Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

Too shy...

There was still a fair amount of cloud hanging about this morning when we set off for L'Escala. Sophie wanted to go back to the jewellery shop she'd visited last year and, of course,  next door was the business featured in A New Life in the Sun!

The roadworks were still going on and we were caught up in the queue for quite some time. Once past that, we had a good journey to L'Escala and called to buy a newspaper as Keith and I were getting withdrawal symptoms! We drove along the beach road again and into the town where we parked the car with ease. I'm not quite sure what we would have done if there'd been no parking available!

We headed for the jewellery shop first and Keith sat right outside the business belonging to the couple featured on A New Life in the Sun! She made beautiful dresses while he was an artist.

The mural painted on the wall featured in the programme

Sophie had a good look around the shop buying some earrings and a little bag. When we came out, Sophie said she saw the couple inside their shop but I was too shy to go in or peer through the window!

We walked to the front and decided to have a drink at Ultramar, a lovely bar right on the headland with views over the sea.

We found a free table in the shade at Ultramar and waited for someone to come and take our order. However, we were seated to the side of the bar and I don't think anyone realised we were there as nobody appeared. We gave it ten minutes and then left, feeling a bit disappointed. The tables at the front of the bar were set for people to eat, so we returned to the part of L'Escala overlooking the beach and went to a bar where people were already eating and drinking.

Sophie ordered two beers, an Aperol Spritz and a bottle of water, but the waiter only bought one beer... when he bought the other one and I took a sip, it didn't taste right. It tasted a bit musty... Keith and Sophie thought I was being dramatic, but I was convinced it wasn't right. Maybe it was the end of the barrel? Anyway, I gave most of it to Keith who seemed quite happy!

A delightful lunch

We sat for some time watching people walk past and chatting. The bar we'd been to the other day was closed and we couldn't work out when bars and restaurants opened. It was a Monday today and some places were open, some weren't. There didn't seem to be any consistency? Was it because it was the low season? There were still plenty of people about, and the weather was hot and sunny. It didn't make sense!

Sophie had been researching restaurants and she picked one a short distance away, situated on a corner overlooking the sea. It was called Bonavista and specialised in seafood and tapas. We had a good look at the menu and I was determined to find something to enjoy! Sophie chose a couple of tapas dishes as a starter - croquettes and chicken sticks - and I chose the salmon in a cream sauce for my main. Keith opted for the pork ribs while Sophie decided on the Chicken, Catalan style.

As usual, the starters were delicious and we enjoyed them, especially the chicken sticks. We'd chosen a Rosé to accompany the meal called Caresse and it was delicious. We loved its glass stopper!

To my relief, I thoroughly enjoyed my salmon and Keith and Sophie enjoyed their meals as well. Success! Keith had to give some ribs away to Sophie as his meal was so large! We lingered over the meal as we were in no hurry to go anywhere, something that we all appreciated. One couple behind us had a little girl of about three who just would not sit still and kept running about, mesmerised by a meter box on the wall of a building! Her poor parents were constantly running after her and when it came time to leave she kept hanging back exploring everything! I think she's going to become quite a handful!

We paid the bill at Bonavista and took a long, slow, hot walk back to the car. The streets were deserted and most shops closed. On the way back to the villa, we called into the supermarket again and stocked up with milk, water, beer and cling film! Our thoughts are now turning to the long journey home on Thursday and we planned on taking a picnic to eat on the way.

We became caught up in the roadworks on the way home and, it was bliss to sit with our feet in the pool and relax. I kept noticing huge dumper trucks passing the house so there must be building works going on further up the hill.

Power cut!

We couldn't face any dinner this evening as we were still full from lunch so Sophie and I played cards and sipped Aperol Spritzes while Keith shuffled and dealt for us. He said he'd never seen anyone playing the game like me, which I was quite proud of! I'm definitely unique!

