Day 21
Sunshine! Awake with the birds this morning and even Jaz was awake at 07.20. The F1 is on and the restaurant is opening early for the Brits to watch it. Its the only thing he gets up early for..lol Noon and we are on our way towards Valencia thro Benidorm and the Alta hills/Mountains on the N332. Benidorm rises out of the mountains like a weed. It spreads like a concrete lego land. After some of the unspoiled Spain we have seen and beaches all to ourselves it feels sad too look upon such an awful sight, but i guess that's what the paying tourist wants. Stopped at Lidel and stocked up, carried onto Oliva. On the N332 Caretta de Gandia road there are many prostitutes sat along the road. Now you might ask, how do you know they are prostitutes? In 24 degree heat they are fully made up, wearing thigh high boots, mini skirts or hotpants and most of them have faces like smacked arses... saw a few cars trawling along slowly checking them out and the girls stood up with hands on hips and big smiles. You see the odd empty chair and I guess that means she got lucky... guess we all gotta make a living huh. I am surprised that it is during the day
and police just drive by.... maybe its ok as long as they don't cause trouble. Oliva campsite is closed so onto the next one. Well either the sun has got to him or he needs a nap . Jaz has rave/dance music on flat out in the van and he is doing some rather funky dad dancing and singing as he drives. What happened to the man of rock....?? Arrived in Benicasim. Lay by for the night. Jaz taught me how to make a curry. It wasnt great but edible. 293km fuel 39Euro
Day 22
Up at 07.00 drive to Peniscola 61km Staying at Vizmar camperstop. Jaz is happy, elec hook up F1 and bacon butties, I know how to make my man happy...lol Cycled into Peniscola (sounds like it is spelt...lol)long stretch of golden sandy beach and a beautiful clear turquoise sea. Lots of cafe bars restaurants. The castle (which is a big feature in this place) is called the Papa Luna castle and was featured in the movie El Cid with Charlton Heston in 1961. Peniscola is also called the Gibraltar of Valencia. Well worth a stay. Got chatting to a really nice guy who owns a cafe bar on in the castle he told us he loved being there and loved even more to tell his friends that he lived in a castle... ha ha he said he had been there since 1998 and wasn't planning on moving.The bar was called
the Roquefort cafe and they do awesome burgers for only 5 euro's. Cycled back and chilling outside in the sun reading a book a lady gave me when I got chatting to her.... the lady was also travelling and was maybe in her late 60's he book is called Bared to you and OMG its raunchy... no wonder she had a smile on her face when she gave it to me... lmao. Meatballs and pasta for tea... Jaz said he is fed of seeing only elderly people, in the great scheme of things we are positively kindergarten in comparison...
Day 23
Up at 08.00 after listening to dogs barking, donkeys braying, cocks crowing and Jaz swearing after bashing his ankle. Not so warm yet and windy...very windy! The gates are locked at 7pm here so it is very secure... pain in the but if you want to get here late tho!Arrived in Amposta 50km at 10.00am a nice nature reserve, a little boring and very bloomin windy!!The tractor is re-leveling the carpark so it is very noisy and dusty too. Coffee and move on i think. The wind is the worse I have ever encountered. The van is bouncing all over the road and getting battered by the
buffers from the trucks, its as scary as hell!
Stopped at a garage and Jaz got the tyres swapped while i played fetch with the dog (Salem). This wind is so strong it stops you dead in your tracks if your walking and pushes you backwards. Fuel 45 Euro tyre change 20 Euro.
13.15 Jaz decids to stop off in Salou to do some reminising about his holiday with Malcom and Jhon. Salou is a mecca for teenagers and I can see why 3 single lads would want to come here...lol. Stag and hen parties everywhere it was the busiest we have seen Spain since we got here. There were more than a few red bodies and sunstroke victims about...and of course the obligatory teenager chucking up over the wall...lmao Stoped at a cafe for a coffee and a shower. Its weird, we are wearing t-shirts and shorts and in the distance there is snow on the mountains. The winds seem to have died down which is a bonus. 18.15 arrive at out stop for the night, Calaf. A tiny place
NW of Barcelona. It is a market town and all in cotswold type stone, it looks lovely and really old fashioned.
