Spring Saunter.

It is early March and that means, for the meteorologists, it’s now spring. 

That also means we are on a search for some early sun and warmth so are heading south once again.

We have had a couple of mini jaunts already this year, a week in a rather chilly and wet Derbyshire and a quick one nighter to Staffordshire to get the habitation/damp check done on the van.

Before all that we had a long wait for a new windscreen to be sent from Germany after a large crack appeared during a short break to Northern France in December.

At last all the home jobs and motorhome services were done and we were free to leave for our planned trip.

Not, as usual, that much had been planned. Last year we met up with friends while down at Gruissan and they were singing the praises of Portugal and gave us details of a few aires and camping spots that they liked. About three years previously we had spent some time in Portugal and really liked the more northern parts but not the very built up Algarve. This time the very rough and ready plan was to head for rural Portugal and hope to find some warmth and sun.

Leaving home at mid-day on a Saturday we took the tunnel and stayed at Cite Europe for the first night. Next day we travelled down to La Mailleraye-sur-Seine, one of our favourite stopping places, beside the river. This year the price has been increased a little to €6.80 a night for two people. Despite all the services being closed for winter the price was still charged. With everything covered over I couldn’t even empty the cassette.

Next day we continued south and thought we might try the aire on an island in the middle of the Loire at Saumur. Although quite expensive for an aire, at around €12, it has all facilities and hook-up and we thought it would be good to explore Saumur again. When we arrived we took a look and both decided that we were very underwhelmed. We carried on for a few more km to the free aire at Montreuil-Belay where we have stopped before.

Those who have read our blog will have seen lots of photos of the places described as we have stopped at them several times in the past. For that reason I haven’t added any photos this time.

The aire at Montreuil-Belay has changed though. The old aire was just a piece of rough land used as a carpark but had lovely views of the chateau and the old monastic buildings. The aire has now been moved to the far side of the adjacent camp site and is purpose built and laid out with proper access roads (GPS 47.13085º -0.16048º). There should be space for around 30 vans. Although it’s not quite finished there are all services and cables are in place for electric hook-ups to be installed. There are also cables in place for a barrier system to be put in so it will no longer be a free stopover. Unfortunately it is also a little closer to the busy main road so not a quiet as before and you lose most of those views of the chateau.

On Tuesday we took another jump south to the old wine town of Blaye, north of Bordeaux and sitting on the banks of the Gironde.

Some people who have left comments on the various camper apps dislike the aire, (GPS 45.12557º 0.66600º) saying it is just a carpark with no services, which is quite true. We rather like it though and always go prepared. 

The aire at Blaye with the Citadel behind

Although parts of the town seem a little ‘faded’, the facade’s of the large buildings lining the ‘front’ make a rather elegant group in the evening sunlight. With the impressive Citadel behind and the river alongside there are 360º views to enjoy. The charge for 24hrs parking is €3, paid by credit card at the machine.

The grand facade’s

As we had been driving for four consecutive days we stayed at Blaye for two nights. After a day of showers the wind got up during our second night and roared and howled around, giving the van a real battering. Unfortunately we were sideways on to the wind and at one stage it was so bad I was halfway out of bed with the intention of turning the van round so that we were head on. Eventually it all died down and peace and quiet returned.

“Go South”, They Said.

“It will be warmer’, they said.

“Spain is the place”, they said.

So we did! The further south we went the colder it got!

We are now in Salamanca, it is almost midday as I write this, the sun is shining but the trees are still white with frost.

Frosty trees and it’s almost midday.

For some time we had been contemplating heading to Spain to cut the long grey winter months short. A couple of months sun and warmth seemed so much more preferable than cold, damp cloudy skies.

We left home a week ago with a pristine clean and shiny motorhome. It had been dry for ages and Celine, our Carthago C-Line, had been washed and polished ready for our long trip.

Predictably, the day we left was wet so my spotless van was mucky before we even reached Folkestone and the tunnel. Our exit also coincided with what the weathermen call an ‘Arctic Plunge’. Weather fronts are no respecters of national borders and this Arctic Plunge wasn’t going to be stopped by the English Channel. Oh no, it marched right on down, across France and into Spain.

We usually stop at aires in France, perhaps breaking our journey with the odd day or two at favoured places. We plan to reach our night stop by early afternoon, so driving for 3-4 hours per day. It can easily take us more than a week to get towards Spain. This time, with very cold weather, we didn’t break the journey with prolonged stays anywhere.

