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France to Spain 2019France to Spain 2019
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France to Spain 2019

May 2019 - April 2024
Motorhome adventure to northern Spain via French Atlantic coast Read more
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  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 23

    Segovia splendours

    June 17, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Biked down a long hill from the campsite and the aqueduct just fills the sky in front of you as you turn a corner. It's a magnificent thing, all held up with no mortar. We marvelled at all 800m of it along with the busloads of tourists on a day trip from Madrid (mostly Chinese using selfie sticks). Then we walked up through the narrow streets to the Alcazar. Also magnificent, beautifully restored and presented. We saw that mostly surrounded by hordes of Spanish school kids - much preferable to the selfie sticks.
    A menu del dia in a quiet back street was just great.
    Then we visited the cathedral. We have seen 3 great cathedrals now and the opulence is near overload.... However these things were built in the 11th and 12th century so that alone deserves respect I suppose.
    Bit of a drag back up the long hill and BBQ with beers in the cool beside the van .
    New favourite wildlife creature is storks. They are on every church bell tower.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 24

    Fountains in the mountains

    June 18, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Another bike loop today. This one inspired by our Spanish friend Simon who told us to see the palaces outside Segovia in the hills. It was hot and windy but a lovely route. Our first palace was in a small town called San Ildefonso. It was the summer palace of Felipe V. We didn't go into the palace but the gardens were absolutely magnificent. Fountains everywhere and cool shady walks through the woods above the palace. We had a picnic in the shade and continued on our way to the second palace Rio Frio which was built as a hunting lodge for a son who died young. The building was huge but not pretty. The grounds were enormous and apparently full of deer and birds of prey although we didn't see the deer... There were stork nests on special poles. We weren't sure whether we were allowed to bike through the grounds but we blasted our way past the guard on the gate and sailed on into the estate, which went on for a few km on a private road, and then made a dash through the lower gate giving the guard a big Ola!
    Hot dusty and hilly ride back to Segovia, but a great day.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 25

    Cherry suprise

    June 19, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We headed off from Segovia and paused our journey to look at the almost perfect walled city of Avila from a vantage point on a hill outside the city by a monument built as a defence in 1566.
    Then we drove on a "scenic" route Ian said. Turned out to be another buttock-clenching, nail-biting journey round endless hairpins on a single track road with sheer drops into the valley. All around, terraces shaped the mountainsides and on the endless terraces, endless cherry trees. I wondered why they were so cheap to buy in the supermarket this morning...
    We finally reached Hervas, a lovely small town with a medieval Jewish quarter. We jumped on the bikes and rode into town for a walk around the narrow streets and then a couple of crisp white wines in the square watching the people go by.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 26

    Listen to the silence..

    June 20, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Ian had sorted another 30 mile loop ride on the GPS. We set off a bit late. We hadn't set an alarm because we were knackered after yesterday. Soon we were high up in the cool oak woods above the valley and the quiet was deafening. Our only companions were the birds and the frogs.
    On to the next village - Gargantilla - where we heard Ry's masters result. They have a cherry co-operative.
    Rode past a couple more tiny villages and stopped in one that had a sign of a bull in its village sign - Segura de Toro. We parked the bikes and walked down the steep streets. Some one was filming in the village by the church and a friendly lady gave us a leaflet on the history of the village (in Spanish of course).

    Then we found a bar where an old lady used Google translate on her iPhone to tell the barman what coffee we wanted...
    We pedalled on to a small town called Zarza de Granadilla that was compulsorily evacuated in the 1960s for a reservoir to be built, but the water level never reached it so now it remains nearly deserted. We had a picnic in the church square watched by the storks.
    Home across the parched valley.
    Celebratory curry and a fine local wine ended the perfect biking day .    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 27

    To the frontier

    June 21, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Headed off to cross another set of mountains - the Sierra de Francia - this time on a passable road which had a line down the middle....
    Great views across into Portugal - we are very close to the border now. Stopped at a picture book town at the top for coffee - La Alberca. Enticed to buy what we thought were cookies but turns out big slabs of chocolate with walnuts in ...€5 !
    On down the other side and stopped at Ciudad Rodrigo. A historic walled border town. Spent most of its history defending itself against attack from all sides. Even Wellington had a go at it.
    We wandered the deserted narrow streets and climbed the walls. At 6 pm everyone came out to the main square for drinkies so we people watched for an hour or so. Swallows in their hundreds swooped all round the square. We had sussed out our dinner venue and it was a great success. Divine seafood stuffed peppers and the best fillet steak we have ever eaten.
    Campsite poor though and in a dodgy part of town. It is the first time we have felt a bit insecure on our travels...    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 28

