We've all gone on a summer holiday

A collection of climate stories mostly

Courtesy of the ABRP app

The build-up to a holiday is important. The planning and preparation sometimes more fun than the holiday.

It reminds me of childhood Christmases and great expectations when the bumper double week edition of the Radio Times magically appeared from Mum’s shopping bag. I’d studiously sit at the table pouring over listings, deciding whether we were in for a good TV Christmas or not? This was my only important contribution to the Christmas magic as far as I can remember.

True Grit starring John Wayne on Christmas afternoon again, did not bode well. Another year of too many repeats. And there were only three channels to watch.

I’ve been wearing my least favourite clothes during the holiday countdown. It includes undies, the pairs with no chance of making it into the suitcase and shirts I’d forgotten, buried deep under a pile of more popular options.

If we’d just been going to France again, I wouldn’t have bothered consulting a map, leaving it to the Tesla’s navigation as usual. But Sitges is south of Barcelona and I was interested to see what charging options existed south of the border?

A better route planner (ABRP), is helpful for European travel. The map confirmed what we soon discovered, Spain’s supercharger network is just as reliable as the French one, at least it is in Basque country.

We made other changes. Instead of Eurotunnel, we tried the overnight Brittany ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. A cabin, the promise of sleep and an early start for our long journey, all seemed well planned.

The Commodore class cabins (could only be on a ship), with twin beds and a window, must have sold out months before we booked. Instead, we were confined below decks, one level above the cars without a window. The only upgrade available was to buy another one. Adding solitary confinement to lack of sleep, didn’t seem particularly smart.

The rumbling engine, which I originally thought was the ship reversing out of port was in fact normal progress across the channel. The vibration rattling around our cabin finally became part of my dream as I struggled to find a way to stop it.

The early morning start was no longer welcome, but unlike Eurotunnel, we hadn’t cleared French customs in the UK, which meant a delay to stamp a ferry load of British cars back into Europe. Serves us right.

Next stop - Beziers, driving through the heart of France, down to the south coast, west of Marseilles and Montpellier.

We began by following signs for Le Mans, then by-passed Tours and the Loire valley. Famous for historic towns, vineyards and fruit orchards growing along the banks of this famous river, we missed the region often referred to as the garden of France.

The Massif Centrale on the other hand was unavoidable, even on an autoroute.

Quite stunning.

Extinct volcanoes so clearly well, volcanoes, gave way further south to mountains, capped by tall limestone bluffs, extending way into the distance. There was a touch of the Grand Canyons about this place.

We even spotted a sign to Volvic and its famous spring water. The town dates back to Roman times, but its famous bottled mineral water didn’t first go on sale until 1938.

The Ibis hotel in Bezier, was a more welcome sight than it might have been. Just off the motorway, a classic traveller stop and heaven on earth compared to our rumbling ferry.

Refreshed and back on the road the next morning, we stopped again 30 minutes drive from the border, according to the road signs.

The superchargers were close to a Carrefour supermarket, a perfect opportunity to replenish chocolate supplies and browse the latest French version of House and Garden.

Crossing into Spain was little more than a few flags and a sign. How civilised to allow people from different nations to cross without interruption.

Although Sitges was now within easy reach, we decided to top up at Camiral, a Tesla supercharge point, more out of curiosity than anything else.

On approaching some fancy gates, it’s not unusual for charge points to be in hotel car parks, I was amazed to see a PGA sign announcing that we’d arrived at Camiral Golf and Wellness.

What a surprise? This is the PGA’s Cataluyna resort, boasting two world class golf courses and a delightfully well appointed hotel. What’s not to like and significantly more impressive than all of the previous stops we’d ever made in France.

We’re now in Sitges. Our busy children flying in to join us for a week. It’s great to see them all, time to catch-up, even though I wonder how much longer low cost airfares should be maintained at the expense of environmentally friendlier trains?

Prometheus72 / Shutterstock

Today, it’s a bit moody, a perfect day to visit Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million residents, which received over 20 million visitors in 2019.

Barcelona is popular, a trend which started after the Catalan city hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, reinventing itself as a tourist destination.

Today, that growth is seen as unsustainable. Tourism has inflated house prices and overloaded transport networks. There’s too much rubbish, noise and air pollution, damaging any sense of community, only finally restored temporarily during covid.

The city is fighting back. Hotel beds have been limited and new hotels in the historic centre are now banned. Barcelona’s airport extension from 50-80 million arrivals per year has been opposed. The mayor has also made it more difficult for Airbnb landlords wishing to rent their properties. They now have to obtain a tourist licence issued by the city hall.

Guided tours can no longer use megaphones and have been capped to a maximum of 30 people, only 15 in Ciutat Vella, the oldest neighbourhood in the city.

Cruise passengers are also being taxed in addition to the nightly tourist tax paid by all visitors sleeping in the city. The funds generated are being used for local development projects as well as further studies on the carbon footprint of tourism.

A derailed train between Sitges and Barcelona has temporarily, at least, stopped us adding to their problem.

In Sitges, back at the hotel, it’s nice to see that some traditions haven’t died out since I last visited this Costa as an 8 year old. A leisurely breakfast can still be enjoyed, provided you’ve bagged your sun lounger first when no ones looking.