Friday, 28 November 2014

Seven Days

19th Nov

Further On Up the Road
We bade farewell to Ile de Re this morning, and so far it has been the best place we have stopped at! We really enjoyed our stay, what also helped was having a day off driving and just taking it easy strolling around with not a care in the world
Last view of Ile de Re

So on the road at 10.30 drove up the Island and onto the mainland to La Rochelle and South down to Bordeaux. The sun is shining yippee. The satnav said 178 miles to our destination 30 miles past Bordeaux so I presumed I could do that in 3 hrs, but because we don’t use toll roads we travel the D roads 90km max but through the villages/towns we are restricted to the speed limits as such 50km and some 30km
Stopped for a break on route, wild flowers in bloom
It was on the way I got fed up of the whining woman telling me I was over the speed limit constantly “It’s like being in the car with two women co drivers” I don’t normally have voice on the satnav but since we entered France I have, as I need all the help I can get. (Although I don’t always pay attention because I’m on camera already which I forgot to mention, in our drive down from Blois to La Creche The sign says 70km then changes to 50km in a matter of seconds and kapow a flash of light and I’ve been zapped!! We will have to see what happens with that and their plate recognition…Will I pay it I doubt it) so I asked Sam kindly if she could get rid of moaning Minnie and get me a guy on the satnav? A few clicks later I had what sounded like Peter Ustinov  a totally different demeanour in the tone of his voice and all was going well with my new mate until he decided I needed to see Royan !! I tried to ignore him as I knew you skirted Royan but things got more problematic!! now I was in there lost he was telling me to turn back, and I get warning Restricted Route I switch the warning off he’s telling me to go down roads I knew full well was not the way. So I followed my nose and saw a sign for the Autres Routes?  Those took me out of the centre and low and behold a sign A10 and D730 Bordeaux so I proceed  taking the D730 South, happy all is back on track and we potter on, but again Ustinov tells me to take a left ? Just before a village again I know he is wrong as I saw a sign a bit earlier saying straight on. I ignore him and again he goes into a tizzy “turn around at the next roundabout” No I shouted as I kept going!! A warning comes on the screen Restricted Route what the heck is going on?  I switch it off again and carry on through the village!! Further on up the road again same thing?
By now my patience has run out and it’s just a matter of time before the Chinese satnag  is consigned to the endless grapevines along the side of the road. Sam and I are also having a heated debate!  Her telling me to ignore it, just follow the signs (but only louder) me telling her I can’t he keeps trying to take us onto a motorway “ (even louder with expletives) so I pull over into a layby and ask her politely to check the settings on the truck nav !! Now for some unknown reason our settings are now set as Freight and Flammable Gas box ticked ?? so that is the reason as tankers are not allowed through built up residential areas.. a click of a few buttons and now the journey is nearly halved  and we are on our way albeit a Stoney silence for a short while. God knows how the settings have changed one of life’s mysteries “unless Max is cleverer than I think”
Later we join Bordeaux’s answer to the M25 and follow it around gingerly, then we head down to Bassin D’Arcachon to a small town called Le Teich where we are stopping for the night
Ustinov takes us directly to our GPS co-ords, N44°37.984´ W001°01.585´ I have sort of forgiven him. but of all the Aires to choose this is not the best ! It’s basically at the end of a car park next to a train station “electric so pretty quiet”. It can accommodate 5 Motorhomes with signs above each bay, “even then 2 are taken up by cars probably commuters” It’s free with normal facilities. But it’s now 5.30 and although we stopped for an hour at Carrefour to fill up with diesel, get some bits and have a coffee and a Danish. We also stopped for about half hour in another layby for a Max stop and to stretch our legs. We are cream cracker’d ! The next Aire is 30 miles down the road and I’ve had it with driving, so we agree to stay

We wandered around the town before it got dark, not much a bit one horse! It was 15⁰ and quite warm so we know we are heading in the right direction!!  We originally picked this place as it was close to the Ornithological park but it was too far to walk and too late in the day so we didn’t get to see it.
Le Teich Church not much else to photograph
We headed back to have some supper “Chicken and Salad” and a few drinks and decided on an early night with the intention of early start to Bayonne. We have worked it out that the wine equates to £1.18 per bottle it cost €19.90 for 10L!!  Now I can put up with that 

20th Nov

Morning Has Broken
We slept well last night although we chatted till 12, we were up at 7am and awoke to a fantastic sunrise, It looks like it’s going to be a nice day !
 
