We left this behind .........
.................
for this
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Five weeks spent with family and friends over the Christmas and New Year period was full of fun, love and laughter - so good to be reunited as a complete family once more. Our stay in the UK ended with a family weekend at Center Parcs which is always full of fun and games, especially with the addition of our new little family member!
Having spent those few days all together made the going away again even harder this time! How we miss them when we leave - that will never change. However, once away we settle again into 'life on the road' and our adventures (and thank goodness for mobiles and skype!).
Our journey continued along the Costa del Sol, Costa Tropical, up around Costa Calida and Costa Blanca. Weather was very mixed - almost continual high winds (at times gale force) crreating more of a winter chill than we had planned on. Apparently a very unusual weather pattern for this season. Trust us to find it! Though plenty of sunshine too.
Our first stop was Valle Niza campsite in Benajarafe. A comfortable little site right beside the beach with a modest cafe which served us well - and from where to my delight, we spotted dolphins playing in the bay! A few days spent here to readjust to being away from the family once more, restock the larder and fridge and plan the second half of our winter sunshine tour.
A few hundred yards from the campsite we discovered, most unexpectedly up behind a rather tired facade, a grand hotel with swimming pool and restaurant with verandah overlooking the sea - needless to say this called for a glass of vino or two and tapas!
A scene we don't find back home - a herd of goats nibbling their way alongside the roadside verge in the evening sunshine:
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A walk along the coast to Almayate:
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| Pyrostegia Venusta |
and lunch:
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| Now this is my type of restaurant! |
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| dining on fried aubergine in honey with mixed vegetables and prawns - heavenly |
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| "Cheers m' dears" |
25 January -
Off to Motril where much of the route took us along the high switchback road opening up over fantastic views along the rugged coastline hugging the clear blue waters of the Med below.
'Camping Poniente' across the road from the beach had a healthy number of vehicles on site but beyond the campsite, the beach and town were simply deserted! More of a summer holiday destination perhaps?
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| "Where is everybody?" |
The following day, a couple of miles' walk brought us into the town of Motril - which sadly didn't quite meet our
expectations. A large predominantly
modern sprawling city with nothing particularly redeeming about it, apart from its large beautiful church perched up high overlooking the
park. Here we were privileged to be given
access by a church official to climb the stairs that took us up behind the high
altar where the statue of the Virgin stood looking down onto the body of the
church. The beauty of the fine work and gold leaf in this tiny area was magnificent and the robe of the statue of the Virgin was quite stunning. The long walk (and even longer on return!) into Motril and hike through the streets and shops was so worth the effort if only to find this church alone and the privilege of being given access to the area above the Altar to see such beauty.
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The High Altar
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| Detail of the the robe |
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| 'Shadow Play' |
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We returned to the campsite via the port which, Having seen the port from the beach outside the campsite it seemed to us heading for the port and along the beach would be the easiest route back. How wrong we were on that score! As the 'crow flies' maybe! However on foot ........................ at least double the time and twice the distance it had taken us to walk in earlier. Finally reaching the campsite footsore and weary - this definitely called for a refreshing beer or two!!
27 January - 2 Feb - Roquetas de Mar, Almeria -
the warmest, driest corner of Andalucia renowned for its vast tomato growing industry. Such is the scale of this industry that it supplies around 40% of the world's tomatoes and so extensive is the area covered by plastic under they are grown it is visible from outer space.
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| En route to Roquetas |
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| "Hello Roquetas!" |
A short walk over scrub land from our site ('Camping Roquetas' - a vast site) found us on the sands looking along the beach to a rather familiar site - Aguadulce!! The delightful little place we had stayed 9 years
previously on our very first reckie to Spain in search of a holiday home! What an unexpected bonus to find it so close by - we had always remembered this
little Spanish harbour town with fondness and were delighted to visit once more.
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| Little harbour town of Aguadulce |
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| It's a dog's life |
An easy journey into Almeria by bus:
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| View across Almeria to the harbour from the Alcazaba |
Dear, oh dear, Sam's
right - how do we manage to get anywhere????!!
