Our journey north and into the cold.....

Lac de Moulinet, Le Buisson. Beautiful but very cold at night

Today is the last day of our ten week tour of France and Spain, we have been blessed with lovely weather for our return trip, leaving behind the last of the summer sunshine of the Spanish Costa and travelling north into the chilly autumn of France with glorious sunshine and fabulous autumn colours.

We rise out of the clouds as we head up the mountainside on the train

As we drove north we took a different route to the usual route up the east coast of Spain to Perpignan, choosing to cross the Pyrenees stopping overnight at Monistrol - where we were able to park in the massive coach car park for the night then in the morning we took the train up the mountain to the Monastery of Montserrat built two hundred years ago perched on a ledge in the mountains. We thought we might be unlucky as we waited for our train as it was a bit foggy - not much point going up to look at the view when all you can see is clouds!

But as the train rose steeply up the hillside we emerged above the mist giving us fabulous views for miles. We shared our train with a group a Japanese tourists (mainly ladies) on a day trip from Barcelona, we were pleasantly amused by their giggling and taking incessant selfies despite the fact they were all retirement age!
We hope to return to Montserrat one day to spend a bit more time exploring the monastery and walking the lovely mountain paths that have been created in the vicinity and perhaps take the funicular train even further up the mountain.

Beautiful views from Monserrat as the clouds creep over the mountains

Marie at St Andre De L'Eure - one of our stopovers on our journey home

Our journey north continues and we headed up through France, taking our time on the tollfree Green routes rather than roaring up on the motorways, almost running over a wild boar which ran into our path whilst travelling through the forests of the Loire.
Finally we reach our last stop before travelling through the Eurotunnel, arriving at the Aire at Saint Saire (near Neufchâtel) with time to head out for a ride on our bikes along the adjacent cycle path which forms part of the route from London to Paris. We like to wring the last bit out of our holiday-pedalling along, the temperature much cooler than we are used to but still a bit of warmth in the low sun, crunching through the autumn leaves.
The following morning we were up and away, through the tunnel and home just after lunch!

Our last stop at Saint Saire - Keith is waiting on the cycle track to head off for our last ride of the trip

 (This post was written on 30th October - posted on 5th November)

In search of the real Indalo man....

The Indalo is a symbol that can often be seen in the Almeria region of Spain especially Mojacar on the coast. The symbol of a man holding a rainbow in his outstretched arms represents psychic strength and is supposed to bring good luck. I first became aware of the Indalo many years ago when I visited Mojacar as a teenager, I used to wear a silver Indalo on a necklace and I had a gold Indalo made for Keith which I gave to him on our wedding day. The symbol has special significance to us personally and if you visit our home or look at our motorhome you will see the Indalo in various places.

Until a few months ago I didn't know the origin of the Indalo, but reading through our DK Eyewitness guide to Spain I read about how the first Indalo was found in prehistoric cave paintings in a village called Velez Blanco in Andalusia. From that moment on I was determined that on one of our trips we would visit the area and see that original cave painting.

Being a fair way inland Velez Blanco is a bit out of our way but having stayed at Totana for a few days we realised we were only about 70km away so we checked out our Park4night and located a parking place by the castle in Velez Blanco, about a mile from the caves where the paintings are located.

The caves are only open at a specific time on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and as we arrived in Velez Blanco on a Wednesday we had a quick lunch before setting out to get to the caves. 

As is often the case in Spain that was easier said than done as the signposting was, shall I say, inadequate. With a bit of luck we spotted two cars heading in the direction of where we thought the caves were and we were able to catch up with the small group heading up the mountainside to the cave. The Spanish guide was able to give us an information leaflet as she spoke a little English which was useful as there is a lot to know about the cave paintings.

When we arrived at the site we were surprised that the paintings weren't in a cave but more a concave surface of the rocky mountainside, it's amazing that they are still there and not been weathered away.

Indalo painted 6000 years ago

The simple drawings were in random positions on the wall where we all sat on the rocks while she told us about them, as I sat there I tried to imagine what kind of people drew these pictures and what their life must have been like 6000 years ago

The shapes are just symbols and so the explanation we were given are only interpretations of the shapes - male, female, chief, animals and, of course, the Indalo man, but it was mind boggling to see paintings from such a long time ago as these were the first attempts of mankind to depict images, drawn with iron oxide using their fingers or a rough brush made from feathers.

Eventually it was time to go, we paid our 2€
each and left feeling really happy that we had
been able to see the original Indalo man

A fortnight (or more!) in pictures....

Sunrise at Denia

Anyone who has kept a blog or diary will be familiar with how time can run away with you and suddenly you're way behind, well let me tell you that as I write I am about three weeks behind where we are now. So here is the last few weeks in photos...

