Yesterday was getting a bit long – no, still 24hrs – so I’m taking a leaf out of the cricketing manual and resuming after tea break.
There are quite a few privet hedges on site in full flower and Frodo’s pitch is surrounded by them. Privet has an intoxicating aroma and it is a wonderful attractor of insects.I was quite excited to see a Hawk-moth arrive and flit around feeding on the privet flowers. While I kept track of it, Francine fetched my camera and I was even more excited when I realized that it was not our “normal” Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), but a Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth (Hemaris fuciformis). It’s only the second time I’ve encountered one, the other occasion being in Rosnay, France. The wings are quite spectacular.
We were also entertained by a family of Robins. A youngster with a speckled (as opposed to red) breast was hopping around by the privet looking painfully cute. There was still a vestige of the gape showing around its beak. Every now and then an adult would turn up and feed it.
Wildlife interlude over, we decided to cycle the modest 5kms into La Palmyre for a look see. I unloaded the bikes from the carrier and, not too surprisingly, discovered that my front tyre was once again flat. Time to break out the brand new spare, correctly sized (I hoped) and correctly valved inner tube.
I took the wheel apart to find a tyre once again covered in lurid green goo. As feared, my patch had partially come unstuck, presumably when it stretched to take up the slack in the larger tyre. I chucked it away and fitted the new tube, leaving me with one spare. The only point of note was that this Schrader valve was noticeably shorter than those on bike inner tubes at home. Nonetheless, it worked and I soon had a fully inflated front wheel replaced in the bike.
We went to visit a scintillating La Palmyre. Very little was happening but then, it is off-season. It was now 17:00 and even the bar was less appealing for a drink than returning to Frodo.
And [lose another 100 pts] so to today. Today dawned overcast but was supposedly the best, weatherwise, of the remaining days this week; it was forecast to brighten up. So, this would likely be our best chance to go in search of a Plateau de Fruits de Mer. We knew where we wanted to go: La Tremblade, where the oyster boats come in.
My front tyre had remained beautifully inflated and we cycled the 12kms or so to La Tremblade. It took us a while to locate the precise place but we were soon cycling along a dead straight channel lined with shacks, in varying states of repair, and moored boats reached by wooden jetties on stilts.
Examining the menus on offer, we chose one with an appealing plateau and with some customers – always a good sign: La Cabane Bouron. The waiter was a jolly chap who made sure that we understood everything on the menu before taking our order. We were both soon making a complete mess with half a crab, prawns, langoustines, whelks, winkles, clams, oysters and tiny brown shrimp. I must say that the house-cooked whelks were the best I’ve ever tasted (I’m sure I detected baie rose having been used in the cooking broth) and the langoustine, which frequently get slightly overcooked and go pappy, were also excellent.
Before we cycled the return 12kms, I complimented the waiter whilst paying; he seemed pleased and passed my thoughts on to the chef.
Safely back at Frodo, there’s a chance that I may finally be over all the problems caused by last year’s bicycle difficulties in Spain.
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