1st May.
We had spent the night on the quayside opposite Viana do Castelo not
realising that it was a bank holiday today.
The usual revelries could be heard, brought by the stiff breeze, well
into the early hours but not actually causing us any lost sleep. Much of the town was decorated with garlands
of yellow broom which looked very attractive but as most shops were closed we
opted for lunch in a new restaurant which caught our eye on the edge of
town. A bit ‘Masterchef‘ Portuguese style so that suited us just
fine. We trundled off later along the
Lima valley to dreamy Ponte de Lima, where a Roman bridge straddles the river,
and where everyone seemed to be out enjoying another day off in the sunshine.
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| Bronze folklore statue |
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| May Day wreath made with Broom |
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| Ponte de Barca |
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| Les trying out the exercise machine! |
2nd May. Our last day in Portugal - we are so sad to be leaving as we have really fallen in love with the relaxed way of life and the kindness of the people. The Minho region where we are now is beautiful with small villages nestling in green cultivated valleys. Agriculture is a way of life and most houses will have a veggie patch together with a few vines trained high up around the edges. We have been amused by the numerous old fashioned hardware stores which spill their goods out onto the pavements taking our minds back 40 or 50 years. However, I don’t think you could ever buy personal stills for home spirit making or deep washing sinks (Portuguese washing machines) like these ones on display outside one shop. The map below shows our meandering progress around Portugal over the past four months we are over the border to Spain tomorrow.
And ..........Just a few of the wonderful Azulejos which I loved !
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| Porto Railway station |
Our route from France, through Spain and on to Portugal.
3rd May.
We have crossed the border at Vila Nova de Cerviera and over to Baiona
for lunch and a short cycle ride around the bay. Beautiful bay with mountains in the distance
and lots of small islands to be seen just outside. There is a castle fort to be
explored at the mouth of the bay together with old town centre just opposite.
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| Grain store by the castle walls |
Having
difficulty finding a place to stay for the night we stopped off at
Combarro to see the numerous Hôrreo (grain stores, or in this case we think there
are fish stores also) situated at the waters’ edge next to the fishermen’s
cottages before finally stopping at Praia Magor further along the
promontory. A lovely quiet spot for the
night.
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| Our lovely overnight spot |
5th May.
We had to walk into Santiago centre as we seemed to have missed the bus,
just as well it was just a 30 minute walk downhill! In no time at all we had joined several
groups of pilgrims making their way to the cathedral for the midday mass
celebration.
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| Signs along the roads nearing Santiago |
The cathedral is in the middle of the medieval centre of town surrounded
by the usual gift shops. Next door is
the Catholic Kings Hospital, now a Paradour Hotel, parts of which date back to
the 15th century but upgraded by local royalty in the 17th
century as there was nowhere for the pilgrims to rest or shelter after their long journey. They had an open day today so we made a
visit. After joining the packed
cathedral for the Midday Mass for a short time (not in English of course) we
meandered around small the old centre where there were some wonderful baroque
style mansions. It seemed to us that the
maybe that the pilgrim journey might be more exciting than the arriving.
6th and 7th May. We are now on the northern coast of Spain
having arrived last night (when it was still sunny) at a place called Foz and
we intend to make our way eastwards. No
wonder the countryside here is very green as it hasn’t stopped raining since
early this morning and we are wondering if we have made the right decision in
coming north. The small fishing villages along the coast remind us very much of
those in Cornwall, the rocks are dramatic and very dark as are the stone
buildings with their black slate roofs. Perhaps it’s the rain that is making
everywhere look so bleak. We are staying
at Cudilero tonight which must get very busy in the summer judging by the
number of fish restaurants on the quayside but today they are empty and looking
very forlorn in the rain.
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| Cudilero |
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| Luarca - we didn't make it down into the town! |
8th – 10th May. The weather is still
very wet so we are biding our time before entering the Picos de Europa National
Park staying on the outskirts of the large town of Gijon where we are able to
go into the town on the local bus. We
have discovered on this trip that large towns are not really our thing and we
were pleased to be leaving when the rain eventually stopped, travelling along
the coast to stay near the surfing beach of Praia de Moris. The campsite was closed so we have parked up
nearby and before long another van has arrived so we have some company for the
night. Next morning the sky was still
heavy but dry so we moved further along the coast to Ribadesella, a town with a
beach resort on one side of the estuary.
We are sure that when the sun does eventually come out this place will
really look inviting but the moment a posh Porthmadoc comes to mind – still,
quite enchanting with the mountain backdrop.
After lunch, and we are now in Cangas de Onis on the very edge of the
Picos mountains and the countryside is becoming quite beautiful. The small farms mostly all have the Asturian
type hôrreos (grain stores) which are larger than those in Galicia some with a
veranda around the outside. Surprisingly to us, this is ‘Sidra’ country so of
course we just had to do some tasting……mmm we think we prefer the Normandy
cidre actually.
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| Farmhouse with horreos |
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| Roman bridge at Cangas de Onis |
11th May.
We woke up to thick mist but hoping that the sun would break through for
our journey through the Picos. By about
10am the sun was out and we were visiting a nearby Parador as suggested by the
tourist office. These historical
buildings are now hotels but are very interesting for visitors, having
information boards in and around the building.
This one began life as a hermitage in 780 ish and then became a
monastery but taken over by the state in the 1980’s and renovated …… Pity the
bar wasn’t yet open for a coffee. Our
journey beside the river through Benia de Onis and Arenas was spectacular with
the massive mountains all around us. We
stopped at Arenas to buy the local blue goat and white sheep’s cheeses (we had
seen the goats teetering about high up on our route) and had a simple lunch
with bread and wine a little further on. A right turn in Panes brought us through the
‘Desfiladero de la Hermida’, a narrow
canyon of some 20 miles to Potes where our campsite and snow capped mountains
awaited us. At the moment it is still
clear but we are wondering if the area will be shrouded in mist again tomorrow
morning.
