Having been back in the UK for around 6 months, we were delighted to be underway once more to our favourite little village in Andalucia. We took our time driving down, first stop L'Isle Bouchard in the Loire Valley - a tiny island in the middle of the Loire River. No sooner had we arrived and Michael invited our host to join us in the bar next door for a much desired refreshing beer after our journey of around 11 hours - and to celebrate the start of our holiday! Conversation proved more successful than I had anticipated. Quickly abandoning English, of which Jose appeared to only have a handful of words which matched my schoolgirl French, we settled on the common language between us of Spanish - Jose is Cuban! He was a great guy and when we left a couple of days' later gave us 2 bottles of local wine - a French custom perhaps? I was under the impression it was for guests to tip the host!
From the website description, I had conjured up images of a little house set beside the river, buried in the heart of the countryside. We had a delightful room with doors opening onto a terrace that led down to the river. True - what we hadn't bargained on was the bridge that joined this little island to the 'mainland' being right outside our room! With only lightweight net curtains at the french doors, we were, by night, frequently under the glare of headlights!! Images of petrified rabbits sitting in the middle of the road in the glare of headlights came to mind! Apart from that drawback we were so comfortable and Jose such a good host and as long as we remembered to switch off lights before de-robing to get ready for bed we were fine and no distraction to oncoming motorists - at least I wasn't aware of any vehicle veering over the bridge and into the fast flowing river below!
By contrast to our previous visit to the Loire exactly 2 years ago, we were blessed with temperate weather and able to explore L'Isle Bouchard
and visit the fairy tale castle in Usse - my very first Loire chateau which held the tantalising promise of so much more to explore in this lovely area of France and its many chateaux.
Much of the castle is still lived in but we had access to just enough to give us a glimpse of life surrounded by such grandeur and the opportunity to climb the 'Sleeping Beauty' tower and enjoy the beautiful manicured gardens and fountains spread out below and magnificent views across the French countryside - quite breathtaking. I wonder if the inhabitants truly appreciate what they see every day around them.
We savoured the most delicious French home cooking in a little family run hotel and were so busy chatting with fellow diners on our final evening there, we didn't notice how late it was getting until the owner advised us if we were walking back, the street lamps were going out in 5 minutes plunging the little streets into darkness - well, that's one way of shifting lingering diners!
The following day we were heading down to Burgos - a charming medieval town, founded in 884, dominated by its gothic cathedral and our hotel was directly opposite with the most splendid view of the cathedral from our breakfast table!
Our hotelWe had a little time that evening to spend in Burgos and enjoy a leisurely evening meal, still just warm enough to dine al fresco with a great added bonus for me - a lengthy conversation with the waitress in Spanish so my efforts this time last year in Seville on that intensive language course did pay off, even after these months back in the UK!
After breakfast the following morning we were on the road again - final leg - to El Higueral. The Spanish certainly have some novel ideas when it comes to health and safety around roadworks - coming across some on the highway we noticed a figure clad in yellow along with yellow safety helmet waving a red warning flag - as we neared the figure we realised of all things we were looking at a mechanical mannequin!! Saves on labour costs I guess added to which no loss of life if he gets knocked over doing his duty! Quite bizarre.
A total of 1,500 miles on, we finally arrived in El Higueral early evening with such a warm welcome from our dear friends from the UK already ensconced in their home where we were to be staying for the next 3+ weeks. With supper ready on the roof terrace, with those now so familiar views before us,
temperatures way higher than we'd left behind back home and plenty of vino we settled down relishing being back where we feel has now become our second home!
Our three+ weeks simply flew by. Friends of J&P's came out for a long weekend and we had such fun with them visiting the local fruit and veg market, chilling out, an evening dip in the lake, suppers on the terrace each evening washed down with plenty of alcohol! Then there was the 3 day fiesta in the village and it was just as much fun and entertaining as last year with the bonus of wonderfully warm and sunny weather this year which made for a much more successful time for everyone. Like last year, the fiesta began on the Friday evening with Mass in the local church followed by the candlelit procession around the village accompanied by the band.
Every night was dancing to live music until day break (including some pretty crazy, cheeky group dances - pics censored folks!). Here's Jane and I enjoying churros and chocolate at around 5 a.m. The best way to enjoy churros (fried dough pastry) are when dunked into thick, steamy hot chocolate - and highly recommended in the early hours to soak up some of the alcohol!
There always seemed to be some event or other going on during the day including cycle, motorbike, horse and wheel-barrow races (this is the mayoress and deputy mayoress being pushed up the street so there's no limit to who participates!)
There was the annual 'platos de tipicos' competition where all entries are placed on long trestle tables and at the given word, as soon as everyone has their plastic fork, the tastings begin - forget health & hygiene rules folks!
:
Setting up the platos de tipicos
This was my entry thanks to a good friend in the village (thanks Julia!) - I discovered it's not possible to buy double cream but thankfully Julia had a pot stashed away from a shopping trip to the coast so I was able to rescue my log cake after all! We were all presented with a set of glass sundae glasses for our efforts.
A couple of days after the fiesta, Sam flew over for the wedding of a good friend of his and to which both he and we had been invited so early on the Saturday morning we were off to Los Alcazares near Murcia for the weekend. With just enough time to grab a bite of lunch and change we waited for the little 'train' that was trundling round collecting members of the wedding party and guests from their various homes/hotels -
except Michael and I were deprived of the ride that would surely evoke nostalgic childhood memories when the heel of my shoe broke and I had to hippity hop back to the hotel for a quick change and taxi for us along with the risk of arriving late! We needn't have worried - the clutch on the train went and came limping in as we drew up in our taxi!
