Up, packed and away from the house by nine am – some kind of record?
I drove until Reading – where we stopped and had coffee (and a duck wrap for K – a Gregg’s vegetable bake for me). The K took over driving the rest of the way until Folkestone. We arrived at one thirty, so had to stick with our original two twenty crossing. We had time to visit the main block to go to the loo before we were called.
We were on the train by two-ten, and away dead on time. Half an hour, and some lunch, later, we were in France. I took over driving again, and we proceeded down, through Rouen, to Pont de l’Arche, and an aire. We had covered about 340 miles by this point, and had stopped to refuel at the Baie de Somme – and fed the ducks. We used the toll motorway, and that cost just over twelve Euros – which we thought reasonable. On arrival we found that the aire had changed a bit, and had fewer bays, marked out for motor homes. We were just beaten to the last one by a Spanish van. I parked opposite and made ready to stay anyway, even though it wasn’t a marked area.
Interestingly, after a little while the Spanish van went – and I nicked his space! I went to the office and paid our five Euros for the night. I cleaned the flies off the front of the van. We had a bite to eat, and then went to bed. It was fairly hot – about 28 degrees C, but we were tired, so slept OK.
Wednesday 27th June
Up and away by ten, we headed south. After an hour or so, K took over the driving for about an hour, and then I drove the rest of the way to Saumur. Again, we used the toll motorway – which saved a lot of time and aggravation – the normal motorways were very busy and full of lorries. This time it cost us over sixty four Euros – which we thought was not quite so reasonable.
We were staying at the ‘Flowers Camping, Ile de Offard’ site, on an island in the centre of the river Loire. I joined the queue to check in whilst K rang J, our daughter, who had taken a train from Barcelona, where she was living, to join us in Saumur for a holiday. We were given a pitch – which was occupied – so we were given the pitch next door. Bit small and dusty, but we parked up and made ready. Outside the campsite we noticed that they seemed to have gained quite a nice aire, which was spacious and only about ten Euros a night in high season.
Back in the site, after a brief explore we ended up at the bar and I invested eleven Euros in some drinks. The World Cup was on a screen at the back of the bar, and some people were avidly watching. The pool looked inviting, so I went and bagged some loungers whilst K&J went back to the van to change into cossies. When they returned we spent about an hour swimming about, then lay on the loungers for a bit. Time was getting on, so we returned to the van, went for showers, changed, I wiped the flies off of the van, then we returned to the bar for something to eat.
J and I had veggie pizzas, K had duck breast. Ours was OK – J’s was more of a vegan pizza, without cheese, but with mixed veg on top. Not quite so nice. With two wines and a beer it came to nearly fifty Euros, so fairly pricey as well. Back to the van and J and I went for a walk along the Loire – well, a path along the Loire, a fair way above it. We saw several types of bird, and heard lots and lots of frogs. There were also mosquitoes a plenty, and we both got bitten – damn! We walked to the end of the island that the site is on, saw some good views, and then walked back to the van in search of after bite cream. Time had moved on and it was fairly dark by this point. We spent a little while making up J’s bed, then sleep. It was very hot.
Thursday 28th June
I woke up at seven, but waited until seven forty-five to go out to the loo. Then lay back in bed until about eight – when I had to get up – if only to assuage the mossie bites that were itching a lot. I went for a shower, and then came back for breakfast, which I started whilst the other two got up. We ate outside, as it was already very warm. By ten thirty we were ready to venture out. We walked into Saumur, then up to the Chateau. After an explore and some taking of pictures, we went back to the town at about twelve thirty and found somewhere for lunch. I had a ‘veggie’ burger and chips, K had ‘bib of pork’, J had a tuna lasagne. My veggie burger was quite odd in that its main ingredient was small carrots cooked in what seemed to be soy sauce, with a fried egg on top. Strangely enough, it worked! We all had pudding as well – so we were stuffed. It was very hot.
We found a Carrefour City, and did some shopping – essentials like wine, bread, cheese, beer etc. I walked back at normal pace and arrived at the van ten minutes before the other two. I sat down with a beer to write this. J went for a lie down in the van. K flaked out in the chair outside. Temperature is about thirty degrees. I intend to go in the pool later (tense will change in this account, because when I write it changes a fair bit).
We had a simple meal of bread and cheese, and then retired inside before the bugs came out to play. We listened to an Agatha Christie short story (a BBC play), then read a bit before bedtime. It was very hot, and we slept mostly with no covers.
Friday 29th June
We had decided that today would be a tourist-type visiting day, so after showers and breakfast of pre-ordered croissants, we packed the van and headed out, via an Intermarche for some fuel, to Fontrevaud Abbey. The sat nav took us on a rather circuitous route – surprise, surprise – I never learn. Could have just followed the river and turned right!
The abbey has been ‘touristificated’. Unlike the last time we were there, about six years ago, it was neat, tidy, well signposted, and much more expensive. There were exhibitions of various types, and several parties of people being taken around. We did see an autonomous vehicle working in the grounds – which was good. The odd ‘beehive’ shaped building was not open, as it was being updated. It was hot again, and we returned to the van for some lunch. Bread, cheese and some tomatoes which we ate outside sitting on a bench on a path close to where the van was parked. We could hear young children in a school playground close by.
Off then to the chateau at Ussè, about another fourteen miles onwards.
We attempted it without the sat nav this time – hence only one wrong turn. I parked in the shade and we had some ice cream - from a local café. Then we ventured into the chateau. It is a very pretty looking chateau, dating from the 15th century in its present form. It seems that it was the inspiration for the story of ‘Sleeping Beauty’. It is built of ‘tuffeau’ rock, which is a soft limestone – so soft that you can dent it with a fingernail.
We stopped again in the same café for cold drinks, then I drove the twenty odd miles back to Saumur. We paused at a Lidl to stock up on some essentials (wine), getting back to the camp at about seven. We had a barbecue of the fish that we had bought, and K did some sausages as well. We ate and drank, and retired to the van before the bugs came out to play again – but as it turned out, we had been bitten already……
Saturday 30th June
Up around eight, breakfast and showers etc. I put some washing in the machine. K&J were off to the local market for the morning. I hung the washing out, and then cleaned the van. This made me very hot, so I took a book and some other stuff up to the pool, found a lounger in the shade, and jumped in the pool. That was nice. Coming out, I read the book – Terry Pratchett ‘A Blink of the Screen’ – some of his shorter fiction. About twelve thirty K&J made an appearance again and went back to the van. I stayed at the pool until about two fifteen, swimming and reading. It was quite relaxing.
