Donostia Classic, Vuelta a Burgos, Returning to Previous Places

We left the roadside on the Jaizkibel in no great hurry and made our way to the town of Briviesca for our next night.  We realized right away that we’d been here before, having stayed at the aire and watched the end of a Vuelta a Burgos stage here a few years ago.

The aire overlooks a sports area but the noise wasn’t bad and it quieted down fairly early.

Another fairly short drive the next morning took us to our next intended campground in Castrojeriz but to our shock we found that it was permanently closed.  We were very disappointed as we were looking forward to showers and laundry, and also they had a nice restaurant.  We then had to try to find another aire or campground in the Burgos area as we wanted to see at least a stage or two of the race.

We ended up at the aire that we’d been to before in Santa Maria del Campo – the first stage of the Vuelta a Burgos was going through there so it was perfect.

We did drive around a bit first, looking for a store and/or a cafe – we stopped and I got out and asked (in spanish, of course) a local person who directed me straight to the nearest store, which happened to be right across the street from a lovely bar with a great outside seating area.

There was an orange cat that layed down in the shade for a bit and a few of the small children at the tables next to us were about to bother it – I quickly let them know that I was watching them and they should leave it alone. They tried a couple more times but I was having none of it – little brats!

After a nice night at the aire we went back to the cafe/bar in the morning for a beverage, and got two small pizzas to go for our lunch.

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We found a good place just outside the town to watch the day’s stage from – just past the ‘feeding area’.

There was a breakaway of four riders, followed about 2 minutes later by the peloton.

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After the race had passed we went on to our next destination – we wanted to see a climb so chose the final bit of the second stage which was just past the village of Pineda de la Sierra in the Valle del Sol.  We drove to the top then backtracked a bit to a wide spot on the side of the road.

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As we were very near the end of a rather difficult stage we thought that the riders would be a bit spread out but to our surprise they arrived almost as one large group.

We decided to stay another night in our little pull-out space before heading on in the morning.

We left the mountain and headed to the town of Covarrubias that had a campground.  On the way we both, at about the same time, said ‘this road looks familiar’.  Sure enough we’d been here before – there’s a turnoff along it that takes you south to Sad Hill Cemetery.

Getting to the campground at Covarrubias around noon we were told that we could stay one night only, but the office was closed for an hour or so.  We said we’d come back and drove on into the town.  Once again we knew we’d been to this place before but hadn’t stayed there.  We had a nice drink or two outside a cafe, then walked around the town trying to find a store – what a chore!  I asked several folks who all told me the same thing – find the large square and the store is right there.  Easier said than done…

Back at the campground we finally were able to check in and have a nice shower, followed by an afternoon drink in the outside area of the bar.  The place has a couple of public swimming pools and caters to them as much as to the campers.

The next morning we went along to Santo Domingo del Campo – knowing that we’d been there at least twice before. It’s the town to the south of Sad Hill Cemetery and there are many things referring to that and Clint Eastwood. In addition they have a lovely monastery as well as other sites to visit.

We had a leisurely lunch at one of the many restaurants then returned to the campervan intending to stay the night and see the race come through the next day.

However after an hour or so sweltering in the heat we agreed that it wasn’t worth heatstroke so hit the road again instead.

Taking it Easy, Then North to Donostia/San Sebastian

We took a re-con drive one day to check out what will be the finish of one of the Vuelta a Espana stages in a few weeks.  The area is the site of a very important observatory and has quite a few large flat places that could be used for parking.

There are several separate observatories of various sizes…

…and they are all very impressive.

As I still get up very early most mornings I managed to get a shot of the full moon setting just before sunrise.

We had a couple of nice lunches at the bar in Los Cerricos but mostly stayed home because of the heat.  Swimming in the pool almost every evening was so refreshing.

We got going north on a Wednesday to see Donostia/San Sebastian Classic, followed by the Vuelta A Burgos.  We stopped the first night at a truck stop just off the motorway and the second night at our usual aire in Logrono.

