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Published: March 18th 2006
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Bust
Sorry it is not sharp but we were a little fraught at the time. First I have to correct an entry from Nackenheim .... The friend playing footie with Owen , Anthony and Philip is Johannes and not Nicholas. Sorry Johannes.
Sunday 5th March
Set off from Nackenheim on a beautiful sunny morning, no
sign of any more snow.
Good progress to Saarbrucken and across to Metz, snow
everywhere. Stopped south of Metz for a snack but the
resto had no frites left !
Carried on towards Dijon, not very exciting landscape but
still snow-covered. Left motorway at Nuits-St-Georges,
town centre still had lots of snow. Very attractive but
slow route through famous vineyards to Beaune. From Beaune
took Chagny road but missed Chagny. Had to do two sides of
a triangle to get back on track. Finally rejoined the
Montceau-les-Mines road which followed the canal with lots
of snow and many flooded fields surrounding. At Montceau
it should have been obvious how to continue to Vichy. It
was not. Stopped to fill up with fuel and found we were on
the right road anyway.
From Montceau the road climbed to undulating hills, still
lots of
snow about. Reached Vichy/Bellerive around 6pm,
found Etap Hotel immediately. Rooms OK.
Into Vichy for a quick nosey around. Large area
reminiscent of Paris' Tuileries but more compact and
organised with very regularly planted network of trees.
Probably beautiful in May. Surrounded by flash shops,
tea-rooms, chocolatiers and restaurants. Noticed a high
number of oap hotels and apartment blocks. Whole place a
little tired but quite a range of interesting buildings.
Zoomed back across the river Allier to Belle Rive for
takeaway pizza from a smoky bar. Rory did not like the
onions.
Monday 6th
After a very creditable 4-euro breakfast went to buy
supplies and a decent map to avoid any further unnecessary
detours. Then off towards Clermont Ferrand and Bordeaux.
No snow left in Vichy but road out climbed ever higher
peaking at around 1000m. Lots of snow still around. Lots
of dense pine tree areas. Some very new motorway sections
reminded me of Teletubby landscaping. Not quite sure where
we were but it was v attractive with landcsape quite
dramatic, beginning with the volcanic Auvergne, then
the
wild heath-like Correze. As we dropped lower near Bordeaux
there was much flooding, I presume from the melting snow.
Bordeaux, or at least the ring-road was horrid, reminding
me of driving in the UK. I was glad when we were heading
south off the ring towards Gascony and beyond. Here it was
very flat with enormous pine trees and sandy outcrops. We
did not linger as Spain was our target. We reached San
Sebastian about 5:30pm hoping to find a cheap Etap-style
place on the outskirts. The outskirts seemed to be massive
appartment blocks and not much else. After a couple of
frustrating circuits of what is quite a classy inner city
we found the way out towards Vitoria Grateiz.
Unfortunately not quick enough for a large grubby white
HGV which decided it wanted our roadspace. Fortunately we
have only minor scratches as a memento.
Heading out of town on the N1 we had hoped to find our
elusive hotel but it was not to be. We drove for around
twenty minutes in something like a racing-simulation game
with hazards
appearing from nowhere, dusk falling, rain
like stair-rods and the road becoming ever steeper and
windier. Spotting an exit sign with a bed symbol we pulled
off and checked in at a hotel. A little over budget at 106
euros for two rooms but it was fate.
Delicious meal of German toast bread, U.S. peanut butter,
Spanish red wine and apples.
Tuesday 7th March A night in Toledo
Set off south in fine weather through uninspiring
landscape, scarred with roads, railways and tired-looking
dwellings.
The road surface changed and the car began to vibrate and
slow down. The noise grew worse and it struck us that
something must be falling off. Fortunately there was a
service station only 300m away. It was only when we'd
halted and got out that we realised we had a flat,
shredded rear tyre. Of course the spare and jack were
hidden away below everything else in the boot. The weather
was still fine so out came the bags , boxes, beer etc.
Then I noticed that the spare was the narrow type suitable
for a max distance of 50k.
Struggling to remember the word for tyre, I carried the
shredded one into the service station and spoke to the two
glamorous ladies (spotless overalls, swept back hair and
big smiles) behind the counter.
Me - "Quiero un nuevo ......." (point at tyre)
They - "blah blah blah neumatico blah blah blah"
Me - "Donde neumatico ?"
They - "En Miranda"
Me - "Donde es Miranda"
They - "Direcho 11km"
So off we went to Miranda only to be disappointed as we
found a hypermarket but no other business e.g. KwikFit,
nearby. We parked in the town centre at about 10:15 but
the tourist info centre was closed until 11:00. Walking
back to the car I had a fruitless conversation with a lady
traffic warden. She suggested I go to the SEAT dealer for
a tyre, but no, she did not know the way there. We drove
around and Deb spotted a tyre fitters down a one-way side
road. On the principle of alternating one-way streets in
town centres in Mexico we navigated back
to the fitter's.
The job was instantly done and the price was not a
rip-off.
We zoomed off and made good time, reaching Madrid early
afternoon. The traffic was choking and we soon decided to
push on rather than stay the night. Without a single
mistake we navigated the maze of multi-lane diversions and
came out at the other side heading for Toledo.
Toledo is a fair-sized city but a cinch compared to
Madrid. More by luck than anything else I found the way
to the top of the hill and parked (for free) just between
the old walled town and the rest of the city.
A quick visit to the TIC and we had a map plus list of
places to stay. Wandering the maze of streets, steps and
alleyways we found one of them and took two rooms for a
total of 67 euros. Back on the streets we had a wander for
a couple of hours before having a welcome hot meal outside
a cafe bar. My first spanish paella.
Weds 8th Last leg to Cadiar
Setting
off about 0830 we were in the rush hour. The
traffic heading towards Madrid through Toledo was
enormous but I quickly found the road south. The road was
fine but the signposting was not so good and we missed our
first major junction. No big deal, we have a reasonable
map so doubled back and joined the main road heading SW
towards Granada. Time for breakfast at a service
station/hotel where the barman replied to me in French. Do
I have such a bad Spanish accent ?
We skirted Granada about 1pm and headed south. We soon
came to the start of the mountain roads across to Cadiar
via Lanjaron. An hour and a half or so of winding,
tortuous roads, small villages and settlements and we
reached Cadiar, gleaming white in the afternoon sunshine.
A brief telephone call and there were Alex (Deb's cousin)
and Dianne waving us down in the street.
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