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!

Non moving post

Well, a few days on and we're enjoying a "non moving" time.
We had the weekend entertainment of the local husky mushing event...as spectators...this time....they include canicross entries with the arrangements...and as Gary said...if he's known...he and Maddie could have run it! With Bikejor as well, I reckon I could have managed it on a bike with Wings!

So I took some photos and chatted, who knows if we decide to come back again at the same time of year...we'll get in touch....

Since then the campsite has got a lot quieter...just us and one other motorhome. Excellent for us, but not sure about the business viability on that level of occupancy. They did also have the bar/restaurant open at the weekend (lunchtime) and some cyclists appeared for lunch.

We've been quietly walking, reading, pottering and generally not doing much for a few days. Thank goodness we've got the dogs or we might not get any exercise at all! I can't imagine not having the Tollers to make us go out for walks at least twice a day...we'd noticed this at other places....where campers who don't have animals with them seem to hardly move from their pitches...neither of us can imagine being so inactive!

We also went on a trip over to Corrubedo + lighthouse. The place looked like another "winter ghost town", but nice views all the way north to Finisterre from the lighthouse. Where as well as a good walk for all of us, there were a few local lunatics climbing down the rocks to go sea fishing...I just hoped they knew the local tide times!

Eagles, Dolphins and Huskies

Friday 1 March

Well, a few days missing …due to technical problems….error messages in Italian (due to our using an Italian sim card to get internet access cheaply across Europe). Actually the week hasn’t really been “missing” it’s been an internet free zone in our motorhome…no bad thing occasionally!

To catch up from my last post…. We’re now in northern Spain on a campsite for a week, prebooked – to do the domestic stuff, receive mail from England, to stop the endless travelling and to recharge our batteries. Having arrived on the site today with some trepidation (what if we didn’t like it? Or worse it had some problem like processionary catepillars or no dog walking)….but it’s a gem. Even better it’s got good wifi and when we arrived one other occupant…another English van. By this evening we’ve discovered that they are hosting a Husky racing weekend and the first lot of howling excited Husky’s have arrived, so a bit noiser than earlier….but it looks like we’ll have a spectator sport to enjoy watching. Funny, I’d never got around to going and watching the racing in Dorset when they came to Verwood Forest every year, each time I’d meant to go…but something or another had got in the way. Now it looks like the racing has come to us!

Ok, what happened this week with travelling….We left the scenic hills near Rio Caldo, great drive down winding valley roads (me grinning, Gary had his eyes shut for some of it!)….to Vila Nova de Cerveria. What initially thought didn’t look too promising an Aire, right beside the railway…turned into a great place to stop and moved up to one of our “gold” ratings as somewhere we plan to return to on another trip!

 

 

 

From the Portugese side of the River Minho we drove on northwards crossing the border into Spain. We then tracked out onto one of the peninsulas along the coast and had lunch at Bueu (we really couldn’t decide how this should be pronounced). Lunchtime highlight on the pier was dolphin watching – Gary spotted two dolphins about 30m out. There’s  nothing quite like watching spectacular wildlife, that we’ve found ourselves, from the comfort of our own van!

We moved on looking for another Aire as there wasn’t a blade of grass anywhere near the pier (so no good for the Tollers), only to draw another blank trying to follow directions. After a hair-raising reverse down a steep hill, we decided to abandon that particular headland and drive to the next Aire northbound. This meant shifting about 60miles to get around the bay, to a place called O Grove – which is an out of season “trendy” upmarket resort. After a look at the town we camped up at Lanzara Beach…and enjoyed a night in glorious isolation in a car park for about 400 vehicles. It could have been a airport runway!

That brings us forward to Friday, when we made it to our prebooked site and then spent the afternoon recovering….catching up on internet stuff, and sunbathing in shorts and skimpy tops again. As the evening progressed more and more Husky teams arrived. Not sure how spectating will pan out….with our gundogs feeling more than a bit out of place….quiet, non-pulling, and old enough not to get too excited about much these days……

 Heading back into this week, while I hadn't posted on here, I had made notes....

Monday morning amusement at Pardihlo….as we’re getting up and I’m in the shower, Gary spots (presumably) a local cycling down towards the marina past our solitary van on the Aire. He gawps at the English van…and crosses himself as he continues cycling! Honestly we’re not some spawn of the devil, nor is the van dripping blood….

