BACK TO UK FROM SPAIN FOR CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

Our return trip started on Monday 12th December following the same route as our outward journey. We loaded up with wine and cava in Spain then off to France to see what delicacies we could find there. Finding campsites open at this time of year proved quite a challenge. 'France Passion' came to the rescue on a couple of occasions the first a French wine producer in Reignac, Bordeaux. The very friendly farmer along with his son who was keen to practise his English gave us a private wine tasting and explained the stages in the production of wine from tending the vines to the bottle. We purchased a case of his 2005 spent the night in the yard and set off early the following morning.
Having rather enjoyed our first France Passion experience we decided to try another member. This time a cheese producer in Vasles. This was less sucessful. He was more than happy to let us stay the night but his cheese business did show the signs of having fallen victim to the recession and he had diversified into breeding horses. No cheese was on offer and we didn't want a horse. The principal behind 'France Passion' is that you stay for nothing and buy some produce in return. That night there was the grandaddy of all storms. Daybreak revealed a few storm damage obstacles to move before we could hit the road again. For most of the morning we encountered fallen branches and flooded roads. It was a hard drive to Longny Au Perche where we had promised ourselves we would stop on our return to buy chocolate and other delicious produce for Christmas.
Our next challenge was to meet the 24-48 hour deadline for George to visit the vet before we crossed the chanel.
We chose a vet in Alencon, a good choice easy to find and plenty of parking. All went well and our return to the UK was completed in 7 days. The van is now Taxed, Tested and insured for Fulltiming we are armed with more directories for places to stay [All the Aires of France and the ACSI guide]
It is our intention to do a round trip of the Algarve very soon and head north for the Summer in June.