This was a big test for an old Bongo – Spain in August with searing heat (40 degrees in places) and some big climbs up into the Pyrénées and the Picos de Europa. I wasn’t planning on a comprehensive tour, we’ve been to Spain & Portugal many times and have done Madrid, Lisbon, Valencia, Seville, Córdoba, Gibraltar, the Spanish Costas and the Algarve and the like. But there’s a lot more in Spain that we hadn’t seen, plus a few interesting places in France on the way down, so this seemed an ideal opportunity to hit them all in one tour. There were also some interesting places in England to check out on the way to Portsmouth.
Summary
Three weeks
7,460km (4,635 miles)
Accommodation / campsite cost - nil
Thanks to:
Ady (Northern Bongolow) for vital pre-trip maintenance
Alison01326 for suggesting northern Spain in the first place
Boyfrombrasil (and Susie too) for putting a smile on our faces in Cantabria as they stumbled across our parked Bongo
Briwy for the use of their pad in the Pyrénées
Dodgey for advice on solar panels & leisure batteries
George (BongoSpares.co.uk) for secondhand parts – just in case
Imperial Leisure Vehicles for the original vehicle
Muz Jr for spending a couple of days copying & pasting links for this report
UmBongoCat & UmBongoChris for showing us the ropes in the Aires de Services in France last year
Warrington Mazda for every new Genuine Mazda part you could wish for
Our rough plan of attack
This turned out to be the biggest tour we’ve ever done (in distance and time) in any vehicle. There was a bit of a gastronomic angle too, seeing as there was a good chance of stumbling across some good wine, cheese & cured meat. And Bongy was akin to Quijote’s horse, Rocinante – awkward, past his prime, and engaged in a task well beyond his capabilities.
The 15th century Kirby Muxloe castle in Leicestershire that was never completed
Common moorhen at Kirby Muxloe castle
The castle was for William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings but work stopped when he was executed by Richard III
A very territorial heron according to the English Heritage staff at Kirby Muxloe
The moat is impressively wide as it was built as a real fortress, rather than how Disney depict moated castles
2 New High Street, Headington, Oxfordshire. You know it makes sense
SR.N4 hovercraft – How I wish I had a go in one of these when they were operational….
….Dover to France in 22 minutes – Years ahead of EuroTunnel
They still run the much smaller AP1-88 hovercraft over to the Isle of Wight (excuse the blurry pic, this was over a mile away
) My hovercraft is full of eels….
HMS Victory, you can’t pass through Portsmouth….
….and not take a look at Nelson’s flagship,….
….the world's oldest naval ship still in commission
I was surprised how big it is, especially how many decks there are and how much was below the waterline
I was also surprised how many times I smacked my head on the beams & doorways
Here Nelson fell. I must admit I nearly tripped over this myself
Victory
HMS Warrior from 1860. It looks pretty unspectacular….
….but this was the first armour-plated iron-hulled ship and it changed naval design forever
Southsea Castle, one of Henry VIII's Device Forts. It was built in 1544 at the southern end of Portsea Island to guard the eastern entrance to the Solent and the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour
The Round Tower, one of Portsmouth's oldest permanent fortifications, built in 1418 to defend the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour
Portchester castle from across Portsmouth harbour. The building with the orange roof in the centre is the Norman St. Mary’s Church within the castle grounds
Portchester castle – St. Mary’s Church to the left and the castle keep to the right
Last chance for some proper English food before we go - Cockhills fish & chips, Portsmouth
Brittany Ferries Bretagne for an overnight cruise to Saint-Malo
From 1989 it’s a bit dated now but at the time it was Brittany Ferries’ first super-ferry
Portsmouth docks
Bretagne
Bretagne
Bretagne
HMS Illustrious back home, awaiting being scrapped
Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth
Spitbank fort, one of several late 19th century Palmerston sea forts built to protect the Solent and the entrance to Portsmouth harbour. The 2002 TV series Banged up with Beadle was filmed here
Horse Sand fort, one of the two main sea forts, together with….
….No Man’s Land fort which has been a hospitality centre with indoor pool and two helipads. Some of the 1972 Sea Devils series of Doctor Who was filmed here. All large marine traffic has to pass between these two forts as the WW2 submarine defences still remain to either side
What better way to start the holiday than with pink champagne & strawberries
Cheers!
With only one Euro-socket in each cabin, it’s a good job I brought the Bongo’s cable collection on board
Awww
Fort de la Conchée on the island of Quincé, Saint-Malo
Fort National, Saint-Malo, built in the late 17th century to protect the port
Saint-Malo and the Cathédrale Saint-Vincent-de-Saragosse, Brittany
The historic walled city of Saint-Malo was almost totally destroyed by allied shelling in WW2 and took until 1960 to rebuild
Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, with the Benedictine Abbey at the top. I was keen to visit this to compare with Saint Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, opposite across the Channel – pictures from that tour towards the end of THIS lot in case you missed them
Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy
First of many
Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy
Mont Saint-Michel – the apse of the Gothic choir in the Church-Abbey
Mont Saint-Michel cloister
The northern transept of the Church viewed from the cloister
The vitrail window in the northern transept, and it’s not as plain as it at first appears
From Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy. The tidal island aspect made it easy to defend, it remained unconquered during the Hundred Years’ War
Château d'Angers, Loire valley, founded in the 9th century by the Counts of Anjou....