We had another beautiful sunset:

When it was dark, we went inside and settled down to watch Only Murders in the Building. We were nearing the end of the series! Unfortunately, just as we started watching our third episode this evening, we had a power cut... We looked out of the window and all the other houses were in darkness too. Sophie and I have torches on our phones, so we checked the fuse box by the front door just in case, but everything appeared to be fine.

The power came back on briefly and we'd just settled down to watch television again when it went off. We went outside to sit on the terrace and could see lights bobbing about in the distance where people were using torches. In the far distance, we could see the lights of Torroella de Montgris so they looked OK!

We sat outside for an hour, waiting for the power to be restored, but at 10.30pm we gave in and went to bed. As I'd been using my phone a lot to read, my battery power was at 20% and I was worried about getting up in the night with no torch (we had one in the car but nobody had been down to get it in the dark). I just hoped that I'd sleep well and wake up to power in the morning!

Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

Abysmal Bisbal...

We awoke to a thick fog hanging over the entire area this morning, which was unexpected! I imagined it would clear to a beautiful sunny day, but it was still misty and overcast by the time we were ready to go out. We'd decided to head for Bisbal d'Emporda, described in our Costa Brava guidebook as "a picturesque town on the banks of the River Daro". It's also the ceramic centre of the area so it would be great to do some shopping for pottery while we were there.

We headed in the wrong direction first, as we hadn't programmed Trish, because I was convinced that I'd seen signs for Bisbal off the C31. On the way we tried to get some petrol, and I was neatly cut up by the driver behind who'd followed me into the garage and then whizzed past me on my right to get to the petrol pump first! I was so annoyed, I drove off in a huff, cursing Spanish drivers under my breath!

When we eventually arrived at the large industrial-looking town of Bisbal, our first impressions were not good. The main road was lined with ceramic shops and factories, but we were expecting a much smaller and prettier town. We headed for a parking area off the main road, parked the car, and saw signs for Nucli Antic - the old town. Ahead of us was a dry river bed and we crossed over, heading for a church we could see in the distance. It was very hot and we tried to keep to the shade as much as we could. 

To our left was an area of bars and restaurants but we kept on heading towards the church. We were hoping for a bar in the central square for a drink, but apart from the places we'd seen on our way in, everything appeared to be closed.

Scared silly in Begur

Giving up on the idea of staying any longer in Bisbal, we decided to cut our losses and leave, deciding to try Begur again for lunch. It wasn't a long way to go and we spotted a petrol station on the outskirts of Bisbal. This time there was a car parked at a pump with the hose on the side we needed, but the driver was eating a sandwich and seemed reluctant to move, even though he could see me waiting behind him. In the end, I had to pull over to another pump and stretch the hose around to the right-hand side of the car! I glared at the driver of the other car but he was oblivious. 

We entered Begur the same way as the other evening, and we could see the town below us. Searching vainly for somewhere to park, we became caught up in a traffic jam that snaked back down the hill. I could see blue lights and then, as we drove further down the road, a very strange procession indeed. People were wearing enormous "mascot" heads and there were women dressed all in white with scarlet sashes. We later found out it was the Festa de la Santa Reparada. Sophie started to freak out in the back of the car because of the freakishly large heads, and as the area was chaotic, we left! It seems we are never going to visit Begur!

Surfer Dudes

In one last attempt to find somewhere to eat, we headed back down to Pals Beach. Instead of carrying on, though, I turned left and drove towards Platja Grau. This part of the coast was full of apartment buildings set amongst huge pine trees and appeared almost deserted. Finally, at the end of the road, we came to a large car park and the beach. Adjoining the car park was a restaurant "Les Dunes" and a long apartment-lined promenade stretching back to Pals Beach.

Sophie wasn't keen on going to the restaurant (she'd Googled reviews) and none of us wanted to trek down the long promenade, but we spotted a small surfers' beach bar at the end of the car park with tables and chairs outside. We sank down on the chairs and ordered three beers. At last! A drink! We decided to just have a drink at the bar and then go to "Les Dunes" as we didn't think there was anywhere else to eat.

