Friday 31 March 2017

The last day of our winter break started warm and sunny. We're just having a lazy, time-killing, day today waiting for our Chunnel booking tomiorrow. We could have called Eurotunnel and brought it forward, we got Jamie “done” on Wednesday so it would have been okay, but it would certainly have cost us a supplement and would also have upset Mum's arrangements – can't have that!

We had sort of planned to take Jamie down to the beach but after breakfast it started to cloud over with a strong hint of precipitation so we thought we'd wait it out and did a few chores round the van. It improved quickly and suddenly after a late lunch though so we headed off into the village and down onto, as the tide had come in, a very narrow stretch of sand. However, unlike last year, it was almost deserted so we let Jamie off his lead for a good run around until the cool wind got a bit much and we headed back to Bertie for hot chocolate. It's amazing how the temperature dropped today when yesterday was almost sweltering!

The aire, from almost emptying, filled up again and was full by teatime. After tea we serviced the van to save time in the morning and are aiming for an early night – it'll be quite an early start (for us) and with the drive home will be a long day.

Thursday 30 March 2017

Le Crotoy to Wissant - 61 miles

Warm sunny morning and with no rush just took our time with breakfast and usual chores. A full service here because our intended stop for the next 2 nights has no water supply. Away by 11.15 up the D940, our usual route, heading for the Auchan hypermarket at Boulogne where we refilled the fuel tank. We also called in at Leroy-Merlin, a DIY store, for a couple of bits towards the repairs list and finally across to the main store for last minute shopping; there's always something!

Lunch on the carpark then a short trip up the motorway and across to the aire de camping cars at Wissant which is where we'll stay now until our chunnel crossing early Saturday morning. It's a pleasant town and has a nice beach for Jamie to run on if the tide's out 'cos it's not very wide.

Quite busy on the aire with a few Brits, mostly heading home. For some reason it's also popular with Belgians, no idea why, but they're a friendly enough nation.

Finally got Radio 2 on the van radio.

Wednesday 29 March 2017

Le Crotoy to Rue to Le Crotoy - 8 miles

A calm greyish morning, not particularly cold with the sun doing it's best to break through the high haze. Our plan today is to get Jamie's Pet Passport stamped ready for the return Chunnel on Saturday so after a lazy breakfast tootled off to Rue where there is a vetinerary clinic just as you enter the town. They were happy to see to us straight away and Jamie was as good as gold with Monsieur Martin, although he wouldn't take the tablet and the vet had to resort to the usual push-it-down-his-throat-and-make-him-swallow routine which he accepted without fuss. With the very important paperwork completed, 10 minutes and €35 (it's a ripoff but no alternative) later we were done.

A quick call into Lidl across the road for a baguette then return to the aire at Le Crotoy. Coffee then a nice hours walk round the town which is actually much bigger than it appears, although today it was mostly closed, just the cafes, bars and restaurants open for tourist business. A breeze off the sea kept the temperature down although in shelter it was becoming quite warm. Return to Bertie for lunch.

We decided on another night here because it is very pleasant and has all facilities. It also is a good jumping off point for the last leg of the French section up to Wissant prior to our return to the UK. So a quiet relaxation afternoon and evening, walking and playing with Jamie as well as reading, knitting, puzzles and Bren's latest occupation, colouring books. We've also made a list, currently 16 items long, of things that need fixing on Bertie before our next trip, some big some small but all require doing!

Tuesday 28 March 2017

VilleDomer to Le Crotoy - 240 miles

A light rain shower or two during the night persisted into the day as we went through our usual routine, again a little later than planned. As our stay had been free we decided to support the local commerce and bought a baguette at the nearby shop for the princely sum of 80 cents!

Then back onto the N10 and todays run took in Chartres, Dreux, Evereux, Rouen, Abbeville then onto Le Crotoy, our planned destination for tonight. Apart from short sections through smaller towns it was all on motorway-class roads so we kept up a good average speed although the fuel consumption suffers a little. We refuelled early on in the day, our first in France, and noted a wide variety of prices – we went off-route a short distance to use LeClerc, the big supermarket chain, where we've found the cheapest in the past and so it was today.