I went back to the van, got the washing in, and had something to eat. Meanwhile, J had gone up to the pool. K and I discussed the route for this holiday. It looks like we may end up in Spain, via the Dordogne and the south of France.
We decided to join J at the pool. This we did until about five o’clock, when we all had showers and sat about reading – well, I was writing this. Whilst at the pool there was a lot of noise from the bar next door because France were playing Argentina in the World Cup, and France seemed to be winning. I particularly liked the man with the red, white and blue chicken hat….
At the market J had bought a large bunch of asparagus, and some black olive tapenade (and a new hat). I cooked the asparagus and some pasta. The tapenade added to the pasta and a small green salad made the evening meal. Should have cut more off the asparagus – the ends were a bit chewy.
Bit more reading – then bed about ten.
Sunday 1st July
After breakfast we trundled off in the van to the Ackerman Caves in Saumur. There we did the tour and did a fair bit of wine tasting. I bought a few cases of wine, and a big box of red. J, being more sophisticated, restricted herself to two bottles of nice fizzy.
In the van again – we decided to give the famed mushroom museum a try. A short distance down the road later we parked up and J went to see if they were open. They were, so we spent over an hour enjoying the delights of all things fungoid. As well as exhibits set in resin, and lots of information about fungi in general, there were many different types of mushroom growing in beds, in bags, on blocks and on tree branches for us to see. We were the only people in the museum, and it was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. It was also quite cold at around thirteen degrees compared to the high twenties outside.
Emerging once again into the sunshine, we exited via the shop where I bought a half kilo of Shiitake mushrooms. By now it was getting on for two thirty, so we returned to the site, had a drink and a snack and a bit of a rest. Later the pool beckoned once again. After pool and showers I cooked up a risotto using asparagus and about half the mushrooms. This seemed to disappear without any problem, helped along by some glasses of wine.
The weather forecast was threatening thunderstorms during the night, so we packed away the table and chairs, and washing line, just in case.
Monday 2nd July
Well we certainly had thunderstorms. Also rain – lots of rain. The van was in a puddle in the morning, along with much of the site. I felt for people next to us who had arrived with a tent the night before. The pitch we were on was particularly muddy, so it was with some trepidation that I ventured out to the loo in the morning. Having verified that it was, indeed, very muddy, and also verifying that we had no bread for breakfast, I decided to make pancakes. This idea was well received. We unmade J’s bed and reinstated the table – just in time for breakfast.
We sat outside, drank coffee and planned where we were going next. Lunch was mushroom omelette. I took the rubbish to the bins and went to pay for our stay – we were off again next day. I also ordered some more bread and croissant for the morning.
The weather forecast said more storms and showers, so we stayed by the van – except when we went to play in the pool in the rain. That was fun – swimming about when the rain was falling so hard that it was creating splashes at least three centimetres high, if not higher. We were all very wet – and not just because of the pool.
It went off for a while, so K and I made our way back to the van and changed. I put up a washing line for the wet things. J appeared and then went for a shower. I did the same a little later and heard great drumming on the roof whilst I was in there – it was raining again! Even more puddles around the van. I changed and sat down to write this – glass of red in hand.
Tuesday 3rd July
It was moving day today. Up at eight thirty, croissants for breakfast, and van made ready by ten thirty. The weather was mostly overcast, but still warm. We were heading for the Chateau Villandry on the Loire. As I drove the weather cleared, and by the time we arrived, about an hour later, the sun was out again.
We found some designated camping car parking, which was free, and made our way to the chateau. Buying tickets for the house and gardens, we started with the house. It last changed hands in 1906, and is still with the same family, who have tastefully restored it. Many interesting rooms, and a trip to the top of a tower later we entered the gardens. Wow! Lovely formal gardens – even for the vegetables. We were very impressed.
After about two hours we returned to the very hot van and had bread and cheese for lunch, then off on our trip south. We had intended to go all the way down to Oradour sur Glane – The Martyr’s Village – but by about five thirty I had enough driving, and we decided that another two plus hours would have been too much. We had stopped at an aire de service on the motorway to use the loo and buy ice creams and decided to stay overnight on an aire at Argenton sur Cruse – which I had pre-programmed into the sat nav just in case.
That took about another twenty minutes, and we spent the night on a quiet aire next to a sports centre – just a big car park really, but it ended up with about twelve vans on it for the night. I went for a walk to check that we had the right place – J followed me, and we walked back to the van together. The toilet promised in the aire book was attached to a sports centre – but it was pretty dire – I couldn’t bring myself to use it. There was a church nearby, and it was near a train track, but neither of these disturbed our sleep. It was a bit warm, even with the vents open. England was playing Belgium at the World Cup. We could hear some of the commentary from the Dutch van next door. Found out in the morning that England had won on penalties.
Wednesday 4th July
Peaceful night – I had some odd dreams about teaching again, but woke up OK – so I survived. We breakfasted on bread and peanut butter with coffee (well, I had that – with jam, K had her usual home made gluten free muesli and green tea. J had green tea with bread and peanut better). We were on our way to Oradour sur Glane by just after nine. It took about one and a half hours, and after a little wrong turn over parking we made our way down to the village. The sun was shining, but it was still very solemn. We wandered up and down, looking at the remains of the village, left as it was after the massacre of its nearly six hundred and fifty residents by a Nazi SS Panzer regiment on the 10th June 1944. Gradually falling into decay – only being supported in those parts where it would be dangerous to those who come to see it.
After just over an hour we walked back up into the nearby town and found a place for lunch. A small hotel with a restaurant and some tables set up in the street, close to a small park. We sat outside in the shade from the sun and had a nice meal. On the way back to the van we stopped at a patisserie and bought some fruit tarts and a meringue for K. Programming the sat nav for Les Eyzies de Tayac in the Dordogne ascertained that it would take something over two and a half hours to get there. We made good, and set off.
We paused at a station for some fuel, and drove through Limoges in a terrific thunderstorm. Other than that, it was fairly uneventful until we reached Les Eyzies. After the sat nav had sent us the wrong way again, we noticed that the skies were getting very dark. We found the camp site and I checked in just as the skies opened and a heavy thunderstorm struck. The site lost power, hailstones the size of small marbles fell, and the pitch where we had parked started to flood. I had stupidly put out the awning when we pitched ‘to try and keep the area to the side of the van dry’. When the water caused a flood of about five centimetres all round the van - that was confirmed as a daft idea. I got very wet putting the awning away again, and we moved the van out of the puddle.
I went off to have a nice hot shower, and ate my very tasty ‘Tarte au Framboise’ when I returned. A very wet evening ensued. Hope it’s not so bad tomorrow when we are booked to see the exhibits and caves at Lascaux IV (I’m sitting in the van at the moment, listening to the thunder and watching the flashes whilst heavy drops of rain plop on to the roof). The rain kept up all evening, we ate and then sat around reading for a while before retiring to bed just after ten.
