taraabit

August 20th 2018.

We did a quick top of food at the local supermarket and then took a steep road out of Potes and …..

WOW, WOW and WOW again after this we ran out of superlatives to describe the scenery we drove through, If only I could have videoed the three hour journey journey.

The road twisted and turned, hair pin bend followed hair pin bend so much so I kept looking up my own exhaust pipe! We took steep gradients in second gear but never went above third for about 15 miles as we climbed from an altitude of 400m to the highest pass at 1,609metres, and Homer took it all in his stride even with temperatures reaching 30 degrees the radiator stayed cool.

Michelle gainly attempted to take photos but with straight pieces of road being rare it was very difficult.

After 90 minutes we reached the town of Riaño which is positioned on a huge reservoir which stretches for miles.

We then drove over another mountain road that wasn’t so difficult to drive on until we hit the descent and we entered a narrow gorge called Desfiladero de Los Beyos where the road became narrower and on my side of the road was vertical rock faces which often overhung the road and were centimetres from Homer’s wing mirrors. On numerous occasions we drove through short dark tunnels.

After another 90 minute drive the road levelled out and we hit a town called Cangas. This has an aire for motorhomes but it was rammed so we parked up on another car park had lunch and then walked into the town where there was a magnificent bridge.

We took Layla for a swim in the river before we headed off feeling very hot in 31 degree temperature and headed for the coast, where we are tonight at Candas.

So we went from 420m to 1,609m to zero at sea level in one days travel.

August 19th 2018

Our decision to stay on this site for the weekend was made so that we could meet up with our good friend Ade and his friend Nathan who are coming to the end of a 2 week tour of Spain and Portugal on their 1200cc BMW bikes. They are staying in a a small hostel run by an English couple and have joined us twice at the campsite to share a beer or two.

Potes is 2km from the campsite down a steep road and twice now we have walked down to the town and puffed our way up again.

Potes is in Cantabria northern Spain and is situated where 4 valleys meet and is surrounded by the mountains Picos de Europa.

The town is interesting to visit and not too touristy, in the centre is an ancient tower Torre del Infantado a four storey structure now a municipal building.

The river runs through the centre of the town and there are a maze of small streets to explore. I splashed out on a new T shirt and Michelle bought a new dress, both were a good price as are many things here, meals out, beer and coffee are all considerably cheaper than in France.

August 17th 2018

A cooler start to the day today, we found ourselves just below the cloud level so it was a dry start to our drive, but as we moved one we found ourselves climbing to an even higher level and drove through the clouds. We headed to an area with a large reservoir the surrounding landscape reminded me of mid Wales and it’s reservoirs.We parked up and went for a walk along the reservoir and Layla was befriended by a large dog that was roaming free.

Onwards we drove along small country roads gaining height all the time and eventually we drove out into sunshine, we stopped to do a little shopping in a town Aguilar de Campoo, and decided we might as well have lunch in Homer before continuing. As we sat there the car park began to fill up rapidly, cars parked on both sides of leaving very little space, I became more and more concerned we would be trapped there until the Spanish people who were parking returned from long lunch breaks. So we hurriedly packed up and I managed to squeeze out of our space and escape the car park.

From here the road became even more tortuous, we gained even more height until we were over 3,000 feet and the road took us through rocky dramatic gorges, past lakes and eventually a long descent where the hairpin bends made me feel as though I’d done an upper body work out, I think I’m developing muscles!

We eventually arrived at Potes, we didn’t stop but drove through a further 1km to reach our campsite for the weekend La Viorna We are on a pitch that’s ok for our needs with electric hook up and the toilets and showers are superb, however it all feels a little of a culture shock. For the past four and a half days we have hardly spoken to a soul, we’ve seen no English people and only heard Spanish spoken, here there is a continual cacophony of sound with Spanish, German, Dutch and English being spoken, we have had conversations in English with several other campers and exchanged useful info, I’m sure I will get used to it.

August 16th 2018

One of our first tasks this morning was to set the sat nav to our first destination, Lidl! Thankfully it was only about 3 miles away and we were soon in its car park, we didn’t need much, mainly some fresh bread and a little salad, so how did we spend 31 euros? Well a quick scan of the bill would show someone slipped a bottle of pink gin into the trolley and as I said in the last blog I had to buy a bottle of Rioja.