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| Time for lunch? |
12th May – A day in the Picos De Europa – see
next Blog
13th May.
After a short walk down to the town of Potes in the morning and having
seen the weather forecast, we have decided to move on north to the coast at
Comillas where we visited ‘El Capricho de Gaudi’ a building designed by the
great man himself in 1883. We had always
wanted to visit Barcelona to see his other works so this little detour was just
right. Like many of the mansions around
of this era in Spain, it was built for a returning Spaniard who had made his
fortune in America.
We were particularly taken with the detail of the design and the fact that the positioning of the rooms in terms of daily activities, ensured that they were each in line with the sun’s path, much like the sunflowers on the motif on the tiles outside.
14th – 16th May.
We have been watching the weather forecast to spot a window for crossing
the Pyrenees and positioned ourselves in a campsite in Estella, near Pamplona,
where we can get Wifi. Various folk on Motohomefacts website had suggested the
crossing which takes you beside a turquoise lake, turning then at Jaca and
through a new long tunnel, so we decided to go for it.
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| On the Spanish side |
A lovely journey, not too scary and quite
sunny most of the way except for a few spots of sleet at the top near the snow
clad peeks. We had only been in France
for a few miles when we spotted a Fromagerie at the roadside and of course made
our purchase of some lovely Brebis and a small goats cheese …….. good cheeses
being one of the things we have missed most
in Spain and Portugal.
17 – 21 Travelling across France
On route we stopped in a large carpark beside a small lake
for lunch – no-one there except another motorhome and two cars. There was a marquee near the restaurant and
little by little more cars appeared and people of all ages were going
inside. We thought maybe there was a
wedding reception about to start and hoping we would not be blocked in by more
cars we set off for our walk. We
returned about half an hour later to find the carpark almost full with just
enough space for us to squeeze out. We had missed the advertisement pinned to a
tree announcing the ‘Fete’ over this weekend with lots of goings-on to include
Loto (bingo) on today’s date. Sure
enough in a few minutes we could hear the numbers being called over the tannoy
system - we didn’t realize bingo had
such a following in France – or is it because there is not much else to do in
the sticks.
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| On the walk |
Sorèze – A surprise medieval village and lovely parking spot
for the night.
Voie vert. An old
railway track converted into a long cycleway in the craggy mountainous region
of Hérault with bridges crossing over the many ravines and the meandering
river. We covered about 10 miles near to
the ancient village of Olargues and although the sky was quite grey the
vineyards and blossom made for cheery
views.
22nd May.
A revisit for lunch to one of our favourite places in France – Lac
Salagou. Set in a bowl and surrounded by
limestone cliffs and red hillocks this place is abundant with wildlife –
butterflies, birds and wild flowers.
However as usual it is quite windy so we have travelled on to Pont du
Diable where a bridge built around in 400AD is still in existence. This Devils bridge is steeped in legend from ancient
times, the villagers being saved from Satan by St Guillhem whose Abbey is a
mile or two away. The river winds down
from a gorge in the mountains to a beach area just beneath the bridge and we
are lucky to have come here out of season so the overnight parking is free. It’s lovely and warm here and as I write this
the frogs in the nearby pond are making their noisy presence known.
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| Yes.....it's Les ! |
24th May. Quite
an interesting day. We have continued
east stopping today at les Baux-de-Provence a hilltop village dating back to 12th
century when it was owned by the Grimaldi family, now the princes of
Monaco. We can now see how they made
their money and still are ! charging us
5€ to park on the roadside with a long walk up to the usual tourist shops…..the
views were great though especially from our coffee stop further up the
hill.
A few miles south and along a
very narrow stretch of road we turned a corner and …… Wow! a massive aqueduct
soon towered above us – luckily with a car park on the other side for the
obligatory photo stop. The chap in the small camper was making a sketch –
obviously staying longer than us.
A little
further on when looking for somewhere to have lunch, we were suddenly treated
to an aerobatics display given by the chaps at the local airbase. A quick U turn and we were in business –
lovely lunch and a private air display. Overnight
tonight we are staying at an old coal mine which was closed in 2003 - the bread
van calls in the morning so we must be up early.
25th and 26th May. We have been travelling inland in Provence
stocking up on provisions, gas and fuel with lovely views of the craggy
mountains to the north. I had wondered
why I was given a lovely yellow rose at the supermarket checkout thinking
perhaps it was because we had spent over a certain amount there …… next day
everyone seemed to be walking about clutching cellophane wrapped bunches of
flowers – of course, it was Mother’s day in France, and hence the rose. We
stayed overnight beside a lovely turquoise lake with just a few vans and guys fishing. So quiet.
Next stop…..les Arcs
where we just managed to get some bread before the bakery closed at 12.30pm and
the village goes to sleep again. We saw
a sign for the ‘medieval village’ not expecting it to be much but so pleased we
had made the effort. The old castle was
now a Logis hotel and all the houses were still lived in ….. the ceramic tile
decoration in the ‘garden of eden’ certainly made us smile in this typical
Provencal village.
27th May.
We have arrived at the coast near Cavalaire sur Mer and a campsite to
catch up with the washing etc. The sun
is out and there is a heated swimming pool so a bit of relaxation there too.
28th to 31 May covered in the blog Cote d’Azure
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