Thursday 5th July
Cooler night for sleeping – but I had a restless one. Asleep by half ten, awake at two fifteen – and that was it. Listened to a whole Agatha Christie radio play – three hours, and then a Charles Paris mystery – two hours. Then some fitful sleep. Eventually dropped off at about half seven, and awake again at eight thirty – up and at ‘em.
I made tea, and coffee. I put J’s bed away, and had my breakfast sitting outside on a chair – there were some supplied by the site quite close. It wasn’t raining, the sun was out, and it was pleasant and verdant. I ate my croissant and drank the coffee whilst watching a French chap try to empty his grey water tank into an already flooded drain – needless to say, it didn’t really work. J & K had showers, and then we sat around for a bit until it was time to go to Lascaux. I had booked the tickets earlier in the week, and our tour started at twelve thirty six (odd, precise, time).
We left at about eleven and made our winding way to Montignac – where the caves are situated. On the way we had an encounter with another van, and lost the mirror on the passenger side. The driver of the other van was so busy waving; he didn’t notice his road position. Certainly made J jump – she was in the front at the time. Mirror smashed to bits, and the little round overtaking mirror lost. I was pretty mad about that. Nowhere to stop and assess what else had happened, so I carried on. Arriving at Lascaux car parks we found that cars had parked in the camping car area, and as a consequence, there was very little room. That wasn’t making me feel any better about things. I eventually managed to park at a little after twelve, and we set off in the increasingly heavy rain to the main site of Lascaux IV.
Our arrival was acknowledged by a guide, who told us to sit and wait. Interestingly, there were heavily armed soldiers patrolling, and guarding the entrances. They looked like they meant business with their automatic assault rifles. We found some lockers and stored our stuff, visited the amenities, then sat and waited for about five minutes before the tour was announced. It was a big group – about thirty people. Our tour was to be in English, and our guide was named Annya. We were given headsets and tablets on lanyards, which we activated with the QR code from our tickets (ours were on my phone). All very high tech – surprisingly, it all seemed to work. We took a lift up to the top level and the tour began.
The original cave was discovered by four teenage friends in September 1940 whilst they were looking to find a lost dog that had been, perhaps, chasing rabbits. That is Lascaux I. It has been closed to the public since 1963 because of the damage that all the visitors were doing to the caves – by even being in them. Lascaux II was built as an exact replica of the first part of the original cave. Lascaux III is a travelling international exhibit. Lascaux IV was finished and opened to the public in 2016. It wasn’t here last time we were in this part of France.
The new cave replica includes all of Lascaux II, but has the addition of other parts of the original cave that had not been seen before. I enjoyed the tour through the replica caves very much. The guide was informative, and could talk to us through our headsets without too much noise. She had a laser pointer to indicate the paintings etc. that she was talking about. It was excellent. The guided tour took about an hour, and then we had time on our own in the ‘workshop’ area, where the tablets could be used to guide us through various aspects of the cave in detail, and gave us an idea of how the caves were reconstructed using 3D mapping. The tablets allowed us to interact with the exhibits, even including some augmented reality. It was all really good.
Other high tech things included a ‘do it yourself’ art gallery, where your choices were displayed to others across screens on walls and ceilings. Also a theatre presentation of how ideas about prehistoric art have changed over the centuries, and a 3D film looking at this type of art from all over the world, and its similarities. We paused for a drink from a vending machine at one point, and to eat the snack bars that we had brought.
The rain had stopped as we made our way back to the van at about three thirty. It was a good visit. I had a go at fixing the van’s mirror with a spare that I carried. Took about an hour, but in the end I had a working version – but no little round overtaking mirror – that was a shame.
Back to the site, about forty minutes, and the rain started in earnest again. Got back to find that pitch was flooded, so I parked in a slightly different position which meant that we could get in and out without getting covered in mud. I downloaded the van travel camera logs into my computer to see if I can find the moment when the mirror was damaged. Just to see if it’s worth having the thing really.
I cooked prawns in garlic for J and I, and K had some ham (she is allergic to prawns), with salad for the evening meal. They washed up. I had a shower, wrote this, drank a bit of wine, and went to bed. It wasn’t raining…..
Friday 6th July
A better night – bit stuffy, so I got up about two and opened the vent. It didn’t rain. We woke to a bright day. Not travelling great distances today – just going into the local town (village really), to look at the museum and things. I put some washing in as it seemed likely to be a good day. By the time that had done and hung out, and we were ready, it was getting on for half eleven. We walked along the river and over the bridge to the centre. The sun by now was hot, and, as we found the museum had closed for lunch, we found another Palaeolithic exhibition building a bit further down the same road and wandered around that for a bit.
Feeling peckish we returned to a nice looking small vegetarian restaurant named 'Okivi' that we had passed on our way in. They were booked up, but I told the chap I spoke to that we could be quick, so he offered us a ‘simple’ version of the set menu. I said great – we sat down. He gave us tasters of some ‘bio’ juices that they had – I chose the veggie based one, along with J. K chose the fruit based one. Starters were mushroom soup dressed with roasted walnut. Main was a quinoa pasta with ratatouille. Dessert – I had gluten free carrot cake, the others had a vegan chocolate mousse. To thicken the mousse instead of egg whites they used beaten juice from chick peas. It all tasted very good. The two people running the place were really very nice, and the food was great. We left feeling fairly stuffed.
I went to buy some stamps at the La Poste – K&J looked at some shops. The post office took an age – only one customer before me, but she had so much to do. I bought the stamps and wrote and posted the card to my Dad that I had bought back in Saumur – it’s taken a while…
Returning to the camp site we went for a swim in the pool, then sat catching the last rays from the sun before it disappeared behind trees. Back to the van, and I went for a shower, K and J got the washing in. I was still too stuffed to eat a meal, so I had a beer and some nuts & raisins, then a glass of wine and some peanuts whilst I wrote this – sitting at a table set out under the trees close to our pitch. No mossies here, it seems – just a few little flies buzzing about. It has been warm today – about twenty five degrees. It’s supposed to reach thirty three tomorrow….
Saturday 7th July
We were up and ready fairly early and by ten o’clock were at St. Christopher’s Rock, where humans have had some kind of presence for thousands of years – living in and around the hollows in the limestone cliff face. The next visit was to the Fort Maison Reignac, which is a fortified house built into the rock face. Filled with really odd items – many I am sure are authentic, but I came away with the impression that the owners had been attending the French equivalent of boot sales for years and years and filling every room to the gunnels with ‘stuff’. The rooms filled with torture equipment, and items from the inquisition were particularly nasty. Reminder once again of how despicable humans can be to each other.
