La Casita

21st December

Jc has done a fantastic job on keeping the fire in 24/7 and keeping our little house warm since the wood was delivered. Today has been a scorching day. The nights are always freezing and then the temperature starts to move northwards after about 10.00 in the morning. The main house here is called La Fuenta Viega and is a sort of listed building I believe.






Beautiful, but somewhat run down. Our bit is a little cottage on the side with its own garden overlooking the river. Vilja has lived here for 25 odd years and planted a fabulous tropical garden all of which is watered by a really efficient






spring water system. There are massive grapefruit, orange and lemon trees in both gardens, laden with fruit. JC adores grapefruit so we have very healthy breakfasts.

We have been sitting out in the garden over the last couple of days just soaking it all in, and Gybo has made herself a little nest under some of the foliage to keep herself cool.


















So all is well!


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Location:Jimena

In all the towns .........

20th December

In my new vocation as CARER who pays for the privaledge, I dutifully report to the main house at 10.00am. Vilja is lying on the sofa wearing a bright pink, fluffy dressing gown. She explains that she bought it for someone as a Xmas present but as she now can't remember who she has decided to keep it herself. Her pills are in a mug untouched on the coffee table in front of her as she thinks they are the ones from last night and she has forgotten to take them and that they will have the sleeping tablets among them.

My focus is to do the job and get going. Take the car, get to Gibralter, pick up a hire car and start to enjoy our break! I suggest that Louis had ensured she had taken last nights pills before he left and these are definately this morning's. SO JUST TAKE THEM! Please...

The road to Gibralter was good. Gybo waited for every bump but a car doesn't really suffer like a camper van. But she like Vilja has forgotten. Every telegraph pole that lined the road had a large nest on top of it guarded by a black and white heron. Probably got a proper name but very beautiful. La Linea is the gateway town to Gibralter and the main route in takes you along the beach. We passed a long queue waiting to get across to The Rock. Apparently the La Linea civil servant employees have not been paid for 4 months as the council is broke (no change there then) and they have decided to protest by setting up a blockade to the Gib access.

Found the car hire place with a line of clients queuing around the block. Luckily there are 2 other car rental companies really close by. One had sold out for Xmas, and the other had one white Mazda left. We were persuaded to take the premier insurance option to cover all the ancillaries like windscreen, wing mirrors, scratches etc. so I was quite surprised to find that the car came to us without hub caps or a cigarette lighter. Lucky we are insured for their loss then!

As we left their offices a group of people walked by and I had a funny feeling. I turned and quickly cast my eye over the group, and there was my old employer from The London windsurfing centre. Nigel Fawkes who was on holiday with his wife Jane and visiting friends who are starting a round the world trip in a wooden boat with 2 babes under 5.
I worked for Nigel and his partner John Lindley in 1979 as a Windsurfing Instructor at Bray Lake near Maidenhead when Mrs Thatcher's policies put me out of advertising work. Although I will always admire anyone who can operate on a couple of hours sleep a night.

So, I haven' t seen Nigel for 30 odd years and in all the towns and all the places... My Dad always used to say that the world was a very small place. If you hold your head up and keep your eyes open you will be surprised at how many people you will come across. And In my experience this has been the case. There have been so many amazing coincidences.




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Location:Jimena

Wood and crazy

19th December

Right, it's Monday. No excuses today. Must get car and wood. Vilja says 'oh, just borrow mine', but then forgets and thinks her carer might need it. I start phoning around, walk miles to garage on wild car hire chase, and we finally agree that we will have to go to Sotogrande, la Linea, or Gib to get one. At least one hour each way. But it is now after 2.00 and everything is closed again. Vilja's friend Louis who has looked after her this last couple of weeks, is leaving tomorrow for his home town of Sydney which we gather later Is due to a disagreement with Vilja. He offers to take JC to the wood place for logs.

An hour later there is much noise and shouting as Vilja comes striding into our bit, through our garden and out the back door to the river where Jc and Louis have just arrived with the wood lorry and a TON of wood! Vilja starts yelling at the wood boys who by now are hurling the logs out of the truck onto the slope beside the house." Who is going to carry them up here? Where will they be stored? I think you will have to take them back to the yard". Jc then quietly explains to her that it is not her wood, and not her problem. She flounces off. But Oh No, she's back. "This is where they will have to go, Mandy, come here and help me with this tarpaulin."

I am now thinking other things about what is going to go where and also about how long we are likely to be staying as well as how many fires we are going to have to have to burn ALL this wood.

A fun evening was spent with Jc and I stacking hundreds of logs alongside our little house.

We had just finished when Louis appeared with the car keys. He explained he was leaving that evening and could I go round in the morning and ensure she took the pills that he will leave out on the bar for her. OH GOD, the paying guests have now become the carers!!



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Ex pats

18th December

My friends Maz and John have just confirmed they have booked a flight out here for 5 days between Xmas and New Year. Wanting them to be close by I call our new friends Angie and Pat who give me 2 contacts. One is very close by and the ground floor of her house. A comfortable and warm apartment. I call the other contact to find that Pat and Angie are visiting and Pat offers to pick me up so that I can have a look. An amazing place comprising of a large house with optional bedrooms that can vary according to the size of party, and 2 other houses. All with magnificent views and in excellent condition and well equipped. The owner Liz invites us to a function there that evening which is a Xmas themed supper hosted by a local restaurant using Liz's place as the venue.

We have no logs to keep us warm yet and no car to get shopping so this seems a great idea and Pat will pick us up.

