Road Trip - Week 1!
Here I sit in a budget hotel in Girona. It has been 5 days since Bongo and I left Exeter and we've had a great start to the trip.
The chunnel crossing was super easy (B slept the whole time), the weather has been great and even though we've covered a lot of miles we still experienced cities like Rouen, Carcassonne, Narbonne and Girona.
We've explored the most beautiful village in France (Crissay sur Manse), a beach-side forest and miles and miles of dog-friendly golden sand in Aquitaine. Carcassonne was of course a highlight as was crossing the mountains into Spain.
France really is extremely pretty and we were able to take advantage of the excellent free motorhome camping areas. In comparison to Britain the roads were in excellent condition and very quiet. No one seemed in a rush and I never had an impatient driver on my tail.
The contrast between France and Spain is huge. Girona had a feria on (I am sure for our arrival), and although it was relatively early while Bongo and I were out hunting for a vegan feast the city was packed with people both young and old and I saw a lot more people with dogs in my 2 hours walking around Girona than I did in the whole of France, it has a great vibe....
Rouen:
A beautiful city in the north of France. It was a mostly sunny day. We got a good walk in after 2 hours driving either side of the channel and slept about 45 minutes outside Rouen at a place called Le Bec-Hellouin next to an old railway which is now an outdoors centre. There was another (proper) motorhome and the old railway station house had public toilets.
Our first breakfast in France:
Crissay-sur-Manse I read was (or is) the most beautiful village in France: http://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/en/crissay-sur-manse
here's a shot of another one of France's free camping spots:
I downloaded a PDF for a walk but had to cut it short due to running out of daylight! http://www.touraineloirevalley.co.uk/var/crtc/storage/original/application/5e752184672e06bbabfc6d9578d2aedf.pdf
We did have time to take in the forest and les roches tranchelion by then it was getting really dark but I did get a picture of part of the cave house, spooky I think you'll agree?
Next we had a long slog to the coast, but it was worth it to get some warm sunshine and for a dip in the sea. I spent part of a summer working in Soustons and we stopped between there and Arcachon at Vielle-Saint-Girons. It was about 18 and sunny and we were treated to more free camping and a beautiful sunset....
Another long day's driving got us to Carcassonne, with it's medieval city I had been looking forward to this. People still live within the city walls and, of course, there are plenty of people working in the bars and shops...
I took the Carcassonne pics with the 'proper' camera and started playing around with filters which made the no filter shots look pants!
Narbonne; just stopped here to break up the drive to Girona, but took a couple of pics anyway:
I decided to take the scenic route from Narbonne to Perpingon with some success, while it was undoubtedly more scenic it came with it's own challenges!
I haven't had chance to take any pictures around Girona yet mainly because it was dark by the time we ventured out and because although warm, the weather hasn't been great, but that is due to change tomorrow (Monday)
Right, now after 3 hours I'm all blogged out! Going to get up and about to find the best coffee in Girona!
Stay tuned to insta for more pics before I have time to do my next post!
:)