It was nice to escape from the rain and winds.
The CCP aire at La Cavalerie isn't the quietest in the country, situated as it is alongside the road into the village from the A75. It was noisy with traffic until around 9pm and then it kicked off again around 6am.
The town is also about 780m above sea level. It was nice in the sun, but overnight it must have got down to around 0°C. When I took Reggie out for a pee at around 6.30am there was just a touch of frost on the grass.
The aire isn't that large and it seemed ideal for A-class vans towing trailers with cars.
One French Rapido had a very dull blue Cinquecento on the trailer. Not the original 500 but the 80's hatchback.
We were away at 9.44am today. Back onto the A75. I had set Max to take us non-toll to Béziers and then onto the N9 to avoid the toll A9.
Possibly as mistake as we caught a wide load trying to navigate through the villages along the route. We were stuck behind it from Nissan-lez-Enserune to Coursan. The bridges over the canal and Aude were probably the worst.
I was surprised to see Nissan twinned with Ampthill in Bedfordshire. I lived nearby for 15 years and this is news to me!
We decided to take a pitstop at the Lidl in Coursan. This proved a success as the wide load had disappeared.... Our one stop strategy out of the window. Still, two stops wasn't too bad.
The second was at Médor et Compagnie in Narbonne. As we followed Max's instructions we didn't even realise we had gone around Narbonne itself.
It is a city we know quite well as we have been here many times before. Even arriving several times on French and Belgian Motorail when on the bike.
At Médor we picked up three kilos of "Easy Barf" raw dog food. This plus the "dogador' already in the freezer should last us until we get home.
Back on the road and on the N9 (under a new name) and heading for Fitou. We stayed here what must have been 18 years ago in a friend's villa.
In the end Max took us on the scenic route to avoid Perpignan along to Leucate and the coastal strip to St Cyprien.
We arrived at the aire about 1.30pm. The machine at the front was designed for someone standing about 4 feet tall. Once through all the details, regno, length of stay etc, it refused my Halifax Clarity card. So we went back to the start. This time with the assistance of a Dutch lady whose husband was emptying their cassette. It worked with my First Direct debit card.
For one day the cost was €11.16 inc local taxes and ehu. That's not going to break the bank.
As I type this up, it's about 9.30pm and it's as quiet as the grave...
We had a walk around the marina and looked at some of the yachts and catamarans. There is some serious wedge here!
When we were here in November 2022 there was not much open. Today in the sunshine with temps around 20°C, cafes and bars were doing good business.
We stopped for an ice cream 🍨🍨. Not something we do often. A cone yes, but not a glass filled with stuff!!!
Before our microwaved risotto for dinner we had another short walk going the other way from the aire's entrance. More expensive floating palaces!
Hopefully a quiet night and away tomorrow into Spain and the last leg of the journey to Alcoceber.
Photos to follow in an update.
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