Day 1 UK
sunday Kidderminster 350km Fuel 50gbp to St Valery en Caux 650km fuel 50 euro in Calais
Started out from Kidderminster @ 06.30 arrived St Val @ 17.45
Day 2 France
Monday 9am woke up to a beautiful sea view, walked into the little village to buy fresh bread.
got chatting to a couple of Brits who had rescued a cat in Spain and had to wait 18 days before crossing the channel to UK.
Fuel cost 77 Euro's left St Val for Mont St Michelle
Arrived 17.30 349km 6.50 E overnight in a campsite with a view of MSM
Day 3
quick bike ride to MSM and a walk around the gorgeous village
Drive to campsite Bretignelles-sur mer.Raining a little. Stopped in a Shell garage for a shower free... bonus! found the site closed so parked up in a residential car park for the night. 298km
Day 4
Early start 07.30 lovely sunny morning drive to Anglet fuel cost 86 euro's
Scary moment when we thought we were going to run out of petrol 20km to the next garage and we were running on fresh air but Bessie didn't let us down and made it.....PHEW.
Under a low underpass bridge 3.3m we are 3.2.... I can tell you I held my breath omg!!
You can only buy tobacco products in a tobacconists not a petrol station or shop.
Arrived in Anglet to camp to find the gypsy's had moved in!! no camping for us then! Manged to find another site (San Sebastian- Jurez sur le mar) and got one of the last few spaces left! Noisy, next door to a main road and a train track but rather that than make Jaz drive any more!
585km.....Long day! I thought this was supposed to be stress free?????
Day 5 Spain
On the road for 7am at Spanish border control for 07.15. Stopped by border guards for documents check and questions about where we had been and where we were going. Diesel 63euro's Jaz was served by Fernando Alonso! Road to Bermeo very foggy and lots of little mountain roads up and down very scary drops either side. Felt like we were on 'Ice road truckers' lol Beautiful little harbour town cobbled streets and gorgeous architecture 148km. Our stop for the night was next to a beautiful churchyard. wine was 1.20e
Day 6
Started at 06.30 raining and dark up and down tiny mountain roads with hair pin bends and buses and trucks coming the other way with sheer drops on my side...very scary but Jaz and Bessie did well. Long mountain coast road thro to Santander/ Bilbao towards Gijon. Sunny with a few showers but awesome views 315km. Bike ride into the harbour and beach and back to Bessie for dinner and wine wine is 0.75e
Day 7 Portugal
Petrol 59e toll 13.50e
Lazy start 08.00 lovely sunny day climbing the mountain pass called the Asturias on the A66 Gijon to Leon road at the top when we finally got there it was SNOWING! we made breakfast at the top and i can honestly say it was some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. arrived at Villardo which was a little town straight out of the film 'Ghost-rider' had lunch and decided to move onto Portugal. We headed for a place called Braganca just inside the border. Our stopover was at the foot of a castle nestled high in the mountains.
Day 8
Leave Braganca to drive to Esposende at 11.50 wonderful site 500m to the beach electric, showers, washing machine. Bessie was all juiced up so we asked how much it would be it was 17.25e per night at 4.75e to do a wash load!! OMG only stopping here for 1 night!!
Day 9
Leave Esponsende at 14.30 fuel 54e driving to Figueira De Foz 189km arrive at 18.25. Lovely white washed seaside town car park right on the beach awesome surfing waves and golden sandy beaches that stretches for miles. Very windy and just started raining when we left.
Day 10
Leave Figuiria de Foz @ 12 noon to Carouche 228km arrive at 5pm came through some gorgeous villages and a bull fighting ring-shame we couldn't stop first show was April 5th. went over some scary bridges . Tonight's venue is at the back of Lidel facing the circus, next to a bus depot... Glamorous eh, maybe we will join the circus...lol First Sunday lunch in Bessie, chops, pots, roasties cauli and brocc, tasted good despite the lack of gravy...cannot find gravy in Portugal! Couple of boxes of white wine tonight so hangover tomorrow. Going to the Algarve tomorrow but only as long as Jane sorts herself out on the new Portuguese road system....Jane is our Satnav.
Day 11
up at 07.30 Jaz is still snoring-a little hungover... ha ha
Beautiful sunny day . 09.50 head off towards the Algarve fuel 59.20e heading towards a place called Alvor. Going towards the motorway we saw maybe 15 storks making nests... never seen so many wild. chugging along the A22/IC4 towards Lisboa nothing but Olive groves and trees on either side of the motorway as far as the eye can see. Stopped for bubble and squeak lunch. Diesel is a lot cheaper in Portugal than France. Bloody toll roads....34.30e class 2 vehicle!
