I didn't fancy driving along the M25 (the road to hell) in 90 mph winds. So we decided to come home after a visit to Whitstable which you will know is famous for oysters.
Didn't have any of them as I feel that at £1 each its rather like pouring money down your throat. In some places they are even more expensive. It did remind us of a trip to a little known French town a few years ago.
Gujan Mestras is in the Bordeaux area and that can only mean one thing - wine and seafood. It's also a short train ride to the city of Bordeaux which means only one thing - more wine and seafood.
If you gravitate to a harbour area at Gujan Mestras across the railway line (or the other side of the tracks as the Americans might say) you come across some ramshackle shacks that are much more than they seem. It is here that you get oysters, crevettes which are giant prawns. Basically there is no standing on ceremony. There's no need for a menu either. It's crevettes with rustic bread and a glass of wine or oysters with rustic bread and a glass of wine. You don't even get the chose the wine. It's wet and it's white and the price is fixed for whatever you eat. But it was fun. No desserts, no sticky toffee pudding with cream or any of that malarkey.
It was a memorable holiday as we then moved on to Bergerac which is famous for one thing - wine. We went on a road trip to take in a few vineyards and as usual coincidence followed us around. We stopped at one small vineyard and a lady with impeccable English told us about the wines and asked us where in England we lived. When we said Norwich she laughed and said "how is Thorpe." Apparently many years previously she had been an au pair in the Norwich suburb of Thorpe.
Whitstable was very windy. We did a lengthy walk with the wind behind us and then in our faces and it looked like a portent for the future. So we hit the road from hell which is probably the best thing to do with it.
I will have some photos of the end part of our stay tomorrow. By then we will know what damage the storm has caused.