It's cold up north

More motoring northwards means that we’re now on the Opal Coast near to Boulogne and heading towards England after the Easter holidays. Due to the need to sort out property we’re signing off this part of the blog….as we’ll be around and about in the UK for a while (well, we’re anticipating that anyways….).

From the Brenne we returned to Le Cormier campsite run by Welsh Mike and Cath. It’s a lovely site and they do look after their guests well….I think we may become regulars….just like the couple who they were expecting on their way south and return ….to Lordes….we did wonder if the “cure” worked…or why do they keep repeating the same trip? No, mustn’t ask!

From there we stopped off at Montoire sur le Loir…the alternative to La Loire (the bigger well known river)….the aire was at the old railway museum…the place had links back to the second World War as a staging post for transportation and a visitation from Hitler himself!

Fascinatingly within a 60 mile shift northwards the weather changed! Out with the hats and gloves, thermal layers needed. A cold northerly biting wind and well below freezing at night. We put the heating on and made more promises to ourselves that avoiding the winter weather is on the cards for another year!

Then it was on to Pont-de- l’Arche near Rouen…which was an officially signed Aire, but not listed in the allegedly offical book. There was a sign up saying maximum four camping cars, and the Council had built a new feature in the middle of the carpark….It was a lovely spot, literally overlooking the Seine, near to the old town…..and when we stopped there were eleven vans….me thinks they had previously been over-run, had themselves removed from the guidebook and were trying to discourage motorhomers! In the morning before 9am, there were a couple of official looking men trying to move some of the vans which were blocking carparking spaces….thankfully we were occupying the last available of the four official bays…as my French is definitely not up to explaining that I can’t leave until my husband and dogs return from their morning walk!

Northwards, ever northwards to the Normandy coast and Berck. We found an Aire beside the sand dunes and walks along the miles of sandy beaches. We’re definitely in holiday zone/time, as this time there were 28 vans on the Aire….and it seemed many of them unpacking land yachts. Not the smartest place we’d stayed and with a unkempt caravan in the corner with a pack of what looked like feral felines….well, Berck was ok. Brilliant if you like cold windy beach walks, people cockling in the distance, and then more people either walking the dog or tacking up horses for a gallop on the sands…..at least the sun was shining…an unexpected bonus.

Next stop Equihen Plage Aire….bit of a misnomer as there’s no beach….but there are nice sea views from the van….we’re in a bit of a Belgian enclave…surrounded by nine Belgian registered motorhomes. 

One happy tricolour Toller.....just about sums up her views on this long holiday!

 

 

Wowed in Millau

We had last weekend travelling, partly due to the poor weather…it’s been showery and was then misty/foggy….combine this with our plans to head back to England after Easter (to look for property!)…and the flexibility that motorhoming allows.

 

We’ve been wowed in Millau – the viaduct was quite something, seen snow covered mountains that we weren’t really expecting and covered a few hundred kilometers northwards.

 

We’re now in the Brenne National Park near to the Loire valley for a few days, and the weather is back to blue sky and sunshine. Temperature wise it’s nowhere near as warm as further south, but pleasant at (we guess) 15C.

We are aware that Easter is around the corner, as there are definitely more French motorhomers out and about – so we know it’s Easter holiday time! So, we wish you a Happy Easter...and we'll remember to put the clocks forward...but we're opting not to "do" Easter eggs this year!

Call girls, Coypu, and Cowpox

 

The weather was so nice – what we think of typical Midi weather – blue skies, warmth, 23C in the sunshine….we spent a couple of days at Fanjeaux in teeshirts just chilling and exploring the lanes and village.  The bonus wildlife view was watching a treecreeper close up feeding and singing on the trees alongside the van!

Aside from the weather and history, Fanjeaux stands out for the hilltop views – to the distant snow covered peaks of the Pyrenees, and across the plains of the Midi…beautiful and dramatic seeing the weather rolling in….all the indicators are that the weather is changing. Mind, the news from England seems to indicate that a bit of cloud and a few degrees lower temperature means we’ve got off lightly…so far!

We drove eastwards – aiming for a campsite on the banks of the Canal du Midi, another world heritage site! The site is at Villeneuve le Beziers (or Bezier Newtown), and while taking the non-toll road north east from Narbonne we saw another sight new to both of us. Friday lunchtime and it seems this road is an established “call girl alley” with ladies of what looked like immigrant heritage, loitering at every layby, track, and junction. We lost count after about twenty. My view is it’s a sad insight into todays society that the rural agriculture (mainly vineyards) seems to be worked by the older generation…and the youngsters prefer to earn a quick buck, better not get me started……

Moving swiftly onwards, we arrived at the Canalside campsite – functional, small pitches (we wouldn’t fancy it if it was full in high season), and went for a walk along the towpath. Lots of boats being lived in, an English narrowboat (with British waterways sticker on)….and a coypu swimming towards us. No wonder the Tollers were sniffing everywhere, don’t think they’ve ever smelt Coypu before. Another first for all of us!

