France day 20 – Luxémont-et-Villotte

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We packed up on a reasonable day with the sun attempting to dry the awning out.  The awning was, as usual, a sod to pack.  It is so heavy with the inflatable tubes which are also a pig to totally deflate.  Each time we take it down, the folded package seems larger than ever.  The awning is so difficult to manoeuvre, and you end up dragging it around on the ground making it dirtier and dirtier each time you erect and take it down.  Yes, I was beginning to lose it and wish I had never bought the blessed thing.  A sale on eBay I expect.

We set off in a northerly direction on the toll road toward Dijon and beyond.  Our aim was to reach a small campsite near to Vitry-le-Francois.  Google pulled us off the toll road early to take us on the N67 towards Chaumont.  An excellent choice by our silicon friend.

On the payage we tried to have lunch.  I had always considered French motorway cafes to be superior to our UK ones.  Not anymore.  The first attempt we could not find anywhere to park, except for some useless empty car parks on the other side of the motorway a good 10-minute walk away.  The signage was appalling as well.  The next attempt, at least the café was on the same side of the road, but again the signage was crap, and the place seemed full.  We ended up parking with many other cars in the lorry park.  Then the food, on one counter doing croque monsieurs and coffee, was one poor over-worked girl with a large queue.  Ended up buying iced Starbucks coffee and sandwich.  Christ, white square bread and it tasted sweet.  No sorry UK has it right, choice of foods and now we have M&S or Waitrose selling pretty good sandwiches / wraps / couscous / salads etc.  Sorry France you have lost the plot on convenience foods.

We made it to Vitry-le-Francois and went shopping in a Leclerc. Provisioned now for the next three days.

We drove to the campsite Camping Nature, in the village of Luxémont-et-Villotte, priced at  15 Euro for the night, small campsite.  No nudity, despite R’s initial thoughts on its name. No delineation of parking spaces, but nice green grass and very quiet.  There are five of us here for the night.  Looking forward to the walk to the Etang, and along the canal.  Fifteen kilometres away there is a large lake, built to alleviate the flooding of Paris.  It is meant to have some good bird viewing hides, so maybe Monday for that.

Tonight, we had a bottle of fizzy Vouvray, and the remains of yesterday’s meal (lardons with onion, pepper and tomatoes) with some cravats.   Tasted delicious.  For Carbohydrate some du pain, which I reckon was stale the moment I bought it. But after a quick heat through, it was fine.

Sitting in the quiet as the sun set, there was a raucous chorus of birds settling in a bamboo grove on the campsite.  This was shortly complimented with an aerial display by some bats. Not seen so many bats flying around like this for a while.

The facilities here look good, nice and clean tiles etc. Yet to test the temperature of the shower. R had already complained about the lack of loo seat and chilly water in the plate cleaning area. There though was hot water available in another large laundry sink nearby.  Problem solved.

Near the campsite are rows and rows of flashing red lights.  Are they a landing strip for UFOs?  Google maps show nothing.  Investigate tomorrow on our walk. (Turned out to be lights on wind turbines.)

France day 19 – Cormoranche-sur-Saone

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Another sunny day, Rosemary went off to pick up the bread, it was a baguette, small thing, should have ordered a flute.  Just can’t to get to grips with the varied sizes of French bread.  After breakfast walked up to reception to decide on where we could go for some sites.  We were Abbeyed out, so they were off the list.  I got the list down to three places, a Grand Place where there were outcrops of rock and archaeological stuff, a wine pace and some caves. 

Instead we had a quiet day, walked around the lake, watched the birds and studied the numerous fishermen who had set up camp for the day.  We admired the seemingly empty TGV trains on their way to Lyon and beyond.  We would soon have our HS2 passing nearby us.  Yes these are noisy, and where there is a curve there are screeching rails.  At least they seem to disappear for the French lunch, and don’t start until quite late in the morning and are gone quite early in the evening.  (I am writing this at 21.00 and have not heard a TGB for a while now.)  Ate lunch, read books, nosed at the other mobile homes and campers.

Found an intriguing 2006 Landrover Defender with awning and attached tent.  The tent and awning were in Landrover brown and green.  Transpired they had been to the island of Sardinia.

The Brits across the road in a bigger van were on their way possibly to Spain, but were considering apartments as they were almost the same price as a campsite.