The man serving us bore a strong resemblance to Hugh Jackman and appeared to run the surf school/hire place next door. A man arrived with two small boys and they ordered food. "Hugh" had brought us out three slices of bread with sausages balanced on top, and the food was so good, that we asked if they had a menu. This was a bonus as we didn't think they served food!

Sophie suggested a couple of tapas dishes to start, followed by chicken for Keith, pasta pesto for Sophie and a juicy hamburger for me. The food was very good and our starters of patatas bravas and croquettes were delicious! 

It was totally unexpected and the chef definitely knew what he was doing in the kitchen! We sat and lingered over lunch and watched surfers come and go. Several old beaten-up vans drove in and it was clear that the beach was a surfers' paradise!

Reluctantly, we asked for the bill and Hugh invited us to have a Ratafia liqueur on the house. It was sweet and tasted a bit like cough syrup. I really liked it! The bill came to a very reasonable 63 euros, but we tipped Hugh and the chef over 10 euros as the food and service had been so good.

I get an eyeful!

Keith returned to the car while Sophie and I walked down to the beach, so she could dip her toes in the sea. Imagine my surprise when one young man was standing naked by his car, not shy in the least about showing it all off! What made it worse was that he was facing diners in the restaurant! Ooh-er! I wonder if it put them off their lunches?

We climbed the ridge of sand dunes and we were treated to lovely views of the rough sea. To our left people were out surfing the waves and Sophie ran down to the water to wet her feet. She said the current felt very strong.

It was still very hazy, and we could just about make out the opposite coast and the town of Roses in the distance. 

Back at the villa, we relaxed by the pool and then it was a game of Scrabble with a G&T, followed by another couple of episodes of Only Murders in the Building!

Who killed Tim Kono?

Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

A disturbed night!

We all had a disturbed night's sleep and I was awake and talking to Sophie at 1am because she'd been worried about noises coming from the boiler. She hadn't yet been asleep! At 3am, we then had one of the most dramatic thunderstorms I've ever witnessed, with constant thunder and lightning and torrential rain. I watched from the living room patio doors (I didn't dare venture outside!) and the whole sky was constantly lit up by the sheet lightning. It was brilliant!

So, we all felt a bit bleary this morning, and it was good we hadn't anything planned. I tried to clear up after the storm because all of the outside cushions were soaking wet. Sophie cleaned the pool and a bit later, she saw that several lizards were inside the pool net feasting on the insects inside! We noticed a whole colony of them on the garage roof that's next to the pool, and we think they live under black rubber bands that stretch over the top of the building. Keith thinks it's some kind of water heating system. There were certainly lots of them sunning themselves!

The top of the garage, and the house. We think the thick black bands are a water-heating system

Pingu, who floats about in the pool keeping an eye on us

The rest of the morning was spent relaxing, and we went into the pool for a swim several times to cool off. The sun was doing a brilliant job of drying the cushions so hopefully, tomorrow, we'll be able to relax on the sofas again.

We had lunch of hot dogs and fried onions with salad on the terrace, and more sunbathing and reading followed in the afternoon. We'd had enough of the hot sun by 3pm, so I did some ironing, pegged some washing out, and put the cushions back as they'd dried.

Ceramic shopping and dinner

Sophie had reserved a table at 7.30pm this evening at Restaurant El Pedro in Pals, but first, we wanted to have a drink, and she was looking forward to shopping for pottery to take home. Keith wandered up to the square while we looked at the ceramics in the shop we'd visited last year.

Sophie picked out some gorgeous pottery - a pot for Basil, a small dish for olives or a dip and some mugs for her friend at work. We then joined Keith in the square and enjoyed a drink while doing some intensive people watching! There was a constant procession of people walking past and venturing further into the village so there was always something to see! Sophie went to another pottery shop and bought some more ceramics to take home so she was very happy with her purchases! She then tried to buy a pink hat, similar to the one she bought last year but they didn't have any in the colour she wanted.

