Day 12 was a nearly 90 mile ride from La Reole to Mirande. It was a bright and sunny morning in La Reole when we set off and Mrs M took behind the wheel of Glen for the first time giving Gan Gan a vert well deserved day off after 11 continuous days of driving! The ride was a hilly one and the weather in Mirande wasn’t plying ball – in fact it was very cold and pretty rainy! Glenis and team had gone ahead with all the kids, Gan Gan and the dog in the back (!) as the campsite in Mirande boasted a pool and a water park so the kids were very excited, despite the weather! Sadly when we got there, none of it was open! So the kids took the washing up liquid and a bucket of water and had some fun going down the slide in the playground!! That evening we all took a stroll into Mirande to discover, much like La Reole, that nothing was open!! There was however a pop up Italian restaurant in a marquee in the town square, complete with singer in the bandstand who sadly didn’t have much of an audience in the rain (apart from us when we were strolling round!). We had a nice meal. Danny V bought some Limoncello from the Italian stall so we all had a night-cap! Probably not the best idea when you’re cycling up the Col d’Aspin the next day!

Day 13: The big one. 75 miles and lots of climbing – over 1 1/2 times the height of Ben Nevis if I remember correctly. Anna again was behind the wheel of Glen and Isabel and Orla, along with Danny V were in that van with myself, Gan Gan, Sophie, Sonny and Poppy in Glenis. Glenis and team took their time in Mirande in the morning to try and coordinate arrival at the Col d’Aspin at the same time as the cyclists. We were actually slightly ahead so decided to check in at the campsite first as sonny had a rather messy nappy situation (!) and Sophie was hungry and needed the toilet. So we headed to the campsite in Aragnouet. You couldn’t book this one ahead of time and when we arrived at 14:45 there was a message on the door saying reception would open at 3. So we waited and found it a little odd that none of the toilets or facilities were open. About 45 minutes later after lots of searching, we discovered the campsite was closed and didn’t open until June 15th! So we set about trying to sort out an alternative campsite. Meanwhile the cyclists and Team Glen were at the top of Col d’Aspin so guttingly we missed seeing them do the climb! Jon whizzed up in 40 minutes – Glen stopped to get some footage at the bottom and fly the drone for some footage and they were getting worried when they set off and hadn’t seen Jon after quite a while. Turns out he was already 8km into the climb – far further ahead than they thought he would be! I need to check with Anna for Gareth’s time up the Col so will post that on a later blog. It was, unsurprisingly, hard on the legs and freezing at the tops but the breathtaking scenery and soaring birds of prey including red kites made it an amazing experience and what an achievement! There were a small collection of people at the top who stopped and chatted and the views of the snow capped mountains were amazing.

Meanwhile Glenis and team had managed to check into another campsite that Danny V found. WE cracked open some bubbles at the end of Day 13 to celebrate the boys having conquered the day!

Day 14: Today the route was taking us across into Spain, through the tunnel and ending in a small village called San Esteban de Litera. We were staying in a car park for the night – literally no proper toilet or hook up – but there was a bar, restaurant and pool across the road so we were planning to make full use of that! Having switched campsites on Day 13, the boys had an extra 7 miles onto Day 14, making it not far off a 90 mile day with climbing over the height of Ben Nevis and on the back of all the climbing the day before, it was going to be a tough one. However, the climb up the Pyrenees into the tunnel was way tougher than expected and both Jon and Gareth said it was far tougher than Col d’Aspin!! Steeper, longer and overall more tough.So given this was at the start of their nearly 90 mile ride, day 14 was the toughest ride so far by some way. I have to say that I did not like driving up the Pyrenees to the tunnel at all! For someone who absolutely hates driving manual vehicles uphill (I have a recurring nightmare about it – no idea why), this was my worst nightmare and with my son, daughter, dad and dog in the back, I had a very high heart rate and very white knuckles for the duration of the climb!!!! Don’t get me wrong, the scenery was absolute stunning. The birds soaring in the sky, seeing the snow-capped mountains, waterfalls cascading down the roads – an amazing experience. But looking down and seeing a sheer drop down a rockface whilst navigating a hairpin turn at a steep gradient wasn’t the most relaxing drive!! The tunnel into Spain is only about 4km but the difference in the weather was immediate. We entered the tunnel on the French side with a bright but cold day and emerged in Spain to bright sunshine and heat! Thankfully the descent was more pleasant than the ascent (for all!) and both crews met up for refreshment in the village of Ainsa, not far from the border. In contrast to many of the French towns we passed through, where most things were shut and there were very few people, Ainsa was very busy and bustling…and HOT! It was a quick pit stop for Jon and Gareth as they wanted to get on the road again quickly to finish the day because the heat was ridiculous. Glenis and team set off shortly after with a straight route to the campsite and we picked up another passenger – Orla – as she wanted to get in the pool. Well, in turned into an eventful afternoon for all! Te cyclists and Glen took a route via the town of El Grado. El Grado is a beautiful town but like many old towns, wasn’t built for Motorhomes! Anna, Isabel and Danny V found this out as one of the streets they were driving through got narrower and narrower until there was no way Glen could get through! But the gradient was so steep that they couldn’t reverse him out! So they had to get Jon to interrupt the cycle to reverse Glen out through the narrow streets – which he managed minus a light! Meanwhile Glenis and team had arrived in San Esteban de Litera, another beautiful town with narrow streets…. Firstly we couldn’t find the camping car park and the sat nav was taking us all through the narrow streets until we were approached by a Spanish chap and his son who chatted at us and we at them – with neither party having a clue what the other was saying! Thanks to modern technology, my phone translated what they said and they had kindly offered to drive to the motorhome carpark so that we could follow them! We arrived and the kids excitedly ran to the pool across the road…only to find it had no water in and the restaurant wasn’t open. We hadn’t bought any food to buy and there was no electric hook up, plus the toilet was a raised manhole — literally raised about 4 ft off the ground! – so we made the decision to find another campsite. Anna then arrived, escorted by the same chaps that had escorted us! We found another campsite, booked it and Glenis and team set off, with Anna waiting for the cyclists to finish. Danny V had joined the cyclists for the last 25 miles – as you do in baking hot conditions, carrying your camera at the same time! Unfortunately our sat nav sent us back through the town and this time there was a steep, narrow right hand turn that got us into a bit of trouble and I had to send Gan Gan out to rescue us from being wedged against a wall. At the same time about 20 people from the bar that this happened outside, all decided to shout their advice about how to get out of the pickle, which was exact opposite of what Gan Gan was telling me. Gan Gan told me to edge forward will full right lock on. They were all telling me to reverse and standing in front of the van to stop it moving forward! Long story short I followed Gan Gan’s advice, didn’t run anyone over and we managed to free Glenis from the wall. And we made it out onto some wider roads! The new campsite was a 35 minute drive away but we got there and it had a pool, which was open and so the kids were very happy! They had a restaurant there too which was very nice so we were all well fed and watered, Unfortunately the extra distance meant for a very early start for the cyclists the following day as they had a 35 minute drive to drop off in San Esteban and wanted to start early anyway to avoid the heat! Next up, Day 15!