We checked the weather last week and it called for 6 days of cloudy skies and/or rain. So what do you do if you have no interest in that...jump in the car and follow the sun. We checked the weather down in Spain and it was sunny, clear and 55-60 degrees. We decided to go climbing at some places we've never been to. Since we had all 3 dogs and the weather was nice, we decided to camp. We packed up the car with our camping stuff, the dogs and our climbing gear and headed down to Spain.
We went just 1 hour west of Barcelona, between Reus and Lieida. We camped just outside of a tiny village called Prades at a great campsite. They had a restaurant, great hot showers and clean bathrooms and we were the only people there. I have never camped in such luxury!
We arrived last Monday night, pretty late. The next day is was sunny but the winds were crazy, so we didn't climb, we just walked around some small villages and went to visit two of the climbing areas. We are glad we went on a recon mission first. The first climbing area is well known and has amazing climbing, but it's all ledgy and not great for the dogs, the second place was beautiful and perfect for the dogs. So, on Wednesday we drove 40 minutes to Montsant and climbed there all day. It was beautiful but super hard, the routes were about 40 meters long, I haven't climbed on routes that long in a while. On Thursday we drove 1 hour to Margalef and it was our favorite place. We had a great day climbing and met some really nice people. Wednesday and Thursday were perfect days, no wind, sunny and warm. We had hoped to stay longer, but we had to be in Toulouse for our appointment (see post below) so we had to come home on Thursday night.
It's so amazing that you can just jump in your car and in 3 hours you're in Spain, 6 hours Italy, 5.5 hours Paris, etc. On Sunday we'll be heading up to Paris for a some camp fairs at two international schools in Paris. Instead of staying in Paris though (since we've been many times) we are staying 30 minutes south in Fontainebleu, which is known for it's bouldering. We'll be there for 4 days. Only 1 dog going, the 2 goldens will stay with our friends and we'll be staying in a hotel (no camping). Should be a great time.
6 comments:
Great idea, when we make the move to France permanent chasing the sun sounds good to me :-))) Diane
when it's cold and cloudy during the winter months you have to chase the sun. If we don't we'll go crazy!
You know how jealous I am! To hop in the car and drive to Spain for some climbing sounds wonderful. Wish I was there to join you two.
Chasing the sun is a fab idea ... and how lucky to be in the middle of all the great countries surrounding you ... or should I say the drives seem quite equal ... !! Yes the sun cheers you .. we had some today !!
Looks like fun...is that your Decathalon tent? I lived in Fontainebleau for about 3 years. It is a great place for climbing. Hopefully, the sun will cooperate.
looks like fun. I haven't been to Spain yet.
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