100 up!

Day 100

The kids are running amok, Clare and Ed have taken to drink, everything is going wrong, arguments are rife, fuel is low, food is terrible, the van keeps breaking down and all in all it's just a terrible time. Don't ever live the dream, it's a nightmare!

That's how day 100 could've read. When we set off on this adventure, we had no idea a) how long we would last, b) if we could live in such a small space, c) whether we would like the reality, d) who would kill who first and e) if it was all just pie in the sky thinking?

As far as it goes though, only one of the above listings is true....Clare and Ed have taken to drink, but anyone who knows me (Ed) well knows that I have such a low alcohol threshold that this is not a major problem! 

We could've listed 100 things done, or listed 100 amazing things. We've done 100 things, seen 100 amazing things, been to 100 amazing places, had 100 amazing experiences as a family. Let it be said though, 100 days out of a life is not long, but a valuable experience has been had in this time so far. Some good, some bad, some amazing, some dull, some expensive, some free, but a rich experience nonetheless.

Many thanks to all who have looked and commented on the blog so far. We have approximately one month now until we reach our destination in Italy for a 'different' Christmas. A piu tardi! 

Ed and Clare 

Absolutely Gorge-ous!

"Right, let's get dressed and get down to Cannes" was the declaration this morning as the coolness of the mountain night at our France Passion stopover meant that getting going was a key issue. Once breakfasted and dressed with the van warming, we aimed for Cannes on the most direct route. If you look on a map, we were due to follow part of Napoleon's ill fated route where he marched 350km in 6 days with his 700 troops to then all get killed. This was from Digne les Bains down to Grasse. However, as we were already down a small tributary road south of Digne, it seemed daft to go north. So we headed south. Little did we know what a treat of a day it was going to be.

Initially as we left our stop, the climbs in Hugo were long and drawn out affairs with far reaching views. Once on the top though, there was a plateau where lavender was being grown in abundance with the real Alp mountains rising forth quite spectacularly in the distance. Whilst this was all going on, Clare was researching like a 'Treasure Hunt' contestant (the 1980's programme with Anneka Rice and a helicopter) and discovered that quite by accident our route passed through a small town called Moustiers Ste Marie which by all accounts was a quite unspoilt little beauty spot nestled in the mountain side. There is a small metal star hanging high above the church (between the two sheer cliff peaks) which can't be seen in the photo, but stars feature highly thoroughly the village.

A wander was required along with the purchase of the obligatory baguette (the daily chore whilst in France!) and then the journey carried on. 

At this moment, we realised that we were on the route to the Gorges of Verdon, something I recall Peter our neighbour saying we must visit. As we approached the Gorges, the Lac de Ste Croix came stunningly into view with it's amazingly blue colour set against the beaches it nestled in. Again, Clare was frantically researching the information whilst navigating too!

This is where my desire to swim in every bit of open water kicked in. It seems to be doing that a lot at the moment. Sadly not this time, as a bendy slow climb up the Gorge took us deeper into many an "oh wow" moment, both in the front and the back of the van. The Gorge was huge and could swallow Cheddar Gorge one hundred times over I think! We pootled along staying as best as we could away from the impending edge as be twisted and turned our way along. 

Stopping for lunch on the little town of La Palad Sur Verdon was quite fortuitous. Over lunch, whilst still researching, it turned out that there was a looped section of 'really dangerous' Gorge driving, about 20km long. Our maps are quite inadequate at describing elevations, and were nothing better than a rough guide that it was a loop. With that in mind I set off on the bike for a ride around. The road I took plummeted in the freezing shadows for 1 or 2 km -  a good start? Possibly, but there was the realisation that I needed to climb out again. From then on though, the road was quite amazing. See Clare's previous post on Awe and Wonder...this seemed to have it all!

I climbed 2000ft (according to my Garmin) to the top via un barriered roads with huge drops and little to stop you from going to the bottom. A careful cycle was needed. The climb just got more beautiful as I found out how unfit I felt, having not really done masses of exercise recently. With every passing twist and turn, the views increased in their enormity and their amazing vista. I was however going the "wrong way". Apparently you can go halfway round this loop. And the second half is one way. So having got to the top, I ignored that and carried on.

Upon my return, we decided to take Hugo around!

This turned out to be quite an adventure! Guiding 7.5m of vehicle on a single track road with an amazing edge, whilst trying to ignore the yelps of fear from the passengers side turned out to be the most of an hours drive for only 14 miles.

With that all completed, we really had to get cracking. It was getting late and we had to find our camping for the night. From here on, the Gorge driving kept on giving...

with a stunning drop down further nearer to the water, which was still giving it's "Come and swim in me" vibe, despite the icey blueness. At this stage though, I was getting tired. I had done well over a Monaco Grand Prix's worth of hairpins turns for the whole F1 grid. I longed for some straight road. We got little bits, but there were still many climbs and descents down to Cannes. 

At one point we were wondering where Cannes was, the mountains only giving up at the last as we dropped down from Grasse towards Cannes in the dark. We found our site quite easily. 4star camping, but a cheap enough place, that only then spoilt the day by charging €8.60 per child per night. I think a discussion is in order in the morning. Most places only charge €1-3 per night for children.

However, despite this, a simply fantastic day, that hadn't been planned in at all.

Ed

Excitement!

It is 3 more days until we get into Italy. And me and Jasper are excited. 

Maya

Musings on Technology

I'm not a huge fan of technology. I don't have an I-phone for example, hardly watch TV, and I can barely use a microwave without help, usually from Jasper. But whether I am a fan or not, technology is all around us and I have to admit that it has been incredibly useful both in planning this trip, and whilst we are on it. Without technology we would not have been able to plan the stop over points for the first 6 weeks so quickly. The research that was done on the internet was a few simple clicks, and campsites, places, points of interest were all at the ready. As and when we have added details to our initial spreadsheet notes so that we can keep a record of where we have been, and plan (vaguely) where we are going next. Without technology we wouldn't be able to record all of the wonderful things we have witnessed and experienced. We all take photos of things that are important to us, and each of us sees a different view of the sights that we have visited. Jasper and Maya's photos are really quite different to mine or Eds. And on my camera, I can make little movies, and I do, mostly of silly moments, but sometimes they become cherished memories such as the one of Jasper and Maya on a beach somewhere in Portugal with a washed up wooden pallet that they tried to salvage and float. At almost 5 minutes, it's a touch OTT, but it's such a picture of innocence and then discovery that the moment will never be recreated. 