Dogs are not happy about being left but that's normal. The evening was very enjoyable with amazing food served in this beautiful house. The second course being artichoke hearts stuffed with prawn something. Delicious. Mostly ex pats made up of Brits, Danes and swedes.



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Location:Jimena

Our holiday home

17th December

The drive from Ronda to Jimena de la Frontera was the best so far since being in Spain. Beautiful white washed villages on the tops of mountains or nestled in valleys.











We passed a valley with 4 large birds circling and i am told they are likely to be Peregrines.



We have a "Casita" ( small cottage, I think) booked herein Jimena for 4 weeks. Unfortunately the landlady has been very ill and lost her short term memory. So I have been contacting her regularly to try and ensure she remembers who we are and that we are coming. I have also asked for directions on numerous occasions which her stepdaughter is supposed to be emailing me.

On this day, I call in the morning and she knows who I am and say that we will be arriving between 12.00 and 1.00. Yes, she will be in and if I call when we arrive, she will send someone to show us the way. We arrive at 1.45. No answer from the main home or mobile and after yesterday, we are loath to drive into the heart of the village with its narrow lanes.
The sun is out and we are lounging about by the side of the road practising our spanish on a local resident when we hear. " it looks like you might need some help" spoken in the best queen's English. Her husband joins us and they offer to show us the way. Phew.

Then the fun starts. The landlady Vilja has got my message and is just coming out of her place in a car driven by Maria her maid. She immediately wants to meet the dogs and wants a cuddle with them and is totally unaware that we just want to get parked up and sorted. She explains that the van can go down the lane to the river as her drive is going to be full over Xmas.

Jc walks the route. A narrow lane of rubble mostly that most respectable cars wouldn't dream of attempting. We both agree that it won't work. Vilja is now suggesting the local camp site to store the van, and they will take me in their car to show me. Jc will wait by the van as it is parked on a narrow road.

By the time we get to the camp site, she has completely forgotten why we have come and guides me to the bar where she asks me what I would like to drink and enquiries as to the whereabouts of my husband! I put her back on track but get nowhere as the man in charge is not there. After all sorts of shenanigans including a guided tour around the town to see the market square where the suggestion is that we just leave it there and move it every time there is a market, I give up and ask to be dropped back at the van.

We haven't actually seen our accommodation yet and whilst it is bloody freezing it has a lot of charm and we can see that with some new light bulbs, some cooking stuff from Wishstreams kitchen, our own linen and a ton of logs for the wood burner then it will be fine. We persuade Vilja to let us try and get the van through her new gates that open onto a new sandy drive at the top of the property and with some difficulty on the rubble road, we squeeze through the gates.




Thoughts of getting it out again are quickly put aside as that will be another day and all in REVERSE!!




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Location:Jimena de la Frontera

Calamity Uno

16th November

Our last day before our Xmas destination. Driving through field and fields of orange trees to the town of Ronda. We checked in and then went off in search of the old town.

Unfortunately it was busy and we couldn't find anywhere to park the big bus, so about turn and then left to another street. Ahhh, this looks a bit narrow, oh, there is a car behind now. We'll keep going and turn left here - into an even narrower street with cars parked down the right hand side. It's ok, we did this in Figueres, old hands now. Just creep among the kerb and watch the left side in the wing mirrors. That blue car 50 yards ahead is not parked very well. Hmm. We could mount the pavement. No, no room to do that now.
Jc is out and looking and nodding and shaking head and then the locals are out and everyone is muttering and mostly shaking heads and then we are well and truly stuck - between 2 cars and the pavement. My view now is that this is an insurance claim and we can't stay here all day. So first gear and forward. Seat Ibiza's seem to be very bendy and the side of the most forward one sort of caved in a bit to let us through. Amazingly Wishstream has very little damage and nothing actually fell off the other cars. We were just left with one black car with orange bits on its front corner and a blue car with caved in side and go fast orange stripes ( a lot of them) all down the side. Neither of them were in great condition before but ...... By this time the local police had arrived. Blue flashing lights et all in 3 cars. The main officer was really nice and took down all the details on the back of an envelope and gave us some details in Spanish on a scrap of notepaper for us to give to our insurance company. He asked for the log book and my passport but forgot to look at them. He then cleared the bystanders and allowed us to go the wrong way down a one way street, waving us off as we went. PHEW. Jc and I were very quiet when we got back to the site. We parked up and put the kettle on.

I then phoned AXA in England and spoke to an Indian trainee who asked me if I had any disabilities, if the van had been modified, and if we were going to make a claim. Once I explained that we had virtually no damage and wouldn't be making a claim ourselves, he put me on hold for ages and came back to say that everything was fine and we wouldn't loose our no claims bonus as we weren't going to make a claim!! Yes, but ...... Oh, never mind. It is all too difficult. I still wonder if it was all a bad dream!!!



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Location:Ronda

Granada

15th December
Another longish drive to a site just outside of Granada - Beas de Granada. Ok site with hot showers and a restaurant and bar in another good location just off the main road. We are now entering mountain country and there is snow on the peaks.






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En Sierra Respuna

14th December

Saddlebag 20c
Jc's ankle : swelling has gone down. Still sore

Taking the main peage motorway to do the miles. Jc started off and I sat in the back with Gybo who still hates it but doesn't whine anymore but doesn't relax. I took over after lunch and Jc sat with Gybo. A pain but we now accept it. Kicker is amazing.