We planned the next day as we were going to be on the move again, this time it was going to be towards Reims. Three campsites, one with horrendous reviews, mainly because people had been refused entry as they were too young, and the onsite mobile homes were in poor condition. Also reports of midges, it though was on a lake and recommended for bird watches.  The ACSI site was in a middle of a town, the guide book said it could be noisy in September because of the grape pickers.  It was next to a vinery.  A third site was called Camping Nature, R immediately thought this to be a reserve for nudists.  Looks OK to me and a relatively small site.  This is my next target, I think. 

The weather looks OK for the rest of our holiday!!

France day 18 – Cormoranche-sur-Saone

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Today was meant to be a lovely blue-sky day.  It did not disappoint, despite a slow start as the thin cloud was burnt off.  The morning was quite chilly, and our feet felt it as we wandered around doing our morning tasks.  Another happy camper informed us it had been 5C during the night.

The late morning and early afternoon were spent in a leisurely walk which took us through fields and woods, along the bank of the river Saone.  In one of the fields on the way to the river we saw three grey herons. 

The Saone is a large navigable river, we saw several small boats motor down and up and one large Swiss river cruise liner travelling down.  There were a few people on the top deck, and a few on their balconies looking out.  It did not look very full, maybe everyone else was a lunch.

On the other bank there was a stork’s nest on top of a large dead tree.  There was even a stork standing there peering in.  On the river itself there were numerous grey herons perched on the banks.  In the river we came across a small group of juvenile swans still in their grey colour.

We continued the walk, through silver birch plantations and back to the campsite.  We should have passed through the village, but a slight navigation error caused us to bypass the village of Cormoranche-sur-Saone.

Back at the campsite we ate a late lunch and one-day old French bread which was soft and soggy. Actually, the pain complet does last a little longer than the white pap stuff the French pass off as bread.

I took a walk around the lake, especially to get close to photograph the TGVs as they trundled by.  They did not look that impressive in their speed here, maybe a slow section of line.  I did like the way that where the line divided, they built a bridge so that as one line crossed over the other it was on a bridge and not by crossing lines.  This presumably is to allow faster speeds and easier scheduling of trains.

Back at the tent, we opened a bottle of fizz from Borgognone and then started our burger and “chip” dinner.  Rosemary let herself down big time, the beans she thought must be French were from Rwanda.

Next door a British mobile home moved in, it also had a Silver Screen cover for the front windscreen.  Their’s though seemed not to fit as well and snugly as our’s does.

French pap bread ordered for the morning and a final JD nightcap as I write my blog and continue to read a Sci-Fi book by British author Charles Stross who used to work in IT from the 1980s to 2000.

Tomorrow is our last planned day here, not sure whether we are going to veg, or maybe we will look at the local sights.

France day 17 – Cormoranche-sur-Saone

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Well organised today, woken by the sun streaming into the window of the campervan top.  Out to the showers, showered, bed made and then I was off to the shop to purchase this damn French bread which goes off in an hour and a couple of pain au raisins.  We were soon packed and were off, paying as we left.  Oh the barrier on exit seemed to take a little bash as we left.  Seemed to appear rather sooner than I expected.

We were heading north, though the weather was improving in the south, it was also improving further north, so we were making a stop a third of the way up the country near to Macon.   This time we were paying and taking the A road all the way.  Most of the journey was uneventful, very windy as there were some definite lively moments as we passed trucks.  And oh yes the French experience the same problems as we do on the their two lane A roads where trucks try to overtake for miles and miles.  Traffic was delayed by one Spanish driver who took 10 minutes to overtake one truck.  The saving grace was the overtaken truck was forced to slow down a little later when it caught up with another truck. Five minutes later the carriage way went back to three lanes!!

We arrived in Macon after four hours and found a large Carfour, bought a couple of days food and wine, and replenished the van with fuel. (nearly 100 Euros as was getting empty).  The campsite was only 10 minutes away.  Across the river Saone in a village called Cormoranche-sur-Saone.  The site is called Base De Loisirs Camping du lac.  The campsite has large individual pitches with hedges and trees separating the plots.  There is a café selling bread and meals.  A large lake and swimming pool as part of the lake.   There is a downside,  a TGV rail line nearby which is used on a regular basis with trains passing every 5 minutes or so.  At least at night, I am writing this at 10.15 pm, the trains seemed to have stopped going by.  Hopefully a quiet night.

The evening was cloudless, our first satellite was spotted, and the pond is a haven for bats.  Importantly the mobile phone Internet connection is good. A great improvement on the Camargue!! 