On an almost daily basis I use my phone as a point of contact to phone family and friends (yes, I actually use it as a phone!!!) and also to send text messages, again mostly to family and friends. Without this technology a trip such as this would of course be possible but not as easy. It's very reassuring to receive a phone call or message to let us know that everything is OK back in Blighty! New friends that we have made along the way are also now mobile phone contacts, so we are in regular communication with Ann and Bob AKA: Sharon and Andrew, and therefore we can find out who is winning their Scrabble championships! 

The internet can be a very useful tool when researching new places. It can also be a disadvantage as you can see too much, too much is revealed, the discovery is made for you if you are not careful. We haven't yet avoided anywhere because of this, but certain cities have been portrayed to us in a bad light, and we've found it hard to shake that negative feeling.

On our IPad we have an app that is linked to the out of season discount camping card (ACSI card) that we bought. The app is a great tool as it has an interactive map with all the campsites easily identified. It also has a feature called "reviews", where, yes, you've guessed it, campers leave reviews of the sites. Some of these reviews have been really useful when making decisions about one site or another, but now that our choices are somewhat limited, we really don't want to read reviews that say "avoid at all costs" when it's the only site within miles!!!

I'm a fan of Facebook. Not a huge user, but I like the fact that I can see what is happening in the world that I have left behind. "Liking" pages such as BBC news and BBC sports, helps give us certain snippets of information, and of course having family and friends linked via Facebook means we can stay in touch without directly making contact. If it weren't for Facebook, then we wouldn't have had the chance to meet up with Ray and Ann in Portugal, and also make contact with Lesley and John. Do I "like" that friends can see when I add some photos that probably mean more to family? Yes; some of our friends are our Somerset family as they have been there through thick and thin. You know who you are! We have also made new friends with people and they are also registered on Facebook, so we can see where Vivian and John are staying now too!

And of course there is this blog, a rather easy way to communicate with everyone and anyone who wants to read all about it! Above all, my favourite bit of technology has to be Maya's hairdryer!!! She got it last Christmas as she asked Father Christmas for, and I quote, "A little pink hairdryer that actually works". A travel hairdryer is what she received, and I am so glad that she chose (ahem!) to bring it along with her. That's my girl!

The only problem with all of this technology is that it uses electricity and some of it inevitably needs charging, and on days when we are not on an electric hook up on a campsite, using technology does indeed cause us a few issues!

Over and out! 

Clare 

X

Tuesday 28th October (Jasper's diary entry)

Today we had our breakfast and I read Asterix the Gladiator. We got showered and dressed and walked over the bridge. We got to the bridge called the Pont D'Avignon. We got our audio guide and pressed all the buttons in all the right places. We all went sur le Pont D'Avignon. And we sang the song! We had our picnic by the river Rhone. We went back to the campsite and then me and Daddy went for a cycle. I did a time trial and rode one mile in three and a half minutes. We went back to the van and had dinner and went to bed. 

Jasper 

Tuesday 28th October (Maya's diary entry)

Today we walked over a bridge and we went over a busy road and on to the Pont D'Avignon. It's a bridge that is half way across the River Rhone. We listened to the man on the audio guide. We had a picnic by the river and some ducks came to eat our bread. After that we went into the town and bought some Provence lavender for Nana. Then we went back to the campsite and Jasper and Daddy went for a bike ride and me and Mummy finished sewing a rag dolly. Then we had dinner which was spaghetti bolognaise and went to bed. 

Maya

Map updates

Here is one map picture of the start and the present aspect of our journey. If you have been a dedicated follower, then yours too should look like this!

And here are the Portuguese and Spanish elements too. If you note on both the mileage figures of Hugo, you will note that we have just passed 5000 miles recently. I've not calculated it, but that should be somewhere about halfway in our total proposed mileage terms now, so quite a milestone to achieve.

Ed

Romans in Southern France

Had it not been for an encounter with a friendly Dutch guy in Carcassonne, then our route would have been a little different. He advised us (remember we have been advised well in the past) to go to Pont du Gard, then Orange, then Pont D 'Avignon. This route is what has then been followed. 

The Pont du Gard was a section of a 48.77km stretch of viaduct that served Nimes with water for the Roman colony. Over the near 50km of viaduct, the drop in altitude was just 14m or so. Something quite remarkable really. The Pont du Gard is really the cherry on top of the cake of this Roman project. A 3 tiered set of arches with a sealed top for the passing water. The highest aqueduct apparently for the Romans. It didn't look as high as the Segovia one at all to any of us, but is apparently 18m higher at around 48m above the passing river beneath. We did the usual photograph onslaught, played on the 'beach' and threw stones into the river.

Today, we went to the Roman Theatre in Orange. As places go, this one really has a certain appeal about it from both the outside and the inside. A living and working theatre still, but within Roman amphitheatre settings. It is one of few remaining with its stone wall backdrop to the stage. Some 30m+ high giving quite an imposing stage presence to the whole place. 

Apparently as well, the legacy of the Dutch Royal family lies in this French town. Sadly this was little explained in the town museum....more research needed.

And onwards to tomorrow. We are camped over the river (literally) from the Pont D'Avignon. We shall go and have a look at it tomorrow and also have a bit more of a rest day too. I think we are all bridged out at the minute. Equally so with the Romans. There is so much quality historical stuff in this southern area of France that when we are relaxing in the evening, we are realising what we are sometimes missing, but we can't do it all! Rome wasn't built in a day! 

Ed

5 things that don't go well together

Today's drive had a host of things that don't go well together.

