Tuesday 8 January – Valderrobres to Peniscola

Valderrobres to Peniscola - 84 miles

Well that was probably the coldest night we've ever spent in the van! Not realising we were 3000 ft up in the mountains the temperature went well below freezing and on getting up we found that the waste pipes, both into and out of the tank, were frozen up. We sorted the inlet as we could get at the trap under the van but the outlet had to wait until later.

But it was a lovely morning and once the heating had brought us back to a reasonable temperature and the sun had got onto the van we were fine. The shenanigans had delayed us of course but we were only a couple of hours from the coast so it wasn't a problem.

After breakfast we managed to empty the loo and persuaded the water tap to let us fill the fresh water tank. Then we headed south, along a “scenic” route which took us through the mountains and then eventually onto the coast at Benicarlo. Our plan was a big shop, gas if possible, then find a nice campsite for a few days to unwind after being on the road over a week.

We ventured into Benicarlo but it was obvious there wasn't what we needed then nearly got stuck, having to reverse out of a road that, due to parked cars and vans, was too narrow for us. We had stayed at Peniscola, the next town south, before so headed there and spotted a Mercadona supermarket, which proved ideal for our needs. No LPG at any of the fuel stations we saw but as we intend to have electric hookup for the next few days we weren't worried.

Having checked our campsite book we thought we'd have a look at the three or four sites in Peniscola and eventually settled on Camping Eden, where we had stayed a couple of years ago. Squeezed ourselves onto a nice pitch which seemed to offer all day sunshine then settled in with a very late lunch.

We've finally arrived in the sunshine; although it was quite late in the afternoon it was still comfortably warm although once the sun went down so did the temperature. However the forecast is dry and sunny for at least the next few days so here we'll stay.


WE STAYED AT Camping Eden, Ave. Papa Luna, Peniscola. ACSI rate €20 per night with full services, excellent facilities. The swimming pool and main restaurant were closed but a smaller cafe/restaurant was open. Larger pitches at slightly increased cost although all had been taken. Around 1km along the promenade to town centre.
Note; winter season so very little open. Bread can be ordered on site but only Mercadona for full shopping, around 2km.

Monday 7 Jan – San Sebastian to Valderrebres

San Sebastian to Valderrebres - 250 miles

Felt a bit warmer when Terry took Jamie out first thing, hopefully it continues! Normal start and once the servicing was done we headed out of town. The weather forecast is to remain dry for at least the next week with warmest temperatures, around 16 deg, on the Mediterranean coast so we decided to head south east towards Peniscola.

Apart from a missed turn taking us onto a toll road for a short distance, then having to fight with the ticket machine, we stayed on good “A” and “N” roads all the way. Initially we had to climb onto the Spanish plateau, going from sea-level to 2000 ft in around 5 km, which gave the motor a good workout but then it became undulating with miles and miles of nothing between few and far villages and towns. But at least the sky cleared and most of the day was in brilliant sunshine.

Pamplona, then Tudela, where we paused for lunch, then onto Zaragoza, noticing that the roads were very quiet and the towns deserted. Then we remembered it was fiesta, the Three Kings holiday which is equivalent to our Twelfth Night. At least the fuel stations were open as we needed a refill and we loaded a tankful of premium diesel, mainly because it was the same price as the cooking stuff and would give the engine a treat!

At our lunch stop we selected a nice looking aire to aim for and, successfully this time, programmed it into TomTom. It was going to be quite a stretch but the roads were quiet, it was a lovely day and we could keep a good average speed going. During the afternoon we got into the Rioja area and noticed large areas of vines, as well as quite a lot of other cultivation. Each town seemed to have a monastery, fortified church or fortress on a hilltop, some in fine fettle but others just ruins.

We turned off the main road onto a scenic (read hilly and twisty!) route for the last 20 km or so to the old town of Valderrobrez, complete with hilltop castle, and found the aire which, apart from a couple of cars, was empty. Still the water was turned on, it had nice views of the town and castle so we parked up and got the kettle on!

The map above shows we are less than two hours from the coast so the evening included a check of the various campsites around Peniscola, where we've stayed before. After 6/7 days on the road we're ready for a break so tomorrow will be a shopping trip before we select a campsite.

Hopefully, tonight is our last “cold” night – some of the puddles are still frozen over..........

WE STAYED AT free municipal aire, a riverside parking area with WC/waste water disposal and a functioning fresh water tap. Plenty of room and a few minutes walk into the old town over an ancient stone bridge and through an arched gateway in the town walls. Eroski supermarket adjacent to the site entrance.

