Spain

Part 1

Yesterday was quite cold and soon after we arrived at the campsite it began to drizzle. It rained more later. This wouldn't usually be a problem but we have the insulated windscreen cover that goes on the outside. It will be wet through when we are packing up.

Today we continue up the N232 towards Logroño and then to Haro. One road and two days on it by the time we arrive! It looks from the map that it finally ends up north of Burgos where it meets the road to Santander.

The Mercadona is definitely shut. I checked opening hours and it showed seven day opening. So I asked a question on their Google map entry. Conflicting answers. Then I saw they had updated the opening hours to show it closed. Bummer.

With it being a holiday I guess we can expect more people on the road. Yesterday there weren't that many until we got near Zaragoza.

The route is in the satnav. Maybe I am expecting too much to hope that the LPG Repsol station on the way to be open. Just maybe though... Or wait until we are back in France.

Diesel Fuel in Spain is cheaper than France and with the 25¢ discount at the till it brings it down to around €1.50 a litre. At the current exchange rate that's around £1.29 a litre. Or a saving of 60p plus!!!

Part 2

A very cold night. I thought we might experience EHU rage. We are plot 82. The power box is clearly marked which plots use which socket. When we arrived 83 was obviously too lazy to use the point with his number so used ours. I then used 112 that backs on to us. Then someone arrived. A little Spanglish later and all settled amicably. All due to dumb ass next to us...

The overnight rain has finally stopped and there's a vain hope that it will stay dry today. It needs to be dry for us to wrestle the insulated cover back into its bag!

The plot surface here is very sandy, although compacted, but it sticks to the soles of your shoes. So we have been brushing the floor constantly.

We need to be away soon. EHU disconnected. Gas off... 😁

If anyone is reading the blog entries. I hope they aren't too boring. I actually write them as reminders for myself and Claire of the trips we've done, and for friends and relatives to know where we are. If anyone else finds them interesting, then that's great....

Today was the day we finally turned north. From today it will be ever northwards until we are home.

Once the chores were done we paid the final bill. Because it was so cold we had used 13kWh of electric. We had 8kWh included in the overnight tariff, leaving 5 to pay for a 45¢ per kWh. Not too bad.

The route to our overnight stop at the municipal campsite in Zaragoza was to go about 5 miles and then turn onto the N232 all the way.

The first stop was Morella where my brother Neill and I stayed in September. I missed out the free Aire and parked by the aquaduct. Of course getting Reggie to walk anywhere was impossible. We set off and then gave up.

Wiki entry on Aquaduct

Back on the N232 through mist and then sunshine as we entered Aragón. A stop at a roadside café for coffee and a donut 🍩 and we were off again.

As we approached Alcaníz I thought about stopping at Motorland. A photo opportunity not to be missed.

We made a stop by the lake for a Reggie pee-break.

Next stop Motorland. Not the way they forced bikes arriving from the south into some back roads, but the way we came out.

The barriers were closed around much of it but it was open on the parking where we parked for MotoGP. I went in there and parked by the wall. Every other section has Motorland embossed into it.

A few pix and we were off again. We could have had lunch here, but instead headed back to the N232. Looking for a place we came across the parking Bajo Aragón. We had past it in September and hadn't stopped

I had to make a U-turn into it and park up. It looks as though it's actually the old road. It's very muddy on the right where trucks have churned it up...

More photo ops here for both phone and Canon.

Once lunch was over it was the run up to Zaragoza. We arrived at the campsite around 4pm. Setup. Leccy works again!

Then a walk up to the onsite bar to give Reggie a walk after his tea and for us to have a drink. Beer 🍺 for me and coffee for Claire.

The temperature was down to about 6 °C and it is due to get colder as the evening progresses.

Tonight we will have chicken korma and rice. We bought some chicken pieces and have a jar of korma. Should do two nights.

Tomorrow is a public holiday in Spain and so we may have to rely on what we have in case stores are shut. The Mercadona across from the campsite is closed. Probably others will be as well.

One more might after this in Spain and then we are back in France. Tomorrow we head for campsite in Haro in La Rioja. It's another dog-leg of a trip but many of the aires on the more direct route from here didn't look that nice and open campsites seemed very rare.