1. It seemed to be quite a day for boar hunting in the region. As a result, there were loads of men with guns out sitting on chairs, in the woods waiting for the boars. However, with reference to the above 'things not going well together' and the stake out of hairy pigs with tusks, the said gentlemen all seemed to be wearing bright orange. Now I'm not particularly clever, but if I was a wild boar, something orange sitting in my normal environment would clearly give rise to some concern.

2. The advert that said "Quad Paintball". This sounds just so dangerous that it's wrong on many levels. Quad biking yes, paintball yes, quad paintball....surely a no!

3. Cats and motorbikes. As we made our way up the road to Millau a morotbike came steaming past us with a MMMMMMEEEEEEEEOWWWWWW as he overtook us as great speed. We noted that the curious sighting of a cat basket strapped onto the back of his bike was a little worrying. More so because it was covered in a blanket which gave indication that there was a poor cat clinging on to whatever it could as it leant this way and that on its way to the 'Meow viaduct!!!'

And the best one yet...

4. Zumba Golf. This one really made me laugh. The thought of neon clad ladies and gentlemen trying to hit a ball whilst gyrating and hip swinging in a Latin music stylie just made me giggle. Maybe not what the advert intended, but made me guffaw out loud. 

5. Our free camping tonight at a vineyard. We have driven out to a very exclusive and posh vineyard/hotel/restaurant and this is where we are staying. Nestled into a hillside out in the middle of nowhere is Hugo (the van) in amongst posh cars and well to do people. They are paying a fortune to go and sleep inside this place. We are spending nothing to sleep outside the place, whilst being in the same place. It just seems a little odd for them, and quite nice for us. 

Some things do not seem to go well together. Today just seemed to be a day of spotting them!

Ed

Norman Fosters great Millau viaduct

Okay, so it's not an authentic picture of the Millau viaduct, but more so a Clements picnic inspired version. 3D Bugles, (a favourite crisp over in France for us) were linked together with a piece of holey emmental cheese between some of the remaining smelly cheese from the cheese festival (yes, I am still eating that!) and a crisp packet. Quite an achievement that took us 2 mins planning time and 3 mins building time. We only needed 6 towers, whereas the real one has 7, sadly the length of cheese was the let down really!

Back to the real thing. Original planning permission was granted in 1996, it was started in 2001 and then it's completion was in 2004. Quite a stunning project, that we originally planned to see, then crossed off our list, then this morning decided to stuff that idea, and just went to see it anyway! Thanks Dan for the tip! A 100km drive north was the detour (we are now in the throws of working out how to get east again!) and it was purely a fuel burning exercise just to go and see a bridge. It was however, well worth it. Simply stunning and breathtaking in the size and scale of the project, the technology that built it and the effect on the original landscape.

One boring viaduct fact is that one of the uprights that holds the bridge in place, is taller than the Eiffel Tower; quite amazing. The rather excellent free visitor centre filled us with many other boring facts and irrelevant information. We watched an excellent video (albeit in French) that told the story of the creation, Jasper was enthralled! However, we used the the irrelevant information well and it inspired the family to create their own version on the picnic table.

Ed

Cabin fever - part 1 (I'm sure there will be more!)

'Cabin fever' has not yet set in, we still are able to get out and enjoy the world. However, there has been a real bug within our midst. A mysterious bug that brings forth a bought of the snots and a whole croup of the coughs. A bug which brings all your muscles into an aching lump. A bug which kills the vitality of this mission. A bug which all those 'living the dream' must get. A bug which sends you to bed very early.

Okay then, it hasn't been that bad, but firstly I had a few down days of the lurgy, now Clare has got it a couple of days after. The children meanwhile have been very healthy, but watch this space. Two sicky children in 21 square metres will surely bring on large doses of 'cabin fever'.

Ed

Ordinary World

A while ago I posted an update about an ordinary day. Believe it or not, we actually have a quite a few of them! There is no way we could sustain travelling each day and visiting a new place each or every other day. Being a tourist is actually quite a tiring thing! We generally blog about the new places, and new things that we do as we believe these are the memories that we will want to look back on in years from now. But some days are memories because they are normal. 

Today has been another one of those "normal" days, a reminder that we are part of an ordinary world. Jasper and Maya have been to SOMAD (School Of Mum And Dad) and completed handwriting, numeracy work on 2D shapes, French at the bakers shop, then lunch, followed by a walk to the nearby Moulin, writing for literacy all about the walks we have been on today, and then PE/playtime for the rest of the day. We've cooked dinner and eaten it together, played an after dinner game of Carcassonne, written diaries and then showered the children ready for bed. 

In amongst all of this, the motorhome has had a good and thorough clean throughout, clothes have been washed and dried, folded and put away (still no ironing done!), the fridge has been cleaned and re-stocked, the grey and black waters have been emptied, fresh water added, and even the cushions have been aired in the sunshine!

All in all, as I said, a normal day, but I just wanted to blog the fact that we really do have them!

Clare

X

Socks, trousers and a bath!

It has been a sad day. Three quarters of us succumbed and went for trousers, and there was a full house of sock wearers. To be honest, there have been some major winds blowing around here recently, (possibly the remnants of an American hurricane?) and the morning and evening chill is getting a little more edgy. Despite the sock influx, we have still managed to sit outside this afternoon in the sun. Socks and Crocs! A look that I am getting quite accomplished at wearing. It's the modern equivalent of white socks and sandals. 

Many thanks go to Hayley Harris for our lovely new pairs of socks. Very toastie and snug!

In other news, one of us was very lucky to have a bath. 90 days in and we all want a bath. One of us had a lovely warm wriggle in the bubbles and was quite happy to sing about it. Maya was the lucky one by virtue of being the only one who could fit into a baby bath in the shower facilities. She absolutely loved it! Sadly it reminded the rest of us that we have at least another 40 days or so before that opportunity arises. Until that point, I refer you to my earlier post about showers and follow that with a slightly sad face!

