CHRISTMAS  2006

Christmas started early for us, with family Christmas on 3rd December at the Red Lion in Helston. Jack’s brother John was over from Australia and he joined us together with Nancy & Tony, Jack’s sister & brother in law.
It was a good get-together, and we like to think every one had a good time.
Having emptied the house, as this was the start of our full timing adventure,we camped at Carnon Downs. It was very windy, but fortunately we were pointing into the wind, so rode the storms with out too much rocking. When Max & I went for a walk in the morning, we found a few trees that had been blown down.

On the 4th December, we travelled up to Somerset via our friend Karen’s house at St Anne’s Chapel to collect Jack’s mobility scooter and to drop off some of our Christmas presents. Our destination that night was John Burgess’s house, where we were to join up with our travelling companions, Sandra & Terry. Our holiday got off to a good start with a meal in a local pub at Hemyock.
The next day, 5th December, we were off, heading for our first camp site at Crystal Palace. It was a long drive, and both Terry and I were tired at the end of it. The site was fairly quiet seeing as how close to London we were. The next morning I was able to walk Max in the Park, so that he had a leg stretch before we continued onwards.
Our next destination was a small site near Maidstone. They did not normally accept dogs, but allowed Max as it was off season, and we were there only one night.
Calais Aire     Dover was very windy. The sea was lashing against the harbour walls, ferries were returning to harbour, and the lorries were stacking up on the M20. A tornado tore through London, and made headline news. Sandra & I were not happy at the thought of our impending ferry crossing, and I was worried about Max & Scatty cat.. A frantic phone call later, and the Caravan & Camping club had changed our booking and we were on our way to the rail terminal and the Channel Tunnel. The train was so smooth, that we were moving before we knew it, and 30 minutes later were in Calais. 

A Chateaux en-route                  

We had planned that Terry would lead the way to the Calais aire, as I had not driven abroad before, but it didn’t work out that way, and I ended up in the lead, in the dark. Thank goodness for the new satellite navigation system, we had bought in Dover.
We celebrated our arrival at the aire in Calais with a meal in a near by restaurant, before having an early night. Max was able to go for walks on the beach.
Our journey through France was good. The roads were empty of traffic and in good repair, and we found plenty of places to stop for the night. We had intended to stop over at France Passion sites (Farms and Vineyards), but most were hard to find, and a bit off our route, but the roadside aires were frequent and of good quality. Our route was Calais, Camping Regio at Salamanca Rouen, Le Man, Angers, and Bordeaux. No toll roads were used. LPG  (our cooking and heating gas) was also plentiful. One village aire we stayed at in Vihiers, in the Pays district, was very quiet, and just a short walk from the village centre, where, although the chef had gone home, we were served with Steak & Chips, followed by apple tart and ice cream by the bar man. Jack had days of blacking out with pain. – I think he had worried about me driving abroad, and he was worrying about Terry’s dialysis boxes arriving at Dave & Cathy’s on time, and the stress increased his pain.

A Candy croc in a sweet shop window at Salamanca

Northern Spain was a total contrast to France. The roads were in poor repair, and the dirt and squalor was disgusting. There was also no LPG to be had, so we had to turn the heating down very low in order to eke it out. The journey through Spain was done as fast as we could, The route we took was San Sebastian, Burgos, Valladolid, and we stopped 2 nights at Salamanca to give Terry & I  a break. The site at Camping Regio was OK, scrubby ground and pitches smaller than we were used to at home, and the shower block was very cold, although the water was hot.
We had a very indifferent meal in the adjacent hotel, and decided not to go in there for our second night. While in the hotel Jack requested a Hennessey XO, and the bar man tried to open it and the top came off the cork; he then used a corkscrew, but the cork was so dry it split, Jack then requested some Hine, and  the same thing happened; as it did to a bottle of  Courvoisier. The Barman shrugged. The 4th bottle fortunately had a plastic screw top. (it must have been cheaper!).

