3rd May 2011

We left Caceres on the 29^th April and drove north east to a town 35k south of Madrid, called Aranjuez , a royal town, where we have spent the past few days. The royal historic part of Aranjuez is beautiful, with a lovely Palace, gardens and courtyards. The campsite is just the other side of the river Tagus, on which the royal household used to be rowed in their gold covered barges. To get into town we could cut through the royal gardens which are laid out with tree lined avenues and fountains. The Palace itself is right on the rivers edge and has magnificent fountains both in front of it and to the side. We had some great walks around the Palace and gardens.

On Monday we caught the train into Madrid (6 euro return!) and spent the day admiring the city. It has so many magnificent old buildings it was a pleasant surprise. Every way you walked you found more wonderful buildings still be used, as well as promenades with fountains as well as parks and gardens. The Royal Palace reminds you of Buckingham Palace but you can walk right up to it. It is set high up overlooking a park and has a large cathedral at its rear. To the side is a garden filled with statues of Spain’s monarchs, fountains and places to walk or sit and relax. The city is easy to walk around and the tube costs a euro! The city hall built hundreds of years ago is still used as a city hall, the Plaza Mayor built in 1617 is still a vibrant plaza with shops and cafes underneath the arches and apartments above, although it no longer hold bull fights!

We all agreed it was difficult to choose our favourite city as they all have something different, but Madrid is certainly up there with Paris and probably ahead of Barcelona.

Tomorrow we’re off to Zaragoza and then to a site north of Barcelona before heading back into France.