A Wander Through the High Pyrenees, not the GR11

I’ve just returned from another walking trip to the Pyrenees Mountains, this time making my own route from Luchon in France to Port de Benasque, Refugio de la Renclusa, Forau d’ Aiguallut, Collado de Toro,  Es Bordes (Val d’ Aran), Erill la Val (Val de Boi), Refuge Llong, Portarro d’ Espot, Refuge Ernest Mallafre, Espot, La Guingueta and back to Luchon over the Coll du Portillon. I started on September 10^th at Luchon and finished on September 23^rd returning to Luchon to get the train to Toulouse, flying back to Gatwick and then getting the train home.

The route ahead from the Hospice de France to the Refuge Benasque

The journey out was not so nice with rain and a rail strike in France on the day I was hoping to reach Luchon. However the SNCF staff were very good and produced an alternative route for me as my train had been cancelled, so although it did take longer than originally planned, I did make Luchon in one day. The next day was also wet with mountain mist but I decided to start anyway as the prediction for the rest of the week was good.  In the event I had two weeks of good weather without a further spot of rain, how lucky can you get!

I’ve divided my account of the trip into sections, mainly to do with why I decided to return and do some of the terrain not covered by the GR11 (the long distance footpath I’ve previously walked). The first thing I wanted to do was reach the Port de Benasque, an ancient crossing route over the main frontier ridge, and view the Aneto/Maladeta Massive from the gap in the ridge. I’d seen the Massive from the south side but hadn’t seen the remains of the glaciers on the north side of the mountains. 

Although September can be variable weather, the clear sky's this year gave endless opportunities to explore the high valleys and passes. This photo was taken in the Monestero valley looking to the saddle with the same name and with Los Encantados out of view on the left.

The second thing was to see the Forau d’Aiguallut where the river disappears into the limestone going underground to Uelhs de Joeu where it re-emerges. I wanted to follow the route taken by Norbert Casteret and his mother when they traced the source of the Garonne by passing from the sink hole (Forau d’Aiguallut) over the Collado de Toro to the re-emergence in the Plan dera Artiga. Finally I wanted to tranverse the Aiguestortes Park on the south side from the Boi Valley (the GR11 goes on the north side) over the Portarro d’Espot and rejoin the GR11 to La Guingueta. A bonus also revealed itself when I reached Bossost (Val d’Aran) and I found the mule track mentioned in the older literature and particularly by J.B. Morton (“Miles Walker”) which crosses the relatively low frontier pass between Bossost and Luchon by the Coll du Portillon.

My starting and finishing place near the Thermal Spa in Bagneres de Luchon. Luchon has good links by rail to Toulouse and at least three campsites with many hotels and restaurants in the town.

South Downs Way, Part 1 - Amberely to Winchester

River Arun near Amberely in West Sussex, the start of our walk; the South Downs are in the background.

Now a few days after finishing part of the South Downs Way (SDW) walking between Amberely in West Sussex to Winchester in Hampshire. I say "we" as I had the company of Doug, a friend from Edinburgh who Helen and I met in Namibia in 2005. We have every intention of doing the second half of the walk between Amberely and Eastbourne next September, although I suspect we'll have a challenge of matching the great weather we had last week, not a drop of rain.

The SDW starts in Winchester and finishes in Eastbourne, a distance of about 100 miles. Amberely happens to be a pleasant village at about midway with good rail connections to the south coast and London. The first day we met at "Foxleigh Barn", a great bed and breakfast (B&B) between the station and the village. There is a pub and shop in or near the village. In the morning we set-off in the mist to climb our first hill, Bury Hill and by the time we had reached the top, the sun was through giving views over the Downs and south towards the mouth of the rive Arun at Littlehampton. Our plan was pretty simple, the first two days to walk 12-13 miles each stopping at Cocking and Buriton. Then we had arranged to stay a couple of days with Doug's friends doing about 8 miles each day to reach Exton (distances include walking off and back onto the Downs), then a final fling of 13 miles to Chilcomb and a short hop on Monday morning to Winchester and our trains out.

The path was well marked. Here you can see the footpath into Amberely.

After reaching Tegleaze (236 m), one of our many snack stops, we descended to Cocking and our B&B at "Moonlight Cottages". This was a pleasant stop in the heart of a small village but with a noisy road. The only pub in the village produced good food that was appreciated . The B&B gave us a picnic lunch although it would have been possible to purchase supplies from the village shop opposite the pub.

One of many rest stops on the route and our first encounter with a horse rider (not shown!)

Generally, once we left the night-stops in the valley villages , there were no supplies until the next village at the end of the day, that is without deviating several miles. Hence it was important to carry food and water each day (the chalky landscape has little running water!)

Typical chalkland track heading west across the South Downs.

A greener and shady track approaching woodland with a blue sky.

The next morning was bright and once resupplied with a picnic lunch from the B&B and village store, we climbed back through the woods to find the SDW. The walk to Buriton was over rolling hills, detouring around Beacon Hill (242 m) and across Harting Down with views of South Harting with its copper church spire, and a long walk along an escarpment through woods to take the "Milky Way" down to Buriton and a drink at "The Maple" inn.

Returning to Buriton the next day, we climbed Butser Hill (271 m, the highest of the entire route) with a couple of coffee chances on route through Queen Elizabeth Park. We could soon see East Meon village but the SDW follows the hills looping around the village. We finally met our host at the end of a holloway (a sunken path in Dorset) to end the day crossing farmland into East Meon with all its pubs closed. Continuing the next day, now a larger group, we headed for Exley and just south of this Meonstoke. All these "Meons" are taken from the name of the chalk stream here which we followed into Exley. The route was picturesque over Winchester Hill (you have to deviate off the SDW to cross the ancient Hill Fort) and descending into the Meon valley spotting Buzzards, Red Kites and a single Hobby at our lunch break. We had booked excellent pub accommodation "The Bucks head", slightly off our route but with a nearby large village shop close-by. 

