Aigues Mortes….Back to the Camargue.

Posted on October 18, 2014 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

Marseillan Plage to Aigues-Mortes

Today (Thursday 16th) we returned to the aire at Agues Mortes ( N 43.565712 E 4.19593). We were here a few months ago en route to Arles. This is the fabulous thirteenth century walled city which was built by Louis IX (Saint Louis) as a departure port for the crusades.

Mavis outside the east wall.

The aire is a large car park with water and drainage facilities. It was free to stay here when we visited this time; normally it is a few euros but the ticket machine was broken and the entrance and exit barriers had been removed.

The Aire from the Ramparts

Porte de la Reine

This is one of the tower gates on the east wall. These were often used as places of refuge, in the fights between the catholics and the protestants. The towers still bear marks left by missiles.

Saint Louis

We paused at the Place St Louis under the gaze of the man himself. He has acquired a bottle of wine since we were last here.

Jane

Butterfly perched on Jane’s hat. Must be a good omen.

The local hat shop

Keith tried on a few hats but couldn’t be persuaded to buy one.

The Ramparts

We took a stroll around the ramparts. About a mile around and at only €7.50 well worth the money. Dogs not allowed; we left Penny and Colin guarding the motorhome. Or possibly snoozing…

The North Wall with the Constance Tower at its western end.

Inside the Constance Tower

Built in 1248 this tower is all that remains of the castle built in Louis IX’s reign. The upper room was used to imprison protestants in the 18th century, amongst them Marie Durand, a famous figure in the history of protestant resistance. She was imprisoned for 38 years in an attempt to force her brother, a pastor, to give himself up.

Saint Louis

Saint Louis kept popping up on the tour of the Ramparts.

Canal du Rhône à Sète

There is a good view of the canal from the tower.

Rooftop Gardens

Looking over the city to the salt pans beyond.

Large amounts of salt are still harvested from the extensive salt pans around here.

Looking west along the south wall

The south wall

Walk to the south of the city

After the ramparts we took the dogs along a duck boarded walk to the south of the city.

La Pignata

We ate at this friendly restaurant just off the Place St Louis.

Sunset over the city

View from the aire

On Friday morning we separated from Keith and Jane, who are heading back home. We are heading towards Saintes-maries-de-la-Mer and points east.

Posted in - France, 2013 Spring, 2014 Autumn, Aigues Mortes, Languedoc-Roussillon

Marseillan Plage

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

Route to Marseillan Plage

We are at Marseillan Plage, a little further east along the med from Narbonne. We are staying at Camping La Plage (N 43.309738 deg. E 3.546116 deg ) E . This is, as its name implies, right on the beach and facing south east to give us some spectacular sunrises.

Sunrise

Sunrise over the Med

It was very windy on the first day and there was a bit of surf so Keith and I jumped in for a swim; it was surprisingly warm once you were in.

In the surf

On the Roof

It proved a bit too windy to watch Downton Abbey on the first night and I was sent up on to the roof to try to fettle the satellite dish.

Cycling to Sète

Marseillan Plage marked by the ‘A’

We cycled the 16 km or so to Sète on the first day, along a long smooth cycle track alongside the beach for most of its length. The track runs along the spit of land joining Marseillan Plage to Sète.

Aire on the road to Sète

This aire looks like a good place to stop on a future visit. Right on the Beach, about halfway between Sète and Marseillan Plage.

Sète from the end of the Breakwater

Keith seems to be walking on water.

Cafe in Sète

After 16 km we had to stop for a refuel at this beachside cafe.

Keith going that bit too far. As usual.

We cycled out to the end of the Sète breakwater.

On yer Bike

Vers Marseillan Village

The next day we cycled to Marseillan village which is a few km inland from the campsite and marks the end of the Canal du Midi.

Canal du Midi

The boat is on the canal, as it runs in to the Lake.

Canal du Midi

This is the termination of the Canal du Midi, where it runs in to the Étang de Thau which is the lake just inland of Marseillan Plage.

Park at Marseillan Village

We found this park close to the village for lunch…baguette sandwiches.

Quay at Marseillan Village

The Puncture

Keith got a puncture on the way back….this is us dangling the inner tube in the canal to find the leak. Jane is directing operations.

Penny

Penny was watching as well.

Jousting Boat

There is a local sport here which seems to consist of guys on long planks attached to boats trying to knock each other in to the water. A bit like punting on the Cam, after a few beers, just on bigger boats.

Trompe l’Oeil

We cycled back via Agde and Le Grau d’Agde. This is a skilfully painted house in old Agde. Its not easy to work out which are the real windows….most are just painted on.

After a final refuelling stop at La Grau d’Agde we headed back to the site…rest day tomorrow then Aigues Mortes (that’s a place not a medical condition).

Tagged with: agde, canal du midi, marseillan plage, Sete
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Languedoc-Roussillon, Marseillan Plage

Narbonne and the Canal de la Robine

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

There is a good cycle ride in to the centre of Narbonne alongside the Canal de la Robine. This is the link canal from the River Aude to the Canal du Midi (the canal linking the mediterranean to the Garonne river at Bordeaux and the Atlantic).

