Ending Up Anywhere

What a difference being in the warmth of the sun under clear blue skies makes. Shorts and flip flops, a walk along the beach, cerveza sitting in the sun. We left home at 4.30am yesterday. Drove all the way through France, arriving in Spain at 9pm. By 9.30pm we were parked for the night and up at 7am for 4½ hours more driving. The campsite we settled on is right on the beach. It's almost full, mainly of pensioners who are here for several months. We've already saved the £13.95 it cost for the ACSI card as 16 euros a night for two people with electricity is half the normal price. We nearly dismissed the site upon seeing it for the first time. It lacks character. However, being full of pensioners it's nice and quiet and the facilities are superb. The area is not somewhere we'd choose to come in high season but it's pleasant out of season with the hotels deserted and only a very few souls in the beach. You can tell who are locals as they have as many layers

We're an hour away from Spain, having travelled the entire length of France since early this morning. We left home in the dark at 4.30am and have been driving for over 14 hours. We've chosen a camping spot just across the border where we are scheduled to arrive at 9.30pm. Our destination this year is Valencia in a complete change to what we usually do at this time of year! Much as we'll miss Les Deux Alpes this winter we decided on sun and not snow. We settled on Spain, and Valencia in particular, less than a week ago after closely following the weather forecast. Tonight we're going to stay on a private aire which appears to be a huge field that, unusually, also accepts caravans as well as motorhomes. It's 10 euros per night which we may or may not get to pay. Reviews seem to suggest someone comes around to collect it in the evening and there's no facility to pay if you're not there at that time. I should start a notebook of how much we owe and to who