Still a week to go before we need to get to Benicasim and only just over 800km away.
Today was our first rainy day. We drove to Domme and as forecast the rain stopped for two hours between 11:00 and 1:00. We got back to the van just as it was starting again after a good look round the walled town.
Our next stop was Gourdon. We were heading to a municipal aire, there were 8 spaces with electricity for €1 per 3 hours. Unfortunately we arrived just behind another van who got the last spot. Ho well, win a few, loose a few. We still parked up and had a walk round the old town. It was another bastide, fortified medieval town to keep out the English marauders, or so the information board said. It was an interesting spot high up above the new town with great views all around. One bit of luck was to find a Boulangerie still open for us to buy a baguette.
We walked back to the van with the slight hope that one of the vans had driven off and left us a space with electricity, but no joy. Not to worry, there was plenty of life in the leisure batteries. Not long after we got back the French couple who arrived just before us chapped our door and said we could plug into their electric, how generous. I offered to let them piggy back our wifi but they hadn't got a tablet. The language was fun. It wasn't French and it wasn't English, it was the universal language of the world.
Val cooked dinner on electric and we charged all devices. We watched a video on the electric rather than using the leisure batteries. We had a little drink to celebrate. Happy days.
Aire Municipal Gourdon: 44°44′02"N 01°23′07"E
25 October 2016
We were greeted to a misty morning in Gourdon. Our first stop was Lidl to stock up on some supplies and to purchase some wine and fizz that Steve and his neighbours had been bigging up. Once accomplished we plotted a course to St-Cirq Lapopie on the banks of the Lot River.
We had a stop off on route at a beautiful village called Cabrerets. We parked up and had an hour looking around. It was in a basin with steep cliffs on both sides and a river running through it. We took oodles of photographs which confirms the beauty of its scenery.
Onwards for another 14km and we were Parking up on our chosen Aire. The services when we arrived were not as anticipated. The shower was disgusting. The village of St-Cirq Lapopie more than made up for it. After donning our shorts we walked along the river and then climbed the hill up to the village and Chateau. The place was packed with tourists even at this time of year.
St-Cirq Lapopie Aire - 44°28′12"N 01°40′44"E
On our return to the van we sat out and had some crisps and a beer. We befriended an inquisitive and hungry magpie who after finishing our crisps made an effort to eat my boots. When the sun was going down he even followed us back to the van and perched himself on our bike rack looking in through the back window. He stayed there for about half an hour before moving on.
Val made us a curry for dinner and we settled in for a night of reading and some good old Kev Music. Happy days, well for me at least.
26 October 2016
We woke to another misty morning and had another visit from our friendly magpie. He doesn't half like our crisps.
We were way by 9:30 heading for Montauban about 70km away. As we neared our destination the traffic was nose to tail over 3km out. We quickly went to plan b which was to head for Trebes. We drove through some beautiful countryside and the mountain villages of Saissac and Montolieu were stunning. We reached our intended site only to find it had closed for the winter on the 30 September.
We parked up on Intermarche whilst we come up with a plan C. The Zendogs mifi came to the rescue and directed us to an Aire in Carcassonne. €12 a night with services extra but close enough to the city to walk in. No sooner had we parked up than we were on our toes and into the city. We had planned to do it tomorrow but he ho. It had the biggest Chateau I've ever seen, it was stunning and took a good hour to walk round. We also had a look at part of the city, so much so that Val was happy not to return in the morning.
We got back to the van well after dark and Val got stuck into cooking dinner whilst I updated the blog. Dinner, a good read and keeping track of the footy is tonight's entertainment.
Aire Camping de La Cite - €12 - 43°12′00" N 02°21′10″E
27 October 2016
We left Carcassonne on a cold Autumn morning heading to Limoux. After calling at Lidl for some supplies we got done to the real business of our visit. We Stopped at Domaine J Laurens to taste their Blanquette and Cremant. Val has been reading about the quality of their wines prior to our trip and was determined we pay the place a visit. The Blanquette was what she had been reading about and it tasted delicious. Its made up 90% of the Mausac grape which gives it an unusual taste. We preferred it to the Cremant and bought a case to take with us. Job done.
Our next task was to find our campsite which is not always easy at this time of the year. We got to a spot in Chalabre in bright sunshine and although the site was open with two vans already set up, the shower block was all locked up which was a shame because as we drive through village it looked to have a lot of charm and character. We would have loved to have stayed but we had an alternative with all the facilities.
After another 24km along mainly winding single track roads we arrived at another small village called Bènaix at campsite called Camping Rural le'Mathibot, rural being the operative word. We drove up a steep lane with trepidation and arrived at the main house. There were showers, toilets, washing machine. There was even an outdoor pool but it looked like Steptoe's yard. The toilets and showers were clean and we immediately made the decision to stay. Getting onto a pitch was another matter.
The pitches were up a very steep winding lane made up of gravel. It was an adventure in itself trying to get up the lane. I managed to get about two thirds of the way there but the last bend and hill proved too much and the van kept sliding back. The friendly Belgian couple who owned the site let us park the van in Steptoe's yard. They even moved their cars to accommodate us.
It was a busy afternoon after that. The washing machine got put to good use even though it had a two hour cycle. It was gig and at €3 a pop it was cheap and we managed two washes. The van which was filthy from its travels got a good wash. All the devices got charged and the slow cooker was used to make use of the electric. We just about managed a short walk before the sun went down, we even did some apple picking which consisted of throwing the apples that had already fallen up into the tree to dislodge the fresh ones that were still hanging. We managed to get three for all our efforts.
