Three go travelling

The plan was to move on to Cordoba on Sunday see the assorted cultural highlights there before transferring to Granada early next week for the Alhambra Palace. That of course was before the declaration of a State of Alarm in Spain on Saturday evening and the “lock down” coming into force on Monday. It was never very clear to us if this was 00.00 hrs on Monday or some other time. Regardless we had to get over the border into France by Sunday afternoon if we hoped to get out.

Ian went and made enquiries and discovered that the site opens its gates at 6am. We amend our ferry crossing to 18th March. This would allow for a slightly more sedate drive through France after fleeing Spain. Because we have the dog we can’t just go to the port in one heroic drive as she needs worming tablets to be administered by a vet 24 - 120 hrs before we re enter the UK. Ian settled the bill, packed up most of our gear and we are ready to hit the road at 06:01am on Sunday morning for the 12 hour drive to the border. We hope to be able to camp at Urt (near Bayonne) on Sunday night.

Then we learn the French are having a closure of all non essential buildings and activities and it is difficult to categorise camping sites as essential. Given that the site we are on currently is now refusing all new arrivals, even those who have booked pitches we are concerned we will not be able to get in anywhere, even if the border is open, and that itself seems to be in doubt.

Given the option of staying where we are with power, water and assorted other facilities or possibly ending up by the roadside next to a turnip field in France / Spain we opt to sit tight. Cue re arranging ferry booking again, cancelling the site booked in France and trotting down to the reception here and extending our stay by two weeks. Happily this is not a problem as no one is coming in to take our pitch !!!

Now the question is food (toilet paper is provided by the site at the wash blocks so we don’t have to worry about that). First thing on Sunday after walking the dog Ian makes an itemised list of all the food we have on board. I am not sure I shall ever mock his tendency to have reserves of things again. He works out a menu for 15 days using our stores which looks reasonable. The camp shop is planning to remain open and we can get fresh fruit and veg from there as well as bread. All in all we are reasonably well placed to deal with the situation.

By Sunday morning some of the locals already have news of the police stopping people on the motorways and generally doing what they can to restrict travel so maybe we made the right decision. The main road just beyond the site entrance seems extremely quiet, but it is Sunday after all. The concern now is that this “lock down” is for 15 days INITIALLY, it could be extended. (The next level is State of Emergency followed by Martial Law. Ian is excited by this and hopes we get to that level as he seems to think there will be tanks and assorted other military vehicles on the streets for him to look at !) I have enough medication to take us through to late April so hopefully by then we will be able to travel. In the worst case perhaps we can have more medication sent to the site from home or approach the Spanish health system for new supplies.

Safe to say this is not the way we expected this trip to unfold, but it is still an adventure. Suffice it to say, we are both well, comfortable and sufficiently well supplied. I am winning the league we have in board games so things could be a great deal worse. I’m also self medicating to keep the virus away and drinking lots of wine and gin.

The site has put up notices telling us that we must stay within our motorhomes/caravan or outside on our pitch. We must not form groups or gatherings. We are allowed to go to the supermarket for food. The beach is closed and we will be subject to heavy fines if we go against these rules. I’ll keep you informed of what is happening.