Rudds in France on the Road to England 2013

Continued from: In Spain on the Road to France 2013

Brian and Patricia Rudd
January 2014 

Introduction 

Brian and Patricia left England in June 2013 for what became a 105-day motorhome journey. They travelled through France and Spain to Morocco. Following a 30-day tour of Morocco, they returned to England, again through Spain and France. They  give detailed information on their journey, including co-ordinates, on all the places they spent a night, specialising in finding informal places to camp.

You can find equally detailed accounts of three other motorhome journeys they have made in the Fellow Travellers feature on this website.

For more information, you can contact the Rudds at:

Day 111 Sunday 13th October 2013   SOD Temp 55 Deg F

Palencia    Aire   N 42 00.260  W 004 32.097

Awake 7 - 40 am. no alarm. We discovered a drip in the shower, the tap must have turned on a little. A couple of wet towels. I heard the pump a little last night and turned it off. A lesson learned.

Had breakfast and watched the day develop, a few vans moving early. The Aire seems to be a good stopping off point on the way North or South, most vans probably are heading South. Snowbirds, away for the winter. We would probably do something similar, but we have too many close family we want to be with, at a special time of year for us.

Now for some reason the Sat Nav has gone to pieces on simple jobs like getting us onto the main road out of town. Again this morning, so I banged it off and we sailed out. Onto the A62 heading for Burgos. Excellent roads had us cruising at 60 mph around Burgos onto the A1 for Vitoria Gasteiz.

We pulled off for some dinner at a little pull in, just after Miranda de Ebro, where we passed the Aire we used when crossing Northern Spain last year. A little restaurant place, nothing seemed to be going on at all. It's amazing how they keep these places open.

Back on the road it was France here we come. I decided to carry on for Biarritz, I had initially planned to stop at Vitoria Gasteiz for the night. The A1 carried us all the way past San Sebastian. Now this is always where the roads get interesting to say the least, same last year. Coming to the border we ended up heading to a Peage to go onto the motorway. Slipping onto the side road we were flagged down by the police. They were running checks on loading and led us to a weigh bridge. A young policeman asked to see my licence and van documents. Why he stopped an English van, I don't know, because he didn't understand the documents at all. I had to show him the information he wanted. He insisted on us weighing the van, after I had informed him where to find the information. We were a little over weight, The van specification needs to be checked out at home. Problems ?

Anyway, he was very nice and advised we were o.k to travel on, seeing we were right on the border heading for France. Not their problem, 5 minutes down the road.

Finally getting onto the road into Biarritz, we rolled into the familiar Aire we had used last year. A few vans making hard work of getting in and parking. I parked in one place, but we had a boom box blasting away in the van alongside us, so I moved to another space. As usual at Biarritz, there is never enough electric points for all the vans, 10 Euros they charge too. So out with my double adaptor and plug in with a French van. Job done and brew on. A couple of English vans on near us.

Patricia did Pasta, while I had a walk to look if there was a shop local. Nothing doing.

Again I express the thought that the Biarritz Aire is popular, but why. The electrics are bad, the water points are abysmal. 10 Euros ? It must be people like ourselves, passing through and convenient, put up with the crap, as they say.

Day 112  Monday 14th October 2013   SOD Temp 62 Deg F

Biarritz Aire   N 43 27.990  W 001 34.302

Alarm on for 7 - 00 am, Santana, Samba Pa Ti.  It makes a nice change from beep, beep. A cup of tea, empty the toilet and off to Lidl at Bidart. An early start for Patricias birthday. We are low on supplies, even for breakfast. While unplugging the mains lead and my double adaptor, I had to unplug the French van temporarily. This set his alarm off, they must put the alarm on while asleep. No doubt it woke them up. Sorry, but I've been awakened by quite a few French men just talking. Anyway no malice intended.

Lidl opened 8 - 30 am, so an early shop and then breakfast. I popped into a Boulangerie near the Lidl for a baguette. She gave me a brown one, I didn't notice, but it was delicious. We also popped into the Intermarche across the road. I expected to be able to buy an English paper around Biarritz, but we tried with no success.

I called into the Carrefour at Anglet, it looks small, but it's like a tardis, it's enormous inside. Everything you could want nearly, lots of shops internally in the arcades, but no English paper. Ah well give up.

We parked up at the lighthouse at Anglet, alongside the river inlet. A large parking place we had used last year when passing through.

We intended to just have a lazy day, rest and recuperation. The sun had eased its way out and it was now quite warm. We had dinner and a read. I went for a walk around while Patricia had a quiet read. I walked to have a look at some motor homes parked in a space near us, they were obviously camping. It turned out to be an Aire, not in our book. Pay by credit card, 10 Euros in season, 6 out of season. While reading the information, a small English van passed me and went in. They obviously thought, as I did, that it was free parking. On my way back, I stopped to point out to them it was a pay place. We had a chat for a while. Yvonne and Tony from Norfolk. The smallest van we have seen on this trip. Originally from Desford, but now in Norfolk. He is a cabinet maker. They are on their way to Portugal, they also have a small dog. Loaded with things to sell along the way. Lovely couple on their first French trip. I showed them the France Passion book, which they didn't know about.

They were actually looking for the Anglet Aire, but they hadn't got a sat nav. I gave them directions, it wasn't too far. Don't know how they manage without a sat nav, they said it makes things interesting. I would say, it makes things difficult. We have some hiccups with ours, but I wouldn't be without it.

We went for a walk along the front, lovely and warm by now. Not as busy as last year when we walked here. Walking back to the van we noticed a water point and some electric sockets on the car park. The sockets were locked, but the water was on. I decided to wash my hair. I moved the van closer to the tap, put out the table and got plenty of water. Watering the bushes alongside me also.

