Well here we just past the longest day of the year – where does time go? We’re still enjoying life in France and there is now a routine to the seasons and the year with the same activities happening as in previous years.
We escaped again in the campervan for some slightly warmer weather in January and February, with plans to head to southern Spain and Portugal. The weather in Spain this year was immediately more mixed and cooler and, as we headed further south in late January, heavy rain started to settle in with storm after storm predicted. We had planned to do another off-piste route, this time in Portugal, but the weather forecasts were so dire that it would have been foolhardy to attempt it as well as being generally wet in other areas we wanted to visit, so we had to completely rethink our plans. Looking at the weather maps, the Almeria and Murcia regions of Spain were enjoying better weather and temperatures so we decided to head back there and abandon plans to visit Portugal. We were very disappointed not to have been able to visit our friends Mary and Ray, but will plan another trip for a different time of year.
Our general impression was that it was much busier with campervans in Spain this winter and everywhere along the coast was booked up or crowded with vans. We still found some nice quieter coastal stopovers and particularly enjoyed more inland locations. There are beautiful isolated areas where we spent peaceful nights alone and did spectacular walks to rock formations, a Roman aqueduct and the Tabernas desert. City visits included Malaga and Valencia, both more in than we had expected. After last year’s visit to Sad Hill Cemetery in northern Spain, we visited Mini-Hollywood, where a number of Clint Eastwood films were made. It’s a bit cheesy but we enjoyed a Wild West show in the replica cowboy town and Joe enjoyed identifying the locations where some iconic scenes were filmed. Even more enjoyable was an off-road route we took in the van through the spectacular surreal landscape of the Tabernas Desert.
So we had to work harder to follow the sun but enjoyed our time away in the van – it certainly breaks up the winter months. To make up for the missed off-roading in Portugal, we signed up for an off-roading weekend with the van in the Aveyron region in late March. The organiser teaches off-roading skills for various 4×4 vehicles and organises off-roading weekends – this one was specifically for 4×4 campervans. We were 7 vans in total and met with our fellow off-roaders, mainly mature couples, on the Saturday morning at a cafe at Le Caylar, south of the Millau Viaduct. After a briefing Philippe, our leader, led us onto off-road tracks through beautiful scenery. We had the opportunity at one point to test the vans on a steep slope under Philippe’s guidance. Joe has never tested our van under these conditions and was interested to see how it would handle. I left him to try it on his own while I took photos and the van handled extremely well – in the very capable driver’s hands of course. We were all asked to bring local specialities from our home regions to share at lunchtime and pre-dinner apéro. Camping tables came out at lunchtime and were soon covered with wine, meats and other products from all over France. We took local specialities from Lot et Garonne – it never occurred to me to try and make something typically British! We continued off-piste in the afternoon and eventually arrived at some private camping land where we spent the night in our vans. Tables and chairs came out again, apéro treats were laid out again and a caterer dropped off dinner – a local speciality of grilled sausages and truffade – a mix of potatoes, cream and bacon. More off-roading the next day and the weekend was rounded off with a visit to a Roquefort cheese producer, followed by a tasting (and purchases). A great weekend in good company and one we’d be very happy to repeat with the same organiser in a different location.
After lots of discussion over the past couple of years we finally caved in to getting two outdoor cats. We haven’t had rodent problems in the house or barn, but there has definitely been evidence in the barn and outside when we’ve set traps or put bait down, so we thought cats might be a deterrent. I approached a local cat adoption society that has links with another cat refuge that tends to have outdoor rather than house cats. Some outdoor cats are completely feral and there are others who prefer to live outdoors but are enjoy some human contact, so we went for that option. We were offered two 5-year old (non-related) female cats, one black. After keeping them shut in our studio for a week, and with no fences on our property, we fully expected them to scarper as soon as we opened the door. But in fact they did not venture far at all and quickly settled in. We don’t really know anything about their history apart from the fact they were both picked up as strays at some stage and one was at the refuge for 8 months. Whether they were previously truly outdoor cats is also unknown. Cooper, a slim black cat, is definitely more of a hunter and we’ve seen her catching geckos and mice – and eating the entire victim. Grainger, a fat grey cat has not shown any evidence of hunting and is very happy to snaffle any food left by Cooper. But we enjoy seeing them around the place – they definitely do what they want on their terms!
Joe also has a new project. Because we have a bit of land and are surrounded by farming land, he has had a hankering for a vintage tractor and was regularly looking on local sites to see if anything came up. There are lots of old tractors for sale, in particular the pretty old grey ‘Fergies’ or ‘Petit gris’, in various conditions and with or without paperwork, i.e. a valid vehicle registration document. That isn’t necessarily important if you’re just pottering on your land but it is proof of ownership if you come to sell and adds value and it’s difficult to get ownership,into your name if paperwork isn’t up to date. Many owners have never re-registered ownership when they buy an old tractor, so it’s often the case that documents are in the name of a previous owner or deceased family member. Joe came across a tractor he was keen on, in particular because it is a Ford Ferguson model built in 1946 at the same factory in the USA where the Jeep was built – a link too interesting to pass up. The tractors were provided to France by the USA after the war under the LendLease programme to help France get back on its feet and the Ford models are quite rare in France nowadays. The tractor was owned by a winemaker (and also a Jeep owner) in the Gers, about a 2.5 hour drive away. He bought the tractor from a collector about 18 years ago and more some reason had never used it or turned the engine, so the engine was seized. Oh, and he’d never registered the tractor in his name so the paperwork was in the name of the former owner, a retired policeman living in Agen. Negotiations started but broke down over price and paperwork issues, but the seller saw sense (after getting the same feedback from other potential buyers presumably) and a deal was struck. After trailering the tractor back to our barn, Joe had it stripped down and had identified why it was seized in a couple of days. Parts are harder to come by than for a grey Fergie and have had to be sourced from the US, Netherlands and UK. Joe was delighted that he was able to turn the engine for the first time when his friend Andy was staying. Not content with having a working tractor to patrol the boundaries, Joe is now moving into ‘accessories’ for moving things around or for mowing longer wildflower meadow areas.
Speaking of the Jeep, we are looking forward to another trip to Morocco in October, with the same organisers and several of the previous participants. Joe’s daughter Zoe was staying with us for 3 weeks from Australia and we travelled with her to Provence to take part in a weekend Jeep event – one that we did 2 years ago. The event was based around the lovely town of Vaison-la-Romaine, well known for its Roman ruins and proximity to Mont Ventoux. 50 Jeeps took part in the weekend and we were very pleased to be able to meet up with 3 other couples from our previous Morocco trips. We spent two days following scenic and challenging off-road pistes. We were split into small groups to avoid holding up other traffic and we’re lucky enough to fall in with 4 other French owned Jeeps whose owners took pre-lunch ‘Apéro’ time very seriously, stopping in a shaded spot to lay out cheese, charcuterie and wine on the Jeep bonnet. Like all French people they are proud to show off their local specialities. The challenging stony pistes and hot weather took their toll on some Jeeps and Joe’s Jeep developed a worrying crunching and grinding sound in the gearbox by the end of the second day. He envisaged another gearbox rebuild but fortunately diagnosed a simpler problem which has now been repaired.
This week we’re facing our second heatwave of the year (and its only June) and we’re on red alert with temperatures peaking around 40C. We read that it’s the same in the UK, so we’re hope you’re able to keep cool.