WEEK 6: Voorhout, Netherlands to East Cowes, UK – 492 miles
Saturday 27th April 2019 Voorhout Day 2
Our last week. We will be home on Tuesday night in our static bed. By the time we are back we will have been out just a day or two shy of 6 weeks. We have enjoyed this trip just as much as our first one. It rained again last night and it’s so cold and very windy today. We decide to stay another day here and once the rain has stopped we will cycle to the beach. It supposed to clear up a bit, but we are not betting on it.
Before we go we have a look at the week old calves and get a fuss of sweet black cat.
The cycle is 7.5 km long to the coastal town of Noordwijk, halfway there it pours down, and we get soaked. We take some shelter and set off once it stops but within minutes it pours down again. Hayley’s hands are turning purple. We are so cold and soaked through and the wind so strong, we are fighting against it on the bikes.
The Dutch are little bit like the Brits, nothing is going to stop them going to the seaside. When we get to Noordwijk it’s busy. It’s Kings Day today so everyone is dressed in something orange, there is a fair on and we grab a delicious fish and chips to warm up before chancing it on the beach.
Bad idea. It’s raining and wind is blowing so hard that the sand hurts your face. It’s so bad the weather. A shame really because in the sunshine it probably looks lovely, then again so would the Port of Grimsby!
We decide to cycle back. It’s stopped raining. We go to the town of Voorhout. There is a fete on for Kings Day. It’s brilliant, everyone is out, there is music on, food and a market. Lovely.
Back at the van, we make tea to warm up and change clothes and try and dry out. It just rains for the rest of the day and night, We do like Holland, the weather has been terrible, but we like it. It’s all very clean and tidy and neat. The villages and towns are very sweet and so far the people have been nice to us. It’s such a shame about the weather. Oh well.
Sunday 28th April 2019 Voorhout to Zerikzee. 71 miles
Yes, it rained all night last night. Miserable. We set off for a little drive to look at the tulip fields, but it’s a little disappointing as they all look like they have been cut back or something. Not what we were hoping for or expected. Thanks to the Keukenhof though, we did get to see some spectacular tulips in full bloom.
We trace our steps back through the Hague, Rotterdam, do the drive over the longest dam ever and head for the island of Zerikzee.
The campsite is brilliant. Plenty of room, very clean and tidy with hens and sheep.
In the showers, there is a little basket of free eggs that you can help yourself to. Now that’s a nice touch.
The town is a short walk. It’s like a mini Amsterdam, very pretty and charming. A nice place to stop and have a beer. The walk back takes us past the local old windmill.
Monday 29th April 2019 Zerikzee, Netherlands to Bruges, Belgium. 66 miles
Before we leave, we have the idea that it would be nice to have breakfast in the town so off we trot only to find that everything is shut… but everything, nothing is open. We need coffee. No matter, back at Jess there is a spot of sunshine where we get a breakfast table out and have boiled eggs, from the local ladies, with coffee. All very nice.
Today we are going to the Belgian town of Bruges. The route is back through the 6.5km tunnel. The toll is less in this direction, we’re considered a smaller class 1 van. With all the rain we have probably shrunk!
It’s cool at the campsite in Bruge. We use our bikes to cycle into town only to discover that we have left the bike lock back at the van. Grrr! Back to the van, get the lock and cycle back. It might be Monday but the town is busy, very busy. We lock the bikes up and set off for a walk.
It’s a nice town, busy, but nice. We find a place offering boat trips through the town so we give it a go. Its a very good way to see the town that has some lovely buildings and very low bridges.
Time for some lunch. We hunt around and find a quirky little place with a huge red hen outside.
Inside we have local beer, mussels and a pile of chips. Smashing. To finish off the culinary experience, we have a Belgian waffle.
A very nice day in a nice town. We cycle back to the van full of food and finally finish with a digestive 30-year-old brandy. Whew! Diet tomorrow…
Tuesday 30th April 2019 Bruges, Belgium to East Cowes, UK. 252 miles
Well, it’s the last morning of our second van trip to Europe. It’s going to be a long day today. We head south on the motorway towards Calais but before boarding we have a final shop to do.
We stop at the Wine Warehouse and fill poor Jess with 90 bottles of wine! Now she is really heavy. An uneventful crossing over the Channel to Dover, back along the M25 towards Portsmouth, where we are able to get on an earlier ferry and back to home.
Another fabulous van trip, and again Jess performed well. She looked after us and we think we looked after her. Soon we are unpacked and Jess is wrapped up, cleaned up, cleared out resting, and ready for the next trip.
WEEK 5: Fegreac, France to Ellewoutsdijk, Netherlands – 550 miles
Saturday 20th April 2019 Fegreac to Vitre. 75 miles
It’s a beautiful morning by the river. We are so pleased that we moved away from St. Nazaire, an interesting place but we do like being in the countryside, next to a river or canal. It’s a warm morning so we have a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and salmon listening to the birdsong. Before we leave we have a short walk. It’s nice here.
Today we are going to a municipal campsite in Vitre north east of where we are now, it’s a good hour and a bit so we get going. We are looking forward to a bit of a bike ride but when we arrive at the site it is 30 degrees, hot and humid. We can’t be bothered It’s too hot for messing about on bikes so we stay in the shade of our tree that we are parked under.
Planning underway in the shade
By late afternoon it’s cooled off enough for us to get on our bikes and head off into the town. It’s a lovely place, with lots of old wooden buildings and churches. Very clean, tidy and old! We like it but we are getting hungry.
We get the bikes off the back of Jess and cycle into the town. It’s a lot cooler, nice in fact. We find a nice little dark wood-panelled old restaurant called Auberge de St. Louis and have quite a feed of traditional French fare.
Frogs legs, duck a l’ orange, fillet of beef and escargot. For dessert, chocolate fondant and creme brûlée, all quite delicious. Apparently we eat quick, according to the maitre d’. We even make it back to the van before dark.