We were son our way across the border into Portugal. The roads were good. – In fact the IP3 looked to be a new road. It was also toll free. We stopped for a break at a service station, with a view of a lovely lake, and best of all they had LPG, so we were able to fill our gas bottles.
Vilar Village                                               We arrived at Poires a day earlier than planned, and after a phone call, Cathy came out to find us as we had got lost. We had come off the IP3 a road too soon. With Cathy in the lead we were soon heading up a mountain road that had been recently tarmaced, but was already crumbling at the edges. The village of Vilar was tiny, and to get to Dave & Cathy’s house we had to do some shunting back and forward to get round the tight bend before emerging onto an un-made road, that was so narrow, that Jack & I swear that we saw Terry’s rear wheels in mid-air, as he took the corner!

	Terry's Van on the main road to Dave & Cathy’s House
The Wash House

The house was beautiful. Large kitchen. dining area & sitting room. The windows were small to keep the sun out, in order to keep the rooms cool in summer. In December it was very cold. With just 2 log burners in the whole house. The warmth of our welcome was fantastic. The house, which we can visualise as being very nice in the summer, was in shadow all day due to the tall trees on the mountain side. A few yards away, at the village wash house the temperature was quite different. The village was something to be seen. It was like stepping back in time.- The village women carried their washing on their heads to the village wash house. Here they used the stone sinks with stone wash boards, and cold mountain water. The communal washing lines were hung in the sun adjacent to the village water supply.                          
Earlier in the year, Cathy had picked the olives and grapes, and taken them to the man in the village who turned them into oil and wine. It is a very self sufficient and friendly community, which looks after those within it, and they kept Dave & Cathy supplied with eggs, potatoes olive oil and wine. – and, even while we were there , a freshly baked rice pudding! Dave & Cathy, in return, give lifts to and from the shopping centre about 5 miles away. Dave has also a good rapport with the villagers and repairs their wine barrels and cars.

Terry & Ben	Jack & Daniel

 Christmas was very different too. After opening the pressies, we went to Café restaurant Ferreira at Pombal for our meal. The starter was bread rolls with pate or cheese spread, the majority of us had Shamfanner for main course which is goat, marinated for 2 days in red wine and herbs. It was very tender, and very rich. Jack didn’t like it, and shared the children’s chicken & chips. For desert we had various ice creams and gateaux. A meal for 2 of us was about 20 Euros, and this included wine and coffee. (Approx £14.00).On the way back we called in at Pedro’s, the local bar which Dave & Cathy use, and had a Galan (milky) coffee and wished Pedro a happy .
Christmas. A very pleasant evening was spent playing with the boys toys and singing along with Terry and Martin who played their guitars. (Ben was mesmerised with Terry playing guitar, and did a one foot stomp in a circle. He then helped Terry play the odd note).    
Boxing Day is not celebrated in Portugal, so for most of the local people it was business as usual. During our stay with Dave & Cathy, we had a few trips out within the local vicinity, to shop or have a spot of lunch and one of Terry’s frequent coffees. Blaze usually came with us and acted as our interpreter. – And a good job he made of it too! He even was able to hold a technical conversation about gas regulators. He knows more than he admits!
Blaze & Max 

Blaze was pleased with his snooker cue which we got him for his birthday and he and Jack enjoyed a couple of games. Max enjoyed running loose in the mountains with the grandchildren. They all had total freedom, - something that could not have happened in England.

