Category: campervan

Life in the slow lane

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I am now on day four of my trip back, day two of driving in France, and am loving it. The few days I was back in La Marina were busy with seeing friends, celebrating Mum’s birthday, and getting the van ready for the return trip.

Katy has some new crafting decorations, completed this time in Spain.  It is getting to the stage that she is more a mobile craft display than anything else!

We had a macrame workshop before Christmas at the sewing group, and I was inspired by a post on Instagram to make this little hanging tray. I am so pleased with how this has turned out.

Ellen also helped me to make a crochet flower garland, and it looks beautiful. She did most of the complex ones, but I am still very pleased with my efforts. 

I have been really enjoying the driving  it takes me a while to get back into it after 3 months away, and as I have been doing mainly motorways so far, it has been Katy and I tootling along in the slow lane, admiring the castles along the way. The last two days have been especially exciting at we have had views of the Pyrenees. 

I can’t believe how much my confidence has grown doing this journey to and from Spain, it has been so good for my driving skills. I often miss turns, or am not sure about motorway junctions but I have learnt to just stay calm.

The first stop was at the La Brisa Aire in Peniscola.  The original plan was to visit the castle there, but traffic jams meant that I arrived very late. Apologies I can’t put in links to the site while using the app to write this post, but found this on Park4Night and it was €9.50 a night.

I did have a lovely lunch stop off though, at a nature reserve near Valencia. 

The village of El Palmar is built around a series of little canals, and the villagers used to use these little barges for fishing. There are still lots of the the thatched houses along the banks of the lake.

Now the main trade is tourism with lots of people coming for boat trips, or lunch at the many restaurants and bars along the canal.

A shorter drive the next day took me to just outside Tarragona, to a lovely stretch of beach called Torrembada. I had a very peaceful night in this pine tree aire, at Area 340. This one was more expensive at €16, but it was right next to the beach.

I also met a cute cat at Reception, and got a great idea for more van decorations.  I have been collecting stones, so now just need to get painting!

After the excitement of crossing the border, I ended up in the very cute little village of Port Vendres, at an aire just the other side of the port. This one was €8 a night.

It was beautiful weather, so I had a wander round and a cheeky vin blanc to celebrate my successful border crossing.  You may remember that Katy was only allowed to stay in Spain for 6 months, so we had to leave by the 24th April !

After a very windy drive today, which was definitely all in the slow lane, I have been able to come to somewhere I have wanted to visit for about 20 years, the cité at Carcassonne! Ever since I started re- enactment I have wanted to come here, and it was amazing. 

Even though I have seen so many photos if the walls, I wasn’t expecting there to be so much inside them. This next photo is from Wikipedia,  in the absence of a personal drone 😀

The medieval cité is now quite touristy, with lots of bars, cafes and gift shops, but it gives you a real sense of what it was like in the 1300s.

The views from the ramparts were amazing, luckily it was a clear day, with wonderful views of the Pyrenees.

I now have the luxury of a hotel for the night, with WiFi, so am taking advantage of it to do this post. Tomorrow is starting the non motorway part of the trip, up through the Dordogne, which I am so looking forward to.

I have another week in France before my tunnel crossing and am looking forward to more tootling through the French countryside.  There may well be some more châteaux coming soon!

Meanwhile have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting 😊

Amazing Avila

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My very last stop was a short drive from Segovia, along very quiet country roads and through the city itself, not quite as challenging as Segovia, to my park up just outside the city. On the map below it is just to the left of Madrid, partly covered by my little pin! It is at the foot of the mountains, so in a gorgeous location.

I had booked the park up online, before I left Spain. It was a fantastic location, as you can see from the pictures below, with great facilities including shower and toilets, as well as the usual water and waste, and cost 12 euros.

The second photo is taken from the city walls looking back, the park up is just behind the trees, and helpfully next to the police station. There is also a very large car park next to it with seemingly no restrictions on overnight stays, though I didn’t see any campervans using that.

I was so excited to go and explore, I had seen some pictures of Avila beforehand but was not prepared for the scale of the city walls.

They are incredible, and are the reason that the town is a World, and National, Heritage site. The walls date from the 13th century and run for 2516 metres, enclosing the old town. There are 87 turrets and 9 gates, some of which are accessible to cars. Some of the buildings within the old town form part of the walls, such as the Bishop’s Palace.

The area of Avila within the walls contains so many beautiful palaces, most of which are now hotels, and the cathedral. There are a number of different building styles within the old town, and some newer areas such as the town square, where the flower market was being held.

I also got the chance to visit the church dedicated to St Theresa of Avila. In my medieval re-enactment role I portray an early Carmelite nun. The order was reformed by St Theresa in the mid 1400s, so it was great to visit her birthplace. I love the fact that someone has put a flower in her hand.

I left early the next morning, heading over the mountains, and past reservoirs, with some brilliant Top Gear challenge roads winding down the other side. I was heading for a park up which is below a castle and set of windmills, at Consuegra.

