Our French and Spanish Adventure - September 9th - 23rd

Rocamadour

We all had a reasonable night's sleep, and we were all showered, dressed and packed by about 8.30am. Matthew greeted us at breakfast and we chose to sit in the little annexe of the dining room overlooking the pool area. 

The coffee was good, and we enjoyed pastries, bread, eggs and little sausages that I just knew would repeat on me throughout the day! Keith ate his breakfast and went back to the room, while Sophie and I helped ourselves to another coffee and took our drinks to a table outside. It was heaven! Birds were wheeling about, skimming the surface of the pool, and it was so quiet! What a gorgeous place!

However, time was getting on and before we left for Spain we wanted to visit Rocamadour. We headed back to the apartment, loaded up the car, paid our bill for the breakfasts and the drinks last night, and bid a fond farewell to Matthew. 

We drove into Rocamadour and took the turning towards the lifts. I knew there was a car park further along, but for some reason, we parked the car under some trees about halfway along the path. It was good to stretch our legs, though, and gaze out at the views over the chateau and the medieval city.

Keith said he would stay in the car, which later turned out to be a good idea as there was a lot of walking, and Sophie and I made our way to the lifts. Some brave people were walking down but it was extremely steep and in the heat, and after breakfast, we preferred the easy way up and down! Rocamadour is built on three levels - the chateau at the top, the sanctuaries midway, and the medieval city at the bottom.

It was 6,30 euros each for the return ticket, using two lifts - one to get down to the church, and one to go to the "city". We hadn't a clue what to expect but the lift going down was like one I'd imagine you'd find at ski resorts:

We were the only two travelling down, and we were plunged into a rocky hole that descended sharply! It was like being on a ride at Universal!

We emerged from the echoey lift shaft and walked the short distance to an area with several chapels. The buildings were built into the sheer cliff walls.

We wandered in and out of the various chapels and Sophie lit a candle. Once this was done, we took a more conventional lift down to the city. This was just a long street lined with shops, bars and restaurants, all vying for the tourists' cash. It was a bit like Pals on steroids!

Note the gonk behind Sophie...

Some shops sold absolute tat, while others had ceramics, clothes, jewellery, edible produce and regional specialities. It wasn't too busy, but I should imagine, later in the day when more people arrived, it would be crammed with tourists.

We'd had a little spot of rain, but as the time wore on, it became a lot hotter. We'd planned on leaving at 11am so we took the two lifts back up, used the facilities at the car park and walked back to Keith. He'd been sitting reading and had enjoyed mooching about and looking at the views as well.

The last leg

We set Trish for Pals, and we were looking at a five-hour journey into Spain. The first part of our route took us onto the same road we'd arrived on last year, so we had splendid views of Rocamadour as we drove out. The road was narrow and winding, eventually levelling out onto country roads with the occasional pretty hamlet set amongst sunbaked fields.

Once onto the A20 again we made good progress, passing Cahors and then Toulouse, where the traffic was busier. There were more lorries on the road today as they are generally banned at the weekend. We stopped for petrol, and to go to the loo, and I cleaned the windscreen again as it was liberally splattered with insects.

Once past Toulouse, we saw signs for Perpignan and Barcelona and passed Carcassone, which we could see from the autoroute. Once past this we stopped again and had a drink of water. This was the only aire where there were plentiful charging points for electric cars (but nobody using them).

The weather had turned a bit grey and cloudy as we entered the South of France, but as we neared the Spanish border it became sunny again. We could see the sea in the distance on one side, and ahead, the Pyrenees.

Once up and over the mountain border into Spain we dropped down onto level farmland. Trish took us off the motorway and towards L'Escala again. We recognised the road from last year and knew that our mammoth journey was nearing its end.

We arrive!

The last little bit of the journey is always the worst as we try and locate the house we've rented! Today was no exception! Trish became very confused and took us onto steeply winding roads leading up through a residential area but none of the houses matched the address we were given. We had to use Google Maps in the end and arrived outside the house where we were able to park the car.

There were steep steps up to the house, and we did a complete circuit before finding the right door! Jan, the owner, had sent us a photo of where he'd hidden the key, and we were soon inside and having a good look around.

We have three bedrooms, two bathrooms (both en-suite), a large living room, a kitchen/diner and numerous outside seating areas, as well as a pool. It was a typical Spanish house with dark furniture and was what I'd like to call "shabby chic"!

We unloaded the car and brought everything up to the house before unpacking and exploring. As I've said before, we usually find something helpful or essential on the last day and I was determined to explore every nook and cranny in this house!

Living room

Nice cocktail cabinet!

Lovely outside eating area with gorgeous views

Looking into the kitchen

Definitely more shabby than chic!

Barbecue and another seating area

Yet another area to sit!

And one more!

The villa is called Casa Coene and is available on Airbnb or Booking.com, in the area of Els Masos de Pals. The actual house is all on one level and we looked forward to spending ten days here.

Jan popped in, and relieved us of 65 euros for tourist tax and the bed linen - sheets and pillowcases! Easy money! From tomorrow we really need to rein in our spending!

As we'd arrived at about 4.30pm we had time to get showered before finding somewhere for dinner. Jan had informed us that today was "Catalunya Day" and a lot of places would be closed. He recommended we drive to Pals Beach as there was bound to be something open there.

Salty fish!

We used Google Maps again and within minutes found ourselves in a small beach resort. We managed to park in a tiny car park and walked to the front. We saw one empty restaurant, but one right on the beach called Solimar looked promising. Although the restaurant had reservations they could accommodate us until 9pm.

There was no menu so Sophie had to use her phone to access the QR code. It was an extensive menu and we all chose melon and ham to start, followed by salmon for Sophie, seabream cooked in salt for Keith and a boring chicken cordon bleu for me.

Our starters were enormous and we couldn't finish them, but the ham was lovely and salty and went well with the sweet fruit. Keith's fish came encased in a salt dome which the waiter broke before filleting the seabream for him.

Sophie enjoyed her salmon and we drank a bottle of local white wine to accompany our meals. Keith stuck to beer.

The restaurant had gradually filled up but it was very pleasant to sit and relax and gaze out over the sea. By about 8pm we were ready to return so we paid the bill (112 euros) and drove back to the house. We sat on the terrace with a drink and chatted before bed. We were all looking forward to a bit of relaxation!