Bed made up...

Today is the end of the second week away in France and Spain.

To mark the event Reggie decided that he would ask to go out around five times during the course of the night. The site here in Benicarló is well lit. So it makes it easier to walk around. As we are nearby to the footpath leading out to the road along the back, there is s CCTV camera. If they check the footage they will see me out at regular intervals.

I didn't get up until nearly 11am. I was shattered. Reggie though can sleep at any time!

Before breakfast I took him for a walk to the beach. It almost to the beach. He was happy enough for the first part but then dug his feet in and refused.

A bit later we popped to the shop and bought some sauce to go with the chicken we bought yesterday. Another RidgeMonkey cooking session coming up! We also bought another can of dog food. Once we get into France we can locate a Picard for Dogador!!

Until then it will have to be tinned dog food and a handful of biscuit added into it

Another walk on the beach with moderate success. We set off down the path. Here the sea has eroded the edge away and the steps have collapsed. Getting down the four feet drop is by precariously placed bits of rock and concrete.

We set off towards Benicarló and got about half way, then he decided to go no further, his tail between his legs! Once turned around he was scampering around and tail up. Mmmm.

The weather looked iffy and there was rain 🌧️ earlier on, but with the sun out it was quite hot.

Another trip to the shop and we bought biscuits! Plus a photo opportunity.

When we got back I dug the satnav out to programme in tomorrow's route.

Google shows the shortest and quickest route from here to be via the N232 from Vinaros to Morella and then into Aragón and then cross country to Monday nights stop at Calamocha.

It looks like going two sides of a triangle. The most direct route is to stay on the N232 to Zaragoza.

With it being Sunday, making a change to tomorrow's overnight isn't that simple.

We'll have to see what happens during the day.

Once we had settled in and had a walk along the beach and back we went across to the restaurant to have our free drink. Never ones to give up a freebie.

Whilst we were there we had some tapas; patatas Brava and boquerones. Large portion and very nice.

There is a comprehensive menu to choose from and we will be back tomorrow to try the paella.

Communidad Valencia is the home of paella. We've not seen the rice fields but some of the comments on the various motorhome forums and site apps mention them and mosquitoes a lot.

Here is Benicarló we've not seen one, or rather heard that irritating buzzing!!!

Today was packing up day at Playa Romana. We had made a start yesterday and today there was less to pack and load up. It was around 10.40am when we set off to go around the block to drop the keys through the reception door. As it is closed there is a slot in the window and a cardboard box to catch them!

Our first stop was at Consum. We needed some stuff for the weekend for ourselves and for Reggie. We had run out of Dogador ages ago and he has been eating raw beef mince with added carrots. He has also eaten his way through a large 1.2kg tin of Mercadona dog food. Today I bought some dried biscuit food as a standby in case we run out of raw.

I also bought a bottle of Horchata! I don't know if other areas have it but this one is a Valencian version. I used to drink loads of it when in Murcia.

On the exit to Alcossebre I turned on the Chinese go-pro copy camera to see if it would work. It was on for a while and even during the fuel stop at Alcala at the Repsol garage. Diesel here is €1.759 a litre and then there is 25 cents off per litre. Maybe if it will work in the laptop I can share some boring YouTube footage

We were only coming about 25 miles to the north in any case. We arrived at Camping Alegre del Mar a little before 1pm. Checked in and set up camp. In our case putting the insulated cover on the front screen and trying the EHU. It worked! Maybe the problem that plagued us in France after the first day wasn't at our end! Fingers crossed. We are here two nights.

We had a walk on the beach. It's about 50 yards away. A bit dodgy getting down to it and it looks a bit rough! Reggie alternated between excited and refusing to move!

Once back we decided to put the van on the levellers. The spirit level showed the front needed to come up a little. It's the first time I have used them. Seemed easy enough.

We had lunch. Later we will go and check out the bar. We have a first night free drink.

The rain forecast for the last few days arrived. Not enough to wet the entire windscreen.

Another "at home" day with the exception of another walk to Alcossebre and lunch at Restaurante Valentin. The third time we have been there! There are other bars and restaurants and they are all close together. We prefer it as the host is very funny and friendly.

We both opted for salads. Mine has the massive tomatoes!