With goodies safely stowed we began our journey heading north west and throughout the drive gaining altitude, at first we drove through the vineyards which I assume provided for the famous wine, then the fields began slowly to get greener and at one point I realised we were beginning to see trees.

Slowly we began to climb higher and higher into the hills and at the top of one pass just past the town of Ona we stopped for coffee looking down on the Rio Ebro.

Not too much further on we arrived at our destination for the night on the outskirts of a small village Santelices. The aire is at the site of an old railway station and the railway track has been turned into a walk way and cycle path. During the course of the afternoon we walked in both directions for some distance much to the delight of Layla. Tonight’s stopover has cost 4 euros which included electricity and hot showers. We are at an altitude of 700m so it is much cooler and pleasant than last night.

August 15th 2018

Last night we Googled places to visit in the Navarra region and one town Olite came up as being a place to visit. It meant driving back somewhat in the wrong direction but as time is our own we didn’t worry. The historic part of the town was indeed good to look at but we didn’t fancy paying to go in the Royal Palace and we would have had to leave Layla in Homer and it was far too hot.

Today’s driving was along minor roads which on the whole were in good condition and relatively traffic free, unfortunately most towns and villages have gone in for large speed humps as a traffic calming measure, sometimes only 50m apart reducing speed for us to about 10 miles an hour.

I’m still not used to such a barren looking landscape, very different to France and the UK, for many miles there is nothing but brown fields that have been used to grow straw as animal feed, then there are pockets of grape vines, sunflowers, maize and olives growing with little signs of civilisation.

Tonight we are parked up on the outskirts of Logorno which is apparently the capital of the Rioja wine district, I must buy a bottle tomorrow. After our evening meal, taken much earlier than the Spanish, we walked into Logorno, it seems a very pleasant town with a sympathetic mixture of old and new. After a ramble around we sat in parliament square and had a few drinks and crisps that came free, then further down the street a delicious ice cream each.Its 11 pm now and still in the mid 20s, much too warm for bed.

August 14th 2018.

We set off this morning with the view of the Pyrenees filling our windscreen, often they were obscured by clouds.

We headed at first to St Jean Pied de Porte, a town on the pilgrim route, we visited here two summers ago in 2016, pre Homer days and we stayed in a local hotel, it’s a place I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to visit. A quick shop for basics and a fill of fuel and we headed up into the Pyrenees on the D933, most of the climb to 1,047 metres was in second and third gear as we negotiated hair pin bend after hairpin bend.Twice we had a run in with large trucks carrying bales of straw towing an equally large trailer behind them, the first coming down the mountain had to negotiate a bend by driving on our side of the road and I had to come to a complete stop. The second incident was in a small village where the street was so narrow two cars passing had to be careful, we were almost all the way through when one these trucks came round the corner, it stopped and waited, I had cars behind me that eventually got the message and backed up, I reversed and then began to edge towards a slightly wider point when the truck surged forward, I pulled to the right and the front wheel went down a drainage ditch at the side of the road along which flowed a small stream. Thankfully still having three wheels on the road I managed to bounce out and go forward. Along the route we passed hundreds of people walking or cycling the pilgrim route, some sections were very steep and you had to admire their courage.

We then headed to Pamplona and an easy by pass system took us further on towards the east and a town called Estella where we hoped to stop for the evening, as we approached the sat nav lost signal, kept giving incorrect directions and as we approached the town sent me up what was meant to be a pedestrianised street, the civil policeman standing at the top gave me an evil glare as I swept by. We never did find the overnight parking area, we had a quick walk around the town but we weren’t impressed so we moved on a few kilometres further to tonight’s resting place Ayegui.

The aire costs 4 euros for a three day stay, can’t grumble at that, it is in a sports complex with tennis courts, swimming pool, basket ball courts and a floodlit football pitch, plus a children’s play area and a cafe bar.

Approx 800m from our aire is a monastery that is on the pilgrim route, it also has a large vineyard and wine making centre and traditionally they have given a glass to pilgrims, I know we hadn’t walked far but it did seem rude not to partake and as we conveniently had a half pint glass in Michelle’s rucksack we solemnly undertook the tradition. I can’t say I would go back to buy some! We walked on for a further mile or two but there was nothing open in the village.

After our evening meal we went for another long walk in the hills around the aire watching a flock of sheep come down the hills and then back for a well earned beer.

