roemin around

This was our first GRJ holiday but it was to an area that we already knew from our motor homing days. It was very well organised and had an excellent tour manager. We enjoyed the combination of free days and organised trips. Hondarribia is a lovely town on the France/Spanish border, or as the locals would prefer, in the middle of the Basque country. Its mix of old medieval town, a seaside location and foodie vibe, close to San Sebastian and Biaritz makes it an ideal sightseeing  holiday location.  The Jauregui hotel was perfectly placed between the pedestrianised street of tapas/pinchos bars and the old harbour, where the regular ferry goes to Hendaya in France. It did not have a pool, spa or lounge but the tables and chairs outside were ideal for people watching and taking a drink out from from the bar. The group dinners provided plentiful food and wine and an opportunity to make friends. The food was not gourmet, except the panacota, but varied and adequate given that 38 peo...

 It's a long day today. We leave hotel at 8:30, short coach to Hendaye, 5 hours  on the TGV to Paris, 1 hour coach between Stations, 2hrs on Eurostar and 1 hour to Leicester, then 10mins to Narborough to arrive home around 9pm. Well that was the plan but it didnt quite work out. It started well with the bus ride to Hendaye, the TGV to Paris was comfortable, smooth and on time. Even the coach across Paris from Montparnasse to Gare du Nord was OK and we enjoyed the drive along some of the boulevards to the station. Then we discovered that some Eurostars and been cancelled and delayed and the terminal was rammed with people and at 36 deg unbearably hot. The queues were corralled all over the concourse for health and safety reasons and we were standing in a slow moving queue for about an hour before we could check in. Exhausting. Fortunately our train was only delayed, by a broken down train near London apparently, so once aboard we had a smooth ride to St Pancras and no delays th...

Our last organised outing took us to Bilbao and the Guggenheim museum of modern art. The coach initially dropped us by a bridge over the river to allow us to walk into the old town. We did an audio guided tour of the cathedral and grabbed a couple of tapas in the market and some coffees in a bar before meeting up again to be dropped off at the museum. The most impresssive aspect for me is the building itself all stainless steel and glass. The art works are all massive and approachable, but not too close or you(we) get a bebuke from the security guards. We had 2 hrs to take in the art. We gathered by the cafe for a cool drink before heading along the Ap8 motorway passing San Sebastion to Hondarrebia for packing and our last dinner together.  Trevor Grove, an ex editor of the Sunday Telegragh and Evening Standard, thanked our tour Manager David Cotterill after dinner for his excellent organisation and good humour. He returned the gesture by commending us for being the biggest and bes...

It's freetime today in Hondarribia and also our wedding anniversary so a day to just relax and mooch around town. We wandered up to the old medieval town after a late breakfast, where we encountered a lot more of our party doing the same thing. Coffee in a little back street bar and candle lighting in the cathedral before finding a tapas bar that was open for a cool beer. Tonight we went to the best seafood restaurant we could find for scallops, hake and monkfish with a bottle of sauvignon blanc to wash it down.

Today we went to St Jean de Luz on the way to a vintage mountain railway. We were in the attractive French seaside town for a couple of hours taking in the sights of the Grande Plage (beach) and witnessed some the Pentecostal celebrations which were very Basque. Horses and Spanish style costumes were much in evidence and a statue of the Virgin Mary was paraded through the town. We had a coffee break in a nice hotel and a quick tapas break in the square before rejoining the coach to Col des Ingles for the train. A cycle race caused a 30 mins diversion. The petite train de la Rhune is a cog train and takes a very steep ascent up La Rhune mountan to 900m in about 30mins. Quite spectacular but noisy and not very comfortable. It was still 27deg at the summit. We had an hour to take in the panoramic views of the bay of Biscay from Hendaye and Hondarribia towards Bayonne and have a cold drink. The cafes and bars at the summit gave welcome relief from the heat. Dinner was in the ho...

