Potes re-visited but not as we remembered it!

We visited Potes back in 2013 on our motorbike and liked the area so decided to re-visit. However, the campervan explosion has happened since and the place was rammed, so we didn't stay very long.

We stayed at the same campsite, La Viorna, with stunning mountain views and a lovely pool.

View from Ermita de San Miguel

From Potes we drove west into a less touristy area and stayed at a new Municipal campsite at Villamorey.

A short drive from here is the Ruta del Alba hike up a gorge to a Refugio Cruz de los Rios - a refuge at the crossing of two rivers. It was a lovely hike but right at the limit of what Phil's hip can do! Here are some pics.

Menu del Dia con Sidra

Torreon de Villamorei

Leaving Sunday morning

We passed a local Cattle and Horse fair

We had hoped to stop for a night in Somiedo Nature Park but the campsite we liked was closed for a few days and the other one was a bit oppressive, so we moved on. Maybe another time because there is the possibility of seeing some bears in the Park.

On route to a cash machine!

Autumn in Northern Spain

Our next trip was a short stint via France to Northern Spain. Before we took the ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo, we stopped off at Petworth House set in some lovely parkland.

Lovely Lurcher!

You can just make out the Lido at St Malo

After exploring St Malo, we spent a couple of nights on a campsite at La Trinite-sur-Mer, near the stone alignments at Carnac, which we visited after a game of table tennis!

There are hundreds of stones!

We also visited the Neolithic megalithes at Lochmariaquer - three different structures in one location. The Great Broken Menhir is massive, about 300 tonnes and possibly from another alignment! How did they move and lift this up over 2000 years ago?

The Great Broken Menhir

The Table des Marchands, a Dolmen covered by a cairn, is an ancient burial site. Inside are some interesting engravings. This has been rebuilt so is not as it was found.

The Table des Marchands

Our first stop in Spain was in Zumaia, on the Basque coast, a nice small town on the Rio Urola, where they celebrated the Octopus while we were there, washed down with some local Cider. We also took the local bus to Donostia-San Sebastian for a day.

Looking back at Playa de Santiago

The Playa de la Conche at San Sebastian

That's how you pour Cider here!

Near Zumaia is what's called The Flysch, a sequence of alternating layers of Sandstone and Shale or Mudstone. The layers of flysch act like an enciclopedia of Earth's history revealing details of geological and climatic changes over millions of years. A boat trip gave us a great view.

We has a roasting night - about 30!