I had decided that if I was making good time I would just stop there for lunch, which I did. This park up is being enhanced with a toilet block, and I think it would be brilliant in the summer as it has picnic tables and great views.

As I was doing really well for time, and really enjoying the driving I decided to head for home, as it was only 3 and a half hours away, with a couple of rest stops for petrol and coffee. A brilliant drive with many more windmills on the horizon, then down the A31 motorway, which has castles along it every through miles, and I was back home by 6pm, much to the surprise of my mother, who wasn’t expecting me for three more days.

Here Katy, having a well earned rest the next day, although we did go on lots more little adventures over the next two months, which I will tell you about in the next post.

I still can’t quite believe that I did it, when I look at the overall route that I drove, with all my little park ups.

This doesn’t even show the first or last parts as I couldn’t fit them on, but is most of it. I forgot to check how many miles I did but think it was about 1800. A lot of people on the van life forums ask what it costs, so thought that might be helpful for others to itemise it. In total I spent £250 on petrol, £90 on the Shuttle and £158 on campsites, park ups and tolls, a total of £498 for 17 nights on the road. I could have done it more cheaply without the campsites, which came to £65, but really appreciated the luxury of showers every once in a while 😉

The charges that I paid for aires also included electric in most cases, although it was not available at every space. I didn’t use that at all as I just charge up my portable power banks when driving. If you like roughing it a little, this is a great way to see Europe, the driving alone was so interesting, mostly in a good way :-), and I can’t wait for the return trip at the end of April.

I am spending the time when I’m not blogging, writing and researching my novel, and frantically trying to finish two knitted unicorns. I have been having trouble with the horns but think I’ve sorted it now. They will hopefully be finished in time for the crafting post next week.

Until next time have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Apologies to all of the other amazing Spanish cities ….

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I have visited so many beautiful and amazing cities in Spain, Seville and Granada being two of the most famous, and completely stunning. There are so many others as well, almost too numerous to mention. However, the next stop on my trip, Segovia, might just be my favourite city yet. I had added it to the list partly as the location was good, being on a route back to La Marina. There are many other cities in that area that I could have visited, and it wasn’t until the last minute that I decided I would definitely go there and I am so glad that I did.

The journey there from Burgos was brilliant, so sunny and the clouds on the top of the mountains were beautiful. I had to stop at a café for breakfast so I could take some pictures, and they really don’t do the scenery justice. This was one of my favourite drives, so stunning.

I was aiming for a free park up near the bullring, but sometimes I get a little confused with Sat Nav instructions, and a wrong turn at a roundabout meant that I actually drove right into the city centre, up the cobbled road, past all the tourist coaches, and back out again, which was a little nerve wracking 😉 However I found the park up shortly after, and it was all good. This park up was another car park, with water, bins and waste, and can be used every day except Saturday, when the market takes place here.

It was only a short walk into the city, and I was following what I thought were the city walls, until it turned into the aqueduct! This marvel of Roman engineering is 14km long, was built without mortar, and the city was built around it. It was truly incredible, one of the most impressive things that I have ever seen. I think that is part of what made Segovia so special.

The other thing was the very unique decoration on the houses here. It is also used in some other Northern cities and is known as sgrafitto. It originates in Italy and is made up of layers of plaster. It was amazing to see all of the different designs.

There was also a very unusual building with points all over it, that now houses the School of Art.

I had a slow wander up through the city with the views getting more and more amazing, until I reached the city square.

There were lots of shops selling regional produce, the area is known for its meat products and pork crackling is very popular here.

The cathedral was very beautiful, not as ornate as the one at Burgos inside, but with wonderful painted ceilings in all of the side chapels.

I love the shapes that are carved into the ceilings, and the contrast of the bare and painted stone.

As with all Spanish cathedrals, there was a lot of ecclesiastical goldwork. I particularly like the red and gold combinations on these vestments.

After the cathedral I made my way through the narrow streets to visit the castle, which stands at the edge of the old city, overlooking the valley. This was another reason that Segovia is so different to other cities, this castle, which dates from the 12th century, looks like something from a fairy tale. It has the same kind of plasterwork on the exterior as the other buildings.

Inside it is full of the most gorgeous Islamic inspired architecture, rivalling the Alhambra in the complexity of the ceiling designs. Although it has always been a Catholic stronghold, the decoration reflects the Muslim conquest of the south of Spain, with their ornate carved ceilings. One of the rooms, the picture top right, has a ceiling made of 392 carved wooden pine cones, and was built to celebrate the birth of the King John the second’s first son in 1452.

Another incredible room has an English connection. The Gallery, or Ambassadors Room, was created by Catherine of Lancaster. She was the daughter of John of Gaunt, who was son of Edward 3rd, and became Queen of Castile when she married Henry 3rd in 1388. At the time she was 15 and her husband was 9, it was very much a political alliance, as her father wanted to secure his alliances in Spain.

