Monday 19th March MARATHON 61

19th March - Day 66. Down for food in the very nice dining room. The Hotel is more like a chalet with a very welcoming atmosphere. The menu all in French, the waitress did not speak a word of English but fortunately the Chef, Nicolas Contrastian, had returned last year from 20 years in London, for alot of the time in Radlet! He came over to our table, talked us through the set menu but said he would make up whatever we wanted! I started to explain my carb requirement, he jumped in, said he could make a bowl of Linguine. Dad had the fish soup, best ever, I had the Pate with red glazed onion/cabbage, gerkin and salad. The best ever! Followed by salmon and sea bass with potatoes and proper vegetables for dad and I had shank of lamb with potatoes, veg and a bowl of Linguinie. Fantastic, we were the only people in! To finish it of we had the best apple tart, not tart tar tan though, but with whipped cream and ice cream! Heaven, this was the best meal so far! We had a good chat with the Chef Nicolas, he is 40 and spent half his life so far in England, he asked about the run, our van is parked outside the front door, we talked through our route and he said we will be going past the biggest sand dune in Europe if not the world at Arcachon, worth a look. Anyway great evening had, time disappeared so quick, so back to the room to ice achilles and hip and do the washing! The weather was still atrocious, we find it tough to dry clothes with good weather and near impossible with wet weather! All done and in bed before 11, watched Real Madrid play poorly and draw. Another, overall, enjoyable however painful day! Great nights sleep interrupted by the odd pain in my hip, calf's and knees! Up with alarm after pressing snooze twice at 6:30, normal routine and out ready to run at just after 7am. Fantastic morning, the odd cloud going across the rising sun, no wind but very chilli! I headed south down the street parallel to the beach, up a slight ramp and to a carpark square. Stunning views across the beach and the rough sea's. No promenade at all but there was a boardwalk for half a mile or so across the dunes. This then returned to the sort of beach front road and river estuary. I ran to the bridge across and kept as close to the sea as I could. I entered an urban holiday housing area and through onto the road heading inland. Very pleasant, I turned when I reached the edge of the forest and made my way back the way I came, with another 8.2k completed. The place is very nice, very quiet but I assume will be very busy in a few weeks! The boardwalk and beach part were particularly nice but the complete run was very enjoyable, still unfortunately uncomfortable however! Back to the hotel, quick shower and down for breakfast. Very nice people, I think the owner sorted out breakfast for us, fresh croissants, pan au chocolate and french bread to toast, as much as we wanted, plus cereal, yogurt, ham and cheese! We filled our boots! They cooked my porridge and the tea was great. Dad said this is his favourite place bar none! Great breakfast consumed we sat and talked, dad told me about the time him and his mate Peter Platt, went to find (steal) a chicken, kill it and give it to his mum for christmas dinner! They got on their bikes and headed off from Vernon Street, West Ken to the north of ruislip, why ruislip? I did not ask, they were freezing, eventually got there, my dad on a made up bike with a fixed rear wheel as the only brake! I do not know how but they found a chicken, caught it and argued over who would kill it! They both decided they could not kill it so they left it and cycled back home empty handed and freezing! As we were leaving Nicholas turned up to start work, we had another good chat about his time in London and the town of Mimizan. About 6000 people live in the town that is split in two, in the summer months 60,000 visitors hit! He said it is buzzing and great to experience, I would definitely like a day or two here in the summer time and I would definitley stay in this hotel. All good he made us take all croissants to eat later, so different from the last place! Up to the room, finished washing clothes, packed, prepared, kitted up and ready to leave by 11:00. Down stairs and Nicholas was out the front helping dad load the van. We had another conversation and established his wife used to work in Hemel Hempstead for Thomas Cook, very small world! We took photos, did our quick video after dad got the machine going! We said our goodbye's, promised to return and set off on my run from the hotel at 12:15 The route was quite straightforward and looked quite interesting, not too many straight, flat, tree lined roads! The weather was very good and the run quite enjoyable apart from the pain! Dad led us out of Mimizen Plage on the D626 then left through Les Trois Pignes and joined the D87. We joined the D652 at Sainte-Eulalie-en-Bom, through Gastes to Parentis-en-Born. Most of this section had cycle tracks running along parallel to the road about 10ft away. Very handy to avoid traffic but not so good when meeting dad! The track went behind a few houses 8k before Parentis-en-Born, I followed and bobbed along to the town. Dad was going ahead 5k at a time, at the town I had not seen him for 9k! Quick phone call and he said he was ahead, he was not, he stopped in front of the house I ran behind! Dad caught up and all good apart from the pain in my right knee, IT Band I think! I finished the marathon just past Biscarrosse in a fair bit of pain and slowing fast in 4'09"22 still not too bad a time and feeling a bit better generally. Had my orange in the sun, did a few stretches and a warm down, washed and treated feet, quick change and off to find accommodation. Searched around without much success then settled on a little road side 2 star hotel run by Italians! Hotel very poor but we have just had a great meal, proper Italian Pizza followed by Lasagna which was great and ice cream! A very pleasant evening chatting with dad, he told me about the time he lived with his mum, sister of 8, brother of 1 and he was 6. His dad unfortunately died when he was 5 and they all moved in with his granddad and various other relatives. Long one short, he was suffering with stomach pains, his mum would not go to the hospital so he went with his auntie who was very fond of a drink! They went for an xray, dad was given a barium meal to drink, his auntie thought it was alcohol, she drank it and gave my dad a piece of chocolate to keep him quiet! Anyway made me laugh, the place was very busy and had a lot of Italian customers! Well fed, back to the room and icing hip and achilles. Another marathon done and now off to bed, tomorrow we go past "The Sand Dune" goodnight.