After the snow that descended upon us while at camping de Montreal, so I could take some loverly pictures, we wanted to move on north so we planned to leave on the Friday after checking the weather forecast etc. Thursday was a beautiful day with sunshine but with a brisk wind and all the snow had gone. Friday morning we woke to find another load of snow dumped in the area and not only that it had rained and froze also. We are not going anywhere. The campsite is at the bottom of a hill in a valley and the only way out is uphill. We waited until 11 o’clock and thought let’s go as we really wanted to spend some time up at tours. We got out the campsite but as soon as we got on the uphill road we were going nowhere. Hazard lights on and roll backwards and reverse into campsite road. A couple of other cars also came by us and got stuck.

By this time Hans the owner of the campsite had come up to us to make sure everything was ok. We said we would be staying another night. No problem he says have a free night on me. So back onto our pitch we went. Later that day we went for a walk up into the village and the roads were a lot better by then but to late for us to leave. Manana !

By the time we got up on Saturday the snow had all gone. Only the molehills had snow on them which looked really weird. Why did that bit not melt.

The campsite at Tours we were heading for is right by the river Loire and a cycle path runs for miles in both directions which is why we chose to go there. The weather was not being kind to us again, lots of rain and wind. The campsite opens at 3 pm. As we’re getting towards the area we can see there’s a huge traveller community in the area. The campsite has a huge big Gate at the entrance, I wonder why. Booked in by a French guy who spoke very good English he assures us it’s safe on site. We get parked up and set up. Then the electric keeps tripping. I wander over to reception and tell the man. He comes out and looks at it, discovers one of the big fuses is hot and has burnt out wire connecting it. So he plugs me into the one next to it and wiggles the wire in the burnt out one until it breaks and that is it, he has fixed it.

We left there this morning heading for a site just by Le Mans for two days, 48 hrs with good electric. We came here last year on our way home. The sun is shining at the moment but rain is forecast for tomorrow.

We left the farm stay the next day in the rain and headed out on the motorway for Grisolles. Another aire for the night which is a leisure centre carpark we have used before. As we came off the motorway just north of Toulouse we saw our first yellow vests stood on a roundabout with their shelters etc. We gave them a toot and a wave. We also saw speed cameras all covered up with bin bags and some were burnt out. And at one of the tolls the barriers were ripped off. We got to the aire just in time, just after we got there the carpark filled up because there was something going on in the leisure centre. By the look of the peaple going in, youngest being about 90 it was not going to be a late night. My worry was all those peaple getting in their cars after a sherry or two. And as sure as eggs are eggs about 8pm they started to leave and bang, crash, a shout of WOW and a lot of French shouting. A coach coming to pick up the sherry drinking fossils had hit a car.

On the road the next morning heading for the A20 which would take us to the campsite we were heading for, camping De Montréal at St Germain les belles. Run by a Dutch couple it’s a great site in a real oldie French village. The site has loads of old bits and pieces everywhere you look. We had a choice of pitches and chose one with a view.

It was cold outside and snow forecast for the next day, but we are warm inside. The next morning it was about -2 that’s what the weather app said. There was no frost but the ground was all crunchy. And then it started to snow lightly. We don’t like to be cooped up inside all day so decided to go for a small walk round the village in the snow. As we walked up past the school there was a load of kids all shouting and waving out the windows. You would think they have never seen a bloke in shorts in the snow before. What sheltered lives they must live. We also saw a snow plough going out which wasn’t a good sign. Back to the warmth of the camper for lunch and then the snow started to really come down. 24 hours after the first picture this is what it looked like. And there is more forecast for today. We like it here which is a good job because we won’t be able to get out the village today. We are at the bottom of a hill and the road to get back on the main road is up and down and very winding. We have some days to play with before the ferry so no problem. …….hopefully.

We left Benicarlo this morning after a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon on toast. In bright sunshine we were heading for an aire just outside Girona. Not too much traffic about even getting around Barcelona was easy, although I would have hated to take a wrong turn and ended up in the city itself.

We got to the aire in good time. Sat nav doing a great job. I must say this new sat nav has been fantastic. The aire is on a working farm a stones throw from a village called Salitja just south of Girona. As the crow flys not far from the airport. The farm has been in the same family since 1909. When they first started they had four cows and now have 1150, I counted them all. The manure from the cows produces electricity through a biogas plant which runs the farm. So basically I am sat here in my camper, a cow is stood over the road from me, the cow shits, the farmer picks it up, puts it in a machine so I can turn a light on in my camper. What a wonderful world we live in.

The aire is free, but it’s nice to buy something from the farm shop. I really like this idea so we went and bought some eggs, yoghurt, and steak. The steak never came from the cow that supplied me with my electric. There is also a museum at the farm full of old farm machinery, old tools etc which would all have been used on the farm over the years. This is also free to look around.

Tomorrow we leave here and cross the border into France, not looking forward to that because it’s going to be cold. I looked at the forecast for the next few days of where we are heading and it looks like our run of sunny days is going to end, as there is some snow forecast and rain. Hope we don’t get too much snow, not fun driving in the snow when you’re 9 metres long and five ton in weight. Another thing we have to dodge is the yellow vest brigade who are still demonstrating on the roads over the fuel prices. We filled up today in spain as it’s cheaper so should keep us going for a while into France. Our yellow vests will be on the dashboard and will hoot as we pass to show we agree with them, which I do. The cost of fuel in France has gone up so much and they are doing something about it. I don’t agree with all the violence but do agree with if you don’t like something do something about it.