I found this painting of Catherine at this website. I don’t know if it was painted during her lifetime but it is a beautiful depiction of her. Her great-granddaughter, Catherine of Aragon, one of my all time favourite historical people, was named after her. As I have mentioned before I love filling in the gaps in my historical knowledge and making links with English and Spanish history.

The room was deigned to impress visiting ambassadors, as there are statues of all of the kings and queens of all the different regions of Spain placed underneath the very beautiful ceiling.

I think it was the combination of the aqueduct, the unusual buildings and the fairy tale castle that combined to make Segovia one of the most fascinating places that I have visited. You could really get a sense of what it was like in the 14th century, a real piece of time travel.

I ended my visit sat in the city square near the cathedral, with a glass of wine and some tapas, thinking about all of the amazing places that I had been. A magical day and one I will remember forever. That was to be almost my last visit on the European tour, and the next city was equally amazing for very different reasons.

We have had some sunny days here, which is good as I went to the nearby town of Chesterfield to get currency and supplies for the next adventure. I have less than a week now until I leave here, so am on a mission to get the last few posts done before I leave. I shall see you again here very soon hopefully. Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Carved in stone

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Leaving San Sebastian meant negotiating rush hour traffic on the ring road which was good experience for the next part of the trip, as the Spain part involved mainly city visits. It was only a 10 minute drive out to the motorway though, and on to Burgos.

By this point I was really confident with motorway driving, and as Spain doesn’t have many tolls I didn’t have to stop and do my convoluted yoga to pay at the booths! Sadly the weather was poor driving though the mountains, the views were good, but would have been spectacular if I could have seen more.

Burgos was another one of my pre-planned stays, but again I altered what I was doing, this time due to the weather. I will tell you more about accommodation later but first on to the beautiful bits. I had come to Burgos to see the cathedral, and to this particular campsite on the outskirts of the city, to see the monastery of the Carthusian monks, the Cartuja Miraflores, just a short walk from the campsite. It was one of the most beautiful, and incredible religious places that I have ever visited, and if you are a regular reader you’ll know that I visit a lot of religious places.

Not only was the monastery itself very beautiful, it is still a working community and there was a lovely video about the monks’ life which ended with the blessing, ‘God be with you on your travels’, which I felt was very appropriate for me. Making this visit, and hearing that just made me so very grateful to be able to now drive, for the trip to have gone well, and for me to have had the opportunity to leave work and spend my time travelling.

There was a very interesting insight into monastic life. This board dates from the 15th century and shows which duties each of the principal monks had during the services of each day.

The little museum there also had some beautiful paintings. Some of which related to the quest of Queen Helena, mother of Constantine, the first Holy Roman Emperor, to find the true cross used in Jesus’s crucifixion. I cam across stories of Helena last year in Cyprus, and of the relics of the cross she left at a monastery there. The detail in the paintings was incredible, I loved her robes. There was also a beautiful version of The Annunciation, one of my favourite religious paintings.

An amazing surprise was the tomb of Isabella of Castile’s parents, John and Isabella of Portugal, and of her brother Alfonso. Because they were buried there Isabella became a patron of the monastery and that helped it survive some very turbulent years, including being ransacked by Napoleon’s army.

This tomb was amazing, the detail in the marble was incredible. All around the tomb were heraldic emblems, including these amazing lions. I couldn’t get close enough to get many good pictures of the clothing they were wearing but the carving was stunning.

There is a large photo of an arial view of the tomb next to it, so you can see more of the detail.

I was able to get closer to Alfonso’s tomb, which has the most wonderful detail on his robes and hat.

As the weather was really bad the first day in Burgos I had stayed in my lovely warm cabin, just watching the rain lash down. The campsite, Fuentes Blancas, was situated near the river in a country park, so my original plan had been to visit the monastery on the first afternoon, then walk the 4km into the city the following day. I had a brilliant time at the campsite, the cabin was very luxurious after all that living in Katy for months. I also had a very nice evening at the restaurant where I shared a bottle of wine and travel stories with an Irish couple.

This very much relates to what I said in the last post about solo travels. They said they would not have talked to me if I’d have been with someone, but were intrigued as to what I was doing travelling alone. The cabin would have cost about £90 for the two nights, but thanks to my rewards from Booking.com for all of my travels in Cyprus I only paid £35.

I still really wanted to visit the city, and the weather forecast was better for the following day, so decided to look for a park up, found a free one just outside the city on a bus route, and went there for a third night in Burgos. I set off early morning on the Saturday so that traffic would be less, and after a few wrong turns found the space. It is basically a very large car park, next to a sports centre, with water, waste disposal and bins, and there were lots of vans there.

There is a dedicated van area, but people were also parked all over the car park, again police patrol regularly. Here I had very nice chats, (in Spanish), with a Spanish woman who was travelling full-time, and, (in English), with a Frenchman named Pascal, who insisted on me taking a photo of him with my van to send to his friend as he said it was so cute! There were such a variety of vans there, I was parked opposite fab yellow overland truck. Generally I didn’t see much variety in the types of vans on this trip, they were all mostly standard motorhomes, so Katy did always stand out.

