Monday, July 26 Week 8

Tomorrow 16 °C

Noon 29°C

Evening 22 °C

The night at the lagoon was absolutely quiet and the most amazing thing - we were completely alone!

Bardenas Reales, the semi-desert of Navarra - our highlight of today!

At the start of our trip on June 10th, the weather forecast for northern Spain for 14 days was so miserable that we decided to abandon our planned route and headed towards southern Spain. To enter the country, I needed a rapid antigen test, which gave me 48 hours to reach the Spanish border, and the route towards the south and the Mediterranean is simply faster.

We have no regrets. The sun is our most faithful companion.

I really wanted to visit the semi-desert of Navarra on this trip and now we are actually here. And it is unrealistically beautiful. Let's just let the pictures speak for themselves.

A walk through the cave dwellings of Arguedas is of course a must.

The parking space in Arguedas is full until 10 p.m. This is not the first time we have experienced this. At around 4 p.m. you are still enjoying the amount of space you have and then you end up being crammed in. At around 10.30 p.m. Hansruedi finds a quiet corner and we have quickly moved our parking space.

Tagestrecke: Pitillas Lagoon bei Pitillas - Arguedas

Distance: 87 km

Average consumption: 10.2 liters

Average speed 29 km/h

Travel time: 2 hours 59 minutes

Pitch costs: 0 euros, toilet emptying, water at the cemetery, waste container

Tuesday, July 27

Tomorrow 17 °C

Noon 29°C

Evening 26 °C

We urgently need a good supermarket. We find one in Tudela. The Mercadona is large, well-stocked and not overcrowded. Some people don't take Corona so seriously anymore, but we are still very cautious. We avoid crowds wherever possible.

Today we are also sliding a little further east.

Aínsa, a pretty little town, offers a huge RV parking space for 3 euros. We arrive at around 3 p.m. and there are so many free spaces that we almost can't decide. The corner space in the picture doesn't look bad, does it?

After a well-earned siesta, we stroll around town at around 5 p.m. Wow, it's teeming with restaurants, all very inviting. We sit down spontaneously. At this time of day, you can only eat tapas in Spain. But that doesn't matter. And what we are served is simply wonderful - both for the eyes and for the palate. A glass of red wine and we are happy. We postpone the long walk until later, it looks like it's going to rain.

At around 8 p.m. we finally wander through Aínsa. And once again we are amazed by the many, many people. The outdoor areas of the restaurants are full, so to speak. It's aperitif time!

The alleys are pretty, the little shops too, and so a honey and a schnapps end up in a shopping bag.

On the way back we notice that dinner time is now in full swing and people are queuing up to get a seat. Crazy!

The parking lot has filled up as usual and even though chairs, tables and awnings are not allowed, people are happily partying with all the trimmings.

The reader has already guessed it - we park again before going to bed and hope for a relatively quiet night.

Day route: Arguedas - Aínsa

Distance: 231 km

Average consumption: 9.9 liters

Average speed 54 km/h

Travel time: 4 hours 15 minutes

Pitch costs: 3 euros, toilet emptying, water 3 euros approx. 50 l, waste container

Wednesday, July 28

Tomorrow 18°C

Noon 22°C

Evening 16 °C

Day route: Aínsa - Col du Soulor, shortly after

Distance: 152 km

Average consumption: 12.1 liters

Average speed 34 km/h

Travel time: 4 hours 24 minutes

Pitch costs: 0 euros without anything

Thursday, July 29

Tomorrow 11°C

Noon 22°C

Evening 15 °C

Col du Soulor - Col d'Aubisque: Today we ride the route there and back in sunshine with the e-bikes

Day's route: Col du Soulor, just behind - Col du Tourmalet, just behind

Distance: 66 km

Average consumption: 13.5 liters

Average speed 31 km/h

Travel time: 2 hours 7 minutes

Pitch costs: 0 euros, without everything

Pitch costs: 25.00 Euro including water/electricity, without electricity

Friday, July 30

Tomorrow 12°C

Noon 18°C

Evening 16 °C

Oops, that was a restless night. Heavy rain drums on the roof of our motorhome. Eventually we do fall asleep. Shortly after 1 a.m. we are woken up again by thunder and lightning. And then - we have been reading for weeks about the violent storms that are raging in Switzerland and now here on the Col du Tourmalet the first hailstones are hitting the roof. We hold our breath. We listen to the heavy rain, wince when another hailstone hits the roof. I cover my ears, I don't want to hear it. A huge portion of luck is on our side. It stays at small hailstones and at some point the nightmare is suddenly over and we can breathe a sigh of relief. Sleep takes a while to come.

We briefly see a small part of the sun rise in the morning, and then it is swallowed up by the fog again.

We first drive over the Col d'Aspin and read in the guidebook that the views are supposed to be particularly beautiful. But we can't see anything at all. The drive through the sometimes very thick fog is exhausting. The unlit "bumpers" are particularly dangerous. In Arreau we make the decision - we won't drive any more cols. It's no fun at all in this weather.

We change our route and it turns into quite a long day of driving and it stays grey and drizzly all day. Our first day without sunshine since we left!!!!!!

We park at the first parking spot we come to, have a beer and a glass of rosé, and then after almost an hour we decide that we're not staying here. Music is blaring from the building next to the spot and it doesn't really look very inviting. So we start the engine again and drive on. The parking spot in Quillan belongs to the Pass'Etapes group and without this card we can't get in, the display doesn't work. So we make a third attempt and drive another 10 kilometers to Espéraza. And here we finally find what we're looking for and are now right by the river.

Day route: Col du Tourmalet, shortly afterwards - Espéraza

Distance: 266 km

Average consumption: 9 liters

Average speed 43 km/h

Travel time: 6 hours 3 minutes

Pitch cost: 0 Euro, including water/electricity, without electricity (actually 5 Euro, but we learn that the cashier only pays on

Monday comes again and then we will no longer be there)

River by night