The grand tour of Southern Spain: Western Andalucía 31st January – 6th March 2024 Day 30 - 35 Heading home and stopping off at Caen and Bayeux

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Day 30: Friday

Mileage: 16830

Away by 0845 after we worked out the electric exit gate wasn't electric after all. Did we look stupid waiting for twenty minutes at the gate, hoping the camp attendant would arrive sooner than later? The collective IQ of the site instantly rose again the moment we cleared the gate!!

A long drive today up through central Spain to reach Pinto just south of Madrid. Aiming to get to Pamplona early afternoon Saturday and then spending Sunday in city...where it will be cold and wet and sleeting and raining and blustery! Um! Missing the sunshine already

First part of drive sees us hit by fierce katabatic winds rushing down the mountainsides. I’ve never driven Bryony in 35knt winds before! Wow!! I mean serious WoW! And on some of those coastal viaducts...ugh!!

Pinto Autocaravannas site is ok - tarmac but sloping and so need chocks. 8 euros for night. Short walk to a shopping mall which stays open until 10pm. Lots of road noise but we get used to it pretty quickly. The site is surrounded by a wire fence but people can still just walk in. Well lit, there are about fifteen vans in alongside us. Plenty of space. Clouds are rapidly closing in! We miss the sunshine!!

Costs: Aire 12 euros

Distance: 300 miles approx.

Route: A7 – AP46 – A45 – A4

Day 31: Saturday

Still heading north Mileage start 17157

Another long drive across amazing scenery...so barren yet geologically so interesting. We get into Pamplona at 2pm, squeezing into the last space available. Boy we are tightly packed in. The rain is horrendous but we bravely set off to stroll the streets and are soaked within minutes. Museums are closed but we find the fort. Back at Bryony by 5pm we are sodden and chilled! We weren’t that impressed with Pamplona if we are honest but then in fairness, we weren’t seeing it at its best!

Costs: Aire 10 euros

Distance 250 ish miles

Route: A4 – A50 – A2 – A15 – A122 – 113 – AP 15

Day 32: Sunday

Mileage start 17400 to 17770

We head north, aiming for Poitier. Up through the Pyrenees we climb. The snowploughs are all out, assembling at service stations. It doesn’t look good. Ten Police motorcyclists pass us, whizzing up into the higher mountain roads. What do they know? The sky looks ominous! Gritter lorries join the snowploughs! There are odd flurries of snow but we obviously avoid most of it and arrive at a camping car site outside Poitier. A sunny afternoon with a lovely sunset. Pitches are wide, level and gravelled.

Fuel: 90 euros

Costs: campsite - 11 Euros

Distance: 330 miles approx.

Route: A15 – A63 – N1010 – A10

Day 33: Monday

Starting mileage 17770

Today is another long haul to Caen. We are away by 8am. The reversing camera packs up en route! I do most of the driving and we arrive early afternoon. It is chilly -3C. Huge fog banks roll along the valleys and off the sea. Visibility is down to less than 20 metres in places. We tour the Memorial Museum (next to the camping car site) which proves to be outstanding and well worth visiting.

Costs: Campsite fee 12 euros

Distance: 230 miles approx.

Route: A10 – A28 – A88 – 158

Day 34: Tuesday

We catch the No. 2 bus into the city centre, visit the Abbaye to see the tomb of William the Conqueror and the accompanying museum alongside – which is very good. We stroll the streets and sin by visiting KFC!

Costs: Bus £.4 euros each return ticket; Fuel 80 Euros

Day 35: Wednesday

Tonight, we will be on the ferry home so we spend the day in Bayeux, visiting the Normandy Museum in the morning and the tapestry in the afternoon. We get a last meal in a small brasserie in town and do some window shopping before heading back to Bryony and then the large hypermarket to stock up on wine for Mag!