Ed

Wednesday 22nd October (Maya's diary entry)

Today we went for a walk and we went to the bakers shop. We bought two baguettes and they cost 2.40€. We came back for lunch. Then we went to the park and we played on the trampoline. Then we walked to the top of the hill and we saw a windmill. It was very windy on the hill. 

On the way back down we saw a dinosaur jaw. 

We went back to play and then we had tea. I had a bath which was really a baby's bath and it was very bubbly. Then we went to bed. I was tired out!

Maya

Carcassonne

Sometimes the reasons for visiting a place can be quite trivial. Either a hunch, or a whim, or a board game?

Well so it was with our visit to Carcassonne. A day where the only expectation was that the place was as great as the game. The Cite de Carcassonne, the old part of town, was quite stunning upon our arrival and cycle down to the castle. It apparently has been heavily reconstructed in parts through the 19th century. It does however have quite an amazing 'Moyen ages' feel to it with turreted towers around the concentric walls. Within these walls was the usual modern take over of the old town buildings and then filled with the usual tourist tat. The narrow streets with their cobbled avenues did however give off the correct flavour of such a place and it had a quite magical appeal. It is one of those archetypal fairy tale castles that has given stylistic voices to the many Disney castles and films. 

Our visit was however, taken over with a real version of the game Carcassonne being played out. Essentially the game requires players to build cities and fortifications like the real version, and then stand little people called Meeples around in the cities, on roads and laying down in fields to score points. So, all our photos consist of us all trying to rack up points in the star shaped fashion of a Meeple. It was daft, but a lot of fun, and there were many quizzical looks as we tried to 'claim' a street by starring ourselves across it! 

If you have ever done the traditional type games then, and fancy something a little different, then check out Carcassonne. It's cheaper than driving out here and playing it for real among the slightly perturbed other tourists. A good family game that we have had a lot of fun playing. It looks like a terrible jigsaw, but it is well worth the initial struggle through the rules.

Ed

Tarzan

Johnny Weissmuller was famed for his role as Tarzan in the black and white films of yesterday year. The cupped hands around his face as he called his famous "arrrrrr eeeeee arrrr eeee arrrrr" and then began his swinging and swooping trapeze around the jungle canopy. All went well for him as long as his next rope/vine was there waiting for him. I don't recall ever seeing him flail around clinging onto a rope and thinking "erm, now where was I going, if only there was a rope!"

You may now be expecting some blogging about daring do adventures in the Pyrenean forests with ropes and lots of climbing etc. Sadly not. 

Tarzan is just an analogy for the nearly failed outcomes of the day. Leaving Andorra and climbing over the Pyrenees was fantastic. Good old Hugo dragged us over the top (no fan involvement either in the engine department!!!!) and not through the cheating tunnel way. After a short walk amongst the hills we headed onwards. The descent then into France gave us the chance to fully warm the brakes up and also create many a queue of traffic behind us. I might ask the French government for a payment by way of our traffic calming movements!

Anyway, as per usual we had our destination planned, and some backups if needed. We dutifully arrived at our first destination all ready to unbelt, but were greeted by the sign 'Ferme' which then led to one of us saying "Gite" or something like that. We headed for the back up, but the answer was the same. 

At this point, Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan) is swinging through the trees, all is good, but then, when at his most confident, he runs out of vines and ends up swinging around on his only rope! This was where we were at. Having confidently moved from vine to vine, rope  to rope, camp site to camp site, Aire to Aire, free camp to free camp, it's slightly weird to be left high and dry with nowhere to go. 

By sheer chance we stumbled across a site just 4km from Carcassonne which is pleasant and quiet. 

It has given us food for thought though. We some how have to negotiate the rest of France and Italy next. There will now be time spent planning and finding the 'vines' and 'ropes' before we get too much further.

Ed

Park Guell

Our second venture in to Barcelona this week was with the main aim that we could tackle another of Gaudi's creations, Park Guell. Arguably his most colourful creation, the park is situated at the top of a hill overlooking the sea and Barcelona. In the 1890's Gaudi was commissioned by Eusebi Guell to build an estate for the wealthy of the city, with 60 triangular plots, paths, steps and viaducts due to the steep hill. Building conditions states that only one sixth of the plot could be built on, and the buildings had to be residential dwellings. Work was stopped in 1914 as the terrain had proved too difficult to work. So what did we find when we visited the park 100 years later? 

Well, part of the park is free access, but the main parts that everyone wants to see, the bench seat and the salamander lizard are in the ticket only section!!! So after a good walk and steady climb from Vallcarca Metro station which also involved 8 escalators to the top of the hill, we were a little disappointed. Anyway, we had it on our agenda, so we paid up (thankfully Maya was free!) and waited for our allocated time slot. Only 400 people are allowed in on half hourly intervals; had we known this we would have booked online as we did with the Alhambra. Once in, we saw the undulating ceramic bench seat planned by one of Gaudi's collaborators Joseph Maria Jujol and completed between 1910-1914, which was covered with people from all over the world, from all walks of life, just sitting and enjoying the warm Spanish sun and delightful view of Barcelona and somehow rather meaningfully the Sagrada Familia.

Jasper and Maya took great delight in looking at all the shards of tiles that had been used to decorate the bench, but also when looking over the park, they saw the children out at playtime in the school which is housed within a building in the park. 

Starting at the bottom of the park, by the main entrance, we walked up the steps and saw the Catalan shield with a mosaic snakes head spewing spring water out from its mouth. Then the salamander lizard that everyone wants to see and have a photo of, us included!

We used the map and leaflet and negotiated our way around the park, all the time wondering what it would have looked like if the whole project had actually been completed. The 'Hypostyle room', a covered market place with 86 columns supporting the nature square and ceramic bench above was architecturally really interesting. The only part we didn't see was the pink house that Gaudi himself lived in before moving to his on-site home in the Sagrada Familia. And whilst completing my research for this blog it transpires that Gaudi didn't build that either! 

All in all, it was a little bizarre, slightly surreal, especially given the fact that little of it was actually completed by Gaudi, but the visit was most enjoyable as was the weather!

