As dawn broke, we continued our journey to the highway, heading towards France and Spain. Driving in France was mostly effortless, but Google Maps caused a small palpitation when it warned about the Crit'Air environmental sticker, which should be acquired in advance if one intended to drive in certain urban areas in France. For a moment, we panicked, until we realized that when driving through cities on motorways, the sticker was not required – so our trip could continue without extra bureaucracy.
Up to this point, we had avoided tolls, but in France, there was no escaping them. Traveling on major roads proved surprisingly expensive – a total of about 300 euros per direction when driving through the country, depending on the exact route. Our journey took us towards the south coast, via Montpellier towards the Spanish mountains, and the scenery simultaneously became breathtakingly beautiful.
The Battle of the Wind
The closer we got to the Mediterranean, the more often warning signs for strong winds began to appear by the road, especially for campervan drivers. Soon we understood that the warnings were completely justified – strong gusts grabbed the car so that we had to turn the wheel considerably into the wind just to stay in the lane.
Even though we were driving a VW Grand California, which is agile for a campervan, the strong wind sometimes felt like quite an adversary. However, I controlled the car effortlessly and did not see the need to slow down – unlike my travel companion Jessika, who reacted to the wind more than the car itself. At times, it felt like her distress affected the driving more than the gusts themselves!
Spontaneous Decision: Andorra
France's toll motorways were in excellent condition, and clear signage made driving smooth. Our journey continued from Montpellier towards Spain, but at some point, the idea of a small detour started to tempt us. Andorra – a small mountain state we had never visited. What better opportunity to add a new country to our travel map?
At home, we have a large scratch-off map from which new countries and flags appear whenever we have visited a new destination. We always try to find opportunities to expand this map on our travels, so the decision was easy: we headed towards Andorra. The navigator guided us to a new route, and soon we drove off the main road, turning north just before the Spanish border.
Night in the Mountains
As we went deeper and deeper into the mountains, pitch darkness prevailed. The moon dimly illuminated the landscape just enough to discern the silhouettes of the mountains – they grew higher with each bend. The atmosphere was mystical, even a little thrilling, as the route was clearly not one of the busiest: we didn't see a single other car the whole way.
We drove as long as we could until we decided to stop. We found a large parking lot in the middle of nature, a perfect place to rest before the next day's adventure. The moon shone brightly, and before we crawled into bed, we enjoyed a moment outside in the silence, under the starry sky, and in the fresh mountain night air.
Driving in the mountains is always fascinating – you never know what landscapes, small villages, or animals you'll encounter along the way. The next day was sure to be unforgettable.
