2026 – RV Travels in Europe and North America

October 1, 2026 San Millan SP

We have visited many Cathedrals, Abby’s, Churches, and Monasteries in our visits in Europe so when we set out to visit the Monastery in San Millan this morning I was a little blase. What I did not expect was one of the best experiences we have had in all of our travels. Days like this I wish I was a better writer so I could share the magic that happened with others.

The main text you see in this book is Latin. The translations in the margins are the first known examples of written Spanish.

The Monastery in San Millan is known as the birthplace of modern written Spanish. The monks at the monastery transcribed books as one of their tasks and in the margins of some of the texts the monks would translate the Latin text into the common spoken language. This is the first known example of written Castilian Spanish. At least one of the monks was Basque as in 5 of the texts there are also the first known use of written Basque. For Spanish and Basque linguists this is a very important place.

A picture of St. Millan. He is not riding a horse but an Unicorn. He is also considered one of the patron saints of Spain along with St. Santiago. He was also more of a hermit than a warrior.

We walked from our campsite in Bercia (named after the first Spanish poets known by name who was from here) to the monastery through a very quiet village. Like yesterday in Briones hardly anyone was in site and no one under the age of 50. So my expectations for what we would find when we arrived at the home of Spanish did not grow.

The lone person in the photo is me. The fiesta is definitely not today.

But suddenly the monastery appeared in sight and it was very well preserved and much larger than I expected. There were a couple of people in the courtyard but otherwise it was still very quiet. But I was surprised by the state of preservation and beauty of the building.

The entrance to the courtyard of the Monastery.

We went to the ticket office to buy tickets and were greeted by a very attentive gentleman who came around to explain that there was an English tour in 45 minutes. He told us that there was a coffee shop in the hotel where we could wait until the tour started.

The mountains surrounding the town and monastery.

Spain has a program where historical buildings such as castles and monasteries are converted to hotels. So we went into the part of the monastery that had been converted to a very posh hotel. Again it was very quiet but the building was impressive and the conversion to modern usage was very elegantly done. I was impressed enough to give serious thoughts to staying in the hotel tomorrow. The day was becoming more interesting.

This stand is over 7 feet tall and the book and the writing is large enough for the choir to see the words and notes from the benches along the wall.

We joined 3 other Americans for the tour, and as the guide was explaining the general run of things I thought I heard him say that this was the first English tour since the new museum was opened yesterday. Since I was still adapting my ear to his accent I wasn’t sure I had heard it correctly. It turns out I had.

Part of their large collection of books produced in the middle ages. This one also has marginal notes in old Spanish.

Today was the first day that the museum had been reopened to the public since it underwent a major renovation and expansion. The official opening is Saturday and it appears that we had stumbled into their soft launch. The day was getting more intriguing.

Part of the Sancturary where the monks live.

As we started the wife in the other couple told the guide and us that her forbearers had immigrated to Guatemala from San Millan in the 1750’s, so it was a very special visit for her. In addition to being a special day for her it was a special day for the guide who was experiencing the upgrade in the displays for the first time and was truly excited and enthused by what he was showing us. I now knew this was not going to be just another walk thru an old building.

A reliquary for St. Francis who was a hermit who taught St. Millan how to be a hermit and consecrated him as a priest. The last supper on the side is carved ivory.

The monastery had been sacked by Napoleons troops in the early 1800’s and several pieces of early art taken then are in the collection of the Louvre in Paris. While the Louvre has not returned them to the monastery they have lent them for display and we were among the first to see them.

But the tour was not confined to just looking at an old building, books, and relics they have added modern audio visual displays. As you enter the building there is an ornate stair case. They have an amazing light and sound show that is projected onto the stairs. At another point they have a virtual reality room where you don an elaborate head set and walk through a VR story of how books were produced during medieval times. I was skeptical at first, but it was a much better visual experience than I expected. Also, the information presented was well done and educational.

Part of the monks quarters. The table is from the 13th century. The wood carvings are from the 16th century, and the painting on the ceiling is from the 18th century. All incredibly well preserved.

Our next stop was the library which had not been open to the public until the redesign. It contains over 1000 texts from the middle ages. To make it accessible they have built a glass walkway into the center of the library. It allows public access while preserving the temperature and humidity of the room in a way that allows for the books to be preserved.

The library with its collection of medieval books. In addition to religious works there are books on architecture, science, and wine making. Behind the small green door in the center are “forbidden books” on topics that were not explained in detail.

The last stop was the chapel. It had some interesting religious art but for me the most interesting thing was the design. There was a kind of wall with a door in it that divided the Nave (where the people sit) into two parts. Originally when there were about 80 monks living here the monks sat in front and the lay people sat in the back half. Today there are only 7 monks living on site and the youngest is in his 60’s. So the seats in the lay part of the church have been removed and everyone uses the front. Ton asked what happens when the 7 monks die and the guide said that it could be a big problem and hopefully some younger monks will come in the future.

The altar in the church with the original painting of St. Millan on the Unicorn with his sword of fire from the 19th century.

If the day had ended at this point it would have been remarkable. But more was to come as after we said good bye to the guide the five of us on the tour did not want to move on. So we continued to chat in the courtyard. The other couple on the tour were walking the Camino de Santiago for the third time and were retired park rangers from Yellowstone. They had served there at the same time that our son Dylan had been a ranger there and new of his experience with the Grizzly though they don’t remember meeting him. The wife managed the visitor centers in Yellowstone and said at the end that what she had just seen blew away any visitor center at a National Park in the US.

The other lady on the tour was an 80 year old from New York traveling by herself. On a whim she had taken a taxi from Logrono which is about 50 kilometers away. She said she was nervous but was now very glad she had. The five us continued to talk about what we had just seen for about 30 minutes when the rangers told us they needed to head to their room.

The door separating the two halves of the nave.

Ton asked Lauretta what time her taxi was coming from Logrono and she said 4 pm and she asked us if we would mind joining her for lunch. We both said of course. We asked the gentleman we had bought our tickets from if he could recommend a place-he said of course, and walked with us to the parking lot, he pointed at one restaurant and said he worked at that one from when he was 16 until he went to University, then he pointed at another restaurant and he said he worked at that one for the last 8 years because his wives family owned it. I asked if he was still married and he said yes so we went to the one owned by his wives family.

We spent the next two hours sharing another delicious Spanish meal and talking about travel and life. It turns out Lauretta who is a widow had been on a tour with some friends and one of the friends asked her to extend the trip to visit his son. But when the arrived in Logrono she noticed he wasn’t breathing well and she insisted he go to the hospital. It turned out his blood oxygen level was extremely low and they admitted him immediately. She had spent the last three days taking care of him and had not had a proper meal. Last night he was officially out of danger and his son insisted she take a day off so she had come here. We were both very impressed with her stamina and her bravery to travel on her own. She remarked that today had been a good day for her and thanked us for joining her for lunch as she had enjoyed the chance to relax and speak with us.