First night, after a late PM crossing in the tunnel, we stopped at Cite Europe, right next to the tunnel terminal. Next day, south for a night at La Mailleraye-sur-Seine, then crossed the Loire at Saumur, stopping at Montreuil-Bellay for the third night. For much of the route the cointryside was covered in a think layer of overnight snow although, thank goodness, the roads were clear.

Montreuil-Bellay aire.

After Montreuil we headed south west to Blaye, the wine town on the banks of the Gironde river.

The aire at Blaye.

The aire and the mighty River Gironde.

Blaye.

As we arrived the sun popped out for a while and we wrapped up warm and went to explore the Citadel which overlooks the town and river.

The impressive and very solid Citadel.

The Citadel looks over the town.

On Sunday we threw caution to the wind and splashed out on the toll road from Bordeaux to Biarritz. There are a couple of diversions off the motorway which avoid the peage but we thought the three payments of €5.40 + €1.90 were worth it for the easier and quicker drive.

We stopped at Aire de Camping-Car Gabrielle Dorziat (Camper Contact 51886) on the edge of Biarritz. With credit card access through the barrier the aire has electric hook-up plus the usual water and dump facilities. It is extremely quiet and right beside a country park, popular with local dog walkers. At €12 it is pricey for an aire but considering the facilities and where it is must be considered a fair price. At last the temperature was a little warmer and the sun once again popped out from behind the endless clouds for a few moments.

Aire at Biarritz

The house rules.

After a very quiet night we hit the peage again to cross into Spain. We took the N1 south from San Sebastian, joining the A1 to Vitoria-Gasteiz then the AP1 to Burgos.

The first part of the journey is through quite built up and industrial areas which, combined with the low cloud and wet roads made the drive very forgettable. We drove on into a more rural landscape which was covered in snow, fortunately the roads were clear.

Well south of Burgos the snow had gone and we pulled off the motorway for our overnight stop at Torquemada.

We last stopped there almost two years ago on our way to Portugal. There is a small aire next to an old chapel and cemetery, which means its dead quiet at night. Although the aire is just beside the road on a junction most of the passing traffic is tractors coming and going between the fields.

The aire at Torquamada, complete with storks nest on the chapel.

A frosty start to the day again as we left Torquemada with the sun rising in a blue sky. It looked like being a nice day at last. As we started to drive it became more and more misty until we were in a thick freezing fog. The fog lasted all the way to Salamanca and as we parked at our campsite large slabs of ice slid from the front of our mirrors. So much for the blue skies.

So, here we are, high up on the Spanish plains. The sky is blue and the sun is at last shining, although its jolly cold. Not entirely surprising as we are over 2500ft high and have been for the last couple of days. Our friends Jenny and John have just arrived from down south where they have had unbroken blue sky for weeks.

We will be heading that way in a couple of days time.

Moving on to Martel…….

….and other fortified towns.

On Sunday morning the breeze had increased and because there was much more cloud, it looked like a change in the weather was approaching. We took the reluctant decision to leave our lovely lake and continue the inevitable journey north and closer to home.

It must be more than 30 years since we had been to Martel, a lovely old town close to the Dordogne. It was a lovely drive through lovely countryside on lovely roads. It was even a lovely day, until we reached our destination when the clouds took over from the sun.

The free Aire de Camping-Car (GPS 44.93934° 1.60811°) is just a couple of minutes walk to the old town and has been extended very recently into an area at least double the size of the original. There is no dump or water on the site although there are facilities on the other side of the town.

 

Martel is a lovely little town to wander through. Lots of narrow streets, alleys, towers and squares to explore and in the centre an ancient covered market place.

An early…ish start on Monday for a long…ish drive to the Loire area.

I pace our journey through France by the rivers. As a rough (very rough) guide I reckon an easy days drive across France, north to south or the reverse, can be paced by the distance between major rivers.

Day 1, Channel ports to the River Seine.

Day 2, River Seine to Loire.

Day 3, Loire to Dordogne.

Day 4, Dordogne to Pyrenees or Spain or the Mediterranean.

