Prologue

Prologue 31st of July.

So this is going to be the story or blog of my trip to France and Spain in my van, without the badger. Why this holiday ? Well most of my friends are in relationships and especially when it comes to holidays, three is a crowd. I'm classy (read not cool enough) for a boys holiday and more to the point I'm not a boy any more so I had think outside the box, anyone who knows me knows I love a vehicle project and that I get all the school holidays off so I decided to convert a lovely Toyota Granvia into a camper and drive to Chernobyl as I really wanted to photograph reactor number 4 but as it turns out the Ukraine is a touch on the unstable side at the moment so I did what every normal person would do and opted to find some sun !

I hate the common conception of the Brit abroad, I'm not sure if anything I do will diminish or bolster that cliché but I'm going to try and take in as much culture as I can, experience local tradition as much as is possible, buy local produce and speak as much of the local language as I can which isn't a lot but I'll try. I will be staying the whole time in my van on "Aires" which are designated sites across Europe designed for campervan and motorhome use, some are flash and have toilets and a fresh water tap and some are just the corner of a car park....but they are free !

So what's the point of this commentary ? Well first of all it will save me telling the story of my trip over and over but mostly it's just the story of a fat bloke in a van driving to Pamplona to sit in a cafe where Hemingway used to get drunk that some people may find mildly entertaining, as my friend Nick says, "You just have to be different, don't you?".