12/10/09

Day 34 – October 12
Our last full day in France, and the end of our journey. This will be our last posting on the blog. We have said our farewells to Lynn and Irvin and are now headed for Calais for our last night back on the same aire we started out from all those weeks ago.
We hope you have enjoyed the blog, and reading about our travels. It’s been great having you along, and we would like to thank all of you for your support and comments, it’s been lovely to think that you have been following our progress. See you all soon!

11/10/09

Day 33 – October 11
After a summit meeting last night we decided on a return visit to St Valery en Caux for our last night before Calais, and before Lynn and Irvin carry on to Zeebrugge via Bruges for their return to Hull.
On the way to St Valery today we drove through some lovely little villages. In this area of Normandy there are an enormous number of timber and brick buildings, many thatched, that the French go to great pains to preserve and restore. The fields are also dotted with barns of the same construction which have not been renovated but must have been standing for literally hundreds of years.
The weather has probably been the worst we have had today, except for our soaking at Mont St Michel. That seems a long time ago now. Those days that have started off cloudy or misty have usually cleared quite quickly, and I can honestly say that we have not been bothered by rain at all. Any that we have had has not affected us. Which isn’t bad for this time of year! Autumn is however well and truly under way up here in northern France, and the trees are turning all shades of gold and red and the leaves are falling, as they no doubt are in England.
Being back on the coast today is lovely, despite the weather. We treated ourselves to lunch out at a seafood restaurant and had – yep! – mussels! They were really good, especially washed down with a very acceptable bottle of Muscadet!
We have spent the rest of the afternoon cosily ensconced in the motorhome watching the waves crashing in and chilling generally. Lynn and Irvin were slightly more energetic and went for a walk in the wind and rain and declared it lovely, but we weren’t convinced!

10/10/09

Day 32 – October 10
Today was designated a “big drive” day so we could get in another couple of days on the Normandy coast for a last ozone fix before we sail back to England on Tuesday. It was a horrible morning when we set off, very wet, and Irvin consequently did not honour his promise from the previous night to go for pain chocolat for us all this morning, blaming the weather and a hangover – just to reinforce what a bad influence we are! The rain very soon cleared though and by the time we reached our destination of La Mailleraye sur Seine we were ready to sit out with a glass of wine while Peter and Irvin had another shot at fishing for our dinner – but still nothing!
The aire is in a superb location right on the banks of the Seine although you would never think it is the same river that runs through Paris. We thought the guy next to us was joking when he told us container ships went past – then they did! They were absolutely huge, and the wash from them very nearly washed us off the riverbank!
Unfortunately our visit coincided with a camping club meeting and the French had cordoned off the whole riverbank area for their own use, whilst we were confined to the area behind. This is simply not the done thing, the whole idea of aires is that they are on a first come first served basis and it is not possible to book or reserve space. We gave them a few dirty looks, but they didn’t seem to notice!

09/10/09

Day 31 – October 9
Remember my scaffolding dilemma? Well, it happened again today – another to cross off the list is the chateau at Chambord! It seems that once the main tourist season is over the scaffolders are really put under the cosh and have to supply scaffolding to every major chateau and public building in the country! Seriously, this seems to be the time when all the renovation work is scheduled for.
Chambord is a very strange place. From a distance the chateau is truly fantastic – the rooftops in particular are very ornate. It is absolutely huge and was built in stages over a number of centuries, being left unoccupied for long periods in between, and this has resulted in a very disjointed end product. The best features are the aforesaid rooftops and a central double spiral staircase inspired, if not designed, by da Vinci. The chateau has no formal gardens like the others we have seen, but stands in a huge wooded park, the walls of the estate covering a staggering 34 kilometres, and this was all hunting grounds in days gone by. Didn’t see anything interesting though!
We have both been a bit tetchy today. We have had such a great time and don’t want this experience to end, but we know it has to. There are obviously things and people we miss very much, but we both feel we could just turn around and do it all again, right now! Which is how it should be.

