Day 02 16.04 . . . Bon Courage

So it rained in the night twice, which wasn’t on the weather app’s and so I hoped the cracked open windows in the front for ventilation hadn’t been breached and that we still had dry front seats.
Loup had slept through the night without disturbing us, probably as the van is so dark, I actually woke him at 7.30.
After a short walk we tidied up and got in our way deciding to grab a coffee and croissant on route.
As we left Moissac we saw a very large boulangerie and purchased our immediate supplies.
Straight onto the motorway heading south to Toulouse the weather didn’t improve and in fact either rained or was damp foggy for miles - which didn’t bode well.
We scooted past Toulouse and although the traffic was heavy we made good time without delays.
Further south we sighted the walled city of Carcassonne to the east of us away on the hills. Again, another lovely place to stop if you ever visit this sort of the world - luckily we have visited previously and so didn’t feel so bad flying straight past.
Stopping at services for a leg stretch and some fresh air for Loup, we grabbed some sweets and set off again.
We finally pulled off the motorway with the Pyrenees in sight towards Perpignan. We wanted to head straight down to the beach to give Loup a run and although the sun was now brightly shining and the temperature warming up nicely it was very windy. We had seen on the weather apps that this area was experiencing strong winds over the next few days.
Perpignan as expected was fairly well busy as any larger town is and so without stopping we navigated our way through and out the other side heading for Saint-Cyprien and it plage/beach.
Parked up along the beach front we immediately realised how strong the wind was as we hopped out of Roxvanne.
Loup couldn’t believe the wind as he also exited Rox, his ears immediately flat and laid back on his head and his nose up into the air taking in the mass of smells that were obviously hitting him full on.
We made one quick sortie into the beach to check we were ok to let Loup run before returning to Rox to get Loup’s long lead.
Back in the beach we were immediately sand blasted with the very fine stone that was mixed with the sand on the beach. Not a good time to be wearing shorts. Tre was huddled up in her hoodie with head down trying to avoid the stinging sands.
It was about this point that Loup who had on his long lead running charged towards me across the front of Tre before turning sharply to run past her side. The long lead trailed in his wake moving at speed like a rope on the back of a harpoon.
Tre unfortunately saw the long lead a split second too late and despite her best efforts to jump to avoid it the lead caught hold of her left foot which was in the air and ripped it savagely outwards in an angle legs aren’t supposed to go. What made matters worse was that the other leg was also in the air (from the attempted avoidance jump). I can honestly say I have never in my life seen anyone do the splits as far as Teresa achieved in this moment. People pay good money to see the acrobats at Cirque du Soleil and Olympians win gold medals for their flexibility and movement - but this all falls way short of what I witnessed today. However all of this fantastic movement ended with a un-ceremonial crashing to the sand and a broken Teresa. Even Loup stopped still immediately - wondering quite what he had done this time.
It was a full ten minutes before I was able to get Tre back to her feet, covered from head to foot in sand, still being sandblasted by the wind and muttering words I can’t repeat about the dog and the lead. Honestly I couldn’t stand up properly for laughing and to be fair, Tre did laugh as well once the initial agony of being ripped in two had subsided a little.
We decided we would walk along the prom for a while and return to the beach a little later.
The prom was actually a lovely walk and we reached a fairly large harbour area. We decided to walk back to Rox and then drive back to the harbour for a drink.
The harbour was lovely in the sunshine and quite large, but the wind continued to batter everything in sight.
We found a small bar in the harbour side and researched another camp site not far from Saint-Cyprien at Palau-del-Vidre.
On arrival at Palau-del-Vidre the two ladies at reception were very welcoming and told us we pretty much had the choice of the site to choose our spot from bar about six pitches. They then only charged us a discounted rate for our pitch which you normally only get if you have a loyalty card.
We found a pitch we liked, returned to reception to tell the ladies which spot we had chosen, before heading off to get some supplies.
After a quick Intermarché dash we returned to the camp site and settled in for the evening.
Sorry I forgot . . . On the way home we had to visit a pharmacy to collect the French equivalent of strong ibrufen and muscle spray for the aching leg/groin, savlon for the lead rope burn on the ankle and mosquito bite cream - that was for both of us. Apparently the lady was very concerned for Teresa after hearing of her ordeal and parted with Tre with the words ‘Bon Courage’ . . . 😂
Back on site we sat briefly in the sun but the wind was too strong and eventually too chilly.
We sat in Rox to eat our meal and then I took Loup for a walk whilst, Tre rested her aching limbs.
Another day has slipped by - at one point I thought this may be our last day of this trip, but Tre has pushed through the obvious pains she has. Looks like we may still be rocking tomorrow, but let’s see what a nights sleep brings . . . and if Tre can get out of bed and actually stand tomorrow.

Before our song of the day (chosen by Teresa today), I did really ask her to consider it being -
Elvis Costello - I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down 😂

Our song of the day is:
Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm (Tre’s choice)

Todays album never heard before in its entirety is:
Talking Heads - Remain In The Light (Our Rating 6/10)Read more