Today we walked along the beach in both directions again. There was less of it due to the tide and we had to miss a section out as it was still under water! This area is very nice although in the summer the apartments would be full to bursting.

Once back we decided to change the plans for tomorrow and look for a camp site rather than the Aire I had booked. Reggie is becoming less confident and somewhere less like a car park would be better. We will lose the £4 deposit but it can't be helped.

So instead we are heading a mere 38kms north to Benicarlo and a site there for two nights. I might even try the EHU again! It will mean that we will save about 200kms this way. The distance to Monday nights Aire at Calamocha is about 200 kms. Tomorrow it would be 208!

We have plenty of time to get away from here and get some shopping done.

Amazingly Reggie had a good night and slept through until around 7am. No middle of the night wandering around the deserted resort for him and me.

After breakfast we decided that as it was sunny, with a forecast of rain later, that we would have a walk along to the marina at the other end of the town.

Although the signs say "domestic animals" aren't allowed on the beaches, there are loads of dogs being walked. So we joined them. Reggie wasn't happy until we got onto one of the boardwalks. I guess you can take an elephant on the beach here!

Our walk along the beach t least gave Reggie a chance to be less stressed. He seems to have got worse with age. He's 12yo now and will never get any better.

Our first stop was Restaurante Valentin again. The guy there is a character. He speaks all the languages and has a joke with everyone. We had coffee and cheesecake!

To walk that off we headed for the marina. It's always nice to see all the boats that we could never afford! But before he got there Reggie put the brakes on and we started to walk back. Pretty much the same way. Once on the beach, his tail came up and he was happy running about and sniffing. He does a lot of sniffing.

We had lunch when we got back and then some reading as the sun came round to our patio. It's a little chilly though until the sun arrives. Across the way, they get it all day!

Today we were up earlier as we wanted to be out before the cleaners arrived! At this resort they come on a Wednesday. There can't be many apartments to clean as there is hardly anyone here. I doubt they clean the privately owned either. So far we have only seen one other ground floor apartment in use, across the pool from us, and last night there were lights on in an upper floor apartment to the right of us.

We therefore decided to go to Peniscola. This keyboard doesn't have accented letters but in any case, all the sign posts are in Castilian Spanish and Catalan. So Peniscola with no accents is right!

We went into the centre just under the old city and parked by the port. All the parking ticket machines were blanked off with heavy metal covers. At home they slide a bag over them! We saw some other camping cars and I reversed into a space next to them. Careful not to park in a "bus" marked space.

We had a walk on the beach and then around the curve of the beach to a café for a coffee. Very nice it was. In fact finding one open seems a miracle for this area in November. God only knows that December will be like!

Reggie seemed unhappy again and so we decided not to drag him up to the old city but go elsewhere. He perked up a bit on the beach and I took a series of photos on the Canon.

We packed up and decided to head south again to Oropesa del Mar where we went yesterday. Another stop at Mercadona for some stuff we forgot yesterday and also to buy something for a picnic lunch.

Not before a look at the old city from the other side. This beach was used in the "El Cid" movie.

On the way down from Peniscola we had been taken by the satnav to Benicarlo and the the AP7 to Oropesa. One of the highlights was passing the Benimar motorhome factory. There must have been hundreds of new ones parked up outside!

In the end I parked opposite where we were yesterday and we took a walk along the promenade and found a bench to eat. For those that are interested we had a small slice of pizza on bread and a spinach empanada. Both very nice indeed.

This was followed by a walk on the beach and a look into the rock pools formed where the rocky end to a (currently) dry river meets the sea.

I tried to get a video but have no idea if it actually worked!

We then set off back to Alcossebre up the N340.

Claire took some photos on my phone on the N340. This used to be the artery up the Mediterranean coast. Now bypassed by the A7 and AP7. Many of the "Routier" style places have closed down. Many of them are still open as evidenced by the number of trucks filling the massive parking areas.

Once back at the resort, it was R&R time. Claire did a little clothes washing and I tried to stop Reggie barking at the resort staff and of course the cats that prowl around all day!

And of course R&R includes beer and snacks.

Tonight? Dinner. Eat in again. The rest of the "Spanish Omlette" tortilla I expect. Tomorrow? Who knows! Depends on the weather.

