Saturday 15th March 2008

A welcome rest day in our journey to Rome and an opportunity to investigate the city of Arles. The weather was a real contrast to yesterday when I spent the whole day in shorts and a T-shirt. Today was overcast and cool and it was coats and jumpers for the whole day. At this time of the year, the sun makes a huge difference to the temperature and today we didn't see the sun at all.
The campsite exhibits a number of typical small French campsite traits – it has rather a scruffy look about it, the toilets are unisex (although a set of western bar swing doors provide some degree of protection to the men using the urinals) and the women's shower room has a note on it directing the ladies to the men's shower room. Having said that the shower room is heated and there is plenty of hot water. However, this is still early season and I suspect that things will be very different in the Summer. The jury is still out as to whether we brave the campsite showers or use Henrietta's excellent (and private) facilities!
Arles was a Roman centre and there are Roman ruins scattered around the city. We took the bus from the stop just 200m from the campsite and this took us into the centre of the city. With great restraint, we ignored the huge market and instead we visited the Roman baths, theatre, amphitheatre, circus (only scant remains) and the archaeological museum amongst other sights. The theatre was being extensively restored and this has been ongoing since 2002 and, judging by what they plan to do, will continue for a number of years.
The amphitheatre was absolutely intriguing. It was in a very good state of preservation for the same reasons as Diocletian's Palace in Split – it was adapted for use over the centuries rather than being used as a quarry. The amphitheatre was capable of seating 20,000 spectators seated on 34 tiers and held gladiatorial and animal fights and hunting spectacles but, before is was cleared between 1826 and 1830, there were 212 houses and 2 churches within the monument! Considering this, the state of preservation was remarkable. As we walked around, we were able to see the holes in the walls that supported joists used in the houses. Of course, some of the building had been demolished and used in other buildings such as the Mediaeval defensive towers built within the walls. Since 1830, the building has been used for a purpose very similar to that of Roman times – a spectacle of man versus animal, now in the form of a bullring. Unlike the Spanish bullfights, the bull here is not killed but revered by the crowd with the famous bulls pampered in a long retirement after their fighting days are over.
We had an excellent lunch of rabbit at a restaurant run by a young couple. It had only been open for eight months and they were extremely enthusiastic and helpful. The main course rabbit was excellent, served with polenta, french beans (fried in olive oil and garlic) and courgettes baked in a cream and cheese sauce. It was served with a gorgeous tapenade (olive) sauce. I am drooling as I write this!
After visiting the very interesting, but confusingly laid out archaeological museum we went back into the city centre to use the McDonalds free WiFi Internet access. We checked before we ordered our coffee only to be told that they did have WiFi but it wasn't working. However, the café next to McDonalds also had WiFi and they confirmed that theirs was working. We ordered two coffees and then discovered that my laptop would not connect to their wireless network and I had no idea why (and nor had they). However there was compensation – they had rugby on their television and it was the England v Ireland game. I had genuinely forgotten that the match was on but we watched the whole of the second half and enjoyed seeing England put on a convincing performance, winning 33 – 10. We then discovered that the Wales v France match was being covered directly after the English match. Having had two coffees each, we decided to start on the alcohol and kept drinking until the last bus back to the campsite. This sounds somewhat decadent but the last bus left at 19:00, so we were only able to have one drink and missed the second half of the match. The first half was hard fought, low scoring and attritional but Wales definitely had the better of it. It would have been interesting to watch the second half but this would have meant a long walk back and we had already walked miles around the city.
Despite being thwarted in our attempt to use the Internet, we had an excellent day.
Photos: Model of Arles amphitheatre (in Arles Archaeological Museum); Amphitheatre arena; Amphitheatre passage showing marks of the buildings that once occupied the interior; The meaning of this sign is not immediately obvious, so someone has thoughtfully provided a translation especially for British dogs!

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.

