Sunday August 9
A six hour journey from Moraira to Salamanca, stopping twice. Once for a very small bite of something to eat. En route the boys had seen five black bulls so they were very happy. We arrived at the Hotel Rector quite effortlessly, although it had originally taken 10 minutes to get the GPS system to accept its address. Here we parked outside and the hotel parked the car to its garage, which was integrated into the hotel. I had a little panic as I could not find my mobile, but it turned out that it was safely in the car in this integral garage.
We sorted ourselves out in a very comfortable but soulless room and then went out for a discovery walk of 90 minutes. Despite the heat about 33°, we were most impressed by Salamanca and it’s wondrous buildings. We also passed a place where there was an exhibition of quilting but it was closed. David had a Rum & Raison ice cream which he shared with the boys.
Once back in the hotel I attempted to have a siesta, but this was not successful. We went out again just before eight and had a very nice supper in Tapas Three - a risotto some leaks, a lamb kebab with a glass of wine and David topped it off with a crème caramel. Then a welcome coffee back in the hotel.
Monday August 10
We enjoyed a really good breakfast around 9.00 and went out for a walk again between 10 and 11.15 up through the University Quarter and into the Plaza Mayor. Near here we were able to buy an adapter for one of our chargers which we had left at home. We left the hotel before noon and had a 3 1/2 hour journey northwards to the north of Asturias.
The beginning of the journey was somewhat boring as the scenery was very flat and just full of harvested fields. There were very few trees but then we got into the mountains and this was more inspiring. Then finally we went through a heavily 19 century industrial area with zinc mines before reaching the coast. There we turned eastwards and headed to the village of Luces, where our next hotel, the Palacio Luces, was situated. But we had great problems finding the entrance into the surrounding walls of this and we’re not amused by the time we finally did get to the right gate, having spent 20 minutes or so going round and round. But after the initial gormless receptionist had shown us in, things began to improve and the place seemed really quite nice. There were probably about 30 to 40 rooms most of them in a new building.
We had a bite to eat in the room and then eventually went for a walk about 6 pm to investigate the Lighthouse on the coast, supposedly only a mile distant, where we thought we might watch the eclipse in two days time. It was actually a little more than a mile and we did not quite make it but we decided we would return in the morning in the car, although we realised that on the 12th (the day of the eclipse) we would have to walk from the hotel as there were police restrictions on cars.
Back at the hotel we got changed and went and had a cocktail in the bar and investigated how high the sun would be from the gardens at 20:30 in 2 days hence. We found that we would be able to see it quite easily from the hotel and would not need to walk to the Lighthouse. Interestingly we met the hotel management who were out there themselves checking the best place to put chairs for guests to watch the eclipse.
We then ordered some anchovies to go with our cocktails but these were not available and we had a cheese platter instead out overlooking the pictures herb garden. Then back to the room for a coffee and bed.
Tuesday August 11
I had a swim at 9 am David coming down with me for the first time visit there. I was slightly disappointed with the indoor pool as it was so dark and had a large white screen all the way along one end, which I felt could’ve been improved and the water was very hot. But I did my 10 lengths and a few exercises and then found a shower. Then back to the room for a coffee and a bite of breakfast there.
We then went out and stopped at Villaviciosa, cider producing town. We walked around this without finding much evidence of cider, but there was a Botero like sculpture of a hat with apples in. We went into the market which was mainly empty but still had fish, meat and a few vegetables around the outside part of it, but the central portrait portion of this covered market was empty. Perhaps there is a larger market there one or two days a week. We then went on to Tazone‘s, a supposedly quaint fishing village but we were unable to find anywhere to park anywhere near the village so had to give up.
In the afternoon we drove to Lastres, a coastal village only 2 km from the hotel. Here we parked in a field on the outskirts and walked into the town and down the steep slope to the harbour and the beach. Then back up some steep stairs and more slopes to get back to the car.
Once back at the hotel, we enjoyed another coffee and spent the afternoon reading. At 6 pm. I had a siesta ready for our dinner in the restaurant at eight. Just before dinner we investigated the spa lawn where the eclipse viewing was going to take place the following night and found that this gave as good a view of the eclipse as the view from the other lawn that we had inspected the previous night.