 

Also trying to decide if our dogs have had cowpoxes…..

In the Midi and Pink

We stayed at Camping Florida at Elne on Sunday night – the best that can be said is that is was functional and gave us the opportunity to recharge + do the washing! We then moved on towards the coast….and Flamingos! We had read that some of the Camargue Flamingos overwinter at some of the etangs nearer to the Pyrenees and it turns out this isn’t a myth.

We headed to Peyriac de Mer and just had to stop when we spotted a group of nine birds…quickly grabbing the camera I hopped out to get some pictures while grinning and pinching myself. The wind was blowing and the birds were sheltering from the cold sharp mountain air rushing across the etangs, but they were Flamingos!

 

The Aire at Peyriac was lovely, and within walking distance of the etangs – or for Gary and the youngsters, running distance. They went for an early morning run instead of a walk, Skye and I took the camera out again the next morning, and sure enough as the wind had dropped there were more birds….

We spent a bit of time wandering along boardwalks to the village, admiring the birdlife…which included a bit of impromptu tolling from Wings….as the local ducks clearly were following the script about ducks being easy to toll IF the predator isn’t in hunting mode. He makes it look easy, but getting any dog to completely ignore the birds approaching is something!

 

 

When we thought we were leaving the Flamingos and heading northwards, we drove along the road between the sea and the etangs…and almost around every bend we saw more and more birds….Flamingos in the water, and Eagles floating on the thermals overhead! We reckon we saw about 400+ Flamingos, and probably 10 birds of prey (not all identified).

From the coast we headed inland aiming to get to Carcassonne, after stopping overnight at an Aire in the village of Villeneuve-Minervois. Nice quiet Aire until the army veterans had a gathering at the village hall, complete with music, marching and flag waving, luckily they finished fairly soon after!

Then we spent Wednesday at the medieval city of Carcassonne, which was a bit touristy but still amazing and full of history about the Cathars and the Languedoc region. If I explain that in the designated carpark there were 14 coaches and only 10 motorhomes – you get the picture. As the coaches appeared to be parties of teenage school kids we wondered if educating them about the historical significance of the town and famous siege is part of their national curriculum.

Still in Cathar country we moved on to Fanjeaux, another hilltop medieval village, but this time on a much smaller scale than the impressive Carcasssonne.

Surrealism and hairpins

After a  scenic mountain drive, we spent last night at Figueres….at another Aire or permitted parking place in a hypermarket carpark. We weren’t alone there were three vans of various nationalities. I say various, as there seemed to be a rotation of vans! No sooner had one departed than another arrived, but in our 24hrs there we didn’t see more than three at any one time.

We had spotted Figueres as a likely stop off, as it was on the way around the east end of the Pyrennees…and while we loved the view of the mountains, with extensive snow on view at the higher altitudes, we didn’t want to venture up there. The other attraction of what turned out to be quite a large town rather than the smaller villages/places we’d been enjoying….was the Salvador Dali museum. We’d both heard of it, and basically we were both blown away by it…fascinating and well worth a visit.

After lunch we decided to head for our next campsite stopover – needing to catch up on washing and get some more fresh water. This meant we were heading for Elne, over the border in France. After our immersion in all things Dali we decided to drive round the coast road via Cap de Creus. Our first view of the Mediterranean this trip….another sea! Breathtakingly beautiful, freaky hairpin bends, narrow roads, vineyards needing  walls to make the terraces the hills were that steep. Definitely a “high concentration” drive!

Look closely and spot more and more loops of the road and tunnel.....

Disconcertingly along this road…many of the vineyards had stalls where people could stop for free wine tasting. This concerned both of us…..encourage people to drink and drive ….on this road?? 

Catalonian Sunshine

Thursday we took another of those decisions to move aiming to outrun the bad weather that was/is sweeping Europe. We left the campsite at Haro, and spent a good bit of the journey making bad jokes about not saying “hallo in Haro” ….while the snow had turned to rain and thank goodness was warm enough at that altitude not to be freezing….

