Sunday 21st July – Final Preparations
We generally plan to make it to Spain and will get there via a route that we have not taken before.
We have headed to the South of France via Paris (centre route) or Rouen (left route) but not this one which is to the right of the other two options.
Another first is that we’re taking Elsie (at last). We’ve got her a ‘CoolCoat’ which should make more comfortable in the extreme temperatures we’re expecting.
We dock in Calais at 08:00 this Tuesday morning and intend to drive for around four hours on the French Toll road. We want to get to Montpelier where we expect to stay a day or two. There is a faint chance we’ll make it there on Day 1 (Tuesday) but more likely Day 2. We have invested in one of those Transponder Tags so in theory we don’t have to come to a standstill at the French Peages.
So, general plan is to probably make a random stop on the way to Montpelier, Montpelier itself for a day or so then Carcassonne for who knows how long then Spain.
However, looking at today’s (Sunday 21st) forecast we may not be hanging around in France!
As you can see today’s forecast for Spain is much better!
We shall see…
Post Holiday Note
In the event we did stop on the way down to Montpelier at a delightful place called Tournus.
The next day we made it to the South Coast, Montpellier region.
We spent a few days in a couple of sites before moving on to Carcassonne and then over the Pyrenees to Spain. As it was so hot we decided against going any further south but headed westward along the base of the Spanish Pyrenees, a mountain range that had captured our hearts.
Before we hit the Spanish Northern coast we headed back over the Pyrenees to Lourdes, France.
From there we commenced our slow return North to Calais staying inland rather than go along the French western coast – we thought it would be just too busy. We also wanted to call in on our good friends Chris and Susie Dakin, who had emigrated to France, Availles Limouzine, last year.
Our stops were:
22nd Monday – The Drum Inn, Folkestone
Tuesday 23rd – Calais to Tournus, near Lyon.
Wednesday 24th – Browsing Tournus then to Camping Le Clos Fleurie, Vic la Gardiole, just south west of Montpellier.
Thursday 25th – Camping Le Clos Fleurie
Friday 26th – Camping Le Clos Fleurie to Beau Rivage Camping dans le Village, Meze
Saturday 27th – Beau Rivage Camping dans le Village, Meze
Sunday 28th – Beau Rivage Camping dans le Village, Meze to Aire de Camping Car, Carcassonne
Monday 29th – Aire de Camping Car, Carcassonne, across the Pyrenees to Àrea d’Autocaravanes de Martinet, Spain
Tuesday 30th – Àrea d’Autocaravanes de Martinet to Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro, Huesca
Wednesday 31st – Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro, Huesca
Thursday 1st August – Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro, Huesca
Friday 2nd – Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro through the base of the Spanish Pyrenees to Ain Camping, Jaca
Saturday 3rd – Ain Camping, Jaca
Sunday 4th – Ain Jaca, over the Pyrenees again to Lourdes (well, almost), France
Monday 5th – Laruns to Camping du Loup, Lourdes. Good look around Lourdes.
Tuesday 6th – Camping du Loup, Lourdes to L’bastide d’Armagnac, Gascony Region
Tuesday 6th (2) – L’bastide d’Armagnac to Clerac
Wednesday 7th – Clerac to Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
Thursday 8th – Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
Thursday 8th – Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
Friday 9th – Aubeterre-sur-Dronne to Chalais
Friday 9th (2) – Chalais to Dirac, Charente Department
Saturday 10th – Chris & Susie’s
Sunday 11th – Chris & Susie’s
Monday 12th – Saint Requier
Tuesday 13th – Channel Tunnel, Calais and then on to home
All in all an incredible holiday meeting so many lovely people and seeing amazing sites, especially the Pyrenees. As Debbie said it was almost a ‘WOW’ moment around every bend.
Please read on for the detail.
Monday 22nd – Home to the Drum Inn, Folkestone
Left home and had the usual delay on the M25 Car Park, getting to the Drum Inn at around 19:00.
The campsite is a real find, being just 7 minutes from Eurotunnel’s entrance and a place to relax. Food was quite good and we enjoyed relaxing and getting a good nights sleep before our mammoth drive tomorrow.
Elsie decided that she wanted to investigate the place and slipped away from our table outside without us noticing. Tim found her actually in the pub having a great time with the locals – she had proven very popular with them!
