In a mad moment my first evening back in Edinburgh I managed to put the best part of a mug of coffee inside my laptop - which it didn't like - perhaps it was the three sugars that did it in - and I am about £300 poorer - thank goodness I get a pay rise in January.
So my photographs from the last few weeks of my trip have been lost along with a few other bits that I hadn't backed-up on Google Drive.
To illustrate the final throws of my trip I had recourse to Google for some images. Apologies and recognition of the original posters and their copyright.
Axat - France
Section 103 miles
Trip 6853 miles
Left Agde after a week of variable weather, very strange things go on in the sand dunes after 6pm there. Routed around Beziers into the Pyrennean foothills, past some of the Cathar sites that I visited last year, to end up in a small village aire at Axat. Staggered up the steep hill to the castle the next morning before heading off for Spain.
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| Axat - Tight squeeze and keep your head down on the road through the gorge |
8th to 27th September 2015
Torredamborra - Spain
Section 103 miles
Trip 6853 miles
Crossed the Pyrenees via the Cerdagne, a high level agricultural plateau, with the famous narrow gauge Tren Jaune still running, to cross into Spain, or perhaps more correctly Catalunya, at Puigcerda, which is just south east of Andorra. Headed down towards Barcelona and then down to the coast to the great value campsite at Torredamborra, where I stayed last year - to be greeted with open arms by the proprietor who remembered me to her colleague at the reception as 'este es el amigo de Carmen'. Not sure what I had done last year to be remembered so clearly. Unfortunately, Carmen had stopped working the day before and gone back to France, so we didn't manage to meet up again.
Spent three lazy weeks doing nothing much at all! Great three course lunch at the campsite restaurant - 10 euro with bread, wine, coffee and postre included. The pitch only worked out at 10 euro a night. So one could comfortably live here out of season for 30 euro a day and not have to do any washing-up - I really miss my dishwasher when I am away! I detest washing up - it just accumulates in a bucket until it is over flowing or I have run out of clean stuff to use.
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| Torredamborra - Route to the beach, just 150m from the van across a nature reserve |
29th to 5th October 2015
El Campello - Spain
Section 309 miles
Trip 7333 miles
After a nearly totally disastrous start when I managed to loose my wallet and passport for about two hours - fortunately found by a Spanish guy and handed into reception, headed off on a longish trip via Valencia to El Campello, near Alicante, to meet up with an old friend, Pat, from Lancashire who was on holiday there for a week with her partner. Had three pleasant days enjoying their company, good food and warm weather. Stayed at a campsite about twenty minutes walk from the main beach.
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| El Campello - Beach, Castle, Marina nd Mountains |
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| Crema Catalan - Yummy memories of dinner with Pat and Bart! |
6th to 9th October 2015
Moraira - Spain
Section 41 miles
Trip 7333 miles
By strange coincidence my sister was staying just a few miles up the coast at Calpe the next week. So I headed up to a really beautiful campsite at Moraira - in a shady, pine clad hillside location with panoramic views down to the bay, hills and rocky headlands. Swimming pool and marble sanitary facilities included.
Just ten kilometres from the urban spall of Calpe, Moraira is a much quieter and more laid back resort built round a genuine Spanish town. So more eating and drinking in company this time with Mandy and Steve - only marred by a very wet chilly Thursday - compensated by a gorgeous day, their last day, on the Friday.
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| Moraira - Must be the classiest campsite in Europe with its marble 'facilities' |
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| Moraira |
10th to 13th October 2015
Olivia - Spain
Section 36 miles
Trip 7410 miles
Moved up the coast to another campsite I enjoyed last year, between Denia and Olivia, for the last few days in Spain. As soon as I parked up met an English couple who lived between Valencia and Tarragona; but were down here for a weeks break in their van. Went to do the dreaded washing up one day at about 11am and started chatting and finally stood up at 7pm to make some dinner! What a pleasant way to spend your time.
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| Olivia - Looking towards Denia and the mountains behind it |
14th October 2015
Cascante - Spain
Section 292 miles
Trip 7702 miles
Grrrr....start of the trip back to the UK. I can not believe I have been away for nearly six months the time just seems to wizz past. Routing through Spain is difficult as there are few decent stop overs inland - every one I speak to seems to have the same issue. So decided to initially follow the same routing as last year - via Valencia then around Zaragoza to a small town aire at Cascante. It's a shame because the middle of Spain has stunning scenery, ancient towns and open roads - but not easily accessible to campers.
