Spain, France - Winter 2022 14 Sept - 20 Oct (Chassignolles, Montpellier, fire on Mountain, FC Holiday-Monachil, La Belle Jarifa)

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France & Spain Sept – Dec 2022

Wednesday 14^th September 2022

We are off!! At last!! We had decided to drive to Spain a) because Chris wanted to see his brother in Chassignolles, France b) his cousin Lynn was in Montpellier and c) hire cars have suddenly gone ridiculously expensive in Spain!

We left early so that we had chance to visit another of his brothers in Lewes and duly arrived at the ferry port, Newhaven. Uneventful crossing – it was just so nice being back on a ferry! Watched the sunset over the sea just before we docked at Dieppe where we drove to Ibis Budget Hotel (secure parking with hotel if booked 10 Euros) 124611 -124808 197miles

Thursday 15^th September 2022

Left hotel and had uneventful drive to Bonneval where we parked up outside the church – only to discover from the tourist office that we only had an hours’ free parking! Wandered around and found the canal ( and new parking space!) as well as the old abbey ( now a psychiatric hospital!) Walked the whole circuit of canals, taking in the old ruins and castle walls, as well as the old houses that had gardens onto the canals! Lovely place, got some amazing photos!

On to Chateaudun ( after shopping and diesel!) and booked into the Baobar Le Saint Louis hotel - location great. Room – not so good – basic to say the least…..and the TV didn’t work ( only it did in the morning. As Chris found another TV remote!!)!!! Anyway, found the Tourist Office and followed the recommended trail around the town that took in all the views of the river, chateau and old town, as well as a few of the old churches! Tried to find something to eat …with difficulty! It seems you either have a Plat du Jour at lunchtime or you can forget eating until about 7.00pm! Had an Aperol spritzer ( as you do!!) to fill in the time! Before a wonderful meal at Le Bistro! Back then to our ‘wonderful’ hotel room!!! Miles 149

Friday 16^th September 2022

A cloudy/ sunny day passing loads of lavender fields (all cut), sunflower fields (all dead!) until we came to Beaugancy. Stopped to stretch our legs and had a quick look at the Chateau and the Bridge – it must be a famous bridge , just because it was sooo long and fortified!

Carried on, loads of big skies and flat landscapes until we reached the forest area with its huge ‘cat. ’ pylons. Long straight roads took us further south until we drove past the Gorges of Soile with the Chateau Rocher, that unfortunately is now a ruin! Then past Clermont Ferrand and up the mountains with its pretty villages, views, and pine forests until we reached Chassignolles about 6.00pm ish! Had a good catch up with Chris’ brother and then had a lovely meal – melon with mousse, followed by chillie beans, main coursed of guinea fowl, and an almond biscuit with home made ice cream. All good fine dining courses made mostly with ingredients from his garden! Washed down with a couple of bottles of organic wine! What could be better! Miles 260

Saturday 17^th September 2022

A relaxing day!! We had offered to help pick the produce from the garden, and Manon and his wife and little boy called Jean were up for the day to pick apples so we did that first!! 160 kilos of apples later – he was happy as he said it would produce 90 -100 litres of cider!! After that it was down to pick the courgettes for dinner this evening (There is no end to it Paul!!!) as well as quite a few that had turned into large marrows!!

Had an omelette for lunch ( eggs from the chickens, mushrooms picked from the forest by a neighbour!) and a salad, then as Peter had to go shopping went to the Church in the Square and explored the three roads that went into the village (it didn’t take long!!) before walking to the cemetery. As it was a lovely sunny afternoon, albeit chilly, we went back to the Auberge for a chill out afternoon before dinner at ½ 7! Courgette soup, followed by Salmon and vegetables, and then for main course we had duck! Sampled three different chesses, before our pudding of plums and grape crumble!! Mileage 0

Sunday 18^th September 2022

We had the first frost of the year overnight but woke up to ice on the car and a lovely sunny day. Fergus and his wife shot off early as they had a long drive back to Switzerland and Peter was going to Italy for a few days, so he was off by 9.30am! We were on the road by 10.00am ish and with beautiful views of the forest and the valley down to Brioude ( ok so we did get lost a bit!!) Discovered that we didn’t have the actual address of Lynns AirBnB so we were trying to contact her (via her American mobile) as we drove down the A75.

