Postscript to our Barcelona experience

Although it was harrowing at the time, it seems that we actually got off fairly lightly when some people tried to stop us to rob us on the AP7 motorway around Barcelona. Since then we have heard the stories of two couples who were attacked on the same stretch of motorway. The first had a boulder thrown at their car - the idea is that either the noise of the boulder hitting the car or the bump that comes from the caravan running over it cause you to think you have a puncture or something worse. They, like us, had been pre-warned so kept on driving, despite attempts to ram them into the hard shoulder, but ended up with a large dent on the side of their car.

The story of the other couple was even more frightening. A car pulled alongisde them and somebody stuck a screwdriver into one of the caravan tyres. They kept on driving knowing that it would be fatal to stop on the hard shoulder. They pulled in at the next service area but unfortunately it was a quiet one with few facilities and the car that had attacked them followed them in! Despite the fact that one of the caravan tyres was completely flat they decided to return to the motorway and, dragging their caravan behind them, made it to the next service area which was more populated. They stopped in the busiest area possible and managed to change the wheel without any problems, although of course both the wheel and tyre were completely wrecked. They reported the incident to the police and gave them the registration number of the car but of course it was stolen so there was little that could be done.

It's a shame that these incidents mar the reputation of the tourist industry in Spain as we have generally found the Spanish people to be delightful and while staying on Spanish camp sites have felt completely safe. Apprently, around Madrid where they have similar problems, the police have been using decoy cars and caravans to catch the bandits. They might have to try something similar around Barcelona - either that or next time we'll carry a shotgun as well as a camera!

Oranges & Lemons

I have to confess that I really wasn’t looking forward to the time we thought about spending in Spain. I have always adored France and since we bought the caravan and have toured a little bit in the UK I have been pleasantly surprised how lovely good old Blighty is.

Well I’m about to take back whatever negative things I thought about Spain.

I have been amazed at the beauty of the scenery……mountains, plateaus, hills and valleys. I know most things look so much better in the sunshine, and I must admit the warmth certainly does help, but apart from the odd built up coastal resort, which we are keeping away from, what we’ve seen of Spain so far has been outstanding. Where I thought we would only see industrial areas and high rise, there has been acre upon acre of lemon, orange and olive groves, not to mention the odd vineyard. It is so strange to cycle past trees growing oranges and lemons.

You know when it’s an olive grove because there is either grass growing under the trees or green netting has been placed under each tree to catch the olives as they fall.

We even saw a farmer going to town on his horse and cart the other day, and then further on outside a camp site we had gone to look at, there was a shepherd with his sheep slowly moving along the road, letting the sheep graze as they wanted while he watched and waited with his dog.

I know I’m possibly making it sound romantic, but it’s not the ‘romance’ of this life that gets me excited. It’s the no rushing or hurrying. Taking every moment that comes and using it to enjoy it, instead of moving on to the next thing in case it’s better, or more important than now.

For all of us, nothing is more important than now! That’s all we’ve got, so let’s enjoy it.
J x

New Adventures, New Experience!

As we were preparing for this trip, I spent some time reading up on everything I felt was related to travel in France, Spain and Portugal.
Sometime last year I read in a caravanning magazine about problems encountered on the ‘foreign’ motorways by tourists towing caravans.

There were all sorts of frightening stories, from being gassed while you slept in service areas, to highway robbery as you drove along!!!!
Peter calmed me down by insisting that all these things were in a minority, not the norm.
However, I decided to take a few recommended precautions advised by previous travellers. Number 1…..always travel with your camera ready so you can take a photo should you need evidence……………..well this tip paid off big-time today.

We left Castello D’Empuries at 11am this morning to travel south to Villanova, which is about 45km south of Barcelona. It’s not far from a town called Sitges which is in the Costa Dorada. I’ve wanted to visit Sitges since we were here on a family holiday in 2000.

As we drove on the ‘toll free’ bit of the AP7 around Barcelona, we heard a huge thump/thud.. We both exclaimed……’WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT!’

Because of the article I had read, about keeping a camera ready, I had our camera in my hand as we heard the thud. I immediately turned it on, and as I did a silver Audi zoomed past us motioning that we definitely needed to pull in on the hard shoulder, which was very wide at this point.

We both felt extremely calm, even though the thump had un-nerved us, and I held the camera up to the windscreen and started taking photos of the car telling us to pull over.

As they saw the camera they took off at a rate of knots, through the heavy traffic, not to be seen again.
We both feel very ‘looked after’. I would never have considered carrying the camera in my hand had I not read an article saying this was the best course of action.

We both normally panic slightly if/when we hear something wrong while towing. Had we stopped, as the Audi wanted us to, we think this would have been a very different blog tonight…….probably a long story of how we were deceived by some wayward youngsters while driving through Barcelona, with all our money, passports, laptop, mobiles, sat-nav…etc. being stolen. As it is, we have been spared the inconvenience of the disruption that would have been caused and we are able to wend our way further south as planned.

By the way, when we stopped at the site we are on tonight, there wasn’t any sign of problems with our caravan, however we now have a small crack and scratch on our passenger side rear light which was caused by whatever they threw at us as they drove past. It had been, as for-warned, a scam to get us to stop in a difficult place to rob us of our easy pickings, or possibly even worse…..the car and caravan!
We know we are being looked after as we travel.