There was no tasting menu in the restaurant but we thoroughly enjoyed our meal of a shared portion of artichokes with a gorgeous sauce . Then I had hake and David had a lamb stew, followed by a tasty brioche and yogurt ice cream dessert. This was accompanied by a bottle of local cider then a coffee before retiring into bed and once again forgetting to write this diary.
Wednesday Aug 12
I went for a swim at 9 am and then we had a coffee before going out by 10 to get to Playa de la Griega, a beach where there were dinosaur footprints fossilised in the rocks. Our visit was ruled by the time of low tide, and we had to be there before the 11 am low tide the best time to see these footprints. Here again we had difficulty parking. But eventually found somewhere in the far side of the village. We had at least a kilometre walk back to the village and along the shoreline up some inclined paths above the beach. And from there we descended to the footprints. There were about three of them, quite large and we were not sure when they had been discovered or whether they were deteriorating with time.
Then the long walk back to the car again and we set off for another town in the region called.Ribadesella, But here again it was absolutely impossible to park, and after sitting in a traffic jam 15 minutes we escaped back to the hotel.
Once back at the hotel, we walked to a nearby bar which we had seen when we had walked to the the Lighthouse a couple of days previously. We sat in the garden of the bar and enjoyed anchovies and a bottle of cider - very pleasant. Then an afternoon of reading and a snack in the room. At 7:30 pm. We went down to the spa lawn where they have put chairs for the eclipse viewing. Unfortunately it has been cloudy practically all day and we did not even get a gap in these clouds as the eclipse took place at 8:30 pm. We did however get the benefit of complete darkness during totality. There were about 30 people from the hotel out on the lawns, chairs were provided and several glasses of cava if required. We followed this by having octopus, in their outside bar area.
Thursday Aug 13
After a really sleepless night, I surfaced by 9 o’clock and went for my swim which I enjoyed, very peaceful there first thing in the morning. We went out about 11 to find the UNESCO Church of San Salvador de Valdediós. But this took a lot of finding. It was a far side of Villavisiosa and the cars GPS only took us to the postcode . Once in the area we had to use the phone and initially it registered the wrong Iglesia to San Sebastian: there were four of them in the area. But the countryside was very interesting during this search for the church so we were quite happy: it was hilly and we saw with pastures and cattle and lots of grain stores. Eventually we got to the right church and this was within a kilometre of where we had been originally! We bought the senior citizens entrance ticket for €6 and this included a audio guide that worked remarkably well.
It was a really magnificent site. It had been the home of Alfonso the third of Asturias around the year 900. It became a monastery in the 16th century. Today there was also a hostel which was used for pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago between the months of May and October.
Returned to the hotel soon after 2 pm, we discovered that our room had not been done and even once it was done there were still only four coffee capsules. In the early evening we bumped into the manager who confirmed that he was really short staffed and had to hire chambermaids from Madrid. We read for awhile in the room and downstairs. Later we went out to Lastres again and to see their mirador We parked in the same car park and walked r 800 m to the mirador. There was indeed a great view over Lastres and is harbour.
We then looked for a bun shop but of bun shops there were none. By this time the sun had come out again and there would’ve been a decent eclipse if it were to have been on this day. We went down to the outdoor bar area around 8 pm and thoroughly enjoyed a very good hamburger between us although the chips were not up to scratch. Then a creme brûlée, which was also very good, before going back and enjoying another cup of coffee.
Friday Aug 14
A peaceful swim at 9 am in the indoor pool with underfloor heating, which in the end I came to quite like although the views were not anywhere near spectacular. But I was usually all alone and this morning there was peaceful classical music too then a quick sauna before coming up for a coffee.
We went out around 11 and went to the Jurassic Dinosaur museum a few miles along the coast, this turned out to be a really huge concern with a wondrous road built specially for it of at least a mile long and wider than any other road in the area other than the motorways. There were many statues of dinosaurs in the grounds and then the entrance was under €5 which we thought was very reasonable. We did not really learn a terrific lot about dinosaurs other than that they were very many different types of them and they did not all live at once and that they had been wiped out by volcanic activity that had stopped the sun getting through the atmosphere for several years.
