Skip to main content

Natural things

Two interesting "natural things" were observed whilst staying at M. Le Patron's. One was at the river and the other at the campsite.

When in water we both wear swimming goggles as this means we can have a good look at what's underneath. In the river there were many small fish. Many, means a lot and they were gathered together in specific places which we realised were under the drops.

After watching the water for a few minutes from above, this is what you see.





They are trying to jump the little waterfalls! It was like being in Lilliput because they are so small and I doubt that any would be able to get up but presume that they must do eventually.

The other phenomena is to do with blue things. We have a blue lidded butter box and Dawn has a big blue mug. We have been hassled by large flies with yellow/black wings that have the aerodynamics of a jumbo jet. They crash land onto anything that is blue. The natural thing that we observed is that the burnt grass of the campsite is covered in long spindly flower stems. They looked dead until the mornings when they are covered in blue petals. These are then systematically eaten by the jumbo jet flies until they all disappear. 




So this seems to be one of those things that happens in nature. The fly needs to eat the petals and the flowers needs the petals to be eaten!

We visited Corte, the university town of Corsica. It was nice to wander the streets which in July feel touristy. The statue of Pascal Paoli is prominent. He was the 18C leader of the Corsican resistance and spent some of his time gaining support of the British. In fact he died in exile in Britain.




We have been told several times about the low level or absence of petty crime and when I wanted to go and get my Landy key from the ignition, I was laughed at by one campsite owner. Walking along the street in Corte I of course spied a Landy parked but the keys were in the ignition and the window was open. It was still there a few hours later when we walked back.





One speciality that tasted very nice was this Migliacciu, a flan made with sheep's cheese (de brebis).


It was a successful morning, a flan to eat (for both) and a dress to wear (Dawn only).










Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Potes and environs

Potes is a bustling town that’s clearly ‘in the mountains’ but isn’t quite a mountain town. Well that was what we thought until we went for a walk. More on that later. First we got to know the site ( Camping La Viorna ) and the neighbours. After the squeeze of the first night near the pool, we were upgraded to a pitch at the end of the lowest terrace which had a superb view of the eastern massive of the Picos. So although this was still a squeeze pitch, somehow we felt good about it. The ‘squeeze’ happened later in the day. ☺️ Happily our immediate neighbours were quiet Dutchland people who like to eat their tea early and retire in good time. They always enjoy taking to us Brits, rather than those Germans and soon I was engaged because I was asked a question. “Why do you have a UK flag on your number plate, rather than a Welsh Scottish or English flag?”. Tricky! I explained that England isn’t a country like Wales or Scotland. They have their own  parliaments and make rules for them...

First views of the Picos

 Santillana del Mar comes as a surprise to those of us that haven’t done the prep and read about this place. Fancy having planning controls going back to the 16C. when you have such amazing stone buildings. This town is a tourist town certainly but it’s thoroughly deserved. Beautiful sturdy Cotswold stone coloured buildings are everywhere. The stone quoins, lintols and supports are impressive but there’s plenty of substantial hefty cross sections of wood too. We wander the streets, looking at the wares aimed at us tourists but encounter cascades of water from the roof tiles. It’s raining and there are no gutters! The bar is welcoming and we cleverly order dos cañas de cerveza  having learnt this glass size from a bartender in Tenerife. We are rewarded with a plate of crisps too and settle on the bar stools, wondering whether to eat here. Unfortunately we discuss this for too long and the tables fill and we are left on the bar stools until we decide to wander again. Inside...

Lago del Valle

Continuing the walking theme, the next day we drove up another of the five valleys that connect with Pola de Somiedo, to get to a suitable start point. This was just below the last hamlet, Outeiro which is at the end of the tarmac. The intention was to walk from there, up to the corrie / cwm of Lago del Valle. The snag of the day was that as we set off to drive the narrow steep road up the gorge from the campsite, we immediately caught up with a full size concrete lorry, This was making its way to that last village and el driver was  not in a mood to pull over. So we had time to look at the gorge-that-becomes-a-high-valley. It’s hard to describe these landscapes. They are severe, incredibly scenic, remote and completely unspoilt. They are also so near the ferry ports of the coast that only £800 separates them from more campervan travellers from Great Britain (& Northern Island). We started the walk and soon saw the concrete which had already been dropped for the pad of a build...