It was bliss sitting in the square and relaxing with a drink. We heard so many different accents all around us, and it was fun to try and guess which nationalities were walking past. I noticed a family who must have just arrived as they were whiter than milk bottles, and they had two surly teenagers in tow who were surgically attached to their phones! We saw them again and again wandering about, the children looking ever more bored!

After finally getting the bill for the drinks, we walked the short distance to El Pedro. We arrived at 7.25pm and were basically told to go away by a thick-set, gormless waiter who said they weren't open yet... Not a great start to the evening! We milled about with other diners until we were allowed to take our seats outside the pretty restaurant.

Sophie suggested two starters for us to share - meat croquettes and a complicated dish of aubergine and Mallorcan Sobrasada on toasted bread, which I think had honey within it, and was finished off with parmesan shavings

For our main courses, I opted for the entrecote steak, Keith the lamb and Sophie the cod. The restaurant was starting to fill up with diners and the waiters were rushing around tending to everyone's needs. As Sophie and I were eating two different meals, she had a glass of white while I ordered a glass of red.

Our starters arrived and they were certainly different!

The meat croquettes were delicious and I could have eaten more of them, but the jury is out for me on the other dish... Sophie loved it but she is much more of a foodie than I am!

Keith and Sophie loved their main courses but I struggled with the steak. Sophie said I shouldn't have Entrecote steak anywhere apart from L'Entrecote in London, and I definitely agree with her! Although it was tasty, there was a fair amount of fat and gristle attached, but the mushroom sauce I ordered to accompany it did help.

Sophie's cod

Sophie and I ordered desserts and we both chose the "Pineapple ravioli" while Keith had an Irish coffee. I was expecting a hot dish of ravioli pasta stuffed with pineapple pureé but I don't really know what we were served, to be honest! Sophie said the ravioli was the pineapple itself but I don't agree. It was more like a flat piece of cold pasta with pineapple and coconut ice cream. Bizarre!

Hmmm!

Although I enjoyed the meal and the surroundings, which were beautiful, I was slightly disappointed with the main course, as I have with almost every meal I've eaten on this holiday! We walked back to the car through the silent streets and Pals looked even prettier at night.

Back at the villa we were too tired to watch our new favourite, so it was straight off to bed!

Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

Bonus pics

These photos were all taken by Sophie:

Beer in Amboise

Amboise

Amboise bars

A hot night cooking - Le Parvis, Amboise

Le Parvis

Sophie's starter in Le Parvis - smoked salmon, smoked duck and rillons

Coq au Vin, Le Parvis

Le Parvis

Cheers! Le Troubadour

Le Belvedere restaurant, L'Hospitalet

A very good red

Father and daughter

Coffee by the pool, Le Troubadour

Huge melon and ham, Pals beach

Sangria in Pals

Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

A day of relaxation

I woke up later than I wanted this morning, but it didn't matter as we hadn't any plans apart from soaking up the sun, swimming and reading.

We had the muffins Sophie bought yesterday for breakfast with coffee, and then it was out to the pool to relax. We are still being bitten, especially from around the seating area, and we're all a bit fed up with it, to be honest. I estimate I have about twenty bites all over me, the most I've ever been bitten on any holiday. Nothing we do seems to make a difference. We burn citronella candles, spirals of green things that make the villa smell like smoke, and use the Avon Skin So Soft. At some point today, Keith wants to go to the nearby pharmacy to buy repellent and more after-bite cream.

The weather was a mixture of clouds and hot sun in the morning, but it clouded over in the afternoon. We have a weather warning here for rain and thunderstorms until early tomorrow morning, so it looks like we'll get some bad weather later in the day.

We ate lunch on the terrace and enjoyed pizza and boiled eggs served with yesterday's bread which was a bit stale! Sophie prepared the lunch and cleared away, bless her. We all have our jobs and mine is mainly looking after the laundry, and we're lucky we have both a washer and a dryer to make life easier!