After this, we headed to the beach at Faille, On the other side of the history to Tazone. Here there was plenty of parking , with boardwalks leading to the beach We had a pleasant stroll both along the boardwalks and the beach itself for 40 minutes or so. Then we indulged in fruit smoothies and a portion of ham croquettes: the former were really good.
Back at the hotel around 3 pm we were astounded to find the room had yet again not being made up during our absence. We had a long chat with the hotel office manager, no duty manager being present for the day. At 5 pm, we went out again and parked near the lighthouse and went for a walk down a track that we had discovered on Monday but this time with me wearing trainers and carrying my stick: even so it was quite difficult for me. There were several people camping down there.
The dinner at 8 pm was not as good as Tuesday night’s dinner but enjoyable all the same there office manager came and chatted to us and then informed us that they were donating Tuesday night‘s dinner to us due to all the problems we had had!
Saturday Aug 15
My early morning swim was not quite as successful as the other mornings as not only did the pool not open till almost 09.10, and only then after another guest had been to report the non opening to reception. Once open there were two other splashy swimmers in with me and there was no music. Then a coffee before setting off just after 10 am. for Condom in France
A fairly eventless journey, though there were traffic jams at the border. All the traffic jams were for paying motorway tolls, which came every 15 minutes near the border, rather than one big one for all. We stopped as soon as we could after the border. It was already 2 pm when we pulled into an aire for our picnic of bread and yesterday‘s tough entrecote steak (which not even David had been able to eat), and happily it was slightly better slightly better for being cold. Then a very pleasant journey along the roads into Condom and finding our B&B, Chateau Bruhasses.
But here fate struck us again as the owners thought we had moved the booking from the 15th to the 20th and they had no room at the inn. No idea what it happened here but we certainly would never have changed the booking .The bottom line as that they could accommodate us from the 16th in one of their apartments and booked us in to the hotel Continental in Condom for the first night. So back into the car and off the 10 minutes or so to Condom. We found the hotel Continental with no problems and spent the night in room 10 which was clean and bright, but it did not have many other welcoming features. We settled in and then went for an hours walk around the town. There was a very impressive looking cathedral and a wonderful statue of the Four Musketeers (who are fart of local folklore).
At around 8 pm, we went down to the garden for dinner and had a pleasant meal of Burrrata and Pate de Fois variants and cocktails with Flock. We wondered what blows the morrow when we go back to our chateau to check in again
Sunday Aug 16
We had a present breakfast in the garden of the Hotel Continental before going out for a wander around the town again. The hotel in fact had a very large garden and as we checked out we also discovered that it had an internal swimming pool! Sorry I missed it.
From here we drove to the fortified town of Larressingle, A UNESCO site and really beautiful. The church took up almost all the interior part of it and there were houses around the outside next to the wall. It had been extensively restored between 1923 and 2001 by a group of Americans when someone French had gone to the states to drum up funds for restoring several historic places in France. We went to an exquisite book shop there which was quite wonderful if I had been able to buy books. The shop certainly would have encouraged children to read I’m sure. We also had an ice cream.
Then on to the larger fortified village of Faure which was celebrating a village fete. It had lots of stalls with all sorts of junk on them. And there was also a communal meal being cooked and served. We wandered around the outside of the town square and the architecture was quite fantastic but spoiled by all the stalls selling junk in the centre on this particular day.
After this we made our way to Carrafour but found that it had closed by midday on Sunday. So we discovered a double lock on the local canal. This was a very quiet place with only a few people around. We reckoned the lock keeper had an easy life as not many boats would pass his locks each year in fact between 1954 and the 1990s no traffic was allowed on the canal at all and now there is something like 500 craft per year. Back in the day it had been used to carry wood, grain, and armagnac. We got back to the chateau B&B at 2 pm and Helen showed us into the apartment which was in a nice position and had a good outside area. Inside it was nothing special but quite adequate.
