George! & Bernadette!

We set off this morning from Oliva with our two trusty guides, George & Bernadette, heading for Bolnuevo, near Mazarron. We left the campsite and they couldn't agree and indicated we should go in opposite directions. This isn't unusual and they usually sort themselves out in a couple of miles and agree on the general direction. Today, though, was different. Very different. We knew we had to head toward Alicante so ignored their advice to the contrary and headed off in that direction, however, the constant screaming from the pair of them had us heading back to our starting point. Several times. Then we went "off road". I'll spare you the full story but we wasted an hour this morning before we ignored the pair of them and set off in the direction we had chosen in the first place. If they don't sort themselves out soon we're going back to the maps!!

Thus our three and a half hour journey was considerably longer than expected but we eventually arrived at our destination. A Campsite we stayed on last year which we realy liked; long sandy beach, shops, bars and restaurants within walking distance and a ten minute bus ride to the local town. When we arrived last time we were given a map of the site with all the available pitches indicated and we could choose from plenty of places. This time the site is rammed and we were lucky to get a pitch at all! Last time all the facilities, water, electric, grey waste disposal were on the pitch. This time we just have electricity and have to carry water and waste water. Grrrhh! Anyway it's a nice site and we'll only be here a couple of days to wash and dry some clothes before we head off to Almeria. Tucked up as we are in a corner of the site we have no free wifi but I'm heading off soon to the reception area to post this.

No photos from where we are today but here's one from where we were last night and this morning, I guess you could call this motorhome city!

 

 

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De-luxe Campsite at Oliva

Tonight we are parked up in Oliva, a little south of Valencia and we are back in orange country. From north of Valencia and away past Alicante and beyond you drive past mile upon mile of orange groves. Some have been harvested now, some are being harvested as we drive past and some are, you guessed it, waiting to be harvested. Of course they're not all oranges; there are Satsumas, Clementines, Mandarins and a fruit that is, apparently, unique to the Valencia district that I've forgotten the name of. The remarkable thing,and we noticed this last year, is the amount of fruit lying in the ground. We reckon 10/15% of the crop drops to the ground and rots. However I'm not an orange farmer and I guess these guys know what they're doing. We went for a stroll this evening and managed to catch a Satsuma or Mandarin JUST as it was falling from the tree. Very sweet and juicy it was too.

We didn't shake the tree, honest!

 

It's a de-luxe campsite we are staying on. We know this 'cos the receptionist had an attitude, they're charging us €18.00 a night and the electricity is metered. If we go over 4Kw they'll charge us extra. It's also pretty de-luxe because it has a beach to die for. Mile after mile of really clean soft sand. Even at the height of the holiday season I reckon you would still find a nice spot here and have room for a game of rounders. A bit like Bamburgh really. But with warm sunshine in January.

 

There's a small shop outside the campsite and we called there this evening to buy some veg.

"Where you from?" asked the owner.

"England" we said.

"Where in England?" he enquired.

"Bingley". Blank look. "Bradford" furrowed brow. "Leeds".

"Ahhh LEEDS" followed by some arm waving and foot shuffling suggesting that LUFC was his favorite English football club. Turned out that in a former life he had been a long distance lorry driver delivering all over England. "I deliver Oranges - Birmingham, Manchester, London, Brighton, Leeds, Edinburgh, everywhere." Having tasted the fruit here and in England I reckon he used to deliver the 10/15% that drops to the floor 'cos I never tasted an orange in England that tasted as sweet as that one we caught falling to the ground this evening.

Another reason this is a de-luxe site is the quality of motorhomes parked up here. The guy opposite is never going to miss an episode of anything. Check out the TWO sat dishes.

 

We used the toll roads again today and I have to say it's pretty boring. Tomorrow we are heading for Bolnuevo, near Mazarron and the journey time is not much longer if we avoid the tolls so that's the way we will go tomorrow. We need a supermarket top up and they're easy to find if we're not on the motorway. We have a bit of a routine when we are travelling, leave the campsite or parking place, find a bread shop, buy a baguette and two croissant and head off. After an hour we stop, brew a pot of coffee and have that with the croissant. The days when we can't find a bread shop are a disaster! Anyway we can usually find more scenic places to stop than a motorway service station car park and we avoid the tolls too.