August 13th 2018

Last nights storm cleared the air and the temperature dropped from 33 degrees to a pleasant 20 degrees this morning. We went into our normal well organised routine for locking up the house and we were on our way at 9 am.

We headed directly south through Duras, Mont de Marsan, Orthez just to name a few places on route, stopping for lunch outside a small village whose name I’ve forgotten, but I took a few photos of the old church there and shortly after leaving there got Michelle to take a photo of a traffic island, the French have become very creative at decorating them in bizarre ways.

Our stopover tonight is a free aire at Sauveterre-de-béarn a medieval village perched above the river Oloron in the Pyrenees Atlantique Department and at the foot of the Pyrenees. It is one of the main routes to Spain used by Pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostella.

The cakes above were a treat after our evening meal.

Check out this image I made using Diptic!

Sunday 12th August 2018

We have spent the last hour sitting outside in darkness watching a spectacular thunder and lightning storm, the lightning was a mixture of sheet, forked and horizontal flashes with rarely less than 30 seconds between each flash.Layla sat there mesmerised by it all and showed no concerns at all. The ferocity of the lightning made me glad that two days ago we chopped down the last of a large dead willow tree close to the house.

We have spent the last few days working hard on tasks around the house including a few more loads of limestone chippings to extend the drive.

Today we visited a vide grenier at St Laurent des Hommes which sadly this year had fewer stalls than normal. I came away only having spent an euro on a baguette that by this evening was inedible. We did whilst there bump into our neighbour who owns the donkeys and had a good chat to him.

After that visit our friends Peter and Alison took us to a local canal that diverts part of the River Isle and we had a pleasant walk along its banks.

We spent this afternoon preparing Homer for a journey as tomorrow we intend to head south towards the Pyrenees. A friend Ade is travelling North up through Spain on his motorbike and we hope to meet up with him in Potes in the Picos de Europa next weekend.

August 8th 2018

My son’s 38th birthday today, makes me feel old, he celebrated his 11th here the first year we bought this house!

We have been here 5 days now and there has been a mixture of events and experiences. It has been very hot with day time temperatures of 35-37 degrees and night times being in the 20s.

Most evenings we sit outside with a drink, interrupted at about 9pm when we feed windfall apples to the donkeys in the adjacent field, then we settle down and as the sky darkens we begin to gaze upwards waiting for the stars to appear. It doesn’t take long for the sky to be a mass of twinkling stars with the plough and other constellations being very prominent and as the sky darkens, the Milky Way becomes more and more prominent. We usually recline our seats to enjoy this star gazing and for the last few nights Layla has taken to leaping on my chest lying down with her head on my shoulder and falling asleep. When she does I find it harder and harder to stay awake myself as I listen to her gentle breathing.

Last evening was slightly different as by 8pm the sky was covered in cloud, at about 10pm we had a rain shower that lasted two minutes, and the temperature dropped by12 degrees, then to the south of us a thunder and lightning storm began, the lightning lit up the sky showing the trees around the field in dark silhouette, the thunder rumbled but it was some way off in the distance, we retired indoors at 11pm.

Our motor home buddies Peter and Alison are here too in their French house and we have been enjoying their company and swimming pool.Layla achieved her red swimming badge for completing a width of the pool.

I should by now be used to the French approach to August, i.e. closures of many businesses for a week, maybe two and often the whole of August. We have been having some difficulty getting Homer off our drive and so decided to lay a new surface of calcaire ( limestone chippings). The quarry of course has plenty but would only deliver in 10 tonnes loads and I only needed two, other outlets I approached couldn’t help because it is August, so Peter and Alison came to the rescue with their car and trailer and we have so far made 4 visits to the quarry and collected and laid 1.5 tonnes.We do however have to get a move on getting the rest because the quarry closes on Friday for its 2 week holiday.

Interspersed with these activities we have mowed 2.5 acres of field, the house has been cleaned from top to bottom and we have managed to fit in a vide grenier, purchasing a few items.

Today I went to pay the house insurance, for the second year running I hadn’t received a reminder showing the payment, usually I pay by cash as the office doesn’t have a system to pay by card. When I mentioned today that in England I would pay over the internet with my card, the agent replied ah yes you can now do that with us! We sat together at his computer and completed the details for my internet account and I will now receive each year my bill by email and I have paid by card PROGRESS! and it doesn’t matter if it’s August.

For the second year running Lidl has no ice cream the fridges are empty, those German eskimo ice cream makers must be on their annual August holiday.