Off we go........... May 1st 2023

After getting a nice deal with Brittany ferries in the form of an upgrade to a better bedroom we headed off down through France (bit of a rush) to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, via Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef where we stayed in our first Camping Car Aire using our pre paid card, next stop Marsilly for an over night stop on a Ostrich farm we found with France Passion.
Onward down through France to our first of many Aires close to a Petanque Piste at Saint Thomas de Carnac and then Granade Sur L'adour Camping Car Aire with Petanque Piste close by, where we managed a game with some locals, they won 13-9 we were quite happy with that result. We had a bit of an emergency back at the van where Sue managed to drop a carving knife which landed sharp end down in the top of her foot she pulled it out and the following fountain of blood was soon stemmed by applying pressure to the area.
After two nights here we moved on to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port......................................................................to be continued.

So, we reached Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port had a few lovely days before heading off over the Pyrenees. On leaving the municipal camp site I felt there was some amiss with the van so we took a little detour down the valley before heading towards the border, we had very little power and the DPF light had come on. We headed back towards S-J-P-de-P but had to pull into a layby because we lost all power. Quick phone call to Green Flag in UK resulted in a French rescue company send out a breakdown lorry to take us to a Citroen dealer Nr S-J-P-de-P who quickly established that the DPF ignition system had failed, at this point we had two options; 1 stay in our van in the garage for two nights or 2 Green flag would take us to a nice hotel..........we chose 2. At this point a taxi came and took us to a nice hotel near Bayonne where we spent a couple of relaxing days. Collected the van and spent another night in S-J-P-de-P before heading over the Pyrenees the next day........................to be continued.

Now into Spain via N-135, first night spent at an Aire on the edge of Pamplona. We had a day mooching the old part of the city and followed some of the bull run, not sure we need to go back there!! Next stop was the free aire on the outskirts of Rioseco de Soria a lovely little village sitting at just over 1009 mts, we stayed here for three nights the only nights we had to have the heating on!! we visited the village of Calatanazor, this walled town and castle, offers breath taking views of the entire valley. Traditional architecture of the Tierra de Pinares region, made of wood, adobe and stone. The split slate chimneys are another characteristic feature of these buildings.
Onward to Neuvo baztan via the so-p-4046 calling in on Fort Gormaz..............................to be continued.

Stopping off at Fort Gormaz was a great experience for us, the Castle of Gormaz is a large castle located in Gormaz, Spain. Its current structure was built in 965 to defend the borders of the Caliphate of Cordoba. At the time of its construction, it was the largest fortress in Europe and is really quite impressive even it's current state.
Moving on to Tiermes. The remains of a Celtiberian town that was crucial in the wars against the Romans, similar to Numancia. Mentioned in a multitude of Empire chronicles. Independent until the I century A. C. Thereafter Romanisation arrived. In the same place as the ruins there is also a necropolis and a Visigothic hermitage. After wandering this very Large site for a few hours we made our way to a free Aire in Neuvo Baztan which is located in a square next to Bodega Cuarto-Lote. The village and its Musuem are well worth a visit. The town was declared an Artistic-Historic Monument in 1941 and was built to house workers from the local glass factory.

Aranjuez..........................................to be continued.

We stayed on a nice campsite just outside Aranjuez , a city recommended by a friend that lives in Spain as a must visit, so we did! and we were not disappointed now we would recommend it to be visited ;-)
For centuries, the kings and queens of Spain have chosen to spend the spring months in the Palace of Aranjuez, situated in a low-lying meadow formed by the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama Rivers. Thanks to its vast, stunning gardens, Aranjuez was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in December 2001. Aranjuez has a long history, far too long for this blog but an interesting point is that The Concierto de Aranjuez was inspired by the gardens at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, the spring resort palace and gardens built by Philip II in the last half of the 16th century and rebuilt in the middle of the 18th century by Ferdinand VI. The work attempts to transport the listener to another place and time through the evocation of the sounds of nature. It seems a shame that the remembrance of this man and his music is just as the photo shows forgotten and tuck away up a side street with no upkeep!
We enjoyed the vast open spaces and the street cafes on this visit and will return for a second visit in the near future.

