For our first trip to mainland Europe in the Twurp we decided to spend a month driving thru Western France before heading for the famous pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain with just a few camping cheques and an ACSI card and some good maps.
Although we had camped all over France with the children in the 70's and 80's we had not spent any time in Normandy, so this was our first goal and a very moving experience too. This was followed by a week 'chateauing' in the Loire valley, then a few days on the holiday island of Ile-de-Re and a night on a Bordeaux vineyard, courtesy of France Passion before we hit the Spanish border.
Our first site was the popular Playa Joel, between Santander and Bilbao. This is an excellent base for exploring the northern coast and the Picos de Europe mountains, all within 30 miles of a ferry terminal and we found many Brits who do just that. The new motorway between the French border and Gijon is spectacular and FREE and a perfect way to access this suberb and unspoilt stretch of coast. Being wetter and cooler than southern Spain this is where the Spanish come in the summer while most of us Brits sizzle in the crowded Costas.
We enjoyed some wonderful sites both in the Picos and all along the coast where we picked up the old pilgrimage routes (now World heritage sites) to Santiago. It's a humbling experience to see pilgrims who have walked hundreds of miles to kiss St James (stone) head in the Cathedral, when we have just driven here. However its a busy place, with just one packed campsite, so time to head back east to Rioja country on the inland route via Leon and Burgos, another pilgrimage trail.
Just a long weekend to taste the wine, pack some in the Twurp, and we were back in Playa Joel for the last couple of days before the short drive to Bilbao to catch the ferry home to Portsmouth. A most enjoyable 7 weeks tour and hopefully the first of many.
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