On the Road Again!

Today what should have been around a 240 kms drive in pretty much a straight line was far more complicated by TomTom. Checking the route on Google Maps and on MyRouteApp was far more direct than the ridiculous roundabout route chosen by TomTom.  We did take a look at the Chateau at Chaumont sur Loire and they have motorhome parking in with the coaches.  And that was the problem.  There were six coaches and their passengers were queuing to get into the chateau gardens. We decided to crack on. Chaumont was on the original route! It was after here that things went wrong that also meant more miles and of course, more tolls on a variety of motorways.  We stopped for lunch on the A28 and then set off again. Their was a fenced dog area, but Reggie couldn't be less interested.  We arrived at the CCP aire at Bernay at 2.33pm. NO problems with the barrier this time. ...

Remember when both the chairs and the rooflight went tits up we were in France and not at home in the UK. Email was therefore the contact tool available.  1) Pilton Compact Chairs . Following my email to That Leisure Shop on Saturday, I had a standard "out of office" reply. I included photos of the bent tubing. It was probably naive of me to expect a proper reply on Monday. Maybe Tuesday? Nothing. 2) Remis Rooflight .  I emailed ARC who did the work on the taps. They replied quickly and once they viewed the photos of the rooflight, they found the kit that would repair the winding mechanism. They offered a date and I accepted the invoice quote and date to run it up there. Excellent service.

Another longish day for us and mostly on toll motorways A71 and A85. We left Riom and headed north. The A71 seemed to go on forever. A short stop at the aire "Centre of France' for lunch at the McDonald's. A chicken burger each. Next it was the Intermarché at Noyers-sur-Cher.  Whilst Claire was in the shop, Reggie and I were looking for shade and came across this old 2CV in an adjacent parking lot. It's amazing but in 1976 I almost bought a "Dolly"! Then to our first attempt at a CCP site at Pontlevoy. It was showing 20/20 pitches available. It wouldn't open the barrier when we touched the card against the sensor.  Thinking there was a problem we looked for another nearby. That's how we arrived at  Monthou-sur-Cher.  Again we couldn't get in. I called the CCP number and they sorted it. It's far better with a picturesque lake nearby. Looking at the app ...

On Saturday evening we decided that we had had enough of being pretty much stuck to the pitch. Cabin fever!!  Temps in the day still hovering around 35°C.  I've already had the Chips Rafferty wannabes scoffing at "only" 35!! Google Chips if you have never heard of him. How I began to envy my brother Neill and his mate Patrick as they ride around the island of Ireland in the mere 20's and rain!!! With the "free" days we had earned over the years, the total cost of the stay worked out at £12 or so a night. So hardly a large expense.  I had actually thought about leaving earlier and finding a dog friendly hotel with aircon. Bugger the cost!! In the end we decided to head north earlier. Don't believe Google when it claims higher ground will be cooler. It's not true in these circumstances. At 1350m above sea level in the Pyrenees in was 32°C.... Anyway. We packed everything,...

What can I say?  We did nothing but try and find the shade.   With temperatures touching 35°C plus during the day it was a gamble.  Sadly despite asking for a shaded pitch we seem to have been allocated the least shaded pitch. They had eveb decapitated the tree that would have provided shade.  Sandaya couldn't control the weather but they could have been more helpful. The site itself has everything for the family. Pools and activities for children. There are several bars. The shop was okay. We only ate "out" one evening with takeaway pizzas. Had the weather been more on the average for the time of year it would have been more enjoyable. Keeping Reggie cool we kept him wrapped in a damp towel, and frequent foot soaks in the last bucket. 

Spain and France along with most of Europe are suffering with a "heat dome". Apparently this is a huge high pressure area that means temperatures are much higher than normal. So what we didn't need was for the winding handle on the main rooflight should pack up. Luckily the rooflight is closed and so we can drive around. 

What seemed like a good idea turned out to be somewhat of a nightmare. The selling points were lightweight and that they packed down small. Both of them fitted into the space smaller than one of the old chairs. According to the bumph they could take the weight of 150kgs.  The problem is their lightweight. I am a "big lad" but much less than 150kgs! The tubing has bent on the front legs. It means they are uncomfortable to use and potentially dangerous.  I have emailed That Leisure Shop and sent photos. It's Saturday so we'll have to wait until Monday for a reply.

