After a wonderful buffet breakfast the next morning when Sophie tried everything on offer and left most of it, we loaded up the car again and set off. The first toll we came to put us into a blind panic as we hadn't got a card and so assumed we had lost it (well, the blame was put on me!). However we soon realised that it was just a normal toll, like Dartford Tunnel, where you pay to enter a certain stretch of motorway. The road was not at all busy but we were entertained by the sight of two Mercedes who were weighed down like nothing we'd ever seen before. The amount of stuff piled on the roof was unbelievable and must have posed a hazard! How they weren't stopped by the police I'll never know! They looked like they were headed towards the southern Spanish ports that serve Morocco and Algiers and I do wonder if they made it without mishap!
As we headed further south the weather worsened and the rain started again. The surrounding countryside was hidden by low cloud and we hoped that this wasn't going to be the pattern for the next two weeks! The motorway, a well-maintained dual carriageway was very quiet and we saw the odd British registered car so we knew we weren't the only mad ones!
We by-passed Valencia mid-morning and our next goal was Javea itself. As we left the suburbs of Valencia the sun came out and the temperature rose. The sea was always on our left and soon we came to hills dotted with white villas and signs advertising holiday resorts. I took out the directions to the James Villas office and we turned off the motorway for the last time.
The directions we'd been given were easy to follow and we soon came to the town of Moraira. The weather was beautiful and hot and we suddenly felt like we were now bona fide members of the holiday maker set! The office was set back from the road and up a steep hill and we arrived to find another British family waiting with their hire car. They looked at our poor dusty Volvo in amazement and we felt quite smug that we'd driven all the way from England. Their flight had taken just over two hours while our journey had taken two days!
We waited in the office while all the paperwork was being sorted out and hired two fans to keep us cool at night. After a considerable while we were asked to follow another Brit who would take us to our villa which was being cleaned ready for our arrival. The family in the hire car followed us as well and we took a road out of Moraira towards Javea.
There were villas everywhere! Dotted in the hills above the road and stretching down towards the sea, whole colonies of them, all whitewashed and looking identical. The journey took about fifteen minutes and our villa was in a residential area just outside Javea, on the slopes of a mountain. Luckily the cleaners had just finished so we could get in immediately.
The agent showed us around and then came out with something a bit worrying. "As you were originally booked into a two bedroom villa, we really should lock the donwstairs bedrooms (two of them) but I don't have the key with me." This referred to our original booking for a smaller villa. James Villas had made a mistake with the booking a few weeks before our holiday and had re-located us to a much bigger four bedroom house and taking advantage of this, we'd invited Mum and Dad out to stay with us!
Despite the cock-up we were delighted with the villa as it was wonderful. Upstairs there were two bedrooms, a bathroom, shower room, kitchen and large lounge/diner with a big terrace overlooking the pool. Down a narrow flight of stairs were two further bedrooms, another large bathroom and a utility room with washing machine and sink. A door led out to the terrace and swimming pool and further on was a shaded area with a table and chairs and a barbecue.
The villa had satellite television and big comfortable sofas. It was perfect. We also found a much smaller terrace off the kitchen with a table and chairs but we never used this, preferring the lovely terrace overlooking the pool and mountains.
While I unpacked our colossal amount of luggage, Keith took Sophie down to the pool where the water was wonderful and warm. She was very happy indeed, delighted with the villa and the fact that she could get the
Cartoon Network!
The first evening we decided to eat out in Javea. The weather had turned overcast again as we drove into the busy town and we made sure that we kept an eye out for landmarks as we didn't want to lose our way back to the villa! We parked the car on the front by the beach and wandered down a long promenade that reminded me of the far end of Levante Beach in Benidorm. There were several restaurants on the front so we picked one that served children's meals and settled down with an aperitif to watch Javea wander by. There were lots of children passing by dressed in costumes and in the distance we could hear a band practising so we assumed there was a special event taking place later in the evening.
As our starters arrived it began to rain and people passing by dived for cover underneath the awning of our restaurant. We were sitting in the front row and so had a wonderful view of the ensuing storm over the sea and the tremendous flashes of lightening. The rain poured down in torrents but we felt very cosy watching this spectacular display from under the awning. Our meal was nothing very special but we felt that the entertainment more than made up for it!
After our meal we wandered further along the promenade. We could hear the band playing and so headed in that direction. It turned out to be a carnival in progress and Sophie was delighted when the participants threw sweets into the crowd who themselves then threw back confetti. It was all very festive and colourful with lots of people mingling about in the warm evening. As the carnival finished we wandered back to the car amongst the crowds and felt that we had had a wonderful start to our holiday.
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