Aiming for a site on the national park of En Sierra Espuna just past Murcia which is about 130 miles away on our route.














The last 12 kilometres were bendy, bumpy roads which took ages but the site is really nice, in fantastic walking country. And has a great English speaking spanish lady running it. The english couple next to us in a large Motorhome had arrived just before us and were staying for 4 weeks. To go walking. And have been coming for 4 years.

The site has a bar so Jc was straight in there for his evening beer and met up with another guy who comes out to this site with a caravan, walking boots and a bike for the winter. It is interesting to see what others do.


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Kikopark Restaurant

13th December
Relaxed day on the beach and reading book. Unfortunately the wind got up and our shorts and t shirt plan went sideways. In fact quite cold.

We had heard about the Michelin Star restaurant and been told how expensive it was, but compared to ordinary restaurants on the trip, the prices looked ok especially compared to France. We know dogs are not allowed in restaurants in Spain and this rule has been kept everywhere we have enquired whereas in France it was no problem. So, as the van was so close to the restaurant we decided we couldn't miss this opportunity. We were the only people in this very designer place. The food was absolutely amazing. We had tapas to start of Aubergine fritters and the a pie of ham,cheese, and pear. Both delicious. Jc's fillet mignon with grilled Mediterranean vegetables was excellent and my Maigret de Canard with sweet coffee sauce, figs, pineapple and cranberries was an eating experience.







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Location:Oliva

Oliva

12th December

Decided to go for a long haul where we would use the page motorway and get some miles behind us. Michael and Maria, or was it Marianne, or maybe Matilda, who were parked next to us in El Garrufer had mentioned Kikopark campsite in Oliva, just north of Denia. This would be a 180 mile run but we would then stay a day and chill. Looking at the Camping Club book there are 4 sites there which are open all year round so no need to book. The drive was uneventful. Miles of typical wide open Spanish landscape. Arriving at Oliva we head for the beach as all the sites are there. There are sign posts through the town to them and then again on the beach to them but COULD we find them. Non. I then found that Kikopark was actually one of the ones downloaded into the Tomtom, so Jane to the rescue and soon we comfortably settled into our Premier site right by the beach















and next to their Michelin Star!!!! Restaurant. "it is law, Signora (as Jc points out, I am no longer a Señorita!), dogs are not allowed on any beach in Spain." However, there were many dogs on this beach all off the lead and tearing around having a great time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZUnY7BKVck&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I met an English lady who arrived on the 7th November, and they are staying there until the end of March. It was the best site we have been to although I doubt whether we would have been happy to do more than a fortnight there. Most of the other campers were German and some of the vans were ENORMOUS. Like 9 metres and double decker height. One of them has a garage at the back end where the smart car can drive in. That's cool!







































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Location:Kikopark

Delta de l'ebre

11th December

Aiming for the Delta de L'Ebre which sticks out of the coastline south of Tarragona. Jc has found an Aire right out near the tip area which is located in rice growing and flamingo breeding wetlands. Jane Tom Tom suspiciously asks if we want to avoid the route of unpaved roads and when I answer YES she tell me there is no other route. Hmmm. Maybe she is out of date and they have resurfaced the roads. Actually no, she is right when approaching from the north. She took us through miles of lumpy, bumpy roads before we reached the Aire which was surrounded by rice fields and swampy water. Hold it Gybo. I have never seen a Great white Egret ( impressed?) before but there were hundreds in these fields with herons and all sorts of other birds which I haven't a clue about. They seemed to be ploughing the rice fields using a tractor with enormous net type wheels on them and a mass of all these birds flocked in behind. Unfortunately the sun wasn't out when I took this shot.














The village is minute with one restaurant and a bread shop. The Aire doubles as the school car park as we found out the next morning. We were really looking forward to not having to cook and asked the restaurant called Ida can Machina, if they would be open that evening being a sunday, and they said that if we wanted to come they would open. So at 7.30 we parked Wishstream outside as dogs are not allowed in, and were really surprised to find a very large, attractive restaurant out the back. The menu was really varied and we both had food that we had never had before - real Spanish country cooking. I am not sure I would have my octapus in aioli again, but it was different!


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Location:Els Muntells

Costa Daurada

10th December

The original plan was to go west into the centre of Spain around this point and make our way through some of the wilder country. We are realising that with all the delays and change of plans that this is not going to be possible. Also, there are few sites open in the heart of Spain and this would mean we would have very long drives between them. Not something we or the dogs would cherish. So that will have to be done another time and we need to push on south now as quickly as possible to get to our holiday cottage by the 17th. Crazy really, we now have one week to do a thousand miles, so I suspect we will not be arriving there on time.

Meanwhile we wanted to at least see LeFranc and drove the couple of kilometres from Pals there via Calella de Palamos.
































As usual we bravely take the Wishstream down the narrow main road into lefranc's tiny harbour frontage and nearly get stuck. A kind Spaniard showed us a place where 3 other campers had moored up and they explained they often use this place to stay over unofficially. Beautiful little fishing village with waterside restaurants. Next door, Callela de Palamos also looked very attractive.













We head for Sitges, just south of Barcelona. Jane Tom Tom took us right into the outskirts and then directed us down a slipway into a tunnel. This and the many tunnels ahead formed our route under Barcelona. They must have spent a fortune on this road, maybe for the Olympics, but it is amazing. Miles of great dual and triple tarmac roads all under the great city and the journey completed from one side to the other in less than 15 minutes.


