Author: Juliet Stratton (Page 16 of 39)

We’re on the Spanish road again!

23 November 2019 / Juliet Stratton

Having returned from our trip to the USA in October and November and letting it sink in as to all the hugely fun adventure we had, we settled in Vilanova I La Geltru just outside Barcelona for a week, not wanting to travel too far just yet!! This was easier said than done!

The Rolls Royce engine on the Dreamliner and below, coming into land at Barcelona

Our storage facility had a Dometic engineer on site, one who was prepared to take a look at an issue we had with the electric on board heater not firing up, a fault we had found just before we left for the USA so after we had landed in Barcelona at midday, driven to the storage facility and hooked up the trailer, it was about 4pm. We left the storage place to travel only 15 miles to the local campsite and we expected to arrive half an hour later and get ourselves hooked up and straight before the sun set but we got caught up in the French/Catalan/Spanish demonstrations. The campsite was just a few miles from the French/Spanish border and the main AP7 motorway had been closed by Police that day due to demonstrations on the roads, all traffic had been diverted to parallel roads and told to park up as the Catalans were hoping to keep the road closed for 3 days!! I have never seen so many stagnant lorries, cars and motorhomes, in car parks, garages, service areas and on the edge of roads, all the drivers looked really ‘peed off’, just sitting doing nothing. We eventually got to the campsite at 7.45pm, the receptionist had kindly stayed open for us.

We headed out of the site the next morning, back to see the electrical engineer, thinking how clear the roads were heading away from the border, until 2 miles down the road we hit brake lights! This time a coach, full of older aged French passengers, decided to pull across our side of the road, blocking our exit, with the attitude of “well, if we can’t move, neither will you” until the Police arrived! The Civil Police arrive, the coach driver soon moved and we were on our way. A few hours later, electrical fault identified, we headed south, still shocked at how many lorries were still parked up, probably back as far as 30 miles from the border!

We arrived at a site familiar to us, Vilanova I La Geltru, and signed in for a week; caught up and tried to regulate our sleep as well as eating at the correct times, my stomach was often wide awake at midnight, 6pm USA time!!! We did 4 suitcases full of laundry and found homes for all the extra bottles of alcohol we have imported from the USA!!

Vilanova was a little cooler than we had anticipated, we had to retrieve our jumpers and coats!!! However, the sun was out and the sky was blue, the sea was still rolling and the drinks were still cheap!! And…..one evening I scored 6 in a row when feeding the wild cats!!!

After a week we moved 200 miles south to Alcossebre, on the Costa Dourada. The change in weather and temperature was immediate, an increase of 5C, which resulted in David getting his shorts on!! We stopped at Camping Playa Tropicana, where all the drinks are free!!! Fun and Sunshine, there’s enough for everyone!!!

The coastline here is a mix of sand and pebbles, very clean and perfect for snorkeling in the summer, maybe not in November 🙂

We took a drive out one day to Alcala de Xivert, a small inland town with a fantastic 17^th Century Moorish church, closed the day we decided to visit as the forthcoming weekend was a religious festival. However, the church tower was open, and we ventured up all 213 steps to the top, for amazing views of the plains.

The views were worth the climb. At 120 steps there was a platform with 7 bells, used for celebrations and holidays, and another tiny staircase upwards. We reached the very top, with several more bells, just as it chimed 12 midday, boy did that hurt the old eardrums being right under them!

We also spotted just across the valley, a hill top castle, Castel de Xivert, so off we went, 5kms drive over dust and dirt and another 1.5kms on the knees and calf muscles! Again the walk was worth the views from the castle. It was part of the Knight’s Templar empire, built during the 11^th and 12^th Century, but possibly with parts dating later than that, as suggested by an Arabic template on the main outer wall. The castle walls and towers remain, as does several of the small village houses below, but the quietness, and the views were something special.

As we left the castle and headed back to Alcossebre, we drove through the orange grove valleys, the trees still loaded with partly ripened oranges. The smell was so fresh and fruity.

