Carry on camping

For the first time, Jemima has been talking consistently about wanting to go home to Horringer to see her friends and family, which is a bit heartbreaking. So it was off to the pool this morning to cheer her up. And you could see part of the justification for this place being a Leading Camping - it was enormous, elaborate, and a lot of fun, with different areas and levels, and a whole water slide park (although sadly not heated). Jemima liked the life size elephants and turtles best, which I assume spray water in high season - she sat on all of them in turn. And she tried her first (very small) water slide, but got a bit of a shock with the splash at the bottom. She didn't want to go again - we stuck to paddling and playing after that. 

I can see other justifications for the Leading Camping claim too - there is a huge "Wellness" area - gym, indoor pool, spa (I am hoping for a pedicure tomorrow, and a fringe trim for Jemima); there are loads of activities including crafts, archery, and a choir; the restaurant where we had dinner was lovely, and the food very good; and most strikingly, the sanitary blocks are in marble! Definitely a cut above the usual formica. If you were going to set up camp in the sun over the winter, there would be many worse places than this. 

This may reflect a change of view on my part. If I'm honest, the aspect of this trip I was fearing was the campsite: shared showers; living between hedges right next to your neighbours; stuck on a site miles from anywhere. (I knew I'd enjoy the travelling and living in a motorhome bit). But I showered in a Portakabin on the industrial estate Aire yesterday - I would never have done that a month ago; and I now quite enjoy saying hello in different languages to our neighbours (and being discreetly nosey about their pitch accoutrements - from the aforementioned gnomes and name-painted stones to amazing mini-gardens, and weird things for sale - a pair of wing mirrors, €4). And it's rather wonderful seeing individuals of a certain age spreadeagled around campsites on a multiplicity of camping chairs, snoozing in the sun. There are definitely worse ways to spend your time. And we have another day of it tomorrow.

Swimming:

Lunch with a view:

Campsite life:

Still in La Marina: