First Three Days’ Drive:- Camping Lac des Varennes.Arrival in Spain.Navarre and the Mediterranean.

You tend to forget that the drive to Eurotunnel is the best part of 200 miles when you leave Calais – although only 40 minutes – it feels like a fresh start, even after windy, wet Kent and Northern France.

The intention was to get to the Touraine by evening, which proved to be the case,fortunately.

After driving for several hours both at home, on the way to Folkestone and down through France, in rain,mist and foggy conditions it was a great feeling of relief when the clouds disappeared after crossing the River Seine. TheDay temperature climbed up to 27** as we pulled in to Lac des Varennes. All the hallmarks of a Good French campsite – swimming,sandy beach,greenery and a large pitch with a lakeside view. Not to mention a bar – and an ice cold Pelforth by the lake.

Our Dutch neighbours came over for a chat after this opening remark – “ We are sorry you are leaving the EU”… we found we had much in common, both political,y and socially.

Dinner was a defrosted, “all in one” pork dish prepared by Hannah and after a good night’s rest, we were greeted with sunshine.

The second day – the intention was to reach Spain,via Tours,Poitiers and Bordeaux. It was on the latter’s Rocade that the first “ bouchon” was met. It took a while to clear the wine capital and traffic only thinned out after the turn-offs for Paris and the seaside. Then the driving resumed its normal pace – 67 mph – on excellent roads.

Crossing the border at Irun involved no formalities, despite COVID-19 and the N121a was taken. Driving through the foothills of the Pyrenees was delightful even if there were a few bends to navigate. After an hour,Camping Izarpe was chosen for the second night of the holiday – a relatively new site,open all year to operate as a skiing base in the winter and a walking / relaxing base in the summer,complete with swimming pool.

Another impromptu conversation with a friendly, Spanish guy who had lived in Nottingham for 18 years, now resident in nearby Pamplona; very welcoming as was the campsite restaurant where we had dinner, after managing to decode most of the menu which was in Basque!

Overhead, large,predatory birds hovered – gold and black markings – I thought they might be after my Patatas Bravas !

Day three and the intended destination was The Communidad de Valencia. The drive initially went through Navarre,which is traditional Basque in the North of the region, but more inclined towards Castile in the South. A beautiful area, undiscovered by most tourists. For example, Navarre does not figure in index to the Rough Guide to Spain.

Lonely Planet described it thus:-

“ The soft greens and bracing climate of the Navarro Pyrenees lie like a cool compress across the sunstruck brow of the South, which is all stark plains, cereal crops and vineyards,sliced by high sierras with Cox combs of raw limestone “.

Driving by and through really charming,small villages with eye catching,red geraniums hanging from balconies.

Pamplona tends to hog the limelight ,which we bypassed en route,

We should have liked to explore both Olive and Tudela as we sped effortlessly along the Autovia Mudjedar, with its Moorish sculptures on bridges and intersections.

for the most part we were driving at 1000 metres plus, above sea level – a really enjoyable day’s journey brought us finally to Camping Valencia – 14 km out of the city,however,and situated close to the beach. The intention being to have two nights here, a rest day before Sunday’s drive to Almeria,300 miles further south and somewhere to celebrate Hannah’ birthday.

This route starts at the Somport Tunnel and bypasses Zaragoza on the way to Valencia, through Aragon – a name with such historic connotations – and is an excellent alternative to routes South via Barcelona, or Madrid, avoiding them both. The scenery was ever changing and the road not at all busy.

It didn’t quite work out that way at first.