Travelling from UK to Spain

Friday 4th January

We waved goodby to Jacqui's mums for a second time. On route we purchased a second gas cylinder, not going to be caught out this time, as a back up for our refillable one. We knew that LPG was not readily available in Portugal. We turned south west and headed for Cardiff where we had planned to meet Richard, Louise, Bib and not forgetting Tessa (our Dog) to say our goodbyes. We all met at the stunning Vale Hotel, where Richard worked. It was a very enjoyable couple of hours and we knew we would miss each other over the next few months. Fortunately Louise will be flying with Millie to meet us February for a few days, so not such a long wait.

Now onto Portsmouth. We had decided to take the 11.00pm Portsmouth to Le Harve ferry this time due to our Cardiff stop. It also allowed us to save one days travel once in France as our first destination was to be Le Mont St. Michel. Mike was very keen to visit this site especially as we had been unable to get there when we went to St Malo last October. We had tried to book a £60 inner cabin but all were full and we found it difficult to justify £120 for an outer cabin so we spent the eight hour trip trying to sleep on the seats provided and the hard floor which actually ended up to be the most comfortable place. Fortunately we had armed ourselves with our sleeping bag, duvet, hot water bottle and pillows. I use the word comfortable but at best we only had three hours sleep.

Saturday 5th January.

We arrived in Le Harve at 8am and once off the ferry we headed straight for Le Mont St. Michel. It was a still day with low cloud but when we approached the Mont we could see it rising up from the sea like a forgotten kingdom. We first went into the allocated "Motorhome" parking area to find that to say till 2.00am, and at this time it was 12.00 noon, it would cost 12.50 Euros and if we stayed overnight it would cost us a further 12.50. So with the confidence of our park and ride scheme working we drove onto the next village, parked the van and cycled back to the Mont.

Le Mont St. Michele

I (Mike) have always been keen to visit the Mont and for me it was a very special start to our second trip. The Mont is stunning. The tide was out so we both decided to firstly cycle out to the Mont and back. Then take the free bus from the visitor centre and walk back. You could see for miles across the sand and bay and imagine the speed the tide comes in especially at spring tides. It's supposed to travel across the sands at the speed of a galloping horse. Perhaps we will come back then. Another reason to revisit was that they were in the middle of constructing a raised road/walkway across the sand, removing all the silt that had built up over the years, making the Mont an island again.

Wandering around the island we made our way up to the Abbey. We were fortunate to visit this time of year as it was relatively quiet and easy to view everything. We went back to the van, had a cup of tea and were back on the road for 4.30.pm. We had decided to drive to Chateubriant where we had located a free Aire to stay the night. You may note that food, drink locations and free stop overs will be a bit of a theme over the next few days.

Small boat harbour of La Rochelle

Sunday 6^th January La Rochelle to Cognac.

Our aim today was to get to La Rochelle for a late lunch. It was an easy journey from Chateubriant although there was lots of low cloud. I was surprised to see camellias and forsythia in full bloom but we were by now a good bit further south than England. We also saw many birds of prey, buzzards, harriers, kestrels etc. far more than you would ever see in England.

Walled entrance to La Rochelle Harbour

We parked the van along the beach and then walked for a couple of hours around the old port and town centre.  It is a pretty little place and there were notably lots of families and couples walking around. We wanted to get further south today and decided to carry on to Cognac.

In Cognac we found a free aire alongside the 

river and opposite the towers that guarded the old town.  Although we had decided to reduce our alcohol intake following Christmas and New Year we could not stay in Cognac without having a brandy. We had to walk a bit to find a bar that was open but then there was a range of brandies to chose from. 

The view of two Cognac distillers from our Motorhome.

I had a Camus V.S.O.P. and Mike had a Meakow – both were very good.  Both of these cognac houses had been in existence since the 1860’s and were only a couple of the many distilleries you can find in this town.  For example we also saw Hennessey, Martell, Remy Martin and Baron Outarde.

Monday 7^th January: Cognac – Bordeaux - Hendaye 

It was lovely to wake up in Cognac.  I went for a fast 25 minute walk whilst Mike did some exercises in the van.  We had breakfast and then headed off for Bordeaux.  It had been our intention to have a lunchtime glass of wine but we arrived earlier than expected and had a cup of coffee in the van instead.  Bordeaux has some very impressive buildings but we only had time for a quick circuit of the old town as we wanted to keep pressing on south to 

Monuments des Jirondins, Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Madrid.
Our morning’s drive had taken a scenic weroute through acres of vineyards but the afternoon was on faster roads through the wilderness lands of Gironde. There were a lot of road works taking place and it was clear that theses roads were going to be upgraded to toll roads in the near future but we made it down to Biarritz without charge.

Posh cycle path

View of Northern Spain from Hendaye

At about 5pm we reached our night time stop at Hendaye. The aire here was very busy with vans from other countries but again no English people to be seen.  Hendaye turned out to be a lovely seaside town.  It is situated right in the bottom corner of France between Biarritz and San Sebastian.  After supper we went for a long walk along the very long sea front.  It was a very calm evening and the waves were gently rolling in onto the miles of sandy beach.  The whole area looked very well kept and we decided had the best cycle path so far: red soft tarmac with bedding borders on each side.  It is a place we would like to return to in the summer.