We move on to Guadalupe via Alcoba .............................to be continued.

The roads to Alcoba were just what I like about driving in rural Spain some straight, some dusty and winding. Alcoba is a small village in the municipality located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, it has a population of less than 650. We chose to stay here for our over night stop, we played some Petanque, ate, drank some wine and watched the sunset all on our own in this 20+ space Aire. Only interrupted by many children (around 30) going into the local swimming pool with parents, they giggled and waved at us through the wire fence that surrounds the Aire.
We had a very peaceful night and the next morning we set off for Guadalupe with spectacular views around every corner, we stopped for lunch with superb views across Embalse de la Serena, it is the second largest pocket of water in the Iberian Peninsula and the third in Europe. Completed in 1989, but started in the mid-70s by Franco within the framework of the development plans of the Badajoz plan.
We also stopped off at Player de los Calicantos for a comfort break and to check out the Petanque pistes before moving on to Camping Las Villuercas situated in the valley just below Guadalupe viaduct for a couple of nights.
The next morning we walked the pathway that runs up under the viaduct into the town, where we spent the day exploring the buildings and pathways in the town and at lunch in the square we randomly sat next to a couple from the UK who were on a guided classic/modern sports car tour of which we have an interest, during lunch many of the cars came through the square looking for their hotel a good selection of Jags, Aston Martins, Lamborghini and Ferrari. Sue visited the The shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, It has one of three Black Madonnas in Spain. The statue was canonically crowned on 12 October 1928 by Pope Pius XI with a crown designed and crafted by Father Felix Granda, and crowned in the presence of King Alfonso XIII of Spain, whilst I watched an overhead display from the Spanish air force practicing in the mountains around the area.

Onwards to Park Nacional de Monfrague..................................................................to be continued.

Heading in the general direction of Monfrague on the EX-118 we stopped off at Embalse de Valdecanes which is fed from the Tagus river, under its waters lays a Bronze Age site. After lunch we walked to Talavera la Vieja (ruinas) "The Marbles" these were moved to this point to avoid them being lost to the flooding.
We spent the night at a free aire in Serrejon and the fact it had many Petanque pistes, although neglected, allowed us to indulge in our sport that evening, again we found ourselves alone in this 20+ aire.
The next day we made our way to the Park Nacional de Monfrague and Camping Monfrague which would be our base for the next few days while Sue and I explored the area and bird watched. Griffin, Imperial eagles, Lammergeier, Black storks, Blue rock thrush and white Kites were just some of the birds spotted, this tour focused us on the fact we need better bird watching equipment!! we have now purchased a Bresser spotting scope.
After three days the weather turned extremely nasty so we packed up and headed for better weather (or so we thought).

Loriga Portugal.........................to be continued.

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With the weather in Spain being what it was we decided to cross into Portugal earlier than planned, the first night was spent at Municipal Camping Park Idanha-a-Nova and although the site on paper sounded very good we couldn't wait to leave, so the next morning we packed up and left. The site was occupied by many workers/ full timers who had turned a large area of the campsite into a ghetto and we felt uncomfortable. On leaving we had a quick look at the Barragem but this whole area is run down.
We headed for Serra da Estrela Nature Park but the weather followed us across the border and although we spent one night in a pleasant free Aire in Loriga we never got to see any of the views from this mountain, the highest in Portugal at 1993mts. We did catch a view of Praia Fluvial de Loriga on our way out of this area in search for better weather.
On our way down the N230 the weather gave us some hope and a few glimpses across the valleys as we drove towards Coimbra, unfortunately this was also wet and misty so we decided to abandon our planned route zigzagging up the Portugese/Spainish borders and headed for the coast. we found ourselves in the free Aire at Praia da Costa de Lavos on the silver coast.

The silver coast............................to be continued

Costa de Lavos, up the coast from Nazare, Yay we found some better weather so we stayed for a few days, sunshine, miles of sand and sea, a welcome break from the poor weather we had encountered further inland. The Aire is free but the water is not you have to get a Jetton or two, these are available from the café near by, if they are open. Luckily a neighbour offered us some which we replaced when the cafe was open. We relaxed and lay in the sun, drank sangria and took walks around the area before we moved on up the coast to Praia de Mira via Lagoa de Vela at Bom Sucesso for a lunch break and walk.

