2025 September: Sant Julia 2025 to Vinya Els Vilars
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The day dawns bright here on the motorhome aire at Santa Julia, with the promise of sun (it is behind the tall mature trees).
The mottled redness in my lower shin is still there but perhaps less angry and the swollen ankles have reduced. The family next to us with small baby (perhaps 6 weeks old) are up and the little boy of about 2.5 (maybe 3) years is chattering animatedly to his Dad. We have breakfast and plan the day: a drive west towards Lleida and an aire at a winery. We leave late morning, we see that the vidange is locked off and the fresh water is flooded (perhaps the inundation yesterday), no matter we have 75% water in our tank and little in the toilet cassette.
Taking the road out of the village of Sant Julià and a short drive to a good (motorway standard) road, we take C-25 west around Vic and across the high Sierra mountains to Manresa. The scenery is stunning. Long slow climbs uphill to the sierra plateau with views across to a jagged dogtooth mountain range in the west and small towns with the remains of old fortified walled castells at the highest point to the east. Then down, down again to a town with industry or services and another climb. By Manresa the landscape has changed; there are stone terraces of olive trees, surrounded by dry and yellowed grasses and vegetation. No sunflowers but fields of vines which change to apple orchards… acres and acres of tall cordons laden with apples, some green, some red. We don’t think of Spain as such a big apple producer but there must be many tons here waiting to be picked. On past Tàrrega to Bellpuig where we leave C-25 and take a smaller road, C-223 to Arbeca. We follow the concrete trough canal (clearly the watering source for the apple orchards) to Vinya els Vilars, a winery with large gravel area behind for about 20 mohos. Pitches are large and about half between trees and with shade, the others slightly elevated and overlooking an expanse of apple orchards. We find a pitch between trees and park up. It is about 2.00pm and lunchtime.
There are 10 mohos here: 2 Brits, 2 Belgians, 3 Netherlands, 2 Spanish, 1 French, it is a super place, level, hook-up at each pitch, roomy and with toilet (also a rather dilapidated shower) all for free, €0, the expectation being you will pay with wine purchased (we do, the wines are interesting and not unreasonably priced). After lunch, we have a quiet afternoon, it is 31°C so we sit out in the shade and relax, I continue my journal — which you are now reading, while Mr C draws and paints. With a sense of timelessness the afternoon passes, more mohos arrive and we open a bottle of cold crèmant, drinking it with thinly sliced baguette and rillettes under the shade of the small pine trees. Later in the evening I cook the remaining beefburger and, chopping the remaining potatoes into small cubes, fry them with the beefburger (like small chippettes!). Most folks (now 14 of us) are sat out, there is the quiet hub-bub of conversation as the evening darkens, culminating with a stunning sunset in a perfectly clear sky. As it darkens to night, the stars come out, the familiar constellations appearing without any light pollution.
Motorhome Trek Sant Julia to Vinya Els Vilars
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Day 2 at the wine producer Vinya Els Vilars
A lovely quiet night and completely clear dawn at the area de servicios de autocaravanas (free aire de camping cars) at the wine producer Vinya Els Vilars.
I get up early and use the shower, more basic than I thought especially as the water is tepid. No matter it feels good to feel the cool wash of water run over your hot body. Back in Hymer Mr C. has made breakfast, I tell him about the shower, and he tells me the water is heated by an immersion which needs to be turned on. ‘Where?’ I ask… ‘In the toilet cubicle next to the shower’ he replies! Well of course you would go and look in the next toilet cubicle for the water heater switch… I think not!
No matter, I will know next time. That said the tepid water was marvellously refreshing and I feel much better, still feeling very tired but now day 5, the area of redness on my leg is slowly and steadily reducing with each passing day. Mr C. decides to forego the shower and while we eat a leisurely breakfast, we watch as four of our neighbours start to pack and leave. Some quite quirky with strange ideas: We are often puzzled/amused/amazed/incredulous what some motorhomers do.
Mr ‘RV rental’ takes his levelling wedges to the washing up sinks (2) and washes them (where the rest of us wash our pots). He leaves the sink full of black gritty water (I know as I go over there to wash a pan in the sink), more irritating is that the washing water at the vidange is literally next to the sinks! He wanders back over to his moho and Mrs Rental inspects them carefully, then he has to dry them (!!)… it is a clear sky and already 24°C the temperature rising by the minute. Ten minutes in the sun would do the job!