With map and the
occasional pedestrian pavement signs we still failed to locate the cathedral before a
long trudge around and around again the old city area! Quite unaware, we had walked right behind it at one point - signs for: 'Cathedral Offices' and
'Cathedral Hotel' - all located in the same plaza should have been a clue maybe?! No chinking or clanking of pennies dropping inside
either of our empty heads!! It was due
to tongues in our heads and kindly folks that we finally found ourselves at the entrance and not until we left by the rear door did we realise where we
were (and had already been - twice!!).
Well, we have some laughs, that's for sure!
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| Cathedral courtyard |
And on another day: not always a picture of calm seas under sunny blue skies!!
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| One Man and His Dog |
So powerful was the wind I struggled to
steady myself with the camera so pushed myself up against a palm tree for balance! Battling against the wind across the scrub
land back to site and inside the comfort of Poppy, we had an evening and night
of being buffeted around to the sound of howling gales! On emerging the following morning, the winds
were still strong but the storm had eased and the campsite looked like the
aftermath of a mini tornado!! The wind
had whipped up the dust from the pitches covering everything in fine grey dust. Sadly the awnings that hadn't survived lay collapsed and torn, poles broken and sticking up at odd angles - a disaster area but
no-one appeared distressed - everyone rallied and got on with the clear up!! We later learnt that the strength of the gales had put Almeria on Red Alert
with winds of 130 kph!
3 - 13 February - Cabo de Gata-Nijar
Natural Park :
A marine and land nature reserve, declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO
A wild and isolated landscape, fascinating geologically and perfect for the filming of all those spaghetti westerns, among other films. The vast areas of polythene not quite having the same monopoly over the landscape, were still much in evidence.
We'd no sooner driven out of Camping Roquetas and we
hit an extra big pothole on the rough access road track leading to the main highway. There was an almighty
crash inside Poppy and pulling over to investigate, we discovered the heavy security door bar, had been pitched from where it is normally stored over a locker, onto the bed, hitting the wall during its speedy descent, just missing my beautiful scarlet glass Murano bowl
resting between the pillows - put there for safety when travelling!!!!
Having almost reached our campsite, we unexpectedly hit a lurking 'sleeping policeman' at some speed.
Another tremendous crash! I quite expected to find the china/glass in the kitchen locker in splinters!! Not the case - miraculously everything in tact (must be my expert packing!). However, on opening
the bathroom door the floor was strewn with a number of items sitting amongst shards of glass from what had been a toothbrush mug which had obviously been catapulted out of its normally
very secure holding!
With a sigh of relief we finally settled into
our sunny pitch at the very edge of the campsite and calm reigned once more. Though there was further problem lurking
around the corner that was going to reveal itself later that night!
The welcome surprise for the day was our discovery that on that one day of the week the purchase of a bottle of wine (all of 7 euros) earnt you a free lunch each! Now, how can one turn down such an offer and pretty good wine too!
As with all campsites to date, no heating in the
facility blocks meant showering continued to be a pretty chilly experience. No matter how hot the water one
can withstand, the surrounding air is cold - especially with the persistent
high winds! I also seemed to be simultaneously getting
a spray of cold water from somewhere which I eventually discovered was spurting
out from the cold feed pipe above the shower!
The wind had increased during the day turning to
gusting gales by night time - that's when we discovered our error in pitching alongside the vast row of polythene greenhouses - many with torn roofs as a result of the recent high winds. Those huge sections of torn polythene were
flapping so wildly in the winds it sounded like giant fire crackers going off! Our nerves were jangling by the time daylight
dawned! We learnt this was most
unusually one of the windiest and coldest winters along the southern coast of Spain
- and we pick this year to try Spanish winter sunshine??! This was also, some
years back, called 'Costa de Viento' (coast of wind) - I guess the Tourist Board
sensibly changed the name to Costa Blanca. So we stand no chance! We discussed
moving on but where to? Perseverance won the day - we so wanted to explore this intriguing and unique we would put up with some inconveniences!
