Font Nova Peniscola

... the supermarket, had a beer while we watched the sunset and then back to Scooby for dinner. That night we introduced Val to Cranium. We had to improvise as you need 4 to play but we made it work with 3. The game is like pictonary and charades and hang man all mixed together. After an epic 2 hours we and only made it halfway around the board, we decided to call it a night, but ...

This town was really in the middle of nowhere. There was a huge windstorm and the town was super dead, except for a bunch of seniors at the bar down by the beach. We hung out there to use their internet and to watch an episode of Frasier in english. Not our most exciting day. We tried to rent mountain bikes at our resort but they had put them away for the winter... it was like 20 degrees out!

... sans poids sur le vélo... j'ai l'impression que je vais m'envoler!!! quel bonheur, cette légèrté!!
Peu de gens parlent francais ou anglais ici, c'est bien je pratique mon espagnol!! Je chinoise un peu, mais j'apprends chaque jour de nouveaux mots! Je me rends compte que dès que je communique un peu avec les gens, je me sens beaucoup mieux. Et quand on se sent bien, on rencontre des gens bien qui nous font du bien!!

tentative de mettre du poids à l'avant de mon vélo... infructueux.. j'ai l'impression qu'avec les suspensions, je dois mettre encore plus d'énergie pour avancer.. me sens trop lourde à porter!! Je réfléchis à la prudence... les gens ont peur de beaucoup de choses et souvent me mettent en garde... mais cela tend à attiser mes peurs... et attirer les mauvaises ondes! c'est le mauvais oeil!!

... de camping, le suivant est fermé... je sens les angoisses qui reviennent, de me retrouver dans la même situation que le jour d'avant. Je fais une pause, il est 18h, me recentre... décidément, c'est le chemin vers soi-même qui est le plus difficile, pas celui qu'on emprunte avec sa bicyclette!!! Finalement, je trouve un camping, me baigne dans la mer et me cuisine des pâtes!! La sérénité commence à revenir... Je lâche prise petit à petit.

Normally you wake up on a beach because of the warm morning sun. Not in Peniscola. Not in Peniscola. I woke up because some absolutely butters spanish chick was shouting at me. Honestly, its just rude. Soon the other guys woke up and were trying to stop the two girls getting on the Jetski. Then they stole one of Ollys biscuits ...

... was littered on the sand he was approached by a small spanish young man who was licking his lips and rubbing his groin suggestively. That is not what you need when you have just been robbed. Alex politely refused the gentlemans offer. After he was rejected by me aswel he carried on walking down the beach. We met some cool French dudes who worked at a Jet ski hut on the beach and we slept there for the rest of the night.

... smooth. Oh, and we saw flamingos in the wild. Check that off the list of things to do before I die.

The ride home, which lasted about three hours, was spent with my Spanish friend (volunteer program assistant) Marta sharing music and peculiarities about the English language. For example, "I hope to share the conversation with you two, too."

I slept well Sunday night.

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Reluctant to leave Platja Santa-Lucia but finally moved on with detour into Ebro delta - more wonderful birds, paddy fields, etc.

Checking tyres at Carrefour, one loose valve caused complete deflation. Luckily nearby kwikfit came to the rescue - no charge. Spanish in general very polite and helpful.

Los Pinos cheap, scruffy but again friendly and welcoming, with a small pool.

... further south to the Dordongne region of France. We camped at what up to then was the best campsite we had stayed at so far. It was in a little village called Beynac on the Dordongne River. It was quiet, green, had a pool for the kids and cheap. It also had its own chateau at the top of a hill within walking distance. (There is a picture of the campground in the Beynac entry). Although the chateau was quite speci, they are a dime a dozen over here. You are constantly seeing signs ...