As we got to Logrono fairly early we walked over the pedestrian bridge and into the old part of the city.

Finding a bar with nice outside seating we settled in for a couple of hours.

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Upon leaving we intended to walk around a bit but very shortly we were both hit hard by the heat, and barely made it back to the campervan before almost collapsing.  It was a very hot afternoon and evening, and only cooled down hours later.

The drive up to Jaizkibel wasn’t that bad, and we parked in the same place we’ve been two other times.

It was a nice night, but the traffic was surprisingly steady for a small winding side road.

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As usual crowds began to gather…

…and the breakaway arrived just after two…

…followed by the peloton about a minute or so later – with Remco right near the front.

As soon as they had all passed we retreated into the campervan to watch the final 60 km on tv.  Remco had a mechanical issue or something and had to wait for his car to make a bike change.

He not only managed to get back with the bunch but took off along with Carapaz and won a sprint to the finish!  He’s now got the record of winning four of this race.

We stayed where we were for the night.

Hot France, Gravel Race, and back to Spain

Trying to arrange installation of the new air-con has been a bit frustrating.  When Colin finally actually got a person on the phone to speak with we found out that they can’t get here before we leave again, so we’ll have to wait until we return.  In the meantime we do our best to tolerate the heat with just one fan in the lounge.

My bedroom re-do is in full swing – the new floor is in and the old wallpaper has come down.  There was a little more water damage than we’d expected behind the wallpaper so it’s good that it has come off.

We had another lovely dinner at Michel and Florence’s place – everything was just delicious, beginning with the melon and prosciutto starter, followed by the main, the cheese platter and the dessert (which I didn’t partake of, having eaten far too much already).  In addition – they had air-con!

We got our wood delivery for next winter and I piled it mostly by myself over a period of two days.

We helped out a bit at the regional gravel championships in two ways.  The first was helping fill the bags for the participants – there was an ‘assembly line’ at a long table in one of the community buildings in Courcome and about a dozen of us each added different things for the riders – number tags, gifts, etc.  The gifts included two bottles of local artisinal beers – one ‘blonde’ and one ‘dark’.  Four or five of the bags did not get the beer as they were for the younger riders.

Then on race day we were asked to photograph from a spot of our choice on the route.  We went out the day before and drove part of the course, choosing where we would be the next day.

It was fortunately not quite as hot as previous days had been and we both got some good shots.

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After the race was over we went to the lunch back in Courcome and it was very good – a nice chicken buffet, and we sat under the trees with many of the riders and other volunteers.  We were, in fact, just down the table from Sylvain Chavanal!

It rained a bit, then the sun came out just as they were presenting all of the trophies.  It was a very good day – a bit tiring, but worthwhile.

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As usual we had a few nice lunches out, including one at Chef Babeth’s in Verdille where we had steak – it was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had – it was perfectly cooked, and so tender and flavourful.

Claire came over to the house and looked at what we want painted while we’re gone – it should all be clean and beautiful by the time we’re back.

We weren’t in any big hurry to get going to Spain so didn’t get on the road until around noon the day we left.  As the traffic wasn’t bad we still made it to the spanish border before stopping for the night.  Taking a slightly different route than usual we went towards Logrono rather than Zaragoza – it was very pretty and the road was good.  We stopped just short of Albacete for our second night – the drive to the house the next day was fairly short, but not without a bit of stress as there was so much traffic, especially around Murcia.

Getting to the house was great…

…the garden is flourishing, and I’m especially happy with the bouganvillias.

Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes – Col Du Granier

We got a nice early start the next morning, knowing we were on the route and heading for the first large climb of Friday’s stage.

We arrived right at the top of the Col du Granier and it was perfect – a nice large flat parking area that was almost empty.

We were the first campervan there, but as usual more and more joined us throughout the day.

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…there was a very large breakaway…

…followed three minutes later by the peloton, and less than seven minutes after they passed we were almost the last ones still there.

