The Marrakesh Express

[garry55]

Where were we?
Ah yes - we left El Pinet and after a lengthy, tedious motorway journey, arrived at Camping Natura Park in Los Olivios de Xivert. My idea of motorhome hell, we were parked in the ACSI bays near the entrance gate, about half a mile (slight exaggeration) from the toilet and shower block. The town itself is as dull as dishwater, it's only redeeming features being the church (it has the highest bell tower in all of the Comunidad de Valencia) and the tapas bar we found.
Glad to leave just about sums it up.

 

[garry55]

Next stop- Sant Celoni, north of Barcelona, south of Girona. We got the last of the 7 dedicated motorhome parking spots on the train station car park. The trains stop at 22:30, but a heavy goods train thunders by at 04:00 every morning. A small price to pay for a free parking spot that has grey, black and fresh water facilities, is very close to the town and the train station. And is free.
It's a lovely town, with a Baroque church with a stunning facade, plenty of shops and bars and a wonderful restaurant that does a bargain menu del dia for 14 euros a head. We stayed for 2 nights, on the second day we took the train into Barcelona (it's a RENFE service so dogs are allowed) and had a great day wandering the back streets of the Gothic quarter, avoiding the tourist traps.

 

[garry55]

Another boring motorway drive took us to Millay, famous for it's Sir Norman Foster designed viaduct. We have already driven over it twice when we last stayed in Millay. This time we booked onto a campsite outside Millau, in the suburb of Creissels. Camping St Martin nestles at one end of the gorge and is an idyllic, peaceful site with immaculate facilities and generous sized plots.
We walked up the side of the gorge to a vantage point way above the town that afforded us an unspoilt view of the viaduct. One of the best sites that we have stayed on so far.

 

[garry55]

And today? Another lengthy motorway drive through some lovely scenery - hill top villages, snow- covered mountains and lush, verdant countryside - to the little village of Deux Chaises, where we are staying on the municipal camping area. EHU, good sized plots, black and grey waste points and fresh water for 12 euros a day. It's a typically small, rural French village with a nice church and a Relais restaurant on the main road that serves a lovely Saison brown beer - very Trappist in flavour, if not ABV!

 

[guy b]

Followed your route a couple of days ago up through Todra gorge, Agiufal and then down to Dades. Some of the best scenery we’ve seen in Morocco so far and the off road section was nowhere near as bad as it’s made out to be.
Some of the feral kids in the mountain villages were a bit of a pain tho
Thanks for sharing your travels, loved following it
Guy

Www.rufusdoeseurope.co.uk

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[garry55]

Followed your route a couple of days ago up through Todra gorge, Agiufal and then down to Dades. Some of the best scenery we’ve seen in Morocco so far and the off road section was nowhere near as bad as it’s made out to be.
Some of the feral kids in the mountain villages were a bit of a pain tho
Thanks for sharing your travels, loved following it
Guy

Www.rufusdoeseurope.co.uk

The climb up to the Atlas mountains from the Todra Gorge remains one of my all time favourites road trips. Glad you enjoyed it!

 

[garry55]

Fed up of boring motorways, we removed the option from our sat nav and set off to our next stop at Clamecy, just 100 miles away. 3 hours later, we arrived at Camping Municipal du Pont Picot, a lovely campsite that is sandwiched between a river and a canal. We walked the 800 metres along the canal towpath into the town which has a splendid church and a lovely old quarter. And a great kebab shop!

 

[garry55]

Today, another 100 miles on rural back roads got us to our next stop at Camping de Sezanne, a lovely municipal site just a 20 minute walk from the town centre. All the facilities are present and exceptionally clean and tidy. Its cost us 15 euros for the day with ehu.