Although the Aire was small and non-descript it had all the services and it was quiet considering its location



So we hit the road at 8am with 105 miles ahead of us and join the A63 it’s the best road we have travelled on since entering France 3 lanes in most parts! You could almost mistake it for a Toll road, on our 2013 Giant AA France map it shows it as non-toll and also our settings on the satnav are avoid Toll. However 40 miles down and Peage “A Toll Booth” €5.30 and further down the road another Peage €5.30 there is nothing we can do now but we made good time and it was nice not having to change gears or brake for the 80 odd miles we were on it
And we turn off heading to Capbreton an Aire on the beach front, the sun is shining directly into my face at times blinding me I see a temperature sign along the way 27⁰ maybe it’s broken I think to myself and we pull up at our destination
 
Two minutes and we are on the beach


I get out and can feel the warmth from the Sun and we stroll onto the beach and we are blown away with the vista. The beach is very popular with surfers and the waves look good. The Aire N43°38.143´ W001°26.809´  is supposed to be €6 low season and includes all the facilities and can accommodate 270 vans, but we are informed it’s free over winter but no services, only emptying!! No problems we have plenty of water and the solar panels love the rays, the batteries are showing 13.6v and we have everything charging at the moment and the Invertor running my PC
 

It is really warm out and most people here have their chairs out and are lounging in the sunshine so I check our thermometer in our van 34.5⁰ outside at half past one in the afternoon it’s 22⁰ in the van with windows open.. We think we will stay another day. Well we might as well now after getting ripped for €10.60 on the Motorway
 
A couple of guys buzzed past us on their motorised gliders

So far we have not met any Brits on our travels mostly French and Belgians but this site has a few Dutch vans and we get chatting to one couple who are heading north and back home? It’s nice to be able to chat with someone in English although we make an effort over here and Sam is a lot better than I am. We are by no means conversant enough to have a good chat

Taking a stroll along the beach and into Town
 
We wondered into the centre a tad later, along the beach then cut in “the shorts are coming out” it’s hot, but who’s complaining? All the Boulanger’s are closed till 3pm so we find a nice spot to sit back and enjoy a cold one. As I’m sipping my beer I’m thinking of all the poor souls stuck in Blighty for the winter …I reckon it’s going to be a cold one we are due one!!  Bless
Capbreton
 
 
Moved on from the 10L boxes

So we have decided to do a rain check in the morning if it’s fine we stay, if it’s otherwise we head on into Spain. In the meantime we have packed all our winter clothes away in a box! Don’t think we will need them much and the shorts are out.
21st Nov
Surfs Up
We didn’t play any music last night we sat around chatting and playing Trumps “Sam won ” listening to the sound of the surf and the waves crashing, we are that close to the sea! We also heard flocks and flocks of Geese honking overhead migrating South for the winter it seemed to go on for ages.
I have used my 1Gb of data I bought in the UK so now we are stone age again, devoid of all what’s happening in the outside world, I will buy some more when we get into Spain
Internet should be globalised, data cards should work everywhere no matter who the service provider is !! Rant over

 

So I woke this morning at 7.30 and took Max along the beach, it was parky but the sun was rising and it had all the makings of a nice day. We made the decision to stay.
Sun Rising over the site
Max decides we are staying he loves the beach
 
A stroll later into town to the Boulanger for some fresh bread and croissants, and then I do a few jobs about the van.. We have a minute leak from one of the taps in the bathroom it’s a push fit coupling that is the problem!  So I decide to do away with it and use a jubilee clip and push the plastic water pipe straight onto the 12mm copper pipe. I get soaked in the process but job done happy days.