The 27th of December was mainly spent sitting outside Coimbra hospital, while Terry acquired some more phosphate tablets. Once he had seen the doctor in the renal unit, he took the prescription to the pharmacy, took a number and waited for his number to come up, (a bit like the supermarket system). Once his number came up, he  handed his prescription in, only to find out that he needed a hospital number, which he got by registering with the equivalent of the A&E department. Then he had to go back to the pharmacy to collect his medication. Cathy was great, and stayed with us until it was all sorted. She said she had learnt from it too, so it wasn’t a completely wasted day for her. We did not get very far that night, I think we just cleared the outskirts of Coimbra, instead of Lisbon as planned. We stayed overnight at a road side café, where we enjoyed our evening meal and a few glasses of wine. It was very quiet for a main route, and the lady in the café asked us if we had been disturbed by her dog barking. – we had not heard it, and I am sure Max would have wanted to investigate if he had heard it. She served us with strong coffee and pork rolls for breakfast. Jack did not like the Pork. He said it was too chewy. – It was better than Pedro’s. The journey south to Olhao was quite long, so we went on the toll road. It cost about 35 Euros. We also crossed the longest suspension bridge in Europe at Lisbon. It wasn’t very high, and the suspended bit was reasonably short, but it was a very long bridge. A Fishing boat at Olhao   
It was early evening when we arrived at our camp site at Olhao,           
and already getting dark. We found 2 pitches next to each other and went over to the restaurant to eat. I had hake fillets and the others chose chicken. The fish was lovely, but the chicken was a disappointment. (half a chicken was expected, and it came chopped into bits, looking as though the chicken had large chunks missing. – most of it was bone).
                                                     The colourful Market
Next morning we walked round the site, which was very busy, and found a few more pitches which gave us more light and room. – Our original pitch was so small we overhung the end of it onto the access road, and due to trees, we could not open our door fully. Our new pitches were better, and we had English, French and Dutch neighbours. One had an English bull dog and another an Alsation. – more friends for Max!
Olhao was a big disappointment. There were gypsy camps set up around the dirty town, and many wild dogs roamed the streets. We were told that Olhao was a poor town. Its industry was fishing and canning. There is no excuse for dumped rubbish though. Sandra I walked to the market on the Saturday morning, taking Max with us. The market was colourful and busy. It was nice to see the brightly coloured produce on sale. –The bright reds of the chilli peppers; woven into garlands; the oranges and bright yellow lemons, as well as the green vegetables. Further on we found the marina, and the town was a bit cleaner. The next day we took Jack and Terry in the van to see the cleaner end of the town. Heartened by the warm sun and the blue sea, we decided to drive towards Faro, and find somewhere for lunch. We soon turned round and came back to our camp site. The squalor just got worse.

	Later in the week we ventured in the other direction to Travira. What a contrast. It was clean and picturesque. This was more like the Portugal we had come to see. There were quite a few motor homes wild camping by the waters edge right in the middle of the town.
Travera

         Jacks Birthday cake
We left Olhao two days early, as we felt uncomfortable in and around the town. Deciding we wanted a bit of culture, we headed for Seville, where we intended to spent two days en-route to the Costa del Sol. We found both of our chosen camp sites, but they were both closed for one week, despite of advertising they are open all year.
A policeman told us ”all Seville camp sites closed!” – We did the next best thing, we started to head for Malaga, and found a restaurant which was open 24hours, and after having our meal (the boys had Pork & Veal while Sandra & I had swordfish steaks); we bedded down for a very noisy night.

Copobino Beach	Cabopino Marina

Next day provided us with some fabulous views as we came through the mountains towards Malaga. Although Jack slept through it all, as he had picked up a cold, which made him feel very low and tired.
Camping Copobino is along side the main road from Malaga to Marbella. It is a quiet site, with pitches larger than those at Olhao. A very nice Dutchman supervised me reversing onto our pitch.                                                                  

