Première Classe Saintes

... that people are still living in and walked around in the soft sand again. Had dinner in a great little Pizza shop where I somehow managed to get anchovies on mine…I guess that’s the fun of ordering food when you can’t read the menu or speak the language.

Now it’s trying for sleep with acorns raining on the tent. Oh the trails we face!

... on the day we needed it most!

After over a week of peace and quite (canal, back country) we were in for a bit of a shock. We’ve been heading towards the west coast to shoot down towards Bordeaux and apparently we’ve arrived at one of France’s big ‘holiday destination’ areas. Giant campgrounds line the roads with the capacity for 100’s of pitches each. Most have their own waterparks, but there’s more ...

... bay attached to their top or rear. This seems to speak to several facts about the Europeans: they do drive much smaller, more fuel efficient cars than most Americans do, but as a result, need to add on carrying devices to move their cargo with them. Also, it appeared than many Europeans incorporate exercise such as bike riding into their normal schedules (I was traveling midweek, not on a holiday or weekend, when I noted all of the car’s with bike racks ...

... taking a breather, we headed onto Rochefort where there were three options in close proximity.
After a quaint drive through tight city streets of Rochefort in a 2.55 metre wide bus, we arrived at the god awful Camping Municipal. No thanks! I looked at the description of the Aire we were after and it mentioned spaces behind the Captinerie.

I looked up the marina on google maps and made a beeline for it and by 8pm we had found (made ...

Dun aksam adaya vardim. Burasi Fransa'nin Corsica'dan sonraki ikinci buyuk adasi. Millet denize, daha dogrusu okyanusa girmeye akin akin geliyor. Yazliklar var, camping alanlari var, kucuk kucuk koyler var. Her taraf yesil, orman. Kus parki var ki once kuslari tedavi icin dogada hastane olarak dusunulmus, simdi ise 300-400 cesidiyle park olmus (maalesef gidemedim, fotograf yok) Istridyesi meshur. Millet dalga sorfu yapiyor, daha once ...

... hostel bul, yerles, geceye ak, sabah erken yola cik... Arada yazmaya vakit kalmiyor. Kimi zaman gece ikide internet cafede, kimi zaman sabahin korunde Mc Donald's ta yazdim.

Fakat gordum ki bu seyahatin en zevkii kismi yasadiklarimi sizlerle paylasmak. Evet, yalniz seyahat buyuk ozgurluk, fakat paylasilmayan guzelliklerin de bir kiymeti olmuyor. Tabi arkadasimla olsam paylasacaklarim farkli, sevgilimle olsam farkli, babamla olsam farkli, fakat ...

At least its in Cognac and I get to stay in St Martial, where you get classical music and home made cakes for breakfast. All that in a castle! I think I am going to regain all the little weight lost camping in Oz very very quickly as I am back to the routine of restaurant every day....

... was at a restaurant on the boardwalk by the beach. Mark and I split a sundae for dessert. It was a mint chocolate chip sundae called the "Iceberg" and when the waiter brought it, he called it the Titanic. We looked at each other a bit before we finally got the joke. I love that I can understand French jokes are sarcasm now (even though I feel like they aren't really a sarcastic type of culture). We ...

Cognaci piirkonda kuulub suur osa Charente piirkonnast kuni Atlandi ookeani rannikualadeni ning mõned piirkonnad Dordognes ja Deux-Sèvres. Kindlasti sealsed 19 500 elanikku on suured konjakisõbrad - kogu kohalik tööstus on koondunud konjaki tegemisele. 80 000 hektaril asuvates viinamarjaistandustes kasvab 15 000 istikut, mille produktidest toodetakse konjaki tarvis valget veini. See aeglaselt küpsev ...

... language barrier. I tried yesterday to wean myself off of bread but then I saw the most delicious looking croissant, so I am going to try again today. I did get off the Cafe Grande and down to the little ones. What else...I looked at my first studio apartment today and I think I may take it. Has a great balcony, is 1 block from a park I call "Eden", it really is gorgeous, but the main reason I want to take it is the fella that lives there, now I know this isn't great decision making ...