Butser Hill

Our last main walking day was slightly tarnished by too much tarmac underfoot but we did make good progress soon reaching "Cheesefoot Head" a coombe where troops were addressed before Operation Overlord and the subsequent liberation of Europe. Soon after this we had great views of Winchester before descending on a sunken road to a pleasant guest house, "Complyns" in Chilcomb. The next morning we did a one hour dash to King Alfred's Statue and the cathedral, either of which could be the end of the SDW. 

In all, the walking was easy going with gentle inclines over stony tracks,  grassland, through woods with very occasionally tarmac thrown in. The Way goes through picturesque settings overlooking villages in wooded valleys and farmland, typical of what we think of as the English Countryside.

The south coast and Solent  in the distance taken from Beacon Hill.

Velodyssey #4 Across Brittany: Nantes to Roscoff

The route from Nantes goes across part of Loire-Atlantic and then through Brittany keeping away from the coast until approaching Roscoff. It took us six days cycling from 15th until 20th in varied weather; it was not as warm as in the south but still with sunny periods. The route is very interesting as it leaves Nantes alongside or on urban roads to reach the Nantes-Brest canal which it more or less follows to Carhaix. The whole canal is 364 km in length, mainly made up of channelised rivers and has something like 258 locks. In was opened in 1858. In its heyday, a horse drawn barge took 25 days to go between Nantes and Guily Glas a distance of 360 km and incorporating 236 locks. Now the sections between Nantes and Pontivy and also Carhaix and Brest are navigable.

When Velo 1 reaches Carhaix it soon joins the old narrow gauge rail track from Carhaix to Morlaix (about 49 km). This track was part of a network built in Brittany, opening in 1891 to bring development to this part of France. The track crosses the Monts d'Aree before descending to Morlaix and although many of the stations on route take the names of local villages or towns, the stations are often some distance from the centres, e.g. Scrignac station is about 5 km from Scrignac. The line was closed in 1967 but has been put to good use by walkers, cyclists and horse riders and although it reaches 210 m altitude, the ascents and descents are of course quite gentle but noticeable!

Typical part of the Nantes-Brest canal track on the first day.
Notice the track way-markers and fresh green countryside.

On Wednesday we left Nantes in the sunshine and made good progress following roadside finger-posts to the canal. Near Le Bout de Bois we accidental came across one of the best restaurants of the trip, "Le Canal Bar/Restaurant" (D537, GPS: N 47.45243, W 1.63767) where we had a good three-course meal and wine for 11 euro sharing the room with locals and lorry drivers taking a lunch break. Passing Blain, we continued on to find a campsite in Guenrouet and a pleasant camping spot with its own table, a little luxury for us as campsites don't normally provide seats or table for campers with tents.

A welcome coffee after making camp at Guenrouet (an Accueil campsite)
very close to the town. Good camping weather and a very pleasant stay. 

We had a great evening meal in a local bar/Creperia with views over the canal to Guenrouet's church spire.

The view from our supper spot looking to the spire at Guenrouet
 across the canal we'd been following.

The following day we aimed to pass through Redon and make our way to Malestroit for the night. As we'd run-out of gas (all those coffees!) we thought we would search for a new cylinder in Redon. This at first looked hopeful as we saw a "Decathlon" store but it wasn't to be as they only had the "Bleu" type connection (we needed a screw-top). I recalled that I'd bought screw-top canisters at "Intersport" stores in towns close to the Pyrenees so we obtained directions to a local store. After quite a diversion, this proved a waste of time as the store was called "Inter" but was a hyper-market and again only had "Bleu" and non-resealable canisters. After this, we cycled back to the centre and found a coffee stop and forgot about gas (this always seems a problem in France and I normally carry a canister converter for the non-resealable canisters).

A street in Redon on our way back to the canal and finding a picnic to take away for our lunch.

We soon found the canal but noticed loads of fishing line tangled around Helen's rear cycle sprocket. We found a pleasant spot near a bench, and spent over an hour teasing the line from the cog, thanks to the help of "Leatherman". Helen had found the going a little tough on the last stretch into Redon but a quick chain lubrication and clean-up seemed to do the trick and we were away again. My chain seemed to have escaped the line. 

The centre of Malestroit in the morning sunshine, a short stop before starting on our way to Pontivy.

We stopped for a picnic lunch close to a climbing wall and activity centre and chatted to a Dutch cyclist who was doing a similar route to us. It is always interesting to swap stories of the route and incidents. Anyway, after a "beer stop" we soon found ourselves setting-up camp at the Municipal campsite in Malestroit (the cheapest and best value so far at only 8 euro). This is a short walk from the town and wasn't busy but the weather was changing and it wasn't long after taking a shower that the rain started. Later, in a dry interlude, we had a pleasant meal in town and returned to a night of rain. In the morning, things didn't look promising with a shroud of mist surrounding the tent. However, this soon cleared to sunshine and we were away again.
The first part of the route to Jossselin was brilliant with a tarmacked cycle track and lots of birds near the canal including Herons, Wagtails and Mallards. At Josselin we heard lots of English voices, mostly it seemed holidaying on canal barges. We stripped to our summer wear again and found a pleasant cafe near the canal before moving on to Rohan, our planned lunch stop. We diverted from the cycle path to find some lunch but the whole town seemed to be asleep; after searching for a while we found a Creperia next to the canal so on reflection it would have been wise to have stayed on the track in the first place.

