Barcelona, views and inland

Barcelona, views and inland

Time to move on from the campsite. Time to see some of the real Spain away from the coastal strip. It was a bit of a slow start this morning and a number of jobs to do to get Bertie ready. We did try topping up the water with the folding water carrier but the tap was really slow and pouring the water direct in to our tank was a messy business. We gave up after two cans full! First

Quiet day on the campsite

Quiet day on the campsite

I had to break off my ramblings last night to assuage the rumbling tums! Today has been a quiet day in camp. No excursions and not much to report at all. The big event was doing the washing in the campsite laundrette!  When we arrived yesterday afternoon it was all activity and lots and lots of kids everywhere. About 5-6pm they all packed up and left! We think these are local people who keep a caravan here for the season

Costa Brava

Costa Brava

We are on the Costa Brava. Well actually I am not sure about that as the borders of the costas seem a bit vague. I think the Costa Brava strictly is the rocky bit from the French border to Lloret de Mar. We are in Pineda de Mar between Callela and Malgrat de Mar on the straight sandy beach that runs from Lloret to Barcelona and beyond – nothing “brava” about this at all. It was quite a cold night

Lazy day in Cabanes

Lazy day in Cabanes

We decided to stay on at the aire at Cabanes for another night and have a relaxed day with no driving. At just 10 euros per night with electric hook up and free wifi it seemed an easy choice. We wanted to go and explore our first Spanish village and I needed to see why Bertie’s horn was not working. The lack of a horn on yesterday’s very twisty roads did contribute a little to the stress levels! We had

Spain at last!

Spain at last!

Our last night in France for some weeks (maybe months) was typically cold. We woke to a cold grey morning and only the knowledge that warm, sunny Spain was just around the corner was enough to get us moving! We had to be up and about in good time this morning as we knew that the policeman would be along at 08:15 to collect the 6 euro overnight fee. Indeed he (they actually as there were three of them) arrived

Drizzle in Languedoc

Drizzle in Languedoc

It was a rather different view we woke to this morning! No more lovely sunshine and long crisp views. It was grey and gloomy and still cold. Not a day for sightseeing. Our first job today was to find a caravan accessory shop and get the special warming sign we need to fix to the bikes on the bike rack that is required in Spain. Google suggested Narbonne Accessories which is of course in Béziers not Narbonne! We bought the

Sète

Sète

I did not sleep very well last night. I had thought we had quite a peaceful location but I woke at 04:30 and was quite surprised by the amount of traffic noise. It turned out that the wind had changed in the night and now we were getting the noise from the motorway that I had not realised was quite as close as it was! Otherwise we had a peaceful night despite effectively being in a supermarket car park. There

Nîmes

Nîmes

Time to move on again! We serviced Bertie at the free services kindly provided by our hosts and were rolling down the road before 10am. A fairly short drive to Nîmes today but that 20 miles was quite interesting! The first section was interesting because of the huge plane trees beside the road. These were fine when planted over 100 years ago, vehicles were smaller and the trees were tiny. These days the trees are massive and are scarily close

Uzès

Uzès

A perfect Bertie day today. We slept well and had a lazy start. It was a bit chilly so decided on porridge to warm us up. Once breakfast was out the way and washed up (ie around 11am!) it was off to the vineyard shop to thank them for their hospitality and to see what they had to sell. Really nice lady behind the counter who said we were very welcome and could stay two nights if we wished. When

Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard

We serviced Bertie and left the campsite late morning. We had quite a slow start as once again it was quite chilly and our old bones don’t work so well in the cold!! Only a short drive today to visit the Pont du Gard. This famous Roman aqueduct carries the water supply for Roman Nimes across the River Gardon. Built in the first century BC it was used for four hundred years. Today this is a major tourist site and