They don't come singly, these moments! First was when we turned up at a free aire in St Estephe that had been built up as something fabulous on the banks of the Gironde, which it was. But.... it had been commandeered by a group of people with several tents and dogs that looked as tho they'd been there a while. The service area for draining our toilet waste and picking up fresh water was, well, no other word for it, 'disgusting' with evidence of faeces around the drain. Plus the toilets were unavailable. We did stay but only after we'd moved right away and relied on our own facilities. The 180 degree view was spectacular as was the display by swifts catching their evening meal just feet away.
We'd taken a short ferry trip across the Gironde to get to St Estephe, just as we'd done 41 years ago and after what turned out to be an uneventful night we set off down the Chateau route towards Margaux and other famous wine producers. Angludet is a favourite of ours, hence the photo, and I managed to keep Mike away from making an appointment! A first along this road was me driving a few kms, tho' I'm not sure how much I'll be doing... Plenty of activity in the vineyards, we think they were tying in and weeding. Some machinery being used, but there were horses among the Chateau Latour vines.
Another uncomfortable moment was after leaving a campsite in Les Landes when we discovered none of the electrics were working. Did an about turn back to the campsite all set to phone for help only to find they had come on. Lesson no. 1, the electrics don't work with the motor running!
Lots of good flat cycling in Les Landes but it was time to move on south.
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