With the weather gradually improving we stopped in Lidl's carpark in Dreux for lunch then pushed on. Because of our later start and also not getting as far as we wanted yesterday, it looked like being quite late (for us) at Le Crotoy so as it was on our route anyway we called at the aire in Pont de L'Arche, where we stopped outbound, but by 4,00 pm it was already full, though not all were motorhomes and the guardian didn't seem bothered about doing anything about it. So we decided to carry on.

In the end it was just on 18.00 when we arrived at Le Crotoy to find a busy aire but with still plenty of room so found ourselves a nice enough pitch and settled in with the late afternoon sun keeping things pleasantly warm. Le Crotoy was once a fishing village on the Baie de Somme but is now very much tourist orientated although in a simple way. St Valerie-sur-Somme on the other side of the bay is more into it and a nice mini-train ride will take you there; we enjoyed it last year.

However our main reason for coming here is that there is a very convenient and reasonable vet in Rue, the next town about 5/10 minutes away, and we'll be taking Jamie there tomorrow for his worming tablet and his Pet Passport to be signed, ready for the Chunnel crossing on Saturday. Subject to that we may come back here or continue further north. We'll see.

Monday 27 March 2017

Bignac to Villdomer - 151 miles

Our bodyclocks haven't quite caught up with the change to summer time so we were a bit later surfacing than perhaps we'd wanted. Doesn't matter it's a bright sunny day again although quite cold overnight. Usual chores out of the way and we headed back to the N10, or D910 as it is here now, en route for Poitiers and Tours. We prefer this type of road; it's quite fast even though it passes through various small towns and villages, which makes it more interesting and really is not much slower than we would be travelling anyway.

A nice steady cruise then to Poitiers where we stopped at an Auchan at Futurescope, just north of the city, for a bit of shopping, lunch and refill with LPG. We were going to refuel but it wasn't really needed just yet and would have involved us going round the carpark again to get back into the fuel station, so we didn't bother.

Roundabout Art

Mid-afternoon, still enjoying a pleasant ride in the sunshine, we checked our progress and saw that Tours was a good point to end our travelling day so Bren found an aire just north that seemed okay. Put it into the satnav and found Villedomer just off the main road and a very nice little aire almost in the village with all facilities, including free electric if we needed it. Unusually it also had two electric vehicle recharging points.

We joined one Brit van and later a French van came in too – it's supposed to hold 15 vehicles but no chance the way some people park........... Never mind, we're tucked into a corner out of the way. An explore later discovered a small supermarket 50m away and a typical French country village, complete with chiming church clock. This'll do us nicely for one night.

Sunday 26 March 2017

The clocks went forward last night and there was a bit of confusion about what time it actually was when we got up – latish! No rush so first job was to enjoy Sunday Breakfast then phone Mum to wish her happy Mothers Day. Also got the satellite dish up for the first time this trip and tuned in so we could enjoy Radio 2 all day.

As promised a lovely clear day turning very warm so we took advantage to give the van a good airing and brush out then got the chairs out for some rays. Got a bit too much mid-afternoon so retired inside, somehow we missed lunch! A couple of Brits turned up, a caravan and a motorhome, so a bit of a chat – by early evening there were only the three of us on the site but we're not complaining.

Moving on tomorrow and it all seems to be working out quite well, if it all goes to plan of course!

Saturday 25 March 2017

San Sebastion to Bignac - 236 miles

It rained all night, so much for putting the screens on to dry, and we were up before the alarm - well Brenda was - to take Jamie out. Still raining when we were ready to leave so minimum servicing and away by 10.30. First stop for fuel before we crossed into France as it's currently significantly cheaper in Spain and we needed almost a full tank. Then onto the toll motorway.

There is a non-toll route but it follows the coast and goes through all the towns and villages and is always very busy with locals criss-crossing the border for cheaper goods. We'd decided already that it wasn't worth the saving and also as the motorway to Bordeaux is also nearly all toll now we'd use that too. In the end it cost us about £20 but it was worth it to avoid the hassle. The weather was also starting to improve and got better the further north we went.

Stopped off for a lunch break just south of Bordeaux before tackling the Rocade (ring road) which, as usual, was very busy but at least was running smoothly. It wasn't long before we turned off up the A10, crossing the Dordogne river then continuing on the N10, a fast dual carriageway with no roundabouts or junctions and just a short section of single carriageway being upgraded. It's supposed to be limited to 80 kph for us, but if you don't tell anybody we won't either........

