Leaving for camping tour

After all the detailed preparations Tuesday 10th Aug finally arrived. It was a tight squeeze to get every box, gadget, food item, cushion into our trusty CR-V (even after a drill). But shut all the doors did. Just made it to the eurotunnel at 9.20 with one minute to spare! The drive into France was a tempestuous one. We drove through storms of teaming rain for at least two hours. That first leg from Calais - Tours was the longest of the holiday. 6 hours. We rocked up at Montbazon in Ile de Loire region at 6.00 and began pitching up. Montbazon (7/10) was a chilled site. Flat and spacious with a lovely canopied riverside restaurant that we ate in that night. On the second day there we got talking to a lovely Dutch family from the Hague and had a barbeque in their camping space that night. Clarence and Marjye were an urban bohemian couple with lots of interesting things to say. Maya and Violet had a ball with Lilly and Nino (all pictured).

Montbazon - Dax was a straightforward 4 hr drive through Bourdeax and arriving at a large, teeny campsite set in sprawling pine forest. Loud and active it had plenty of facilities but privacy was at a minimum. (6.5/10). We had an evening swim, simple meal and an early night.

Set off next morning for Spain and San Sebastien region. We were driving into this region with high expectations as we had never visited the northern coast of Spain before. The plan was to stop in San Sebastien for the day but we decided to head straight for Gran Zarauz (about 15km West of the city).

Zarauz was a large site catering for seasoned campers and a lot of trendy surfy types. (7.5/10). Space was very tight and we were stationed right by the bar, barbeque area and playground so at midnight for two nights it was loud and smoky! The beach was a 1km walk down steep cliffs. The beach itself was windy with warm water. As I drew in my comic when I went out for a swim I had been pulled into the surfing zone within minutes. It was hard work swimming against a rip and when I walked out I was pretty tired! Didn't see any Portuguese men-o-war jellyfish ( as there was a warning that they can wash up). On day three it rained. That was it - flee the rain and head west.

The temperature steadily climbed from 20 - 28 the closer we got to Santiago. A fantastically beautiful drive. At the beginning the scenery was almost alpine. As we went the mountain got more and more rugged and the terrain more arid. Some of the beaches, estuaries and cliff panoramas were breathtaking. Bilbao was tricky to drive through as we tried to stop at Decathlon (shut as it was Sunday) and finding our back onto the coast road with satnav wasn't straightforward!

We arrived at Santiago de Compostela on Saturday to a cramped site perched above the city called As Cancelas. We walked into the city once we'd unpacked and soon found ourselves walking through the labyrinth in the centre of the city. We just got on the last bus back to the campsite and set off next day for Portugal!