Copobino looks to be a relatively new town. It is very small, and comprises of what appear to be holiday apartments and restaurants set around a small marina. It is very picturesque. Max loved his early morning walks along the sandy beach.
. The camp site has three restaurants, but during our stay only two were open. On Thursday nights, the smaller informal restaurant provides live entertainment. (During our stay it was a Scotsman, singing Elvis quite well too!) Cabopino also had a full and free programme for campers which included Spanish lessons, Pilates, Tai Chi, Aqua Gym as well as football & Archery.
While at Copobino, we hired a car, and headed off for days out. Malaga was first trip on a Sunday, and the few shops we went in were packed. – It’s the January sales!                   Sun rise at Cabopino           
On the Tuesday Sandra & I went into Fuengirola by bus for the market. Terry had taken 5 sleeping tablets instead of 2 and was totally out of it. (Sandra was very angry); Jack was in a lot of pain and blacking out, so we left them behind at the vans. The market was an easy walk from the bus terminal. It was as large as I remembered, and very busy. We bought very little, just underwear as it was very cheap. 1 Euro per item! The buses were frequent fast and cheap. (Later I wished I had bought some pottery when I had the chance as it became scarce after that.) It cost 1 Euro 29 cents from Copobino to Fuengirola, and took just over half an hour. Buses were about every 15 minutes.
Returning to Cabopino from the bus terminal, we had to buy the tickets at the ticket office, and not on the bus.

	We visited Mijas by car. It was more commercialised since we were there 10 years ago, but still very picturesque. The views of the surrounding country side are breath-taking. Sandra & I wandered the shops and bought locally made bracelets made of bronze, copper & Silver. Sandra also bought a locally made rug for her van. While there we had an awful paella. We were all complaining that it was not hot, and later that we had indigestion. – It was nothing like the paella’s we had enjoyed previously.
The boys having drink while the girls shopped
Views of Mijas

 While at Camping Copobino, our 12 volt electricity supply decided to do strange things. First we had no water to any of our taps, or fan to our toilet system. After a frantic phone call back home to the dealer, we anticipated a delivery of a water pump. Not convinced of the pumps failure, I found an electrical voltage tester, and Terry applied it to our electric box. NOTHING! Another phone call to our dealer, and they were arranging deliver of a supply unit from the manufacturer. Mean while we went out for the day, and when we came back it was all working again! We did not cancel the new electric supply unit just in case.

As we had arrived at our site 1 day early, we departed one day early, and headed for the hills and our friends’ Kendal & Nita’s house. It was a lovely place, but we thought it was going to be another Dave & Cathy visit, when we went over a very narrow bridge,(with no walls to the sides,) and bottomed out getting on to it. – Jack was having a heart attack as he thought one of my wheels had gone over the edge! Nita & Kendal had a party that night at their place, with an Irish family, who had bought one of their houses. It was good. Declan played the accordion for us (he does it professionally) and we had a sing song. It was gone midnight before we went to bed.
Next morning Nita & I went out with the dogs at 7.30am. It was just getting light. Max & Eduardo played together very well. Eduardo is a Pointer/Andalusian hunting dog cross. The dogs were able to run free while we walked along paths through the groves of Olives, Oranges, Lemons and Pomegranate.
All too soon it was time to go, - and this time we crossed the ford! - and headed out towards Granada through the mountain roads, which in many places were very narrow with blind bends. The views were spectacular. Later, nearer to Granada, the mountain tops were covered with snow, and there was snow in the shade at the road edge. We took longer than anticipated on this leg of the journey, and stopped for the night at Baza. Mainly because we had to take Jack to the hospital as he was having trouble breathing. (They x-rayed his chest and gave him a nebuliser, with antibiotics which helped). We wondered if it was partly to do with him having a lingering cold, and the altitude we were at. We stayed at an aire on the A92N, which had an adjacent bar/restaurant, and had quite a peaceful night, and woke to a bright but frosty day.
Next day, Terry accidentally led us in a spot of “off Roading” on narrow steep tracks while looking for a coffee stop. While we were doing this our cupboards spilled their contents, and the inadequate hinges bent. A DIY job for later! However, we arrived safely at Camping La Manga. It is a huge site, and we were soon settled on the section set aside for the Caravan & Camping club rally.
The “beach” at Camping La Manga