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| Campsite and |
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| miles of tomato houses - we're in the middle of nowhere!! |
A day or two later when the winds had sufficiently
abated to allow a walk out without sand whipping up in our faces, we
enjoyed a hike across arid scrub land to the beach of Cabo de Gata. It
seemed strange seeing the vastness of scrub land with the sparkling blue Med
beyond. By the time we were on our return walk I'd decided it felt like one of those
'outside of reality' places - there was something rather extraordinary about that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
The town was completely deserted - everything shut - including by appearances all
the houses though there was one dear old lady sitting in her front doorway on the street, knitting needles in hand!
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| "Where is everybody?" |
The few we did see were sitting outside the beach side cafes enjoying the sunshine - so what better idea than to join them!
Though the seas of plastic spoil, for me, so much of this area, I have to admit the tomatoes are the sweetest most delicious I have ever, or am likely to ever taste!
This bowlful weighing just under 2Kg we picked up on a little roadside bench for 1 euro!!
The following few days, though still a very chill wind, were bright and sunny (for the most part) allowing us to explore a little of this wild and isolated area with its fascinating geological features, little coves and bays offering up their own unique features. It is apparently the driest area in Europe and the only region in Europe with a warm desert climate claiming to have less than 8" of rain a year.
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| That storm's looking serious now! |
Dark forbidding clouds forming over the coastline, obscuring the distant mountains as we sit in the scorching
sunshine enjoying our lunch!!
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| Absolutely delicious Alamendra tarta at our favourite little beach side cafe - |
Those black clouds loomed closer and closer until finally obscuring the sun - then the big drops of rain began to plop down and by the time we reached camp it was teeming - thank goodness for the car! I don't know about the average 8" rainfall a year - I think we had them all in just one hour that afternoon!
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| Just 2 hours later - this was our campsite!! |
We hunkered down inside watching the constant downpour when there was a sudden crack of a lightening bolt. Simultaneously there was a flash of brilliant white light directly outside the window and I physically felt the impact - and our electric snapped off!! M reconnected the electric which promptly shut off again. The kindly site manager checked our supply only to find our external connection was full of rain water!! Bless him - he used his shirt to dry it out and we were back fully functioning again - by then even a glint of sunshine coming through once more and I'd recovered from my 'shock' - all in a day's fun and games.
We hear that the local roadways are under water and the news on TV continues to show much of Spain, including Andalucia, under feet of snow and minus temperatures - unheard of this time of year.
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| Entrance to mining village of Rodalquilar |
Next day we were off to visit the disused gold mine of Rodalquilar where, as I wandered among those silent abandoned ruins, I felt an unsettling tangible awareness of the ghosts of those who'd worked that mine so many years ago. Walking through the now disintegrating buildings open to the elements, I found myself reconstructing in my mind how it would have been in its working days - the noisy machinery, the shouts of men's voices - and reflecting on the harsh life of those miners who lived just down the valley in the tiny community of mining houses which now also lay in crumbled ruins around which the new town has emerged - ruins left as testimony to all those who laboured so hard.
We followed the track up behind the mine which opened up onto vast views across the never ending landscape, one of the film sets for all those spaghetti westerns.
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| Hiding a gold seam? |
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| Grand Canyon?? |
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| Rodalquier town |
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| Abandoned miners' houses |
Tummies rumbling, we happened upon a tiny family run restaurant beside the ravine where we'd parked beside the crumbling miners' houses. Here we tucked into enormous portions way beyond even our hearty appetites of typical dishes of patatas pobre and carne con tomate washed down with cerveza/vino in the company of very chatty little 2 year old - Simon.
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A delightful little family run restaurant for lunch -
think Michael's found a friend!
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We were refreshed and ready to explore further:
Isleta del Moro was deserted and quiet as all these little places appear to be this time of year. We walked up to the mirador to see Isleta del Moro spread out like a rugged finger below us covered in those white cuboidal houses so typical of this area.
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| Playa del Arco - amazing rock formations |
And this brought our exploring to an end for the day. This area has truly grabbed our interest with its dramatic coastline and remarkable landscape.
Once gales abated, the workforce appeared on the roofs of the greenhouses - clambering up, sliding down, balancing along the top centre ridge like tight rope experts!!
No Health and Safety enforcement here!!