The bus to the city was only a short walk away and thanks to Google maps I found it easily. Buses in Spain are really cheap, this was just over a euro each way and drops you right in the centre. Just a short walk over the river and I was at the cathedral.

This really was a stunning one, I had wanted to visit particularly to see the tower, which is incredible. the stone work on the ceiling is just breath taking. It is a UNESCO world heritage site, and one of my wish lists is to visit all of Spain’s world and national heritage sites. I am doing quite well so far 😉

The carvings all the way round the cathedral have such incredible detail. Whenever I visit places like this I just think of the thousands of craftsmen who worked on these places, and how their work has, hopefully, been so appreciated by everyone who has seen it. They are true geniuses to have been able to make this beauty out of stone.

There were also beautiful wooden carvings, intricately done, and painted and guilded.

I came across some unusual reliquaries as well, these are in the form of female saints, which I’ve not seen before.

This very large reliquary was decorated with squares of enamel, which I’ve not seen much of before in this kind of floral design.

There were also some more stunningly detailed effigies on the tombs, the first set of these pictures is from the cathedral, they are of Pedro Hernandez de Velasco, Constable of Castile, and his wife, Maria de Mendoza. He died in 1492 so I assume the effigy is from around that time.

The two pictures above are from the Burgos museum that I visited later, and are of Don Gomez Manrique and Dona Sancha de Rojas, dating from the mid 15th century.

The cloisters were quite plain, though with some interesting statues and lovely stained glass, so I took some arty pictures of the cathedral through the windows.

I had a quick wander around the city after visiting the museum, which had an inner courtyard laid out like a Roman villa. The city square was pretty, and the city gate was amazing, with again wonderful carving.

I came across this gorgeous bronze statue in one of the streets, the woman is crocheting, so I had to take a few close up pictures. I have been crocheting with Ellen while she was in Spain and have been improving, thanks to her excellent tuition, so will show the results when I do a catch up crafting post next week.

And of course there were beautiful doors, I had missed my Spanish doors. They are always so gorgeous.

A really amazing few days. There are so many cities in this area that I want to visit so it was hard to choose but I’m very glad I included Burgos. In the next post I will be moving further south, through more amazing countryside, and some of the best cities I have ever been to. Come back soon for more stunning architecture! Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Crossing the border and a change of plans

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I mentioned to you in the last post that I had been following Billy and Leanne on Instagram. Originally when I was looking at places to stay around the border I couldn’t find anything really useful. Because of this I had decided to stay on the French coast, then head into Spain and just get an overnight park up somewhere, before going to a previously booked campsite near Burgos.

However, Billy and Leanne had stayed at San Sebastian, a city that I had really wanted to visit, and as the weather forecast wasn’t great for the next few days I decided to head for the hills, well the mountains, cross the border a day earlier than planned, and get to the park up in San Sebastian that they had mentioned. Luckily they warned us that it was popular, being the only one in this area. After a brilliant drive on the motorway, where I could see the start of the Pyrenees, and by now having mastered the art of using tolls on my own from the wrong driver’s side 😉 a mere hour and a half later I was in Spain at the park up!

It was a good move to arrive early, as when I got there at 10.30 there were only four places left out of forty five. This is a really cheap aire, only 4 euros a night, and you can stay as long as you want so it gets very busy. It is also very near the Santander ferry, so there are lots of people using it as an overnight stop before or after their trip. I decided to stay two nights here, as there was so much that I wanted to see, and I had the time before the next stop. It was great have another two night stop, when I plan my next trip in Europe I will definitely look at driving further, and staying longer at each place, now I know I can do it.

The police also patrol the aire regularly to check that everything is ok, something which was a very nice feature of all the cheap, or free aires that I stayed in whilst in Spain. None of these places had barriers so it gives a feeling of extra security, particularly if you have an expensive motorhome. I don’t think anyone would want to steal Katy, lovely as she is, but sadly thefts of these are on the increase.

The first people I met were a couple from England, who had just come from the ferry, and I was able to help them and a couple of others with the slightly complex, multilingual payment machine. It was nice to pay back for all the help I have had with barriers and make good use of my Spanish! The aire has water and waste disposal and there are lots of bars and restaurants nearby. It is basically a car park at the back of the University campus, and is 20 minutes walk from the city centre.

In the van next to me on the left in the above photo were a really friendly Irish couple who insisted on giving me some of the stew they had made for tea. Van life people are so kind, and although the places were the focus for the trip, the people I met really made it great.

A lot of people have told me I’m very brave to travel on my own, especially in Europe, but what I have found is that being a solo traveller isn’t lonely. I talk to people every day, and I actually think that people are more likely to speak to you if you are on your own. There is always a chat with others about where you are going, and good tips of places to see or stay, so I never felt isolated, even though I was on the road for four months in total.

