NORTHERN SPAIN PART ONE

Northern Spain how we love you!!!!! You are rugged, sunny, dry, barren but beautifully unspoiled. We travelled through the "real" Spain, relishing in it's beauty, each day feeling the warmth of the sun on our bodies. It was at this point that we came to the realisation we are "travelers" not "tourists". Roses helped us to think in this direction. To our mind Roses is for tourists and, although we enjoyed our 3 nights there with friends Roses was not for us. However the journey to Roses was and, as we continue to say, it is not always the place but often the journey that is inspirational. This was a 5hour drive over the Grande Central Massif mountain range which would eventually take us from France to Spain.
As we drive through the final valleys of France heading towards Barcelona the vineyards look unkempt and different. These are unsupported vines, very old, that are allowed to ramble along the ground in a higgledy piggeldy fashion giving rise to this feeling that they are not tended or looked after. It appears that most of these very old vines and this way of growing grapes is being replaced with the more modern method of posts and wires.
Passing Sete we drive onto a very flat and windy plain and Molly B is being buffeted all over the place as we cross huge viaducts. Hurrying past Beziers, Coursan, Narbonne and Sigean we are surprised as to just how many campers are around and secretly hope that most are heading home.
As we past Roquefort we come down off the high plain onto this amazingly straight old Roman road and, after making a few errors on the roads in Perpignan, we finally emerge out the other side and head along the Route de Vins via the Cote Vermille. Driving along the very narrow, twisty coastal road is spectacular. The sea is azure blue and the rocks gleaming white in the sunshine but it is also extremely scary and the French and Spanish are not the best of drivers. Port Vendres,  Banyuls-sur-Mer (absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous) and Cerbera pass and suddenly we are in Spain. Surprisingly the fact we have crossed the border is very apparent. The road condition changes, there are no more stone bridges but metal barriers on the hair pin bends and the style of houses change too. Portbou, Colera and Llanca pass and finally we are at our destination Camping Salata, Roses.
There is a big sign at the entrance - SORRY WE ARE FULLY BOOKED, NO SPACES!!!!!!!
Undeterred we sneaked through the barrier as another van was let in and headed for reception. "We have just one pitch left - you can have that or nothing - but I am sorry it is expensive". Well of course it is because it is a lifesaver!!!!!
Driving to the site, seeing all the campervans and caravans parked cheek by jowl and with our hearts in our mouth we found our site. Now, remembering we are a 7metre long van, quite tall and reasonably wide we were faced with a narrow strip of grass with a huge willow tree slap in the middle of it. In spectacular style we did not panic nor get upset but Gary very efficiently reversed between the tree and next door neighbours awning whilst I quietly hacked at the willow tree with a pair of scissors so we could at least open the door. We found our friends in this vast sea of canvas and metal, Gillian and Alan, and had a lovely evening with them at a local restaurant but even they said they found our patch depressing. We spent 3 nights here, walked along the Roses sea front and explored the Old City but that was enough for us so we upped camp and headed for Olot where Gary had spied the most amazing campsite????..........AND IT WAS AMAZING TOO.
Camping Montagut, just outside of Olot in Montagut, was fabulous. We stayed for 5 nights and it was here we realised how old and beautiful northern Spain is. Not 400 meters from the camp was an ancient bridge, lightly resembling a portal from a science fiction movie, forming an almost perfect O as the bridge went over the top of the O and the water flowed through the O. This bridge, however, was built in c1400, was hand built and if you let your imagination run really riot you could imagine the donkeys loaded with supplies tracking a route over this cobbled bridge. It was absolutely mind blowing, out of this world and in the middle of nowhere........ where most great places and things seem to be.
The rest of our time in Montagut was spent swimming, reading, cleaning, washing, blogging, doing onward bookings and generally lazing around. The weather was great however something always tells you when it is time to move on and this time it was....ANTS!!!!!!!