Sam is constantly sweeping the laminate floor with the amount of sand we drag in after ourselves. But what do you expect on a beach. Later in the afternoon I checked the thermometer it is reading 41⁰ outside 22⁰ inside, although my van is parked so the outside sensor is directly facing the sun  and temperature readings are taken 1.5M off the floor and in the shade, but I’m not splitting hairs its November 21st and I’m wearing shorts and sandals! We even strolled along in the sea at 4pm whilst on another gigantic walk with Max. We came across a few guys fishing in the breakwater and they were catching some nice Bass. There were more surfers out today some were pretty good. We watched them for some time while taking a break
Freshly caught Bass
 

Catching the waves
 
We decided to crack open the Epoisses! We have had the cheese for over a week, and now it is ripe enough to eat ? Now for anyone that likes a smelly runny cheese this in my opinion is the King of French cheese !! So we have that with a nice warm chorizo Ciabatta as a snack, because later we have Chicken salad wraps!   We will get some more Epoisses before we leave France along with another 10L of Merlot in case Spain doesn’t sell it.
Our favourite French cheese
The site is filling up now, maybe because it’s Friday! There are now over 50 Vans here. We like it here, there is a nice vibe, the people are friendly, although it’s funny watching the French vans pull in. they get out their EHU leads and nothing then moan to each other how bad it is? The site is fantastic the weather superb and it's free and they're moaning.  They say only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out into the midday Sun? And so do Welshmen by the way
Clear blue sky
 
Looks like we will stay another day we have enough water for one more day and I can see San Sebastian from the beach just a stone’s throw away across the Bay of Biscay. We will sit down tonight and plan the next stage of the trip for when we get moving.
The sun setting hopefully tomorrow will be a nice day too
22nd Nov
Viva España

Sam wakes before me and takes Max out; I check the Temp it’s 11⁰ outside and it looks cloudy/overcast! When she returns  I ask how is it “Colder than yesterday but ok” My minds made up lets stabilise the van “meaning pack everything away” and follow the geese South
So we are on the road at 9.45am..on our way out of the site  I spot a British van so I get out and wander over, the door is open and I poke my head in Introducing myself and enquire were they are going. They are having breakfast she is in her nightie he is dressed and tucking into bread and jam, they are off to Biarritz “I think I took them by surprise and they are not very talkative” So enjoy your breakfast and safe journey I said and bade them farewell. Capbreton is another of the places we would definitely return to, what a find !

We head on following the signs for San Sebastian we stop to fill up with diesel and get some bits n pieces! 10L red wine €16.40 = 95p per bottle. But no Epoisses cheese so we buy the second best in my opinion Reblochon and we are off. Shortly we pass into Spain there are a lot of hair pin bends up and down the mountain side which is not for the faint hearted and we follow the coast road into the town of Zumaia
Spain in the distance
On the road to Zumaia
 
This is Basque country an Autonomous region of Spain they have their own language like Wales and it’s also like Welsh, in as much as a lot of it is indecipherable to me! We venture into the centre along a river, it’s a nice place very pretty “Good shout Sam” and we walk to the end of the pier. Looking into the water it is teaming with Grey Mullet! I’m going to invest in a telescopic fishing rod and reel and catch my supper, watch this space”. We then take a walk on the wild side into the town off the beaten track from the seafront and find a few tabernas in the back streets. This feels like Spain so we stop at two of them and have a break and some San Miguel. I was hoping I could find a sports bar, Swansea are playing Man City today, but the two bars we visit are showing Atletico Madrid v Malaga and I can’t see no English updates, oh well



