St Antonin Noble Val

We're now stopping at a free aire in St Antonin Noble Val in the Gorges de L'Aveyron for a couple of days exploring the local area on foot and on our bikes.


The pretty village of St Antonin Noble Val

Reflections on the River

This afternoon we went for a walk along a 13km cycle route which climbed up the side of the valley through fields and along tracks.

 

Blossom in bloom

 

The top of the valley - there's a shear drop on the left. This is apparently a "difficult" mountain bike route - personally I think you'd be bonkers to cycle along here! The route back down to the village was incredibly steep too - we're glad we walked. 

Only in France

As we left Albi this morning we stopped at this MH service point on the road out of the town.
Fresh water, waste and grey water disposal - all free plus an information board with leaflets about the town. It's a real pity towns and villages in the uk have such a negative attitude to MH's - everywhere in France we are welcomed with open arms so we spend our money in the shops and restaurants.....

Kiki gets Serenaded

The Dutchman from the van next to us got his accordion out after supper and played to an appreciative crowd of motorhomes (and their owners).

Albi

We left the campsite at Bezier this morning and drove north to Albi. We managed to get the last space in the free aire in the car park next to the cathedral.


Cathedrale Ste-Cecile

The cathedral looks more like a fortress - intended as a reminder to potential heretics that the church meant business.

Funky patterns decorating the inside

 

Em poses in the archway

Canal du Midi

I had to return to the uk for a couple of days work so Em stayed with Kiki and spent the time doing our laundry and cycling along the Canal du Midi.
 

Beziers

This afternoon we rode our scooter into Beziers and afterwards we went for a walk along the Canal du Midi


The old town and church in Beziers

The canal du Midi - just a little warmer than the last time we saw it.

An amazing barge....

......complete with swimming pool!!

Kiki does some Gardening

We're now staying on a campsite at Beziers and had some fun getting into our pitch.


Fortunately the campsite owner was around to give us a tow.

Memo to self: Don't drive a 4 tonne MH over soft ground....

Étang de La Palme

This afternoon we arrived at Étang de La Palme which is an aire on an island in the salt marshes. We parked Kiki next to a couple of Spanish MH's and walked to the beach, wading through the water en-route.

Our £10 beach tent came in handy as it was quite windy on the exposed beach. In the lee of the tent the sun was hot so we spent a while topping up our tans.

France Again!

We stopped last night in a layby with a beautiful view across the bay to El Port de la Selva. We ate and as it got dark settled down to read for a while. Around 9pm there was a knock on the door and I looked out to find a policeman. He said we couldn't park there and had to move - I asked him where to and he suggested the town we'd driven through 4km back along the coast.

We tidied up and headed off having no idea where we were going. We drove into the town of Llanca and headed to the port where fortunately we found a large car park with another motorhome in residence. We parked nearby, battened down the hatches and went to bed.

Next morning we got up early and drove  north along the remainder of the Costa Brava


We sneaked back into France - actually the border post was uninhabited so our 12 bottles of exceedingly cheap (€0.75) Spanish plonk went undetected!

 

Heading towards Perpignian with the snow capped Pyrenees in the distance.

Tossa de Mar

This morning we left the campsite at Blanes and headed north up the Costa Brava.


The beach at Tossa de Mar. Em could just about remember this from when she came here on a school trip.

The sea looked very inviting but as we'd only got 1hr in the carpark we decided against it - honest!

A nice French couple took a picture for us.

 

The coast road north from Tossa de Mar twists and turns as it winds its way around pretty coves.

The Rain in Spain

We've just had two days of torrential rain - at last it's stopped and we've escaped from Kiki to stretch our legs.

Storm clouds are leaving :-)

Lloret de Mar

Today we've come a few miles north of our base at Blanes on our scooter to visit Lloret de Mar.


A pretty location but full of bars, tacky gift shops and night clubs we imagine it'll be typical "Brits Abroad" in a month or so....

 

Em poses in front of the castle - we later found out that is was built in 1935!


Looks inviting... not today though as the weather's overcast with rain threatened for tonight and tomorrow!!

St Joan's Castle was built in the 11th Century. Destroyed over the years by battles and storms, the tower was recently rebuilt.

Blanes

We're now on a campsite in Blanes on the Costa Brava. We arrived a day earlier than planned as we were unable to find a wild camping spot for yesterday evening. The entire coast north of Barcelona appears to be built up "resorts" plus the main railway line seems to run all of the way along the coast. This means that finding somewhere to stop in a motorhome is impossible.


Blanes seafront - we seem to have brought the nice weather with us!

Billed as a "lively resort", Blanes is somewhat subdued out of season....

Blanes is at the start of the Costa Brava - the wild coast. We're planning to explore further north of here on our scooter tomorrow.

Tarragona

Today we're visiting Tarragona en-route North to the Costa Brava.


The Roman Amphitheatre

 

Wild Camping at L'Ampolla

We left the campsite at Peñiscola this morning and headed to the Ebre Delta with the intention of wild camping for a couple of nights. Unfortunately we were unable to find a suitable spot to park as the area was flat and uninspiring with no camping signs in the only reasonable looking place. We carried on to L'Ampolla where we parked on the road alongside the beach in the company a few other motorhomes.

 

A Day at the Beach

Today we decided on a lazy day so we returned to the Parc Natural de la Serra d'Irta and found our own private beach.

Sparkling water looks very inviiting

After lunch we lazed in the sun reading our books. An hour or so later I was bored so decided to check out the water.

After 10 mins or so acclimatising  to the temperature it was time to go for it... actually it wasn't too bad. Em came in up to her knees but soon got out saying I was mad - probably :-) 

Parc Natural de la Serra d'Irta

Today we've taken a ride on our scooter to visit the Parc Natural de la Serra d'Irta which is just to the south of Peñíscola.


Beautiful unspoilt coastline

Torre Badum - built by the Moors

There were literally thousands of shells on this tiny beach.

Taking a break - the track is rough and deeply rutted needing 100% concentration which makes riding quite strenuous.


 

Back at base and the sun's still hot at 5.30pm

Market Day

Checking out the cheeses and ham - with Gill & Robin's guidance we managed to find a Spanish cheese to rival our Italian favourite Grana Padona. Excellent with a Pan Rustico and a little Serano ham.

Looks a bit gruesome but it tastes amazing. One of the hams was for sale at €515 - apparently it (the pig not the ham) had been fed on dry food and acorns!

Colourful vegetable stalls