Post It from Camping Le Village du Lac, Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France. Wednesday 30th April, 2014

The day’s drive from Saint-Cyr to here was done almost completely in beautiful sun and on good roads making for an early afternoon arrival. I should have remembered from our last journey along the RN10 that there were not a lot of places to stop for lunch and we were only 40 minutes’ drive from Bordeaux by the time we found an Aire, the same one we have used before, so I put it into my TomTom for future reference. What a difference the sun makes to how you feel and listening to a selection of Beautiful South albums on the van’s stereo made me feel good and properly on holiday. We found the camp site with ease and saw a different part of Bordeaux for the first time as we crossed the River Gironde with the docks below. It is located in the Parc de Expositiones and there was all manner of sports located here with a very big new stadium being built. The tram from the city looks as though it was also being extended right out to the Parc and there was the largest, shaded, car parking area I have ever seen but no cars at all. Not really sure what that was all about but obviously all in the planning I am sure. This site also had a number of small lakes at its heart but they were for the ducks, frogs and fish, carp probably looking at the rather large one we saw. We also spotted a rather large water based animal that we did not recognise. It was similar to a very big rat with a long tail and whiskers, about the size of a small dog or large cat. It was just settled on the edge of one of the lakes as we took an evening stroll around the complex which was also heavily wooded. I managed to get two bites during our stay from a flying insect but they were not severe so I doubt it was a mosquito, I normally do not get bitten, it is Sharon and she escaped with none. There were lots of static cabins and caravans surrounding the lake and the touring pitches were at either end. We were fortunate to get one with easy access, adjacent the road, on hard standing and as I type this I can look out of the side windows across my grassed amenity area to the lake. There are quite a few ducks and some ducklings running around with mother and a Grey Heron landed on the bank to scan for any fish. The site also had a large restaurant with quite a good menu including a choice of a 3 course meals for 23 Euros, a small shop and excellent showering and toilet facilities. Once again the water temperature was inadequate to wash the pots properly so we continued to do it in Bessie. There was site wide Wi-Fi but it came at a cost of 3 Euros a day, but I learned as I paid the bill the next morning that there was free Wi-Fi in the reception. I wonder why they did not tell me this when I asked about internet access. We managed to get the chairs out and enjoy a bit of the afternoon sun and Smokee really enjoyed being in warmer weather and basked in the sun on the backs of the settees to the amusement of passing campers who tried to attract his attention at the window. At 6:00 p.m. it was still a good 20 degrees in the shade. Unfortunately the dry weather was not forecast to last here so we decided to only stay the one night and save the sights of Bordeaux for drier weather, perhaps on our way home, and head for the border and coast to spend a few days over the May Day holiday weekend before we cross into Spain. Regards, Roy