Via verde at Navajas

Keith having a conversation with a seagull at Calp

View from the Via Verde at Mula

 

 

BADLANDS!! Wonderful cycling country

The best Paella cooked by Janet!

Bumming around Benicassim........

Keith is strangely attracted to Machine Gun fortifications!!

So far on this trip we have not had much of an agenda, when asked where we were going our reply would always be a vague "France then Spain", although what we have tried to do is not to revisit our usual haunts. But sometimes you get drawn to a place and the familiarity is refreshing.
Just such a place is Benicassim on the Costa Azahar. After a few nights on a lovely beachside campsite ( Camping Estanyet at Les Cases d'Alcanar) on the outskirts of a sleepy Spanish resort town north of Vinaros we headed further down the coast intending to stay for a couple of days and ended up staying a week!

The beach at Castellon stretching all the way to Benicassim

We first went to the Aire at Benicassim, but found it too noisy with road noise and barking dogs so headed a few miles on to an Aire right on the beach at Castellon. Yes it was a bit crowded and you may wonder what the appeal of staying in a car park for a week might be, but let me tell you that free camping doesn't get much better than this! On the Aire the water supply is free as is the waste water disposal, there is a toilet nearby which is cleaned daily and better then some of the toilets on campsites, a bustling area by day it was blissfully peaceful at night. The Aire is a short walk to a beautiful sandy long beach and there is a cycle path which passes by going all the way along the seafront to Orepesa via Benicassim including a short Via verde and one of our favourite places to stop and look out to sea, watching the waves battering the rocks below.

On a clear day you can see the rocks under the turquoise sea, the sun shimmering in sparkles on the surface and maybe a ship out on the horizon.

Our favourite place to stop and admire the view!

The promenade at Benicassim

On Saturday night we took a stroll along the promenade enjoying the warm sea breeze, seeing all the Spanish families out enjoying the evening walking, talking or sitting eating and drinking in restaurants or around a picnic table under the trees by the beach. They love to talk the Spanish - I'm not sure what about!

Victoria Villa

As you can guess we spent our time in the area cycling along the cycle track, stopping for coffee stops or a picnic. Benicassim is a large resort town with many Spanish tourists, not many tourist tacky shops or high rise hotels, but lots of cafés, bars and restaurants to chose from. The wide seafront promenade is famous for its grand villas built from 1890 to the 1930's which became a meeting place for the bourgeoisie society and ostentatious social gatherings. The area was nicknamed "Hell" for the scandalous parties held by the wealthy families and artists in the roaring twenties. Later some of the villas were used as hospitals in the Spanish civil war.

The Aire - too close for comfort ( Planetarium in the background in case you're wondering!)

 Even though we have been to the area a few times now we really enjoyed our time there, but with the confined space and lack of privacy of the Aire at Castellon we thought we would find somewhere we could breathe again!

Oops we did it again - yet another Via Verde cycle track....

From the Pyrenees the land became flatter for a while before we arrived in another mountainous area where we managed to locate another Via Verde, a disused railway track running from the town of Tortosa up into the hills, ending over 50km away. We parked in the car park of the disused station at Benafallet, a peaceful place but for a few other users of the cycle track, no other motorhomers though.

We set out onto the path heading inland and the scenery was spectacular with incredible rock formations from the beginning of time, beautiful gorges with turquoise streams babbling down below as the trail headed on up through into the steep hillsides.

 A number of tunnels took us through the hills, cleverly set up with motion sensors for the solar powered lighting so we were able to continue our ride without lights on the bikes. The longest tunnel was over 1km long bored through the solid mountain rock. But sadly not all the tunnels were so well lit and we having forgotten our cycle lights which meant we had to use the torch feature on our mobile phones to see us through the darkness, the scariest moment was when the tunnel lights just switched themselves off plunging us into sudden pitch black darkness - pretty frightening!!

A definite reminder to take our cycle lights 

with us when cycling these Via verdes!

In the few days prior to our stay at Benafallet we noticed signs of an attempted break in on our rear door - only slight marks as if someone had attempted to force open the door with a screwdriver, but enough to leave us feeling slightly unnerved and to maybe think about some of the out of the way places we leave the van, this said our next stop was a motorhome Aire on the Delta De L'Ebre, an area with space for up to 40 campers and hence more secure - we have great trust  in the motorhoming community, we look out for each other whatever the nationality.

The Delta is in area of flat wetland used mainly for rice growing and great for bird watching especially the flamingos. Unfortunately at this time of year the mosquitos are thriving and we were driven away, but not after being ferociously bitten by the little blighters! 

