Saturday July 27th, 1985
Time: 4:03pm
Mileage: 44,480
Weather: Sunny, hot, a few clouds, windy.
At 4pm we spotted drops of rain on the window... how strange! It's usually so rare in this country! Arrived in Dartford at 5.57pm.
Because we're catching the 6am ferry tomorrow, we're staying the night with the paps.
Sunday July 28th, 1985
As I've already discovered by getting up early, I couldn't sleep very well. Whether it was more from excitement than the early hour, I don't know. Anyway, we were all awake at 3.30am which gave us plenty of time to be ready to leave nice and early.
Time: 4.15am
Rainy and dark, then dismal and cloudy.
Arrived in Dover at 5.25am. Workers at Dover have started a new sales drive selling accessories to drivers. Looking around, most of them needed headlamp converters and goodness knows what else!
We boarded The Herald of Free Enterprise (later to go down in the channel) at 5.45am. We ate a delicious breakfast (£6.00) and bought Martini, cigarettes and chocolate in the duty-free shop.
We arrived in Calais at 8.15am French time. Dad is worried that the clutch doesn't feel right, however, after a stop, everything is OK.
Roads taken so far: the N43 and the A26.
Weather: Cloudy and chilly. Onto the A1 towards Paris.
Scenery: Open farmland on both sides. Occasional woods and villages.
After a heavy downpour, the weather improves. Stopped for our first French coffee (when we eventually get it!) and Dad nearly had a fight with an old French woman! It was hilarious!
The coffee was delicious, but it started raining again! The scenery is beautiful and very wooded. There are quite a few villages with typical French buildings and we're near the Chantilly Chateau and the Halatte Forest. The next turn-off is signposted Senlis.
The rain continued and reminded me of Milan. We arrived in Paris at 11.40am. The city was dealt with effortlessly and once through, we drove onto the A6 or the "Autoroute du Soleil". We passed the village of Fontainebleu.
At Nemours, we turned off onto the N7 and stopped for lunch at Le Relais des Lacs in the village of Souppes-sur-Loing. We ate salad, a kind of ham called Sombrero and a sausage-meat thing with rice and mushrooms, white wine followed by ice cream. Dad had brie and bread. We set off at 2.45pm. The weather was sunny with clouds and hot. We are travelling the same route that we took five years ago when we drove to Spain, and three years ago on the way to Fréjus in the south of France.
Near the town of Cosne-sur-Loire the scenery was beautiful and I'd forgotten how lovely it is. There are forests everywhere and we've seen one or two gorgeous chateaux. All the streets in the towns are tree-lined - so typical of France. The weather was now gorgeous and perfect!
At Cosne-sur-Loire we are directly opposite La Chapelle d'Angillon, Alain Fournier country. Looking across from the N7 it looks absolutely beautiful. It's very wooded and hilly. I hope it's as mysterious as the book portrays! The views from the tops of the hills are breathtaking.
We saw a gendarme in action, which scared us but it was the car in front he pulled over!
We stopped for petrol and neared Moulins and it wasn't long before we reached the Auberge de L'Etang, after passing through the delightful village of St Pourcain at exactly 6pm, the time we'd told them we'd arrive!
We were greeted warmly by both mother and daughter, which was lovely. Dad was shattered; he'd driven over 400 miles today, half of which was in torrential rain, and half in blazing sunshine! We had a lovely cool drink on the terrace and talked to the owner. She spoke French to me and I answered her quite well.
The weather continues to be hot and it hasn't rained at all here, so I only hope it continues to be the same. Maybe we've left the bad weather behind?
After an apéritif on the terrace, we ate dinner. Mum and Dad had smoked ham and bread while I chose the paté, which was delicious. We chose veal escalope for our main courses, served with salad and pommes frites. The dessert was a delicious cake. We drank a 1984 Saint-Pourcain, a very good local wine.
After dinner, we went for a walk along the nearby country roads, and we were greeted by the howling and barking of the local dogs who really do know how to guard their properties!
Monday July 29th, 1985
After a breakfast of bread, jam and coffee we drove to the village of Saint-Pourcain. Although the weather was cloudy and quite chilly, there was some blue sky above. The village is lovely with old buildings. The wines from the region are very good and there were banners advertising them. We know how good they are!
We went to the supermarket and bought bread, ham and tomatoes along with some wine for lunch. We also had to buy some plastic cups and cutlery so we could eat the food!