I spent most of the first day just walking to and from the city centre, along the splendid promenade. My Mum came to San Sebastian as a teenager with her family, and came back with my aunt a few years ago. She had always talked about how beautiful it was and it was brilliant to see some more of a very different part of Spain. I really enjoyed my trip to Galicia last June, and would love to come back to this region of Spain.

Not only the natural landscape, with the curving bay, the small islands and surrounding hills are stunning, but also the architecture in the city centre. I love these grand Spanish buildings with their balconies and ornamentation. And always such gorgeous streetlamps!

The old town was brilliant, full of little bars and gift shops so I had a happy wander there for a while, and my first tapas for months in a busy little bar, which was delicious. I was particularly fascinated by the signs everywhere. The Basque language is very different to the standard Spanish that I’ve been learning, so much so that I couldn’t understand any of it.

San Sebastian is part of the Basque area of Spain, and there have been many attempts to make it a separate country. It is an autonomous community at present. I remember hearing about these conflicts as a teenager, but there has been a ceasefire since 2011. Basque culture still remains very different to that of the rest of Spain, and, like Galicia, it does feel very different from where I live. It was really interesting to go from France to Spain in a day by road and see the change as you crossed the border, not just little things like speed limits, but architecture and the general feel of the area.

I visited the ethnographic museum on the second day, it is housed in a former monastery, so there were some great cloisters and the original church had been kept as it was, but used as a gallery.

There were some fascinating displays of traditional Basque headwear. As far as I could make out, most of these were just made of twisted linen. There is more information, and some modern recreations at this blog post.

The other thing I really liked was the textiles section. As well as displays of embroidery, and tools, there were some really fascinating photos of the women who spun linen, and the way they lived. I loved this, and think it brings these skills to life so much better than just having a case full of spindles. It gives acknowledgement to the hard work, and the skill of these women, something you know that I am passionate about.

Of course there were some church visits as well, it wouldn’t be me without a few very ornate churches, with their incredible altar pieces. I have lots more very wonderful ecclesiastical art coming in the next few posts as well. The rest of locations in Spain were very much about city visits with amazing cathedrals and castles so come back soon for those.

I really loved San Sebastian, it is probably a place that many people don’t stop at, as there are so many other wonderful places along that coast, but if you are there, do stay, just make sure if you want a space in the aire to get there early!

I have been doing lots of writing and knitting while I am here at Ellen’s, and really enjoying myself just relaxing. I am also spending time planning the next few months of adventures, which start again in just over a week! I am going to attempt to catch up with all the blog posts about the European trip before then. I can then hopefully start sharing my adventures from a very different place! I will have my laptop with me there, and wifi, as I am staying in hotels and apartments, so blogging will be a lot easier than from the road.

I will be back in a few days with the second Spanish city of my trip, until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Perfect park ups

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If you watch as many van life videos as I do you are going to come across a, ‘real van life’, one telling you all about the less glamorous side of van life, the dodgy park ups, the joys of finding somewhere to empty your toilet, and the problem of having your van, and therefore your home in the garage for repair.

However there are always the perfect places to go, the Instagram worthy shots, and the sheer joy of being in a wonderful place, for free or very little money. I was lucky enough to have some very gorgeous park ups after the time I spent on the campsite at Surgeres. It helped that the weather was really lovely for the next few days as well.

A short drive from Surgeres, through beautiful countryside full of small châteaux and vineyards took me into the Gironde area of France. I had already planned to visit this aire as it looked great from the pictures on Park4Nite, and it did not disappoint.

It was located right next to the port, in a little village called Mortagne-sur-Gironde, at the mouth of the river. There was lots of space, no barrier and some friendly sheep for Katy to talk to! This cost 8 euros for the night, and there was a toilet and shower block on the other side of the harbour.

I loved my little wander around the village. The port was full of boats, and busy with people walking and visiting their craft. As it was off season none of the cafes on the harbour side were open but I was quite happy just walking and admiring the cute houses, with their shutters and lace curtains.

At the end of the harbour I found this little treasure of a postcard museum. It was just a tiny room, but what a wealth of gorgeous pictures.

There was great interpretation as well, and it was a fantastic way to record the history of the fishing industry here.

After a peaceful afternoon and evening, with quite a few chats with French families walking past about the size of my camping car 😉 and my travels, I spent a lovely night here. Part of what I did every night, apart from checking the route, and the weather forecast after my previous experience, was to check my next park up. The reviews on Park4Nite are very useful for this, as off season aires can be closed for refurbishment, so checking last minute really helps.

Because the forecast was really good for the next few days I decided to change the next stop, and head for the beach again. I have been following various Instagram van lifers, and one couple, Billy and Leanne, had done this route a couple of weeks ahead of me, so I chose the next stop based on their recommendation. This also meant I had another fantastic driving day, this time through the pine forests near Biscarosse, and past Europe’s biggest sand dune, the Dune de Pilat, picture from Google. I visited the area many years ago, so didn’t stop, but really enjoyed the views of the dune from the drive.