There is an owl outside hooting tonight.
Sunday 21st April 2019 Vitre to Arromanches-les-Bains. 108 miles
So far, almost every night we have had to have a little bit of heating on as there is a bit of a chill in the night, however, last night was the first night that we had no heating on!
It’s a nice sunny morning this morning. After breakfast, we set off to find some fuel for Jess and food supplies for us. Today we are doing a good two-hour drive to the coast to Arromanches-les-Bains to have a look at Mulberry Harbour, amongst other things. The Mulberry Harbour is actually the remaining bits of a temporary harbour built by the allies in its fight against the advancing Germans. There is a lot of interesting stuff along this stretch of coast and sadly we don’t have the time to see it all, but we have every intention of having a good look around with the time that we have and then trying again in the future on another Jess trip.
We arrive at the aire and park up at a windy cliff edge. It’s sunny but breezy and we have a good view of the harbour pieces, some of them are even on the beaches.
The beach is massive and stretches out for miles on a low tide but also goes for many miles along the coast. We walk into town but as it’s easter and it’s packed. There is a museum here that we thought we would have a look in. It was really good and interesting but you could hardly move. Such a shame.
After a bit more walking around the town we head back to the van and have a beer in the cab and look at the remaining bits of Mulberry Harbour. Later we watch a documentary on the subject with the real thing just outside. It’s quite a story. Pizza tonight. Ace.
Monday 22nd April 2019 Arromanches-les-Bains to Saint Vigor le Grand. 6 miles
A nice clear morning this morning, but the clouds are gathering. Today we are going to go to Omaha Beach, just up the road but first, we will go to the American cemetery. It’s a short drive and we are soon parked up and walking to the cemetery, There are over 9000 graves here of men, many as young as 17 who gave their lives on the beach that the cemetery overlooks, Omaha Beach. It’s a beautifully manicured place, peaceful and tranquil. All these men buried here, it makes us think about the folly of humans.
Another short drive and we are at Omaha beach. The tide’s in and we are able to stand on the last bit of sand before the waves cover the whole thing. Omaha Beach is where thousands of lives were lost as soon as they stepped off the boats that brought men from larger boats out at sea. It was one of 5 beaches used in operation Overlord on the 6th June 1944 to fight the Germans and push them back from the Normandy coast. If you haven’t seen it, the check out this opening scene from the film Saving Private Ryan. Terrifying.
After a sobering day, we head back into the countryside to an aire for the night.
It’s a lovely place with a few hens pecking about and geese that chase after Del every time they see him. The town of Bayeux is nearby so we get on our bikes and cycle into the town which is the home of the famous Bayeux Tapestry. After a quick look around the town we go in and look at the “the rag“.
Wow! It was brilliant. It’s one of those things that you hear about at school and through your life, so we have to see what its all about. For 13 euros you get an audio guide that talks you through the whole thing as you walk along looking at this amazing 950 year old artifact. A brilliant story, commentary and music all well worth the visit. So glad we did it. We played medieval music during dinner just for fun.
Del’s rear bike tyre blew up today in the heat…
Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Saint Vigor le Grand to Saint Saire. 153 miles
Another change in the weather. It’s grey this morning as we set off, realising that we have left the water adaptor behind after a service that took ages. We are on the hunt now for a hardware or gardening shop to buy a hosepipe adapter.
Today we are going to a cheese producer in the town of Liverot. From here we will drive northeast all the way up toward Belgium and Holland.
Once we get parked up at Liverot we are greeted by a very professional and slick tour of the factory. You get to see the whole process of how some of the world’s famous cheeses are made.
Of course, there is a shop and of course, we buy some. We get a Liverot (nicknamed the ‘colonel’ due to its wrapping of five raffia strips), naturally. A Camembert, and a ‘Petit’ Brie‘, which is huge, nothing petit about it.
We now have to do longish drive, just under 2 hours to a chicken farm where we will be staying the night in the town of Saint Saire. We are greeted, as usual, by a very friendly lady who shows us to our pitch. It’s very nice here, but for a chicken farm there is a distinct lack of them. In her best French Hayley asks “where are all the chickens“. The nice lady tells us where and soon we are surrounded by hens, cockerels, guinea foul and just for good avian measure we hear a peacock! We buy some cider and eggs from the nice lady and settle in to a game of Pétanque. There is a place just for it next to our van.
Pasta for tea and a little bit of… Cheese…
Wednesday 24th April 2019 Saint Saire to Maisnil-lès-Ruitz. 91 miles
One day it’s bright and sunny, the next cold and grey. Today… It’s sunny. Breakfast with the door open so we can hear the hens. Once cleaned up we are on our way and onto the usual collection of motorways, roads various from good wide single carriageways to narrow bumpy roads. They’ve got all sorts here. Jess gets a wash en route. We are going to an aire in a park called Maisnil-lès-Ruitz. There is plenty to do there, bike riding in the nearby woods and forests, there is also a huge public area of tree walking nets, the biggest in the world by all accounts, good walks, oh and there is one of those toboggan things on rails, not bad, but not as good as the one in Germany. Should be a good stay.
Once we arrive at our foresty aire, we get a good spot in the shade. There are a few other vans here but it’s no where near busy. It’s good. Just how we like it, one or two vans to keep us company. Safety in numbers you could say.
We decide to do one of the easy bike routes, only 6km. It was a tough. Lots of deep dried out mud that left huge rutts in the track, swarms of insect that needed to be constantly batted out of the way, up hill and down hill. By the time we are back at the van we are worn out, but satisfied with our endeavours. It was quite good really, we enjoyed it. Del has a go at sorting our Hayley’s cheapo bike. The brakes squeak, the gears are clunky. It was only a 100 quid after all! He manages a slight improvement but really Hayley needs a new, decent bike.