Making the most use of our little 'white beetle', we headed for La Boca de Los Frailes
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The waterwheel in use until 1983
That guy been here since then?! |
Typical windmills of the area
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| San Jose |
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| What do you see ? |
En route to Playa de Los Genoveses we hadn't gone far when the tarmac road stopped abruptly leading to a
very rough track. We deliberated on taking the little Punto down there but when we spotted 2 4x4s crawling along, abandoned the idea.
But wonderful views - and more of those delightful windmills
Another day we ventured to the seaside town of Retamar to find this original and personalised motor home with a couple comfortably ensconced inside!
Nijar - famous for its ceramics - was a little gem :
Delicious coffee and gateau outside a little bar by the church before the long steep climb to the Atalaya (watch tower) in the hills behind the town
The views from the Atalaya were so well worth the climb!
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| white seas of plastic way off in the distance that sadly surround this otherwise stunning area |
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| Cultivation at every opportunity even in this hostile environment! |
Back at Cabo de Gato and our favourite little restaurant where this little fella kept an eye on us and we could watch the elegant flight of the swifts catching food on the wing, unable with those wide wing spans to take off again if they happen to land on the ground. The terns were dropping from the sky like bullets into the sea to snatch a tasty morsel from the waters.
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Swift taking a rest
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| Dusk |
Hire car returned, we enjoyed a couple of days taking it easy, the sun was with us. I discovered a local lady who made and sold marmalade made from the fresh oranges in her orchard - so delicious I was straight back for more for the family - though I had a feeling they'd be lucky if the jars weren't empty by the time we returned home!
14 Feb - 9 March - Catral, Alicante
Leaving behind the vast arid desert landscape and seas of plastic, the terrain was not so mountainous and the plains opened up in front and all around us - what an expanse of wide open landscape it was after being surrounded by those towering mountains.
Fields of green vegetables with lines of pickers. Pockets of the rich green foliage of orange groves generously sprinkled with the orange of the fruit and swathes of the pink almond blossom. Varying shades of browns and russets of the rocky
and undulating landscape, still covered with the typical clumps of
tough grass - it was a wonderful drive.
A good 2 hours after leaving Cabo as we finally
drew closer to Cartegena, hints of civilisation once more, yellow patches of the wild flowers
of spring and lush green grass! Not seen that in what seems a long time and realised I
had missed that - and the green deciduous trees. Then we hit the distant views
of quite unimaginable sprawling urbanisation, the like of which has to be seen
to be believed!! We were heading for
Catral.
The 5 hour drive brought us to our next destination: Marjal Costa Blanca Eco Camping Resort - that word 'resort' should have alerted us! As we drove through the entrance it appeared in front of us like a town all of
its own! From the modest, simple sites
we'd become accustomed to we were confronted with what on first impression appeared to be a holiday camp - large imposing smart building, huge plaza, fountain............ Our first instinct was to turn and run from such grandeur and all it appeared to offer! However, it had been a long drive - we stayed 5 weeks!!
Though by far the largest campsite to date, it was by no means impersonal and had everything we could wish for - and it did make a change. The plaza was surrounded by a good supermarket, restaurant, cafe/bar, hairdresser, kids play room, indoor swimming
pool/sauna, massive gymnasium - and so it went on!! We're pitched right at the top end of the campsite so actually had a quiet, away from it all pitch plus a long
(healthy!) walk back whenever we wished to avail ourselves of the facilities! We spent many a happy hour in the bar/restaurant sharing adventures with fellow travellers, enjoying varying styles (and standards!) of entertainment! All too easy to dine out rather than cook at the amazingly reasonable prices though maybe not such a healthy option with most dishes inclusive of chips. In for lunch one day I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich feeling a tad virtuous by resisting the bacon butty ordered by Michael. My sandwich arrived with a huge pile of chips whereas Michael's came with just a sprinkling of crisps and a salad!
The day we arrived we discovered the campsite was hosting an Elvis Tribute the following night - it truly was absolutely fantastic!! Paul Larcombe is such an accomplished Elvis Tribute artist he's been on TV a number of times and performed personally for the Queen and Royal Family on 3 separate occasions - and I even got a hug! (I have his number if anyone's interested - that number is for official bookings only girls, not hugs!)
