As we pored over our guide books, the weather forecasts for Spain’s northern coast (not so good) and the road atlas, it didn’t take us long to decide that we’d explore the section of the coast between Sérignan and the Spanish border. We had both been to Argelès-sur -Mer separately, a very, very long time ago: Mrs B with Chris and the kids passing by on their way to the Costa Brava; and Mr B with work, accompanied by his cycle buddy Keith when they were both teaching in Further Education (an eventful trip via the Tarn Gorge, with a coach load of 16-19 year olds!).
The coastline here is full of character – we could both remember long stretches of sweeping sandy beaches and nearby promenades, with a backdrop of the foothills of the Pyrenées. But as we looked on our apps to find a potential site (we fancied staying for a week or so) we could see that there were lots, and lots, of campsites all along the coast (49 we learned), with 12 of them on ACSI. In fact, there was not much else apart from vineyards and campsites in and near Argelès!
After some extensive researching we could see that if we plumped for a site to the north of Argelès we might get far from the madding crowd – up to a point. And, with Mrs B’s magic eye, she spotted a site on the edge of a nature reserve (Mas Larrieu), a couple of kilometres north of the town – Camping le Soleil – on ACSI and less expensive than where we had stayed in Sérignan – hurrah!
The site is huge and even has an Aire just outside. It is a large tarmac carpark effectively, and was pretty full, largely with very expensive motorhomes. We still can’t work out the logic of owning such a huge palace on wheels yet opting for a carpark at €17 compared to a full-on bells and whistles campsite for €23 – but to each their own!
There are 580 touring pitches alone, plus rental cabins, set over a vast area that lets directly onto the beach. We were almost put off by the size, but after we parked up and talked to the reception team, it was clear that we would have an enormous choice of pitch types, and the facilities looked excellent. As we wandered around on foot, with a map of vacant pitches and a list of how long they were vacant for before they were pre-booked, we could have chosen, and at no extra cost, from a number of pitches right on the front line/beach – and these usually come at a premium. The only additional charge here, if we wanted, was to upgrade the electricity supply from 6A to 10A – not something we need.
With Mr B hankering after a plot on the beach, Mrs B (who is always much better at choosing pitches) reminded him of the perils of the front line in terms of windy weather – something we have experienced first hand and seen time after time. Indeed we always think back to ‘the night of the awning rescue’ when Mr B had to wind the awning in during a sudden near gale right on the beach in Sicily; the handle snapped and he had to complete the task with a pair of mole grips! A lucky escape, so we obviously chose a pitch a couple of rows back from the beach, where we were surrounded by fabulous, tall trees which provided perfect shade and windbreaks! And, as these photos show, the usual Camp Babley development emerged over our stay...
The payment model is interesting here too. Great value for a 5 star site at €23 a night and rather than guesstimate how many nights you might stay and then extend, hoping the pitch will remain vacant, here, you pay for your maximum stay and can then get a refund, apparently, if you choose to leave earlier. We hedged our bets though and opted for a week in the first instance!
Our initial response to the beach – the main reason we had chosen le Soleil, was another wow moment – yet again we seem to have gravitated to a beach that’s not hugely different from Oliva, perhaps even more similar than Sérignan, with the mountain ranges in the background..
...and driftwood aplenty…
...and like Oliva, where the venturi effect created by the flat, hot plains leading up to the mountains, can create a reliable (if you are a wind sports enthusiast) afternoon wind…
...with all manner of craft enjoying the breeze strong wind…
...and Mr B still a fan of kitesurfers having the best fun over the windsurfers and fixed wing enthusiasts…
Luckily for Mr B, less so for Mrs B, there are plenty of days when the wind is brisk and we have to set up what seems almost like a survival camp on the beach…
...which doesn’t deter him from swimming…
...and then, the still, calm days return…
… there’s plenty of walking, north to the boundary of the nature reserve where a river brings an inland deviation, and nudists tucked away at the back of the beach…
...and south, where the reserve gives out to the more developed part of the beach. This is the first of 6 well staffed safety/emergency posts…
...and water sports centres…
...and the beginning of the beach-side restaurants/clubs which, once we had checked out the menus, we decided to swerve (too much pineapple in one, too much navel gazing in another…). But we did go to the site restaurant one evening, having seen they were offering a grilled fish platter… but booking a table for 2000 we had underestimated the effect of our northern European neighbours eating earlier, and it had sold out… So we opted for (Mrs B) duck and (Mr B) steak, admiring the subtle lighting as we wandered off towards the entertainment for the night...
And for those days when the beach might not be calling, there was an enormous pool, complete with slides…
...where Mr B was hauled out by one of the lifeguards on his first visit, as he was not wearing (obligatory in a lot of French and Italian campsite pools) his budgie smugglers! Luckily, although he has some tucked away for just such an emergency, there is no pictorial evidence!
There is also nightly entertainment: a mix of lotto/karaoke/football on the nights we swerved, and some entertaining live music on the nights we didn’t …
...We could tell ‘A Pinch of Celt’ were from somewhere in the UK, and although they spoke great French, the night we were there was mainly German campers, who don’t seem to speak much French, judging by the lack of response. Which was a shame as the musicians were pretty talented!
The next band we saw were French, (Blackbird) as was a lot of the audience, who loved their pub-rock medleys. (We still haven’t found out what the deal is with kilts and French pub bands though – this is our second!)
The next gig was a duo, Lili Charles, again French (as you’d expect) with some lovely covers and melodies.
We then couldn’t help ourselves when we saw a funk outfit was playing (French, Funk Machine) who were very high energy and had lots of the audience dancing…
We mentioned the amazing birdlife at Sérignan, complete with the sad tale of the Hirondelles. Great news here though: Hirondelles are welcome and the birdlife is awesome. We have now added Woodland (or maybe even Theka) Larks, Hoopoes and Green Woodpeckers to our visitor list. In fact we have a pair of Pics as they are known here, raising a family in a tree on the pitch! Here is one of the parents taking off on their never-ending search for food...
...with the Hoopoes making us chuckle with their crazy haircuts…
...and some pretty big insects too (still trying to identify this one)…
It did almost go wrong one morning though, when squabbling Magpies in the tree above us sent a branch tumbling down right on top of where Mrs B was sat – luckily under the awning…
And, although the awning was punctured, Mr B was ready with one of his many rolls of Gorilla tape and soon fixed it. The repair of the skylight blinds however (now a biennial event it seems!), took a little longer…
After opting to stay longer by another week initially, as we were enjoying the slow and similar lifestyle to the 18 days in Sérignan, we added on another four nights to delay our drive into the interior because of the heatwave that sat over much of France, mercifully skirting us…
As well as benefitting by staying longer from weather which hovered around a toasty +/-30c but with cooling sea breezes, the campsite was also transformed with the arrival of lots of Spanish families, as the Catalan schools had started their summer hols! No more genteel northern European retirement club vibe here – this was proper full-on lively Mediterranean camping at its best! We even got chatting in Castellano to a nearby family who had run out of gas for cooking and used our cooker in Evie to finish off their dinner one evening. So we may not have made it to Spain this trip, but it seems that Spain has come to us!
S&J 26.06.26