A nice lazy afternoon, spent doing nothing major, just relaxing. Arriving at the Anglet Aire, the couple I gave directions to, were parked up, so got in alongside them. All the other vans were French. We were totally outnumbered. I think most of the French had been on the vino by then, they were in a merry mood. All giving me instructions on parking the van. We struck up conversation with Yvonne and Tony immediately. 

Chicken sauteed potatoes and peas for tea. A chat, a read, wash up and off to bed with a Bourbon and a book. All quiet outside.

Day 113 Tuesday 15th October 2013   SOD Temp 65 Deg F

Anglet  Aire  near Biarritz    N 43 30.427  W 001 32.059

Awake 8 - 20 am, a real sleep in this morning, no real noise to wake us.

Yvonne and Tony stopped to say goodbye, they were off, heading towards Santiago, then into Portugal.

The sat nav for some reason seems to make hard work of getting out of places. Here again it came up with a convoluted route, when a lot simpler option was available. I had to turn it off and follow my route. It wasn't helped by a detour due to road works, now that really confuses it. There was a lot of people milling around with banners, it looked like some kind of demonstration, the police were out in force also.

We eventually got out onto the D810 a road swinging out to Mont de Marsan and Dax. With having a late start we stopped at St Vincent de Tyrosse for some dinner, at the Aire, which is really only a service point, but  also to have a look at the self service laundry there. But Patricia decided not to bother with a clothes wash, so we just had dinner.

There is also a McDonalds there. I was going to try the wi fi and get the news, but Patricia suggested getting a newspaper on my Kindle. What a good idea. I should have been doing it all along. 99p for The Times. It did take a little while to download, a few minutes anyway. I thought at one point that there was a problem. But no, there it was, a little patience paid off. Headlining the New Madeleine McCann investigation. I do hope they can eventually solve the mystery to enable the family to rest in peace. It seems there are some new angles coming to light, it featured on Crime Watch on TV.

After dinner, just down the road and onto the N10 motorway. A little confusion from the map, is it a Peage or not. We found out soon, 2.4 Euros. Then no peage for around forty miles. The Peage and none Peage join around that area, so difficult to ascertain where. A good surfaced motorway, reasonably busy, quite a lot of trucks. Off at J17 to Parentis en Borne and then Gastes, where we were heading to. A nice neat little town on driving through.

The Aire has an automated  pay system, no credit card, only bank card, so we picked up a bank charge for paying 4.5 Euros. An English guy came out to help. I popped around to thank him after we were parked up. They had sold up, now had a rented caravan back home and were off to a gathering in Benidorm.  From Haydock, a couple of miles from Wigan, now based in the Peak District at a small Caravan site.

A grey day, with drizzle while we were driving up, no change when we arrived. A brew then a little walk around, a lovely Aire, a lot better also when the sun shines. Maybe tomorrow !

Pork, curry, chips and rice for tea, just what you need on a grey drizzly day. We're not used to this. The last real rain was back in Morocco at Asilah, first night in Morocco.

Washed up and a read of The Times, catching up on the news. Updating Patricia with anything she might find interesting, I keep disturbing her book reading.

A Bourbon and Coke and off to bed around 10 - 00 pm.

Day 114 Wednesday 16th October 2013   SOD Temp 67 Deg F

Gastes   S of Bordeaux   N 44 19.748  W 001 09.003

Alarm on for 7 - 00 am. It's been raining on and off during the night. Not sure what time it started, but I was awake with it. Cloudy with a few blue patches peeping through this morning. We had a mind to stay if the weather was sunny, but we decided to move on. It looked like more rain to come.

The guy I had thanked yesterday was creeping off just before us, no acknowledgement at all. He was at the service point when I pulled up behind him, I got just a nod.

Servicing done we were off onto the D653 to Parentis en Born, then D46 to Sanguinet. D216 to Mios and then onto the A660 motorway leading to the A63 going up to Bordeaux. We are heading around Bordeaux and over to Libourne.

Around Libourne and onto the D910, heading up towards Angouleme. We unintentionally followed the D910 too far and ended at Guitres, where we tracked back to the D674 at Coutras. Passing a McDonalds I pulled in to use the wi fi, I downloaded The Times on My Kindle for 99p. Just used the wi fi.

We pulled into a little industrial estate at Parcoul for dinner. Quite the most picturesque industrial estate I have seen. Lovely deciduous trees in Autumn colours across expanses of grass. All damp and glistening with rain. Nothing like I used to visit when working around Lancashire.

I had set the sat nav, Satellite Simon, for the Aire location, but it kept wanting to take us off the road at obviously wrong places. Patricia then noticed I had used a W coordinate, when we were now on E coordinates. No wonder the poor thing was confused. Sorted with right Easting, we rolled into Aubeterre Sur Dronne. It looked a really nice place entering it.  The Aire is right on the river, a lovely view.

We were met with a French van and  a generator banging away disturbing the peace. We parked up near it, to see how long they were running it for. We could hear the television when we walked past the van to read the Aire notices.  Find somewhere beautiful, get out a generator, start it up, then sit in watching television. Some people have unusual ways of enjoying themselves. Seriously, it looked like they were recharging, he did come out after about an hour and turn it off. It was raining quite heavy just after we arrived. This didn't stop the young ones in canoes on the river, having lessons. They were up and down, over and over, the instructor, who was sheltering under the nearby bridge, was shouting out the routine to them. It was lashing down at one period. Some were doing roll overs also, so they obviously weren't bothered about getting wet. They all looked to be enjoying themselves, lovely to see.

The rain stopped later, but we had hunkered down reading by then. Patricia did Chicken Fajitas for tea, excellent. Another couple of French motor homes rolled in later. It is a lovely Aire, but do I expect too much, no rubbish bin anywhere.