To be continued.......................

Lagoa de Vela........

We arrived at Praia de Mira Municipal camp site in the sun, nice flat sandy pitches with those plastic square matt things to park on and water taps between every two pitches, very convenient. We chose one looking out over the lake. Once set up we took a walk along the lake and into town for a spot of lunch. That evening we ate in the Restaurante A Cozinha, salmon for Sue and steak for me all washed down with a bottle of wine, and we can highly recommend it. The next day found us walking along the sand dune boardwalk and back along the deserted beach.
As is our want the next day we moved on up the coast to Praia Costa Nova do Prado Aveiro to look at the striped fisherman's houses known as palheiros. After a couple of hours of wandering we moved on to our next stop, a kite surfing school at Bunheiro where they have a few spots for motorhomes. We have an interest in kites as I was involved with the kite industry for over twenty years I was not involved with kite surfing but was involved with kite buggying in the early days. We spent a couple of days here enjoying the area and watching the kites coming and going. One of our walks took us to a cafe/pub called O Farol snack-tasca at the head of an inlet from the Aveiro lagoon, long walk there but we found a short walk back along an old cobbled road.

Porto our next destination......................................to be continued.




Bunheiro;

We had been told about a free park and ride at Porto by a German couple we had met on our travels so decided that while we were now well off our planned route we would visit Porto, this would be our first visit to Porto so did not know what to expect. We arrived at the Venda Nova park and ride late afternoon and were greeted by a very friendly Portuguese man by the name of Luis it seems that him and his wife live on site most of the time and have amazing local knowledge they introduced us to the metro system and they keep an eye on your van while you are away for the day "brilliant" there is fresh water and dump facilities on site. Ok it's a park and ride so during the day you may have a cars parked next to you and parking is a little tight for larger motorhomes, but it was quite and felt safe at night.
Our time visiting Porto and Gaia was really quite enjoyable, we enjoyed exploring the streets and buildings and eating out at various locations all the normal things you do when on a city break. We took a bus ride around the city and a boat ride along the Douro river and we visited a few of the port caves for tastings. Sadly we need to move on to our next location and back onto our planned route.................................Braga.

To be continued..................

We arrived at our campsite just outside Braga where Sue wanted to visit the medieval Braga Cathedral, which is home to a sacred art museum and the Gothic-style Kings' Chapel. And the imposing Archbishop’s Palace which overlooks Santa Barbara Garden. We had caught up with rainy weather again but managed a day walking around the city which was quite pleasant. After two nights we moved on to Canicada but not before a visit to Bom Jesus do Monte. The road to Bom Jesus is very windy and there is a Camping car parking area at the bottom for larger motorhomes, we decided to drive up to the top where we found plenty of parking. It was a Saturday so very busy with back to back weddings. The views from here are incredible and with sun now shining it is a delightful place for a visit, we had a cheese board lunch in the hotel before heading off to our next overnight stop near Canicada on the way to Encoro das Conchas.


To be continued.............................

We arrived at our over night stop and quickly found our pitch, Looking out over an orchard of lemon trees with the sound of water burbling down the river. Good facilities but no tumble dryer and we had a lot of washing to do. Thankfully the site owner came to our rescue, once we had done our wash in the site washing machine he took the items that would not dry by the morning and tumble dried them at his daughters house just up the road "no charge" he said.
after exploring the short walk to the water fall and a wonder around the lemon trees we settled in for the night, the next morning our freshly tumble dried clothes etc arrived neatly folded and packed into a bag he wouldn't take anything for his and his daughters kind service.
We packed up and climbed up the very steep driveway from the site onto the N304/N308-1 towards the Spanish border, we stopped for lunch and spent some time exploring the Cascata de Sao Miguel Portela do Homem in the Park Nacional Peneda-Geres where wild horses gather in the woods.
Just a stones throw from the Spanish border. Once across the border we enter Baixa Limia Serra do Xures Park Natural, with a pleasant drive down to our next stop on the banks of the Encoro das Conchas we stay stay at Camping O Corgo Muinos.


