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 Travellersfeature on this website.
For more information, you can contact the Rudds at:
Day 111 Sunday 13th October 2013SOD Temp 55 Deg F
PalenciaAireN 42 00.260W 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 112Monday 14th October
2013SOD Temp 62 Deg F
Biarritz AireN 43 27.990W 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 2013SOD Temp 65 Deg F
AngletAirenear BiarritzN 43 30.427W 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, butalso 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 automatedpay 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 2013SOD Temp 67 Deg F
GastesS of BordeauxN 44 19.748W 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
anda 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 2013SOD Temp 60 Deg F
Aubeterre Sur DronneS of
AngoulemeN 45 16.190E 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 aluminiumtables 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 2013SOD Temp 49 Deg F
Mouthiers Sur BoemeS of
AngoulemeN 45 33.276E 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 2013SOD Temp 59 Deg F
ChauvignyNear PoitierN 46 34.384E 00038.807
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 749to 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 2013SOD Temp 62 Deg F
RichelieuN 47 00.651E 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 endspace 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 119Monday 21st October
2013SOD Temp 60 Deg F
ChateaudunN 48 04.296E 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 quietnight. 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 oftoilet emptying skills. Hope he doesn't pay
for it with some dreaded bug from the tap.
Day 120 Tuesday 22nd October 2013SOD Temp 62 Deg F
Nogent Le RoiN 48 39.032E 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 121Wednesday 23rd October
2013SOD Temp 62 Deg F
BeauvaisN 49 25.456E 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 Carolingianchurch, 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, mountthem 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 122Thursday 24th October
2013SOD Temp 53 Deg F
DoullensN 50 09.246E 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 125Friday 25th October
2013SOD Temp 59 Deg F
Grande Fort PhilippeN 51
00.085E 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 126Saturday 26th October
2013SOD Temp 60 Deg F
Grande Fort PhilippeN 51
00.085E 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 2013SOD Temp 61 Deg F
Grande Fort PhilippeN 51
00.085E 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 peoplehave 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 128Monday 28th October
2013SOD Temp 63 Deg F
Tesco car park at Ashfordsheltering 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.