After getting dressed I took the Tollers out for their morning romp in the cold but glorious sunshine. It was a lovely crisp morning, in places a hint of frost on the open ground, but even at about 8.30am it was starting to warm up in the sunshine. There weren’t too many footpaths leading anwhere so I exercised the dogs with nosework and retrieving….only to chuck Wings’s ball down the pathway beside the cobbled road….hit the lampost and the ball ricocheted off into a beautiful arc….landing with a splash in what looked like a gully. I blew my gundog whistle and W sat down like a good un. I told him to wait while I had a look down into the gully…..there’s me thinking “I’ll just check to see how steep the banks are …before I let him get it”….as I walked forward I heard water flowing, and got there to see a fast flowing drainage ditch, about 2 meters deep…and his ball rapidly disappearing out into the marshes and estuary. I didn’t let him go after it, definitely not worth it for an old tennis ball! So I threw him another marked retrieve and told him “gone away” on that one, which it had literally. I don’t like losing items I’ve thrown – but if I tried to do that again (hit the lampost) I could spend months trying!

Within half an hour we were sat having breakfast in the sunshine when out from the same area at the edge of the marshes…popped a small bird, up onto the brambles on the other side of “that” gully. It sat there long enough for us both to get a look with our binoculars (doesn’t everyone have breakfast outside with binoculars to hand?)…and me to start saying “that’s not one I know”…Luckily we have a good bird ID book with us (Larousse for anyone interested), and confirmed it was a Sardinian Warbler. A first for both of us, and not a bad “swop” for the tennis ball in a weird sort of way.

Reluctantly….I mean, how is it…we’re on a 12 week holiday and we still don’t seem to have enough time to enjoy /explore places!! Reluctantly, after breakfast we had to set off – but Pardihlo is definitely on the list of places to return to and spend a bit more time at! We needed to get some more miles under our belts heading northwards if we are to make it to our booked campsite by the end of this week. We have arranged to be in one place at a campsite on the north western coast of Spain for a week – while we have a couple of parcels being sent out from England. It had seemed like a good idea, but now it feels like it’s adding a deadline to our meanderings. Fingers crossed it’ll be worth it once we’re there.

We decided to brave the toll motorways – but restricted ourselves to those with manned toll booths rather than the electronic ones (we made enquiries about getting the right sticker for the van, and it was going to be too complicated for just a few days), and so headed north around Porto. Only one idiot driving a white van rattled my confidence, which could have happened anywhere but it was a near miss as I swerved out of the way. Porto motorways not on the list for places to return to!

We arrived at Celorico de Basto up in the hills in time for a late lunch. We’re outnumbered at the campsite – one other caravan camping, us versus several staff members. Gary booked in and threw four of them into confusion about what to do entering English details onto the computer. Seems that they don’t get many English visitors. The sun shone all afternoon, the washing got done and dried,  Wings and Maddie have been playing chase around the pitch (no point in worrying about keeping them on lead with hardly anyone else around). Feels like the overnight temperature will be low again – but this time there is the excuse that we’re quite high up in the hills.

Tuesday morning we left the campsite in another morning of glorious sunshine, but definite nip in the air – no shorts today, fleeces stayed on! Almost from the moment we left the village the van was in third gear climbing hills and Gary audibly breathing in as we rounded the narrow bends…sometimes due to the drop off’s /views and other times the oncoming locals who clearly knew the roads (or leastways we think they did!).

 

Pull over at lunchtime was on top of a ridge of hills, the ubiquitous wind farm in view (starting about a mile away), but equally breathtaking panoramic views including even snow capped mountains in the far distance. The highlight had to be that I spotted a raptor circling in the thermals and then established (with the help of bins and Larousse) that it was a Booted Eagle! If that wasn’t enough within twenty minutes another eagle had glided past the van coming over the ridge, a lot closer and this time an immature Golden Eagle.

That was quite a good bolster fo r the afternoon drive, which turned out to be just as well. We thought we were being clever – having studied the road map as well as Tom (the Sat-nav)…..we thought we were avoiding the unpaved roads…..our alternative route started out fine, more little villages and pretty views…then we turned a corner and found that we were on the ancient block roads. They aren’t really cobbles, and they’re not really dirt tracks, more like roman roads /paviours – but not so straight or even! Slow down to second gear and less than twenty miles an hour….judder, judder.

It looked like it would “only” be a mile until we picked up another N road (equivalent to a British B road – maybe!), but it felt like quite a bit more. The other thing about these old roads, is that they narrow between farm buildings, village houses alarmingly (Gary was actually running his hands through his hair at one point)….and they didn’t worry about slopes ….after all why would you if you were building for horses?

We made it back onto real roads both wilting with relief, and then carrried on towards Rio Caldo. Again, on the map it had looked innocent enough, but it turned out to be a descent into a valley – dropping down about 150 meters to a dammed lake and village. Scenic hairpin bends with a gradient of about 1 in 5 in places.

Our overnight stop at the viewpoint was worth it, and with some map studying we have decided not to retrace our steps out of this valley, but to follow the river valley westwards.