    The long journey north begins

    June 22, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We left the campsite early (glad...washrooms unclean and odd feel about the place ) and had a short journey on an empty motorway to Salamanca. Our campsite here couldn't be more different. Welcoming, organised, nice bar and restaurant, nice pool, washrooms you could eat your dinner off. We have a huge pitch, nice and private. We spent a couple of hours organising and resting in the heat, and then rode a lovely 45 minute route along the river into Salamanca. We parked our bikes and strolled about in the sun for a couple of hours. Elegant and interesting city, buzzing with families and even a wedding to watch. Decided we will stay an extra day it's so nice. Mindful of approaching heatwave too....
    Not a big fan of Dyson the man but the Dyson fan has been a life saver...    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 29

    Where is the lake?

    June 23, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Astonishly we woke up at 10am. We had earplugs in and they obviously worked. Loads of tents and vans had left without disturbing us.
    We decided to turn our backs on gilt and religion for once and Ian mapped a 30 mile route to a big lake where we hoped to have a picnic.
    We ended up heading up a gravel road to a water tower, and then past lots of signs that looked suspiciously like no entry signs. We followed a canal, met 2 walkers only, and then reached a sign over a dam that , roughly translated, said "really don't go here we have cameras". All the while the lake was missing.... Dried up we presume. So we took a detour and finally reached a tarmac road with a little traffic. Found a picnic spot in the middle of nowhere, and then Ian acted as a windbreak for a strong headwind home that nearly finished us. More miles than we had intended in the heat.
    Last stretch was along the river. We happened upon a village fiesta with an oom pa pa sort of band and trestle tables and everyone out strolling.
    Home for a rehydrate and a rest and paella and BBQ pork.
    Back to religion tomorrow we think.
    Safer option, or maybe someone is trying to tell us something...    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 30

    Secret Salamanca

    June 24, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We had a leisurely start this morning, did a bit of laundry and caught up on admin. Also a wee bit of planning to avoid the impending heatwave that's about to strike. Heading North seems to be the best option.
    Then we cycled back into town. Bought some great pasties from the Salamanca equivalent of Gregg's and ate them in a park. Then we went to meet the chap (Mark from Leicester, lived in Salamanca for 16 years, teaches English ) for our guided walk. We were the only clients so it was a bit like seeing the city with a chum except his views on Brexit were a bit dodgy. He told us stuff we didn't know, and walked us to hidden places we hadn't seen so it was great.
    After we finished we went on his recommendation to climb a belltower in a private university where we had stonking views over the city. It was just what we had hoped for.
    We cycled back along the River Tormes to the campsite where our Dutch neighbours had rescued our smalls that had blown away...    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 31

    Keeping cool

    June 25, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We started to head north to try to outrun the heatwave. Stopped our journey in Medina del Campo where there is a massive 15th century castle - Castille de la Mota. We walked around in the heat with an audio guide. Pretty exceptional stuff for the time.
    Then a quick shop to fill the fridge and we pushed on to Tordesillas. A historic town where Spain accidentally gave Portugal the whole of Brazil in a treaty by mistake.....
    The campsite has a big pool so we swam to cool off, had a beer to cool off, had a BBQ to cool off, and finally tried to cool off in the van with the fan.    Read more

  • TravelerFrance to Spain 2019
    Day 32

    Double magnet day

    June 26, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    The temperature is rising so we wanted an easy day. We breakfasted in the shade and then walked up into Tordesillas. We wanted to see a royal convent : the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara. We had to wait a bit for an English speaking guide but there were only 4 of us, 2 Spanish and ourselves, so it was intimate. Extraordinary security too...our bags were x-rayed and a security guide followed us from room to room to make sure we behaved. It was stunning. Dating back to the 13th century with moorish influence to please King Peter the Cruel's mistress who was from Andalucia.
    Then later on the Queen of Castille, known as Juana la Loca because she was a bit deranged, was imprisoned here for 46 years. She had previously carried her dead husband (Felipe the Handsome) around Spain in a coffin and looked in at him episodically..
    The other big event here was in 1494. Spain and Portugal divided up the world (those lands discovered already) by running a line down the earth between the two poles. In the Treaty of Tordesillas the Spanish kept everything to the west of the line and the Portuguese kept everything to the east. The line was moved a bit west by the Spanish pope (370 leagues) to go around the Cape Verde Islands and consequently Portugal came away with Brazil. Big spoils... Silly old Spain. There was a great museum in the town explaining it all. We had a menu del dia, which was great, in the plaza major to while away a bit more of the hottest part of the day. Then a swim, BBQ and cool evening breezes by the river.
    First time we have felt compelled to buy 2 magnets in one day ....    Read more

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