Del’s very decent bike…
Thursday 25th April 2019 Maisnil-lès-Ruitz, France to Ellewoutsdijk, Netherlands. 121 miles
Guess what…? It rained all night last night and this morning it’s cold and rainy. Hayley had plans to try out the tree net, but thats off now. We have some breakfast and cut our loses, pick-up and clean up and set off for Holland via Belgium. We think.
Hello Belgium
Goodbye, France. We love you. We really like France it’s a lovely place, the food, the drink, the views, the history and the people, but today we are moving on and to another country, Holland or The Netherlands or The Low Countries! Maybe some better stable weather too?
It was supposed to be a 2 hour drive today. Simple, but we got lost in Ghent somehow, still don’t know how but finally we get into Holland and into a 6.5km long tunnel, we pop out the other side onto a peninsular which is where our campsite stop will be tonight.
Holland is very different. It’s flat of course, very clean, new and tidy. Nice. It’s good this van thing, you really get to see how different countries are. It is fascinating.
Once parked up in the corner of a damp field the heavens open up and it rains heavy for hours. It’s miserable. We take our chance and go for a walk up on the dyke. Yes our campsite is below sea level. Gulp! It’s a massive expanse of grey water with an oil refinery on the other side. It’s a bit bleak at the moment, when the sun is out it’s probably very nice… Not today!
Friday 26th April 2019 Ellewoutsdijk to Voorhout 103 miles
This morning it’s a lot brighter, but rain is forecast. Again. After the usual stuff in the morning, Hayley plots a course to Voorhout. Today we are going to see some tulips and go to the Keukenhof.
It’s been on our list of places to see and today we are going there. The drive is interesting, we drive across a huge long dam, up through Rotterdam and the Hague. The first campsite we come to is full, so we about face and head off for our second choice, a cattle farm. She can choose them Hayley! We are welcomed in and given our pitch, right opposite the cow shed. We like it really, we can sit in the cab and watch them in the rain, but we also get the chance to go over and say ‘hello‘ to them. They are sweet.
It’s a 7km bike ride to the Keukenhof and the weather is fair, so we prep the bikes, and ourselves for rain and set off. They like a bike here. It good for cycling. It’s flat and smooth, all marked out and safe. Here they respect cyclists, it’s not quite the same back home yet. We pass a few tulip fields but they all seem a bit bare, not as many colourful strips of flowers as we hoped. Maybe we are too early.
10 minutes later we arrive at the Keukenhof. It’s a huge place and it’s very very busy. Once inside everyone is spread out so its not to bad. It’s beautiful here though. We didn’t realise that there are so many shapes and sizes of tulip and so many colours. It’s all well maintained and lovely to walk around, made all the better with the weather which has now settled down to broken sunshine.
There is a small petting zoo here that we take advantage of, once we have pushed all the kids out of the way of course.
A very nice place and very nice cycle back.
back at Jess the weather has improved further so we sit outside with a cold beer. Tonight dinner is burgers. Veggie burgers. Well has to be with this lot around looking at us.
WEEK 4: Caumont-sur-Garonne to Les Sables-d’Olonne – 335 miles
Saturday 13th April 2019 – Caumont-sur-Garonne to St. Emillion. 40 miles
We came down through the middle of France to get to Spain, now we are zig-zagging our way up and as close to the west coast as we can to get back.
The birds this morning are noisy as we sit outside by the canal for a lazy breakfast. It’s lovely here, but we have to get a move on. Today we are going to St.Emillion and to a vineyard called Chateaux Arnaud de Jacquemeau. We are welcomed by a very kind elderly chap in his 70s who kindly shows us to our pitch and Hayley manages, in her best French, to arrange a tour.
It’s very quiet here and we are given a short tour. It’s lovely.
We buy a bottle of their GrandCru 2012. We have learnt a lot today about how wine is made, and happy with our knowledge we head back to Jess for a short rest.
The town of St. Emillion is not far from here so we set off for the short walk to the town. It’s a Saturday today so it’s packed with tourists. It’s nice, though and we spend an hour or two walking around this lovely town before heading back to Jess for a traditional French dinner of steak and frites, with a bearnaise sauce followed by a very nice runny brie.
Later we sit in the setting sun, next to Jess with a glass of the 2012 Grand Cru and watch the sun setting over the vineyards. Once the early evening chill sets in we go inside.
What a great day.
Sunday 14th April 2019 – St. Emillion to Blaye. 47 miles
You just can’t trust the weather at the moment, it’s spring of course so it’s very changeable. Today we wake up to grey skies and drizzle, completely different from yesterday. Time to leave this lovely vineyard. We are going to stop at a lighthouse on the Medoc spit of Bourdeaux. We desperately need water in our fresh water tank for showers and washing up, but we are having trouble. It’s a Sunday so we can’t get the tokens required to pay for the water at the aires, so we change our plan, and take a small ferry across the Gironde.
It’s a bit tricky this ferry as the entrance onto the boat is at the side rather than the traditional front or back of the boat, and it’s quite a small ferry to boot. We are taking the 15 minute ferry to the citadel town of Blaye, so after a bit of shuffling about to get on the ferry and we cast off. The weather has cheered up as well which makes al the difference. Once again we are going to a winery where we can get free water and electricity. We need water…
We disembark only to be in the thick of some heavy traffic in the town, it’s chaos. We soon find out that there is a wine festival on, which is quite popular. We slowly make our way through the town and finally we have arrived at the Chateau Marquis de Vauban and we are just in time for the 5pm tour. With enough time to get in to our pitch, plug into some power and more importantly, we fill up with water.
The tour was interesting and of course, as tradition dictates, we purchase a couple of bottles which we try in the sun next to the vineyards.
(This drinking wine next to the vineyard is becoming a habit. A very good habit!) We meet a lady travelling alone in a little red VW campervan with her dog.