The Chateau des Rohan in Pontivy on our evening stroll.

We stayed in the Interhotel du Chateau conveniently near the the cycle-way into the town and with a locked cycle store and very friendly staff.
After this stop, the route headed north and left the canal for a while to climb to Mur-de -Bretagne with views over the Lac de Guerledan. It then joined what looked like an old rail track mostly down hill, to join the canal again.

After descending from Mur de Bretagne, we took a  break on rejoining the canal towpath 

We had planned to stay at the Hotel Henry IV in Rostrenen but this turned out to be full and the staff and Tourist Information couldn't help so we decided to continue on. Shortly after rejoining the Velo 1, we came across a B&B, " La Maison du Canal" run by a pleasant and welcoming English couple. I had noted this B&B in my notes but hadn't realised it was so close to the canal (the cycle-way goes past their front gate!). This proved just what we needed and set us up for the last major section to Morlaix.
We took the precaution to book the next B&B in Morlaix (Manoir de Cote Armour) as we suspected a long wet day ahead. In fact, once we left the canal at Carhaix (the canal here heads west to Brest), the rest of the day was spent on a disused narrow gauge railway track. To start with the track slowly ascends to Scrignac Station and continues uphill before a gradual descent to Morlaix. We stopped at Poullaouen for a pleasant lunch with a developing drizzle outside. After that we came across several horse drawn carriages making their way towards us, horse riders, several Sunday walkers but few cyclists.

One of the caravans moving south along the route.

We managed to miss the entrance to the B&B and started to ascend out of Morlaix before phoning to get instructions but in the end the proprietor came out and rescued us. The B&B is well situated on the Velo 1 as it enters Morlaix and it was my GPS coordinates that were wrong...that's technology for you or should I say human error. We had a night of luxury and even managed the 10 minute walk into the town centre to a busy Creperia for a delicious galette supper.
Our final cycling day was only about 30 km but we expected to encounter a few hills to Roscoff and we weren't disappointed especially climbing out of Morlaix. First though we had to compete with a "Junior Tour de France" as the children lined up their cycles to compete through town; this could have been embarrassing but fortunately we had a head start. It was a sunny day as we encountered a fair ground being  taken apart and a lone collie dog raced with us for several kilometres before deciding the fun was over, otherwise we had imagined the dog running along side us onto the ferry.

View across the bay at Roscoff before cycling to the ferry port.

About to leave for Plymouth and six hour journey without pedaling!

So we arrived in Plymouth to be welcomed by Bex and spent some time relaxing in the Devon countryside sampling a few real ales and gardening before engaging with the railways to get our cycles home (Totnes-Exeter- Castle Cary- Upwey-Wareham) all going smoothly with cycle reservations for all but the last stretch.

In all, a great holiday with about 80% of the cycling on dedicated cycle ways. We thought the best parts were through the Landes Forest and beaches (we also had the best weather there!), we also enjoyed crossing Brittany recalling scenery and places from summer holidays we had taken in gites years ago.
Our cycles had done well with only one puncture but my chain was stretched and needed a new one and a rear sprocket but Helen's was OK with only about 1/16th inch stretch.

Velodyssey #3..Royan to Nantes.

This stretch took us six days leaving Royan on 9th to arrive in Nantes on 14th in mainly good weather, sunshine with some cloud at times with occasional showers; the photos tell it all really.

Fishing nets along the river as we left Royan

The route out of Royan was mainly on road and cycle track. We stopped at a cycle repair shop to get Helen's tyre inflated to 50 psi, more than we could manage with our hand pumps. The route by-passes Marennes and heads across country to find a canal track, our first encounter with the "Provisional" Velo 1. This amounted to a country lane that was rutted with tractor tracks and was hard going. The local fishermen told us it only lasted for a few kilometers but in hindsight it might have been better on the main road that ran nearby. 

"Provisional route", near Canal de la Seudre after Marennes before our lunch stop. Notice the orange/blue velo 1 sign.

After that, the track improved alongside a canal but soon it was threatening rain so it was time to find lunch in St Agnant, a creperia called "Ker Pepe", very nice too. Then we did get some rain and at the end of the ride we decided to take refuge in a hotel in Rochefort, an IBIS hotel in the centre and showing the "Accueil Velo" (cycles welcome) sign, in other words, a cycle friendly hotel with somewhere safe to store our cycles and get our clothes dry. Well, they were very friendly and offered a great buffet breakfast to set us up for the next morning.
The next day we headed to La Rochelle mostly following the coast and had a picnic lunch alongside the harbour before crossing the bridge over a canal. As there are few opportunities for refreshments before our next destination, St Michel el l'Herm, we refilled our water bottles and took off to follow the canal to the northeast through idyllic countryside.

View from our sunny picnic spot approaching the centre of  La Rochelle.

In all, this proved our most challenging day for the entire route, not because of the hills as it was mostly flat, but because of the wind and another "Provisional" section on mowed rough grass beside a canal. A few fishermen had established themselves on our track and obviously seemed a little amused that we should be cycling on it rather than driving a four-wheeled drive full of fishing gear. Anyway, there didn't seem to be an obvious way to avoid this section; the old route shown on our GPS was churned up and totally unsuited for cycles (we did divert to see this!). On reaching the road, we seemed a long way to our destination and the whole area was very exposed to the wind. Eventually we did see the church tower of St Michel and met a group of young french cyclist who asked to see our map. They were doing the same route but were heading to the coast by a short-cut on the road but going in the wrong direction! It was great to find the campsite "La Dive" just outside of the town with a restaurant on-site and hedges to protect us from the wind.
On Saturday we went into St Michel and found a coffee and croissants before facing the wind to ride back to the coast. Once at the coast, surprisingly, the weather improved and the wind dropped so we had a very pleasant ride, diverting on route to climb to Talmont St Hilaire for lunch at the Bar/Brasseria Jeux passing though another wetland area.

