After examining the map and doing our sums last night, we discovered that we would have to turn inland slightly from the twisty, hilly coastal road to try and make a bit of time. Our whole extra week that we thought we had to make our way from the Ardeche to Valencia for Christmas seems to have disappeared, no doubt taken up by our leisurely path through France.If we’ve calculated correctly, we need to go pretty steadily down the shortest route possible to make our hostel and meet our friends, Conny and Mel, who will be joining us there for a few days.

This unfortunately means no stop in L’Escala, a seaside town recommended to us, and no alternative to the direct but busy road between Barcelona and Valencia, which is apparently filled with endless miles of holiday apartments. We hope to come back through this area in March and do it properly, taking some of the more minor roads we wanted to see this time.

The day overall was fairly uneventful, no great sights en route although the town of Castello was quaint, with its cobblestone streets, narrow alleys and a church with huge statues adorning its doors. From there we mostly made our way down roads with a steady stream of traffic and not much in the way of attractions, aside from the miles of fruit orchards lining the route. We will rejoin the sea tomorrow and to that end we did our last few kilometers on a low mountain pass, only about 200 meters up. Coming down the other side we followed a little path and found a field to camp in. We must be well hidden, with bamboo all around the field, as a couple local hunters who came down the same path shortly before sunset didn’t see us at all.