A New Adventure in France

Our first couple of days on the road were about covering some miles to get down to Spain, via Bram, so a mixture of motorways and cross country driving. This was also the first test of off-grid camping by using the various apps to find sites for the night. We had a halfway point in mind just south of Chateauroux and turned up at the site after a long drive battling strong winds to find it chained off – no reason why but perhaps it was weather related. Another couple in motorhome were already preparing to turn round and consulting their phones and maps for another site. Joe was delighted to have an early opportunity to try out the 4-wheel drive to turn us around up a grassy bank and the van performed well even with trailer in tow. We quickly identified another site in a nearby hamlet by a lake and parked safely there for the night. There were no facilities but we had everything we needed in the van.

The next day took us back to Bram in the Aude and we dropped off the trailer at the house and stayed overnight at a nearby Motorhome aire, also next to a small lake. This aire was well equipped with all facilities and we were surrounded by French campers, all in white vans so we were something of a curiosity. We need to be aware of differing vehicle regulations in each country so on Day 3 we prepared for Spain by affixing a separate UK sticker – the UK flag on the numberplate not being sufficient there – and fitted a red and white warning panel to our bike rack. We travelled cross country into Spain via Perpignan and we crossed the border near La Jonquera, a fairly unattractive frontier town apparently very popular with French for its cheap prices. As we crossed the border the thermometer gratifyingly showed 20C with blue skies.

We don’t have a specific itinerary for Spain but hope to get down just south of Valencia, discovering different places on the way down and back and avoiding major cities on this trip. Our first night’s stop was in L’Estartit, originally a small fishing village in Catalonia at the northern end of the Costa Brava, and now a seaside resort with a long sandy beach. The beach provided another opportunity for Joe to engage 4-wheel drive and we parked on the large sandy beach car park for coffee. The Motorhome aire in the town was very well set up and equipped and only minutes from the beach, port and town. We’ve read that the area enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year and this was certainly one of them.

The following day took us away from the coast and over a very winding mountain pass and into the hills beyond as we planned to stay somewhere in the hills above Tarragona. Already our travelling and camping is feeling different to what we’ve done previously as we’re covering more miles and seeing things from the van rather than on foot or bicycle. We had a potential destination in mind but the town didn’t look very inspiring so, consulting the app, we headed further into the hills to the monastery at Poblet where motor homes are allowed to stop overnight in the free car park. The description doesn’t do itself justice at all as the monastery is actually a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage site and working monastery. It was founded in the 12th century by the Count of Barcelona as the area was moving from Muslim to Christian rule and the Count chose the order of Cistercian monks, originally founded in France. The monastery houses beautiful buildings and rooms including the cloister, refectory, old dormitory and a church with the tombs of many Kings of Aragon and Counts of Barcelona. We certainly spent a peaceful night in the company of a couple of other vans, although the monks rise early so the bells began tolling at 6a.m. Certainly a first few nights of contrasts.