Camping La Manga is virtually a complete camping village. It has its own church, infirmary, supermarket and cinema. This in addition to 2 swimming pools, several bars and restaurants, tennis courts, basket ball courts, boules pitches etc.  I didn’t like it very much. By being with the C&C Club it was like a corner of Britain. I much preferred it when we were mixed in with other nationalities. The Lagoon is man made, but is open to the sea , with imported sand to cover the rubble that makes the “land”.
The nearby town of Cartagena was a disappointment. It was scruffy in many places; some areas looked as though they had been bombed, with piles of rubble on large tracts of land. The area had a large Moroccan/Turkish population, in grim looking streets; then you turn a corner and there are wide modern paved shopping areas. Closed when Sandra and I went as I had lost track of time and thought it was Saturday, when in fact it was Sunday!                                                          La Manga
The bus service went from outside the site in the direction of Cartagena, and from half a mile up the road to go the other way further down the coast to La Manga mar Menor. A finger like peninsula occupied mainly by holiday homes.
Max & I found a nice circular walk up to the next village (walking on the dual-carriageway), and coming back via Playa Honda holiday village and the beach. Sadly he had to stay on his lead.
     

We decided that as La Manga had nothing to offer within walking distance (& we didn’t want to hire a car again), we would leave early, and visited John & Pat Cherry at Camping Pepe in Olivia, which is between Valencia and Alicante. We were stunned at the welcome they gave us (especially as Jack & I had never met them before). They met us on the road just before Olivia, and we followed them in. Once we had set up, Pat bought round a huge Meat & Potato Pie she had made, and a bowl of pickled red cabbage. It was delicious. Next day, before we were up, John had obtained for Terry an empty Spanish gas bottle, so he could get gas for the journey up to the French boarder. John then took us shopping, and when we got back, Pat had a Roast Chicken dinner ready for us all!! They are really lovely people. In the afternoon, we took Max for a long walk on the beach, and Jack was able to watch Max swim.

                   
Our next destination was Bonterra Park at Benicassim. The service stations along this stretch were non-existent, and we arrived tired and thirsty.- this situation was not helped by several roads leading to the camp site being closed because of the Santo Tomas festival, and road works. Pitches were allotted to us, but not next to each other, as we had hoped. (Up till now we had chosen our own pitches). Bonterra Park is a big camp site within walking distance of the town centre. The showers are hot, but basic. There is water and electric to all pitches, and a large and impersonal restaurant on site.
After a quick bite to eat and a coffee, we set off for the town to see the festival. (We did not realise it but this had been going on all week and finished on Sunday) It was hot, - 31 deg. Our arrival day was “paella day”, and we were in time to see huge pans of Paella cooking over fires lit in the street. At night was dancing and fireworks until 3am!

