Aussies on Tour in France, Spain and Portugal 2014 Pam
& Martin Williams' 2014 Motorhome Holiday in Europe For a very full gallery and slide show of splendid photographs, each linked to a map of the journey, click: https://picasaweb.google.com/108520371100176229503/MartinandPamHoliday2014?noredirect=1
Introduction
In 2014 we revisited our delayed 2013
holiday plans and toured France, Spain and Portugal by motorhome. The idea was
to visit a new country, Portugal, and to see some of the out-of-the-way places
that are off most travellers' itineraries. Leaving on 6th May we were away from
our home in Australia for 4-months during which we covered 10, 950 km, just
over 6, 800 miles. At the end of the holiday we sold the van and after
five-summers travelling through Europe it was for us the end of an era. The
following covers some of the key features of another great trip. It's written from
Martin's perspective and focuses on the European mainland part of our trip.
Some
Overall Aims There were several aims
for the trip including:
Visiting one new country - Portugal
this time.
Revisiting a few key places in France
& Spain.
Visiting some places that have been on
our wish-lists for years, including Cuenca, Cordoba, Avila, Segovia and the
Picos de Europa.
Meeting up with old friends and
relations that we've not seen for a while - and in one case for over 60 years!!
Visiting my sister-in-law and her
daughter in southern Spain. My brother died last year.
Do some dancing at Le Grand Bal de
l'Europe.
Catch some of the Tour de France if
possible.
Overall we met most of our targets but
we also did quite a bit of re-planning during the holiday. And we did find that
we'd overplanned somewhat, so some things just went overboard. Sounds like most
plans in life, doesn't it?
Problems
With the van being 4. years old we had
more problems this year than with past holidays. Things such as a flat engine
battery, charging problems with the leisure battery, a leaking water tank,
loose fuses, a shredded fan-belt, a PC that would not boot up, a blown inverter
and spillages. Maybe it was just Lady Luck but it did get a bit wearing at
times!
General
Comments and Observations In spite of travelling in the busy months of May through to the
beginning of August we found that most places were uncrowded and we hit no
tourist queues and very few traffic queues. As with all of our motorhome
holidays we spent most of our nights at free 'aires' and we had no problems finding
nice places to stay and many nights we had the places to ourselves. Finding
overnight stops is much easier than it used to be as there are several great
websites.
The main one for us was the French site
http://www.campingcar-infos.com/index1.htm
s that we'd done a lot of homework on
before leaving home. There were a few minor glitches but generally it was
brilliant. For each site it gives latitude & longitude, an overview (price,
facilities, capacity etc) and generally really useful comments and photographs
from people who have stayed there. When we got back to the UK we added our own comments
and photos to the site to help others.
For years France has had a fantastic
network of 'aires de service', one that seems to get better each year. What was
striking to us in 2014 is how Spain has improved in terms of aires and motor
homing facilities – we were last there 4-years ago when they were basic and few
and far between. Spanish minor roads have improved too – we used many minor
roads which generally had good surfaces, very few potholes, good edges, good
signage, were well maintained and well engineered. Good drivers too on the
whole. Much better than Perth drivers!
Portugese minor roads were OK but the
N-125 road across the Algarve was very busy and in poor shape. One thing that
did strike us was how few Japanese and Korean cars there are on European roads
- mostly Europeans are loyal and buy local makes.
Security
and Safety We'd had so many
warnings about being broken into or gassed in the night in the south of France
or in Spain that we were quite paranoid before we left home. We did try to get
an extra lock fitted to our rear door but it was another one of those 'we're
too busy, come back next month' responses from the dealers, so it just did not
happen. We actually felt very safe and secure throughout the whole holiday,
although in Cordoba we did park the van very close to a tree when we left it so
that the back door could not be opened, as we'd heard about break-ins at the
aire there.
Culture
We did see some singing and dancing at
an evening concert in Agreda in Spain, we ate tapas in cafes in Andalucia and
we saw some bull running in the streets of Olite, south of Pamplona We also
attended an open-air concert or two, but most of our culture in terms of dance
and music was at the 'Grand Bal de L'Europe' in Gennetines.
Gennetines is an annual dance festival
held just north of Moulins in central France. It's an 8-day extravaganza
involving hundreds of dance workshops and 'bals' that run from breakfast time
to well into the early hours. Obviously there's a lot of focus on French dance
but there were also teachers and workshops for Turkish, Israeli, Romanian,
Portugese, Greek (my favourite) and from lots of regions of the UK. It was a
really tiring week but it was great fun!
People
Overall we were impressed and happy
with all of the people we met, locals, other tourists, tourist offfice staff
and officials and police. The locals in all of the countries that we visited
were friendly, helpful and polite. Our French and our 'tourist' Spanish came in
handy but we were struggling in Portugal - luckily many locals spoke good
English.
The
Holiday as Planned The key stages were UK, France, Spain (including Andalucia), Portugal
and back to the UK via Spain and France. The aim for May was to settle in, sort out the van, renew
links with friends and a few relatives, and to drive quickly through France and
down Spain, avoiding the coast and large cities, to meet family in the south
before it got too hot. June was scheduled to be Andalucia, the border region of Portugal and back
through Spain to the Picos de Europa and the Pyrenees. July was to be France with a balance of the
old, places and people that we knew, with the new, which included a number of
the places listed in the 'Prettiest Villages in France' and meeting up with a
cousin whom I had not seen for over 60 years!! Early August
we planned to be back in the UK.
Weather
Our fixed-date appointment in southern
Spain meant that our trip south had to be faster than we would have liked,
particularly through France. This was probably opportune as until we reached
the Spanish border it was cold and we had overcast skies and heavy rain. The
weather did improve when we reached Spain but it was still really cold in the
evenings in towns at altitudes over 1000 metres such as Jaca and Cuenca. When
we got back to France we were met with thick fog as we negotiated the narrow
road down the Col de la Pierre St Martin in the Pyrenees. The Col is at 1766m
and we only dropped out of the cloud below 1000m. Lots of sheep and cows to
avoid on the way down too. We navigated by following the avalanche sticks that
mark the edge of the road. Scary! For much of France we had storms and lots of
rain.
