France and Spain by Campervan, May 18th to July 13th 2009.
We arrived early at the Dover terminal which meant that we were able to slip onto an earlier ferry than we had booked and before 11.00am (12.00am French) we were off, heading sort of South. As always, a first night stop over was a bit of a problem as by 4.00pm we were in a no-mans land of few campsites around Dreux and Chartres. However, while waiting for traffic lights to change on a section of road works through St. Remy sur Avre we chanced on a campsite sign at Camping OSCAR?. Nice spot too, and we made a mental note to use it on the way home should we be coming this way.
19/5. Mainly payage now except for one wearisome section of N and D roads between Chartres and the A10. After that it was a clear run at a steady 110km/hr onto the A71 peage past Clermont Ferrand on the A75 which was free, and into the Puy country of the Auverne. Tired of driving, we left the A75 at J13 and headed for an Aire du Camping at the little village of Solignat. Paradise. A clean meadow above the village was all ours, as far as the eye could see were green rolling hills and ancient volcanic cones, there was even a mini-puy of our own to climb, Puy d'Ysson. Picture 01, yet another puy and its cluster of houses viewed from the Puy d'Ysson.
20/5. After a bit of shopping at Leaderprice we continued our way south down the A75 to J39 where we exited for the very twisty N88 and N106 to Florac, an excellent centre for exploring the Cevennes and the Grand Causses, areas of limestone uplands. We stayed at the Pont du Tarn camp site that we had used on a previous visit. In the afternoon I suggested a short walk that turned out to be about 3 1/2 hours: typical, was all she said. The spring flowers however, particularly the orchids were stunning and we identified 10 orchids during the walk. Lady, Military, Monkey, Butterfly, Early Purple, Pyramidal, Bird's Nest, Burnt, Green Winged, Elderflower.
Over the next few days we walked up onto the Causses through aromatic woods of oak and box to their pinnacled rims, and down into the Tarn gorge, probably the most scenic of the river gorges in this part of France (with the exception of the Verdon in Provence). Picture 02 is St Chely du Tarn just another perfect riverside village.
24/5. Time for a move. From Florac we headed south again over some interestingly narrow roads (for a campervan) and quite spectacular passes to the small town of Le Vigan pleasantly situated on l'Arre. The Val de l'Arre campsite was a mile or so outside the town near a lovely old bridge (see 03) and a renovated mill. We pottered around over the hot afternoon and did a bit of sketching and watercolour from our chairs perched on riverside slabs, buzzed by brightly coloured dragonflies and cautiously observed by gliding fish. For the next two days we did several walks in the area, the Sentier de la Trescoulade from the village of Arrigas was particularly enjoyable amongst granite scenery though it was very windy with the Mistral. We learned that the campsite was due to host a pop concert and a vintage American car festival at the weekend so it seemed like an appropriate time to move on.
Neither of us had visited the famous Roman Aqueduct the Pont du Gard (picture 04) and it seemed like a good stopping off point on our way to Avignon for a bit of culture. Well, it was much like we imagined - huge, nearly 50m high and over 140m long. The aqueduct is on the top level and is no longer complete, I think that over the years the locals pinched much of the stone at either end to build their houses but there were advertised guided walks along what was left of it.
After unintentionally circumnavigating the city walls, we eventually discovered Avignon's camp site, Camping Bagatelle, situated on a huge island in the Rhone. Busy, as most city sites are it was very convenient and barely 10 minutes walk over the Pont Deladier to the city walls. So, what about the famous Pont d'Avignon? Well there's not much of it left. It's actually called Pont Saint Bénézet after a local shepherd boy who was commanded by angels to build a bridge across the river, as they do. Built between 1171 and 1185 it was originally 900m long with 22 arches, however, repeated floods kept damaging the bridge and in 1668 it was abandoned. There's no report of what the angels thought about this and do they know that one must now pay 4.50€ to visit 20% of their bridge? See picture 05 and the gallery.
Next day, clutching our Avignon Passion cards which got us reductions we visited Palais des Papes (impressive), Musee Calvet (endless religious masterpieces) and Musee Angladon- a must with classics by Degas, Cézanne, Sisley, Van Goch and Modigliani. to name but a few. See the gallery for Modigliani's The Lady in the Pink Blouse.
29/5. Saturated with culture! We left Avignon the visit Fontaine de Vaucluse, a tourist trap centred around an enormous resurgence in a huge Malham Cove-like setting. The resurgence pours out over 630 million cubic meters a year and is over 300m deep which takes it well below sea level. Exploration by deep water robot cameras has revealed many chambers and passages at great depth. We did a couple of walks out in the garigue, rolling hills of chestnut, holly oak and box, the first walk was rather too hot, and on the second we got severely rained on.
1/6. Languedoc covers a largish region stretching down to the Mediterranean west and south of Montpelier but the area of interest to us was the Caroux, which, as well as being an attractive mountain area contained some splendid gorges. The campsite at Olargues no longer seemed to exist despite frequent and confusing signs to it and we chanced on a pleasant little site at Tarrasac just across the suspension bridge over the Orb, opposite the end of Gorge d'Heric and surrounded by cherry orchards. Incidentally, the camp site features some of the highest water pressures we have ever experienced, a shower was akin to a hot massage and it was best to run for the door when pressing a toilet flush particularly with a squatter!