Another day in Alcossebre. We had a lie in today. Once again we were up with Reggie during the night. Being away seems to have put his systems in a bit of a spin.

We had decided on a bit of a lazy day. After all we are on holiday.

So it was rather late when we decided to find the Mercadona supermarket in Oropesa.

Claire and I stayed there quite a few years ago. Since then it seems to have grown much bigger.

The run down the N340 avoiding the motorway was relatively traffic free. Before motorways this road ran from the border with Portugal to the border with France. All along the Mediterranean coast. I rode most of it back in the late 80's from south to north.

As we only have the van we took Reggie. So to give him a walk once we had shopped we parked near the sea. Not the best beach here, but after November 1st dogs are permitted on them. A shame Alcossebre doesn't adopt the same idea!

The hotels and apartments are set back with a wide promenade and grassed areas.

Once Reggie had had enough, we retraced our steps back to Alcossebre. Of course, no trip here would be complete without the satnav taking us through the least main parts of town! There must be a direct route into the town!!!

So tonight. Dinner. Watch another movie on the laptop downloaded from Amazon?

Tomorrow? The cleaners are due in and so we need to be out. Maybe desayuno where we found them open yesterday? Or maybe Peñiscola?

So to see if the pages are properly paragraphed and lines are ended properly as well, I have decided to try and use Outlook Mail from my MS Surface! From the phone none of the lines fold correctly and so here we are. A full width screen to type into.

(Update - page width worked but the inline photos are shown as markers but are all lumped together at the bottom I ned to edit online to sortt that out.)

Firstly Amboise on the day we arrived.

Next Amboise the following morning.

[cid:image011.jpg@01D9033C.97F383E0][cid:image013.jpg@01D9033C.97F383E0][cid:image015.jpg@01D9033C.97F383E0] - this is the photo link left in Outlook.

Next we jump forward a few days to the Cite de Carcassone.

And lastly to some I took today at Playa Romana Park where we are actually staying in the timeshare apartment in Alcossebre. The last photo will show the loo! The flush button disappeared and the guys have been in to fix it.

This brings us up do date as far as photos are concerned!

The idea was that today was supposed to be an R&T day. After six days of driving from home to Castellò province.

On top of the hassle getting the key and apartment details yesterday we had a further problem. Cockroaches!

Yes the apartment was home to a few. Some mysteriously already dead, others were (past tense) alive. Not any longer. All removed and so far no further visits.

The apartment is quite basic and the furniture not up to IKEA standards. It will suffice.

When the reception opens tomorrow we will be bringing the 'roaches to their attention.

So today we had a broken sleep. Reggie wanted to go out about 3.30am and again about 7am.

After breakfast we decided to have a walk along the beach. Unlike at home where dogs are banned at most beaches from Easter to October 31st, it appears it's all year ban. However, Playa Romana across the road had people walking dogs.

There is a fenced path that runs in both directions when we emerge from the resort. Today we decided to go right.

The beaches are made up of smaller bays this way. The rock undercut by the sea. On one of the smaller ones we had a walk right down to the waves crashing onto the pebbly beach.

It's also the first fully sunny day we have had. Temperatures rose to around 18 °C. Plenty warm enough for me!

Once back and after lunch Claire did some washing and we read our Kindles. Nice to do nothing.

I also got caught up with entering the fuel stops into the Fuelly app. If bbcode works there should be a photo below showing the average mpg since we bought Suki!

[IMG]https://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-uk/1136122.png[/IMG]

Tonight Consum lasagne and peas for dinner!

What will tomorrow bring. I guess we try the walk to the left?

The end of the week is here with Day 6.

Today we left the camping car aire in St Cyprien Plage and turned south into Spain. Not before we had done a little housekeeping, emptying the toilet cassette and waste water (me!!) and half filling the fresh water tank - joint venture.

It was around 10.05 am. The route took us to Argèles sur Mer and then across to le Boulou.

I decided to get to Spain quickly I'd plump for the toll A9. On the way there were were directly aiming for Mt Canigou.

Once on the A9 I set the cruise for 90km/h and we were on our way.

Through the old border and into Spain.

