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Monday 20 August 2018

Data summary - to be added

The final leg of this trip – From the Loire to the coast at Dieppe- and the ferry home!


Waking to another hot and sunny day at our bargain campsite on the Loire, we had a leisurely breakfast, safe in the knowledge that Google Maps had given the journey time at about four hours – so we reckoned about five for us, as our driving style might be described as ‘leisurely’ at best!

As it turned out, it was nearer six with some roadworks, but still with plenty of time to take an afternoon tea stop at Montville, our very first overnight stop when we started almost ten weeks ago. We’d done some of the ‘home’ shopping in the Loire to benefit from some of the local wines there, and someone had sneaked in a very lush fruit tart – just right for tea in the park!



The Aire was undergoing an upgrade with a new layer of gravel being added by a team who were very patiently working around vans as they came and went! This reduced the amount of spaces, but we were OK – so we could have stayed, with about an hour’s drive left to get to Dieppe. Unfortunately, Mr B missed Mrs B’s cues that this might be better than a noisy night at Dieppe, as he was (uncharacteristically!) maybe a bit focussed on the ‘last supper’ of the usually excellent Normandy cuisine around Dieppe harbour…

So after the customary shop at the nearby Auchan (but without diesel this time as it was still more expensive than the UK) we pulled up to the harbour-side Aire on the seafront with still a few places left. This Aire is not cheap (€12) but it is literally within sight of the Ferry – and walking distance of a number of pretty good restaurants. We’d noticed a motley assortment of vans and old campers in the gravelled area next to the Aire, but didn’t think much of it as we scampered into the port to have that last supper…

Walking from the Aire, pretty much the first proper French restaurant you come to is ‘Le Juquin’, one we’d been to before and with a very good value fixed price menu we were straight in! Proper moules et frites at last!

With time to catch the last bit of daylight as we walked the short distance back to the Aire, we could hear quite a commotion from the occupants of the vans we’d seen earlier, and as we rounded the corner we could see that the Aire had become a playground for a raggle taggle bunch of kids tearing around on scooters and bikes, weaving in and out of the campers and making a lot of noise. Imagining our night was going to be banjaxed until the Ferry woke us at 0400 anyway, we were pretty surprised to a) see the local Police turn up and b) start enforcing the law so that within 45 minutes, all the vans and occupants had been moved on – there were a few raised voices from the group, but all in all, a relatively measured departure and impressive calm professionalism from the French police.

And so indeed we did get some shut-eye until the 0400 ferry arrived and disgorged its cargo of trucks, vans and cars… And Mr B had forgotten that once it’s in port, its engines keep running… Oops – Montville or similar it will be next time!

Dawn broke with our hopes high of a sunny day to buck the trend of most of our ‘final day’ photos over the last few years, however…



Luckily, as we queued at the ferry, the sun came out and stayed with us all the way back to England! And we were very lucky to benefit from a fascinating talk by the on-board wildlife expert working for the ORCA charity, who have extended their partnership with DFDS to include the channel crossing! We’d never heard of them, but they have been offering interactive talks and wildlife spotting on boats all over the world, including 12 years with DFDS. We learnt loads of things, so if you are interested in what and where ORCA do their stuff, look here.

As we neared the English coast and Newhaven hove into view (still in sunshine!) we reflected on our trip and both were of the same view that we’d certainly go back to both the islands of Corsica and Sardinia – as well as plan some extended and structured time in France itself!

And on our way back to the van as we disembarked, we saw this very quirky and unusual trailer made from an old Land Rover – pretty cool we thought!



So – thanks for reading and we hope you’ve enjoyed the blog – we’ll certainly be dipping in when we try and remember in a few weeks where we’ve been!

The next and final entry will be a brief data summary of costs, distances etc (which hopefully we’ll actually get round to doing this time!)

S&J

Cuisery, Apremont, Chateauneuf-sur-Loire – (and more of M. Perdu and his barge, Lulu)


As we descended from the Haute-Loire and headed in a north-easterly direction towards Cuisery, we realised that we’d be able to continue our homage to see another of M. Perdu’s moorings by taking a ‘small detour’ when we left the town – more of which later!

As we left the hills behind us, and the temperatures settled back into their now normal low 30s, we benefitted from a stretch of free autoroute (A77) that meant we arrived at Cuisery with enough time to pitch up and then explore the town. Having both enjoyed a wander around Hay-on-Wye and its bookshops many years ago in England, we were aware that we’d need sufficient time to wander and do it justice…

The site was an interesting one (another Campercontact find), sited right alongside the river Seille, with a short run of public moorings where M. Perdu would have tied up. No sign of any Dutch barges or Lulu lookalikes though, just a selection of leisure boats enjoying the evening sun as we nabbed a pitch right by the tow-path.