I fell asleep in the afternoon and the wind became stronger, waking me up from my nap. We had planned on going to the nearby town of Begur at about 5pm, walking around and then having dinner, and we kept to this plan, even though it started to rain shortly before we left.

Begur isn't far away but the rain was coming down hard, and as we reached the outskirts, Sophie suggested going home as there was no point in walking about in such terrible weather. We turned around and I said we could pop into the supermarket and stock up for the next few days and then go back to the villa, have a drink and try Pals for dinner later. On the way we spotted a pharmacy that was open, so we called in and bought insect repellent and an ammonia-based anti-bite solution. The pharmacist was totally grumpy, maybe because it was Friday night and he was at work!

 

The supermarket, predictably, was busy and we had to park in the small car park above, accessing the store by walking down some iron-grid steps, which was a bit hairy and made Sophie and I squeal a bit!

In the supermarket, we bought more milk, breakfast and lunch foods, and more of the green spiral things to burn. We returned to the villa, unpacked everything, poured some drinks and sat on the terrace. The rain became heavier and we were glad we hadn't stayed in Begur!

A beautiful restaurant

We decided to wait until 7pm and see what the weather was doing before setting out for Pals. It cleared a bit and stopped raining, so we risked going. Instead of driving into the village in our usual way, we went in by another entrance and spotted two restaurants which looked promising and were away from the centre. We parked nearby and walked to Antic Casino, a restaurant Sophie had already looked at and which had great reviews. The food was very reasonably priced so we went in to see if they had a table, and they did! Fabulous!

We were seated in a beautiful old dining room where two English couples were already sitting. 

We ordered drinks - beer for Keith, a bottle of local Rosé for Sophie and me - and had a good look at the menu. Sophie suggested two tapas dishes to start, garlic prawns and fried squid with a curry mayonnaise, followed by paella shared between my daughter and I, and veal sirloin for Keith.

The staff were lovely and friendly and the atmosphere was charming. It reminded me of a Pollenca restaurant and I likened the building to the now-closed Clivia, a place where I'd always wanted to eat but had never managed to.

Gradually, the restaurant filled up with people of all different nationalities and our starters were served. The prawns were delicious and were served in garlic butter, while the squid came in a paper cone with a pot of the delicious mayonnaise.

Our main courses were equally good, with our paella tasting earthy, due to the pork, mushrooms and Rosemary aioli. Keith said his veal was the best he'd ever eaten. I think we made a good choice, and we agreed to return next Tuesday for another meal.

It had rained again during the evening and the outside seating area was drenched. We ordered desserts - figs with vanilla ice cream for Keith, Tiramisu for Sophie and Tarte Tatin for me, all beautifully presented and cooked.

The bill for the three courses, plus bread, water and drinks came to 140 euros, which we thought was very good value. Before we left we booked a table for Tuesday night, and hoped that we would be able to sit outside next time!

Back at the villa, we watched another two episodes of Only Murders in the Building, and then it was time for bed!

Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

Pastures new

After a lazy start to the day, we ventured out to the medieval village of Peratallada to explore. We'd heard it was very similar to Pals and was only about 10km away. We managed to get stuck in the same traffic jam again, but we turned off the C31 and drove through rural farmland once past the queue.

We parked easily and helped another couple figure out how to pay. The man was British but I think his wife was Dutch and they'd tried to pay via their phone which didn't work. Here, you almost always have to put your car registration into the machine to get a ticket, for some reason!

It was warm by now and we walked into the village on uneven, stony streets. We spotted a ceramic shop but the products were rough and expensive so we carried on with our exploration. There were quite a few people taking photographs and looking at the menus of the restaurants lining the street.

The village was very pretty with shuttered private houses, shops, exclusive-looking holiday lets and restaurants. One shop sold delicious muffins, and we saw a couple with a huge Afghan dog buy a box of six to take home with them. We went in and Sophie bought two for us to have either later in the day or tomorrow.

