We’ve been dawdling. The great French rivers drawing us like sirens aided by Theo’s insatiable appetite for fishing. Three days before our ferry to England and we’re barely North of Bordeaux: less than 100 miles in 3 days, but there’s no rush, the countryside’s sublime. Max is reading Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. A story of a river subverting and…
Our last night in Spain saw a hasty retreat, when at 3am an idyllic river bed turned into hurricane alley, sandblasting us back into the car, bleary eyed and wondering how desert folk managed before wet-wipes. Spain has been delightful and an opportunity for my son Max to speak Spanish, but it’s France that speaks to me. The first 10km…
From Leyre we looked for a mountain idyll and found one at Panticosa: Winter ski resort , Summer ghost town. For a couple of days we read, swam and savoured the tranquility. The river was fast flowing and chilly, but nevertheless the boys spent hours wading upstream. Surrounded by nature, it was easy to relax, before hitting the road again and heading North.…
I first found the monastery at Leyre six years ago and it’s held a place in my heart ever since. It’s also the furthest we’ve planned. On the way here we discussed religion: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, the significance of Christ’s crucifixion and Nietszche’s critique of Christianity as a slave morality – it’s really not just all I-spy…
There was drama, the boys, jointly entrusted with waking us up, both overslept an hour. Though we missed the ferry we were thankful for DFDS’s policy of allowing travel on the one before or after. Watching the White Cliffs recede has always marked the end of preparation and the beginning of adventure, Laurie Lee describes it well: “I found myself longing…
I’m not convinced it’s a good idea to set off for the Dover ferry first thing Monday.
Planning a journey to the pyrenees
Now I realise there was more to it than that
Monday here is like Sunday, in as much as most of the shops shut. Walking about town I found a park with men sitting in circles of 10 or so playing cards, and lads playing cricket and a kind of golf/baseball hybrid (Gilli Danda): taking turns to hit a puk with a stick from one end…
Although I’ve not much time for people taking pictures of their food and posting to social media, it’s been a long, dusty day and I’m happy to be waiting for room service to deliver fried snacks and another beer.
Something about boys 