Christmas Cheer and a Blast South to the Sea, Capbreton
Zagan the motorhome is having a well deserved rest for the next couple of nights at one of our favourite aires in France, at Capbreton (N43.63671, W1.44721) on the French Atlantic coast. The aire is closed for the winter, so the services and electricity is off, but we can park here for free anyway, and are just over the dunes from the crashing ocean.
Cap Breton, a bit emptier than last time we were here!
Rewind a couple of days and we woke to sunshine in Villbois-Lavalette. There were plenty of folks out and about as the building opposite where we had parked was a polling station. Today the people of France were voting for who they wanted to be the candidate for the Centre Right party in the election next year. I guess its a bit like us in the UK getting to vote on who we want to lead the Conservative party ahead of an election, instead of just the folks in the party voting.
Our view of the polling station – all very exciting!
With Zagan in need of some diesel we headed down to the local Super U (fuel is always cheaper in French supermarket stations). As we filled up I spotted some laundry machines in the car park, so we parked up, put the washing on and went shopping. In the time it took for a good nose around the supermarket, and a spot of lunch, all our laundry was clean and dry and smelling sweet for just €7.
Save your Euro coins, as you always need them for these
You can still get your tea bags here, they just cost quite a bit more from the English aisle
We hit the road and headed half an hour south to another recommendation from Larry and Lorraine, Aubeterre-Sur-Dronne (N45.26925, E0.17609). As we approached the town signs told us that we had hit lucky, it was the day of the Christmas Market. Parking up in the aire by the river, which is right outside a campsite which would have cost us €22 in season, we set off up the hill for a bit of festive cheer.
Free aire and services next to the tennis courts, river and campsite!
Aubeterre has been been officially listed as ‘One of the most beautiful villages in France’ since 1993, and in the late autumn sunshine with Christmas carols playing, I could see why. It reminded me of an Italian hill-top town, all white stone and winding alleys. Instead of hearing Italian or French, the overwhelming language being spoken was English, with many different accents. A retired fella sat in one of the bars wearing a santa hat, a string of tinsel around his neck and a face that showed he really didn’t want to be there. He reminded me of many a Christmas party, only this one had better weather.
Aubeterre-Sur-Dronne
The Christmas market
Charlie’s favourite shop
The Christmas carols on the speakers were all in English, as were most of the stall holders. After a walk around the place we opted for a glass (plastic cup) of Vin Chaud in the square watching the world go by. I ordered in my best French; I needn’t have bothered as a thick Yorkshire accent replied. The stall doing the best trade, apart from those selling drink, was an ordering service for English foods. At €5 for a jar of marmite and €2.60 for a box of Paxo it was still cheaper than the English aisle in the supermarket and with a better range. I can’t fault the ex-pats at all, it’s the sort of place I could quite happily live in, especially when the weather is this good.
Lovely little house we both liked in the town
Playing in the afternoon sun
As the sun dipped behind the buildings, casting the square into shadow, we headed back to Zagan and sat in the late afternoon warmth. Jay read while I sewed up holes in some of our clothes – they’ll last a few more months now. Then as the sun set our silver screens went on to insulate the windscreen from the inevitable frost that the clear skies would bring. Snuggled up inside Zagan we fired up the TV and watched the latest episode of Planet Earth 2 before hitting the sack.
This morning the results were in and the favourite, François Fillon, won the primary elections. If he wins the elections next year then France will have a Welsh first lady. His wife Penelope Clarke was born in Llanover and this topic was widely discussed on the English speaking French channels we get on our TV.
We were on the road before 10am as we had a big driving day (for us) ahead, with a four and a half hour run to Capbreton in the French Basque region. Just south of Bordeaux we popped into a Commercial Centre and picked up a bike cover and some bungy cords. We’ll need those to hold our red and white striped warning sign on the bike rack, as we legally need it in Spain.
After a couple of detours to avoid the new toll booths on the otherwise free N10 (just after J18 and J12 when heading south), we arrived in Capbreton just before 4pm. It’s much quieter than it was when we were here last year, but then the aire was open so you had to pay to stay and for your money got a service point and electricity. Now it is simply a large car park by the beach. Perfect for a couple of days of chilling out. The bikes have been off the rack and cleaned, tomorrow we’ll attempt to adapt the bike cover so it fits – seems it wasn’t made for bikes on a rack!
Ju x
Hi, may I ask what you use to receive TV, does your sat system work in that area ?
Yeah, we’re amazed but our dish is working down here, woo hoo! Jay
I wouldn’t worry too much about covering the bikes completely ,the worst thing you can do is seal them in plastic, it will make them sweat and the condensation will make the bikes rust as they are steel. Better to cover them from most of the road grime and leave some vents to allow any moisture to escape. Even better take them out at regular intervals and ride to the bakery and back :-))
Thanks Richard, no fear of complete cover, more of a bra-level of cover likely! Had a quick spin round the aire on ’em yesterday after cleaning half of France off ’em, grinning manically. Cheers, Jay
happy days
Same place and date but a year ago .. love Capbreton
ACCIDENTAL PADDLING
Sunsets and accidental paddling We’ve been here in Capbreton for .. We think its 4 days .. Empty campervan Aire .. A few in and out going off south …
https://travelswithhetty.wordpress.com/2015/12/04/accidental-paddling/
Loving the blue skies – similar here in the Grim North but, man, it’s cold! I agree having a stash of Euro coins is important. We’re just doing UK trips next year as we prepare to ‘FIRE’ in early 2018 and do our first long trip later that year. So I’ve been offering at work to release co-workers of their Euro coins when they return from holiday at *ahem* a favourable exchange rate. So up to about €60 in shrapnel so far and hopefully will get some more next year.
Looking forward to sharing some of our warm sunshine via your posts.
Paul
Last time we were in Aubeterre, the sign marking the beginning of the town on the main road had been changed. The “ub” had been crossed out and “ngl” inserted, to make it read: “Angleterre-sur-Dronne”. It seem this is regular occurrence as some of the local feel somewhat priced out of their own village by the foreign invaders.
We were at Capbreton for the surfing in early October and were told by our English motorhome neighbour that we were parked just two spaces from where you were on your last visit. Such fame! but it is now one of our favourites too. Enjoy the bike ride into Hossegor and do check out the Jai Alai court to see if the fastest game in the world in on.
Haha! Two places away, that’s nuts. Sadly the police ushered us all out of the Capbreton aire this morning, so no time to look around. We’ve nipped off south into another old favourite, another surfing spot 2km from Biarritz, and the sun is shining. Well it was, gone down now. :) Cheers, Jay