Archive for September 14th, 2012
Friday, September 14: Blown away by Gruissan
For a while last night, there was a sense that the wind might be dying. Wrongo! This morning it was back with a vengeance, and getting stronger as the other 3 of us joined Alice to rent bikes.
Our fearless leader (Alice, of course) led us off back down the trail to the Super Marché in Gruissan about 2 km west of us. As we struggled to peddle into the wind I estimated our wind speed, as a good sailor should, at about 30 kts ( that is, “knots”) or about 45 km per hour. (Gale force is about 33 kts, storm force is at 49 kts, and hurricane is over 63 kts.)
As we entered Gruissan, it was almost impossible to peddle with the wind on our right, and all of us were tilted – severely – towards the wind…which was increasing in strength. Thankfully, we found a bike rack, chained our bikes up, and hurried into the shelter of the narrow streets. We strolled around, and then had coffees at a small street café, and then found our way to a climb up to an ancient hilltop tower above the town.
As we climbed higher, the wind increased in strength until we were all hanging on for dear life to the metal railing. A nearby woman had her sunglasses blown right off her face! The wind strength at the top was, I am sure, over 65 kts, and thus, hurricane force. It was almost impossible to stand, and rather than wait until Sandy was streaming horizontally from the pipe rail, and, since sand was blowing in horizontal lines, wetook a few shaky pictures, and then hustled on down out of the wind. However, we still had the ride home to contend with.
Back at the bike rack, we found our bikes blown over, and after unlocking them, and struggling to stay upright we headed downwind, down the path. This was great until we got to a corner, and had to turn towards the wind. Sandy got blown towards a large rock so she walked for a bit with feet sliding on the paved surface as she gamely attempted to keep the bike upright. Finally she was able to saddle up again, and the path turned downwind, so we had a very fast ride back to the bike rentals, where 3 of us turned them in – gratefully. (I’ll bet you guessed, correctly, that Alice kept hers!)
This afternoon The Bob, Sandy and I tried relaxing poolside, but when you see whitecaps on a swimming pool, you know that the breeze is a tad extreme!
The Bob and I are now catching up on our Internet communications, and soon we will share a supper at our place. Tomorrow, René will pick us up and take us to the boat rentals in Narbonne. If the wind persists, I may spend the first day adding docking lines and concrete anchors to ensure that we aren’t participants in a Midi Canal Bumper Boat Spectacular!!!
La Plume, et la Coutourière (My dictionary isn’t clear if this is the Sewer as in “sower”, or Sewer as in “soo-er”. I sure hope I picked the right one
Thursday, September 13: A routine day on the Mediterranean
1. Fried bread and fruit for breakfast.
2. Walk to the reception hall where weefee is available.
3. Join The Bob and Alice for a walk to the bike rental, where Alice is the only taker on a rental.
4. Sandy and I walk, under partly cloudy skies and against good head winds, while Alice rides a couple of kilometers to a Super Market.The Bob heads poolside with a book – the preferred option for one recovering from knee surgery!
5. Alice extended her bike explorations while S and I sat and read, and awaited the re-opening of the store at 3:00. (It seems like France has its own version of the Mexican ‘Siesta’.)
6. Strong winds (present since arrived here) pushed us home. Temperatures were pleasant enough for shorts and tees, but not swimming!
7. Supper at the Padgham’s was wonderful, refreshing, and recognizably familiar – fried chicken, rice and salad.
8. Good conversations until bed time.
Another day…another Euro…er, bunch of Euros!
La Plume, etc.
Wednesday, September 12: Notable in Narbonne
Dear family and friends,
Our Ryan Air jet passed over the beautiful walled city of Carcassone just before landing. In just over a week, after we finish our Midi Canal adventure, we will spend a couple of days in that old city.
Meanwhile, a shuttle bus whisked us to the rail station in Carcassone where we rushed to acquire tickets to Narbonne. Unfortunately, the train left as we waited in a slow line, but we bought our tickets for the next train – four hours later. This gave us some time to buy a meal at a nearby restaurant, where The Bob has become our de facto traducteur (translator). He has a much higher level of competence, assurance, and general glibness in “la langue” than any of us do.
After lunch we watched, with wonder, amazement and, apprehensions for our own upcoming experience, as rental boats maneuvered through a canal lock, and then exited into a windy marina area where the maneuvering style was definitely “bumper boats”. I don’t know if we will do any better, however, I really hope that we don’t have critical crowds watching us!
Back in waiting at the train station, Sandy was wandering when she tapped a lady on the arm thinking that she knew her. After an apologetic, “I thought I recognized you…” the lady replied “You do!” It was Wendy, a lady that we had known some years back in our early days in Nanaimo. Hugs and excited chattering followed.
After arriving in Narbonne, we decided to take a taxi to the shores of the Mediterranean, rather than risk long walks after local busing. Good choice! The cab driver didn’t exactly know where to go, but he consulted a fellow driver who rapidly, and with many hand gestures, explained the route. We were off – in a lovely Audi Quatro.
Out in the country, suddenly, we were slowed by a long line of vehicles, but our driver quickly pulled a U-turn, indicating that there had been an accident up ahead. We sped around another route arriving at the Belhambra at Ayguades shortly. We arranged a pick-up with René for Saturday morning, found our rooms, settled in and then hiked to a nearby restaurant for a rather expensive and unsatisfactory meal.
And speaking of meals, most of our evening dinners average between €40 to €50. In Ireland breakfasts were included in all our stays, but we had to pick up some bran to add to our intake, if you know what I mean. (Smooth move, so to speak!) We have been eating (or at least served) too much wonderful food, and are looking forward to our next week aboard our canal boat where we can prepare most of our own meals.
We are delighted to receive the comments on the blog. It somewhat takes the place of emails, and we look forward to hearing from any, or all of you. I decided not to respond to the comments as this chews into internet access time, however we read them all enthusiastically, and check our emails several times daily if Weefees are available. (“Wifi” in Ireland, Weefee in France – apparently!) I will respond to all emails.
And now, j’usqu’a demain…
roadquill1 