Stopped at The Aire De L’aveyron, that had a castle on top of a hill, for coffee and then eventually we managed to contact Lynn via WhatsApp. Got to the AirBnB about 2.30ish and had a very nice lunch before we had a tour of the old city of Montpellier. Took the petit tren around the City and then had a brilliant meal in a square in the old city. Mileage 190 miles

Monday 19^th September 2022

Got up 8.30am ish after a good evening of drinking and catching up! We had the Ibis Budget hotel in Sete booked so Lynn decided to come with us, to Sete, to show us the sights and then get the train back to Montpellier. Took the D612 out of Montpellier and drove past the vineyards, and the salt marshes with its flamingos and into a carpark that Lynn knew! Walked around the famous Pointe Courte area with its shacks and eccentric community! It used to be mostly old fishermans houses but now a desirable residence, coming alive at weekends!! Drove past our hotel and then onto a car park above the old market before walking into the old town and having a lunch. Drove up to St Claire which is the panoramic viewpoint of the city, with loads of oyster pots, and also had a look at the forest of Sete with views of Cap D’age and towards Spain!

Dropped Lynn at then station, checked into our hotel and had a walk into the centre canal, dug out 1776-1886, for a drink at the canal side. Watched what we think, were the jousting boats with their 10 oarsmen practising for the Saint Louis challenge which takes place in late August! Watched highlights of the Queens funeral in the evening and had an early night. 33 miles (Diesel Sete 77.84 euros 44 litres)

Tuesday 20^th September 2022

On the road by 9.00am, with the intention of stopping for breakfast on the way! Best laid plans and all that and 1 cinnamon roll and water in Cap D’Adge we got on the Motorway E15 at Junction 34. This took us to Junction 43, where we paid the toll of 14.40 Euros and then drove through the end of the Pyrenees to the Spanish Border.

A lorry had driven into the back of another lorry, near Barcelona and they were in the process of recovering both vehicles causing massive tailbacks of several miles and people had turned their engines off and were out of their vehicles!! This was about as exciting as it got!! Stopped at a viewpoint of the Pont de Diable just outside of Tarragona and decided to stop for the night at Vinares.

Bit of a palaver as we found the tourist office who booked us a hotel and Chris then had to drive through the narrow street to find it!! It didn’t have dedicated parking so the car was just parked on the street. Lovely en-suite room and only 58 euros!! Had a wander along the seafront and then had a drink and meal before heading back to the hotel – Nou Casablanca 329 miles Tolls 14.40 euros

Wednesday 21^st September 2022

It was a lovely hotel and even had a breakfast for 3 euros! Tostada, cake and coffee/tea! A lovely family run hotel and worth staying! On the road by about 9.45ish. Not too much to write about today – long motorway drive with not a lot of traffic – loads of plastic as we neared Almeria. Got some diesel at Ibi (47 litres 89.25 euros)and then stopped for lunch in a completely deserted Motorway service area- we were the only car there!!

We didn’t make Almeria but decided to stop at Aguilas in the hope it was a touristy, seaside place with hotels! Well, it was a seaside place and we found a hotel but no tourists!! Quite a nice place, on a bay, with a castle and an old mill! Had a walk around the bay and struggled to find something to eat as it was 6.00pm …and the Spanish eat at 2.00pm and 10.00pm!! However found a bar and filled up with tapas!! Back to the hotel El Paso (70.00 euros) 310 miles Tolls about 15.00 Euros

Thursday 22^nd September 2022

Chris drove the A7-E15 all the way to Malaga and got to the house about 2.30pm ish. Not a lot to say about the journey – more mountains and plastic greenhouses!!Oh – and there was an unmarked police car, we think, as it had a mega huge camera on the dashboard and followed Chris UK car for quite a while, overtaking and then slowing down!! Very odd!!

