France

29
Jun
2023

May/June ’23 Trip Roundup

Something about driving north through France towards a ferry booking in early July, and the facts that I’d done quite alot of moving on in 5 weeks, and had paid £10 extra for a changeable ‘flexi’ ticket, brought me to the conclusion that I was happy to finish the trip slightly earlier than planned, and the other places I had envisaged would keep.

So I set out to cover the ground from Bordeaux to Le Havre, with a stopover near Le Mans over two days, having successfully managed to change the booking. Although the region between Tours and this city was at the end of many hours of driving, still I was able to look at the passing landscapes and towns with somewhat fresh eyes, and realise that this region around the river Sarthe was also beautiful. So where isn’t in France?

I did have one moment of absolute horror in an otherwise fantastic uneventful road trip, when all of a sudden my van lost all power. I was able to coast onto the hard-shoulder – still available in France! – on a quiet motorway, and to huge relief re-start the motor immediately. The journey continued in the same uneventful way, and the next day all the way home to north England?? Whether my knee had somehow managed to turn the key in the the ignition to off, I don’t know. But that van has been stupendous and I continue to love it. It needs and deserves two new front tyres immediately upon return.

The campsite I had selected from the Park4Night app, Le Vieux Moulin, was like staying in a lovely garden, only a few kilometres from Le Mans, and in a future tour, I won’t hesitate to stay here again, and recommend.

The next day I opted to drive across country again on non-toll roads up to Honfleur, which is only a few kilometres from Le Havre. I stayed in Honfleur at the end of my 4 months travel back in 2019, and I’d forgotten how lovely a place it is. Likewise for the hinterland of this part of Normandy.

It was great weather, a flat sea and as we sailed past the city, Le Havre looked again to be an attractive place for a future visit. On the list now with the Marais Poitevin, Chatellailon sur Plage, and L’Ile Noirmoutier.

Off the ferry and straight up the A34 from Portsmouth and then onto the motorways became more and more like driving through France and Spain, a result only of rising to the challenge of travelling through the early hours. Thanks to a rest in the 6-hour sailing, and tuning into Heart 70s for the totality, I was actually able to enjoy the journey. When do I have 5 hours of uninterrupted singing-along bliss. What a decade of classics for this 70s girl.

In summary, I continue to be so thankful for my good health, for the material blessings of this vehicle and my bike and other kit, and for this time and money freedom to experience other cultures and landscapes, and meet so many interesting people along the way. And to have all this, knowing that I have a wonderful family, set of friends and home to return to each time.

Looking forward only a few weeks now, who knows how I (and my campervan) will incorporate the momentous change of the arrival of a new next generation family member.

Posted by admin in France, Musings, Places
28
Jun
2023

Bordeaux, Bordeaux

So good they named it I visited it twice.

The campsite was great, offered live music for two nights, the first being great musicians playing Django Reinhart-style French jazz, in a setting on Bordeaux Lac, only about 8-9 kilometres or so via well-designed cycle routes into the centre.

The Tchikiswing from Toulouse

More often than not, live music is a surprise and a gift for me; I even got up and danced due to the insistence of a Belgian couple

But Bordeaux – I’ll just bullet-point what I observed, as it rises to the top of my city list alongside the likes of San Sebastian, Porto, Copenhagen

  • Well-designed cycling city which the residents of all ages and types, with all manner of cargo/child-carrying bikes use
  • Shared public spaces, with walkers, bike and scooter riders, tramways, all co-mingling without hostility; the car is definitely not king and in fact I experienced courtesy from car drivers both here and generally in Spain
  • Absolutely beautiful, yet somehow understated public spaces and buildings being lived in, rather than museum pieces, and enjoyed by all; my favourite was the Jardin Public
  • Smaller, more personal scale than the likes of Madrid, with 1 million inhabitants according to Google, twice as many as Montpellier, similar to Toulouse, less than Porto or Copehagen
  • Sigificantly fewer canine family members in evidence – down to more apartment living for the suburbs I cycled through and the centre?
  • Cycled past camps under underpasses of what looked like groups of immigrants from Africa, and did see other people who I would describe as having fallen through gaps in society
  • Murky brown/sandy river water results from the meeting of the sediment-laden fresh water of the Garonne with the salty sea water of the Gironde estuary, according to Google

My phone camera is not as good as I would like to record what I love to see and be part of.

River front
Jardin Public
Jardin Public
‘Bacalan’ Food Destination
Without water
With water for everyone’s enjoyment
Cite du Vin
Contemporary buildings in the mix
Posted by admin in Cities-Towns, France, Places
17
Sep
2022

Route to Charleville-Mezieres

This was a pleasant, interesting drive through forested, steep-valleyed high hills to Saarbrucken and into Luxembourg. I hadn’t realised, despite driving through the Moselle valley a few years ago, that it was so close, and the countryside of Luxembourg did look appealing for a visit in the future.

The municipal site, Mont Olympe in Charleville, was as I remembered it, and really good value/place for a stopover, but be warned that the shower blocks were showing end-of-season, or just general severe need of attention.