Tuesday 23rd – Drum Inn to Eurotunnel, Calais to Tournus, near Lyon.
The journey to Calais was uneventful and was great for Elsie. Leaving Calais we quickly found our main route and set off looking forward to getting as far south as possible.
We stopped at a couple of Aires along the way and it was the second one where we left the engine running so that we could leave the air conditioning on – it was getting hot already!
We could not find the Camping Municipal initially but came across an informal place to stay – a coach section on a quiet road overlooking the river and 5 minutes walk from the town centre.
This was a very good stop over. During the evening, we were joined by Pierre and Hilda from Belgium. They sat and had wine with us. A really lovely couple. Pierre is a special needs teacher and Hilda works in the care industry. We took their email address and who knows, one day, we may find ourselves visiting Belgium!
Before the night was out we took a quick look at Tournus – just s street or two and decided that we’d spend the next morning discovering the place.
Wednesday 24th – Browsing Tournus then to Camping Le Clos Fleurie, Vic la Gardiole, just south west of Montpellier.
The next day we realised that the temperature was going to exceed 40 degrees and whilst very unpleasant for us it would be quite dangerous for Elsie. The forecast for the coastline of Montpelier was 10 degrees less so that was where we were going to head, but not before we took a look at Tournus!
So first thing in the morning, we took a walk up into town. We were very pleasantly surprised to find a lovely, quaint little town. A good stop over and very pretty surroundings by the river. We would like to return sometime and spend more time here.
We had fallen in love with Tournus and were so disappointed that we had to move on. It is a vibrant place with a very friendly atmosphere and lovely people. Tim even manged to find a hardware store that provided a M6 nut to repair one of the new chairs we had bought!
During our wanderings and mindful of yesterdays news that dear old Boris was now our Prime Minister we were highly amused to see the German caricature of him. Tim thinks Angela is in for a bit of a shock!
But we had to move on so we set off for the South of France coast!
Then the southward journey to Montpelier began with some surprising traffic jams, especially round Lyon. We realised after a while that the congestion was caused by the imposition of a 90Km /hr speed limit designed to reduce pollution during what was now an official heatwave.
Upon arrival on the coast and after looking a a few non suitable ‘Bingo Site’ campsites we chose Camping Le Clos Fleurie, got parked and set up and had a beer – we were warm!
It was decided not to eat back at the motorhome…Tim needed some of his “crud food” This longing was satisfied by having fish and chips followed by a very chocolatey, creamy desert! It was very nice to sit with French visitors who were taking part in a Boules competition.
It was a very hot and muggy night and Debbie woke twice with leg cramps. Quite clearly down to dehydration. we will up our water consumption from now on.
Thursday 25th – Camping Le Clos Fleurie
An uneventful day with a good hour scheduling payments for Shipston Care due the next day.
It was so good to be in lower temperatures (29 degs) and we basically sat around all day, drank lots of water and ate at the appropriate times (with wine of course, have to keep our liquids up!!!).
Friday 26th – Camping Le Clos Fleurie to Beau Rivage Camping dans le Village, Meze
Camping Le Clos Fleurie to Beau Rivage Camping dans le Village, Meze. We set off to our next destination which was only half an hour away. We decided against going to Carcassonne today as the forecast for the next day was rain all day. Meze’s forecast was for some rain but only in the afternoon.
Reception granted our wish for a quiet pitch with a view and we parked up overlooking the beach! It’s a lovely spot, secluded and very quiet.
A little later we took a walk along the coast and immediately came into Meze – a traditional sort town with a modern-ish sea front and delightful marina. We passed some traditional fishermen nets – unsure if they are actually used now.
The temperature was still well over 30 degs and, much to her disgust, Elsie had to wear her water coat. This worked really well keeping her skin cool, but surprisingly she did not like it.
Having walked along the sea front we came across the welcoming marina which, like the sea front, was playing host to a number of people who we just needed to sit down and watch.
We stopped for a couple of much needed beers as it was really quite hot, enjoyed some time people watching.
It was good to discover just how lovely the town’s architecture was on the way back to the campsite and we decided we would return in the morning and investigate further.
Saturday 27th – Beau Rivage Camping dans le Village, Meze
Debbie had read that there may be a market of some sort on in Meze and as we had already decided on having breakfast in Meze we set off quite early (before 10:00!!).