I saw the most amazing sunset... the best I have ever witnessed and a truly magnificent castle/bell tower in the forefront of it. Tea for tonight is marinated ribs and salad and our stop point for the night is a petrol station...
Jaz takes me to all the exotic places... but with the view of the bell tower i wont complain.
Day 24
Best night sleep ever! slept from 10pm to 7am. Cloudy and a bit chilly but not under the super massive Duvet kindly donated by Des....09.30 on the road again. Some lovely scenery. you would think you would get tired of mountains, vineyards and farm land but when your the only car on the road and it stretches out for hundreds of KM's its a pretty amazing sight. Arrived in Barcelona and finaly found the campstop. this was after ending up in a loading bay under the central commerce district with a 2m height barrier...lmao luckily found an intercom and the kind lady
directed us out..Campstop is a big carpark right in Barca with elec, wc and showers (no doors or curtains on the showers looks like a bit of a perv fest...cost os 30 Euro's for 10-24 hours, it's expensive but thats what you get for city prices!
How better to see Barca and the many wondrous sights, than to catch the popular Bus Turistic (tourist bus)
The 1 day pass is 27 euro's each(bit steep) but it takes you around 3 routes (green red and blue) to every major sight in Barca and you can jump on and off as many times as you like. They also give you a map and discount vouchers... very useful. Barca is a vibrant new/old eclectic mix of buildings and steeped in history. we made a few stops along the bus route one was to the gothic quarter where i had a fabulous coffee ice cream. The next stop was to the famous Gaudi inspired church Basilica Sagrada familia. Jaz's face said it all when he looked up at the facinating, intricate
and a totaly bonkers church that stands right in the middle of Barca. He said one word.... 'WOW!' If you have been there you will understand. I think I may be the only person who thinks Jesus is a cool dude as inside the church it looks like he is parachuting down from the ceiling...created a bit of a giggle from me, while everyone else was being super serious...lol. It would take me a week to tell you everything about Barca as there are so many things here so my best advice is to go and see it for your self... you wont be disappointed. When we brought the bus tickets the
lady said last bus was at 10pm. What she didn't say was it was from the stop we got ON at. So when we changed from the red route to the green, the green bus had finished running.. Last bus missed 3km walk across Barca at 21.30pm got back to bessie at 11pm!
Half a day and the night in Barca cost 150 Euro's... our budget for around 4 days! 98KM
Day 25
Slept like the dead after all that walking, despite the noise. Started out at 10.45 Fuel 29.56E
Arrived in San Feliu de Guixols. Large car park very quiet and on the outskirts of a little village near Tossa del Mar. Went for a cycle but we had missed the open market. Brought some food from the spa shop. Spa is bloomin expensive 1.59E for a can of beans! Had lunch (not beans...lol) chilled in the sun reading. Whitin 5 minutes of the car park is a beautiful church,tennis courts,swimming pool,bars,cafe,restaurants,theatre and a museum...oh and a beach.... not bad for a little village. Lots of fish restaurants in the harbour.
Day 26
The sun is up and so am i....07.30 and Im sure I heard Elephants in the night....lol Jaz is fixing the fridge which only works occasionally,a man came and stood right behind him watching. I told Jaz to give the nosey sod a screwdriver lol. when he buggered off we realised he had the same van as ours so maybe he has a prob with his fridge too. Jaz used his rod today and caught nowt, a little kid next to us caught 2... ha ha. Had kebabs for tea and sat laughing at the German's in the van opposite watching RABBIT racing..... takes all sorts! 109km
Day 27
On the move to Sant Hilari Sacalm to see the 'Via crucis vivent' which is the cruxifiction. It is a play the tiny village in the mountains has put on for over 270 years and very traditional, the whole village gets involved.
Few hairy moments on the way and so very sheer drops on hair pin bends...lol good job Jaz can drive this bus! Bloody Jane (sat nav) sent us to the campstop via a path...we wondered why we were getting some funny looks...lol luckily a very nice man helped navigate us round the barriers at the end....phew! Beautiful sunny day. Sausage and egg butties and off to explore.The leisure centre where we are staying is the final scene for the cruxifiction after it has been through the village and various scenes have been played out. You can also shower in there for 2 euro's each....Well the reason we came to Sant Hilari was for the show and because it was also good friday I know none of you have ever seen it but if you had you would better understand the following...My description of this event can never do it any justice. I am not religious and I am not a writer so I will do my best.