Helen about to speed through the wetland before Talmont and lunch,; no wind!

After that it was downhill back to the coast and Les Sables-d'Olonne with lots of weekend holiday makers promenading along the sea front and beaches. We found a campsite near La Rouliere on a peninsular but it wasn't the best choice as the site was on high ground and fairly exposed. It was more like a holiday village and we could imagine that in the summer it would be teaming with visitors eager to relax on the nearby beaches. We were able to get food at the site and also find a sheltered spot for our little tent.

Beach at Les Sables looking back along our route into the city.

On Sunday, we followed the coast catching glimpses of the sea now and again as we skirted through forest and urban areas. We had a few showers in the morning but it cleared later as we approached St Gilles. We could have stopped earlier but we decided to go onto Fromentine near the Ile de Noirmouter and camp there. The site was fine and only ten minutes walk from the centre of Fromentine and the harbour. Here we had an excellent dinner within sight of the bridge to the island, thinking "that looks exposed but that's for tomorrow". (The Velo 1 goes onto the island and then follows a road "across the sea" back to the mainland).

Our organised campsite at Fromentine, washing done and drying!

The ride across the bridge was fine, a steep uphill and freewheel down and then on a off-road track to the road that crosses the estuary or would have done at low tide. We hadn't realized that the road was actually in the sea and was expecting something like our local Dorset cause-ways over the water meadows. Anyway, low tide was a long way off so we reversed our wheels (the bridge isn't any easier in the other direction!) and devised a route to rejoin Velo 1 on the other side, basically going by road to Beauvoir for coffee and then going to the coast by minor roads to pick up the cycleway. The next section was mostly very good cycling on gravel tracks through a network of canals and wetlands. There doesn't seem to be an alternative to the official track from the island to cope with high tide for this section but it isn't difficult to figure out.

Our lunch stop in the lle de Bouin, Le Collet Port, no sign of life around here.

The route into Pornic was "up and down" and "around about", at least that's how it felt , so we were pleased to find an ice cream parlour in the centre. Then a little further on we deviated off-route to a campsite "La Ranch" near Tharon Plage and found a good restaurant in the village (a short cycle ride away) later in the evening.
The next day we rejoined the cycle route where we'd left it and continued on northwards to take a coffee break at St Brevin near the bridge over the Loire river to St Nazaire.  After this the route wends inland and back to the estuary at Paimboeuf to join the Canal Martiniere. A while after this we crossed the river to the north side using the ferry at Le Pellerin to then follow urban roads and cycleways into Nantes.

Pont Routiere over the Loire river at St Nazaire. Velo 1 does not cross this but continues along the south side of the river to Nantes. This is where the route leaves the Atlantic until Roscoff, the end of our journey.

The free ferry over the Loire river at Le Pellerin after leaving the canal to face the faster pace of Nantes. The urban sprawl begins on the opposite bank to the right side.

In the centre of Nantes, Velo 1 was not obvious but with the GPS track, we were able to find a way through the traffic and pedestrians. Amazingly, with the cycleways in the centre marked in the middle of the road and roundabouts, cars, buses and trams were not a problem but pedestrians became difficult to avoid as they used the cycleways as shelter from the traffic either side. However we found this easier than cycling in Paris.
After getting across Nantes with rain starting, we decided to have a night of luxury in a campsite cabin. Just as well as it rained most of the night and sitting with our breakfast we resigned ourselves to a wet day ahead. Luckily this wasn't to be as the sun appeared shortly after leaving the campsite bringing a pleasant cycling day in pretty ideal conditions.

Our cabin for the night at camping Nantes  which is very close to the cycle route on the way out of Nantes and would make a great base to explore the city with good bus & tram links to the centre. We'd been in Nantes before and I'm sure we'll return without our cycles.

The next stage across Brittany was less know to us as although we'd been many times to northern Brittany. As it was early in the season, I hadn't found many campsites open, "Cycle friendly" hotels or B&Bs near our route when I did the background research. So far in the south we had been able to cycle until we felt like stopping and then find a campsite or accommodation close at hand or within a few miles. Anyway, more of that to come as the journey is completed....

Velodyssey, Instalment 2

The next stage was to follow the track northwards through the forest to eventually cross the Gironde river to reach Royan, the next major centre on our route. Of course things are made easier with a frequent ferry boat across the river so we wouldn't need to get our cycles wet! We did this with overnight stops at campsites near Parentis, Audenge and Houtin and a final campsite at Pontaillac just west of the centre of Royan. The route bypasses Parentis-en-Born and we went off-route a few kilometers to a site near a lake, Etang de Biscarrosse (Camping la Foret Lahitte).

Cycleway (velo1) which is typical of the easy ride through the forest and dunes, very pleasant cycling with shelter from the westerly wind.

The next few days were hot with temperatures above 25 C, so pleasant cycling past the high dunes near la Salie, Dune du Pilat near where we stopped for a picnic lunch near the beach at Pointe d'Arachon. As we'd left early, our tent was wet from the dew so we stopped for a break to dry our gear on the edge of Etang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet. Further on ,the route more or less bypasses Arachon on cycleways at the side of the road or through woodlands in urban areas. The campsite at Audenge was at the edge of town so we unloaded our gear and cycled for dinner at the Port, eventually returning to town to find a reasonable restaurant. 