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| Looking a little flushed Ruth? Effects of the vino sunk that night (or the hug ) |
There were lovely walking opportunities right outside the site
and a good long walk to the local town of Catral which took us past fields of sweet smelling wild flowers.
Our first attempt at locating the supermarket was rather dismal (OK Sam, I hear it again "How on earth do you two get anywhere?" !) We had walked the full length of the very long high street until we were the other side of town with no supermarket in site. Surely there had to be a supermarket in this size town? Then I spotted a street sign: 'Hiberber' alongside a symbol of a shopping trolley - hooray!! (Though to this day not sure how we managed to walk right past it - it was as clear as day!!). We finally located, with the guidance of local postwoman, this large supermarket tucked away amongst a residential area. Stocked up and heading back with our granny trolley and full rucksack we headed back to site and there - right beside us, the first store on the very edge of town, a large red building sprawling along the pavement was - you've guessed it - a supermarket!! Recognisable only by the entrance door, all else was a blank red wall, not a window in site so we passed it by unseen. That's our excuse anyway -nothing to do with me squinting across the road at a dress shop!
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| 'Dia' Supermarket. Yup!! Totally oblivious as we walked right along it's length |
Tiddy and Denise went out of their way, as they travelled from the UK down through Spain to return to their home in El Higueral, to visit us. It was grand to see them both and novel to have visitors during our travels!
A few days car hire allowed us to explore further afield :
A day in the mountains stopping in a few little villages and enjoying springtime in the sunshine - almond blossom creating brush strokes of pink on the canvas of the landscape, bright yellow and delicate lilac of the masses of wild flowers.
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| The Basilica Nuestra Senora del Socorro in Aspe |
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| The Spanish certainly know how to spend family Sundays in Noveda! |
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| Church at Monovar |
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| An unexpected visitor |
By the end of the day we decided the only way to find your way around is to get lost - you learn very quickly that way!!
Elche - where palm trees wrap themselves around everyday life
The names
Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla, Salamanca, Sergovia........ even before having seen them,
bring images to mind, but Elche? A blank
canvas with no expectation of a place that is simply a name on a map. Off the well trodden tourist trail, but
within striking distance of our campsite by car we decided to visit Elche. What an absolute surprise delight lay behind
that name..................
Having
negotiated the busy traffic through this large metropolis of a city, much
larger than anticipated, we finally secured a parking place. Setting off on foot we
found ourselves walking down a promenade running between vertical water jets offering such a
refreshing feeling to the heat of the morning. This lead brought us into a quiet oasis of palm trees - just a few of the 200,000 features in Elche's landscape.
The
elegant towering palms casting soft
shade from the heat of the sun, splashes of vibrant colours from stocks and
pansies in the myriad of little flower beds, an array of vibrant tropical
flowering shrubs, the soothing sound of
water from the many simple but lovely fountains. It was truly idyllic - as
much for its peace and tranquility as its unanticipated presence. We found
ourselves wandering among the giant palm trees simply enjoying the moment.
We finally
pulled ourselves away and into the hurly burly once more and headed off to explore the historic buildings -
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| Views from the Santa Maria Basilica |
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| La Calahorra Tower |
I expected to find an empty building in the Mudejar style only to find it held an exhibition of artwork from 19th and 20th century Spanish artists and all the interior walls were very expertly painted to give the impression of such architecture and decoration! Well that was different!
Just illusions - VERY clever
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| Though definitely not Mudejar style the art still goes on! .... |
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| .... and spot the spiders! |
An exhibition of metal art in the courtyard of La Merced Convent:
On a cloudier morning it was time to visit the local Salvadore Artesan shoe factory!
Possibly a better plan was to have gone solo on this one with a clear conscience that Michael wasn't waiting patiently for me - though he'd have sure had a much lighter wallet at the end of the day! Even so I soon emerged with 2 handbags, pair of lovely boots and casual shoes - and I only went in to have a look (I kid myself!).
