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Published: October 22nd 2007
To see our route click on this link
Our route for the 1st four weeksBarcelona and around
Well with the few days in Tossa to familiarise ourselves with the workings of the campervan, Monday morning came and we knew we better get going if we were to see any of Europe. First we had a rendezvous in Barcelona with our wedding photographer, so south we drove stopping along the way to pick up a new battery. We were forced to seek help and get a jumpstart in the campsite that morning as our battery was truly dead when we went to start the “Big Rig”. We had considered dropping into a garage and getting them to change the battery but in the end cost considerations prevailed and I decided that I’d do the job myself the next morning. So we made it to Barcelona and without too much fuss managed to find Robert’s office and picked up the wedding album and DVD. We were very impressed with Robert’s good work and the way things worked out for us - giving him nine months to finish the job proved a good move and gave us something to look forward to while we were wandering the world. So album and DVD
in hand we went west towards Montserrat as we planned to get right into it and do a touristy thing the next morning. Montserrat (or serrated mountain) is 50 KMs west of Barcelona and is famous for the 19th century monastery “Monestir de Montserrat” perched on it’s side. We found a great corner spot in a car park in the middle of town and decided it was time for our 1st night of roughing it. Our plan was to stay in campsites three or four nights a week and to rough it for the remainder in the interest of extending our funds, and roughing it can be handier for a quick get away in the mornings if we had a long drive ahead of us. We thought it necessary (for safety reasons) to always get a campsite in big towns or cities. So, tucked nicely into a corner of a well hidden car park, we cooked dinner and bedded down for the night. We were up and about early next morning and as suspected there wasn’t a tweak out of the old battery so I set about changing it. After much heaving and pulling (a little rust had set in),
I managed to get the old battery out and in went the brand spanking new one, it even had a green light on it telling me it was all charged up and ready to go. Alas, things didn’t go quite as easy as I expected and the dash showed me a brand new light to go with the new battery indicating that a “Key Code” was required - after many calls including what sounded like crystal clear advice from a Fiat Garage in Limerick we were resigned to the fact that we would have to get The “Big Rig” to a Fiat garage and get them to order a “Key Code” which the Limerick garage told us would take a minimum of 3 days. So there started our adventure - we contacted our insurance company remembering that they very kindly told us about their “free roadside assistance service” anywhere in Ireland or Europe in our renewal letter. We rang an Irish number and they put us through to a UK number who then got a Spanish girl to make contact - that they did but with the ins and outs, it was nearly 3 hours before a tow truck arrived.
The idea is that the tow truck driver will assess the problem and try and fix it - the lad we got didn’t care a damn about fixing the problem and just set about getting the “Big Rig” up on the back of his tow truck. After some difficult manoeuvres we finally managed to get her out of that fine corner parking spot (it seems choosing the very corner spot in the car park wasn’t so great after all) and up onto the tow truck. Within 30 mins we were dropped off outside a Fiat Garage but alas they had closed up shop for siesta and we had a two hour wait for them to reopen. We grabbed lunch in a nearby restaurant and were the 1st in-line when 3.30 PM came and the boys came back from their mid-day break. Alas, they didn’t have the electronic equipment for entering a key code and we’d have to go to another Fiat Garage - there was nothing for it but to ring our insurance again and explain that we’d been brought to a garage but that they weren’t up to it. Another couple of hours passed and eventually we were
up on the back of another tow truck and were brought to a fine big garage in the town of Terrassa, arriving after 7PM. We explained the situation to the boss man (our umpteenth time explaining the problem that day) and he said it’d take four hours to fix the problem, basically the story was that Fiat had discontinued with key codes nearly two years before (what the Limerick garage were talking about, I don’t know) and that the only solution was to remove the electronic chip that needs the code. Problem was that this chip is hidden away in the fuel pump which he explained was very hard to get at (hence the four hours labour). He also looked at his watch and told us that today was out - we resigned ourselves to the fact that we’d have to look for a hotel somewhere nearby. I continued chatting with him explaining what had happened and told him about my attempt to change the battery myself - with that his eyes lit up and he smiled and went around to the battery - pressed something, went to the ignition and she started for us. We were delighted but very
embarrassed at the same time - basically with all my tugging and pushing I had hit against the fuel cut off button which is intended to cut off the fuel supply in the event of a crash. So there was nothing wrong with the “Big Rig” - she was in fine health all along and it was the Limerick garage that led us down the wrong path from the start. So by 7.15 PM we were back on the road and the garage lad wouldn’t take a penny from us and wished us the best for the remainder of our trip. We decided that we’d make for the nearest campsite which was in Valromanes, about 60KM from Barcelona. After our stressful day, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner and a few drinks in the campsite. Our night was uneventful save the main lady in the campsite overcharging us and telling me that I had been drinking “Litros” at €4.20 a pop. I explained to her that after the day I had, I wouldn’t be able to lift a “Litro” let alone drink it - after a tense stand off she agreed and reduced our bill to the correct amount.
