Christmas in Paris and arrival Portugal January 2014

Hello!

By way of explanation, we are still glowing from a wonderful Christmas in Paris with Emily, Marc and gorgeous Faye who calls Capn Buck 'Babu'.

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Its dark, raining and windy on arrival in Paris on 22 December, so we pick up the planned rental car and book in to a hotel nearby for a good sleep, driving into Paris the next morning in daylight.  Emily is waiting with Faye and we leave immediately for the country, arriving early afternoon.  What a lovely surprise it is when we find we are staying in a gorgeous house which is the home and workshop of a famous French artist.  Much of his work is still produced and stored there and we are able to see it all when we poke our noses outside on one or two occasions.  We also note the little piles of earth left by the moles.

Christmas is so special.  We are snug and warm and happy all together.

Once back in Paris we ditch the rental car and go everywhere on foot.  We visit Galleries Lafayette with Faye to look at the special Christmas Window displays.  This is a real treat for us to share this with her.  She is so into it and dances along with the animated toys and the music much to the delight of everyone. Faye captures our hearts.  …cheeky rascal!  We are in love. Emily and Marc go away to visit friends over New Year and very generously allow us use of their apartment.  

Knowing that this is probably our last visit ever to Paris we fill in some gaps, visiting the textile district, ogling all the many sumptuous fabric stores, walking to the Arc de Triumphe on New Year’s Eve and finishing at midnight on a bridge close to the Eiffel Tower. 

On another day its Notre Dame, Left Bank, Montmartre just soaking it all up, eating French onion soup and fish to follow, then topping up with mulled wine. The famous second hand (Vintage) clothing market in Montreuil is a must where Pippy purchases an Aigle jacket for Euro 20 which goes straight on and stays there.  Clothing items purchased in this way always retain the memory of the moment and become long term favourites.  Unfortunately it rains while we are at the market and we have to leave… otherwise we might have done more damage – so much temptation! On one very cold day while we are visiting the Sacre Coeur Richard insists Pippy purchase a warm hat – very stylie.  We leave Paris with many special memories stored up for future reference.  

A chapel in Faro is built of human bones ...

We have no idea where exactly we are going to next, except somewhere in Portugal.  We have decided to spend some time out of Spain so that we are not overstaying our visa.  Late on 2 January, we fly from Paris to a sleeping Malaga, checking into our hotel at 0100H.  The train from Malaga to Seville (2.5 hrs) departs early the next morning.  By the night of Friday 3 January we are tucked up in a hotel in Faro, Portugal, having caught the bus onwards from Seville in the afternoon.  Our travel is very much helped by Emily’s wonderful ‘travel sandwiches’, a French roll scraped out and filled with tuna, egg, tomatoes and cheese and well packed in tin foil with giant serviettes. We have one on the flight and one the next morning for breakfast on the train to Seville. They are delicious, nutricious and save us from having to buy food on the flight and train.

Faro waterfront from a cafe...

We elect to arrive in Faro at 5pm without having booked a hotel, which as it turns out is a good strategy.  After bouncing our suitcases down several very uneven ancient cobblestoned streets, we finally work out it is better to let one of us guard the luggage while the other goes off on hotel search. Capn Buck finds us a nice one at E35 a night including breakfast, which is a better deal than anything we have seen on line.

Next morning we enjoy a hearty breakfast of delicious fresh orange juice, a monster croissant for Capn Buck, and a large plate of muesli, fruit and yoghurt for both of us then we go and explore, finishing our day with a cold beer in a cafe inside the old town wall, watching the sun go down over the water.

By Monday 4 Jan, via bookings.com, we have secured ourselves a one bedroom apartment in Portimao for the next month and a rental car from Faro airport and we drive at 120 kmph along the A22 - a brand new expressway, tolled, built we hear from EU money, but almost devoid of traffic - to our new home in Portimao. (We soon find out there is another road where we don't have to pay a toll.)  For the price our new home is amazing - well appointed and comfortable.  We have no trouble settling in.  The local people are very nice to us and lots of English spoken.  

The apartment is fully serviced.  The lovely ladies knock on our door every day and come through with their broom and mop.  They change our towels every two days and our sheets once a week.  They also take out the rubbish.  This is all mana from heaven for us.   Our daily on board routine is to thoroughly sweep out the whole boat and hang out the bedding in the sun.  Our towels and sheets have to be laundered frequently as well – walked to the laundry and then hung out on the boat.  To do this in the winter is problematic.  A break from this routine is huge for us both. 

We use the time to get out and enjoy the countryside.  

Fishermen at Cape Sagres near Capo St Vincente take huge risks hanging off these cliffs.

There is a big shopping centre within walking distance where we stock up on necessaries. 

The cinema shows movies in English with Portugese subtitles.  Monday and Wednesday are cheap nights and we pay Euro 4.50 (AUD7) each to go on those nights.  We have seen The Hobbit and also The Wolf of Wall Street – (full on).  That seems very inexpensive to us so we will make the most of it.

Portimao sea wall is hit by a south westerly storm - 4 metre waves are rolling over the breakwater pushing massive multi-ton rocks right over the sea wall in their path. The gouge marks are clear in the picture taken a couple of days later.

Now that we are on the land it is nice to have a holiday from the boat and to think about ourselves and our health and make sure that we are fit to start the next cruising season.  Coastal walks and very good food are high on our agenda – so much to see.

The Atlantic coast here somehow seems a more familiar ocean than the Med to us.  It reminds us of New Zealand in some ways.

There are many lovely places to visit which are well within reach of a day trip from here in the car we are driving.   

The beaches are the most gorgeous we have seen – soft golden sand forever and crystal clear Atlantic water rolling in.

 

We imagine that in the summer some of these parts are going to be lovely to visit on the sea.  Certainly the birds think so as even in the winter there is abundant bird life and the seas are boiling with plenty of fish. 

Lagos walking group...

We make contact with the Lagos Marina cruisers group – and join in on some of their activities which have been fun.  We are used to being just us 24/7, but it is nice to have some relief and talk to someone else, joining 30 others (mostly British) packing out a small local restaurant last Friday, then a superb 15 km walk last Wednesday, picking wild mushrooms then walking along the golden sand beaches of the far western shore line for part of the way.

Just had to have the beetroot...

We have few changes of clothes with us, having travelled with cabin baggage only, but have so far managed. There is no washing machine and using the laundromat is expensive, so we purchase a hanger/dryer for the balcony and wash our stuff regularly. We discover the Portimao Municipal market which is second to none and is open Saturday, Mon Tue and Wed.  Fresh produce – everything you would want – all under one roof plus a lovely social experience with friendly stall holders and the general public.  Winter fruit and vegetables, fresh fish and choice meats are all there.

Tonight we are eating a big beef stew cooked on the stove top, since we have no oven, just a microwave. The cubed up meat is sizzled over high heat so that there is a lovely brown crust on the bottom of the pot, adding flavour to the dish.  The meat is succulent and tender, the stew delicious.  Lamb is also plentiful and tender.... just like home but half the price.

We have just finished the 5kg/Euro 2.50 of massive oranges purchased on the road side recently.  One orange makes a full glass of juice.  Delicious.  They will go on the shopping list again.




Spring is springing and the days are warming up but the nights are still cold and chilly in this apartment with cold tiles on the floor.



 

Cap'n Buck morphs into his father with some borrowed specs....hahah!!

  

Cap'n Buck and Pippy signing off for January 2014 xxxx