Next on the agenda was Vallbona de les Monges, another monastery town. I was depending an awful lot on this town as our overnight stop. Basically this was the only viable option around here and I wasn’t sure there was anything else that wouldn’t require a long drive. 

We arrived at the town and, whilst I’ve generally learnt to ignore some of the more ludicrous Satnav recommendations, the instruction to take a sharp left seemed logical as to stay on the road we were on would surely take us away from the town. So we tentatively started down this narrow street, being able to see that we could make it down, and at each twist and turn, whilst confidence diminished a little, each subsequent stretch was doable, and we made it out the other end. Now I know that if Sophie were writing this there would be a little more melodrama. 

So disaster averted, we faced the next concern that the so-called aire appeared to just not be there. However, I managed to park between some trees and all seemed well. Confused, I left Sophie simmer down after our lovely tour of the town’s medieval narrow streets, and on foot, with Satnav in hand, I was determined not to be beaten. But there it was, gone, so I followed the road signs to a half-decent parking area. However, having walked it I wasn’t keen to take the motorhome there and put Sophie through any further discomfort. 

I returned to say that wasn’t this a lovely spot, and Sophie agreed as long as the sports/play area in front of us didn’t turn out to be noisy. I then decided to stroll in the other direction just in case and this is when I discovered a brand new aire, with all the facilities and no other punters, with an incredible aspect and view. Whilst chairs etc aren’t permitted, the good folk of Vallbona de les Monges have provided benches, and this where I’m typing this email, enjoying a beautiful evening as the sun slowly sets, with a glass of Lidl Cava in hand. 

By the way, I did wander up earlier to the main road and this motorhome parking area is well signposted, and I would have seen it if I hadn’t made that sharp left turn. 

We are definitely overdue our first lunch out in Spain, so maybe this will be tomorrow. 

Progress so far is as follows: