Beech's Euro Tour Part Deux

[Helen Ariel]

Well after 7 months back in the UK residing on my Mum's front garden, working hard all summer and catching up with friends and family, today team Beech hit the road again.

We are currently camped up in Folkestone ready for our morning Chunnel. It's a great spot at a dead end and right next to a nice park for Beech.

Paul fancied a farewell curry so I did some Googling and came up with something a little different, a Nepalese restaurant that had great reviews and it didn't disappoint.

I've always loved dumplings of any variety so this meal was a winner and amazing value.

We're up at 6am tomorrow then a big days driving to make a dent in crossing France, hopefully around Orléans tomorrow and carrying on towards Girona over the next few days unless we change our minds last minute. I'm hoping we'll find a pleasant French town with a nice free or cheap aire, a boulangerie and restaurant for our 1st night away. Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Lenny HB]

Have a good trip, that grub looks nice.

 

[scousebird]

Enjoy your trip. Looking forward to your photos.

 

[Al n Val]

Have a fantastic trip and I’m agreeing with Lennie

the food looks scrummy

 

[Grasmere9]

Have a great trip....can't wait to be in France!!

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[Langtoftlad]

Is Beech fit & healthy?
I seem to recall some issues on your last trip

 

[Helen Ariel]

She’s in fine form thanks. Made a fantastic recovery from having the tumour on her spleen removed in January.

 

[Just smiffy]

Woopee…. While I’m sat in the sun in Spain I’ll have yours and Tams threads to keep me occupied…

Bon voyage..

 

[suavecarve]

On my watch list after your last tour. Super reading if half as good as last time.

 

[busby]

Safe journey,,we travelled the opposite way week before last...BUSBY.

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[Helen Ariel]

Woopee…. While I’m sat in the sun in Spain I’ll have yours and Tams threads to keep me occupied…

Bon voyage..

Nice! Whereabouts are you in Spain?

 

[Mikey RV]

Good to see your back on the road. Have a great trip both of you and keep the pics coming. And catch a wave for me.

 

[Just smiffy]

Nice! Whereabouts are you in Spain?

Hopefully from next week in Albia..

 

[Helen Ariel]

J'adore France! All went smoothly with the crossing and we decided to waste no time in immersing ourselves in the ways of the French and have an extended lunch in Neufchatel-en-Bray.

We hit the jackpot with a very reasonable, tasty and enormous menu du jour and then had a short wander along the high street picking up bread and some fresh veg.

A big drive got us near Orléans by 7pm and the heavens have opened. We're both still stuffed from lunch so won't bother with dinner and will get an early night and continue the journey South tomorrow.

Paul has just mentioned a bucket list volcano he wants to climb which is on the way! We'll have to see how the weather is but Beech is keen after a boring day of driving!

 

[sedge]

Bit worried they'd lost their brioche but pleased to see they found it again in time to serve it to you ! Lovely menu.

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[Grianan]

Loving the photos. Neufchâtel looks like a good alternative to Montreuil.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Bit worried they'd lost their brioche but pleased to see they found it again in time to serve it to you ! Lovely menu.

Ha yes. I'd heard of pain perdu before.. probably Rick Stein or someone. It was much yummier than i expected. That lunch kept us going till breakfast!

 

[Ashdud26]

Have a great trip you guys, loved following your last adventure !

 

[Langtoftlad]

Nice
...but I have my doubts about them "frites maison"
Look a bit soggy to me

When you're offered a two option menu like that - do you each have one so you can sample the whole menu?

 

[Helen Ariel]

They were

Nice
...but I have my doubts about them "frites maison"
Look a bit soggy to me

When you're offered a two option menu like that - do you each have one so you can sample the whole menu?

They were super tasty, almost caramelised. We had the same main this time as we both wanted the frites but i was really tempted by the pork knuckle.

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[Langtoftlad]

They were super tasty, almost caramelised.

Ah ok, that's good... possibly accounts for their appearance.
"Never judge a book by it's cover" eh

 

[Helen Ariel]

Well yesterday was a bit of a boring one. Mainly lots of driving on small roads and it didn't stop raining all day. The highlight was our 1st French supermarket of the trip and it didn't disappoint. I had to resist from buying all the cheese, charcuterie, breads and pastries!

We also had an amazing sighting of a kingfisher at our lunch stop next to a pond. It flew right up within a few feet of the van then settled further away in a tree so we had a good look through the binos.

We got to Paul's bucket list area of The puy de domes a bit before dark and it was still raining and dropped to minus 1 and we opted for the paid aire at 6 euros. Really spacious and services for 2 euros. About 5 other vans including an enormous set up of coach conversion with trailer for a normal sized car with 5 bikes on the roof rack.