Once the sun re-emerged, it was on to Santa Pola Las Salines Natural Park - its main activity salt mining with a large colony of flamingos
Cartegena:
"
The Modern
Style had a rule: the emotion, with infinite ways of expression"
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| But first...... breakfast in the sunshine at Marjal Camping |
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| "Let me out of here!!" |
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| View from King Charles V Wall |
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| Delicate style of many of the buildings in Cartegena |
Our last weekend in Catral the campsite hosted a Country & Western weekend - not quite your typical Spanish entertainment, but hey ho, it was rather fun with 2 days of great music and a group of enthusiasts who dressed up and re-enacted part of the American Civil War ending with a moving display of marching, flags held high and music.
10 - 13 March - Valencia -
and the friendliest, tiniest little campsite of just 40 pitches in contrast to the one we had just left of over 1400. It felt like home from home and was just a few yards from the Metro into the city.
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Marjal Costa Camping -
where pitches stretch as far as the eyes can see! |
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and Valencia - a handful of pitches, such a friendly welcome
and little cafe/bar - what more could one desire? |
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| Our fun and friendly hostess - Rocío Abril |
Our visit coincided with the week long unique and crazy Fallas Fiesta with the daily highlight of all activities being La Mascleta. An incredibly impressive noisy event known as the 'concert of gunpowder' - most aptly named!! At 2 o'c every volleys of firecrackers rip up into the air from the main square ending with the 'terremoto' (earthquake) as hundreds of mascletas explode simultaneously. I have never
in my life experienced such tremendous thunderously deafening noise which literally shook
the ground beneath our feet and truly felt like an earthquake! Definitely not for the faint-hearted! The following day, back in the city and a good few hundred yards away from La Mascleta, the ground was shaking and the resulting smoke gradually curled its way through the streets, masking everything in a dense fog.
This fiesta between 15-19 March each year (the feast of St Joseph) celebrates the final days of winter and arrival of spring. On the final night there's a great firework display when the many colourful wood and paper mache statues, towering over 20', are set alight making a tremendous spectacle of fire which, from above, looks like the entire city of Valencia is on fire!
A couple of examples of these figures which satirise political figures, creatures from the movies and TV, sports idols or are purely imaginary - grotesque, endearing, amusing. A year long project, cranes and manpower puts them all together throughout the city within a week - all to be burnt down. Crazy fun.
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| A couple in the making |
Many Falleras and Falleros take part in the ceremony honouring Valencia's patron virgin:
By evening we were among what seemed to be the entire population of Valencia down one wide street waiting for the famous street illuminations, the like of which I have never seen. Forget strings of lights across the streets and adorning lamp posts! This was the most gigantic towering elaborate tunnel of latticed woodwork covered in millions (trillions?!) of tiny lights running at least 50 metres in length. The music began and in sync, an array of brilliant coloured lights flew up and down, up and over this archway creating the most breathtakingly magnificent patterns of waves and ripples of light.
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| Waiting for darkness to fall - empty street! |
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| Detail of this vast framework of lights |
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One still shot of the swiftly moving lights.
This truly has to be seen to be believed! |
The origins of this spectacular week-long fiesta have grown from years back when the town carpenters cleared out their workshops at the end of winter and set light to all the odds and ends of wood on the day of St Joseph (patron saint of carpenters)
And I quote traveller and pyromaniac Janet Morton: "The scene at Las Fallas is extremely cathartic and difficult to describe but resembles a cross between a bawdy Disneyland, the Fourth of July, and the end of the world!" - I couldn't put it better myself!
Amongst the many fiesta activities and spontaneous firework displays going on around us we did manage to explore some of this wonderful city!
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| CENTRAL MARKET |
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| Anyone for peppers?! |
Are we in an hotel or a railway station?! Not sure I've seen quite this beauty in our British stations:
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| Decorative ceiling and lighting post - Valencia Railway Station |
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| Cathedral of Santo Grial |
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| Cross ribs of the Chapel of the Chalice |
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| Detail of one of the Corbels |
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| The Chalice |
The chalice is said to date from first century BC and, according to tradition, is the one used by Christ when he first celebrated the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Taken to Rome by St Peter, Pope Sixtus II later ordered it to be taken to Spain. Medieval legend describes this as a miraculous cup venerated by the Knights of the Holy Grail and since the 15th century has been part of the relics of the cathedral
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| Cool shade and refreshing water |
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| Escaping the hustle and bustle of the city - a peaceful walk in the park (sited in an ancient riverbed) |
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| A quieter day at the Port of Valencia and the beach |
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| And back in time to share a paella supper with friend Brian |
14 March - Girona (France)
And so we leave the costas behind and Brrrr! Ouch! 7 degrees! Six and half hour drive north leaving sunshine behind into rain and sleet. Girona - on the Spanish/French border and we're within in sight of the snowy Pyrenees for an overnight stop.