Sophie soon spotted a dress shop so she went in and tried on a dress and a top. The dress fitted perfectly and looked great on her! She also treated herself to some earrings. We had lost Keith by now, as he'd wandered on, and we eventually found him in what looked like the main square, bordered by yet more restaurants. This part was particularly pretty with old buildings, shuttered houses and gorgeous flowering shrubs.

We wandered about perusing the menus for lunch before having a beer. We sat in the small garden of a lovely bar and soaked up the sunshine which, by now, was quite hot. 

Before finding somewhere to eat, we had a look in a beautiful antique/ceramic shop, and I treated myself to a blue dish while Sophie picked out three beautiful red-stemmed glasses to take home. The owner was lovely and packaged up our purchases carefully for us.

Disappointed...

Keith had spotted rabbit shoulders on a menu and really wanted to have those for lunch so we walked up to the restaurant, El Cau del Papibou, which was part of a hotel. We were seated in a narrow alley shaded by vines and sat on raised benches. The restaurant had an extensive menu including tapas, and their speciality "Cachopos" which was veal stuffed with various fillings.

We started with melon and ham, followed by cod-stuffed red peppers. Keith enjoyed a beer while Sophie and I indulged in a glass of Sangria. The food was very good and the cod-filled peppers were sweet.

Our main courses arrived and Sophie and I had chosen the Cachopos stuffed with country ham, "Péral" cheese and peppers. Keith's rabbit looked decidedly on the skinny side! He had three shoulder pieces which looked like skinny chicken legs served with salad and creamy mashed potatoes.

Our Cachopos were served with French fries and a sliver of pepper. I cut into mine and the filling oozed out but it looked like it had curdled... Both Sophie and I thought it was goat's cheese but we later discovered that Péral cheese is made from cows' milk and is similar to Stilton. 

I wish I could say that we both enjoyed the meal, but we didn't. The chips were limp and soggy and the Cachopos itself tasted strange. I wish it had described on the menu the kind of cheese used as I'm not a fan of hot blue cheese. We hadn't been able to Google it as there was no wifi anywhere in the village! I left most of mine but Sophie struggled on and only left a small piece. It was a shame as I wish now we'd chosen tapas instead.

Sophie took an instant dislike to a group of English female cyclists who sat a bit further up the alley. They didn't try to speak any Spanish and one of them in particular, talked loudly the whole way through their meal!

We were asked if we wanted desserts and Sophie and I said yes, choosing a chocolate fondant and cheesecake. Unfortunately, they had run out of cheesecake so I ended up with a cardboard tub of ice cream. Sophie gave away most of the chocolate fondant and it tasted delicious!

We paid the bill - 104 euros - and walked slowly back to the car in the heat. Before returning to the villa we popped into the deliciously cool supermarket, and bought some more supplies, and a loaf of bread in the accompanying bakery. I also picked out two blue beach towels to use by the pool.

Back at the villa, we swam, sunbathed and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. I did a spot of cloud watching and was mesmerised by this huge cloud that appeared overhead. It appeared so close I felt I could reach out and touch it:

It reminded me of Monty's white furry underbelly when he used to stretch out and let us stroke him. It floated majestically by, silent and huge with a strange honeycomb appearance on the underneath. I have submitted it to the Cloud Appreciation Society for their Cloud-a-Day photograph, entitled "Furry Bellies in the Sky." It would be lovely if they chose it!

A relaxing evening

By 6pm we were seated outside on the terrace, drinking Rosé and beer and playing cards. It was a beautiful evening and we watched the sun slowly set in the distance. I lit some candles again and we had egg and ham salad for dinner. Sophie and I enjoyed a delicious Marques de Caceres Rosé throughout the evening, and it's one we'll definitely buy again.

After we'd eaten we watched a couple of episodes of "Only Murders in the Building" on Disney+ starring the excellent Steve Martin. A great end to a very enjoyable day!