She really was a chancer and her cheating annoyed me bigtime, we were planning to be back in Barcelona but can safely say we won’t be frequenting her “Halting Site” again !
Over the Pyrenees, Andorra and chasing the Tour de France
Next morning the “Big Rig” started without issue and we decided we’d go straight to Andorra and try and make up for the lost day. So we had a lovely drive north to the border and up into the Pyrennees. We arrived in Andorra La Vielle for about 4ish and checked ourselves into a campsite in the middle of town. Andorra’s capital city is a busy place with plenty of French and Spanish cars milling about looking for duty free bargains. We kept it quiet in Andorra save buying a few things for the camper - we were in search of deck chairs and bicycles but found nothing. We did manage to get our hands on a Digital TV antenna that converted our laptop into a TV - we watched BBC World that night along with a multitude of other French and Spanish TV stations.So after two nights in Andorra La Vielle, we decided to move on as we were
planning to watch a stage of Le Tour de France on the Sunday. We went sightseeing 1st in Andorra and visited a few of the winter ski resorts in the mountains. Siobhan had been in Andorra a few years before in the Arinsal Resort so we went up for a look. It was very different from the snow scene with hundreds of walkers and mountain bikers traipsing the hillsides and forests. The ‘Big Rig’ performed well, albeit heating up a little as we climbed our way out of Andorra. We reached the highest road point in Andorra at over 6,000 ft and gave her a rest at the top - the scenery was breathtaking. On our way out of Andorra, we were stung for a €10 Toll Fee for a tunnel - it caught us a little by surprise as we had made up our minds to avoid toll roads for two reason - one tolls are crazy dear in France and Spain but more importantly we miss out on all the lovely little villages and scenery when we take the motorways. We see a lot more on the national routes. We had an hour or two queuing to get
out of Andorra as the French police were stopping at the border and checking folks for duty free.The 1st French town we arrived in was Ax Les Thermes, a small but cute little place, high up in the mountains. We immediately noticed a huge number of campervans were in town with most parked up alongside the river which ran through town. We knew that the Stage was going somewhere near town but with the campervans being in town two days before we knew we were close and in a good spot. With that we found ourselves a nice spot facing the river and nestled ourselves in among the many other vans most of which were French and chasing Le Tour. We had a nice quiet two days and on Sunday morning went in search of a good place to catch the stage. There were huge crowds in the town centre with great viewing spots and we decided that we’d make that our base rather than trekking miles to get a good spot on the mountain which climbed steeply out of Ax les Thermes. With that the fun started, we were in place over two hours before the cyclists were due
to come through town and the sun was beating down. The most exciting thing about Le Tour is the caravan or parade that precedes it - an hour or so before the stage leaders come into view a parade (similar to a St. Patricks Day Parade) flies through town flinging goodies, product samples and knickknacks at the crowd - never before have we seen such a panic among grown adults to grab whatever is flung into the air - it was great fun watching and without too much effort we managed to pick up a few hats, product samples, CDs and magazines.With all that panic over then the riders came through town. We were situated at a roundabout at the bottom of a steep hill and were thinking we had a fantastic viewing point - alas the riders came through at such a speed, we barely caught sight of them. We did catch a glimpse of the yellow jersey or at least what we thought was the yellow jersey - it didn’t really matter as he was turfed out of the race a few days later along with his team. All in all it was a great day out and
the French do love it, not sure if it is for the freebies, the “craic” or the cycling. With the race gone through after all of two minutes followed by a plethora of support cars, the crowd dispersed and we saddled up the “Big Rig” and headed out f town to lower ground. We hadn’t thought about what it takes to disperse tens of thousands of people and were stuck in traffic (good natured mind you) for the next two or three hours. With that we went to St. Girons further west and inland to catch another stage of the Tour the following day. We stayed a night in a campsite and were up and about the following day early joining the thousands of other camper vans chasing the tour. We were in place again for the freebies a good two hours before kick off and as we were at a much earlier part of the stage the caravan came through more than an hour before the cyclists. After the caravan, we went wandering towards a supermarket and found that Champion Supermarche who sponsor the “King of the Mountains” event had a barbeque set up in their car park and
Another view of Ax les Thermes
We parked up on the bank of this river for 2 nights with about 30 other Campervans (The Tour de France Campervan Convoy)they had a big crowd milling around with a huge outdoor TV showing the stage. We joined in the fun and found out who was where in the race that day - well prepared for their arrival right in front of us. When the time came - they went speeding past us - even faster than the previous day as they were split between a front group of 20 or so and the chasing pelethon. So there ended our Tour de France experience and that afternoon we set off further west towards Lourdes, arriving quite late and finding a roadside spot quite close to the grotto.
