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Tuchan

Fri 2008-05-09 {19751}

(!) Up at 04h & away at about 04h45, Focus, \phi driving. Got to Edlesborough before we realised that \theta didn't have her driving licence, so turn back. Start again ~05h25, roads a bit busier now but not too bad. Mileage (at 1st start) ~19230, extra was about 40mi. Via A4146, Hemel, J8, M25, M20, only congestion was slow between M1 J8 and J6A. Got to tunnel about 07h55 & onto the booked 08h43 train. Check-in is just stick in the CC used to book & it issues the thing to hang on the mirror with the train letter. Just time for a coffee in the terminal. Then away at ~10h15, getting warmer, up to about 25degC max & mostly sunny. A16, A26, A4, A26, A5, A31, A39 to Dijon, 2 tolls totalling ~40E. Arr Novotel Dijon Sud at ~16h30 (location 31T 651858 / 5238210). Sat nav got us in, except for the last roundabout when it gave us the wrong side of the road. Roadangel was a useful speedo in km/h. Alternating driving. Several stops for pissing, eating & fuelling (3 fuel stops: A5(D) roundabout & 2 service areas). Planner said 5.5h & it took 6.25h with stops. So, without hour change, total travelling time today 10h45. Quick trip into the garden at 04h30-ish to dump the rotten bananas - quite light but assuming no-one's up who cares & really now it's only Keith & co that can see. Short walk before dinner, the hotel is on an industrial or strip retail road, with some housing. Eve eat on the "terrace", in the hotel garden, with pool & children's play area, a pleasant patch in an ugly area. Food was good, as was service. This night was at special rate, paid in advance, & didn't need to see the card again at check-in. Of the cars I can see, mostly French, a couple of Dutch & ours.

Sat 2008-05-10 {19752}

(|) Breakfast at 07h & away at 07h45. Warm & sunny all day. Arr at cottage Le Rêve at ~15h. Couple of stops along the way & speed <110km/h at times S of Lyon. Fairly boring scenery really until left the autoroute to climb up to Tuchan. Then mountainous, but road wide enough to pass, with white line. Park in the square, tho' it's partly blocked by a road-works store. Very old village with narrow streets. Total distance reading about 920mi, but with the extra 40mi at the start more like 880mi. Today's tolls about 35E + the one I paid by CC and didn't get a receipt. Owner not present, key on ledge above door. Some time nude on the roof terrace before going out to the local Spar (open 16..19h Sat aft) for supplies. Eat. Owner Alan Smith arr ~19h to show us what there is. Didn't ask for the security deposit. Le Rêve is on 4 levels. Entrance from very narrow (~2m) street has bog & locked door to cellar; 1st floor with 2 bedrooms & bathroom; 2nd floor with kitchen & sitting area; steps to 3rd level which is recessed into roof, can stand & see out but not overlooked by any windows or from ground level, & sheltered from any wind. Quite small in area, maybe 2m * 4m, taken from what would be the high end of the sloping-ceilinged kitchen. Smiths appear to have several properties in the area, inc an old wine cellar. Le Rêve is #3 Rue de Châpitre, #1 is occupied, #2 is empty, no floors, just propped across. Eve cooled off & a little rain. The area is desperate for rain, having had almost none for 6 months. A German devil: ME WP 666.

Sun 2008-05-11 {19753}

(|) 3rd disturbed night. Fri morn we had a hovering helicopter, Sat car horns and shouting outside the hotel & this morning cascading water & drips from the rain. \phi to baker & Spar. Then climb the road out of Tuchan towards Mont Tauch (stopped at 31T 0475726 / 4750820), Cottage is at 31T 0477028 / 4748426 (from Google guessed 31T 0477042 / 4748434 which is about 16m out). Overcast & spitting occasionally on the way up, raining on the way down. Via Spar again. Back to cottage. Lunch with fresh bread & cheese. Rain stopped, so second walk out towards ruined château Aguilar; did most of the horizontal distance, but turned back before the ascent when the rain started again. Later it cleared up & had some sun time. Dinner taken on the terrace, with no need of clothes. An interesting experience at one point in the late afternoon, lying naked in sunshine with a fine rain falling. Eve in with crosswords. Drinking the local Fitou wine from Tuchan. Odd architecture, the kitchen end wall is false & there is a light duct between it & the true end wall, which lights the main bedroom via glass tiles on the terrace floor.

