Day 12: rest day 2 in Arcachon

More rain overnight and much cloud and greyness interspersed with sun and rain today. Lazy breakfast followed by games of Uno to avoid the rain. I did some washing and then spent much of the day hanging it out, taking it back in and hanging it back out again every time it rained in an attempt to get the pyjamas dry by the evening. We went to the pool briefly in the morning before the wind picked up and it started raining. Managed to eat lunch outside our tent and have a cuppa in the sunshine. After another few games of Uno we headed back to the pool and spent a couple of hours enjoying the sun. We then put on our finest, least smelliest and dirtiest clothes (Adrian even wore undies for the first time this holiday!) and headed out for dinner in Arcachon. It is definitely quicker to walk than cycle as there is a lift from the park down through the rock to the towns pedestrian streets. By bike you need to go round climbing steep hills. We stocked up on food for tomorrow and then ate in a restaurant overlooking the sea. Adrian had moules and I had sea bass. Yum! There is a festival on here at the moments so lots of street entertainment to enjoy on our walk home.

I'm hoping for good weather tomorrow so we can spend our last day by the pool.

Off to access my emails now to find out about the A-Level results!

Breakfast inside the tent due to rain

Fun on the slide

Pretty streets of Arcachon

Eating out on the sea front

Adrian's moules

Day 11: rest day in Arcachon

Torrential rain and thunder in the night resulted in a few puddles in the porch this morning. The children and I got up, left Adrian in bed (he had made a lovely cup of tea for me by the time we got back!) and headed to the shop for breakfast just as the heavens open again and we had to seek refuge in the toilets! We ate breakfast in the tent and proceeded to all play Uno until the sun shone. Emily won her first game of the holiday and then made it two in a row with a little help in tactics from me! At around 11.30 we eventually managed to make it out deciding to cycle to Arcachon centre to look around. We needed food supplies, more sun cream, wanted to check out the beach as well as the train station in preparation for Saturday. The map the campsite gave us showed a cycle/pedestrian path to the centre as 1.8km, but what I hadn't realised was that the whole area is full of hills and I beg to differ in the actual distance down as well. Plenty of hills both up and down followed. Once in the centre, we took a ride along the sea front, along the beach and past the port. There are board walks on the sand for pedestrians and cyclists which gives a lovely view of all the boats. The beach area and all the streets off it are bustling and busy with lots of designer shops and restaurants. Next we stopped at a cafe for lunch where I had my first Croque Monsieur of the trip.... It has to be done!... We locked up our bikes, took a walk along the pier to get the low down on boat trips around the basin and headed to the super market for supplies. We found a lovely sweet shop en route so treated the kids and also found a souvenir shop for them to spend their money on presents for their friends - the smallest and lightest ones we could find! Let's hope we get them all home in one piece. After a short play on the beach and a paddle, we headed back up to the campsite for tea via the Gare SNCF. The lady at the information desk said that the trains can take 30 bikes! (My email to French trains before I left said only 4 and no trailer), and it seems that they are doing a summer group offer of 30€ for up to 5 people - bikes free. I'll believe it when we are all safely on one train together on Saturday morning! Once back at the campsite the kids read and made loom bands and we all enjoyed a lovely tea made by Adrian followed by a cuppa. 

9.76 miles cycled and walked today

Cycling on the board walks in Arcachon 

The board walks - one for pedestrians, one for cyclists!

Lunch at a side-street cafe

By the beach - Adrian photo bombing! 

Amazing painted sand sculptures on the beach - I've never seen anyone paint them before.

View down to Arcachon from the park near the campsite - day trip so pannier-less... Felt a bit weird being so light!

Adrian sporting a loom band necklace made by Thomas!

Route day 11: 9.76 miles in and around Arcachon 

Day 10: La Dunes Du Pyla to Arcachon.

A lie in today - before we knew it it was 8.15am. Packed up and left quite swiftly after a simple breakfast of pain aux chocolat, croissant, pain aux raisin and orange juice (not all of the above, we all have our favourites!). Hannah counted 7 hills today, but no where near the gradients of yesterday. Today was mostly riding through various districts on our way to Arcachon. Lovely big, gated, grand houses over looking the beach which reminded Adrian a bit of California. Plenty of cycle paths which you share with the pedestrians, not the most direct route through I am sure, but definitely safer than the roads which have got increasingly busy as we have headed north. Having left at 10.39am we arrived an hour later at our campsite. Disappointingly, for the first time it was a late entry after 2pm meaning we had to lock up the bikes at reception, unload as many bags as we could carry and head to the pool with them. It must be a French thing... I can't understand why when our pitch was free and ready for us it was a 'security risk' for us to enter the campsite early, especially as we were able to use the facilities anyway... Bonkers!!! (And highly irritating!!!!). At 2pm on the dot Kevin took us to our pitch which is very roomy, nestled in the pines next to the volley ball courts. They have some very weird rules here like 'for hygiene reasons, no washing lines'?.... Which everyone is ignoring of course!

The shop is fairly basic so we are using our emergency supply for tea again tonight - pasta pesto with an onion we happened to have left over from a couple of days ago. We do have milk though so I'm looking forward to a cup of tea this evening!

.... Just drinking the tea now whilst watching the children playing volley ball with our beach ball and some French kids.

We have 4 nights here before heading to Bordeaux for the end of our journey. A few things to do here, but hoping to see a bit of Arcachon and to have a bit of R&R.

A tiny 6.66 miles cycled today to end our journey up the west coast.

Our tiny pitch at the dunes site

Blackberries - very tasty 

Tents up in Arcachon - now for some washing!

Bit chilly in this pool!

Route day 10: 6.66 miles