To be continued...............................

We move on after a visit to Quintela on the other side of the lake where we visit Aquis Querquernis and Romanas de Bande all very interesting and a chance to walk in the sunshine.
A quick lunch break before we head to Pont Romand do Bibei.
Onwards to Camping Bierzo at Villa Martin da la Abadia where we watch a great sunset with others staying on the site.

To be continued........................... Next we head towards Picos de Europa.

I loved this place so much I wanted to stay here for a long long time, but sadly we had to move on. The private area de autocaravanas lay's between Aleje and Valdore on the N-621 in the village of Verdiago on the banks of the Rio Esla. If you are in the area give it a go and see if you like it as much as we did. We arrived late afternoon and set up for our overnight stay, we sat out in the afternoon sun with a drink some olives and other nibbles when we were approached by a man who turned out to be the owner, we had a brief conversation our Spanish it not great! before he left a bottle of local wine was presented to us for our stay!!
After we had eaten we took a stroll around the village played some Petanque on the aires gravel surface and then settled down for the night, the road was very quite and we were the only van in the Aire so we slept very well. The next day after breakfast we had a short walk down the banks of the Rio Esla before heading off in the direction of the Picos de Europa.

To be contiued..........................

We awoke to the sounds of the Griffon vultures calling, and after a short walk along the Rio Esla we headed off in the direction of Riano on the N-621. After a picturesque drive we arrived at the bridge leading across Embarcadero Riano where we had lunch looking out across the water. From Riano we continued along the N-621 towards Alba de los Cardanas on the banks of Embalse de Camporredondo and Parque Natural Montaña Palentina. We arrived at Monte Royal campsite on the banks of the Embalse de Aguilar de Campoo in the late afternoon. Enera de Zalima, Villanueva Del Rio, Quintanilla de la Berzosa and Frontada all lay under the water here, most of the inhabitants were re located too Aguilar de Campoo.

To be continued.................in France.

Well one more stop in Spain first, we are heading to Balmaseda in the Basque country via Las Rozas de Valdearroyo on the ca-730 and Espinosa de Los Monteros where we have a short walk to explore Torre de los Velasco an abandoned Tower house. The aire in Balmaseda is modern with good facilities close to a old peoples hospital quite safe and very quite, we spent some time with the only other motorhome staying that night with some very interesting conversations.
The next day we head to the spanish coast and with an unscheduled drive through Bilbao planned by our sat nav!! we end up at Deba where we found a nice layby with views over Deba Senotia for our lunch stop.
We then push on into San Sabastian to fill up with cheap diesel before the dash to our next planned stop of Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains a place we have visited many times in the past some times in the van and sometimes in our open top car. It is our 51 wedding anniversary this weekend and we plan to have a night out with a meal but the weather had different plans, that night was some of the worst weather we had encountered on this trip with heavy downpours and continuous lightning we abandoned our plans and ate in.
The lagoon as we call is a fabulous place (in our eyes) with plenty of Petanque pistes and walks around the Lagoon to choose from, did I mention we love the place.

To be continued............................

We head off across country through Commensacq and Trensacq on the D45 to Sore, the road is long and straight with only one bend. We stopped off to look around the 14th century Castle in Villandraut with was built for Pope Clement V. we are now North East of Bordeaux.
Camping car park at Saint-Medard-Guizieres sits on the banks of river Isle close to the swimming pool and Petanque pistes. We find a nice spot among the trees looking out over the river and settle in, we enjoy the peace and quite of the site. The pistes call to us as the heat of the day starts to cool so we gather our Boule and head off for a Mene or two, there were already several games in progress, but there are plenty of empty pistes to play on.
The next day we explore the town and do some shopping, late afternoon we are enjoying a drink looking out over the river and notice one of our fellow motor homers picking buds from the tree on the other side of the fence so we ask what he is picking, his reply set us back a bit why didn't we know this!! he was picking White Mulberries and they were delicious.
Onwards towards Rouillac we stopped in on Saint-Felix to look at the church. The church is dedicated to the fifth century French bishop, Felix of Nantes.
We had booked a space in the CAMPING DE MON VILLAGE (Aire CAMPING-CAR PARK) in Rouillac, a very modern Aire next to the Petanque park. It is from here we planned to visit Angouleme.

