The beautiful city of Pamplona to the hillside village of Lumbier

Leaving a now sunny San Sebastian behind us we headed south east for 83Km to Pamplona. Away from the coast the woodland covered hills become forest clad and there is a similarity to Switzerland in the farmhouses dotted through the valleys with sheep, cattle and goats running the hillsides.

As we neared Pamplona the landscape changed again. The valleys became wider and carpeted with fields of wheat and barley, some now harvested leaving behind their stubble and bales. A few fields of sunflowers gave a hint of France, as did some of the stone houses in their honey coloured tones with faded shutters. As the landscape opened up gone were the apartment blocks that cluttered the coast.

Soon we arrived in Pamplona and found our Aire just for the day, which was located on the outskirts down a wide dead end road next to overflowing allotments stuffed with courgette, tomatoes, beans, asparagus...., fenced by hedges of lavender and wild flowers, a tethered donkey and 2 ponies grazing on the scrubland next door. From here we new we could access Pamplona by cycle path, but ended up taking a more precarious road route into the city having missed the designated cycle route.

Winnie in my bike basket

Pamplona should have been holding its annual bull run this week, but it has been cancelled due to Covid, but the old town was magical. old cobbled streets with 4-storey town houses packed with colour and charm, with their wrought iron balconies adorned with red geraniums. After a delicious lunch and a good walk round on foot we cycles back through the botanical gardens and found the actual cycle route back to the Aire - much more enjoyable.

The campsite I had chosen for the night was another 39km outside Pamplona, outside a hilltop village called Lumbier. We deliberated whether to stay at the Aire or carry onto the campsite and the decision to go was rewarded by arriving at a perfect site set next to a wide river with soaring Red Kite, swallows swooping for water and what we later discoved to be Vultures soaring the high jagged rocks, their huge wide wingspan marked by their flight feathers spread like fingers. Winnie had a well deserved swim to cool of and we could finally set up our tables and chairs outside and got the BBQ out. We found a butchers in the village and bought some steak for the BBQ for supper.