Sunday 6 January – Beausoleil to San Sebastian

Beausoleil to San Sebastion - 141 miles

Cold grey morning and on taking Jamie out was asked by a young Swedish guy who'd come in late last night and was on the next bay if I had a tyre compressor. He had what turned out to be a slow puncture and it had gone down overnight. Fortunately we do carry such an item and we spent a pleasant half hour chatting whilst re-inflating his tyre, suggesting that he get to a garage and get it seen to. It was an old, but very serviceable Hymer, typical of what younger folk use to travel the world – he was on his way home to Sweden.

That sorted, being Sunday we enjoyed our first Full English Breakfast of our trip which, as well as the tyre interlude, made us very late getting under way after a proper service on the van. We had considered routing through the Pyrenees via the Somport tunnel but the weather forecast showed probable snow showers so rather than tempt the weather gods we chose the coastal route via Irun. We also decided to use the A63, despite it having sections of toll road. It is possible to avoid these bits but we didn't think it worth the trouble so had a fast run towards the Spanish border.

Approaching Bayonne we remembered we hadn't planned any further than the border so stopped at a service area and had a bite of lunch whilst reviewing the books. We eventually thought we'd give the main aire near the university at San Sebastion a try, but had a problem trying to get the new (did I mention we've got a new super duper all singin' all dancin' TomTom?) satnav to accept the directions. We did manage to input the address and sorted out the other problems later and after an initial disagreement about trying to route us through Biarritz we eventually found our way. To our surprise there was plenty of room, our experience of this particular aire is that it is always very busy, so we found a spot and settled, after a fight with the ticket machine!

A nice cuppa and apple turnovers which we'd been carrying for a few days went down well. Later after tea we reviewed the weather forecast to find it generally dry for the next ten days with the best temperatures being on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, so we'll head south east for somewhere like Peniscola or Benicassim.

It's been grey and cold all day and the forecast is still showing possible snow showers in our area so we'll wrap up warm and see what tomorrow brings.

Saturday 5 Jan – St Maure de Touraine to Beau Soleil (Bordeaux)

St Maure de Touraine to Beau Soleil - 193 miles

Jamie had us up just before the alarm, wanting to go out into another not quite so cold morning, a little overcast but dry. With just minimum servicing after breakfast we were again away earlier than usual but were now actively looking for water tank replenishment as well as fuel, which however wasn't so urgent. We tried a couple of places for water but the first was out of order and the second down an impossibly (for us) narrow street so we decided to leave it for now with another plan in mind.

The day brightened as we went further south until sunglasses were needed! At lunchtime we by chance found an Auchan hypermarket so availed ourselves of some cheap (€1.33 pl = £1.23) diesel then parked up for lunch.

Reviewing our route it was apparent that we would be around Bordeaux around 4.00 pm, our regular stopping time and Colin and Tina were booked in to a campsite just south of the city. Needing water and hot showers we decided to give it a try so set TomTom up and found our way to Beau Soleil camping and caravanning site, which is about 10km south of Bordeaux and one of only a few open at this time of year. Fortunately they had space for us but, unfortunately, they told us our friends had put back their booking by one week and were not there.

Directed to a nice spacious pitch in the late afternoon sun, we settled in, refilling the water tank and plugging in to some nice 10 amp electricity. A quick cuppa then showers before tea and a quiet evening listening to Radio 2 via the excellent free WiFi

We managed to contact our friends to learn Tina had suffered a minor accident but they hoped to continue next week.

WE STAYED AT Beau Soleil Camping and Caravanning, at Gradignan just south of Bordeaux. All facilities including free WiFi, we paid €21.50 for 2 people, dog and 10 amp hookup. Small restaurant nearby (closed on our visit) bus terminus 100m along the road for Bordeaux.

Friday 4 Jan - Pont de L'Arche to St Maure de Touraine

Pont de L'Arche to St Maure de Touraine - 184 miles

A very cold night and we woke to freezing fog which took a while to clear. Fortunately the heating soon had us up to temperature for breakfast and the usual chores. With the water supply turned off there was little to do so, earlier than we have been of late, we got on the road.

We stuck to our usual non-motorway route of Evreux, Dreux, Chartres trying our best to stick to the new blanket speed limit of 80 kph. However it doesn't appear to be quite straightforward as some roads are signed as 90 kph and it seems that on three-lane carriageways if a single opposing lane is separated by a solid line the two-lane section is 90 kph whilst the single lane is 80 kph. Weird and TomTom can't cope with one road having different speed limits in different directions so there was a lot of speeding warnings!