Mid-afternoon, with the sun now shining, we gave thought to our overnight stop and Angueleme looked about right. Although there is a choice of aires we thought we might have a day off driving so looked in our shiny new ACSI book (remember January?) and found a nice sounding place a little north of the city at Bignac. TomTom to the fore again and a rather tortuous route along several minor roads brought us to Camping Marco de Bignac, a rather nice English owned and operated site next to a lake. With only a few pitches taken – their season has only just opened – we chose a good spot in full sun with a view over the lake and plenty of room for Jamie to run around.

Nice spot

Site Wardens chair!

We'll have a couple of nights break here then push on up through Normandy and find a vet for the UK regulations for Jamie, ready for our Chunnel next Saturday.

Friday 24 March 2017

Ampudia to San Sebastion - 221 miles

As we went to bed last night it was snowing heavily, so this morning we awoke to – nothing. All gone although it was very cold. So put the heating on and the gas bottle ran out; no problem, just had to get up and dressed to change it. Had to clear some snow off the screens before putting them away then after usual chores set off, target San Sebastion, or Donostia as it is known in Basque, the area we're now just entering.

Although we said we'd use the toll roads it wasn't necessary as the ordinary roads were fine, if a little busy. The weather gradually brightened up so by the time we stopped for lunch near Vittoria it was a pleasant day. Onwards and the roads started to become very busy, especially after we'd negotiated the long, long steep hill that brought us off the 2500 ft plateau down to sea level. Spotted a garage advertising LPG, but they wouldn't let us refill, only for the motor not cooking. This has happened in France quite a lot but it's the first we've heard of it in Spain.

Don't see many of these on the main roads!

TomTom was programmed for what we thought was the aire we've usually used but, after a missed turn, we ended up miles away on a huge and almost empty carpark where motorhome parking is apparently tolerated. Not being too happy with this we reprogrammed the satnav for the correct place, but possibly because Terry was beginning to tire we missed a couple more turns. However TomTom never gets tired and was on the ball; we soon found ourselves at the proper motorhome aire and managed to grab one of the last few spaces. Although there's room for 50 motorhomes it is a popular spot which soon was full; it didn't stop people trying all evening though.

So our last night in Spain, a little planning to sort out which way we're going this time. After making excellent progress over the last few days we've built in a bit of a buffer so we can afford to take it easy again and as the weather is forecast to improve hopefully we can finish our trip in the sun.

Thursday 23 March 2017

Caceres to Ampudia - 222 miles

Due to an alarm misfunction (pressed the wrong button) we were a bit late getting up into a cold but clear morning, annoying because we wanted to get another day of miles in. Never mind, usual chores then on the road – at least it's all motorway again, travelling alternately through mountain ranges and high plateaux so we were able to keep up a good average speed on quiet roads.

Refuelled at Bejar then around an hour later pulled off the motorway onto a large parking area just outside Salamanca for lunch. Up to now the weather had been dry but it soon turned to showers, some of snow and evidence of recent falls could be seen on the hills around us.

Our original target had been Burgos but it would have been a quite late arrival and with hardly any alternatives – as well as a below freezing weather forecast! So we identified an area around Palencia with a few choices and chose a familiar sounding name a little way off the beaten track which looked nice. TomTom duly took us off the motorway, through Cigales and out into the countryside, eventually taking us into Ampudia and, yes, we came here at Easter two years ago when it was scorching hot, rather different to todays close to freezing temperatures.

After a cuppa we took Jamie for a walk into this interesting village where in the main street all the houses are built over the footpath/pavements, some with newish stone columns but many with the original wood supports

Returning to the van we were shortly joined by another Brit motorhome – it's quite a small place so we hope not many more turn up! Screens up and a nice beef tagine for tea.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Palmones to Caceres - 281 miles

Up earlyish to a bright sunny morning as we're hoping to get a good days driving in today. After breakfast said bye-bye to Derek and June who are going north east to continue their holiday, then as we'd no clearing up or servicing to do hit the road ourselves shortly after. It's motorway all the way today routing past Jerez de la Frontera, around Seville then north toward Salamanca with only one toll section which cost us €7.20, not bad and not worth trying to route round, so we managed to keep up a good average.