Lourdes, Biarritz and Donastia (San Sebastian)
For those of you who have never heard about Lourdes - in 1858, the first of 18 visions of the Virgin Mary to a local girl Bernadette Soubirous occurred. Where the visions took place is now called the Grotto de Massabielle. Since then Lourdes has been transformed and now nearly every building in town is there to look after the millions of pilgrims who visit every year - bars, cafes, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs take up almost every building with the remaining given over to the sale of religious
souvenirs, St Bernadette in every shape and size, thermometers, key rings, statues, candles, empty holy water bottles and illuminated plastic grottos. The Grotto where the visions took place is now surrounded by a number of fine churches including the Basilique du Rosaire et de I’Immaculee Conception. It is told that the Virgin Mary asked Bernadette to tell her Parish Priest to build a church in her honour and a number of years later the Basilica was built over the Grotto. We found the grounds very serene and peaceful and were moved by the hundreds of volunteers who look after the thousands of disabled and sick who visit the grounds every day. We highly recommend a visit to Lourdes to anyone. After our enjoyable trip to Lourdes we set off again going west to the Atlantic Ocean and Biarritz. We went in search of a campsite that I had stayed in a few years ago but alas with it being late July and peak season we were out of luck. So our plans for a night out in Biarritz to celebrate Siobhan’s birthday were ruined and we had to head south to a smaller town called Birdat to find lodgings. It
was in this campsite that we spotted a D Reg Campervan, our first sighting of an Irish Campervan to date. Anyway with the house parked and a bit of luck with discovering that our awning (the canopy that extends from the side of the campervan) has its own support poles - we had spent two days in Andorra searching the shops for the right height poles - as a work colleague once said, actually said many times “what you don’t know you don’t know” - so feeling stupid but happy we put on our best duds and hit the (small) town of Birdat for a bit of celebrating.Next day, we ventured back to Biarritz and discovered a “Camper Only” car park where we had electricity, water and a drain for emptying our tank and we were among our own - well among the mainly French Campervans!! We were delighted with ourselves and went off and explored Biarritz for the day. It is a fine spot and we were well impressed with the scenery, beaches, surfing and the town itself, definitely well worth a visit! Later that night we had a drink with our Swedish neighbours (the campervan parked next to
us) and were off next morning driving south.We arrived in San Sebastian in the early afternoon (Donostia is the Basque name) and made our way up Mount Igueldo which towers over the Southside of San Sebastian. The campsite we stayed in was the busiest we had seen so far, we were lucky to get in and wouldn’t have, had it been an hour later. It was full of young folks from all over Europe - there was “all-day” parties going on everywhere with five or six different CDs competing with a few guitars - a lively spot to say the least. Well we left the young folk to their partying, dolled ourselves up as best we could and took the bus back into town. San Sebastian is a beautiful city and forms a half moon around the bay of La Concha, the sea is only 100 metres from any part of town including San Sebastian’s Parte Vieja (Old Town) which seemingly has the greatest concentration of bars and restaurants anywhere in Spain. So that’s where we headed for the “Tsakoli and Tapas” experience - never have we seen such a selection of colourful Tapas as presented in the bars of
the old town. We indulged until we could fit no more. After we had a few () glasses of Tsakoli, (a traditional Basque white wine poured from as high as the barman can possibly manage - see photo attached) in us we called it a night. Next day we were back again for more of the same but took it a little easier as we were off south next day. Again San Sebastian is a beautiful city and we would definitely recommend a visit to anyone in the region.
