Monday 3rd
Got up at 05:45 to walk George & have breakfast before catching the 08:20 Eurotunnel train. Very impressive! 35 Minutes later we started travelling down the E15 on the east side of France & got to our first overnight stop close to Troyes (about 27 miles south east of Paris), at around 4:00. Bit of a drive from the motorway, but at least we are seeing some French towns. Getting progressively colder as we travel south & quite misty. We are very impressed with the French road system (although paid for by tolls!) & the large number of service & stopping/picnic areas (Aires) along the motorways.
Tuesday 4th
Away from site around 10:00. Not impressed with the temperature which is still dropping & around -4C! Arrived at Dardilly, Lyon around four & now -5C!! Quite a nice site though (for an overnight stop) as the facilities were good & showers very hot. Waste pipe on the van froze up in the morning though. Ordered a baguette for breakfast/lunch. The car & caravan are now very dirty & we have to stop at more Aires just to clean the mirrors.
Weds 5thWe do not seem to be able to leave our sites before 10! Another five hours of motorway travel plus a couple of breaks. Arrived at our last French overnight stop, (again at four). This one was Le Bacares at Perpignan, just north of the Spanish border. Our pitch had a small ‘shed’ with loo, shower & waste facilities. We are now getting quite efficient at arriving & setting up quickly so I decided to wash the caravan whilst Janet walked George & did her bits!
George is now into the routine and as usual taking all in his stride.
Thurs 6thDecided to wash the car before leaving & some how we were away by 09:15. Don’t know we did it, must have forgotten something. Temperature has now risen to 4 degrees which was welcome.
As we got into Spain the temperature starting rising steadily & within another five hours of travelling was at the dizzy height of 16 degrees.
Now the bad bit…
Just passed Barcelona we heard a loud bang and a silver BMW car passed and waved at the car rear. I STUPIDLY stopped & got out of the car to investigate the problem together with a man from the BMW car, Janet was looking out of the door when a second man opened the driver’s door of our car and snatched her handbag which was by her feet. Both men ran off back to the BMW and drove off before we could do anything. (It is a very common occurrence on the AP7 around Barcelona!). Janet called Sentinel & cancelled all her cards etc, but our passports & her mobile phone were also in the bag, plus loads of other items including about 150 Euros. There is also a dent on the rear car door where they threw a rock or whatever to make the noise we heard.
Anyway we are OK & it is only an inconvenience when you look positively at the incident. We have been to the Guardia Civil in Peniscola for an incident number & may have to go to the consulate in Malaga re our stolen passports.
Anyway we are OK & it is only an inconvenience when you look positively at the incident. We have been to the Guardia Civil in Peniscola for an incident number & may have to go to the consulate in Malaga re our stolen passports.
We arrived at our first Spanish site Spa Natura in Peniscola at 15:15, surprised at the good time we had made considering everything. We checked in, found out where the Guardia Civil building is & then had a restful early evening sitting with a drink outside in the sunshine, (16 degrees) which made up for a lot!! Booked in here till the 13th when we move down to La Manga for two weeks.
Friday 7th
As usual up around seven to walk George. Very pleasant as we are surrounded by olive groves and orange trees. Had breakfast & put up our new ‘full’ awning for the first time before going to report yesterday’s incident, & do some shopping at the local Euroski super Mercado. By lunchtime it was very sunny & around 19 degrees when we were at the super Mercado. From our first look at Peniscola town it is very nice with a pleasant beach.
Saturday 8th
Very lazy day, apart from giving the van a good cleaning inside & doing some washing. Finished finer parts awning erection & had an enjoyable lunch prepared by Janet in very warm weather. Now wearing my shorts!!!
All for now. More in a couple of days. Still getting to know how to create this blog.. Site WiFi very good & not too expensive.
Saturday 8th
Very lazy day, apart from giving the van a good cleaning inside & doing some washing. Finished finer parts awning erection & had an enjoyable lunch prepared by Janet in very warm weather. Now wearing my shorts!!! All for now. More in a couple of days. Still getting to know how to create this blog.. Site WiFi very good & not too expensive.
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