Back to camp by twelve thirty, then lunch, pool and sitting about. Weather was better. Packed stuff away ready for the off on Sunday.
Sunday 8th July
Up and away by nine o’clock. I drove for an hour and a half, then K drove for two and a half hours, I drove the rest of the way to Narbonne, on the Med. Arrived by three (we had a stop for lunch on the way). Staying at Soleil D’Oc – a ‘Flower Campings’ site.
We parked up and I put up the awning and strung out a washing line. The site was so say 600m from the beach – but we think it was a bit more. We walked to the beach, then to a café and had ice cream. Back to camp and into the ‘lagoon’ swimming pool – it had white sand and ‘palm trees’ – quite warm though, if not very deep. Busy with lots of children and one very large inflatable. Very hot day and evening. We ate and went to bed fairly early.
Monday 9th July
Very hot night – bit restless. Had to open more windows. Had breakfast outside, then walked to beach – very hot. Had a paddle, went to café for coffee – due to my rubbish French we ended up having four small coffees, and two ‘Americanos’ – which, it seems, is an alcoholic drink (!). Major fail there with my asking for what we wanted in French. Worst so far, I think.
Back to the camp and into the pool area for a few hours. Still hot – about thirty two at least. Van for bread and cheese lunch – outside – and planning where we are off to next. Into Spain, it seems, and perhaps the Dali museum, then a campsite near the coast.
All had showers – we are trying the restaurant at the camp tonight. Sitting outside writing this in the shade, and it’s thirty two degrees at six thirty pm.
At the restaurant, I had a four cheese pizza, J had prawns, and K had a rare steak. The food was surprisingly good for a site restaurant.
At night we left the windows open, and had a better night.
Tuesday 10th July
Moved further down the coast today to a place named Canet en Rousillon. Staying at Le Bosquet – which we picked from the Acsi book – it boasted direct beach access, but I wouldn’t call it direct. We were there for two nights. On arrival we pitched up and then walked to the beach. Good beach, very sandy and the water was almost warm – J and I went in. We had ice creams from a beach seller, and spent a couple of hours down there.
That evening France was playing Belgium in the world cup semi final. The bar area was very crowded – they had brought out extra seats, hired more staff etc. The excitement was intense. We had our evening meal outside, listening to the shouts and songs from the assembled France supporters. We were also watching a ‘sand wasp’ dig a burrow just in front of our table. It was a determined little thing. The shouts etc. went on for a while – and the camp next door was even noisier. Once the noise died down we had a reasonable night’s sleep. Oh, and France won.
Wednesday 11th July
Still at Canet. J and I had found out the evening before, the route and times of the ‘Noddy Train’ that served the area, so we were up, breakfasted and at the train stop by ten o’clock. A few minutes wait then it arrived and I bought three round trip return tickets.
After showers, I made an egg and tuna salad for the meal, and then packed up ready for the off further south in the morning.
Thursday 12th July
We were away by about ten thirty, after fresh bready products for breakfast. It was only about an hour and a half to the next stop – Roses, Girona, on the Costa Brava, Spain. We did stop at a Carrefour for about an hour though to buy essentials (beer).
The site we had chosen was called ‘Salata’, and was quite big, fairly posh and rather expensive – at over fifty Euros a night – but we were vary close to the beach, and it did have great toilets and showers – but a really small pool for the size of the camp.
We tried the pool, and then the beach – the beach was better, the sea was nice and warm. Then we had cocktails – mojitos – and tapas in a beachside bar. Very nice. It was warm – about thirty four in the shade. On returning to the site I cooked the trout that we had bought earlier – but it didn’t seem right, so we gave it a miss.
Friday 13th July
Second day at Roses. Up at eight. Bought croissants and bread. Did some washing. Had lunch. Went to beach. Returned from beach cos of rain – put washing away. Returned to beach. Went to same tapas bar, had more tapas and drinks. Returned to van. Had showers. Had drinks. Sat about and read. Weather a bit cooler cos of rain. Dull and overcast. J decides to leave us tomorrow to return to Barcelona.
Saturday 14th July
Up at eight – another hot night, even with everything open. Fresh croissants and bread from the bakery, then packing up and getting ready to go. We all had showers (this place had good showers), and J packed her case ready for the off. We were away by ten thirty, and on our way to a train station in Figueres, about half an hour away. Cursed sat nav took us through many a side street before we got to the station. We said our goodbyes and wished her a safe return journey. K went in with her just to check that there were trains, and that she could get a ticket. Unlike the UK, it seems that you don’t have standing on the trains – so if you haven’t got a seat, you don’t go. It seemed that there was some delay because of bookings, but she managed to get a seat for a train about four thirty – a four plus something hour wait. The station was cool, and had food, so she was OK. I was waiting outside – at one point I helped a small boy retrieve a football that he somehow had managed to jam under the van. His dad was happy about this.
K returned and after a small argument with the sat nav, we continued on the journey to an aire that we had picked on the other side of Toulouse. We were using the motorways nearly all the way, never mind the tolls. Pulling in to an aire de service close to Carcassonne to get a picture or two, we ran into some sort of rally – asked if we were there because of the rally, I said no, and so were directed to the next aire, ten kilometres on.
We actually stopped for lunch just after Toulouse, on an aire de service next to the Canal du Midi – which was a very nice stop. Seems, with retrospect, that we my have been bitten by mosquitoes there though, as K and I both had signs of bites later in the evening.
Very quiet aire and we were the only ones. Locals park their cars on it though. It does have a service point with free water – so a plus point there. We had filled up back at the site, so we were OK. Still no joy on the fridge front – it won’t run on gas – seems that the thermocouple has failed, so things were warming nicely. K had the last of the ice in two, rather large, sangrias. We covered ourselves with anti mossie spray, to sit outside, because of the heat, but it seems we were still bitten….devils!
We decided to head for the coast, via the St. Emilion wine region, for some tastings. First stop tomorrow is about two hours away. I am sitting outside writing this, but am about to retire to the van – it’s currently about eight thirty. Time for something to eat…. A quiet night – once the fireworks had stopped! They woke us up with a start about eleven o’clock by being very loud. Cracks, booms and hisses later, we went back to sleep, and it was fine until morning.
Sunday 15th July
We woke about eight, and had breakfast. A gradual packing away saw us leaving about ten. I drove to begin with, then, about fifty miles from our destination near St. Emilion, I noticed that the sat nav was going to take us off the motorway in about twenty miles – thirty plus miles across country, on windy roads? We thought not, and decided to continue to our other destination, about two and a half more hours away, near Royan.