The aire was located in a pine forest, right next to the beach at Biscarrose, and was absolutely gorgeous, definitely one of those, ‘I am really living my best life right now moments’. It is a large aire, and can accommodate 150 vans but as it was off season there was plenty of space.

It was 12 euros a night and you pay before you go in. Getting out via the barrier was luckily very straightforward this time, and there were toilets at the site and near the beach.

After a walk on the beach, taking far too many pictures of clouds and waves, I had another wonderful afternoon and evening sitting reading, and then doing my cross stitch.

The next day was a short journey a little further down the coast, to a small seaside resort called Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains. I had already planned to visit this aire as well, partly as it looked like a really nice location, and it was really beautiful.

The drive there was again fantastic, I went through so many cute little villages, with chalet style houses. The aire cost 12 euros, and was partly car park style and partly wooded. You pay when you leave but by this point I was getting good at barriers so had no problems! There was water and waste facilities, and toilets a short walk away.

After a yummy lunch of goats cheese, olive bread and salami I went for a wander. The resort is built around an artificial lake, and has lots of shops and restaurants. It was still quite busy when I was there in mid October, there appear to be many people living there year round, or who have holiday homes there. The houses were all these cute chalet style that I saw so much of in the area.

I also bought another little van to add to my collection. These are all stuck to the windowsill with velcro. Out of shot I have one from Cyprus, then from the right there is one from Tokyo Disneyland, two from the Slumber on the Humber vanlife festival, and now a French one. I think I have space for a couple more!

By this point I was about halfway through my journey, and feeling very comfortable about both the driving and finding places to stay. Everyone told me that it would be easy, and I was able to get to the stops with very few issues.

Flexibility is definitely a good idea though, although I had park ups planned for each night of the trip before I left the UK, I probably ended up only using half of the ones that I thought I would. Park4Nite is an excellent resource, as is following You Tubers doing the same route as you. You also have to bear in mind that even out of season popular places can be really busy.

I chose to use paid aires, rather than free ones quite a lot in France, as I liked having the access to water, rubbish and toilets, and had allocated some of the budget for that rather than try and find free ones which might be busier. When travelling in Katy I rarely eat out, as I am happy to do my sightseeing during the day, then go back to the van, cook, and spend the evening in.

Even though France can be expensive, I shopped in Lidl, and didn’t use toll roads other than a couple around Bordeaux. Although I paid for most of my French stays, this part of the trip only came to about £100 for accommodation and tolls for the 10 nights, which I think is very good value.

I will be back again soon with the next part of the travels, leaving the beautiful forests and vineyards that I had been driving through for the past few days, and on to some more very exciting adventures. Until next time have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Feats of engineering

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So after some lovely days of driving in France, with sunny weather and glorious views, I decided that I would modify my route and head for the coast sooner, to take advantage of the lovely sun. I was also a lot more confident at this point, so decided to use the motorways for the first time as well. I hadn’t been checking the weather forecast, so wasn’t really aware how bad things had been, and started driving only to hit what I think was the tail end of Storm Babet!

Suffice to say it was a bit of a challenging experience, as once I had got onto the motorway the weather got really bad, and visibility was very low. I just followed a lorry, as at least I could see that, and pushed on. I was feeling very proud of myself for coping with all of this, and the weather was starting to clear as we got nearer the coast, when out of the gloom arose this, pictures from Google.

I had checked the route on Google maps, but hadn’t realised that it was going to involve crossing France’s longest bridge, a wonderful feat of engineering at St Nazaire. I’m sure the views would have been stunning if I could have seen anything, I was just concentrating on hanging on to the wheel and getting Katy across as it was very windy! It is just as steep as it looks from that second photo.

Once safely across I headed to the new park up that I had found on the coast, only to find it completely deserted. As it was down a very small lane, and had a barrier, I decided to look for something else close by, and thanks to the lovely Park4Nite app found a free aire next to the Tourist Office at Bourgneuf-en-Retz.

It may not look like very much, but it had a toilet, and it was a lovely safe spot to spend the night. I was very relieved to get here, and had just made myself a cup of tea when a very kind French woman came over, and asked my if I wanted a hot drink and to sit in her van. She had seen me arrive, and as I was only in my little Katy, was concerned that I wouldn’t have anywhere to sit or a hot drink.

We had a little chat about the weather, and I assured her that I was fine, She too had been driving earlier that day, and had stopped as it was so bad. She then decided to carry on her journey, as the weather had started to clear up a bit, so left the aire after we had talked. It was so kind of her to check that I was ok, that is the thing I love most about travelling and van life, the kindness of strangers. It had not been the most fun of days, but I ended it very happy.

I was booked into a campsite at nearby Surgeres for the following two nights. I had planned a rest stop here as I had wanted to visit the area around La Rochelle for a long time. I have flown over this area many times and loved the look of the coastline.