Past Chateaudun the sun came out and the fog cleared although it didn't get much warmer. Stopped at Vendome for some shopping and lunch then carried on down N10, moderate traffic and those speed limits meant not a fast run. Approaching Tours we had thoughts of stopping there where our friends Colin and Tina were supposed to be for a couple of days but it was still a little early for us so we pushed on. However Tours is a right pain to get past if you stay off the toll road and once we were clear it was approaching stopping time so Bren got the books out.

We decided on St Maure de Touraine but managed to select the wrong place on the satnav; a second go took us to a nice quiet mixed parking area just off the main street with 15 motorhome bays and a small toilet block – unfortunately again the water was off. We did however remember we had called here once before to service the van and found the same situation then. Ah well, just be careful....

WE STAYED AT Municipal aire in St Maure de Touraine, signed off main road. 15 bays and small toilet block no charge. Water turned off but still able to empty WC and waste water. In centre of town for small selection of commerce.

Wed/Thurs 2/3 Jan - Navenby to Pont de L'Arche via Citie Europe

Calais to Pont de L'Arche - 146 miles

Another cold night but nice clear morning and after a relaxed morning we left around 12.30 heading for Folkestone with plenty of time. Traffic a lot heavier but nothing much in the way of delays and we stopped at Birchanger Services for lunch before tackling the M25 and Dartford Crossing. Still very busy we cleared that okay only to run into a stopped queue on the M20, nothing the other way either. Our new posh satnav said a delay of 4 and a half minutes and unexpectedly the traffic started again almost on time; absolutely no idea of what the problem was!

We had intended on stopping at Tesco near Ashford to refuel and pick up a few items of shopping we were short of but the vagaries of the traffic made us reluctant to delay so we carried on to the Eurotunnel Terminal where we were allocated our booked train although the place was very quiet. Got some cash ready for Morocco and a new map book and they were calling our train, somewhat early, so we headed in and were put on an earlier departure which itself was all but empty!

Raining in France, we headed to Citie Europe and the motorhome parking, which was as far as we had planned to go tonight. A late meal then again an earlyish night, going to sleep to the sound of rain drumming on the roof – surprisingly soporific!

Thursday was clear and just drying out but we did encounter showers later. A somewhat messy start although we had little to actually do (not yet in the swing of things!) except refuel which we did along the way at Auchan near Boulogne-sur-Mer. Rather glad we did wait as it was quite a bit cheaper than the UK.

Deciding on our usual route south, D roads to Abbeville the motorway to Rouen, we reflected that using the D roads was a bit of a waste as with all the stopping & starting it would probably be cheaper to pay the tolls – it would certainly be faster now that there is a blanket 80 kph speed limit on single carriageway roads.

A stop just short of Rouen for lunch the successfully routed our way through on busy roads, taking our regular route. Although we had maps and netbook at the ready we know this way well enough to realise that we weren't going to get very far today so when we reached Pont de L'Arche we decided to pack it in and head onto the (free at this time of year) aire. It was a little earlier than we usually stop but we could see there was plenty of room and anyway Terry had had enough driving for today.

Still not very warm and the forecast, although dry, indicates it's not going to warm up until at least Sunday. So we'll make an effort into pushing on a bit.

We'll post maps and pictures when we have them.


WE STAYED AT

Pont de L'Arche aire de camping cars. £5 April to September, free other times. WC, waste water disposal, fresh water (pay) was turned off for winter. Riverside but central to town centre, bars, restaurants, boulangerie etc. also vet .

Stage 1 – Home & Navenby

You sometimes wonder if the effort is worth it! We seemed to spend forever just loading the van then on Monday there seemed still to be so much more to do – and we still missed a couple of things, not important but frustrating.

Nevertheless we did finally get away around 12.30 after topping up the gas bottles onto a surprisingly quiet A1; we thought it woukd have been much busier. So a good run with a short lunch stop at Wetherby and got to Mum's at Navenby about 4.30.

As she is not so well we had no intention of seeing the year in – but despite giving him a so-called sedative tablet Jamie went nuts when all the fireworks let off at midnight and it was probably 1.00 before he settled; ah well no matter, we weren't getting up early!

So Happy New Year everybody!

A quiet day, opening prezzies, doing a bit of DIY for Mum then just relaxing. Nothing worth watching on the TV so another earlyish night, this time undisturbed. We are in no rush to get away in the morning as our Channel Tunnel booking isn't until 18.20.