Route to the Sun

We have done some major driving over the past 2 days, we drove 552 miles yesterday, around 13 hours with breaks, to arrive at our overnight stop, an Aire at St Eloy les Mines, situated next to a lake about halfway between Montlucon and Clermont-Ferrand on the D2144.

Aire Stop on the A16 at

Aire Stop on the A16

Overnight Aire at St Eloy Les Mines

Today we have driven 370 miles, stopping off at the Millau Viaduct Aire to stretch our legs up the steep climb to the viewing area to take even more photos of the viaduct and the views of Millau far below.  Slightly further than planned, as I had checked out an ideal overnight stop for €11, a small campsite just outside Girona. The only problem was that when we arrived it was closed.  Tony asked me if I had checked the dates that it was open (these are clearly stated in the ACSI book) and I hadn’t. Oops!  It doesn’t actually open until 1^st May. 

Millau Viaduct

Millau Viaduct

Millau Viaduct

Millau

We are still talking to each other and have arrived at Valldaro Campsite at Platja D’Aro, slightly off track from our route south but a super campsite with plenty of facilities including a Jacuzzi and extremely clean and well kept sanitary facilities, a must after 2 days on the road.

Tony is currently dozing whilst I write my blog (anyone would think he had been driving non-stop for the past 2 days) so we still need to plan where we will head for tomorrow, the original plan was to go to Valencia, a city  we both love that has great cycle routes.

On this trip down we have been using the toll roads more than normal as we have invested in a toll tag that enables us to drive up to the barrier without taking a ticket or having to be a contortionist to lean out of the passenger window to take the ticket or pay the money.  We may regret this when we get home and see the toll statement.

Now we are here, it all seems worthwhile as the weather is sunny and in the lower twenties.