11th January 2012 Andernos les Bains Aire

Our plan today was to stay on another aire just west of Bordeaux, in a village called Andernos les Bains.  The journey took only three hours but it was really boring as 75% was on the A63, the main truck route between Spain and France.

Dean has been coming down with a cold for the last couple of days and it hit him with a vengeance today, but he still drove bless him.  (I did offer, but he declined)  We arrived about 2pm so had plenty of time to go and explore the village.  There were a couple of other units already there, so we figured out how to pay (by card, the instructions were in six different languages) then got wrapped up warm and set off.

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The village is next to the harbour where oysters are the speciality, and the houses and streets are really pretty.  We were parked right next to a grass bank, behind which was the harbour. The shops were just opening up again for the afternoon so we did some window shopping, and finally we’ve been able to purchase some decent, freshly ground coffee beans!  No more Bonka!

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On our way back to the ‘van (it was starting to get really cold by now) we called into one of the shops by the harbour and bought some oysters for Dean.  Something was lost in translation as we nearly ended up with three dozen oysters!  The guy was lovely though and realised what we were after (deciphered our rubbish French, more like) and opened them for him.  When we returned to the ‘van and watched others coming back we then twigged that most people buy them by the dozen – lesson learnt for next time!

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About Dean

Angela and I decided that there was more to life than working hard to keep up the payments on the mortgage, to pay the gas, electric, phone bills etc. etc. SO............ In 2008 we sold our house, I initially took a year off (Unpaid) and Angela handed in her notice! We bought a motorhome and set off for a year of travelling! This was the best thing we had done in our lives (Apart from getting married) and we have no regrets. During the year I managed to secure a redundancy package which felt very strange. Almost sad as I had worked for the same company for 19 years (BT). It was always our plan to have a whole year off before thinking about the 'W' word. We began applying to the Camping and Caravanning Club (CCC) for the position of Holiday site assistants in August 2009. After the interview, work experience and induction we were finally given a contract at the CCC site in Inverewe (Scotland). Our plan is to work through the summer in the UK then head to Europe to overwinter before coming back to work the following summer season. Hopefully these few words and our blog will inspire others to get off the hamsters wheel and see that there is more to live than having a house and material things. A cliche I know but this is not a rehearsal, life is too short!!! Since our first contract in Scotland we have worked a winter contract in Oxford (never again!) not Oxford but a winter contract. Hereford for two years, living in a yurt for one! And Cornwall. In between our working we have also travelled a bit. Hopefully this website will give you an insight into our alternative lifestyle. Get out there and live the dream!
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One Response to 11th January 2012 Andernos les Bains Aire

  1. Mentor says:

    Not the man flu, that only happens when you loose sleep by getting up early. Colds take three days to develop. If you visit that area again try stopping of at Audenge by the harbour (not the campsite) water toilets (very clean) and more importantly F.O.C.
    Good luck for the rest of your holiday.

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