We have a leisurely morning, Mr C. walks to the town (maybe 2km) and I do the daily jobs (wash the dishes, sweep out) and watch our quirky neighbours. Mr C. is back at lunchtime with a baguette and some eggs (for tea), he is very, very hot and needs to go and cool down. He also has a tube of antibiotic cream after showing the pharmacist his swollen arm, the result of an insect bite. After lunch we sit out in the shade, thinking it is marginally cooler outside (27°C inside) 29°C outside so not much noticeable difference. We have a quiet afternoon, Mr C. paints (the olive trees) and I read.)
At 4.30pm we wander over to the winery to explore some wine tasting. We are surprised to find 10 of our fellow-campers already there and just starting on the first wine, we join them sat in three groups of four. We find they are mostly the Dutch people en-route to a major moho adventure, having driven across France, next across Spain to Tarifa, ferry across to north Africa and then onto a place in Morocco for 44 days together! We chat amiably (in english) about our adventures while we sample the wines. We start with a white, working through the reds and finishing with a sparkling Cava (not the order that we are used to… starting with lightest, usually fizz and working through to the darkest (usually darkest red).
1. Macabeo white: (still wine) light and quite sweet, very different to the white wines are are used to. Macabeo is one of the three grapes normally used for cava. (we buy).
2. Syrah rose: surprisingly bland for a shiraz/Syrah grape, hints of raspberry but again very light
3. Red 100% Syrah especial: aged 1yr in French oak, smoky, bonfire, spicey oak… typical of Syrah/shiraz grape
4. Red 50:50 Syrah/Merlot: aged 1yr in French oak, dark, red fruits on the palate, oak/fruitiness comes at end
5. Red 100% Syrah: aged 2yr in French oak, smoky, bonfire, burnt toffee on nose… typical of oakiness of Syrah
6. Especial red Tannat grape: powerful red, not too different to the Syrah, €25/bottle (maybe not for us!)
7. Cava: light fizz with lots of bubbles, very nice (we buy)
We all queue to buy, some just buying 2 or 3 bottles, others buying boxes. We buy 6 Cava and 6 Macabeo white. Back at Hymer we sit out in the shade with baguette and rillette, it is now 32°C and very hot, even in the shade. A slow evening as we watch the sun setting and the red fiery sky turn to darkness.
Day 3 at the wine producer Vinya Els Vilars
A warm and sticky night as Hymer seems to retain the heat, even with all the windows open. In the morning it is 22°C and cloudy making it feel quite cool, most summer days in Lancaster are not much warmer than this! I shower, someone else having turned the immersion heater on, but somehow that stray water jet (there always is one on campsite showers) sprays over my bag and onto my clean (and dry…) clothes! After breakfast we watch as all the Dutch and several others of our neighbours leave, only five of us remain and we say goodbye to them… a real sense of camaraderie.
We have a quiet day, the morning spent looking at possible routes across the north of Spain and ferry crossings from Santander back to the UK. Mr C. books our ferry home: 18.15 on the following Monday, that leaves us another five days to plan. Our ferry from Santander will be the Pont Aven, an older ferry, but the one that makes the crossing in the shortest time, so you only have one night aboard, for some reason Brittany Ferries are operating their new ships at a reduced speed which means two nights on board, that really does not suit us. We tried it and felt like prisoners being transported across the ocean. In the afternoon we sit out in the cool of the shade (and the day (only reaching 23°C and very pleasant) we journal and write, the rest does us good and the time is passed very pleasantly. Late afternoon, about 4.30, we walk over to the winery and buy 6 more bottles of Cava and 6 more bottles of Macabeo white wine. Mushroom omelette for tea, using up the eggs and mushrooms and most of the UHT milk… we really will have to shop tomorrow.
The evening darkens to night and there is a fabulous sunset, we are all out photographing it. I get into bed and notice very sore and red places on my right leg. On closer inspection I have about a dozen bites (very unusual for me) all very angry and red with blanched circles around each. Skin cream does not help and I have to get up and wash it off! A very uncomfortable night.