North of Seville we made a quick lunch stop at a service area then shortly afterwards it started to rain, becoming quite heavy for a while then showery. We'd originally planned to stop at Zafra but were doing so well we thought we'd try for Caceres, a place we thought we might have stopped at before but couldn't place it from the picture in the book. So as the sun came out TomTom navigated us through Caceres and onto the aire – oh yes, that one. With only 10 poorly spaced places already filled it had overspilled onto the adjacent coach park and car park, not good so we had a rethink.

Camper Contact, one of our databases, came up with a campsite a little way out of town so we decided to give it a try. Camping Caceres is a very nice site with full facilities including private bathroom on each pitch (eat your heart out Caravan Club, sorry it's now called Caravan and Motorhome Club) and was also part of the ACSI scheme so we got a good discount too. A nice pitch however a strong cold wind got up, followed shortly by a sharp rain shower both of which later dried up leaving a clear but now decidedly cold evening.

Tea then showers, screens up and heating on, we settled down to a quiet evening. We're only stopping one night as we need to get some serious miles under the wheels. Today has been the furthest we've travelled in one day the entire trip.

Tuesday 21 March 2017

La Linea to Palmones - 10 miles

The strong breeze died down overnight but it was still quite fresh when we got up although bright, sunny and quite warm in shelter. We'd decided to return to Palomes today and maybe have a meal at the Wok restaurant with Derek and June before we part company, but then they said they were going to the hospital on Gibraltar to have an injury June incurred in Morocco checked out. No problem though, they would join us later if all was well.

So a quick service of the van then the short drive back, stopping first at Carrefour for some topping up and refuelling then onto Mercadonna carpark to relax and wait. They turned up just after 4.00 pm after the usual “hurry up and wait” treatment that is normal in NHS hospitals; nothing serious just prescribed pain-killers and keep it rested.

Trundled round to the Wok to check opening times etc; a bit late for us but decided to give it a go anyway so that's what we'll do. We'll need to drive round though.

Tomorrow we really need to get started north so have planned a route to get a couple of days serious mileage in and look to stopping later, maybe in France but it will all depend on the weather, which is forecast to deteriorate here later in the week.

Monday 20 March 2017

Palmones to La Linea - 9 miles

A breezy night but warm sunshine to greet us. Our plan today is to visit Morrisons in Gibraltar so after breakfast a quick call into Carrefour to get some Euros then a short drive round to La Linea where there is an aire in the marina car park, overlooking some rather posh boats. Quick cup of coffee then we joined Derek & June to walk round to the border, about 10 mins stroll, through the minimal formalities then onto a waiting bus (no. 5) which happens to go past Morrisons. Got pensioner return tickets for £1.20 each (less than half normal fare) and 10 mins later were deposited outside the supermarket.

As we're “walking” our only purchases were items we couldn't get in Spanish supermarkets but we did manage to fill our shopping trolley – although we also noticed everything was more expensive than at home. Then a relaxing cup of coffee before catching the bus back to the border, again crossing with minimal formality then stroll back to the vans.

We decided to stay here tonight as it's very pleasant, although a tad breezy, then had a relaxing afternoon. After tea our usual chat with D & J to decide where next, although we can really only stop until Wednesday when we must start back – we'll miss out Portugal this year and go up through Spain. As for tomorrow we'll see what the day brings.

Sunday 19 March 2017

Ronda to Palmones - 58 miles

Up during the night for Jamie being sick, which coincided anyway with Terry's usual nocturnal need! A bright warm sunny day and we enjoyed our usual Sunday breakfast, although we had to substitute a tin of bacon grill for bacon as we'd run out. We had decided to move on today – it's a very nice site but a tad expensive for us – but which way? Having learned that our friends June and Derek were returning to Spain today do we backtrack and meet up with them or carry on into Portugal, which was our original plan.

So cleared up, serviced the van, paid our dues and at the exit do we turn left for Portugal or right for Algeciras? We turned right knowing that we could still head into Portugal if we wanted and anyway it was such a nice run up on Friday it should be equally as nice going the other way. And it was so an hour and a half later we were parked up outside the Mercadona supermarket at Palmones, which is currently being renovated so nobody will be using their car park for the next few days.

We had received several emails with D & J's progress but not expecting them until late afternoon after lunch we drove round to the car wash at Carrefour and gave Bertie a thorough wash down. Then just as we were pulling out, so D & J came up behind us, having got away earlier than they had thought. So back round to the parking and a lovely couple of hours catching up before tea.