Monday 15th April 2012 – Blaye to Bignac. 71 miles
Our toilet needs emptying, but we can’t do it here, the facilities are broken so sadly we do need to move on to somewhere where we can refresh the toilet. Sometimes camping life can be disruptive by simple things like this, things we take for granted at home or at a hotel.
We spend some time with our next-door neighbour in the VW who had a cold night last night. We had the heating on! We have breakfast together and say goodbye to Deborah and her cute little dog whose name we can’t remember!
Today we are going to a campsite which is run by an English couple. It’s supposed to be very nice with a nearby lake. We both feel like we need a campsite stop, and so does Jess. We like the free aires and being off grid, but you can only do it for three or four nights before you really need to get plugged into some power, take on fresh water, do laundry and just stretch out for a while, and that moment has now come.
We arrive at Camping Marco de Bignac. It’s lovely here, out in the middle of nowhere. The site is very green and meadow like with a lake, all the facilities that we need as well as some goats and geese.
Lovely. Once parked up on our pitch we get everything done, plug into some power to get things charged up, drop the grey water, fill up fresh and recharge the toilet. Even Jess gets a good cleanout. She deserves it. We all get a good airing!
We are located in an area that’s quite close to Cognac, our destination tomorrow. In the meantime, once we have taken advantage of all the facilities and given Jess some fresh air, we go for a walk.
We must come here again, it’s so peaceful and the walk around the lake is smashing, just what we needed. Hayley makes us a brilliant dinner of quesadillas, nice and hearty.
Tuesday 16th April 2019 – Bignac to Segonzac. 48 miles
The peace and tranquility of this lovely place was shattered last night by heavy rain. It’s really loud on the roof of the van, It kept us awake for most of the night, tired today so we got up late. After breakfast the rain has gone and it’s brightening up so once again we take a short walk around the lake, do another complete service on Jess and set off in search of a car/van wash. Jess is absolutely filthy. The rain and long drives have left her looking a right mess, we could also do with some diesel and LPG.
We find a supermarket that has both, the diesel fill up is fine but the gas stops after only dispensing 2 euros worth of gas, even though the bank has shown a pre-authorisation of 103 euro! We walk back to the supermarket to find a a manger or someone who can help us. It’s hard, very hard. Finally Hayley gets to speak to a customer service rep and with her limited French explains what has happened at the LPG pump. Hayley is then put in touch with a man on the phone, she has to explain it all over again about what happed at the pump, we think he understands what she is saying but unfortunately Hayley doesn’t quite understand his reply! We are in the middle of nowhere, nobody speaks English, why would they? The clue is in the name, pre-authorisation. We will just have to wait and see what happens over the next few days, hopefully it will only show the 2 euros.
Deborah, our lady neighbour at Chateau Marquis de Vauban, the one with the VW camper and the dog, recommended that we go to the Michel Forgeron Cognac house, where you can stay, get a tour of the Cognac brewing process and they will of course sell you some. We have to go…
After a short drive we arrive at the Cognac house, near Segonzac. It’s a beautiful old house with outhouses, a small green in front with a huge tree. We’re welcomed by a very friendly guy, who is the son of the family and he is accompanied by his puppy who is so very friendly but also scared. A lovely little thing who follows us. He follows us to our pitch but when we make a move to stroke him he runs off barking at us, then comes back again. Eventually he settles down and becomes our friend spending the afternoon with us. Del rolls around with him in the grass and he even get up on the step of the van for a little nosy inside. We like Sammy very much. He can come with.
Later in the afternoon, we are escorted by the lady of the house to a tour of how Cognac is made.
Very interesting and it’s all done at this place, grown, distilled and bottled. We try many different vintages of Cognac including a 50 year old one but we settle for buying a bottle of an 1989 vintage that we tried directly from the barrel. We also tried and bought a bottle of Pineau an apéritif of grapes mixed with a splash of brandy. Very nice.
It’s a lovely calm and peaceful place, we sit in the sun at the side of the van. It’s warm. Dinner tonight was a lovely pasta followed by a swig of our 30-year-old Cognac. The French know how to do it…!
Wednesday 17th April 2019 – Segonzac to Coulon. 65 miles
We had a lovely peaceful night last night, but there is always something. If it’s not raining it’s agricultural machinery rumbling about, and what a racket. Well it is what they do, they are not on holiday. It’s what they do…
Finally, at 9 am, we are up and having a lovely breakfast, we say goodbye to Sammy the dog and one of the sons waves us off. What a great place. It would be really good if we could come back here again next year. It’s so… French…!
We can’t come to the Cognac region and not visit the town. So we set off and find the town and get parked up in an aire for a couple of hours. The town of Cognac is beautiful, well of course it is… We have a coffee in one of the pretty squares and spend a good hour walking around. We still have a good drive ahead of us to get to Coulon. Coulon is supposed to be another one of those prettiest towns in France places. We shall see.
The journey feels like a slog. We encounter a couple of roadblocks and the roads are all ‘D’ roads (small), some are even single-track and not in the best of condition. Finally, we arrive at Coulon, feeling a bit beaten, but glad all the same to be here. The aire is huge, there is space for up to 80 vans and for 10 and a bit euros, you get a nice space with all of the facilities.
The town is a good walk down the river, so after we have settled in and serviced Jess we set off. It is very pretty, but is it one of the prettiest?
We are not sure yet. The river has lots of punts for hire, single, pairs or groups but they are very expensive to rent, not on our budget anyway. It’s a bit of a tourist trap really, it’s nice, doesn’t take long to get around but everything is so expensive. We manage a small beer and head back to Jess.
We need some exercise so we get the bikes down and do a 5km ride past, canals, fields and some swamp land that has the bike track on an elevated wooden route, brilliant.
A very enjoyable ride, but we are getting hungry.