Using the Cicerone guide to walking in the Languedoc by John Cross we completed three excellent outings through garigue, chestnut and grassy uplands, midst some beautiful scenery. Particularly memorable was Walk 6, the excellent Circuit of the Caroux Plateau with its excellent waterfalls and rock scenery. Picture 06 shows Suzy gazing down at the granite of the Gorge de la Colombière, see the gallery for more and bigger images.
6/6. The weather which for some time had been perfect was now showing some signs of instability and it seemed like a good time to move on. Where to? Somewhere warm and dry? No, the French Pyrenees notorious for its weather. Bagnéres de Luchon is situated at the end of the D125 south of St Gaudens on the A64 peage which runs between Toulouse and Biarritz. As the name suggests. it's an old spa town though in the winter it becomes more of a ski resort. There were numerous camp sites in the area, we stumbled on Les Pyrenees, which was pleasant though some distance from the shops and 90% filled by static tents, increasingly common in some popular areas. Thick cloud shrouded the hills and as I had left the French/German hook-up adapter at Le Vigan we took what turned out to be a 6km hike to Mr Bricolage for a replacement. Next day the weather was still cloudy so we drove into the Vallée du Lis, checked out the cataracts in the Gouffre d'Enfer and walked up to an impressive little gorge, the Rue d'Enfer, route 38 in the Rother Guide Pyrenees 2 by Roger Büdeler. Avalanche debris was everywhere, a sign of what we were so find on later walks, it turned out that Lis was local dialect for avalanche. As we returned to the camper, so did the rain.
We waited a day. Sunshine! Clutching our Rother guide we drove excitedly to the car park at Hospice de France and headed for route 42 up the Ruisseau du Port de Vénasque which would take us up to the Refuge de Vénasque. Not to be however, and along with a couple of other groups of walkers we were stopped by extensive avalanche debris and late snow. For plan B, we walked up the increasingly steep adjacent Vallée de la Fréche which contained a lot less snow, up to the Etang de la Fréche at 2169m. Picture 07 Dog's Tooth Violets.
Next day we walked up to Lac d'Oô and the Refuge d'Espingo, route 36. This was a beautiful walk though once again there was considerable amounts of snow as we neared the hut. Picture 08 Suzy with the Cascade d'Oô behind. 09 Hepatica flowers.
11/6. We woke to thick mist and restless little things that we are, we decided to move on, over the Col del Portillon into Sunny Spain and to the village of Espot in the Aigues Torte National Park. The only campsite that was open for camper vans was Camping Verapark, very clean and with an English speaking owner, though at 25€ a night, rather more than we would usually pay. Access to the park was by taxi only and the campsite arranged for us to be picked up.
12-14/6. Perfect days, wall to wall blue sky, temperatures in low 20's amongst some stunning scenery. The taxi took us to the Estany de Sant Maurici (reservoir) from where we walked up past splendid cascades and mirror calm lakes to a broad pass of Port de Ratera with the option of ascending the adjacent Tuc de Ratera. These was quite a bit of snow remaining from the winter and having left out gaiters back in England our boots soon filled up with wet snow. We returned via the Refugi d'Amitges past more beautiful lakes, watched by wary marmots. Pictures 09 and 10 and the gallery. The next day we were back again at the Estany de Maurici and saw us climbing the really beautiful Vall de Monestero to the col of the same name. The Pic was another 30 minutes but madame had had enough. It didn't really matter though, it was enough to just sit and soak up the scenery. Picture 11, Trumpet Gentians everywhere.
15/6. The good weather couldn't last and it didn't, and after a day of sitting around while the rain drummed on the campervan roof and a less than promising weather forecast we headed down into the lowlands of Spain. Last year I had gone climbing amongst the Mallos de Riglos, conglomerate towers northwest of the town of Huesca and had noticed their walking potential. But would it be too hot? It was quite a long drive and the weather remained mixed but we covered some fine scenery as we crossed the grain of the country.
Riglos was only a small collection of houses tucked underneath the Mallos but we unearthed a pleasant and shady campsite just outside Ayerbe, the nearest small town about 12km away. The weather remained unsettled and next day while circumnavigating the Mallos de Riglos we got severely rained on as thunderstorms marched onto us from the plains. The Mallos are the home of numerous Griffon vultures and it was not unusual to see 10 of these giants airborne, riding the thermals around the towers. Picture 12, Riglos and the Mallos de Riglos. Picture 13, Griffon vulture.
Too hot? Yes, the temperature rode up into the mid 30s but the mad dogs gainly strode out exploring such as the Chateau de Loarre (splendid) and and the Hermitages of the Virgen de la Peña (closed) on mountain tops, and one day almost got the campervan wedged in the village of Bolaya, fooled by the map which marked a nonexistent by-pass. Be warned, Mapa Excusionista 1:40000 No 13 Reino de los Mallos contains an error at this point. We visited the very hot village of Agüero where everyone seemed to be asleep and where there were more Mallos. On a short hot walk we spotted an Egyptian vulture whilst hiding in the back of a cool cave. But yes, lovely scenery but too hot for walking though we promised ourselves a return trip earlier in the year.