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| Cascante - Town and Monastery |
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| Cascante - Amazing Jinkyard/Museum at the edge of town |
15th October 2015
Pomarez - France
Section 166 miles
Trip 7868 miles
Over the Pyrenees via the main pass used by the Route of St James (yes him again!) and down to St Jean Pied Pont to stop off at a town aire at Pomarez for the night. Right next to the bull ring with loads of free electricity and of course no charges! Oh, I dread returning to greedy, grabbing and grubby GB.
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| Pomarez - The aire is in this car park next to the Bullring (not sure if they still have fights in France though) |
16th October 2015
St Priest-Taurion - France
Section 229 miles
Trip 8097 miles
Northwards across the Garonne at Marmande through Perigueux to Limoges (all held by the english crown in the fourteenth century!) to park up all one my own as it was getting dark in the aire, next to the sports ground in a small village, with a grey, dreary, drizzly outlook over the river. The weather definitely took a turn for the worse today after the Dordogne.
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| St Priest-Taurion - River Taurion and weir adjacent to the aire and sports ground |
17th October 2015
Cravant - France
Section 270 miles
Trip 8327 miles
Honestly, I can't recall a single thing about this stop or the day's drive..it's either the grim weather or dementia.
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| Cravant - Oh yeah...I do remember - thank you google! |
18th October 2015
Laon - France
Section 127 miles
Trip 8494 miles
Had decided some days back to book the return through Dunkerque to avoid the never ending hassle and problems with both the tunnel and ferry at Calais. Have to be there by 10am on the 20th. Memory has recovered, an interesting day passed through a town that promoted itself as the "City of the Stuarts", well I guess the equivalent in french. Odd, odd I thought at the time appears from checking on google that it was awarded to a Scot for services to the french crown in the Hundred Years War and after they died out about 300 years later to a bastard daughter of Charles II - finally becoming totally French again in around the middle of the nineteenth century.
Finished the day at the panoramic aire at Laon, which is just below the town walls on the north side of this impressive hilltop cathedral town. The sun came back in the late afternoon after about four days absence.
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| Laon - Cathedral and City Walls |
Dunkerque - France
Section 174 miles
Trip 8668 miles
Pottered up to Dunkerque through endless memorials and graveyards to the Flanders dead of WWI - names one recalls from books and films and many I've never heard of - Cambrai, St Quentin, Chemin des Dames, Arras. Lens, Valenciennes. The frequent wide channels crossed on the route did bring home how important these were as stop lines during the German advances in 1914, 1918 and 1940 to infantry advancing purely by foot. Ended up in an aire just at the end of the promenade and behind the dunes at a seaside resort just to the east of Dunkerque - Malo les Bains.
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| Malo-les-Bains |
20th October 2015
Preston - UK
Section 353 miles
Trip 9021 miles
Woke up bright and early and nearly missed the ferry through getting mixed up with a 8km queue of wagons! Anyway, made Preston five minutes late of my predicted time of 18:00 a week previously! Stayed the night at Viki and Graham's, who kindly allow free parking on their drive (again). Viki makes great crackling!
21st October 2015
Edinburgh - UK
Section 183 miles
Trip 9204 miles
Nearly back, went via the A7 from Carlisle to take a look at the recently re-opened Waverly Line (now Borders Railway from Galashiels to Edinburgh) as I had done some work on it a couple of years ago. Work...work..what's that?
Had wanted to call in at Pat's in Whittle-le-Woods on the way but needed to get back to Edinburgh, get the car started and in for its MOT that had expired. Sorry Pat, but it was just as well as hassle, the AA and £600 were required to get it all sorted!
Finally got home at about 8pm with just a back pack having travelled the last ten miles on the bus - at least it's free with my bus pass!
Here are a few stats from this year's trip:
Away: 183 nights
Camping: 98 nights
Aires 82 nights
Roadside and driveways: 3 nights
Number of places O/N at: 94 different locations
Total mileage: 9204 miles
Max section: 473 miles
Min section: 9 miles
Fuel: 286 gallons
Fuel: £1141
Average fuel use: 30.8mpg (would be much better at 50/55 mph !!)
Countries: France, Belgium, Germany, Spain. Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia.