It goes without saying that we have never covered that distance in 4 days as we always linger for a day or three at numerous places en-route but you will get the picture. You will also note that I said “an easy days drive”, we always try to reach our destination by early afternoon. That way you have more chance of getting a space on popular aires and time to explore if you intend moving on the next day. We are on holiday after all and there’s no point in flogging on for mile after mile and not enjoying the drive.

So we ended up on Tuesday afternoon just south of the River Loire at the small fortified village of La Coudray-Macouard, south of Saumur.

The aire didn’t look very promising but we parked and had a walk around the rather attractive village. Very light stone buildings looked good in the late afternoon sun as we strolled around another completely deserted settlement. After our walk we retraced our route by a few km. to Montreuill-Bellay, another fortified town we had stopped at earlier in the year.

Another free aire, (GPS 47.13252° -0.15818°) this time with free dump facilities and water for €2. The aire is between a river and the town which is dominated by an impressive chateau, complete with more towers and pinnacles than you can shake a stick at. The chateau looms high above the aire and makes an attractive background. Ruins of an ancient church and abbey are next to the aire and sitting in the motorhome looking out at the darkened street, lit by a lantern over a stone arched entrance, it was easy to imagine oneself back in earlier times.

On the banks of the Seine……

….yet again.

After one night at Montreuill-Bellay it was north again from the Loire to the River Seine and our favourite place at La Mailleraye-sur-Seine.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the busy river and the ships that passed. The following day, Wednesday, started grey and damp but very quickly the weather perked up and the sun appeared. After walking around and  a visit to the boulangerie we spent the rest of the day sitting in the sun and just chilling. This was to be the last day when we weren’t driving so best make the most of some decent weather.

Sitting by the Seine.

Iberian Virgins

Due to the lack of internet connection this blog is being posted rather later than planned. 

With luck it may get back on track in the next few days. 

16th March 2015.

 

It is a sunny Sunday afternoon and we are parked by the banks of the River Gironde 670 miles from home.

We planned to make a trip to get some sun, leaving in mid March or early April but the winter in England seems to have dragged on and on so after looking at grey skies for one day too many I decided that we should get moving. Inevitably there were things going on that had to be sorted out first but once they were done we were off.

As usual there was not a lot of detail planning involved other than ordering maps and an aires book for Spain and Portugal, both countries we have flown to for holidays before but never travelled to with the MoHo.

So, with Celine packed to the gunnels for a six week trip we left home on the first Wednesday of March amid the first real cold spell of the winter. The met men were predicting a cold blast from the Arctic right across Europe, including Iberia. Just what we needed in our quest for warmth and sunshine.

After our late afternoon crossing through the tunnel we headed the few miles north to the aire at Gravelines where we met up with fellow Carthago owners Neil and Caroline, plus Digger the dog.

We spent a pleasant hour or so putting the world to rights before retiring to our van for supper and a peaceful night.

Thursday morning we went south to our favourite aire at La Mailleraye-sur-Seine. When we arrived the aire was deserted but we were soon joined by a couple more vans. After two days driving we stayed put on Friday and just chilled, very easy to do at La Mailleraye and watched the ships go past and wandered up into the village for a few food items.

On Saturday we hit the road again with a long drive south west to an aire that had been recommended at Montreuil-Bellay, just south of Saumur and the River Loire.

Montreuil-Bellay

The free are (GPS 47.13255º -0.15815º) is beside the River Thouet and is overlooked by the town and a magnificent Chateau perched on a crag. The view through the windscreen was amazing and the aire was as quiet as the grave at night.

The Chateau

 

Montreuil-Bellay Chateau

The view from the aire.

Sunday, like Saturday, is always a good day to drive in France as most of the HGV’s are off the road. Another fairly long haul but on good and quiet roads all the way down to Blaye, the famous wine town just north of Bordeaux.

The aire at Blaye.

Another free aire (so sorry to rub it in but the caravaners that read this get really annoyed) this time right on the banks of the Gironde and beside the Citadel and the town (GPS 45.12514º -0.66611º). Although there are no facilities for taking on water or dumping waste the position and view more than makes up for it.

The sun has shone for most of the day and with it streaming in through the screen we have been really toasty warm. A late afternoon walk around the Citadel blew the cobwebs away and stretched our legs followed by tea and tiffin back at Celine.

The Gironde from the Citadel.

Kate inspects the doors to the Blaye Citadel.

After two days driving we may stay an extra day here and explore the town a little.