Deelman.com

The next day after our one-night-stop we went 500 kms. more South, on to Asturias, one of the north-western so-called autonomies of Spain. TomTom was getting us there by car perfectly, if not there were two Miyares villages in the TomTom directory and I picked the wrong one… It caused a delay of about 1.5 hour, but we actually passed a Pico with great view from the top. Asturias is about a quarter in size of the Netherlands and has just 1 million people. And, what a beautiful place it is! Gorgeous beaches in small bays, impressive panorama’s, quality of life as we can’t remember anymore more in northern Europe, no tourists and a cost of living half what we are used to in the Netherlands! We lived for two weeks among the Spanish, with the Spanish actually, enjoying hospitality of my brother in law German Gullon, his wife Heilette and three sons – adjusting to the Spanish rhythm. In-house staff becomes affordable at € 5 per hour and so Begogna each day took care of a typical local meal, thereby providing also our wives a great holiday. We wouldn’t mind coming back!

So here we went end of July, no paper maps, just TomTom on my smartphone, driving 1050 kms. south towards Bordeaux for a one-night-stop with Ronald and Margreet Rens. Since leaving the Netherlands, they now own the beautiful Chateau Coulon Laurensac. Ronald showed us proudly his wine cellar, gardens and Google ranking (…). One of his entrepreneurial activities includes organizing wine tours in the Bordeaux area and most bookings are taking place through the Internet: hence, a Google ranking is important. Our two families enjoyed a dinner (and wine…) in the garden until late. A very enjoyable evening, thanks so much! As a small token of our appreciation, please accept this posting which contributes hopefully a little to an even better ranking.