After leaving Saint-Pourcain we travelled on the D36 and then the M145 to Montluçon. From Montluçon we went onto the N144 which led us to Bourges. We stopped at 12.15pm for lunch which was delicious but windy! We've seen only a few British cars, one of which waved to us. Obviously, this route is not well known to the Brits!
We arrived in Bourges and lost our way! Anyway, we headed for La Charité on the N159 and then onto Les Aix d'Angillon on the D955. From there it was through Henrichmont on the D12 and then straight to La Chapelle d'Angillon.
Dad took a photo of me standing by the signpost, and he spotted a beautiful chateau standing next to a reed-fringed lake. It looked very similar to the book!
We parked the car and had a look at the church and the graveyard. I'm sure I saw the grave of Alain Fournier's grandparents.
We decided to have a look at the chateau, so we walked around the lake. From the front, it looked beautiful with turrets at each corner. Then I saw an American flag... strange! In the heart of the French countryside? I took lots of photos of the front of the chateau as it was so beautiful.
We walked around the side of the chateau and it was like being in a bizarre dream! Along one side was a Western street, complete with horses, men in cowboy suits and country and Western music blaring out! It was horrible! To see such a beautiful chateau turned into a tasteless joke was awful. There were even Bison enclosed in a field!
However, I soon noticed a beautiful grey dovecote rising above fir trees, and I felt convinced that this was what inspired Alain Fournier's chateau in Le Grand Meaulnes.
We were so disgusted that we left and walked around the village, and had a cup of coffee and some ice cream.
We left La Chapelle d'Angillon and drove towards Cosne by way of the D26 and the D13, followed by the N7.
Dinner tonight was ham followed by lamb for Mum and Dad and I had veal again. The meal was accompanied by a bottle of St Pourçain wine and we ate cherry pie for dessert. We chatted with a friendly American couple who were also staying at the Auberge.
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| On the road - clockwise from top: L'Auberge de l'Etang, Lanau, Spanish border, somewhere in the Massif central, Saint Pourcain, comfort break |
Tuesday July 30th, 1985
We awoke to a beautiful sunny morning! After breakfast, we loaded the car and Dad paid the bill which was 1050f. We left at 8.50am.
We did about 250 miles yesterday - "It's just up the road, Dad!".
Weather: hot and sunny. We drove into hilly country and stopped at 10.30am for a coffee in one of my favourite villages, Lanau. The village hadn't changed at all.
The weather became cloudy and quite chilly. Mum said it was freezing! The weather got worse as we drove further into the Massif Central. We stopped for lunch on top of a mountain overlooking a lake and the real beauty of the scenery was lost because of the weather.
Shortly after lunch it began to rain heavily and was miserable. I was glad we'd seen these mountains in sunny weather because in the rain they looked horrible!
In the afternoon we stopped at the French equivalent of a transport café and had some yukky coffee. The weather was still rainy and cold. We reached Millau where we had originally planned to stop and drove on.
On seeing a sign for "Frites" we stopped and enjoyed some - they were delicious and worth waiting five years for!
Once through the Massif Central, we turned onto the A9, the motorway that runs to Spain. As it was getting late we decided to try and find somewhere to stop for the night and drove into Narbonne, a town near the coast.
The town was crowded and jammed full of cars. Mum and Dad went to look at a hotel while I stayed in the car. Mum and Dad liked the hotel which was called Hotel de France and was situated on a back street.
It was lovely to have a shower (I had my own) and put on clean clothes because we'd been driving non-stop since 9am. The hotel didn't have a restaurant so we walked into Narbonne to find a place to eat. We eventually came across a place called "Le France" - I don't know why it was masculine as France is feminine!
We all chose crudités to start and we had no idea how enormous the salad was going to be! It filled the plate and was served with paté, salami and eggs! For the next course, Mum and Dad had chicken and chips while I chose an omelette. We also enjoyed delicious tomatoes served with garlic and parsley. The bill came to 190f.
We walked around the town and then headed back to the hotel for bed.
Wednesday July 31st, 1985
We had a disappointing breakfast, loaded the car, paid the owner of the hotel and left. The weather was much better.
We drove onto the A9 and at 10am we reached the Spanish border and changed some money. We stopped at the first café and had coffee. It was crowded and the poor waiters were becoming harrassed. It was also very hot!