08/10/09

Day 30 – October 8
So much for the red sky promise – thick fog greeted us this morning! We had expected to have the opportunity to buy wine or whatever is produced at France Passion sites, but the norm seems to be that they show you where you can park then disappear. So much for returning the favour! We set off for Blois to meet up with Lynn and Irvin, stopping off at various villages on the way on an unsuccessful water hunt, so we are economising on water as well as gas now! There are noticeably fewer services in this area for some unknown reason, seeing as it is such a tourist area.
Lynn and Irvin arrived about 1pm having found the aire much more easily than we did –we had some difficulty and more than a few choice words trying to wend our way through a car park full of very randomly parked cars to reach it! Their sat nav obviously isn’t as self opinionated as ours!
We ambled around Blois this afternoon, which is quite a large, busy town and a bit of a shock to the system after meandering through sleepy villages for the last few days.
Peter and Irvin tried their hand at catching fish for the barbie from the Loire, but to no avail. The fish obviously don’t take to day old baguette! This being the case we treated ourselves to dinner out tonight, a rarity on this trip, and sadly only resulting in a rather mediocre pizza and some very chilled red wine.
It’s lovely to meet up with them over here though, and to exchange stories about their trip and ours, being so different as they have followed the east/mountains and lakes route and we have followed the coast. And of course to compare notes about Hymers (and the French!) in general.

07/10/09

Day 29 – October 7
Well, it’s happened to me again – I went to London specifically to see St Paul’s and it was covered in scaffolding, Rome to see the Four Rivers fountain in the Piazza Navona and it was empty and boarded round, the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, same story – and yep, you guessed it! The showpiece chateau of Chenonceau which is prized and photographed above all others – hidden under scaffolding! A word of warning – if you are travelling to see anything especially do check first to see that I’m not going at the same time!
That said, it has been a very enjoyable day. We followed the less obvious route to the chateau via the maze and naturalised woodland, again with miniature cyclamens of all shades flowering under the trees, to achieve a magnificent view of the chateau, with its arches over the River Cher on which it stands. The weather was lovely today, sunny and hot, and wandering through the beautifully laid out gardens was a real pleasure.
The house itself is furnished and has many original features which are well documented so finding your way round and learning the history of it is easy. A really nice touch is that each of the principal rooms has a huge display of flowers or plants grown in the chateau gardens, and the scent of the flowers fills the rooms.
Another night of France Passion for us tonight, again at a vineyard – though not quite as idyllic as it sounds! We meet Lynn and Irvin at Blois tomorrow and are really looking forward to seeing them, but it means we now have only a few days left before reaching Calais.
I write this in the throes of a huge thunderstorm and torrential rain after a beautiful day – but the sky is bright in the distance so hopefully it will clear very soon….

06/10/09

Day 28 – October 6
First and foremost, a very Happy 50th Birthday to my little brother Nick. Hope you had a fantastic day, although no doubt you were working, but all our love and best wishes anyway!
Peter was a star this morning and got up early and walked into the village to get bread and croissants. You may recall that he did this frequently at first, but the novelty soon wore off! In all fairness we haven’t always been in the right place for him to be able to walk, so I am being a little unfair!
We walked from the aire to the chateau at Azay le Rideau. This is one of the prettiest fairytale type chateaux in that it is all round towers and turrets, and is set on the river which was diverted around it so that it appears to be set in a moat.
We went from Azay to Villandry, but took the garden-only tour here as this was what we (or rather I) really wanted to see. Each section of the garden has been restored to the true Renaissance period style and is intricately laid out and planted on colour themes, water gardens and kitchen and herb gardens. It is best viewed from the second floor terrace where you can truly appreciate the planting and the immaculately trimmed box hedging and topiary trees. It is absolutely lovely now, so must be amazing when all the summer colours are in full bloom.
Surprisingly for the number of visitors this area attracts there seem to be relatively few aires, so we are enjoying our second night of France Passion tonight – no further explanation! (Clue – Sept 26th)
The gas is holding out so far and we have only a week to go so it looks like we’ll probably make it. We are meeting up with Lynn and Irvin on Thursday, so may have to sponge meals or showers off them if it runs out – or go without!
I can hardly believe we are nearly at the end of what seemed like such a long trip.

