Damian conquers Spain!

all of us at the campground in Spain
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THE Damian Mould had a big one in Spain.  We stopped in this small campground in the middle of nowhere, they couldn’t speak English and we couldn’t speak Spanish but that didn’t matter.  After a hairy drive on country lanes we finally came upon this campground which looks quite new, pool and everything.  Had some beers and then a school group from the village turned up to use the pool and THE Damian Mould was the king.  Using the computer to speak Spanish to the kids.  He was the master. 

entertaining the local kids
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christened it the "scab grab"

Had dinner in the restaurant, owners cooking, very good,  cannelloni, rabbit, lamb and salad.  Very good food, though Damo is convinced that someone sabotaged the food.  (might have had something to do with the alcohol content of the Spanish beer and wine that we drank prior to dinner!!) - last seen dry retching in the garden.   Could be a slow start in the morning. 

on the downhill slide...
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Will catch the tour on the road near here and then drive on to France again.  Spain has been good.  Highly recommended.   The tour passed the intersection where we turned off to the campground, so by the time we got there the road had been closed and we were able to park in the intersection, just in time for the caravan to go past.  We have christened the tour caravan the “scab grab” because people just go feral trying to get the free stuff.  I was literally pushed away from our camper steps the other day by a guy trying to beat me to a little packet of lollies that went under the van!  We have plenty to bring home for souvenirs for everyone.

...near the bottom
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We are back in France, therefore back in internet range again. Brad, Zac and Damian leave us tomorrow to head back to Frankfurt to drop their motorhome off.  We plan on stopping at or near a feed station so Bruce can get some drink bottles and musettes.  His scab grab.

Col du Port
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Oh my god!! Found ourselves smack bang in the middle of le Tour for real for the first time.  You know how you see it on tv with hundreds of motorhomes and chaos everywhere, well, we found it today!! Totally by mistake, mind you.  We were heading for the feed station but there was nowhere to park so had to keep driving – straight up a category 2 climb.  Nowhere to go but up.  Pretty full on but have finally found somewhere to pull over, in a tiny village near the bottom of the hill.  Will stay here for the night now because there is no way we are driving over the category 1 mountain that comes next tonight!  Bought some local sausages and veg for dinner.  The tour comes past here about 4pm, on the downhill so they will be going fast before their next big climb.  It will all be a blur. 

village of Espies
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Turned out to be one of the highlights of our holiday.  The little village of Espies was very welcoming to us, the lady that owns the shop speaks no English but we went in there about 20 times over the course of 24 hours, I think she thought we were mad.  It was very peaceful after the carnage on the hilltop.

our home for the night
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Overnighted at Carcassone to see the walled city, very hot when we got there so found a bar with a tv and watched the finish of the day’s stage.  After several beers and hours later we had a look around the town.  Bruce had cassoulet for dinner – the regional speciality.  Had a noisy night’s sleep outside the city walls, but it was cheap.

go Cadel (that's him at the front)
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Left around 10ish and headed north on the motorway, stopping for a look at the boats on the Canal du Midi near Toulouse.  That might have to be the next holiday – longboating down the canal.  Looks nice.  Tonight we will park on the side of the road again, waiting for the tour to come past tomorrow afternoon.  Bastille day tomorrow, so hopefully we can find some good fireworks at a chateau in the Loire Valley after the race has gone past.  Leaving the tour for a few days to do the Loire Valley and Mont St Michel, before going back to the tour and Switzerland for a couple of days.

Carcassone at night
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Hey Jo (and everyone else who is sending us emails) – we are receiving them so thank you but can’t reply for some reason.  Probably something simple but us technophobes can’t figure it out.