Not having visited Morrisons earlier in the week we thought that now that the weather had settled down we'd give it another try, a plan which also suited Derek and June, so tomorrow we'll go round to the aire at La Linea then walk/bus into Gib.

Saturday 18 March 2017

Happy Birthday Jamie – 2 years old today!

We've got the sun back today, bright and clear but it took a little time to warm up. A leisurely breakfast then got a few things together and set off with Jamie to explore Ronda – well the lady at reception was most enthusiastic and it would be rude not to listen to her advice!

City gate

About 1500m downhill took us to the walls of the city, “capital” of los Pueblas Blancas then we climbed slowly into the old town, basically just following the road until we came to the touristic centre, Puente Nuevo or new bridge. This spans a gaping river gorge that divides Ronda between the old and new quarters and is very impressive in it's own right. The Rough Guide tells us that it was originally the town prison (above the central arch) and last saw use in the Civil War when Ronda was the site of some of the south's most vicious massacres. Hemingway, in “For Whom the Bell Tolls” recorded how prisoners were thrown alive into the gorge!

Looking into the gorge from the bridge

Of course, this being Saturday all the tourist coaches from the Costa del Sol were in, evidenced by the numerous “crocodiles” of camera-toting parties of different nations as well as dozens of independants, many Spanish. Ronda has quite a few things to see but we just wandered, coming across the Plaza de Torros and the bull ring where we stopped for ice-creams. 

City walls acrioss to the modern quarter

Plaza de Torros and bull ring

Cathedral de Santa Maria La Mayor

The Cathedral de Santa Maria La Mayor, pictured above in a lovely square, was originally the Moorish town's Friday mosque, With Gothic and Renaissance styling, the belfry now sits atop where the minaret used to be.

There are various museums and exhibitions in the old quarter but having Jamie with us limited us a bit so we started a slow stroll back to the campsite for a late lunch. Chairs and awning out as the sun was now high and hot, but away from the protection of the town a cool breeze was blowing, precluding sitting out for long. So an afternoon of relaxation followed by showers and a latish tea before planning our next move.

Sculptures outside campsite reception

Friday 17 March 2017

Castellar de la Frontera to Ronda - 51 miles

Very little wind overnight and just a light smattering of rain, although it was still quite dull when we “surfaced”. Saw John & Sheila off then breakfast, empty the waste tank and refill the water tank – the toilet will have to wait until we find somewhere else.

We decided to take a recommended road north, passing through or by more “Pueblas Blanca” up to Ronda and it turned out to be a lovely drive, through mountain scenery and we chose to stop off at Benarraba for a visit and lunch (mainly because it had a motorhome service point!) Took Jamie for a walk down into the village which was quite pretty with nice views out over the mountains and valleys – he made a friend of one of the local dogs who we eventually had to chase off back to the village.

Jimena de la Frontera

Aire at Benarraba

Main street in Benarraba

Benarraba is a typical "Pueblo Blanca"

A brief chat with yet another Funster couple who were touring Spain – we've met more Funsters in Spain since we came back than we ever did in Morocco – before continuing on to Ronda with the weather gradually improving. Knowing there was a campsite at Ronda, but unsure of how far we'd have to go to find an overnight stop, we decided to try Camping El Sur, a little way out of the town. Not cheap but of very high standard with all facilities, the receptionist/owner was full of information and suggestions about visiting the town, which we hadn't intended but may just do tomorrow.

So we pitched up next to a camper truck we had met several times in Morocco, having a nice chat with the Swiss couple and their large dog, who of course Jamie wanted to play with. Then the sky cleared, the sun came out and the batteries were fully charged. All okay again!

Thursday 16 March 2017

Still quite windy overnight but it stayed dry; a late start for us and as the weather is forecast to remain the same until the weekend we decided to stay put today. There is nothing we particularly want to do so we just indulged ourselves in our usual leisure pastimes.

Late morning we invited the couple parked opposite to us for a coffee, discovering that they were Funsters and had a chat for an hour which was nice. John and Sheila are currently full-timing in their van, touring Europe and had a fault which Terry was able to offer advice on, although not actually fix.