A few hours later we were passing through Lyon – not by choice but thanks to Miss GPS – and on our way home.

Auvergne-Rhone-Alps (formerly the Dauphine) TTT

We got on the road to our next race watching – the Auvergne-Rhone-Alps (formerly The Dauphine) – around 9:30 on a Saturday morning.  The drive was nice and we stopped at a huge aire in the town of Saint-Pourcaine-Sur-Sioule .  It was next to a multi-sports ground and there was some kind of event happening.  There were kids everywhere playing soccer and doing skills, although the noise shut down fairly early.

Continuing east the next morning we found the route for the Team Time Trial and picked a nice spot that got good reception on our starlink. 

There were some lovely horses in a couple of fields next to us and we settled in nicely.

We were joined by a british campervan, who were waiting for some friends – in the end there were four other campervans there with us.

On the Tuesday morning the teams started doing their re-cons, and up until about 1:00 we saw all of them at least once and some of them twice.  The course is, apparently, very challenging for a TTT – somewhat hilly and very narrow and winding, but at least it wasn’t raining.

I’ve never been to a Team Time Trial live before so it was a new experience for me.  We put our flags up, but nothing compared to the giant Union Jack that the Brit put up, although Colin did have to go and tell him it was upside down so he could fix it before the race started.

They’ve changed the rules about TTT’s and I don’t clearly understand them – you used to need to have four riders cross the line to score your team’s time but that’s not the case now.

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Anyway it was still exciting and we had a couple of hours of watching before taking down our flags and hitting the road in the same direction as the race had gone.

We headed east towards the mountains – we’ve chosen the general area that we want to watch Friday’s stage from and took the ‘scenic’ route to get there in order to avoid Lyon.  It was a very lovely drive, and along the way we passed one of the funniest sights ever – a giant pink pig ‘sculpture’ with an American flag on its side and a huge Trump figure beside it.  If only I’d had my camera ready!  I almost asked Colin to turn around and go back so I could get a pic – it was so perfect!

We stopped just outside the town of Legny at a large aire/carpark and had a nice quiet night – at least until about 6:15 in the morning when some very large loud equipment started up. They loaded a pile of rocks onto a truck then left, only to return again about 40 minutes later. Oh well – an early start to the day is nothing new for me.

We drove southeast through some very beautiful countryside with lots of lakes/ponds – a giant bird sanctuary of sorts – ending up finally in the mountains.

We stopped for lunch in a lovely town and it was very interesting – I ordered ‘bruschetta’ which sounded good, although asking for an Italian dish in a French restaurant can be a bit cheeky.  What I got was delicious – but it was not bruschetta.  It was more like a thick piece of bread with a whole bunch of toppings – very tasty, and as usual lots left over for dinner and next morning’s breakfast.  Max helped me a lot with the prosciutto and cheese – he will eat almost any kind of cheese, but soft goat’s cheese is one of his favourites.

Stopped for the night in the town of Saint-Pierre-d’Entremont, which is half in the province of Isere and half in Savoie.  We found the aire fairly easily and had a nice early night.

Back in Mansle for a bit

Since we returned from our marathon trip we’ve done countless loads of laundry, commented every day on ‘is the river flooding more or has it gone down’, wearing winter coats, and lighting fires and now…’how low is the river – there’s hardly any water coming over the weir’ – wearing shorts and flip flops, and replacing the old broken down air conditioner.

One day we could see a couple of ‘hippy looking’ folks at the welfare office – they were leading two donkeys that were loaded with baggage.  Colin took the last of my carrots to feed to the donkeys and went to chat with the woman – they’ve just left Goue and are on their way to the Dordogne.

The Sunday after we returned we helped out with a regional race – once again we manned the beverage table.

The weather was somewhat inclement – bits of sun and lots of rain.  Luckily we were under a nice big canopy so were shielded from most of it.  For the first half of our time there we sold dozens of cups of coffee, then when the worst of the rain had passed we sold more beer. A couple of little boys were so cute – standing on the podium perhaps dreaming of being Tour de France winners in 20 years!