Looking north from our lunch stop near La Salie; one of the warmest days on our route.

From Audenge, the route goes through an urban area on a disused rail track to Ares, skirting the east side of the Bassin d'Arachon before heading over dunes through the forest back to the coast to reach a cycle track to Carcans Plage stopping at Lacanau for lunch. We hoped to use the campsite further on at Houtin-Plage but this wasn't open so the only alternative was to go on 11 kilometres by road to the west side of the Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans to Houtin itself. In the evening we walked to the Port in Houtin and wandered around the town before sunset.

Our picnic lunch spot at L'Amelie sur Mer south of Soulac sur Mer. Still warm and a chance to dry our tent  from the nights dew.

The next day was to be relatively short, 66 km, along the coast to the ferry over the Gironde and to Royan. The town of Soulac sur mer is very much a holiday centre and developed. We passed through into the last forest before the Pointe de Grave, getting straight onto a waiting ferry. Helen noticed a puncture in her rear tyre at this point. This was a surprise as I'd renewed all tyres, tubes and chains before leaving. Anyway, it was losing air faster than I could inflate it so we had to wheel it off the ferry and repair at some nearby seats. I just changed the tube after locating the piece of grit that had embedded in the centre of the tyre and repaired the tube later at the campsite. The campsite (Camping Clairefontaine) was easy to locate and the cycleway well signed as we left the centre for Pontaillac, still bright in the afternoon sunshine. Unfortunately, we arrived at the camping when lots of others did and waited half an hour whilst all the campground details were explained to the new campers. There were also a few other touring cyclist sharing the "tent" corner. I did manage a cold shower before realising there were hot showers over the other side of the campground, refreshing!

After the ferry crossing and quick repair, we had the afternoon and evening to enjoy scenes of Royan.

We still had some further forests to go through on our way to Rochefort to reach La Rochelle and onwards to the Loire estuary at Nantes, the next installment...to come soon!!

La Velodyssee, Velodyssey, the Atlantic Cycling Route (EV1 or Velo 1) in France (Installment 1).

We're back home after our cycling trip in France on Velo 1 or EV1 along the Atlantic coast starting in Hendaye near Irun at the Spanish border and finishing in Roscoff in Brittany in Northern France. The details of the route and other information as well as GPS downloads may be obtained from the Velodyssee website:  

http://www.lavelodyssee.com. It seems daunting now to sit down and write about the whole trip so I'll do it as I find time--so here's the first installment!

We cycled for a total of 18 days during May. The whole trip covered about 1480 km or 925 miles, about 50 miles a day on the route, although some days were longer and others shorter. My GPS gave my maximum speed as 31 mph and average moving speed of 10.4 mph which includes walking to find cafes and restaurants ! 

Our first stop in Hendaye in the Basque Country after leaving the train, a welcome coffee starting in the rain.

We left Dorset on 3rd May by cycling from home to Poole and catching the Cherbourg Ferry. From the port we found our way across Cherbourg to get some lunch and then the train to Paris. We had about two hours in Paris before getting the overnight train to Hendaye. I'd booked  beds and place for our cycles on the train which was scheduled to leave at nine fifty and arrive at the border about eight thirty in the morning. Of course this meant crossing Paris to get between the train stations. I'd worked out a route across the city and put a track on my GPS and this worked pretty well although scary at times, especially for Helen who was trying to follow me as I sped across traffic lights and pedestrian crossings in the same way I saw the Parisans doing. I think the trick is to look ahead and peddle with confidence, I could be wrong though. We had one problem when one of Helen's pannier bags decided to go its own way, fortunately we were in a shared bus lane without a bus and soon worked out what the problem had been. It took us about 45 minutes to cross and I don't think Helen will be doing it again for a long time (that's optimistic). We arrived at the Gare Austerlitz in time to get some tea and find our reserved carriage. The train wasn't as comfortable as the Spanish overnight trains we'd been on and it was certainly noisier making sleeping a challenge. However, we did get some sleep and awoke to see the sign for Tarbes station in the French Pyrenees and a grey sombre day enshrouded with drizzle, much as we had been led to expecting from the weather forecasts.

Our first "port of call" at a surfers paradise, Biarritz, and a stroll around the beach in the sun before we searched for dinner. A great end to the first day on the road (literally as not many cycle tracks at this point)

I'm not going to give a day to day account of the trip, so if you want more information on any section or more generally, please contact me and I'll try to answer. Here I'll give a few highlights and parts of our ride. 

We carried about 6 kg each in our four panniers and we had handlebar bags for valuables. We also had a tent, small burner and cups so we could make tea and coffee at will or when we couldn't find a cafe. In total we stopped 11 nights in campgrounds, 3 in hotels (when in rained, mainly in the north), 2 Chambre d'Hotes (B&B's to us) and took a cabin in a campground in Nantes where it rained and the temperatures dropped.

Our loaded cycles at the start of our trip outside the cafe in Hendaye, notice the red container full of nuts!

Overall, after the first day, the weather was good and we enjoyed the numerous campsites in the south (mainly below Nantes in Southern Brittany) with blue skies and little wind which came mainly from the west or north-west but generally didn't cause us problems, well unless we turned west which sometimes happened. The GPS route was very useful, as although the signs were often good, sometimes they disappeared or as in Brittany, were very confusing when they did appear. In conurbations such a Biarritz and Nantes, the markings mainly disappeared and you either need detailed maps, GPS or lots of time! We took  1:150000  Michelin Maps which have some adopted cycle-ways marked and served as backup to the GPS. There are published books on the route but they are expensive and heavy and we decided not to use them but to research possible accommodation but not reserve anything so that we could remain flexible when deciding where to spend the night. The maps were particularly useful in choosing possible stopping points for coffee and lunch, important parts of our day! We were mostly on route by nine and finished between four and six in the afternoon depending on stops and distances. As usual when camping, our day was mainly controlled by the sun!