The weather remained grey all day but started to clear as evening came along, too late for the solar panel to put any energy back into the batteries – it's not a problem but, along with the toilet dump here being unusable, it'll be useful to move on tomorrow to charge the batteries and find a service point elsewhere.

As we're in the area of “Los Pueblos Blanca” we'll plan a drive round visiting some of the villages where all the houses are painted a startlingly white.

Wednesday 15 March 2017

Palmones to Castellar de la Frontera - 28 miles

A wild night although it didn't rain after we'd gone to bed, with the van being buffeted about in the high winds. But it wasn't cold so a standard start, no servicing of course as this is just a car park so firstly round tro Leroy-Merlin for a bathroom sink plug (too small) and a replacement for the door step Terry managed to trash a couple of weeks ago (too big). Ah well! Our plan was to go round to the aire at La Linea then walk across to Morrisons on Gibraltar for some “UK” shopping but by the time we found it the wind was again gale force and it looked very exposed so decided not to bother.

So where next then? The weather forecast showed a deep depression hanging around the Straits of Gibraltar affecting all along the coast in both directions until Saturday – we're glad we crossed yesterday now – so we parked in a handy Lidl and managed to get a few of the things we were going to Gib for then had lunch.

Whilst perusing the books we noticed an aire at Castellar de la Frontera which was the first place on the Pueblo Blanco (White House) route to and beyond Ronda and as it was to the north it seemed a good compromise – we can carry on along if we wish. Set TomTom and about 20 mins later found a pleasant roomy little aire in a pretty town, so managed to park up with a degree of shelter. After a cuppa we took Jamie for a walk to find the castle, without success although we probably went the wrong way – no bother we succeeded in giving him, and us, some exercise.

Roundabout Art

We'll stay here tonight and maybe carry on to Ronda tomorrow following the Pueblos Blanco trail and then see what the weather does later.

Tuesday 14 March 2017

Moulay Bousselham to Palomes - 119 miles

Up early today after a night of heavyish rain, although it had more or less stopped. We've decided to push on up to the port and cross back to Spain today as the weather forecast everywhere is not very good so after breakfast and servicing the van we set off up the motorway.

And it wasn't long before we caught up with the rain we'd had earlier but never mind, it gives Bertie a bit of a wash. Stopped for fuel at our usual spot to take advantage of the cheap diesel then on to the port of Tanger-Mediterranean. Next boat was due at 1400, almost perfect as this would give us a chance to have some lunch whilst we were waiting, so got checked in, changed dirhams back to euros and proceeded quickly through police and customs checks.

Then it all went wrong. Before you can board a ferry you have to go through the x-ray machine, which involves stopping on a ramp and all persons and animals vacating the vehicle while a huge x-ray machine on a truck drives along – there's usually about six vehicles and we managed to squeeze onto the end. Off it sets, gets to the end and we all pile back into our respective vehicles – then are told to get out again 'cos it didn't work!

Long story short, an hour later a “proper” technician turns up and manages to get it going again, the backlog having built up well past the customs and police posts. And the ferry is due to depart in 20 mins, so bang goes our lunch! Of course everything runs late in normal circumstances and today was no different but we still didn't manage to get lunch before we boarded so went to the cafe and got hot drinks hopefully to tide us over.

Okay crossing, the weather catching us up again until we landed at Algeciras in pouring rain – so the checks were somewhat perfunctory as nobody wanted to stand out in it! Once clear we headed up to Los Barrios to fill up with gas to find the last bottle was still full; obviously using electric hookups most of time meant we weren't using any gas. Back down to Carrefour and a quick dash in to top up with essentials then into Carlos' carpark for the night.

Supper at McDonalds and weather forecasts, but it's not good anywhere so we'll sleep on it.

Monday 13 March 2017

The internet ran out last night, just after we'd posted the blog and as we're returning to Spain tomorrow or Wednesday it's not worth recharging so this will show up a day or two late.

But nothing really of note; after a little bit of rain during the night we had a lie-in this morning as there was nothing planned and it wasn't particularly warm although quite bright and sunny. Warmed up later in the day so we could get some more rays but a cool breeze chased us inside later.

As we plan to move on tomorrow, and the weather looks uncertain, we packed everything away before tea. Still not sure whether to cross tomorrow, on a probable late afternoon ferry or overnight in Assilah, have an early start and get a late morning boat. Whatever, by the time you read this hopefully we'll be in Spain.