Iconic
Images The places described
below are generally listed in the order that we visited them.
The rain - not in Spain on the plain but in
France - it never seemed to stop. It still hadn't in early December - lots of
floods in the south with many deaths.
Cuenca
Wonderful old city
balanced on a rocky spur high above two rivers.
Windmills
- We visited two
great towns with ridges full of old-style windmills - Campo de Criptana and Consugera;
deep in Don Quixote country.
Spain's
unspoiled villages and towns: There were so many - the following places readily spring to
mind: Ainsa, La Alberca, Almagro, Priego de Cordoba, Miranda del Castanar,
Calatanazor, Pedraza, Sepulveda and Ujue. Check them out! Towns such as El
Burgo de Osma and Tarazona were pretty special too.
Calatrava
la Nueva: Fabulous castle cum
convent on a top of a hill - where else? The road up was steep and billed as an
original medieval road. It felt like it, it nearly shook the van to pieces!!
Photo below!
Cordoba
and the Mezquita: In spite of the heat this was a really magic place. A true icon that
I've always wanted to visit. The mosque was opened in the year 987. It was as
wonderful as the 13th century cathedral imposed into it was awful. The mihrab
was amazingly beautiful.
Portugal's
hilltop towns Most people's
Portugese holidays involve Lisbon, Sintra and Porto but we chose to tour the
border area with Spain, an area that has been contested for centuries. It's
full of castles, frequently ruined, and unspoilt hilltop towns with ageing
populations. Many of the places that we visited had confusingly similar names -
we liked Murao, Moura, Marvao, Macao, Monsaraz and Monsanto. The latter was
amazing - it was a hilltop full of boulders with houses squeezed in wherever
possible. Photo of me below outside a house in Monsanto - the front door is
between the boulders!
Avila We headed back into Spain to Avila, via
La Alberca and Miranda de Castanar. Avila is the archetypal walled city with 88
towers; inside the walls it's a wonderful place full of plazas, classic
buildings and storks. In the evening we decided to walk around the city - literally
- outside the floodlit walls. It went well until about . of the way around when
the floodlights went off!! We limped our way back in the dark. Huge storm that
night - not sure where the storks sheltered!?
Segovia:
Another brilliant
Spanish city, evening music concert happening when we were there; wonderful
citadel, great cathedral, stunning aqueduct and so full of life - mucho paseo.
Bastides
around Condom: The cathedral in Comdom was impressive. We stayed two nights in Fources,
hit the tourist trail in Montreal and Larressingle before hitting the road in
heavy rain for:
Monpazier:
a gem of a small town
- a bit noisy when we were there as France were playing Germany in the world
cup - oh and it rained. Great place though! Lascaux
Cave: Heading for the
Dordogne we did the small town of Montignac before visiting the prehistoric
cave of Lascaux II - absolutely amazing!
Rocamadour:
We've been there a
couple of times before and we did not intend to go there again, but it just
happened. It's a fabulous small town. This time we kept walking out of town and
found a superb collection of outdoor art in someone's garden!!.
France's
'Prettiest Villages' : What can one say other than we visited lots of the 160 designated
prettiest villages of France.
Les
Chapieux: Hidden away north of
Bourg St Maurice, Les Chapieux was another place that we'd been to a couple of
times before. It was Pam's big request to return again. It's a base for walkers
and climbers who want to cicumnavigate Mt Blanc. We went on a walk but it
drizzled for much of the day that we were there. The next day dawned clear blue
sky!
Also
Impressed with The Lavender
fields were absolutely
stunning across parts of southern France.
TDF: Four years ago we followed some of the
final stages of the Tour de France, when Cadel Evans won. This year the race
was tracking clockwise while we were travelling anti-clockwise so it was quite
hard to fit it in. We did manage to see the 188 km Stage 16 finish at Oyonnax
on a hot day - the name doesn't sound very French does it?
Mountain
climbs: We always like to
include a few mountain roads in our trips. Not too many this year but we did
enjoy the climb to La Alberca; over 1000 m with about ten Z-bends in the final
climb. The approach to the Col du Roselend from Beaufort in the Alps is a 20 km
climb much favoured by cyclists. It involves a climb of 1225 metres, an average
gradient of 6% and up to 10% in places. Great drive with stupendous views.
Bull
Running: Not something that
we'd normally watch but we were at the castle in Olite, south of Pamplona, when
there was a huge bang. The entrance desk said "that means they've just
released the bulls into the street". So we just had to go and see. We were
behind big barriers so it was interesting to watch. The ambulance crews
standing by were not needed!
Recycling:
Lots of recycling in
evidence in most of the places that we visited. In Tarazona the bins were huge
and underground, so the visual impact was very low. Great town - the picture
below includes the old bull ring - now converted to flats.
Shopping:
The ease of shopping
that is; I hate shopping. Our favourite for food shopping was LIDL which seemed
to have shops everywhere. They'd improved this year as most of them took Visa
and in Portugal they were open on Sundays - not so in Spain.
'Architecture'
at Roundabouts: I'm not sure if there's a competition but many places seem to vie for
'most interesting and picturesque' roundabout. My favourite was this one at
Alcala la Real - in Spain.
Not
Impressed with
The
Algarve: It gets rave reviews
but to us the towns seemed overdeveloped and lacked character, the beaches were
not easy to reach and the roads were bad and very busy.
The
preacher in Murao: When we arrived all we could hear was a preacher with a megaphone - from
the Guiness Book of Records. The only words that we could understand were
'amen' and 'halleluiah'; they occured about ten times a minute. It went on for
a couple of hours. Nice sunset though after a day in the 40's.
