Day 4

Day 4 - Bégur - Avignon - approx 6hrs drive.

The morning was spent outside in the sun drinking coffee and eating cookies bought from the nearby shop with Emilie, the "single one". (as she was flatteringly named by the pizzeria staff - charming!!!) (I'm sorry sweetheart, but it was a classic and it had to be mentioned!).
She provided us with last night's end of party gossip and a good dose of laughter.












The 2euro map was out on the table and the main decision of the day was where we would head to from here.
The options were either tails; up the coast to the west, or heads; drive up into the mountains to the east. It was heads, EAST.
Various members of the Belgian delegation dropped by for a quick chat during our serious trip planning and I noticed how jealous they all seemed to be when we told them of our decision methods!

We packed up our stuff, waved goodbye to the happy couple on their way to the beach, stocked up on some cold water and nuts, and set off towards Avignon.

We got into Avignon some time early evening and despite it being a lot bigger than I thought, It is a beautiful town completely surrounded by ramparts. After visiting one of the dingiest hotels ever, we settle on the Etap Hotel just outside the city walls - I'm not usually a big fan of these kinds of places as I find them sterile and deprived of any charm, but they are cheap and comfortable and the staff here were really very friendly.

We walk into town for some dinner and - yes, I know - ended up at an Irish pub.
Despite it being feeding season for the mosquitoes around our table, my salad was actually really tasty, and big enough to feed a small village.
At least they managed to spell "Salad" correctly, can't say the same about the "Salmon Irisch". Oh dear.

A very warm and sticky night followed... however after the paper thin walls of the Pizzeria, what luxury to have a bit of quiet.

Day 3

Day 3 - The wedding - Aiguablava and Pals - approx 35°.

We shamefully spent the morning in bed, trying to get an extra 40 winks before having to face the heat (and his worst nightmare).
The mood over Bégur was slightly stressed for some and being able to see wedding HQ from our terrasse I realise that there's still a lot that needs to be done and it's getting late already.

Driving around in the exhausting heat, desperately trying to find a nice place to sit and relax for lunch, we are forced to fall back on a supermarket. A baguette, some ham and cheese and a pot of aioli (in homage to the last time I was in Spain with Cath) later, we head back to the room for a now very late and speedy lunch. With only 30 mins to finally eat and get dressed the stressed atmosphere from the villa has wafted over to our room.

And then Massimo Dutti fucks up.
I was soo looking forward to seeing my man in his new suit, but this was not to be. When making the alterations to the suit jacket, they (and how they managed this I have no idea) stitched one of the arm linings wrong thus making it impossible for him to put his arm in the sleeve - I think he was secretly relieved at not having to wear a jacket in this heat though!

Now reeling from one of the worst migraine's I've ever had the chance to get, we grab the last of the flowers, stuff them in the boot, and head off to the church.


It was a bit of a walk from the car park, but it was well worth it,
the church and it's front courtyard was stunning.
(You have to hand it to Cath, who really knows her stuff
and persevered to find her perfect place.)




All the long summer dresses were out; the suits and ties too (I pity all men at this point - how they managed to not faint in the heat is a bloody miracle). Everyone, as expected, looked stunning.
Have you ever noticed that some people, despite the baking sun, manage to stay immaculate; no hair out of place, no running makeup, no flushed cheeks... ? (I am not one of these people!)

Everyone retreated into the church for some well earned coolness and we all waited impatiently for the bride to arrive. (We knew she was running late, something about the hairdresser.)

I'm going to bypass the ceremony, except to say that it was absolutely beautiful, very moving and ****ing painful.
(At this point I will take two seconds to thank Pedro, for assuming the role of designated driver, to get my car safely back to the pizzeria for I was now no longer in any state to drive).

The rest of the afternoon noon for me, was spent in bed trying to recover so I could at least enjoy the reception.

Feeling a lot better (thank god!) we head down to the beach for dinner and dancing.


I think we might have given Belgians a bit of a bad name tonight
(mmeehh, so what else is new?), our enjoyment resounded out
from the cove disturbing the peace in a pretty spectacular way.
This at least until the hotel management let us know
that we really must to keep the noise down.






Congrats to Cath and Max;
Amazing planning, fantastic setting, good food and just an all around memorable night.

Day 2

Day 2 - Aumont Aubrac - Bégur (err sorry Aiguablava) - approx 5hrs drive.

Earlish start after visiting the ATTAC supermarket to pick up some water and stuff.
This morning's drive was amazing;
stunning scenery, a next to empty motorway and gorgeous weather. This is the driving I love.

We continue our discovery of the middle France, passing by Rodez. The place holds a special - but not soo positive - place in my heart as it reminds me of the summer I spent there while working as a Club Med GO, way back when. And for some reason the 3 times I've crossed France, I've bypassed this area.

The main attraction of the morning was catching a glimpse of the Millau Viaduct.
This is the tallest bridge in the world and it's bloody stunning.
(Someone else will probably write about this technological feat a lot better than I will)


(Please excuse the squashed bugs tainting the fabulous scene)




We did cross over it, and much to my regret, I didn't see much of the view, as I was quite conscious of being high up and driving a car. :)

We cross the border into Spain somewhere around lunchtime, fill up on petrol and I notice immediately that driving alongside trucks on Spanish roads is going to make for a slightly stressful last leg of the journey.