Finally, for you folk showing concern - we've stopped cleaning the van! I know it was spick and span in St Etienne but we had two days of rain and a dust storm so it really needed a spruce up and we need to keep it clean. It's our HOME!

 

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Still in Cambrils

We decided to stay and have a chill out day today in Cambrils. It didn't quite work out like that as the campsite here has a motorhome wash facility so we've washed the van and cleaned the inside, she's gleaming! All this took time and we've had a late lunch and the sun is going down again and it's getting a bit chilly although probably nothing like as cold as it is back in the UK eh?

I'm typing this lying in a hammock. My daughter Claire bought it for me a few years ago and I've never used it before but there are a couple of ideally positioned trees next to our pitch and so Harry the Hammock is getting his first outing and very comfortable he is too. You'll notice he's pretty close to the ground but I'm sure as I gain more confidence I'll be swinging high. In fact, I've just had to raise it up a bit 'cos a certain part of my anatomy was grazing the ground.

The other job we did today was tidy up the garage (that's the boot to you non-motorhomers) when we first bought the van we put our few belongings inside and they used to roll about as we drove along. Now we struggle to fit everything in! We emptied it and replaced everything and there's nothing we don't need, or might need. Table, chairs, water containers, tool kit, wheel ramps, hoses, cables, spare boots and shoes, fold-up barbecue, windscreen cover, awning screen and, of course, a hammock.

So, tomorrow we'll continue our journey and we're heading to a campsite on the other side of Valencia. It's right on the beach so we're hoping the weather stays kind for us and we can maybe dip our toes in the sea.

 

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The Three Kings

We are parked up on a campsite at Cambrils near Tarragona on the Costa Daurada. An uneventful drive here with a stop for LPG and diesel had us here by mid afternoon. We used the toll motorway today, the first time we have used them in Spain and they are much cheaper than in France. A bit boring but it saved us an hour on our journey time. A quick bite to eat and we set off to explore the town as the sun was setting.

 

As we strolled along the beach toward town we noticed a lot of families heading in the same direction and assumed they were out for a Sunday evening promenade but as we got nearer to the port it was obvious that something was happening this evening. We walked around to look at the fishing boats and noticed folk clambering aboard three of them which were decorated with bunting and there was a real feel of excitement in the air. The boats chugged off without any lights and we walked back to the harbour front which by this time was absolutely packed with people waiting for something.

 

At seven o'clock all the street lights went out to much oohing and aahing and as the excitement built suddenly the sky lit up with a short, but impressive firework display.

 

 

As the fireworks finished we heard the sound of boat's foghorns and everyone turned to the quayside to see the three fishing boats returning with flares lighting them up and a King in each prow. It really was a sight to see. There were thousands of people lining the quayside and it looked like every child in Spain was there tonight. The Kings descended from the boats with their entourage and threw sweets into the crowd. Then they disappeared for a few moments before reappearing on their carriages and as they drove past sweets were flying through the air and children were scrambling around at our feet seeing who could get most into the carrier bags they had brought for the purpose. The kings drove past and we assumed that was the end of the fun. We wandered off further down the road but the crowd showed no signs of dispersing. We came back a few minutes later and that's when the parade started! Girls in traditional dress on horseback led the way followed by a series of floats with a King on every fourth of fifth one; all the time sweets were raining down upon us and skidding all over the pavement.

 

So what started out for us as an evening stroll was an unexpected treat and we felt privileged to have been there this evening. And we saw the Magi! The remarkable thing also was that despite the, quite literally, thousands of people who were here tonight and who all seemed to know each other we saw one policeman and two guys in high vis jackets. We didn't see a drunk, we didn't see anybody behaving badly, we just saw families having a wonderful time with, generally, well behaved children and there was no need for any crowd control or policing at all. We would have had a drink to celebrate but as we were only going out for a stroll neither of us took any money with us but we're back in the van now and we've knocked the tops off a couple of stubbies. Perhaps not the most traditional of drinks to celebrate El Dia de Reyes but it'll have to do.

We were planning on heading off toward Valencia tomorrow but the town of Cambrils looked so lovely tonight that we may stay here another day to have a better look around tomorrow.

 

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Sunshine at last - and wind

We are parked up at Port Vendres near Perpignon and, just like the last time we stopped here a couple of months ago it's blowing a gale. We left Millau this morning in heavy rain and headed for the viaduct by which time the rain was torrential and we saw nothing of the views from the bridge. I was hoping to post a couple of amazing pictures but I'm afraid this is the best I could do.

We pushed on and the rain lessened and by the time we reached Perpignon the sun was shining! We stopped at Argeles-st-Mer for some shopping and then on to Collioure, a lovely little port, complete with fortress,famous for its anchovies. One hundred years ago 2,000 people were employed in 40 salting houses, we didn't buy any anchovies but I did purchase a jar of Terrine a la Langoustine which will make a nice starter tonight before the Coquilles Saint-Jacques accompanied by a bottle of Vouvray we bought on our last trip. The town is also famous for the artists such as Matisse and Derain who visited and painted here and there are many art galleries in the back streets off the harbour together with many, expensive, restaurants. We settled for a coffee at one of the waterfront cafés.

Collioure is also famous for it's church, they didn't spare the gilt:

We arrived here at Port Vendres thinking we would explore the harbour front but as soon as we parked up the wind got up and it was no fun last time battling through the wind to get to the harbour so we've given it a miss today. Tomorrow we set off for Cambrils, near Tarragona, a three and a half hour drive from here. With an early start we should be there in time for lunch. We're looking forward to Spain again and especially being there on the 6th which is the feast of the Epiphany, the visitation of the three Kings. We understand it's a time of fetes and parties and that's what we're here for!

 

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Millau

We are parked up in an Aire in Millau. When we passed through here a couple of months ago we found this spot and drove away because it was part of the CAMPING-CAR group of Aires. We had to pay to stay so we drove off another 20k to a campsite which was run by the same group and ended up paying anyway. That was the site next to the military camp with the all-night gunfire. Today we consulted our All The Aires France book, set the co-ordinates for the free camping spot in Millau and set off. And here we are. It's €9.60 per night but at least we have free wifi and facilities to empty our waste and fill up with water. The journey here was lousy with torrential rain, in fact we were driving through the rain clouds at an altitude of 800m so when we finally arrived we couldn't be bothered to find somewhere to stay for free so here we are.

Although we've driven through Millau a half dozen times over the years we've never stopped. When we came through 8weeks ago we thought we might like a look around but it was dark and cold and we only really wanted to park up, eat and sleep. This time we set off in plenty of time to have a walk around the town but when we arrived it was lashing down with rain and so, once again, we haven't explore Millau. Maybe next time. We will drive over the bridge tomorrow though and I'm looking forward to that. The weather forecast isn't too good so I don't know whether we'll have a vista to amaze us or a load of cloud to peer through. I suspect the latter. Then it's onwards to Port Vendres. We were there a couple of months ago also and the weather was horrendous, very strong winds and cold temperatures. The forecast isn't too bad tomorrow so maybe we can explore the town and port without being huddled up in wet weather gear, hoods up.

The last few days have been wonderful, staying with our daughter in St Etienne. She is such a good host and her husband is invaluable; he teaches engineering and I have arrived on the last two occasions in the motorhome with problems that he has fixed and which would have had me stumped, or at least scratching my head for a long timeThanks Guillaume.

No photos today but we'll see if the weather allows us to take some tomorrow on the bridge, fingers crossed.

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Cleaning Time

Happy New Year.

No traveling today, we had a lovely evening last night with our eldest daughter and her family. Delicious food, good company and dancing too! We saw the New Year in with style. So we looked outside at the van this morning and we were ashamed, it was filthy but I suppose if we hadn't had a wash for eight weeks we wouldn't look too good either. It was out with the mops and buckets and we set to. Three hours later and she's gleaming and if motorhomes could smile I'm sure ours would be beaming.

Tomorrow the DIY store beckons for a few bits and pieces to improve our comfort on the road. Some webbing material, Velcro patches, a squeegee mop and a sheepskin seat belt cover should do the job. I'll leave the application of these items to your imagination.

By tomorrow night we'll have eaten our daughter out of house and home so it'll probably be time for us to move on again and give her and her family some peace and quiet before we overstay our welcome. I think we'll head off for Millau on Friday and then on to Port Vendres. We've driven through, or past, Millau many times over the years and although Phil drove over it a few years ago I've never been over the bridge. It's really impressive when viewed from beneath so I'm looking forward to the views from the bridge. Then our next stop will be Port Vendres before crossing into Spain.

 

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