Saturraran Beach

Odometer: 159987

We continued driving through the western foothills of the Pyrenees. In second gear, Gary struggled up the winding roads from the Oria valley back to the coastal road. We chose the route as close to the sea as possible, a good decision as it would soon prove to be. We were overwhelmed by the scenery. The road was partly carved into the rock and wound along the coast on the hillside. We stopped twice to take photos and give Gary a break, as the inclines and declines of up to 7% were quite a workout for the old timer.

Then we went shopping for the first time in a Spanish supermarket. It was a bit smaller than what we had become used to lately, but it offered all the essentials. The selection was, of course, different from that in France; while there were baguettes and croissants, there was also dark whole grain bread; no more 5L wine tins, but beer was available at surprisingly low prices. We bought what we needed, including dorade for dinner.

Next door was the gas station. When we rolled up to the pumps, the friendly attendant came right over and asked if we wanted regular or premium diesel. We had already decided on the way that Gary should get a dose of super diesel, so we chose the premium option at €1.97/L instead of €1.95/L for the regular. Compared to the €2.22/L we paid for regular in France, this was indeed a bargain. Sebb got out to open the fuel cap when the friendly attendant actually grabbed the nozzle and began fueling Gary. We were both a bit surprised, as we hadn't expected that.

Now it was only ten minutes drive to the hoped-for parking spot at Saturraran Beach, where we indeed snagged one of the last spots right away. Barely arrived, we headed straight to the beach for a swim.

On the way back to Gary, we saw that a band was setting up their equipment at the beach bar. Could it be that there would be live music tonight? That would fit perfectly for a Friday night. We first prepared our dinner and enjoyed it. When the band started their program after the soundcheck at 7:00 PM, we had time to listen to what they had to offer.

We liked it, so after dinner, we headed over to the bar and ordered some beer. We stayed until the musicians finished and it got dark. The evening turned out to be a success.