From the macro to the micro: jewels in the sand at Dune du Pilat. The dune is home to a variety of dull & not-so-dull 🐞#bugs, some of which we identified. Pyrrhidium sanguineum | the Welsh oak longhorn beetle sounds as if it’s far from home, but is actually common in much of Europe, where it prefers a supply of oak (📷1). Native Hylobius abietis | the large pine weevil is considered a pest on pine plantations, as they damage seedlings (📷2); the unsightly destruction of forest adjacent to the dune is however the result of fires in 2022 (& subsequent felling), triggered by human activity. Native Coccinella septempunctata | the seven-spotted ladybird is readily identified by counting the 3 spots on each red elytron, with the 7th spanning both (📷3). Native Cicindela campestris | the green tiger beetle is widespread across Eurasia (📷4).

🇫🇷#france 🇪🇺#europe 🚀#travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife

More views of the dunescape at Dune du Pilat. The sand forming this dune accumulated here over some 4,000 years. Picked up by wind & blown against inland obstacles, deposits carried by ocean currents along the Aquitaine coast are derived from rock originating in the Massif Central & Pyrenees that has been progressively reduced by wind, rain, frost & river journeys over the course of many thousands of years. Just so you can pant while climbing it, & yelp excitedly* as you descend it—much more rapidly.

*Even if only on the inside

🇫🇷#france 🇪🇺#europe 🚀#travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife

A transit of France. Rain, sleet & hail chased us out of Frankfurt, through the Saarland & over the border into the historical province of Lorraine (with Alsace, Champagne & a few smaller bits, the region of Grand Est since 2016). Day 1 pitch by a marina & faux beach on Lac du Der-Chantecoa, France’s largest artificial reservoir, created to prevent flooding in Paris (📷1). On Day 2 drove W then S thru Centre-Val de Loire to Saint-Amand-Magnazeix in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, where we shared our pitch with Lacerta bilineata | the Western green lizard (📷2). On Day 3 a slingshot around Bordeaux out to Dune du Pilat at La Teste-de-Buch on the Atlantic coast, near the entrance to Arcachon Bay. Said to be Europe’s tallest sand dune, it’s 102m tall & just shy of 3km long (📷3). On to pitch nr Garet, where 7,50 € paid into a mailbox nailed to a tree secured a spot in a farmer’s field in which we set up our shower tent—given an unexpected 25°C (📷4).

🇫🇷#france 🇪🇺#europe 🚀#travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife

I hope this helps more than just me: the results of my research into evicting rodent squatters.

https://pockets.bearblog.dev/20260318/

#PocketsBlog #vanlife

Vanity Expense Logbook v3.0.12 im App Store verfügbar

https://vanityontour.de/20260318/vanity-expense-logbook-v3-0-12-im-app-store-verfuegbar/

Now is the Time: A Van Life Road Trip 🏆 2025 BIBA® Van Life Travel Winner!

Lovestruck and newly unemployed, Andrew Singer cashes in his savings to investigate a key question: Is #vanlife as awesome as it looks? After all, what could go wrong when two millennials—who have never used a saw before—attempt to convert a plumber’s van into a tiny home-on-wheels?

On this 13,000-mile road trip across the vast American West, Andrew and his partner Sarah battle pest… https://bestindiebookaward.com/live/product/now-is-the-time-a-van-life-road-trip/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon&utm_campaign=ReviveOldPost