Travelling through France and Spain
Monday
A day of packing and final admin, transferring files to the laptop, paying the remaining bills we have before we leave. The Land Rover is pretty full but does look like it will be able to accommodate Linda and Emma’s additional luggage in mid-summer. But there is just the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that we are taking too much stuff.
All packed up and ready to go!
I am ready to leave for Portsmouth around 4:30. The initial mileage on the Land Rover for our journey is 123,593. I think I’ve got everything, but am bound not to have!
The ferry port is pretty quiet when I arrive. I have a couple of necessary purchases for the car, things like headlight adjusters, warning triangles and a GB sticker. On board and the lounge I have booked a reclining seat in is also pretty quiet. Armed with my sleeping bag and some spare blankets, I don’t wait very long before trying the get to sleep, laid out on the floor in front of several seats. I barely noticed the ferry start moving and was probably asleep by 9:30.
The adventure begins . . . . .
Tuesday
A good night’s sleep on the ferry. I woke at about 6:30 and the ferry was stationery outside St Malo. The sea was extremely calm, barely any waves at all. I didn’t fancy any breakfast and stayed reading in the lounge as the ferry inched into port and docked exactly on time.
Driving on the right hand side of the road always takes a few minutes to get used to, and driving a U.K. car on the right hand side is even odder. But St Malo was pretty easy to get out off and I was soon on a dual carriageway heading towards Rennes, the first major city on my route down through France, that would take in Nantes, Bordeaux, Bayonne, the Spanish border, Madrid, and Granada. Maybe 1,750km in all.
The ferry port is pretty quiet when I arrive. I have a couple of necessary purchases for the car, things like headlight adjusters, warning triangles and a GB sticker. On board and the lounge I have booked a reclining seat in is also pretty quiet. Armed with my sleeping bag and some spare blankets, I don’t wait very long before trying the get to sleep, laid out on the floor in front of several seats. I barely noticed the ferry start moving and was probably asleep by 9:30.
The adventure begins . . . . .
Tuesday
A good night’s sleep on the ferry. I woke at about 6:30 and the ferry was stationery outside St Malo. The sea was extremely calm, barely any waves at all. I didn’t fancy any breakfast and stayed reading in the lounge as the ferry inched into port and docked exactly on time.
Driving on the right hand side of the road always takes a few minutes to get used to, and driving a U.K. car on the right hand side is even odder. But St Malo was pretty easy to get out off and I was soon on a dual carriageway heading towards Rennes, the first major city on my route down through France, that would take in Nantes, Bordeaux, Bayonne, the Spanish border, Madrid, and Granada. Maybe 1,750km in all.
Leaving the ferry at St MaloMy plan was to drive for three hours then have a one hour break, repeating this for as long as possible through the day. My first stretch takes me around 250km. I listened to five albums by Kate Bush, and had some problems at the toll booths when I couldn’t reach the ticket machine from the right hand seat, and could work out which buttons to push. But overall it was going ok. It was a misty morning in northern France, the sun only just beginning to break through as I stopped for food at a service station at Poitou Charante. Food at French service stations is supposed to be very good and I was not disappointed by the chicken and ratatouille that I had.
From there it was onwards to Bordeaux and then Bayonne with an hour’s stop for some sunbathing in the late afternoon sunshine. I crossed into Spain at about 6:30 and past the foothills of the Pyrennees which were obviously getting some heavy rain from what I could tell. By now I was listening to the first four Cat Power albums.
From there it was onwards to Bordeaux and then Bayonne with an hour’s stop for some sunbathing in the late afternoon sunshine. I crossed into Spain at about 6:30 and past the foothills of the Pyrennees which were obviously getting some heavy rain from what I could tell. By now I was listening to the first four Cat Power albums.
A car park made for sunbathing . . . .
Several hours later and I have passed Burgos and was wondering where to stop for the night. By now I had travelled over 1,000km and was beginning to wonder about staying in a hotel, rather than my original plan of sleeping in the car. The terrible meal I had at an “Autogrill” service station may also have sapped by resolve. As it got dark I reached the town of Lerma and parked in a small car park on the edge of town with no one else around, had a quick chat to Linda, rolled out my sleeping bag across the front seats and was asleep in about 2 minutes
Wednesday
Not a bad night’s sleep though I did wake up a few times when I got into some really uncomfortable position across the front seats. It rained most of the night and the end of the sleeping bag was quite damp where the rain had come through the partially open window. And then after just five minutes driving this morning I passed what looked like a really nice hotel that would have been perfect late last night. I stopped for some breakfast there and was a bit annoyed that I hadn’t just gone the little way further. But at least yesterday’s drive got me two-thirds of the way to Orgiva and made it pretty certain that I would get there today – so i wouldn’t have a second night in the car.
I was surprised to see snow on the hills as I approached Madrid. I had always assumed that Madrid was really hot all the time and didn’t have any high mountains. But apparently it has its own skiing resorts!
South of Madrid the landscape opened up to wide plains and clearly a very sparse population. Lunch was at a cafe by the side of the road – a small piece of fried steak, chips and a really badly cooked green pepper.
Wednesday
Not a bad night’s sleep though I did wake up a few times when I got into some really uncomfortable position across the front seats. It rained most of the night and the end of the sleeping bag was quite damp where the rain had come through the partially open window. And then after just five minutes driving this morning I passed what looked like a really nice hotel that would have been perfect late last night. I stopped for some breakfast there and was a bit annoyed that I hadn’t just gone the little way further. But at least yesterday’s drive got me two-thirds of the way to Orgiva and made it pretty certain that I would get there today – so i wouldn’t have a second night in the car.
I was surprised to see snow on the hills as I approached Madrid. I had always assumed that Madrid was really hot all the time and didn’t have any high mountains. But apparently it has its own skiing resorts!
South of Madrid the landscape opened up to wide plains and clearly a very sparse population. Lunch was at a cafe by the side of the road – a small piece of fried steak, chips and a really badly cooked green pepper.
Lunch south of Madrid 
A brief stop approaching GranadaEventually I reached the Granada turn and it was not long till the snow-covered mountains of the Sierra Neveda appeared in the distance. As I passed through Granada I got the occasional view of the Alhambra Palace low on the horizon - a quite magnificent sight.
The snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains above Granada
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Orgiva with the snow-covered hills behind
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I turned off for Orgiva at the Lanjaron turn and made it to Nigel and Zoe's late afternoon. Beautiful weather - the temperature is already into the high 20s. The pool has only just been filled and is a little cool but should warm up quickly. And the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada are still covered in snow which is pretty strange given the temperature in the vallies. Aparently Nigel and Zoe were skiing last week nearby.
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After a couple of beers, it was time to unload the huge about of stuff we have and try to get some of it sorted out before meeting Linda tomorrow. A frozen pizza and another beer from Nigel and Zoe is absolutely perfect. I managed to stay awake till around 9:00. Great to be in a bed again!
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