The sudden heat
wave that hit when we
arrived in Portugal - even the locals were complaining vociferously. One key
image in the stiffling evening heat was of an older lady sitting outside her
front door knitting while watching and listening to opera on the television
that was inside the house.
Public
Loos: - few and far between
generally and frequently not worth finding - some were quite obscene, like this
one in a National Park in Spain!!
Noisy
Spaniards: The celebrations
marking the reconquest of Moorish Spain were loud and unexpected. Noise and
sudden explosions all day. We were in a restaurant in Mojaca when it started
but apparently it's the same across the whole of Spain. Really annoying and
unnecessarily noisy. So Spanish.
Hiccups
At Chilluevar, in Andalucia, we could
not find the 'aire' and we spent the night on a petrol station forecourt. Mind
you that was better than an aire a few days later which seemed to be inside a
council tip. We found a magic place down the road by a river with herons,
horses and hibiscus.
As I said earlier we had a few other
problems along the way: The problems started on day 2 in France when the van
wouldn't start. A local guy helped
us with jumper leads, putting his battery in the van and eventually driving us
to a hypermarket to buy a new battery! Not sure why the battery was flat - we'd
driven 415 km the day before, but we were so pleased that it did not happen on
the way to the ferry!
The start of the trip was plagued by a loose
fuse which caused the
SatNav to start and then turn off after 5 minutes. It kept that up all day.
An important part of any motorhome is
the leisure battery, which keeps lights and appliances going. Ours wasn't charging properly
from the engine. So we had a few evenings with no lights or power and we had to
change our route a few times to find an aire with power so that we could plug
in and charge the battery.
The water
tank has a drain tap, used to empty the water to store
the van for the winter but not very useful when it decides to open and drain
all the water away. It resulted in us carrying more bottles of water than
usual.
We use a small laptop PC to store our plans, tourist information,
information on places to stay, LPG garages and a load of other things. It's an
essential part of our trip. So it was a big deal when failed
to boot up on the day that we
left Andalusia. We went through many scenarios before visiting a library as we entered
Portugal, Googling the error and getting a fix.
Just past Castelo Branco the fan
belt shredded itself, so
we backtracked to town and had a delay of a day and a half while it was fixed.
Failed
inverter: We rely on an inverter to give us mains power as we drive along. This
charges the camera batteries, tooth brushes, PC etc. We bought a new one before
we left home but it failed one day and it wasn't easy finding a new one.
The
SatNav a tale of Love and Hate! We did use Michelin maps of France and Iberia but the mainstay of
navigation was our Garmin SatNav. We've used it for years so we do know its
quirks and foibles. It was no different this year as it tried its usual tricks
of taking us down back alleys and narrow lanes to save a few hundred metres,
guiding us the wrong way up one-way streets and other times it thought
pedestrian malls were fair game for us. We did end up mixing it with
pedestrians in Segovia by the aqueduct. Lots of upset locals!! So we did curse
it sometimes, but a couple of times it just froze and spat the dummy and then
we were distraught. One classic time was about half an hour before the town of
Criptana in Spain. We were there to see the windmills above the town. The signs
were few and far between and we must have traversed every road in town at least
once. We could see them but never quite get to them. Eventually we did get to the
very steep approach road. It was worth persevering though! Some of our
misdirections were of our own making. We spent ages on a wet and windy day
getting to Banos de la Encina only to find that the place we wanted was Banos
de la Ercina some 7 hrs drive away
The Call
of the Wild
We visited many wild places but the
favourites were probably Cazorla National Park and the Canyon of the Rio Lobos
both in Spain and Les Chapieux near Mt Blanc in the French Alps. In 3-months on
the European mainland we saw really very little wild-life. 6 or 7 deer, a few
eagles and vultures, some storks, lots of squirrels and a tethered goose!! The
latter was really wild!! We were surprised to see abandoned villages in Spain -
empty since the Spanish Civil War which finished 75 years ago!!
Other
Reflections
Olive
Trees Spain and Portugal
seemed to be full of them - millions of them, up and down the hillsides - didn't
see too many fire breaks.
Siestas
These were a mixed blessing - it meant
that the roads were less busy in the middle of the day and in France that the
parking was free, but it also meant that the shops were shut. In Ujue the
locals, knowing that we wanted to buy some bread, hammered on the bakery door
until the owner came out in dressing gown and slippers rubbing her eyes and
looking really unhappy!!
A big thank you to MacDonalds
across all 3 countries - they kept us
in touch with home and the world news via their free wifi. Spanish towns in
general were very clean, they were also very empty and not just at siesta time.
Perhaps everyone was away on holiday! Many places were depopulated or full of
old people.
The flights with Qatar Airlines were very good.
This was a departure from our use of Emirates in recent years.
Motorhoming
and the End of an Era: Motorhomes are getting bigger and to my mind some are just ridiculously
big. No wonder there are so many larger vans for sale with really low mileages
on the clock – I think people just find them too big to handle. Our van was
5.65 m long, very manoeuvrable and after 50,700 km I can say that it was easy
to drive. We've always been very happy with our 2.2 litre Peugeot boxer Elddis
Autoquest 115 as a touring van. We may get back into motorhoming later but
shortterm we want to sort out some health problems, so for us this is the end
of an era. We sold the van privately in the face of lots of pressure and
propaganda from dealers who wanted to make about 25% profit on our van. We sold
it in less than 4 days on Gumtree. .
Some of our holiday pictures here [use slideshow or click on individual photos and tab through – note the map option
The following is a Diary of our European Trip FRANCE
Mon 19
May Derby – Bournemouth 344 km A good drive, one that got us
back into swing, but a day where the SatNav turned off every 5 minutes. Luckily
we knew the way to go!! It turned out to be a loose fuse identified after
frustrating visits to local dealers. The usual story 'sorry can't look at it
for a few weeks'. Luckily one of them knew a mobile electrician and he fixed
it.