 
This gives the history of the old cannons along the quay
 
Mullet just waiting to get caught
The Aire is situated next to the River
 
So we are back at the Aire at Zumaia N43°17.580´ W002°14.810´  it’s free, we fill up with water and settle in for the evening! I’m cooking it will be good, my trusty Pasta with Bacon n tomato sauce, the recipe has been handed down and I have confided in Sam so that it continues
The site is full when we get back 99.9% Spanish, there seems to be a lot of people who know each other with lots of children and dogs running around maybe they are staying? Some have cars and a few cars turn up and they know each other? They have their chairs and tables out eating and drinking al fresco, not something that is supposedly condoned in the Aires book that I have, but hey ho, each to their own, they are not harming anyone and we feel more comfortable on a site with a few vans
Sam has done the books for the day she is a wiz on spread sheets! She can tell me how much the average price per litre on diesel we have spent, how much our average spends per day is and better still how much a bottle we are paying for wine. She is also getting a dab hand at reading maps because we are now on silent! Ustinov has been retired, it was short lived, but from now on we hug the coast road and there are not that many roads you can get lost on. Just like the old days (pre satnav)

23rd Nov
The Long and Winding Road

I’m awake at 6.30 so I read a bit the temperature outside is showing 19⁰ it’s pitch dark so that is the correct temperature. Sam surfaces at 8am to my alarm clock and takes Max out while I put the kettle on its cloudy not as nice as yesterday but it will probably warm up when the sun is high
We are off to Cabárceno just outside Santander so co-ords in the satnav 110 miles and we are on the road at roughly 10am, now I know I have said I will not take the Toll roads but this is like riding on a roller coaster. It’s up and down around hairpin bends doubling back on yourself climbing and dropping 1 in 8 with sheer drops below my foot is constantly on the brakes on the descents, and my knuckles are white with my grip on the steering wheel. To make matters worse it’s Sunday and everyone is out on their bikes! We have scores of budding Francisco Rossi type bikers hammering past us on their supped up machines, knees rubbing the floors as they take the hairpin bends “madness” and we have also what seems to be the Tour De Española, hundreds of cyclists in their spandex clothing cycling up and down these bloody mountains and it’s so hard to overtake them with oncoming traffic to the point I’m nearly at a standstill “madness”! 40 MILES of this thru tunnels up and down and we have gone through the Sierra del Duranguesalo and the novelty is wearing off and we approach Bilbao. The road gets better and we are on now what is more like a motorway it’s a sprawling industrial city and I see the busy port. Satnav is on silent mode and I should be in the left side, I’m on the right and too late we are going into the centre of Bilbao?  Expletives run off my tongue as I ask where is Ustinov? Once again I fall foul of the satnav. But a few miles and a few intersections later and I’m back where I was 10 minutes ago


Some of the sites en-route
 
We leave Bilbao and Max is screaming to go to the toilet so we stop at a service station near Abanto Y Ciérvano and have a much needed brake. “I am now reviewing my Toll road embargo” an hour later we drive onto our destination and the road is good and we drive out of the Basque region and into the Cantabria region and we finally reach Cabárceno  4 hrs and something after setting off. The trip log says my average speed was 30 mph


We find the Aire and notice 3 British vans there! Well 2 Brits one Eire but all the same lingo to me The Aire is in a national park the scenery is great and alongside a lake but we are in the mountains and the Temperature is 16⁰ another free Aire full services no lecky!
N43°21.486´ W003°49.186´
 
 

 
 
 

John Dix “Dixie” an Irish guy walks over and introduces himself, he is a professional photographer and travelling solo along the coast to La Coruña then South into Portugal; we chat for a while and then I meet another John, he is from Luton also traveling solo. They have both arrived on the Portsmouth Santander ferry a few days ago! John is just following the geese like us and driving directly South to the Algarve I give him co-ords of a site we are planning to visit in Albufeira maybe we will catch up another time? After setting up we walk into town and see the wildlife park, is huge it’s €25 per person to enter “a bit like Longleat but on a larger scale” and we see Elephants down below in the valley, we give it a miss at €50 as I don’t fancy a load of monkeys jumping all over the van ripping my windscreen wipers or aerial off.