We are going on the passenger ferry to France today, it only takes 5 mins. On the way we popped into the church just across the road and heard a choir singing from the sound system. We assumed it was a recording until it suddenly stopped and we were surprised to see it was a real live choir rehearsing on the gallery above our heads. Maybe they are part of the song and dance festival this weekend. When we arrived in Hendaye just across the river we found the Saturday market of regional foods and goods in full swing around the marina. Rosemary enjoyed browsing around but we did not find anything to take home. I walked over the hot sand for a quick paddle in the sea of the Bay of Biscay while Rosemary sheltered from the blazing sun. Picked up a couple of little shells for the rock garden back home and retreated to a bar for some cool beers. We managed to miss the return ferry twice, but it is every 30 mins and eventually when we did catch it we were the only passengers. Privat...

We all went by coach to San Sebastian today via the mountain road which provides the backdrop to this part of the coast. It's gives a panoramic view of the coast and is also on the Camino de Santiago. We chatted to a couple of pilgrims before we descended into San Seb. We had a rather tedious guided tour of the town, it was too hot and she didn't stop talking. We spotted a good tapas bar in the old town to go back to and were not disappointed. The gazpacho with smoked sardines, cucumber and basil ice-cream was outstanding. We caught the coach back and had a group dinner on the hotel. There was a local folk dance festival in the pedestrian area behind the hotel tonight.

Hondarribia is a lovely Basque town on the border between France and Spain. Our first day here in the Jaurigui Hotel was a free day to recover from a full day of travelling and get acquainted with the town. We walked up to the medieval old town in the morning which is lovely and had an excellent meal of scallops and calamari in the Gran Sol tapas restaurant in the evening.

We joined our group of 39 GRJ travellers and successfully passed the new EU entry system to take the 8:01 Eurostar to Paris then an hour coach transfer around the periphique to the TVR terminal at Gare Montparnasse.  The train was very full and we were crammed into 2nd Class coach 17. Not quite the pleasant 3 HR journey we were expecting to Dax. The final part of the journey was another 1 hour luxury coach ride passing St Jean de Luz. We actually did this bit of motorway 21 years ago in our motorhome on the way to Playa Joel for our first holiday on the north coast of Spain.

We are on our way to the Basque country by rail and need to meet our party at St Pancras at 6:00am so an overnight stay is essential. We traveled via Foxconnect to Narborough and BR to London and stayed in Fairway Hotel just across Euston Road and only 5 mins walk from GRJ office by the Eurostar terminal. We spent the evening in the nearby Coal Drop Yard area which is full of restaurants and designer shops. It was once a large gas works before being redeveloped as a trendy business (Google office here) and leisure destination. We had some food in a young people's market style bar and an early night.

 After 22 years of roemin around in our motorhomes we have decided that we need to move on and explore the world of Airbnb. We have had an amazing time driving around Europe, which is why we bought them, but those days of driving for weeks on the wrong side of the road are no longer a safe or attractive proposition. So in June I sold the Moniche and we will be roemin a bit longer - but by car, plane and cruise boat in future.

I had a rather restless night worrying about how the bookcase would fit into the van and whether the additional weight would be a problem. Before we left the site I emptied the water and waste tanks and moved any heavy items as far forward as possible.  We have never been to Sezincote although it is just opposite Batsford Arboretum, so I booked a garden and house tour, £30 for two. The 1st May is the opening day of the 2025 season.  The house is unusual in its Indian inspiration The supurb landscaped garden is multi-level with streams and ponds and unusual mature trees. The house tour is rather boring with only 4 rooms on limited public display. Although Indian on the outside with connections to the Brighton Pavillion, it is a collection of random periods and sources on the inside, collected by the existing family. It is used for the occasional wedding but otherwise is still a family home. We had coffee in the  Orangery which is the only part licenced for weddings. There ...

  After a rather chilly night we awoke to another perfect looking day. Warmed up some bacon from the night before for breakfast and had a day in Stow on the Wolds looking in the Cotswolds Store for a new bookcase. Right by the door there was an ex-display solid oak one reduced from £699 to £150 which was ideal but we had to take it away ourselves as it was a sale item.  We went for an expensive coffee and cake £18,50 at Huffkins to mull over whether we could pay and collect the next day. I decided to give it a go so we paid for it and arranged to collect it the next day on the way home. We had a shandy on the lawn at the Stow Lodge hotel (expensive) then we walked back up the hill to the Tesco where we were parked and did a bit more shopping before returning to site for a bit more sitting in the sun. Just a simple tapas style meal tonite with some Tesco yellow stickers and stuff from home.

