Bordeaux and the start of Spain

Monday, 9th September 2019
Today we decided to check out the local area of Bordeaux. And then we hit traffic, but it is the same in every country. It is  there everywhere. We meander and weave our way through the congestion, and follow our gps directions to get to the centre of Bordeaux. There is a lot of  road works happening in the city centre, and turns are missed, and redirected, but eventually we find a car park and set off on foot to explore the area. First we start with coffee at Starbucks. This is to be our landmark for our return. We walk about marvelling at the place and the combination of the old and the new, There are many ancient remenants still about, amid the hustle and bustle of the city life. Once again, endless steets that seem to go on forever, with them filled with people. Trams running through the middle of the heart of the city, all cohabitating along very well. There are no warning signs about the Trams, it is just a given that you will hear and see them coming. There are people on bikes, scooters, skate boards, all going about their business, and tourists taking in the sights. We decide to research if there is a hop on hop off bus service for the city, and yes there is one, but not hop off, a city sightseeing bus. Off we trot to find the office of Tourism to secure a seat on the bus. We have not done the bus tour thing again since our experience in Belfast. We get to the Kiosque to get tickets and board the bus within a couple of mins of it leaving. I am so glad we did do this bus tour, we saw so many sights and the commentary was very informative. And there was no stopping and getting off, it was great, plus the weather was once again perfect for the open top tour. As part of our tour, our ticket entitled us to a free Bordeaux treat, a Canele, a small French Pastry flavored with rum and vanilla with a soft tender custard in the center, which was very nice, but not on the diet, but still nice.
I find a couple of shops to look in, and then we make our way back to our place in Yvrac. A great day.

Tuesday, 10th September 2019
Ok, so today is going to be a lighter day of travel, visit a vineyard in the Bordeaux region. We had a particular Winery to go to, Chateau Talbot, due to the family associaton on Bobs side. This is an hour drive, and we pass many many wineries and vineyards. Vast areas of grape growing countryside. Some more elegant than others with their entrances, and their esteem in the wine world. We arrive at our destination only to find it is only open by appointemtn only. hmmmm oh well, next.
So we retrace our tracks to a flash looking place we past on the way, and stopped in. This time they were open, but were not doing any more tours for the rest of the day. This was at 1.15 pm. Ok, onto plan B which is our next destination, Le verdon sur Mer, a point of an inlet. We stopped and had lunch here, which was the largest salad I have had for a very long time, even Bob was almost beaten by the size of the salad. We start to make our way back to Bordeaux, when the plan is changed and we are now going to Chateau de Corens. Apparently they don't need prior appointments and they are open for the day. We arrive just after 3 and join a tour that is already underway. The guide doesn't speak English, but  we say that is ok, as we join the group, which is 3. Fortunately for us, there is a young man who is willing to help us understand and does a little translation for us. We get to finally do some taste testing after quite some distance travelled for the day, and the wines are very pleasant. Mission accomplished. We head back, grab something light for dinner and retire for the evening.
We leave the area tomorrow and leave France for a couple of months.

Wednesday, 11th September 2019

Today is a big day for the two of us, as neither one of us have been to Spain before. Bob is excited about this, something new for both. Although, he had not been to the UK or Ireland before either. We started our journey to Castro urdiales which is a 4hr trip,  with a waystop at Arcachon that will increase our time travelling. But, this is a good thing, as we have all day to get to where we have to be. Our trip is good, and we are amazed by the constant stream of trucks on the road, one after the other. We figure that they are not supposed to over take, but some do. They do however, have to stay in the one lane when not overtaking. Bob and I share the driving as we have done most of the time we have been away, and I get to drive in Spain first. Well, once again, there is no significant sign to say we have crossed the border. The only way we know we have is the road sign language has changed and we have looked on the road map to see where about the border is on the highway.
The area we are in, is close to the Pyrernees mountains, and we skirt around them to get to our destination. We arrive at our lodgings, and the mother of the host gets to show us to our unit. This is very interesting as none of us speak each others language. First of all, she asks with hand movemets if we have a car, so she shows us where to park the car, and with her guidence, Bob gets the car parked in the under ground car park. Next we go up to the unit. This lady shows us all the things we need to know, and we take what we can from her instructions, and showings, which we understand pretty much.  So after taking some time to rest, we decide to get our luggage, and assorted other things we need out of the car. We are on the 4th floor, and thankfully there is a working elavator. So we get our stuff, and get to our door and guess what, we can't unlock the door, and neither of us have our phones with us, as we were only going to the car. We try with brute force to try and open the door with the key, but to no avail.