It’s a nice place quite a few restaurants and bars. We visit two bars as is customary and have a beer in one; in the next they do a local cider? I never knew the Spanish were cider producers so we order a bottle and it is brought out with some pump type system which when you press the bellows, it pumps the cider into your glass “quite a neat contraption” the cider is of the rough variety much like our scrumpy, It’s there I get free wifi and find out we lost to City yesterday and they have come from behind to win darn.
So back to the van and we have Pizza tonight, its premade, but we add additional toppings and we plan for tomorrow. I need to catch Dixie before we leave and show him how to put the co-ords into his TomTom he is using names and streets and is getting sent through all manner of places he has the Aires book like we have and so far the co-ords have got us directly to each site. It will be easier for him once he knows

24th Nov

Twisted Road
I wake at 6am! I have for the last few days I don’t know? why so I read my book and wait for our alarm to go off at 8am. It has rained for most of the night and is still chucking it down. When Sam and Max wake just before 8 I put the kettle on and we have a cuppa I stabilise the Van ready to go while Sam walks Max to see if they're elephants are out (their not) and I pop over and catch Dixie before I leave, and show him how to put the co-ords in his satnav
Goodbyes said satnav set and we are on the road. We have 178 miles to our stop on the northern coast and pick up the E70/A8 a couple miles up the road, we picked this road up yesterday shortly before Bilbao it goes most of the way to La Coruna on the north coast and I have to say it is the most magnificent road I have drove on in Europe “to date” it is a feat of engineering, the road cuts through and around the northern mountain range “Picos de Europa” and is basically all viaducts and tunnels, each viaduct and tunnel has a name, some tunnels are 2.7km long some viaducts are breathtakingly high, the views are stunning. Sometimes I wish I was a passenger to take it all in. It’s a great road highly recommended.  And we travel out of the Cantabria region and into the Asturias region
After one pit stop we arrive at our destination at a place called Tapia de Casariego Once again the Aire is free as most are in Spain there are only ourselves and a Spanish van here N43°33.951´ W006°56.744´ It’s still chucking it down it has been like it for most of the way, We venture along the seafront  and into the centre as Max needs a walk, unfortunately no dogs allowed on the beach. We find a supermarket and stop to pick up essentials bread, olives, pork chops and come across a 1L of Vino Tinto “Peñasol” for  €0.75c = .44p per bottle.  Ok you are thinking what I thought?  That it may be ok for cooking but surprise, surprise it’s the dogs gonads I kid you not. We return soaked, dry off, towel Max down and I cook a Spanish omelette another one of my specialities. So we sit down to devour it Sam says shall we have a cuppa and I say crack open the new Box it’s 4pm! “When in Rome” and that is when I realised what a gem we had unearthed


 Max was not allowed on the beach "I said to Sam he isn't an Alsatian"



 

We are sat in the Van! It’s lashing down and we make another route plan/change, we will head south and not further west “follow the Geese” we will drive down to Lugo and somewhere near Ourense and stop there, and the next day into Portugal hopefully we will shake this rain off and find the sun again. As I look out of the window the sky is swarming with Starlings, they are heading South also.. We will follow them !!

24th Nov
Blinded By The Light
Today I woke at 5.15 “although I was asleep by 10pm” so I read a little and when Sam stirred a bit later on I said we would leave early!
Now when we entered France last week or so we were E003⁰ Latitude and the sunrise was at 7.30am!! so we are the road at 7.22 its pitch black and raining, we get onto the main road the N-640   and within minutes I am getting flashed by other drivers. I realise it’s my headlights dazzling them and although I have a set of beam deflectors in the van I have not put them on as I don’t like driving the van in the dark to be honest. So a few miles up the road we pull over into a garage forecourt and check on our satnav when sunrise is “as I have said before it’s a Chinese jobby and it has an array of things it can do, but it’s basically a notebook with a GPS function” and find the sunrise is at 8.30? So we scratch our heads and realise we are now W008⁰ Latitude so the extra 11⁰ equates to another hour before sunrise. We have a cup of coffee and wait till day break and set off at 8.30 Once back on the road we make good time, it is pretty much up and down the mountain range leaving the Asturias region and into the Galicia region and south to Lugo, then it seems to flatten out, that is about when I switched off my wipers and we see bright sky’s ahead. We then change onto the N-540 and onto Ounense, we make steady progress and drive through some of the outskirts of the city onto our destination. We have made a change of plan and decided to drive onto another Aire closer to Portugal in fact 19 miles from the border.
It’s after this that Max starts performing again and that is when I miss a turn. He has been like this since we entered Spain and his not showing any signs of getting any better !! The reason being is that he normally sits up the front on an ottoman I bought that fits between the two front seats, but in Spain you can get an on the spot fine for such. (I have read this in a few Motorhome forums, it’s possibly an offence in the UK and France but I have not read anything so he was always up front co-driving) So now he is confined to the back, his leash tied to the dinette seats and he has not been happy since, he whines and whimpers constantly. We are hoping he gets over it soon? He is driving us mad.
So the satnav readjusts itself and puts a few extra miles on, we carry on but then start climbing and winding through small Spanish villages that weren’t meant for motorhomes possibly donkeys. The locals are giving us strange looks, and this carries on for 9 miles until we find our stop (cheers Max)


