From Montpellier to Roses

Having arrived in Montpellier a day earlier than expected to escape the snow in Millau, we ended up staying there for three nights. The aire was located on the outskirts of the city, secured by an electric gate. All the while we were there, the weather was atrocious with almost non-stop heavy rain regularly turning into thunderstorms, so we had to stay inside the van most of the time. As it was far too windy to put the satellite dish up, we watched some DVDs and did some reading to keep ourselves amused.

We took the van for its appointment at Euromaster to get the brakes checked out, and were advised that it will need new brakes soon. Unfortunately they wouldn’t be able to get the parts in stock for a week, so we’ll have to get them changed in Spain.

Fellow travellers Victoria and Mike contacted us. They’d been following our blog and were heading to Spain just like we were, and after exchanging a few messages we arranged to meet up on a campsite in Roses, just across the border in Spain.

It was Halloween on Wednesday, and we had intended to walk into the local village, but the weather put paid to that. On Thursday the weather changed for the better, and we had a very pleasant drive over the Pyrenees and into Spain. As it was All Souls Day – a public holiday in France and Spain – there were few lorries clogging up the motorway.

Being the Hispanophile that I am, it felt great to be returning. It’s been 18 months since we were last here, so I’m going to have to brush up on my Spanish, though I’m sure it won’t take long to get back into the swing of things.

Roses is a seaside resort, with the well equipped campsite (ACSI @ €19/night, though we paid €2.50 extra for a larger pitch) just a short walk from the seafront. The resort stays open until the end of the weekend after All Souls Day (ie this weekend), so plenty of bars and restaurants were still open for business. Being just over the border, it’s very popular with the French.

We’ve spent a lovely few days here, and it was great to spend time with Victoria and Mike (and their lovely hound Piglet), exchanging tales from our travels. It was Victoria’s birthday on Friday, so we went out for dinner to celebrate.

Victoria and Mike moved on this morning, heading towards Portugal via Andalucía, and tomorrow we shall be driving the short distance to Girona.

Mike

Victoria and Mike with Piglet by their classic Hymer van
The seafront
Street sculpture
In the food market – look at all that jamón!!
All quiet in the old town
They were putting the christmas lights up along main shopping street
The marina at the far end of the bay
The snow-capped Pyrenees in the distance
More street sculptures near the citadel
Not so nice weather on Sunday
These tasted great – sex in a bowl!

6 thoughts on “From Montpellier to Roses”

    • Yep, we read about it on your blog and it looks fab.

      Fingers crossed that our paths will cross – it’d be great to finally meet you guys!

  1. Another couple of Instagram faces I recognise in this post. We are taking the westerly route this year, currently in Cantabria heading for the north Portuguese border via Santiago de Compostella. Our weather has been cool but bright and we seem to have avoided all the rain. I hope it dries up and warms up for you along the Med coast.

    • Hi Alan, good to hear from you! Hope you’re enjoying the Costa Verde, it’s beautiful up there. The weather’s still a bit pants here, but hopefully the sunshine will return next week.

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