The satnav decided rather than tell us how far it was to Alcossebre as well as the arrival time and journey time, we only needed to know the latter.

The autovia AP7 is now toll free and we were on it for around 300kms. We stopped twice for pee breaks and once to get the Spanish Michelin maps out.

Eventually arriving right outside the apartment complex's reception building.

As it is closed at weekends (!) we had been emailed with acode to open a key box.

It didn't work. I called the emergency number and a lad arrived on a bicycle. He tried. Couldn't get it open. Called his Dad who came. Same result. He called someone and then went and got some pliers and belted it until it opened...

By now it was after 6pm. We checked out where the apartment was and set off for the nearest Consum supermarket. We need to eat over the weekend and it looks as though this place is dead as a dodo. Loads of bars and restaurants. All closed.

By the time we had shopped and unloaded the van it was gone 7.30pm.

Beer o'clock. After a long drive and the tenseness of not getting in here, I needed a drink.

Dinner was cassoulet with fresh bread and some Saint Nectaire cheese.

Early night tonight.

Some pics whilst we waited for the key...

Tomorrow. Sunday. Hopefully doing nothing much.

I was following up on the the late night Googling to check that the camper park at Calamocha was going to be a good overnight stop on the way north.

On the booking form on the laptop (WIN10) it works in English and Spanish. Unlike my Moto Android phone where English date selection is up the spout. One of the questions asked is the "carte d'identite" - passport to us British. I went to get it. Ah. Not where it ought to be.

Wracking my brains (what there are!) and I couldn't remember where it could be. I pulled out the gear I wore to Aragon, my tankbag. No sign of it. I pulled out the filing cabinet under the shelf where the passport old and new reside. Nothing. With boots, shoes and clothes in a massive pile I lifted the lid of the printer to the scanner glass. There it was! Panic over!

I remember I had to send a copy of it to the bank recently. PHEW!

So now back to the booking check. Calamocha checked out but not booked. A quick email to see if I can do it from the computer a week or so in advance to save the messing about with Android not working. Awaiting reply.

I did however book the camping site at Camping Haro. One night with electricity all done and dusted. Only €5 needed as a deposit. With the pound sterling being so weak, that is now £4.35! I paid it off straight away to keep my card relatively clear until we go away when it will be the most used form of payment.

So where next? After Haro we have five overnights left before we need to be on the ferry home. As the ferry is 1435 local time, if we are camping not too far away we can easily getup there and get some shopping done before checking-in. For the last night I am looking at the camping car-park site at Le Crotoy. It looks a bit far from the town and the shops and of course, a bar/pub! But it's one of the places that the experts on the motorhome forums say is "a must do". We'll see. It's €11 for the night and there is electricity for 20 of the 29 places only.

That will leave us 4 overnights to come up through France. I am afraid that will be dependent on where the vet is. So far I have fired off a few emails to vets along the route and have had the sum total of zero (none!) replies.

The first stop back in France is liable to be somewhere around Mimizan.

Yep. Planning is still underway.

Outward

I have pretty much got the route south from Calais planned out and there has maybe been one change and that is near the southern end. I am sticking with the idea of taking the A20/N20 (and its departmental derivatives) on the way down.

This is the route that my ex-workmate and friend, John, who we may drop in to see, takes from UK to his house in the Narbonne area. The distance from Calais to Alcossebre using no-toll is around 1050 miles. I find it easier to work in miles when planning a route.

We have five overnights between the ferry and the apartment in Alcossebre. We can't check in to the apartment until 4pm or thereabouts and so it means we have pretty much all day to drive down the (now free) AP7 motorway from France. According to Google maps it's about 260 miles from the last planned stop in France at Laroque des Albères. Plenty of time to maybe pop into see the see if we can find a dog friendly beach! Although it does seem like a lot of Spain claims to be dog friendly but doesn't extend that to the beaches, even in the off season.

So the only change for the way down is to cancel Revel Camping-Car Park stop and change it to Castelnaudary. The route have been checking over and over on Google with no tolls set as the filter looks more direct. Plus it's only around 500m from the town centre and shops and restaurants. Tonight when I checked it is actually full so we may need to book in advance rather than turn up on the off chance. We may have to fall back on Revel if it is full when we need to overnight there!