Paella for hundreds	Bonterra Park	Living Statue

The following day was a street market, with bull fighting and more dancing, and Sunday was a Medieval street market with the vendors in costume, as well as a Harley Davidson rally which culminated in more paella! There was also a very good street entertainer. We guessed him to be French, and he was a life statue. When he did move it was to squeaks. The children were both fascinated and frightened at the same time.
The beach is lovely, but unfortunately dogs were not allowed on it, so Max had to make do with the promenade, which was beautifully paved and planted with palms, but spoiled with the amount of dog faeces which adorned it.                                                           
The weather started to change on Sunday afternoon, and we had cloudy skies by 5pm. The temperature had still been in the 20’s during the day, and all of our washing was dry by 11am.
A Snowy French Aire We then started our long journey home. I had planned for a stop near Tarragona, but we made good progress and stopped near Figueres just before the Spanish, French border. It was a lot colder, and quite windy. Not being able to find a camp site, we parked up in a car park of a closed restaurant, way up in the hills, accessed by narrow winding mountain roads. Next day we went into the town to try & get more antibiotics for Jack as he had a very bad stomach upset as well as his chest infection. We couldn’t get them. Jack took to his bed, and I continued the journey without a co-pilot. The border crossing was the first time we had seen any type of border control.- However, we sailed through without being stopped. Again I had pencilled in an overnight stop near Perpignan, but we stayed on the motorway, and spent the night on a car park, opposite a bar/restaurant at Villebrumier, between Toulouse and Monteban. We ate in the restaurant, (Jack didn’t due to still being ill), I had a local fish, - slightly grey in colour but tasty, while Terry & Sandra had entrecote steak. It was very cold in the bar though so we didn’t linger to long. Next day, we started off on minor roads, and after a diversion due to road works, where we felt we had completed a big circle, we once again got onto the motorway, and headed for a camp site near St. Savin in Bordeaux. For once we found it without any problems. Just as well, as we were surrounded by deep crisp snow. We had seen it on the TV in the bar the previous night, and not speaking French, I had stupidly thought Oest was East! (It was west & we drove straight into it).It is a quick way to learn the language! The major roads were clear though, the camp site was very snowy, and Max & I had fun playing in the snow. He couldn’t understand what happened to snow balls once he had bitten them!
I got us off our pitch next day, with the help of our new grip track system. Without it we would have still been there. The roads were a bit slippery with hard packed snow. .Jack was still ill in bed, so I was still lonely in the driving seat..
Snow at our Camp Site                                 We decided to go back on the motorway, and drive until we had had enough and stop on an aire, as we had sufficient gas, and were now clean and showered.
We made good progress on the motorway, and came off North of Poitiers to find an aire for the night. We eventually followed signs for a camp site, in the hopes it might be open. It was closed. However, a very nice man and his family took us to Chlorophyll Parc, a large campsite several miles away. It was closed, but just out side the gate was an aire. It was really quiet. No bird song, no dogs barking, nothing. (apart from Jack coughing).
Aire outside Chlorophylle Parc

The following day was misty to start                   
with, but dry. We continued our journey, heading for Rouen. The day was overcast and cold. We had had enough driving when we stopped at a Buffalo Grill, just on the Southern outskirts of Rouen. Terry, Sandra & I enjoyed a hot meal (3 courses; salad to start, chicken & frites for Sandra & I, and steak for Terry, dessert, a bottle of wine each for Terry & Sandra, and a glass of wine & a coffee for me, for 60 euros between us) Jack wasn’t up to eating. We spent the night in the restaurant car park, but I did not sleep very well because of Jack coughing and Max needing to go out every 3 hours. (I think he sensed that we weren’t totally relaxed at staying at such an exposed and busy place). When I walked Max at 8am next morning, Sandra told me that she & Terry were going to go on and get a ferry that day, as they were cold and did not want to buy another gas bottle. Their current bottle, which they had used since leaving Spain, was running through 2 regulators, and not giving the required pressure to operate their heater efficiently. I hastily made our van ready, so we could at least travel to Calais together. Jack & I were a bit disappointed. However, it was nice to start driving at a reasonable hour instead of 11am, which had been our average start time, due to Terry’s dialysis and his not sleeping well.
We stopped off in a lay-by when Terry did his morning dialysis, and transferred 6 boxes of dialysis bags and his English gas bottle from the garage of our van, back onto their van. After that we were on our own. We soon arrived at the aire in Calais, and after phoning the vet, managed to bring the time of the animals injection forward to 14.15, which meant that we could in theory, sail at 15.00 next day (30th January),
Once Max and Scatty had been examined, treated for fleas & ticks and injected for worms, and I had been relieved of 100.55 Euros, we returned to the aire and chose our spot for the night, under a lamp post, over looking the ferry port. There were a good dozen vans there including 5 from GB. We were parked a long side a German gentleman who waved every time I walked past with Max. We had a very quiet night, and awoke to overcast grey skies. By 14.00 we were getting restless, and decided to make our way to the ferry port, as check in for pets was approx 1hour. As it happens, there was a diversion on the route, and when we checked in, it was 1 minute past the earliest time we could do so! The man in the check in office passed me a scanner, and I had to scan Max and Scatty while he checked their passports, we were then waived through. We caught the 15.30 ferry, which actually sailed at 15.45. We had a very calm and uneventful crossing. Jack did his usual thing and played the fruit machines and invested 3 euros and got £15!