K drove for a while, and then I took over again for the end bits. We had stopped and had lunch at an aire on the motorway – but in the van this time, thus avoiding biting things. We were heading for an aire at a place named St. George de Didonne, which was a seaside town. We arrived at about four thirty and found a place. It was in the sun a bit, and under a tree, but was OK. Parked up, and ticket for ten Euros purchased and displayed, we went for a walk to find the beach. It was hot and the walk took a while. We made it eventually, and strolled up and down the beach, paddling in the sea – which was colder than the med, but not too bad.
We were going to stop for a drink, but the final match in the world cup had just started – France against Croatia – and the bars etc. were a little preoccupied, so we walked back to the van – the pretty way. Eventually making it back, we sat outside for a while, then I cooked some garlic mushrooms with sundried tomatoes, and we had those with pasta and petit pois. France had won the match 4-2, and the people around us were very happy, very, very happy. They rode around in cars, hanging out of the windows, waving flags. Rode on scooters and bikes, honking horns, cheering and waving flags. Joined in groups on the streets, cheering and waving flags. Lots of flag waving. This went on for hours.
We went to bed about ten, with the noise still going on, along with a few fireworks now for good measure. A big thunderstorm put paid to the celebrations about eleven thirty. Lightning, thunder, rain, winds – the whole lot, and for quite a few hours. The van was rocking and we found it hard to sleep. Eventually it went off, and we slept.
Monday 16th July
We woke about nine thirty, when someone emptied the bin behind the van. A slow start, breakfast, and then a walk into town – going the opposite, and much more interesting way than the night before. There was much activity. Market stalls, lots of shops, cafes etc. Even a band playing outside the attractive church. We walked to another beach – not as big as the first, but prettier I thought. Stopping for coffee, we watched the world go by for a while. It was pleasantly sunny, but not so hot as to be uncomfortable, as it had been.
Back to the van for lunch – bread and cheese, as was the norm. Then, make ready and off to the next destination – a camp site named Le Puits de l’Auture (translation – ‘Well of the Self’), at Le Palais sur Mer. We were last there four years ago on our way back from Portugal and Spain – we met up with K’s parents for a few days. We had decided that a few nights in a nice camp site would be a good idea. This one had good showers, and the beach near the site was good. It was only half an hour down the road, so we didn’t rush. In fact, we stopped at a ‘Super U’ on the way, for an hour, and did a fairly big shop.
Arriving on site about three thirty we registered, then chose a pitch and set up. We took the bikes off of the rack in anticipation of using them. We had to wait a bit to get connected to electricity, as is usual at this site, and then we went for a walk to the beach. Lots of people – seemed that the school hols had started. Paddling, we decided that the water was a bit colder still here. We sat for a little bit, then returned to the site to eat.
A quiet evening reading, and writing this for me, and we retired fairly early – we did have something of disturbed night the evening before.
Tuesday 17th July
As it was a very quiet site, the weather being colder and the light levels low, we didn’t really wake up until nine thirty. Even then, I thought that it was about seven. I had a disturbed night – couldn’t shake a headache that I had. Took pills, but it was still niggling. The weather is colder and dull. It looked like it might rain. We checked the forecast, and it just said cloudy, with some sun later. After a late breakfast I put some washing in one of the machines, and then put the lines up ready. We had bought some more pegs at the supermarket the day before, so we were set. We had coffee and madeleines whilst waiting.
Having put the washing out to dry, we set off on the bikes to the local town – St. Palais Sur Mer. Not too far, but when we arrived and tied the bikes up there was not really a lot to see. The beach was nice – but it wasn’t beach weather. There were loads of cafes and restaurants – but we weren’t hungry, and we had drank coffee at the site before we left. There were a few ‘seaside’ shops, but we didn’t need anything. After about half an hour of wandering about it started to drizzle on us, so we rode back to the camp, put the bikes away on the rack, and had lunch. We moved the washing under the awning so that it wouldn’t get wet. Temperature was about twenty two degrees. We both put more clothes on.
K sat outside and read. I sat inside and wrote this. The current time is just gone five, and the sun looks like it’s trying to come out, so I’m going to make a drink, then go and sit in it. (Next day) As it turned out, we sat in the sun for over an hour until the shade got us. Retiring to the van we ate, then K read whilst I watched an episode of ‘Almost Human’ on my tablet. Great series – shame it was cancelled. We retired at about ten fifteen. The weather forecast for the next day said sun – so maybe the beach…
Wednesday 18th July
Awake about eight. We had put the quilt back on the bed, as it was cold. We had been managing with just a sheet – but the temperature had dropped a lot since we left Spain. Not a great night’s sleep – so we were a bit dozy to start. After breakfast we checked the forecast again – sun with clouds it said. Off to the beach then. We were set up near the sea by about ten thirty. It was sunny, but we could see big dark clouds on the horizon. We lay there until about twelve, but it was getting darker and darker.
Just as we decided to leave, it started to rain. We are becoming increasingly distrustful of weather forecasts. It was not supposed to rain today. K checked with the BBC app on her phone that morning, I used the ‘AccuWeather’ app on mine. Both never mentioned rain, let alone thunder nor lightning! Becoming rather distrustful of weather forecast apps.
We hotfooted it back to the campsite as the rain came and went in spots. Sitting under the awning for lunch felt decidedly damp. There was thunder and lightning in the distance, so I went to take a few photos. I discovered that this site has a TV room on my way out – they were watching the Tour de France. I walked along the seafront in front of the camp taking photos. It started to rain a fair bit, so I made my way back. As I returned to the van the skies really opened up and we had a big thunderstorm. Lots of rain. Really loud. It went on for about an hour, then the skies stayed cloudy, but the rain stopped and the sun came out. There were puddles all over the camp.
I sat outside for a while and read. K was inside doing some sewing for the first time in three weeks. I went for a shower, and then came back and we both sat in the sun with a drink for about an hour, reading. As the sun went below the trees, K went for a shower whilst I prepared the meal. We had eaten and tidied away by eight thirty. K returned to her sewing, whilst I wrote this. We are moving on tomorrow – intention is to visit an aire on the Ile d’Oleron – but that may change if the weather doesn’t pick up. I finished the evening by watching the second half of a film named ‘Gamer’ on my tablet – overall, a very bad film I think. In bed by ten thirty.
Thursday 19th July
A fairly bright morning – we surfaced around eight forty five, and had breakfast. The awning and chairs were still out, so that took a little while longer to put away. K went to ask to have the power lead disconnected, which happened nearly straight away, so we were ready to leave the pitch at about nine forty. The site had quite a good motor home service area, so we spent a little while emptying and filling things before we finally set off to cover the thirty seven miles to the aire on the Ile d’Oleron.
