A pleasant start to our day morning. The owner take his three greyhounds for their walk and we can see them bounding across the field below. There are also hundreds of finches all around and a strong smell of wood smoke in the air. We set off at 11:00 towards Tarragona, a port with a lot of Roman history. Shortly after we join the motorway traffic comes to a standstill at the intersection we need. We wait a while before agreeing to take the alternative r...

We wake to the first tractor passing by at 7:30. It's raining heavily and the van is rocking in the in the wind. At 10:00 all but Nick go to meet Frederic and taste the wine, during which time the rain becomes sleet and then heavy snow. For a short while the snow begins to settle on the bushes and grass but the ground is so wet it can't stick. By the time we set off at 11:00 it has all stopped but the temperature gauge reads minus 0.5. We head for the ...

This morning is bright and sunny but only 2 deg C. We set off at 11:00 heading for Perpignan on the A61. Traffic is light and the weather is sunny making for a very pleasant journey. We stop in an aire overlooking the huge fortress at Carcassonne. Near Narbonne we leave the A61 [toll for 147km €20.30] and join the D6009. In the distance we can see the Pyrenees mountains covered with snow, while in other places we can see the Mediterranean sea. We st...

Similar to yesterday, and Ali has kindly passed her cold onto Nick. We loaf about until 15:30 then move the van to a different pitch arranged by the site manager so that we can be next to Nick and Grete, who arrive just before 16:00. We have a lovely evening together enjoying the fish pie Ali made and froze at home with some of the excellent Muscadet we bought on our first day.

It is a very cold day again with frequent showers, and Ali has a nasty cold so although we had made enquiries about the nearby Space Centre and AirBus museum we decide to stay in and keep warm Plenty of food, wine and watched Quartet on the DVD.