19/6. Back to the Pyrenees. The Rough Guide recommended the Hecho valley and as it was within striking distance we thought we'd give it a try. Yes, it was a beautiful valley with lots of trails but the campsite was crowded with static tents, so close together that should one of them have caught fire the whole campsite would have burnt down, and access to a pitch was only just possible with our Renault van conversion due to the narrow access and badly positioned trees. Larger campervan? Forget it. At the weekend all hell let loose as the campsite and the valley filled up with excited Spaniards. With hindsight we should have continued up the valley, through the interestingly narrow Boca de la Enfierno to a pleasant widening where those in the know were wild camping.
21/9. We moved on to the ghost dormitory town of Escarilla not far from the popular ski resort of Formigal. There was just the one campsite, expensive (26€) and though it advertised a pool, tennis courts and a store all were closed making our 26€ site fee seemed particularly poor value, it was also 95% static tents again. We later noted that it might be possible to wild camp by the Embalse de la Sarra above nearby Sallent de Gállego. However, there was lots of excellent walking in the vicinity with Route 4 in Rother Guide 1, Ibones de Arriel being particularly memorable. See picture 14 and the gallery.
25-29/6. After four days based in expensive Escarilla we headed back into France over the Col de Portalet for some shopping in Laruns then east along the D918 to Arrens where we hoped to base ourselves. Nice road with large notices that we didn't quite take in. What they said was, not recommended for le camping car on the section between Col d'Aubisque and Col de Soulor, one-way only in the afternoon (towards us) with tunnels and sharp bends. Well, it all worked out OK in the end but you wouldn't want to take your Winnebago along it.
We stayed at a pleasant, slightly equestrian site called Mouliens just east of Arrens in the village of Marsous, where it rained in true French Pyrenean fashion for the next two days. Eventually though, the weather gave up, the sun came out and all those nasty clouds just disappeared. There were two nearby starting points for walking, both accessed through Arrens village, the Lac du Tech where wild camping seemed to be allowed and Lac d'Estaing. Both had loads of parking and allowed some superb walks to be completed. Particularly memorable were routes 2,3 and 4 in the Rother Pyrenees 2. Picture 15 Lac d'Estaing, picture 16 the rather rare Yellow Turk's cap Lily Lilium pyrenaicum.
30-2/6-7. On the move again, we continued east to the busy little town of Cauterets where our trusty Rother guide promised more splendid walking. We stayed at Peguere camp site about 1km down the road from Cauterets, a bargain after those crowded and expensive Spanish sites at 13€ per night including hook-up. Cauterets is a busy ski resort in the winter and in the summer it was still pretty busy and the French holidays were yet to start. Up the road from the town is la Raillère, a bit of tourist trap but worth the visit if only for the stunning waterfalls that surround it. On the day we arrived we walked up the Chemin des Cascades in the Val de Jéret which is what is says on the label though many of the falls are awkward to see due to the trees.
Pont d'Espagne is probably the main tourist trap at Cauterets and many visitors get no further or take the chair lift to Lac de Gaube with its Hotellerie. For the more adventurous ones, the walk from the Pont to the Refuge de Oulettes underneath the north face of Vignemale 3219m with its small glacier is well worth the effort. Picture 17 shows Lac de Gaube and just visible at the head of the valley is Vinemale. Beautiful walk that it was, we got severely drenched in a torrential thunderstorm on the way back. Our Rother guide is unlikely to fully recover.
Next day we woke up to thick mist and against our better judgements we drove round to the next valley for a day in the Cirque de Gavarne. We arrived in clear weather but within 20 minutes the view and our walking circuit were enveloped in thick cloud which never lifted.
3-6/7. Time to leave and head north. We headed back into the Dordogne for a bit of relaxation and camped at the excellent municipal site at Saint Céré. The weather was hot and we pottered around chateaux and castles, visited several of the 'most beautiful villages in the Dordogne', and took a trip down the excellent show cave of Gouffre de Padirac. Picture 18, Swallowtail butterfly on a Buddleia flower, picture 19 Chateau de Baynac and picture 20, canoes at evening on the banks of the Dordogne.
7-10/7. Moved west a bit to stay at Le Bosquet in Vitrac near Domme, a pleasant camp site that we had used some years earlier. From here we did some more walks, visited the historic town of Sarlat famous for its Fois Gras, and the Troglodyte village of La Madeleine where we almost got lost in the garigue on the way back. On the last afternoon we attempted to draw and paint the arch bridge over the river at Vitrac.
11-12/7. North again, this time on a long leg to the campsite that we had stayed in nearly 2 months ago in Remy sur Avre. Next day, a shorter leg to Escalles l'Erable near Cap Nez Blanc and within an easy drive to the ferry in Calais.