Have you heard of the Moncoutant photographic exhibition.

Moncoutant sur Sevre is a beautiful village in Deax Servages and each year it hosts a amazing outdoor photographic exhibition.

I’ve been lucky to be to 4 exhibitions.

It’s not just the quality of the images but the curating in placement around the Village. I have tried to capture both aspects of the exhibition.

Near to Montoucant is the Fortified Farm B&B. A fantastic place to stop take a break when heading east across France toward the Alps or beyond.

The rain had started when I arrived in France. A friend suggested I might be made a saint for breaking the drought!

I was happy to have a bed rather that putting up a tent, thanks to my hosts.

It wasn’t all wet and Jazz the whippet enjoyed the sun.

And me a walk in the forest.

At cloudless night and the low light of rural France gave a clear view of the Milky Way.

A perfect way to finish a stay with the most hospitable hosts in France.

Photo Sketches in Spain

Travelling in Spain is one of my joys. I love the people the culture the landscape.

This year it seemed different. Traversing Spain between the intended destinations of Morocco and Portugal and the UK. A day or two here and there as I moved north and south through the country

The sketches are places I stopped along the way.

Jerez de la Frontera

Jerez is a couple of hours from Tarifa. It’s also the sherry capital of the world so a good place to stop on the way to Morocco. Who would have guessed there was a Flamenco and Sherry festival on!

Such a difference to 2020, Andalusia already in tight restriction and the the whole of Spain going into lockdown.

Cadiz and Rota

While Cadiz is quite the tourist centre Playa Aquadulce is a quiet Rota beach and a restful place to stop after hopping off the ferry from Morocco.

And in Cadiz the covid delayed carnival gave the old city a certain buzz

Stops in Aragon

Caspe is on the Mar de Aragon a huge dam in the mountains of Aragon. Lake Caspe camping is a fantastic camping ground right on the edge of the lake.

The lake is wonderful for swimming, boating, exploring and birdwatching. Sighting Egyptian vultures, peregrine falcons, and grey cranes.

Why stop in Calanda one might ask. The answer is it’s 2pm and the temperature is already 39c! The surprise is a pretty little village in the centre of great motorcycle roads that is the birthplace of Luis Bunuel

Then to find the site of a miracle in the village.

The miracle of a regrown leg. I dubbed the church the house of the holy legless. I wish I had known about this miracle in my younger years when I was more likely to be legless and in need of redemption!!!

Finding little villages like these is the joy of taking the back roads on a motorbike with a loose plan of where and when to stop. Serendipity as a guide book.

Finding the first communion parade in Tomelloso in Castille de La Mancha. Or Goya’s birthplace

Truly serendipity has been my wonderful travel guide.

For more detail and up to date information on Cadiz and its beaches go to: https://faheyjamestravel.com/2022/12/23/cadiz-good-beaches/

The Ferry from Santander to Portsmouth

Santander is capital of the Spanish Provence of Cantabria and a major seaside city. Beaches and a ferry port all part of the the mix the city offers.

It was so different leaving Santander March 2 years ago when the pandemic and a lockdown drove me out of Spain. http://piecemealadventurer.com/2020/03/23/travelling-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-the-last-ferry-from-santander/

A beautiful summers day a yacht on the water sailing alongside the ferry.

As it left the harbour

Up on deck we spotted whales in the Bay of Biscay Abyss. Can you see the spout?

Agh how I missed the sight of the open sea when I was confined to cabin. At that time, like all of us, unaware how much time confined to hotel rooms, to our houses and neighbourhoods lay ahead.

How amazing to travelling internationally adventuring and watching the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.

White cliffs up the Solent welcomed me back to Great Britain.

It’s a bit of a heatwave as I sit in my sister’s house in London. Covid 19 hasn’t gone away and being in a big city like London requires caution but life is an adventure to be lived so let’s live it.

What a difference a Cape makes. The Atlantic Coast of Algave

Cape St Vincent (Cabo de São Vicente) is the most Southwesterly point of the European Continent. It’s juts out into the Atlantic at the bottom tip of Portugal. It’s funny to think that only few weeks back I was at the North West tip of Africa.

East of the Cape the coast gently curves toward the Gulf of Cadiz with its generally warm calm waters. (As seen in the previous blog)

To the west and north the Atlantic up to its reputation of icy cold waves and wild beaches.

The beach at Carrapateira a wild wahing machine of a place.

Arrafina is a lot less wild. sheltered by a headland with a little fishing port giving some shelter from the wind and a better set of waves.

Is the water icy? Well at under 18c it’s chilly but not as cold as the Southern Ocean off the Victorian, Australia coast where I have swum for many years.