25 – 31 October
The long and winding road
The next destination after Delta
de l'Ebre was Collioure just beyond the Spanish - French border. We chose a
site close to the town so that we could walk in, despite the steep incline out
of the site and equally steep descent into the town. Never mind, it was worth
the exertion! First priority was to find a cafe or bar showing the England -
New Zealand world cup rugby semi-final, to please rugby fans John, Clive and
Barbara. We found one straight away and enjoyed the match over coffee and
croissants, especially as England won.
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| Tense moment during the game |
John and I then went for a walk
to the church, which has also been used as a lighthouse, the breakwater around
the harbour
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| Church at Collioure |
and the old town, with its profusion of craft and artisan shops, before choosing one of the many restaurants for menu
du jour in the sunshine. A second walk led us around the foot of the
castle after which we called Louise, to wish her happy birthday (yes, we still
know what the day and date is!) and boarded the tourist train, which took us
high above the town. The commentary covered local history and told us how the
olives were almost ready to be harvested and would be turned into oil at the
14th century mill. It also explained that the vineyards were built on terraces
dating back hundreds of years. We had a brief stop at the viewpoint
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| Viewpoint over Collioure |
before
descending and passing through Port Vendres, which is the first port north of
the Spanish border and all bananas consumed in France arrive via this port. As
well as the commercial side, there is a marina and fishing industry based here.
The boats go out at night and use lights to dazzle and catch the fish. Collioure was a delightful place to end the
main part of the trip. We now have three long days of driving to get back to
Calais.
We were tempted to go back into Collioure
next day to watch the Wales - South Africa rugby semi-final but that would have
put us under time pressure so we hoped a service station might be showing the
match. This was not to be, but we did get reception on the tv in the van so
were able to follow the final stages of the match.
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| Motorcaravan becomes TV lounge |
We had another stop for
lunch at the Millau Viaduct, which we have seen before but impressed us once
again.
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| Millau Viaduct |
There was fantastic scenery along the way through the Massif Central,
with lots of ascents and descents. Our overnight stop was at a site in Orcet,
where we have stayed before.
The following day it was a 300
mile slog on motorways towards Troyes, in wet or dull weather. In the absence
of anything else of interest to report, I'll share the following about Thiers,
a town we passed, which is "a major
historical centre of knife manufacturing; seventy percent of French pocket
knives, kitchen and table knives are produced in Thiers. The knowledge and
craft of the Thiernois cutlers are over seven centuries old". You never know, you may need to know that one
day!
There are not too many sites open
now so the one we targeted at Geraudot was a bit out in the sticks but gave us
a home for the night. It was raining when we got up, so plans to have a look
around were abandoned. However, before leaving we did do a bit of birdwatching
from Barbara and Clive's van (motorhomes make excellent bird hides!) and we saw
a buzzard perched in a tree, redstart, willow tit and flocks of giant crane
flying overhead - Clive reckoned there were over 300. As we left Geraudot we
saw a sign for a Velovoie (cycle route) and for future reference, this seemed
to be the 42 km route between St Julien les Villas near Troyes and Dienville on
the edge of the lakes in the Parc Naturel Regional de la Foret d'Orient.
Although dry as the journey
progressed on the A26 (aptly called the Autoroute des Anglais) it was quite
chilly and the trees were all changing colour so we must face reality, it's
autumn!
An evening meal in Le Touquet was
a great way to celebrate a very successful and enjoyable trip. Even at 7 pm
most of the shops were open and the town was very lively. The ornate church and
town hall and the covered market all looked very interesting.
Le Shuttle carried us efficiently
back to Kent, where we had a final night at Bearsted so we could visit Mum
before the last leg home.
A few figures to finish with:
Number of days away – 39
Number of sites - 20
Total miles - 4,066
And the only time we got held up
in traffic was on our way back into Stratford. Welcome home!
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