Clare 

Andorran turnaround

Leaving the cheese festival, we made our way to Andorra. No expectations, no preconceptions at all, just optimism. Much of our journey has been like this, which is why it has been a pleasure to do.

After 13km or so we ambled passed border control. The guy who should have stopped us had his feet up on the table and was leaning back in his chair rubbing his eyes. Not that bothered then really!

Passing through was the aim today and getting back into France near Carcassonne was the ambition. However, having just passed the capital city of Andorra la Vella we started the climb out of the other side near a place called Encamp. A roundabout decision was made. We have done this occasionally, where you go round a roundabout until a decision has been made about where to go. In the end, we went back towards the town and found a camp site, superbly named 'International Camping'. It's a slightly squalid affair, but will suffice. 

Upon completing the set up, (5 mins as mentioned previously!!!) the bikes were dusted off (we haven't ridden much recently), and made our way into the capital. 3.15 miles of downhill. No pedalling required, just coming down the paths to the city. Our first stumble upon was an insignificant hole in the rocks. No great fanfare of a place. It was a thermal spring at 70 degrees celsuis!

We all had the same thought as we plunged our hands in.......BATH!!!!!! Sadly not though, too public. 2 mins later and the bikes were locked and Clare had an idea, an ambition. The 'Andorran Eye', a big wheel was looming large before us.

We have travelled on most things so far, but Clare fancied a go on the 'eye' to add to the list. It was well sited for good views. We paid our way and boarded. This was where the fun began. An immediate swaying began, much to the delight of Jasper and Maya. Once the doors closed and we were under way, the initial idea that Clare had, seemed to have become a daft idea. She has really suffered from Labyrinthitis in the past and occasionally now gets vertigo!!! Now this wheel is no London eye. It is quite a squalid tin pot affair. Wobbles, creaks, groans from all directions. The views however were stunning.

During our first lap we were actually halted at the very crest on the top. 10 mins passed so we could enjoy the view, whilst Clare focused on distant objects whilst trying to ignore the gentle swaying. Lap 2 and 3 were much smoother although I had to move around to get photos and enjoy the view from different sides, so inducing more stress in Clare much to the kids amusement!

Afterwards a wander through the streets gave off a pleasant and cosmopolitan air about the place. A nice place to be. 

However, the bit we were all ignoring, turning a blind eye to, was the return cycle. Onwards we set, some steep parts to the climb got us going. A sign post actually labelled our start as the starting point for a bike climb to the top at some 2611metres with an average grade of 9%. Without showing everyone the sign we plodded on making the most of first gear. I was amazed though. Jasper, being Jasper, just loved it. Maya did the whole thing too, I only shoved her on 2 separate short occasions. Clare did it too, I only shoved her on 2 short separate occasions too! A 3.15 mile uphill climb of 1066ft (so says my Garmin!!! - it's probably only 600 ft really) was a very impressive ride for Jasper and Maya, more so Maya.

Maya was discussing how Chris Froome might only be a little bit quicker to the top than us. She was right, but we weren't going anywhere near the top!

Thoughts on Andorra? We quite liked it!

Ed

You've got to 'brielieve' me!

We have stumbled upon a huge festival today. The festival of cheese, known as 'Fira de St Ermengol' locally. A real pleasure to have been and to have seen so much wonderful food, some of which was sampled along the way. 

Arriving in the town of La Seu d'Urgell we struggled to park. The parking took an age to find and we immediately realised that we were at a major event. The parking was a bit of a dark art, but we got there and began the dawdle down the road to the festival. It was a first today, as socks AND shoes were required!!! The surrounding hills and mountains of the impending Andorran landscape meant that the temperature was decidedly chilly in the morning and the toes could bear it no longer as they curled up together huddled inside my crocs. So socks it was then. And not crocs!!!

Our amble lead us through the old part of town and then the newer part of town. There were literally hundreds of stalls full of home produce, meats, veg, art, crafts, delicacies, music, market stalls, food stalls and so much more. Included in all of this was a cobbler making some wonderful shoes. Both Clare and I were very tempted, but the €85 price tag would have blown our budget somewhat. The guy was there making the shoes in front of us too and spoke no English when telling us what he was doing. Lovely chap though!

There were so many meats on dispay too. Quite something to behold!

As well as the veg, olives etc, there were these vats of pickled olives blushed with some redness; I felt they looked rather like pickled sheep eyeballs.

A 2 and a half our mooch about, and we were beginning to wonder where the cheese was. Quite a key ingredient seemed to be missing from the cheese festival. We eventually found itin the sports hall for the town, the last place we visited. 

It was a proper cheese scrum down. There was wine, cheese and a glut of people fighting for a taste of all the available samples. The pungent air gave off good signals for cheese lovers. I do love my cheese, but I also am a little picky too. I have never really liked goats or sheep cheese. I feel that the food I eat shouldn't smell like the live version of the creature from whence it came. I have always found goats cheese a little 'goaty'. So off to hunt down the old 'vaca' cheese. My first sample led to a purchase. A moderately pungent affair with hints of sock and stale water. It is quite a solid cheese with a smarter of blue to it. Do I like it? Yes, very pleasing. Did I understand the farmers description? No. Does it matter? Not a jot! Will it last until the 25th of January? Well, there's a lot of it and no one else in family will give it a go, so possibly!

To finish with, we bought some lovely cakes off a man learning to speak english so that he can join his family in America. We do meet some people with interesting stories and lives.

The cheese festival was great though. We delighted in the sheer volume and enthusiasm of the locals about their produce.

Great!

Ed

Thursday 16th October (Jasper's diary entry)

Today we took the free shuttle bus to Barcelona. We went on the underground metro to a station and then we got 7 escalators to the top of a hill. We could see Sagrada Familia and all of Barcelona. We walked over to Park Guell and bought a ticket. First we walked up a giant hill. We saw lots of cactuses. We want into a dance arena. It had lots of tiny bits of tiles stuck on the longest bench in the world. It was like a big swirly snake wrapped around lots of rocks. It was very pretty. When I looked over the wall I could see the gutters and they were tiled water pipes and there were gargoyles that were dragons. There was a school too and I watched the children playing out.