After several days here, we have decided to move on south, towards an old favourite, Bonterra Park in Benicassim.

Autumn Roses

13 October 2019 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

We have spent the past 6 weeks in a lovely seaside town called Roses, in Spain, just over the French/Spanish border and have very much been acting like tourists, cycling along the prom, eating in the local tapas bars, chatting to other British caravanners about the occasional thunderstorm or windy day we were having, or swimming in the Med or the pool. But. … same as in the UK, autumn has arrived! Just not on such a grand scale!!

The nights are drawing in, getting dark by 7.30pm, mornings are darker until sunrise at 7.30am and evenings are a little chilly, resulting in the reappearance of my faithful fleece! Another downside to this weather, is the abundance of flies during the day and bloomin mosquitos in the evening! They drive David mad!! Me, the flies just annoy, and the mozzies feed a family of 20 on me, so frequent applications of anthisan are a regular occurrence after dark! I hope our neighbours have not heard the frequent cries of “oh, you b**tard, David, quick, rub here!”

This will be our last post for a few weeks, as we are jetting off to the USA with friends Mike and Brenda. We are flying from Barcelona to New York, spending 5 days there, then flying to Detroit, arriving on my birthday!

In Detroit we will be joining a few hundred others at “Motown A GoGo”, a celebration of Motown bands and singers, organised by a British man and held in the area famous for the Motown museum and Berry Gordi’s recording studios. On Friday 25th we will attend Mike and Brenda’s wedding, along with a few others, being performed in one of the actual studios.

After the wedding, we are taking an Amtrak train to Chicago, spending a few days there, before collecting a hire car and driving down part of Route 66, to St Louis, and Louisville, where we will pick up the Bourbon trail. Here we will no doubt visit a few distilleries, sampling their wares, maybe even purchasing some!!! From Louisville we head across to Indianapolis before heading north back up to Chicago. We fly back to New York and Barclona mid November, where we head south, so news updates will continue….

Sunset on Roses beach
A sundowner??? Don’t mind if I do!
Beautiful pink sky over the campsite bar
Empuriabrava beach one Sunday afternoon
Roses Bay from the mountains behind
Off roading to achieve the best views.

One day we took our snorkelling gear to Montjoi Bay, a secluded bay a little further around the coast, and spent the day at this deserted beach. At one point in the afternoon, there were a dozen people there, most had arrived on yachts or canoes! The water was cool, but not particularly clear, not many fish there, despite us taking tasty bread rolls along.

Montjoi beach
David contemplating going in
Next bay along.

One day, we took a ride out with Mike and Brenda to the local Hyper shopping mall, and found this amazing Cadillac, reminding us that we are just weeks away from our visit to the USA.

Brenda and I also visited Salvador Dali’s museum in Figueres, housed in an old theatre that burned down, so Dali purchased it, renovated it and used the interior to display his artwork, paintings, drawings, ceramics and jewels.

David, Mike, Brenda, Me and a Cadillac!
A beautiful house in Figueres
Dali’s Museum
Brenda on her way up!
One of Dali’s famous jewels
And another….
And another….
His most famous…..
The centre piece in the interior of the museum.

One of Dali’s most unknown works is called “Explosion of Mystical Faith in the midst of the Cathedral” and is worth studying, the photos probably don’t do it justice. Its a stunning piece of artwork, which Dali worked on for 15 years (1959 – 1974) and is still claimed to be “unfinished”, showing the virgin saint surrounded by a nebula. The second painting shows his first attempt that was used as his “study” attempt, without the layers or colour and depth of bodies.

Superman enjoying some beach time!!! OK, you can breathe out now!!!
One of the beautiful bays in this area.
And another, we have done plenty of off roading to achieve these views!

France – Mid to South, and To The Sun

21 September 2019 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

Lyon

It transpires that Lyon was a Roman town called Lugdunum, capital of the area called Gaul.