 Washed up then had a read, catching up with all the UK news I haven't seen for months. Not much changes, all the usual lies and bullsh*t from Politicians.

Off to bed around 10 - 00 pm. The only sound is an Owl hooting.

Day 115 Thursday 17th October 2013   SOD Temp 60 Deg F

Aubeterre Sur Dronne   S of Angouleme    N 45 16.190  E 000 10.513

Awake at 7 - 00 am with the alarm. A lovely quiet and peaceful night. The Autumn mist has settled all around overnight. Shrouding everything in its grey coat. Yes Autumn is now really letting us know we are heading North. But we acknowledge it has its own beauty. Breakfast over, we walked into the village to explore. All deserted on the streets, the out of season feel we have seen in lots of places when the tourist season ends. It's nice to have the place to yourself. We passed the old wash place on the way in, it now has Coy Carp swimming in the big communal pool. Into the little square, Place Ludovic Trarieux, where aluminium  tables and chairs now stored, give evidence of a summer outdoor cafe area. Now all unused and the cafes closed.

Walking onwards towards the St Jacques church we were stopped looking at an information plaque on a restaurant, when we got in conversation with a lady who lived in the village. Barbara, from County Antrim in Ireland. She bought a house in the village for £2,000 in the seventies. They now live their permanently after retiring. A real chatterbox as she admitted, but a lovely well travelled lady. Her husband was employed by the Foreign Office, so lots of travel. She gave us a running commentary about the village, now mainly second homes. She said last Christmas, there was only her house and one other occupied in her street. She also said the mist can dwell for long periods and can be oppressive, a thing they have noticed as they have got older. Barbara also enjoys lace making, the very fine type. We walked along chatting , up to the church, where we eventually parted company. She was walking with a stick, the result of slipping and injuring her ankle.  An excellent random meeting that makes the walk more enjoyable.

The church has an arched Romanesque facade, also some quite intricate carving for a small village. Quite sparse inside, our type of atmospheric small church, lovely.

We also visited the Petit Cloister church, now a rest home, but part is still open to the public. The cloisters all cleaned up, are now private but can be seen through a locked glass door.

Barbara had pointed out to us the Monolithic Church, carved underground, but by the time we had arrived there, it had closed for dinner, opening again at 2 - 00 pm. An excellent morning strolling around a lovely little village. The sun now chasing the mist off the river and village. We called at the Boulangerie for a Baguette, then the small local shop for salt. Then back to the van for dinner. Soup is on the menu today, just the job after a misty Autumn stroll. There is a Credit Lyonnais bank in the square, we got 90 Euros out.

Question, how do you beat one Frenchman in a motor home with his generator destroying the peace and ambience of a lovely village ? Simple really. You have two Frenchmen with generators banging away. This noise met us on our arrival back at the Aire. Patricia keeps reminding me, it's their country. It's time some of them decided, to show it some respect is my answer to that.

Dinner done, we decided to leave our generator chuggers and head for another Aire with a potential nice village. Around 25 miles north, Mouthiers Sur Boeme. The sun had come out and blue skies were above us, a beautiful Autumn day.

Again a lovely small village. The Aire is near the church, the chimes are every hour. A wall nut tree alongside us is shedding wall nuts around. I put a few in the garage to take home after knocking them off the tree. A nice plain village church. There is a lovely clear small river running through the village, it used to drive the old mill, now a house, with the small millstones in the garden. There is also some troglodyte evidence, caves now used as workshops all along one rock outcrop. An excellent butchers behind us, which we didn't use, but the layout and display were really clean and tidy. We popped into a shop for potatoes and a cake.

Patricia did Scotch Scallops for tea, Bacon, Onions and Potatoes, delicious. Raising the question, why are they called" Scotch" scallops. No answer from me, I don't know.

The church was lit up after dark, the butchers was also all lit up with a luminous red frontage.

Well tonight after an early tea and washing up, we had a game of cards. The first for months. Guess what ? I lost as usual. I joked that Backgammon is coming out tomorrow, I win some games of that, Patricia reckons, too many.

Day 116 Friday 18th October 2013   SOD Temp 49 Deg F

Mouthiers Sur Boeme    S of Angouleme   N 45 33.276  E 000 07.457

Alarm on for 7 - 00 am, but no need really, I've been awake for hours. The church clock chiming the hours away. It gave a ding dong display at 7 - 00 am.

We heard a noise like a distant droning while having breakfast, we were wondering what it was. Well we soon found out, it was the sit on grass cutter, cutting all the local grass. He came around the van and the Aire. It's a job that has to be done, no problem. The guy who drives it must already be deaf, or daft, one of the two, because he had no ear defenders on. The decibel level was really high. I can't help but think, do they have a brain anyone who rides around doing that job day after day without realizing they are damaging their hearing. My health and Safety knowledge coming out, but it's totally obvious to anyone with half a brain. I'm off again.

Despite the loud intrusion the village was quiet with not much moving. The train line which cuts the village in half had a couple of trains passing on it. The station, now closed, seems to be offices.

Breakfast, a tidy up, toilet done and we were off. D12 heading towards the N10. A few miles down the road we hit a deviation, the road was blocked by a huge construction project, a long flyover being built. Not sure what for because it was slap bang in the middle of the fields and quiet little villages. Negotiating this detour we found the N10 and headed North. Patricia got her knitting out for a while. Nothing of any note to mention, we stopped at an Aire de Repos just before the turn off for Vivonne. The sun was shining but the Aire was dull and gloomy, set in a Pine tree grove, all damp, dark and gloomy. We stayed and had some dinner. Four other motor homes all pulled in as we had dinner, all French.