In the garden we saw a tiled lizard and also lots of real parrots flying around. They were nesting in the palm trees. We went in a house which had circle tiles like smarties all around the windows!

We went back on the metro to Plaza Catalunya and then into a big shop where we went up to floor 9 for a cake in the cafe. After that we got on the bus and went back to the campsite for tea and a shower and a story.

Fashion

I never have been a dedicated follower of fashion. I suppose that as long as I am moderately smartly dressed then I feel ok and people don't get offended or upset by my dress sense. 

Well last night Clare and I flicked through the blog pages just to see how it is all looking, and we noticed that there was a pattern.

To preempt this, it must be said that I only have two pairs of shorts with me. I also have taken to wearing these shorts and t shirts slightly longer than I normally would at home. After all, what is the chance of meeting someone I know?!?!?!? Also, the efficiency with which we wash the clothes when we get the chance is such that all newly washed and dried clothes go back into the 'warderobe' (a loose term for the limited cupboard space). 

With all this preemptive waffle, our findings were quite amusing. In about 90% of the photos that contain me, I am actually wearing the same pair of beige shorts and the same light blue t shirt with a balloon on the front. It got quite laughable, as from one photo to the next, there they were. It's not particularly my favourite t shirt, it just so happens to be whatever falls out of the warderobe first.

Ignore the shirt, which was only another layer as the temperatures plummet, but this photo from yesterday proves the point somewhat.

After much mirth and observation I then looked down, and realised that yes, I was wearing the same beige shorts and same light blue t shirt with a balloon on it. I shall wear something different for the cheese festival then!

Ed

Indalo man

As a leaving gift, we were given a lovely handmade present from Christine and Rob Simmons. It is a cross stitch of an Indalo Man, or "rainbow warrior" with an explanation of its origin on the reverse. It is a truly unique, special and thoughtful gift that has travelled over our van door with us so far. We were reliably informed that he was an Iberian messenger of the gods, a lucky little charm similar to a St Christopher to bring us good luck and good fortune on our travels.

A few weeks ago, we were indeed in the Iberian region of Spain, and we drove through the province of Almeria. As promised, we saw the Indalo in lots of places, on buildings, road signs, roundabouts, walls. 

On the road to Santa de Maria, we passed this in the middle of a roundabout!

And instantly thought of our Indalo. When we got to the site, we asked the owner Ivan about it, and he told us that the first paintings of  the Indalo had been found in the caves by Velez Rubio, a town we had passed through enroute. The caves, known as 'La Cuevas de los Letreros' were found in 1868 and made into a national historic monument in 1924. Try as he might, he could not arrange for us to visit the caves, so with regret we haven't see the paintings first hand, but this is what they look like:

Just another point of interest that we happened to stumble across on our travels!

Clare

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Things that we like to eat and drink

We like:

Maya sweets from Carrefore in France

Butter gallete biscuits from the Mt St Michel biscuit factory

Crepes from anywhere in France

Gateux Basque from the Basque land

Fish and chips from La Cotiniere in France

Bicycle spaghetti from Lupo in Segovia, Spain

Croissants from Jumbo in Lisbon

Giant ring cakes from Continente in Portugal

Mint chocolate chip cookies 

Mummy and Daddy like Bonne Maman fruit yoghurts from France and wine from the Dourro valley in Portugal.

Daddy likes Cruzcampo beer. Mahou beer. Alhambra beer. Sagres beer. Super Bock beer. But not SKOL beer.

We don't like:

Custard apple fruits from Granada

Papayas

Pomegranates

But we have tried them all!

By Jasper and Maya

Gaudi and the concrete picnic tables

I can't fill you in with all the Gaudi knowledge, Clare has done that and is able to do more too. However, Barcelona had been touched with his design flair in quite a major way.

Having left Barcelona behind now, it has been left to the meer mortals amongst us, to try and bring the joy of design and creation together in the vain hope of seemlessley matching nature and objects as one. We stumbled across one such place. I shall never know the designers name, but the picnic area along the CV26 just outside of Solsona was a little bit of magic. (I say the CV26, but it could be something different. Spanish roads have a flair for having more than one or two names, and also for changing their names on a whim!)

The designer had neatly woven into a landscape of babbling brook, tall trees, woodland paths etc, a series of picnic areas. Now in Britain, budget constraints and creativity would argue until budget constraints won, and the result would be a wooden picnic bench from B&Q. 

However, the Spanish Gaudi influence, and their ability to make anything out of concrete has allowed the magical world of the forest to become a reality. I'll let the photos do the talking, but it was mad, completely daft. 

One guy turned up in his Citroen Saxo, parked up, found his own toadstool set, and then duly got out his packed lunch from his plastic bag and sat happily on his own whilst his texted his fairy friends. He must've been a fungi, but he couldn't sit at our table because there wasn't mushroom!

The popularity of this place was quite incredible though, with quite an eclectic clientele. Even with a little toadstool fairy magic, the daft parking of others made our exit less hasty and induced me to drive with a bit more 'biffage', but I didn't actually scratch a thing!

Ed

Grumplestiltskin

It's me! I admit it. I'm a grump, and have had a bit of a grump on over the last few days. My miserable state coincided with Barcelona. The thing about a trip like this, is that you have time to look inwards and analyse things.

My conclusions then are the following:

I didn't really like Barcelona...I think. It's another 'one of the places you must go' that I just didn't get. 

Gaudi didn't float my boat.

I had heard too many nightmare stories about Barcelona that meant that it didn't feel comfortable. Maybe travel tiredness set in again?

...or just a mixture of all of the above.

I am therefore a self certified Mr Grump as my dark mood testified in Barcelona.

On the bright side, we are now 13km from Andorra and have had a stunning drive today through the hills, mountains and valleys. Feeling much happier now and much more relaxed and at one with oneself!

