Rather
than drive back through France we opted to continue our travels into North
Spain and take the ferry back to England. In the past this had been a quick
trip but we decided to spend a little more time exploring the area. Out first
base was Haro in the middle of the Rioja wine region. The excellent site is a short
walk from the town where tapas and bars are in abundence.
After
some great tapas and a couple of bottles of wine, Graham suggested we stop at a
coffee bar for a couple of double espressos. After he had ordered we ended up with
2 double espressos, 3 Frangelica on ice and 4 Irish coffees. Lets put it down
to translation challenges as clearly none seem to be complaining (and this
included some amused bar staff).
A little to our North was the historic town of Vitoria where
Santa Maria cathedral dominates. It is was built in the first half of the 20
C as the original cathedral in the old town was too small. It is a huge
affair and unusually wide with a double line of columns on each side. Inside is
a model.
Although the double line of columns increases the impressive
volume it does reduce visibility of the stained glass windows.
The main square is also impressive helped by being built on
quite a slope.
Some of the original city walls
are visible and included a round ice-house built in 1860. The ice was brought
down from nearby mount Gorbea in carts, placed in layers (separated by straw) to
an overall depth of 8 metres (some 45,000 litres of ice).
Our second day was a visit to Pamplona famous for the
running of the bulls. This mosaic gives you an idea.
The bulls are held in this start pen and then released
through narrow streets amongst hundreds of (brave, foolhardy?) runners.
Watching from a balcony would be my recommendation.
Although we had been to the city
before we had no idea of the extent of the remaining citadel. Built between the
16th and 17th centuries and making great use of being
atop a large hill it would have been a substantial challenge to breach.
Nowadays it makes for an interesting walk and provides large impenetrable pens
for geese and
some of the largest deer I have ever seen.
As we were in the heart of Rioja, a wine tour was essential. We visited Valdelana. Its history goes back to 1615 and has been in the same family for 16 generations. The tour included cellars housing a history of the vineyard. This press with its wooden auger caught my eye.
Our second hub in Spain was Sopena a small village in the
mountains behind (WSW) of Santander. Our first venture out was almost
immediately interrupted by a herd of horses. This was a musical sight as most
had bells around their necks. Their rhythm was quite distinct from the less
used cow bells.
Our timing was excellent as the next day Sopena hosted a horse show. The horses are largely produced for their meat and before everyone cringes, equines do have a much more planet friendly digestive system and produce only a quarter of the methane of their ruminant counterparts (cows). (Of course kangaroos are best with methane production negligible by comparison.)
Nearby there are two
villages/towns purported to be the most attractive in Spain. The first was the
little village of Barcena Mayor. Here wooden balconies are a feature although I suspect their designers did not have this use in mind.
The second is Santillana del Mar where a busy town during lunch becomes devoid of people between 15:00 and 18:00 after which it all opens up again. This is a hang up from Franco aligning Spain’s time zone with Belgrade and the Nazi regime. It is somewhat in conflict with its line of Longitude which should put it in the same time zone as UK. The result – start the working day at 9:00, 2 hour siesta between 14:00 and 16:00, finish work at 20:00 so dinner at 20:30 and prime time TV at 22:30! This siesta shot is of three insomniacs.
Some time in Santander was a must
where cones of ice cream shaped as flowers were the main attraction. The satisfied look on the
faces says it all!
We also spent a day in Bilbao
where the first attraction was the Vizcaya transporter bridge. We had seen this
from afar during ferry trips and now had the chance to get up close.
Completed in 1893 it is the first
of its kind and addressed the problem of clearances required for tall ships and
the need to cross the 160 metre wide Nervion river. Alberto de Palacio was the designer
and promoter with substantial technical help from Ferdinand Arnodin a disciple of
Eiffel. We undertook a crossing and on the East bank found that we could get
tickets to explore up top.
What a view, and what wonderful
engineering. It is a suspension bridge supporting a large truss. (There are
signs up top asking visitors not to bounce around too much.) Until quite
recently there was an operator on top, but this is now undertaken
electronically by operators in the gondola.
We were nearing the end of October and unfortunately the
weather deteriorated during our visit to the old part of town. It did reduce
the crowds.
Although entry through the village
was unusually narrow the site next to a stream was pleasantly quiet and still with only birdsong and the distant ring of horse and cow bells a very pleasant background.
We will need to come back to this site and do some hill walking.
It has been sometime since we last visited Spain and we were surprised how much we preferred it to France. There were a number of reasons for this – fuel and toll costs, traffic volumes, ridiculously high concrete kerbs and lastly food. Although the markets in France had some wonderfully varied produce (these two shots from the village near our Montpelier site are good examples) the restaurants do not seem to produce the same variety.
In stark comparison are Spanish tapas
bars where variety is core to the experience.
Our ferry to Plymouth was brought
forward almost 24 hours to accommodate declining weather conditions which was
just as well as we encountered 4+metre swells. We then had a few very enjoyable days
in Poole with the Smith family, a couple of days packing and then headed home
for summer.
After Le Boat and with Australia not making the QFs our team sadly disbanded. We had a site booked in Montpelier and headed for a few days exploring part of Occitanie.
Our
first stop was the very well known UNESCO listed Pont du Gard. Built over a
short period of 15 years way back in 50 AD this Roman aquaduct transported
water from Uzes some 50 kms away to Nimes. It is 50 metres high and 270m long
but the stand out figure is the fall along its length which is only 25mm. Such
precision without any sort of mortar is a real testament to the skill of the
stonemasons. At the downstream end the water went immediately into a 70 metre
tunnel.
The Romans spent a good deal of
time in this area and in Nimes there is a temple locally called Maison carrée (square
house) inaugurated in 4 AD.