San Millan had a lot of nice street art.

Most days traveling are interesting and fun, a few days are annoying, but the good days outweigh them and keep us going. Then once in a while something magical happens like today. A day that you have low expectations for turns into a day that you will carry with you forever. A small village in Rioja where we saw one of the most innovative and interesting museums, that we shared with 3 fun and warm Americans as well as two proud and helpful Spanish workers will be a day we will remember for the rest of our travels.

Nature also contributed to our day by surprising with this beautiful flower on a fruit vine that we did not recognize.

September 30, 2026 Briones SP

When we arrived in Rioja Ton gave me a list of places we should visit so today we moved 7 kilometers to the next stop. Briones is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. It is set on a hilltop on the border of the Basque lands and Rioja with a commanding view of the Ebro River valley where much of the grapes for Rioja are produced.

Looking towards the Cantabria Mountains from the castle in Briones.

We found a good parking lot at the base of the hill and then began a strenuous climb to the center of the village. Google said it would take 15 minutes, but they don’t factor in elevation gain.

The church and the bank on the main square. The bank is the blue truck.

It is a picturesque village that has retained most of its original buildings, but it was eerily quiet. Most of the buildings appeared lived in but unoccupied. There were no kids on the streets, no sound of a school, and everyone we came across was at least 50 years old.

There were a few tourist oriented businesses, a couple of hotels/B&b’s, and a few restaurants. There was also a nice museum showing what a middle class home in Rioja looked like in the 1800’s. But no other sign of commerce or non-tourism businesses.

The view looking across the Rioja valley towards the Sierra del Demande.

It looks like the town has lost its bank as there was a truck parked on the main square with the logo of one of the main banks in Spain calling itself a mobile bank. In the right place this town would be teeming with tourists. Ton and I were quite startled with how very quiet it was.

Looking down from the town I saw a very large and modern structure. Ton had mentioned a wine museum near Briones, and this turned out to be Vivanco Winery which is the site of the wine museum. After finishing our walk through Briones we decided to head there.

When we entered the winery and inquired about the museum entrance fee the lady at the counter told us the price and then said for €10 more we could also do an English tour of the winery. Ten minutes later we were on the tour.

They had just finished harvest so there are no grapes left on the vines.

The tour guide was awesome, there were 4 couples on the tour and we had all done a wine tour before. He said great then he would focus on winemaking in Rioja instead of beginner winemaking. It was perfect. He started by saying this was the earliest harvest in the history of Rioja. Most of the time because of the geography of the valley harvest is spread out over 3 months with the grapes around Briones being one of the last to be brought in. I learned a lot about the bureaucracy of winemaking in Rioja which was both interesting and perplexing.

Some of the 4000 barrels of wine that make Vivanco a medium producer in Rioja.

This winery is new for Rioja having been founded around 1990. The facility was very modern and beautify designed. While the buildings are modern the process they use is traditional for their Crianza’s and Reservas which are the standard Rioja wines. But they produce 14 non-traditional wines that they use modern methods on.

The owner of the winery has a large collection of antique wine presses including this giant one in the museum.

After our tour we headed into the museum for what we thought would be the anti-climax. But the museum was amazing. It focused on different technologies needed in wine making and consumption including pressing, lab machines, storage vessels, and the largest collection of corkscrews in the world.

Part of the cork screw collection. I really like the one built into a rosary with the cross on the rosary acting as a cork screw.

We spent much longer in the museum than we planned and before we knew it was 4 pm and time to move to our next campground on the other side of the Rioja valley.

September 29, 2026 Haro SP

We had a couple of chores to run in the morning. So we set off to the post office about 10 am to send a postcard back to the US. We got to what I believed to be the door of the post office to find it locked with a note on it. The way I interpreted the notice was that the post office was only open from 1 to 3 pm today and tomorrow. If I was not illiterate I would have known that this service door was closed but that the rest of the post office was open. But based on my illiterate reading of the sign we wandered off trying to find something to do for 2 hours until 1 pm while muttering about Spanish productivity.

Our other chore was to try to find a step stool to help boost us up into François. Near the post office was a large Chinese Store. In Spain most towns have Chinese Stores that sell everything under the sun. And as the name implies they are usually run by Chinese families. The one here was quite large and stuffed to the gills with everything you could want from kitchen gadgets to clothes. Unfortunately their assortment of stools were all a little too tall for our needs so we failed there.

We still had 90 minutes until we believed the post office would open so we decided to head towards the bull ring in town to check it out. When we arrived it was also closed. So far our morning had not been very productive.

They have an annual wine battle in Haro which is a big attraction, but strikes us as a waste of good wine.

While our day had not been productive it had involved quite a few steps and a fair bit of climbing. We still had an hour to kill so Ton suggested a bar she had noticed across from the post office. As we arrived at the bar I noticed someone entering the post office from another door so we headed over there and entered into a very open and active post office. So I had egg on my face but we did get our postcard mailed.

The very large and impressively ornamented entrance to Mugu winery.

Now that we had accomplished our chores we could move on to the fun part of the day which was wine tasting. Our first stop was a big high end winery. We enjoyed the wine but felt a little neglected by the staff so after completing our tasting we decided to move to smaller winery.

Tihom winery where we felt much more at ease.

Tihom winery is a smaller winery than our first stop, but it had excellent reviews. As soon as we arrived we liked the vibe there. As we were settling we noticed the couple at the next table had gone through most of their wines. I asked them which they liked the best and I ordered a bottle for Ton and me to split. We struck up a conversation with them and they were a Brazilian-American couple from Mission Viejo California. We hit it off and a chance meeting turned into a full afternoon of conversation about traveling, driving a RV in Europe and how best to manage retirement.

They used to yes these large casks to ship wine by train.

After we finished our bottle at the winery they joined us in going back to François to try one of our Belgian beers. By this time we were all a little hungry so we decided to head into town for a late lunch. What we didn’t know was Tuesday was the day all the bars in Haro shut early. There was only one bar left open and it was shutting down. They were nice enough to let us pick a couple of Tapas, and offered a plate of tomatoes and cheese soaked in olive oil that was delicious. We continued our conversation with our new friends until nearly 6 pm when they had to work on getting a taxi back to a hotel in a village about 5 kilometers from Haro. So our frustrating day turned into a wonderful afternoon with two new friends.