There is a certain way things you watch make you feel, scared, angry,happy etch...this play in a tiny mountain
village makes you feel all of your emotions. I can only describe this play as an epic production on a scale equivalent to Ben Hur. Over 100 fully kitted out Roman soldiers with trumpets, spears,drums,horses etc, all scenes set to music and a priest narrating the story who you could hear(not understand) every emotion he was feeling.
He made the hair on my neck stand on end. The cast was over 500 people and each one as professional as any paid actor.There were street scenes set up around the village and all shops had displays. The finale of the Cruxifiction was also set to music and the mountain it was performed on was lit up with a crowd of thousands watching on in total silence... it was eerie. Imagine this, you hear Jesus being nailed to the cross...at the precise moment the cross is pulled upright,Carmena Burana (theme from the omen) blasts out of every speaker with thunder
and lightening and smoke rolling in to create the moment....WOW... it was an awesome moment. This whole thing started at 7pm and finished at 12.30am the moon was full and it was a clear sky with thousands of stars. The streets were lit with torches and crosses hanging from the street wires over the road.
If you are in the area next Easter please come and see it.... it will be something you will never forget. 70km
Day 28
Up at 08.30 bit of a lie in after last nights production. Security patrol to check all is ok and a bread van delivers fresh bread. Ready to hit the road and travel back to the South of France. I will miss Spain....
Detour to Aldi to do shopping Had lunch in the car park and watched some family helping themselves to out of date food from the skip. Drove Bessie for a few KM... crapped myself, she is a big old bus. Parked near Rigarda in a place called Vinca for the night its a country park I think and very quiet.Jaz and I have made a pact, I will do the cooking and he will do the driving after he melted the blinds in the kitchen...lol. 251km
Day 29
Windy but sunny day today... thought it was quiet last night, after going for a walk we found we are parked in the grounds of a cemetary! So lovely here, woodpeckers,squirrels,robins and owls.13.00 moving onto our next destination Jaz has decided he wants to drive OVER the mountain we can see with all the snow on top....omg! Arrived in Mont Louis right up top of the Pyrenees, it was a hell of a climb and the views are spectacular!
Few hairy moments, passing a bus in a tiny village. Stop for the night is a citadel (fortress) which is still in use by the military so you cant get muc safer than that! only 48KM today but it felt more like 248KM
Day 30
It is so cold you can see your breath inside the van...brrrrrrr you have to drink your tea flippin fast too.
The sun is out but it is not warming up very fast.12.30 on our way but who knows where. Bessie doesnt like the cold either and was a bit of a pain to get started this morning...Dont know where we are going as this is Jaz's decision and he has decided NOT to use Jane, lets see where the road goes, he says. It goes throught the ski slopes of the pyrenees.....TRUST JAZ.... ha ha 1915 KM above sea level!! Sat in the van watching the Skiers coming down the slopes and we are higher than some of them...some of the snow at the side of the road was over 5ft deep.
Stopped for fuel in Mirepoix 46euro's and found a swing/jazz festival on so we stopped for the night in the campstop.
I am glad we did, what an awesome little town....Great music, more swing than Jazz but fab! Hot sunshine and really lovely friendly people! I popped back to the van to get changed and in the short walk back the following happens to me.... I get offered 50% off Jesus, I steal a St Bernard,I get offered a tour of a very beautiful house, I become an honorary member of a band and I help a Granny to close her blinds and she blesses me.
Sat in Alec Baldwin's (look alike) cafe chatting to a man we met called Phil. He is a biker dude who is a 5th dan black belt and has seen more of the world than I can imagine.... what a cool guy! He was my first french kiss in France...lol @ bottles of good red wine, beer, Jack daniels and half a bottle of white... hangover tomorrow.