She had still not discovered what it gone wrong with her booking system and seemed not to hear David suggestions at all. We unpacked and had a late lunch there and then read for the afternoon before going for a wander round the grounds and along a used railway line , which had been converted into a long distance cycle path. We went into Condom for dinner at L'Apero at 7:30. We were the first of its customers that night and it was very tiny. We had some Pate de Fois and then I had scallops and David had a pork dish and finished off with a Crêpe Suzette. Once back in the apartment we had some coffee and wine out on the deck and saw the new moon rising and seemingly falling.
Monday Aug 17
We had a really nice breakfast apart from the bees/wasps. We were outside on a long communal table, but there were only three others there for the majority of the time and they were French & not communicative.The bees and wasps, which we were assured did not sting, continued to swarm round us even after we removed the open jams to the far end of the table. Helene did not seem to think they were a problem, but she soon realise that we did. So tomorrow we will be having breakfast inside without them. But the content of the breakfast was really good.
After breakfast Helene spen 10 to 15 minutes every day showing us with maps where to go and what to see. She also tried to organise somewhere for us to have lunch, but in the end we stopped her making a reservation. With then went back to the apartment and read outside for an hour or so, leaving soon and after 11 for the Abbey of Flaran.
The Abbey was not far away from our Château and we had been there before in 2018 when we were last in Armagnac. But we were happy to go again and as well as to the monastery with its impressive buildings. There is a permanent revolving two year art collection displayed there. This were donated by a wealthy collector. There were Rodins, Matisses, Dali and it was clearly a very valuable collection.
We stayed there for about 90 minutes and then moved on to Valence-sur-Baise where we walked down to the river Baise and had lunch at a restaurant called the Barge. This had scores of tables but was actually more aesthetic than we thought once we had sat there for awhile. We had the table d'hote lunch and the first course a salad of rocket tomato and melon was really good. Then some blood sausages with more salad and a mountain of chips followed by a very good crème brûlée.
We then moved on to 3 villages to the east which Helene had recommended. These were fortified villages built in the 13th 14th century. They were Terraube and Saint Pouy Petit, Blaziert and St.Orens. None of these villages had any shops or cafés in them but were architecturally a delight. In between the villages there were fields and fields, acre after acre, of sunflowers and occasionally almanac vines.
We were back at the Château by 17.30 and had a glass of wine and some tapas and then later on some coffee, and even later than that a plate of bread, cheese, ham, and fruit. Along with more wine of course, we had a brief stroll to the pigeon tower and David found out all about these pigeon homes on AI, along with the history of Gascony and it’s fortified villages in the 13th and 14th century when this part of France alternated between being English and French.
Tuesday Aug 18
Another good breakfast this time inside on a separate little round table just for us and then Helene gave us ideas on where to go for our day. We then went back and read till just after 11 before setting out to two hilltop fortified villages before going into the UNESCO town of La.Remieu.
The first small town we stopped at was Marsolan, which was on a Camino de Santiago route. Therefore there were many walkers in the town and it even had a café but too early in the day for us. Then we drove to Lagarde. Which although it had a Marie was really just the remains of a château and had no houses in it at all. Then from here to La Remieu. The town had a church with cloisters which was built by Cardinal Arnaud d'Aux de Lescaut, a relative of Pope Clement V in about 1300. He had built it for his personal use, quite fantastic. Outside the Abbey there was once the thriving town but is now now mainly two or three restaurants. We tried to buy some focaccia bread in one of the cafés that Helene had recommended, but when we actually went to do this, it seemed to be closed. The town also had an association with cats, a very moving story of a 11 year-old girl, Angelina who in the period of a famine had saved her two cats by hiding them whilst the rest of the town had eaten all the remaining cats. When the famine was over the town was invaded with rats, but Angelina save the day with her two cats and today there are statues of cats on top of walls and gates.
We then moved the car a kilometre down the road and went to the garden of Coursiana. It had an Arboretum, a lake, a medical garden a Potier , a huge plum orchard and was really an absolute delight . We had a grapefruit juice in their cafe before we started our walk and then then had an apricot at the end We were served by a third year student of French of Lady Margaret Hall! Then back to Condom and we stopped at Carrafour where we bought a savoury tart and a flan, neither of which proved terribly successful.. We also bought a bottle of flock and that was good. David had a buratta. We were back at the apartment by 16.30 and at 18.00 we went for a 30 minute walk, but it was very very hot with the sun still shining brightly. Back on our balcony it was still hot for the next 90 minutes as there was no shade really. There was a wonderful starry sky and a moon later on.