Well Biarittiz was sunny with good waves judging by the evening gathering of dedicated surfers we watched as we strolled along the promenade. We couldn't resist the temptation of not camping on our fist night as we had only done a few miles but felt pretty shattered, probably because of our lack of sleep on the train. However, we were soon revitalized and did over 96 km in the better weather the following day, stopping north of Veux at a campsite near a lake (Etang de Leon) and enjoying a swim indoors and sauna before dinner, "the Life of Riley" indeed. North of Bayonne we had encountered our first forest tracks, mainly tarmac through sandy terrain within a stone-throw from the sea, usually separated by a dune! The next section through the largest forest in Europe, the Landes Forest, I'll come to shortly but for now we're off to enjoy our few days of summer!

A new adventure

We have sold our camper van today; it doesn't seem  five years since we drove up to Galashiels in 2007 having taken delivery. It served us very well and we had many great trips, most of them recorded here on the Blog. The decision to sell after our last trip was mainly because we are planning a few longer-haul trips over the forthcoming winters, for shorter periods but never-the-less, the camper would be aging and little used. Hopefully we'll be able to get another camper in the future.
Meanwhile we have a cycle tour on the European Velo 1, one of the many trans-European cycle networks. We have already (unwittingly) done part of the UK Velo 1 from Lynmouth to Plymouth. This continues (by ferry!) to Roscoff in northern France and down the Atlantic coast to the Spanish border at Hendaye (adjacent to Irun in Spain where the GR11 starts). We have planned to do it in reverse, from Hendaye to Roscoff because, hopefully, the weather will be better in the south at the beginning of May and also the wind should be better placed to push us north! So our journey will be from Sandford to Poole, a ferry to Cherbourg and then trains to Paris and overnight to Hendaye with our cycles. We should arrive in Hendaye about eight thirty in the morning ready for a sleep or a days cycling towards Biarritz. We're taking our tent and will stay in B&Bs if the weather is bad.
Not sure whether we'll be able to update the Blog on route.
My next trek will be on the South Downs Way with Doug in late August doing Bed and Breakfast along the route; it's supposed to be a great walk along the Downs on ancient wayfares.
After that, in early September, I'm off to the High Pyrenees to the Enchanted Mountains for three weeks to visit some areas not covered by the GR11 trail..looking forward to that and hopefully the snow will have more or less melted by then. At the moment the National Parks in the Pyrenees are giving ice warnings to trekkers and advising crampons and ice axe for the higher passes. This is because of the late Spring snow this year and cold weather since (this warning continued until July).
Later in November we're off to Australia via Bangkok to tour the east coast from Sydney to Cairns returning by Melbourne and Malaysia, in all about five weeks so lots of things to plan before then.

The route home...

The palace gardens at Aranjuez.

We are now back in Dorset after crossing Spain with a cold northerly wind bringing snow and clouds most of the time. There wasn't much snow on the hills over the first main pass of the Guadarrama mountains but we were impressed with the number of snow-ploughs standing by. We stopped at Aranjuez for two nights and the rain cleared on Saturday giving us an opportunity to see the sights again with a clear blue sky and visit the mercadillo, an open air market selling clothes etc. The next day was cold with frequent snow showers as we gained altitude to reach Burgos. We had thought of stopping here for a day but decided on seeing the weather forecast to stay one night and then go on to Santander. In the event it was a good decision as we awoke to a sprinkling of snow and on crossing the Cantabrica mountains, met more storms and many snow ploughs keeping at least one lane open.

Our camping spot at the Burgos campsite......- 4 C at night.

We managed to get on an earlier ferry rather than hang around in Santander in the cold and was home by 4 pm after leaving Burgos at 10 am the previous day. So now in cold England 6 C, warmer than northern Spain, but at least we have a roaring fire to keep us warm ! Untill next time...Adios

Sunny days after the winds....

We are now nearing the end of our stay in Murcia as we’re leaving on Friday to return to Santander, stopping at a few places on route. We’ve had great weather here and have been out each day either by cycle or a car that we hired again for a further week.  Some of the towns and villages to the north are picturesque, such as La Romana and Pinoso both of which had good markets and I now have a new geranium to remember the Spanish spring. We’ve also had a few days at the beach at La Marina just being lazy really and enjoying treats at a local café. We’ve also progressed at Spanish, rolling our r’s! and have made good use of the gym and sauna.  We did discover an interesting site near Novelda (over the mountain pass to the north) called the “Santuario Santa Maria Magdalene” built next to a castle on a hill looking down the Rio Vinalopo valley. I’ve included a photo that doesn’t really do it justice, but  surprise, surprise, it does have a connection with Gaudi and Barcelona. (There is no information in the guide books about this so if you're interested it is located outside the town at N 38 24 18.4, W 0 47 26.4).

The Sanctuary near Novelda with a view towards the Serra de Crevillent. This was taken from the tower of the  Castillo de la Mola. There is also a great view over the valley to the Serra del Cid to the north-east. 

A day at La Marina beach, less crowds than Studland beach but didn't try swimming. The Policia don't allow camper vans down to the coast so it was cycle or car. Here we enjoyed the ride, about 30 miles in total so warming up for France.

