The End of Part 1

Collioure, Palamos, Monresa, Pamplona 

07 -12 Apr 2026

We chose to stay in Collioure on the basis of a recommendation in “The back roads of France”  DK Eyewitness Travel (guide – we recommend them), because the campsite had a high rating from reviewers, and it was near a beach.  But it turned out to be much more than we had expected. On our second day at the campsite we walked “over the hill” into the village of Collioure… and that was a very pleasant surprise (the village I mean… the walk was just training!). I did say above that it “was the 4^th most sought-after small town in France.  Elsewhere on the web, we are told that “Collioure was voted France’s favourite village (Le Village Préféré des Français) in a 2024 poll, highlighting its immense popularity and charm.” – and it advertises this fact on a sign as you approach the village.

So what makes this the case – well… the setting is quite nice (azure waters, charming harbour, a castle (Château Royal), a 17^th Century Church with a Bell Tower that is set in an old watch tower, multiple forts on the hills above the town (we counted 4; it is the birthplace of Fauvism (it’s all about “colour”, not drawing – which I “get” now…!), artists like Henri Matisse and André Derain were drawn to its brilliant light and vibrant pastel colours – including on the buildings, and some interesting former residents include Patrick O’Brien (author of my favourite sea stories – with a central character that is Catalan – makes sense, now) , Henri Matisse, later Picasso came by as did Salvador Dali.

Apologies – but the history is interesting too!  As appears to be the case with much of France and Spain – there is evidence of human occupation since neolithic times. The Royal Castle (in the picture above) was present (in some form) as early as 673 (but fully rebuilt between 1242 and 1289). In the 12^th and 13^th centuries its Rulers changed names from time to time (between Roussillon, Aragon, and Majorca). After the marriage of the Catholic kings, Ferdinand V of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, Collioure and the whole of Roussillon came under the domination of the Spanish monarchy. And as time went by – still more forts were built on the hills above Collioure. In 1659, under Louis XIV, the city was officially annexed by France through the Treaty of the Pyrenees – but not without a fight! But then it got worse, the Marshall of France (Vauban) under the same Louis raised the town so he could build more and larger fortifications! The people objected – and in the end rebuilt the town on the current site. During the Spanish Civil war – many refugees sought safety here, with some treated very badly. Then, during WWII the Germans added seawall fortifications and installed cannons and key points around the coast.

We perused some of the streets referenced above – and indeed pastel colours say it all!

Other points of interest – two young women practising their synchronised dance steps (flamenco?)… while being videoed – TikTok??

A bunch of “old folks” playing pétanque on a “piste” in a park (trees etc as extra challenge) – i.e. just an area of gravel where in a wetter climate it would likely have been grass.  They were speaking English… and when I later processed the photos I took… one of the old guys had a tee shirt with New Zealand on it! Wish we had noticed at the time!

And – on the way to the village we noticed a Vinedresser, carefully filling a bucket (on a rope) from a stream, and then going and watering each (young) vine individually…

On the way back to the camp site, we visited the local beach, and Karilyn got her feet wet! I reckoned it was “cold”, but Karilyn insists that it was not as cold as Taupo.

The following morning, as it was fine and calm , and with just two more nights in BF, we repacked our suitcases and packs with all of our belongings – as our last night will be at a Motorhome only “aire” – and at that time we need to empty the cassette, grey water and fresh water tanks, a well as fill with diesel, and be at McRent in Sallent by 10AM.

After that we motored down to Palamos via a beautiful route along the coast for a substantial part of the journey. We found it surprising to see vineyards climbing down the slopes almost to the sea – salty grapes do make…???

There were more “pastel coloured towns too – in this case Cebere – where we stopped to buy some lovely French bakery treats, and sat on the beach to eat… and to feed the local dove population (one can only eat so much of a “traditional baguette”)..

Buildings in these places can often seem to be built in precarious locations – here is a restaurant on the side of the road just out of the village centre. It’s on a precipitous cliff, with parking for maybe one car (two at a pinch, if very small)… but it must be successful – as it looks like it has been there for a very long time.

Cebere is just 4km from the Spanish Border – so hosts a large marshalling yard for railway goods traffic. The line then enters a tunnel, and on the other side in Spain, at Portbou there is another very large rail marshalling yard (below)!

Next stop – “Area Municipal” in Navarcles, a few kilometres from McRent in Sallent… after which we will take a train into Barcelona, then on to Pamplona on a Fast Train.

Except – to get there, we decided that we needed to travel on our final “green labelled” (i.e. Scenic”) routes – first along the coast to Tossa del Mar (which is the location pi

ctured on the front cover of our travel guide for Spain) and then over our last mountain pass, the Montseny Massif (1145m), before finally getting into “Area Municipal”, just a 10 minute drive from Sallent (where we need to return BF)  Accordingly, for much of the day it was 40 – 50kph roads – with just a few 10s of kms on Autovias (max speed, 120kph).

But first a few photos from Palamos, another of those “beautiful” towns / bays on the Costa Brava (which runs from the French Border down to just north of Barcelona).

Nothing much was yet open – but the cafés were being whitewashed and the grounds / gardens tidied, in preparation for the Summer visitors. And yes – that is the ruins of a castle (Castell de Sant Esteve de Mar) that you can see, if you look closely, on the furthest headland. It’s a ruin now – but construction began in the12th Century… later Palamos became the Port for the royal fleet of Peter II of Barcelona. But late in the 18^th Century, when it no longer served a defensive purpose, a farmhouse was built on top of the castle, taking advantage of its materials and structures! Another early example of recycling…

The coast road was very “windy” – but had beautiful views of the coast, and the villages that run down to the azure sea where water courses have created narrow valleys – and thereby, access to the sea. The road was reasonably wide, for the most part – but we were always just a few 10s of centimetres off a rock wall (a bit “harder” than the equivalent feeling in the Pyrenees – where the wall was “snow”  plus a hidden Armco barrier!. The other hazards one meets along these roads (here, and in the Pyrenees) are many many cyclists – often in pairs – but also on occasions in “bunches”… passing them can take a while, as you trail along behind them at 15 or 20kph as they pound up the hills!