Back at Jess, we get talking to the only other Brits here. Peter and Kay are from Poole and they are doing a short EU trip in their Romahome which they bought on the Isle of Wight… A great dinner tonight. A great day…
Thursday 18th April 2019 – Coulon to Les Sables-d’Olonne. 78 miles
We are not sure that Coulon is one of the prettiest towns in France. Yes, it is pretty, but we have seen prettier. The fact is, you can’t really move anywhere in France without stumbling on a pretty town. Another quick van service and we are off.
Today we are going to a campsite near Les Sables-d’Olonne. This campsite is one of those ‘family‘ campsites. Dubious. It’ll be full to the brim with families and kids. Loads of kids. Loads of noisy kids. We’ll give it a go.
We arrive and it’s a big complicated weaving mass of small roads and paths with pitches. The pitches are generous enough and it’s actually not too bad, and not too noisy. Quite pleasant really.
Time alone today. Del does a complete Jess the van clear out and clean up while Hayley gets her bike down from the back of Jess and sets off and does a 24km bike ride! The views are spectacular and she manages to cycle to the Port where the Vendee Globe boat race starts from.
The town is a very classy place with lots of long sandy beaches. It’s busy today, it’s the Thursday before the easter weekend.
Exciting day tomorrow. We were too late to do it a the start of the trip, but now we have our tickets for the Airbus tour at St. Nazaire. Yes….
Friday 19th April 2019 – Sables-d’Olonne to Fegreac. 78 miles
Busy day today. Lots of driving to do today. today we are going to see some German submarine pens, and an aircraft factory then after all that we need to find a nice quiet place for the night, so we are up early and we are away. It’s Good Friday today and we are warned that everywhere could be busy, so we need to be quick but at the same time make sure that we see everything.
We set off for St. Nazaire, but first, we need some fuel and food. We find a place but it just takes forever to do these two simple jobs today. We arrive at the aire, which is busy, but there are some spaces spare so we are in luck. We are parked near to the submarine pens and once parked up, we secure Jess and set off to have a look around them. They are quite impressive and imposing. Massive concrete structures that form huge entrances to loading bays for submarines. The Germans built them this way so that the allies couldn’t bomb them. They would be loaded with fresh crew and ammunition and then set off and be submerged and straight off into the Atlantic. The Germans were very good with concrete during the war. They built a lot of impressive stuff.
There is an old sub here from the 60s and for an extra fee, you can go on board. A crazy idea. Build a metal tube, fill it with torpedoes and men, and then let it loose underwater for days at a time! They are so basic inside but complicated. Full of tubes and wiring going off in directions. It’s very claustrophobic in here, you have to be made of tough stuff to be in here for days and underwater. Not for us…
There is a bus that leaves here rather conveniently for the Airbus factory. The only ticket we could get at short notice was conducted in French, no matter, Hayley will see us right. To be honest the tour is so impressive you don’t really need to listen to the tour guide. It is just amazing to see airliners being built from a green aluminium shell at one end to a gleaming, brightly colour painted aeroplane at the other end. We move from building to building and see the different processes at work. It is fascinating. Especially the wiring that goes on under the floor of an aircraft. We like it. Very good and highly recommended. More so if you can understand what’s being said.
It’s late afternoon when we make our way back to the rather industrial aire where we are parked. The smell from the factory is wafting over. We are very close to a major town and we are not that keen on staying here any longer now that we have seen what we come to see. It would be nice to set off and look for a place that’s green and clean. Hayley gets to work to see if she can find something.
At 8 pm we arrive at an aire with space for 10 vans. We get a space and it’s nice and quite a contrast from where we have just been. We are parked next to a river and a canal. It’s very peaceful, there is the added bonus of a couple of goats wandering around.
It’s going to be a peaceful night as the sun sets over the river and all we can hear now are croaking frogs. A perfect end to an interesting day.
WEEK 3: San Pere Pescador, Spain to Castelnaudary – 326 miles
Saturday 6th April 2019 – San Pere Pescador, day 2
We like it here very much. We plan to spend the rest of the week here in the Costa Brava before starting our journey back north and towards home.
The weather this morning is better than last night. After the heavy downpour, we wake up to clear sunny skies. It’s only a short walk to the beach so we stick our shorts on and go for a walk.
It’s breezy today so despite the spring sunshine it’s still quite cold in the wind. We head back to the van and have a good game of mini-golf. Del wins, but really wins!
There is a nice little shop here so we get stocked up with some extra provisions, then a pizza and schnitzel at the camp restaurant.
Back at Jess, it’s nice in the sun and we get some shelter from the cool wind. It’s a lovely peaceful day. After a beer or two, we take another walk to the beach. The visibility is amazing, so clear, crystal clear and the Bay of Roses looks absolutely stunning.
Sunday 7th April 2019 – San Pere Pescador, day 3
We have a good long lie-in today, but once up we have a healthy breakfast, for a change, and we just potter around the van for the morning doing jobs that we have let slide over the past few weeks. It’s a cold wind blowing from the north, freezing but we are still in our t-shirts and shorts, but not the Spanish, they have their padded jackets and jeans on while huddling against the wind.
Our bike ride from base to L’Escala and back – 24km
After lunch we get the bikes our and do a good long cycle ride from San Pere Pescador to St. Marti Empuries then on to L’Escala. St. Marti is nice.
It used to be a Roman enclave and still has lots of Roman ruins with the original mosaic flooring. Really good. L’Escala is a typical Spanish fishing town. A lovely place which has had some renovation work done along the front making it more pedestrianised, but other than that it’s still the same L’Escala. In total a 24km bike ride! Good.
L’Escala is famous for its anchovies so we are on the lookout for some, unfortunately, the best shop that does them is closed… No matter we head for the front and have a nice ice cream, sitting looking at the bay and the snow-covered peaks of the Pyrenees. It’s that clear.
A lovely dinner back at Jess followed by another walk to the beach to look at the spectacular bay.
Tomorrow we are moving on to another place that we used to frequent on the boat.