The site, whilst small, had a little pool to cool off in (of course we did) and a small bistro that specialised in frogs’ legs (we didn’t!)  It also hosted a charming older Frenchman, who dropped by to offer his compliments to Mrs B, whilst Mr B was in the van getting ready, putting a smile on her face and a spring in her step as we headed into the village!

The town (a short walk up the hill) turned out to be a little bit smaller than we had expected – and the ‘book town’ epithet turned out to be more of a 1990s local authority attempt at marketing to try and keep the high street alive! Had we arrived on one of the days that the book shops were actually open, we’d probably have enjoyed it a bit more – but it made a pleasant enough wander as the skies filled in.





We had thought we might find somewhere to have dinner, but along with the closed bookshops, the town had clearly closed early to watch France play Belgium in the World Cup. So, what better place to have dinner and listen to the excitement of France win, than back on our pitch! Compared to other times we have been on French campsites during a major football tournament, the evening passed relatively quietly and before long we were tucked up, with a starry sky replacing the earlier cloud.

As we left the next morning, we spotted an info board that explained that the campsite and moorings had benefitted from recent updating, funded by the local authority and the EU, with public access to the water and riverside – which explained the pool, bistro and pretty swish ablution block!

With the temperatures set to rise (again!) we made an early start for our ‘small detour’ to another place of significance for M. Perdu; the little village of Apremont-sur-Allier, where Lulu had been tied up for the night on a bend in the river.

Well, this all seemed straightforward as followed the route on our (so far) reliable 2013 AA road atlas of France. We were heading north past Nevers so it looked to be a short hop across from the N7.



Except, as we got to the bit where the road crosses the regional boundary line (purple on the map) the road just stopped in a dead end L. Maybe a result of some inter-regional disagreement, or just poor mapping by the AA – either way in meant we had to back track and head north and then south to get to our destination!

By the time we arrived, the clouds had as well – and to add insult to injury, no vehicles were allowed into the village unless you were a resident! So, taking advantage of the nicely manicured grass just outside the boundary line of the village, we parked up and had a picnic before joining the many tourists who were also here to admire the village (more for its choclolate-box-tweeness than the antics of M. Perdu we guessed!).



As if prompted by the historic outdoor laundry opposite, Mr B went into cleaning mode, taking advantage of the cloud cover to get our telescopic ladder out to get up on the roof and clean the solar panels. He’d noticed they’d acquired a lovely brown patina over the course of the trip, and that solar output was lower than normal in bright sun, and sure enough, after two washes and rinses, output was back to normal – a useful reminder of the importance of solar panel maintenance when you need to rely on them!



The village was more interesting for us for the location of the fictional berthing, even if currently home to a slightly smaller boat than Lulu…



…than the assortment of mediaeval buildings, now owned by a dwindling population of under 100. It must be an odd place to live – beautiful homes and surroundings – but with lots of tourists wandering around for much of the year. Still, we enjoyed it and it was easy to see why it was one of the ‘most beautiful villages in France.’



After our less than successful route planning to get us to the village, we were pleased that we would benefit from rejoining the free bit of the A77 until we headed off towards Orleans and the banks of the Loire.

We could see on the Campercontact app that there were not only loads of campsites en-route, but that many of them were on, or close to, the river itself. And so, with the clever knack that Mrs B has developed of choosing the ‘right site for the night’ we drove into the municipal camping ground of Châteauneuf-sur-Loire, with a free choice of pitch enabling us to park up along the river bank and enjoy the evening sun that had greeted us as we started to track the Loire westwards.



The site is lovely, with modern amenities and a very relaxed vibe and when we’re back in this area (as we’re sure we will be) it would make a good base to explore, or just unwind for a while. Especially as the first night has an ‘introductory’ price of jut €9 for a camper and two people!

Proximity to the river meant we enjoyed a coolish night after we’d had dinner (and England went out of the World Cup to Croatia without a peep from our fellow campers!) and we set to the task of planning the final leg of this trip up to Dieppe the next day – an easy drive with plenty of time to do the obligatory goodies-shop of food and wine. And it even looked as if we might buck the trend of recent years and arrive into Dieppe in sunshine!

S&J





Wednesday 25 July 2018

An almost-rendezvous with some fellow travellers – and on to the mountains of the Haute-Loire in search of cooler weather!


Some of you may recall we met a couple of bikers, Catherine and Djamal  in Aléria when we were in Corsica, and we had promised each other to try and catch up when we were back on the French mainland. We’d swapped emails and our hopes were high that we’d be able to catch up with them north of Orange. Unfortunately, we were only able to make contact live by phone once we’d already passed where they lived and we were closing on Le Puy-en-Velay in the Haute-Loire. It’s great when you get to meet new people from other countries and we really hope to catch up with them when we are next in France, or they are in the UK!