It is also the second largest city on France, after Paris, and we can now agree with that having only explored one area of it. It’s a sprawling city, split up by the River Soane and the Rhone, creating a huge island in the middle, but with very old historic parts of Fouviere which overlooks the whole city. It has 9 different “areas” – called arondissements, as in Paris.

Its also probably one of few cities that we have visited that have a Cathedral, and a Basilica, as well as about a dozen churches!

We firstly visited the Saint Jean Cathedral on the banks of the River Soane, a huge stone building in a square, which was first built in 1180 on the remains of a 7th century church and completed in 1476. It is a familiar sight in France, a Gothic exterior, all internal stone columns, stone roof and stone towers and quite plain internally with very little decoration.

Sant Jean Square looking up to the Basilica
The Ancient clock.

The cathedral homes the Lyon Astronomical Clock from the 14th century and an organ installed in 1841 with 15 stops but it was rebuilt in 1875 and given 30 stops, three keyboards of 54 notes and pedals for 27.

Along the River is also a Saint George Church and Saint Paul church!

Sant Jean Cathedral, Basilica at the top of the hill, Palais of Justice to the right of the Church.

We then took a funicular to the top of Mount Just to visit the Basilica, which was a different building altogether. Originally built by the Romans in 1192, rebuilt during the 16th century and extended during 1872 and 1896, and maintained to this day by a monetary pledge from the Aldermen of the City as well as public donations. In 1852 the gilded statue of the Virgin Mary was erected on a bell tower, it was dedicated to Mary in 1896 and in 1897, recognised as a Basilica Minor by Pope Pie IX after recognising the Church’s importance in Lyon.

Huge columns of marble, mosaic floors, stained glass windows and massive wall paintings touched with gold and mosaics. It certainly was an impressive building, and can be seen from most aspects of the city below, it dominates the sky line.

Ornate ceiling
Ceiling in detail
One of the wall paintings
Floor mosaics

We also walked down the hill of Fouviere, to the Roman ruins of the original Forum, the name comes from “forum vetus/old town”, a large preserved area of buildings, two arenas, and several old thermal baths and the water storage tanks. One of the Arenas has been sympathetically restored and is used for concerts and plays. The ruins themselves are not some of the best we have seen, but are certainly the biggest we have seen so far.

Down in the old town, the medieval narrow streets are cobbled and wind around the foot of the hill. Because buildings were tall and narrow (built between the 1500s and 1800s), an architect was requested to construct a way to connect two buildings to make access easier and “Traboules” were created. They are often stone spiral staircases leading to covered or open walkways and corridors, all at a high level. The houses are maybe 4 to 6 storeys high, so the traboules were sometimes covered in.

The other side of the city is modern, sprawling and a grey concrete jungle, neat, clean and organised.

We took a drive to the top of Mount Thau, which at 593M above sea level overlooks the City with amazing views!

Avignon

An overnight stay in a campsite on a private island on the Rhone on the banks of Avignon, what could sound more romantic???

The reality was sadly diferent, a large untidy open site, Reception closed between noon and 4.00pm, pitches the furthest point from the entrance, overhanging trees, no water or drainage on the pitches and thousands of mosquitos and stink bugs! We used the late afternoon and evening to head into Avignon for the rest of the day and made the most of our time there.

We couldn’t go into Avignon and NOT visit the famous bridge! Access is through part of the gatehouse and the history is told through a handset, allowing you to walk to the end of the bridge.

Its only 4 arches long now but when it was built between 1177 and 1185 it was 22 arches long and wooden, but wars, time and the River Rhone have washed them away and all that remains now are the small parts jutting into the River. It was rebuilt in the 12th century, in stone with a chapel on one of the piers, but fighting the river was a major issue, hence it’s shortness.

Looking back at the City
An image of how the original bridge looked in 1100s

The walled City has several large impressive buildings surrounding a public square which came alive at night, the Palais des Papes was a beautiful stone building, with the Basilica Notre Dame des Doms next to it, the views as the sun was setting were amazingly colourful.

