France and Spain - Trip Summary

Route	Miles	Tolls (Euro)	Aire / Campsite
Calais to Nonancourt	190	15	Aire at Nonancourt, free of charge and has spaces for six motorcaravans and a disposal point for grey and chemical waster.  Note that the water supply is turned off between 1 October and 31 March.  Quiet location. Five minute walk into small town Bus stop indicated service to Dreux
Nonancourt to Orcet, south of Clermont Ferrand	273	46	Camping Le Clos Auroy, Euro 25 + Euro 3 for WiFi Good night halt
Orcet to Roquefort-sur-Soulzon (via Millau)	154	Nil (did not go over viaduct)	Aire at Rocquefort next to Tourist Information Office, 10 spaces, toilets (at your peril!), grey waste disposal, WiFi within close proximity of Tourist Info.  Water supply turned off until 1 April, but another tap in toilet area
Roquefort to l'Estartit	197	22	Camping Les Medes, L'Estartit.  Excellent site.  Some facilities not available until 1 April.  Euro 18 per night inc electricity with ACSI card
L'Estartit to Blanes (via Pals, Begur, Palamos)	66		Camping Blanes.  Facilities rather dated and some not available until 1 April. Site located under pine trees.  Euro 16 inc electricity; ACSI not accepted, nor credit cards.
Blanes to Ametlla de Mar	142	19	Camping Ametlla Village Platja.  Excellent site.  Euro 15 per night inc electricity with ACSI.
Amettla de Mar to Peniscola	54	8	Camping El Eden.  Large site split into two halves; hedged pitches.  Excellent facilities – not all available before Easter. Located 100 m from supermarket and beach.  Additional site supermarket in high season. Euro 18 per night (with ACSI card) inc electricity.
Peniscola to Morella	53		Aire, free of charge.  Quiet location – 25 min walk to town.  Water and waste facilities.
Morella to Haro	242	20	Camping de Haro.  Large site with high proportion of statics. Excellent facilities; ten minute walk to town centre.  £18 per night (pre-booked through Caravan Club) inc electricity
Haro to Santillana del Mar	135	11	Camping Altamira.  Sloping site and tight access onto some pitches. Facilities dated but clean.  Euro 20.50 per night inc electricity
Santillana del Mar to Santander	24

The End of the Line

Post from our whirlygig

I was really excited when I found out that John and Ruth were planning a trip to Spain and that I was included on the packing list.  An outing of over three weeks would surely give me chance to be used to capacity, not just for a few undies!

I have been installed on several pitches and do feel a little sad when they drive off and leave me behind, hoping they won't forget to come back to collect me.

A few funny things have happened while we have been away.  First of all, at Camping Les Medes, I think it was, I was standing a little close to the edge of the pitch, when suddenly all went very dark as I was draped in something large.  It was not long before I was rescued as Ruth explained in her best French, that I did not belong to the campsite and please could Monsieur remove his bicycle cover so that she could hang out her washing!

The second experience was when Ruth and John returned from their outing to the Delta de l'Ebre, having left me standing to attention in the corner of the pitch, waving flannels in the wind.  I was supposed to be guarding the space until they got back, but I must have dozed off, as when they returned there was a Danish car and caravan parked in front of me.  Ruth was not well pleased, but fortunately the adjacent pitch was free and I was retrieved from the Danes and stowed away.

Despite this unfortunate event, I was brought out from the locker again at Peniscola, and basked in the glorious sunshine for a few days without further mishap.

Red, red wine

Thursday 2 April to Tuesday 7 April

From Morella it is a 243 mile drive through an ever-changing landscape to Haro, in the Rioja region, where we stayed at Camping de Haro. We had expected sites to be busy over Easter so had pre-booked three nights here. Unfortunately our planning had not gone much further than that, so we were unable to visit one of the Bodegas for a wine tasting, which required advance reservation. Instead we got some information from the tourist office on cycle routes in the area and selected a suitable one for us, a circular route passing through various small towns by the river, and mostly flat. It was part of the cycle network, GR99. However, finding the start of the route eluded us, having tried every road out of Haro without seeing any cycle-route signposts. So in desperation, we set off on the quietest of the roads, signposted to San Felices, to see what we would find there. After several strenuous hill climbs followed by exhilarating free-wheeling down the other side, and having passed numerous vineyards, we came to our destination, which comprised a lonely railway station with piles of stones beside it awaiting transport. Not even somewhere for a refreshment!

Haro and the church of San Tomas in the distance

From Camping de Haro the old town is only 15 minutes walk away. It is a compact area and the church of San Tomas with its “wedding-cake” tower is visible for miles around. We wandered into the cathedral, quite plain on the outside, blending in with other urban buildings, but predictably ornate inside. The sides of some of the buildings are painted with wine-related pictures.

There are storks in residence in the town and we spotted two nests on the top of buildings, one of which was occupied by its owner (when we didn't have a telephoto lens for the camera with us, of course).

On Sunday we moved closer to Santander, and were impressed by the series of tunnels and viaducts around Bilbao. We stayed at Camping Altamira in Santillana del Mar, which was a final afternoon of relaxation. At this point we were beginning to struggle to know what day it was and we did a final check of the date on our phones and on the ferry ticket to make sure we were catching the ferry tomorrow, Monday!

The sun shone and we were able to sit at the stern of the boat out of the wind watching Santander gradually disappear from view.

Once out into the Bay of Biscay the sea was quite choppy, but not nearly as bad as a few days ago, when we had read on the website that a ferry had been delayed due to bad weather. Overnight the sea state improved to “slight” and the rest of the journey was much more comfortable. It was lovely to arrive back in the UK in warm sunshine and after docking punctually, we had a good journey home to find the daffodils in flower. Welcome home!

Top of the World

Wednesday 1 April

From Peniscola it was a short drive of approx 53 miles to the medieval fortress town of Morella, which is 1070 metres above sea level. What the journey lacked in mileage it made up for in “interest” as a series of very tight hairpin bends took us up into the hills. John commented that the image on Snoopy Satnav looked like a small intestine! I was fascinated by the way the hillsides had been terraced and stabilised with dry stone walls.

We stayed on the aire, with a stunning view of the castle from our 'van window. 

We walked into the town past the Gothic aqueduct, which once supplied the town's water and headed straight for the tourist office for a map. 

After a bit of a wander through the streets past the ornate cathedral 

and a walk along the Alemeda Promenade, we came to the entrance to the Saint Francis Convent and the castle, which looms high above the town. Much of the convent is just remains of walls but a lot of the cloister walls are intact and the church has been restored and is now used for concerts and exhibitions. Its huge size is impressive and its simplicity striking. Then on to the castle, where you visit the three floors in a spiral fashion. Explanatory panels are helpfully written in English too. The third floor is accessed by 98 steps to bring you to the courtyard at the top from which there are wonderful views in every direction – over the monastery, bullring (which we had passed in the town but was not accessible) and town walls. 

We retraced our steps to the town and then made our way back to the 'van via different streets.

Not your average Santander branch!

There were a total of around 16 'vans on the aire that night and we all suffered another cold one! Nonetheless, John was determined to take a photo of the castle during “the golden hour”, with the rising sun casting its warm glow on the walls; I chose to stay under the duvet, awaiting a cup of tea on his return!