Calais aire returned
Satnav took us straight to our pre-booked campsite at Maidstone, where we passed a very quiet night. We then continued on towards home and broke our journey at the Caravan & Camping Club site at Devizes, where we enjoyed a meal in the Three Magpies next door. We arrived at Taunton in the afternoon of the following day, and ended our holiday as we began it with a meal with Terry, Sandra & John,
again? You bet. Next winter can’t come quick enough, and Max wants to see his new friends again.

Fast Facts

Route: Dover, Calais, Abbeyville, Rouen, Le Man, Angers, Bordeaux, San Sebastian, Burgos, Valladolid, Salamanca, Poires, Vilar, Coimbra, Lisbon, Olhao, Seville, Malaga, Cabopino, Mellizas, Granada, Cartagena, Olivia, Castellon, Figueles, Perpignan, Toulouse, Villebrumier, Bordeaux, St Savin, Poitiers, Tours, Chartres, Dreux, Rouen, Abbeyville, Calais, Dover.

Kilometers from Dover 5692.05

Time taken: 6 weeks

Gas: LPG from the petrol forecourt is not readily available in Spain. It is also called GPL. GPL is easily obtained in France & Portugal.
It is difficult to obtain bottled gas in Spain. Try to buy an empty bottle from someone leaving the area, or at a car boot sale. Otherwise ensure you are topped up with French/Portuguese gas.

Health Care: Most English medicines are available to buy over the counter in Spain France & Portugal. These include antibiotics (approx 2.06 euros) and sleeping tablets. Some pharmacies wont supply you without a local prescription, so try another. If you need Anadin, Headex or Rennies (approx 6.00 euros) take a plentiful supply with you. They are expensive when you can get them.
The Spanish Health Service is very good. However, the Doctors do not speak English. Be prepared to use sign language or prepare your speech before you go in. A&E works the same as in England. Book in, go through for assessment, and then get treated. However, it is best to take all your regular medication with you.

Drinks/Duty Free’s: Spirit measures are 4 English units. Drink & Cigarettes are cheaper in Portugal than in Spain. Buy duty free’s in Portugal & Spain as it is a lot cheaper than in France. Most cheap bricks of wine are very palatable (0.45 euros).

Food Shopping: If you can, buy local produce. It is cheaper, and supports the local economy. If you must have English products the following are hard to get, and also very expensive.- Gravy granules, English Bacon, Sausages, Cheddar Cheese, Oxo cubes, Tea, Digestive Biscuits, Baked Beans.

France Passion & Aires: France passion offers a cheap way of seeing France, but be prepared to play hide & seek for the farms. Some are really tucked away, and best used when seeing France rather than passing through.
French aires are plentiful, but not all are open or operative in the winter. Toilet emptying is available, but the water is turned off at many of the aires/bournes.
Make sure you top up with water when you can, and always carry a large bottle of water for emergencies.

Sites Used. (not in order)

Camping Regio Ctra Avila-Madrid (Km4), 37900 Santa Marta de Tormes, Salamanca.
www.campingregio.com  -  E mail: recepcion@campingregio.com
Phone : (0034) 923 13 88 88

Chlorophylle Parc
37220 Trouges.   www.parc-des-alais.com

Camping Cabopino Ctra N-340 (Km 194,7) 29600 Marbella
www.campingcabopino.com   E mail: info@campingcabopino.com
Phone (0034) 952 83 43 73

Camping Olhao  Pinheiros de Marim, Apartado 300, 8700-914 Olhao, Algarve, Portugal.
www.sbsi.pt  E mail: parquet.campismo@sbsi.pt
Phone: 298 700 300

Bonterra Park Avenida de Barcelona, 47, Apartado de Correos 77, 12560 Benicassim, Spain.
Phone (0034) 964 30 00 07

Caravanning La Manga. Autovia Cartagena-la Manga, Salida 15, 30370 la Manga del Mar Menor, Cartagena, Murcia.
www.caravanning.es  E mail: lamanga@caravaning.es
Phone: (0034) 902 021 352