Sunshine At Last 😎 !!!

So we set off and headed south and ended up at a free motorhome site 100m from the beach in a place called El Grao De Castellón by just after 2pm yesterday (Monday) – piccie of the route below.
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We were really lucky – there were 50 spaces; all of them were taken but as we drove into the compound – another motor home was just leaving so we snook in & got the last pitch !!!
We took a wander across the road to the beach and it’s the first time that I wasn’t in a massive jumper & freezing 🥶 !!!
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I knocked up some lunch & Dave started chatting to the peeps next door (Jacky & Donal – a lovely couple from West Yorkshire who now live in Hornsea) and we agreed to catch up with them later…
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We then bibbed off on the electric bikes as there was a fab wide cycleway all along the promenade. But after 20 minutes or so, my bike felt “heavy” & it looked as though it had a flat battery but it was flat terrain so I cycled “normally” for about another half an hour…
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Luckily (as the bikes are heavy & it was a bit of a slog even on the flat) Dave stopped & was going to swap bikes with me but then suddenly mine started working again so we carried on but – although it was lovely weather – nearly all of the beach front bars were “Cerrada”…
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We cycled into the next city – Benicassim – but again not a lot going on – so just enjoyed the beach view & headed back; we did find one bar open on the front and had a little drinkie before taking a fab photo of the sunset 🌅 then a quick pop into a Mercadona (supermarket) for supplies & got back around 7pm…
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Knocked up some chorizo & tuna pasta to go with the remains of yesterday’s pizza & then Jacky & Donal came round for drinks & a chat 🍺🍷
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Tucked up in bed with a cup of tea & then fell asleep watching Coronation Street 😴 (like a couple of old people – oops perhaps we are !!!).
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P.S. Some other “Van-ers” (like Jacky & Donal) were sitting out in the sun as there was space at the back but check out the Spanish set of “CamperVan Rules” – punished – ooerrr missus !!! 😂
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P.P.S.  Check out the “zebra bird” photo taken outside our van yesterday – had a Google and can’t find the name of him – any ideas anyone ?
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Blue sky morning

Showered in the fab toilet block and come out to an even fab’er (I don’t think that’s a word) blue sky.
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Parked up amid the trees but a little too chilly for outside breakfast. Getting close though.
Lovin’ being out of the rain finally.
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{*** DAVE put this entry on… ***}
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Last One Today

So I (not Dave this time !!!) got all excited about the campsite we arrived at this evening as the ACSI book (my @rse) said it was open all year and had “a heated pool, a spa, a restaurant and entertainment at weekends all year round”…
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So I “jushed” myself up & wandered down with My Dave for an aperitif (& maybe more) wondering if Sunday might be considered “the weekend” and there might perhaps be a guy singing with an acoustic guitar…
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But no – the restaurant/bar was closed with a note saying they did takeaway between 7:30pm & 10pm 😐
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So we bibbed back to The Van & had a fresh gourmet pizza (from Super U !!!) which I added chorizo & pineapple to & served with homemade potato salad & a green salad – plus a few glasses of vino accompanied by Apple Music’s finest 70’s tunes 🎵
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Result 🍕🍷🎵😘 xxx.

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Rivers ‘N Stuff…

So as were driving through The Pyrenees, I commented that there were lots of “bubbling brooks” by the side of the road & Dave said that the road follows the waterways as they will be the lowest bits… (interesting bit of triv, eh ? The winter nights are going to FLY by 😂😂😂).
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See Google Maps shot of road & waterway – side by side…
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More than a bubbling brook was a MASSIVE lake and (even without the sunshine) it was a pretty blue so we stopped & took a couple of snaps 📸
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And the last couple of photos are just a settlement at the bottom of snow-capped mountains plus a waterfall steaming down one of the mountains…

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For Paulie & Mick…

So Dave was all excited when we reached Viehla and said that we would stop at this particular bar (“Bar Bomba”) as he, my bother-in-law Paul and his childhood best friend Mick ALWAYS stopped there in their motorbike camping trips…

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Dave says he’s been to Viehla 5 times & that he’s been to that bar (with his reprobate mates) 3 times…
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So imagine how gutted he was when it was “Cerrada” (closed) 😞

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Much Later … ☔️☀️ 🌫️

OK so Dave was an absolute ⭐️ AGAIN today.