A healthy, hearty supper of veg stew with cheesy mustard croutons went well with the weather.

Today dawned cold and cloudy so the volcano walk is off until another time and we decided to bomb down to the South Coast splashing out on the Millau bridge and a toll road.

The weather got better and better as we travelled and we got to see some beautiful Autumn colours in the hillsides.

We're now ensconced in the Grissain aire, not a cloud in the sky but fresh and looking forward to exploring the area tomorrow. Dog walk then bike ride is definitely on the cards as there are 6 waymarked bike rides starting here so we're opting for the longest one as the rest look fairly tame.

 

[Northernraider]

Well after 7 months back in the UK residing on my Mum's front garden, working hard all summer and catching up with friends and family, today team Beech hit the road again.
View attachment 553383
We are currently camped up in Folkestone ready for our morning Chunnel. It's a great spot at a dead end and right next to a nice park for Beech.
View attachment 553377
Paul fancied a farewell curry so I did some Googling and came up with something a little different, a Nepalese restaurant that had great reviews and it didn't disappoint.

I've always loved dumplings of any variety so this meal was a winner and amazing value.
View attachment 553378View attachment 553379View attachment 553380

We're up at 6am tomorrow then a big days driving to make a dent in crossing France, hopefully around Orléans tomorrow and carrying on towards Girona over the next few days unless we change our minds last minute. I'm hoping we'll find a pleasant French town with a nice free or cheap aire, a boulangerie and restaurant for our 1st night away. Any suggestions welcome.

Im no following if you're going to post pics of food like that!! Pit me tae shame

 

[Helen Ariel]

After 2 nights on the Gruissan aire and a really active day in the fresh air yesterday we are feeling revitalised. Although it has been non stop beautiful blue skies a really strong wind gusting up to 50mph is blasting the area just now so it's pretty chilly.

Certainly not sitting around outside weather but great for a fast paced hike with the dog, a route round the lagoon and up into the fort and round the old town we which we picked up off Wikiloc, then in the afternoon we did the black VTT mountain bike route which apart from the start was much more sheltered in the trees and hillside. 17 miles and it was lovely and scenic with views back across to the Massif Central.

After croissants for breakfast collected by Paul and Beech we used the services and set off in search of some potentially warmer weather and fancied a more rustic spot for Beech's benefit so we headed to a FLT spot that we spotted from Lenny HB recent trip. En route our last chance to stock up on French goodies didn't go unrewarded at E le Clerc.

When we 1st pulled into Lenny's carpark in Port de l'Escala we were upset to find all the useable MH spots taken but as we went down to the end to turn round there was actually a hidden spot better than any of the others with sun, a seaview through the pines and a nice space on the hab door side for Beech to hang out plus it was actually warm and sheltered enough to sit with the door open for lunch.

A bracing walk round the bay in super strong winds for a beer (trying to remember to order in Spanish) and we are ready for a chilled night in.

 

[Helen Ariel]

The incredibly strong winds have persisted over the last couple of days, with amber warnings on the Spanish Met website. Luckily the FLT spot that we have been on for the last couple of nights has been quite sheltered; thanks again Lenny HB for the heads up.
Bit of a lie-in yesterday before we headed out to explore the Greek & Roman ruins of Empúries. Literally a 5 minute walk from the FLT spot and free to visit with the ‘talking wand’ included. It was nice to be able to have a (basic) conversation with the staff to check it’s ok to take Beech in as well.

They’ve only managed to excavate 20% of the site so far. What they have done is amazing. We love visiting sites like this!

The pic above shows the Ancient Greek part. The Roman city is much bigger and starts in the top right of the pic.

The pics below are of the Greek part.

The statue you can see above is a replica, but the original is in the site museum, pictured below. It’s made of 2 different types of marble, one for the top smoother half, and one for the sharper bottom half.

Can’t remember the name but he’s the father of medecine and the son of Apollo. The statue would only have been visible to the priests of the temple that it was housed in.

Barely a cloud in the sky as it’s so windy! Very mild though at 17c.

This is the museum building.

Old sarcophagi visible. This was an old Christian church that was built once the Romans left.

An Ancient Greek mosaic floor. Not many of these remain.

I love this style of architecture, and lovely to see such a sympathetic extension has been added to house the museum.

Another fabulous mosaic to be seen in the museum.

Silver denari found on the Roman site.

I think these are some kind of strange wine goblets…

Another fabulous mosaic.