The roads were OK – but it still took us over an hour and a half to get to the aire. The bright weather had gone, and the clouds looked threatening again. The aire is an old camp site that someone has turned into a commercial aire – meaning that it has some things left from when it was a camp site – like electric hook ups, also shower and toilet facilities. Even hot water. It was only twelve Euros a night all in, which is good in high season. We found a pitch and settled in. The power aspect was good because it meant that we could run the fridge, which had decided yet again that it didn’t want to work on gas. It started raining, so we had lunch in the van.
After lunch I swept the floor and cleaned the bathroom whilst waiting for the rain to stop. When it did, we got the bikes down and rode, along cycle tracks mostly, to the beach at St. Denis – about four kilometres away. There, we locked the bikes, bought some Magnum ice creams and went to sit on the beach and watch the kite and wind surfers. Soft sand and a shallow approach to the sea make this a good beach for the family. There were a surprising number of people there, with more arriving as we sat. Looking at the sky we could see very dark clouds on the horizon heading our way.
Back on the bikes and return to camp pronto. We had just got back and put the bikes under cover for the night when the rain started. I went to investigate the shower situation; K installed herself into her ‘nest’ and continued sewing. On my return from a fairly chilly shower, I made some drinks and sat down to write this. Tomorrow, if it’s fair weather, we intend to take the bikes out again, perhaps heading for the lighthouse this time.
I am now writing this about three hours later, in the midst of a terrific thunderstorm and torrential rain. So much so that the back window in the van has started leaking and made the bed damp. I have done an ‘emergency’ repair using some duct tape to seal off the external window surround – so I hope that it holds. It is raining a lot. Flashes of lightning seem very close. The thunder seems right overhead – we have had some amazing cracks and booms – the whole van vibrates and the floor shakes. Time is eight forty, and the light seems to be fading already. Might as well be back home if this keeps up!
Friday 20th July
The rain and storms stopped eventually, and we got to bed about ten thirty. The weather was cooler, so sleep was a bit easier. We were expecting more ‘weather’ – but it didn’t materialise, so we woke up about nine to a clear and potentially very nice day. After breakfast we sat outside in the sun. Then had coffee. Undecided about what to do next I went to renew the ticket for the aire, giving us another day.
Around eleven we decide to try to cycle to the lighthouse. The sun was still out, blue skies all round. We used the cycle tracks, although they were quite a bit bumpy, and made it around about twelve – after stopping to admire the lovely sea views along the way. We looked at the various restaurants and cafes around the lighthouse, and eventually decided on the one that had fresh sardines on offer. K had those, I had moules, both with home made frites. K had a Breton cider, I had a Leffe. The food was good, we had a view of the sea, what more could we want?
Feeling rather full we got back on the bikes and rode along the road (avoiding the bumpy tracks) to St. Denis, looking for the port and the beach. It took less time than using the tracks, but wasn’t so pretty – though the hollyhocks along the road were lovely. We got to the port and rode around for a bit, looking across the sea towards the Ile de Re – where we may be off to tomorrow. Finding the beach we realise that we had been there before – quite a few years ago. We found a space and sat in the sun for about an hour – which was enough as we didn’t have sun cream on.
Back on the bikes I used Google maps to guide us back to the site through the labyrinthine side streets of St. Denis. We were back by four thirty, and we sat in the sun with a drink reading for a while before both having showers (warm ones this time), and sitting in the sun some more. I cooked some pancakes for us to eat, as we didn’t feel up to a full meal. The sun was still out and quite strong at eight o’clock, and by nine, when we were closing up the van, it was still pleasant. K sat in her ‘nest’ sewing whilst listening to a story, I wrote this, with the intention of perhaps watching a video on the tablet later. Currently it’s half nine, still very light outside.
Saturday 21st July
As it happened I spent a while going back over this account, adding and changing things, so it was nearly bedtime before I was in a position to watch anything, and that was too late, so we retired at about ten fifteen. I had a sleepless night once I woke up at about two. I ended up listening to three BBC Raymond Chandler adaptations. Each was ninety minutes. I dropped off about seven thirty, and woke again at about nine. We were moving on today, so we had breakfast and made ready. By ten thirty five we had emptied the tanks and were leaving the site.
Saturday traffic was bad. We tried to stop at a Le Clerc – but the parking was full, so we carried on, eventually stopping for a shop at Lidl in St. Pierre. We had decided to spend at least one more day on Oleron – the weather was improving. K had a bit of an upset stomach as well, so not travelling great distances seemed a good idea. We headed for Chateau d’Oleron, and an aire that we had been to before – right next to the sea. Arriving about twelve fifteen, we paid the eleven Euros fee and found a pitch. This one had electricity too, so the fridge was happy.
This was another former camp site – wonder why Oleron has so many? K was lying down, so I went for a swift walk round the area to see what was what. The toilets and showers were fine. There was hot water. The site was opposite a beach with great views across the water. I came back and we had some lunch, then put on sun cream and sat outside for a few hours reading.
Around four o’clock we went for a longer walk along the beach and into the town. Bordering the sea there were fortified walls and a ‘citadel’ to look at. In the town there was an interesting church with good stained glass windows. Back to the van and I went for a shower. Had to queue a little, but the shower was good – worth waiting for. Sitting outside with a beer reading for another half hour, then I made the meal. K had a steak, I had ‘crevettes provencal’ – both with a mixed salad. Nice. I tried sitting in the sun for a bit longer, but it was dropping behind the trees, so I retired to the van and wrote this. Time is eight fifty – the sun is still bright. Currently the intention is to move on back to the Loire tomorrow, but if we wake up to a great day, who knows?
Sunday 22nd July
Awake about eight, then snoozing until nine, eventually up at about nine twenty. The sky was clear, with just a few puffy clouds. Looked like a nice day – the weather forecast confirmed it. We had breakfast, and as the day looked good, decided to stay on the aire for another day. I went up to do some washing; as the warm wind was blowing I thought it might dry. I put the washing line up and hung things out.
We walked to the beach and sat for a while, watching the tide come in slowly across the bay, and the fish leaping about in the water. Returned to have lunch, then I went back to the sea to take some photos whilst K led in the sun. This turned out to be a bit of an error on her part, as she didn’t have sun cream on and got a bit burnt.
We both sat in the sun reading for most of the afternoon, then had showers, and I cooked the evening meal. A quiet day, but rewarding in its own way. The forecast for tomorrow is even better, so we’ll see what happens.
