Travel Musings

The megaliths of Carnac are really impressive - approximately 4000 standing stones arranged in about 11 rows, and stretching for miles. Why, nobody really knows because they are 5000 years old, and predate the pyramids. Being tourists for the day were took a tour of them on one of these little trains affairs. All good fun! The town of Carnac itself looked very pretty and very expensive. After all that excitement we drove northwards to the Brittany coast, to the very nice town of Erquy. The site was a family fun park, which was nowhere near as bad as it sounds. Apart from its own restaurant and bars, it had a water park - complete with plumes, chutes etc, The water was also heated, so was a great temperature to swim in. Erquy stands on a horse shoe shaped bay, with a great Sandy beach, and one of the best Saturday markets I have seen. As it was Wallace's birthday our lunch treat was to share a dozen oysters - they were excellent. There were also close to the site a couple of sandy c...

 The Ile de Re is one of three or four large Islands of the French coast, this one off La Rochelle.It is very pretty, and a massively popular place to visit. Access is via a bridge with a E16 toll, and the few towns have historically defensive structures, walls, ramparts etc. The site we had decided on using was actually full when we got there - the first time the whole trip ta this has happened, so we just went to the next on and got in there. The site was very pleasant, with access to a Sandy beach, but the tide was out (really far out) and there was little of anything to see or do around it. We therefore moved on the next morning to a site just outside the town of La Flotte. La Flotte was a pretty harbour town, with all the usual tree lined avenues, bars and restaurants, and a superb outdoor market selling all sorts of exotic (to us) foods, cheeses, cured meats etc. The next site, north of La Rochelle was a bit of a miss. The facilities were all there, but it just seemed lifeles...

 The journey up to Bordeaux was, to be honest, boring - flat and featureless. However, the site we chose is pleasant, being close to some lakes and a huge exhibition centre (fortunately closed at the moment) Being a Sunday there was no public transport into Bordeaux, so Wallace and I went off for a walk to see if there was anything interesting about - there wasn't, apart from finding a large  traveller/gypsy camp. Something was about to happen, but we still don't know what it was. Along the road a large bunch of swarthy men was starting to accumulate at the end, and a few young boys were wagging their fingers at us saying, basically, don't go up the road.  We did, but with some trepidation - however all the men were quite pleasant and gave us no problem. We were happy to get out though! The proximity to the Exhibition Halls also meant excellent transport links. We bought a day pass from the campsite reception that let us go anywhere on the bus and tram services - for E5. ...

 Burgos. It's a bit difficult to classify this city because it is a bit nondescript apart from some excellent riverside walks and a World Heritage Site cathedral.  The riverside had artificial beaches, superb flat  cycling and walking routes, and some wildlife. There were plenty of people out walking and cycling, and there were even helpful distance markers for those testing themselves. The cathedral, however, was superb. It had obviously been through a refurbishment recently, but nevertheless the inside seemed to be bigger than the outside - a Tardis. It is difficult to describe the sheer opulence inside. Gold was everywhere, but I couldn't help but wonder where all the money for this opulence came from. It was just very.....Catholic. Heading further north we ended up in Pamplona. You may have heard of it as the place where the bull run takes place through the centre of the old town. We stayed for the night in an excellent small area set aside by the community just for m...

 On Saturday we started the journey north. We had originally thought to stop at Cordoba, but decided instead to stop at a small town called Villafranca de Cordoba. The campsite was quite rustic, but was more geared to Spanish families than foreigners. It had all the facilities, including a swimming pool, but seemed a little unkempt. Villafranca itself was just a standard small rural town with nothing much outstanding about it, but looked tidy and well cared for. On then on Sunday to Toledo, to a very swish site just outside of the town. Given that the temperature had risen to 35C, the pool was very welcome. Toledo is famous for Damascus steel, or rather the turning of this very high quality steel into swords and knives etc. . They are nowadays made with no sharpness to the blade so only good for ceremonial purposes. It also claims to be the City of Three Cultures - and you can easily see the Spanish, Moorish and Jewish influences. This was another town that was a joy to wander arou...

 Ronda is a beautiful town, with great views from both outside in and inside out. The excellent campsite was on the top of a hill overlooking Ronda, and just a half hour walk into the old town. Apart from the views it is famous for two things - a bridge across a gorge in the middle of the town, and its bullring. I think they still hold a few fights there, but the ring is now mostly used for horse dressage. There is also an excellent museum under the arena. The whole town is spotlessly clean and tiny, and for those who wish to shop there is a long avenue under shading canopies. The next move was to Granada, through some simply stunning mountain scenery, lush valleys and fields upon fields of sunflowers. Unfortunately, whilst the roads were excellent, the Spanish don't deem it necessary to provide pulling over places. We picked another excellent campsite in a town called La Zubia just outside Granada. In the background is the mighty Sierra Nevada, with snow still on the highest peaks...