I was last in Sitges circa 1980 having won a place on the International Advertising Association conference. It was held in Barcelona and on one of the free days a group of us took the train there. The waterfront area is just as I remember it. A long grassy promenade with palm trees and on the other side of the road, a never ending row of very sophisticated restaurants.






















As usual, we can't actually stay in the town so have to go to a
site which is a couple of miles out. El Garuffer camp site. A barn of a place heaving with weekenders visiting their enormous permanent setups. We saw families of 20 eating together and because there was a Barcelona footie match on, there were several large flat screens espied between the flapping canvases. Again a clean site and very popular, but we are beginning to think we are better off in an Aire if we can find one, as we are mostly self sufficient and don't really need expensive facilities.,



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Location:Calle de Joan Miró,Deltebre,Spain

Salvador Dali

9th December

Jc's ankle: much less swollen but still very painful
Gybo: much better
Saddlebag: 18c

I think we were spoilt in France with the camp sites, France Passion and the Aires. Now much harder to plan routes and night stops. There are much fewer Aires in Spain and these are mostly located on the popular seaside coastal areas. Not where we want to go unfortunately. Even the ones on the main roads are no good as it says in our Aires book:

DO NoT STOP/SLEEP ON THIS MOToRWAY. LOCAL POLICE CONFIRM
fREQUENT ROBBERIES FRom VeHiCLEs SToPPiNG At MOTORWAY REST AREAs

Anyway, the plan today was to see the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres and also to get some LPG (oh no!)

Stupidly I had assumed that Figueres was a small village like Cadaques and that we would park up, leave the dogs for a couple of hours and wander off to find the museum.

Well, it took us 15 minutes to get through the outskirts of this enormous town. We didn't have a clue where the museum was so just headed for the centre and eventually picked up some signs. The traffic and roads around Figueres are more difficult than Albi with really narrow streets and parked cars down all of them.

All car parking spaces were car sized and at an angle off the main streets so couldn't get in there. Very frustrating and just as we discussed giving up we came across a large bit of empty land that was covered with a thin film of sand. There were three cars parked on it and we parked up beside them. We weren't sure about it all and also leaving the dogs, so I spoke to a lady who lives in the flats opposite and she explained that the Museum was only a 5 minute walk away, and she thought it would be ok to leave the van.

I am so glad we went. It is a fantastic exhibition and we both really enjoyed it. I never realised the breadth of stuff that he did. The erotic drawings were pretty amusing too.

Back to the van for lunch. ( a bit odd I know eating lunch in a car park but it all works well), and then off to a camp site selected for its closeness to the coastal village of LeFranc which we had heard was worth a visit. However, we needed to top up the LPG and had found out on an Internet site that there was a garage for this in Gerona, sort of en route.

Nough said about this really. Suffice to say that finding the LPG garage wasn't easy, many roundabouts were circled many times, the air got quite blue and the dogs got upset.

The pals campsite (Mas Patoxas) was ok although we arrived in the dark anyway but in the morning we could see that it was a massive place full of permanent set ups. Maybe for owners weekend use, or perhaps for permanent use. Some of them have caravans with an awning and then another awning added to that. They have covers like a skirt running the whole way around the bottom of the caravan so that they can use the area under it for storage, although I saw a double bed frame being pushed under one so presumably this could be the 7th bedroom. Others are just awnings where the owners have set up a fitted. Full fridge and oven, surrounded by kitchen units. Hilarious.







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3G

I wondered about how we would cope with emails and browsing on this trip and looking on the web before we left, it seemed there wasn't going to be a cost effective solution. So I decided to just see what happened. The first week in, the camp sites either offered Internet access around the site or more often a fee for a couple of hours but I had to sit near the office to get the signal which worked ok except that I could usually be found huddled up on a camping chair under a tree at 11.00 at night with a torch emailing and loading blog stuff. So the decision was taken to source a 3G Deal. Ideally without a contract and in Chartres we found an SFR shop. The kind Frenchman spoke good English and explained the deal for the sim card only was 40 euros as a starter, and Orange down the road were much cheaper. SFR was empty and Orange was packed out, so we patiently waited in the queue ( dogs were allowed in!) and bought an 8 euro sim card in the name of john collins as they needed an identify which I didn't have on me at the time. Great deal i thought. This included 100mg of data use. So off we went. The girl in the shop had already said that the SIM could be credited online.

So finally we could seek out the auto gas stations in France which was the pressing subject at the time and send a few emails. Then nothing. I had run out of sim time and of course couldn't credit the account online as I HAD NO ONLINe!!!!! No worries, the book that came with the SIM had a page in English."Welcome to the prepaid for IPAD services, when your current credit is finished, you will automatically be directed to a web page of information. To refill, you need to call 0800 224 224"
Hmmm, wasn't redirected and how come Orange France have a uk 0800 no. Hey, it's Orange. Big company. They know what they are at.

Dialled the number knowing this would cost a small fortune anyway. Scottish accent
" Hello, this is Highland fuels in Scotland".

Me: err, I want to put some credit on my orange sim card
Him: very nicely and patiently: " Ahhh, they seem to have printed the wrong telephone number. We have had thousands of calls"

I thanked him and rung off.

We managed for the next few days and then caught up at Gill and David's, but looked for an Orange shop in every place we stopped.

Aha, Albi had an orange shop. It was small and we were directed to the larger one on the other side of town. Entering this place filled me with despair. There were 3 assistants deep in French conversation with customers and another 4 people waiting. Jc had a sense of humour failure and it was agreed I return alone the next day when the queue was just as long. What is it with Orange!

