We always like to close for a week in the middle of May in the hope that all of the fish have spawned and can have a rest for the week. There were definite signs of spawning on Kingfisher at the start of April when temperatures shot up to an unusual 30+°C but we had not seen any evidence on Lac Lucie.
Over the winter we watched A New Life in the Sun, primarily because some friends of ours at the Trecastle Chambre D’hôtes (www,trecastlefrance.com) were to be featured on it. We found a few interesting places not too far from us and have visited The Crazy Frog pub a couple of times for a great meal. Also shown were Greg and Daisy who were living in the Cantabria region in northern Spain and run a company called Mountain Dog Motorcycles (www.mountaindogmotorcycles.com) offering rental or guided tours on the motorbikes. Nigel happened to say ‘I quite fancy doing that’ and Jo got it booked. They also have an apartment available and were happy for us to take Maisie so off we went.
The Spanish border is only about a 4 hour drive from here so we said goodbye to our guests on Saturday, got the chalets cleaned and washing done and packed the car up, heading off on Sunday morning with an overnight stay booked at Donostia San Sebastian. Four hours driving in France is easy and we only encountered a bit of traffic around Bordeaux but it did not really slow us down. San Sebastian is just over border into Spain, a seaside town which our neighbours highly recommend. We arrived at our room and dumped the bags and headed off to the beach to find a bar and watch the world go by. We were based in the north part of the town and after a couple of beers and watching some hang gliders land on the beach, decided we would walk to the old part of town, across the beach for Maisie to have a little play and see what else we could find.
The old town is far prettier with lots of narrow streets, a lovely little bay with a small harbour and several bars and shops selling all sorts of things. We had a good walk and then found another bar in the Constitucion Plaza where we had another couple of drinks and people watched. There was a really lovely vibe there and lots of young people around – not something we often see in our little piece of France.
From there we found a tapas bar for something to eat and got chatting to some young people who were visiting from Venezuela and made a real fuss of Maisie. Spain seems to love their dogs as they were everywhere and allowed in bars and restaurants just like they are in France.
We decided to head off fairly early the next morning and stop en route for some breakfast as we found San Sebastian just a bit too busy for us! We found a lovely little café in Castra Urdiales, a smaller coastal town to the west of Bilbao. We wished we could have stayed longer here and explored a bit more but were keen to get to where we were going.
After breakfast we finished off the drive, another two hours towards Santander and then south. The scenery throughout the journey was superb with the motorway winding its way through some very large hills and then once we were on a more minor road it followed the River Deva from Panes to Potes with dramatic rock faces either side of the road.
We were greeted at the apartment by Daisy who made a fuss of Maisie and showed us where to go. The apartment had been so well done with lots of space and very clean and comfortable for the 3 of us for a couple of nights, with stuning views across the valley and up into the mountains.
Greg was busy with the children so we went for a little walk up the hill from them and then decided to go and find somewhere in Potes to eat. Potes is a lovely little town, bustling with people from all over the world who were there walking, riding and doing some or all of a Camino (pilgrimage).
After chilling by the river for a few hours and having something to eat we went to get some sleep so that Nigel could prepare for his ride the next day. The plan was to do a road trip on the Tuesday and a short off road ride on Wednesday morning before we left.
Nigel used to do a lot of riding, initially on the road and more recently on the track, both in the UK and abroad but has not even sat on a motorbike for 5 years or more and was therefore a bit nervous about how it would go but very excited about getting back out there. We arrived at the Mountain Dog Motorcycles hub on Wednesday morning, nice and early, and Greg got the admin out of the way and found some leathers, gloves and helmet for Nigel to borrow and they were set.
Greg has a vast knowledge about the Picos de Europa National Park and had a 200km route planned for Nigel which took them right around the mountains and back to Panes where they followed the same route back to Potes along some very winding routes but seeing some great sights along the way. They stopped a few times, just to enjoy the scenery or to have a spot of lunch and a drink and Greg shared his knowledge of local nature, history and culture.
Whilst they were out Jo took Maisie for a walk up to the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liebana, a pilgrim destination, where there is said to be a section of the cross that Jesus was crucified on, and they went a bit further past this up the hill before turning back. It was too hot for Maisie to walk very far and she was not keen on the bottled water that Jo had bought for her – she always prefers mucky lake water. They spent the afternoon just chilling at the apartment with a good book.
We went out in Potes again for something to eat, this time finding a quiet courtyard for se delicious meal. Greg had suggested that Nigel and he did a small off road ride on Wednesday morning and they set off back to the hub first thing and Greg took them up into the mountains behind Potes and then up to the monastery so Nigel could also see it. Nigel lacked a bit of confidence off road but did only fall off the once, aggravating an old injury to his wrist, but loved every second of the experience and it has refuelled his love of motorbikes and riding.
On Wednesday afternoon we headed back home, choosing to do the drive in one day, as we had new guests arriving and jobs to get done and wanted a good couple of days to sort things. Eight hours seems a lot of driving but the roads were all clear and easy and we did not get stuck in any traffic for the whole 700km. We obviously stopped a few times for a quick coffee and to give Maisie a chance to stretch her legs, and to swap drivers but it was a nice drive and we were home and sorted by 9.30pm, both feeling rested after our few days away and enjoying reminiscing about such wonderful scenery and experiences.
We would highly recommend anyone who enjoys motorbike riding to go and spend some time with Greg at Mountain Dog Motorcycles and take one or two of his tours…..we may well be back for more!
Until the next time bonne journée et à bientôt…..