Thursday 13th March 2008

A good start today, on the road at 09:20. Somewhat disconcerted by large sign as we approached the motorway from Peniscola - 'Penis Verde'. I thought at first that this was some dire Spanish disease but it turned out to be a garden centre.
It was motorway almost all the way today for four hours. Around Tarragona and Barcelona, it was very busy with much dodging of lorries of all nations. The motorway scenery however was much more interesting than yesterday and the views of the mountains were very good. We arrived at the archaeological site of Empuries just before 14:00 and had a quick lunch before we investigated the site. We had first heard about it from Mike and Marie whom we had met in the car park at an Roman site in Portugal. It was a good recommendation!
Empuries was occupied from prehistoric times but the major site covers the period from 6th century BC when the Greeks founded a city for trading purposes. Very little of this settlement is visible because it was built over in the following centuries. In the early part of the 2nd century BC the Romans established a presence and the Romanised the area. Despite this Romans and Greeks lived side by side in separate towns within a few metres of each other, keeping their own distinctive architecture.
The Greek part of the site has been largely excavated down to the 1st to 3rd centuries AD, going further back would involve destroying these remains. However only approximately one quarter of the Roman site has been excavated but this is very impressive – who knows what other treasures lay below the rest of the city.
Unfortunately, although every other language was available, they had sold out of English guidebooks, so we had to make do with a small leaflet and the good but rather scarce information boards. The museum was very well labelled in English and had some excellent finds, particularly some very fine mosaics from both the Greek and Roman settlements. There were some impressive houses in the Greek quarter but these were eclipsed by the enormous Roman villa known as Domus 1. This had a huge atrium and many rooms with mosaics. For their protection, all of the mosaics in position on the site are covered during the Winter. We were lucky in that the mosaics were being uncovered while we were there, so we were able to see some of them although many had not yet been fully cleaned.
Our campsite was only a few kilometres down the road and was virtually deserted.
Photos: The walls and gate of the Greek city; The 3rd century BC water filter system. The pipes were filled with a filter medium, unfiltered water entered at the top and filtered water came out of the hole at the bottom; The enormous Roman villa 'Domus 1'; A very fine mosaic from an unexcavated house in the Roman city.

Wednesday 12th March 2008

We left Santa Pola at 10:00 and chose a route through the mountains rather than the coastal motorway suggested by the sat nav. Our route was marginally shorter than the coastal route but was also slower due to the effect of the hills! More importantly, it was much more interesting scenery with fantastic views and it made for a more enjoyable journey. We had to join the coastal motorway for the second half of the journey and this was much busier with many lorries. However, as soon as the toll motorway started, all of the lorries disappeared – they obviously found a different, free route. The view to the east from the motorway consisted of an endless procession of beach resorts with large numbers of high rise buildings. The view west was better however with hills and mountains in the distance.
With a stop for lunch and a shopping expedition at a Carrefour hypermarket, we arrived at the Peniscola campsite at 16:00. This meant that I had time to get the barbecue out and cook the fresh fish that we had bought at Carrefour. We had two large Dorada that were absolutely delicious and came at the very reasonable price of €2.20 (approx. £1.60) each. We rarely had fresh fish at home and cooking it inside the motorhome is not practical due to the lingering smell but fresh barbecued fish is likely to be a regular dish from now on.
Photos: Henrietta at the Peniscola campsite where there are many permanent plots that people have taken great care in personalising; One of our neighbours had made their pitch into a 'gnome from gnome'!