Worth it though. Added 250mg to the account for 15 euros. They phoned the 0800 no which was working perfectly from a french landline and then tried to add the international code as per use of an english mobile. Number unobtainable. He shrugged. Set up an account on the Orange France website allowing me to see useage and add credit. Marvellous and not expensive.

So now we are in Spain, I need a similar system. Orange Spain want 20 euros for the sim and then 35 euros per month or 3.5 a day. Moviestar's branch had so many people queuing that I gave up and queued up at vodaphone instead. They offer a 1 gb sim all in which will last for 3 months for 29euros. Perfect.





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Location:Roses

Roses

8th December

I need to sort out Internet access as my French sim no longer works. It is a beautiful day so unload my bike, don't need a jacket, and set off to the beach where there is a beautiful promenade stretching for miles all along the front of the Roses bay. Actually it is not so hot, sunny yes, but bloody freezing in the wind. This is one of the best bike rides ever. The paving is so smooth I hardly have to peddle at all. There is no puff, no exertion, just like freewheeling for miles. The bay's palm trees have been taken over by noisy green parrots all flying about and protecting their nests. If it wasn't so cold it would be idyllic.




I am also in search of something else! We are running short of the green ( can be blue) loo chemical designed to dissolve all stuff that ends up in our smart Thetford suitcase on wheels which is actually our loo. We have asked about and all brits bring large quantities from the uk, so no help there. The Bulgarian receptionist has drawn circles on the town map for me showing me the location of Vodaphone, Moviestar, and a Ferratero (hardware shop). Whilst asking directions from the owner of a cafe on the front, she explains that it is Fiesta day and everything is closed until tomorrow. Just my luck. I decide to at least identify the shops to save time the following day and to my surprise find the Ferratero open. A very young male assistant accosts me at the door offering help and I explain in English I want " toilet chemical for camping car". He takes me to the shelf where they have bottles of cleaners. More charades and gesticulating result in us going to the bathroom section and being shown a nice white Spanish lavatory. He points to the area up under the rim. Hmmm. We need another assistant!

My helpful friend asked me again what the words were and then repeated them to his friend who went behind the counter and bought out a 2.5 litre container of blue toilet chemical! Phew.

Spent the rest of the day chilling. Tapas lunch in the sunshine and an afternoon snooze.



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Location:Roses

Navigation

The navigation on this trip has been excellent and mostly down to JC who has planned the route as a whole and then day by day. Aided by Jane tomtom JC has had to keep her on the straight and not so narrow roads though. Even then, she sometimes gets carried away. Yesterday she brought us down a white road which was actually a bumpy Tarmac lane for 8 miles. This put all of us on edge and poor old Wishstream's nuts and bolt tightening was put to the test again. The finale to this journey was over a stream via a bridge that was just the width of the wheels and then down a road with a very old stone wall on one side and houses on the other. The width available was a couple of inches wider than Wishstream with her mirrors folded in. We both breathed in.

I managed to get all the Aires, the Passion France and the discount ACCI site locations downloaded into the tomtom before we left. These were supplied by one of my new forum chums on www.motorhomefun.co.uk. And whilst this might be viewed as a bit sad, it has been a fantastic aide to the trip. Some of these places are really hard to find.

We have been very happy to travel only 40 to 50 miles each day and because the roads are so winding I am only going 30 to 50mph, it usually takes us a couple of hours which is perfect for us and the pups.


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Location:Roses

Cadaques

7th December

Saddle bag 20C HoT

Really cold when we woke up but quickly warmed up to a really hot day. I take back what i said about the site here. The showers are good and the wash block very clean. First up today was to sort out jC 's ankle. The problem about going anywhere is that we have to take our home with us. But as we only have the electric hook up ( technical term for those virgin campers!, and actually one that I have only just learnt myself), we were away quickly to the Orthapaedic shop by the bus station, where I dropped Jc and parked up elsewhere to take the dogs for a walk.

Job done. He has a sort of ankle brace that fits inside his shoe and tonight we reckon there is an improvement already.

Away to Cadaques for lunch in one of the little restaurants on the front of this quaint and famous fishing village. Made famous by Salvador Dali who spent much of his time painting here. Unfortunately, sprained ankle people who drive camping cars are exempt from getting to see his house as it is too far to walk and every road approaching it has a big round sign with a pic of a camping car on it and a red circle around it. So we just had the lunch which was very good. Tiger prawn, Razor fish, bocqerones, and tortilla.

I found out today that our Big boy free sat dome is only set up to work as far south as Barcelona, but there are dodgy areas too, and we are in one of them. So no soaps tonight and it seems my tv watching days are numbered. Jc is vey happy without it though. We don't really know what is going on in England but we know it is not good news!



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Location:Camping jon car mar - Roses

Au Revoir and Ola

6th December

Ratatattat!! On our door at 8.45 am. What a cheek. I am sleeping with my socks and jim jams on so just leap off my large shelf and peer around the door. It is a man in a uniform thrusting a bill. And I thought it was FREE. Hmm wouldn't have come here if I had known.
Some of our GB friends had already moved off so maybe they did know!

A most glorious day with fabulous driving and views around hairpin bends but forgivable because of the scenery.










I am calling it the Corniche but it reminded me of the Amalfi coast.





























Lovely fishing villages and towns rightn on the front nestled in the valleys such as Cerberes, which is just before the Spanish border,











Port Bou which looks ordinary from above but very attractive when driving through it. The Spanish have spent millions on building small tunnels through massive land masses and you can see the opening of two of them in the picture below.









