La Rochelle, or not, as it turned out… and an old haunt re-visited Days 32-34

Mr B was put in charge of choosing the next stop at La Rochelle, somewhere we have visited briefly but never stopped, and now we were on a mission to sample those saffron suffused mussels. We also wanted a shorter than usual drive, as Evie was still busy squeaking away…

 

As we sailed past La Rochelle (passing but not seeing our friends Matthew and Jenny in their motorhome heading in the other direction!) Mrs B quizzed Mr B about our chosen site. Given that seafood was part of the plan for our visit, Mr B had selected a site on the coast (we wanted some more beach time!) and where we could get a bus into town, he said…

 

Except, as Mrs B realised as she navigated Mr B towards the site, it was neither on the beach, nor likely to be a short and easy bus ride into La Rochelle…oops!

 

After a frank exchange of views on how the site had been selected, it transpired that perhaps Mr B had made a number of assumptions about proximity to both sea and town… which is how we found ourselves pulling in to La Grande Vallée in Tranche-sur-Mer, some 700m from the beach and no visible signs of catching a bus anywhere, let alone to La Rochelle…

 

Luckily (for Mr B) the site was lovely, very well maintained, enough shade without being oppressive, great facilities and, a restaurant that whilst not offering mouclade, was doing moules frites on Saturday night – which we had and they were delicious!

 

 

The beach (technically 700m, if we could fly in a straight line over the houses) was a lovely long stretch of sand opposite the Ille de Rey, and with Mr B in harness with the festival trolley and all our beach gear it was reachable after a hot (for the trolley hauler) 15 minute walk. It was such a treat to be back in the horizontal beach-bum mode, with each of us devouring our current books and maybe catching the odd little snooze…

 

 

With a substantial number of moules farms close by and visible at low tide at this end of the beach, along with much murkier water than we had been used to on the Med, combined with the absence of the big Atlantic rollers we had looked forward to, swimming was swerved for the two days we stayed!

 

 

Although this was only a two star site, it was very well run, and included the first site we have stayed at that offered a small poubelle for our compostable waste! If it were only closer to La Rochelle we’d probably use it again...

 

 

Taking note of the site choice at Tranche, Mrs B kindly offered to choose our next destination, inland and again not too far as we nursed Evie home. At about the right distance for a short day’s drive, we headed off towards La Flèche, somewhere we used to free camp with the kids in Daisy the Dodge on our way to the Portuguese coast many, many years ago!

 

We stopped off for a river-side picnic at Le Layon, where we learned of the Guerres de Vendée (a counter-revolutionary war fought by Royalist supporters), whilst we made use of a handy picnic table on yet another voie-vert – it’s a very pretty bit of France around here!

 

 

We could both remember the site at La Flèche, as it was literally across the river from our free camping area. If you look carefully behind Mrs B, you can just make our Evie’s awning on the other side!

 

 

After settling in and admiring yet again a good value and well run municipal site (Route d’Or at €15) we had time for a quick wander around the edge of town before treating ourselves to a swim in the lovely outdoor heated pool.

 

 

As we drove off, still squeaking and with two more nights before the ferry, we both agreed that this part of France was well worth more exploring on another trip. We need more time!!

 

S&J 30.06.23

 

Video added!

For anyone interested in visiting Vauban's Blaye Citadel in a camper van, the video of Evie negotiating the entry/exit has been added to the Blaye post - it's well worth the challenge!

Salies and on to Blaye Days 30-31

As we bowled squeakily along towards Salies, the skies continued to darken, and as we pulled into the Salines campsite, just uphill from the town, the heavens opened, announced by a rumble of thunder and forks of lightning! Mr B dashed in - and out from Reception with a borrowed brolly and we chugged gingerly towards our allocated pitch through heavy rain.

 

There was so much rain that the numbered pitch markers were all underwater and by the time we’d worked out which one we should be on, we’d decided to swap sides to one with better drainage. An interesting arrangement here, with two vans sharing one hedged-in area… Fortunately, the rain was fairly short lived and we hunkered down under the awning for supper. In jumpers! What a difference a day makes.

 

Next day we headed into the town for bread, pastries and dessert to take to our hosts for the next 24 hours, Chris and Sue. Note: Parking a 7m camper in Salies is neither easy nor recommended! Mission (eventually) accomplished, we headed out to Les Antys and the old farm where Chris and Sue live, and whiled away a pleasant day in good company, over lunch and dinner. Dinner outdoors was well and truly scuppered by yet another storm, but we did have time to enjoy the views before being forced inside!

