Motorhomers on Tour : Over the mountains and into Spain we go!

The last few days we have been doing a lot of driving and not much sightseeing. The weather has been brutal – cold, rain, hail, sleet, snow, with the odd fleeting glances of sun! Mel’s shoulder has taken a turn for the worse, so we have decided to get down to Adam's house at Punta Umbría quicker than first planned so Mel can get some physio treatment on it. That means long stretches of driving.

Since setting off we have followed the theme of parking up for the night by either a lake, river or the sea and our next stop was no different. We found a lovely Aire in a little village called Clérac (N45.17907 W0.22676) by a little lake that reportedly has Koi Carp in it. We looked but didn't spot any!

Sonny, the motorhome enjoying his new home for the night

We had earmarked this place as it said it had free electric, water, and dumping for grey waste and chemical toilet. However, when we got here there was a new looking notice up that roughly translated to 'closed down over the winter period'. Undeterred, we still stopped here for the night as we didn’t need any facilities and it was such a beautiful, quiet spot. There's not much in the village to see but there are some purpose made walking routes leading to chateaus and surrounding area.

From Clérac we drove 161 miles (257.6kms) down to Anglet, a seaside town a few miles north of Biarritz. The weather continued to be bad and we kept to the motorway most of the way apart from a quick stop off at Bordeaux to stop up with some of their delicious wines!

Bad weather and visibility on the way to Anglet

The Aire at Anglet is right next to the sea front (N43.50696 W1.53373). A walk along here today though nearly blew us over. The sun came out for a couple of minutes but continued to rain – you can just make out the rainbow.

The last time we were here was the end of December 2016 and it was a sunny 16°C and full of motorhomes (it takes 60). Unfortunately, this time it was a wet and cold 7°C and just 8 of us – a mix of French, Danish, Belgium and a couple of Brit motorhomes. The Aire is free between November and April, with drinking water, and waste disposal and is a lovely spot overlooking the sea.

Leaving Anglet the temperature continued to drop as we went over the Pyrenees and into Spain. We planned to stop off at San Sebastian (just over the border) for some tapas, for us it is the ‘home of Tapas’ – so much choice and the quality is fabulous. However, the rain there was worse than in France and that’s saying something! So, we continued on the motorway to Alaejos, a journey of 283 miles (452.8kms). We spotted our first massive black bull not long into Spain – not a real one though just a silhouette one!

They were created by the Osborne Company in 1956 and stand about 14 metres high. Originally they were used as advertising boards for their sherry/brandy but in 1994 EU passed a law that prohibited all roadside advertising of alcoholic beverages, so the advertising signs were removed but the bulls were allowed to remain.

There’s not a lot to see on this route through Spain, so plenty of tunes were blasted from the ipod and sung along to, and a few quizzes too, to keep our brains functioning!

The Aire at Alaejos is brand new (N41.30304 W5.21844) in the middle of an old town that is having a ‘make-over’. Lots of new builds taking place but not a lake, river or sea in sight ha!ha! We parked up next to a Brit couple from Sheffield. They too had planned to stop a few nights at San Sebastian and stay around the northern area of Spain for a while, but the cold and wet weather has made them head to southern Spain.

Waking up this morning the overnight temperature outside had dropped to -1°c Brrrr and inside didn’t feel much warmer. Mel ramped up the gas heating and 15 minutes later we were nice and toasty!

This morning we set off early – destination Cáceres, last stop before Punta Umbría. Another long stretch of motorway – 173 miles (276.80 kms) that saw us climbing to a height of 1186 metres with more sleet and snow and outside temperatures struggling to get above 0°c.

We arrived at Cáceres Aire (N39.48041 W6.36649) in time for lunch and the sun was shining and temperatures up to 15°c in the sun – at last! We stopped here last year and just as last year it is popular once again. It only takes 15 and by 2pm it was full – mostly French making there way to southern Spain and across to Morocco, a couple of Brits and Dutch.

The old quarter of Cáceres was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 and parts date back to 34BC, a lovely little town that is well worth a visit.