Jumars' summer trip restarted N Spain, France, UK, Holland, Germany etc. (1 Viewer)

[jumartoo]

After our aborted summer trip due to Martin's accident we finally left Totana for the summer last Thursday. Our first night's stop was at a motorhome parking area in Teruel. This is not a serviced aire but parking is allowed. Anyone using this place must be aware that the irrigation is switched on, in our case at 6 am, and if you're parked too near to the grass you will hear the water hitting your van as the spray moves round. Park at least 1.5 metres from any area of grass!

Parking at Teruel (we were too near the edges!)

The next morning we called in at Simply at Huesca for cheap fuel, 95.9 a litre, before heading to the Mallos de Riglos. We intended to spend a night there and go for a short walk through the rocks but it was just too hot. We parked up next to a Belgian motorhome and walked to the village and that's about all we could manage. We decided we couldn't stay without any shade but it is definitely on an itinerary for another trip. Again no services but parking is allowed. The parking nearest the village is the best in our opinion.

 

[jumartoo]

Deciding that we weren't going to find anywhere with a comfortable temperature in Spain we headed through the Somport tunnel into France and an aire/campsite in the mountains near Leaving. 7.5km of narrow road takes you through a small hamlet (Lhers) to the aire. We paid €8 a night, without electricity, but there are hot showers, toilets, washing machine and dryer and WiFi near the reception.

 

[Munchie]

Great piccies!

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[jumartoo]

We took a walk up the valley road. Unfortunately we were bothered by horse flies on the early part of the route. As we got higher they disappeared. We walked for an hour, which was as far as Martin could do as we had to turn back and walk the same distance again, but downhill on the return. There seems to be a good walk up to a refuge, something to be remembered for a future trip. The weather in the mountains was perfect, the cloud was in the valley.

We stayed two nights. On Sunday morning we left in these conditions.

We were heading for Fleurance.

 

[jumartoo]

We arrived at Fleurance late afternoon. After following our GPS Camper Contact directions we ended up at the old parking place which we have deigned to stay at in the past! Spotting an aire sign we headed back the way we had come and found the place we'd seen on the web site.

This site is excellent. Next to a river and easy access over a bridge to a park with a small lake.

 

[Armytwowheels]

Looks lovely Judith but where is the pictures of the food?

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[DBK]

Looks lovely Judith but where is the pictures of the food?

The second picture - edible flowers.

 

[Armytwowheels]

The second picture - edible flowers.

Pah! That's not good enough.

 

[jumartoo]

Looks lovely Judith but where is the pictures of the food?

Sooo sorry. After my pictures of our scimpy portions I haven't taken any more piccies but I may change my mind yet!

We have spent the last few hours searching the web for bikes for Ken and Steph whilst they are drinking wine!!!!! And we're still searching!

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[jumartoo]

@Armytwowheels maybe your bike expertise can come into play here. Steph wants a light, step through or low cross bar bike. Mainly to ride on roads and tracks. She doesn't want a lot of gears to mess with and it must take her front basket!!!

Preferably disc brakes and .... has to be light ...

Come up with some ideas .... please!!!

And the price???

Not extortionate, if you know what I mean!

 

[Lenny HB]

Good to see you back on the road, you do find some loverly spots.

 

[jumartoo]

Whilst in Fleurance we went to the tourist office for info about a short walk. They offered us a pack of walks for €14 which didn't have a walk from their village!

We shopped at Lidl and I carried it back to the the van. Whilst having a coffee I looked on the trusty Wikiloc and found a circular walk of just under 6km. From the aire it was about another kilometre to the start so we decided it was doable for Martin.

Start of the walk proper.

Address
Weeeeed and no, he wasn't !!!

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[jumartoo]

We stayed a second night at Fleurance and then left to head to the aire at Brantome.

We slowly drove north. We had an interesting drive through Perigeux. We were running TomTom and Co-Pilot together and they had different opinions as to how to transit the city which differed to the road signs. We ignored everything except the signs!

We arrived at the very busy aire at Brantome and had no problems to enter through the barrier with our card.

We had a good spot next to a field and after eating we went for a walk around the town.

 

[Armytwowheels]

@Armytwowheels maybe your bike expertise can come into play here. Steph wants a light, step through or low cross bar bike. Mainly to ride on roads and tracks. She doesn't want a lot of gears to mess with and it must take her front basket!!!

Preferably disc brakes and .... has to be light ...

Come up with some ideas .... please!!!

And the price???

Not extortionate, if you know what I mean!

OK, I've got me thinking cap on.

 

[Armytwowheels]

Here's one for Ken

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[Munchie]

Oi!

 

[jumartoo]

OK, I've got me thinking cap on.

Thanks for the links Sandra.

 

[jumartoo]

So we spent two nights at Parc Verger and had a lovely time with Ken and Steph. We had a sunny first day which enabled us to have a good catch up and to get some washing done. Steph and Ken fed and watered us at lunchtime. We then continued to talk well into the evening after Martin had condemned Ken's bike and persuaded (not hard) him to look for a new one.

The next morning we woke to a mizzle but us intrepid walkers weren't to be deterred. We managed to do most of the walk before the rain started.

Parked at PV

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[Mrs Munchie]

It was great to catch up.

 

[jumartoo]

We left PV yesterday morning and pulled onto the aire at Moulismes and pulled off quickly as it was very busy with picnickers. We headed east and found a nice little aire at the village of Lathus St Remy. There was a board showing walks in the parking area but none of the walks started from there!!

However, we had a short walk following some of the route marks we found, even though we didn't know what they referred to - strange.

In the evening we could hear noise from the village, so we followed our ears and found an evening food market. Cheese, hams, sausages and wine were in sale. Also a butcher's stall where people were queuing for raw food and then taking them to a big barbeque to be cooked. We'd already eaten so didn't join in!

The aire

It filled up during the evening

 

[Mrs Munchie]

Looks a lovely aire, I have marked it in my book.

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[scousebird]

Great pics

 

[Falcon 269]

Super thread, many thanks for sharing.

 

[jumar]

Although my injuries have been a little restricting Its great to be able to re-start this trip. Our normal..climb,bike or run activities have been replaced with look, snap and visit type of trip...however we are making the most of whats on offer....

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[jumartoo]

Having seen that there were walking routes from the nearby village of Bourg Archambault we drove the 7km there. Just before the village we passed the château. A handy car park opposite the church, with a toilet (proper toilet, with seat, and clean!) was the start of the walk we'd chosen.

The château, unfortunately photo taken into the sun.

The walk was 9km and was on minor roads and tracks.

 

[DBK]

The Chateaux looks interesting, stole this image off Google.

 

[Munchie]

Watch these two @jumar and @jumartoo they cost me a fortune! New bike and possibly external screens. They are very professional at persuading you to spend money!!!

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[jumartoo]

Watch these two @jumar and @jumartoo they cost me a fortune! New bike and possibly external screens. They are very professional at persuading you to spend money!!!

That's nothing @Jenben bought a new motorhome

 

[jumartoo]

The Chateaux looks interesting, stole this image off Google.
View attachment 118990

Better pic than mine, but mine was all or nothing!

 

[Anthea M]

So glad you can resume your trip! Take it easy!

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