roadquill1

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.

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…

After a wonderful breakfast at Davitts, (we’re talking about FRUIT + the usual cereals and Irish Breakfast offerings) we mosied out of Kenmare. The original plan was to cut across the Bearas Peninsula, but several considerations made us change our minds:
1. We had seen enough mountain passes for the moment;
2. It was extremely blustery and wet;
3. Sandy’s tolerance of narrow roads and blind corners had been severally tested.

We opted, instead to head towards Cork, and then to Kinsale, on the coast south of Cork. Great choice! We were both much more relaxed, and both enjoying the marvelous country-side scenery – until we hit a “Diversion” (i.e. detour) south of Cork. The diversion took us on a windy, twisted and narrow road to Kinsale. I loved the drive! (Not all of the two of us did!)

Kinsale is a spectacularly beautiful little seaside town with twisty streets, and some wonderful little cafes and bakeshops. Just as I had predicted, when we arrived, the showers ended and the sun came out.

After a masterful (if I do say so myself) parking job (on the left, of course, though it seems to make little difference in Ireland – park on either side, facing whichever way you want!) in a tiny little space equal to the length of the Skoda plus a bit, we headed off walking around town for an hour watching for more showers. We lunched in a tiny cafe – while joining into an engaging conversation with Fiona, a bank manager from a mining town in the Outback of Australia. Then, just as showers found us again, we headed off for our destination of Cahir (pronounced “Care”). No particular reason for this choice except that it was on the road towards Dublin which we could easily reach by noon on Tuesday, and it had an intact castle which looked interesting.

After hitting a Tourism office in the late afternoon, we headed across the moat, er river and into the castle. What a surprise! It was, indeed an intact castle – with no required guides, and fully self-exploratory! (Did I just make up that word?) We wandered into dining halls, down into dungeon areas, up to the ramparts, into castle keeps, and so on. Amazing! A video presentation showed us the history, including a 17th century siege by the Earl of Essex. At closing, we headed off down a 2 km hike to a Swiss Cottage, where the last castle owner had opted to live instead of in the castle. (Good choice!)

Alas, it was closed, so we located a spot where I could take a photo, and we headed back to our lodgings – the Tinsley House B&B – an old house built in 1840, and now owned by Liam, a descendant of the original family. A toilet which howled was the only drawback – to other tenants!

Over more hills and through more vales from Dingle to Killarny,, and then to Kinmare.

‘Twas a blustery day, Poo! Cold winds and rain prevented any exploration Inch beach, but the drive to Killarny was pleasant enough. We decided to go south through Killarney National Park, where we stopped at Muckross House and did the tour. Think “Upstairs, Downstairs” or “Downton Abbey”. It was beautiful, and got us out of the misty, drizzly wet.

Then, the road to Kenmare created more tensions until we landed at Davitts B&B in downtown Kenmare. The room is the same price as all the others (EU$35 per person), but it is one of the nicest rooms that we have stayed in – ever!

And that, is the way it was!