Post It from Camping Les Bruyeres, Maureillas, Pyrenees-Orientales, France, Friday 19th September, 2

After posting the story from the new site we visited at Millau I decided to do a quick check on Club Together and saw a recent post from Valda regarding the floods in the Languedoc region which had resulted in some deaths on campsites as the river flooded following torrential rain on high ground. It shows that posting and checking on CT can be a good thing, thanks Valda. We would never have known and I was able to inform other persons on the site who were also in the dark about the situation.

As we had planned to stay on the coast near to Adge, where there was also some flooding, we opted to move closer to Spain and found this site just off the main route and close to the border using the ACSI App. The weather was dry compared to the forecasted rain around the Adge area and the heavy thunderstorms we had during the night at Millau.

On the way south along the A75 we saw lots of flooded land where the river had broken its banks yet the surrounding lands looked as though they had not seen any rain. We had also driven through some pretty heavy rain storms as we descended from the higher land.

Getting to this site was easy and it was definitely in picturesque country side in the foothills of the Pyrenees’ but once through the gates we discovered it was as described, in a wood and a sloping site. Sloping was not the problem really it was the sandy road inside with some quite steep climbs which meant I buried my front wheels at one point and the wheels begun to spin. Not a happy chappy at that really as the clutch started to smell a little as I managed to drive out of the rut, but hopefully all will be well.

The site was set in amongst the tress with reasonable size pitches where levelling blocks were needed. It had a small bar and a small pool which looked inviting in the very high afternoon temperatures. Whilst it was a good place to stop the night we decided to move on the next morning to our first intended long stop destination, Sant Pere Pescador just across the border near Figueres. A free 30 minutes of Wi-Fi allowed me to post this story as well.

Smokee was enjoying the warmer weather but I could not get over how hot it actually was and he has taken to laying on the floor on occasions between the cab seats, which is a first for him. Normally the floor area of the van is far too cold for him and he spends his life up on the seats and their back, basking in the sun when it is available. As I type it is 32.3ºC in the shade inside the van! Although it does not feel that hot with a pleasant breeze coming through the van windows and door. Looking forward to being on the coast again though tomorrow.

Regards, Roy