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French Camping 2024, Day 25 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 15, 2024 by SteveOctober 11, 2024

15th September 2024

Reckon the mice could still be getting in by jumping up and clambering up Morrison’s willy.  So, I pushed it up higher. This seems to have cured the problem, as no more mice caught during the day or night.

Today we walked across the saltmarsh. Interestingly the water level was higher, and possibly had been higher in the hours before. Where we had walked on previous days, was now flooded. They must have been letting the Rhone flood into the area. Not much was happening, several groups of horses were trekking around the landscape, catching up on the previous day. Yes, today was still windy, but not as bad as yesterday.

While we were sitting outside the van in the afternoon, drinking beer, I managed to drink down a wasp which had inveigled its way to my beer bottle.  It stung me on my tongue, prompting me to spit out the beer all over the vans foot step. R was not impressed. She leapt for the Epipen, but, hey, that’s an injection! Instead, I ate a couple of anti-histamines and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening being really miserable. No supper for me tonight, but i did think a JD & coke would help anaethetize my poor tongue. R said, unhelpfully, that I sounded like a bad imitation of Sean Connery, ie rather shlurry.

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French Camping 2024, Day 24 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 14, 2024 by SteveOctober 11, 2024

14th September 2024

After our mouse-disturbed night, we did a little investigation, and moved the van away from the hedge, leaving several feet for mice to cross from the hedge.  We also removed the plastic bucket from under the van’s willy.  The bucket was broken and leaking, and we had put a large plastic bag (13K birdfood size) in the bucket to collect the water.  This was touching Morrison’s willy and could potentially allow mice to climb up to the water outlet and through the gap in the floor under the van.  This may have been the way the mice were entering.

Walked into town, found a hardware store and purchased two traditional mouse traps. These were baited, one placed on the floor and the other in a cupboard.

We went for a walk on to the beach where we were sandblasted. Not at all pleasant. So, we walked home and there was one mouse trapped on the floor, and another in the cupboard.

These were disposed of and trap reset. Shortly after the trap in the cupboard sprang, we heard a clattering and a squawking mouse, but it escaped.

This is when we then reconfigured the location of the van and discarded the waste bucket. No sign of mice at present. Let’s hope for a peaceful night.

Spent rest of day reading and had a precooked chicken for supper as a salad. 

Wind has dropped a bit, we shall wait until tomorrow and decide on what is best to do.   Most of France appears to be in the doldrums, other than this strip from the Haut Savoie to us where it is windy.

Looks like the heating at home turned on for a short period of time at home on 13th. Must be getting cold there.

Still not quiet on the mouse front, one more was caught early in the night, making a total of 5.

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French Camping 2024, Day 23 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 13, 2024 by SteveOctober 11, 2024

13th September 2024

Another cold, windy day. Sun was about. I was up early and walked out of the campsite to the marshes at 8.00am. Unfortunatley, without a long walk, 8.00am is the earliest you can get out, There are many dog walkers at this time, (frightening the birds) and the sun is already quite high. Quite a few herons and egrets were fishing along the ditch, The ones close to the sea were tame and never moved. The further away you get, the more wary they became, and it was impossible to creep up on them.  Out  on the lagoon there were some Flamingos close to the shore, but as I approached they moved away.  Not a very successful birding drip.

Walking back along the fence, the numerous dragonflies patrolling the fence had been replaced with house martins / swifts / swallows. They were gorging themselves on dragonflies in the lee of the fence.

R was doing the washing and was having difficulties paying, so I rushed back.  Then a call she was successful and had paid by contactless, Why does she insist on plugging the card in and tapping the number.  It is not more secure. Mind you a washing machine that needs a credit card for payment, is new to us! Later we went back to put the washing into the tumble dryer.

After washing and drying we walked into town, visiting the Friday market.  Lots of tat and knives on sale, along with vegetables, salt, chicken, cheeses and meat.

Buying nothing we started a search for a restaurant. Using Google maps we did a compromise on Google ratings, the food type, and whether anyone was eating there today.

We in the end chose the ‘La Cour’ where we had Ricard, pink wine, baked mussels with cheese and a salad. R’s starter salad caused a bit of confusion, it was a main course salad so I also tucked in. Mains I had a bull steak, while Rosemay opted for a more veggie dish, while she muttered about leather handbags being easier to eat than bull. No puddings (no room!), but an espresso and a local Camargue Pastis each.

Back to the campsite, via the small supermarket for the next few days’ food.

Still windy. Noticed some food bags in the van had been chewed. R said this was friction wear in travelling. I was not so sure. We had also started to hear sounds from behind the sink. Tonight I spotted a mouse in one of the cupboards, but it rushed over the top of the back board and disappeared. Later I saw two mice come out from under the fridge. They disappeared quickly underneath again. Not good.

