Mad dash through France

The river valley which leads me down and away from the Pyrenees winds on, another hour and I am still surrounded by steep hillside, another stop is in order to give poor old Lilly a clean up, when I find a suitable spot close to the river edge we pull over.

 Leads on the two dogs come with me to the river edge and we give the manky blanket a wash and throw over a wall to dry, I look up at the rocky outcrops which break out of the green hillsides, is that an eagle, two of them no ten wrong there's at least 50, they seem massive soaring and gliding effortlessly, wheeling around the tops of the hills where I guess currents of warm air rise and keep the birds airborne. They can't be eagles, some sort of vulture maybe, there are so many and they look so big, just in case they are vultures I advise Sid and Lilly not to lay still, must ask Mr Google, he is going to be busy when I get home.

We wander further down stream, now I can see a lot of the birds perching on the higher rocks, for once I have my camera with me, they are a long way up but I think I get a few decent pictures. I am there for ages, fascinated, I have never seen so many big birds in one place since I was taken for a night out in Derby

Back to the van and joy, the road is closed, another French happening, a cycle race is due through, oh well cup of tea and wait.

All during my journey with Sid and Lilly I have been waiting to make the decision as to which channel crossing I might take, the factor which affects my choice is Sid's reaction to being left alone in the van, he travels without any problem, he can move about, he can see me and he has Lilly for company. He clearly does not want to be shut in, he moves like lightening if he senses a door being closed, I need to know how distressed he becomes when left. I need to test him before I decide, tomorrow I will leave them both in the van and hide somewhere within sight and see what happens.

For now I have another decision, we have emerged from the foothills of the mountains and we are in the southern Landes heading for Bordeaux where we cross the huge Garonne river. I have been to the area before, the coastal region is great holiday country if you like the sun and water, huge freshwater lakes bounded by sandy beaches, the sea just beyond, huge rollers coming in from the scary bay of Biscay, I also know the pine forested flat landscape covers a huge area, I will pay the toll to get some distance covered quickly, it's a good decision, by the time we need to find a campsite for the night we have reached Angouleme.

Sandy sends me the address of a camp site by text, we have to drive through the city, once again the ancient buildings, seemingly huge and definitely mysterious beckon closer inspection, but I am tired and need a shower, Sid told me.

The camp site is excellent, whilst I shower Sid and Lilly are tied to the van they cause no problem, we eat then walk then sleep,

I discover by a text from Sandy who has been told by one of Terriers SOS supporters that Angouleme hosts a comic strip festival and this years stars are Tin Tin and Snowy who is of course

Sid's cousin. I do so wish I had time to investigate. But it's onward we must go.

When we get to the outskirts of Poitiers it's lunchtime, we find a huge Auchan supermarket and after a walk I leave Sid and Lilly to go in search of some grub, for the first 10 minutes after leaving them I skulk behind a trolley parking shed, Sid can't see me and Lilly doesn't even try, I can see two sticky up ears, he is on the drivers seat looking round, the ears disappear, just in case he is tunneling out I creep up to the van and peer in, he's fast asleep on the seat. When I come back half an hour later, he's still asleep, looking good.

As we move off from the supermarket I lose my bearings as to where the actual car park and the road part company, I find myself going up the wrong side of a slip road, a car comes towards me, screeches to a halt and the driver clearly incensed jumps out of the car and strides menacingly towards me, there is a lot of excited gabbling and animated gesticulating, I feel sure that blows are going to be delivered, whilst I rack my brains for french words for dislodge and pacemaker, she jumps back in her car and drives off, phew. A bit of nonchalant reversing and I'm away.

Again when I pass the cathedral I rue the fact that I have not allowed a month for the trip.

After Sid's reaction to being left I decide to go Dieppe – Newhaven, the crossing is just 4 hours and departure is 05.30 a time when normally we would all be asleep, I set the navigator.

Coming in to northern France now and although it is still warm there are clouds gathering and I can hear distant thunder. We make steady progress and make the nights stopping place Chatrers, my texting assistant again sorts us a campsite. As we arrive the heavens open it's not yet 6 pm it gets dark, the thunder and lightening are scary, but my two intrepid travelling companions seem not to notice. After half an hour all is quiet, the rain stops we have our dinner then head for the town and the old quarter, it's magical, I can't go in anywhere because of the dogs but I don't mind because I am coming back.

The cathedrals of the cities of northern France fascinate me, their history, their survival through so many conflicts, a quick flick round is not the way to visit them, you need to stay around them and in them for hours and it helps to know about them before you go.

We have a good night, it rains a lot but we don't mind,. The final leg of our French journey is quite short, good job, it turns out to be the busiest ,slowest so far. When we arrive in Dieppe I am surprised how busy the town is, my previous visits have been out of season and we have been able to park on the seafront wherever we liked, this time on a sunny summers evening there was much competition for parking. We find a place where normally coaches stop and take a stroll along the prom, it is very nice, the beach is a bit odd, big stones, but dogs are not allowed anyway.

Sid I have learnt needs a paved surface and an audience in order to perform his daily doings, everyone knows I am English because when I take anything from my pockets little black bags shower out.

Tonight's audience turns out to be a large group of Canadians over for a commemoration of Operation Liberty a trial raid on a French port carried out two years before D Day by a mostly Canadian assault force. They are all very friendly but assure me that Sid is not a Fox Terrier, should I take him back??