Wednesday 4th September

Drizzle! It always sounds worse in the camper van, but it was drizzling persistently as Bryn and I tried to find a patch of green where he could have a run. The best we could find was a small copse of trees surrounded by light industrial units and car storage compounds (I guess many Andorrans don’t have car parking near their apartments?) and by the time we got back to the van it was raining heavily.

We drove through Andorra into France. Poor old Andorra, it really is just a linear country that exists either side of the road from France to Spain. At least that makes navigation easy – which was handy! The steep valley sides were playing havoc with our sat nav’s reception and the poor thing was having a meltdown trying to find where we were. 

Visibility was extremely poor in the heavy rain so we couldn’t even enjoy the dramatic scenery. The border with France was the high point of our trip so far! No, not leaving Andorra – though that was good – but in altitude; 2030 metres!

WhatsApping between the two vans (yes, we have phone coverage now we are back in the EU) we decided that we were not going to stop in Ax les Thermes as it was too wet and cold, so we drove straight to Carcassonne stopping only for a mid morning coffee and croissant at Foix in a roadside café.

Just before lunch, as we left the autoroute, we caught a glimpse of the magnificent old town of Carcassonne! Our campsite for the next couple of nights is Camping de la Cité, on the banks of the river Aude, almost in touching distance of the town walls. This will do nicely!