September 28, 2026 Haro SP

We are in one of our visions of heaven. Ton came up with a plan to spend the next several days in Rioja which is a very famous wine region in Spain. Rioja wines are one of our favorites and today we are in Haro which is the center of the Rioja wine region.

The old town hall of Haro now decorated with wine barrels from some of the biggest producers near the town.

It was a short shift to Haro from Burgos. Strictly speaking our planing for this trip has not been great. Today we are closer to Vitoria than Burgos so we have doubled back significantly. But I guess at this point our travels are not about efficiency but enjoyment.

The center of Haro with the church in the background.

After about an hours drive we settled into our campground and headed into town on a reconnaissance. Because it was Monday we knew it would be quiet as many of the restaurants and businesses close on Monday.

This is part of the gastronomical part of town. We think it will be much more active tomorrow.

We did find a very nice restaurant open on Monday and as it was the only one open it was doing good business. We grabbed a table and I went to the bar to impose my bad Spanish on another patient Spaniard. Despite my stumbling Spanish we got what we wanted. I have been impressed about how nice the Spanish have been when I break out my bad Spanish on them. They are clearly fluent in English, but go along and even encourage me to try to speak Spanish instead of switching to English.

There are several wineries here in town that we plan on exploring tomorrow. We made a quick run out to the wineries and saw one Bodega open. We popped in and while they didn’t sell wine by the glass they were happy to sell us a bottle that we could pour a glass from and take home the rest . When the server delivered the bottle he also brought a nice plate of sausage and almonds for us to eat.

The winery where we enjoyed a nice glass of wine.

After we sipped our glasses of wine we packed up the rest of the bottle and headed back to François. Just as we returned there was some ominous thunder off in the distance, so we settled in for the rest of the afternoon and relaxed.

September 27, 2026 Burgos SP

We had a slow start to the day and enjoyed our breakfast and coffee before heading into Burgos to check on a couple of things we had not gotten to yesterday. The primary one was a visit to the Museum of Human Evolution which Ton said seemed interesting and was also free for seniors.

The interior of the Museum of Human Evolution.

The area around Burgos has a very important archaeological site about predecessors to Homo Sapiens. The Museum of Human Evolution was opened in 2011 and is now the most visited museum in Castile. It does a great job of educating you on archaeology and the evolution of man. It was one of the most educational museums I have visited. There was one exhibit where they discussed the effort to translate the very technical scientific words used amongst archaeologists and evolutionary scientists to words that were easy for the average person, but accurately communicated the concepts presented. They did a great job on this in both Spanish (I presume) and English.

One of the immersive displays at the Museum.

We really enjoyed the museum and emerged with a much greater understanding of the evolutionary development of man. The museum was much more interested in presenting knowledge than cool pictures so it is less photogenic than other museums. We really enjoyed it.

Ton had another Tapas restaurant she wanted to try so we headed down the beautiful promenade along the Alanzon River. There was a concert going on playing Spanish Pop hits that we stopped and enjoyed for about 15 minutes until it broke up at 2pm for siesta.

At the entrance to our Tapas bars there were barrels full of Vermuth, and other Spanish liquors.

One of the famous foods from Burgos is a blood sausage mixed with rice. Neither of us are big fans of blood sausage, but the beauty of Tapas are that they are small dishes so we tried one. This was the best blood sausage I have had (but will not be ordering), and Ton liked it and might even order it again. The Vermouth was excellent. After the meal it was time to head back to the campground.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing near the van and chatting with our Welsh neighbors for a bit.

September 26, 2026 Burgos SP

We were drawn to Burgos because it is the home of El Cid. He is the great hero of Spanish arms; the rough equivalent of George Washington to Americans or Lord Nelson to the English.

This statue in the center of Burgos is dedicated to El Cid.

El Cid was a minor knight born Rodrigo Diaz in the village of Vivar near Burgos. Over time he rose to head the armies of Castile in wars against the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza. Despite being victorious in many battles after a change of rulers he fell out of favor and was exiled. In exile he became a mercenary general for the Muslim rulers of Zaragoza in their wars with the Berbers. Eventually he ended up again fighting for Castile and eventually ended up the ruler of Valencia until his death. Ton and I were familiar with him because of the movie El Cid from the early 1960’s staring Charlton Heston. It is also interesting that one of the national heroes of Spain fought for both Christians and Muslims during his life.

The crypt holding El Cid and his wife Jimena Diaz in the Cathedral in Burgos.

Our first stop in Burgos was at the beautiful Gothic Museum. We have visited a lot of museums in Europe, but this one impressed me. It is a beautiful building as most Cathedrals are, but what I really liked was how they gave you a structure to the visit. You were guided through the Cathedral like it was a museum.

We were very impressed with the art work on the spires of the Cathedral.

You were routed in a very thoughtful way through the museum that gave me a much better understanding of the purpose of all the pieces that go into a giant building like this.

Ton gave me a list of 6 things that we had to find in the Cathedral. We found 5 of them on our walk, but we came to the exit without finding the “Flycatcher Clock.” Ton was bummed but I had an idea where it might be and took her around to the main doors of the Cathedral and there it was about 100 feet in the air on one side of the entrance. A small win for me.

The Fly Catcher Clock is right above the windows in the picture.

Having walked quite a bit to get to the city center, and then walked through the Cathedral for over an hour it was time for lunch. Ton had a tapas bar on her list and we were able to squeeze our way in and grab a table. Spain spoils you for food. We got two glasses of wine and 4 good sized tapas (one of which was a nice hamburger) for less than $20. Not only were they inexpensive but as usual they were delicious.

Now with some energy it was time to tackle some more sightseeing. Ton mentioned the castle and I googled it and it was pretty close in distance. What it didn’t mention was the nearly 400 foot climb. After a tough climb we arrived at what can only be called the ruins of the the Burgos Castle. There were a few intact walls and a lot of scaffolding supporting ruins, the views from the height were good, but the building itself was a bust.

Coming down from the castle we found this beautiful street art.

By this time we were really beat from the climb and decided to head back to the campground, but the climb down took quite a while as Ton was drawn to quite a few beautiful photo opportunities.

There is a lot in this photo, a nice square, some interesting medieval buildings and the Cathedral.

I lost track of Ton twice on this walk as she took off after something that caught her eye. Luckily after years of doing this we have a sense of where to find each other when we get separated.

Burgos has many of these bronze statues of normal people doing normal things scattered thru the city.

After a long day and over 7 miles of walking we got back to the campground only to find a Medieval Festival going full tilt just outside the entrance gates. We made a quick walk through the fair, it was nice and I enjoyed watching the knights hacking away at each other with blunted swords. But we were tired and decided to retire back to François for water and vermouth.