We must have seen at least 100 today, and it is a Thursday. Can’t imagine what it would be like on the weekend!

We found that these small villages do not have parking for motorhomes so today, we are just enjoying them from above – as we don’t have time to park outside, then walk in.

After something like 2h from leaving Palamos – we finally reached Tossa de Mar – a distance of about 39 km. 

Yes – it too has been continuously populated since Neolithic times, and of course, the Romans were here in the 1^st century (AD). Sometime in the 12th century, the medieval town was walled off and a castle was built on the highest point. In 1989, Tossa de Mar was the first place in the world to declare itself an anti-bullfighting city…. But like we said above, no parking, and being on the “home stretch” meant that we didn’t get very close to the Village, and Castle – but it looked just fine, even at a distance and with poor lighting!

And zooming a little on that photo… shows a little more detail of the castle…

Time was passing, so we transitioned onto our route for Navarcles via the Montseny Massif… it was a little more windy than I anticipated, and although the road only ascended to 1145m, it was slow going for perhaps 50km.

But the views were quite spectacular in part because we were travelling over densely wooded mountainsides – without villages evident! 

We arrived late afternoon into “Area Municipal”- a motor home park over place created by the town – complete with grey water and chemical cassette emptying for free, and power and fresh water for a small charge. It was in a lovely spot beside a river – and our fellow campers were friendly – enabling us to pass on all of the supermarket goods that we had not been able to consume by now (e.g. water, coffee, rice, cooking oil, washing powder etc…). We didn’t offer the remainder of my Vegemite to anyone – it went in the rubbish bin (sad)! 

Then, after a final interior clean – we returned BF to McRent in Sallent.  They were happy that we had done no further damage to the vehicle – and repaid our deposit.  Of course, we have no idea if we picked up any traffic infringement notices along the way – we passed a lot of speed cameras – and it wasn’t always clear what the speed limit on any section of the road actually was.

Our total distance travelled: 6,412km, over 57 days, using 639 litres of Diesel at a cost of €1,126, at an average cost of €1.76/litre (or around NZ$3.56/litre). And with that, our circumnavigation of the Iberian Peninsula came to an end.

Now for public transport… McRent ordered a taxi to take us to Manresa Railway Station, from which we would take a train into Barcelona Sants, after which we would take a fast train to Pamplona… then a taxi to our Hotel (there was some symmetry to this plan!).

On reaching Manresa Station – instead of buying a ticket for Barcelona, we were given two free tickets to the same destination.  It wasn’t quite clear as to “why”… but it seemed to relate to a problem with the rail system that meant there were no trains passing through Manresa last Friday.  So, the free ticket gave us a bus ride to Terrassa, then a free train ride to Sants.

Which provided us with another nice view of the Monserrat Mountain range.  The “R” train into the city (from Terrassa) was nicely decorated on the outside too. At Sants (once above ground) we had a nice view of the apartment we stayed in when we first arrived in Barcelona.

The train to Pamplona was an RNFE Alvia model – so only good for 250kph, but it can automatically change from one track gauge to another… without stopping! It was 30 minutes late into Sants – and the platform changed at the last minute – which led to a rush across the station (from Platform 6 to Platform 1 – for those who have visited this very large station).

A very nice way to travel – and when getting along at speed – it made the cars on any adjacent Autovia (travelling at 120kph) look like they were standing still.

We first travelled west south west (getting quite near Tarragona – our first camp site location), before heading in a more north-west direction – and the sun set over a landscape that varied from dry and arid near Zaragoza to lush and green as we got closer to Pamplona… and we passed what must have been hundreds of wind turbines spread across the landscape.

Hotel Europa, where we are staying in Pamplona is right in the Old City, close to the Bull Ring, the large Plaza del Castillo, and just one street away from Estafeta which is on the San Fermin Bull run route!   

On Saturday morning – there was a market in the square – that seemed to have a focus on locals.  Old coins seemed to be one of the biggest items being sold here – there were hundred s of different coins on almost every table. On others you could buy an old hair dryer, or some other form of bric-a-brac!

Walking down Estafeta Street…

As it was a little after 1PM by this time we of course encountered some arriving pilgrims crossing the Magdalena Bridge (built in the 12^th century, with Gothic details added in 1963!) into the city – and among the first we spoke with one was from Nelson, and another from Canberra.

The Australian commented that the walk up to Orrison is the steepest part of the path over the Pyrenees. On hearing this, we were pleased that we had decided to only go to Orrison on the first day. And as of today, the forecast for next Wednesday is for sun, with a max of 16C – which if it comes to pass will be “perfect”.

It’s a nice looking bridge – even if has lost its 12^th Century appearance!!

We have now done the “laundry” both at a “beautiful” Meile” Laundromat (very different from the dingy holes that they often are), and in the Chinese one  - over the bath!

Now – all we need do is re-pack the two suitcases ready for transport to Santiago de Compostella. and our packs for the walk…

Which brings us to the end of this part of the blog.

Tomorrow (Monday) morning (10AM) we will be on the bus to St Jean – two nights there, then we start our walk on Wednesday 15^th April.