The wedding took place in an old converted Spanish house now a small hotel with a beautiful inner patio courtyard as is so typical of these houses.
It was a beautiful ceremony accompanied by a small Spanish choir then it was champagne by the beach,
followed by the wedding breakfast which took place on a pontoon just a few yards further along before the partying got under way!
What an absolutely stunningly beautiful and romantic setting under blue skies, sunshine and 40 degree temperatures! The following morning we all gathered for brunch on the beach - and yes, I think everyone managed to surface after the celebrations the night before!
We motored back to the village Monday morning with one more day to enjoy Sam's company before he headed back to the UK
We then had a few days left to ourselves, one of which was spent exploring the fascinating Madinat al-Zahra, an Arab Muslim town located just outside Cordoba and considered one of the most important medieval archaeological sites in Europe - a site of 112 hectares with only around a tenth excavated to date. Madinat al-Zahra flourished for only approximately 80 years. An impressive series of palaces and gardens built by caliph Abd ar-Rahman III of Cordoba in the mid 900's to show his subjects and the world his power. After the dissolution of the Caliphate of Cordoba during the civil war Madinat al-Zahra was effectively wiped off the map for a millennium.
Sadly, exposure on such a vast site in 40 degrees of heat got the better of us so we will return another day in cooler weather!
It felt we'd hardly arrived in El Higueral and we were packing up again for our return drive home. Having just about filled every space in the vehicle, we received a request from Sam the night before we left: had we any bottle-shaped spaces left in which to fit some bubbly? (Birthday bash coming up!) So it was the following morning we found ourselves clearing the local supermarket shelves of their entire stock of 20 bottles - at 1.65 euros per bottle who could resist!!
Our first stopover was Segovia, a truly delightful Castillan town, over 3,200' above sea level, with narrow winding pedestrianised streets, intricate and fascinating detail on just about every building. Its tremendous aqueduct - built during the second half of the 1st century - reaches skyward for an incredible 93' and at first sight was quite overwhelming, towering over us as it did (and the city!). From the top it stretched out before us reminding me of a great silent giant throwing its bold shadows out across the city below. It seemed quite out of proportion to the rest of the city and what a remarkable feat of engineering so many, many centuries ago.
We were delighted with the hotel we had booked - it stood in the main plaza in the heart of Segovia so we were well placed to explore the best Segovia has to offer during the few hours we were there - though I know we must have missed the smaller hidden gems Segovia must surely hold and only to be discovered with time to wander and linger - sadly no such opportunity for us this time but a real 'must' to visit again. As it was we couldn't tear ourselves away until lunchtime the next day.
The Cathedral
The Alcazar
The oldest gateway in the city
"Salut!"Our later departure from Segovia meant it was evening before we reached Arcachon (near Rochelle) - a delightful little seaside town with the quaintest individually designed houses that left me feeling I'd landed right in the heart of Hansel & Gretel country! Arcachon also boasts the largest sand dune in Europe but we'd forgotten our sandboards!
All that aside, our hearts sank as we drove up to our next hotel - there was no mistaking this one! there were two large bright yellow neon arrows flashing the name either side of the building and as if they weren't sufficient, to add to the illuminations, a bright pink neon strip ran around the entire roof line of the main building and the single story 'annexe'. This was somewhat in contrast to the beautiful majestic old hotel in Segovia! With thoughts of what might lie the other side of the front door we briefly considered driving on. However, having booked and paid in advance and, after all, only requiring a bed for the night, we ventured forth. It was all pretty normal, rather dark and pokey and if our room had been any smaller we would have had to launch ourselves from the doorway onto the bed - and thenceforth to the 'en suite'! However, one can only see the funny side of such a situation so, ignoring the bottle of water with 2 accompanying plastic cups carrying a 1.50 euro price tag, we dumped our overnight bag and made a hasty exit from the hotel in search of somewhere for supper. Not in the mood for the rather extravagant and plush restaurants along the seafront, we settled for the pizzeria which was pleasant enough and then enjoyed a moonlight walk along the sands of the sweeping bay before retiring.
The following morning, we decided against chancing breakfast in the hotel and after an early morning stroll to the shore once more, we were under way again.
The promise of a beautiful day....
Super model ?Our final stop-over was the medieval walled town of Montreuil-Sur-Mer with its old houses, picturesque cobbled streets
and imposing ramparts:
I was particularly keen to visit this French town being the first place of rest for my father and his regiment during a 45 Km march, having been captured by the Germans at the start of the Second World War.
We so enjoyed our walk around the 3 Km wall of Montreuil, feasting our eyes over the French landscape sprawling out in front of us and dipping down into the little streets here and there when the fancy took us
We visited the 16th century citadel. It was a creepy experience descending the dark damp stairway to the underground rooms in which Sir Douglas Haig set up his headquarters during the First World War. The recorded playing of the sound of gunfire and tap tap of the Morse machines gave an eerie tangible edge to the atmosphere of these underground rooms.
The Citadel
It was a fascinating day exploring this charming old town with time to sit and contemplate and watch the world of Montreuil go by over a glass or two of vino!
Reflections from our hotel room
Sad though it was, we were heading off for Calais and the channel tunnel on the final leg the following morning. As we emerged onto English soil the sun was shining, the sky blue and an enveloping autumnal warmth hung in the air - we felt very content and happy that we'd certainly made the most of our time away. And to those good friends we've left behind: "adios, hasta que nos encontremos otro vez"
