Onward ONwards ONWARDS! If we knew that doing an extra 500 miles and seeing less of the world (do not ask me how, but it does makes sense..) was going to happen then we definitely would have left earlier!
After leaving Saint Jean Du Muzols we headed south in search of the sun (which had been absent for some time) after a 3 hour drive we arrived in the gorgeous south of France and a small village just outside of Carcassonne. It would be easy to fall in love here, the rolling mountains, the fresh air, the beautiful smell of flowers and the complete stillness and calm. After some much needed R&R and another look at the weather we found that the storm was hot on our tyres and that we would head south straight over the boarder toward Barcelona and not across the Pyrenees to San Sebastian ( there goes my fancy meal!- San Sebastian has more Michelin starred restaurants than any other city in the world!)
After another 3 hour drive into the Spanish countryside we decided to set up our first Adventure Camp! Out came the hammock, down went some Vino blanco and Lucy very quickly became an "all you can eat" buffet for every starved mosquito in the Catalonia region. We looked at the weather..and then looked at the map again... More Vino Blano Por Favor!
So, its turns out that you can drive for hours and hours and not make a dent in how big Spain is. After another long drive we rocked up at Adventure camp #2 - Next to a big blue lake and monastery. We cooked our 2nd camp kitchen dinner and started on some very drinkable red wine Sid' father was producing and had kindly donated to us. Another good nights sleep (plus another nutritional meal for the Spanish mozzies) we decided to get up early, hit the road and power through the rest of Spain....
Spain. Is. BIG.
7 hours later...Through constant torrential rain we finally hit the Tejo River and like magic, the rain clouds disappeared and joy entered our lives again. Tired, hungry and grumpy we decided to splash out on a B&B for our first night in Portugal!
Villa Maria in Castello Vido was ace! Up on the top of a mountain with amazing views and a quirky landlady! We headed into the town to eat some delicious food and walk off the 8 hour truck drive. The next morning we came down to breakfast-10 different flavoured jams, all homemade with fruit from the garden outside- you cant get more local than that!
After some super strong coffee it was time to haul ass, get back in the truck and head to Adventure Camp #3- Campismo Puro Alentejo. This was a golden find, after opening for all of 3 weeks and then closing due to COVID-19 this places was brand new! Paula and Bobby are a Portuguese/ South African couple couldn't have been better host', giving us advise on our project and ideas, sitting with us and having sunset beers. We loved it so much we decided to stay there for 3 nights!
One thing you may notice if you look at a map is that Alentejo is in the southern countryside of Portugal. Yes, even though we did more miles, we had to totally miss out Northern Portugal because of the storm. No Porto, No Douro Valley (no yummy Portuguese wine tasting!) No re-Visiting the Silver Coast, the waves of Nazare or the Serra Estrella Mountains. We will visit all this one day- A Future Adventure!
Coming up Next Time.. we hit the coast, we catch on fire and end up in Spain again (fuck)