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April 2009
Travelling home
As we move from South West Portugal the weather has changed a little, not to bad but as we move North we expect it to cool down.
We left on the 25 March with about 4 weeks to our ferry crossing.
Our first stop is on one of Portugals famous Barragems (resavoirs to the English). The Roxo barregem is somewhat low on water, but that meant we could park down on the water line & spent a pleasent night after bwatching the local shepard with his herd of sheep & goats. Some interesting birds also shared the arae with us. Crested larks & one we identified as a Hobby, quite a find.
Our progress on the next day was to another waterside stop discovered on the map, it just looked good. It turned our to be a delightful stopover, on our own & very quiet.
After a text from our friends we headed off to Alcacer do Sol for a few days on a camp site. While there we visited the town. All these towns seem to have old castilios & churches & this one had a castle that had been turned into a cemetry, so no guided tour here.
We also got to see some impressive Roman ruins, plus we were able to walk between the ruins, something you dont get in the UK.
Then on to Fatima. THis is a v ery significant relegious centre with an enormous church & loads of shops full of relegious artifacts, & nothing else!
Portugal has set some new motor home parking in various towns so we decided to try a few.
Pardilo was our first. By a marsh estury it was described in the book as no wow factor, but we loved it. We spent 2 days watching the Marsh Harriers flying over the marsh swooping to catch prey. In the evening we had the local Kyaks launching their boats & paddling off for the evening tide.
Our next port of call was the Duro valley, where the grapes that make the Port are grown. A spectacular drive, although a long one as we travelled the whole length into the mountains of middle Portugal.
Our night stop was the small town of Caldas de Aregos, by a tumbling stream in a very quiet corner.
We then left Portugal & into Spain again, this time just one stop at Palcencia, another motor home stop.
We finally returned to France the next day & headed for Capbreton on the Atlantic coast. A large motorhome parking aera right on the beach, the baker calling with fresh bread & coisants in the morning, mmmmmm.
We then spent 2 days at Twin Lakes camp site, so I had a days fishing.
Heading North we stopped on the banks of the Loire at the small town of Paimboeuf, near St Nazaire.
On to the North coast of France, getting close to home now, we visited the Mount St Michael, similar to the one in Cornwall.
We then turned up at Honfleura charming small town near Le Havre, but on Easter Sunday very busy.