Monday 8th April 2019 – San Pere Pescador to Cala Montgo. 9 miles
This morning the weather has cleared up some more, but there is still a cool wind blowing.
After breakfast we pack up and service Jess with fresh water, empty the grey water and refresh the toilet. Today it is a staggering 9 miles, 20 minute drive to a bay that we used to anchor in called Cala Montgo. We used to go there and anchor in the bay in the hot sun, bobbing about, using the tender to go ashore to buy pizza and ice-cream to bring back to the boat. We had some lovely overnight anchoring there, so today let’s see what its like on land. Being April places are still closed, so it’s very quiet and cool. We shall see.
The campsite is nice and quiet, not many people here, we get a nice pitch and settle in. We go for a walk to the bay and have a beer and reminisce. It looks very different now, the weather, the sky etc. all make it look different. Still nice though. We are looking for lunch and find a restaurant doing a menu del dia (menu of the day). We find one doing a paella and sepia for 18 euros. It’s cold so we head back to the van to get our coats and head back out but Hayley decides to make her own paella instead. We have a delicious paella outside in the sun, sheltered from the cool wind. It was wonderful, really tasty and really comfortable.
We are visited by a bird, which we toss little bits of bread to. Tiny little friendly thing with one leg! Poor thing.
Tuesday 9th April 2019 – Cala Montgo to L’Estertit. 15 miles
Heavy rain last night, very heavy. The weather is not great today. According to the forecast, it will be damp all day. No matter, we have a lovely breakfast of coffee and pastries at the camp cafe and once we are cleaned up and packed we move on to L’Estartit. Another short drive.
The campsite is supposed to be a similar rating as the Aquarius campsite in San Pere Pescador. No way… It’s a bit scruffy in parts and some of the shower/toilet blocks are not working. The site is also at the scruffy end of the town which is a bit of a walk away. There are other like-minded Brits here, escaping the UK and its Brexit woes.
Once settled in we walked around the camp. It’s okay but nothing like the camps we have been to in Costa Brava so far.
It’s a long wet walk to the town as we get the odd shower of rain. It’s cold too. We walk to the marina at the other end of the town and have a beer before doing the walk back. It starts to rain again. Oh well.
Another ace dinner on Jess.
Wednesday 10th April 2019 – L’Estertit to San Pere Pescador. 20 miles
We are going to do a part turnaround today. Not far though. We are going back to the Aquarius campsite, the good one, the nice one. We have quite a pile of laundry building up so it will be a good place to get that done. It’s sunny but with good wind. We will probably do another day or two here. We shall see.
Washing day…
We get a different, quieter spot this time, with lots of space to get our washing line strung out as we take turns going to the washing machine. We will get the washing dry today. It’s windy today, very windy. Oh, and a pigeon manages to drop a poo on some of our clothes. Nice.
…toilet duty.
Thursday 11th April 2019 – San Pere Pescador, Spain to Castelnaudary, France. 141 miles
The weather is not good this morning, it’s very windy, fierce. The skies are grey and threatening. Not what was forecast? During breakfast we make the decision to get some miles under us today and move on, the weather is not great. The campsite is great, but there is only so much you can do here, so we say goodbye to the Aquarius Campsite. We liked it here. A very nice place.
Hayley gets the maps and books out and sets us a route to leave the Costa Brava and make our way north again, back through France and towards home. We have only been here for a week, it took a week to get here but it has been worth it.
The wind is fierce as we drive over a bridge that is exposed to the wind straight from the coastal town of Leucate which is wide open from the sea and the wind funnels up to the road at high speed. Nasty. It’s so strong that Jess is getting really pushed about on the bridge.
Back in France
Del is at the wheel and doing a good job of keeping Jess in a straight line. We are heading to the town of Castelnaudry that is responsible for giving us a tasty French dish called cassoulet, a nice hearty stew, probably something that we need.
We are using another Camping Car Park, which uses a card an a barrier, very neat, very simple. We first met this system in Capdenac. By the time we get parked the weather has turned cold and grey. We are having a bit of trouble with the alarm showing errors, so we start to swap out door sensors and have a phone conversation with he manufacturers, Vanbitz. After a while and a bit of fiddling we are all up and working and Jess is secure again. All done in the rain.
We set off, it’s cold and damp, but we brave the weather and set off. We are located in a town which has France’s biggest canal basin located on the Canal du Midi. It’s massive and we are really close to it, but it’s so so cold. We have had enough and go back to Jess, we are soaking wet and cold. We get the heating on and soon thaw out. It’s not nice out there. Hayley looks up the best restaurant in town so that we can try some of this cassoulet. The best in town is closed but the second is open, Restaurant Chez David.
At 7:30 we step outside again, it’s stopped raining, at last, but it’s still chilly. We arrive at the restaurant which is small and cosy. It all looks very charming but has a small twist in that the waiter is a big skinhead with tattoos and the music playing is death metal, it’s not loud, but they are playing it all the same which is unusual. Hayley has a flambeed camembert,
Del a salad. We both have the cassoulet which was brilliant. Very rich, very heavy, so much so we can’t eat it all and we are offered a doggie bag (sac de chien?) to take the rest home. There was a little room for a Del to have a creme Catalan! Hayley is not sure about cassoulet. It’s a bit ‘meaty’. She says.
The walk back to Jess was cold and wet. By the time we got back to the van, the rain was heavy. We got back just in time. We are tired now and full…
Friday 12th April 2019 – Castelnaudary to Caumont-sur-Garonne. 143 Miles
Finally we wake up to sunshine. What a relief, the rain was getting us down a little. Today we are going to Caumont-sur-Garonne, we are going to a free aire there. We set off and after many hours of driving and some dodgy roads, (that’s what you get if you avoid the expensive motorways) we arrive at our next stop. It’s a long day but the drive is very pretty.