....it is the home of the Apocalypse Tapestry
First night, wild-camp by the side of the Loire, Maine-et-Loire
I think that’s the last of the Morrison’s sausage rolls we brought with us
Foreign food from now on 
Um Bongo. They drink it in the Congo
Not too bad a setting for the night
Sunset over the Loire - That's the Varennes-Montsoreau bridge in the distance....
....that was destroyed by the French Resistance in WW2 to slow the Germans down
Château de Montsoreau, Maine-et-Loire, setting for the Alexandre Dumas novel La Dame de Monsoreau
Netto
You know it makes sense, although this is nothing to do with the Netto we used to have in the UK
Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, founded in the 10th century by Odo I Count of Blois, and acquired by former Queen of France Catherine de' Medici in 1560
The Cosimo Ruggieri room, named after Catherine de’ Medici’s astrologer
The Great Salon, Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire
Only the French would do this. A kissing-chair (tête-à-tête) for three people
The Chapel, Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire
The courtyard, Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire
River Loire, longest in France
Château de Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, largest of the châteaux in the Loire Valley, it was built to serve as a hunting lodge for King Francis I
Aumont-Aubrac wild-camp, Lozère
Aumont-Aubrac
Ham, cheese & Wotsit butties
Millau, Midi-Pyrénées
Millau viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world over the river Tarn
Millau viaduct
Millau viaduct
Millau viaduct. It’s tall
Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, Midi-Pyrénées. I do like a bit of cheese, Gromit
Roquefort-sur-Soulzon and its Parish Church
Société cheese caves, Roquefort. There are currently seven producers of Roquefort, Société are the largest....
....but more importantly the only one to offer English-language guided tours, so if you want to know the ins & outs of the saprotrophic mould Penicillium roqueforti, your choice is made
Roquefort. It would be rude not to sample the three best-sellers they do
Oh, and by the way, they're not Kraft cheese-triangle-sized pieces, that's an 11" diameter chopping board, standard fitment in most Bongo conversions 
....and take a huge (1.5kg) dollop of the strongest they do, the Cave des Templiers (as a reference, those are regular 2.5" diameter crackers
)
Cheese please Louise? – One pallet or two?
Roquefort-sur-Soulzon
Looking north-west along the Le Soulzon valley
The red wine drinker's Holy Grail, Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Now anyone who knows what’s what about French red knows you’re going to get a nice tipple here (just look on the top shelf of your supermarket wine aisle
)
This is what it’s all about
Château Cabrières, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. What an ideal place to stop for the night....
....especially as they offer tastings too
....properly expensive tastings too, 29-year old plonk
That’s me set for the night
Cheers. Hic
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The 14th century Château des Papes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The name literally means the Pope’s new castle, built for Pope Jean XXII
Château des Fines Roches, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Avignon and their TGV (by the way, their TGV was tested in 2007 at 350mph and regularly operates at 250mph - our HS2 due for roll-out in 2029–2033 will be capable of - wait for it - 250mph
)....
....to Marseille. Not that I don’t fancy driving in Marseille, but there’s nowhere to park Bongy
Onto the Chevalier Paul, named after the 17th century admiral Jean-Paul de Saumeur....
....to the Frioul islands and the Château d’If
Fort Saint-Nicolas protecting the entrance to the old port of Marseille from the south
Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica
Fort Saint-Jean protecting the entrance to the old port of Marseille from the north
Fort Saint-Jean
Château d'If in the Bay of Marseille, a real fortress....
....made famous in Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo
Château d'If & Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica
Cathédrale La Major, Marseille. You can just see the remains of the old Cathedral too, to the right
Marseille old harbour, used as a natural harbour since antiquity. The white-washed St. Augustin Church is where the headquarters of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (the Knights Templar to you & me) originally stood
Never an opportunity lost - The Count of Monte Cristo
Never too hot....
Église des Réformés, Marseille, more properly the Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. It was built on a demolished convent and chapel of Reformed Augustinians
Marseille Saint-Charles railway station
Meanwhile, back at Avignon....
The remains of the original 12th century Pont d’Avignon across the Rhône. I can feel a song coming on…
The Papal Palace at Avignon, one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe
Avignon Papal Palace
)
Eduardo Arroyo’s bronze unicorn suspended from a Palfinger crane in the Plaza Puerta Castillo, León – modern art 
