October | 2026 | Dora The Explorer

We left our aire in Carcassonne on Friday, September 25 at 10.30 to drive the 120 miles to our next stop near Figueres in Spain. This should have been a simple enough task even though it would take three hours as we object to paying the French tolls. The campsite we were heading for was set in an olive grove with 9,000 organic chickens. They shut for lunch between 14.30 and 16.00 so leaving ourselves four hours should have been plenty of time.

We needed to do a shop and the only decent supermarkets we found were hyper markets that took ten minutes to find the entrance in the shopping centre let alone find our way around the store. Next, we wanted to get more diesel but in France it is astronomically expensive at around €2.40 per litre. However, we had found one provider, Total Energies, who had capped the price at €2.25 so we were on the hunt to find one that still had some fuel left. We found one near Lezignan but the queues were long. We decided it shouldn’t take too much time as there were several pumps. What we hadn’t reckoned on was the fact that everyone had to prepay for fuel before filling up and then go and get their receipt before driving off. It took the best part of 30 minutes! To add insult to injury, we found more Total garages en route with no queue and that fuel in Spain was much cheaper anyway! To be fair, we needed some fuel to get there but certainly not a full tank. Consequently, we didn’t arrive until 14.45 but our friends, Sue and Sheila had already checked us in.

The campsite was delightful, nestled amongst the olive groves with only the farm animal noises. We spent a very lazy afternoon in hammocks chilling and watching the world go by before a pasta and pesto dinner al fresco.

The reason we had chosen Agricola Siurana (P4N#385095) was the fact that a) it was an olive farm and b) only 20 minutes from Figueres and the Dali Theatre Museum. So, Saturday morning we left the campsite around 10.00 to get to the museum on plenty of time for our timed entry. As Sheila and Sue have a Go Pod (think very small caravan) we were able to have the luxury of being in a car! The museum was interesting and confusing at the same time. There wasn’t much in the way of information unless you’d prebooked a guide so it was fairly chaotic.

After that we meandered the streets and went in search of his birthplace, a house about ten minutes walk away. This was much quieter and gave a real insight into the man himself. It was a very immersive experience with doors opening and closing automatically to guide you through. Back to the campsite for a spot of lunch before making our way to Gala’s Castle in Pubol. Gala, Dali’s wife, was a talented writer herself but also an astute businesswoman who understood celebrity, marketing and PR. She ran his career and also had a huge input into his many projects from film sets to advertisements. Fascinating. A lovely BBQ to end the day.

The following day we drove to the town of Cadaques on the peninsula. About an hour away though only 50km but over mountain passes and windy roads. Cadaques itself was a lovely place and we spent several hours wandering around it after a lovely brunch at a local cafe. Whilst there, we came across a local delicacy called Millasson, which is a Spanish version of Pastel de Nata.

Portlligat, a short walk from Cadaques. was where Dali had his home for many years. They converted fishermen’s cottages overlooking the bay there. A truly gorgeous setting. Dali had a mirror angled over the bay so that he could see the sunrise from his bed and claimed to be the first Spaniard to see it as Portlligat is on the eastern tip of NE Spain.