Part of the Medieval Festival going on outside the campground.

We liked Burgos, and at the end Ton suggested we extend our stay a day so we can take in more of the city tomorrow.

September 25, 2026 Burgos SP

Today we shifted regions from the Atlantic coast of the Basque country to the plains of Castile. The drive took us past the Costco in Bilbao so we swung in there to top off our fuel and buy some more food.

This mountain has been mined for a long time. The terraces run from the base of the mountain nearly to the top.

The first 1/2 of the trip was through mountains on a very good freeway. It was a pretty quick drive and we arrived at the municipal campground around 2pm. Rather than rushing into town we decided to do our laundry. After that we had dinner and relaxed.

September 24, 2026 Laredo SP

We have retraced our steps a little bit to visit Laredo. Last night we realized we had another month of free traveling and didn’t need to rush south. The coastal region we are in has several small towns that caught Ton’s eye so we decided to visit one.

An entry to the Playa Salve. The main attraction for Laredo.

We first considered visiting a small town called Santillana del Mar. We were intrigued because it is called the city of three lies, Santa in Spanish can be interpreted as holy, the city is not holy, Llana in Spanish means flat and the town is extremely hilly, del Mer means by the sea, and the town is not next to the sea. While it is pretty we decided to just drive through it rather than stop.

A cool archway in the old town of Laredo.

We turned up at a nice river side campground near Laredo. After setting up we took a little break before deciding to head into town. We have become big users of public transport in Europe and usually it is very convenient and inexpensive. But Laredo as we learned the hard way is the exception.

The nearest bus stop was 700 meters away and the bus ran once an hour. I put Laredo into google maps expecting it to give me the city center and it said it was 2000 meters. Two kilometers is usually the maximum length of our planned walks so I convinced Ton to walk instead of taking the bus.

The old town of Laredo much further than 2 kilometers from our campsite.

After about 35 minutes we arrived to what google said was Laredo and we were on a nondescript street surrounded by apartments. This was not the picturesque old town we were expecting. I found a restaurant that was in the old town and it turned out it was another 2 kilometers away. Ton gave me a bit of side eye and I deserved it, but we were now committed. We had never seen the one bus that is the municipal bus service for Laredo, google maps denied it existed and none of our ride share apps offered service. So we continued on foot. I told Ton we would find the bus when we got to the commercial district.

We finally arrived at the old town. It was nice, but it is really important in Spanish cities to catch them in the middle of the day or the evening. From 3 to 6 pm they are kind of dead. We found a nice cafe that was open in the dead time and ordered the two local specialties Anchovies and Calamari. They were both excellent.

The old town was nice but it was siesta time and we nearly had it to ourselves.

After the restaurant we headed to the bus station where I hoped I would find the bus that was rumored to run to near the campground, or a taxi. The bus station was not for local traffic but for long distance buses; if there was a city bus I couldn’t find it nor could I find a human being to ask about local buses. Nor were there any taxi’s. At this point I told Ton our only option was a 4 kilometer walk back to the campground. She wasn’t happy with me, but she was a good trooper and set off. Just to rub salt in my wounds about 10 minutes from the end of our hour hike back to the campground the only taxi (I presume) in Laredo passed us on a dirt road we were trudging down.

Sunset at the beach next to our campsite.

So Laredo didn’t make as good as impression on us as it would have if we could have cracked the code on transportation. But after we returned to François our Irish/Australian neighbors saved the day. We overheard them telling our British neighbors that the sunset was glorious on the beach next to the campground. So we headed over there at sunset and they asked us to sit down with them and share a glass of wine. It turns out they were celebrating there 40th anniversary and we were privileged to join them in the celebration. We had a wonderful hour long conversation about kids, traveling, and life that turned what had been a pretty mediocre day into a very good one.

September 23, 2026 Comillas SP

Early in the trip Ton handed me a list of places that she wanted to visit in Basque Country, and Comillas was underlined. Comillas is a small town on the coast with a beautiful beach and a quaint town center, but what made Comillas a must see for Ton was a very accessible home designed by Gaudi.

El Capricho de Gaudi. In English the Whim of Gaudi.

We are both fans of Gaudi and really enjoyed the Sagrada Familia when we visited Barcelona. We also walked past several of his other designs in Barcelona. The El Capricho is the first design beside the vast Sagrada that we were able to see the interior as well as the exterior.

The home is also called the sunflower house as ceramic tiles depicting sunflowers are used to break up the bricks that the home is built with. There are hundreds of tiles of sunflowers on the exterior walls as the person that commissioned Gaudi to build the home loved sunflowers.

Gaudi was commissioned to build the home by Maximo Diaz de Quijano who was a prominent lawyer and amateur musician. Diaz de Quijano was impressed with Gaudi’s vision of a more natural architecture with high craftsmanship in all details of the home.

A focus on nature and craftmanship on one of the wall sconces.

The flow of the rooms reflect Gaudi’s belief in working with nature. The bedroom faces the sunrise, and the rooms flow with the sun through the day. The office is next to the bedroom, the living room is sited to take advantage of the afternoon light, and this being Spain the dining room was sited to take in the sunset.

Each room had a beautifuly built fireplace in it.

The main floor rooms are well crafted and solid reflecting the social status of Diaz de Quijano. But the for me the more interesting and beautiful rooms were those in the attic where the servants lived. They have an airy and open feeling that I appealing .

This area was probably the sleeping area for the servants. The a frames and the light colored wood really make this space more airy than you would expect in an attic.

Gaudi also designed furniture and the home was full of examples of his designs for chairs. They also have flowing lines and references to nature.

This couples chair has seat backs shaped like apples.

There were little touches and whimsies throughout the house. Stain glass widows depicting birds, the railing on the watch tower made of wrought iron treble clefs in reference to Diaz de Quijano’s love of music.

The wrought iron railings and benches on the porches are a tribute to Gaudi’s father who was one of the leading produces of iron in Catalonia. Also I like the way the colors of the home blend with the colors of the flowers in the garden.

The final piece that really makes the home stand out is the watch tower that is designed to look like a Persian minaret. I don’t think there is a practical purpose to it, but it makes the home stand out from it’s neighbors.

The minaret that tops off the house. Covered in sunflowers of course.

Gaudi also designed the gardens to go with the home. He included a man made grotto and a horsehoe shaped front garden. The plants in the garden were designed to blend with the colors of the home.

The building went through some ups and downs in its history. The Diaz de Quijano family sold it after about 50 years. As you can imagine the upkeep was immense on the home, and over time it became run down. By the late 1960’s it was in danger of being torn down. Fortunately an owner was found who converted it into a restaurant that kept the building afloat for about 20 years.