Rice ready for harvesting

It wasn't long before we hit the road again to our next destination further south on the coast

Pottering about in the Pyrenees

After staying with Rik and Marie for two nights we headed towards the Pyrenees and a little village called Labroquere, using Park4night we located a little picnic area suitable for a night or two. When we arrived we were blown away by the lovely scenery and the tranquility of the place. 

We decided to stay for two nights so we could explore the area on our bikes so the next morning we headed out towards the cathedral of St Bernard de Comminges, a steep climb up to the medieval church and village. It attracted quite a few visitors, there was a Tourist information centre where we were able to pick up some information about local cycle routes. 

 There were a number of different sights as well as the cathedral on our journey including the remains of a Roman settlement at the foot of hill and another beautiful ancient church.

When we returned to the van a man from a nearby house came up to us and showed us where we could fill up with water in his horses field and he also showed us another place to park, right at the end of a quiet lane on the river bank. 

We would never have found it ourselves without the kindness of this man so perhaps I have to take back what I said in the previous post about the French not liking the English, he was very kind to us. It was an absolutely idyllic spot, we were totally alone with just the river rushing by and the birds racing about catching insects from the surface of the water.

Eventually we dragged ourselves away from our Campervan heaven to continue our journey which took us across the Pyrenees - the first time in our touring history that we took this route from France to Spain and although the roads were slower with more twists and turns the dramatic scenery made it worthwhile.

We stopped overnight in the little Spanish village of Sopeira by a lakeside surrounded by soaring mountains with vultures circling on the thermals, the only problem here were the amounts of small bitey insects and the church bell nearby that clanged every fifteen minutes right through the night, but still you can't always find perfection!

The beautiful Pyrenees - a selection of photos on our journey

Here are a few photos taken on our journey through the Pyrenees from France to Spain on the N230 route via the town of Vielha and on to Lleida

A little loitering in the Lot

A short hop southward from the Dordogne to the valley of the river Lot we went to stay with our friends Rik and Marie who live in an isolated house near the tiny village of Serignac. Rik and Keith have been friends since the sixties when they worked together on the AA and have kept in touch since then, sometimes meeting up on campsites in France with our VW campervans.

We only stayed two nights but it was long enough for plenty of reminiscing, a trip out in Rik's recently restored 1965 Ford Mustang to the local market where we wandered through the colourful stalls of fruit, vegetables and all sorts of other delicious food, taking in the relaxed ambience of a typical small town weekly market.

We then had coffee in a local cafe, meeting up with some of their friends for a natter.

Living in such an isolated area away from the light pollution of the big towns and cities, at night the sky was filled with a million stars, the constellations so clear, the night so peaceful and quiet but for the occasional squawk of an owl or a rustle in the trees from some little animal scurrying around. Rik said that their garden is often visited by deer and sometimes wild boar, but luckily they stayed away while we were there, I wasn't keen on meeting any wild boar!

Skilled work making the perfect crepe

Dawdling about the Dordogne

River Dordogne

Camperstop at Bonneval

Our journey down through France continues taking the slower D roads rather than the busy (and expensive) motorways. It's lovely to have the time to take a leisurely route south and enjoy the towns and villages rather than having to rush to your destination. From Albert we skirted Paris and had an overnight stop in a pretty town of Bonneval before heading on to one of our favourite campsites located in central France - Le Bonhomme. 

Happy hour with Frank & Wil

Frank and Wil, its Dutch owners make you very welcome, the facilities are excellent and the site itself is lovely with views across the surrounding countryside.
We also enjoy the daily Happy Hour at 5pm where all the campers meet up for a drink, most of them are Dutch but they speak good English and are very friendly, it all goes to make the ambience of the site very relaxed.

We also love the cycling in the area, the gently undulating countryside with lanes so quiet with hardly any traffic. Unfortunately we were a bit restricted due to a heatwave - cycling long distances in 35° heat is no fun!

Our next destination on our route south was an Aire in the Dordogne at Carsac-Aillac, a pretty little village and yes you guessed it's right on a Voie Verte disused railway cycle path!

We stayed three nights and visited Sarlat Le Caneda where Keith encountered a very unhelpful and rude Frenchman in a cycle shop. Tell me why don't the French like the English?









 

Medieval fortified entrance to the town of Domme

We also visited Domme - a Bastide town built on a hillside with spectacular views from an open area behind the church. It was a hilly ride but well worth it.

The view from Domme

After the long climb up to Domme I think we deserved a treat...

What a view!!

 We had a most enjoyable few days in the Dordogne and will definitely return sometime soon, there is so much to see, but for us now our journey towards Spain continues