3rd December 2014 Bonterra Park, Spain

So here we are finally in Spain but not our final destination. We have stopped off on route to see our old managers Paul & Angi for a few days to have a good catch up before moving on to La Manga.

After leaving Freiburg, Germany we had two stops in France to break the journey. The first was a lovely little site in a place called Tournon sur Rhone. We were actually looking for a stellplatz but came across this campsite first. We parked up right next to the river Rhone and then headed into town for a walk after the long drive. We crossed over a lovely old bridge into another little town before buying some provisions and headed back for an early night. The bridge and river looked very pretty with the lights on and reflecting.

Today (2nd) we had another long drive and to make matters worse it was windy and there was a road closure due to flooding on our way to Gruissan. We didn’t stay on the first Aire we found as I (Dean) didn’t like the feel of it. Very windy and no one else there. We always said if one or the other does not feel comfortable with an Aire or stellplatz then we would drive on and find somewhere else. We had to drive back the other way again towards the flooded road over a steep, windy, narrow road and to make matters worse I nearly got into a bit of bother by driving into the centre of Gruissan………not a good idea in a 7.4 metre motorhome with a 3 metre trailer. Angela was all for unhooking the trailer and manoeuvring it manually but I have confidence in my ability of reversing (and it’s easier) so Angela donned her Hi Vis and became my banksman. We got out of that little pickle and I decided to head to the Aire we stayed on in 2009. Even though it was supposed to close on the 2nd November. We were so relieved to see the barrier open and quite a few vans there. We parked up between a couple of large motorhomes for shelter, I went out for a walk while Angela sorted the van out for the evening before an early night after our tea.

The dilemma we had first thing this morning was the road closure from the flooding. We could chance the road being open and get back on the AP7 at the earliest junction or another trip up over the narrow, windy road and a bit of a detour! We opted for the road being open and to our delight it was so off we went to Bonterra Park and arrived six hours later.

We got ourselves checked in and on our pitch before letting Paul & Angi know we were there. We went round to their van and as usual received a warm welcome. The van was nice and cosy and Paul made us a lovely cup of coffee from the magic machine. We had a good chat before Angela and I went up to the bar on site for a Pizza and beer to be followed by Paul & Angi later for more of a natter.

While we were there we (Angela) decided to give the van a good clean inside while I sorted the trailer and garage out. As we had been travelling through Germany and France things got a bit messed up and put in the wrong place!

On our last night we all went out for a set meal at a local restaurant and had a really good chat over a drink or two followed by a coffee back at theirs.

Thanks guys, have a great time in Spain and America and have a great season next year. Hope to see you soon somewhere!