Sunday 16 March 2008

Friday 14th March 2008



We had a later start today with a journey of just under four hours. This again was almost totally on toll motorways but this time, after the first few miles, was in France. We had not filled with LPG (for cooking and heating) since January as it is very difficult to find garages that stock it in Portugal and Spain. We therefore stopped at the very first motorway service station in France as it advertised LPG. As I was filling up, another motorhome pulled up behind us and I did a double-take when I looked at the occupants. They were a couple that we had camped next to at Orgiva before we had to fly back to England. They were as surprised as I was when I said hello! We had a good chat whilst I showed him how to use the pump as this was the first time that he had filled his tank. It was an amazing coincidence, especially given that they left Orgiva more than a week before us. We went our separate ways with best wishes for our respective journeys and perhaps our paths will cross again in the future.
The French are very good at providing rest areas on major roads and we must have passed one every 20 kilometres or so. We missed a lovely one overlooking a château but stopped for lunch at another just a bit further on. This one was called the Aire de Fitou and had views over the Etang (Lake) de Leucate and the sea. It was provided with toilets, picnic tables and a set of orientation tiles that explained what could be seen from the site. All of this was clean and had not been vandalised – I can't imagine that being the case in England.
Photos: View of the Etang de Leucate from the Aire de Fitou.

No comments: