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Caves & Castles

October – December 2024
  • Misadventures Of Wanda
This is our journey back to France, Spain & Portugal to visit some of the things we’ve overlooked in the past. Read more
  • Misadventures Of Wanda

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  • Portugal Portugal
  • Spain Spain
  • England England
  • France France
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Bicycle, Camper, Family, Hiking, Nature, Photography, Sightseeing, Wilderness
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  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Goufree du Padriac

    October 10, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We slept great in our free park up with 2 other motorhomes next to us. It rained most of the night but this morning it had stopped.
    At 9;30am we used the on site water relay and paid 3 euros by card to fill up our water from the slowest tap in the world. Then we took a 5 minute drive up the road to our first stop of the day and our first major cave.
    Goufree du Padirac starts as a huge sinkhole 150 meters deep that then runs into a monstrous cave system that in total covers over 20 miles.
    The tour is self guided and we were given an audio guide at the entrance. Then we descended the first 50 meters by elevator before going down steps the next 100 meters to the floor.
    It was very wet because of all the rain and dimly lit which was a nightmare for pictures but we walked 200 meters before getting into a boat where we were ferried a further 500 meters until we got out and walked again following the path of the underground river next to us. This is as far as the public can go but cavers follow the river and at points they have to dive down and swim for up to a kilometre under water. It takes 3 days to follow the entire flow of the cave and river and come out 20 miles away.
    The tour took us about 90 minutes and I feel it was worth the £16 each as it had been on my list since before we got Wanda. It’s more money than we would normally spend on an excursion whilst travelling.
    From Gouffre du Padirac we then took a 5 mile journey to our next location and park up for the night.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Cycling Rocamadour

    October 10, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Our next stop was Rocamadour. A fortified town with a huge monastery at the very top and ancient pathways and roads twisting up to it. This was another sight I had seen from the Tour de France.
    We parked in parking area 4 which is a dedicated Motorhome area but the downside is it costs 16 euros for 24 hours. Very expensive by French standards and we’ve realised that this whole area is a huge tourist trap. On the way out of the caves the lad in the lift told us that in July and august they get 20,000 visitors per day to the cave.
    Luckily we are only sharing this car park with one other person this time of year.
    After parking we took a walk down the footpath and the town was right in front of us. It was an amazing sight just seeing it grow out the side of the cliff.
    We took what they call the photographers path down into the town although it was very photogenic and once at ground level we took a slow walk through the cobbled streets looking in the shops passing through 3 ancient archways.
    Once it started to rain again we turned around and started back for Wanda up a huge slope carrying us the 150 meters from ground level back up to the height where we had parked.
    Once the rain had stopped I decided to get my bike off the back and head out.
    I left the car park and headed towards town but before I got there I turned left on the road and hit the S bends that snaked all the way to the bottom. This was the route of the 2024 Tour de France.
    I headed down the winding road at 50kph through a tunnel where all the TDF jerseys had been painted on the walls and then the riders names started appearing on the road. I was cycling in the footprints of some of my hero’s and as the road veered up and started climbing more and more names appeared.
    I was super excited to be riding on roads that I had seen on the tv, and although it was a short ride of just 30km it was over 500 meters of climbing with gradients of 10%.
    I got back to Wanda at 5:30pm and just as I finished putting my bike on the back the heavens opened and it helled it down.
    At 7:30pm the rain had stopped so we took a walk back along the paths in the dark to see Rocamadour lit up and get some photos. It looked beautiful at night.
    Then it was back to Wanda to settle in for the night.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Stopping for Essentials