Met up with the Camino walkers, Vitoria Gasteiz and Zarautz
Saturday morning came and we were off to meet the Camino Walkers - my brother Eugene and The Dill who were finishing their Camino walk in LoGrono in the La Rioja region. They had walked nearly 200 miles from near Biarritz and were tired men when we met them in Logrono. The Camino is an old pilgrimage which culminates in Santiago de Compostella where it is said St James is buried in the Cathedral. Almost every European country has a Camino Pilgrimage route and the boys had done a fair amount of the Spanish route. Tired they were but they still managed a
few drinks - in fact Siobhan and I were first to drop out while the men carried on, teaming up with some local lads in our absence. Next day we dropped them at Vitoria Gasteiz for their Ryanair flight abhaile after a scenic drive through La Rioja region.We had planned to move on from Vitoria but spotted a Decathlon sports store on the outskirts of town which was closed on Sundays- our search for bicycles was ongoing and we decided that we’d hang around for the night and be Decathlon’s 1st customers the next day. So we parked up near Vitoria’s University which proved to be a nice quiet safe spot (we would seek out Universities again for a spot to park up - in general they are safe spots). Vitoria didn’t seem to have much to it and we had an early night. Next morning we were in Decathlon and never before had we seen such a sports shop - it was massive and had every sport you can think of within, we were very impressed and made plans to stock up before we left Spain in September. Alas, no bicycles caught our eye - Siobhan had already spotted
a fine orange one in Carrefour which she had her heart set on so off we went back to the coast to visit an old favourite town of mine Zarautz. I was in Zarautz four or five years ago (on a cycling holiday with Eugene and The Dill) it was then that I first discovered the mighty Tsakoli but we were going to stay away from it this time - Logrono had taken it’s toll and we were staying away from all that for a week or so. So we had a lovely peaceful night in Zarautz and were delighted to get our 1st taste of Free WiFi at the campsite. We had brought a laptop with us specifically as we had heard that a lot of European Campsites offer free WiFi, alas they are far and few between and even in Zarautz it was a very poor connection.
All along the top - through Cantabria, Asturias and into Galicia.
We were off early the next morning following the coast west; we enjoyed some majestic scenery as we travelled the north coast of Spain. As usual we stopped for our lunch (a Baguette with ham and cheese or Bocadillo as they
are known in Spain) - our usual stop was warmed by lovely scenery and we drove west towards Bilbao. We had a hard choice whether to follow the coast or to go inland towards Santander - in the end the decision was made to go the direct route and we arrived at Santander just as it was getting dark and made our way to the beach. Santander is on the coast and boasts some fine beaches just a 20 minute walk from the city centre. We stayed one night rough and the 2nd in a campsite. The highlights of our stop were 1) walking the headland and beachfront, it was truly spectacular and 2) and more importantly Siobhan purchased a fine mountain bike from Carrefour for all of €99, so with the bike tied up to the back of the “Big Rig” we were off again heading west.We left Cantabria behind and entered Asturias following the Costa Verde (The Green Coast). We had another day full of beautiful scenery and stopped in Gijons to pick up our 2nd bike - I went a bit overboard splashing out all of €109 for another fine bike and now we were doubly mobile.
That night we stayed in a remote spot - Cudillero looking out over the Atlantic. Next morning we were on the road early for the long drive to Santiago de Compostella in Galicia - the end of the Camino for the thousands of walkers. As we approached the city we spotted first a few, then tens, then hundreds of walkers converging on the city and from what we understand they come from all angles so we only were seeing a small percentage of them. Some were limping, some being supported, some sitting - you could see the Camino had taken its toll. We stayed three nights in a campsite in Santiago, visiting the magnificent Cathedral de Santiago de Compostella, trying some Galician Ribeiro wine and getting the bikes out to explore Santiago’s lovely old town. It was great to park up the “Big Rig” and have the freedom of the bikes to wander as we like.
