Almeria To Calais In 3 Days - Sun, Statues, Snow and Swelling!

We don't normally drive such long distances in such a short space of time, but on this occasion we had decided to make the most of our time in Casa Bergantin so that we could continue our writing and other projects for as long as possible in such wonderful surroundings. However, it did mean a bit of a mammoth drive in just a few days which saw us flashing past a very varied collection of scenery, terrain and weather. One moment we'd be in the cloud covered rolling plains of Spain, a few hours later the sunny foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees, a few hours later the stormy French Pyrenees.......and so on all the way to Calais. With a total of 24 driving hours (not using toll roads at all) we'd originally planned to take 4 days over the drive but managed to cram it into 3 by driving through the night to reach Calais in the early hours of Friday. Our motivation to do this was a big, nasty looking bite that swelled into a pus filled blister on my hand and the need to seek medical attention. (We never saw the culprit, but we think it may have been a 'Hobo Spider')


Scroll down for some pictures and outline of our route north....

Goodbye San Jose - finally time to leave after 10 wonderful weeks.....

Ploughing northwards towards our first overnight near Valencia.....

Quick stop for organic food supplies, handily timed for dinner time.....

The start of day 2 in our overnight stop at Segorbe, around an hour past Valencia. Still enjoying sunshine and palm trees....

The rolling plains of Spain.....complete with road art and interesting geology.....

First glimpse of the Pyrenees from the sunny Spanish side.....

Then a few hours and one long tunnel later....France and storms....

Day 2 turned into a bit of late one as we pushed on until gone midnight getting lost in Bordeaux until finally coming to rest halfway to Angouleme in a handy little village layby.....Bordeaux is very pretty at night though....

Day 3 begins with no idea of what's in store....We even find time in the afternoon for some more bio shopping in Poitiers and a call in at some motorhome stores to get some things we needed for Homer....

And this is the amazing bloke who, even though his motorhome store was closing 5 minutes after we arrived, still got out bathroom lights working by replacing the switch, a very fiddly job and which cost just 21 euros!

Bathroom lights fixed and we're chilling out on the road, enjoying a sunset and having dinner....still no intention to get to Calais that night....

But the next thing we know it's 3 am and we're at the port.....feeling a little tired.....

P&O did charge us an amendment fee that was the same as our original booking but we're keen to get Esther to a doctor so find ourselves on the boat a whole day early....Homer enjoying a rest....

And after a snatched hours sleep on the boat, here we are back in Blighty overlooking the white cliffs of Dover on a chilly Friday morning...

The reason.....this thing on my hand which just kept getting bigger with each passing mile....

Thankfully we did make it to a doctor who then sent us to A&E (a baptism of fire after very little sleep and coming from sleepy San Jose) and I'm now on medication. Although 2000km in less than 72 hours took it's toll we're looking forward to some fun times in the UK.