Sunday 12 March 2017

A quiet day today. Somewhat cloudy when we got up the sun appeared for spells during the day so it was quite warm, although cooler than of late and turning decidedly so as the sun went down. Enjoyed our usual Full English Breakfast with the last packet of bacon; hopefully we'll be able to replenish when we go back to Europe later this week.

We've heard from our friends Derek and June that they were still at Tafraout and would not be able to catch us up before we left Morocco so we've sort of decided to cross back to Spain on Tuesday.

Saturday 11 March 2017

Nothing interesting, today was a cleanup day; bed changed, three loads of washing, blankets and throws aired and the van swept out, the kind of domestic things that make a holiday! (Or as Bren keeps saying, it's not a holiday it's a relocation – still have to do the cooking and cleaning).

But it was bright and sunny for most of the day with a nice breeze that meant the washing was more or less dry, until a sea fret suddenly came across late-afternoon and threatened to undo all our good work. Never mind, we'll just have a Chinese laundry night tonight and finish it off in the morning.

The sea fret didn't last but it did turn a bit clammy and there is evidence of clouds moving in from the north west so the forecast is turning out to be accurate. We'll see.

Friday 10 March 2017

Nr. Meknes to Moulay Bousselham - 105 miles

Up early to catch the bakers van to yet more hot sunshine. The guardian/receptionist turned up with mint tea which we enjoyed with breakfast, probably because we gave him a couple of cold beers last night – he did offer to pay for them but he was really after a bottle of wine, which we don't drink. Then a quick miniservice of the van before heading north, our objective today the coast at Moulay Bousselham.

Just a few kilometres up the road we spotted a pile of old stones in the distance which seemed to have a lot of coaches parked next to them – oh yes, the old Roman city of Volubilis, so we joined them. Surprisingly it was only 10 dirhams each for entry, although guides cost 150 per hour, which we turned down of course. Leaving Jamie in the van but taking sunhats and water bottles we ventured forth, joining the parties of Germans, Americans and the inevitable Japanese.

History lesson. In AD 40 the already well established town was annexed from the Kingdom of Mauretania by Emperor Claudius. Apart from a small island off Essaoiura,Volubilis was the only Roman outpost in Morocco, built in AD168 to defend from Berber incursions and was developed as a full Roman town until the garrison withdrew in AD 285, being needed elsewhere. Since then it passed through several hands although did not change very much until well into the 17^th century. The area is very fertile and wheat and olives were exported in great quantities to Rome; there is much evidence of wheat mills and olive presses still to be seen, although most of the finds apparently are now exhibited in a museum in Rabat.

Moulay Idriss

The area also has strong religious connections, nearby Moulay Idriss is a holy Muslim town with a shrine to its most venerated saint for whom it is named. Moulay Idriss el Akhbar was a great-grandson of the Prophet Mohammed who fled to Morocco in AD787 and seemed to be accepted as an imam and intoduced the faith of Islam. A visit to the shrine for a Muslim is apparently worth a fifth of the hajj to Mecca.

Not yet fully explored, there has been a good deal of reconstruction from the remains left after much of the stone was removed to help build Meknes. For anyone interested in Roman architecture it beats anything we've got in the UK. Some pictures to give an idea.

Public Latrine. Of course it is, look at the shape.....

Obvious reconstruction

However it was red stinking hot with little shade and after almost 2 hours we were flagging and returned to the van, buying ice-creams on the way. Not feeling like lunch just yet we set TomTom and headed to Moulay Bousselham, planned to be around 3 hours drive through different again countryside, this time very green and fully planted with all sorts of agriculture which lasted all the way to the coast.

There being no obvious direct route we relied on the satnav and all was going quite well until we turned onto a minor road – it couldn't possibly be this bad all the way could it? Basically the existing road had deteriorated into badly surfaced piste and we were down to less than 5mph for almost 10km then turned onto another, not quite as bad for another 10km. We got quite a few interested looks from the local population! Eventually we spilled out onto the coastal road but had lost well over an hour and later realised that the satnav had got it completely wrong – see the map!

But never mind, we were soon at Moulay Bousselham, checked in and found a nice pitch (with electricity this time). Refreshment and relaxation for a couple of hours. We plan now to stay here a few days, get caught up with the washing and generally chill until we cross back into Spain next week.