Up at seven thirty. We take our time at breakfast, thinking we might skip lunch today. We don’t dawdle though, because we have an appointment at ten. I take the wheel for a change, our first stop is Avenay-Val-d’Or, a fifteen minute drive. The villages here are quite old, with narrow streets and confusing intersections,… Continue reading Champagne – part 2
Category: 2023 – Northern Spain
Champagne – part 1
We slept in a gîte, a rented appartment belonging to the champagne supplier we visited yesterday, so there’s no breakfast. We don’t mind, we’ve had such copious amounts of food the last days that we’re happy to take a break. We skip breakfast, leave the key in the lock box and set off north. Champagne… Continue reading Champagne – part 1
Driving through Ciarán
Up at seven, breakfast at eight, they have - aside of the normal offerings - really delicious cookies. We’ve been keeping an eye on the news, the storm Ciarán is expected to do its worst today, with high winds, strong gusts of wind and rain squalls. My mom was house sitting (or cat sitting, more… Continue reading Driving through Ciarán
A rainy ride to Tours
We’re coming to the end of our Spanish holiday, so today’s goal is simple: get to Tours in France. We take our time with breakfast, because lunch will be highway food, which is not often appetising.. It’s been raining the whole night and morning, fortunately our car is parked inside and we can pack up… Continue reading A rainy ride to Tours
Idle, eat, idle
Only one plan for today, in some ways the culmination of our gastronomic adventure here in Spain: lunch at Arzak. We have breakfast a bit earlier, then find an activity both relaxing and conducive to working up an appetite. We park in the center of Donostía-San Sebastian. If you’ve been wondering why I don’t write… Continue reading Idle, eat, idle
Moutains and sea
The alarm goes off at eight. It’s already light outside, it looks like it’s going to be a sunny day. We take our time at the breakfast buffet and then try to make up our mind about what to do, there’s a lot of options, but also quite a few things we’ve seen already. In… Continue reading Moutains and sea
A challenging meal
Only one thing on the plan for today: lunch at Mugaritz near Donostia-San Sebastian, a restaurant famous for its experimental style. We’d just gotten used to Spanish hours, but early this morning we switched to winter time, so three pm became two pm and we get up at eight, which is actually nine? Or something?… Continue reading A challenging meal
A quiet drive
I’m up at all hours in the night, but around nine I feel steady enough to leave the hotel room. I sip ginger tea, gingerly, while Arne has breakfast. We scroll through Google maps to find a quiet activity or two on the road to our next destination. We give the mountains a final wave… Continue reading A quiet drive
Anboto mountain
Up eight, breakfast at nine. Breakfast is served in the veranda, first the usual meats, cheeses and fruit arrangement, with homemade yoghurt and local honey, then a choice of warm dishes, of which I select the pancakes. Delicious. It should be dry today, but we’re in the mountains, so we pack rain jackets and put… Continue reading Anboto mountain
Basque-Japanese cuisine
Up at eight, breakfast at nine, packed and ready to go around ten or so. We have a lunch reservation at the restaurant Txispa (pronounced tsjispa - it means spark) in the tiny village of Axpe-Atxondo, about a ninety minute drive from here. We were politely informed by mail that we should arrive between 13:20… Continue reading Basque-Japanese cuisine
Cabárceno
Up at eight, breakfast at nine, away by ten, we’ve finally acclimated to Spanish time. We plan to spend the whole day at Cabárceno, officially called Parque de la Naturaleza Cabárceno, which we have visited on our first trip to Spain in 2008 and always wanted to see again. It’s situated in a green valley… Continue reading Cabárceno
Unexpected pleasures
It’s a bit weird to start a daily post with yesterday’s dinner, but what can you do when dinner time starts only at eight thirty.. We have dinner in the hotel restaurant, where we’re the only customers until another guest walks in around ten. The waitress speaks English and they even have an English menu… Continue reading Unexpected pleasures
El Monasterio de Piedra
We had a delicious dinner yesterday, as typical of the region it started late but was very quick, with the glasses of wine delivered immediately after ordering and food not ten minutes after. I had the trout (local style, which includes ham) and Arne octopus. We made an effort to stay up a bit, but… Continue reading El Monasterio de Piedra
To Spain
I wake up before the alarm at seven, so I grab my tablet and browse for new books, it’s a weekly struggle, even though I always read at least one old book before I buy a new one.. I decide to read an old favourite again: The Hob’s Bargain by Patricia Briggs. We have breakfast… Continue reading To Spain
To France
It’s an odd start for a holiday, we had planned to get organised and packed yesterday afternoon and evening, but Arne’s come down with a viral infection and spent all Friday in the couch. I’ve at least managed to get the laundry done and some of the specific stuff like camera equipment, shoes, finalising the… Continue reading To France