We decided to drive to L'Escala and see what it was like there. I wished we hadn't. L'Escala was horrible, lacking in character and was big and sprawling. We looked for an apartment and the only one was in a horrible building overlooking the sea. We said we'd bring the car to the office but we never went back!
As creatures of habit, we eventually decided to go back to my beloved Tossa de Mar. We all hoped there would be a place for us to stay there. Once off the autostrada, we were on a hazardous mountain road leading to Tossa. We'd all forgotten how long it was, and how dangerous! There were steep drops but no barriers to stop a car from going over the edge.
We drove into the town and parked the car. I immediately felt like I belonged there. In L'Escala I felt like we weren't wanted. We tried one villa agency but they had no houses or apartments to rent. As it was lunchtime we walked to the Don Paulino apartments but there was nobody there we could talk to about renting somewhere. Everyone was sitting by the pool as it was so hot!
We left and went to a little travel shop and asked in there. To our surprise, there were two apartments available: one overlooking the sea and self-catering, and one joined to a hotel for meals. We had a look at the hotel first but it was very small and so, without even looking at it, we decided on the apartment overlooking the sea.
When we did have a look we were very glad we'd chosen the apartment as the view was spectacular, like an enormous postcard stuck on the wall! From the balcony, we could see the sea and the beach, the castle and most of the town. We were so pleased!
While Mum unpacked, Dad and I went to the supermarket to buy essentials such as milk and bread.
We went out in the evening for dinner and picked a restaurant on the seafront. We had soup to start, followed by spaghetti Bolognese. Mum and I had steak while Dad enjoyed different fish. Our dessert was ice cream. The bill was 3,850 pesetas.
We walked around the town after dinner and we were pleased to see that nothing much had changed!
Thursday August 1st, 1985
The whole morning and part of the afternoon were spent on the beach. We were wise enough to get down there early because it could get very crowded.
We were lucky enough to have a dishwasher in the apartment and so, while Mum loaded it (an arduous task), Dad and I went to secure a space on the beach, which was rapidly filling up. As expected, it was very hot but we hired an umbrella to keep us cool and stayed until about 2pm. It was then back to the apartment and a nap.
As evening drew nearer we got ready to go out and decided to eat in the town again. We were quite disappointed with the food in Tossa de Mar and the menus all seemed the same no matter where we chose. They were usually paella, spaghetti Bolognese, chicken or steak, all served with chips. What's wrong with good old potatoes!
We eventually found a restaurant which was underneath our apartment block. They were serving paella for two persons which Dad and I shared, while Mum had a spaghetti starter. We all had salad, which I was heartily sick of by now!
The paella, for me anyway, was disgustingly horrible. Dad found it delicious but he does enjoy fish more than I do! Anyway, I ignored all the mussel shells and miniature crabs, and just ate the rice and meat!
After the meal, we walked around the castle and gazed at the beautiful sight of Tossa lit up. We had a drink at the bar "Vila Vella" at the top. It was very pretty there and overhead, on a trellis were vines, with little lights hidden inside. It was gorgeous.
After our drink, we went down to the "Vila Romana", or the old town with its stone-walled buildings and cobbled streets. The whole of "Vila Romana" is inside the castle walls and there were a number of little bars and restaurants.
Back at the apartment, Dad took a photo of the full moon on the sea, and the lights of the town.
Friday August 2nd, 1985
We spent the morning on the beach and were lucky to get there early. Well, it was only over the road! I hired three loungers every morning and an umbrella and we were better off than most as they only had mats to lie on.
By about 10am the beach was getting crowded and going into the sea was difficult. However, it was worth it! After the blazing heat of the sun, the water was cold and clear. This surprised me but every morning it was the same. It was lovely to swim in but it did shelve deeply and if you weren't careful it was easy to go under!
As usual, we had ham rolls for lunch, Dad's speciality. After another hour of sunbathing, we returned to the apartment as it became too hot.
In the evening we looked around the town and searched for presents to take home. Our meal tonight was at a little restaurant that specialised in kebabs. They were delicious! Dad and I had ours with rice while Mum had a salad. They were very filling and accompanied by a bottle of Rosé wine.
After our meal, we walked around Tossa and had a drink at a restaurant bar.
Saturday August 3rd, 1985
Need I say where the morning was spent? As usual, it was hot and lovely.
