Beauty and the beast

Tuesday 7th
It helps remember the day and date
We are now heading to the west of France with the idea of looking around the area below Bordeaux, another few miles and we will see what it's like. The overnight stop was a grassy picnic area on a duck farm. The shop sells tins of duck meat produce - we have bought a tin of duck and sausage no doubt some form of Cassoulet - and on arriving yesterday we could smell onions cooking. That and some sort of manure smell. Odd mixture. The weather is mild, sunny and warm, and not too cold at night, unlike the last week. We set off to the next village and amazed to see THIS bullring, in France in a small village, next to a primary school.

The motor home or Camping Car as they call them over here is very comfortable A Hymer A Class built on 2.8 Fiat Chassis, it is 6 metres long and about 3 metres high with a three burner gas hob, sink, small freezer and reasonable sized fridge. We could fit a small oven but I have no wish to do so. Keep it simple. And plenty of cupboards, we have never filled the storage space. There is a bathroom of a reasonable size including a shower and loo with a re moveable cassette - no chemicals involved - underneath that needs emptying on a regular basis. There are numerous Aires in France for CC to dispose of waste and top up with fresh water.

The bed is above the cab, ready made to pull cdown at night, it's a small double, very comfortable mattress and although it sounds 'cosy' John at 5.11/6ft can comfortably sit and read.

The central heating, hot water and hob run on gas, as does the fridge freezer when the vehicle is stationary, the two bottles of LPG are filled every two to three weeks or when we come across a LPG pump.

On the roof is a solar panel to top up the battery and a satellite dish, earlier this year we bought a small TV, this will pick up radio 4 and UK TV in most of France but not Spain. Mainly we have it for DVDs and to keep up with F1 and moto GP racing. This and the iPads with a wifi are fairly successful.

Under the floor there is about 9" high storage area where the rough stuff is stored including the small BBQ, camping chairs and table. Also the tank for fresh water although we always use bottled water for drinking.