Happy to leave to escape the ant invasion - they were marching up the water outlet into Molly B and invading the cupboards - we set of with the main intention of having a look around Andorra and settled on a campsite a few kilometres away but still in Spain. From Montagut, in the Lower Pyranees we go through our first tunnel - Tunel de Mont- Ros, Olot, La Canya, Hostelnou de Bianya then on through several more tunnels (if you remember I loathe tunnels) and into the Valley of Bianya. La Colonia Llaudet is the next village, St Joan de les Abadesses (a large town), Ripoll (where we stop and stock up on cheap Gin, Wine and food in that order) and then we emerge into open countryside and are travelling East to West through Northern Spain and the sights are incredible. Some would say the scenery was dry and boring but we actually felt so at home here. Les Lolsses and Matamala both have churches in the village and both are dedicated to Santa Maria. The hillsides are dotted with farm houses - we are at 930metres - and cows are now in abundance. It is quite difficult terrain for the farmers to scrub out a living here but every now and then a perfectly ploughed field can be seen surrounded by scrub and trees.
Although we are on a 2 lane road it is very narrow and twisty once again and suddenly we are going through thick forest.
Borreda is our next stop where we spy a 'restaurant' with a very uneven carpark and workmen frequenting so we decide to stop for a "menu del dia" costing 10Euro 50 cents. Once again this is totally out in the sticks! We walk in with all the workmen and are profusely welcomed by the locals and immediately we feel at home. In the middle of the room is a huge buffet with absolutely every possible food you could think of (it takes 5 mins to do a circuit and that is without collecting any food!). This is only the FIRST course and then you have a SECOND course of hot cooked meat/fish/rabbit/chicken and vegetables and bread. Bottled water, a bottle of red wine (not for us this lunchtime), a selection of about 7 deserts and coffee. How do they do it? So cheap and so tasty. The Spanish locals were happy to help us understand the process by hand gesticulations and snippets of English and it was really so much fun. We definitely left there replete and probably didn't eat for the next two days?!.
Continuing our journey we travel back into the mountains and at Vilada there is a huge aqua lake right at the very top and as we drop down again into the valley driving through La Valldan and Avia we are back in agricultural countryside, no cows now but crops and corn. Climbing up again we are now in different, very rocky territory and there is evidence of many slips. At Espunyola we turn right and climb again - this is a fascinating journey - and then zig zag down this one lane road. All the time I have my fingers crossed that nothing will meet us coming the other way. We are now travelling through the Valley of Death and I can truly understand why it was named such and then we are climbing again to Naves where there are cows and calves again and chicken or pig houses and the sun is shining and the whole "being here" thing is fantastic.
From Solsona we climb again and the panoramic views are just incredible and the sky so blue. Castella de la Ribera, Ogern and Oliana (with it's enormous dam) wizz past but we are so absorbed in the amazing rock formations we hardly notice the villages now.
We go through tunnel after tunnel now and I am almost a nervous wreck but we are getting close to Camping Gran Sol and finally we out of the rocky mountainous areas and back into normal bush clad countryside. Organya, El Pla de Sant Tirs (where of all things there is a go karting track), Adrall, Monteferrel and then the campsite on the absolute flat thank goodness.
From here we drove to Andorra which was disgustingly busy and congested, parked our camper for half an hour and drove back out again. To be honest it was a huge disappointment although Gary did get a new hoody and I did manage to get some coriander from a store on the way out. Deisel was 87cents a litre so we filled up which was a bonus but were stopped and totally searched on the way out. Under the beds, in the bathroom, in the wardrobe plus the outside lockers. Asking how much money we had with us I burst into nervous laughter and he asked me why I was laughing. Not a very pleasant experience and not sure what they were looking for but enough for us to say it is a place we would not return to in a hurry.
The positive side to our stay here though was meeting Alex and Catherine - a young British couple who have sold EVERYTHING, given away their jobs and are  cycling Europe for as long as it takes for them to decide what their next move will be. Kindred spirits. We drank beer and wine and chatted late into the night and it was our pleasure to have met them. Our respect for them was huge!!!!!!
We all left the next morning - us to Alquezar and them to Pont. Passing them on the highway we were amazed how far they had gone - maybe it had something to do with Gary loading Catherine up with licorise allsorts before she left?????