 So with no phones, only my tablet in the car and Bobs new phone that has no sim in it, we head off to find a McDonalds or somewhere where there is free Wifi. We find Burger King, alais Hungry Jacks in Australia, and try to find a park, but we have no money as all the money cards are in the unit. So we park next to Burger King and use their wifi, in a side street with no parking signed on it. Cars come and go around us, some beep their horns and some just cruise past. We sit here for about 45 mins trying to log into the wifi and send a message to our host explaining what has happened, all the time with the hazards lights flashing. Eventually she replies and organises the mother to come over, after instucting us to try the door, but pull it as we unlock it, which Bob did before we left. So back we head to our unit, and presto, we get in, but not as easily as our host said, it was pure force and determination that got us in I am sure. Anyhow a message is sent back letting them know we got in.
So opening the door now, is a job soley for Bob, as I can't seem to manage it, and panic about no being able to unlock the silly thing. As a result of our ordeal, we now have to find something for dinner, and lucky for us there is a Mcdonalds just up the road, that we are able to walk too. Which incidently didn't show on our search when we were looking for resturants earlier, or I didn't scroll down far enough. So we take a walk to Maccas, and walk back, and hope like crazy we can get in again. Bob seems to have mastered the door now, thankfully. Day is done.

Thursday, 12th September 2019
After a nights sleep we are ready to explore the day around Castro Urdiales, after I have done some washing. So mid morning we head off on foot to look about this place. It is a very plesant place with boats and a marina, and lots of rocky outcrops exposed and raising out of  the sea aswell. There was a great park not far from where we are staying,  which fronts onto the Atlantic ocean with rock walls.  We walk all day, and explore the many streets, that seem to be mainly bar, and cafes. It is bright and vibrant, and there are lots of people out and about, with their dogs, meeting friends and having a drink. There is a lovely little beach with sand, that has lots of people on it, soaking in the sun. It's interesting to see all the people with chairs are facing the sun or they themselves are facing the sun, taking in all the sun they can get. I guess the heat here is different here to back home. Anyhow there are all sorts and body types sunbaking on the beach, with the occassional topless ones aswell, not just the men.
The walkway along the beachfront is paved and is nice and wide. Very pleasant for strolling. We find somewhere to have a bite to eat, and keep on exploring the area. We find that true to the Spanish culture, they have their seista in the middle of the day, and many shops close from around 12.30 to 3pm and some even later.
We go to an Orange phone shop to get Spanish SIM cards as we are going to be here in Spain for a couple of months. Of course we didn't bring our passports with us so we have to go back tomorrow. We head back to our accommodation and rest, then go out to get some essential foods for the next couple of days. Once again our phones get used to interpret what things are, and the pictures work well too.  So mission accomplished, we have our supplies and we head back to cook our  evening meal, then retire for the evening.

Friday, 13th September 2019

Ready for another day, did a little more washing,  then rested for part of the day. We went out to get the SIM card sorted, with passports. Success. To date we have had SIM cards from Canada, France, Ireland, france again and now spain. Each time we have had to change phone numbers. We have almost got this. Lol, we found somewhere to have  lunch after walking for awhile. Even though we don't speak the language, we are picking up the essentials, with the help of modern technology.  It is nice to sit back and watch the world and their dogs go by.