We’ve been for several really nice meals – twice at the Penalty Bar (veal with rice, then Beef Bourgignon – both just delicious).  Another day we went to Verdille, which was also excellent.

I also cooked rabbit for the first time ever – then again!  The first attempt was a stew in the slow cooker – very tender and delicious.  The second time was roasted in the oven with potatoes and shallots – also very good, but would probably go with the slow cooker if I do it again.

We did have to go down to Angouleme and get a new air conditioning unit – the cost of the machinery was dwarfed by the cost of getting it properly installed (a law in France – not just anyone is allowed to do it) and the old unit taken away.  But it will be much appreciated as it’s now getting up into the high thirties each afternoon with no break in sight.

We’ve been enjoying watching the Giro d’Italia on tv, although many of the top riders are not participating.  At this point unless there’s a disaster it looks like Vingegaard will take it rather easily – guess it beats throwing ice on freshly caught fish in Denmark.

There were a couple of kind of exciting moments here – both on the same morning as we were sitting outside the Penalty Bar on VE Day.  The first involved what sounded like a car alarm but was actually the defibrillator box on the outside wall of the Mairie – someone had opened it and it was in use just down the road from us.  In a short while the paramedic van arrived, loaded a man in and took him away.  The defibrillator was returned to it’s glass box on the wall, apparently having done it’s job.

The second bit of excitement was when a gendarmerie car screeched to a stop at the corner and two (rather fit) cops jumped out and ran up the road, one of each side of the Mairie.  A few minutes later one of them returned and jumped back in the car, turned around and sped over across the bridge.  Presumably the second cop was either pursuing someone on foot, or perhaps swimming for it in the river.

We got a few flowering plants for the terrace – mostly they’re doing ok except for one of the lobelias.

Beaches of Normandy

We left the lovely village of Wanne the morning after L-B-L and drove the relatively short distance back to the aire at Hamoir for the next night.  Then we continued on into northern France looking for a place to fill up our GPL/LPG gas for the stove and heating.  We’d commented a couple of times that the indicator was still showing ‘four lights’ but we’d been using it for weeks, so when it failed in the morning – in the middle of making breakfast and tea! – we weren’t that surprised.

As we headed west we fruitlessly tried several places – some were ‘out of service’ at the time, others never had it at all.  We finally found one that was being serviced right then but was supposed to be ok in half an hour.  We decided to wait, and – miracle of miracles – the technician came up and knocked on our window when he was done.  He even stuck around to make sure it worked for us and didn’t leave until we’d successfully filled and I gave him the thumbs up.

We stopped for the night at a beautiful aire at Bray-sur-Somme.  It was just lovely and we were almost surrounded by the river, and the banks were home to many geese and ducks, most of which had little ones of various sizes.

It was very calm and quiet and ended up being one of my favourite aires yet – and we’ve been to some really nice ones on this trip.

On Wednesday morning we drove southwest to the coastal town of Ouistreham hoping to get into the aire there, but it seemed to be fully booked up.  It actually wasn’t a problem as there was a very large paved parking area not far away and we just pulled in there instead.

Thursday ended up being – as I expected – one of the few ‘serious’ days for me.  After breakfast we went first to Pegasus Bridge as it was so close.  It was a very important site in WWII and a number one priority for the British.  

There are several displays and monuments to commorate what happened there.

We had a cup of coffee at the cafe – not the best and very expensive – and sat outside in the beautiful sunshine for awhile.

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Our next stop was west along the coast a bit, and we walked along the promenade above part of Sword Beach – the easternmost of the five landing beaches…

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There’s a nice memorial partway along before the next village.

We found a nice restaurant and had an excellent lunch in the sun – I realized later it might have been good if I’d had a hat to shade my forehead and nose!

Our next stop was a bit further west as I really wanted to see Juno Beach – where the Canadians landed.  

