FROZEN TULIPS Bright and early Wednesday we picked up the van and proceed to drive on the opposite side of the road out of the city. Got lost almost immediately due to a forced detour due to road works. However we found ourselves on the autobahn to Lisse. When we finally found the village there were no camping grounds open and we had to spend our first night in the van parked in a shopping centre car park opposite the library
	Good thing we had packed the duna, it was freezing, the temperature plunged to below zero, so we didn't sleep well. Next day dawned overcast and we weren't too happy until we made our way to the tulip gardens at Keukenhof. This place has to be seen to be believed; and not just tulips,  Japanese gardens, hot houses full of orchids, azaleas etc. etc. - all in the most magnificent sculptured gardens. The photos don't do it justice. That night we spent on the side of the road 18 km north of Antwerp in Belgium. We tried three camping sites but arrived too late, we had to be booked in before 5pm. Spent a couple of cold days in Antwerp. It's an interesting place, I was particularly taken with the merchant history, the Stock Exchange predated what I thought was the oldest in Amsterdam, it had lovely squares, with facinating markets and lots of museums (or should that be musea ?). Unfortunately we suffered terribly from the cold, daily maxima didn't rise much above 5 C and we had flown in from 30C weather at home, so my bones ached and I didn't enjoy walking around as much as if it had been warmer. On to Reims, through Dinant, which just happened to have a spring festival that day but the inhabitants didn't look as though they were enjoying themselves much, it was TOO BLOODY COLD!!!  Same in Paris, the camping ground had been flooded and slimy mud covered many of the sites, much to the chagrin of some American and German van owners who were constantly at the reception complaining about getting bogged. Somehow I just couldn't enjoy Paris, while it was pleasant enough wandering about, it was expensive (each day we spent about $30 on public transport from the camping ground around the city and return) and my knees hurt something shocking. We decided that, as we had seen much of the Loire and Dordogne before we would truncate our stay in France and head for the warmer climes of Spain. We had intended to mooch around France, surprise  the Florits and leave the van in Toulose while we met the team in Rome. We spent a lovely day with the M. and Madame Florit eating lunch over 5 hours, conversing in Franglais. As expected the food was amazing, simple salads, BBQ duck breasts, lovely cakes and 'beaucoup des fromages'. Nothing had changed, our memories of thirty years ago when we worked for the Florits 'pendant le vendage' were confirmed, the food was as wonderful as ever. On the way to the Spanish border we stopped at one of the     " les plus beaux villages de France", Colloges la Rouge and just up the road Turennes. It might have been the sunny day (after all the cold weather) or just the ambiance of the place, but the afternoon that we spent in the restaurant (that had been serving the pilgrims on "la Route de Saint Jacques de Compostelle" since the 15th Century) was superb. We camped overnight in the foothills of the Pyrenees at Oloron St Marie and awoke to find snow covering the pass into;   SPAIN
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