To be continued in Angouleme............................

Angouleme.................not sure!! we had wanted to visit here for some time, we would have liked to have visited when the Circuit des Remparts was on but we are never in France at that time of the year ;-(. We will have to visit again sometime, it was just too hot and the best thing that happened while we were there was I got a good haircut in a back alley Coiffeur. We are sure there is lots to do and see but the visit just did not inspire, from the lack of parking to what seemed a high charge for the bus ride and the run down appearance to the what seem dodgy back alleys. We will do some more research on the city and revisit.
Back at Rouillac we found a Petanque tournament under way so we grabbed a drink and sat, watched and talked to some of the players, it had cooled off a bit and sitting in the shade watching Petanque was a great end to a mixed bag type of day.
We head towards the Loire via Essouvert and Argentonnay, on the edge of La Benate close to Essouvert we find a quite shaded location for lunch next to a well/pumping house on a deserted lane "perfect". From here we wander our way to, Site de la salette Argentonnay. Here there were plenty of trees for shade on this very hot day and with our aircon now failing every bit of shade was welcome and with great views across the river L'ouere we stayed for a while.
By the time we reach our nights stopover we are exhausted from the heat, we are greeted to Chateau De Bellevue by its owner who on seeing our predicament of no aircon he guides to a shaded parking place away from the usual France Passion parking arrangements, we are alone in an outcrop of trees near to the vines "we love it" and as instructed once we have cooled down and changed we go back to the Chateau for a personal wine tasting. More than usual photos of this beautiful stop over.

Quiberon beckons................................

Now we crack on after a lazy start to the day at Chateau de Bellevue and another tasting, I only tried non alcoholic wine !!
We have had a message from friends from our car club that they are in Quiberon and the friends they have been with are leaving and so there is a place for us in the camp site next to them, the management of the camp site are happy to hold the space for us until we get there. Camping les Joncs du Roch is a pleasant campsite with swimming pool, win the past we have used the aire on the savage coast or the camp site directly behind the aire, so it is new to us. We arrive and find our place next to our friends. The site is next to the Aerodrome where skydiving is a daily event. The days roll past as we take leisurely walks to the local beach and Port Haliguen. We now have a message from friends back in Cornwall they are un-route to Dover and are coming down to see us !!? our car club friends are leaving to return to Kent so we make the same arrangements with the management to keep a place for our Cornish friends, they drive all day to reach us!! we do more walking, exploring and riding in La Petite Train for another week with our friends and their dog "Sadie". We find a nice walk to the shops that has a kio Carp pond where the locals leave feed for them and we also discover that the aerodrome has a very nice bar/cafe.


It is time to move on.............................More friends are on the horizon.

We leave Quiberon with heavy hearts only lightened by the fact we are going to visit friends of many years, they have recently moved and we are excited to see the new to them house they have bought to renovate. We don't need to travel far to see them, they are in a small village near Chateauneuf-du-Faou with views of Domaine de Trevarez (The Red Chateau). They have recently been given house numbers by the Marie there house is number 2 this must have seemed important to the Marie and saved a lot of confusion in this the village of 4 houses!!! Because the house is in the middle of restoration we set up our van in their drive and got to know there dog so it would not try to eat us every time we came out of the van. In the evening we head off to La Chaland Restaurant on the banks of L'Aulne river close to Le Pont du Roy, the river is 89 miles long and is part of canal de Nantes a Brest. We wined and dinned outside in the warmth of the setting sun, oh bliss, good food, good wine and great company, our journey is nearly at an end.
the next day we explore the area around the village with a walk around their property, eight acre's of woodlands and open land with a stream running down one side in the evening we play sequence, drink wine, eat delicious home grown food and get entertained by their dog and it's antics!
We are booked on the ferry for an afternoon crossing, so a slow start packing up the van, breakfast and a light lunch after some more local walking. We say our goodbye's and head for Roscoff. We will be back home in Cornwall by the evening.

Thanks for following our latest adventure.................................