Viva España!!

After a couple of lovely days catching up with my sister Christine and her hubby Terry we set off to continue our journey south to Spain. We aim to cover about 300 to 350km in a day and that took us to Biarritz in the far South West of France. We use an app on the phone to find somewhere to stop -Park4night, it's brilliant for finding places we couldn't possibly find ourselves and our stopover in Biarritz was no exception- a quiet car park by a lake. 

Perfect! All we need is an out of the way place to park, but a tap and a wastebin are a bonus, we are completely self sufficient as we have solar panels for our power and gas for cooking, heating and hot water.

After a peaceful night disturbed only by the quacking ducks we continued on our way and after a false start (we forgot to check the planned route on the Sat Nav and it was taking us across the mountains- not the way we wanted to go!) soon we were crossing into Spain. A bit too soon to unpack the bikini though as we drove past the snow covered hills!

Our next stop (thanks to Park4night again) was a cultural site a few miles SE of Zaragoza called La Alfranca where we were able to fill up with water for our showers, it was another peaceful stopover.

Another day on the road travelling down the A23 (not the London to Brighton A23!) from Zaragoza to the coast and we arrive at one of our favourite haunts - the Aire at Castellon in the shadow of the planetarium and right on the beach. It might not be hot but it is December and it's snowing in the U.K! 

We're back on the road again!!

At last! After a year of many trials and tribulations we make our great escape to the continent. Our trip begins on Sunday 3rd December when we leave our home behind for what we hope to be our longest trip to date, heading to Spain to catch some winter sunshine. Now we're not ones to travel lightly, we like our motorhome to be our home from home, so prior to leaving we were like whirling dervishes whizzing round the house emptying the cupboards and trying to fit it all in the van. I'm surprised we managed to get the van off the drive. In the end, after too many "I'll just take this" or "I'll just take that" you just have to say "STOP That's it!!!" and decide you have everything you need and more. 

We had decided to spend the night at the Ferry terminal in Portsmouth to be ready bright and early for our 8.15am sailing, but even though we were up by 6.30am we didn't expect the tap on the door to say we could check in - I wasn't even dressed. After a hasty throw on of our clothes and quickly preparing the van for the off we checked in and sat eating our cereal whilst we queued to embark.

It was only once we were aboard did we realise we had driven off and left our plastic doorstep behind. Well!! We could kick ourselves for being so stupid! We would normally do a 'cockpit drill' and check around before setting out, but we were caught on the hop, it was dark and we missed it. Fortunately we should be able to replace it easily enough but that doesn't make us feel any less daft for driving off without it.

I always find when we go away in the motorhome it takes a while to get into the swing of things.

The sea was calm as a millpond and the ship was almost empty which made for an uneventful crossing arriving at Caen around 3pm.

Apart from the obvious fact that you drive on the right the first thing we notice when driving in France is how much quieter the roads are - so driving becomes much more pleasurable. We choose  to take our journey slowly, avoid the toll roads and enjoy the French countryside. The French provide plenty of places to stay in their villages and towns, it was dead quiet here for the night here by the cemetry!
After a couple of easy days of travelling we began to feel ourselves unwinding and relaxing into holiday mode. Soon we arrived a St.Palais sur mer (not far south of La Rochelle on the west coast) to stay for a couple of days with my sister and her husband. A freezing mist was blowing off the sea when we arrived but it didn't deter us from going for a walk to blow away the cobwebs!