After a few days on the beach it was time for a bit of culture. We headed to Arles on the banks of the River Rhone. The Aire was ideally situated for visiting the town, although it was a bit untidy!
After parking we headed in to see the Arles Amphitheatre which was built in 90 AD it held over 20,000 spectators of chariot races and bloody hand-to-hand battles. Lately, it draws smaller crowds for bullfighting during the Feria d’Arles[1] as well as plays and concerts in summer.
We took a wander through the narrow streets not realising how much the wind had picked up until we got back to the river. At one point I thought it was going to blow me over! Of course Donald found this highly amusing and pulled out his camera! Definitely a ‘mad hair’ day.
Later in the evening we found the only restaurant in town that was open and had the whole place to ourselves.
Next on our list was Saintes Maries de la Mer. We had a couple of Aires mapped and chose to go to the one nearest the beach first, only when we got there it had a sign up saying it was closing on the 9th Nov, as it was the 8th Donald wanted to drive in to have a look only we came across height barriers! We had two options, turn around in a very tight space or drive along a sandy track. After trying to turn for a bit a couple of girls in a bigger van that us said the sandy track was fine to drive on, so we gave it a go.
At the end of the track was a lovely place to park up, it was grassy and had lots of bushes to shield us from the wind. There was sign saying it was also closing on the 9th so we settled in. A couple of hours later some park wardens came round, accompanied by the Gendarmes telling everyone to leave. As we left we noticed they were taping off the entrance and changing the date on the sign!
The girls who had helped us in said to follow them as they knew of another place to park by the sea.
When we had parked up we took a stroll to the beach. And what a lovely beach it was. The only downside was the 50mph winds! We were well wrapped up and enjoyed watching the waves crashing into the shore.
The next morning the wind was still high and it was bitterly cold so we decided to cut short our tour of the South of France and head on to Spain.
We headed off on a 150 mile trip to Perpignan. Found an Aire to stop for the night with a plan to do the same the next day.
Five minutes into our journey lights came on the dashboard with a message saying low tyre pressure. We pulled over to find we had a flat tyre.
There was a large car park just round the corner so we headed there to change it in a safe place. Unfortunately our onboard Jack, although sized for the van, seemed to tilt every time we jacked it up.
Not wanting to risk Wike falling off the jack we decided to call the breakdown company. They turned up really quickly but also had a small Jack so the same thing happened. Finally deciding to use both Jacks he managed to get the wheel changed over.
We then drove into town to Norauto to get the puncture fixed. About 4 hours later we were good to go.
As it was now getting dark, and the rain was getting worse, we headed to an Aire at Saint-Cyprien which was about half an hour away to park up for for the night.
The rain didn’t let up all night and by the next morning we decided to make a run for the Spanish border. The rain was torrential making the roads run like rivers. What followed was a very slow and careful journey.
As we crossed over into Spain the rain began to let off and we arrived at the Aire in one piece.
Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer to Arles
Mileage – 99
Route – A7/N568
Cost – Free Aire next to the river Rhone
Arles to Camargue
Mileage – 25
Route – D570
Cost – €13 a night
Camargue to Santa Marie La Mer
Mileage – 151
Route – A75
Cost – €9 a night with EHU
Santa Marie La Mer to Saint-Cyprien – Via garage in Perpignan
Mileage – 25
Route – D617/D914
Cost – €9.20 a night with EHU
The start of the route took us up into the mountains where the views were amazing. We had seen a campsite on a lake at Saint-Théoffrey was open so decided to head there foe a couple of days to relax.
I love the sunset photo. Beautiful and so much joy in it!!!!!
We have seen some fantastic sunsets, luckily I had my camera for this one 🙂