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Suzy is on the move again . It's almost a week since we left home and it is now over the border to Spain.
Even in Spring Spain looks in this part to be an arid land. A landscape slightly lunar like and devoid of farm animals or fields of green crops. Rocky outcrops looked pink in the sun and the grass has already died. Heaven knows what it will be like in the height of summer.
For a while we followed the never ending ribbon of tarmac with the sea to one side of us - the Costas. That area loved by some sun worshipping Brits who love tea like mother makes, All English bars serving English beers, all day Breakfasts, Fish n Chips and wall to wall sunshine. A veritable Blackpool in the sun. Not that I am knocking Blackpool the air is bracing, the donkeys welcoming, the trams a novelty and some really pink candyfloss overlooking the Irish Sea. But when in Spain - well I dont want to be in Blackpool.
To the other side after a while endless groves of olives with cactus plants in between and rows and rows of orange trees.
The blossom over now we see the oranges hanging like pendulous earings from the trees.
It is hot. The sun is burning down and the weather looks at last as if fair set. We pass Barcelona, the Catalunya Race circuit and signs for Monserrat and Devils bridges. The aires are fewer and farther between than over the border in France and without much shading from the trees. Suzy bakes in the spring sunshine. Thistles mauve in colour grow along the verges. There are none of the pretty french villages lining the road, all houses are uniformily white, understandably so, reflecting the beating down sun off their walls. The roof of each a uniform shade of red. The soil orange and red in colour and none of the italian hilltop villages . This is a barren land with few settlements. And still Suzy eats up the tarmac in the mid day sun.
We pass the overwintering capitals for motorhomers and caravaners of Benicarlo with their long promenades lined with palm trees. A white and sandy beach and a warm lapping sea. It does seem welcoming over a winter month or two. Where would you choose to spend
a cold November, December or January day? . Derbyshire in the cold or Benicarlo in the sun? Perhaps there is no contest.
Arriving in Peniscola our overnight stop we encountered traffic issues. Roads closed with detours marked. We hit school trip run at 2.15 with cars parked much as they do back home outside the school whilst parents wait for their offspring to arrive. Beeping from cars behind us. It is difficult to tell who is parked and who is queuing to get around the road. Eventually though we arrive at the front and the short drive to our campsite .
Our stop for the night Camping Eden which is one end of a very long promenade into town lined with palm trees .
A large site on two sides of the road. We were again given a key and told to find a spot and then come back to say where we had parked. It is an ACSI site and it is possible to have a normal sized plot or pay a few cents more for a large one with own electricity supply, sink and water. Hardstanding or to be more precise - no
grass the plots are a bit difficult to use fully as privet hedges divide them and large trees are in the middle. Negotiating a spot we parked up Suzy and went for a walk up town. We will stay one night and then make a decision . Do we stay another or move on to Teruel? The beauty of this type of holiday is its fluidity. Here today, gone tomorrow - who knows? And more importantly - who cares?
Dominated by its castle the town is famous for the last scene of the film El Cid where he rides his horse on the beach. The promenade is lined with cafes, posh hotels, and tat shops. The beach clean and full of bronzed young and old things taking in the sun. We walked all the way in and found it a bit brash compared with our last stop of Colliure and not so picturesque but it had something. The castle looked disappointing and had been patched up rather badly rather than sympathetically. Great concrete slabs where fine stonework should have been. Cafes had been built at its base and a white town in the middle of it spoiling the effect
.
We walked back to Suzy , intending to walk in again in the morning . We spent the night sitting outside until it got too cold and dark. A rather noisy night as we must have been next to or in the close proximity to the dogs home. As soon as one dog barked it sparked off a carcophany of barking from 20 others. Not the best site we have stayed at nor the worse. After the dogs died down sleep was possible. But it was a stifling night.
We woke early to another wall to wall sunshine Saturday morning and walked early to visit the castle. 2. 50 each for seniors . The castle had been built between the 12th century and the 16th and had been used by the Moors and the Knights Templars. At one time it had been the residence of Benedict XIII the pope during the accidental schism. We wandered around the service quarters, the stables , an old cistern, a chapel and into a large yard. Above this the battlements with views over the land and the sea and including a large garden full of palms and greenery. A further charge
could be paid to visit the Templars Museum. We didnt bother with that one. We worked out it was a good time to arrive early for opening at 9.30 and we had the castle completely to ourselves and one other .
The town in the province of Castellon is sometimes called the Gibraltar of Valencia and from one angle it is easy to see why. Muslims , Christians and Jews lived together in harmony in the past.
Walking back we called in a bread shop and at a cafe for coffee before walking back to the campsite picking up 5 euro worth of WiFi access. The first we have had to pay for this trip so far. Good facilities on site with excellent showers and washrooms. very clean and tidy. We needed a rest after all the travelling and it was good to get the slow cooker on - chicken and rice for dinner and a afternoon reading and doing puzzles. This is the life .
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Roy Ellis
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I'm jealous
I'm enjoying your blog Jen. I know part of the route you've taken through France and a little of the route around the Costas (not the coffee shops), albeit from 40 years ago! It may have changed slightly since then. Keep it up because I'm following you on Google Maps. Where's your ultimate destination and by what route do you return?