Saturday 7 February - Castets

Where's Bertie? He's at a Camping-Car Park Aire at Castets, at a cost of €14.72 including electricity. 

Weather: Mainly warm and sunny. 15 degrees outside for much of the afternoon and absolutely roasting inside Bertie. 

We were away from Villedômer at ten past eight, and opted for the same route as last year, taking the toll road from Tours to the S side of Poitiers. The price on entry to the Péage remains 90c, but the price on exit has increased to €22. Mick was driving and I'm sure he would say that it was worth it for the mindless sitting with cruise control engaged and not having traffic lights, roundabouts and endlessly varying speed limits to worry about. 

In another repetition of our last two such journeys south, we stopped at Reignac at lunchtime, where there's a car park next to a Voie Verte ex-railway leisure route. We timed our arrival well; it's only a small car park and it was full, but as we sat for a moment contemplating our options, two women strode back to their car and promptly drove away. Mick walked east along the route; I trotted off west, and we reconvened at Erica an hour later, where Mick had lunch on the table. 

It was then just a two hour drive to our night-stop. We stayed here on our dash north last year, and decided that we would use it again. It's not as interesting a location as Capbreton, which has been our chosen staging point for years, but it has the merit of being immediately next to the motorway. 

I'm not sure where we're headed tomorrow. We're aiming for the east coast of Spain on Monday, but that gives us a lot of options for tomorrow. I'd best look at a map after tea, the making of which is what's next on my agenda.