Decided to give Alvor a miss. Tiny narrow streets,cobbles with stick out balconies and men working at the side of the road.Ended up with about 5 people helping us navigate through to get out the other side! A french motorhome infront of us got stuck and scraped the side of his van... he was not happy.Going to Silves, lets hope this is ok.... stressed out enough today! Couldn't find the site we wanted (here we go again) it doesn't exist...another site was full so we parked on the car park. A very nice English lady told us the police sometimes moves motorhomes off the car park so be careful. we decided to go elsewhere just to be safe. She also said the Portuguese were boring and she was thinking of moving on... ha ha.Decided to go to the Club Autocaravana couldn't find the way in although we could see the site from the road!!. Moved onto Caldas de Monchique... put in the co-ordinates but couldn't find it... no motorhome park! Parked in a lay by in the middle of nowhere...very spooky and dark and very quiet..... lets hope tomorrow is a better day 382km
Day 12 Spain
Awake at 5am got up at 6am. Jaz is still snoring - not bad considering we were in ed for 8pm! Took a while to get to sleep pitch black and spooky noises from the forest but despite going to bed with a fish slice close at hand for any intruders I had a good sleep. Really want a cigarette but i'm not going out there alone.
8am back on the road descovered the campsites we couldn't find was only 20 yards away! The sign was facing up the road so we would hve never seen it. TYPICAL! Saw some awesome cars on the road maybe 20 Porches' Mercedes, Aston Martins, Maserati etc looked like a rally.Absolutely gleeming and purring. Fuel 46Euros Drive to Luz de Tavira. No bloody campsite AGAIN! Getting outta Portugal and going back to Spain in search of better lick. Crossed the border into Spain at 10:45am to the sound of G'N'R Paradise City - we both had a little jig LOL. Within 10 minutes we saw a lorry fire of exploding fireworks and a horse rider riding backwards! it all happens on the A49 30K from Saville. Another car on fir up the road in the city centre and a huge up and over suspension bridge to cross - GULP Fuel 30Euros (1:13Lt) Found Sanlicar de Barrameda. 400KM Right on the sea side, little worried about parking on the grass as its raining but it;s fine. Met the site owner Alfonso excellent man very friendly and helpful - gave us an adapter to use for the electric. 10Euros per night inc elec, wifi and hot showers. YES!
sunday Kidderminster 350km Fuel 50gbp to St Valery en Caux 650km fuel 50 euro in Calais
Started out from Kidderminster @ 06.30 arrived St Val @ 17.45
Day 2 France
Monday 9am woke up to a beautiful sea view, walked into the little village to buy fresh bread.
got chatting to a couple of Brits who had rescued a cat in Spain and had to wait 18 days before crossing the channel to UK.
Fuel cost 77 Euro's left St Val for Mont St Michelle
Arrived 17.30 349km 6.50 E overnight in a campsite with a view of MSM
Day 3
quick bike ride to MSM and a walk around the gorgeous village
Drive to campsite Bretignelles-sur mer.Raining a little. Stopped in a Shell garage for a shower free... bonus! found the site closed so parked up in a residential car park for the night. 298km
Day 4
Early start 07.30 lovely sunny morning drive to Anglet fuel cost 86 euro's
Scary moment when we thought we were going to run out of petrol 20km to the next garage and we were running on fresh air but Bessie didn't let us down and made it.....PHEW.
Under a low underpass bridge 3.3m we are 3.2.... I can tell you I held my breath omg!!
You can only buy tobacco products in a tobacconists not a petrol station or shop.
Arrived in Anglet to camp to find the gypsy's had moved in!! no camping for us then! Manged to find another site (San Sebastian- Jurez sur le mar) and got one of the last few spaces left! Noisy, next door to a main road and a train track but rather that than make Jaz drive any more!
585km.....Long day! I thought this was supposed to be stress free?????
Day 5 Spain
On the road for 7am at Spanish border control for 07.15. Stopped by border guards for documents check and questions about where we had been and where we were going. Diesel 63euro's Jaz was served by Fernando Alonso! Road to Bermeo very foggy and lots of little mountain roads up and down very scary drops either side. Felt like we were on 'Ice road truckers' lol Beautiful little harbour town cobbled streets and gorgeous architecture 148km. Our stop for the night was next to a beautiful churchyard. wine was 1.20e
Day 6
Started at 06.30 raining and dark up and down tiny mountain roads with hair pin bends and buses and trucks coming the other way with sheer drops on my side...very scary but Jaz and Bessie did well. Long mountain coast road thro to Santander/ Bilbao towards Gijon. Sunny with a few showers but awesome views 315km. Bike ride into the harbour and beach and back to Bessie for dinner and wine wine is 0.75e
Day 7 Portugal
Petrol 59e toll 13.50e
Lazy start 08.00 lovely sunny day climbing the mountain pass called the Asturias on the A66 Gijon to Leon road at the top when we finally got there it was SNOWING! we made breakfast at the top and i can honestly say it was some of the most amazing views I have ever seen. arrived at Villardo which was a little town straight out of the film 'Ghost-rider' had lunch and decided to move onto Portugal. We headed for a place called Braganca just inside the border. Our stopover was at the foot of a castle nestled high in the mountains.