During the night we could hear then scrabbling around.  The wind also rose, and eventually we dropped the roof down, so we could get some sleep.  The other VW at some time during the night did the same thing.  The wind on the Meteo France was gusting at well over 60k.

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French Camping 2024, Day 22 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 12, 2024 by SteveOctober 10, 2024

12th September 2024

R said it rained hard during the night. I had slept solidly throughout, so thought the rain had stayed away. We walked into town and wandered around the shops. Decided to go on the ‘train trip’ at 2.30.  So bought some sandwiches and watched the gulls.  The youngsters being persistent beggars.

At 2.00 the queue for the train trip was already there, we joined and got a place on the ‘train’.  It was a 45 minute trip showing some of the town  and the surrounding areas.  First it took in the East side, showing us the area where the cattle were branded.  Then it went to the west, down the road we drove in on. Eventually it cut across to the West, towards the Little Rhone.  We passed by the traditional thatched houses. Stopped to pat and stroke the beautiful white Camargue horses.   The houses in the area here looked to be quite prosperous, nice looking nearby restaurant.

Back to the town, following the road from the Little Rhone, and past the marina. Yes, it was a tourist trip, but it was interesting and showed us a side of the Camargue we had not known about or seen.

Back to the campsite, where we had supper, and it was very cold and windy.

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French Camping 2024, Day 21 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 11, 2024 by SteveOctober 10, 2024

11th September 2024

The wind was still strong from the North, but it was a little cooler today. The sky to the North was shrouded with thin clouds, which stopped at the sea border.

We went for a walk along the beach to the East. The marshes and lagoons were on our left. The lagoons were devoid of avian life, except for the very occasional Egret and a large group of flamingos on the furthest away lagoon.

We headed inwards and were surprised by the amount of glass. We came to the conclusion that much of the land was reclaimed and built up from a rubbish dump, or dumping ground for builders’ waste. The odd circuit board was found along with old concrete.

Walked towards the main lagoon and had our Sad Gits conference call. Only us, Simon and Richard today.

Back then towards the campsite, lots of dragonflies around.  Time for lunch.

After lunch went for a swim. Not many other people swimmimg. It was also clouding up. Despite the strong wind, the sea was calm, the wind coming off the land.

Quick walk to the shop to stock up some more beers.

Supper of duck and duck fat chips.

Rain started to spit as we went to bed.

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French Camping 2024, Day 20 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 10, 2024 by SteveOctober 10, 2024

10th September 2024

Cool this morning, we are pitched in the morning shade, and the North Easterly wind was chilly. We walked into town, wandered among the shops admiring the items, but not buying anything.  Found the new reincarnation of Poets Bar, but it had been done up and did food. So, we gave it a miss.

Walked to the harbour and admired the boats, but we were looking for a drink.  Most of the places were setting up for lunch.  Arrived back in the middle of the town, headed to near the church. A few lesser class places did drinks without food. We did actualy end up with 4 tapas. Taurau, fish, peppers, mushrooms.

Popped into a shop and bought milk, (actually found fresh milk) on the way back to campsite. It was now getting warm.

Walked to the lagoon, but the flamingos were miles off in the lagoon.  Did spot an osprey who was hunting for fish. Not too successfully.  Also saw the fish hunting for the dragonflies. Often a big splash as they darted for their food.

At the campsite we relaxed, and then ate supper.   Salmon and celeriac remoulade and other salad.  As the sun fell, both Venus and Saturn appeared in the sky, and the bats came out to play, chasing the dragonflies. They were so prolific and visible in the still relatively bright evening, along with their food, the dragonflies.

Many of the campers stopped and watched, it was quite a spectacular display the bats put on. The bats were probably pipistrelles (again) from the frequency of their navigation.

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French Camping 2024, Day 19 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 9, 2024 by SteveOctober 9, 2024

9th September 2024

The weather did clear up in the evening, and the canopy was dry in the morning, so it could be packed away and potentially left packed away until we got home. There was one problem. I had to leave one of my expensive tent pegs behind. I had nailed it through a thick root in the ground and no matter how hard I pulled, it would not come out.  I eventually sacrificed it by nailing it down underground, so hopefully no injury to future campers.

We set off at around 11.00 stopping at a SuperU filling station.  This was not associated with any supermarket.  This year I have seen quite a few SuperU stations like this.  The shop next to the station had a notice saying, that it was not affiliated with the station and that there were no loos. The filling station was totally automatic, and took a wapping 300 euro deposit, for a small 80 euro topup.

We had a lovely trip alongside the lake and across the lake, joined the motorway and blitzed down to Aux-En-Provence, to this huge supermarket to buy a cheap chair.  Lunch & chair purchased, we were on our way.  Not on the toll road, but on a route we had not taken before. This took us through some industrial areas near Martigues and Port-de-Bouc such as esso refineries and the ports.  Pretty fascinating.

Arived at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and checked in for 7 nights.  Very soon, a breeze blowing.