We drove through lots of lovely countryside, vast expanses of bright yellow rapeseed fields, green pastures and tree-lined roads. The French countryside is beautiful.
Once we get parked up we need some exercise after being sat down driving all day. It’s nice, the sun is out, it’s cool but the fresh air and the cycling brighten our day. Dinner tonight? The doggie bag from last night with a salad…! Yum…
WEEK 2: Luant, France to Empuriabrava, Spain – 483 miles
Saturday 30th March 2019 – Luant to Martel. 142 miles
Short on diesel and drinking water, we find a supermarket and re-stock, but while there we pick up a 1kg pot of potato salad. It’s very nice indeed. It’s quite a slog this getting south thing, but we are doing well. In about 3 or 4 days we should be in Spain! It’s mostly free motorway to our next stop. Today we are stopping at the medieval town of Martel, “The town of seven towers“, is a beautiful place.
The tiny local campsite is closed so we park in the aire across from the church and just outside of the town. We manage to bag a nice spot on the the green, it’s lovely here, very nice. We sit about and just laze about in the sun in our shorts. We will explore the town later when we go for dinner.
Dinner at the local restaurant was ok. We are a little early in the season as a lot of the places are still empty. We eat dinner at the Le Sans Lys. Hayley has duck, Del has steak. We finished with a very poor cheese board, unusual we thought. The French are supposed to be good at this cheese thing.
We have a nice evening walk around the town and end up in a bar that has some live music on. We have a couple of drinks and Hayley gets kissed by a rather tipsy Frenchman who is going around the bar kissing everyone! Just like the French that…
A nice walk back to Jess and a quiet night. Too much to drink though. And kissing…!
Sunday 31st March 2019 – Martel to Capdenac. 189 miles
Its a cooler morning today, but it’s bright and sunny. We need water desperately and we need to change the toilet! We set of towards the A75 and we try 4 aires. One is blocked by a visiting circus. Two have the water turned off! and the 4th has a rather steep and narrow entrance. We arrive in Capdenac which has a campsite that has a barrier and a card machine that requires membership. We pay the fee, but we can’t get in. A quick call to the management company and the barrier goes up and we are in.
It’s rather nice here, next to the river, with a main road running next to us but it’s not too noisy. The site is run by Camping Car Park. You pay a fee for a card that you swipe to get into the site. They run quite a few sites throughout France and part of Spain, so it might come in handy another time on the trip. We manage to do a full service on the van and we are facing the river. Nice.
We decide to get some exercise and drop the bikes from the back of the van and set off and head towards Capdenac le haut which is a winding road upwards that goes through a tunnel and pops out in the town of Capdenac on high. It’s supposed to be one of the prettiest villages in France however we are scuppered as the road up is very steep.
We are not fit enough for this so we give up and free wheel back done to Jess and have a lovely paella outside. All very, very nice.
Monday 1st April 2019 – Capdenac to St. Pierre La Mar. 165 miles
Not a great sleep last night, no idea why. We finally get up at 9 am. We need to service Jess again. We find a place where we can get diesel, water, air for the tyres and they have a vacuum cleaner here so we give Jess a bit of a clean up inside. We take the tight, winding road up to one the prettiest French towns, Capdenac. It was worth it. There was a place to park up there and we had a good walk around the town. We are now setting off for Millau and the famous viaduct!
The route to the Millau Viaduct is very twisty but pretty and finally the viaduct comes into sight.
It’s quite impressive, and spectacular as it spans the valley. Quite something. Del drives us over the bridge while Hayley takes pictures and just sits in awe at the construction of the bridge.
There is an exhibition here which is brilliant that tells the story of the viaduct, why and how it was constructed. Time to move on. We are heading to another aire in the town of Fleuny. Once near it’s a 5km drive on very iffy roads. It better be worth it, it better be open. It’s closed…!
We decide to drive on towards St. Pierre La Mar, on the coast. Again the roads around here are very bad, full of potholes, bits missing, twisting and traffic. We arrive at St. Pierre La Mar, which is full of camper vans, we can now see the Med. We have been driving for 6 days from home to the Med in Jess, which we have really enjoyed. We have seen some lovely places.
St. Pierre La Mar is a strange place. We walk into the town, it’s the beginning of April, spring, but the town is deserted, it feels very strange to walk around. A few restaurants are open but it just feels weird. We decide to go back and to eat dinner on Jess after we walk on the beach and look out to the Med. We are quite proud to get here. This is the area that we used to sail our boat Stargazer around and now we are here in Jess, our land yacht.
We’ve arrived at the Med…!
Tuesday 2nd April 2019 – St. Pierre La Mar, France to Port Vendres, Spain. 75 miles
After a quick service at the St. Pierre La Mar aire, we set off to find diesel and GPL (heating and cooking gas).
Hayley at the wheel today
We find a station but it involves a lot of reversing and forwarding and reversing and soon it’s very busy. There is also a van wash here, Jess is due a good bath again, so for 12 euros she gets a good wash and once again she looks very respectable on the road as we zoom down the A9 motorway to make for the border town of Port Vendres. We stayed there many time on Stargazer, so we are looking forward to getting there.
We arrive at the town of Port Vendres and we are parked just at the side of the port in a nice little overnight parking spot. The police come in the morning to collect the payment! We set off for a walk to the town which was just as we remember it. A small fishing town/harbour with lots of restaurants around the perimeter of the harbour.
Its very nice, so nice we have a nice lunch out of crispy pork/salmon mousse and steak, all helped along with a red wine from the nearby town of Collioure. Lovely.
We spend the late afternoon back at Jess. It starts to rain, heavy rain but once it stops in the early evening we go for a walk along the harbour wall to the red light that we passed many times on our boat.
The sea is flat calm. It’s a lovely night. Tomorrow we will be in Spain.
