More Than a Bad Hair Day

No chance of Mr Fluffy's freshly laundered underpants being stolen today. Around 5am I awoke to the sight of Mr F, torch in hand, peering out the window asking if I'd heard a gurgling sound.

We were both a bit on edge as, earlier in the day, a van had been broken into while the occupants were on a walk on the beach. The thieves had used a screwdriver or something similar to crack open the door and had taken everything - this was in daylight with a couple sitting in the neighboring van. They had seen and heard nothing but a snoopy local had seen the event take place through his binoculars and called the police - but it was too late.

When the gurgling took  place Mr F thought someone was siphoning the petrol tank but alas, when he went to have a shower, the dreadful truth arose. Temperatures had been so low overnight that the automatic 'empty the water tank so it doesn't freeze' had been triggered and we were left with no water.

This constituted  DAY 3 of  'not washing the hair in a bid to wean myself off daily shampooing' (Mr F says it's bad for your hair). Now my double crown takes a little bit of work to calm it down on a good day but three days (!!) of non washing is too much. The peak on top of my head is not a good look especially with an oil slick either side. There will be no photographic evidence here.

spot the Dickie - with accompanying skinny street surrounded by water

Despite the thievery and lack of water the beaches near El Saler, south of Valencia, are lovely and the paella in the area is excellent. We drove to El Palmar for lunch and had a hairy drive through the small streets of the village. We recommend leaving the van at the car park before you enter the village as the streets are a little slim.

Monasterio de Santa Maria de la Valldigna

Happily we now have water and are parked up at Simat de la Valldigna surrounded by orange groves, with a 13th century monastery (haunted) up the road and mountains all around. I've just looked out the window and there's an amazing flock of birds, mainly white or black bodies with the underside of the wings in red or green or yellow - it almost looks like they're painted. G thinks they are painted pigeons - is that a thing??

 Heading further south tomorrow.

Beachy Shots

The flamingos were a little too far to get any good shots but I must say this area is absolutely stunning. The beach goes on forever on one side then there are rice fields on the other side. The atmosphere is very tranquil - when the hunters stop shooting for 5 seconds. Here are a few shots I took today.

Looking out over the rice fields

Getting Arty

Boats awaiting fishermen

Beach Sculpture

Map So Far

Where we've been

This morning Graham went for a cycle ride and has returned with stories of endless beaches and clouds of flamingos. Trabucador is an area of wetland in the Delta de L'Ebre and a very attractive place it is too.

We had a stopover in Cambrils yesterday for a spot of lunch on the beach but as parking by the beach overnight is forbidden we came here at the suggestion of the Venema clan (Graham's nieces and nephew). 

It is a little disconcerting to hear the continuous sound of gunshot as hunters take aim at the large variety of birdlife here. Hopefully they're missing quite a bit.

loving a clean Dickie

Dickie is being cleansed as we sit in the sun before taking off to check out these flamingos.

Family Fun and a Lack of Lewd

After noticing the spent gun cartridges at the Aire in Sitges we decided to move on and park by the beach.

Monique, Hugo, Me, Sonia, Berend, Mr Fluffy

We had just spent a lovely day and night in Castelldefels visiting Mr Fluffy's nieces Sonia and Monique, and nephew Berend. Sonia has a fabulous bar there called Takua so if you are ever in Castelldefels it's definitely worth a visit. They do fabulous margaritas! Monique teaches kite surfing. Graham was going to have a go but I think he may have had one too many red wines and decided to forgo her kind offer of a lesson on the beach.

 

Two boys go for a walk in Sitges

Parking by the beach was not a problem here and there was a dog exercising area where Hugo went nuts chasing a german shepherd. It's a lovely spot and very close to Barcelona if you fancy getting the 20 minute train in. We decided to head off as we heard it's a bit of a 'break and enter paradise' when it comes to campervans and I'd always wanted to have a look at Sitges so that's where we headed.

 

T Shirt Weather in St Feliu de Guixol

I imagine it's a little busier in summer but the beaches were lovely and the restaurants looked gorge. We parked up on the street by the Terramarra Hotel without a problem. The official Aire was hideous and a long way out of town but had water so good for a fill up and an empty.

 

Medieval Sitges Walkway

We are now in the parking lot of the Monastery of Poblet near Mont Blanc, a walled medieval village about an hour and a half inland from Sitges. I read that the monastery was a hotbed of lewd activity in the middle ages but sadly there is no evidence of this behavior remaining at all - will have to do some online research. Maybe all the lewd activity has moved to Sitges. They still make their own wine so we bought a bottle to try tonight....I'll let you know...

Red socks and Food-based Shocker

As Hugo tries to lick Graham's belly button, 'A Celebration of Fanny' comes on the television. Thankfully this is not one of those naughty channels weirdly slotted between God TV and the Motorhome Channel, it is an American cooking show extolling the virtues of Fanny Craddock. Phew.

Harbour of Collioure

We are sitting in Dickie at the Aire in Collioure in the south of France (thanks for the recommendation Anthony and Donna). There's free electricity, water etc at this time of year and no parking charge. It's a bit of a walk into town but the restaurants are good and there was a marche this morning (Sunday) with lots of free cheese and saussicon samples. After a few days of lovely sunshine a rather massive gale has started so, after our lunch in the freezing cold outdoor restaurant today, we will hunker down in Dickie until tomorrow when we head towards Spain. 

Matching lead/sock combo and great hair

Modelling the trendy outfit

With any luck Graham's footwear will return to normal - no more threats of the sock sandal combo I hope. This morning he asked if the red socks that were pulled up to his knees looked ok with his shorts. No - no they did not. There was a slight improvement when he pushed them down to his ankles but this was slightly negated when I realised they exactly matched our choice of Hugo's lead. Matchy, matchy.

By the Moulin

Animology 4Us

We watched in horror as, legs in the air, Hugo corkscrewed his way around a giant greenbird poo. The offending excrement covered him from neck to tail tip. May I recommend Animology FoxPoo shampoo as it did a great job removing it. Hugo was not impressed with his shower but, hey, that's what happens when you go rolling in s##t.

New Tyres R Us

Apparently it's not great to have wires sticking out of your tyre. Mr Fluffy appeared stressed as we searched for a French equivalent to Kwikfit but the (thankfully) English speaking assistants at Norauto near Montpelier sent us in the right direction. Massa Autopneus in Lattes were more than helpful and we would recommend them to anyone with tyre problems in that area of France. 

our fabulous mechanics

After working out how to explain everything in French to the workmen there I must admit I was a little disappointed that one of the mechanics could speak English. He even taught me how to say 'pneus', something I've struggled with since school. It's sort of like 'new'. We were in and out within 50 minutes after they had changed three tyres. Our two front ones were close to needing a change so we bit the bullet and went the whole hog. 

Heading down the coast again now, happy in the knowledge Dickie the van is happy with his new shoes.