Wed 21
May Bournemouth – Montreuil 393 km Good drive to the ferry in quite
heavy traffic and a good ferry crossing with My Ferry Link. We intended driving further but the
weather was atrocious, so we pulled in to the free aire at Montreuil-sur-Mer.
Thu 22
May Montreuil-sur-Mer – Amiens 90 km After a nice walk around the
town, during which the low grey cloud decided that it really did want to rain, we
headed back to the van only to find that the battery was flat. With the help of
my stale, but rapidly improving, French, we found a local mechanic who was
brilliant. He arrived in a 'fourgonette' and having failed with ancient jumper
leads he put his battery in our van – and it started. He then took me to the
local LeClerc's hypermarket to buy a new battery! Great service for which
initially he declined payment!! I knew I liked the French! The subsequent drive
to Amiens was uneventful. We checked out the centre of town and the superb cathedral!
Fri 23
May Amiens - Nogent-le-Roi 235 km With our usual penchant for
over-planning we had to cross Beauvais and Les Andelys off the list and we headed
for Chartres. The weather was still awful and we ended up skipping Chartres and
stopping early at Nogent le Roi. Us and 3 others – which meant that we all had
free electricity! Nice town too!!
Sat 24
May Nogent - Bessines 343 km Another windy and wet day! We
headed south, calling in at Argenton but it was just as noisy as last time we were
there! We did like the reflections in the river though. We ended up at Bessines
with about 11 other vans.
Sun 25
May – Bessines – Lannemezan 468 km Another long day's drive –
France really is a big country! Also another day of low, dark and threatening
clouds. We had hoped to reach Arreau but with the dark skies and the pouring
rain we plumbed for Lannemezan. SPAIN
Mon 26
May Lannemezan – Jaca 209 km On into Spain through the Bielsa
Tunnel. We left France in cloud and swirling sleet and entered Spain to clear
air! At last we see and feel the sun!! Finally we're able to slow down and be
tourists – Ainsa was nice - photo below. We'd started the day with the heater
on and we ended it at a very cold Jaca for the night.
Tue 27
May Jaca – Andorra 311 km Drove to the Monastery of San Juan de la Pena and then down to
see the superb rock formations at Los Mallos. Bit of a dearth of aires in the
area, so we headed SE to Andorra – we should have gone west. The aire was in a
noisy industrial area so we toured around town before stopping opposite the bus
station. [N 40° 58′ 42′′ W 0° 26′ 38′′ ]
28 May
Andorra - Cuenca Cuidad Encantada 266 km The highlight of the day was the
fabulous town of Albarracin – spoiled a little with light rain late in the afternoon.
Great drive on good roads with great scenery through the hills towards Cuenca.
Detoured to the Cuidad Encantada with its crazy rock formations. After eating
and walking to the Mirador de Una we stayed there for the night. [N 40° 12′ 24”
W 2° 0′ 19′”]
29 May
Cuenca Cuidad Encantada – Alcazar de San Juan 232 km Spent the morning exploring the
city of Cuenca before driving through a patchwork of wheat fields and red earth
to the Roman site at Valeria. The ruins were surrounded with poppies. Checked
out the castle at Belmonte before heading to look at the windmills north of
Campo de Criptana. The satnav stopped working and we had great fun finding the
narrow and steep roads up to the windmills. They looked great in the setting
sun!
30 May
Alcazar de San Juan - Calatrava La Nueva Castillo 177 km Drove to Consuegra for the next
set of fabulous windmills, this time with a bonus castle. Windy on the ridge so
we had lunch at the covered picnic area near the town. - first meal outside the
van! Spent the afternoon exploring the fascinating town of Almagro before
heading off to the superb Convent Castle at Calatrava la Nueva. The steep pave
on the way up to the castle was apparently laid in medieval times – it felt
like it too. Great views though! [N 38°40'11.9" W 3°50'46.9"]
31 May
Calatrava La Nueva - Chilluevar 227 km Spent most of the day exploring
the superb castle. In cool and windy conditions we then headed for Banos de la
Encina and later looked for the aire at Chilluevar – it wasn't there – we spent
the night on a garage forecourt on the A-1309 (Jct with JV-7102).
1 June
Chilluevar - Puebla de Don Fadrique 179k A great day exploring the roads
and tracks in and around the Parque Natural Sierras de Cazorla, billed as
Spain's largest protected area. It lived up to that claim by showing us
squirrels, lots of deer and several eagles. Wonderful climb up from Cazorla to
Puerto de las Palomas. Nice views of the blue waters of the dam and wonderful
gorges and climbs south of Hornos. We got used to the regular pattern of the olive
groves – with very few fire breaks! We stopped in the forest BBQ areas east of
Puebla de Don Fadrique.
2 June
Puebla de Don Fadrique – Canjayar 229 k The map designated much of the
day's routes as scenic, but it was really a day of very varied scenery – from
very bleak and wild-west-like to verdant green, where it was watered. Areas in
the south reminded us of parts of Anatolia in Turkey. Seron and the climb out
of town are lingering memories and Canjayar was an interesting small town to
wander around.
3 June
Canjayar -Almeria 56 km Drove into Huercal to fill up
with LPG to keep the fridge going for a few days. Lucky to get away with only a
warning when I did a U-turn across a solid white line in front of the Guardia
Civil! And so on to our family appointment for a few days and a rest from
driving.
8 June
Almeria - Tijola 248 km Drove up to Mojacar for lunch; really nice lunch but we were
disappointed with the town and that was before the guns and explosions started
– they were reenacting battles between the Moors and the Christians as part of
the reconquista. The whole town was getting
ready to celebrate and to party – so we left. After being breathalised we
headed for the aire at Tijola – with the air-conditioning on.