Unfortunately there was still some bad weather the following day. I did get over to the Isle de Re, driving on this marvellous bridge, thankfully the views were brilliant as it was sunny at that point.

I spent a happy hour visiting the old ruined abbey there, and admiring the views across the bay.

As the weather was then getting worse I head for my campsite and actually did manage to pitch the tent before it got really wet! The campsite was lovely, with a mix of lodges and tents, as well as sheltered pitches with access to bbq areas and seating. The stay cost me £15 a night, and it was great to have access to showers and toilets, luxury.

I had chosen this campsite as it was next to the town castle and an amazing church. I was lucky the next day as the weather cleared up for a couple of hours so I went for a walk. The castle dominated the little town, it was originally built by the Duke of Aquitaine for defence, as you can see from the walls and the main gate. It was later more residential and was modified to include a very grand 17th century gateway. It is now the town hall.

The church was one of the most beautiful I have seen, again an amazing feat of engineering and craftmanship, especially given the era that it was built in. The stonework on the main façade was absolutely stunning.

Sadly it was closed, so I can only imagine how beautiful it was inside. Both church and castle date from the 12th century. As with much of this part of France it was briefly under English rule, as the lands were owned by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry 2nd of England.

The town was very pretty and I had a little wander around some of the lovely buildings before heading back through the park, where there was a poetry trail. I love this little hand door knocker, I saw many of these on my travels.

A really lovely couple of days, despite the less than auspicious start. Thankfully I didn’t encounter quite that much rain after that, though the experience did give me a lot of confidence in my driving. I am in the process of planning the route back through France for April, and my camping adventures this summer, and am so looking forward to travelling through France again, such a beautiful country.

In my next post I will share with you the last few gorgeous park ups in France. I had some really stunning places to stay and absolutely loved the travelling. Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Moments in history

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My second stop in France was at the little town of St Valery sur Somme. I had already planned to stop at the aire there, which was a paid for one that had very good reviews, as it was only a short drive from Wissant. This was my route, avoiding toll roads and motorways.

I had a quick lunch stop en route, at the Plage du Ploques (Seals). There weren’t any there but it was a gorgeous place for a picnic.

I was so glad that I did visit St Valery as the town was absolutely gorgeous, and gave me an unexpected glimpse into a period of history that I don’t know much about. It always interests me how easily things can change, and what would have happened if certain events had never take place, and this little town certainly played a major part in England’s history. More about that in a bit.

The aire cost me 12 euros for the night, and was a large, nicely laid out area, accomodating about 100 vans, with trees between each parking zone. There were some facilities such as electric in some areas, bins, water and waste disposal, and access was controlled by a barrier.

You paid on the way out, and unfortunately the barrier came down too quickly as I was coming from the payment machine, so I was helped by a very kind French council worker who was there with the bin men, who opened the barrier for me. Barrier issues were to become a bit of a feature of the next few days and I was constantly helped by very kind French campers!

It was only a short walk into the very pretty town, down some tiny cobbled streets with very cute cottages. I loved all the shutters, and you will see lots of pictures like this in the coming posts!

The town is on the banks of the river, and as such was an important port. There were lots of people out enjoying the beautiful weather, and taking boat trips. Such stunning skies for October 15th.

The town houses were beautiful, so many beautiful details in stonework and balconies. And of course some all important lovely doors!

I went for a little wander and found an information board that told me that this place was where William the Conqueror took shelter after a storm destroyed his fleet, while he was on his way to invade England. He managed to get the fleet repaired, and took the relics of St Valery from the abbey in a procession to ensure a favourable outcome for his second attempt.

The rest as they say, is history, and he was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066. How things might have been different if this trip had failed, or the saint’s blessing had not worked. Thus for the next few hundred years the town was involved in many battles between the French and English, and changed hands several times. Joan of Arc was also imprisoned there, before being taken to Rouen.

I walked from the port area along the river and up to the old medieval part of the town, the gate and some of the walls are still there. The church has a very unusual checkerboard design in the stonework.

The church was beautiful inside, lots of gorgeous windows and models of ships, as the place has always been heavily connected to shipping.

There was some lovely needlework as well, these beautiful stitcheries near the altar were gorgeous.

There was also a recreation of the Bayeux Tapestry above the doors, this commemorates the story of the invasion, and William’s battle with Harold at Hastings.

A beautiful place, and such a great introduction to travelling through France, the countryside was so lovely, and the roads so quiet. Absolutely loved it.

I hope you have all had a good Christmas if you celebrate. We had a very quiet but enjoyable time. Unfortunately I got a horrible cold just before it, which has now turned into a persistent cough, so I am having a very quiet few days in, with lots of duvet and fleece time, and hot water bottles. I am not too sad as it gives me lots of excuse to sit and write and stitch.

We will be busy again next week, with more trips out planned for my very last week here before I return to the UK. It has gone so fast. I will try and get back for another post before I leave, but if not will next be writing from the UK. See you all as soon as I can. In the meantime, have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

So close I could almost touch it!

