Out in the Midi sun!

 We flew to Barcelona for about 80 euros in total, and took the two trains to our pick-up point. On the first Metro we were mindful of both our own experience last year, and of information we had gathered from the TV ("Our man in..") about local policing policy, so could not relax, and did witness some very suspicious behaviour, and have a discussion with a young woman about it. We had a long wait at the connecting station and basked in bright sunshine, were transported back to pick up Yvette:- newly washed and ready to go!  We spent the night in Salt and then drove over the border - again in beautiful weather - to Lattes:- the new town on the outskirts of Montpellier where we stayed in October.
We just had time to unpack kit and bikes before going to get Chloe from the airport. She had a few days of leave to use up before the end of March, and had spoken of exotic places with guaranteed sun to help her recover from the rigours of exploitative employment in a famous UK chain of bakers! We persuaded her that there wasn't enough time for that, and that  it would be better  to meet us in the mobile home. After a few sunny days she was wishing her extra day's leave could be spent there too, so we changed the flight for a reasonable fee, and she managed five nights with us. (Easyjet are so much more reasonable than Ryanair in this respect!)

The weather was glorious! We spent time in a good range of the coastal towns - including one new to us - Carnon, where we shopped at the market. We hired a campsite bike and went together to Palavas, but it was very uncomfortable so later rides were just Chloe and Bob. We introduced Chloe to the delights of a degustation de coquillage, and she was unimpressed - particularly by oysters! On the day of departure we went quite early to the airport and waited for check-in, only to discover  that the French air traffic controllers' strike would mean a 5 hour delay. Asked not to leave the airport we bought a picnic lunch, found chairs from the car and sat in the sun in a car park. We received a lot of "Bon Apetits!" from the passers-by. Then we were bored, and lacking information. We decided to drive back the 10 minutes to the campsite from where we could monitor the flight online, so it was another game of Scrabble in the sun! Unfortunately we managed a navigational error on the way back to the airport, and Ruth did a major panic in trying to get Chloe to the gate on time.
Next day was our last one and the weather broke! No last sunny al fresco tables, no last bike ride, no last strolls round markets... etc etc, and that is how it has continued!

No Blues is Bad News

It's Easter Sunday and we are sitting in Ricky's warm bungalow in Oulton Broad looking out on a dull wet UK. We left Corralejo on March 27th, and blue skies are a thing of the past. Yesterday morning in Dunkirk Bob finally had to admit defeat and replace his shorts with trousers. (People had been looking at - and commenting on - the bare knees for several days as we made our Northern Progress - details to follow!)

So here is a review of Winter in the Canaries.
First it was the shortest stay for us since records began (i.e. 2007!). We got there later than usual, we took a long 65th birthday break in Gran Can, we spent a month on the Goa trip., and we left relatively early. Combine this with the reluctance to venture out in bad weather and we reached the end of the season feeling that we had missed out on beach, pool, day trips, time with friends and meals and music in some of our favoured places.
Second - the weather! The tourism wallahs wouldn't want this pointed out, but it was very disappointing! To be fair it was still probably better on average than anywhere else in Europe, but we are suffering our own version of climate change, with the main feature being that the famous almost permanent strong winds are now usually from the N to E quadrant and blooming cold! Typically in daytime the sky is blue, the sun shines and in shelter it can be a very good 30 plus temperature, but in exposed locations (like the seaside!) and everywhere after sunset it has been been seriously cold, with only the smokers lurking outside restaurants and bars, and the PR people ("whippers-in") wrapped up in Arctic gear! It is a testament to the insulated design of our duplex that we didn't have to resort to getting out the fan heater, but many did - especially in rural areas, and hats, gloves, fleeces, duvets and blankets have sold better than beach kit! At least it didn't rain much!
Finally the crisis! The Canaries are somewhat cushioned from Spanish austerity, and the island has many more flights now from the Peninsula bringing in Spanish tourists. (Ironically the demise of Spanair seems to have improved this!) The town has often seemed very busy; but the cry is much the same as last year:- "Plenty of people - no money!" Environmental improvements - especially round the old town - are the result of old EU money. The local council continues to ignore dog poo as the main bad feature, whilst doing strange things in and around the carnival.
Mystery surrounded the Blues Festival, which has usually followed closely after Carnaval. First it was to be in late April, but now it is officially off! No sponsor could be found. Lots of us think something cost-free could be done around the streets, but no-one rose to the challenge. With this, and the two English-speaking radio stations gone the music scene was already looking thin, then we heard that Castaway would close at the end of March, and - much more significantly - that so too would Imagine. This is a bit of a mystery in terms of the reason and what will happen to the gifted Eric!
But all is not bad news on the live music scene! Our neighbours Dave and Pete have been playing weekly at Pescaditos and have now increased the frequency to both Tuesday and Friday lunchtimes, and are really pulling in the crowds and getting rave reviews. The only trouble is:- the staff need to hand out blankets!