9 June
Tijola - Priego de Cordoba 222 km Headed west past Seron, again,
and joined the A92N and then the A92 from Guadix to Granada. The scenery was
fabulous at times, so green and clear too. The drop down into Guadix was
amazing. Toured Alcala la Real looking for a lunch spot – we failed but we did
find our favourite roundabout of the holiday. See photo earlier. Drove on to
the aire at Priego de Cordoba and walked into the fabulous hill-top town. Great
atmosphere – lots of fountains and water features and lots of happy people –
young people and children too – most of these towns are full of older people.
Great views from the old town – featuring about a million olive trees!!
10
June Priego de Cordoba - Cabra 68 km Checked out the aire at Dona
Mencia and stayed there for lunch before heading off to a very hot Zuheros. Shared
ideas, in French, with a Belgian couple. Cooked at the pinic tables near the
lower car park. Stopped overnight at Cabra – we didn't feel comfortable at Dona
Mencia as there were a few noisy drinkers there.
11
June Cabra - Villanueva del Rio y Minas 196 k Headed off to Cordoba on another
stiffling day. Parked in the aire in the Avenida del Corregidor and headed for
the Mezquita. Absolutely wonderful place – the Mihrab was superb. There was no
shade whatsoever on our walk back to the van in 40 degree heat. We headed off
to Medina Azahara to the west of town. The air conditioned museum was really welcome!!
Nice displays and interpretation boards. Headed off west in rain and a threat
of storms – the aire we'd chosen was down really narrow roads and looked like a
council tip! We stayed down the valley by the river. PORTUGAL
12
June Villanueva del Rio - Alcarias 235 km Had breakfast outside while mine
trucks rolled past. Really depressed when our PC failed to boot up. We headed
off to a library in Castro Marim in Portugal and Googled the error; carefully
changed some registry settings and got the PC working again! Great relief!
Drove north to Alcarias as Castro Marim's aire was in the full sun. Great
communal oven in the village.
13
June Alcarias Albufeira 135 km Spent the morning cleaning and
sorting out the van before heading down for lunch near the beach at Monte
Gordo. Headed west somewhat concerned about how road tolls work in Portugal. We
were on busy and lousy 'main' roads. We tried, but failed, to find a way south
to the beaches and ended up setting the satnav for one of the Albufeira aires.
Parked on the cliff-top with a few other vans. The road was narrow, steep and
sandy with rocks – we'll need to plan our escape carefully. Walked on the beach
and across the cliff-tops in the light of the full moon. Magic.
14
June Albufeira A lazy day at the beach - eating, swimming, relaxing and talking to our
French neighbours. Went for a long walk in the evening looking for a road that
led to the next beach - we failed. The temperature was about 5 degrees hotter
even 150 m inland from the van. Sunday
15
June Albufeira - Murao 264 km Another blazingly hot day. We
drove out early to the main car-park and had breakfast there - to avoid getting
hemmed in. Called in at the shops - we were surprised to find out that the
Portugese shops are open on Sundays - not like Spain. Also surprised to discover
that Spanish and Portugese time are one hour different! We were still on
Spanish time! Headed north via Serpa and Luz, a village relocated after
flooding their valley to build a dam. Parked in Murao right by the castle at
the top of town. The key image of the day was the lady sitting in the road by her
front door, knitting and listening to opera on the television. The other image
was of a preacher who droned on and on - the only words that we could hear were
'amen' and 'alleluja' which we must have heard about one-hundred times!
16
June Murao Elvas 95 km Drove down to the tourist office and toured the town. The free
wifi and the childrens' models in the town hall garden were good. On to
Monsaraz which was fabulous - we met an Aussie couple there who'd just walked
part of the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. Checked out some local standing
stones and then headed for Elvas and the aqueduct.
17
June Elvas – Marvao 69 km Drove north via Portalegre spotting the cork oaks as we drove. Had
lunch at Portagem surrounded by police cadets checking the traffic - we drove
away very carefully! Flogged up the hill to the aire and to another wonderful
hill-top town, although it was spoiled somewhat by the two-way traffic in the
very narrow streets. The castle and the garden in the upper town were worth it.
Walked back around the walls.
18
June Marvao - Macao 114 km We awoke to mist and cloud blowing over the crest of the hill
behind the aire before driving down to Castel de Vide and parking in the shade
at the aire. A very stylish town that we spend ages walking around. The tourist
trail and the castle were great. Wonderful views from the castle. The Tourist
Office was open all day - no siesta! We'd been without power in our leisure
battery for several days so we searched the camping cars web site for an aire
that had free electricity. We found a few and headed for the nearest one at
Macao. We plugged in and sat in the full sun until it set - not that we were complaining!
It was good to have lights again!
19
June Macao - Castelo Branca 126 km With the battery now reading
over 13-volts we headed down the scenic route via Belver - nice castle by the River
Tejo - aiming for Monsanto. Just past Castelo Branco the fan-belt shredded
itself so we drove to the nearest Peugeot garage - big thanks to the satnav!
The friendly crew checked the VIN number and ordered a new one - they also
suggested a place that we could stay for the night!
20
June Castelo Branca - Monsanto 58 km Bad news when we got back to the
Peugeot garage - our new fan-belt had been sent to the wrong dealer! Eventually
it was couriered and arrived at 5pm. The mechanics then worked until 7:20 to
fix the van. They had promised we'd be away by late morning! Good service in
the end. Finally we drove on to Monsanto. Parked in Revla at the bottom of the
hill and talked to a French couple who advised us that there would be a market
in the square next morning. We headed up the hill and stopped just past the
police station less than a kilometre from town. Later walked around the
village.