In the afternoon we decided to go for a walk up to the castle as Dad and I wanted to take some photographs. On the way up we had a drink (Dad) and an ice cream (Mum and I) at a bar. The waiter came back with two enormous dishes full of strawberries and topped with whipped cream. We couldn't believe how large they were! After our shock we certainly enjoyed them!
We both took some great photos from the castle. The day was perfect with not a cloud in the sky and the sea was different hues of turquoise and aquamarine. The views were spectacular. Whoever said that this part of the Costa Brava is the prettiest, was right!
On both sides of Tossa de Mar, the coastline is rugged but there are lots of little coves to swim in, and the water is so clear!
We walked right up to the top of the headland and we could see the lighthouse clearly. I bought some beautiful postcards from a shop. We went down to the old town and had a look at an art shop. Most of the paintings were of the surrounding coastline and Tossa itself. The style of the paintings didn't appeal to me, though.
In the evening we ate out again. I have to say that this lifestyle suits Mum very well! She hasn't got to cook or wash up! Tonight, we found our favourite restaurant "Chez Igor". The menu was totally different from other restaurants in Tossa de Mar and was very interesting and varied. For example, there were hamburgers, veal à la Viennese, veal escalope, loin of ham stuffed with cheese, lots of different steaks, spaghetti, pilaf Orient and joints of pork. As well as the ever-present chips, there were plain boiled potatoes, fried and baked potatoes, a large choice of vegetables and salad. The addition of vegetables surprised us as most restaurants didn't have them on the menu.
That night, Dad had a Hungarian Goulash soup which was more like a thick minced beef stew, and I had veal consommé with egg. Mum had breaded pork chops with potatoes and vegetables. For our main courses, Dad and I had veal escalopes with rice. It was a delicious meal and we decided we'd definitely be back!
Sunday August 4th, 1985
Things were slightly different today in the morning as the weather was cloudy. We walked around the town instead of going to the beach. We had a cup of coffee and read the paper and, afterwards, visited a pottery shop where Mum bought a beautiful plate.
Although it was cloudy, it was still hot, so we went back to the apartment to have a cool glass of Sangria and some lunch.
The sun came out at about 1pm so we went down to the beach. I intended to do a lot of swimming and the beach was lovely and quiet with only a few people. I swam a lot and sunbathed and managed to get swimsuit lines where I tanned!
Dad and Mum cooked sausages, tomatoes and potatoes in the evening and we drank a white Rioja with the meal. After we'd eaten, we had a drink at a bar by the castle and then Mum and I were really naughty... we had gigantic ice cream at a sea-front bar! Dad enjoyed a treble whisky with ice cream in it and the bill came to 2000 pesetas! We saw another man ordering the same ice cream and there were six in his family! The poor man couldn't believe his eyes when he received his bill!
We played crazy golf for the third time in a row. Previously, Mum and I had won, and Dad felt he had to win at all costs... he did!
Monday August 5th, 1985
The weather was back to normal today, so we were back on the beach! Walking around Tossa in the afternoon was far too hot for me so I returned to the apartment and sat overlooking the beach and the castle with a nice cold drink in my hand!
We returned to "Chez Igor" again and Dad had pork fillet, Mum had veal escalopes and I had breaded loin of pork stuffed with ham and cheese. Again, it was delicious!
I've begun to notice more people in Tossa and most of them are German. In fact, we keep being mistaken for Germans! Although it's the French national holiday, we've seen very few French people.
Tuesday August 6th, 1985
Our last full day... sob!
This morning was spent on the beach which is getting more crowded every day. We're lucky in that we're always guaranteed a place as we're staying so close.
In the afternoon, the first of the big black clouds arrived and soon after, it started to rain and there was a mass exodus! Most people were wet anyway due to the sea being rough earlier and soaking several sunbathers and their belongings! The tide was coming in and inched closer and every now and again we would hear people screaming as they got drenched!
With the rain, the beach emptied, except for a few hardy devotees like me! However, I then heard thunder and it rained harder so I got up and ran back to the apartment!
The storm that followed was the best I'd ever seen and went on for about an hour. At one point the lightning was around four feet away from where I was standing on the balcony! The sea was very rough as shrouded in a grey mist. The boats that were anchored out at sea looked like ghost boats as they bobbed about frantically on the waves!
Halfway through the storm, the two pleasure boats came in and collected more passengers. By the look of the sea, there was no way I would have got on the boat!
