I finally was able to convince the wife to come to Spain for vacation. And it was worth it ,and she love it; later many repeats. After going thru Europe or western Europe I finally came with the family to my beloved Spain. Of course, I have been here before read my blog…
We spent two weeks going by car with some metro/subway and bus on major cities. This update is from August 2016. Visited Bordeaux, Cuenca, Las Majadas, Madrid, Toledo, Huerte, Belmonte, Segovia, La Granja de San IIdelfonso, Alcalà de Henares, Aranjuez, Valencia, Ségobriga ,Alarcon, Chinchon, Calatayud, and many smaller towns passing by.
We rented a house in Las Majadas ,Cuenca at 1400 meters high (about 6600 feet) that was absolutively superb with all the trimmings and fantastic host owners. We passed by goats , sheeps, horses, deers, wild pigs and right on the eyes of cows on the road; all in good expériences. The beginning of a wonderful friendship with the owners and us over the years!
We found the house thru TopRural which is now Vrbo: https://www.vrbo.com/?preferlocale=true
The property is Casa Pitu : http://www.casapitu.es/
We left by car by 8h or 8am from home along the path of avoiding as much as possible toll roads. Taken the N165 towards Nantes N249 and then the D763 and D137 towards La Rochelle, and continue connecting with the A10 for a while before at Bordeaux get on the A62,A65 and A64 towards the Col du Portalet passage to Spain. On the A roads we did pay a toll of 25,70€ but we quickly move back into the D934 on passage routes at 1390 meters high with great views. I wanted to show both sides but something not repeated afterward no more tolls!
This is the mountain passes we saw and went thru heavens on earth! and great cheese ossau iraty! http://travel-ossau-pyrenees.com/benou.html
To start we did a quick one night rest stop by Bordeaux .The trip took about 17 hours stopping several times for a break, gas , and eat. It took about 1265 kms or about 784 miles for the whole trip and about 417 kms or 259 miles to Bordeaux in 7 hours. For those who have traveled by car will note these are longer times but it was done because the only driver was me and taking breaks is a wise thing to do. I do not know why people talk about traffic as with well planned the trip went smooth with only a slow moving traffic along the rocade of Bordeaux arriving there to our road hotel, the inexpensive F1 La Bastide today call the Aréna. Part of the great chain Accor webpage: https://all.accor.com/hotel/2419/index.en.shtml
We listen to radio 107.7 FM for traffic and weather conditions as well as good music. And the best is yet to come. A memorable vacation indeed! Good for the soul and family times. Hope you enjoy it and look up the sites in the blog
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 