21
June Monsanto Really nice place to be for the summer solstice - we spent the day
touring the town and being amazed by the houses surrounded by granite and built
with boulders seemingly growing out of their roofs. Walked up to the castle -
great place and great views. SPAIN
22
June Monsanto - La Alberca 179 km Drove up to Penmancor and turned
right for Spain! Thanks Portugal – we really enjoyed the stay. Checked out
Torre de San Miguel but were not impressed. We were however very impressed with
the climb up to La Alberca and with the town itself – really different and
unspoiled – several people riding horses through the cobbled streets – and the
family playing flutes and drums gave the place a great feel. Lots of bars and
restaurants too Our inverter failed today – we use it for charging camera
batteries, mobile phones and tooth-brushes..
23
June La Alberca – Avila 182 km Had another short tour of town
after breakfast; Talked for ages to a UK couple in a Portugese registered van. Picked
lots of cherries before driving to the Mirador El Portillo and on to Miranda
del Castena. Fascinating place of narrow laneways with the roofs almost touching
– check it out on Google with the satellite view! We also checked out Beja and
Candelario before driving on to Avila to take in the classic view of the city
from the rotunda on the Calle Cuatro Postes. We stopped at the aire by the
police complex, although we also wasted time checking out other places to stay.
We had a great evening tour of the town and the walls – great that was until
they turned off the floodlights at 11pm. We persevered and literally walked
'around the town' – all 88 towers!
24
June Avila - Segovia 97 km Huge electrical storm just after 4am – not sure where the storks
sheltered! Had another walk around the city before filling up with LPG. It was
cold so we headed for MacDonalds and used their wifi for ages. Drove into
Segovia where a bike race was happening. Parked near a coach car-park and
walked into a town that was heaving – live band playing to a big crowd in the square,
sound and light show in the Plaza Mayor and so many people eating, drinking and
strolling. The aqueduct was really impressive especially so being floodlit
under heavy, dark skies. [N 40.947112, W 4.124672]
25
June Segovia - El Burgo de Osma150 km Left about 8:15 as the carpark
was filling quickly – had breakfast out of town. The next stop was Pedraza which
we really liked after we'd realised that we couldn't drive through the low and
narrow main gate! Spent ages there before reparking for lunch at the Eagle
Interpretation Centre. We were less impressed with Sepulveda but we did spend a
couple of hours exploring the town – looked better from a distance. Drove into
El Burgo de Osma, the episcopal centre of Soria province, and parked near the
convent with a couple of other vans. The town was mainly pedestrianised and we
took full advantage of that. We also used the PC's and the wifi at the library
and we charged our camera battery as we had no imverter..
26
June El Burgo de Osma - Hontario del Pinar 93 Spent most of the day trecking
around the Canyon of the Rio Lobos to the north of town. Great lookout, cliffs
and wildlife – loads of vultures around. The ponds, frog noises and water
lillies were impressive. Headed back to the library at El Burgo before ending the
day at the aire in Hontario del Pinar.
27
June Hontario del Pinar – Agreda 153 km Checked out the 'Bridge with 7
arches', at San Leonardo and had a short walk down the other end of the Rio
Lobos gorge before driving to Calatanazor – another intriguing small hilltop
town. The sign at the castle saying 'please do not steal the stones' was different!
Had lunch at a ruined church just out of town. Followed the main road into
Soria where we bought a new inverter at a LeClerc's hypermarket. Checked the PC
for aires and headed for Agreda. Good choice!
28 Jun
Agreda Walked down the paseo with a few locals before moving the van and using
the local showers. Had lunch followed by pancakes cooked outside the van. Spent
the afternoon reading and walking – the town was deserted. Had a very cold
evening walk and watched a local concert – singing and dancing; jota style; and
we met the mayor!
29
June Agreda - Tafalla 116 km Enjoyed a walk around Tarazona. The aire at Cascante seemed to be
full of Brits excaping the heat of the south. Olite was nice – we explored the
castle for a long time before asking what the loud bangs were. The last one, we
were told, meant that 'the bulls have just been released!'. So we spent ages,
behind the barracades watching the Olite version of 'running the bulls' – we
hadn't planned for that! Quite interesting though.
30
June Tafalla – Isaba 172 km The key images of the day were of Ujue another remote hill-top
town – nice church, nice plazas and nice people; oh and a huge pelota court.
Ended up retracing our steps to the LIDL at Tafalla. Lerga, Eslava and Aibar
looked nice as we passed them. On past Lumbier and up the Roncal valley before
ending at Isaba and its very different architecture.
1 Jul Isaba
-Oleron-Ste-Marie 69 km After another
tour of the town we headed up the valley to the Col de la Pierre St Martin –
very bleak at 1800 m but clear, As soon as we started the descent into France
we were in thick fog – we followed the snow poles at the side of the road at
less than 10kph looking for sheep and cattle! The fog didn't clear until 1000m.
Very steep road – 15% gradient in places. On the way to Oleron we passed Feas
where we'd stopped in 2010. An electrical storm and heavy rain awaited us at
the aire – welcome back to France! FRANCE
2 Jul Oleron-Ste-Marie
- Fourcès 121km Still raining
at breakfast time – lots of water dripping off the trees all night. In low and
dark cloud we set the satnav but got the east and west wrong!! We were crossing
the Greenwich meridian. It took another 45 mins to eventually navigate to
Montreal – the aire there was stark and had no shade so we headed up the road
to Fources. Really nice place, the town and the aire; the neighbour was playing
an accordion. Short walk around the village before cooking and eating outside –
a few mozzies about! More exploring in the village before turning in for the
night.
3 Jul Fourcès
- Condom - Fourcès 24 km Drove back to Montreal and did the square, church and the tourist
office (TO). Quite a few walkers a la Santiago de Compostela. On to
Larressingle which was a bit of a disappointment. Lunch in the car park before
driving into Condom; parked by the river. Really nice cathedral which was quite
empty. Back to Montreal to use the wifi at the TO. Stormy and raining at 11 pm.
