Jennie & Stuart Jones – 39-day round trip in a Figaro from the Midlands to the Spanish and the French Pyrenees

Words and Pictures – Jennie Jones

Ever thought of going on a long road trip with your Figaro but have put it off, worried that it might not be up to the challenge? That was us! But having just come back from a 39-day round trip from the Midlands UK to the Spanish and French Pyrenees, we can say “Go for it!” We had no problems except a refit of a mudguard!

Our car “Lucy” performed better than we ever expected, with some tricky climbs over 1,000 metres and in temperatures often near 30º. Even heavily laden with both boots full and the back seat rammed, we had no problems cruising at 55mph and climbing to over 1400m on the N260.

We decided April/May would be a good month to go, hoping that the snow would have cleared at altitude and it would not be too hot. So we booked the ferry to Bilbao and worked out suitable stopping places along our route. First heading East across to the Mediterranean, over the border into France, working our way back through the French Pyrenees, then back into Spain and Bilbao for the ferry home.

X marks our seven stops

Sorting out documentation and accessories was next. RAC/AA plus the Gov.UK Foreign Office were good, up-to-date sources of what you need to have and take with you, including insurance details and sorting European breakdown cover for over 30 days abroad. UK citizens will need an ETIAS to enter the EU from Jan 2024.
Travel insurance and GHIC cards were also essential.

As we are not mechanically minded people, we had a full service with our local mechanic, plus a new set of windscreen wipers and two bottles of E5 fuel additive just in case, and we were off!

Here’s Lucy preparing to be the first off the boat after our two-night crossing from Portsmouth to Bilbao.

The roads were all fantastic, even single-track country lanes were smooth with very few potholes, if any at all! Spain was notable for its tunnels, tolls and transport, with an ongoing construction programme of the N260 and huge intersections.
The Figaro’s automatic gearbox was a real advantage with the hairpin bends and zigzags up the mountains and her small size made it easy to navigate little villages and mountain roads.

We travelled 2,190 miles on 251 litres of petrol at an average of 39.7 mpg. Unleaded 95/97/98 E5 was readily available so the two bottles of additive weren’t needed, and travelled back home with us.

We would definitely recommend having all the hoses replaced if you are considering a trip like this with lots of long steep climbs. We zigzagged our way up for over 10 km in hot weather on our way over the pass at St Jean Pied de Port from France into Spain and the temp gauge barely rose above a quarter.

Everywhere we stopped from supermarkets to petrol stations people asked about her and wanted to take a photo, bikers on the N260 gave us the thumbs up as they weaved past. Even the customs officer in Bilbao called us back to ask “What car is it? how old is it?” We didn’t push Lucy on motorway speeds or steep accents as we were reliant on her to get us home, but we did enjoy some pretty impressive runs into the mountains and up into the high passes.

We travelled 2,190 miles on 251 litres of petrol at an average of 39.7 mpg. Unleaded 95/97/98 E5 was readily available so the two bottles of additive weren’t needed, and travelled back home with us.

A gorgeous circular route to the West of Figueres in Spain overlooking the Costa Brava, near the Monestir de Sant Rodes on the GIP 6041

This is Lucy (Well, actually Stuart!) enjoying the view on the climb up into the Odessa National Park in Spain off the HU 631

In France at Salau on the D3 above Couflens looking towards Spain and the snowy high passes. We decided to turn back when we saw the sign that said snow chains were needed!

A tricky little road up to Chateau Peyreperteuse in France off the D14 west of Perpignan. The first picture is Lucy having a rest before tackling the final set of zigzags to the car park below the chateau ( see arrow!)

One of our favourite routes was the D117 in France from Perpignan to St Girons. A smooth, beautiful road with an 80 km speed limit, moving from the rugged wine regions of the Pyrenees Oriantales to the lush hillsides of the Ariege…. passing through towns and pretty villages and the Gorges de Pierre-Lys.

Parked up in a pretty village in France

Then it was back to Spain for a relaxing few days enjoying the gorgeous views across the Ullibarri – Gamboa Lake outside Vitoria Gastiez.

We would say the only downside of the trip was the boot was too full to bring back much of the beautiful wine we had sampled on our trip. Here’s Lucy admiring the Maury vin-yards in France.

Finally, it was back to Bilbao and the boat home. Unlike in Kensington where apparently 3 Figaros were spotted in 1 mile, we saw none in over 2000 miles. Everywhere we stopped we felt like celebrities. They are certainly a rare breed of car in the Pyrenees!

Back home (We don’t live in a converted church, it just happens to be next door.)

A Fig in Figueres! The photo we should have had. We missed out on this photo opportunity of Lucy outside the Dali museum, the road runs between the museum and the lettering. Anyone down that way should certainly try and snap that one!

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