The rest of the evening was spent looking for a campsite for February when the boys are coming out to stay with us for a week. As we only had 3G wifi it was a frustrating task especially as every site we liked the look of said no availability and some of them would only search to the end of 2016. All in all it was an interesting day, one of them you will never forget. Happy trails.
Camping Rural le'Mathibot - €16 - 42°54′18″N 01°49′59″E
28 October 2016
We woke after 9:00 and had a busy morning drying clothes and cleaning the inside of the van. By the time we had kissed Letasha goodbye it was after noon.
Our first stop was Mirepoix. A beautiful little village with a magnificent Cathedral. When we entered we heard what we thought was piped music but it turned out to be a guy singing with an operatic voice. He was absolutely fantastic, real quality. We spent some time walking round the shops and the Square. We would happily have stayed the night but for wanting to make some progress south.
Our next stop was Foix, famous for its hilltop Chateau and what a sight it was, our photographs don't do it justice. We just caught the end of the market but we're too late for the food stalls which had all packed up. We had a good walk round the town in temperatures of 24°C. Let's hope it's as warm in Spain.
We headed further south to a little village called Mèrens les Vals but the Aire we wanted to use had little metal barriers on each parking spot. It was only €5 to make them come down which would have allowed us to park but we couldn't pay as the signs were in French only and we hadn't a clue what to do.
We moved further south and ended up at a tiny hamlet called Hospitalet pres l'Andorre on the border of Andorra. The aire is next to a train station with a number of waterfalls just behind. The first train through is 05:52 in the morning so hopefully we'll have an earlier start tomorrow. We are well up in the Pyrenees and have had fun with some of the switchbacks, they certainly keep you on your toes.
Free Aire Hospitalet pres l'Andorre - 42°35′19″N 01°47′58"E
Val's slow cooked dish from last night was scrummy and we washed it down with a delicious bottle of €1.99 French Merlot. Happy campers, well at least till 05:52.
29 October 2016
We woke to a fresh morning. The sun was shining but the high mountains were keeping us well in the shade. The train station was still closed when we left about 10:30
We set Tom's coordinates for the Andorra de Vella but when we arrived there was no chance of parking. All the car parks were either barred to Camping Cars or they were in buildings with height barriers. The whole place was high rise and busy as hell with traffic. We reverted to plan B and headed to the only Aire in the principality at a place called Sant Julia de Loria, parking up in good order for €0.50 an hour when we arrived. First hour free. We spent about 90 minutes walking round before departing. We had to summon help from a voice box in the wall as we couldn't get our ticket to lift the exit barrier. After a few hola's, some sign language and a gratsia or two me managed to get out of the aire which doubled as a car park.
We then got down to the business of our visit which was buying fuel and duty free booze. It was like going back in time. A litre bottle of Sobrano Brandy was €4. After filling our boots we got back on the road and headed in the general direction of Benicasim with no intention of getting there for two or three days. We ended up stopping at a small aire in Carvera which was just a small town on route.
No sooner had we parked yo than an English couple parked next to us. They showed us their van. They told us where they had come from and where they were going to and they would still be telling us things now if Val hadn't interrupted saying we needed to get into town. When we left them we both felt drained.
After our unnecessary walk into town we snuck back entering the van on their blindside. And relax.
One surprise was that we have had two emails from Purple Properties in two days. One letting us know our new tenants move in on Monday and the second was an inventory of the house.
We had some good nosebag and a movie and if anybody had chapped the door we were going to mark the go up and down and make agh, agh, agh noises. Happy Spanish sunsets.
30 October 2016
We went to bed last night in a pea-souper and woke in the same conditions for our first morning in Spain. The sun was doing its best to burn away the fog. It's going to be a hot one.
We drove in fog for about half an hour and then climbed out of it into bright sunshine at about half eleven heading for Montblanc, although when we arrived the Aire we were going to park on, it cost €10 and as we only wanted to look round we moved on.
Our first actual stop was in Tarragona where Val made a fantastic lunch of egg salad on a baguette with a sprinkling of onion. A small bowl of taboule and a few crisps followed by two chocky biscuits and coffee, heaven.
After changing Tom who knows everywhere, to Sean with the Irish accent we followed his directions to Aquéducte de les Fererras. We parked up in poor order with the back of the van sticking out about 2 metres and had a walk round the old aqueduct that used to supply water to the city of Tarragona from about 35km away, it was well worth a visit.
Sean then guided us to a parking spot by an old museum about 1km from the city centre. We were on our toes and walked up hill into town. We were looking for the Cathedral in the Medieval walled upper town. Gregg's present of The Rough Guide to Spain pointed us in the right direction and gave us some great info on what we were seeing. We probably walked about 3km before we reached the Cathedral and when we got there, a flea market made it hard to photograph without including a white van. It's not just in the U.K. That you find WVM. Unfortunately the Cathedral was closed but it was beautiful from the outside. We then saw the Ajuntament and then onto the Rambla, Casa de la Festa and then the Amfiteatre which was undergoing some restoration. We then got our first glimpse of the Med and felt we had arrived somewhere near our destination. We got well and truly lost on the walk back to the van, but as always Val came up trumps and when we were in the vicinity, she spotted to upper part of the museum.
Back on the road and heading in the general direction of Benicasim we got the Mifi fired up and Val found us a picturesque spot to head for next to the River Ebre. Sean gave us succinct directions and after about 85km and passing through about 5km of rice fields we were home and hosed and just in time for a beautiful sunset. What a great way to end week 9. Happy sunsets.
River Ebre free aire: 40°42′50.32″N 00°42′55.5″E