We arrive at 1pm and have travelled 150 miles; it is sunny and dry but not overly warm. The Aire is in Outomuro with an Equestrian centre adjacent. it has everything electric, shower/toilet block and a laundrette €10 per night N42°12.869´W008°02.008´ it is built into the forest and we are off with Max for a walk shortly after we arrive. As we wander down a logging trail we come across a beautiful picnic area set around the river Arnoia. It has a few tributaries that run into it, the setting and views are quite special and I can imagine it being very popular when the weather is warmer. You get the picture of large Spanish families, grandparents and their grandchildren eating alfresco cooking on the purpose built BBQ’s with bottles of wine and water on the table.




 You wouldn't make off with these tables

 
 

 
 


Another thing that struck me I saw no vandalism or graffiti to the area, only on the rocks which was tastefully done..               
 
 
So tomorrow we enter Portugal and continue south         

25th Nov
Road Rage
Up at the crack of dawn and leaving Spain we head for the Portuguese border another unintended diversion into  Xinzo de Limia (pay attention to the satnav Marc) and we slip into Portugal and head for a town which I spotted a few days ago on the map; it’s quite synonymous to me as it’s my Surname the town of Chaves  photo opportunity arises and taken!

 The Town of Chaves
The smallest church I've ever come across
 
We stop at Ronnie’s for a burger and a coffee and to check our emails as we have not bought any data for the mifi, Sam goes in, but I can’t pick up Ronnie’s wifi sat outside in the van? Need to find a Telecom shop asap; Sam comes back and says it’s not open till 11.00 I look at the clock its 11.30? We have gained an hour. Portugal is on the same time zone as the UK  It is 1030..
It’s sunny and the temperature is 16⁰. There is an E.Leclerc hypermarket across the road and Sam goes over to stock up on essentials, she returns shortly with everything on the list. Good news €4.59 a bottle of Port and €1.26 a bottle of wine, Yowska!!  Sam says a box of wine is €5 odd for 5L, we will see what the bottle tastes like before upsizing. By the way I have a confession to make, the Vino Tinto “Peñasol was not the Dogs as I initially said! It was ok, a table wine and went well with the food but not a guzzler? I drank about the same of water to each glass after the meal and it’s no way a Rioja by any standard, but we live and learn!! Now another confession; Sam has informed me that the incident with Ustinov on the 19th Nov, was down to herself!  Yes a glitch so to speak. The reason being we were going to Ile de Re, she had to put Toll roads into the settings to allow us to get onto the Island, and must have inadvertently changed the settings to a Nuclear waste tanker .. Just to think that the cheap fleabay satnag nearly ended up in the grapevines because of a small human error.
Anyhow we leave the town of my surname and travel west.. Satnag says 90 miles, four something odd hours!!!  You’re having a laugh I say to Sam, are you sure about the settings! Are we set on Nuclear tanker again? double double check NO it’s right comes a sharp return and expletive,,  What are you sure there ain’t any more Porto’s in Portugal you got the right one in there? YES it shows it on the map came a curt reply. Ok let’s go, and you know what satnag is right! Because of my Toll road aversion it is taking us through most of Portugal to get there, and some of these roads are through the highest mountains “and we have travelled through a few” and also it takes us through some of the smallest villages! The road is called the N2 .and this is when I make an executive decision to break myself of the self-imposed Toll road embargo and hit the nearest motorway. On that we make good progress and stop at a service station, just before our turn off for a Max break and a coffee and cheese roll. Then on again