And
a large amphitheatre which is dedicated to bull fighting.
Many places have these Roman
structures but what is unique to Nimes is the end of the aqueduct. The water
entered from a square hole using a sluice gate for control and was then
dispersed around the town via ten pipes. There were also three drain holes in
the bottom.
By stark comparison the Musee de Romanite adjoining the
amphitheatre seems to display a façade that is falling apart. Its squareness
and fluid lines are designed as a contrast to the “bull ring”.
Nimes has had a focus for many
years on pedestrian ways (and has won awards for their endeavours). You can
safely amble round many statues and churches.
But the almost 1 km avenue down to the railway station had
real pulling power (what is at the end?)
A station reflecting in its own lights. If you are in the
area Nimes is a must see.
Helen insisted that we visited
Avignon as she wanted to see the town where the nursery rhyme “sur la pont
d’avignon” originated. The song originally appeared in an operetta in Paris in
1853 and here is the bridge. It used to have 22 arches but with war and
flooding this is now down to 4.
There is quite a bit more to the
city including the ramparts which even today are almost complete.
Meanwhile the theatre looks remarkably similar to the one in Beziere.
However, the largest structure belongs
to the catholic church – namely the popes palace. Built in the 1300’s this
gothic building is an amalgamation of two palaces (two popes) and as is apparent
from the ramparts has also had a defensive role.
As our caravan site was within a tram ride of the city, Montpelier needed an inspection. The statue of Louis XIV is quite intimidating. Imagine being a fallen soldier….
Not to be outdone the city also
has its own formidable Aqueduc (Saint-Clément). Built over a 13 year period (1753)
it took water a few kilometres away from Saint-Clément spring to the
city.
It enters the city via the arc de
triomphe
Montpelier is a lively town in large part due to its many students. One of the streets was decorated with some 400 umbrellas as part of ‘pink October’ to continue awareness of woman’s breast cancer.
While down by the coast more pink prevailed with these flamingoes.
Our last night in the Occitanie was spent at a great restaurant down by the colourful coastal port
Following
a change in RWC timelines we found ourselves with a gap of 13 days between pool
and QF matches. As the latter were in Marseille some activity towards the South
of France was appropriate and the canal du midi seemed like a suitable bucket
list option. This proved to be the case with most of the chateau crowd shouting
“pick me, pick me….” The result 19 aboard two boats.
Here we are shortly after the start of our first full day aboard.
We were extremely lucky with the weather – high 20’s low
30’s for the whole week and not a breath of wind. Just as well as steering
these large high boats had a few challenges – low bridges being one aspect.
So a skipper and navigator/look out were a good idea.
We wanted to make sure all who saw us appreciated our
origins.
The calm weather resulted in many reflective shots – here are a couple.
Our trip was West from Homps to Port Cassifieres with a side trip South down the Canal de la Robine to Narbonne. The first section of locks off the Robine canal are particularly attractive – we also operated them (albeit a button pushing exercise – unlike England) so that added to the activity.
Also, unlike England which has straight locks these have a
bow in them so wider boats can partially berth alongside one another. Best not
to watch when our sister ship follows us into the lock….
One of the locks was also ingeniously designed to include a dry dock.
Less ingenious was an old bridge
in the centre of Narbonne that has just been closed for fear of collapse. This
prevented us from mooring outside our planned restaurant and necessitated a
short walk into town and around the bridge. No one knows when the bridge will
re-open. Nancy (my cousin who lives in Narbonne) thought it could be years
before they even sorted out who would have to pay!
Needless to say the walk was worth it with a wonderful meal at Restaurant En Face. No unhappy punters here!
Of course most evenings
required an apperitif before dinner and where better than on the top deck in
the sunshine.
In 2007 the peace and tranquillity of the chateau in a remote part of the country was abruptly halted on Sunday as the locals went out hunting. 2023 was no different with Sunday at Gaudras also being a noisy affair. Despite the noise it was rare to see a shooter. That all changed on the CdM. Here are a couple of likely lads getting in a bit of exercise presumably before returning home, changing and heading to church.
The shipping highlight of this voyage revolved around Bezier. First there are the Fonseranes flight of locks. There are 9 in total although we only went through 6 as the remainder were to access the river Orb and are no longer in use.
Second at the bottom there is an inclined lift (the Pente, d’Eau de Fonserannes) for vessels up to 350 Tonnes. It was built in the 1980’s in anticipation of increased traffic. Unfortunately, the increase did not materialise and in the 1990’s it was abandoned.
Third is the Orb aqueduct that carries the Canal du Midi over the aforementioned river. It is in a wonderful setting.
At 240 metres long (7 arches) and 12 metres high it is a large structure and opened in 1858 as traversing the Orb due to changing water levels was unreliable. Sound reasoning so far but what seems to be a complete overkill is its width at 28 metres. This includes galleries either side of the actual waterway that are more that the width of the waterway. Apparently, they are for maintenance purposes. All that said it is a very elegant structure, which was fortunately not damaged by our sister ships traversing.
We spent a day in Beziers which is a particularly attractive town. The gardens include many interesting plants and sculptures.
Whilst in the town the theatre is a standout.
In addition to physical structures, you can do a separate walk to take in many wall paintings. Some were brilliant with this one suggesting the painting was still underway.
Finally, of course there is the often seen shot of the cathedral (1130 and 80 years before Notre Dame) with Pont Vieux (of a similar age) in the foreground. (I can vouch that the view from the bell tower was stunning and took a long time to appreciate - just as well as recovery time from the climb was also protracted!) What is unique to this shot are the two little dots walking across the bridge..