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My final campsite was just outside Folkestone, on the edge of the cliffs, with beautiful views of the white cliffs, not the really famous ones, just some smaller ones. It was a fantastic location, you could hear the waves from the campsite, and the views were stunning.

The access road was a little steep and narrow, but once I got used to it that was fine. I have no idea how people get their large motorhomes down places like this, so glad that Katy is tiny!

This is where I started to get really excited, especially when on a couple of days it was so clear that I could see France. I was watching the ferries go over every day, and counting down the days until I left.

Aside from the lovely castles I did visit quite a few other places in Kent and I really loved the beaches. From the previous Canterbury campsite I had driven to the coast near Whitstable as I had seen this beach Botany Bay, on Google Maps.

It was stunning, the erosion has left these amazing chalk pillars and they looked wonderful against the blue sky and sea. I had a brilliant afternoon at this beach, even having a little paddle as it was that warm.

I also went to the official site of the White Cliffs of Dover, another Trust property. There is an excellent café and interpretation centre, as well as three second hand bookshops! By that point I had emptied one of my footwell storage boxes in the van, so was able to bring back lots of books to Spain, so I bought 6 from their bookshops.

It was a lovely walk along the cliff path, to the particular section of the cliffs that are the iconic White Cliffs. The whole of this stretch of coastline is beautiful and I will return at some point to go further west as I know there are some other amazing places to visit. For now it was a little picnic, watching the ferries leave for France.

I had opted for the tunnel, as it was faster. The advantage of only having a little van is that it is cheap to take her on the tunnel. I was so excited about the whole thing and it was so simple, I actually got there in time for the previous shuttle so from arrival to being in France was about an hour. Here is me being very excited waiting to set off.

A bumpy 35 minute ride later and we were in France. I had opted for an aire just 30 minutes down the coast at Wissant, a little village that has been used often as a embarkation point for England.

Most of the aires that I used I found through the Park4Nite site and app so here is the link for this one if anyone is interested. I parked up, and went for a wander, and when I came back was talking to my neighbours, who had recognised Katy from one of the campervan groups I am in on Facebook!

This was a free aire with some services, and only a short walk to the village. I celebrated my arrival with a glass of wine next to the beach, and enjoyed watching the ferries from the other side. I could also see the White Cliffs from here, you can’t tell from the photo but they were very clear.

In terms of the driving I can honestly say that the change to driving on the right came really naturally. I think because I do spend a lot of time in Spain cycling, and navigating for family I am very used to it.

As many people told me, French and Spanish roads are brilliant to drive on, there is much less traffic, and I had some beautiful routes, especially in Normandy. I wish I had a dash cam to show you all of the beautiful places that I drove through, as there was some stunning scenery.

I will be back soon to show you the adventures of day two in France, it is still lovely and sunny here so I went for another cycle ride earlier, with views of my beloved mountains. Whatever you are doing have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

Back in the land of sun and palm trees!

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I have arrived back in La Marina after my epic adventures. I have had an excellent time in France and Spain, it took two and half weeks to get here, and there were many brilliant stops along the way. I am not quite sure how many miles it was, but possibly about 1800. As everyone who had been previously advised me, driving in Europe is very straightforward, and in most cases was an absolute pleasure. We won’t talk about the first trip on French motorways, where I inadvertently caught the tail end of Storm Babet !

This is screen shot of my route. I am so grateful to have Google maps, as although I had a route planned and stops identified, I did change a lot of them, so it was invaluable for the planning on the road as well.

I will do more detailed posts about the last couple of weeks, as well as finish off telling you all about the adventures in Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent. I have seen, to paraphrase Carter on his discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, ‘many wonderful things’, and am so lucky to have done this journey. It really was a trip of a lifetime.

Katy is very happy here as well, she had to have a couple of rest days as the last day of driving was about five and a half hours, but she is enjoying the early morning sunsets from her park up across from the house.

I have had lots of house and van sorting to do as well, the usual replanting all of the pots on the terrace and re-establishing dominance of the house over the cockroaches 🙂 We have had a couple of little trips out though, one to the beach for lunch and today I went to the mountains nearest our house. I had promised myself that my first bigger trip would be to get closer to these lovely mountains that I see every day, and always cycle towards.

So this afternoon I went to the Palmeral, in the town of Orihuela, which is at the foot of the mountains, and spent a lovely hour having a picnic and a wander around, It is 25 degrees here still, and the sky was beautiful. I do love the contrast of the palms and the clouds.

I have lots more trips planned, again Google maps has been brilliant for that and these green pins are the places I am planning to drive to over the next couple of months.

I am looking forward to catching up with all my friends here as well, and generally enjoying a slighter quieter pace of life than the last four months. I have to say that having a bed, and a double one at that, and your own bathroom, is a luxury much appreciated after 4 months living in Katy 😉

I will return as soon as possible. Meanwhile have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.