So this was to be our last week here. We had looked forward to enjoying our last walks around town and on the beach as well as eating out at a few of our favourite places. Of course this was not to be!
On Monday morning we heard a noise outside and saw a council worker disinfecting the rubbish bins and later they sprayed the pavements. Very impressive.
I made a trip to Iceland/Waitrose for supplies to take back home.
On Wednesday we had a discussion and decided to leave for home on Friday as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of point hanging around here.
In the afternoon I went to Mercadona and shopped for further supplies to take home. It was very quiet and they had everything I needed apart from fresh milk.
I dropped the shopping off and went and parked the car as usual in the big car park behind la Senieta. As I got near home I noticed that the parking space nearest to the apartment had just been vacated. Parking spaces in the street outside are like gold! I hotfooted it back to the car park to get the car praying that the space would still be there. It was! Hallelujah!
Thursday was spent packing and cleaning. Quite a job as all our kitchen cupboards and fridge/freezer had to be emptied. We had taken our own bedding so that had to be left till Friday morning.
So Friday morning we were up at 7am to finish off packing and load up the car. That was quite a job and there wasn’t much space left in the car by the time we had finished!
2 lots of police cars stopped and asked us what we were doing, I replied leaving to go back to our home in France and that satisfied them.
Finally, at 10am, we left the apartment for the last time and set off on our journey of 850kms.
There was a road block at the roundabout at the edge of town and when explained where we were going we were wished good luck and told to be careful. We didn’t see any more police until we got to the border.
The roads were, as one would expect, very quiet. A lot of lorries but very few cars. A few camper vans and foreign registered vehicles like us returning home.
Service stations are open for fuel but no food, drink or toilets!
We stopped for fuel late afternoon. The cashier was behind a screen and I passed my card through to her but she couldn’t get it to work and must have spent 10 minutes phoning to find out what to do. In the end she said it was the card. It wasn’t as it had worked on the motorway payment station. Luckily I had cash and paid with that.
We finally arrived at the border about 5.30 pm. The Spanish policeman was happy to let us through. I presented the Gendarme on the French border with 2, one for each of us, handwritten and signed affidavits swearing on our honour (!) that we were returning home and he was happy with them. He said, “for me, it works”! Didn’t even ask for passports or residency cards. What a relief.
So , here we are on the last lap, coasting along past Biarritz airport, when the sat nav chimes and tells us that there is a delay on our chosen route of 4 hours and advising us to take alternative route. Hard to believe, plenty of lorries but few cars to be seen. After some discussion (we actually agreed!) we decided to take the alternative route. After 20 minutes or so we realised that we were heading south instead of east. We left the main road and hit a road block, showed gendarme the paperwork and asked about delay on the A63. He knew nothing about it and suggested we return. We did. There was no delay and we finally got home at 8pm about an hour later than we,should have done.
Anyway all was well that ended well and we were safely back home.
So now we have to sit back and see what the future holds for us all.
Our love to all who have followed us through our winter in beautiful Moraira.
We do hope that we shall be able to return at some point in the future.
X
On Monday morning we heard a noise outside and saw a council worker disinfecting the rubbish bins and later they sprayed the pavements. Very impressive.
I made a trip to Iceland/Waitrose for supplies to take back home.
On Wednesday we had a discussion and decided to leave for home on Friday as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of point hanging around here.
In the afternoon I went to Mercadona and shopped for further supplies to take home. It was very quiet and they had everything I needed apart from fresh milk.
I dropped the shopping off and went and parked the car as usual in the big car park behind la Senieta. As I got near home I noticed that the parking space nearest to the apartment had just been vacated. Parking spaces in the street outside are like gold! I hotfooted it back to the car park to get the car praying that the space would still be there. It was! Hallelujah!
Thursday was spent packing and cleaning. Quite a job as all our kitchen cupboards and fridge/freezer had to be emptied. We had taken our own bedding so that had to be left till Friday morning.
So Friday morning we were up at 7am to finish off packing and load up the car. That was quite a job and there wasn’t much space left in the car by the time we had finished!
2 lots of police cars stopped and asked us what we were doing, I replied leaving to go back to our home in France and that satisfied them.
Finally, at 10am, we left the apartment for the last time and set off on our journey of 850kms.
There was a road block at the roundabout at the edge of town and when explained where we were going we were wished good luck and told to be careful. We didn’t see any more police until we got to the border.
The roads were, as one would expect, very quiet. A lot of lorries but very few cars. A few camper vans and foreign registered vehicles like us returning home.
Service stations are open for fuel but no food, drink or toilets!
We stopped for fuel late afternoon. The cashier was behind a screen and I passed my card through to her but she couldn’t get it to work and must have spent 10 minutes phoning to find out what to do. In the end she said it was the card. It wasn’t as it had worked on the motorway payment station. Luckily I had cash and paid with that.
We finally arrived at the border about 5.30 pm. The Spanish policeman was happy to let us through. I presented the Gendarme on the French border with 2, one for each of us, handwritten and signed affidavits swearing on our honour (!) that we were returning home and he was happy with them. He said, “for me, it works”! Didn’t even ask for passports or residency cards. What a relief.
So , here we are on the last lap, coasting along past Biarritz airport, when the sat nav chimes and tells us that there is a delay on our chosen route of 4 hours and advising us to take alternative route. Hard to believe, plenty of lorries but few cars to be seen. After some discussion (we actually agreed!) we decided to take the alternative route. After 20 minutes or so we realised that we were heading south instead of east. We left the main road and hit a road block, showed gendarme the paperwork and asked about delay on the A63. He knew nothing about it and suggested we return. We did. There was no delay and we finally got home at 8pm about an hour later than we,should have done.
Anyway all was well that ended well and we were safely back home.
So now we have to sit back and see what the future holds for us all.
Our love to all who have followed us through our winter in beautiful Moraira.
We do hope that we shall be able to return at some point in the future.
X
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