22nd August

I left home for Dover at just after 1am to give myself plenty of time to catch the 5.15 Sea France ferry from Dover to Calais. I landed in Calais at 7.45 local time and took the N1 south, I had the roof down at this point but someone had mentioned to me that it was a bit cold for this while I was driving off the ferry and they were right! Don't you just love European summers?

I stopped just short of Rouen and put the roof up to have a short sleep, not having had any the night before I was feeling tired and needed some. A couple of hours later I was on my way again, still with the roof up though, it was cold and wet! This was when I found out I need a new header rail seal, the rain was heavy, my legs got soaked and I had to put a plastic bag over the CD player!

I carried on south and made it to somewhere near Bordeaux, 471 miles  in total before I stopped for the night.

23rd August

I was up at 7am the following morning and on my way again. It was cold, wet and very foggy at that time of the morning but as I got further south the weather improved considerably and I stopped a couple of hours later for a break and to put the roof down again. The weather was still showery but the previous day had shown me that I actually stayed drier with the roof down as long as I kept moving! I got some very strange looks driving through some heavy showers in an open car but what the heck? Europeans are convinced Englishmen are mad anyway so I was just reinforcing their belief!

Just before 4pm I stopped in a service area right on the Spanish border, while I was parked a Spanish tourist came up to me and told me about the Midget he owned, we had a chat about MGs in general and he was pretty impressed with what I was doing.

I crossed into Spain after having driven 860 miles from home and headed towards Bilbao. Coming into Spain and heading towards Bilbao the weather was dull and showery again. The scenery in Northern Spain is fantastic and the road is a fast twisty highway through the mountain - great for a B!

At Bilbao I turned southwards and the weather improved very quickly. I passed through Burgos and then just short of Valladolid stopped for the night at 9.30 that night having covered a total of 1095 miles in two days!

24th August

The third day I reached Porto late in the evening after driving 1400 miles from home. Coming from Spain into Portugal the way I went you have to travel along a very narrow, twisty road through the mountains. The views were fantastic but the road was too narrow and twisty to drive fast, it was mainly third gear all the way up one side and then on the brakes right the way down, about 10 miles of each! The temperature across central Portugal was up to 42°C (105°F ish) but obviously I didn't realise how hot it was until I stopped!

The sun sets over Portugal as I head back into Spain.

The trip back I took the same way out of Portugal to halfway across Spain and then turned South to go to Andorra.

1st September

It took two days of hard driving to get to Andorra and then I regretted it! Sorry to burst any bubbles but Andorra is the most godforsaken, overcrowded, tourist ridden hell-hole I have ever come across! The road in is unbelievably beautiful and Andorra is stunning but you just cannot imagine how crowded it is! I was intending to stay in Andorra for the night but I'm afraid a few hours was enough for me. It was driving out of Andorra into France that I had problems with my ears not adjusting to the pressure change. It hurt like buggery but even so that road has to be the best one I have ever come across for a B! It's a fast drop out of the mountains down a beautifully twisty road. A lot of it is one way dual carriageway so the few cars on the road didn't hold me up. The road has the odd hairpin on it to keep you awake but most of it is just fast curves!