On to the Bay of Roses, to the municipal site of Camping Joncar Mar. The only site open in Roses through the winter. It's ok, but tiny pitches and no real location features other than it is 200 yards from the front. The Bulgarian receptionist speaks excellent English and she told me of a medical centre nearby as I am concerned about the speed of repair of JC's ankle.

It was a drive away but with difficulty I persuaded the patient to attend, and using some charades techniques to explain the problem we got him booked in. Within minutes he was called and thankfully the young Spanish doctor wanted to practise his English. He looked pretty horrified at the fact that JC had been walking around on this for a week and went on to explain how much agony he must be in with such a sprain and how the ligaments have no chance to repair themselves without complete IMMOBILITy!,!

Jc and I are now talking in pigeon style English and I am feeling hot. Take one arm out of jumper. No, I am feeling sick. Not sure actually, I am feeling not at all well. Bugger, I am going to faint!

I have fainted a few times in my life and it is not a good thing for me, or for those around me. Whilst out of it I gather there is a horrendous rattle snake noise which frightens those not sharing in my out of it bliss. When I come round there are always big tears (mine) and confused faces. The rest of the day is always a washout as I have no energy until I get my 9 hours of top up kip. Bearing in mind I have 2 bouncing dogs waiting for a walk in Wishstream. A husband who can't drive and now I gather shouldn't even be walking, a faint is not an option.

I mumble something about dogs, race out to the van parked up at the side of the road and throw myself on the bed. The dogs join me and all is calm for 10 minutes. When I get back into the doc's surgery, they are discussing the location of orthopaedic boot suppliers.

Apparently, when I rushed out the doctor asked Jc if I was alright, and JC just said that I was hot and needed a bit of air. The doctor's comment: Ahhh, it is her age!

I think it is a QNI with my dogs tonight






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Location:Roses

Full English

3rd December

Status and stats

Jc ankle: Poor sore and very swollen
Gybo: Better
My eye: Gone down but puffy
Kicker Dick: Fit as a butcher's
Saddle bag: 15 - 18C

Woke up to pouring rain which cleared as we came down from the mountains.













Pyrenees to the East. Some snow covered but sun warm and turned into a nice day although very windy. Seeing loads of "camping cars" travelling on the road now but still no British.

Sought out a supermarket early on as they often have very nice loos, and we needed to do a shop. Jc and I find ourselves wandering around the aisles of the largest Carrefour I have ever been into in the town of Argeles sur mer, a good place to visit in the summer me thinks, but quiet in the winter. I suddenly have an urge for a full english breakfast. The beauty of this vanning lark is that you have everything with you, and I had all the ingredients in the Wishstream. So Jc stayed in the long check out queue and by the time he got back to the van, there was a full english on the table (perhaps we are philistines?).

Motored through Perpignan and the very pretty town of Coillure which we would have stayed in had there been an Aire close to the town. But the one in our book was a park and ride away from the centre which we didn't want so we aimed for the Aire in Port Vendres. A nightmare to find and Jane had us doing u turns and s bends and all. Whilst it is near to the port , this is surprisingly commercial so not a particularly great location but Aires are FREE and it was nice to see our first GB plated camping cars moored up there.










A 15 minute walk though into the nice restauranty bit of the quay, but most of them are closed. Big sat dome failed to find the BBC tonight though and I am now way behind on Eastenders.



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Location:Port Vendres

Philistines and Passion

4th December

Woke up to a true blue sky peering down through the forward hatch. No shops open today so a day for Wishstreaming, walks and views. We took the main coastal road the D6009 south which runs along the west side of the Etang de Barges et de Sigean.




Another large expanse of water separated from the sea by a long sandy causeway. Below these inland waters there is another called the Etang de leucate and a road has been built on the seaward causeway all down the eastern side. We peeled off the main road and took the minor road through the village of Leucate. It looked like a really quaint seaside resort with small squares and cosy restaurants. Some of which were open. As we continued down the causeway I happened to look to the seaward side and noticed a flat area around an inlet where the sea feeds into the Etang. There were about 20 Motorhomes parked up on the north side of the river and about 100 cars on the south. Eeeeek, brakes on and off at the next road to check it all out. Lining the river on the south side for about 100 metres there are makeshift restaurants in sheds, glass boxes, lean too's and cabins. All full to bursting with French diners seated in plastic chairs at plastic tables eating the most incredible platters of oysters, and










Whilst Jc can't eat fish or oysters he can eat moules, so in we go to the busiest restaurant and take one of the small plastic tables. The waitress comes over and speaks a leetle engeesh. We order some moules. She smiles as she confirms that we do understand don't we (presumably being philistine engleesh) that the moules are 'naturel'!

Me: Sorry, not absolutely sure. You mean no sauce?
Her: No, they are uncooked.
Me: Ahhh, no we don't want oysters, but moules...

Apparently nothing is cooked in these restaurants. It is all raw in their shell and what a popular dish it is. But not with us philistines I'm afraid. What if they knew we slunk back to our van and had pâté and cheese in their car park. Quel horreur!

Onward to the France Passion vineyard in Tautavel, north west of Perpignan and listed in our book as having not only wine (it is Fitou country), but also water and a loo. It is also in the centre of the village which suits us as we can have a beer in the local bar. On arrival in the village we find the offices which are closed. Phoning the patron results in him giving me another number as he is in Belgium, but yes we can stay on the 'terrain', and just call this other number and they will sort it.