4 Jul Fourcès
- Monpazier 86 km Back to
Montreal for the wifi - to download new aires info. for the Dordogne. Headed
for Monpazier and criss-crossed the map in worsening weather; pouring rain for
the last 40 mins. Nerac looked nice; so did Port Sainte Marie. Had lunch in
Lavardec. Got one of the last 2 spots at the aire in the rain. Several attempts
to walk into town without getting wet. Really nice place - few people on the
streets as France were playing Germany in the World Cup! We had to shelter in
the square for some time from the very heavy rain.
5-Jul Monpazier
- Belves 12 km Walked back into town and bought
a few souvenirs. We would have bought more if the shop hadn't been closed!
After lunch we set the satnav for Beynac but we only got as far as Belves the
1st village! Loads of vans in an aire with a great view over the countryside. Had
a couple of tours of the town - did the tourist trail. Nice place.
6-Jul Belves
- Montignac 46 km Heavy rain overnight with thunder
& lightning; grey, low cloud all day. It didn't seem to put off the crowds buying
rubbish at the 'brocante' in the main square. Drove to Beynac and walked to the
castle. After a rushed outdoor lunch we checked out Castelnaud across the
valley. Set off for Montignac, buying LPG at Sarlat on the way. Walked to the
tourist office and bought a ticket for Lascaux for the next day. We paid our €3
for electricity - very necessary.
7-Jul Montignac
- Lascaux II - Rocamadour 57 km Drove through town, being
staggered by the very long queues for tickets for Lascaux. Really impressed
with the cave and the artwork; brilliant. Drove up to Terrasson and renewed our
acquaintance with the town. For once it did not rain!! After lunch we headed off
south-east - we passed Martel and then for oldtimes sake we stoped at
Rocamadour. Parked behind the citadel with about 20 other vans. Considering
this it was really quiet. Went for a long walk along to The Hospitalet and down
the long road into town, then through town and down Roquefraiche where we found
a superb outdoor art extravaganza - an extraordinary collection of art and
sculpture. 'Atelier Kersting'. Back past the stations of the cross.
8-Jul Rocamadour
- St Geniez d'Olt 111 km A day of occasional very heay
rain. Drove down to the Belvedere for that classic view of the town. We decided
to follow the Lot valley - the D42 for a long way - Viellevie and its chateau
were nice. The roads were narrow and a challenge at times, but the scenery was
great. We found the aire in St Geniez very dark so we stopped in an alternative
location - a car park just out of town.
9-Jul St
Geniez d'Olt - Banne 120 km Some blue sky but lots of rain
from very fast moving clouds. Drove back to Ste Eulalie D'Olt - another one of
France's most beautiful villages. Very nice but we spent too long sheltering
under brollies. Headed north to the D45 - a better and more direct road. The
tiny village of Marnhac looked nice but very hard to get to. Had lunch in
Sainte Sulpice, although we never did find the 'area de piquenique' - lots of
signs for it! Much of the scenery reminded us of Scotland - Chateau Champ
looked really nice. Great day but spoiled by selecting an aire to stay for the
night - the choices were Les Vans (Intermarche car park), Berrias-et-Casteljau
(bad feel) and Banne - 3rd time lucky - lots of narrow and tortuous roads.
10-Jul
Banne - Privas 81 km Great view from the aire and a really interesting village but
those church bells were awful - kept it up all night. Very tight getting out of
the village - builders' trucks etc. We'd intended going down the Gorges of the
Ardeche and headed up the D111 and onto the D579 towards Vallon Pont-d'Arc. The
closer we got, the heavier the traffic was - so we gave up and headed for Vogue
which was nice. We tried to get to Baluzac but the road was closed which was
annoying. Drove over the pass to Privas after hitting the wifi at Aubenas.
11-Jul
Privas A cold day - but no rain for a change. Spent an interesting day with an
eccentic cousin whom I'd not seen for over sixty years!
12-Jul
Privas - Remuzat 79 km The aire cleared out by 10am - we headed off to MacD's for wifi
and then to LIDL to stock up. On down the D2 - Rochemaure looked nice - but we headed
through Montellimar. Images of the day included the tourist train in
Montellimar, the superb lavender fields, the Gorges of St May and the really nice
town of La Poet-Laval.
13-Jul
Remuzat - Les Chapieux 177 km On through Verclause and down to Serre and up the Col de la Croix
Haute. The weather deteriorated on the other side but the scenery on the run
down to Grenoble was superb. Lots of places looked as we remembered them -
Albertville - nice; Beaufort - kitch and touristy, the climb up to the Lac du
Roseland - challenging; and the climb up to the Cormet du Roseland and down to
Les Chapieux - brilliant. There were the usual signs when we got there - 'no
camping' and 'no motorhomes'. We checked out the tourist office and then
settled in. Later we had a walk up the road in the dark - and in the drizzle.
All quiet at Les Chapieux - it was great to be back.
14-Jul
Les Chapieux Awoke to the sound of rain! We checked out the options and took the navette
shuttle-bus to La Ville des Glaciers to walk up the Col de la Seigne - the day was
cold with drizzle and low cloud and with no sign of Mt Blanc. We turned around
before 3pm at 2400m to make sure of catching the last navette and because we'd
got fed up with the mountain bikers. Lots of hikers heading for refuges - will
they all fit inside!? Even on a bad day the place has a great atmosphere.
15-Jul
Les Chapieux - Bellegarde 98 km We awoke to a clear blue sky - we felt a bit cheated and went for
a walk over the meadows - watching the the crowds getting on the navette. Good
views of Mt Blanc too. We had to leave; we had a date with a dance festival in
Gennetines near Moulins. It was a great drive up to Roseland and down the
Beaufort road - had lunch in a picnic area. We wrongly ignored the satnav and
took the road to Les Saises, the Col des Aravis and, eventually, Annecy. Then
we headed for Bellegard and took one of the two spots, but only after a trip to
MacD's to get data on aires.