    October 11, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We left Rocamadour at 9am for a very murky drive through thick fog. We could barely see the town as we passed by and I kept the speed to a minimum as these French drivers do love to cut the corners and drive with no lights on even when they can’t see.
    Our original plan for today was to stop
    at another medieval town but the closest parking for motorhomes was going to cost us 12 euro for parking and extra if we wanted water and as we had just paid more than enough tourist tax in this area we decided to skip that and head straight down towards Toulouse and do a laundry and food shop.
    Half way down in Montauban we found a huge E’Le Clerc shopping centre that had a huge selection of shops. This was like lakeside and blue water combined and getting in and out of the car park for the laundry was a nightmare.
    The laundry took 30 mins for the 9kg washing machine and then 45 mins to dry and it was 5 euros for the wash and 3 euro for the dryer.
    Our next stop was Lidl a few miles down the road to get fresh food for the next 2 days and to stock up on milk and fresh water.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    A night in Grisolles

    October 11, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Our next stop of the day was in Grisolles and this is where we would be spending the night and we were lucky to arrive here at 3pm because as the afternoon went on more and more motorhomes arrived and some of them were huge.
    It’s not the most pleasant aire. Really it’s just a car park behind the community centre but there is a dump station and fresh water and even though the town isn’t the prettiest they have done a really good job of giving us travellers somewhere safe to sleep that had easy access.
    The aire does overlook the Canal system which has green routes running down both sides for hiking and biking and they go on for hundreds of kilometres with access to hundreds of towns and villages on the way so if hiking or biking is your thing this is a great spot.
    By the time night fell there was hardly a decent space left in the aire and large motorhomes were still arriving. We were lucky to arrive when we did.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    A ride along the Canals

    October 12, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We had nothing planned for today except moving down further so at 9:30am I headed out on my bike for what I thought was going to be a short leisurely ride.
    I headed down the cycle path at the side of the canal and had a good pace of 30kph. Around 8km in I overtook a French guy on a mountain bike and after 10 minutes I realised he was drafting me so I sped up to 33kph to try and shake him.
    The thing is when your drafting your not using any effort and he was just sitting in my slipstream while I did all the work. I kept this pace up for 5km and then I just as I was pretty much cooked I slowed down and he overtook me and gave me the universal sign for get on my wheel and I started drafting him.
    He had already slowed down only pulling at around 30kph and he pulled for around 1500 meters before he gave up and said he was cooked. We said Ciao to each other and I thanked him for his little effort and took off until I had 20 km under my belt and then I turned around and headed back to Wanda knocking out 40kph in 90 minutes.
    Back at Wanda Ellie made me Jaffels in the the Jaffel iron using last nights left over dinner of peppered sauce pork sausages and French Camembert. The cheese tastes great but it’s stinking the fridge out.
    At 12pm we left Grisolles and headed down.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Foix

    October 12, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Our next stop of the day was Foix and this is where we would be spending the night.
    Getting to the designated Motorhome area was an utter nightmare as unbeknown to us there is a country show on just 50 meters down the road and there are cars parked absolutely everywhere. I had to use all of my lorry driving skills to get us into this place and it was very stressful. At one point we had 1 inch of space down either side of us and cars just kept coming towards us.
    Once we were in we decided to go up to the show to see what all the fuss was.
    Just 50 meters up the road in the centre of town is a huge free agricultural show with untold amount of cattle. Several horses and lots of sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and even small finches. We watched what we believe was supposed to be a tractor rally but they just seemed to be driving aimlessly about, followed by horses.
    Then there was lots of food stalls and handmade items. It was a nice afternoon out and it was heaving with people, hence the traffic.
    At 6pm we got back to Wanda and the Motorhome area was completely full.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Rivière souterraine de Labouïche

    October 13, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    We slept much better last night than the night before considering there were so many vans in the little aire.
    By 7:30am we were up and so we’re lots of other people and a few vans we’re leaving by 8am.
    After a few coffees we left just after 9am and had to drive right through the town centre where all the stalls and animals were already getting ready for the second day of festivities. And it was just a short 5 Mile drive to our first location of the day Rivière souterraine de Labouïche.
    Our tour started at 10am and we had an excellent English speaking guide who took us on a 2km trip in a boat on the longest navigable subterranean river in Europe.
    He guided us 500 meters one way and then 1500 meters back the other way where we had to swap boats 3 times to navigate our way through.
    It was an amazing morning and the trip cost us just €13 each and lasted 90 minutes. It was a great start to our day.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Lombrives Cave