We spent a peaceful night in Evie outside the house with only the occasional hoot of an owl to disturb us. Maybe it was one of the owls that Mr B met in the attic earlier that day, coming to say hello. He thinks she said her name was Hedwig…

Next morning we bade our fond farewells and headed north towards the west coast, still carrying our cargo of noisy mice! 

 

 

With the weather improving, we decided to do one of our ‘drive and see where we get to days’ especially with Evie making those alarming noises from her rear end…

 

Mr B was of the opinion that it sounded like sticky/worn hand-brake callipers, but just in case, we pulled in to an Iveco garage north of Dax for a professional view…

 

Although it was obviously lunchtime, the mechanics were incredibly helpful, and, luckily for us, one had worked for a year in Australia so his technical English was much more useful than Mr B’s campsite French!

 

Although the garage was in the middle of renovations, (so no ramps were available), a quick drive around their car park convinced the mechanics that it probably was the callipers. Checking that there were no warning lights showing and that the hydraulic fluid was not leaking, they reassured us that Evie was safe to drive, but that we should drive ‘with caution’ and book into a garage for a ‘big job’ – eek!

 

Which is how we found ourselves making a very cautious and slow drive north, heading for La Rochelle (where Mrs B was looking forward to trying the mouclade) and stopping at Blaye, north of Bordeaux. Our good friends Jan and Linda had stayed at the municipal site on their way to Spain on a recent trip and it sounded really interesting, situated in an old citadel…

 

But nothing could have prepared us for the sheer scale and magnificence of driving over the small bridge and through the successive narrow gates of this impressive Vauban fortress!

 

 

We’ve come across the impressive scale and designs of Vauban’s forts before, but it’s fair to say we never imagined that we would be camping inside one! It’s a credit to the municipality that they have the imagination to run this site inside a UNESCO designated zone – but they do! There are 12 UNESCO recognised Vauban forts designed and built in the 1600s, early 1700s which have been formally recognised for their contribution to military and civilian engineering on a global scale.

 

We arrived having read about a mysterious €80 deposit in a review on the Park4Night app, but assumed it was some sort of translation error… But oh no, in order to use the facilities a digital key fob was needed, and the deposit was indeed €80! And as payment was in cash (we didn’t have enough) or by cheque (we don’t have any) Mr B found himself on an unexpected bonus walk through the citadel into the town to get some money!

 

Amusing enough as that was, it turned out that the pitch (overlooking a small vineyard and the river Garonne) that we had been allocated was occupied by another camping car already. We assumed, especially as we were only staying one night, that we could simply swap with the one that they were meant to be on (next door), especially as they were staying for three nights. But oh no! With a classic display of French bureaucracy at its best, the other campers were made to move, which left us feeling amused but also a little guilty as we were upping sticks the next day! And of course, with that €80 deposit, we made full use of the facilities via the intriguing access path!

 

 

After a peaceful night’s sleep overlooking the Garonne and nestled inside the impressive multiple layered defensive walls of the fort, it was time to brave those narrow gateways and continue on our way to La Rochelle to sample those mussels in saffron sauce...

 

 

S&J 28.06.23

Maury and on to Salies-de-Béarn, via a midi Pyrénées ‘Paradis’! Days 28-29

The drive over to Maury from Latour was quick and easy, which meant we arrived at the Cave Cooperative with plenty of time to check out the wines – and our memories, as it’s been a good few years since we were here last!

 

Turning down the offer of a degustation at 10:30am, we did our best to remember what we had liked so much about the wines from this area, aided by a very helpful assistant who tried to find us on their computer system (no joy) and the tasting notes (luckily for us – also in English!).

 

We think one of the reasons we love the wine here is that it is predominantly Grenache noir grapes, grown on soil with the ‘schiste’ characteristics that make it very similar to Priorat from Spain, one of our all time favourites! Although Maury is also famous for its own vin doux, (similar to Rivesaltes and Banyuls) we much prefer the ‘dry’ reds as they are known here.

 

We have tried to learn about the wines in the regions we have travelled through over the years, and although our understanding is quite limited, it has made tasting the very different wines across different regions and countries we have travelled though so much fun. The difficult bit we have come to realise, is remembering which wines are similar and the variety of names for the same grape in different countries!