Inward

I haven't done a great deal of planning for the run back north. I was sidelined looking at options for Summer 2023! It's so easy to get sidetracked!! What I have decided is that we will come back up the A10/N10 route that will get us to Tours and then up

Anyway. We have 9 overnights after the Alcossebre week in the apartment. I have already used two of them heading a little further south to stay at the KM Zero Camper Park near between Oliva and Gandia to the south of Valencia. We had out honeymoon in Denia and I had thought about a visit there but didn't like any of the camper "aires" that were there. So this is a little to the north of there. Maybe another time!

So that leaves 7 overnights. Using Google maps with the filter again for non tolls it gives a route back up past Valencia to Sagunto and then the A23 to Zaragoza. I looked at a campsite on the CAMC overseas booking site at Haro in La Rioja to the west of Pamplona. It's a site with all the facilities and is open all year. Booking direct looks a lot cheaper than through the club though. I'll leave this for a while in case I change the route.

From KM-Zero it's about 360 miles and I am trying to keep mileages each down so that we aren't driving all day! After all we are on holiday and want to see something rather than blatting past!

Then I looked at breaking that 360 in half. There aren't that many options and many of the free aires don't get that good a write-up! However, Camper Park Calamocha did. Reviews are pretty good and it has EHU. It's probably unmanned as you need to book on your phone or computer and it will send a gate code. I tested it and in English the calendar wouldn't work and so I had to try the Spanish version that does! Luckily, I have my notebook to make a note of what it will ask and have written the translation down! I just have to remember to take the book with me!

And that's as far as I have got so far. Still five overnights to book and also I have to find a vet to administer Reggie's worm pill and sign the AHC! I think I will look somewhere around Tours for that service.

After a week in the timeshare in Alcocéber we need to think about the drive home. We actually have 9 overnights to cover around 1100 miles. Whilst I'd like to consider the Somport and the A10 way home I am thinking that this might be a risk with the weather across the Pyrenees. Plus, I did it a fortnight ago in reverse on the bike!

What does seem more sensible would be to cross from Spain into France on the Basque coast at Irun. And then follow the non-toll route towards Bordeaux. The area south of the Gironde has been marred in the summer with terrible forest fires leading to major evacuations of the locals as well as holidaymakers. Temperatures had reached into the 40°s and the heat and dry conditions caused flash fires. By early to mid-December this shouldn't be a problem!

So where to go after Alcocéber? I am thinking that we head a little to the south before turning northwards through the centre of Spain to that border crossing with France. Reserving four overnights to get to Calais. One stop en-route to get Reggie's worming pill done. I have an overlay to Google maps that shows vets that can do the job. I will be emailing a few of them along the route once I have a rough plan.

Reggie needs to have the worming done between 120 and 24 hours before we hit the Port of Dover and disembark. I guess I could work it so that we arrive in Sarlat where he has been wormed before, in his old EU pet passport, in good time to get the job done. The return sailing is 1435 CET on a Monday!

So after we leave Playa Romana in Alcocéber I have booked two nights at a camping ground called Km Zero Camper Park in a place called L'Alqueria de la Comtessa to the south of Valencia near Gandia. It gets good reviews and with electricity hook-up it's €34 for the stay. It's dog friendly. I have emailed them to check what is open on site in the off-season. As long as we have electricity we are pretty much okay. We should have plenty of LPG onboard to cook etc. I am hoping that we won't need heating!!!! According to Pitchup there are supermarkets nearby.

So 7 more overnights to plan!

It looks as though Pitchup doesn't have many options for the drive up to Pamplona so it looks as though we will have to rely on the various apps that are available on the Android platform.

Google maps with the no-toll option shows that from Km Zero to Pamplona is around 336 miles. Given the back roads that will take all day and we don't want to be spending all day in the van. Adding Calais port into the equation it comes out at 1046 miles. Gulp.

On CamperContact I can see there are plenty of aires that are free. Some get really good write ups for safety etc. I am looking at Cella in Aragon. It's 156 miles from the KM Zero and we should get there in good time. An alternative is in Teruel. The camper site is opposite the Guardia HQ. Might be safe then.

So more work to do.