The whether the weather would improve  joke version showed how much we are trying not to get stressed out. We took our tried and tested route of staying off the beaten tourist trail and headed for an Aire – information from the Lpaca.org website (deciphering /translating from Spanish!)….this seems to be a goldmine and used by the “locals”….This Aire was at Tamerite de Literia, and turned out to be beside a sports complex on the ridge of a line of hills overlooking the plains. The view was amazing and with clearing skies a vast distance….

Our only hiccup was not realising that the longtitude and more relevantly the latitude coordinates had changed from west of the Greenwich meridian to east….once we’d spotted this then it was easy to find.

Leaving in more glorious warm sunshine, we chanced upon a new motorway…leading and from virtually nowhere, not another vehicle in sight (either direction) for miles, and then it suddenly stopped. Anyone run out of money? And it had us shaking our heads wondering why it was built in the first place, and then wondering what on earth the Spanish make of English roads. That motorway could do with being transported to a sort out a few bottlenecks we could think of!

We’re now travelling along south side of the Pyrennes, roughly parrallel heading East. We had intended to go further up into Basque country – but have chickened out due to the massive snow covered mountains that are keeping us company in the distance on our lefthand side as we head along the plains….which look almost like the classic TV badlands of spagetti western fame!

Next stop Calaf, as the driver (me) didn’t feel inclined to rush onwards now the weather is back to our “winter sunshine” requirements. We were driving along what looked on the map and sat nav systems as a normal A road, but it’s been upgraded to motorway. Brand spanking new! Great to drive on…I wonder where they found the money??

 

On the road again

We ended up having 11 nights “off” travelling for want of a better term, based at Rio de Arosa campsite. This was set up to be a base for us to have a parcel sent out from England and to give us respite from continual motion (this is our first long holiday, and there were a lot of elements we weren’t sure about…being a bit anxious about the unknown and wondering if we’d like it).

This started off with great weather and a few days of warm sunshine, great for chilling and a bit of exploring. Then we realised that we needed to nail down an adaptor for the gas tank to be sent from England – so parcel number two was a telephone order set in motion, and bound to take a few more days. The campsite was quite out of the way, and the receptionist told us that the postman only delivered when it was worth him coming out!

With the end of our week approaching we saw the weather forecast (and then the actual weather) deteriorate…to heavy, thundery showers for several days with weather system after system rolling in from the Atlantic.  Combine this with the attraction of the wifi….and Crufts being streamed live on Youtube and we decided to sit tight over the weekend and while away the time. With electric hookup despite getting repeatedly wet walking the Tollers we weren’t exactly uncomfortable…but it’s the first spell of inclement weather we’ve had while we’ve been away, and we’ve got out of the habit!

That brought us to last weekend, when our next entertainment arrived in the form of a Porsche gathering at the campsite. Amusingly the  15+ cars turned out to belong to the owners son and his friends! Clearly the youngsters are making money somehow! We were still waiting for our second parcel to arrive…. By Tuesday morning we were champing at the bit and waiting for the postman. Thankfully he did come out and deliver our adaptor – and even better it fits!

The other thing that has cropped up in the last few days which has distracted us from this blog….well, how to put it ….we’re now really homeless! With a huge amount of regret we’ve pulled out of building a new house at the plot near Scalloway. As more pieces of the jigsaw were coming together the whole thing was periously close to blowing our budget and becoming a potential black hole with money flowing into it and no hope of ever being a reasonably safe financial equation. The tipping point came when there was a “ransom” request for an unspecified amount to gain access to utility connections which formed part of the planning consent. As we hadn’t reached a “point of no return” on it, we decided it was prudent to cut our losses and not follow on blindly up a path which was disappearing with £ signs underfoot.

Net result is that we’ve spent an inordinate amount of time over the last few days trawling the internet to try and find/decide on what to do next! The one thing we can be certain of at this point ….is that we’re cash buyers and will have to get something underway this summer! So, if we’re a bit distracted, well……we have an excuse!

Having left Galacia and driven to A Rua yesterday to spend a night on the aire beside the lake, we awoke this morning to snow covered hills around the town….which was a bit of a shock. Even with the showers at the campsite it hadn’t been cold….Today’s drive has been following the motorways eastwards….and with sunshine we thought, Yay, we’ve escaped the Atlantic fronts….only to find the motorway led up over the Mountains of Leon and the pass was at 4000ft….and snow on the ground!

And as I sit and write this on our pitch at Haro campsite....there's snow falling.....we weren't expecting this....and have now looked at the weather forecast again....and will be sticking to the motorways for driving for the next couple of days....as they are doing a really great job of keeping them completely free of snow!