We are booked for three nights, let us see what there is around here.  Google is suggesting some sites of interest nearby.

France day 16 – Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer

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Lovely sunny day today, but a strong wind was blowing.  This made sitting outside Van the Van uncomfortable as the wind swirled under the van, around the back and then over the top in a vortex dropping sand into your eyes, food and drink.  You could see a scum of kibble floating on the top of your wine after a few minutes.

Today we went for another walk over the Marais and back along the coast from the East.   This time the flamingos in the salt water mudflats were a little further off and difficult to photograph.  Amongst them were also hundreds of avocets feeding.  We walked across the sand and mud (now wet and sticky after the rain) towards some paths.  Here we found a new eco system of ponds with some gorgeous flying displays from some swallows/house martins?   They were occasionally dipping down to drink from the ponds.

On another water area, which I think connected to the main Etang were three flamingos who I was able to get quite close to and photograph.  These were again feeding.  Love the way they are ringed above the knee. You can even read the id with a scope from a way off.

We walked back along the coast with cyclists passing along the wide tracks. This does look like a place where it is worth while taking a bike with you.   Lots of tracks, and all on the flat.  The sea was rough today, and the sky was picturesque with the blue and the clouds to add texture.  Nothing quite a boring as a totally blue cloudless sky.

Back at the camp we had lunch of beer, bread and cheese.  We had consumed the last of the Camembert yesterday, but even today the fridge still stunk. Today it was some blue cheese bought earlier on the trip.

We walked into town on the pretext of buying some Camargue  red rice.  Not bought because there must be more authentic places to buy the stuff.  R did buy a present of a Camargue wrap around skirt/throw, but later saw, much to her annoyance, that it was made in Parkistan!   We took a break from buying, and experienced a beer at a bar.  No sooner had we sat down, the rain started.   A small cloud which soon passed, but enough to cause a flurry amongst the local shop owners.  The owner of the bar we were sitting in rushed over to help the lady from another shop move her displays under cover.

We left after the beer and walked back home under the lovely sun.  The wind was still blowing back at the campsite, and occasionally the van would rock with a sudden gust.

France day 15 – Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer

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The morning was definitely grey, but the rain did not arrive this morning at Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer. Late getting up waiting for the non-existent rain.  Once up, we finished the yogurt and pain au raisins.  The agenda for the day was to photograph the flamingos.  Set off under the grey skies towards the flamingos.  First stop was at the sluice gates to photograph the egrets trying to fish.  Eagle eyed Rosemary spotted a kingfisher across the water.  Managed to get a picture, but for id purposes only, as you can see.

We walked on out to the flamingos where there were several groups of 20 or so.  These though slowly moved away as time passed.  There were many birds in the water, and their calls where very loud.   As well as the flamingos, there were gulls of various sorts, sandpipers, shags, avocets and yet to be identified other birds.

On the other bank of the Etang (over  a mile away) there were hundreds of flamingos, just visible as a pink line to the naked eyes.  Other people came by and we were able to lend them the binoculars to see the birds.

There were some amazing fights amongst the gulls. When one caught a fish, all the others would chase it, hoping to steal the fish.

A couple with a dog and large Nikons also came by to take some photographs, one Canon against two Nikons.   The walk back presented on egret wading towards the sluice gate, running, flying and launching at fish.

We ate lunch of Camembert which was stinking out the fridge.  The Rustique cheese brand seems far more potent in France than the UK, and this sample still had a month to go before its self-destruct date.  Fridge now cleared of smelly food, we walked into town.  It dawned on us how many mobile home Aires there were.  Some just car parks, the neared ones to the coast charged, but gave you a water point and a refuse point.

In town we went to the church, and then paid to go up onto the roof.  The roof was made of stones, so we were able to walk to its summit.  By now the weather was good, the sun was out with little cloud in the sky.  After visiting a few grockle shops we headed back.  Sure enough as we sat down, the clouds came in, got colder.  As soon as the cooker was positioned for the duck, the rain started.  Quick dismantle and sat inside the van waiting for the rain to stop.  There was hope from the west, the sky brightened and within 30 minutes cooking started again.  The Germans next door erected their awning and were not stopped from their feast.

The town loves to decorate its roundabouts. Everyone had nice plants and some a scene, or statue or model building.  Several pictures in the gallery are of these roundabouts.

The meal was eaten in dryness, though getting dark.  The stars are out and tomorrow promises to be a nice day, so we are staying on here to try and get pictures of flamingos with blue sky behind them.