05/10/09

Day 27 – October 5
The illuminated chateau from last night wasn’t even visible this morning, the cloud was so thick and the rain was so heavy. We had a slow start, taking full advantage of the unlimited hot water for showers on the campsite and set off late morning to explore the chateau at Saumur. Having done this we decided that as the weather was so poor we would carry on to Abbaye de Fontevraud as much of this is under cover!
We passed through true vineyard country on the way, resisting the roadside invitations to taste and buy direct – not a recommended pastime when having to manoeuvre a 6 metre motorhome! There are a huge number of troglodyte dwellings in this area carved into the soft white rock, and even a “cave du vins” cut into the rock.
The Abbaye is a huge abbey complex dating to the 11th century with masses of original features retained despite a huge restoration programme. It is also allegedly the final resting place of Richard the Lionheart, but there are many other places in France that make the same claim, so a pinch of salt is needed!
After the abbey we drove through Chinon, which has strong associations with Joan of Arc, after passing through vast swathes of open countryside where the corn is currently being harvested and the grapes are weighing heavy on the vines.
We ended the day on the aire at Azay Le Rideau, a real fairytale chateau set on a moat, which we will visit in the morning.
Happy birthday Nick for the 6th. Have a great day - we'll raise a glass (or two!) to celebrate!

04/10/09

Day 26 – October 4
Today was always going to be a difficult day because of our decision to visit Oradour sur Glane. You have probably never heard of this place, and neither had we until a couple of years ago, but on 10 June 1944 it was the scene of an SS atrocity that took the lives of 642 townspeople in the most brutal way. The men were herded into separate areas of the town and simultaneously shot, and the women and children were barricaded in the church and then burned alive.
What makes this town special is that the whole place has been left exactly as it was, and it is in reality an open memorial to all those murdered that day. You can wander the streets amongst the burnt out buildings and see cars abandoned on the street, a set of scales and a coffee bean grinder in the grocers shop, metal furniture frames and prams, all rusting away but exactly where they were left. The tiles are still on the wall in the butchers shop, and the bread ovens are still visible in the bakers. What struck me too, was the number of sewing machines in many houses – we forget that almost every home had one all those years ago. There is a cemetery memorial to all those who died, and what really hits home is the number of victims all with the same family name. I won’t go on about this any more, suffice it to say that it is a very emotional place to visit.
We are staying at Saumur tonight, on the Loire, from where we are going to visit some of the chateaux along the river (much to Peter’s delight!) Our pitch is right by the side of the river, looking across the river to the chateau high up in the opposite bank. It looks amazing!
Sorry about the lack of updates over the last few days, but there is a dearth of McDonalds in the area we have been in (is that possible??) so we have paid out for wi-fi on site tonight to bring you all up to date.

03/10/09

Day 25 – October 3
The mist was lying thick and low over the river this morning, so we were shivering at the thought of wearing shorts today – but our perseverance paid off and by the time we had been on the road for half an hour the sun came out to play!
First port of call today was Sarlat la Caneda. I particularly wanted to visit this town but the last time we tried we hit market day and couldn’t park anywhere – and history repeated itself today! We did eventually manage to park in a side road about 15 minutes walk from the town, and my wait was worthwhile! Whilst being very touristy with lots of English and American voices to be heard, the town itself is medieval and has some beautiful original buildings and squares, all bathed in the autumn sunshine and giving off the now familiar warm golden hues. The market is huge and sells everything from horsemeat and foie gras (the local delicacy) to jewellery and cocktail dresses!
We made our way from Sarlat to Montignac, another picturesque medieval town on the river, but arrived here at 12.30, just as everything closed down! We wandered around the tiny narrow streets anyway, just enjoying the atmosphere and the sunshine.
From here we took all the B-roads and ambled along enjoying the views across this beautiful countryside.
Autumn seems a long way off here, unlike further south where the trees are turning, and all the flower planters in the towns are still full of summer blooms and the leaves are not yet showing signs of turning or falling. We are in the Limousin region now, which is largely an agricultural area. We have passed orchards, fields of rich green vegetables, pastures with lovely clean, golden brown cows and calves grazing and dozing in the sun – and some absolutely gorgeous farmhouses and properties! It makes us wish we had been brave enough to take the plunge and move here years ago!