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| Girona |
15 March - 5 April - Medieval city of Tournon-sur-Rhone
This isn't fun anymore - onboard heating has packed up!!!!! On the plus side - hopefully we'll experience a few degrees warmer now we're away from the mountains and someone at Chausson can sort out the heating system!
Our site for the next 3 weeks rather chose us as our purpose for being here was simply to return Poppy to the factory to have rectified some problems not dealt with by our dealer. Expecting to be in a non-descript industrial area we were extremely pleasantly surprised to find ourselves on a little family site, pitched by the river in a lovely French town with much to explore and the factory just 5 minutes down the road!
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| Looks like that could be a lovely day's walk up and among those vineyards |
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| Evening Calm |
We were loaned another motor home whilst ours was in for repair so apart from 'moving' in and out and all that entailed, we had 3 weeks to enjoy the area. It felt good to be settled for a while and I was looking forward to some reading and definitely catching up on my blog having had frustratingly intermittent internet connection over the last 3 months. Best laid plans! Laptop died and with that, a wonderful window of opportunity!
It was a pleasant novelty to stay stet in one place for so long. We meandered through what became very familiar streets of Tournon-Sur-Rhone, the shops, cafes and market
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| Tournon-Sur-Rhone |
The Garden of Eden, its terraces built into the hillside sheltering behind the ramparts of the town, with its shady corners, water features, shrubs and trees with hints of unfurling leaf buds and patches of primroses was a haven of peace. A quiet aura pervaded the gardens in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle we'd left behind us. The higher we clambered the more interesting the perspective of the town below us became, views opened up across Tournon and Tain L'Hermitage and the river meandering along the foot of vineyards. A most
pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. It reminded me how much pleasure there is walking through woodland, the birdsong, the peace and quiet where one can almost hear nature. I
don't miss England but I guess it's the familiar that's a comfort and brings
that sense of peace and well being. Or am I simply not a town girl?
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| 'CAughtT napping' |
A walk over the bridge brought us to Tain L'Hermitage on the left bank from where, on a lovely warm and sunny day, we enjoyed a day's hike up through the vineyards that had been beckoning to us from our pitch! A long hike from way over the back, up along the top to the tiny little chapel perched at the highest point and then a well deserved lunch of bread and cheese - who forgot the wine?!
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| View to Tain L'Hermitage |
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| Tournon-sur-Rhone |
Those work horses were another story! One area of the vineyards are still work in the old style method of using horses. Not being the most sure-footed person so apprehensive of taking the direct path downward - steep and loose stones, we chose what was first thought to be the easier route. It turned out to be very narrow and steep and we'd no sooner began our descent when we heard the heavy tread of horses hooves coming up behind us! Where to go? I felt panic rising as on one side was a steep drop and the other hard up against an earthen wall and I certainly wasn't going to try running ahead on such a track! We could hear the heavy tread of these beasts nearing as we hurried around he corner where thankfully the track widened where we were able to stand back and watch in safety as these magnificent beasts passed us by. An uncomfortable moment soon passed and we continued our descent in peace.
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| Down at last |
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| Definitely a coffee and cake moment called for! |
What a fun morning at Chocolate City just a few hundred yards up the road! An interactive exhibition of the world behind a chocolate square - a delicious experience of aromas and tastes with many opportunities to put our hand in the choccie jar! An
hour or two spent immersing ourselves in a most enjoyable, fun and informative multi-sensory
experience savouring over 15 mouth-watering moments of surprising and
unexpected flavours and aromas.
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| How does one resist?! |
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| Chocolate art (not for tasting!) |
However, all too much. By the time we reached the shop selling over 400 of their delicious products - each with a sample to 'try before you buy' - we couldn't face any more! Back another day for the our purchases!