Dinner completed, we had about three miles of the N10 and then pulled off to go across country to Chauvigny. Also to find a supermarket for a big shop. Luckily as we pulled off there was a Super U waiting for us. The sun was quite warm by then, but the store was cold, really chilly. Shop done, we handed some discount tokens to a local elderly couple and were then on our way. No satellite Simon on this run across country, Patricia ran the show. Simon tends to choose narrow and what you might call if in a good mood, interesting roads. We headed across country to St Julien L Ars, where we picked up the D951 into Sauvigny. Putting Simon on for the last mile to find the Aire, straight in and spot on. Three vans on when we arrived, one a rather quaint DIY job, I got a photo for my odd vehicle collection.

We had a brew then went for a brief exploration walk. Just as far as the church a few hundred yards from the Aire. The church had been over restored inside, all skimmed with plaster, walls and ceiling, then lines to look like the joints between stones done in red. A real hatchet job. It looked nice and clean though. Freshly completed it seemed.

There is a viewing point where you can see across the old town, we decided to explore in the morning. While strolling around we passed a couple sat on a bench at the viewing point, he never looked up at all, but the lady looked at us and spoke. They eventually got up to leave, he walked off, while she waited around and then walked off. A clandestine meeting we thought. Well I suppose France has a reputation to uphold.

We had bought a Pulet Roti at Super U, some Sautee potatoes, peas and carrots for tea. Followed by cake and a cuppa. The light falls quickly as the sun sets. Washed up and got off to bed early for a read. We both hadn't slept too well last night.

Day 117 Saturday 19th October 2013   SOD Temp 59 Deg F

Chauvigny     Near Poitier    N 46 34.384  E 000  38.807

Alarm at 7 - 00 am, a quiet and peaceful night. I slept better than last night, just heard the church clock after the alarm went off. It was rather quiet and in the distance. We had some breakfast and then had a walk into town to explore. Downhill all the way and obviously uphill on the way back. We had read that Saturday was a market day and we walked straight into it. A lovely selection of stalls, quite a lot with food. The locals all seem to be a chatty lot, many groups of people standing and chatting. We were offered some political leaflet for a meeting in Poitier, they were looking for a large turnout to demonstrate about something local. The bars were open with people sat outside and bottles of wine on the table, it was 10 - 30 am. How do they drink alcohol so early in the day ? One stall had the biggest Cauliflowers I have ever seen 2.50 Euros. Pulet Roti was 8 and 9 Euros, a little bit dearer than Morocco where we paid 3 - 4 Euros.

We found a small stall, the girl on it was busy gabbing on the telephone, but she came out of her bubble and realized she might have a customer. She was selling small wooden trains with carriages that had letters on them to make up childrens names. A Prenom was 5 Euros. An engine, L, I , L, Y, and a guard carriage on the end, a little present for Lily when we get home. Unusual pricing, Lily is short, but some names are quite long.

The local church also got a visit, the front section looking like it had been restored or rebuilt compared to the rear. Across the road there was a Presse and Tabac, I optimistically popped in to see if they had an English paper. To my amazement they had a Daily Mail, ah well better than nothing I suppose. It was Fridays edition. I asked if they had todays edition, she replied categorically, " never". That told me. Diplomacy is never dead in France !

We strolled back through the City Medievale and slowly up the hill.

 The town has a lovely quiet laid back atmosphere, the market also had lots of happy people and smiling faces, lots of chattering people also. At the top of the hill The Donjon was closed, a ruined chateau now used for falconry displays. But the quarter around it is all open to stroll around, lovely and peaceful. There was an artist sat in the square looking for portrait customers to sketch. His display of work looked very good.  I had a word with him. He had moved here three months ago, a professional artist, but Chauvigny hadn't been good for him. He was sat in the little square away from all the people in the market below. There wasn't many people around. Better positioning would help him I'm sure. A group of people passing through the square stopped to pose for a photograph. Not one of them gave him a look or paid him any attention at all. He did seem totally dejected in his eyes and speech. Being an artist of any kind you are at the whims of peoples taste. I understand from being a musician, some like you, some don't.

Back at the van after a lovely Saturday morning stroll, we had dinner and decided to move on. Our Marc sent a text from football at Blackpool, we had lost 1 - 0. Ah well, the struggle goes on.

D 749  to Chateleraut, around Chateleraut and on the D749 again. We stopped at a McDonalds while I popped in to download The Times on my Kindle. 99p for an electronic version. We headed for Richelieu of the Cardinal Richelieu fame,around forty miles up the road.

The Aire is at the side of the Richelieu park, the estate where the Cardinal lived, just near one of the town gates. The road is lined with large Plane Trees, leaves and Horse Chestnuts ( Conkers ) litter the ground. A very neat and tidy town, planned on a grid system. A large square with a fountain meets you through the entrance. We had a stroll around, popped into the church which opens onto the square. All quiet, not many people around. All neat and tidy streets and buildings. 17 - 18th Century I would guess.

Back at the van, steak, potatoes, peas and carrots for tea, followed by cheese and crackers. The road where the Aire is located, is deserted except for occasional cars, no one walking at all. I went out late in the evening, to photograph the full moon over the trees and entrance towers at the park. All deserted and quiet. A good read of papers, Mail and Times, a little different in approach to say the least. The mail writes some absolute claptrap rubbish aimed at the Tittle Tattle times people. I suppose I need to read it occasionally to remind me how bad it is. Off to bed around 10 - 00 pm.

Day 118 Sunday 20th October 2013   SOD Temp 62 Deg F

Richelieu      N 47 00.651  E 000 19.379

Alarm on for 7 - 00 Am. A reasonable night, a few cars passing on the nearby road. Just a few people around, dog walkers doing their usual. We had breakfast and decided not to have a walk in the park, but to head on to our next overnight spot. I had picked Chateaudun out of the book, so off we went.