Wednesday Aug 19
We set out at 11 am for Château PELLEHAUT, Recommended by Helene as a place where we could taste armagnac. It was quite difficult to find, but we eventually got there by 11:30. However it was not the sort of place David had expected. The man who greeted us did not seem to fit for the part and did not seem to like us. So we did not have a tasting but David bought some sample small bottles of their Armagnac.
We then went to the local town of Montreal, which was charming and we decided to have lunch there although it was still only just past noon. This was a much better quality table d'hote lunch than we had had the other day and we thoroughly enjoyed the Duck and the Coconut Panna Cotta.
From here we set the GPS for LAVARDENS, where there was a splendid castle with the history of D'Artagnon provided in some of its rooms. It had once belonged to the Dukes of Armagnac who were on the English side in the 13th century but has today become collectively owned by the villagers since the 20th century. By this time Chris was quite tired, her bruised rib causing periodic episodes of pain and her breathing was also a problem. So we made our way back to our b&b of charm, had a glass of wine on the patio, read, had some tapas, read , went for a walk, read, had some supper and coffee and there were even a few drops of rain but very very few. Then did most of the packing ready to take just one suitcase into Gaynor’s on the morrow.
Thursday Aug 20 to Sat Aug 22
We spent three days with Vic and Gaynor, arriving there about 1 pm on the Thursday. Neither of them were in very good health. Gaynor suffering from her back and walking with a pronounced stoop, Vic having a seemingly permanent problem with his right shoulder which prevented him from doing all the handy work that he used to do outside and round the house and down at the lake. Anyway, they were really glad to see us and looked after us really well.
David and I walked down to the lake and I had a swim, but it was not really very warm on this first occasion. The water level was very low too due to lack of rain. On the last day it was better as there was much more warmth in the air. On Friday I went down to La Coquille with Gaynor and browsed round a charity shop, buying a green dress there. It is informal but hopefully useful. We then then visited the chemist about her back and a quick stop in Carrafour for for some odd and ends she needed.
On the Saturday Gaynor David and I went to Saint Jean de Cole, which was listed as one of France's prettiest towns and it lived up to this reputation. It was about 30 minutes drive in Gaynor's car and we enjoyed a beer there before returning home.
As usual, Vic was really into cooking and did us proud especially on the last night with some roast lamb cooked on the barbecue. There was lots of conversation about things that had happened in our pasts, on how we were coping with the present.
Sunday Aug 23
We left Gaynor & Vic at 9:30 am on the Sunday and had a seven hour drive. The first two hours through winding roads and little towns before getting on the motorways: our destination was just over the border in Spain at Hotel Casa Anamaria. We had a very nice room, but basically furnished, i.e. no luggage rack, no tea making or coffee machine,. But there was a lovely swimming pool outside, really large and Chris enjoyed a really good swim there, before returning to the room for a bath. Again the bath was basic: one had to get into it before one could turn on the top. Then down to dinner at 8 o’clock.
When we were having a cocktail in the grounds of Casa AnaMaria the receptionist approached with the chef and introduced us: his mother was Irish, his father Spanish and she had told him that there was an Irishman in the hotel and he was delighted about that and wanted to chat to David. We had about 30 minutes conversation hearing all about his life and he learnt about us and the boys photos were taken.
Then we had the seasonal tasting menu at €50: it was fairly pleasant but nothing outstanding and in fact David felt a bit squeamish during the night afterwards.
A really good breakfast in the inside dining area which was bright and airy. Then we set off on the 6 1/2 hour journey back to Moraira, stopping twice, once for petrol and then later for a spot of lunch. We got home by soon after 16.00 having done a big food shop at Mercadona ready for the next 10 days.
In retrospect a really nice holiday, although there were many instances that were a bit problematic.