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We were initially headed for Vielha, Spain (halfway through The Pyrenees) and were unsure of the conditions but hoped we might a bit further…
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Lleida was the next destination – a city I found out when we got there – with no campsites & not very many places to park a motor home overnight…
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So we have ended up at an ACSI campsite – Càmping Serra de Prades Resort in Vilanova de Prades.  Check out the map below for the route…
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Dave’s made us ACSI members since we’ve had the motor home (2015) but we’ve never seemed to use the card & the books and today I found out why !
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ASCI is described as “inexpensive camping in low season” and before Pink Beach we always went in the summer 😎
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Mind you, it’s not that cheap TBH – as it states between €13 and €23 but all the sites I’ve earmarked are – you got it – €23 !!! 💰💰💰
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So to be an ACSI “member” you simply pay £18 for 2 books (see photo below) and a card (plus an extra £3 for the app if you’re Dave)…
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Anyway that’s the factual bit of info for today !!!
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So as I said earlier, it was raining ☔️ as we set off but the snow-capped mountains 🏔️  still looked awesome !!!
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Then we headed south and hit some sunshine & blue skies 😎
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We went through several tunnels whilst crossing The Pyrenees and one was pretty long.  Now, you would think that a tunnel would be FLAT but no – the one in the piccie below ascended, went flat, then descended !!!
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And although we drove THROUGH cloud ☁️ (like pea soup) and drove UNDER it – we (sadly) never were ABOVE it… 😐
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Sunday

Hi peeps 
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So Dave is now getting in on the act & has instructed me to put today’s route on the blog NOW “real-time” !!! (Sheesh – well I guess he did set it up in the first place…)
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It’s yucky and rainy ☔️ everywhere today (even in Nerja in southern Spain 🇪🇸 where we’re heading to meet Dave’s family…)
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So we’re ascending into The Pyrenees 🏔️ (ears starting to pop !) and you can see the clouds…  Apparently Dave goes above the clouds when he’s on the bike 🏍️ but not sure whether we’ll manage that in The Van 🚐…
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More later 👋 💋 xxx

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Just For Me (and maybe my sister…)

This post will be of absolutely no interest to anyone (bar possibly my sister) but this is me outside “Le Cachot” which WAS a tiny abandoned jail that St Bernadette & her family were living in during the 1850’s when she had the apparitions.
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I remember the street name (Rue Des Petits Fosses) & the actual building from “The Song of Bernadette” film that I watched last night…
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If anyone (per chance) wants to give the film a try – I watched it for free on YouTube last night (although I also have the video but no video player up play it on 😂)….

The opening credits read:-

“For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary.  For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible…”

And that’s the last of the religious stuff (for now anyway – I mean Spain is another Catholic country !!!)

God bless ✝️

 xxx 😘

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Us Tea (well lunch actually !!! 😋)

So after all that holy stuff, we were ravenous and opted for an “atmospherical” little cafe across the road.
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Dave went “safe” with chicken & chips (and was let down 😞) BUT I went for a “Croque Madame” which is essentially a “Croque Monsieur” with a fried egg 🍳 on the top !!! (… and was fab 😋)
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(The French like to bob an egg on the top of lots of things – including salads – I kid you not !!!)
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Anyways then we shared a waffle with Nutella & cream – fuel to sustain us to look around the holy tat shops !!!
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Massabielle Grotto

So – for any Roman Catholic visiting Lourdes – the piece de resistance has to be Massabielle Grotto – where the Virgin Mary appeared to St Bernadette 18 times from 11th February to 16th July 1858 and who was canonised in 1933 and whose body is still (pretty much) as it was when she died on 16th April 1879 ✝️

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What WAS disappointing was that you couldn’t access any Lourdes spring water (I don’t mean to go on about religious stuff but – for those of you reading this that perhaps don’t know – the Virgin Mary told St Bernadette to “drink at the spring & wash in it” but there WAS no spring until St Bernadette dug the soil with her hands and the spring appeared).

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And many have been cured from various ills (both physical & mental – I was hoping for the latter !!!) after bathing in the water…

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I had read online (before we left) that the “Lourdes Baths” were open 9am-2pm (only 12 degrees 🥶) but we packed our swims and WOULD have had a dunk !!! 

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And there are lots of taps built into the wall (where peeps normally fill their holy water bottles) but they were “Hors Service” (out of bleedin’ order).  Unsure if this was a COVID thing or wot…

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So l’m thinking that the sale of holy water bottles – from the plethora of holy tat shops across the road – is WELL down !!! 💰 

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