Day 2: La Chaussée, Bassin d’Arcachon, Pyla Dune, Tudela

Our second day began in La Chaussée with Christophe’s parents, Elizabeth and Didier. We had a long French breakfast with Antoine, another friend of Danni’s who had also stopped by.

Finally we managed to get going again. Antoine took us to Blois to fuel the car and off we went, always staying close to the Loire. Suddenly something came back to our minds: the oil! As the Corsa was using up quite a bit of motor oil, we should have checked it in Luxemburg already, let alone the last time we fuelled the car.
Unfortunately, the engine had already heated up and it was quite impossible to determine the actual level on the measurement stick. After a discussion about how to interpret it, we filled in some more oil and decided that the oil level must be well within or even above the margins (a decision we later confirmed when the engine had cooled down).


Back on the road, it was time to text Romy’s friend Natalia about our arrival. But where was the mobile?! It turned out that it had preferred the cosy atmosphere in the house of Elizabeth and Didier, accordingly deciding to stay in La Chaussée. We had already done quite a few kilometres, no point in turning back then if we still wanted to reach Spain the same day. And what adventure without the unforeseen?! Luckily, Romy still had Natalia’s number somewhere in her laptop and our arrival was announced at last.

If the weather had been grey and snowy when we had left Germany, the air was crisp and clear as we travelled towards the coast. It had been snowing during the night, but the sun had already dried the roads, thus making it a pleasure to drive while watching the snowy landscape. Naturally, watching wasn’t enough. Soon we stopped to feel our first real snow this year.

Of course Danni couldn’t resist the chance to juggle some snow balls


And dropping them in due turn ;)


The whole lay-by area was covered in snow,
only a few spots of colour remained.


To avoid taking all the snow into the car on getting back in, we parked the Corsa in the one dry spot we found where everything else was covered in melting or not quite melting snow.


Soon afterwards we reached the “Bassin d’Arcachon”, the Arcachon bay. As we both love the sea, there was no question about where to go: Straight on, until we reached the water. We didn’t really care about the city because there was already salt in the air. So close to the water, there was nothing to stop us. Neither did we mind the street turning into a mere dirt road nor the fishing huts nor the picturesque boats displayed on trailers in nearly every yard.


Only a dog behind the wheel of a truck slowed us down enough to take a photo. Where was he going to?!


We continued along the road until it ended close to the bay. Colourful houses created a special atmosphere as we parked and left the car.

The landscape looked rather swampy.
Blue and green dominated the image.

Due to low tide, oyster beds and boats were almost on the ground.
Finally we could smell the sea both of us love so much.

On the way back towards the village, we suddenly heard some music. It was the sort of sound you may have expected in the 1950’s – but where did it come from? Precisely at that moment, we noticed a car driving in front of us. An oldtimer with speakers attached to the roof. Driven, of course, by the stereotypical Frenchman in a black coat and beret…

Our next stop was at the harbour. While Romy spent ages there taking photos and dreaming of taking one of the boats out to the sea, Danni had already returned to the car. After all, what was a port against the real sea?!

By that time, the day was coming to an end. The sun was almost setting and we stopped for another break. As we walked towards what must be the Atlantic Ocean, we met a few people coming from the opposite direction. They told us that we would be just in time to see the sunset. So we continued towards the beach.

But where we had expected only beach and the sea, we found an absolutely enormous dune.


“Spielkinder” that we are, both of us immediately started to run around, play with the light, discover the different patterns created by the water, the setting sun and ourselves.



Just as fascinating as taking photos of the dune and the sea was watching the other,
lost in the spectacular beauty, and losing oneself again.

If it hadn’t been for the freezing cold and the fact that there was still a destination to reach, we would have stayed until the sun had set completely.

Running rather late, we just took one last picture of the beautiful scene and set off again.

Once the sun was gone, darkness fell quickly. We were now driving along the national towards the motorway and Spain. Only, there was no way to enter the motorway! Where the map had indicated a slip-road, we found only a diversion. For lack of alternatives, we continued on what we soon called our “private motorway”, a road parallel to the one we were trying to get to. Then, a lay-by. But being in France, everything was laid out for toll. No way of accessing the motorway from where we were. So we continued right until the end of the diversion until we finally reached the next toll station. And what a toll station! You just had to throw the road charge into a basket… Wicked. Awesome.


And then, at long last, we reached Spain. However, instead of leaving the motorway immediately near Irún, we continued towards San Sebastián. Finally, the only toll-free road we could get back in the direction of Pamplona was a national that led us straight through the mountains of the Basque Country. While Danni dozed off, Romy and the Corsa enjoyed climbing the winding roads, the snowy landscape and the thrill of being alone in a deserted area.


Eventually we found our way back to civilization. We were already far too late for dinner, but the prospect of a warm place, let alone meeting a dear friend was enough to keep us going. When we reached Tudela, Natalia came to pick us up in the city as we had no idea of where to go. The brave little Corsa followed her shining Seat until her house where we met her partner, Luis. Together they live in an amazingly homely, very sweet little house on the outskirts of the city. Later we sat down to look at photos and reminisce about the good old times Romy and Natalia had spent in Oxford. Talking about this and that we also ended up on Spanish Christmas customs and Natalia gave us some special Nougat, a traditional gift.

A long day was over. However, there was one last challenge: The plant! Would we survive a night in the same room with a living plant if we closed the door?