We made it to Madrid!

Hurray! What an epic journey. It was a very long way, but thanks to A
gracious God (and some excellent French and Spanish toll motorways or
peages) it was feasible in the limited time available.

Soon after we left Azur and got onto the motorway it didn't take long
to get to the Spanish border near San Sebastian. No passports required
obviously.

Crossing from the french plains it suddenly became more undulating
until we reached the foothills of the Pyrenees. We passed through lots
of road tunnels up to 1km in length. Over the next couple of hours we
enjoyed some spectacular mountainous terrain before going back onto
plains that lead to the interior, where the road takes you higher and
higher to the central plateau at around 3,700 feet. Passing through
some rocky mountain tops we came out and at once saw the skyscrapers
of Madrid 40km off - amazing!

Not being able to immediately locate the campsite we opted for the
much more sensible option of a cheap hotel near the airport where the
car currently sits recovering. We, perhaps foolishly decided to pop
into central Madrid for dinner on the metro. It was about 35 degrees
and the children were very very tired. Madrid seemed a very lively
city,we saw a procession of people in national costume playing
bagpipes whilst eating tropical salad and chips! It stayed hot until
late in the evening.