Today we set off after about 5 hours sleep. A few fireworks doesn't usually affect us. We live near a live ammunition Army firing range. The sound of small arms fire interdispersed with larger caliber weapons is a daily occurrence.   But these Chinese made fireworks are LOUD!! First thing trying to get out of the aire. Turn left. The sign indicated a one-way street. Several vans left before us.... Left, then back right. When it was our turn we did the same, turning round and out the way we came in across a car-park no longer closed to traffic. It was used as firework central and had some food outlets for the firework operators... Next stop at the automatic petrol station. Diesel at €1.349 a litre. With an Eclat discount card it would have been €1.269. I filled to the brim. I have yet to work out the mpg. Then off we went on the N260 to Puigcerda and across into France and Bourg-Madame. ...

Rejoining the N260 for another day didn't seem too bad. Today the end destination was the Camping-Car Park aire at La Seu d'Urgell. When we arrived we should have turned around and gone elsewhere.  Not that the site was bad, but that next door was a huge pile of wood and pallets.  Yes, a bonfire  It turned out that there was some fiesta on. The fireworks started all over town at around 5pm and went on until after 2am.  Luckily we were on the far side of the aire but we could feel the heat once they lit the fire at around 1030pm.  It was done with a procession of drums and those reedy sardana pipes. The fireworks, in the main bangers, were very loud.  We eventually got to sleep around 2am.  It's taught us to research better!! ...

Today the trip is from Canfranc Estanción to Castejón de Sos. It's only around 90 miles. We backtracked to Jaca and took the opportunity to top up the diesel and for Claire to go into Carrefour.  Around this area they are still working on the autovias. At Sabiñánigo we switched onto the N260.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-260_road_(Spain) The road is superb, mostly, with one section that's very narrow. On top of that we encountered the grass cutting team.  A van each end of a column with two tractors doing the work. By Ainsa we could see a parking area right by the river. We pulled in. With the dash showing 41°C it was worth €2 for an hours parking for Reggie to have a paddle in river. Next stop Castejón. A missed turn off the roundabout led to a trip around the block before getting it right. Firstly we stopped in the shade of trees after the football gro...

Another day of extreme heat despite us being 1135m above sea level at Canfranc Estancion.  The weather was around 35°C most of the day. There's very little shade for us or for Reggie. So we have done nothing. Save sitting about. To keep Reggie cool we have wrapped him in a wet towel. When we were at the vet's on Friday they said that their part of Spain was supposed to be the coolest, weather wise! As I write it's: Earlier today I booked us in for another night here. As we have 24 hours from around 8pm Saturday I expected simply to book again from 8pm again. It wouldn't accept that, so I booked again, but from 7pm! Tonight we'll start to tidy away a lot of the gear to save rushing tomorrow. There will be a bit of grey waste to dump as we have used it quite a bit, showers etc. Tomorrow? We head south to Jaca, then  east again along the N260 all the way to France near Puigcerda an...

Saturday Morning broke a little too early for us. After the thud-thud of the music until 5am we hadn't slept well. Still, our next stop was planned to be along the N240 towards Jaca. With the heat already touching 25°C by 10.30am, we decided to get on the road. Frias can wait for another day.  First stop was at Tobera. We had oast it on the way in and now we were retracing our steps to the south along the BU-504. https://www.wikiburgos.es/wiki/Tobera A quick stop. The route us east and north east to Vitoria-Gasteiz and Pamplona. Bypassing both. As we had plenty of autovias to use we stopped near Gasteiz for a coffee. Claire then bought a couple of rolls for lunch. Then decided to carry on.  The TomTom seemed reluctant to amend the route. It's a failure of Plan dot tomtom dot com that deleting waypoints seems impossible.  Eventually the aire at Jaca was set a...

Well, what can I say about Day 7? Not a lot.  With Potes and the Picos de Europa being scorched under 36°C temperatures and then rinsed every evening in thunderstorms, we were pretty much doing nothing other than sit and read.  Day 8. Where to go? My original plan was to take a turn around the Picos and then eastwards calling into a few "sights" and "beau villages" that had aires. But with an ageing dog we were looking for somewhere cooler.   It looks as though El Niño from the Pacific is causing the weather we are getting. So we decided to cut a few places out and today head for Frias.   The village is called the smallest city in Spain.  There's a Camping-Car Park aire there and for €6 a night there's plenty of spaces and services but no EHU. Loos and showers as well.  On the way from Potes we found ourselves taking in a few passes and lots of winding ...