They have also started renovating the ruin next to us, with a skip in the street with all the rubbish!! Not sure how private the roof terrace will be but the porch will still be private! There was no-one working there today when we arrived! Saw Sispo the three legged dog and also the orchard mans wife with the grand-daughter. 234 miles Tolls 3.95 euros Mileage 126315 Total Mileage 1704

The fire on the Alhaurin mountain is not as bad as we thought _ most of the trees immediately above the town appear ok - but it looks more severe down towards Alhaurin de la Torre and the mountain seems quite charred near the top. Hopefully a lot of it will recover…..we shall see.

We spent a lot of time walking, socialising and Menu del Dias but when we did have spare time we went to the cricket at Cartama Oval where they were playing the European Championships, We were on the Field Club Walking Holiday in Monachil on the Finals Week of the cricket but dashed back after the holiday to watch the second half of Spain v England! England just won but unfortunately were beaten in the nail biting final by Netherlands!

The Holiday was really good. Rain was forecast for the three days but other than a fantastic hail and thunderstorm when we arrived, we had beautiful weather with no more rain at all!! Had a fantastic long walk of St Anton - I managed it with painkillers and sticks and was very pleased with myself. Also did the first part of La Cahorras Gorge walk (up to the long hanging bridge!) which was quite a challenge as a lot of the path had been washed away, creating exposed tree trunks and huge drops! I nearly ended up in the river a couple of times!! On the last walk we all had to follow in cars to the start. Unfortunately, we took the wrong turn and all the cars had to turn around – not so bad but there were about 500 goats going up the track surrounding the cars!! All good fun and we found the walk – eventually!! My hip was also giving me a bit of jip now so I could have overdone it!!

Also went to La Belle Jarifa in Cartama. It was a lot smaller than when we had seen it before -, the procession consisting of a belly dancer, a unicyclist, and someone in a cage along with about six helpers!!! There was also music in the Plaza de la Legion that we went up to – it was a Cancer charity thing, with a couple of stalls but a lot of people dancing!!

Did a walk around the campo with Al and actually, for the very first time, saw wild boar!! It was about 11.00am so very unusual to see them this late in the day, but there was about seven of them, as well as two tiny babies at the back all charging in a long line up over a field! It was lovely to see them - even if they are really ugly close up!!

The plants, which looked dead when we got back, revived with steady watering and bought some colour to brighten the terrace. Spent 4.65 euros in the Garden Centre near La Trocha in Coin and it wasn’t until we got home that we noticed he had charged us 46 50 euros!! A quick journey back, and a lot of lo siento and he gave us the balance back in cash! Mmmmm!! The gecko that seems to live in our terrace wasn’t impressed either!! No further work on the ruin, despite a skip and four bags of sand being left outside in the road!!

Back to UK on 20^th Oct – Nov 2^nd

Flew back, after uneventful journey and after picking our filthy car back up from MalagaCar, was greeted in Churriana by a delicious sweet smell, which we can only assume came from one of the trees! It was good to be back!

The house next door hasn’t made a lot of progress but we did notice that one bag of sand had gone and there were a lot of broken kitchen tiles in the skip. They seem to work when we are not here – I may get a complex about this – or is it a good thing?!!

Went to the Car Boot sale and the Farmers Market at Coin to look for a foot stool! Failed….but we did see a dog wash next to the car wash and a dog patiently being hosed down!!

We had a knock on the door about 9.30pm one evening…but it was just one of our neighbours telling us we had left a light on the roof terrace!! La luz, la luz!!! I wish I could speak Spanish well enough to converse with her ……

Apart from that it was the usual round of walking , socialising and Menu del Dias! We eventually walked to Turon Castle at Ardales – it was one of those walks that we seemed to keep missing ( Like La Concha!!) so it was nice to eventually get there. Did a reccy, with friends, from the zip wire near Cartama– we walked for about five hours, found the way to the top of the mountain with fantastic 360 degree views, but couldnt find a way down for a circular route. ‘Camino Cortado. Propiedad Privada’. However, Chris did manage to find a footstool in a skip!!! But it was such a shame we couldn’t find a walk and we even drove to the bottom of the track where there was a six foot gate with a padlock on it and no way around it!!

We also went in to see to Christmas lights at Malaga! Fantastic display as always, and we were treated to a music show – ½ in English and ½ in Spanish!! Then caught the video show on the cathedral tower as well. Very clever!!

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