Down through Portugal
From Santiago it was south towards Portugal stopping in the lovely Galician village of Tuy along the way. On crossing the border we immediately noticed the change, on first glance, Portugal was much poorer than Spain and a bit run down
- the change was similar to what we had seen crossing from France to Spain near San Sebastian. Having said that the scenery also changed dramatically and we passed through rolling hills interspersed with dense forests, dramatic mountains and lovely cute white washed houses. The cost of living in Spain is cheap but it’s even cheaper in Portugal. We travelled south to Porto, Portugal’s 2nd largest city and parked up for the night on the banks of the Douro estuary. We unhooked the bikes next morning and wandered Porto’s gritty old quarter and visited the town’s Port Museum which chronicles the history of Port production in the town and region. From Porto, we drove south and a little inland to Fatima. We were so impressed after our brief visit to Lourdes that we couldn’t pass Fatima without a visit. Again for those of you that have not heard of Fatima, in 1917 between May & October, the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children on the 13th day of six consecutive months & during the apparitions emparted three secrets that became known as the "Three Secrets of Fatima". We arrived mid-afternoon and parked up in one of the car-parks surrounding
the grounds. We wandered the grounds that afternoon and returned that night for a candlelight vigil. The night-time vigil was serene and peaceful and wrapped up a lovely visit for us. From Fatima we went west to the coast spending a night in Nazare, which had a very long beach front but was really just a very crowded sea-side resort. From there we travelled on to the historic town of Obidos. Obidos is as picturesque a spot as you’ll find, it is a tiny walled village some 60 KMs north of Lisbon and we were lucky in that an opera festival was opening the night after in the town’s outdoor theatre and we enjoyed an hour or two of final rehearsals. The town is as perfectly preserved as you can imagine and within the outer walls is a myriad of tiny twisting streets which you can easily get lost in - around every corner is another quaint bar, restaurant or shop that wouldn’t be out of place two hundred years ago. If you visit Portugal and are in the Lisbon area - you should definitely spend an afternoon or evening in Obidos. So south again to Portugal’s Capital City Lisbon
The Castle on the Rock - Lourdes
Previously an English Fort, the French Flag now flys proud. where we stayed for two nights in the City’s huge forest park “Parque Forestal de Monsanto”. We spent one day in Lisbon centre to see a mix of crumbling pastel coloured houses, grand squares and narrow lanes and alleys. Lisbon was the first place in a while that we didn’t feel overly safe in but the old world atmosphere with old street trams made for a worthwhile visit. We had been warned not to leave Portugal without trying “Grilled Sardines” so we dined out and had the tastiest sardines ever - we would be grilling them ourselves from there on. We wrapped up our visit with a steep climb into Lisbon’s Barrio Alto district where all Lisbon’s trendy bars and restaurants are located. That evening we left Lisbon behind driving further south along the Atlantic Coast. We stopped for the night in Villa de Millifontes, a coastal fishing village halfway between Lisbon and the Algarve coast. We enjoyed a night out on the town sampling Portugal’s two favourite beers Superbock and Sagres. Next morning we were off early for the long but scenic drive to the Algarve coast - we chose to drive the more scenic inland route over the
Monchique mountains and were treated to spectacular views. The journey over winding roads proved to take longer than planned and we were losing light by the time we got to the Algarve. With that we set about finding a home for the night and visited a string of resorts and tourist enclaves before deciding on the quiet and quaint village of Salera just west of Lagos. We were surprised at how quiet this little place was considering the time of year (August), while there were a few tourists about it was all very quiet compared to the few spots we passed through that day. We were also surprised by the weather and prices in the Algarve, it was freezing in the evenings, you would need a coat, hard to believe considering how close to Africa we were! As for the prices, I mentioned how cheap Portugal was even by comparison to Spain, well not so in the Algarve, prices are just like Irish prices - crazy!! Anyway we had a quiet night on the Algarve taking in a quick dip next morning before heading off east towards Spain and Seville. As we drove east, we made a day of it,
stopping in a few of the Algarve’s more famous spots like Lagos, Albufeiro, Faro and Tavira - and there ends our brief but enjoyable stay in Portugal.
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