Flying awnings....

Still in the sun although we did have a week of strong winds and I’m pleased to say our awning survived with a few alterations involving jublee clips and a hammer…I’ll leave it to your imagination.  A caravan awning over the way lifted off and landed on top of the caravan and they had to strap the site flag pole but none of the tall palm trees on the campsite came down. Just as we were getting accustomed to the high winds, they’ve departed and so we’re back to summer beach weather.

 During the “windy” week we hired a car to look around the area outside of our cycling range. This included the mountains to the north and Aspe, the coastline to the south and San Pedro and the city of Orihuela. We didn’t like the coast to the south as it is very developed, much more so than around Guardamar de Segura. Orihuela is quite different in character with lots to see within easy walking distances. I won’t go through all the things but the house of the poet Miguel Hernandez (1910-1942) was very interesting. He supported the Republicans during the civil war and afterwards found himself in jail; sadly he in died in Alicante prison. Also the “Walled Museum” below the University was fascinating with our own personal guide around the old city wall and bath house.

El Palmeral in Orihuela, the second largest palm forest in Spain with the Polideportivo  and Saturday football next door. In the background is the steep face of the Serre Orihuela

Otherwise we’ve done little cycling but have joined the gym/sauna etc for a month so usually find time to go over there and make up for all the eating and wine. It is a large facility with modern equipment, some of which I’ve still to figure out as they seem to have a machine to duress every muscle in the body.  We’ve also taken the camper down to the beach and with the calmer weather next week, we have plans to go out and park at the beach in the dunes near La Marina and Guardamar. Also we have some new cycling routes on GPS so we will be meandering along the local roads and tracks, no doubt ending up trying to cross the new high speed rail line.

View of Rio Segura in Orihuela, the old town on the right side.

We get the BBC TV (Midlands for some reason) so have been seeing all the snow and rain in UK.but this now seems to have abated. Also from the Spanish TV we see loads of snow and rain in the middle and north of the country including Madrid and Granada and nowhere has escaped the winds. The site is also getting busier especially at the weekends when many Spanish families come here but having said that, the site is so large, it is difficult to imagine it full. Our two lessons in Spanish a week have been going well as Anita is a great teacher and makes it simple to follow although I suspect some of the words are “latino” as she calls the south American dialect. Anyway, we seem to be understood better and have been getting replies in Spanish not that we can understand them anyway, but it’s encouraging I think. It’s a pity we won’t be able to use Spanish on our planned French cycle ride on velo 1; I think I’ll leave French to Helen and concentrate on hand gestures......hasta luego

Summit Post !

For the disbeliever, here is the summit taken especially for you!!..I expect a photo of the flat 500 m section of the  City Plymouth SW Way will follow one day when I can find it!

Camping Marjal, Costa Blanca

Cheers, lunch at Isla Tabarca in Guardamar. our favorite lunch stop with the two brothers serving. (Can you spot Farther Christmas in the background?, also his lunch stop)

We’ve been at Camping Marjal for over a month now and have decided to stay a little longer depending on the weather. We’ve had great weather here without rain the whole time and have already stayed longer than we had originally planned. Christmas day was cloudy and we had dinner inside the bungalow, but otherwise it was mainly sunny during the day. Bex, Tony, Emily and dad stayed in Bungalow three just over the road from our camper and we stayed with dad when the others left to return home. We spent the days visiting local towns, beaches, playing tennis, boules and crazy golf. We all made use of the sauna/steam room and pool that comes free and is a great advantage here. It seemed strange for us when everyone had gone and we moved back to our little camper

The view from the top of  Serra de Callosa with Serra de Orihuela in the distance, puff-puff!.

Since then we’ve cycled to Catral and Callosa and I’ve climbed the local mountain, Serra de Callosa which has the name implies, overlooks the town (which I’ve since learned is or was known for hemp production). On our visit today to Callosa, Peter and Jan, our next door neighbours, came with us to see the route on the local caminos. I convinced Helen to see the park where the trail to the summit starts but she was a little apprehensive that I had plans to get her climbing ; nothing was further from my mind!  Anyway, cycling to the park was challenging even in “high” power, so we had to leave our bikes 50 yards from the entrance on a 1:4 gradient, great fun going down though, yes the brakes did work.

The hike went well, starting at 11 at Callosa in the sunshine, climbing to the refuge (with its own rainwater collection system) and then the main peak by lunch time. The last section to the refuge was a scramble but I had loads of time to enjoy the views to the coast and inland to the south west to Serra de Orihuela. I met a couple of English folk on route trying to overcome a fear of heights and no one else at all. The route down was a combination of following a ridge for a kilometre or so and  then a descent down a steep gulley (Angela, you would have loved this bit, I thought of you!) to find a path through the woods skirting above Redavan and then a final descent into Callosa reminding me of walking in eastern Catalonia.  The route was well marked with yellow/white blazers but since I didn’t have a detailed walking map, I used a GPX file from the internet. In Callosa I had a welcome beer before walking back to the campsite to meet Helen from the sauna at about six o’clock; of course it’s a tough life out here.

A view of the descent route along the summit ridge. Amazingly there is a refuge up there with a rain water collection system and a nativity scene set aside the refuge.

Just in case you didn't believe me here is the proof. It's not at the summit, but not far below.

Hasta luego

Christmas break in southern Spain.

Sitting in the afternoon sunshine outside of our bungalow at Camping Marjal.