D757, D58 across to Pouzay then onto the D760 then the D910 heading North to Tours, where we have had little detours in the past, this time no different, but only a minor one.

A good road all the way. Sunday morning driving through the French countryside with music playing, seeing the Autumn colours on the trees, farmers ploughing their fields, admiring some beautiful aesthetically pleasing houses. Not a bad way to spend Sunday morning. Across the Loire continuing on the D910.

 We stopped at a McDonalds to get the Sunday Times on my Kindle. I'm keeping up with the news this week. Nothing to lighten the soul though, all the usual pretty depressing stuff. One bright point, England qualified for the World Cup.  Then we have the low point to suit the press, Roy Hodgson the gentleman manager, who stands like a beacon of restraint in the swamp of English Football, was accused of being a racist. I give up. We will no doubt have the usual inquest and condemnation of English football after they fail again.

My view is that Football is a pig trough of greedy pigs all snuffling to get the biggest bite. FA and Premiere league are a joke really. Fans are totally ignored, maybe someday they will realize and mobilize their economic power. Someday ! I'm still a football fan, little Wigan, one club still run financially viable, in an obscene sea of debt. Rant over.

Through Chateau Renault onto the N10. On the look out for a Boulangerie, because I fancied a baguette for dinner, but none showing. We stopped at Vendome for dinner,  a place we knew quite well, having been their twice before. Boulangeries all shut, ah well, probably too late in the day, it had gone 1 - 00 pm. We parked on the river just off the main street, which is all newly surfaced, they had it all dug up last two times we were there. They must have finally finished.

A short run up the N10 after dinner and we were at Chateaudun. A couple of spaces on the Aire, so we squeezed in, a little tight in parking. The old French van alongside us moved after around ten minutes, so I moved into that space, it gave us a nice view onto the river. It was also the end  space on that side of the Aire.  It didn't last long, a French whizz bang parked on the river side of us and blocked the view, even though there was a space at the other end. So considerate the French ! His first job, out with the chocks, even though the site is absolutely flat. It seems to be an obsession with the French, or maybe they get free issue chocks and are paid to use them. One or two vans left soon after, there was two Brit vans on the Aire also.

The Aire itself is quite nice, alongside the river, the Chateau is towering above the Aire, a flight of steps seem to lead up to the level where it is at. A canoe club is alongside, there was lots of banging and shouting as canoes were loaded onto a trailer.

Chips and Pizza for tea, after showers and a read. The van that stole our view, were very noisy, why do people talk so loud, we could hear their conversations in our van. Intermittent rain showers kept blowing in, we are slowly getting used to what we are driving back to in England. The days now are mainly spent slowly heading North to Dunkirk where we will get the ferry back. A read and off to bed, all quiet later, just a few passing cars.

Day 119  Monday 21st October 2013   SOD Temp 60 Deg F

Chateaudun   N 48 04.296  E 001 19.445

Alarm on for 7 - 00 am. A quiet and peaceful night. We could hear a church bell somewhere in the distance, it sounded very big and deep. Breakfast and writing the diary up. By the time we opened the shutters, all the other vans had gone, except one British Autotrail, who must have come in late last night.

We decided to have a look around Chateaudun.

As we started to walk out, a young guy sat near the river alone, I was a little aware that the Aire is really quiet just passing cars. So we doubled back to check all was well. He was still sat on the riverside quite oblivious to anything. We are always aware of surroundings and people, this time no different, I just wanted to feel confident the guy was no problem.

There is a flight of stairs just across the road from the Aire going up to the Chateau level. No signage on it at the bottom. This has 200 steps, we know, we counted them on the way back down. At the top is the Chateau with a charge of 7,50 Euros each to go in. We didn't bother. It is a beautiful looking building from outside, but rooms are rooms and we decided not to bother going in. There are some lovely picturesque buildings in the old quarter. Quite a few signs to point the way around. It doesn't have the feel of a tourist town though. The church looks like it has been renovated internally, a quite lovely light space as you enter through self opening doors. The Crypt was locked off. It looks like there has been excavation work under the newly built alter, there are some openings where you can see under the alter.

Walking further around the town, there is a beautiful building, now closed that used to be the hospital, gardens behind it are open, the building closed. Up the street and we walked into a large square with shops all around it. A French lady, Andrea, stopped to speak to us, we were just discussing which way to go. I'm not sure what she was trying to tell us, but she was a nice person. There was a line of people at the Boulangerie, it must be popular. A baguette and a toasted cheese roll for dinner.

Well we didn't expect Chateaudun to be such a little revelation. I think all the other motor homers that moved on thought the same thing. But we had a lovely morning strolling around a little gem.

We noticed the the price of property in and around Chateaudun seemed to be quite reasonable. There were some lovely properties for sale at what we thought were good prices compared to the UK.

Back for dinner and a cuppa before moving on.

N10 up to and around Chartres, then N154 towards Dreux, coming off at the D26 for Nogent Le Roi. I had chosen this Aire for the position it was in, a 50 mile drive, also the next Aire in the direction we want to go was around 150 miles, hence the nearer one.

The Aire newly built with all the facilities,  is alongside the sports stadium. Even four free electric points, which I'm sure the French don't know about, no mention of them in the Aires book, or it would be full. But there was no one there. A guy rolled up on his bike, he told me he was a motor homer and had helped specify the Aire, insisting on all services being free. I liked his enthusiasm and his ethos. I can never imagine in my wildest dreams a council in the UK providing a space for passing motor homers to park and providing them with services and FREE electric.  The British tourist industry is always moaning about lost customers and revenue, take a leaf from France for a start and don't be paranoid, about people who travel around.