Monday 23rd July
As forecast, a lovely day. We woke and had breakfast. I put lots of aloe vera cream on K to ease the sunburn. Deciding not to move on today we basically just sat about – mostly in the shade because of the heat. I put the awning out on the van to provide some extra shade, and that helped a bit. I walked up to the seashore to look at the fish again.
A light lunch. More sitting about reading. I had a shower. We ate the evening meal then sat about reading. Not what you would term a busy day, but relaxing. It’s currently nine twenty, and we have just come inside. The skies are still blue, and there’s going to be a nice sunset.
Tuesday 24th July
After looking at where we could move to, and at the promise of a lovely day, we decided to stay for another day. The site is good, it’s spacious, has showers, toilets and electricity – why would you go? It’s also right across the road from a beach and some wonderful scenery. The town is within walking distance if you need stuff. I’ve read two and a half books in three days – haven’t done that for a while.
The itinerary was basically the same as the day before. We have determined that tomorrow we will start heading back north, towards the Loire Valley again, and Saumur. It’s just gone nine, and I’ve come in to write this. I may carry on reading, or watch something on the tablet before bedtime.
Wednesday 25th July
I’m currently writing this in Saumur – on the aire next to the campsite where we stayed last time. From this it can be ascertained that we made the move. We didn’t wake or start quite as early as I had hoped, plus we had to wait to do an ‘empty and fill’ procedure at the aire on Oleron, which meant that we didn’t get away until nearly eleven. It was a four hour plus trip without stops, so by the time you add in a stop for food shopping and some lunch at a Super U, and a stop for wine at Ackerman Caves, we were lucky to get here by six – which we did.
To get in I had to buy a ‘card’ which I can charge up to pay for visits to this brand of aire – seems that they have 120 at the moment, and are expanding. They now have my details, and I have this four Euro card, which lasts for life, it seems, and which I can add money to as I wish. Hmmm. At least the aire has electricity, which will keep the fridge happy. No toilets or showers though – so not good in that department. Costs are thirteen Euros fifty cents a night in high season.
It’s about ten o’clock, and there is a lovely sunset going on outside. It’s very hot again, currently 32 in the van. Forecast says up to 36 for tomorrow – so that’s a potential problem. We have the mossie screens over all the windows – it’s surprising how much airflow they cut out, but better that than being bitten again like last time. Something got me yesterday, again, and I have a very itchy group of bites on my back, plus one on my left leg. Devils! I’m going to try reading for a bit before bed. Hope it’s not too hot overnight.
Thursday 26th July
It was very hot overnight, and we awoke for about the third time at around eight thirty, when the van started to get really hot from the sun. We opened all the windows and the door – and it was still hot. This, despite the fact that we had some partial shade from a tree. We had breakfast, then I went for a walk into Saumur again. K stayed in the van. I took some more pictures of various things, and then returned to the van for lunch. K had put the awning out a bit for some shade, but it didn’t help a lot.
We sat in the shade and decided what to do next. We wanted to go north, perhaps to the coast, but it was so hot I didn’t fancy driving too much – so we were looking at about two hours range. We picked an aire at Cloyes sur le Loir, about two hours ten minutes away. I emptied the loo, and helped another English couple solve the mysteries of how to get into the aire – they had picked this odd one as their very first aire – and then we were off.
Two air conditioned hours later we were at Cloyes sur le Loir, and weren’t impressed – no shade at all, no pitches, no toilet, small – basically a car park with a service point. We looked at the aires book and chose another one half an hour away – Marboué. On arrival, we realised that we had been there last year, in August, on our way down from Giverny. Coincidence.
We parked up, overlooking the park opposite, and sat outside with drinks and books. Oddly – there are three other UK vans here = one of them is a converted light blue ARGOS delivery truck – at least seven and a half tons – probably more. It has double glazed side windows and a front door on each side – just like you would get in a proper house. The family seem to come from Liverpool. They refer to it as their ‘house’, so maybe they’re full timing.
We ate, and then I went outside to read, K stayed in the van, despite it being at least 34 degrees. Another hot night. Not sure where we are off to tomorrow. Time now is ten. One bad thing is that, with no electricity, and the gas misbehaving, the fridge is warming up even as I write this…
Friday 27th July
It was a hot night – and fairly noisy from about four thirty onwards – mostly road noise, then the cockerels started as soon as the sunrise came. Around five I had to close the windows around the bed so we could sleep. Finally woke about half eight, then led there dozing until about nine, when we arose and had boiled eggs for breakfast. We were on our way by ten thirty, but stopped at a Carrefour Market for some provisions and fuel. We had decided to head for the coast – a nice aire we had been to before at St. Valery en Caux – right next to the sea, and not far from Dieppe. It was about three and a half hours away from Marboué.
We stopped twice for breaks and something to eat, and I didn’t drive too quickly, so we arrived at about four forty. There were a couple of spaces left, out of a possible fifty, so we chose one and parked up. No electricity at this aire, so the fridge loses out again. No toilets or showers either. Nice location though. The town itself is lovely, and we anticipate a nice market in the morning. We got the chairs out, and drinks etc. then I went for a walk up to the lighthouse, then along the beach under the big limestone cliffs that are there. K sat outside, reading. After a while I returned, then sat and also read for a while before preparing the evening meal. Having eaten and washed up, K stayed in the van whilst I sat outside and read again until about nine thirty, when it started to rain a bit, and there were lightning flashes in the distance.
I went back into the van as the rain started, then it really came down for a while, whilst we had thunder and lightning. It’s currently nine fifty, and I am writing this as the rain beats against the van. It’s quite comforting in a way. It’s a lot cooler here as well, which promises a better night’s sleep. As we are close to Dieppe we are considering the possibility of a ferry back to the UK, rather than driving all the way back up the coast, then facing the horror of the drive from Folkestone to home. We’ll see what comes of that idea.
Saturday 28th July
A much cooler night meant that we slept much better. A little too cool for me at one point, I had to cuddle up to stay warm. We’ll put the proper quilt back on tonight, probably. I also had a weird dream about going to a restaurant with a large group of people, some of our friends and their friends, where the meal was cancelled at the last moment because the date was wrong – very strange. The rain stopped, and it was a calm night. Only the seagulls woke me about five thirty, as the sun was coming up. I could hear the sea in the distance, which was good.
The sun was out and shining brightly as I made pancakes for breakfast. We got dressed and walked into the town centre. Not a lot going on. I bought a postcard and used my last stamp to send it to Dad. We wandered around; looking at all the boats in the harbour, and watching the fishermen sell their fresh fish just off the boat. The blood donation people were out and drumming up business. There wasn’t a market as we had thought there might be. We had memories of nearly being stuck on the aire last time we were here because of people parking for the market.
