Rasbro's Ramblings No 6 - March 2012

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Spring! And another sunny day kicks of with a hike up a fabulous trail in the Els Ports Natural Park, Catalunya. this is another great area to come back to in the future as this part of Spain has lots of opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy the scenery. There are also some nice campsites to stay at such as Camping Fegada near Olot in the Garrotxa NP where for 5 Euro you get a large wash and the drying is free! There is also an excellent network of marked walking and cycling trails such as the 12km hike through beech forests, over volcanic craters and past lovely old stone farmhouses. We stayed two days and the second day we decided to get the bikes out but by the time we got going the rain (first for some time) came down so we turned back and went to the restaurant at the campsite for a very pleasant lunch instead.

Sunday 4 March saw us headed through the Pyrenees back into France via the Col de Ares along a very scenic route which led us to Priere de Serrabone, a lovely old 11^th century priory church set at the top of a winding road. We finished the day at a motorhome aire beneath Chateau Peyrepertuese one of the Cathar castles stuck on top of a mountain. After a very windy and rainy night in company with several other vans we climbed up to the castle to take in the magical views from the ramparts. Amazing what people achieved with so little technology and mechanics to assist. Spent the remainder of Monday enjoying the scenery of the wine valleys, stopped to have a guided tour of the Abbe de Fontroide with its lovely stained glass windows and vaulted ceilings ending the day at a beachside aire near Narbonne with a few lagoons to go birding around.

Tuesday 6 March started very windy again so we mooched along to an old Roman hilltop ruin called Oppidum Insurene near Beziers with good views over the Canal du Midi and the amazing circular drainage system. Later we spent a couple of hours in Pezenas browsing antique shops and eventually arrived in the village of Moureze with its amazing rock formations in the Cirque, its quaint village and a good 10.5km hike up to Col de Portes, Col de Louses and Mt Mars with great views over Lac du Salagou.

Thursday night saw us parked at Comps aire behind the bull ring where we had previously stayed in 2003. This time we stayed for 3 nights as there was lots to do in the area such as visiting Tarascon which has an impressive castle and city walls but where the old town is really dying. We also went to Fontveille for the excellent produce market and went back on Sunday for a Brocante (antiques fair) and a Camargue Horse Fair. We also toured around Le Baux which is another ancient hilltop village (very touristy) and Uzes which is a very pleasant town and has a great Saturday market. Finally bought a French shopping basket! Later we drove through some scenic countryside, lunched on top of a hill in a forest then found the winery called Domain de la Loyanne where we bought a couple of casks after previously buying one from the winemaker at the market in Fontvielle. Next stop was Isle sur Sorgue where the antique market was not quite as good as we remembered but still worth a visit. However we found another good street brocante in Carpentras.

Monday 12 March – finally in the Alps at Les Orres ski resort. It is a nice resort which would have some good mid level skiing for us if there was enough snow. However, it was a good start and we think it could be a place to come back to. On Wednesday we went down to Embrum and did washing and shopping before having a walk from Guillestre with views over Mont Dauphin – really quite warm at about 18C. Drove up to Vars le Claux where the aire had about 20 motorhomes but there was more snow around and you could ski almost to the van door. Next day saw me having a good day of skiing whilst Brian did bits and pieces in the van and relaxed (knee not good) but he was good about preparing me coffee and lunch in between my ski jaunts. Ticket prices are cheap enough, I paid 39 euro for a morning ticket and took it back before 1.30pm to get 7 euro back. On Friday we both skied but the snow was softening quickly so Brian quit late morning and I only did a few more runs. We decided to leave after lunch and headed for Briancon where we shopped and fuelled up then arrived at le Monetier le Bain late in the day. The aire was very busy but the skiing did not look all that good, nor did the weather report.

Next day we headed off over the Col du Lauteret and down towards Grenoble. The traffic was horrendous as it must have been change over day at many of the resorts. Stopped at La Grave to browse a couple of outdoor shops then continued on past Grenoble towards Albertville. Again the weather was mild and we climbed up to Les Saises in late afternoon sunshine to find the town buzzing, lots of snow on the slopes and the aire almost full. Enjoyed a beer on a bar balcony watching the thronging crowd and the sunset. Sunday morning I hit the Nordic ski trails which were extensive and well maintained. By early afternoon it started to snow so I joined Brian back at the van where he was on snow clearing duties.

Monday saw me having a good morning on the downhill slopes even though visibility was iffy at times however I gave it up by late morning as it started wet snowing. Later in the day it eased and I went back out for an enjoyable couple of hours. Brian sold his Nordic skis and boots today (his knee will no longer tolerate the rigours of Nordic skiing). Tuesday morning the sun came back so I was first in the lift line (too early actually) and had a great morning exploring the extensive intermediate runs. Joined Brian for galettes for lunch in the village then went off to do some Nordic in the afternoon. Les Saises has good intermediate downhill, excellent Nordic and good winter walking trails all surrounding a lovely village and beautiful scenery.

Wednesday we left Les Saises in the sunshine and headed around to Annecy where we lunched by the lake then got water at the Annecy aire before browsing the Narbonne Accessories shop at Seynod. Drove through the scenic Fier Gorge to stay on an aire in the village of Serrieres en Chautagne which was quite pleasant and again had some good walking trails although our time was running out so we did not test them out.

Thursday was all scenery as we drove north through the Jura mountains. Had a short walk beneath the Cretes de Neige and stopped for lunch at Lijoux where there is an extensive Nordic ski area. Freecamped at Bonhieu near the Cascades du Herrison and walked part of the river to see some of the lovely waterfalls. Next morning we walked the rest of it and enjoyed watching a pair of Dippers building a next under a waterfall. Then we took a scenic tour of the Cirque de Beaume and its lovely village with lots of nice walking trails. Drove more scenic roads to Chateau Chatillon which is another quaint hilltop village with views. After staying overnight at a France Passion winery in Pupillin we spent a morning in Besancon then continued North stopping in a little village to visit an eccentric brocante where an old man gave us lolly pops then followed us around the shops explaining things to us - he gabbled away in French, oblivious to our lack of understanding. However, we did not buy anything as most of it was rubbish but we gave him full marks for trying.

As we went to leave town we lost a clamp from around a hose to the turbo so that took a little while to get back on but fortunately Brian was able to fix it. Got to the aire at Corgirnon near Langres just in time as it was full within half an hour with 7 vans in total. It was in a small woodland so quite pleasant even though there was a party on that night at the local salle de fetes.

Sunday dawned pleasant again so we pootled through more gentle, green, rolling farmland, stopping at a village to browse a boot sale and lunching by a small stream followed by a walk along a marshland boardwalk. Finished on the riverside aire at Layehcourt where we visited the local wood carving exhibition – some lovely work. Monday morning we had a flat battery but Brian was able to get a local tractor driver to give us a jump start. Later in the day we discovered the Argonne hills and valleys with a walk at the old WW1 battleground around the Kaiser Tunnel where 150,000 men died in 4 years of war (mostly from blowing each other up from underneath). After lunching next to the canal in Viziers we drove through Charleville-Meziers to find a nice park at the start of a forest walk where we freecamped the night.

Wednesday 28 March we took the motorway around the bottom of Lille to get us to the Eurotunnel by midday. And that brought us to the end of Europe, Winter 2011.

We are now back in England catching up with family and friends for a month before we head off for Europe 2012 so watch this space!

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