Having a brew, I watched as a group of young boys and two girls were coached in Rugby Union. Good to see them rolling around and getting stuck in. Not sure about one of the girls though, she spent time pirouetting around when the ball wasn't near her, but did get in the ruck often. I noticed they were all slim, none over weight. We keep getting reports of UK children being obese and over weight. Is France different, it would be interesting to find out.

A walk around town later, revealed some lovely old buildings and a surprising church. Quite ornate inside, lots of windows with quite lovely stained glass images. It looks rather neglected from outside, the road through the centre of the village, runs straight past the door, but it's an old gem inside. The town would be a lot more attractive if the traffic could be funneled on alternate roads, it dominates the main street, a shame really. Property prices seemed quite higher than Chateaudun.

Omelletes for tea and a discussion on the origin of the word omelette, we guessed right, French, checked on my Kindle dictionary. The local buses must use the Aire area, there is extra parking, they park up for the night, the only traffic we saw later.

A read and a quiet  night. We heard one car zoom in, so I dropped a screen to have a look. It was a young guy filling a water bottle. But he was filling it at the toilet emptying tap which is 15 yards away from the drinking water tap. He obviously isn't aware of French motor homers lack of  toilet emptying skills. Hope he doesn't pay for it with some dreaded bug from the tap.

Day 120 Tuesday 22nd October 2013   SOD Temp 62 Deg F

Nogent Le Roi    N 48 39.032  E 001 31.714

Awake just before the alarm at 7 - 00 am. A lovely quiet and peaceful night. It's good to have no stupid dogs barking half of the night. Are we entering a dog free zone ? We haven't seen many and for me that's good, noise and excrement, a twin nuisance.

D929 to Dreux. D928 through the forest Dom. de Dreux, onto Mantes la Jolie where we passed around on the ring road onto the D928 to Mantes la Ville, where we stopped at a McDonalds to use the wi fi, I downloaded The Times. We had some dinner while parked up near McDonalds. Not McD I add, our own supplies.

Around Mantes la Jolie onto the D983, around Magny en Vexin, D153 then D982 to Beauvais. An across country trip without too many main trunk roads. We passed through lots of small villages, noticing the changes in style of lots of the houses, the small red brick built and the old white and wooden fronts.

One of the pleasures of travelling across France in Autumn, is the colours of the trees. All now slowly losing the summer green and displaying wonderful, reds, yellows and golden colours. Difficult to describe and an artists challenge.

Arriving at the Aire the services were turned off, the book said the site was closed after September. There were gates going into the Aire, open, so we were ok. I checked out the grassy parking places, it had been raining on and off all afternoon, they seemed solid. But looking around to decide where best to park, there was a small hard standing backing onto a house, with childrens toys and a barbecue near it. It did look to be part of the Aire, but it wasn't, three cars came later, two parked on the hard standing, one near it, all going to the house.

The Aire looks like it was part of a larger campsite, there were electric points distributed on plastic pillars around other fields, which are now fenced off. One pillar was near the house mentioned above, I checked it for electric, but they were all turned off. Very grey and raining when we arrived, not cold though. One French van on site when we arrived, another came later.

We hunkered down to have a read before tea. Pork chops, sauteed potatoes, peas and carrots. A piece of cake and a brew, a good pick me up to end a quite grey and drizzly day.  I sent Pauline a text to look at ferry times, we decided on Sunday 27th Oct at 12 - 00 pm. We also suggested looking for a CL, a small camp site to split the drive from Dover to Wigan into two days. It becomes a bit of an epic, over 300 miles back on Britains far too overcrowded roads.  When will a government have the guts to do something drastic about them ? They must cost us billions in wasted time, wasted fuel etc.

More reading and off to bed early.

The UK is looming on the horizon. We will have to adjust to home routines soon. This trip has been a revelation in quite a few ways. The longest we have spent away from home, although we have had little interludes like Nicky and Katherine in France, Marc, Helena and Lily in Spain. Also we have had Pauline travelling with us, who always brings her own lovely personality to the party.

It will be nice to be home and assess the trip and further plans for the future.

Day 121  Wednesday 23rd October 2013   SOD Temp 62 Deg F

Beauvais   N 49 25.456   E 002 04.842

Alarm at 7 - 00 am. A quiet and peaceful night, no outside noise noticeable at all. A bit of clunking from the cars parked near us.

A walk into Beauvais this morning, heading for the Cathedral, it has a history of over reaching design and construction, having fell down twice after major building periods. Walking out of the Aire, there is a footpath on the right that leads down into the town. 149 steps down to the lower road, where at the moment, there is a major construction project to a road flyover on the river and railway. This means using a steel bridge with around fifty steps up and fifty down to get over the river and railway. Once these are negotiated the church is a short walk past the Chamber of Commerce. Here a gang of young coloured youths were hanging around outside, the place looked a little seedy.

The church is worth a look around, construction work being done on it at the moment. Just across the road, I spotted a music shop, with guitars in the window. So we had a quick look around. Not a big shop, so not a lot of stock. A three quarter guitar caught my eye, 149 Euros, pretty cheap, it looked good, but I didn't try it out, it was positioned in the window, difficult to get out.

A short walk down the road and the Cathedral St Pierre hits you. An enormously high structure. I could immediately see why it had construction problems. It seems it has stability problems even now, there are large supporting and stability brackets on the main pillars. I would guess there is constant monitoring and measuring of the distance between the pillars. Enormous cross bracing is in position to stop the pillars bowing in. The Cathedral itself has quite a lot of glass in the windows. The oldest part is a Carolingian  church, which has been built into and incorporated in the Cathedral. The old wall paintings are still evident. Two clocks are also in the Cathedral. One a 13th Century clock, apparently still running. The stairs leading up to it are very worn down from 700 years of climbing up them to operate the clock. Nearby is an 18th Century Astronomical clock. A beautiful piece of Engineering. We were then ushered out of the church, it was closing for dinner, an unusual feature for a church or Cathedral. God was having a dinner hour. Well two hours in fact.