The current owners purchased it when it was a restaurant but decided that it was not an appropriate way to maintain the building. Their intent is to restore it to its original build. It was not as easy as you would think as the original design documents were destroyed. A team studied written accounts and photographs to try to understand the exact layout and today’s museum reflects that research.

These stain glass windows with the bird playing piano are from the bathroom.

To get to the museum we had a pretty good hike as we opted to save money by staying in an aire outside of town rather than the campground on the ocean. As a result we got to enjoy Comillas in its entirety.

This is the campground we choose not to stay at. But, we saved €30 but our view is of an apartment building and a highway.

Comillas is a very nice town with a sleepy feel to it. But that may have been because we were there during the siesta. It may be quite lively at night.

This was the original town hall but is now a city museum.

September 22, 2026 Bilbao SP

Before 1997 Bilbao was known as the steel city of Spain. In the 1990’s the city was trying to find a way of participating in the booming tourism scene in Spain so they told the Guggenheim foundation they would fund a museum of modern art in Bilbao if the family would help develop it. In 1997 the Guggenheim museum was opened to the public.

The fog fountain on the exterior of the building.

Initially there was some negative reaction to the Americaness of the project. The Guggenheim’s are American, and the architect for the project was also American. But the finished building is strikingly beautiful, and the art inside curated by the Guggenheim foundation is drawing large crowds.

The exterior of the building is covered in titanium. Which seems appropriate given Bilbao’s history as a center of metallurgy in Spain.

We walked around the building taking in the exterior which is flowing and non-angular. The titanium exterior changes colors based on the natural light and contributes to the natural feel of the building.

There are several sculptures on the outside of the building including this giant spider.

The last feature on the exterior is a giant topiary designed by another American of a dog. It is not a serious piece of art but blends in well with the sense of the building.

This giant topiary of a dog sits at the entrance to the museum.

When you enter the museum you are greeted by an immense atrium that goes up over 150 feet. It is a mix of metal and glass and feels like it is cascading down from the ceiling.

Looking down from the top of the atrium to the main floor of the museum.

The building is a work of art in itself. Inside are permanent and rotating exhibits reflecting its focus on contemporary art. On the first floor is a giant hall of steel plate structures that is both simple and moving. One structure is a circular path that ends in an empty place that struck me as whimsical. You keep walking expecting to be rewarded at the end, but the reward is in the journey, not the destination. It seemed appropriate to our life as long term tourists.

This circular structure leads you to an empty hall in the middle.

There are several more of these steel structures with different shapes and stories. At the end there was a video showing the shaping of the steel plates on a giant press that may have been used to make steel forms for ships or other large structures. Besides being beautiful it paid homage to Bilbao’s history.

A painting by Jasper Johns based on the map of the United States.

The main traveling expedition was a retrospective on an American painter name Jasper Johns. There were well over 100 of his paintings and sculptures displayed. It is obvious that he was a very talented artist. The paintings were interesting and the craft that went into the execution was superb. I enjoyed exploring his works though they did not capture my imagination.

This was part of an immersive art experience designed by a Japanese-American artist.

We spent several hours going through the museum. It is an amazing place and is now visited by millions of people each year. The museum did put Bilbao on the map as more than a steel town.

Bilbao has an interesting architectural style with lots of apartments with wooden or cast iron balconies. The more we looked, the more we liked the “feel” of Bilbao.

On the way to the museum we intentionally took a long walk along the Nerbioi River that splits the old town, and the Abando district. As we spent more time strolling along the river the town won me over.

These buildings facing the river each had a very different kind of architectural theme. We don’t know if they were or it just worked out that way. Either way we enjoyed it.

The walk convinced me that my negative impression of the city yesterday was wrong. The longer we walked the more charmed I became. What I really liked was how well blended different architectural styles and eras were blended together. It was not a monolithic city but one with a fun diversity of styles.

Bilbao has a very wide range of architecture from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

After the Guggenheim we had some more excellent Pinxtos at a nice old bar in the commercial district of the city. Ton has been trying to find Txangurro crabs since we arrived in Basque country. Today we finally did and the Pinxto made from them was delicious.

September 21, 2026 Bilbao SP

After 3 aborted attempts to visit Bilbao we were determined to finally see it today. Armed with the location of an aire that doesn’t take reservations we left early from Vitoria. But Bilbao has a Costco so we took a chance on getting into the aire, to stop there first.

The center of Bilbao with a large Basque flag.

For the first time this trip we paid less than €2.00 per liter (very approximately $10 per gallon), substantially less in fact. That alone made the stop worthwhile. Than we spent an hour inside debating what would fit in François tiny fridge and cupboards. It is always a frustrating experiencing having to leave some very delicious looking things behind because they are too big to fit.

We finally headed up to the aire which has a spectacular view of the city from above. We pulled up and were assigned a space right away. We were planning on spending 3 days here, but were told there was a 48 hour limit. So instead of relaxing for a couple of hours we headed straight into the city.

The main market in Bilbao is an art Deco beauty which is the second largest indoor market in Europe.

Whenever there is a market to see it will be one of the first places we will go in the city. We arrived a little late and most of the food stalls had closed. The building itself was fun to explore and we really liked the stained glass windows on offer.

You would expect to find this stained glass in a Cathedral, but this one was in the market. The buildings are the apartments across the street.

The food hall was still open so we checked it out and planned the rest of our stay here. We didn’t eat, but shared a table with a young couple who raised their glasses in toast when we sat down.

The main thing we accomplished at the market was to purchase our tickets for the Guggenheim museum for tomorrow. Ton then identified a couple of key points of interest for me to punch into maps and we were off on our walking tour of Bilbao.

Bilbao has historically been one of the main industrial cities in Spain. You can see that this is a city built on making things. The center of the city is gentrified, but the rest of the city retains its industrial feel. It is the largest city in the Basque country and is very proud of its heritage. In fact the local soccer team only recruits players from the Basque country or of Basque heritage from overseas. Luckily for them Basques make good soccer players and they are competitive in the Spanish league.

We enjoyed our walk through Bilbao, but our travels have taught us that we like small towns and medium sized cities better than big bustling cities. Bilbao is a little on the large size for us.

We didn’t identify this imposing building, but it looked important.

After a few hours exploring Ton asked how far to the nearest bus stop and I pointed across the street. I checked the schedule and the next bus was in two minutes, so our first day in Bilbao was a few minutes shorter than planned.