We’d had to drive through Orange en route (the main road goes right through the centre) and we were reminded what a fascinating place it is - and how interesting it would be to spend time there (in cooler weather!) as we followed the road around the Roman triumphal arch, probably dated from the Augustan period of 27 BCE to AD14 – amazing!



The drive towards Le Puy-en-Velay was slow but extremely pretty as we wended our way through hills and valleys and started to slowly climb through the Parc Naturel Régional des Monts d’Ardèche. As we drove higher, we both commented on the sudden change in the quality of the air which was not only much cooler (hurrah!) but also seemed to ‘taste’ cleaner!

As is often the case with mountainous drives, it was taking us a little longer than we’d anticipated to cover the distance, so instead of aiming for Le Puy-en-Velay for a campsite that night, we had a look on the Campercontact app to see what was nearby – and that is what led us, rather fortuitously, to take a side road off to St Arcon de Barges, and a lovely campsite/auberge/restaurant run by a very friendly Dutch couple, Ed and Elvire.

Their business, (Le Marconnés) offers B&B, a small and intimate restaurant, and a fabulous little campsite with views across the hills – complete with its own pool. Set in a series of beautifully restored old stone buildings, the B&B and restaurant watch over the terraced camping ground where we enjoyed our first cool night in a very long time (940m above sea level), with amazing views and  plenty of peace and tranquillity.



After a very peaceful night’s sleep, we continued our route to Le Puy-en-Velay, stopping to restock and refuel at a supermarket that provided covered parking with its array of PV panels – very enterprising!



As we transited past Le Puy-en-Velay, we realised that here was yet another place we’d like to return to, with its impressive buildings and monuments perched on top of narrow volcanic outcrops – there’s just so much to see in France!

And having treated ourselves to a night of cool air, we decided it was time to get back in the groove with M. Perdu and his voyage from Paris to Sanary-sur-Mer, which is why we set our sights on the small village of Cuisery in the Saône-et-Loire department, the ‘book town’ where he moored up in search of a mysterious author…

S&J

Sunday 22 July 2018

Apt and ‘La Fête de la Lavande’ – or, 99 things to do with lavender!


Our visit to Apt is a good example of how we often just do stuff on the fly on these trips – sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. This time, it did, and after a short hop from our ‘night of two aires’ and musical mayhem, we drew up into the municipal campsite not far from the centre of Apt. Even as we drove through the town along the riverbank to the site, we could see signs of the festival in the town and the air was heavy with the scent of lavender.

The site was not overly busy (and very low key) and we were able to pick our pitch with the now familiar request of where to find the best ‘ombrage’ or shade, at reception. Unfortunately, Mr B had somehow got the points of the compass and the movement of the sun a bit confused, and just after we had finished setting up, it became clear we needed to swap pitches if we weren’t going to roast in the rising temperatures and virtually still air! He put it down to an interrupted night and being a bit tired… 



Luckily, after our second pitch passed muster, we still had time to have a quick explore of the town and its very idiosyncratic festival. It turned out to be a really interesting combination of an agricultural show, focussed on displaying just about everything you can do with lavender, and a quirky mix of vintage cars and tractors.



By the time we had been around the stalls, we had seen the wide variety of uses the locals could put lavender to in foods, including bread, salami, brioche, syrup, lemonade, wine, pizza, and ice-cream!

And of particular interest to Mrs B, were the stalls (and stills!) that were selling essential oils and distillates, along with a myriad of cosmetic products from soaps to face creams.



With our heads almost reeling with the scent of so much lavender (and Mrs B’s own bunch she had been given – for free – no cajoling itinerants here!) from one of the huge loads on the trailers, we decided we had enough time to walk back to the campsite and clean up, and then walk back into the town for some tucker…not before enjoying a musical interlude by a traditional Provençal ensemble of course!



Dinner was a in a lovely bistro restaurant Les P’tits Lilou that had a ‘menu du jour’ that also luckily ran in the evening. We quite like these fixed price affairs, where you can be reasonably sure that the food has been cooked on the day, and so we ended up with a good value three course meal with (you guessed it) tarte Provençal, a lamb main course (a souris of lamb – aka shank!), with a lavender scented dauphinoise, and apricot crumble with lavender ice-cream – complete with a half litre carafe of house wine of course!

By the time we waddled back to the site, the temperature had refused to even consider dropping, and as we sat out in what seemed like near sauna temperatures, we decided it was time to break out the overhead fan that fits into the skylight above our heads. It’s no more than a homemade frame that slots into the skylight with a powerful (and quiet) PC fan with a speed controller – and as it turned out, a real godsend that night as it managed to send a gentle breeze across our faces as we nodded off!

The next morning saw no let-up in the temperatures and so we set off on our way to Orange, hoping o visit new friends we’d met on Corsica, wondering what the temperatures were going to be like further inland!