We popped into the Museum of Tapestry next door to see some tapestry. Unfortunately there was no tapestry in the building, but lots of photographs in a photography exhibition. There were also no people in the building, we had it to ourselves. Some excellent imaginative photographs were on display. There was also lots of ten a penny photographs on display. I have a theory that lots of " photographers " have a high opinion of themselves. Buy a dear camera, take some photographs, get them enlarged, mount  them in, or on a frame, hey presto, exhibition stuff. But the imaginative shots stood out as you would expect. The skill is in the ability to be able to see them and then capture them.

The other museum nearby was closed, so we had a walk around town. Picked up a bottle of water, a baguette and a sausage pasty. There was a market on in the square we strolled around, also a big merry go round, no one riding it. Worth a photograph though. We headed back to the van. Looking forward to the 149 steps back up to the Aire.

Dinner over, we decided to move on. D1001 out of Beauvais heading towards Amiens. We had two Aires lined up, one at Conty around thirty miles, one at Doullens around sixty miles. We ended up at Doullens. A29 and N25 around Amiens and heading North. We had intermittent showers of quite heavy rain. These left clear skies and sunshine after them, with the bonus of rainbows.

Doullens has a McDonalds, so in I went to get The Times on my Kindle. Arriving at the Aire, we could see that it might be noisy, a road in front, a road alongside and a bus stop straight across from it. Pasta for tea. The Olives in it had stones, I found out when I bit into one, crunch, not be forgotten, it reverberated around my head. Patricia forgot to mention it.

Had a read of the Times and listened to the local youths bawling and shouting. I've always found it an interesting phenomenon the need for some humans to be loud vocally. A psychological thing based around needing to be noticed. Usually these people are not very interesting. My theory anyway. Off to bed.

Day 122  Thursday 24th October 2013   SOD Temp 53 Deg F

Doullens   N 50 09.246   E 002 20.561

Awake 6 - 00 am, lots of passing traffic so no need to wait for the alarm at seven. We slept well considering that the Aire is in a busy situation, a road in front, a really busy road alongside. The Aire book shows a road, but no mention of it being busy at all. We do feel that the approach to the Aire book information in general, is Rose Coloured glasses, instead of being honest and realistic. A little criticism to a really good collection of information, it would be really helpful.

A real misty Autumn morning on looking out of the window. Across the road people waiting for the bus to take them into their day, quite a few young ones, most likely students. All muffled up against the early morning damp and chill. A team of workers turned up to finish off a hole that had been dug beside the water tap. I decided to fill up with water just in case they turned it off. The guy did say they were not turning it off, but better getting it done.

We had breakfast, the fog slowly lifting, then went for a walk to hunt down the Citadel, which according to the Aires book is a five minute walk. I do think the people who do these times for walking are on rocket fuel. We have noticed some crazy estimates of time. They must be in an awful rush to get around anywhere, maybe running. I joke not. We eventually, after asking a few people the way, found where it was. No signs for it that we could see. But five minute walk, what a joke. We eventually decided not to go around it because all the paths we could see were deep in mud, we had our normal shoes on, not expecting it to be remote, sodden and muddy.

We had a walk into town, where a large tower dominates the street across from the tourist information shop. Coloured paintings are in window apertures on the tower building. A creche is signed on the entrance alongside.

The church which was shrouded in scaffold, was closed. Back to Mrs Elsie.

We went up to Lidl for a few things, I got the Guardian downloaded at McDonalds and we had some dinner before setting off on the last leg of our trip back to Grande Fort Philippe.

N25 towards Arras, then D937 around Bethune, onto the D945 heading towards Armentieres, then onto the A25 up to the coast, onto the A16 to Grande Fort Philippe, our usual starting and finishing Aire in France. It seems a simple route on the map, but not when the French have several deviations in the roads.

We have joked that we will call this trip, the 2013 deviation tour. We have had lots of roads blocked off due to work being done, new roads, new sewers, new cables. All with deviations signed, that take you on some convoluted route down back roads to bring you back onto the initial road around 500 metres further on. All designed to take you a lot longer in travelling from A to B.

After calling in at Gravelines service point, we finally arrived in Grande Fort Philippe after a bit of an epic afternoon, ready for a brew. Incredibly, the corner spot we like to park in, was waiting for us to roll into. Completing a 7,000 mile loop of France, Spain and Morocco. A line of small identical cabins has been assembled near the fish market since we were last here, not sure what they are for.

Chicken and chips for tea, cake and a brew. I checked out wi fi, there is lots around, but none accessible.

A read and relax, watching the familiar and peaceful scene on the river. We do like this Aire. A Bourbon later and a read in bed.

Day 125  Friday 25th October 2013   SOD Temp 59 Deg F

Grande Fort Philippe   N 51 00.085   E 002 06.524

Awake 8 - 00 am, no alarm this morning. Awake a little earlier by someone trundling a noisy truck past the van, but I dosed off for a while. A lazy day today. Radio on to listen to English news. Reading. We had a walk to the Boulangerie for a baguette. All the cabins we noticed yesterday had been placed near the fish market, are for a Herring Festival taking place tomorrow. Lots of comings and goings during the day delivering goods to the different cabins.

A walk out to Gravelines just across from the Aire, the sun actually came out for a while. Otherwise, it was grey skies all day, not cold though.

It's hard work doing nothing much. We have a problem with the gas cooker rings, the thermostat valves don't seem to be happy at the moment. A tap with a spoon on the ring seems to help, they then keep open. A job to be sorted at home.

