Luckily for the Alternate Navigator, who feels the cold more than the P-P variety the November weather was remarkably clement, and her thermals remained (for the time being!) in the luggage compartment. (such that it is in a Morgan!)
After a good run down through Le Mans and Tours, we reached Usseau, to stay once more with our good friends Jean Marie and Marie Andre, the proprietors of Chateau de la Motte. (
www.chateau-de-la-motte.net)
Marie Andre’s cooking was, as ever, superb, featuring in particular vegetables from their extensive vegetable garden.
Our next stop was Mimbaste, near Marseille. The chateau we booked was chosen from Alastair Sawdays’ guide, and the term “exceptional” was appropriate! Maison Capcazal de Pachiou (
www.capcazaldepachiou.com) was better stocked than the average museum – apparently the interior had been furnished by Francois and the previous 14 generations of his family!
The Morgan shared the car park with the resident herd of goats, despite Francois’ best efforts at control.
We set off in full weather gear (the Morgan not blessed with a hood in order to provide an acceptable amount of luggage space for the Alternate Navigator) as torrential rain fell.
650 kms to our next stop near Burgos in Spain was not an alluring prospect! Crowded motorways – either under construction or with road works – round St Sebastian resulted in one of the less enjoyable drives of what was to be a long day. However the small hotel Posada Real La Vadima (an ex monastery) at Ledesma was excellent, although once again we were the only guests. Despite this we enjoyed an excellent meal made from fresh local produce with a local wine to match.The following day was sunny, if rather cold, and in daylight we were able to appreciate the wonderful scenery in the neighbouring countryside.
Avoiding the main roads (only 450 kms today!) we passed through the attractive hills of Sierra de la Pena de Francia. Stopping to buy food for a picnic (the joy of a warmer climate!) at La Alberca was a good choice. The town was a wonderfully preserved medieval village, virtually untouched (or so it appeared!) for centuries – some buildings literally so!
The Navigator made friends with a local resident who basked in the sunshine (and the publicity) in the town square, before going on to buy some of her cousin in air dried form from one of the many charcuteries!!
We then retraced some of our route to the Maroc Classic the previous year going through the superb Extramueda National Park home to over 300 Griffin Vultures The weather held and we arrived in good time (ie, not in darkness!) at one of our favourite Spanish small hotels, Vina las Torres (
www.vinalas torres.com) with wonderful views over the vineyards of Trujillo (HPIM 1037). The owners, Juan Pedro and Belen gave us a great welcome, and we were treated before dinner to recitals by their daughter Marina (piano) and son Alejandro (recorder). We left next day to meet up with the rally in Ronda. We, along with 6 other cars had elected to start at Ronda, to compete for the Morocco Cup in so doing avoiding the hectic dash across France and Spain which was the lot of the Maidstone starters.
The Ronda hotel was part of the excellent Parador chain, located in a breathtaking position overlooking the magnificent gorge of the Rio Guadalevin - apparently the scene of executions in past religious persecutions.
To be continued
11 Nov 2009
Post Peking-Paris Stuff 