The torrential rain continued for a long time and created a ford from the car park to the road. After about an hour the sky cleared and the sun came out, making everything scorchingly hot again!
We went to "Chez Igor" again and Mum and Dad had steak while I enjoyed veal à la Viennese. We took a last walk around the castle and went back to the apartment.
Wednesday August 7th, 1985
Our last morning was spent on the beach and today it was extremely crowded. There was hardly a place to put your feet!
I went for a lovely swim and the water was still quite rough, but clear and cold!
Leaving the beach was sad. I wanted to stay but that was impossible. We'd booked the apartment until Wednesday and by now it would probably be impossible to rent anywhere as the town was so busy with holidaymakers.
After showering and doing last-minute packing, we had lunch at a café near the apartment. Dad had chicken and salad while Mum and I had a hamburger. We loaded the car, said goodbye to the lovely caretaker and set off for home.
Mileage: 45,752
Time: 2.25pm
The hazardous mountain road was negotiated and we were soon back on the motorway. We reached the French border at 4.15pm and changed our money back into francs. The weather was extremely hot with not a cloud in the sky.
Our route was the A7 and then the A9 into France.
After the town of Nimes, we turned off to Remoulins, a town about 3km from the motorway junction. Dad and I found a hotel on the main road and had a look at the room which wasn't that special. However, we decide to take the room and went back to the car. There wasn't a parking space so we had to drive on and turned down a country road. It was then that we saw "L'Auberge des Escaravats". From the outside, it looked beautiful and part of it was an old castle. Alongside the name of the auberge was the word "Gastronomique".
We went in and the owner showed us the room. To get to it we had to climb up a long, spiral, stone staircase. The room was lovely with an antique wardrobe and table and chairs. The beds were large and comfortable.
The bathroom was sheer luxury with a deep-pile carpet and the bath and sink looked like they were made of marble. It was gorgeous! We decided to stay here instead and the price was 180f for the room plus 3f per person tax.
After freshening up we went down for dinner and decided on the 65.50f menu. Mum and I had starters of paté de campagnard while Dad had fish soup. The paté was the best I'd ever tasted and was homemade. We were given four little dishes to go with the paté - tomatoes, carrots, dills, and red cabbage. We also had slices of toast.
Dad's fish soup had a little crab in it and he said it was delicious. The woman left the whole bowl of soup on the table for Dad to help himself. We drank a 1984 Cotes du Rhone Rosé with the meal, which was delicious!
Our main meal arrived about half an hour after the starters, which was very good. We enjoyed veal steaks in a rich mushroom sauce as well as fluffy potato in a fried batter casing, as well as tomatoes fried with garlic and sprinkled with parsley. The whole meal, served in a relaxed manner was perfect.
Dessert was mousse au chocolat topped with fresh cream. It was out of this world! Dad treated himself to a glass of Calvados, which came in a huge, long-necked bottle. He also had a coffee.
Full to the brim after our meal, we walked around the village and chatted to two gendarmes!
Thursday August 8th, 1985
We loaded the car, took some photographs and had breakfast. We enjoyed fresh-baked bread (we saw the oener carrying it from the boulangerie), delicious home-made apricot jam, loads of coffee and fruit.
The bill came to:
298.50f for the meal - 189f for the room - 54f for breakfast.
We left the auberge a 8.45am and carried on up the autoroute to Lyon. From there, we headed towards Parison the A6. The weather was hot and sunny and at 11.30am we stopped for coffee and rolls.
We stopped for cold drinks and cakes at a café near Auxerre.
Just outside Paris we stopped in a bad traffic jam which held us up for half an hour. We eventually arrived in Paris to find roadworks on Paris-Est, the road we needed to take. However, it wasn't too bad and we were through by 6.30pm.
Just outside Paris, we stopped for dinner. Mum and Dad had beef and potatoes while I chose steak and chips. We think the beef was horsemeat and it was horrible.
Mum drove for a while which gave Dad a break as he'd been driving for over 500 miles!
We arrived in Calais at 9.25pm and boarded the ferry at 10pm.
We bought duty-free and presents and arrived in England at 11pm. It was cold and rainy and generally horrible!
We had a nice welcome when Dad raced an IPEC van all the way from the Dartford Tunnel to halfway up the M1!
We arrived back in Northampton at 2.45am.
Sum-up: We were very, very lucky (with accommodation in Tossa de Mar) and had great weather in Spain. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
