Leaving the campsite at Campdevanol we
headed south to Ripoll then another winding road over more wooded hills to
Olot where we became lost in the busy town centre ending up by the bus
station. Eventually we found the road to Santa Pau in the heart of the
Garrotxa Volcanic park, an area of old volcanic craters but mostly tree
covered so not as distinctive as the Auvergne region in France.
After passing a few horse drawn wagons
giving rides to tourists we reached the small preserved village of Santa
Pau. The pedestrianised central square and narrow cobbled streets of the
old walled town were pleasant to stroll around for a while and we were met
by groups of schoolchildren with questionnaires. Attempting to hold
conversations in English as to where we lived drew a blank until
Manchester United and Ronaldo were mentioned! (but then how good was our
knowledge of Spanish provincial towns?)
Sign at playground Santa Pau
Santa Pau town square
Santa Pau in Garrotxa Volcano Park
Santa Pau Colonnade
Typical Spanish flower pots
After Santa Pau we continued heading east to
Banyoles where the was a large lake used for the water events in the
Barcelona Olympics but no lakeside parking except on the edge of the town
by the sports centre. As we sat eating our lunch there was a very loud
Tannoy announcement in several languages warning of the dangers of boats
in the water! Driving on we eventually found the road to the coast at Sant
Pere Pescador passing several "ladies" sat by the roadside - and
one empty chair! We arrived at the shady Camping Riu on the edge of the
town from where it was a pleasant 1.5 km walk to the large sandy beach
with only a car park (with height barriers), a few bar shacks and a couple
of campsites.
Small cove near Roses
The next morning we walked to the small town
centre and the pottery shop before driving on busy main roads to the
popular resort of Roses and continued along the sea front through small
villages mostly with villas and apartments and pleasant coves and beaches
before the road stopped suddenly at the cliffs. In the afternoon we headed
for Cadaqués, a long 20km drive climbing over the hills but decided to
turn down to El Port de Selva only to discover that motorhomes were banned
from parking anywhere. We returned back over the hills to Roses where we
parked at the harbour-side with several other motorhomes. After an evening
passegiata along the prom we returned to our campsite.
View from Cap Réderis
Having briefly seen the northern end of the Costa Brava - good in parts -
we decided to drive north to France along the coast road crossing the
border at the large railway marshalling yards of Portbou, then passing
pleasant scenery of rocky headlands near Cap Réderis the winding road
here being popular with bikers, and along to Port-Vendres and the
attractive artists' town of Collioure where there was a new aire at the
park and ride carpark well signposted on the edge of the town. The next
morning was damp once more so after a walk around the old town where
parking was difficult except by the railway station, we made our way north
again.