Some time mid afternoon, nicely toasted from the car, we arrive at destination and discover with delight that the "staff" room we were staying in at the Pizzeria, was on the roof with a private terrace and a stunning view of the bay. Very nice start.
(Although the small washing machine in the bathroom having just finished a cycle should have tipped us off.)

As about 150 Belgians were descending on this town for the wedding, and it wasn't long before we all congregated to the fiancé's villa next door for a somewhat larger than planned barbecue.
A good way to catch up with old friends and meet new ones ahead of tomorrow's ceremony.

Cath organised most of this weekend herself.
I sure being co-owner of an events company - Ta Bas Co with Emilie and Sophie helped, but she had the confidence to undertake this and all the details were thought of.
Even the little welcome kit in every hotel room, complete with personal note, area guide and biscottis !!)

Road Trip 3 - Day 1

Destination : Bégur - a little town north of Barcelona.
Reason : Cath and Max's wedding (and a week added on cos we both needed a holiday).
Method of transport : My Peugeot 206.
Route : Straight down the middle of France and up the east side on the way back up.

Day 1 - Brussels - Aumont Aubrac - approx 10hrs drive.

Setting off at about 10am, I had no idea what was ahead, and for the first time in my life, I was (just about) OK with that!
I knew we had 2 days to get down to Bégur and that the estimated number of kms was 1300. The rest was undefined, undecided and totally up us.

I think that by the time we crossed Paris, I had a fair idea of the amount of driving I was actually faced with and while being relieved at having the hardest part of the journey behind me, I was realising it was a lot longer than I had first thought.

Taking the national roads down through the middle of France, thus avoiding the ridiculously expensive tolls, we bypassed some stunning wine regions and a few famous water towns too.

We pushed through until we got past Clermont-Ferrand - This was my objective for the day. The night was spent in Aumont Aubrac, in a little 2 star bar/resto/hotel opposite the cheap and really nice place we were hoping for but that had no rooms.
Arriving too late for dinner, we sat on the hotel porch drinking a couple of beers to unwind.



(I know most of you won't give a rat's about this kind of post, but it'll be nice to read this again a couple of years down the line. If you feel like reading Simon's account of all this... go here! - and if you happened to be at the wedding, feel free to share your impressions.)

My new toy

Ok, so it finally arrived. My long awaited Mvix MX-760HD.

I'm not a total geek, so I'll not be getting into the nitty gritty of the tech specs of this little marvel. You can go check other reviewers if you're interested. This is more of a user based review (which will most likely be more useful and comprehensive).
Basically it's a media-viewer with a hard drive inside that can store and play most media files.


After opening the box, I quickly discover that the fellow who shipped the thing from Canada, is a bit of a twat when it comes to packing. The remote control has had its frontal plastic protection smashed. It still works but I'm a bit disappointed that I've not yet started to use the Mvix and it is already damaged.


Whether it be installing the hard drive I ordered separately or accessing my wireless network, the whole set up process is pretty easy (at least I think it is, as I wasn't the one doing the setting up).
While browsing through the interface (more on that later), I discover with delight, that I can stream a whole load of radios from the box so the installation can now be finished to the sound of Bollywood singing. Basically any kind of music you feel like, free in your living room. Decent tunes are now on tap while entertaining or just chilling. Brilliant!

I'm thrilled to be able to access my PC and by extension ALL my dvix files without having to burn a CD/DVD. It is soo easy and you lose almost nothing on quality. Although I must admit I'm watching crappy files as it is. My bad.
I also get the occasional sentence said before it is heard; however that seems to be sorted now with the upgade of firmware (essential making it now a MX-780HD). This might also be due to above mentioned files!

After a few hours of somewhat intensive usage, I noticed a couple more things.

Because of the Mvix casing being essentially made of plastic, and not having bought the quietest hard drive, there is a consistent humming noise emanating from the box when it is on. While I must admit it is not overly distracting while you are watching something, It can get quite annoying during the quiet bits and when you are in between episodes or in pause mode. ;)

The interface is not that great either.
While it is easy to understand, browsing is a lot longer than it needs to be. You have to navigate through endless folders to reach the file you want to access which can get tedious - although it will skip automatically to the next file in that folder. (Don't expect it to do this between all your folders in a particular media. In Music, it's only one album a time guys, unless you create a play list.)
It's a good thing the product is easy to use, as with a very summarised manual (unless you are fluent in Korean) you will have to search a bit, but that will help you get to know your way around the Mvix. Alternatively, you can download a more complete version here.

I have found that viewing photos is not that great either, it can't handle large images and therefore loading is too long.

All these are just superficial. And don't really matter, I didn't get the thing to view photos and I don't plan on spending hours on end browsing through my files just for the hell of it.

But, there is one major flaw in this marvel.
Transferring files via the network. (I fear I might lose one or two of you here.)

Transferring your files from the pc to the Mvix is painful. It uses an NDAS system (whatever that means) and this whatever it is tends to bugger up alot of things. It is UNBELIEVABLY slow to copy. Don't even try copying more than a couple of GB over unless you have a couple of hours ahead of you. And don't forget to turn NDAS off in the settings before plugging the Mvix directly into the computer, it will corrupt your files. Hmm.

So in the end, I download the file onto my computer, and watch via the network.
When I have a decent amount of files to copy over, I will disable the NDAS, un-plug the box, plug it into the PC (thus crawling on hands and knees) and move the files. Such a hard life. :)

Now don't get me wrong, I am really happy with my purchase, I use it all the time and it has already proved it's portability and easy set up more than once.

An extra remote on the table, but it is pure pleasure.