The Cathedral and Palais
The Palais
Square at night
Sunset from the Cathedral

Narbonne

Finally we reached Narbonne on the South coast, a town and camp site we have visited several times, beside the Etangs (marsh lakes) and in prime wine country! We stopped here a few nights to catch our breath and catch up on regular chores.

David dipped into the pool on site, not for long, as it was freezing!

We finally left France for the pretty town of Roses, just over the border in Spain.

Henri Malarte’s Private Motor Exhibition

20 September 2019 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

A Frenchman near Lyon started a collection of antique motorised vehicles, and after purchasing a Chateau to display them in, opened to the public in 1960.

Le Chateau de Rochetaille-sur-Soane was built in the 12th Century, damaged over time and rebuilt and modified in 1904, and purchased in 1959 by Henri Malatre to display his collection.

The collection is primarily vehicles made in or around Lyon, a City once famous for car constructors that have now disappeared, such as Rochet-Schneider, Luc Court and Berliet.

It does include some original vehicles, a Fort Model T, the Popemobile used during the Popes visit to Lyon, Adolf Hitler’s staff car from 1945, and various famous racing cars.

The Chateau

The Model T Ford was the most produced vehicle in the world (16.5 million) with assembly starting in 1908 in Detroit.
La Papamobile was used by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Lyon in October 1986. The vehicle was adapted to allow the Pope to salute his people.
Mercedes built 44 armoured cars for Hitler during 1939 and 1944. This particular car was seized by troops in May 1945.
One of the first funicular cars from the Fouviere funicular.

France – North Coast to Mid France

20 September 2019 / Juliet Stratton / 0 Comments

We left Dover early on a Tuesday morning at the beginning of September on a ferry to Calais and made our first stop a few hours south near Saint Quentin, just north of Paris. Samson was, and still is, in full working order and it is lovely to get back on the road!

Seraucourt Le Grand

The site itself was surrounded by and on the edge of several tranquil and pretty lakes full of carp, lilies and dragon flies – the site was full of British couples in their dotage, their pitches full of deck chairs, sun loungers, pot plants and gnomes! We had a grassy double pitch with easy access and we used the few days here to settle back into our gypsy style life again. We caught up on booking ahead for our next few stops and some shopping, as well as enjoying the peace and quiet that comes with the return of school term – no noisy children!

Lakes around the site.
Local church and Town Hall
Typical local house

We discovered that the actual village we were in, called Seraucourt Le Grand, had a cemetery full of First World War soldiers that had died in the surrounding areas and whose graves had been relocated here as a gesture of remembrance. It was a beautiful setting on the top of a quiet, flat hill, surrounded by fields of corn and hay, with beautifully well maintained flowers and shrubs dotted amongst the 1830 headstones. The majority of the graves were of riflemen, cavalry or airmen, the average age at death was early 20’s and lots were from the north of England, they were in regiments from Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland.

WW1 cemetery

Troyes

We headed further south to Troyes, a beautiful medieval town that we have stopped at last year, and an odd thing happened – David adamantly denied ever having been there before!! Last year when we returned to the UK to MOT the truck, we stopped here overnight (on a Saturday night as Sunday morning was an issue finding a café open for breakfast!) in a small guest house at one end of the town, this time we booked into a campsite at the opposite end of town. And, another odd thing…..it rained! Only for the day!!

When we walked from the municipal campsite into the old part of the city, we came across the Cathedral first, which was closed when we visited last year. I clearly remembered the square, but he didn’t. I remembered a fascinating old wine shop on the corner of the square, which was closed last year, he didn’t. I showed him the cathedral gardens where we watched a young girl wearing no shoes playing in the fountains with a big Alsatian dog, he didn’t. It wasn’t until I took him to the restaurant that we had dinner in, and then into the main square with the Town Hall, that he remembered! I was beginning to doubt myself at one point!!