    October 13, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    From Rivière souterraine de Labouïche we travelled 20 miles south and right to the edge of the Pyrenees mountains to our second activity of the day, Lombrives Cave and we purposefully arrived here super early to make lunch and chill out before our tour started at 3pm because having done the longest underground river in Europe we were now going to do the largest cave in Europe. However we didn’t chill out much because we had to park in the sun which has finally decided to show itself and it was 36° outside and 30° inside.
    We started our tour at 3pm with a 1km hike up the side of the mountain to get to the cave entrance. We could have taken the land train but I didn’t book it.
    Once at the cave entrance our guide told us he didn’t speak English but we didn’t really care.
    Inside Lombrives it is absolutely huge. Pictures just can’t do it justice and fortunately we had plenty of time to get pictures as we kept stopping for our guide to explain stuff in French. This tour lasted 2 1/2 hours and took us 2km into the caves it really was amazing.
    When we came out it was 5:45pm and luckily he let everyone take the land train down which got us back to Wanda quicker.    Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    L'Hospitalet-prés-l'Andorre

    October 13, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    It took us 50 mins to reach our park up for the night and we are currently two thirds of the way up the col du poymorens which sits at 1915 meters above sea level.
    We in in the little town of L'Hospitalet-prés-l'Andorre which is just a few kilometres from Andorra but we will be turning left tomorrow and into Spain. Our free aire for tonight is beautiful, nestled in the mountains with a waterfall behind us. There are also washing machines here, water for €2 for 100 litres and various hours of electric should it be required. It’s an amazing little aire and our last one in France for a while. Tomorrow we’ll be in Girona and aires will start to be a little different.Read more

  • Misadventures Of WandaMisadventures Of WandaCaves & Castles

    Our first day in spain

    October 14, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We had a pretty good nights sleep in our free camp halfway up the col du puymorens and woke up at 7am.
    2 spaces away from us in the aire at the very end of the spaces is a beaten up old caravan with a middle aged couple that have obviously pitched up for aslong as they can. At 8am they kicked off screaming and shouting at each other in French and a quick glance out of the window we saw that he already had a pint of something in the go.
    Ellie quickly used the shower to wash her hair whilst I got dressed and packed the bed stuff away then Ellie got dressed while the very heated argument outside got louder and louder.
    Just after 9am we were ready and we left the aire to continue our journey up the mountain halfway down the other side and then up the Alto de Toses which topped out at 1750 meters but the climb itself was 22km long to the top and 24km down.
    We arrived at our first Spanish free aire in Sant Esteve d'en Bas at 12:30pm and we’ll be here for the next couple of days.

    (The first references of Sant Esteve d'en Bas date back to the 10th century.
    However, the remains found in the town centre suggest that, before the Christianisation period, there could have been a small pagan temple. During the 12th and 13th centuries, this place was turned into the centre of the viscountcy of Bas and within its borders there was the castle of the viscounts, called Castelló de Bas, and Sant Miquel church. Nowadays, it is the village with most inhabitants, as well as the administrative capital of La Vall d'en Bas.)

    At 1:30pm we went for a quick walk around the old town and the actual town centre is ancient with a church dating back to the 12th century and some of the houses near it dating back to the 16th century. It is full of narrow little paths and roads.
    Even though there’s nothing much in the town itself it does offer us a free aire which is right on the trail if the Via Verde Girona. Spain is criss crossed with old railway lines that have all been turned into greenways for hiking and cycling and some of them are hundreds of kilometres long and all are 100% traffic free. Spain is great at keeping traffic and bikes away from each other, so tomorrow I’m going to ride the Via Verde Girona all the way to Girona city which is 50km away and back.
    During the afternoon we mainly just chilled sitting outside of Wanda for the first time on this trip. It is warm but we can’t actually see the sun because there has been a dust storm from the Sahara desert and the sky is a thick pink colour and Wanda is covered in a nice red sand.    Read more

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