September 20, 2026 Vitoria SP

We had no expectations about Vitoria. We picked it because we were looking for a place to wait for a day before we head into Bilbao. Ton read somewhere that they had the best preserved medieval center in Basque country, so we decided to check it out today. I almost waived off Vitoria because it doesn’t have a campground, but the city provides two aires that were both well reviewed- so Vitoria was on.

A major battle was fought near Vitoria during the Napoleonic wars. This monument celebrates the battle.

Vitoria made an interesting first impression. The road to the aire was a wide boulevard with trees down the middle. The apartments and offices on either side looked like they had been built in the last 20 years and had interesting designs that suited our taste. It did not look like the medieval city we were expecting. It made a good first impression on us because it was not what we were expecting.

The Instagram spot that every city seems to have to have these days. This one was a topiary.

The Autocaravanas Parking occupied one end of a municipal parking lot as is common in Europe. It requires a small fee to use and we pulled up to a barrier that we had to negotiate. A quick look showed that it required an app, I downloaded the app and put in the usual information, the last step to activate was for them to send a pin by text. I never got the pin. I tried several times but could not get the pin. While I was troubleshooting this I had a French lady come over and pepper me with questions (in French) while smoking, she didn’t hear my apology for not speaking French the first time so the questions kept coming while I messed with the app. The second time I broke out my “Sorry I am American and don’t speak French” in French, she understood and looking disappointed wandered off.

After another 15 minutes of Ton and I using both of our phones to try to gain entry, and sending a whatsapp to the app developer we finally got the pin we needed to pay the aire. The problem turned out to be our US phone numbers as the app doesn’t want to pay international text rates.

There’s a lot in this photo, in the foreground are the footings of the old city walls, in the middle is some modern street murals, and in the background is the tower of the Church of the White Virgin. This picture captured Vitoria for us.

Having conquered technology we decided to head into the city for the afternoon. We arrived at the tram spot just as the very sleek and modern tram pulled up. These days most trams and buses have pay stations on them so I told Ton to hop on and I went looking for the pay station. It turns out this time Vitoria is bucking the technology trend and still requires paper tickets you purchase before you get on. So now we were scofflaws. Fortunately the ticket police didn’t check and we got away with it while feeling guilty.

You can get a feel for the steepness of the hill by looking at the street against the buildings.

The old town is well preserved and nicely compact. The street going to it was full of large street art murals that Ton loves. We spent a good deal of time climbing the steep street and taking in the art. After we got into the old town we noticed the next street over had escalators going up the hill to deliver you to the top without the climb. This is a modern feature we have seen a few other times in Spain.

The old town was quite empty as Vitoria is not on the tourist lists. We think it has a lot to offer and wouldn’t be surprised to see it become the next hot place in Basque country.

Ton kept commenting about how Vitoria had a nice small town feel. I agreed with her but I also pointed out that I don’t think it is a small town, as small towns don’t have tram lines. Later Ton confirmed that the population was 260,000 people.

A palace and a section of the city walls..

After spending an hour in the quiet old town, Ton handed me the name of a restaurant to find. It had the simple name that translates into English as Restaurant #7. Walking to Restaurant #7 we descended into the modern city and found a street full of cafes, restaurants, and Pinxto bars and many of the people of Vitoria out enjoying the blue skies and perfect temperatures.

Vitoria was full of outdoor restaurants and Pinxto bars, and people enjoying them in the wonderful fall weather.

We arrived at Restaurant #7 and all the outside tables were full, but there was room inside and we managed to get a table. This restaurant had a four course menu of the day with a bottle of wine for €23. The menu was in Spanish only, but I got our drinks going in Spanish. The rest of the interaction with the waiter was in Spanish and though I suspect his English is better than my Spanish he made an effort to keep me in Spanish by coaching me a bit. It added to a good experience. We each picked a different dish for each course and they were all wonderful. Restaurant #7 has set the bar high for service, atmosphere and food for the rest of the trip.

We were very full and a bottle of wine is a big commitment for the two of us these days so after finishing the meal we walked it off for about 20 minutes before we decided to head back to François. This time I purchased our tickets, but after boarding realized I had not validated the ticket as required; so once again we had to sweat the fare police until we got off. The next time we ride the tram in Vitoria I will get it right.

Vitoria was a wonderful surprise for us. The kind of place we look forward to when we travel because it has history we don’t know, but feels like a place that is lived in, and not just looked at.

September 19, 2026 San Sebastian SP

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day just as predicted. We headed into town early to continue our Pinxto crawl. San Sebastian has really made its name as a foody city for good reason. We have not had a bad dish in our three trips here.

We came across this gentleman wrapping small rubber bands around the claws of these tiny crabs. He explained to us that they made excellent bait for fishing.

Pinxto bars are very informal, they are bars and at the bar there are small plates of various dishes. You just point at what you want they hand it to you and you head to a table to eat. It makes for a very informal operation, but the key thing is that the small dishes are delicious.

Typical pinxto’s. The one on the left is cod, the one on the right is octopus.

So today we spent the day stopping at a Pinxto bar for no more than two Pinxto’s with a beverage to wash it down, then going out and walking the town to take in a site. We repeated that process three times visiting a different bar each time, to complete a very satisfying day.

The entrance to the harbor in San Sebastian is spectacular.

When we first came to San Sebastian 8 years ago it was a tourist centered town, but since then it has become a hot town for tourism. The bars were all a little busier than we remembered from our first visit. But despite being busier the places still have retained the character and quality that impressed us the first time we came.

The proprietor of our favorite Pinxto Bar. No one behind the bar was under the age of 60. The clientele here was 80% Basque, 10% other Spanish, and 10% foreign. We really enjoyed this place.

There was a lot more activity around town associated with the film festival today than yesterday. I was on the lookout for stars, but didn’t see any.

One of the theaters hosting the film festival.

Today was the most walking of the trip, despite the old town being pretty compact. We just enjoyed strolling the streets taking in the sites and people watching. It allowed us to walk off our Pinxtos as well as the samples of Beer, Vermouth, Cider, Sangria, and Gin we tried today.

As we were walking we discussed how some towns just have a feeling that makes you want to relax and enjoy life. San Sebastian is definitely one of those. We could spend several more days just strolling the streets, sampling the good food and people watching. But alas we are going to move on tomorrow.

The harbor area is also lined with restaurants.

September 18, 2026 San Sebastian SP

The weather was supposed to be better than yesterday, but it wasn’t. The rain started around midnight and was still going when we woke up. It kind of put a damper on our plans for going into San Sebastian today. But, Ton did some research and found the San Telmo Museum had a well reviewed Goya exhibition so we had somewhere to go in the rain.

Basque cheese cake as served in the place that invented it, La Vina Bar.