155km
Day 31
NO HANGOVER!! BONUS!
on the road for 10.30. Through some lovely villages with names like Montreal and Villneurve. Tiny villages with grand names dotted around green open filds as far as the eye can see, also right in the distance you can still see the snow covered Pyrenees. Blazing hot sunny day and our campstop is in the pretty seaside resort of Serignan-Plage, the mini glof resort, right by the sea. 12 euros a night including electric so everything is on charge and the washing is done... also showers so a good scrub up too....lol 151km
Day 32
Noon- on the road. On our way towards Arles through Montpellier near Avignon. Fuel 32.61E. Passed through Palavas-les-Flots/Sante Maria-sur-le mer and saw loads of wild pink flamingos for miles along the road. Lots of wild white palomino type horses too. Arrive in Arles and the funfair is in town so no where to park! Next stop is Martin-En-Crau it is just a car park at the edge of a little town with dump facilities for Motorhomes and it is free so not too bad.
I have now read all of my books 3 times and even the 4 new ones twice...lol @ 7pm after dinner Jaz decides he doesnt like it here and wants to move on...the joys of motorhoming...easy to move on. The trip he planned involves a ferry ride which neither of us knew and the aires book didnt mention it either! 5 Euros to cross into Salin de Giraud.
Kinda place you should drive into and drive away quickly... ha ha. No campsite, no where to park so just as we decided to leave Jaz drove down a little country lane and we ended up in the grounds of an old church next to a canal and estuary. It was a little spooky but no need for the fish slice!
Day 33
Nice quiet night with only the sounds of nature around us. felt a little spooky before we went to bed as we saw candle light twice inside the church so we scared ourselves with ghost stories...lol the ghosts didnt bother us though.
Jaz has gone off fishing and I went walking and taking pictures. It is very pretty here with tiny thatched cottages scattered about. A really nice man came to check the place over (bit like a warden) and in broken English he said we were very welcome to stay as long as wanted.. an air raid siren went off and he explained it went off daily when they opened the sluice gates for the estuary.... good job he was there to ask or i would have been packing up pretty damn quick! He gave me an orange and told me we should visit Sante Maria. Still no sign of Jaz he is probably snoring on the river bank...The nice man popped back and gave me a map of the area...bless him.
Sitting outside the van you cant help getting the feeling that your being watched.....weird but ok...
No fish for dinner tonight.
On the road for 18.30... instead of crossing the ferry we head back towards Arles and take a wrong turn...faced with a bridge of 2.2mH Jaz has to do a 4 point turn holding all the traffic up....omg...lol
21.00....somehow we are in the city centre of Marseilles with 500m to a 3.2mH bridge!!!!! Just spotted a left turn just before the bridge...not a much better move... tiny narrow streets with cars parked either side and lots of pubs/people around, wing mirrors in and lots of negotiating around the cars. I had to jump out twice and guide him through because he couldnt use his side mirrors!!What a bloody nightmare. 21.45 parked up at a garage thinking we
were very bloody lucky!
GOODNIGHT! 142km
Day 34
08.30 not a good sleep, noisy and trucks pulling in and out all night. Fuel 41.61 Euros.
If you ever get a chance, look up the mountain road between Hyres and St Tropez N98...Holy Moly!!
Arrived in the bay of St Tropez but couldnt park where we wanted to so ended up paying 35E for a night for a beach pitch. It has a great view of the bay. Skype with the family Richard is still trying to figure out the kindle and my mum couldnt hear us, although when i asked her if she could hear us she said no...go figure... She aslo warned me to be careful of dodgy people and Jellyfish....
It is truly beautiful and the view is stunning, just like something you would see in a travel brochure. Palm trees, white sandy beaches and crystal blue water.
Day 35
Went for a lovely meal last night which was a very welcome change from dinner in a can! I had chicken with cream and mushroom sauce and Jaz had steak with shallots, it was gorgeous even got a free night cap....
Up early this morning 04.30 and Jaz too...sat on the beach watching the sunrise and the world come to life, heaven really is a place on earth. 11:30 on the road towards Monaco. Another mountain road DN7. Didnt make it to Monaco, we just couldnt get out of NICE! Jane (sat nav) took us right through the centre of Nice and tried to direct us under 4 underground tunnels...all lower than 3M Height.So we decided to drive as far North from Niece as possible so Jane could direct us another way other than the A8. We put a place in an hour north which was up and down more
mountains. Jaz's description of one of the hairpins was, 'it looks like a folded piece of paper!' So 1 hour later we are camped by a stream in the mountains and our neighbours for the night are a Belgium family. Annalee,Luc,Mia and Tom.