Ed

Sagrada Familia

On Tuesday we used the free shuttle bus from the campsite to Barcelona. We arrived at Placa de Catalunya at 10am and had the good luck and fortune to have met a lovely Dutch couple on the bus who were big fans of Barcelona and gave us excellent directions to Sagrada Familia. We walked a bit of the way with them, and also stopped off at various interesting points along the way, such at Gaudi's 1907 'Casa Batllo' (House of Bones) 

and the Fundacio Antoni Tapies with it's 1990 'Cloud and Chair' aluminium sculpture on the rooftop. We also saw another Gaudi building, the 'Casa Mila', more commonly know as the rock pile/ stone quarry or in Spanish, 'La Pedrera'. Unfortunately it was wrapped up due to renovations/repairs, but the waving ripple effect was obvious, as were the faces on the chimneys! 

We mooched on past Avenue Diagonal (is that where JK Rowling got the idea from?) and then crossed North of that to see the vast towers of the Sagrada Familia and the construction cranes at work. It's true that the place looks more like a building site than a place of worship, but there is that sense of mystery, awe and wonder that I've mentioned before. The Rough Guide to Barcelona states that, 'Even the coldest hearts will find the Sagrada Familia inspirational in form and spirit'. Well Ed was unmoved, but I totally got it! The museum alongside the main church tells the story of Gaudi and his obsession with nature. You can see the natural forms in the huge tree like supporting columns in the nave, and the ways in which natures' patterns are used for spiralling staircases and the like. 

The amount of light and colour in the central part was amazing; photos cannot do it justice at all!

We also looked in the crypt which contains models, sketches and photographs to help make sense of what is going on amongst the crashing and banging noises of construction workers busy at work all around. 

All in all, my impressions of Gaudi were that he was an interesting and influential man, and that left me wanting to see more! 

Clare 

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Swan Lake in a motorhome

I feel compelled to write tonight. 

Having been on the move for 80 plus days now, we have witnessed much. One of the subtle but fascinating things that is not touristy, is not something you would naturally go and see and hasn't been one of the magical stumble upons, is the wonder of the very balletic nature of the motorhome ballet dance. Our vehicle is 7.5 metres long with the bike rack on, one of the longer types, and having been used to driving some large agricultural vehicles in the past, I think I have moderate experience at driving something this large. Many an hour can be wasted watching the human element of the whole 'driving a motorhome' fail.

Let me explain further. I was just washing up and my attention was summoned by the familiar noise of an engine fan firing up to cool down said engine. You can usually gauge the quality of the driving from how long the fan seems to come on for and it's frequency. Anyhow, this van was trying to turn around in a space akin to a parallel park on a one way street. I'm not sure of the intention or the motive of such a move, but it was being done in such a ham fisted way that the fan was in full voice. The hedge behind it seemed to be getting some attention as I think it must have been planted in the wrong place. As per the norm, Mrs Motorhome got out of the huffing vehicle and continued to flap with enthusiasm in all the directions that the driver wasn't going. There was also a point where intervention was required as she decided to put her head between a tree and the van to monitor the narrowing gap. At this point, the vested neighbour of the new arrivals came to assist and wave in different directions with an air of authority. There are many of these types who will come to tell you how it should be done, and when the vehicle is not level. 

After all is said and done, the engine can be retired for the night and base camp may officially by 'struck'. Usually 10 minutes after this momentous occasion, it is time to ignite the beast once again and shuffle, turn, pirouette, bow, etc into perfection. 

Other failed moments include not knowing where your back wheels are when turning into a space, unawareness of branches, remembering the wing mirrors at any given point, stalling innumerable times, trying to get onto ramps with serious revvage, and a wealth of tortoise speed type movements.

We have turned this epic balletic production of many, into a 5 minute affair:

Minute 1: we arrive

Minute 2: we drive forwards into position

Minute 3: we turn the unfanned engine off

Minute 4: we plug the van in

Minute 5: beer and wine

As and when we have a moment and I have wrecked this vehicle, then please remind me of my mockings!

Ed

'Under the sea'

For some time the children and I have wanted to do some snorkelling. A visit to the ubiquitous Decathlon store furnished us with the correct equipment at the right price. The journey to find somewhere to snorkel started. There was a certain amount of dry weather practice. As we drove along, both Jasper and Maya sat in their car seats fully snorkelled learning to breathe through their mouths. 

We have snorkelled at a few spots though once the search was complete.

Pool number 1: With a certain verve, Jasper climbed into the pool and was well away. Like a duck to water he was! Maya, also keen, climbed in and set off. A little panic was induced though and she pulled her head back meaning that on her next breath in she sucked in water and then there was a resulting unhappiness. I got over that initial breathing underwater bit but fully enjoyed it once going. 2 out of 3 of us were snorkelling!

Sea at Denia: A beautiful calm sea at Denia gave us the next opportunity. I went in, fine. Jasper was keen again, but was a little reluctant with the sea temperature in the morning. Eventually he got going again and was off down the beach hugging the coastline. Maya was desperate to do it but was very anxious. 2 or 3 times she approached the waters edge all snorkelled up, until she eventually decided to have a go. At which point, she just got it, and was well away.

We all then paddled down the edge of the beach in search of nothing but sand and leaf mulch from the seaweed. 3 out of 3 of us snorkelling!

Pool number 2: We arrived at our new site north of Valencia, and the three of us aimed for the pool. Jasper once again was well away; Maya took her time, but eventually got going. Not for long though. She turned her head, sucked up the water and then that was that. Following that, Jasper was in the middle of the pool and declared that he couldn't breath. The fact that he could say that showed that he was able to breath, but that was the end of him for the day with snorkelling. 1 out of 3 of us snorkelling!

All in all we can do it. A little more practice is needed, but it allows us now to explore some of the rock pools and coastline where we are now in a coast called Ribamar. We shall see what we can see!