No, she doesn't sort anything. Yes, the terrain is near the village. A disused bit of ground with a load of rubbish on it. Ou est du l'eau et wc? She has no idea. We are off to the next passion down the road in Paziols. The patron may also be in Belgium but says his father is at the offices in the village. Non, he is not there. And we are fed up. The lamb chop I am cooking for Gybo (only because she is still poorly) has been on and off the hob like a fiddler's elbow, and Kicker is beginning to beg for his supper. Suddenly a man arrives with a mobile phone. The man on the other end explains in English that we can either stay parked up where we are in which case we have to be gone by 8.00 in the morning or we can go to their camping car park down the road. I enquire as to the water and the wc. Yes, that is here by the office but not at the park.

The Passion has now gone out of the France Passion and we are now moored up in their camping car park which is a field by the main road. We will look for water and a loo in the morning. Goodnight.

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Location:Paziols

Entente Cordial

Entente cordial

3rd December

We saw a different vet at the same practice and agreed that as she was improving but very slowly to continue the medication. The main factor being some improvement every day. So armed with another bin full of pills we made our way to Rouget where Bass was doing her Xmas fair in a large chateau. All the bits looked really professional and there were loads of people milling about. It was quite amusing to see Wishstream parked up in a large field amongst loads of cars.

We have lost 3 days whilst waiting to see the vet so decided to start on our way to Spain from here. The weather today is glorious and we drove down towards Narbonne aiming for an Aire in a tiny village called Ouveillan. The directions were "next to the co-operative winery". Well we drove around this enormous industrial unit and had to ask 2 people for help. The entrance is really hidden and very narrow, but once you turn the corner it opens out to a large square area that can take 5 campers at a push. I suppose it is like sailing where the later van keeps out of the way of that moored earlier. But difficult in a confined space and the 2 already there hadn't parked that tidily. We ended up next to a similar sized van but head to toe with it. Ie our engine next to his bike rack. About an hour after we arrived, he started his engine.

Fine, he probably has small battery storage, but after about 10 minutes, his fumes seemed to be taking over our interior. Of course his exhaust is where ours is, just behind the cab, and the exhaust was pouring out onto us. All very difficult, but he was very helpful when I explained that we couldn't breath. So that is another thing to remember when mooring up. It's not easy.

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Location:Ouveillan

Pech d'ay camping

2nd December

We have spent much time being the only camper in the Aire or vineyard so it is quite a change and rather comforting to be here at Pech d'Ay camping municipal in Balurac les Bain next to Sete. This is on the Bassin de Thau which is a massive landlocked piece of water lined by the causeway which we drove down yesterday. The site is absolutely full of Camper vans of all types and sizes but after traipsing around for some time i established there were no Anglais! Yet again I compare this trip with sailing. I might post a suggestion on my www.motorhomefun.com forum suggesting we should run a British flag up our aerials or something. It would have been nice to see a fellow Brit today and discuss their success or otherwise of locking the Big Sat Dome onto Astra north or south. In fact just the BBC would have sufficed. I had to really concentrate hard and discuss the problem in French with our neighbour who had the largest Burstner van ever built. It was very good looking though. He was very positive about the fact that we would get a signal if we were patient. ( not a word I am familiar with), but after reading the manual again, we got locked on.

The camp site gets an 8 from me. Really clean wash block and heated as well. By far the best we have visited so far. But no washing machine. The French ( women only!) carry all their washing up and their clothes into the wash block to do it all there by hand. What a holiday!

The town is true French with a big square where even on a coldish day, the Boule park was full. There are a number of restaurants lining the waterfront. One claiming to be I the Michelin Guide, but not the one we went to last night - The Barge's 19 euro menu was not to be recommended.


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Location:Balurac des Bains

Belgian Buns

Back in the good old days when we were respectable and upstanding house and boat owners, JC used to get on his bicycle every weekday at 13.15 hours and pedal to Champs the Bakers. He would return with a large pink topped Belgian bun which he would half and eat one part after his lunch whilst reading the Daily Telegraph sports section.

The other part would sit in the bread bin winking at me for a while/minutes/hours/ until eventually it would be devoured sometimes with a cuppa. So here we are in France where we seem to avoid the now rather bread focused Boulangerie and make for the Patisserie!
The choice of cakes, treats, buns and biscuits is unbelievable even in a tiny village. Today we had a Mille Feuille and a Bra de Venus! Both delicious.

So when JC asked me how I got on with the camp site loos in that they don't have any seats, I was able to reassure him that as my bottom is now so large it is not a problem!


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Location:Balaruc des Bains

3rd world water and coffee shortage

1st December

Saddle bag temp 18c

Miles travelled since start 1038

Not a good start to the day. A pesky mosquito has got me under my right eye and it is all so swollen, can hardly see out. We have run out of water and last night at supper the lights went out through battery drainage. Jc has pulled a muscle in his neck and his ankle
is very sore still. And the morning continued in that vein. Getting the barrier open to get out of the Aire was an international feat because of inputting codes and instructions in French, and there was no water in the tap.