There are two main points of interest and both were worth the visit.

There was a very nice looking museum but I couldn’t go in – it was all I could do to walk around outside and look at some of the monuments and read the descriptions of what happened.

I did cry as I walked around, but as I was wearing my sunglasses I don’t think many people noticed, although my sniffling might have given me away.

I must say that everywhere we’ve been – Netherlands, Belgium, here in France – they haven’t forgotten what they went through in both of the horrible world wars.  All of the memorials and cemeteries are immaculately kept and the appreciation of what was done to help them is ever present – LEST WE FORGET!!  

Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it…read a book Donald Trump!!!  Or at least get someone to show you a cartoon depiction of the realities of war.

We probably would have gone to all of the five beaches and paid our respects but were really looking forward to getting home.

Since it doesn’t get dark so early now – yah!! – we drove for a bit south to the town of Falaise (where William the Conqueror is from) and parked up right below the castle, along with several other campervans and a couple of big trucks.

We made it all the way back to the house the next day – as it was May Day there wasn’t quite so much traffic on the roads so we made pretty good time.

After over nine weeks on the road it was great to get home.  Comfy as the campervan is it’s quite nice to have a shower whenever you want and be able to do laundry – as long as the washing machine co-operates.

The places we’ve been, the experiences we’ve had and the races we saw were all wonderful – an excellent trip!

La Doyenne – aka Liege-Bastogne-Liège – Monument #4

We knew where we were going to watch Liège-Bastogne-Liege from so got on our way the morning after La Flèche Wallone in no great hurry.  It wasn’t very far, and we even stopped at a campground along the way so we could shower, etc.

We parked at the very same place that we’d been at seven years ago on the edge of the village of Wanne, but the conditions were totally different.  The last time it was horribly cold and did nothing but rain – we’d worn our warmest clothes and coats – I even put on my winter boots and that barely kept me warm.  

This time we went for a morning walk and my light jacket was almost too much.  

The local restaurant was now closed, but they did have a special gathering for cyclists, including an outside bar and bbq.

Unfortunately they did not serve coffee – which is a bit weird as most cyclists crave it! – but they did manage to find a bottle of red wine for me to have a glass of.  

As we are in the Ardenne there are, of course, American flags and memorials everywhere – I totally understand and respect that.  It was so warm we set out the lawnchairs on the side of the road and I changed into the rah-rah skirt just for fun.

The race arrived and there was a small breakaway followed by the peloton – which had Pogacar and most of his teammates along with Evenepoel and most of his teammates as well as young Seixas all at the front.

After they passed us we went inside and watched the race on tv while I made cheeseburgers for lunch.

There were three overwhelming favourites to win – Pogacar, Evenepoel and Seixas – and they formed a three-man group at the front not long after passing our place.  Evenepoel was the first to get dropped but young Seixas hung in with Pogacar for quite a while before finally having to let go.  

Pogacar won in style, with Seixas coming a very admirable second, and Evenepoel sprinting for a very respectable third.  A fantastic race!

Flèche Wallone 2026 and Fat Sheep and Cows

We left Hamoir around 9:00 the next morning and went to the town of Marchin, which is where we watched La Flèche Wallone from in 2019.  They’ve made some changes to the main square, so instead of being able to park in it we ended up on the road beside the church – no big deal.

We were parked right beside a large field, and first some very fat woolly brown sheep came to a feeder/water trough nearby, then a while later some very fat – and fat assed – cows came over.  They seemed to all be females, but didn’t look like they were producing milk as their udders weren’t full.

We walked around a bit and tried the local cafe that is right across from the main square but wouldn’t you know – they’re closed on Tuesdays.  Oh well – we went back to the campervan and made our own lunch and beverages.

It was a pretty quiet night – the church bells quit ringing around 10:00 pm  and don’t start up again until 7 in the morning – then at 8 they go a bit crazy as if to catch up or something.