Onto the Roman city. This was the site of a large villa that would have belonged to a successful trader.

Helen listening to the talking wand. The glass lids cover old storage vats.

Another amazingly intact mosaic floor, this time in the Roman city.

It’s a big site to explore, and combined with the strong winds was quite tiring. We were getting pretty hungry & thirsty by this stage as we didn’t expect to be there for almost 3 hours!

Luckily we were only 10 minutes walk from the lovely old village of Sant Mart d’Empúries.

Padron peppers for me and ham croquettes for Helen with pizza to share. Couple of Fanta Limon and a bottle of water for €34.

25 minute walk home through the village and back past the ruins to the van. We were all pretty tired but Helen still had the energy to chef up slow cooked short rib of beef with potato & radish salad.

Sorry for the food pics Northernraider

Beech is tired and a bit hobbly this morning so we’re on the move south to stay on a paid site that should be sheltered from the wind! Still it’s shorts & t-shirt weather so while she rests we’re going MTBing.

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[KiwiKampers]

I wouldn’t be putting my lips anywhere near those wine goblets You don’t know where they’ve been.

 

[Landy Andy]

View attachment 555252
I wouldn’t be putting my lips anywhere near those wine goblets You don’t know where they’ve been.

I assume you are married then

 

[busby]

That brings back memories,,walked around those ruins on 2/01/2000. Weather was similar to yours but no wind..We had just celebrated The Millenium New Year in Calpe.Really worth a visit there.BUSBY.

 

[Lenny HB]

The incredibly strong winds have persisted over the last couple of days, with amber warnings on the Spanish Met website. Luckily the FLT spot that we have been on for the last couple of nights has been quite sheltered; thanks again Lenny HB for the heads up.
Bit of a lie-in yesterday before we headed out to explore the Greek & Roman ruins of Empúries. Literally a 5 minute walk from the FLT spot and free to visit with the ‘talking wand’ included. It was nice to be able to have a (basic) conversation with the staff to check it’s ok to take Beech in as well.

View attachment 555184

They’ve only managed to excavate 20% of the site so far. What they have done is amazing. We love visiting sites like this!

View attachment 555185

The pic above shows the Ancient Greek part. The Roman city is much bigger and starts in the top right of the pic.

The pics below are of the Greek part.

View attachment 555186

View attachment 555187

View attachment 555188

The statue you can see above is a replica, but the original is in the site museum, pictured below. It’s made of 2 different types of marble, one for the top smoother half, and one for the sharper bottom half.

View attachment 555189

Can’t remember the name but he’s the father of medecine and the son of Apollo. The statue would only have been visible to the priests of the temple that it was housed in.

View attachment 555190

Barely a cloud in the sky as it’s so windy! Very mild though at 17c.

View attachment 555191

This is the museum building.

View attachment 555192

Old sarcophagi visible. This was an old Christian church that was built once the Romans left.

View attachment 555193

An Ancient Greek mosaic floor. Not many of these remain.

View attachment 555194

View attachment 555195

I love this style of architecture, and lovely to see such a sympathetic extension has been added to house the museum.

View attachment 555196

Another fabulous mosaic to be seen in the museum.

View attachment 555198

Silver denari found on the Roman site.

View attachment 555199

I think these are some kind of strange wine goblets…

View attachment 555200

Another fabulous mosaic.

View attachment 555201

Onto the Roman city. This was the site of a large villa that would have belonged to a successful trader.

View attachment 555202

Helen listening to the talking wand. The glass lids cover old storage vats.

View attachment 555203

Another amazingly intact mosaic floor, this time in the Roman city.

View attachment 555205

It’s a big site to explore, and combined with the strong winds was quite tiring. We were getting pretty hungry & thirsty by this stage as we didn’t expect to be there for almost 3 hours!

View attachment 555206

Luckily we were only 10 minutes walk from the lovely old village of Sant Mart d’Empúries.

View attachment 555207

View attachment 555230
Padron peppers for me and ham croquettes for Helen with pizza to share. Couple of Fanta Limon and a bottle of water for €34.

View attachment 555233

25 minute walk home through the village and back past the ruins to the van. We were all pretty tired but Helen still had the energy to chef up slow cooked short rib of beef with potato & radish salad.

View attachment 555235

Sorry for the food pics Northernraider

Beech is tired and a bit hobbly this morning so we’re on the move south to stay on a paid site that should be sheltered from the wind! Still it’s shorts & t-shirt weather so while she rests we’re going MTBing.

The museum was closed when we were there a few weeks ago but it was a bit warmer 23°.

 

[ChrisSue]

Would the statue be Hippocrates?

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