Mon 2008-05-12 {19754}

(|) To the baker. Not even warm to start & heavily overcast. On a surveillance day to the coast. First to Leucate plage, the N region by the naturist resorts, which are signed as such from the road. This is fairly developed with only some lengths of natural dunes at the margin. Nevertheless it looks less a concrete jungle than some other reaches. Empty car park, & a track runs between the two nudist resorts to the beach. Only about 16degC & still cloudy, saw only one other nudist walking on beach with clothed wife & one in water with clothed wife watching. Stripped off & went in sea, which was not especially cold. Did some walking & jogging along the sand, then with \theta (still clothed) for longer walk S past the larger resort. Then dressed again, but now in just shorts, track top & trainers, & on to Bocal del Tech, the N beach (N of the river), parking at the end of a narrow track into the nature reserve. Again beach almost deserted except for a few clothed walkers who I suspect were cruising. Again stripped off & into sea & a little time nude on the beach before walking clothed to the river. Cut the lining out of the longer shorts, now much better. Rain, very light, by then. Took a couple of naturist shots on a dead-end path in the nature area. Then looking for a supermarket. Nearly all closed for the aft, Pentecost? Found just one, a Carrefour at Argelès & stocked up. Back to Tuchan via a pretty route. Pizza eaten on the terrace, sun's out a bit more now; came in after 19h but still no need to dress. A good day. Petrol from little local station in Tuchan; has 2 sets of hoses, one 24h on CC (if it works), but cabin was full of cigarette smoke. The trip odo passed 1000mi. Both beaches were excellent soft sand with gentle (mostly) slope to the sea, which wasn't too far out. The town clock strikes each hour twice, about 1 min apart. The single strike for the 1/2-hour is only once. Again MK had a hot sunny day - swizz.

Tue 2008-05-13 {19755}

(|) Warm & nearly cloudless. Went up to the terrace twice during the night, once to see the stars & once to see the start of the dawn. By breakfast time could sit in the sun. Usu trip to baker. Tried the croissants naturelle rather than à buerre, OK but not as nice. Then to Leucate plage again by the nudist complexes. This time there were a few more people about, tho' not by any measure crowded. Mostly nudists, all much more tanned than us. \theta stripped off too. Lots of sunscreen. Stayed for 3.5h or so, lunch there. Sunbathing & time in sea. Sitting on sand waiting for the biggest waves, some hard enough to knock you backwards & the ebb pulling the sand from under you. Also quite fun standing up or squatting trying to catch the breakers just below head height. UV gauge got up to 10, at which it gave me about 25 mins. Many single men, some couples, a few single females, one or two families with children. Then back to Tuchan, where the Place de la Fontaine where we usually park is full of crane and low-loader removing the works storage cabin. Then for a walk out to the W of Tuchan, first on path starting between Duilhac & Rouffiac that said it went to Col de la Croix Dessus, but all ways seemed to peter out in dead ends or rubbish heaps. Then back S a bit & down an unsigned single-track road to a rocky cascade. Very pretty spot. \phi waded the stream to get close to the rocks - a distant shot of me naked on one of them - then a little quiet time together in the evening sunshine. Drove naked along the single-track road but stopped to put on shorts before joining the D road back to Tuchan. The last of the sun on the terrace before eat inside.

Wed 2008-05-14 {19756}

(|) Promised sunny day didn't arrive, but bright & 22degC with wind at times. The baker's day off so bread from the Spar; also available from the newsagent. \theta queued for 15 mins in the post office for stamps for the postcards, not many people, just lots of talk, complicated transactions & phone calls. Kilt day, tho' not till after the shopping. To look at the Canal du Midi. Petrol from the local station again. Not having a guide, didn't know where the interesting features were, so we didn't find any locks, just one aqueduct. Lots of boats, many hired, some with English crews. Walked from Ventenac-en-Minervois and less from Argens; lunch a picnic in the car somewhere between. Then back via Escales & Moux, avoiding Lézignan where we got lost on the way out. To the local ruined château d'Aguilar, ancient. Climb up a long, narrow road to a car park, pay 3E50 each to scramble up rocky steps, more slopes, to get inside. Good views. Little health & safety around here, the château one example, workmen in the town this morning another, removing render from a house, on a scaffold with pneumatic hammers, air-lines over the road, no eye protection, no ear protection, débris falling into the street. Kilt got some looks, \theta esp noticed as she was often a little behind me. Not sure it was as comfortable to wear as the nylon shorts with the lining cut out, & had to be held down on occasions in the wind. Not sure where it all (kilt and equipment) goes when sitting. Late aft back on the terrace, in some hazy sunshine. Stuart Pemberton died.

Thu 2008-05-15 {19757}

(|) The baker is open this morning but after the closed day the selection is reduced, no éclairs for example. UHT milk from Spar, do the French ever buy fresh milk. Hot & sunny day, 23degC by the car, with a few overcast minutes & a little light rain. To the car park for Château de Quéribus & walk out along 2 trails from there. First towards Cucugnan was in shrubs & trees, like a garden almost, but it soon turned into a steep descent. Then the second was a motor track with good views & gentle gradient. A couple of pix on first path, walking on path & against mountains. Lots on the second, in a couple of clearings off from the track, where we had lunch. Sunburn on forehead, bought a hat at the shop in the car park. Only problem is nowhere to sit or lie, ground is all small stones & thistles, so all pix have footwear. Then drive to Gorges de Galamus, a spectacular shelf down the side of a narrow gorge, single track with tight passing places, & only cars <=2m allowed; camper vans have to park at the ends. Parked here & walked back for pix. Also went down to the hermitage, a little house cut into the cliff, it seemed, but there was also a spectacular chapel cut into the rock, seating maybe a hundred. Back via the D117, an easier route, for part of the way, then via Padern to take pix of another château. Very varied flora on the mountain path, flowers, succulents, bushes, small trees. Have seen a small lizard at the hermitage & a bigger one running across the road in front of us, a few odd insects, one large bug or beetle, but not much else unusual. Eve out to local restaurant - but it was closed for change of proprietor, I think the sign said. So to the other restaurant in town, which at nearly 19h30 was dark & deserted. So \theta had to cook again.