02/10/09

Day 24 - October 2
Whoever said country life was peaceful?? We were both kept awake for most of the night by a barking dog and a hyperactive owl twit-twoo-ing and screeching, and an insomniac cockerel that crowed repeatedly well before dawn!
We set off for the Dordogne region immediately after breakfast. Peter has planned today’s route, which took us first to Villereal. This is one of the “bastide” towns, which were a series of fortified towns built in the 13th and 14th centuries as frontier towns to separate the English and French territories. They were built within gated walls in a grid plan systems, centred on a market square which usually included a roofed timbered “halle” as cover for the stalls. Those that are still standing are a fascinating study in carpentry! The next towns we visited, of Belves and Monpazier, are of the same design and they occupy stunning hillside locations offering fabulous views across the area, with the Dordogne snaking its way through the rich lands surrounding it. The agriculture here is mainly fruit of all types, planted in the same neat rows as the vineyards, and we drove for miles along roads twisting through orchards, enjoying spectacular views of chateaux nestling in distant forests and lovely red-roofed and shuttered farmhouses set in lush landscapes.
Beynac et Cazenac is one of the most photographed and beautifully situated towns in this region. As we rounded a bend in the river the town appeared before us, clinging to the cliff face and topped with a most impressive chateau once occupied by Richard the Lionheart. The town is built in the same beautiful honey-coloured stone typical of the region, and all the buildings and archways along the steep cobbled ascent to the chateau have been very carefully restored in total keeping with the history of the place. The views from the top are stunning.
Our final visit today, and our overnight stop, is La Roque-Gageac, again on the river. This village is a continuous winner of France’s prettiest village title, and it is easy to see why. The same honey coloured stone buildings run along one side of the road across from the river, climbing up the imposing cliff face to troglodyte dwellings set into the stone.
This is a great time to visit these places – the weather is still warm and sunny but the crowds have gone! We have been to this region before in the height of summer, and you can hardly move.
We surprised the Hymer today – we took her to a car wash! We managed to remove all the dead flies from the bonnet and generally get rid of all the dust and grime she has accumulated in the last three and a half weeks. We reckon she deserved a treat! I must say, she looks much better for it!

01/10/09

Day 23 - October 1
Well, here we are on the first day of October and shock horror! We were woken in the early hours by rain on the roof, so maybe that tells us it is time to move on from Biarritz and leave it to the surfers.
We left there in cloud and moved inland, following brighter skies and potentially better weather and before long were rewarded with more sunshine. Today we aimed to cover quite a distance to make our way towards the Dordogne for the next leg of our journey. We made it as far as a very small aire on the banks of the canal that feeds off the River Garonne at a tiny village called Caumont sur Garonne. The location is idyllic, taking only five motorhomes but with only three occupants, and is so very quiet and peaceful. We had lunch of bread, cheese and – of course – wine, on an adjoining picnic bench under plane trees on the canalside. The village is very quiet, we took a walk through and the only signs of life are a café that closed on 16 September and a post office that is only open in the mornings! The occupants of both neighbouring motorhomes are French too, so no nightlife or gossip tonight!
In the hedgerows we found wild miniature cyclamens flowering alongside vivid yellow crocus, and there are masses of butterflies and tiny lizards still darting around, so summer is far from over here at least. But having said that, the leaves are starting to fall, the village square is full of fallen conkers and there is a definite change of colour in the leaves on the trees. Yet we sat out in strong burning sunshine on the banks of the canal, just as hot as the coast yesterday – and still wearing shorts!
Today’s photo, if it works, shows that we are both actually on this trip, not just me doing all the writing!