Day 8
Leave Braganca to drive to Esposende at 11.50 wonderful site 500m to the beach electric, showers, washing machine. Bessie was all juiced up so we asked how much it would be it was 17.25e per night at 4.75e to do a wash load!! OMG only stopping here for 1 night!!
Day 9
Leave Esponsende at 14.30 fuel 54e driving to Figueira De Foz 189km arrive at 18.25. Lovely white washed seaside town car park right on the beach awesome surfing waves and golden sandy beaches that stretches for miles. Very windy and just started raining when we left.
Day 10
Leave Figuiria de Foz @ 12 noon to Carouche 228km arrive at 5pm came through some gorgeous villages and a bull fighting ring-shame we couldn't stop first show was April 5th. went over some scary bridges . Tonight's venue is at the back of Lidel facing the circus, next to a bus depot... Glamorous eh, maybe we will join the circus...lol First Sunday lunch in Bessie, chops, pots, roasties cauli and brocc, tasted good despite the lack of gravy...cannot find gravy in Portugal! Couple of boxes of white wine tonight so hangover tomorrow. Going to the Algarve tomorrow but only as long as Jane sorts herself out on the new Portuguese road system....Jane is our Satnav.
Day 11
up at 07.30 Jaz is still snoring-a little hungover... ha ha
Beautiful sunny day . 09.50 head off towards the Algarve fuel 59.20e heading towards a place called Alvor. Going towards the motorway we saw maybe 15 storks making nests... never seen so many wild. chugging along the A22/IC4 towards Lisboa nothing but Olive groves and trees on either side of the motorway as far as the eye can see. Stopped for bubble and squeak lunch. Diesel is a lot cheaper in Portugal than France. Bloody toll roads....34.30e class 2 vehicle!
Decided to give Alvor a miss. Tiny narrow streets,cobbles with stick out balconies and men working at the side of the road.Ended up with about 5 people helping us navigate through to get out the other side! A french motorhome infront of us got stuck and scraped the side of his van... he was not happy.Going to Silves, lets hope this is ok.... stressed out enough today! Couldn't find the site we wanted (here we go again) it doesn't exist...another site was full so we parked on the car park. A very nice English lady told us the police sometimes moves motorhomes off the car park so be careful. we decided to go elsewhere just to be safe. She also said the Portuguese were boring and she was thinking of moving on... ha ha.Decided to go to the Club Autocaravana couldn't find the way in although we could see the site from the road!!. Moved onto Caldas de Monchique... put in the co-ordinates but couldn't find it... no motorhome park! Parked in a lay by in the middle of nowhere...very spooky and dark and very quiet..... lets hope tomorrow is a better day 382km
Day 12 Spain
Awake at 5am got up at 6am. Jaz is still snoring - not bad considering we were in ed for 8pm! Took a while to get to sleep pitch black and spooky noises from the forest but despite going to bed with a fish slice close at hand for any intruders I had a good sleep. Really want a cigarette but i'm not going out there alone.
8am back on the road descovered the campsites we couldn't find was only 20 yards away! The sign was facing up the road so we would hve never seen it. TYPICAL! Saw some awesome cars on the road maybe 20 Porches' Mercedes, Aston Martins, Maserati etc looked like a rally.Absolutely gleeming and purring. Fuel 46Euros Drive to Luz de Tavira. No bloody campsite AGAIN! Getting outta Portugal and going back to Spain in search of better lick. Crossed the border into Spain at 10:45am to the sound of G'N'R Paradise City - we both had a little jig LOL. Within 10 minutes we saw a lorry fire of exploding fireworks and a horse rider riding backwards! it all happens on the A49 30K from Saville. Another car on fir up the road in the city centre and a huge up and over suspension bridge to cross - GULP Fuel 30Euros (1:13Lt) Found Sanlicar de Barrameda. 400KM Right on the sea side, little worried about parking on the grass as its raining but it;s fine. Met the site owner Alfonso excellent man very friendly and helpful - gave us an adapter to use for the electric. 10Euros per night inc elec, wifi and hot showers. YES!