When I was last here with my sister, brother-in-law and niece, we did a bike ride along the river Meuse, so the countryside is very accessible. We also ended up in a multi-storey car park with my campervan and their higher motorhome which caused their TV aerial to get caught on an overhead concrete beam, and having the embarassing situation (particularly for my teenage niece) of getting the ladders out in situ to remove it under the observation of other motorists, as it was causing something of a blockage. We did manage slowly but surely to navigate the motorhome out of the car park without any further more serious damage to the roof, but this was not a foregone conclusion. That was the trip that on the autoroute on the way back through France, my solar panel flipped off its housing and managed to be held by my tv aerial and the cabling until I could limp off to a service area, which are thankfully very frequent, to remove it. I was extremely lucky that the damage was minimal, including to the panel. The adventures of life.

This is the historic central square 10 minutes walk away surrounded by little streets with independent shops and cafes:

Posted by admin in France, Places
27
Sep
2021

More ‘non plain sailing’

I spent 3 nights with my old friend Carole and her constant companion Ted on a lovely site ‘L’Olivier in Junas, near the historic small town of Sommieres between Nimes & Montpellier. The good is of course the company and the location, and the fantastic 3m-wide voie verte which runs on an old railway line from Nimes. Sommieres is well worth a visit, and it was fun to happen upon market day on Saturday, 3 km brisk ride on the flat from Junas

However after a 3rd night being dive-bombed by mozzies, this after spending 2 hours before bed with lights on, zapping them, with the essential piece of kit to the left, desperately keeping all net screens in place, hardly wanting to risk opening the back doors to pack stuff up to my garage, enough was enough, time to move on.

I was feeling confident driving. I had this time decided on the route from the map in the old-fashioned way, and it worked a treat, going anti-clockwise on what seemed like a ring-road round Montpellier, to end up on the best road heading to a familiar destination. So on I mused about all the miles and routes I’d covered over the years with very few mishaps. In fact the only damage I caused to Monte 1 or 2 was causing the back door bike rack to be slightly bent on the latter as I reversed onto a pitch and against a tree very momentarily, no reversing camera, at Lake Como, Camping Lazy Sheep – I do like to recall the site’s name :). Actually just checked as I do like to be accurate – it’s ‘Golden Sheep’, only slightly less amusing to me., but lovely campsite.

Despite these driving feats, I had decided to downsize by 1 metre to Blue at 6m for the obvious benefits, not least the maneouvering, so it is with annoyance and a wry smile as I record here that I have caused damage to a wing-mirror and bodywork trying to get the van onto a campsite with very narrow approach road, the side wall of which I unfortunately caught by accident.

The glass of the essential (driving on the right) passenger wing mirror is holding together under sellotape, and the electronic movement controls are still working. The outside housing though has also been affected so this is being held in position with duct tape. I am determined to get it back to the UK for a spare part/fix, having failed to id the required mirror in a Halfords equivalent, and then being subjected to unbelievable sexist service which belongs out of the ark at Poitiers Citroen main dealer, to order the mirror for the sum of 105eu!!

Well-earned cup of tea later, read of my thriller, I beheld what I’ve driven down here for:

Yes it’s Marseillan Plage again – mediterranean sea at 23-24deg – just to make a certain individual very jealous. Good weather forecast until the end of the week, when I’ll start making my way north.

Posted by admin in Equipment, France, The Bad
19
Sep
2021

Two wheel ascent to the Causse

For yesterday’s activity, from across the valley I could see the road ascending to the top above Florac, so I decided that this would be a good test of new trusty. We managed to do it – about 4.5km of ascent of approx 500m upto around 1000m – using mostly the 2nd level of power and for the last stretch only the first level of power, low gear and moving between 6 – 7 mph 😀. Don’t forget the weight of the bike plus locks, about 24kg, as well as mine (not revealing)!. I used only around half the battery for that. What a fantastic bike.

The road was good, but I still have to feel the fear of heights and do it anyway. Worth the views and the challenge though and to see the difference in landscape on the plateau and looking to the east into the Cevennes, where the high green upland pastures can be seen. So beautiful and varied. As a french couple from Brittany I chatted to at a brief stop said – we are spoilt in France.

  • The road can just be made out across the valley
  • Road up – doesn’t quite do it justice!
  • Nearly there – looking back to campsite
  • Star of the show 🙂
  • Up on a ‘Causse’

After 3 days stay at this lovely campsite, am off to the other side of the Cevennes – Courry & Mum’s house – for a few days re-visiting the Ardeche area.

Posted by admin in Equipment, France
18
Sep
2021

On Robert Louis Stevenson’s Chemin but with bike not donkey

  • The limestone upland (causse) can be seen rising up above Florac
  • Idyllic setting for a fish farm, water eventually surfacing from the plateau above
  • Part of the ‘chemin’

Have spent the last two nights on a lovely 2-star campsite in Bedoues-Cocures, a village a couple of kms or so outside of Florac in the Gorges du Tarn/Cevennes region. My pitch is almost on the river bank, in a landscape of beautiful forested steep gorges, clear water rivers, historic villages and striking upland limestone plateaus called ‘Les Causses’.

This area is also mountainous – Florac is at about 500m above sea level. The mountains Lozere and Aigoual are over 1500m.

My ride into Florac yesterday took me completely unexpectedly on a small part of the above. If the weather is going to hold, I may decide to attempt to take my bike – or rather with confidence that it will take me -up a gorge ascent road to the plateau above.

Posted by admin in France