16-Jul
Bellegarde - Bourg-en-Bresse 59 km Bought some pain de campagne in Chatillon en Michaille. Passing
through the nice town of Nantua we realised that that day's stage of the Tour
de France finished at Oyonnax just to our north. We detoured and parked on the
course about 2. km from the finish. Had a quick lunch and walked to the finish.
Interesting watching the razamataz of le carvanne and collecting the fruit and other
handouts. The riders were really spread out after a long breakaway. It was amazing
the speed with which the 'flamme rouge' - one km to go - was dropped after the
last rider came in. Drove down to Bourg-en-Bress - the start of tomorrow's
stage.
17-Jul
Bourg-en-Bresse - Gennetines 141 km After a noisy night we left early before the road closures took
effect. Filled with LPG. Drove to St Genoux de Scisse - to charge our batteries
- they had free electricity at the aire. Drove into Moulins with the air-con on
and stocked up at LIDL for the long dance festival. Picked up three hitch
hickers going to Gennetines.
18-25
Jul Gennetines 20 km Thoroughly enjoyable €240's worth. Usual local weather ranging
from clear blue sky and very hot, through grey clouds and rain to storms with
thunder and lightning. Generally it was very himid. Roads churned to mud as
last time we came. We retired to the van to rest and to eat. Met Marie-Rose
whom we'd liked last time. Had a trip to MacD's in Moulin on 25th and picked
loads of blackberries. Checked out the aire in town then dumped our loo on
return. On return we reparked in a different spot.
26-Jul
Gennetines - Semur-en-Auxois 113 km After a late start and a slow clear up we headed off to Autun. A
few nice places on the way but not very motorhome friendly. Used wifi at MacD's
and checked out the very busy and noisy aire. Drove off in heavy rain to Semur
- nice double rainbow. Had stirfry and Guiness before walking to town - nice
place.
27-Jul
Semur-en-Auxois - Amblons et Velotte 145k Now heading for Strasbourg. Moved
the van nearer to town and spent an enjoyable time touring the town - we
avoided the crowds and the market happening in the centre. Really nice place. Stopped for lunch just after Montbard (with its camel), through Langres
and had cuppa at Fayl-Billot with its weaving exhibits.
28-Jul
Amblons et Velotte - Kilstett 140 km Passed some nice places, Luren
springs to mind, and got LPG in Colmar. Ran into a huge storm north of town,
the worst rain I've ever driven in - it cleared but the clouds were full of
menace. Arrived at the Sittler's house just as Guy was returning from his walk;
Marie-France was gardening. Nice welcome with beer and nibbles - had a 'Ramadan'
meal later. In bed quite late, to be serenaded by the church bells!!
29-Jul
Kilstett - Kilstett 0 km Settled in, shared tales and photos. Walked to Wanzenau with Guy -
part of his exercise regime - post stent. Out in the evening to a local Plan de
l'Eau for a 'community' meal. I didn't quite get what I wanted! Then went into
Strasbourg - fast - up to 140 kph at times. Great light show at the cathedral
and another at Pont Vauban.
30-Jul
Kilstett - Kilstett 5 km Marie-France gave us a huge list of likely museums to visit. We
suggested shopping and using the internet! Heavy rain intervened and M-F went
off to baby-sit. Nice long lazy lunch with Guy and then went to LIDL in Germany
to get Favorinis; paid cash they took Visa but not MasterCard. Connected to the
neighbour's wifi. Watched our Harmony Day performance and played dance tunes in
the evening. Guy was very interested but also very tired. We gave him lots of
the music.
Thursday
31-Jul Kilstett - Kilstett Guy off to see his cardiologist, but it was really a party day. Members
of their syndicate started arriving at noon. Elizabeth, the Swiss lady arrived
at 12:00:00; must have a Swiss watch! Others included Helen, Cristian, Pierre,
Julia and Francois. The setting was great, the weather behaved and food was good
- partic. the 'gateau des imbeciles'. Ended about 5 and Guy took me on a 60
min, very fast walk - he was wearing a heart monitor. Sat talking by the lake for
ages, had a small meal and then went in to avoid the mozzies. We were persuaded
to stay 'til Saturday.
Friday
1-Aug Kilstett - Kilstett 210 km
Pauline came to lunch with Arthur which changed he planned trip for a walk.
Went to open-ar concert in the evening - somewhere in the south of the city. 5 women
a capella. Had a picnic with Colin's fois gras.
2-Aug Kilstett
- Bouillon We farewelled M-F early as she was off
to baby-sit. We left about 10:20 but had to return to pic up a map left in the
kitchen! Had lunch at Saar Louis and picked loads of blackberries. Slowly on to
Bouillon and stopped where we stayed with Betsy - the place is now an official
aire - it was quite full - actually over full - there were 20 vans there. We
stewed apples and added blackberries; ate Cordon Bleu, pots and beans before
going on a walk to town.
3-Aug Bouillon
- Tournai 131 km
Some discussion re where to go; considered a number of places including
Kortrijk (Courtai) as suggested by Guy, but ended at Tournai as the distance
was right. Heavy rain at one stage of the journey. Settled in to the aire with
19 others. Went for a walk later - the town was quite nice but seedy with lots
of bars, dark back streets, lone men hanging around and loads of graffiti.
4-Aug Tournai
- Calais 92 km
Day 90, our last day on the Continent. Left about 11 and went via LIDL. Had a
good run to the ferry, watching the fuel gauge carefully. Refilled at Marck. The
image of the day for me was of illegal immigrants and loads of police - similar
image when we arrived. We stopped between Dunkerque and Calais to kill a bit of
time and arrived at the ferry on time but had to do a loop as there was no room
for us on the wharf!!
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