As the cafe was open we went in around noon and had a drink before going back for our cameras and picking our spots.  The race at this point does a large loop, through Marchin then onto the Mur de Huy – aka the Wall of Huy.  We paid attention to the locals, and gathered at the corner when they did.

After the first pass I was one of the first back to the cafe to get a refreshing beverage and watch the race progress on the big screen.  Same for the second pass – Colin stayed in the campervan but I went to the corner again, then into the cafe again.  I didn’t have to ask for a glass of wine – he was ready to pour it as I approached the bar.

After the last pass – same thing, although this time it was more crowded than ever.  I did manage to get a seat and watched the end of the race with two lovely older Belgian gentlemen.

It was quite exciting, even though it wasn’t a Belgian that won, but very young up-and-coming (future superstar) French rider Paul Seixas – certainly one to watch over the next years.

To the Netherlands and Amstel Gold – Also ‘No Chicken’!

The morning after the Brabantse Pijl race we drove to a nearby campground where they allowed you to dump and fill for a small fee – it should have been a two minute drive but took closer to 20 minutes because of yet another fondo/sportif that was clogging up the roads and causing diversions.

We crossed into the Netherlands just south of Maastricht and tried to find a spot near where we were seven years ago in the town of Berg.  Alas most of the roads are closed for guess what??? – A fondo/sportif!  And there are ‘no parking’ signs everywhere.  We eventually found a decent spot on a ‘country road’ and I’d just started making roast chicken drumsticks for lunch when a police car pulled beside us and very politely told us we’d have to move.

We spent the next fourty minutes or so driving along the route and ended up choosing a small town that the race will only come through once but had a nice open car park within walking distance of cafes and restaurants.

We took a short walk and stopped at the first cafe/restaurant we came to – they had a nice outdoor seating area so we chose a table and sat down.  We were shocked by the prices of things – I could get three bottles of red wine in France for the price of one glass here but we haven’t been out much lately so decided to just enjoy it.  We also ordered some food, although the menu was puzzling – and not just because it was in Dutch.  There were several items that specified ‘no chicken’ and that really confused me – did so many people ask for chicken that they had to put it on the menu that those dishes didn’t have chicken?  I did end up asking about the croquettes – they had two on the menu and one had a vegetable I’d never heard of and the other had a weird sounding fruit in it.  I asked if they perhaps had just a plain cheese croquette and that’s when we were told – no – it’s actually a vegan cafe!   Hahaha – no wonder there was no chicken in anything – it was the vegan version of chicken that was NOT chicken!  We both ended up getting a basket of fries and they were pretty good – as usual I could only eat about ⅓ of mine and took the rest home for breakfast.

After retiring early for the night I woke up just after midnight to hear pouring rain – it just tipped down for at least a couple of hours.  I hoped that it didn’t continue for the race during the day.

Because the race was expected to arrive around 1:00 we went for a morning walk and had a drink at a different restaurant.  The prices were no lower than at the one the day before, although the wine was once again good.  I could never afford to live in a place like this – the cost of wine alone would bankrupt me!

Not long after 12:30 we put our lawn chairs out at the edge of the road and the locals started to gather also.

Right on the projected schedule the first riders appeared just before 1:00, with the rest of them arriving all in one bunch about four minutes later.

Right near the front of the peloton was Remco, surrounded by several of his team mates.

The entire group came and went in less than a minute.  We weren’t able to watch the whole rest of the race on tv as the coverage didn’t start until almost 3:00, although we did get to see the last 80 km or so.  Remco won in a thrilling sprint against last year’s winner Danish rider Mattias Skjelmose.

We had a second fairly quiet night in the car park, then left after breakfast around 8:30 the next morning.

We didn’t have that far to go on Monday, crossing back into Belgium and passing by Liège then a little further south to a camping-car place that was very basic but did have dumping and filling.  It was in a beautiful area and was very peaceful and quiet.

It was next to a small river and also had a nice paved cycling/walking path – we walked Max for a bit but didn’t really go very far before we turned back for the night.