We spent 15 relaxing days in Torre del Mar in the Andalusian province of Spain. The campsite Camping Torre del Mar was perfectly located on the edge of the town and on the Mediterranean. Upon arrival we had the choice of 2 spots. One with sparse greenery and the other closer to the toilet facilities which I thought would be the better as, well, people just go there for showers, etc. How wrong was I? The dish washing sinks were on the side closer to us and two times a day there were the sounds of Babel. As many campers live there for 5 months, they set up semi permanent residence and can't move their campers to fill up with water nor empty their tanks, hence the dishwashing.
Camping has come a long since tenting and the first caravans and motor homes took to the road.
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| Caravan, living room, sunshade - The perfect set up complete with gated doggy area. |
After a mere five minute walk towards town we came to the first restaurant: Brujas. The first meal we had there Brian declared it to be the best salad he had ever eaten. Another night we had the Argentinian steak on the Hot Stone. Tender, delicious and fun. We had previously met 4 Belgians there, plus at another bar, aand one of them was kind enough to take a photo of us. They were an interesting group who had been ccoming to Torre del Mar for 30 years - one couple to the their camping car and the other to an apartment.
Cozy glow of the pyramid heater.
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| The Very Hot Stone The Belgians My meal at the Tanit Restaurant: Goat cheese, honey and salad YUM.  In some of the restaurants the bill is brought in a pretty little box or something cleverer such as a small clog. I suspect it started when bills were presented outside and the closed box would stop the bill and the money from flying away in the wind. |
Ruth and I belong to a Facebook women-only-group named LIFT (Ladies In France Together with over 2700 members). LIFT Facebook page. We women support one another; it is a goldmine of information about daily life in France, networking for some and a lifeline for others. How Ruth and I became friends on LIFT I don't remember but knowing that Ruth and Ian were staying in the next town and it was she who had been giving me daily weather updates while we were being rained upon in Portugal, we decided to meet in person for the first time.
It was a very well attended market with mainly British vendors plus a few Spanish artisans. At Le Cruce Restaurant lunch was a choice of soup or salad, a main course of grilled fish, dessert plus a glass of wine for €10 ($13) each. Very tasty too!
It was a very well attended market with mainly British vendors plus a few Spanish artisans. At Le Cruce Restaurant lunch was a choice of soup or salad, a main course of grilled fish, dessert plus a glass of wine for €10 ($13) each. Very tasty too!
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| Ruth, Ian and Brian |
The next week they invited us to their town for quiz night, including a fish and chip dinner; sadly we didn't win but put in a good showing. We arrived at seven just as the sun was setting over the sea.
The Mountain roads up to Competa were hairpins with wide corners and again Brian was in his glory driving up and down the hillsides.
We stopped at a Bodega (wine cellar) and bought regional olive oil and honey but no wine. Sweet little store.
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| A narrow road the GPS led us down. We had to pull in the mirrors...Thank goodness we were not in the RV. |
Thursday is market day in Torre del Mar and what a market it was. We wandered aisle after aisle and finally Brian opted out for a coffee. I, of course, soldiered on. We bought avocados, oranges, cherries and a few other items.
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| Fresh Fruits by the Kilo (2.2 lbs) and all so reasonably priced |
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| Boots for €15 and shoes for €10 Just don't expect them to be leather... |
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| The Dried Fruit and Nut Stall |
THE FISHERMEN
Early in the morning they gather on the beach. The boat takes the net out as the men hold the stern line. The boat semi circles around then back onto the beach.
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| The boat is put on fenders and rolled back up the beach |
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| Heave Ho! Tugging and rolling to its resting spot |
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| All this work for a tiny amount of small fish that are whisked off to a few restaurants. |
In the In the opposite direction from town we found this little bar/restaurant with a thatched reed roof. We spent a comfortable hour watching kids playing in the sand and then, as if on queue, along came two riders
Spain is not a particularly pretty country but it has its moments. A trip along the coast proved to be scenic, as most coasts tend to be.
SCENES OF TORRE DEL MAR
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| The wide tiled boardwalk - these are quite common along Spanish seafronts |
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| Mausoleum in town - to our surprise the dates were mid to late last century |
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| Hamburger and beer joint. |
There were a number of Chinese establishments: All you can eat buffet restaurants, Beijing and China Bazaars with of course everything being imported from China. Nail Salons in
America and Canada mostly tend to be owned by Vietnamese. The shop I went into was owned by Chinese and I had a pedicure for €10 ($14). The salon did not have the big vibrating chair but rather just a vibrating foot bath and that was adequate. A pleasant experience.
Busy Monk parrots in a palm tree just outside the campsite. Common in the cities of Spain they are the only parrot that builds nests with sticks. They are extremely vocal but not annoying and definitely colorful.
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Town lighthouse Having fun outside the Mexican-style restaurant
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| Sunset over the mountains |
It was time to leave so we packed everything away, said goodbye to our neighbors and headed east along the coast.
A little bit inland we saw hundreds of plastic greenhouses; everywhere imaginable there the were. All these vegetables will be sold in Spain or exported to countries such as France. We are now at home (at the beginning of April) enjoying fresh petits pois (peas in a pod) from Spain!
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| If France is the bread basket of Europe Spain is the vegetable patch |
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| The City of Almeria |
Further on we passed this unusual scene. The caves are massive. We have seen TV programs showing modernized caves in which people now live. They are cool in summer and warm in winter. Look near the right hand corner for the green sign to gain an idea of the size of these caves.
We spent two nights at the Los Elscullos campgrounds in San Jose surrounded by the Parque Natural. It was a quiet and peaceful place but we did meet a few French folk and had a franglais conversation or two. A short walk across fields to the beach and we discovered an old fort "Le Bateria de San Felipe" guarded by this gigantic pirate!
The fort dates to 1765.
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| Flowers of the fields |
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| The newer part of Benidorm |
The next stop was in Javea (pronounced (Habee-aa). Camping Javea. What a surprisingly lovely little community it was. We walked into town, along the boardwalk - again beautifully tiled and next to the ocean.
It was too early, by Spanish custom, to eat but we found a pizzeria that was open and specializing in made to order.
We wished this place had been open in the off season: hahaha
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| Javea at sunset |
The next morning it wasn't until 9:30 we were finally able to leave the campgrounds as the office wasn't open til then and we had to be refunded for the electric key. Grrrrr.
We made it through Barcelona unscathed but then the GPS took us on a coast road that was a nightmare of traffic, lights and roundabouts. Interesting roundabouts though.
We arrived at our destination of Santa Susana Resort on the ocean at 6:40, just as the sun was setting. Camping Bon Repos
We enjoyed a pleasant dinner in the campsite's busy restaurant . I wish we had had more time to spend here as it was within walking distance of a shopping area and the ocean.
The next morning we drove many hours to Bordeaux only to be halted by the gendarmes ('route barrée') at the bridge which led to our chosen campsite. There was a festival happening with Chinese boats, decorations, lanterns and many pedestrians.
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| Street decorations in Bordeaux |
After putting up with a tantrum from our GPS we said F@$* IT!, let's just go home and if it is too cold in the house we will just plug in and stay in the RV.
It was just becoming dark as we arrived in our driveway. The house temperature was acceptable, we unloaded only that which was necessary and went SPLAT!
It had been a long day and the end of our journey.
We had returned safely from our five week trip and we were happy to be home.
It has taken me 8 months to post this last segment. Somehow life got in the way and I just never returned to our blog.
We hope you have enjoyed traveling with us and as we are planning to make a similar trip this coming year I will make an effort to post in a more timely manner.
A bientot from France!
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