This is where it all goes’ Pete Tong, satnav says 18 miles 1hr 12mins wtf!!  We leave the motorway pay €10 and have the worst 18miles of knuckle duster/ hairy scary ride of the journey. Portuguese drivers are an unknown quantity they seem to think a 3.5t van can stop on a sixpence, motorcyclists pull out with inches to spare or even more suicidal pull in before they get hit by the oncoming juggernaut, and the car drivers are no different. We follow your man the GPS wizard and turn up a dirt track! “This van is not all terrain” I can’t drive over the mountain so I do an 8 point turn and get back on the road I was originally on. It is now my nerves are completely shattered, because we had an incident about 50 miles ago when we were sent around the same town twice, thru the town centre and all its traffic lights, and that’s when the eureka moment came I mentioned earlier “PAY THE TOLL’s Marc" We are going to an Aire in our book that should have stated “Ideal for mountaineers and thrill seekers or if you happen to be taking a mountain goat as a pet”  : Note we are also going to Invest in a new Garmin truck nav and give some competition to the Chinese jobby, when we hit Porto (you get what you pay for I have always said) because at the moment it is surely underperforming, and I don’t suffer fools..

The speed limit is 50kph and at most parts, 30kph through the towns. I was hoping it was 20 to be honest!  And I notice I am holding everyone back!! It’s at the most opportune moments on solid white lines the traffic skates past me.
We eventually arrive at our stop on the outskirts of the town. I’m glad to be here, we have stopped and I’m all mountain’d out! So I get out and walk for 10 minutes to let off steam, it has not been easy for either of us. If anyone has seen a road map of Portugal you will know it’s like a plate of different coloured spaghetti on paper.. We have been tested today, it’s been fraught!




The Aire at Lordelo is in a car park with all the usual free facilities 

N42°14.067´W008°24.683´ It’s quiet as I write this, barring the bells that ring every quarter of an hour (Get a real job for Christ sake) There is a lovely park with a river adjacent and a bar across the road, which once I had re gathered my frail nerves we visited and used the free wifi.  We unwound and answered some emails and a few texts. Tomorrow we will use the toll roads you can bet on that!!
26th Nov
Should I stay or should I go
After yesterday's roller-coaster it was decided that Toll roads were the order of the day so satnav set and we shoot out of Lordelo and head towards Porto we skirt around the outskirts of a sprawling city N42 onto the N41 and onto the A1 south there is hardly any traffic on the motorways? We pay €6.10 for that stretch.

We make great progress and stop after a few hours with 60 miles of the original 187 to go. This is stress free driving and I am liking it now. We exit the motorway and get knocked for €21.90 !! No wonder there isn't much traffic on it!


 


So we arrive in Peniche about 17km from Lisbon, we were going to stay at an Aire here €6 per night no leccy. But at our stop we decided to give the municipal campsite a go? Was a good call as it is €5.60 per night with EHU about 6 shower/toilet blocks water taps everywhere and a bar on site, the town centre 10 minutes walk. Parque Municipal De Campisimo N39°21.223´W009°21.675´ We like it, there are quite a few folk here living full time in their caravans and who can blame them "it must be cheap as chips to live here" There are about 3 other motorhomes and we find a nice level spot and settle in. 

Walking into Peniche
We walk into town later to check it out and then walk back to the site and try the bar! They have a happy hour from 5pm to 7pm 2 pints for €1.60, happy days we might stay longer? they have free internet also so we catch up and tomorrow we go into the centre to buy a sim card for the Huawei
We returned to the van and the heavens opened up. It's nice to hear the rain tampering down on the roof we are warm and content
Apologies for the late post will make sure next week it is posted on the Thursday
 
 
 

 
 
 

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Marc and Sam