The nomadic life

I often used to wonder how tribes from Africa, Egypt and the like used to carry all their belongings and set up camp, only to move on after a while. You also read about it in the old testament, 'following the cloud by day and the fire by night'.
Well, we're doing it! I never thought it was the kind of life I would like to live but I love it. In fact I love it so much I would like to rid ourselves of alot of the bagage we are carrying. There's something to be said for just having enough to see you through.
It's taken me 2 months to get used to not having a 'store cupboard'. I have bought a few dried herbs to add to meals and the odd packet of rice and pasta, but mainly I get what we need for one or two days then shop again.
Clothes get put in a bowl to soak overnight before being hung up to dry during the day, and the accommodation gets swept daily! Magic!
I must admit we have brilliant weather on our side which does help tremendously. We also have all the mod-cons us English enjoy....running water, hot and cold, ensuite facilities, a fridge, and somewhere comfortable to sit of an evening, not to mention a proper table and chairs for our meals! Luxury really, if I try to compare to the various tribes around the world.
Yet still for your average Brit to dispense with bricks and mortar, solidity and a purpose in life, I'd choose the caravan any day.

Thank you to all of you who are keeping in touch by email and blogging. It is lovely to receive the news you are sending us, and the requests of prayer.

We have set ourselves up with a web cam....it's built into the computer actually....and where we have Wi-Fi access we are able to communicate for free by Skype phone and web cam. Really usefull for seeing 60 Shelley Road!!!! I must admit though all things seem to be A ok there!

So thank you once again to all of you who have emailed us or left us a message.....keep them coming.
Lots of love
J x

Morgen

This site is quite different to any of the ones we stayed at in France where the season was coming to an end, so most people only stayed for a few nights as they were either on their way home or on their way further south. At this site most of the people look as if they have been here for quite a while. The range of equipment most people have around their caravans/motorhomes is amazing - everything including the kitchen sink. I always thought Julie was territorial on the beach with her use of windbreaks and towels but their use of poles and screening to create intricate designs to make use of every inch of their pitch is a sight to see.

Luckily, as we are learning to do without "stuff", our pitch is simply laid out - caravan, car, awning.

If you are not used to caravanning in Europe you could be forgiven for thinking that you'd entered a shanty town for German and Dutch refugees. We have been surprised at how few other Brits there are around - only two others out of about 300 pitches. We have tried to use our limited Spanish in the local town but on site most people, including the staff, tend to assume that you are Dutch or German (hence the "Morgen" in the title which is the standard greeting) so conversations are often a strange mixture of Spanish, German, Dutch and English.

For some reason I find it easier to make myself understood in Spain than I do in France. I always feel that I should know more French than I do and I am put off by the pronunciation required. In Spain it seems OK to mix some Spanish, a bit of English and some sign language to make yourself understood, so for instance, this morning I booked a table in the restaurant for tomorrow evening by confidently asking to "reserva una mesa para dos para Sabado evening por favor".

We cycled into the old town of Castello D'Empuries yesterday for lunch at a restaurant we'd spotted earlier in the week. Their lunchtime menu offered three courses, each with four options to choose from, plus bottled water, bread and a bottle of wine for 12 Euros each. We thought it must be too good to be true - it wasn't, it was blooming marvellous. I'm beginning to really like Spain!

Skydiving

No, we've not taken up a new hobby but this area is renowned for free-fall parachuting. It's easy to see them after their parachutes have opened - the hard bit is trying to spot them in freefall, so now when we hear the planes go over we see who can spot the bodies descending to earth at great speed. Some of them make star formations which makes them easier to spot. It must be an amazing feeling but not one either of us plan to experience - it's nerve-wracking enough just watching from the ground!

Goodbye France, Hello Spain

Well we're a week further into our tour, and we've moved quite a bit further south.

Firstly let us take you back to the trip from Orcet, Clermont-Ferrand.

Our post arrived from the UK on the Friday afternoon, which we were very pleased with. (Unfortunately there was nothing exciting so it was just like being at home!)

We decided we would stay at Orcet until the Monday so we could go to the English speaking church in CF, which you've already read about.

We left the site at 11am on the Monday morning to join the A75 south. It is a toll free motorway which is unusual in France, but as always it was a beautifully smooth road to drive along. It was smooth on the surface but we weren't prepared for the contours. Wow!.....if you ever get the chance to drive from Clermont, south, take it. The views were superb and the scenery breathtaking. It was quite fortunate we could only do 40mph because it gave us time to take it all in. (40mph by the way was the safest speed to tow in the surroundings.)

We were making our way to Millau, where the world's tallest suspension bridge spans the valley. Logically you would think as our destination included a suspension bridge that we would have realised the contours would also occupy the same terrain! We were just not prepared for the sheer scale of the landscape.







We spent 2 nights in Millau, on a sight which bordered the River Dourbie. In fact our pitch was just opposite the main beach and we had a lot of fun with the dog in the river under the shadow of the suspension bridge.



The town of Millau is also very French, bustling with cafes and markets, brilliant!

The climb out of the town back on to the A 75 is also quite a feat, but when we got to the top we were suprised once again by a huge plateau. You wouldn't have known you had just climbed 500 metres.

We travelled at this altitude for about 150km,and had quite forgotten that we we so high above sea level until we came to the descent towards Montpellier. Again another thrill! 7 kms of 7.5%descent. There were signs all along the way about using 'engine braking' and there were numerous escape lanes should you run into difficulty.

We are now in SPAIN.


We are staying at a campsite called La Laguna, between Castello D'Empuries and Roses in the Gulf De Roses. Yet again we have a wonderful pitch - this time backing onto a lagoon, with the beach 1 minute's walk to the right and the swimming pool 2 minute's walk to the left.

This site does still have everything up and running, and we have had a meal in the restaurant, which was lovely. We think we might stay here for 2 weeks and then make a run down to Alicante for November. We do have Wi-Fi at our pitch here also, so if any of you want to chat we should be able to reply pretty quickly.