Month: September 2021

14
Sep
2021

Thelma & Louise go Place in the Sun

LOOKING FOR A NEEDLE …….. FRANCE IS BIG

It didn’t take long for my sister Sandie & I to be reminded of the above! She had decided also to come to France in her van (we like to think of ourselves as T & L, but I’m never quite sure which one I am) and join me in exploring around Poitiers as a potential area for buying some kind of cheap (relatively, and therefore in need of some renovation) property, before driving over to L’Il de Re to spend a few days cycling and enjoying the seaside.

I stayed a couple of days at the beautiful house of my friends about 6km from Chatellerault visiting Richlieu and then cycling over to the village of Ingrandes only 9 km away where purely by coincidence Sandie had booked a campsite Le Petit Trianon .

We spent one day driving to Chauvigny and round and about before moving to the municipal site at Thouars just south of the Loire, then considering other small towns between there and Parthenay including Saint Loup and Airvault. It’s quite difficult to be able to assess a property’s location without making a formal booking to view with an estate agent. Meagre clues plus alot of time spent on Google Earth did deliver the location of 2 listed properties, despite one having two ‘near to’ about 30kms apart in the description!!

The main criteria include of course budget, but also somewhat rural less than 10km proximity to a village/town with some life including eg boulangerie and preferably still active train station.

The roads are fantastic, but ground has to be covered and it certainly takes longer than looking at a list of properties in a town location.

The objectives of this part of the trip crystallized for me into a validation of this area of France as a potential for actually living here for a time. The next stage of the project I think would need to be putting my house up for rent and then either getting a seasonal pitch or renting somewhere here and getting my car down, so that the property search can have the more prolonged focus & effort it needs.

Thelma & Louise decided to go separate ways for a couple of days as I stayed at the campsite at St Benoit – very nice little town within cycling distance of Poitiers – and enjoyed my afternoon spent exploring the historic centre of Poitiers,, which is a key site for Alienor (Eleanor) of Aquitaine, mother of Richard The Lionheart and King John – yes of our Robin Hood fame. S went to Il de Re as planned and as the forecast for the weekend was fantastic I decided to follow her there, for our 3rd visit over the years since the first when my eldest was a baby – 1990!!

Once again the whole island was as lovely as a film set tbh. Busy enough given it’s now low season, but temperatures upto 28 degrees, although cool and pleasant in the pine trees, not to mention the sea itself which we indeed went in.

ST BENOIT

POITIERS

Town Hall
Cathedrale of Saint Pierre
The new next to the old

L’IL DE RE

St Martin de Re
La Flotte I think
Beach of Gros Jonc
Sandie in her mode de marine 🙂

Next stop over to Gueret in the centre via Chatellerault again.

Posted by admin in France, Places
09
Sep
2021

Something new & French shores once more

Twinwood Festival

A first for me and van attending a music festival which more than exceeded my hopes. It didn’t pour down for the whole time, so the van was never at risk of getting mud-bound. It was all the better to be able to share the enjoyment with my daughter and son-in-law, and we had alot of fun, not least some jive for beginner lessons.

The range of music from the decades from 1930s upto the 70s – rockabilly, swing, soul, gypsy jazz, Frankie Valli tribute act, and more, was fantastic. Lots of people dressing up – here’s me doing a token bit, and below a snippet of the music and dance on offer. Highly recommend if you like music which puts a smile on your face, gets your feet moving, and encourages you to sing along. The musicianship from all the bands was excellent, and they were really pleased to be performing following their Covid lockdowns.

Portsmouth – Caen – Chatellerault

From the festival near Bedford, it was a smooth drive down to Portsmouth, and the ferry crossing found a calm sea. It was great to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law who had by chance booked onto the same crossing and, better still, enjoy their commodore class cabin for a rest after traipsing literally miles over the last few days.   

Fallout from Brexit meant that I waited about 45 mins after leaving the ferry for the French border control to check my passport and Covid vaccination certificate.  They didn’t check, and therefore confiscate, the remaining dairy produce in my fridge, so the next morning cup of tea did not have to resort to the hidden UHT carton.  By the time I got through the border it was about 10:30pm, then I had a drive to the stopover. Amazing achievement – I had made it into France!

This was a free aire about 20 miles south off the coast in the hamlet of Grainville-Langannerie outside the Mairie.  What a brilliant place – one other van there, and straightaway Blue felt at home, away from England’s current lack of provision, if not in some quarters disapproval.

But the next morning and checks prior to setting off revealed that the hissing of air sound I thought I heard while waiting at Portsmouth harbour, and didn’t check for a variety of reasons, had obviously been caused by my passenger rear tyre, which was pretty well flat!!! Tbh, if I had checked it I don’t know what I would have done at that point.

Google again sorted me out producing a tyre place 12 miles down the still empty main road, so drove gingerly there, and was of course delighted that they could sort me out. Good service as I’d experienced with the same problem 2 years ago on the way to Brittany in Monte2.

I was on my way again, via long, straight, non-toll non-busy, non-roadwork-hindered roads, to the house of friends from way back now living in France a few miles from Chatellerault.  Drove all day in effect mostly at 55 mph, but lots of slowing as the roads I took, whilst direct, still went through many small towns.  Blue sky, rising temperatures, taking note of the countryside in the departments of the Orne, Sarthe, and into the Deux Sevres (part of the Loire valley and plains) and arriving in the Vienne.

Posted by admin in Events, France