France/Spain 2022 (Week Three)

Our 3rd week ended with a lovely gesture which, to me, justified our decision to stay in this friendly town. A Spanish family in a nearby pitch on site (who took to Daisy & always found time to chat) today said goodbye with a warm handshake and smiles, as their holiday came to an end.

Bonterra Park is certainly multi National, and having inevitably moved pitch (readers will know that this is a tradition) we’ve moved into a Dutch enclave to one side and snobby Brits the other. The site, as expected is beginning to fill up. The group of Dutch seem to all know each other, and as with the Spanish are friendly.

2 neighbouring British seem to be living up to the TripAdvisor reviews of a bit of snobbery and cliques however, as I sit writing this I feel I’m being watched by an elderly, painfully posh couple of caravanners opposite. They’ve been coming here for years, and are definitely on watch and indiscreetly judgemental. As we sat yesterday they loudly discussed our dog; “what breed is she even they said, she’s supposed to be some sort of Spaniel I think”. The chap then spent an hour whistling to get her to go over, with absolutely no acknowledgement of our existence. Eventually the lady of the manor came over, and she took a lot of convincing Daisy reallyis a Working Cocker Spaniel. I was close to getting out her papers to prove it, for some reason they now think I’m an undercover policeman and she’s a drug dog. We’ve heard them loudly disapprove of “monstrous Motorhomes” nearby, and putting people right on the site rules. The van behind us is occupied by another elderly couple who’ve been coming for years apparently, all they seem to do

is complain it’s hot and tell the Dutch neighbours to turn the TV down. Opposite us a chatty English couple have arrived and it’s been pleasant to talk over a beer; a little more on that later.

The reason we moved pitch after a week was for a bit more space and evening sun, the plot we vacated though had Spanish neighbours and friendly dogs roaming free which caused some entertainment. Miko, opposite, loved to wonder off and I’d join the search party as the owners whistled after him. Adjacent them, felt sorry for a pooch often left to sit in the shade alone, he objected to the wardens buggies and motorbikes and launch himself at them barking furiously. Untethered one time, it was a miracle there wasn’t an accident as he collided with a bike. No harm done thankfully.

Daisy continues to get attention, and as we allowed a young Spanish girl to fuss her I tried my language skills to tell her Daisy’s name. She just looked at

me like I was a feckless idiot and said “what”?

On that theme, we discovered that the town (a ten minute walk away) has a lively, convivial nightlife with lovely bars in its centre. As English we’re in the minority as chatting to a Spanish couple it’s predominantly a Spanish resort. The locals and bar staff are happy to practice their English, and my attempt vice versa caused hilarity when simply asking for a bottle of beer. Think of the scene in Love Actually with the girls “Colin” met saying Bohtel…I know now how to pronounce it properly after a lesson from the giggling waitress. Friday & Saturday night were especially busy, but they accommodated us and still made us welcome.

Otherwise the week was filled with pleasant, scenic bike rides either way from the site on excellent paths. North toward Orepresa and south toward Castellon. Mornings were occupied with coffee and picking up provisions on foot, without having to move the van. It’s an easy place to be.

On the Sunday afternoon another Dutch couple turned up and chose the neighbouring space, the chap needed to access the electrics on our pitch to plug in and happily walked in front of us wearing his budgie smugglers. Tracey said later his name was also “Colin”, I asked why and she said because again from the film “he’s got a big knobbbb”.

Colin was also drill happy, and seemed to set up his van and move it several times using only a pneumatic drill. He’d wait for me to speak with our new allies across the way (who turn out to be from Hilton; and Sarah originally from Breadsall near us) and he’d start his drilling. I gave up eventually, all 4 of us in tucks by this point. We’ll see what week 4 brings…