Saturday, 14th September 2019

Today we are off to explore the region  near to us. We start on our way to Santander, which is about an hour away. Beetling down the highway, Bob makes an executive decision to have a look at a place called Laredo. So we detour into this place, and drive around. trying to find the beach. We found somewhere we wated to stop at, but parking was a huge issue, so we just kept motoring on, then we found another place, and parked the car.  Had a quick wak about the cafes that were there and decided on one to have some lunch. We are trying to eat in a more healthier way, so we need to see whats on the menu. The place we settle for was great. The waitress spoke a little English and gave us a menu which has words that we understood. It was a good salad lunch we had, and the ambience of the place was great. There were a few locals there all seemingly very happy, and then a group of Danish push bike riders entered and added to the athmoshpere.
After lunch we strolled down the street, trying to find the beach again. We followed where others were heading and eventually found it. The beach was sandy, and there were lots of people enjoying the sun and children playing like all kids do. We head back to the car, and decide that is enough for one day, so we make our way back to the unit. All in all a very pleasant day.
When we get back to the unit after we have cooked and eaten dinner, we decide to see what our trip tomorrow is going to be like. Good thing we did this, because next trip is a 6 to 7 hrs trip. Hmmmmm, how did this happen. This means we have to leave a little ealier that first thought. We are heading into Portugal. So we start to pack up and take things down to the car that we don't need for the rest of the evening just to make it easier in the morning.

Sunday, 15th September 2019

Today we leave  on our long trip to Ponte de Lima, Portugal. We share the driving with me starting the first stint. There isn't a great deal of traffic on the road, and Bob researches the absence of trucks on the highway. It turns out, there is a ban on heavy vehicles on the roads on Sundays, from 10pm Saturday to 10pm Sunday. This makes it a easier trip although the trucks are not usually a problem, as they have their own lane to be in. After about 3 hours we start looking for somewhere to have some breakfast, and pulled into one place, and it was very busy, so we left hoping to find something else along the way. We stop to put some fuel in the car, at a service station, but not  just a service station, but a station with service. The guy came out to fuel the car, which took Bob by surprise, as you can well imagine. Something that has not happened for a very long time in Australia.  We had pulled up near to the deisel bowser and the attendantand gets set to put the fuel in, I jump out and say to Bob, to stop him as its deisel.   But he has it all under control. The service station is busy as there has been a detour from the main highway, so a few cars and and bikes were using the station aswell. So we get the fuel in, again with a language difference, but its  a normal thing, and we head off again. Eventually we get back onto the main highway again, but not until we have drive up a mountain, and back down again. We cross the border, and there is a portugese sign with the flag colours on it noting we are in Portugal. We find a place to stop and have something to eat. Again the languge is different, and one of the girls behind the counter speak a little english, so it makes it easier for us to tell her what we want.
Back on the road agian and Bob at the wheel now, we continue on our journey. Eventually we arrive in Ponte de Lima, a little ealier than anticipated, as we told our next host we would be here at around 5.30, but due to  Portugal having an hour time difference from Sapain, we are an hour or so ealier. We find a Mcdonalds to use the wifi so we can contct our host explaining and asking if we can gain access earlier. Unfortunately it was not suitable for us to get in much earlier, as he was out of the town area. So we wait for a whie at Mcdonalds then find our way to our next abode.  We get to the said address, after a couple of missed turns and can't find the number we are looking for. This requires some further investigating. so we hop out of the car to find the allotted number, and presto we find it. Now we wait for our host to materialize, and he does. He shows us to the apartment, and Wow this place pretty smick. Very flash. It will do us very nicely. All done out in black and white, air conditioned and with electric shutters that makes the place totally dark, not that that really stops me waking early.  We have a meal of left overs from the previous night and relax for the evening. There is large flat screen tv,  and a smaller one in the bedroom. AND pay tv is actually in English with portugese subtitles. Yippee, we can even watch normal tv shows.