Tuesday 11th March 2008

Having said goodbye to Shirley and Ian, we set off for Elche and the archaeological site of La Alcudia. We took an alternative route down from El Berro, travelling along a ridge with beautiful views to the plains and then made our way to the main coast road. This was largely uninspiring but enabled us to progress quickly and we arrived at La Alcudia before noon. The site was run by a university and used for research and to teach students how to excavate. Unfortunately, they didn't set a good example in writing up their finds or presenting them well. There was very little English in the museum but that was not my complaint. There were very few labels on the exhibits and when they were present, they often only had a single word in Spanish. Although the rooms were arranged chronologically, there was no further dating on the finds. Very poor. The site itself was a little better in that there were explanation boards in Spanish and Catalan but visitors were not allowed in any of the excavated areas – one could only view the ruins from the elevated path. Amazingly, there were no guide books in any language, despite the fact that this is an important site with Iberian, Roman and Visigoth occupations. They uncovered the 'Lady of Elche', a major polychrome Iberian masterpiece, at the site and this is now held in a museum in Madrid. They were building an 'Interpretation Centre', so we can only hope that things improved. On the positive side, the entrance fee at €2.50, was cheap and, with the temperature in the late twenties, it was a pleasant walk around the site.
After a shop and the nearby Lidl, we moved on to a busy campsite at Santa Pola for an overnight stop.
Photos: View from ridge in the Espuna National Park; Decorated Iberian pot from the 'Helenistic' period (late 3rd century BC?). The decoration shows a horse and a figure that may be a female deity but, as Jane remarked, looks like a Mediaeval jester!; A replica of the 'Lady of Elche'.

Monday 10th March 2008

We had intended to move on to Elche today but we knew that the archaeological site that we wanted to visit was closed on Mondays, so we decided that staying in El Berro would be better. This gave us the opportunity to do another walk from the site. Shirley and Ian had also decided to stay an extra day and we discovered that we were both planning to do the same walk in the afternoon. The obvious thing to do was to get lost together and this we duly did!
We went off track fairly early in the walk but, much to everyone's surprise, we found ourselves back on the route a little while later. Shirley and Ian noticed some silk-thread pouches in some pine trees and we told them that they were nests of Pine Processional Caterpillars. Shirley then explained that they had seen some of the caterpillars the day before, easily identified because they follow each other nose to tail across the land. We had been told that they are dangerous and must not be handled as the hairs are an extreme irritant and can result in hospitalisation. Even handling a brush that has been used to sweep them away is dangerous. Just a few minutes later we found a procession of the caterpillars crossing the road. Later we found a website that said that they can cause immense damage to pine forests and because of their danger to people and pets, the nests and caterpillars on the ground should be burned whenever they are found. It even said that if the caterpillars are found on golf courses, play ceases immediately as it is too hazardous to clear them away! Needless to say, we didn't touch them but Shirley said that the day before she had nearly helped some across the road because she was concerned that they would get squashed – a narrow escape!
After a very pleasant walk, we all had a drink in the campsite bar and then exchanged contact details for the future. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Shirley and Ian and hope to meet up with them at some time in the future – perhaps in Italy in September?
Photos: View south east from a ridge east of El Berro; Pine Processional Caterpillars processing across the road; A close up view of the caterpillars; Shirley, Ian and Jane on the El Berro old bridge.

Sunday 9th March 2008

We chose the long walk from the walk leaflet which I christened the 'Rosemary and Pine' walk. British whodunnit fans will be pleased to know that no bodies were involved! The vast majority of the walk was in pine forest and from beginning to end the forest floor was carpeted in rosemary bushes – I have never seen so much rosemary!
The weather was excellent, warm with no wind and the dress code was T-shirt and shorts. The views in the first park of the walk were tremendous, down from the sierra to the plains below with more mountain ranges in the distance. Later we walked passed the peaks of Morron de Alhama and Morra de las Cuculas and views of the observatory on another peak. We saw the wild boar wallowing hole and attempted to find the dinosaur footprints just of the footpath. If there was a dinosaur footprint there, we needed an expert to point it out to us! We came to a valley on the last part of the walk and spotted a flock of about 20 moufflon. These wild sheep are very shy and we considered ourselves lucky to see them. Although we had seen evidence of wild boar and we knew that there were many in the area, we didn't see any. It is one of my ambitions to see a wild boar (preferably not too close!), but today was not to be the day.
We had chatted earlier to our neighbours on the site and invited them for a drink. Shirley and Ian are kindred spirits and a very pleasant evening followed. Too much wine was drunk and an impromptu dinner was organised – Shirley provided some smoked salmon and we added pasta and cream to produce a basic but tasty meal. We said goodnight with promises to exchange contact details in the morning.
Photos: A lovely house with a view on the outskirts of El Berro; Jane standing next to the wild boar wallowing hole; A flock of moufflon in the national park.