An old Toll House from the 1500s
Front of the Toll House
An impromptu dance session in the Town Square.

We walked around the town, discovering more tiny passageways between the tall wooden houses, admiring the partly wooden properties that are leaning away or bowing over, fascinated at how they have survived time, weather and woodworm!

We visited the Saint Pierre Cathedral and went into Saint Madeleine church, and marveled at the ornate wooden organs in both. Saint Madeleine is unique with its gothic internal bridge,

Auxonne & Dole (near Dijon)

We arrived at our next site late on Sunday morning, a riverside park that is under new ownership and certainly needing a bit of TLC. However, we had a huge area all to ourselves (apart from 2 tents, we were the only ones here!) with full water and drainage and despite the fact that none of the new owners spoke English, we found a good sunny area and settled in for 2 nights.

In the afternoon we took a drive 15kms away to Dole, to escape the noise of a triathlon that was being held in the town, the cyclists and their supporters took over the one way streets and police blocked off routes into the town so we headed out away from the hustle.

Dole was a lovely town on a limestone ridge beside the River Doubs, home to Holy Emperors and several Counts of Burgundy. A mix of one way circular roads led up to the Basilica and the market hall and the nearby attraction of Louis Pasteur house of birth, born in 1822. His father run a tannery beside the Canal du Rhone an Rhin which also dissects the town and his home as well as the tannery now form a museum on the street named after him. The town is full of tall stone properties dating back to the 16^th century, either heading up to the cathedral or down to the canal and river mixed in with tight jumbled stairways, passages, underground fountains and narrow roads.

Birthplace of Louis Pasteur

We also found a natural spring originating from under the rocky cathedral supports, harvested in a trough dating back to 1274 or possibly earlier, it is called the Fontaine aux Lepreux and it was found off Rue Pasteur. The water used to be drunk by locals who thought it had healing qualities, whilst the lepers were refused entry into the city, a leprosy hospital was founded beside its source some miles away. In the 1600s it was used by local washer women to do their laundry, until they were fined for polluting the water.

We admired the Notre Dame Collegiate, built in the 1500s and a blend of Gothic and Renaissance style, and at the time no expense was spared on the rich interior. It was built as a Church and became a Basilica in 1951 and has the highest church Tower in the region, 73m high, the Bell Ringer used to live in the top of the Tower. Several areas were restored in 2009 including plasterwork, paintings and the stained glass windows. We admired its organ, which was built in 1754, with 3500 pipes!!

Auxonne is a town on the River Saone where Napoleon Bonaparte was a student at the artillery school, he then returned again to stay whilst he was a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Regiment de la Fere from 1788 to 1791. A statue of Bonaparte stands in the main square outside the Notre Dame Church.

Once again, the church is a Gothic stone building but with a twisted spire, something very unusual in this part of the world! The original church was built at the end of the 12^th century, extended in the 13^th and 14^th centuries and an ornate porch was added in 1516 – 1520. The spire was added in 1843 and is 33m high but the weathervane is at a height of 70m!

The wooden organ was built in 1629, and its decorative external casing (flowerpots, cherubs and decorated panels) was added in 1789. It was completely renovated at the end of the 20^th century but not touched since then.

Several other wooden buildings around the square and town date back to the 1500s when this type of architecture was common. The Town Hall (above) was originally home to the Dukes of Burgundy dating back to the 15^th century, and a Mansion built as the Bailiwick Court in the 15^th C which became the Bankruptcy Court in the 18^th C is now the Hotel de Ville, full of wooden staircases and twisted balustrades overlooking a stone courtyard.

The Public Library contains a “reading room” dating back to 1850 as well as a collection of books that were confiscated during the French Revolution.

Author: Juliet Stratton (Page 16 of 39)

We’re on the Spanish road again!

Autumn Roses

France – Mid to South, and To The Sun

Henri Malarte’s Private Motor Exhibition

France – North Coast to Mid France

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