Heading for home - Spain/Portugal Road Trip Part 13

 A fitting end to a great adventure!




Saint Jean de Luz

The journey back through France started with us crossing the Pyrénées on the western side, once again passing San Sebastián after over 6 weeks of travelling. We found a lovely site, where the reception stayed open for us till nearly 7pm so we could check in. Camping Larrouleta in Urrugne, on the outskirts of Saint Jean de Luz, was one of the only sites left open at this time of the year. We got to use the ACSI card for the last time and arrived in the dark. Finding the electricity was interesting as we had to feed wires through a hedge, but we managed to settle in for the night after walking around what would be an enormous site, but was quite empty at this time.


Corniche Basque

 
One last hill climb for Daisy on leaving the site the next morning, we headed for the coast and the Mirador del Balharra. From here we could see the Corniche Basque and all the way to the north coast of Spain. It was beautifully sunny again and standing watching the sea again made us want to stay for much longer than we had left. The views were stunning and the waves sounded so powerful even from the height above. Driving the coastline brought us into the bottom of Saint Jean de Luz. We knew we didn’t have too long here either, but it was all very familiar so it is easy to get around. 

Saint Jean de Luz


This is a lovely little Basque town, which seems to be undergoing major renovations; these are much needed because of the tourists that flock here in the summer. Today was quiet as we walked by the sea searching for lunch. The only places open were full, so we had to ‘cope’ with a wine and beer in the sunshine and then sandwiches. We nearly changed the plan and stayed for an extra night as we couldn’t face travelling further today, but we knew we had to tackle Bordeaux and the later we left it, the worse it would be…we were not wrong. HORRENDOUS traffic around the ring road and a journey that should have taken four hours, took us six and half.

Mural in Saint Jean de Luz- notice the Basque symbols


Camping car site at Taillebourg le Château 

Our last night before returning to Le Chant was just north of Saintes. This time we were back in a camping car park site at Taillebourg le Château. This was a perfect place to rest after the tortuous journey, and arriving in the fog, it was also most welcome. This little town is near a disused railway which has become a nature walk and also has a fabulous castle. The site is one of a handful that has a shower and toilet, all for the incredibly cheap price of 11 euros for the night with electricity. We made the most of the 24 hours you get, as after our walk we then came back and cooked lunch outside in the sunshine before setting off towards Saumur. We will definitely remember this little site, it was a great find!

 The weather was super kind to us for our last few days. Beautiful sunshine and clear skies at night made for perfect walking conditions and we made the most of it doing a brilliant long walk around the lake at Rillé. Our picnic lunch by the side of the water suggested that it was more like summer than late autumn. To get the extra distance we got back to the car and then walking at pace around the lake to capture some wonderful sun setting pictures we made it to over 11 miles. As ever we had an amazing time being with Stu and Syb and planned our return for as soon as possible. Dinner with Ruth, our friend we have made through Stu and Syb, finished off this time together. So all in all a perfect end to an amazing adventure.

Sun setting at Lac Rillé

One final night to mention, our overnight stop before Calais the next day. Wanting to try and finish on non-toll roads meant we went up through Rouen a different way, stopping just below Evreux at Dreux. Camping  

Camping Étangs de Marsalin is a lovely friendly site with a heated shower block which meant our last night camping was perfect too. The rains the next day signalled it was time to go home…whether we liked it or not!

Where we will go next? I cannot wait now for our next adventure in Daisyvan!




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