Roc de Sant Gaieta

 

The construction on this Mediterranean-style fishing village started in 1964 and was completed in 1972.
The initial idea was to build a village for fisherman on the rocks. Apartments were built on the seafront, designed in the style of the Ibizan and Mediterranean fishing villages.
In the village they built courtyards in the styles of Granada, Seville and Andalusia, complemented by Romanesque, Arabic and Gothic-style construction and ornamentations, as well as styles typical of various parts of Spain.
Consequently it took shape as a 'typical village', popularly known as 'Spanish Village'.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great time exploring the village. Not sure it was because it was Siesta time or if it's because it's only spring, but the little town was deserted.
It was so beautiful!!
After exploring the village, the boys went down to the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

After a quick play Matt and Ryan drove back to our place. Alex and myself chose to walk back along the coast on the Ronda Path all the way back to our camp ground.

Driving from Spain to France

So far we have choosen to avoid the toll roads and drive on the smaller roads to get more of a feel for the country.
On our drive from Arc de Bara in Spain to Marseilan Plage in France the options were 3h20 on toll roads or 6h00 on non-toll roads. We only got away around 11:00 so decided to do the toll option.
The roads were busy and there were SO MANY TRUCKS!!! Ryan counted trucks for about 20 minutes and got to 333. My guess is that we saw about 4000 trucks for the day.
We did get to see some interesting landscapes and bridges too.

 

We had a quick stop at this service station where they sold these big jars of honey. Who buys a 5kg jar of honey at a service station???

 

Just before we crossed the border back into France everyone got stopped by the police. We had to wait for ages for the police to get there roadblock set up. When it was our turn to be checked, we just got waved through. The boys had so many questions.

Our next stop was at a Catalan village. We had a wander around to stretch our legs before the last bit.

 

We had pizza for dinner with some Italian wine, that we bought in Spain....and drank in France.

 

 

 

Marseillan Plage

Went for a quick look around in our local town - Marseillan Plage.
The boys choose this very cool looking Epi baguette to snack on. And we got another for lunch.

 

We then found this Cave a Vin where we tasted some wine. We choose a couple of types of Rose of the area. Left with 2 litres of wine for just over 3 Euro.

 

Went back to our cabin and had some fresh baguette, salami and cheese with our wine.

I'm loving France!!!

 

Swimming at Le Beach Garden

The boys enjoyed the glass wall in the pool.

 

 

Arc de Bara



Built by the Romans in the late 1st Century BC, the Arch of Bara is one of the best preserved triumphal arches in the world. It is a cultural asset of national interest and was given World Heritage status in 2000.

It was built in honour of the emperor Augustus and was originally called the Arch of the Via Augustus. It was not referred to as the Arch of Bara until the Middle Ages, when the important Castle of Bara was built at this site and gave its name to the entire area.

This two-thousand-year old monument is located right on the via Augusta. It has just one gateway and two Corinthian pilasters on each side. It is 12.28 metres high, 12 metres wide and 2.34 metres thick. The gateway is 4.87 metres across. 

 

 

 

Our boys thought it was the perfect place to practice their rock climbing!!

 

   

 

 

 

 

Barcelona

The plan was to drive to Como Ruga and find out how much the train to Barcelona was, but somehow our GPS missed that instruction and we ended up driving all the way to Barcelona. We took the scenic route along the coast. Stopped regularly to look at views.

We drove down to the port and parked the car. It was quite surreal that we were actually in Barcelona. There were people, lots of people, everywhere. The boys were quite clingy. We walked around the Mirador de Colom, then up La Rambla. There were statue street performers everywhere. The boys were intrigued.

 

 

 

Our lunch was 1 Euro ice creams. We watched someone put wood in the fire to cook some delicious smelling rotiserie chicken. According to the sign the   has been there since 1835!

 

 

 

 

Next we drove to Sagrada Familia. The boys had a quick play in the playground. We then walked all the way around the building. Amazing!

 

 

 

 

That was enough walking and sightseeing for the boys.
We went home via the toll road....going through lots of tunnels. It took about half the time of the scenic, coastal road.