30/09/09

Day 22 – September 30
We spent the whole day on the beach from 11.00am and came off at 5.30pm, sunshine all day long – end of!

29/09/09

Day 21 – September 29
We’ve been to Spain today – just because we could! When we woke this morning it was very grey and misty, which was a bit of a shock to the system. We thought that we’d move on to try to gain a day or two as we have now loosely planned our route back to Calais, with heavy hearts. We wish we could just carry on now, having had a taste of just how good this way of life is.
Our first proposed stop today was St Jean de Luz, which is a very attractive and historic town that I particularly wanted to visit – the only problem was that it is a totally motorhome unfriendly place which makes no provision whatsoever except for a very small aire for about 15 sandwiched between the major road bridge in and out of the town and the railway track – heavenly! We decided to carry on and thus we ended up in Spain!
There is no border control here and initially the only way we knew we’d crossed was by the shop signs. However the differences between the two countries soon became apparent and we were amazed at the change. This is another strange language zone, where the fiercely independent Basques of northern Spain conspire to make things as difficult as possible for tourists!
We stopped at a town named Hondarribia, which dates back forever, and is beautifully kept and restored in keeping with its famed history of having been attacked on many occasions over centuries because of its strategic border position, but never having been taken. A wander through the old town within feet-thick city walls bears testament to these attacks – the walls of the Paradour in the centre are heavily pitted with indentations made by cannon balls.
From here we went on to San Sebastian and were somewhat shocked by the urbanisation – it was all too much for us and so we hightailed it back to genteel Biarritz – such cowards!
The plan is to spend the last day of September on the beach 2 minutes away taking in a last fix of ozone before we reluctantly turn inland for our inevitable journey home.

28/09/09

Day 20 – September 28
Having access to free wifi and long hot showers we were a bit slow away today! We spent an hour or so cleaning the motorhome and scraping the dead bodies off the windscreen and checking on emails and internet about the weather. We tried to catch up on news from home on the BBC website but couldn’t connect for some reason – maybe not a bad thing!
We had a fairly uninteresting and uneventful journey from Dune du Pyla, driving through Biscarrosse Plage on the way. This was another of our previous holiday destinations but this time much further back – to the year we got married! We camped then in a tent on sand in a pine forest and had to bail water out at about 5.00am after a rainstorm – but that’s another story!
The route to Biarritz, our destination today, was much the same as yesterday in that we travelled dead straight roads through pine plantations with villages and roundabouts interspersed to break the monotony. But the sun is still shining and we are heading for Biarritz!
We arrived at an aire close to Plage de la Milady this afternoon and were immediately met by another British motorhomer – hurray! As I have mentioned before we have not really mixed much as our neighbours have been either French or German. This guy has told us loads about the area, the best bits being that the beach is only 2 minutes walk and the house where Edward VII and Mrs Simpson lived is just across the road, so we had to go for a peek….
We walked the 2km into Biarritz town this evening (more exercise!) and promenaded in true style along the Grande Plage past the magnificent Casino – although not as impressive as Monte Carlo – and enjoyed the last sunshine of the day. There is obviously a high level conference of some sort going on here as we got caught up in a procession of very smart-suited gentlemen with a police escort, complete with guns, leaving the Hotel de Palais, but I don’t think anyone noticed!
The town is an odd mix. It is still very much a grand place, with lovely villa style buildings and a very chic population and obviously very popular, but it has also attracted the surfing fraternity. We watched these brave souls (to my mind anyway!) from many viewpoints along the promenades, circling like sharks waiting for the right wave to ride. It reminded us that what sparked us off motorhoming and travelling was coming across surfers at a deserted beach in Portugal, sleeping in an old battered Transit van – and now here we are (although in considerably more comfortable accommodation!)