France day 14 – Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer

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Bit of a lie in and then we broke camp, packed Van the Van and set off to France.  We were aiming for a small campsite in the ACSI book..  It is on the coast of the Carmargue and is on the banks of a river.  Off we set stopping off before midday to buy a couple of days worth of food.  Had to be done before the shops all close on the Sunday afternoon.  We continued along the toll free roads, travelling on the ‘A’ roads where they were free.  Stopped off at an Aire for lunch.  The toilets here were so bad, people had been trampling shit all over the place.  Disgusting.

We arrived at 3.30 at the campsite, getting slightly perplexed by the number of vans driving in the opposite direction, yes it was full up.  The Aire outside the campsite was also stacked with a hundred plus vans.  We looked at the AXI map and were about to head to another site 30 minutes away on the other side of an Etang. But before heading that way we tried another site the other side of the town I had previously spotted.  I had not considered it because it was not an ACSI site and looked huge.  Yes it was huge, and also tremendously expensive.   There were walks along the beach, and into the Etang de Monro. We decided we would book for a couple of nights to allow us to check out the town and site. We could always extend.

The site was packed, pitches are very close together.  The people near us all seem pretty good and international, Germans, Dutch, Swiss and Brits.  Here there were also quite a few VM camper vans and small vans.  These had been missing from the Spanish site.

In the hedge, just next to our van, a very cooperative dragonfly perched under the leaves. It remained there for the duration of the photoshoot, never moving.  It was still there after supper.

We walked along the beach, figuring out where the flamingos were for tomorrow’s walk. Near the sluice gates and Archimedes screw there were some very aggressive little egrets who seemed to be attacking each other.

It had been mainly a sunny day, but cloud was coming in and rain forecast for the morning.  A cheerful Brit who had been here for 5 days said it had been sunny all the time. Not quite how it had been in Spain.

France day 13 – L’Escala

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The morning was bright and sunny.  The forecast for the day was sunny, until the evening when some rain was predicted. Showered, then broke our fast, and headed off to the coast.  Our aim was to view a residence R’s cousin Agnes had bought in L’Escala. To make the trip more exciting, we headed of east towards the coast at Sant Jordi. A newish town with a multitude of new build Spanish flats for the tourists. Not our scene at all. Driving there was a bit up and downy as this part of the coast has high hills.  It also seemed every cyclist in Spain was out riding.  The first group was a women’s group spread out over several miles.

We headed south down the coast to El Port de la Selva at which point we headed inland and climbed up over the headland, almost reaching the height of an astronomical observatory.  On this climbing and twisty road, the Spanish cyclists appeared to be practising their hill climbs and descents.  I aimed not to fall over the precipitous edges of the roads or force cyclists over the edge. With the braking I hoped the discs would hold out, at MOT time it had been recommended that they be changed. But I want to consult our normal motor mechanic, not a VW dealership. We eventually dropped to the plain and followed the bay of Gulf of Roses around to L’Escala.

Agnes holiday home and project

Arriving we headed down some imposingly narrow lanes, past Agnes’s house and to a car park where I grabbed the last space. Parking was free, a better deal than the Dali museum. Lunch beckoned, and we tried the French eatery, Restaurant La Gruta to find it was booked solid today, either that or we looked scruffy and they didn’t want us there, it seemed empty so looked like the second option.  So, around the block we tried Restaurant La Taglistella.  Nice restaurant, lovely entrees and then pasta main course.  You chose the sauce, and the pasta you wanted.  We left, the restaurant seemed busy and yes, the French restaurant was full, so maybe we were not refused for being unwelcome diners.

We viewed Agnes’s holiday home and tried to work out what she bought.  It is an old traditional building in L’Escala. Her home was on a corner of two extremely narrow streets, (All the streets in L’Escala were narrow, built before motor cars).  There is a tremendous amount of work needed to the house, (at least from the external appearance).  Inside I have now seen that it has a spectacular arched brick ceiling

After lunch we checked out the main beach harbour area.  There seemed to be music playing, paella being cooked and tables laid out across the beach.  Sat and watched for a while, listening to the man testing the speakers saying ‘Si, Si, Si’ over and over mixed with clonks and bangs.  No entertainment emanated from these speakers, but the other Saturday beach meal further across the little bay was in full progress with Spanish singing.   I did get excited when a rock riff was played, but alas nothing came of it.