Reading, chatting, radio. The only channel on the radio we can get at the moment are the medium wave channels, boy are they repetitive when you have them on for a while.

The gas decided to run out after it had gone dark. It didn't take long to put a new bottle on. I had a spare French bottle in the garage. I'm wondering if the Spanish gas bottle has caused the problems with the gas ring valves. We have never had the problem before.

We just had a petit portion of chips for tea, 2 Euros, from the chip stall nearby, after a wait of around half an hour. Fast food they call it ! I had a beer also, the first for a while. A Bourbon later and a read.

Day 126   Saturday 26th October 2013   SOD Temp 60 Deg F

Grande Fort Philippe   N 51 00.085  E 002 06.524

Awake with the alarm at 7 - 00 am. But we were awake at 2 - 30 am due to the motor homers from hell parking next to us. Banging away and having a shouting match. Very considerate of them. I'm glad they don't live next door to us. I was ages in getting off to sleep again. Breakfast and then we went for the bus to Gravelines. Just us and three other people on the bus. It was free also, dropping us off in the Grand Place in Gravelines.

We were going to a childrens dress shop we had used previously, to see if there was a dress for Lily. Nothing that Patricia liked, so back to Mrs Elsie. Same driver on the bus, very smart looking, his coat looked as if it was the top of a suit, neat buttons on the cuffs etc.

Back at GFP, we called at our favourite Boulangerie for a baguette and an Almond Croissant, then walked back through the Herring Fete stalls. The smell and smoke of barbecued Herring drifting around. There is a large hall at the far end of the fish market, it was all laid out with tables, also a bar on the left as you entered through the large open front doors. Alcohol seemed to be flowing well. But a little too early in the day for us. Outside the hall were two large, around 15 feet tall, procession figures, the type where someone can get inside to walk along. We had a look around and then back to Mrs Elsie for Soup,Baguette and the Almond Croissant.

The afternoon was spent reading and listening to the radio. Mainly sport on the Radio. The Rugby League World Cup kicked of today, England lost against Australia 28 - 20, after a good start.

Lots of people arriving to visit the Fete, cars pulling up all afternoon, it seems to be very popular.

Late in the afternoon, Patricia had just dozed off. It's hard work doing nothing. When a rather gaunt gentleman started staring through the van window, a very vacant look on his face. My immediate impression was that he was a quizzical local. He came to the door of the van, which only had the fly screen across and said something. I gestured to be quiet so as not to wake Patricia and he wandered off. I didn't understand what he said at first,  then I realized he had spoken English. But I still didn't understand, he did mumble quite a lot. Patricia was awake by then, so I popped out to see where he was to apologize. He was in a Brit van near us with his wife. Both from New Zealand and touring Brittany and Normandy at 30 miles a day they said. Both seemed to be well into their eighties, he seemed to be older than his wife and rather slow and accented when speaking, hence me not understanding him. His wife seemed to be bright and alert and did most of the talking. She was enjoying her photography, playing with the digital SLR in her hand. Apologies made and a nice chat. They were in a white van, not a motor home, no windows at all. Not sure of the reason for that.

Pizza, sauteed potatoes and beans for tea, we are using up the last of bits of our supplies, hence the beans.

Music was drifting over from Chez Claudine, the bar near to the Aire. We had a game of cards and quite amazingly I beat Patricia 8 - 1. A red letter day, Patricia usually wins at cards. A beer also to round off the day while playing cards. A few texts back home. Charlie is looking for us to pick her up and come back to Wigan with us. Off to bed for a read.

Day 127 Sunday 27th October 2013   SOD Temp 61 Deg F

Grande Fort Philippe   N 51 00.085  E 002 06.524

Awake with the lashing down rain and wind. Alarm at 7 - 00 am. Clocks went back in the UK last night, so it's now 5 - 00 am over there. And unbeknown to us, they went back in France also, so we arrived at the Ferry terminal two hours before sailing, instead of one hour before. Ah well, get the coffee on, it's Sunday morning. Customs and passport control all very polite and friendly as usual.

The crossing was a little Rock n Roll. The weather people  have forecast the worst storm for a long time and the wind is slowly picking up. The sea is quite choppy. Got the Sunday Times, a cup of coffee and settled down. A Muslim lady near us seemed to become quite ill with the rolling. I didn't think it was too bad. Some people are easily affected by the rolling. Off at Dover no problem as usual just waved through.

We met Charlie for a while, but we were aware the weather was coming in so not for long. She was going to come back to Wigan with us, but she was needed at work on Wednesday, so that got cancelled. We just parked up at Sainsburys in Deal for a chat and a little shopping.

I decided to get up to Ashford and park on the Tesco car park for the night, just off the M20.

Squally rain and wind building up all night. I had an Indian ready meal. Patricia had chicken and salad.

We spent the rest of the night reading with the radio on for weather updates. Got down for bed later but too noisy for sleep really.

Day 128  Monday 28th October 2013   SOD Temp 63 Deg F

Tesco car park at Ashford    sheltering from the weather.

A windy and gusty night, no sleep really, just tucked up while the van was shaken every few minutes by the gusts of wind. Lots of trees down according to Kent Radio. It's still very gusty this morning at 6 - 50 am. Set off for Wigan at 9 - 20 am, arrived in Wigan 12 hours later after a nightmare day, 6 hours to travel 5 miles on the M25. Welcome back to the UK?  When will politicians have the balls to address the road chaos in this country. Too many vehicles on the roads.   We slept in Mrs Elsie parked in the avenue, it was too late to start putting her on the drive. A nice quiet nights sleep, just occasional rain on the roof.  Well we are home again. Weather cool, it will no doubt get cooler yet. What an adventure we have had. For anyone still dreaming of travelling in a motor home, be patient, it will happen in time.

The End