinet wine, French bread, free parsley at the market, pains aux raisins, fresh dates, lovely local wine at 3 euros a bottle  . . . .

The festive season – doesn’t start until just before Xmas but goes on throughout January – all the Xmas lights still up and special cakes in the patisserie every weekend for ‘la fete des rois’.

The views – Coteau Moliere is high up and has lovely views, cycling higher up into the vineyards is just glorious.

The sea – love the sound of the waves and the walks along the stretches of sand.

The cycling – Derek has done rides up to 80k and thinks it’s cycling heaven – Barb is still learning but has conquered a few hills.

Wifi and TV – we’ve been able to keep up with British radio and telly as well as work on clients’ websites.

Things we’ve missed:  Bonnie, going to the theatre, Waitrose muesli and teabags, Murray Mints, seeing animals in the countryside . . .

Derek noticed that the local cycling club had cancelled their Sunday morning ride and ‘grillade’ (barbecue? grill? lunch?) because bad weather was predicted and they were right – storms overnight and a wet morning. So, no bike ride for Derek and Michael but brighter skies mid morning meant we managed a good seafront walk at Valras Plage and again, after lunch, along the wooded trail of the Via Domitia. We finished the weekend with Derek’s now famous bouillabaisse (fish stew) which combined with the sea air, the walking, the birthday champagne and the need to get up at 6.30 in the morning – an earlyish night beckoned.

On Monday morning we set off in the dark (power failure outside!) for Montpellier to get Gillian and Michael back to the train station. Mission accomplished, we headed into Odysseum for breakfast and The Apple Store to buy a new battery for Derek’s laptop.

What a nice birthday weekend!

Down to Pezenas market on Saturday morning and Michael takes loads of photos of the stalls, us buying stuff and the old medieval part of the town – it’s really nice to have some pictures of the two of us and some of the sights of Pezenas that we’ve got used to over the last two months. The boulangerie was a big hit and Michael’s demolition of the mille-feuilles was impressive.

After a late lunch, we headed back to Montpellier for our third (Gillian and Michael’s first) visit to Stade Yves du Manoir for the rugby game against the Italian team Treviso. It wasn’t a great game (24 – 6) or a great crowd but we enjoyed the evening out. We took some sandwiches, quiche, tomatoes, muffins and a flask of tea for half time. My rucksack was checked at security and they confiscated the tupperware boxes the picnic was in! Pourquoi? Vous pouvez les jeter! (You could throw them!) I had to decant the picnic into the rucksackand collect the tupperware at the end of the match. Endless teasing about being an ageing hooligan.

Make sure you click on the thumbnail image to see the bigger version.

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Blue sky and sunshine on Friday 17th get the day off to a great start. We’ve got company too – Gillian and Michael have travelled from Stratford upon Avon by train (Chiltern Railways, Eurostar and SNCF) all the way to Gare St Roche, Montpellier where we picked them up last night. We have a walk from the apartment up to Saint Simeon to whip up an appetite for coffee and croissants on the patio and then head for Meze for more strolling about and a long lunch.

Home for a cuppa and then we walk down to Pezenas for a few drinks at the Cafe des Arts – sit outside watching the fairy lights twinkling and the world going by. Home for a few sandwiches and lots more chatting and catching up.

What a lovely birthday!

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Last week was Derek’s trip back to the UK to see clients – a hectic four days of train journeys, motorway driving, meetings and appointments.  Booking the tickets online back in November was the easy part – TGV and Eurostar from Montpellier to Lille to Saint Pancras – as always with travel, it’s the documentation and the transfers which can be tricky.  Lots of hassle with picking up the tickets – SNCF’s computer ‘said no’ to our credit card and duplicates had to be bought/issued.  Transfers went ok: Pezenas to St Jean de Vedas by car, tram to Montpellier, TGV to Lille, Eurostar to St Pancras, walk to Euston, tube to Waterloo, train to Wimbledon, walk to Danny’s.  A long day’s travelling but all ok.

Enjoyed driving Danny and Britt’s Volvo, the business meetings all went well, managed a quick whizz around Waitrose (teabags, muesli, curry paste), picked up forgotten bike tyres from Wedge Meadow and relaxed a bit during evening meals with Danny & Britt in Wimbledon and Peter & Ruth in Stratford.  Stayed at Ambleside in Stratford on Wednesday night – such a nice b&b. Travelled home on Friday after having breakfast at Bill’s with Danny and Britt – back to Pezenas at 10.30 pm.

By contrast, Barb’s four days were very slow paced.  Under rather grey skies – a few chores, a bit of shopping and cooking, reading and a few DVDs.

It’s Saturday – a stroll down to the market in Pezenas and a cup of coffee in Cafe des Arts – we’re ‘back to normal’!