Our Travelationship in Review: April 2016

Last Updated on February 12, 2024 by Travelationship

By: Heather

April started off with us not realizing March had ended. The days had started to blend into each other. We spent the first week of the month in Montilliers, France finishing out our first sheep farm-sit. On the seventh we headed to our second farm-sit located in southern France in a tiny town called Lupiac. The area is known to be the birthplace of the famous Musketeer, d’Artagnan. Our stay happened to be next door to d’Artagnan’s family home where he grew up.

For about two weeks we looked after one silly passive dog, three sweet horses, six chickens, three ducks and nine cats. Not to mention a pool, which seemed to attract all kinds of critters who needed rescuing. The location in the Midi-Pyrenees region of southern France was stunning. On a sunny day, we could see the entire mountain range from the house. Oh, and we met a fun group of locals who helped us feel welcomed and at home.

We ended the month in Spain. First, we stopped in San Sebastian for three days before heading over to Pamplona to visit my cousin. Although we wish the weather had been a bit warmer in both locations, we enjoyed both cities very much. The food in San Sebastian was delicious! It well deserves all the gastronomic titles and accolades awarded to it. The beaches were also quite nice, and we could see why the place is a summer favorite.

Pamplona was charming and smaller than we expected. Considering we knew nothing about Pamplona except the Running of the Bulls, we left glad we had visited. Their weather left us frustrated. Apparently, the area is known for their moody, off and on, undeterminable weather. It literally rained every fifteen minutes or so with bouts of sun and crazy cold wind in between.

Overall, the month was quiet with nothing too crazy to report.

The Stops

France: Montilliers, Chenonceau, Lupiac, Eauze, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Vic-Fezensac, Condom, Auch, Fources, Montreal, Larressingle
Spain: San Sebastian, Pamplona

The Great

Hanging out with our cousin, Emily, for a day in Pamplona had us both smiling ear to ear. She was finishing her first year away from home and to see her doing so well put us both at ease.

The food in San Sebastian had us both stuffing our faces non-stop. We both fell in love with the tortillas de patatas (potatoes and egg omelet). It sounds so simple but oh so delicious! Also, we were lucky enough to attend a weekly pintxo pote night (San Sebastian’s version of tapas). One night a week some of the different neighborhoods serve food specials of a pintxo plate and beer for 2 Euro. We had a great time eating and drinking our way through a bunch of the local bars.

The Not So Great

France was cold! We thought France temperatures would be much warmer. We got our money’s worth out of our coats and thermals.

The nine cats at our Lupiac housesit liked us way too much. We had a dead mouse or mole at the door almost every day.

The internet was completely out at our Lupiac housesit, so we had to drive about 20 kilometers every other day to get online.

We did not accomplish anything we had hoped for regarding the blog. Part of the reason we chose to housesit was to get ahead (or at least caught up) on writing posts. We failed! We did not get anything finished to put in the pipeline. Someday we will get all the stories written and photos organized for you all to see.

Missing out on moments at home walloped us the last weekend of the month. One set of friends had their first baby and another set of friends had a surprise wedding. Although, they all know we are with them in spirit and support, it’s still bittersweet.

The Oops!, WTF?, LOLs – Lessons learned, head scratchers & hilarities

Oops! Let’s not do that again lessons

We were all set to ride with a driver from BlaBlaCar from Pamplona to Madrid until about an hour before departure we realized we had scheduled the wrong day. We then had to quickly cancel our reservations and rush to the bus station to make the Madrid coach. We made it with about three minutes to spare.

WTF? Did that really just happen?

We got addicted to Britain’s Got Talent. Enough said.

The wheel on my suitcase broke. We tried to super glue it, but no dice. Incredibly frustrating to have spent so much money on bags which barely lasted a year. Fingers crossed our two new suitcases at least make the entire year.

LOLs our laugh out loud hilarious moments

When Matt asked me, “how do horses give milk? Are they set up like cats and dogs where they have multiple milk things?”
My reply, “What? You can’t be serious?”
Matt’s reply, “ Well they aren’t set up like sheep or goat with an udder!”

The cats in Lupiac were hunters and left gifts on the doorstep. One of the cats liked us so much he brought his dead mouse into the house and tried to drop it at our feet inside. The mouse was dripping blood, and both Matt and I were squealing and jumping around like fools. When it comes to dead animals, we both fall apart into bumbling idiots.

The Posts

• Our Travelationship in Review: March 2016
• Our Free Tour with Global Greeters Network
• Fontevraud Royal Abbey – History with a Purpose
• Our Travelationship in Review: Year 1

Our Ears and Eyes

Heather

I didn’t read anything, but the news and other blogs.

Matt

Nothing to report for me either, outside of catching up on some Adam Carolla Podcasts. Having access to television that was in English wrecked me.

Up Next

Onboard for May, we have more Spain, Morocco and back to Spain for a few days before heading to Botswana.

Have any suggestions on where we should go next? Let us know in the comments!

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