Fri 2008-05-16 {19758}

(|) Forecast light rain but actually dry with some sunshine & up to 23degC. To Perpignan, parked in an underground car park adjacent to the old part (Place Arago). Very tight spaces. Walk around the old bit, rambling like the smaller towns only bigger & of course a greater variety of shops & eating places, of a variety of ethnicities. Some fairly seedy parts & a lot of young Arab types around. Visited the palace of the kings of Majorca, a fortified palace on a hill, not very interesting. Lunch in a restaurant on the Quai Vauban, \phi steak, \theta duck; excellent ice cream as well, the strawberry with pieces of real fruit. 2% cidre doux. Then, as hot & muggy, to Bocal del Tech again, but blowing a gale there. Had a quick nude dip in the Med, the only nudist in sight; one other \mars in long drawers sunbathing in a sheltered spot. Then to Carrafours for more wine & beer to bring back & some proper garlic. Then home, top-up with fuel for tomorrow & back to packing & cleaning. Alan came over about 18h30, realised he forgot to ask for the deposit, & took 30E for linen and taxes (~0.80E per person per night). Idea for the space behind the end wall of the kitchen was his, as well as lighting the bedroom it provides space for services. He lives in Paziols, the next town, has done up another property for sale, has just bought another place to renovate & has at least one other property to rent. This place was completely derelict, & had to clear rubble out before re-building. First floor is new built above the original, which acted as shuttering but is still there. Second floor is all new and wooden. Roof is all new. Steve reports that Garamond is now jetting, that Eaton Court will move to the new building 12/13th July, & Steria in early Sep. PB have been told that the site will close before Xmas, but no announcement other than that. Cool & threatening storm this evening, so dressed & no time on the terrace. Brief foray to the terrace late eve, cool with a very fine rain. And silent. There are some noises in this town: an announcement by loudspeaker in the late afternoon; the occasional conversation; the odd child; some motorbikes & tractors going thro'. But early and late there is just silence, silence such as out in the country. Supermarket had a promotional display for Philips Bodygroom, with pictures of the male body it was intended for, including "pubis".

Sat 2008-05-17 {19759}

(!) One last visit to the terrace to see the sun coming up between between fluffy clouds & at the same time being lightly rained on. Left at 08h30, the key back on its ledge over the door. Wind down out of the mountains for 30 mins then hit the autoroutes. Some very heavy rain & barely 20degC by afternoon. Took the Lyon bypass A46 on the way back. It disappears into the N346 for part of the way with lots of junctions. Lunch a sandwich at an aire. Cigar-lighter multi adapter blew its 10A fuse, so only the i3 until first services that had a new one, then Roadangel as well. Two half-tank fill-ups, starting and ending on full. Started out at 20592mi. Got to Novotel Dijon Sud at ~16h00, this time a room at the back, 279. Didn't ask for card again, tho' not prepaid this way the card was used on net. Used CC at toll stages, avoids the long queues. Can just about hear R4 LW for the cricket with the engine off at Lyon, quite good at Dijon, but again only with engine off. But it was raining at Lords. Texts from Kate keeping me up to date anyway. After joining the A9, the GPS said "continue for 393km". Eat in hotel, had a melon and ham starter, then rabbit (on bone) with beans, then slices of pineapple with sweet spices & lime sorbet; good. Big party of wrinklies in a separate dining room, & coach from West Midlands outside. Leg 403mi = 648km.

Sun 2008-05-18 {19760}

(|) (!) Up at 06h30 (+2) and to breakfast. At least 2 coach parties are fed and ready to go for 8h, but no delays at check out. Start at about 07h45 (+2) with odo reading 20995. For the first hour or so we had a 3-lane motorway almost to ourselves, and traffic was very light all day. Back by the reverse of Friday, tho' this time quite cold with rain showers. On the last stretch of the A26 nearly every other car had UK reg. Got to the tunnel at abut 13h30 (+2) and got onto the 14h20 train instead of the 16h20 we'd booked. Onto M20 at around 14h (+1) and home at 16h05 (+1). Odo at tunnel was 21356 (leg 361mi = 581km) and at home was 21488 (leg 132mi = 212km; total 493mi = 793km). Total for the return journey was 896mi = 1441km (in 9h20). Total for the whole trip was 2258mi = 3633km. Sun was shining, tho' only 14degC, and a few minutes in the garden; shrubs now grown up so used only the table against #25 or #26 looking over the fence.

2009-10-05..2009-10-05

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