Motorhome News from Europe 7. Portugal 20th October 2004 Portuguese Palaces and villages - and into Spain Tempted by continued spring like weather, we checked out the golf at a hotel complex near Estoril. ‘Are you staying in the hotel?’ ‘No? That’ll be €150 for a round - best to book on the internet,’ the desk clerk said, ‘then it’s only €130.’ We gave it a miss. Besides, there were too many other things to see. Having stood at the most westerly point in mainland Europe, at Cabo da Roca, we found a good site near Cascais, [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from Europe 6. Portugal 6th October 2004. Into Portugal from the North Travelling with only an outline plan pencilled on a sheet of A4 is a continuous adventure built upon expectations and reality, and shaping memories; new, exciting, revealing - and sometimes even disappointing. This week has not failed us as we journey south from Santiago de Compostella towards Lisbon. Come then weary pilgrim, sit beside me; waggle your toes in the cool sand and close your eyes. Picture out there beyond the Atlantic breakers of Baiona, the tip of the white sails of the Pinta on t [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from Europe 5 Spain October 3rd 2004 Galicia The Picos snared our hearts with its ragged mountains, ever-changing skies and stunning green valleys etched in our minds. We were there for four days, by the end of which we both felt that we needed a break from mountain driving Picos style: narrow, steep, hair-pins, sheer drops, no parking places, no passing places and no turning places. Certainly not motor-home friendly, but oh, so very, very beautiful. We did some fabulous hikes and had equally stunning weather. We called our first hike “walking with choughs&rdquo [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from Europe 4 France - and into Spain!. 28th September 2004 The Pyrenees and Picos It is now just four weeks since our journey began, every day another adventure with new towns and villages, wild open spaces and tree covered hillsides, another mountain to climb, new faces, time for meaningful conversation, and to make new friends. Our journey has taken us through the valleys of the Chateau on the Loire to the verdant pastures of the Dordogne and the Lot, and south into the vineyards of Bordeaux and the beeches and forests of the Atlantic coast. Our first sighting [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from Europe 3 France. 21st September 2004 Bordeaux and South along the Atlantic Coast Having said farewell to Sonia, we headed through heavy rain west to Bordeaux country and the wine town of St Emilion, a name surely on everybody’s lips at some time in their lives. There were vineyards as far as the eye could see in every direction, purple grapes just about ready for harvesting and every cave in the town seemed to be selling wine and sign after elaborate sign seemed to point to yet another chateaux. St Emilion itself is immaculate and drools with money [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from Europe 2. France. 15th September 2004 A Week in the Dordogne There will surely come a time when the concept of our journey will turn from holiday maker to traveller, but it will take a change in the weather to tilt the balance. With temperatures in the high 30’s since our arrival in France, the prospect seems a long way off. The Dordogne has welcomed us with its terracotta fields, drilled like corduroy behind the plough, the autumn sun filtering through chestnut and oak tunnelled roads opening suddenly on to rolling wooded slopes, valleys of maize and [View Full Entry]

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Motorhome News from Europe 1. France. September 1st 2004 D Day, The Loire Valley and French Chateaux This trip has been so long in the planning it is hard to believe it has finally begun. Janice has been persuaded to retire from teaching a handful of years early, our house rented out for three years to the highest bidder and all our furniture and chattels safely stored. There’s no turning back now, our new home is on four wheels, a little over 6m long and 2.5m wide, powered by a 2.8 turbo diesel and sparkling white. Smiley, our Autotrail motorhome, has [View Full Entry]

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David and Janice closed their English garden gate on the 1st September 2004 and set out on a three-year journey by motorhome to pursue their passion for travel - it broadens the mind of course, through landscape, history and culture, language and food, and music and art. With common interests in wildlife, photography, writing and walking, their first objective was to venture extensively throughout Europe, wandering with the wind to places of interest: to mountains and wild National Parks, cities and tiny villages, absorbing the sights, sounds and aromas as they went, and recording them in word [View Full Entry]

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