  We are off today for our first trip of the year (and maybe our last) to the Cotswolds for 2 nights. We are going to Moreton on Marsh CMC site, which is the first site we ever pitched on back in 2003. The weather forecast for the week is dry and sunny so good timing for once. We left home at around 11:30 for the 90 min drive stopping at the CoOp in Moreton for some provisions. After hooking up at aound 2:30 we walked into the small town via the camping pod area (that wasnt here in 2003) and the path which comes out in the market square. The market was just packing up so we shared a gelato, bought some budgie seed and expensive cheese, then wandered back via the main road to site. These is a wood fired pizza oven on site tonite but we have bought a piece of steak to grill on the plank. There are quite a few small campervans here, including German, Dutch and an elderly Belgian couple right behind us. We relaxed in the warm sun for a few hours before grilling the steak and some bacon...

Another damp murky start to the day and not much prospect of improvement apparently. We had to leave the site by 10:30 and set off up the coast in a steady drizzle that made driving very tedious. By Portmadoc it had not improved so I set the GPS to take us  to Llangollen.  I set off following the route which took us 8 miles on a single track road over the Snowdonia hills with 50yds visibility at times in the drizzle and into the low clouds. Not much fun! The Pontcysyllte Aquaduct near Llangollen was well worth a visit and it stayed dry for us to walk along the aerial towpath. Another impressive feat of British industrial engineering designed by Thomas Telford and a World Heritage site at the moment. We had drinks and a toastie at the nearby Baptist Chapel before taking the A5 and M6 back home. No sun at all again today. Not a very good Welsh break.

The day started dull and the forecast rain started around 11 on schedule. We decided to just take the train to Barmouth for a few hours and walked to station in a heavy shower to join the other travellers. There were about 25 wet adults and children waiting for the 10min (£1.50) ride. We found a cafe to have a light lunch and to see if the rain would ease up. It didn't and we spent the afternoon wandering around some of the interesting gift shops including the Nepalese bazaar where we bought Marks chicken whispers hat last year. It used up the time until we caught the 4 o'clock train back to Talybont. Rosemary made a chicken stir fry from raw ingredients and we ate inside. It's still drizzling. Fortunately the TV signal is OK thanks to assistance from Freepoint. We still have the ice cream in the freezing compartment.

We decided to try and catch up on lost time, due to the cold wet spring weather, by taking a 4 day break before the main school holidays. Booked 2 nights at the Talybont site, we have used before, by the Phwelli to Barmouth railway line. We called at Chilcot farm shop and cafe for lunch and buy some meat on a nice sunny day. Arrived at 4pm only 3 pitches left, a lot different to last year. Pitched up near the caravan with seagulls nest over the wall and enjoyed a pleasant evening meal on the Jamie with a glass of red. Apart from a few young school children running around the site was pretty quiet. We walked down to the beach and the entertainment complex was busy but not overly so.

We picked up discounted tickets and walked over the road to the park which was created in the grounds of Broadland House. It's biggest feature is a  huge white rhino enclosure with 6 of the endangered species. There are 250 animals and birds many on the at risk list.  It's a popular venue for school groups, the bus park was full with end of term outings. It was the hottest day of the year so far so we spent about 4 hours wandering around to see the camels, lion, giraffes, owls penguins and meercats etc  before we staggered back to the site. Put the England flags on the van to watch there Euro game. Rubbish game as usual!

It's been such a drab year of weather this is our first few days away in the van. We having 2 days in the Cotswolds near Burford. We stopped in Stow on the Wolds for lite unch and shop at Tesco for provisions on the way,  then at Dalesford just for coffee. The CMC site is quite small and right next to the Wildlife Park.

I decided to have a few hours fishing before we left and moved the van down to the lake. It was a lovely day and a very nice lake with some big carp. I only landed one small roach but lost a big carp diving into the reeds. I was not alone in having a blank day and spent most of the time trying to stop a very smart chicken from stealing my bait. I didn't realise chickens went mad for Spam! We packed up about 4pm, stopped at Whitchurch for coffee and cake and arrived home at 7:30.