Had a walk down to the beach. The only change appears to be that there were many buoys moored at to sea. One of the mud banks in the lagoon seems now to have weed growing on it. The water level of the salt flats was a little higher than last year, 

Quite a srong wind from the North West, so the sea was actually quite quiet. There were four swimmers.

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French Camping 2023, Day 22 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 20, 2023 by SteveOctober 26, 2023

20th September 2023

Today the forecast was for crap weather. In the end, it actually stayed mainly dry for the morning and early afternoon. We headed into town for lunch. We had decided to eat at the Ambiance Tapas restaurant we had eaten at the year before. Town was eerily quiet, with a few restaurants and hotels closed for the season. It must be the recession, I am sure it was far busier last year. Last year, there were two boats doing the cruise up the Little Rhone whereas this year there was just the one. One bar/hotel we had drunk in last year after the cruise was closed this year. We stocked up on a couple of provisions including some fresh milk. We had a coffee in a small bar where we had once taken shelter from a rainstorm a few years back.  We had our Zoom call with the SadGits by the church (I see a theme developing here), which we cut short from our end because of hunger pains and threatening weather.

We made it to the Tapas bar and sat inside, just in case it rained. We ordered the same mixed Tapas as last year. R chose the mixed, and me the sea food prominent one. We both had a Ricard as a pre-prandial. R wanted the glasses, not like our tall ones, but more tumbler shaped. The glasses had marks for the level of Ricard, and the water, before the ice was added.

After the meal, another walk around before heading home. We were nearly back, when the heavens opened, and the rain came in from the sea. Thankfully we had prepacked out waterproof ponchos which kept most of the rain off us.

Back at camp we dried off in the van, having shed our wet outer layers in the awning. Later, during the evening the rain came in hard, leaving puddles which needed navigating in the dark. Unfortunately, the awning was in one such puddle so one end of the canopy and the kitchen unit were flooded.

We were expecting more rain, during the night, but there wasn’t much. We had expected to pack up in the rain.

France - Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer Lunch at Ambiance Tapas
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France - Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer Vintage sports cars
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French Camping 2023, Day 21 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 19, 2023 by SteveOctober 26, 2023

19th September 2023

Today we were up at the crack of dawn or as early as the side gate to the campsite allows, 8.00 am. It also closes at 20.00. It used to close later, and you could take a walk on the beach after sunset.  No more, why? We have our pass to unlock the gate during the day time.

We headed of to see the flamingos, who were miles out in the ever-diminishing salt flat.  We did see egrets and herons (rather like home) plus small birds, dragonflies and a stoat?

Back at the campsite, lunch and a swim in the sea for Steve. Later, R became very upset when a large dog, not on a lead (which is against campsite rules) went for the cat. There was a lot of shouting, and crying. Cat survived. Unfortunately for him, he was on a lead, so maneuvering tricky.

Supper was pork with fried vegetables, including potato.

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French Camping 2023, Day 20 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Blasdale Home Posted on September 18, 2023 by SteveOctober 26, 2023

18th September 2023

After a sleepless night, I arose, and did a little more adjusting to the awning, tightening the guys and anchoring those fixings that had come loose.

Breakfast outside, overcast, but windy. A small percentage rain forecast and thunderstorms (which did not happen). We walked into the town along the coastline for a wander around.  Searching first for a bar we like. A very small bar which served drinks only. We found it, The Poets Bar, closed, the owner retired and premises up for sale. Looked like it had been closed for a while. Such a shame, it was a lovely place, no pressure, and a pleasant owner.  Unlike the bar we ended up drinking at . Seven euros for 500ml and surly staff. No tip left.  As we departed, R remembers this had happened before at this bar.  Why don’t we learn? R also double-checked with me to see if I wanted to run a bar. (I said no.)

We then searched out the Tapas restaurant we had eaten at before, Still in existence! This may be our Wednesday lunchtime destination.

Walked back, stopping at the small Intermarche for some food, wine and beer. No fresh milk, so opted for some Greek Yogurt for our cereal in the morning.

Back to the campsite for some cheese and bread, snooze, and then I went out with the camera. Not particularly successful. The water level seems to be down, so the majority of birds were a lot further inland than we’ve seen before.  Grabbed a few pictures including dragonflies. 

Supper was sausages, potatoes and mange touts, a pint of IPA for me, rosé wine for Rosemary.

Weather is now calm, which means the dragonflies are out in the evening, (good) and the mosquitoes are around and biting (bad), but at least not as prolific as they sometimes are. We once had a problem with ants here, but, so far, so good.

Rosemary spotted a French owned black cat and managed to get a picture of it cowering behind a washing bowl at his owner’s unit. He was very nervous and not up to a stroke. He was on a harness and lead. The owner much amused by R’s cooing.

Peaceful night tonight, and an expected sunny day tomorrow. Intention is to be out of the gate at 8.00 to visit the saltmarshes.

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