We've been at Camping Marjal on the Costa Blanca for a week and enjoying mild weather with daytime temperatures of 18 to 21 C but dropping at night but not usually enough to use the camper heater. We've been exploring the local towns by cycle including Catral, Callosa  de Segura, El Fonda and Cervillente. The latter ride was amusing as the route had been signed since our visit last year. However, the cycle route came to a full stop as it approached a new motorway. I enquired with some locals who directed us over the new road to find what remained of the old road on the other side. This proved beyond us as after surmounting to the gravel and sand base of the motorway we couldn't see a way down. Eventually we retraced our steps (or wheels) and found a road to El Realengo and the main N340 into Cervillente. After a casual time looking around the town we decided on another route back (aided by my new GPS!). This went well, crossing under the new forming motorway and main rail line and then I noted a pista on the right that looked like it would connect to our inbound route. After a while the track disappeared in a palm plantation and although we were only a few yards from the road we wanted, there didn't appear to be a way though the dense shrubbery and dikes. Retracing our wheels (again) we found another route on tarmac to get us back to the El Fonda Natural Park and the campsite.

One of the problems with this area is that the 1:200,000 Spanish provincial maps or Michelin maps don't have many minor roads marked. The Garmin Europe navigator GPS map for Spain includes some minor road and pistas but misses the majority so on the minor roads to, for example  Callosa, the Navigator shows us driving across fields although the roads are well established older roads of the area. The only maps I have found that include the many tarmac minor roads are the "Mapa Topografico Nacional de Espana" which are on a 1:50000 scale but cover quite small areas and seem difficult to get hold of in the UK (or here).

Another interesting experience was finding Alicante airport to pick up dad. Checking on the airport internet site I got the GPS coordinates for the Airport. I checked on the Garmin GPS and it gave me the same location. This ended up taking us to the south side of the airport on relatively minor roads to try and reach one of the runways by a track alongside the perimeter fence. Needless to say, we ignored this and eventually found the Santa Pola road and turned north to find the first signs we'd seen for the airport and at the same time seeing an Easy Jet flight landing (probably from Edinburgh). As we found on our return journey, the route is very simple by motorway particularly when you're not starting from a landing runway!

Feliz Navidad or Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year..2013. 

A drive across Spain in December

All alone in Aranda Campsite amongst the Pine and Holm Oak trees.

Hi, We’re now Spain having taken the ferry to Santander from Portsmouth. The sea crossing was smooth and we both got a decent night’s sleep and breakfast before departure in Santander at about twelve, Spanish time. The sky was blue and we had a magnificent view of the snow-capped Picos Mountains as we came into the harbour.  The new route out of Santander made driving at lot easier as it avoids the city almost altogether and it wasn’t long before we made our first pass of the Cantabrian range at about 1008 m and descended to Burgos, our first stopover. The “navigator” got confused but we spotted the campsite signs in Burgos and followed them. The campsite was a little run down and the women’s showers were in a terrible state so we used the van’s facilities whilst there. The following day we took the local bus into the city and spent ages trying to take in about 1/1000 th of the information about the history etc of the magnificent cathedral. We had intended to see the “Museum of Human Evolution” but there wasn’t time after lunch so perhaps next time we come this way. There was a Christmas market outside the cathedral and lots of sites aside the river. It was however colder than home with indicators showing 6 to 8 C and it felt like it too.

Lots of interesting statues in Burgos, anyone for Chestnuts?

 

The following day we headed towards Madrid but stopping in the Rio Duero valley (home of the Ribera del Duero wines) near Aranda de Duero. The campsite is pleasantly situated amongst Pine and Holm Oak trees a couple of kilometres out of town. We checked that the campsite was open (our information said it closed in part of December and January) before taking the camper into the centre. It was pleasant to walk around going into a bodega (we needed to know more about the wines). We soon discovered there are many, many wines under the Ribera del Duero label so with advice we chose one for Christmas day, so our fingers  are crossed  (Pago de los Cappellanes) with “our” Mayor de Castille” as backup. It was another holiday so most places were closed but we saw around the main Plaza Major and the old part of town.

After a very cold night (waking to near zero in the camper and freezing fog outside) we moved south around Madrid to Camping International at Aranduez crossing the Sierra de Guadarrama at 1444 m (no snow) This is the first time I’ve driven near Madrid but it was fine with the “navigator” guiding us through what seemed a web of motorways (all free so far). The climate seemed milder, maybe it was the blue sky and sunshine or the lower altitude (about 423 m), but by the time we reached Aranduez, we had lunch in the sun with the camper door open. We then had time to walk across the bridge into the Jardin del Principe and then a ten minutes walk to the Royal Palace and more gardens (some with roses flowering still). The Palace (Palacio Real) date from the 19^th century when the Spanish Bourdon’s ruled and it was to Aranduez they retreated to enjoy the Spring and Autumn seasons, a bit of a Spanish Versailles then (it did have that grand open aspect we recall from Versailles).

The Royal Palace in Aranduez, lots to see around the town.

We too enjoyed the sun and our first beer of the trip before returning before sundown to the camper. This campsite is by far the best we’ve stopped at so far on the trip and I guess it would be possible to drive directly here from Santander and then onto the coast, making it in two days, not much fun but if the weather was bad it is an option to escape.

Now at Marjal Costa Blanca campsite having set up camp. It seems much milder here and good to get off all the thermal layers of the last few days. The drive from Aranduez was easy, mostly on motorways and with very little traffic. The toll bit (AP36) cost us 12 euros, the only toll cost of this route from Santander, so pretty good. The diesel is also cheaper than at home at about 1.39 euros per litre. We now have a week to sort out stuff and look around to see what has changed since our visit last year. The campsite, on first impressions, is in excellent condition with more campers than we recall from last winter. Anyway, more of that later...hasta luego