But our first stop was to get some Basque cheese cake that Ton had been looking forward to since we arrived. The cheese cake was invented at La Vina bar and the word was to get there early before the line forms. Luckily for us early means before 1pm in Spain so we were able to get in and share a table with a Japanese couple. The cake lived up to Ton’s high expectations and I also give it a thumbs up. This is not something you should often eat as the recipe calls for 2.2 pounds of cream cheese, 2 cups of sugar, 7 eggs, 2 cups of heavy cream, and 1 tablespoon of flour. It has a flan like texture that makes it distinctive and delicious.

Having taken care of our dessert we decided it was time for some main courses. The thing to do in San Sebastian is a Pintxos crawl, which is like a pub crawl but with food instead of alcohol (sometimes food and alcohol). We moved down the street to a bar that Ton had read about and this time we were seated with a French couple. One of the nice things in Spain is if a table with 4 tables only has two people the restaurants have no problem seating another couple at the table. We had three Pintxos which are small plates like Dim Sum in China. They were all delicious.

It was raining on and off which kept the crowds down.

The San Telmo museum is an art museum and a Basque cultural museum. The main exhibition was a series of 80 Goya ink drawings known as the black Goya’s. These drawings reflect the conditions during the Napoleonic war and the return to the absolute monarchy after the war. The subject matter is very dark showing the horrors of war and repression in a very explicit way.

One of the drawings showing women fleeing a battle.

He did these drawings in secret as he knew they would not be approved by the post war royalist government. They were discovered after his death.

Another depiction of refugees fleeing the on coming army of Napoleon.

We spent over an hour looking at all 80 drawings. Some are very graphic depicting executions, mutilations, and rape. For this era when war was glorified they are a striking anti-war statement by one of the greatest Spanish artists.

This painting of Basque women is from the 19th century.

There was another gallery of pen and ink drawings from famous artists including Picasso, Rodin, Dali, and Goya. There was no theme to the drawings just examples of different artists sketches. We really enjoyed this.

There were two good galleries of Spanish artists we had not heard of that we found interesting. After the art there was an exhibition highlighting the history of the Basques and their role in Spain. There were several audiovisual exhibitions that we sat through that educated us on the role the Basques have played in key parts of history.

A painting showing the dresses and head gear of Basque women from the 18th century.

Unfortunately, part of the museum was closed in preparation for the 100th annual San Sebastian Film Festival which kicks off today, so we missed out on a couple of good exhibitions. The San Telmo is an excellent museum and it turns out we were lucky the rain drove us in there as we would have missed out on a good day.

September 17, 2026 San Sebastian SP

Our day was a simple one, we shifted about 350 kilometers south to Spain. It was an easy drive. We have a favorite camp ground we usually stay at near San Sebastian that we usually just show up for. But based on how busy campgrounds have been, the one we stayed at last night was probably 80% full by nightfall, I decided to try to book our favorite campground in advance. It was a good thing I checked as it was full. We looked for a plan B and found a campground on top of a pretty good sized mountain near San Sebastian and I booked a place for two nights. When we arrived today they were turning people away without reservations.

We are finding that shoulder season is becoming busier and busier. When we first started traveling here it never occurred to us to book anything. We would just show up and were always able to get a place. More and more near popular places we are booking in advance.

We spent the afternoon relaxing and will head into town tomorrow.

September 16, 2026 Saintes FR

We took a bound towards Spain today traveling about 350 kilometers to Saintes just north of Bordeaux. It was an easy drive, we took our time departing Rennes so we got here about 3pm just as six other campers arrived at the same time. The clerk at the check in looked at her full office and made the smart decision of taking an ID from each of us, throwing the gate to the campground open and telling us all to go park and come back to register and get our ID back when we were set up. Its nice to see someone with initiative and common sense.

Ton informed me on the drive that Saintes was known for 4 things, a Cathedral (of course), a Roman arch, a Roman amphitheater, and an 11th century abbey. Of the 4 the Abbaye aux Dames sounded the most interesting as it is a well preserved Abbaye for nuns from the 11th century. So after settled in we followed the Charente River to town.

The wooden roof in the Cathedral in Saintes.

As we were heading down the river towards the center of town we spotted the Cathedral so we popped over there for a check. The most interesting feature to us was the undecorated wooden ceiling. We think it is the first Cathedral we have seen without a stone or stuccoed roof.

After the Cathedral we spotted the very well preserved Roman Arch across the river so we headed over there for a quick look. The arch of Germanicus was built around 19 AD at the foot of the Roman bridge that crossed the river. We are getting a little jaded as something as well preserved as this arch from over 2100 years ago was met with a “that’s a nice arch”, a couple of quick photos and then we moved on. It is a well preserved arch that was almost torn down in the 1800’s because it was in the way when they were rebuilding the bridge. Instead it was relocated to a riverside park a couple of hundred yards away (so in a way I guess it was torn down, it was just rebuilt).

The French love carousels and this is the most high tech-modern carousel we have seen. It is set a little incongruously in the courtyard of an 11th century Abbey.

The next stop was the abbey. The abbey for women was founded by the Benedictine order in the 11th century and was an important part of the region until the French Revolution. During the Revolution the Abbey was turned into a prison and after the revolution around 1820 it was turned into an Army Barracks until 1944.

Part of the chapel and living quarters of the Abbey.

After the war the city acquired the buildings and have recently been running a hotel in part of the old living quarters for the nuns. The buildings are well preserved having been in continuos use since 1050.

The entrance to the Chapel of the Abbey.

We had hit 3 of the 4 big things in Saintes which left the Roman amphitheater. When I checked the map it would have meant a 2 kilometer round trip in the wrong direction so we decided that we have seen a lot of Roman Amphitheaters in our travels so decided to give it a pass.

Another shot of the Germanicus Arch to fill in for the missed Roman Amphitheater.

We had a nice evening stroll along the Charente to return to a bustling campground. Shoulder season is not as quiet as it used to be in Europe.

September 15, 2026 Rennes FR

Today was a maintenance day. The biggest chore was to get our laundry done. After we were promised yesterday that the washer at the campground would be fixed today- I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was. We had to wait in line to get our shot at the one washer, but after a couple of hours we now have all fresh clothes for the next week to ten days.

The only other thing on the agenda was to find a couple of Breton foods that Ton really likes. We failed on the unpronounceable pastry called Kouginamann, but succeeded in finding some of the buckwheat crepes the area is famous for. After that we relaxed before the rest of the day before we make the 700 kilometer jump to Spain over the next two days.