We headed for the town centre and loved it! The ‘market’ was a little like a U.K.’s Car Boot sale but with items for sale laid out on the floor as opposed to trestles.
After browsing around the market and having breakfast we headed back home. Our timing was good as as we arrived at the motorhome and as per the forecast, it started to rain.
Tim decided to capture the rainwater coming off the awning for our own washing etc. use:
Later on we enjoyed the bread we bought from the market in the traditional French way:
And finally we took Elsie out for her last walk of the evening and had pizza at the Camp Bar. Elsie could not believe that we had ordered beer for ourselves and not for her:
Sunday 28th – Beau Rivage Camping dans le Village, Meze to Aire de Camping Car, Carcassonne
We set off first thing, 10:30 (!) Having decided that we would travel today then chill out, possibly visit Carcassonne Le Cite later for an initial browse round.
Monday 29th – Aire de Camping Car, Carcassonne, across the Pyrenees to Àrea d’Autocaravanes de Martinet, Spain
Just travelling through the Pyrenees
This is an experiment in loading a large file – just tryin!:
It was an amazing journey over the Pyrenees to Spain which took us longer than our SatNav (Co-Pilot app) had forecast but we were not surprised; the roads were at times incredibly windy and after all we had selected, as a route, ‘no motorways or toll roads’.
At last we came to Martinet and, a first for us, a Spanish Motor Camper stopover. It was free in terms staying, water usage and grey water disposal. Electricity was 2 euros but we did not need it so refrained from hooking up.
We were tired and so decided to have dinner then go to bed. Another first though was the use of the external twin hob and grill we had bought for such occasions (too hot to cook inside or simply a desire to eat Al Fresco). The hobs were very good and powerful, we’ll be using these quite a bit from now on.
Tuesday 30th – Àrea d’Autocaravanes de Martinet to Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro, Huesca
After having coffee and pastries from a local cafe we had a brief look around Martinet – there was not a great deal to see – we decided to move on.
It was good to engage with the locals, over a couple helped us order due to our obvious lack of Spanish!. Our trip seems to be full, generally, of nice people.
Further driving over the Pyrenees was again amazing. We were heading to Puebla de Castro, the place where Fidel Castro had been born, to get a real taste of Spain in the lowlands, away from the rugged Pyrenees. It was around this time we decided not to go South but continue to go Westwards towards San Sabastian on the Spanish west coast to tour the lower regions of the Spanish Pyrenees. In the event it was a good choice with so many gorgeous towns and people to discover with virtually no British in attendance.
We had a delightful arrival at BellaVista, the staff were very welcoming and helpful.
We quickly chose our spot and settled in with very few fellow campers in attendance.
The idea of a beer thereafter soon came around so the three of us set off to the onsite restaurant to have a drink until the restaurant opened at 8pm.
Debbie enjoyed the fish more than Tim!
Wednesday 31st – Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro, Huesca
A lazy day just enjoying the campsite, catching up with the blog discovering the need for some motorhome maintenance and mooching around!
Thursday 1st August – Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro, Huesca
Another lazy day but spent this time by the lake, using the lakeside cafe and bar.
The colour of the lake water was stunning and got more gorgeous as the day progressed.
Lovely location and the water temperature was good
We spent the whole day at the lake. The food was good, beer very thirst quenching and nice folk around too.
Friday 2nd – Bella Vista, La Puebla de Castro through the Pyrenees to Ain Camping, Jaca
Every good thing must come to an end though so we packed up, said our goodbyes and set off again.
Debbie had found what seemed to be a good site on TripAdviser and so we headed, for a campsite not found on our preferred website for finding campsites ‘searchforsites.com’
The site looked good and was in the general direction we wanted to go – Westward.
Just as soon as we came across Ainsa we instantly decided to stop. It was about the right time for lunch but it also looked beautiful too with its two rivers going into one location.
We eventually chose the cafe bar of the Hotel Sanchez and had one of the best burgers we have ever tasted. The soya and carrot burger was delicious.
After lunch we carried on our journey and drove on to Jaca
Arriving at Jaca we headed into the centre to pick up fuel. The roads in and the out to the campsite were very narrow! But we made it to the campsite and what a little find. Full of charm and rustic by nature.
We decided we would stay for two nights at least.