We left Villajoyosa on Sunday 13th January after saying our goodbyes to all our friends. The last week there was really special because we had friends Zoe and Sam arrive. These are one of the couples we did our work experience with back in August. We had such a laugh then and as they were in spain and we were in spain it seemed a great idea to meet up. They are very much like us, they like to meet up but not every day and also like their own space so it works well. A lot of the peaple on the site want to meet up all the time, same places same peaple every day. Not for us.

Almost everyone on the site had or has a bug which is going round. A cold, sore throat, aching limbs etc. Nikki got it before me and I thought I had got away with it but then it caught up with me. Of course mine was the worst bug going. I even checked in the Guinness book of records and they could not remember such a bad case. But I kept going.

We drove up the AP7 motorway to get to Benicarlo. It’s a good road, although its a toll road it gets you there easier, and Sunday is a good driving day because no lorries are on the roads unless they are carrying perishable goods. We don’t catch the ferry until the 31st so have plenty of time but I don’t like to rush things. The weather all the way was glorious and is forecast to be all the time we are here, which is until Saturday. Then we will be heading for an aire just outside Girona. We have been to this site before, it’s a good site to stop in on our way south or on our return. It’s by the sea and you can hear the waves lapping the shore at night, or even in the day as you chill in the sun trying to recover from the worst bug ever.

Bug or no bug you need to get on with life, you still need shopping, so a walk to the supermarket. The walk takes you all along side the beach, past the marina into the town. If you have to go shopping it’s a great walk.

And talking of shopping, Nikki wanted some more footwear to wear with her posh dress for the last evening of our training course. Dressing up is optional I think. I will make an effort and put my posh jeans on. Nikki will look loverly so that will take all the eyes of me. Shoe shopping, do you know how many shoe shops we looked in while still at Villajoyosa. Loads and none of them had what she wanted which meant we had to look in some more bloody shoe shops when we got here in Benicarlo. Luckily for me she found what she wanted in about the fourth shop.

Nikki’s new shoes or boots.

I will take a picture of her on the evening of the night out with her posh dress on also. So what do you do after shopping. I needed my hair cut, so while walking around in between the shoe shops I spotted a barbers, but there was a queue so walked around a bit more and returned. The guy only had two more to cut and said come back in half an hour. So we went for a coffee and a hot chocolate for me. Nikki ordered it all in Spanish and we got what we wanted so she must have got it right. My hot chocolate was the best one ever, I think they put a bar of chocolate in a mug then zapped it in the microwave, you could have stood the spoon up in it. Yum yum.

Back to the barbers for the hair cut. The guy was a real character. So I am sat there with a Moroccan barber who is in spain and has also spent ten years in Holland cutting hair. His English was ok and we had a laugh. All the time he was cutting my hair he was laughing and joking, dealing with peaple coming in to book appointments. At one stage on the road outside, a one way system, a car pulled up and started to shout to him, so he grabbed his appointment book and made him an appointment and then he drove off. All this entertainment and a hair cut for €6 and the haircut was one of the best I have ever had.

As I write this we only have a week left on this site. The spanish winter has started now. It’s been frosty in the mornings but by 10am the suns up. A bit cooler than normal but still ok for shorts and T shirt. And no rain or strong winds.

We went out for a meal at lunchtime last Friday with our friends Tony and Lynne to a restaurant overlooking the reservoir. They took us there last year. They do the most glorious sticky ribs, other meals are available, but for me it had to be the ribs. Nikki also had her eyes on the ribs this time. Good choice I thought as I knew she would not eat them all so made sure I sat right next to her. Mine were all gone, apart from the bits of sauce that were stuck in my beard. Not really the sort of meal to have when you have a beard. Fingers all covered with rib sauce and eyeing up Nikki’s ribs. I can’t eat them all she says. Yipppee I say, pass them over. Back to the camper to rest and digest the meal. No tea that night.

The mountain range in the distance we can see from the site is called Aitana. Sitting on the top is a army base with all the radars etc that track the boats and planes etc to make sure they are supposed to be where they are. I made it a mission to cycle up to the top of that mountain. My first attempt failed. Not because the radar spotted me and shot me down, but because my legs refused to work anymore. As I said in one of my posts I was gutted because when I checked the route out on google etc I was only about 5.5 KM away. I said to Nikki I am going to get to the top of that mountain before we leave here. I wonder what day the man who operates the radar has off because I am sure they spotted me and slowed my bike down last time. So yesterday I got into my biking gear, all in stealth mode and off I went shouting to Nikki if I don’t come back they have spotted me again. I must make it clear here that the roads up to top are public roads, you can’t actually get to the radars because at the top of the mountain is a bloody big gate with cameras etc all looking at you and apparently they don’t like it if you hover round them. The pics below are of the domes or radars taken off google. I never took my camera, it would have slowed me down.

So up and up I cycled, round and round all the hairpin bends, that’s why it takes so long because the roads are not straight, the cold air making my breathing harder. Picking my way through the frosty bits of road. Am I painting a picture here. My legs were burning but I had a goal and I was going to do it. That man in the radar control room was not going to get me this time. I must admit I did nearly give in a couple of times. And yes I made it. I stopped just the other side of the road from the gate to admire the view and so the man in the radar room would just think I was a ol boy on his bike, no threat to Spain. I could barely lift my drinks bottle to have some water let alone threaten spain. Sip of water and head for home, all down hill but not as fast as would normally go because of the frosty sections on the road. I had a grin from ear to ear because I had done it, and the radar man missed me.

Some facts of my ride.

I did not stop from when I left the campsite until I got to the top.

Distance cycled total = 54.5 km

Average speed = 22.4 km

Max speed = 56.9 km

Total Elevation = 1215 metres

Max elevation = 1030 metres

Moving time = 2 hrs 25 minutes 52 seconds

Rest day today.