Ed

Bob and Ann

I know that I've said it before, but sometimes you are a certain place at a certain time, and you just meet someone and you just "click". That's how it was with Bob and Ann (not their real names!!!). When we arrived at Santa de Maria, the campsite was virtually empty. We were shown around with great gusto by the manager/owner Ivan, pronounced in Spanish as Ee Wan, and told to choose our pitch. This is never an easy thing to do, in fact I much prefer it when we are allocated pitches. To start with there is always the dilemma of do we pitch near someone for safety and security, or do we keep a distance and risk sending a message that we don't want to be bothered? Do we pitch near the toilet and washing up facilities so we are close, or do we keep away. One thing is for sure, we do try to stay away from people with dogs as we have learned from past experiences that they A) can bark during the night and B) can smell during the hot weather!!!

We left a space and drove into our walled area, quite a large space by Spanish campsite standards. We had our own low wooden fencing, and pine trees surrounding us. It was heaven compared to where we had previously been in Marbella!!! And we noticed the GB number plate on the motorhome near to us. Those of you who are avid readers of this blog will know that over the past 2 months we have met some lovely couples, all of whim have given us advice, travel tips, campsite approvals and disapprovals. We've met Ray, Jim and Sylvia from Scotland, Vivienne and John, a couple from Yorkshire, Gerd and Marc from Belgium, a couple from Wales, Jose and Maria, to name but a few and of course Abilio and Albertina. Most of the people we meet are actually British people who are over wintering in the warmer climes. But when we went to say a brief hello to our new neighbours, we knew that we would hit it off. Sharon was a year 3-4 teacher at a school in Nottingham before taking early retirement, and Andrew had had a printing business and was very interested in architecture and art. After a hilarious experience with a real couple called Bob and Ann, they are the names they give to British motorhomers when they haven't been introduced. And so for a while we were Bob and Ann!!!

To cut what could be a long story short, we have spent quite a bit of time during our stay at Santa de Maria with Sharon and Andrew, and we have enjoyed their company a lot. We have cried with laughter at their jokes and tales, and also shared more serious moments too. We have been made to feel very welcome by them as they have supplied us with teas, coffees, orange juices and lemonades, and patatas fritas. In fact, they were the reason that we stayed an extra day as on the morning we went over to say goodbye, it took a little longer than planned and before we knew it, it was 12:45 and we all needed lunch! 

Our last night there was spent playing the board game 'Carcassonne' and our parting gift to them was a DVD of "Whale Wars" by way of a thankyou for a French DVD and a spare game of 'Travel Scrabble' that they passed on to us. To date we haven't met anyone as kind and generous as them. Sharon and Andrew, we hope to see you again someday! And yes, you have now converted us all to Scrabble fans!!! 

Clare

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Mystery, Awe and Wonder

In a former life, there used to be part of the curriculum that I dreaded teaching. Mystery, awe and wonder. How you get 6 and 7 year olds to spontaneously come out with the words, "Wow Miss, that's amazing" always had me (and indeed other colleagues) puzzled, especially when there was a certain type of inspector in the room!!!

Today we have been overwhelmed by the mysterious landscape that surrounds us, and we have all had a sense of awe whilst driving through the Altiplano region of Granada. We had never heard of the area before, we just stumbled across it as we found our mountain campsite in our guidebook. The wonder was how did this hugely diverse landscape all come about? 

According to a guidebook, the Altiplano is an inner plateau. It is a extremely diverse region. There are mountains all around the area forming a sort of wall. The landscape is known as badland, and has been mined in the past for gypsum and sulphur. Features around the area are a wooded island, inland beaches, dry riverbeds. There are plants and animals that I haven't seen before. There are mountain springs, and open pools called fuencaliente that you can swim in amongst fish. 

The paleontological sites around Orce are considered the most important in Europe. 17, 000 fossils have been found between 3 sites, including the fragment of a hominid known as "Orce man". We've seen it today in the museum in Orce. It's impressive! As are the remains of the sabre toothed tigers, mammoths, deer, horses and even an elephant!!!  There are a million square metres with fossils at a site we drove past today in Venta Micena. 

For me, what has been most amazing today has been the cave houses, a sort of prehistoric looking way of living, but on closer inspection, the chimneys popping up from various rocky outcrops are all still in use today, and we were assured that they are all cool in summer and warm in winter. What a way to live! Architecture to live and work in, farmhouses, cottages, flour mills. You name it, we've seen it! A fascinating day today and a real insight into life in this part of Spain. In many ways it hasn't changed since the days of the troglodyte dwellings. Mysterious. Awesome. Wonderful.

Clare

"Another day? ....yes, let's have another day"

"Right, let's get ready, everyone knows what to do, go and do your jobs, we are back on the road today."

That's how it started today, but shortly after that was all decreed, we bumped into our lovely new neighbours Andrew and Sharon (Bob and Anne), and that set the tone for the day. We sat down, had a cup of tea and then realised that it was 1:30pm after much discussion and laughter. Over lunch, Clare and I discussed the benefits of staying or moving on, and the conclusion was that we were staying another night. Not only did we benefit from such wonderful company, but the host of this particularly remote site is an absolute star. Ivan, a man who is desperate to learn English better, uses the chances to practice as and when he can. And when he does, it consume a a lot of time, but is a lot of fun talking with him. He is incredibly passionate about his local area, the history etc. a true character. Sorry, I digress once again. We are staying another night. What to do with the afternoon then became the next thought. Hiking boots out, pen knives in pockets and water bottles filled, we set off on a circular walk into the foot of the mountain opposite us. A lovely gentle walk of about 7-8km I think in the end. The weather was belting again and this was reflected in the pace which gradually got slower and slower. I introduced a bit of pine cone wars to get the troops moving, which in turn lead to a intra family target competition. Maya won, by virtue of hitting the metal sign once out of her allocated 5 pine cones.

The walk continued with rock rolling, stick whittling, compass use and navigation by the sun. When the troops had finally got to their lowest, surprise sweets encouraged them further and then a rousing version of "I've got six pence, jolly jolly six pence" was sung in its entirety. Probably not a chart topper of a song, but a family song inherited from my Grandpa which seemed an apt choice as we headed back to the van.

A beautiful walk, tremendous views and very hot conditions once again. Well worth the extra day, but we really do need to get moving again tomorrow! Barcelona is the next big target!

Ed