We travelled off down a brand new road that Jane tomtom had no clue about and passed another new Aire with a number of Motorhomes moored up. Alas no water there. Jane was supposed to take us to the Aire at Balaruc les Bains and after a very circuitous journey dropped us in a car park. JC had a big sense of humour failure at this point. There wasn't even a drop of water left to have a cup of coffee as I had filled up the dog's water bowl with the last of it! I reconfigured Jane and off we went down the road, right at the crossroads, over the roundabout and first left. Phew here it is. And 5 Motorhomes all parked up. A brand new dome sat at the side of the road with taps and electric points and I manoeuvred Wishstreaming into position, and promised to get the coffee going once an ounce of water was poured into her tank. No. It needs a JETON. What the..... Where the.....

We had passed a really nice looking campsite by the water earlier on and plans were changed to go there. About turn and soon we were hopelessly lost. It was midday and I grumpily voiced my thoughts that the office to the site would probably be closed until 2.00 anyway at which point JC looked at me as if the end had come.

We found the site and it was closed for the lunch break until 2.00 and the mobile no shown on the door was for that of the job share lady whose day it wasn't and she was quite cross and told me to wait at the gate.

Jc got his coffee at 1.15 after we had negotiated the barrier, filled up (to the brim), and tried out 3 different pitches to try and get the not so super big sat dome to lock on so I can catch up with eastenders tonight!
















It is now 6.30 and all is calm. There are 3 proper French restaurants on the front minutes from here and we are going to spend some Euros in one of them. That is certain.


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Location:Balaruc les Bains

Sea, sand and sun

30th November

I have a need for the seaside and bearing in mind my Gibby loves the beach we set off in search of sea and sand. And we found some sun as well. Made our way towards Marseillan Plage which is located on a large causeway that runs from Agde to Sete. On our way to the site we passed a brand new Aire right in the middle of town which charged 4 euros a night. Ideal. I have been feeding Gybo chicken,rice, and Gourmet cat food sprinkled over the top and slowly she is starting to eat, but didn't want to do much walking, and is still drinking buckets.



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Location:Marseillan Plage

Bass, Hugh and Gybo

26th - 29th November

Made our way down from the l'Espinousse mountains through beautiful scenery as usual.






Spoilt for comfort in guest room at friends who used to live in Whitstable. They have rented a large house out in the country at Gabian near to Pezanas and Beziers. On Sunday we spent a glorious afternoon on the beach at Portirgnes Plage south east of Beziers. There must have been a gale somewhere recently (would we have noticed!), as there was loads of driftwood on the beach, all really smoothed out as if the tree had been at sea for years.
Dogs went mad racing along the sands.

It was around this time that I noticed Gybo was drinking a lot and not eating all her food, but that afternoon she appeared to be in fine form. However, she flatly refused any food that night or the next morning and started drinking gallons, so that evening saw us at the vet in Pezanas who did blood tests and explained that there was something wrong with her liver. Couldn't say what without further investigation but it could be serious. We were due out that night as it was Hugh's birthday supper, and not only returned late for it but without the party spirit. It was agreed that we would give her anti biotics for 5 days and a liver protection pill for 20 but to see a vet again if she wasn't better in 5 days. So our plans changed again and we holed up at the house the next day to give Gybo a stress free day and decided to move off to a campsite within striking distance for a further appointment which we have made for the Saturday 3rd.

Probably an obvious observation, but the food in the shops here is such good quality. And of course there are enormous supermarkets offering so much choice. We come across the Intermarche regularly who apparently have their own fishing fleet. Bass suggested we had prawns and moules on our last night and we had a scrummy supper. The best prawns and moules I have eaten.




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Location:Gabian

Not JC's day

25th November

Not a good start to the day. I returned to the van from the wash block to find a very unhappy husband who had sprained his ankle during the dog's early morning walk. I know a bit about sprained ankles as I have had 3 of them, all in my 20's. The first two happened after a few too many sips and the third occurred when I was demonstrating to a friend how the second one had happened at the same place! Jc's was already the size of a pineapple, so quickly applied ice - yes Wishstream's fridge does that, then a horse pill sized Ibrufen down the gullet. I found one I'd those spongy bandage tubes in my medical box which fitted well and propped his leg up.

The weather was pea soup fog and I had envisaged JC walking in front of the van with his red hanky like they did in London In the fog around 1900, but now that wouldn't be possible! We set off at 15mph with Jc sitting on the bench seat behind me with his leg up and the pups beside and below him. It was just as I imagined our travelling to be right at the beginning. The only thing missing was The Daily Telegraph.

Down to the Tarn and up out of the valley.






As beautiful as it had been over the last week and then we looked back to see the mist in the valley. Amazing.





We have again opted for another Aire tonight. There is a dirth of camp sites open around here and the aires have proved to be excellent. The Aire last night was amazing with its clean WC 's and free electricity and water, but the village of Broquies was completely dead. No bar, no cafe, no shops except for a patisserie that was closed. We ideally need some bread and bits for tonight but arrived at Lacaune at 1.30 when everything was closed. We decided to go on to the Aire anyway and hopefully find something open along the way.

This Aire one is on the Lac de Labuzas south of the ridge of mountains called Monts de Lacaune. It is the best. Yards from the lake with again free electricity.







There is a notice suggesting a fee to stay but the locals say it doesn't apply in winter. There is no water however as this has been turned off and we have been advised that last night it was -3C. So hope the gas lasts. The little electric fire that I use blew out the main fuse again so best to rely on the gas heating tonight.

Jc insisted his ankle was much better and cycled off to Nage, 3 km away, to find provisions. I insisted he take his phone. He didn't find any provisions in Nage and was on his way back when I phoned him and when trying to answer it, he fell off his bike. He is ok but not his best day.



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Moored up next to our next van

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Location:Broquies free Aire