We found that we did not have the same problem we had had at the previous site with mosquitoes – there were none! The flies were very persistent however and would actually bite! Unlike mossies they did not leave a reaction but the bite itself was quite sharp.
We had a simply but tasty dinner of the bread we had bought from the BellaVista shop, cheese and wine
Saturday 3rd – Ain Camping, Jaca
We awoke, as was now the norm, to brilliant sunshine and breathtaking views.
Before long the dreaded flies were back with a vengeance. We debated that their presence / numbers may be due to the horses in the next field to us.
We also found that the heat was quite debilitating, there was little we could as it was just too hot to walk in the sun from midday onward.
Later in the day, bored with our inability to walk out and discover due to the heat we made the decision to move on the next day.
Dinner was having a meal at the campsite cafe – it was surprisingly good!
Javier, the Cafe barman / man in charge was excellent company yet very professional.
It has to be said that, in combination with the heat, the flies were a major consideration in moving on. They were very persistent and although a source of ‘kill fun’ when using the newly procured fly swat, became tiresome. Their ability to bite as well as becoming an extreme annoyance made them sworn enemies!
Paulo in Recption and Javier in the Cafe / Bar deserve a `special mention. Paulo was very helpful in us getting the best spot to stay and even came up with a scheme where we could get round the camp rules that dogs were not allowed in the pool area. Javier was a great barman, good fun and host. We had great conversation with him.
All in all this way a wonderful site which we really enjoyed. Our early morning walks before it got too hot, au natural facility use and sheer beauty of the environment made it special indeed.
Sunday 4th – Ain Jaca, over the Pyrenees again to Lourdes (well, almost), France
We decided upon Lourdes as our next destination to aim for as:
- We got away from the pesky flies
- We needed to drop the temperature so that we could something other than eat, drink, swim, sit around all day. We know when we look back on this aspect from a future cold England we will wonder about this point!
- It was en-route to our journey North generally and Chris & Susie’s specifically.
We were heading for Lourdes but came across Laruns shortly after crossing from Spain into France and dropping down a few hundred metres or so.
We stopped for lunch and made a particularly good job of that so we decided to stay overnight (‘cos we could and it was a nice place).
A bit about Laruns:
Formerly part of the province of Béarn, Laruns is now within the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, itself in France’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine région. It forms part of the arrondissement of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, and of the canton of Oloron-Sainte-Marie-2.
Monday 5th – Laruns to Camping du Loup, Lourdes
This journey was one of our shortest but the chance in terrain was most noticeable; from dramatic heights and low valleys to one more akin to our Cotswolds.
The area was more lush too and almost to prove the point it drizzled with rain initially!
We surprisingly came across homage to the amazing Father Maxilimilian Kohne – the Priest who volunteered to take the place of a Polish man scheduled for death by starvation by the obscene Nazis. In the end they could not kill him through lack of food and he kept everyone singing so in their frustration they injected him with a lethal dose to stop him.
Tuesday 6th – Camping du Loup, Lourdes to L’bastide d’Armagnac, Gascony Region.
Google most certainly had not got it wrong, L’bastide d’Armagnac was one of the prettiest small villages we had ever seen in France.
With a population of 692 it was the archetypal sleepy French village, but with a ever so slight, typical of France, air of superiority about it. It’s inhabitants were mostly not visible or where this was not the case slightly withdrawn.
We sadly saw a wounded pigeon taking refuge under a car which would not have lasted very long – there we a number of cats around.
Having established that the restaurant did not have the capacity to accept us for lunch (it was fast approaching 2pm) we took great delight in having cheese and wine on a bench. We had had a look around the small village but our hunger had got the better of us.
Tuesday 6th (2) -L’bastide d’Armagnac to Clerac
We looked for a stopover on our way up to see Chris and Suzie. We planed to arrive there on Saturday so have a few days to take in some more places along the way.
Debbie found a little village with an Aires on Search for Sites which is on a cycle route. On arriving, we found an area set aside for six Motorhomes beside a small lake and surrounded by trees. There were some locals fishing when we arrived.
The village has a general store, patisserie, church, museum and hotel/restaurant. We had a lovely dinner at the latter and spent the evening discussing motorhoming with an English couple who have had a house here for 15 years. They are in the process of selling up to purchase a motorhome!