Wednesday 3rd April 2019 – Port Vendres to Roses. 52 miles
At 8:15 a very polite French policeman turns up to collect the 6 euros for the overnight stay. Today we will cross the border into Spain and head for the seaside town of Roses, another place that we stopped on Stargazer.
A cat from Cat Mountain,Llanca
We are attempting to to get there via Banyuls and Llanca. The road is over the hills and is very twisty and dangerous but we manage it.
French / Spanish border
We want to stop in Banyuls but we can’t find a space so we head on to Llanca passing the heavily graffitied border post. We are now in Spain, it’s taken a week. Another new country sticker for Jess.
After a trip many times round the one way system we park up in Llanca. It’s nice here. We used to stop here too so we know where to go. We go to a bar for some Spanish coffee and tortilla, bread and tomato. The Spanish do the best coffee, smooth and very tasty. We have a walk but the skies are getting very dark, but very dark, black in fact. There is a lot of rain on its way and things just don’t look the same in the gloom. It’s still great to be here though.
Time to set off for Roses. Not only did we come to this area by boat but we used to come here on holiday, we would hire a car and drive around the area and now we are driving around in our motorhome. Great. The campsite in Roses is in the middle of the town and is a bit tricky to find, once we get there we find that the campsite is quite tight. The roads inside are small, trees everywhere and the pitches are small.
We have laundry to do today and they have a washing machine and dryers here. You buy your tokens from the office, who are very friendly, but we find the the machine gobbles up the tokens and doesn’t start the machine. It takes ages, but ages to get the staff to give us some replacement tokens. It is lunch time and the Spanish tend to take very long lunch breaks.
We finally get the tokens and get our washing done just in time for the heavy rains to come again, but this time it’s very heavy and very miserable, not what we were hoping for. Grim.
Finally, the weather has changed, the rain has eased and stopped so we take advantage of this break in the weather and take the long walk into the Port of Roses. It’s a good walk. We need stuff for the van. We need a new pan and a mat for the van, if the rain carries on we need something to step in and out of the van without getting soaking wet shoes or boots in the van.
A great dinner tonight on Jess, fajitas, home made in the new frying pan.
Thursday 4th April 2019 – Roses to Empuriabrava. 7 miles
This morning we have lovely bright blue skies. That’s the thing about Spain compared to home. It rains heavy, and it can be really heavy, but then it just goes bright and clear unlike home where it just rains and stays grey, bits of blue sky then more grey and rain… Yuk! We set off for the short drive to Empuriabrava. Before we bought a boat we used to spend hours here sitting on the harbour wall just watching the boats going in and out, we loved it. More than 20 years ago!
Our ‘chilly’ stop
The free stop in Empuriabrava is next to a refrigeration plant, but it’s a nice stop. There are other vans here so we have company. Once we get settled we get the bikes down, it’s been a while since we did that, and set of for a bike ride. It’s nice and flat here so we can get some good exercise. We are on our bikes for a good few hours exploring, we really enjoy it, seeing all the places that we used to go to all those years ago.
Now we are hungry but what to eat? Spain is good for a ‘Menu of the day‘ 10 to 12 euros gets you a two or three course lunch which usually can be very nice. We cycle back towards the van at the other end of town keeping an eye open for a restaurant to fit our budget, no joy, however there is a supermarket near where we are parked, they have a menu of the day! A supermarket has an outside restaurant that does a menu of the day, very classy!!
It fits our budget so we get a table and we have a wonderful lunch, we are not kidding, it was just perfect. Pan con tomate, iberico ham and calamares. We sat outside and enjoyed a great lunch in the afternoon sunshine with a glass of cava. Does it get any better?
Not far from here is an airfield that has a very world-famous and popular skydiving centre, so of course after a few drinks and a great lunch, we weave off on our bikes to the airfield. It has undergone some changes since we were last here, with a new building and a flashy cafe. We watch the planes take off full of folk who, 20 minutes later are landing on the nearby grass field. Looks great but not for us!
Near to the airfield is a new shiny aluminium building that does simulated skydiving. You put on a suit and step into this large glass tube, a big fan starts up and you get pushed up, floating about. Takes all sorts. Hayley is interested but not sure.
Back at Jess, Hayley decided that she will give the skydiving machine a go! Takes all sorts! We set off and she pays the fee and is soon dressed in a suit, helmet and some goggles. She steps into the machine with Alex, a very helpful chap from the venue, and within seconds she is pushed up the glass tube. She loves it as the speed is dropped and revved up making her go up and down, giggling and screaming as she is pushed up at high speed then drops like a stone. She has a great time.
There is an offer that allows you to go even higher and spin, it’s a bit extra but who cares, it’s not everyday you can do this kind of thing. She is shot up to 15m at high speed and coached how to spin down by the very able Alex. She comes out with her hair all over the place grinning and red!
After a good scream and a giggle, we go back to Jess. Cheese and biscuits tonight after our heavy lunch. A great day.
Friday 5th April 2019 – Empuriabrava to San Pere Pescador. 8 miles
It’s sunny but cool this morning. The refrigeration machine has been working overtime, it’s covered in ice.
We still don’t know what it does or why, but a tanker appears and does something then disappears half an hour later. Today we are setting off to San Pere Pescador. We have spent so many holidays over so many years there so we are looking forward to it.
We drive to Camping Aquarius. It’s a strange drive. We drove these roads so many times years ago and now we are doing it again in Jess.
Setting up for a couple of nights stay
We arrive at the campsite which is just wonderful. Nice big pitches, great facilities and near the beach. The staff are very friendly and we get settled in quite quickly.
Our local beach
We get the bikes off again, take a good bike ride to the town of San Pere Pescador and have a cold beer in a bar while trying to rent out our flat in London. We take a good walk and bike ride around the town. It hasn’t changed at all.
We cycle back and get to the campsite just in time for the heavens to open…! It pours down for the rest of the day. Hayley makes us a traditional Spanish stew tonight which is just fantastic…
COMMENTS