We then all enjoyed a warm sunny mornings walk around the mediaeval town of St Jean Pied de Port, the Tollers just had to swim in the fast flowing River Nive (clear blue green meltwater)...all three of them. Walking along the ramparts with the dogs all on lead was amusing, but was then surpassed by an on the spot decision to partake of the traditional French pastime of a coffee outside a Luis's bistro. We could all take to cafe culture! The Tollers were promptly offered their own water, so I pointed out that they had just had plenty of opportunity for a drink while swimming.
Our cappucinos arrived, piled high with frothy cream....I took my spoon to the cream, and the first spoonful got caught by a gust of wind and blew across the table, landing not far from Wings nose. Gary smirked, trying to be polite and not roar with laughter at my amazed expression. Within a couple of minutes it was my turn to laugh as some of his cream whipped onto the bridge of his nose as he tipped the mug. Sunshine, cappucino and blustery wind - not something we'd thought to be treated with caution.
We left the town and headed off before lunchtime and while enjoying more beautiful views and weather we had to slow up due to catching up with two tractors on the road ahead. Due to our sedate progress we also had a couple of cars following us, so now we had a bit of a convoy. Without much ado the second tractor decided it was time for "Tractor Grand Prix" or was it "Tractor Monte Carlo" we weren't sure. But both sides of the road - going up a slight hill - were taken up by the tractors. I eased back a bit, not at all sure about what the heck was likely to happen next, and sure enough all three of the cars behind us whizzed past, only to then stand on the brakes, straddling the white markings in the middle of the road - close behind the two Tractors. Naturally the tractor trying to overtake didn't have enough ooomph to get past the other one easily.....and on an incline..... there was a bit of light flashing from the lead car, and a car coming the other way..... I dropped back a bit more. We both made a few comments about French drivers, and as the tractors moved back to the right side of the road, the cars accelerated over the brow. Adrenaline spike!
Within a few hundred metres we saw a sign for a picnic stop and decided to stop for an early lunch to get over the excitement...and to let them all get a long way away from us. The interesting thing about French viewpoints in this region is that they seem to be a bit coy about telling tourists about them. This one had stunning views of snow covered Pyrennees in the distance, but there wasn't any hint of the quality of the viewpoint. It was serendipity (or maniac drivers) that got us there. I was so distracted from the tractor excitement I forgot to get the camera out!
While eating our lunch in the van we enjoyed fabulous views of up to seven Red Kites quartering and using the thermals to hunt for their next meal to scavenge. Another unexpected bonus, and a reminder that we haven't even really thought about wildlife watching so far this trip. We've seen some birds, some familiar, some questionable and some that have made us roll our eyes.
A couple of winters ago we spent a cold few days driving all over Norfolk to get a glimpse of the only few wild Cranes in England ...well, the only ones that aren't part of a "rear and release" scheme. We endured quite a bit of bad weather and stood around in the cold with a group of birdwatchers waiting for a glimpse of three of them as they came into roost one cold evening. Driving down through Acquitane we spotted a field almost full of Cranes from the motorway - a LOT more birds, and closer!
Last night and today the weather has been less inviting ...we've had our share of wind, rain and hail interspersed with dazzling sunshine. Hopefully it's a short break from what we'd been enjoying. This did influence our decision to move on and do a bit more driving. So, it was lunch in Biarritz (sounds flash, but in reality was "just" another seaside town out of season. Maybe we're blase about such things having lived on the south coast of England for so long in a tourist hotspot.
This evening we're settled on a campsite at Urrugne before moving on to Spain on Monday. The plan is to catch up a bit with domestic stuff tomorrow - Sunday seems to be becoming our "at ease" day....as if the other days weren't easy enough!
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