S&J

Thursday 19 July 2018

To Bonnieux – where M. Perdu stays at a B&B and the wine served has a picture of his lost love, and we add in a trip to a château once owned by the Marquis de Sade… (7th to 8th July)



 The drive up to Bonnieux was a hot one, high 30s outside and touching 40 in the cab, so it was no surprise that before long we had pulled over to have a languid lunch in a shady bit of woodland – complete with nearby stream – which would have provided a great opportunity for a cooling dip – had there been any water in it!



As we arrived at the outskirts of Bonnieux, nestled between the Grand and the Petit Luberon like a layered cake, we were happy to see that it would be easy for us to park up close to the top of the village and walk into the picturesque old town, entering by one of the mediaeval gates.



Sitting with a commanding view over the plains that stretch out in front of the Luberon hills, we were grateful that some of the cedar trees that formed a nearby forest (having been imported in the Napoleonic era from north Africa) had found their way into the village and provided some much needed shade!



As we were enjoying the shade and views, a young guitarist started playing nearby and it was only too easy to imagine ourselves back in the day, serenaded by our very own minstrel. Not only is the village set on a hill, but much of the internal layout makes good use of the slopes, and as we wandered around, it was easy to see why M. Perdu had made reference to the ‘strong calves’ of the village girls!




The village had a number of quirky art/artisan shops and interesting places to eat and drink, and had we planned on staying longer, we would have been spoilt for choice. Mrs B also picked up a leaflet for a ‘lavender festival’ in the nearby town of Apt that we thought we might just squeeze into our route (see later entry!).



As it was, after we’d taken a stroll around the village cemetery with its interesting mausoleums and amazing views for the dead (as is customary), we decided to move on to the nearby village of Lacoste, where, not only would we find a château that once belonged to the Marquis de Sade, but according to our Campercontact app, we night also find a place to free camp for the night…



Lacoste was a very short drive indeed and before long we could see the château at the top of the village.



And the app hadn’t lied, there was indeed a place to park up for the night, in a lovely wooded car park just down the hill from the village – perfect!



Featuring in de Sade’s novel ‘The 120 days of Sodom’ (Château de Silling) he lived there for some of the late 1700s, with the château later vandalised and largely destroyed during the French revolution. With restoration started in the 1950s, it’s now owned by Pierre Cardin as his second residence, whilst he continues its restoration.

His ownership no doubt helps the village’s current main focus, which seems to be mainly high-end artisan shops and B&Bs. We arrived just as the shops were closing, but in time to see one of the local hat makers using the village’s picturesque backdrop to take a few promotional selfies!



The Château is well worth the climb up the slippery cobbles (there is even a railing, it's that steep!) with some interesting art installations and amazing views from the top. It’s possible to visit the Château, but not for us unfortunately as it was locked up – with who knows what going on inside…



And so we returned to our woodland glade as the sun was setting, deciding as it was so quiet and peaceful that we’d set up the chairs and table and have a relaxed dinner. And, as if to add to the vibe, from not far away, we were serenaded by a couple of singer/guitarists playing a selection of all our favourite US west coast tunes from the 70s! Feeling more than a little smug that we’d nabbed this perfect little spot for the night, we turned in and settled down to watch the stars shining in the clear sky through the skylight and the tree canopy…

Until, pretty much bang on midnight, the same venue that had provided our west-coast balladeers earlier, suddenly switched gear and we were treated to three hours of a series of live bands (of varying calibre and volume) knocking out a succession of our not-so-favourite tunes (AC/DC’s Highway to Hell and Plastic Bertrand’s ‘Ça plane pour moi’ being memorable examples!). So, by 0315, as the musicians got drunker and it was clear that the party would probably continue until dawn, we decided that everything was ‘not groovy’ as M. Bertrand had been singing, so we upped sticks and drove off to find another venue for what was left for the night – hopefully without disturbance!

Courtesy of Campercontact again, we drove about half an hour in the direction we knew we would be heading for the lavender festival, to the small hilltop village of Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, where we had a very relaxed, and quiet, if short, rest-of-night!

We woke in the morning to stunning views from our window, and a quick trip into the village for bread and croissants (complete with Sunday morning queue!) quickly revealed that it would be worth an unplanned wander around.
With the site occupied since the times of the independent Gauls before the Roman occupation, the village now mainly comprises a small mix of mediaeval and mainly later buildings, managing to produce that classic Provençal charm we were beginning to love. And like many of these small villages in the south, it had its memorial to resistance fighters, in this case murdered by the Nazi SS in 1944 as they hunted resistance fighters and their supporters.



Following a quick breakfast (where we’d had to move the van to create some shade in the rising heat!) we headed off to the town of Apt and its ‘fête de la lavande’ that Mrs B had picked up a flyer for – and a stop over in the municipal campsite.

S&J