older possibly wiser

Wednesday 19th - 22rd April: Roquebrun - Gignac Instead of the constant campsite hopping we did in Portugal in Spain, there is a semi-conscious change to stay a bit longer and relax into an area, as long as there are enough cycle routes to explore. After four nights at Roquebrun, we head out into the world again. Richard in particular expresses a reluctance to go – the view from the campsite terrace is extraordinary – but there are places to see new views to experience.   We do one of our en-route rides from Lamalou-Le-Bain. It's warm and sunny on this 23 mile ride which starts with a climb and then a descent through sleepy villages, and for once we find a coffee stop with a cheerful patron on who gives us tiny chocolate eggs with our espressos.  The ride over, our next pitch is at Gignac, a family run campsite with rave reviews. It's never a bad idea to check out reviews as I've mentioned before, and always a good idea to read the poor ones as well as the five stars, to ge...

Part 2  Monday 12th of April   It has stopped raining after many days as we leave home, but it's raining hard in Bristol where we enjoy a rare lunch with Will (child no. 3) and his girlfriend Felicia and Hannah (child no. 2) our driver today, who's been visiting from Brighton where she lives. The month at home has been busy, catching up with friends and family, and trying to win the favour with the cat, who much prefers it when Sam (child no. 1) is in residence. It's strange to be on the move again. Don't they say never go back somewhere you've enjoyed, because you'll never recapture the experience? We'll see.   We catch the airport shuttle bus from Bristol after a long lunch and arrive a record four hours before the flight. It's nice to have chillout time and people watch – especially families, having just spent time with ours. What's not so nice is that the flight is delayed by the bad weather and when we are aboard the captain warns that there may...