Further satiation of our tastebeds was met with a visit to the central distributor of local wines offering tastings and selling local wines. This was followed with a swift visit to the Fromagerie where the kind lady perfectly matched cheeses to the wines purchased - they made sublime pairings! I'm finally realising that point of perfection with well matched wine and cheese!
A day in Valence (not Valencia!)
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| The cathedral |
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| bandstand in the park |
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| and view across to the castle perched on the craggy hillside |
Then when there was nothing else to do we were happy watching luxury river cruisers gliding in their elegance up and down the river from our very own front door. So much to see and do, the 3 weeks simple flew by and Poppy was returned to us in full working order with over and above expected service - thank you Gilles!
And so we bade farewell to Tournon-Sur-Rhone, our home for 3 weeks, and headed to Lyon en route home.
6 - 10 April - Lyon
We stayed in a campsite in Dardilly with an easy bus ride to the city and enjoyed two lovely days of sunshine in Lyon. A city split by two rivers, the Rhône and Saône. On arrival in the city we took the funicular dating back to 1862 to the Fourviere Basilica sitting atop Fourviere Hill. The Basilica towered in front of us as we emerged into the bright sunlight. The interior simply took my breath away - an involuntary gasp as I gazed around. Almost too much to take in, every inch of the vast towering interior of marble, gilt and mosaics of overwhelming indescribable magnificence the brilliance of which I have never seen before. I don't believe there was a single inch of space left undecorated.
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| One of the many murals |
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| Detail of ceiling panel |
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| High Altar |
Once outside, from the mirador, views of the city below sprawled into the distance and an amble downward ..........
brought us to the impressive remains of the Roman amphitheatre dating back to 15 BC
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Marble pavement of the orchestra of the Odeum -
a small theatre for music |
Evidence of the height of Fourviere Hill, upon which the Basilica stands, we were still going further downward to reach river level and one of the many bridges over the Rhône where we imbibed in a delicious lunch of local dishes in the sunshine and under the shadow of the magnificent Cathedral
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| View from the cathedral to the Basilica on Fouviere Hill |
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| No, this isn't Michael presenting me with a generous bouquet! |
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| The Basilica seems to be visible from everywhere in the city! |
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| Palais de Justice |
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| On the banks of the Saône |
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| Enjoying the sunshine on the banks of the river Rhône |
What a smashing time -
loved these 2 days in Lyon bathed in warm sunshine
12 and 13 April - Guines, Nr Calais (our final stop)
Calais:
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| Hotel de Ville |
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| Rodin's Six Burghurs |
"They are voluntarily bound to the same sacrifice but each of them plays the role suited to his individuality given his age and position" (Auguste Rodin)
The statue recalls the last year of the 100 Years War and portrays the 5 citizens who assembled there in 1357 to surrender the keys of the starving city to King Edward III.
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| 13th Century watch tower |
Master air-mechanic Gilbert Brazy was lost in the Arctic in 1928 with the Norweigian explorer Roald Amundsen and the crew of the seaplane Latham 47 who were searching for General Nobile’s expedition to the North Pole. The survivors were saved by a Danish ice-breaker and the mustery of the lost of Latham 47 has never been solved (sculptor: Wagener)
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| The Opera House |
14 April
Heading off early in the morning for the final leg of our longest stretch yet away from home. Back to celebrate birthdays - and Isaac's 1st! Excitement and anticipation building as the miles disappear under the wheels - how fantastically good it will be to see the family again.............................
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................. for this
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The following few days, though still a very chill wind, were bright and sunny (for the most part) allowing us to explore a little of this wild and isolated area with its fascinating geological features, little coves and bays offering up their own unique features. It is apparently the driest area in Europe and the only region in Europe with a warm desert climate claiming to have less than 8" of rain a year.
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This fiesta between 15-19 March each year (the feast of St Joseph) celebrates the final days of winter and arrival of spring. On the final night there's a great firework display when the many colourful wood and paper mache statues, towering over 20', are set alight making a tremendous spectacle of fire which, from above, looks like the entire city of Valencia is on fire! 
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