We decided to walk on down to the marina and admire a few yachts, decided it was too far and headed back to the car.  As we drove off the heavens opened, there was thunder and lightning, very very frightening.  The roads were flooded.  It was local because the North of the bay was still sunny.  When we came back to the road leading to the campsite turnoff, the girls were out in force for the Saturday afternoon clients.  It had not rained here at all.  Later after supper rain started but eventually dried up by midnight.  

France day 12 – Dali Museum

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Like many campsites, this one had visiting dogs with their owners. Therefore Rosemary was not surprised when a neighbour came out of his caravan and walked off with a lead. But when he came back, R saw not a dog attached to the lead but a cat, possibly a Norwegian Forest cat, ie yards of gorgeous tabby. She shot out of our van & spoke to the owner and so got to stroke said cat. There were also a couple of campsite cats. There were notices in the men’s toilet block asking you not to feed them. R said there were no such notices in the ladies. Odd.

As it was wet, raining on and off all day long, it was an ideal day for museums, Lovely sunset though. We had come to Spain to visit the Museu de la Tecnica de l’Emporda.  This museum was rumoured to have a wonderful collection of typewriters, sewing machines, clocks, telephones and other mechanical stuff from the late 19th to 20th century.  It did not open until 4pm, so we elected to visit the Dali Theatre-Museum first.  We parked in a multistorey car-park close by.  Looked a lovely car-park, we were expecting high price to park, especially as we could see no published prices.  Yes, it was expensive, more than 20 Euros.  The spaces though were large for Van the Van, and undercover, so not much chance of damage or thieving.

The Dali Museum was superb. We also learnt Dali designed jewellery which was quite exquisite. 

Today we broke for lunch and ate a meal in a local restaurant, sitting outside under the umbrellas.  I was decidedly cold.  Steak and chips for me, while Rosemary had some veggie type burger.

Still we some time on our hands and visited another museum of stuff, mainly paintings and artefacts from the area.  Mainly Catalan.  They did have one Dali painting and a few others from the ‘30s which were definitely by artists trying to jump on the Dali bandwagon.  Not a particularly interesting museum, filled in some time, and had some loos.

Now to the typewriter museum.  Two elderly staff, one woman and a man.  A cheap museum to visit.  There were no other visitors other than us two.  We were shown around by the woman, who said she could do a tour in French or Spanish, so we chose French and got a gist of what she was saying.  First was a whole floor of typewriters, from ones where you select the character and then press the key.  There were typewriters from all over the world, Chinese, Japanese, American, French, Spanish and English, typewriters hidden in tables, typewriters designed for the war correspondent.

Downstairs there were sewing machines, again hundreds of different models. 

The final floor was more mixed with lots of items covering life, bicycles, irons, radios, cameras, etc.

No chance to wander around on our own or take photos.

Now we were on our way back to the campsite, the weather was improving with some brightness over the mountains.  This showed up the snow which must have fallen during the day.  Our signpost off the N-II was not there, either too cold, or she was busy.   Back at the site, beer, food and bed.  The wind was gone, the rain had stopped. Rosemary somehow managed to collide with one of the campsite cats. The site is busy today, the weather for the weekend, and tomorrow bodes well. 

France day 11 – Spain

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The rain was coming so, we quickly packed up the awning before it got too wet.  Packed away the van and set off to Spain.  The route avoided tolls and took us along some beautiful scenery, around some tight hairpin bends and even a place where the road looped over itself.  Some of the villages we passed through had the narrowest streets I have come across, and two-way.  Luckily not much traffic passed through them. When I am home I must have my brakes replaced, they must be worn out now with all the twisty downhill mountain roads.

The last part of the trip was so enticingly close to  the A9 as we battled up and down hills to the border of Spain crossing at Le Perthus.  In Spain we stopped at the first supermarket which was taken over mainly by alcohol.  Ricard being sold in 4 litre bottles, and also in boxes of 6.  This was not for the Brits, but for the French who come over and stock up on cheap alcohol.  There was not much food.   We should have kept on a little while longer for the classier supermarkets.

Our destination was Capmany, only a few minutes into Spain.  We soon passed a few ‘Night Clubs’ presumably doing good business with French customers coming over the border.  We turned off the N-II to Capmany signposted by a nearly naked woman dancing & soliciting at the junction.

After a few wrong turns we arrived at the campsite, did not erect the awning due to 50K winds which were blowing over the site.  They had been blowing all day, and the van had been buffeted a little in the open plains. Shortly after arrival the rain arrived.  Supper and bed.