They are lovely and young for a change too...Sat up until midnight chatting about experiences and getting some useful information about countries. They have managed to put Jaz off about going to Italy as they say it is not Motorhome friendly at all! They didnt enjoy their time there and were moved on all the time. 168KM
Day 36
12:00 say goodbye to our new MH buddies and on the road to Sospel. 124km and 5.5 hours later we arrive..after climbing Mount BIG UN! (Big None) and it was a bloody big one too! Hairpins were 5 in a row going up 10% climbs it was a little stressful! Sospel is a beautiful little village high in the mountains and everyone is friendly.
Checked out the train times for Monaco and prices 36.20e return for us both...not bad. Jaz is so excited that he is finaly going to see Monaco that he cant stop grinning...We have come to the conclusion that, the person who designed these mountain roads handed over the wrong drawing to the construction team. we think they gave them a drawing from their 3 year old instead!!
Day 37
up at 8am to catch the train from Sospel to Monaco. you have to change at Nice but you get off and stay on the same platform. I would buy the tickets inside the office at Sospel as the lady is lovely and will give you a print out of the train times so you dont miss the last one back.Jaz hasnt stopped smiling and saying WOW! to everything he see's.He saw Huge boats and yacts, ferrari's,maclarens, Bentley's,bugatti bikes and of course he touched the F1 circuit. The whole place is getting ready for the F1 race and the stands are going up, it is so exciting.
We went on the 'Grand tour' bus as it is a good way to see the sights in a short time. we saw the palace,casino, harbour and took a walk through the Princess Grace Japanese flower garden...I didnt know Grace Kelly married the prince of Monaco...
Day 38
on the road for 11:15. We found a much easier route back down the mountain...not nearly as stressful! To cross the border into Italy you have to go under a tunnel. You have to wait at lights on a bridge for 20 mins until your side is allowed through. The lorry in front of us was a lituaniun lorry and he couldnt clear the 3.9m without dropping his lorry down a few inches... it was close for him all the way down that tunnel and it was a very long tunnel too. we arrived at our campstop in Italy Niella Tranto. The book says, farm, quiet and isolated surroundings.well dodgy and weird is a better description if you ask me!! Middle of nowhere (which is ok) a farm that looks half demolished or just falling down and as we pull up 6 blokes stop and stare at us....not one of them came over to speak just stared....we moved our asses out of there pretty quick smart.... if it dont feel right go with your instinct! reprograme Jane and off again. I have to say the welcome into Italy is not great so far. we get scowled at, dirty looks and only 1 person has said hello so far...The next campsite was closed,although the book said all year round and the road to the next one was closed, unpassable because of the snow! we decided to park up on the closed road for the night, next to a waterfall and river at the foot of the snow coverd mountains....wearing t-shirts....go figure! Wild camping so cooking on a campfire tonight so burnt chilli for tea but the
beers are cold as they are in a bucket of snow and i am sat here in my Panda onesie... can you imagine if anyone saw me.....lol 171km
Day 39
up at 7am to the wonderful sounds of birds singing,waterfall and Jaz snoring... The sunrise over the mountains was an awesome sight.10.30 on the road again. The campstop is San Damiano Asti. We were told after parking for 1 hour that we should have phoned ahead to book as they have no water. I had a quick (freezing)cold shower and we moved on.
Stopped at a lovey cafe (Cafe Vallee) for ham and cheese chibbata and fresh coffee. The lovliest man served us so not all Italians scowl...lol Took a pastry away with custard inside, the man said it would explode all over your face when you bite into it.... he wasnt wrong....but it was gorgeous. Got some Italian Honey for my breakfast in the morning. Fuel is expensive 1.42 E per litre. 50e Fuel. On the road to the next stop Saint Oyen. Ended up on a road with a 3M height so we pulled over to reprogram Jane and a lorry sped past us. Jaz said 'if he can do it so can
we!' and took off after him... ha haThe restriction was overhanging rock faces so when the trucker went into the middle of the road so did we! Thank you Mr Trucker for saving us from a 1 hour detour through the Rhone Alps.
The campsite is closed despite the book saying all year round....bloody book!!! Campsite next door is open tho and at 18e a night electirc that wont stay on and 60cents for a 3 minute shower its daylight robbery!!!
On a positive note...only about 15km from the border into Switzerland...The dilema is, once we get into Switz do we turn left or right.......watch this space.