The main beach was pebbles, but quite big, and overseen by lifeguards – although the water was very choppy and I wouldn’t have fancied going in. We didn’t see anyone swimming, just a few people paddling. The seafront itself was quite modern with facilities and places to sit, and to eat. Oddly, for a Saturday in high season, quite a few things were shut, which surprised us.
We returned to the van and sat outside reading and eating the odd thing, but not having lunch as such. The sun was out, and we enjoyed it. A few dark clouds made the breeze seem chilly, but they soon passed, and we had a good afternoon. I went for a walk along the beach for the second time that day. The first was to take a few photos with my camera rather than just the phone. The beach is mostly flint pebbles originally from the cliffs overlooking the beach. There is the odd patch of sand, but not a lot. The cliffs are very impressive as they tower away into the distance.
I cooked a mushroom risotto for food, and we ate it whilst listening to the end of a recording of ‘Lords and Ladies’ by Terry Pratchett. By the time all that was done it was nearly nine thirty, so just time to write this, then bed.
Sunday 29th July
A much cooler night – glad we had the quilt back on the bed. I had a strange dream about circuses, wild animals and a ‘wild life experience’ which meant being put into a big tent with things like lions and panthers – needless to say, I woke up, and had to listen to a story to take my mind off of it and get back to sleep again. I chose a Charles Paris BBC radio play. It did the trick, and we surfaced again at about nine fifteen. Normal breakfast, then we made ready and queued to use the disposal system. The weather had turned, and it was raining quite hard for most of the morning. When it was our turn there seemed to be no water, so we made do, and set off up the coast.
We paused for coffee and madeleine at St. Valery sur Somme – on an aire that we had read about, but not visited. It was a good aire, spacious and shaded, with some points even having electric hook up. Worth remembering for the future – when we visit these parts again. We used the water system at this aire to fill up the tank. Replete again, we continued. It took about three hours to get to Berck sur Mer – and the aire that we had chosen. The entry machine was not working, so it seems that we may park up for free. It was still raining when we arrived. The aire is pretty basic, but it has marker posts, and an emptying point, and is on level ground quite close to the sea, so it’s not bad. It would be better if the sun was shining. We have decided to return to the UK by the tunnel again, so I booked the crossing for this coming Wednesday at ten twenty am.
The rain went off for a while, so I walked down to the sea to see what was there. I found a big beach, pay toilets, a chip stand, a lifeguard station and a long promenade. There were amazing views across the bay, with dark storm clouds on the horizon. I am not sure where the promenade goes – if the weather is better tomorrow, we could find out.
We had pasta in sauce with boiled eggs, baby carrots and petit pois for the meal. After that, K sat doing her sewing, whilst I continued with my Harry Bosch novel. As the light starts to fade I am writing this, then I may watch something on the tablet, or, more likely, go to bed and listen to another Charles Paris story.
Monday 30th July
The night was cool, so we slept quite well. I went to bed and listened to a story, which meant that we were asleep by about ten, and awake again around eight – mainly because of a car outside beeping its horn whilst driving down the road. We decided to stay another night at Bercke, so after breakfast we walked up to the beach. Big surprise! There were loads of people all looking across the bay towards seals that were lying on a sandbank about fifty metres away. There were lots of seals – at least thirty, probably more. People had binoculars, cameras with telephoto lenses, ordinary cameras and phones – all trying to get a view of the seals.
We stayed for a while until the sea caused the sandbanks to submerge, and the seals disappeared into the water, then walked along the long promenade into Bercke sur Mer itself – a seaside town that reminded me a little of Weston. The beach though was amazing – it went on and on for miles. I bought a double portion of fries and we sat on the sea wall to eat them, then we walked up and down for a while. I bought some Orangina to drink, and we strolled down to the edge of the sea for a paddle. The sea wasn’t too cold, but the clouds were building again, and we could see rain in the distance, heading our way.
We had just made it back to the promenade when the rain started. By the time we got back to where the seals had been the rain had stopped and we were being blown dry by the wind. Back at the van we changed and had a cup of coffee. It wasn’t cold, but the wind had cooled us down. The rain was very much on and off, so we managed to sit outside for a while, but had to dash inside when it started again. Eventually the rain stopped and the skies cleared, so we walked back to the beach and did some seal spotting. The tide was going out, and as the sandbanks began to be revealed, so did the seals. Until that point we could see heads bobbing about in the water, but as the water receded the seals came out of the sea and lay on the sand. We spent about an hour and a half sitting in the sun watching the seals and drinking some wine that we took with us. I had my camera with the telephoto lens, and we had the binoculars from the van, so we could see the animals quite clearly.
After a while we returned to the van for something to eat. Having eaten the evening meal we listened to another Pratchett story for a while. I couldn’t write this log because the laptop battery was flat, so I read more of my book and we, once again, went to bed early.
Tuesday 31st July
Another quiet night, I had a dream based on the nastier things in The Matrix – like humans being farmed, and was woken at seven by the sound of a lorry emptying a bottle container quite close to us. I woke with a shock. Dozed until about eight fifteen, and then made breakfast. We had decided to go shopping in Calais and then spend the last night at our usual aire in Gravelines, about half an hour north of Calais. After breakfast I walked up to the beach with my camera to see if the seals were there. This was about nine thirty. There were lots of people again, and about forty seals on the same sandbank, just lying about regardless of the scores of humans staring at them. I took some photos, then went back to the van and we got ready to leave. After emptying the tanks and getting a bit of water we headed off to Calais.
The trip took about an hour and a half in total, and we parked up in the ‘camping car’ car park in front of ‘Cite Europe’ – heading for the big Carrefour there. I used the inverter in the van as we travelled to recharge the laptop battery. Once we arrived we had coffee and a cake in the van before we went in, so we wouldn’t be shopping whilst hungry. We spent over two hours in the shop, and spent over two hundred Euros, mostly on wine – but it’s probably a year’s worth, so that’s not too bad. We bought some sushi which we ate in the van before heading off to Gravelines.
We had a look at another aire close to Gravelines, but it was just a car park with no view, so we headed to our normal stop and set up for the night. We sat outside reading for about two hours, then, around seven thirty, I cooked the meal, and we washed up, and then settled in for the night. The weather was pleasant, and not too warm, which boded well for sleeping. We would aim to be up and away by eight thirty on the Wednesday – just to make sure we arrived in plenty of time to catch our train through the tunnel back to Blighty.
The trip back across the channel (under the channel) was uneventful, and once back in the UK we suffered, once again, from the start-stop nature of the M25 and crowded roads until we reached home. Unlike last year, we didn't stop anywhere else, but went straight home.
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