Wednesday 7th – Clerac to Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
In the morning, as forecast, it rained – quite an odd experience for us!
The temperature dropped quite a bit too which was most welcome.
We waited until it had virtually stopped and embarked upon another walk around the village before setting off. We had planed on visiting the villages small museum but unfortunately, against the advertised opening times, it was closed.
On the way!
We had a lovely interesting slow journey through French small villages and town which don’t often see tourists, it was wonderful.
We had several stops for photo’s including one to investigate a newly planted vineyard. Elsie help with the investigation of course.
Arrival at Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
Upon arrival to Aubeterre-sur-Dronne we immediately gave the campsite a miss and parked on the town’s Camping Car Aires. Debbie had read a review where it was said they preferred the Aire to the site and we could see why.
Once again there was free access to water, grey and chemical waste disposal directly over the road. The French certainly have got it organised.
After re positioning the motorhome it was time to walk into the Town Centre to investigate what all the fuss is about.
Thursday 8th -Aubeterre-sur-Dronne
Woke up and became conscious that Shipston Care payments had to be made tomorrow and we may be permanently out of internet access.
Access where we were was sporadic but we did have connectivity on occasions.
We set up the payments and then had to make a personal payment on behalf of Mum Y. Payment from Tim’s account was subject to a code he could obtain not only online but but from a p.c.
So a quick call to a trusted individual who had access to Tim’s account was made and code obtained.
Finally, after breakfast, we headed back into town for a ‘proper shop’ and visit to the Tourist Information Office to get internet access and the urgent payment was made.
Our good good browse included round visiting several antique and curiosity shops to buy presents.
We had not been eating out much so lunch in the small town little square was taken. Debbie’s cheese omelette was not very good yet Tim’s cheese, tomato and onion one was excellent. A half pitcher of the local white helped out.
Friday 9th – Aubeterre-sur-Dronne to Chalais
We arrived in Chalais and located the vet in plenty of time before we were on.
We drove into the centre and parked up but have to say the place was not particularly interesting. That in combination with a number of empty shops, others run down left an overall depressed situation.
We had coffee then Tim, taking advantage of a good mobile data signal at last, uploaded photo’s to this blog. Debbie went browsing around and came back with 3 bottles of wine served by, as she reported, a dishy Frenchman!
We eventually made our way to the vets, got the job done and moved on.
Friday 9th (2) – Chalais to Dirac, Charente Department.
We set off from Chalais with the intention of finding a small village with an aires and good restaurant – when we came across Dirac it seemed to fit the bill and broadly speaking it did.
We had past the aire and then came across the restaurant which seemed a tad quirky; just the job. So we turned around and went and parked up at the village aire. A small thing taking around 6 motorhomes although there was an over-spill car park.
The restaurant was definitely quirky we discovered when we arrived later having freshened up. Opening hours commenced at 6pm but when we got there at 6.50pm they were closed. The briefest of conversations with a young Frenchman resulted in them opening immediately!
We enjoyed the meal out which was very relaxing and interesting as some French groups turned up; excellent people watching fodder!
Saturday 10th – Dirac to Chris & Susie, Availles – Limouzine.
It was good to see our old friends again, they moved to France, on a permanent basis, last year and have never looked back. The way of life suits them perfectly. It was good to discover just how well their integration to the local society was going. They have also been doing quite a lot of work on their amazing property.
Chris and Susie took us to Saint Germaine de Confolens, a place we had visited before with them to the remains of the castle.
This time we wanted to attend an event – a display of falconry.
Having seen this sort event before it was exciting to see this one, a very much more engaging event.
One of the special aspects of this performance was the Falconers getting the birds to sit on the
audiences head. It soon became Debbie’s turn. The bird was instructed who to go to and duly obliged. Debbie thoroughly enjoyed having this little wild bird on her head. The bird seemed to enjoy itself too!
It was a wonderful afternoon but by the time we got back to Chris and Susie’s home disaster – there was no time for their afternoon nap! We nevertheless soldiered on and got ready to go out. Before long, refreshed, we were back on the road to what turned out to be an excellent restaurant where we were privileged to be served the most excellent meal.
Sunday 11th – At home with the Dakins, Availles Limouzine
Monday 12th – Availles Limouzine to Saint Requier, Somme
Tuesday 13th – Saint Requier, Somme to Eurotunnel then Home