September 14, 2026 Rennes FR

Brittany is one of our favorite regions in Europe. This is the third time we have visited it. On our first trip to France we just touched the edges of it, but our visit to St. Malo was great and we fell in love with the food in the region. On a later trip to France we spent more than a week exploring Brittany in smaller chunks and were enchanted with it. We tell everyone who asks where to go in France not to miss Brittany. Despite this we had never visited Rennes the capitol of Brittany.

The Cathedral and the carousel two things we will always associate with France.

I was particularly looking forward to Rennes as I expected great things from the capitol of a region that I really loved. Our rough plan was to get some laundry done and then head into town if we had time after laundry. When we checked in I confirmed that they had a washer and dryer and the young lady said yes so I booked two days here. But when I stuck my head into the laundry room there was a note on the washer saying that it was broken. I went back in the office and the manager confirmed it was broken and that it was supposed to be fixed tomorrow. Ton thinks this is probably a Mexican mañana situation, I am hoping for the best. But strike 1 for Rennes.

Most of Rennes was destroyed by fire in the 1720’s so almost all of the houses and businesses date from the mid-1720’s.

After a short rest we decided to head for town for a visit. It was a quick bus ride to the center. Rennes has one of the youngest populations in France as it is the host to over 70,000 university students. Our experience with university cities has been good as we like the vibrancy the students bring. Rennes was alive, but it didn’t strike us as vibrant. Ton was a little turned off by the graffiti that peppered a lot of the buildings, it made the town feel a little dirty to her.

Rennes felt like a lot of mid-sized French cities. That is not a bad thing, because French cities have a unique vibe with the cafe scene, and the shopping. But what struck me was how little of the Breton Celtic influence was present. What we had really enjoyed about Brittany before was the unique mix of French and Celtic culture. We didn’t feel it here. So strike 2 for Rennes.

Another block of 1/2 timbered buildings.

After a couple of hours we decided to head back to the campground. The bus route was pretty straight forward and I expected us to be back to the campground in about 30 minutes with a 500 meter walk at the end. A few stops before the one for the campground I saw a sign saying there was a “Deviation” on our route. Deviation is the French word for Detour and it is a word I see and immediately go into a cold sweat. I tried to parse the details of the deviation but the details far exceeded my limited French. But I took solace in the fact that we were picked up at the campground so I figured they had to go by there as part of the “deviation”. In the end we got to the end of the route and everyone got off. So instead of a 500 meter walk at the end of the ride we had a 2000 meter walk and it is the hottest day of this trip. So strike 3 for Rennes.

Typical French street scene. We missed the Celtic piece you get in other parts of Brittany.

Luckily the campground is very nice and we are in a beautiful park. I am really hoping the washer gets fixed tomorrow to help Rennes redeem itself.

September 13, 2026 Oustreham FR

Sundays are always a good day for a long drive in Europe. The trucks are not allowed to drive so we are one of the slowest vehicles on the freeway. This allows me to set the cruise control and enjoy long stretches with a coffee in my hand while everyone passes us by. Today we covered about 200 miles and ended up at a campground smack in the middle of Sword Beach in Normandy.

Sword Beach was one of the 5 main landing beaches for the Normandy Invasion in WWII. The troops that landed here were nearly entirely British, though a small contingent of French Marine Commandos landed very close to the location of our campground. Unlike Omaha Beach (the beach depicted in Saving Private Ryan), the landing here was accomplished with very low casualties. The problems for the British came later as they attempted to reach Caen about 10 kilometers inland.

All along the promenade there were pictures depicting veterans of D-Day taken 60 and 70 years after the landings.

We took it pretty easy when we arrived. The campground we are staying in has been largely converted to small cottages. People rent the camping space by the year and bring in small 300 to 400 sq ft. cottages that they place on the spot. When we checked in we were shown to a spot between 3 of these cottages. One of our neighbors was cleaning a large bag of mussels they had procured somewhere. Ton struck up a conversation in hand signals and Franglish, and before we know it we were gifted a small bowl of them along with instructions on how to prepare them. Ton steamed them for our evening snack and they were delicious. It is these small interactions that make these trips special.

Our delicious gift from our French neighbors. The Norman mussels are famous in France, and these more than lived up to the reputation. It helps that they were in the ocean 4 hours before we ate them.

September 12, 2026 Amiens FR

We have been trying to visit Lille in northern France for several trips. Each time it has been on the agenda we have skipped it for one reason or another. So we were determined to stop this time. We found a campground on the edge of the city and as we drove Ton did a good deal of research on things to do in Lille, we were looking forward to the day. We arrived at the campground around 11:20 which should have been well before the French 2 to 3 hour lunch break. The campground looked nice and we could see plenty of places to park, but the office was closed. There was a sign to ring the doorbell which I did, but no response. There was another sign to call a phone number if no one answered the door bell. I did that and no one answered the call. I finally texted the phone number and did a quick search of the campground trying to find someone to no avail. So once again Lille remains unvisited.

We have decided to follow the Atlantic coast of France as we head down towards Spain, and the next stop we had planned after Lille was in Amiens. It wasn’t too much farther to Amiens so we decided to push on. As we drove Ton did some quick research on what to do so we could hit the ground running. The area between Lille and Amiens was the site of some of the most bloody battles of WWI. The British and Commonwealth troops were responsible for this area. The roads we were driving were lined with massive graveyards of British, Canadian, Australian, Indian, and Chinese soldiers. After a while Ton said the road reminded her of the trail of tears in the US and she began calling it the British trail of tears.

As we were driving Ton announced that the Amiens Cathedral was the biggest Gothic Cathedral in France by volume. I said that is a weird way to measure the size of a building, but she said nevertheless it is twice as big as Notre Dame in Paris by volume, with over 400,000 cubic feet of interior space. When we arrived I had to concede that it did indeed have a lot of volume to it.

An interior view of the Cathedral showing off its impressive volume of space.

The interior is massive and the ceilings are impressively high. It is quite a building and it luckily was largely untouched when Amiens was fought over in both world wars.

The beautiful stained glass windows were removed and safely stored during both World Wars so they have survived intact.

Amiens is split by the Somme River and it has a nice neighborhood of old homes that survived the wars mixed with newer homes built after WWII to replace homes that were destroyed.

One of the canals running through the city showing the mixture of 18th and 19th century homes intermingled with 20th century homes.

We spent a few hours wandering through the city and enjoying the perfect weather. But after a while we both realized that in our rush to get to town we had missed lunch and were famished. In France there is a period between 2pm and 6:30 pm when almost all restaurants are closed. Particularly in cities that don’t cater to tourists. Amiens is definitely one of those cities as we did not hear one non-French voice in our entire time walking the streets. So we decided to head back to François for the night and get some food.