Eurotrip 4, 2016 – Day 3, Arrival at Bilbao…

The journey to Spain was on the Cap Finistere, route being Portsmouth to Bilbao with a stopover for a crew change in Roscoff (subsequently changed to Brest due to inclement weather).

Cap Finistere

The previous evening we had enjoyed a very nice la carte dinner onboard.

Mo’s Profiteroles

Mo particularly liked the desert (but then, she would!). Joe just had an empty placemat and a spare spoon!

As we had reserved an earlier sitting, we retired to our bunks at a pleasantly early hour.

This was a good thing as we had an prompt start (5:30 British time) and a long days towing ahead.

The arrival day didn’t start out particularly well and problems began before we had left the boat.

We were all poised to disembark when alas, a flat battery and the embarrassment of watching the vehicles behind trying to reverse and manoeuvre around us. You could just sense the frustration of the other drivers cursing our caravan! (Which of course wasn’t the issue).

Brittany Ferries were very good and it wasn’t long before one of the engineers appeared with a battery booster and then we were on our way to Caceres, in the Extremadura region of Spain.

What we encountered next was even less expected.

Almost snowbound in Bilbao

Already close to 1000 miles south of Blighty, this was the weather greeting us on our travels from Bilbao to Caceres…

We finally arrived at the campsite around 17:00, having left Bilbao some 400 miles earlier at around 09:15 in the morning. A note for the return journey – it’s around a 4 hour drive from our preferred campsite, El Astral, Tordesillas.

The weather is cold here in Caceres (just a few degrees) but the skies are clear and we are all ready for another early depart tomorrow. We haven’t even un-hitched the van!

Our evening stroll around the campsite turned into a 1 hours hike into Caceres in near freezing temperatures. Dinner was a set menu at the campsite restaurant – no shortage of meat!

Eurotrip 4, 2016 – Day 1 and 2, Finally underway…

It’s been a long week. Our ferry crossing to Santander was originally schedule for Wednesday, some 4 days ago and we should now already be basking in the Spanish sunshine. Storm Imogen put paid to that and the ferry services to Northern Spain have been in chaos ever since. We finally rebooked on the 23:30 two night crossing to Bilbao which should arrive early Tuesday morning.

Presently the seas are relatively calm but we are at the moment heading to Brest for a crew change, a departure from the original scheduled stop at Roscoff due to more bad weather. Then it’s sixteen hours over the Bay of Biscay…

A tip for fellow travellers. We signed up to Brittany Ferries “Club Voyage” which despite the up front cost of £220 has already saved us money on the crossing.

Here’s the rig just before departure from Hampshire on Sunday, 17:15.

Mo is sporting the latest fashion accessory prior to stopping the local traffic…

Mo’s latest fashion item

Latest update. 17:00 British time and the Bay isn’t too choppy. At the moment…

Biarritz, 2015 – Day 5, Return Home…

Overnight the campsite experienced what can only be described as a deluge.

Sleep was difficult as the rain hammered on the van. Miraculously for it’s age, the van remained almost watertight.

Not the awning though.

Overnight mud damage

It’s now 17:28 Central European time and am on board the Eurostar, destination London.

Biarritz, 2015 – Day 2 to 4, St Jean de Luz..

Accommodation was the 5 star caravan, chez Monsieur Bell. The caravan is vintage 1995 and doesn’t look a day over 25 years old. The good news is that a newer model will surely be available for next year before chez Bell becomes a mass of tangled plywood on a French autoroute…

Vintage ’95

Friday was a beautiful day on the south west shores of France and a very relaxing day was followed by a cycle ride early evening to the harbour at Guethray. A couple of beers overlooking the bay and then back to Tamaris Plage and a fine fish bbq.

Atlantic Ocean

Saturday and the nice weather had departed leaving a somewhat grey and cooler day. The copious amounts of rain forecast fortunately didn’t appear and we were able to cycle to St Jean de Luz in the afternoon and a fine dinner at a basque restaurant in the evening.

St Jean De Luz

Sunday we walked to Guethray and then caught the RER train to Hendaye and then the Metro to San Sebastian. A good and fortuitous decision not to drive as a major wine festival was in full flow. Luch was a beer and tapas at a local hostelry.

Lunch

Wine Festival Donostia

Evening dinner was at the local pizza restaurant.

Biarritz, 2015 – Day 1, Travel to Biarritz the long way, Part II…

15:43. Just arriving in Bordeaux. Just one section of the journey left now down to Biarritz.

Biarritz, 2015 – Day 1, Travel to Biarritz the long way, Part I…

There’s a small question mark over the inclusion of this trip in the Caravan Ramblings blog. After all this is a rambling to stay a few days in someone elses caravan – still it should provide some context to our own travels and experiences.

The day began long before dawn and a wake up call at 4:25. The Eurostar departure was at 07:55 and this meant catching just about the first fast train out of Reading into London Paddington. The drive from North Hampshire to Reading station took exactly 30 minutes as did the train journey into Paddington.

Another 30 minutes to cross London to St Pancras International meant a comfortable one hour to check in at the Eurostar terminal. The Eurostar departed per schedule and it’s now 08:36 and we are somewhere under the English Channel.

We travelled for much of the route at 300km per hour. Wonder if the TGV will be much faster.

Still with only an hour to cross Paris to Gare de Montparnasse everything needs to go according to plan.

Arrival in Paris was just two minutes behind schedule but the Metro ride to Gard de Montparnasse only took around 20 minutes. Am now waiting for my TGV to depart for Biarritz. Hope I’m in the right part of the train because it splits somewhere with half going to Toulouse.

New Forest, 2015 – Day 10, Home…

It took 2.5 hours from waking to leaving the Black Knowl site which was just about as expected. The journey home was un-eventful and took around 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The caravan has been emptied and cleaned inside so tomorrow it needs a good wash and then it’s being put to bed for the winter.

We also spent some time cataloguing where everything is being stored so hopefully the first outing next year should be fairly organised.

CaravanRamblings signing-off for 2015… 🙁

New Forest, 2015 – Day 9 Preparation day…

We leave Black Knowl tomorrow so took full advantage of the nice weather to dismantle the awning and prepare for home.

We visited Lyndhurst in the afternoon and then hiked some 5 miles in a circular route from the campsite, passing nearby Aldridge Hill camping ground. We wonder whether to try that kind of “off grid” camping another year; no electric hook-up or toilet block there…

New Forest, 2015 – Day 8 Cycle Ride to Bashley…

Today we cycled south from Black Knowl on a 16 mile circular route, much of which was off road. Part of the route was closed off as the horses are being rounded-up by their owners (all the animals in the Forest aren’t perhaps as “wild” as one might imagine).

Cycle Ride

Lunch was at the Rising Sun in Bashley. Moe and Sue’s desert perhaps also not so authentic.

Interesting…

A fine day with the weather staying dry for much of the time. In fact a nice BBQ in the evening although the temperatures are dropping substantially as summer draws to a close.

New Forest, 2015 – Day 7 Beaulieu and the deer…

It was another very wet night overnight and the rain didn’t ease off until just after lunch. Moe and Sue spent the afternoon at the Beaulieu Motor museum (on the day Lord Montagnu passed away) whilst I embarked on a rather soggy 8 mile cycle ride through the forest.

I did however stumble across a herd of deer and whilst I managed to take lots of pictures, sadly most of them were out of focus. This was definitely one of those occasions where a proper camera would have been really appreciated. I just don’t think the phone knew precisely what to focus on.

Herd of Deer

The heavy overnight rain very much in evidence again.

Another deluge

Still, the weather forecast looks a little better for the next couple of days…