Sérignan is just a short
potter from Loupian and we were soon there, having shopped en route to pick up
some regional goodies for the next few days, including a couple of Tielle
Sétoise, little squid and tomato pies that are popular in this region, plus a
few bottles of the lovely pale southern rosé, of which we’d become rather (too) fond
over the past week.
We were looking forward to
some more Mediterranean seaside swimming, having not been in the Med since
Oliva in early May. We’d chosen another Yelloh! branded campsite, as in Portugal, partly
as it was the only one along this stretch with a few days left on ACSI
discount but also because it had direct beach access. The campsite, Aloha, was almost at capacity at the start of
the school summer holidays when we arrived, but we were given a choice of
several emplacements by the lovely young staff and were soon installed under
the trees on a spacious pitch.
These 5 star sites have
been quite a revelation to us this year and this one was even better than the
last, with a full range of shops, pools, waterslides, jacuzzi and entertainment
programme, as well as super modern shower blocks and a launderette. With our morning baguette and
croissants less than a hundred metres away, there was no need to venture far
and we just relaxed, beached and swam most days, along with a bit of exploring
on the bicycles.
Not far from the site is
Valras Plage, a substantial resort town, and you can get a small ferry boat,
the Lily Passeur, across the estuary to get there, so after a couple of days
sunning ourselves, we hopped on the bikes for a morning cycle and lunch
out.
It was a pleasant ride on
the flat, past the horses grazing on the marshes, attended by the ubiquitous
egrets common to this type of terrain.
Also along this stretch of
road are several stalls selling local produce, including tomatoes and
courgettes grown in the adjacent fields.
I love tomatoes this fresh – you can just small and taste the sunshine,
and we made a note to stop by later. By luck, we arrived at Valras on market
day, just in time for a quick wander around before settling down for
lunch. It’s much more touristy
here and whilst our lunch was perfectly pleasant, it didn’t have the same nice
low key vibe that we’d enjoyed at Méze a few days previously – and there were
so many (too many) places to choose from!
From here we caught the boat
back and then cycled the few kilometres into Sérignan itself, an attractive
little town, and after an afternoon ice cream, we pedaled back to Aloha along
the cycle paths that run all along this stretch, including one that goes out to
Portiragnes and the Canal du Midi and further, to Cap D’Agde, with its many
nudist campsites. We were slightly
tempted . . . I spent time on a naturist site in the former Yugoslavia many
years ago and loved it, but I suspect that the Southern French version may be a
tad more commercialised these days!
Back at Aloha, another evening
cooking session – outdoors most of the time here. . .
We’d looked at the
entertainment programme for the bar and thought we probably wouldn’t venture
there, but sitting outside the van one evening we both began tapping our feet
to Red Beans and Pepper Sauce, the French funk rock band that were playing that
evening, and were tempted over for the last 45 minutes or so of their set,
which included an excellent rendition of Motorhead’s The Ace of Spades! The bar was rammed with young, old and
everyone inbetween having a good time, as did we. Another preconception quashed!!
All too soon it was time to
go. It had been full-on here;
busy, noisy with families and almost at capacity, but we’d had a great time and
were sorry to leave. As we left,
our wristbands were cut and our €50 deposit returned. It seemed odd to have these attached on arrival and the
first time we’d experienced it, but pretty sensible on a site this size with so
many visitors.
We will certainly return to
this area in future – in fact as I write this I can just imagine sitting under
the trees on a balmy evening with a plate of local oysters and a glass of
chilled wine, mmm …..
J.
No comments:
Post a Comment