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

Gloombuster heads out again.......

As the Olympics 2016 draw to a close, we head out again on another ten week jaunt to France and Spain, being grateful we chose to cross the channel on Eurotunnel instead of enduring a rough crossing in the high winds. Having left home at 7.15am we were driving down the French motorway by 11am without so much as a hint of seasickness!

Our first destination was Albert in the Somme, this town being the epicentre of the allied offensive and the area in which over two million lives were lost between 1916 and 1918 in World War One.

We found a lovely location in a lakeside park to stay for a couple of nights, right next to the local campsite but without having to pay for a pitch! (Call us cheapskates if you will but we enjoy finding and staying in some wonderful places and no one seems to care!)

After a peaceful night (apart from the quacking of the ducks) we walked into town to visit the underground museum of the Somme, a fascinating place but you can't escape the fact that fighting in WW1 was incredibly tough if you managed to stay alive that is. The museum was filled with artifacts from the war from rifles fixed with bayonets to buttons and belt buckles, all set in a long medieval underground tunnel. It gave a more authentic feel being below ground, especially the scenes setup of life in the dugouts and trenches.

 

After the museum we wandered around the town finding it so tranquil after the hustle bustle of life back at home.

Our first cafe stop!

The night was quiet, even the ducks respected the hours of darkness and the next day we set off out on our bikes on the Veloroute 32 to visit some of the WW1 sites and memorials, cemeteries filled with 1000 graves often over half of the graves being an unknown soldier, row upon row of graves, so many from the initial push at the Somme on 1st July 1916.








 Our last stop was the massive Lochnagar crater, created when the Tommies tunnelled under the German stronghold and planted 22 tons of explosives, the Germans were blown to smithereens, but many of our soldiers also lost their lives in the battle that ensued.

After another night in our park we spent the next day cycling out of Albert to Corbie through the peaceful countryside and sleepy French hamlets. The temperature soared to well over 30° and we were in need of a cool drink and a shower when we got back to the van. Luckily we were able to empty our waste tanks and refill our water at the nearby campsite for 5€.
Later that evening we were joined by a German motorcyclist travelling across France to meet her friend. We soon got chatting and her name was Johanna, she is a student in teacher training in English, we thought she was very brave to be travelling alone and like us avoiding the campsites, but sleeping under the stars - not like us!
We certainly seem to meet people from all walks of life when we travel, that's what makes it so interesting!

And so we head North and homeward bound.....

 Hello again! If you've been wondering where we were I'm writing this from home in the UK. We had no internet for the last part of the journey and when we arrived home our phone was not working and neither was the internet, hence the lateness of my final post for our trip! 
So, at last here it is:-
With the compass pointing north we headed back up the spectacular coast road to Mojacar - a bustling resort town popular with the Brits since the sixties, fortunately although there are lots of shops, restaurants and hotels it is not an ugly resort like so many of the places we have seen - no high rise hotels or ghastly looking apartment blocks. 

There is a wonderful long sandy beach and we had the glorious sunny weather to go with it. We found a great place to wild camp right on the beach for a couple of nights, about a mile from the town with a lovely cycleable path cut into the beach cliffs giving wonderful views along the coast.

A sad fact of life is that everywhere in Spain there are unfinished building projects, some of them massive complexes of apartments or houses sometimes almost complete but now standing abandoned. Behind the area where we stayed was a complex right in a prime location, begun but never finished, it only got as far as the skeleton.

Janet and Frank's house with very inviting pool

After two days of walking and cycling in Mojacar we continued north to visit our new friends Janet and Frank who live in Rojales near Torrevieja. We parked right next to their house, slept in the van but used all the facilities of their house including the swimming pool.

Keith with Janet & Frank and the 'kids'

 Jan and Frank have lived in Spain for nine years, they have a lovely home and they made us very welcome - including their four rescue dogs who got quite used to us coming and going in the house.

Frank cooking our dinner in the outside kitchen

We had a fabulous time, finding that we had a lot in common especially Frank and Keith talking motorbikes, in the past Frank had an impressive range of bikes from the Triumphs of the sixties to the modern Kawasaki.

It was really interesting to discover what it was like to live in Spain as an ex-pat.

After three nights we had to drag ourselves away to resume our long journey home

Me enjoying an afternoon swim

We travelled for  six days almost completely toll-free back to Calais and the Eurotunnel - definitely our preferred method of crossing the channel - we were back in the UK an hour and a half after arriving at the Calais terminal.
We had an amazing time, met some lovely, interesting people and have just begun to wonder that maybe we might want to spend more time in Spain in the future. Who knows?.....
Our ten week trip was over and I had the Moonwalk to do on the Saturday - a gruelling marathon distance walk in London through the night to raise funds for Breast Cancer. It was quite an experience I have to tell you but together we raised over £5000 so it has to be worth it!

Team Bridget's Birds ready to go!

Our next trip is planned for the September, I hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels and will continue to follow us on our future adventures!
Bye for now!!