 

Leaving the Coop with a few bottles to bring home, we were in luck at the small Cave of Elodie Grebule, open this time compared to the last two times we have visited, where we were able to pick up a box of a wine we came to love in England; Belle Enfant, taking care not to exceed our post-Brexit allowance… grrr!

 

The drive on towards Salies was remarkably pretty, as we meandered our way through vineyard after vineyard, with the Cathar castles looking down on us from their unfeasibly high perches and reminding us of a couple that we have yet to visit…

 

 

In parts, this route is very similar to one of our favourite routes back into France from Spain up near Puigcerda, with the roads running through old narrow town gateways,  cut into the rockface, or through it sometimes! It makes for careful but exhilarating driving!

 

 

Mrs B had chosen our next stop at Montréjeau as it had a pool, which we reasoned would be welcome after our day’s drive. And what a find it was! Aptly named Camping Paradis Midi Pyrénées, we couldn’t believe our luck with the weather holding and the site’s infinity pool overlooking the mountains!

 

 

Leaving the next day for our next leg up to Salies, the picturesque vineyards were soon replaced with field after field of maize/corn, which we subsequently learned is mainly grown for bio-fuel, as the French state has invested heavily since the Ukraine war in alternative fuels. Although vehicles need to be modified, and many argue that this switch has led to a contribution to global food shortages, the trend for cheap alternative fuels in France is a growing one.

 

And as well as the landscape changing, the skies started to darken and take on a menacing air… and Evie started to squeak …..

 

S&J 27.06.23

 

 

 

 

La Tour de France – and not a bike in sight! Days 26 - 27

Our first stop as we left the campsite at Serignan was the local wine cooperative to stock up on the amazing rosé we had been buying on draught at the campsite shop for €3.70. Of course at the Cave it was a little less and also available in boxes. Nice and easy to tuck a couple away in the garage!

It was a fascinating reminder of just how much local wine is a staple part of the community, as we were surrounded by the locals, filling their containers ready for le weekend.

 

 

After shopping at the local Carrefour (our first supermarket shop in two weeks), where we were reminded of the ready availability of washing and drying machines in many supermarket car parks (what a boon for campers!) we headed off for the motorway to Perpignan, to eat up the miles as we headed into the foothills of the southern Pyrenees.

 

 

Mrs B had suggested `Camping La Tour de France’ as our next destination, as it had great reviews for its restaurant, as well as being well positioned to explore this part of France. Situated in the small town of Latour de France, the campsite was a cool oasis of well-shaded pitches, with plenty of availability.

 

 

Dodging the storms we had feared would be part of this leg of the trip as we skirted the Pyrenees, we lucked out on our visit the next day with just an overcast sky, to see the amazing ‘Orgues’ near Ille-sur-Tet, a series of incredible naturally sculpted geological features referred to variously as ‘fairy chimneys’ or ‘organ pipes’ as in the site’s name.

 

The drive over the hills was dramatic – if only it hadn’t been so cloudy!

 

 

Sculpted by erosion over the millennia, the site had an eerie and impressive feel about it with very few other people about at the time we visited.

 

 

 

The short 800m walk from the ticket office to the actual site itself was accompanied by some vibrant convulvulous, and a number of welded metal ‘works of art’, some of which Mrs B enjoyed more than others!

 

 

Returning to the site after another picturesque drive via a different route, we decided to try out the campsite restaurant for dinner. And what an amazing meal it was! For a small campsite restaurant in a village, the food was outstanding by any measure. We clearly weren’t the only ones who thought so either, as we counted around 50 diners throughout the evening, including a lot of local customers.

 

We shared a meat and cheese tapas platter to start, followed by a delicious and inventive main of squid on potato puree, with shaved fennel, a cashew nut and wasabi dressing and chorizo mayonnaise, washed down by a lush local white, Canigonenc, followed by tarte tatin and a chilled local sweet wine, finishing with what we think is the French near equivalent to a cortado, café noisette. It was one of the best meals we have ever eaten in France and a real testament to the skill and inventiveness of the chef!

 

 

Before we left we visited the local Cave to get a bottle of the village cooperative’s sweet wine, made under the Rivesalte DOC – a bottle we’ll be saving for home!

 

Our next stop will be a return visit to Maury and its fabulous wine cooperative, as well as one of our all time favourite wine producers, Elodie Grebule, whose ‘Belle Enfant’ red we first came across in one of our favourite hotels in the UK, Corse Lawn in the Cotswolds – fingers crossed it’s open this time…!

 

S&J  26.06.23