Old Canal Barge

The road to the canal from camping La Nautique takes you past this old barge which is being restored.

Bridge over the canal Robine

Keith, Jane and Peter

Heading towards Narbonne

Egrets in the fields by the Canal

Turtle swimming by.

We spotted this turtle heading away from Narbonne. Indigenous? Released pet?

Outskirts of Narbonne

Traffic Lights on the Canal. Mavis would just fit under here.

As the canal dips under the city the cycle path brings you into old Narbonne.

Cathedrale Saint Just et Saint Pasteur. 1272.

Jane in the Cathedral Cloisters.

Inside the Cathedral

After exploring the old city, and munching sandwiches on the quayside, we headed back to the campsite, after picking up a French data sim for the mifi (30 euros for 6 GB).

Tagged with: Narbonne
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Languedoc-Roussillon, Narbonne

Narbonne…Camping La Nautique

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 1 Comment

Route to La Nautique

Camping La Nautique

We are at Camping La Nautique (N 43.147591 E 3.004611), a campsite on the shore of Lake Bages-Sigean. This is about 4 miles from Narbonne. The lake extends for about 10 miles through a national park to the Mediterranean; La Nautique used to be the port which served Narbonne. The campsite is a little unusual in that each pitch has its own water supply, electricity supply and private shower and wc. All for the standard ACSI rate.

Étang de Bages-Sigean, from the campsite.

On the first day, having met up again with Keith and Jane, we cycled along the north shore of the lake to Bages, a small village about 4 miles away.

Bages

Track around the Lake

The first section of the track was deeply rutted and infested by battle hardened mosquitoes….we had to cycle quickly.

Unfriendly Local

Lakeshore at Bages

View from Church at Bages

We stopped for lunch at a viewpoint at the top of the hill that Bages sits on, just by the church, looking out over the lake.

Cycle Track to Peyriac

We cycled on along a much better cycle track to Peyriac de Mer, the next village.

Keith and Jane

Flamingos alongside the track.

The track winds its way alongside numerous salt pans of varying sizes, some of which are covered in flocks of flamingos.

Peyriac de Mer

Cafe in Peyriac de Mer

We stopped in Periac de Mer for a glass of wine and to buy up the local pharmacies supply of mosquito repellent. This pungent concoction also works as nail varnish remover so is clearly trés fort.

We cycled back for tea. Narbonne via the canal du midi has been pencilled in for tomorrow.

Tagged with: Narbonne
Posted in 2014 Autumn, Languedoc-Roussillon, Narbonne

Vers

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

Route to Vers

The target for today was an aire in the old town of Cahors. However we discovered that the aire we were heading for had only three spaces, and as we approached Cahors in the late afternoon it seemed very busy so we diverted to the village of Vers which is about 8 miles upriver of Cahors on the River Lot. After a couple of wrong turns…the sat nav went on strike at just the wrong moment…we found our way to the aire at Vers. We parked on an old tennis court here.

Mavis on the Aire at Vers

Vers Station

This aire is on the site of an old station. There were 3 or 4 other motorhomes here and we were charged €5 for the night…they stop charging at the end of October. Not bad for a peaceful night close to the river, with a couple of loos thrown in.

The Lot

Evening Sun on the Limestone Cliffs of the Lot Valley

Bridge over the Lot

One of the tributaries of the Lot, running through Vers.

This was a good stop with walks along the river and the pretty village of Vers just on the doorstep. We were just using the aire as a night halt though, en route to a rendezvous with our friends close to Narbonne.

Tagged with: Lot, Mavis, Vers
Posted in - France, 2014 Autumn, Midi-Pyrénées, Vers

La Vezere via Mont St Michel

Posted on October 11, 2014 by Peter and Nia — Leave a comment

Route to Uzerche

After Bayeux we drove across the Cherbourg peninsula to Camping aux Pommiers, a campsite close to the historic Abbey at Mont St Michel.

The Path to the Abbey

This pleasant site is in Beauvoir, about 4 km from the Mont. There is a good cycle track all the way to the Mont. There is access to this track about 100 metres from the site.

The causeway to the Mont is being refurbished and there is a bus and cycle park at its south end where you can jump on a shuttle bus to the Abbey, if you don’t want to cycle across the causeway. Apparently the shuttle is free if you turn up on a bike.

We cycled over the causeway to the Mont in the evening. The following day was forecast rain and as we had visited the Abbey before we decided to head south in the morning. The original destination had been Biarritz but with bad weather forecast all week for the Atlantic coast of Franc we decided to head south-east and motor in the general direction of Perpignan.

Franglais

More Franglais

The campsite signs weren’t great translations but we got the gist. Perhaps they were done with google translate.

Uzerche

The next day we drove south to Uzerche which is a small and pretty town high in the Vezere valley. This valley is famous for the number of prehistoric sites here; there are many caves with paintings and other relics of ancient man. The cave paintings at Lascaux are about 30 miles to the south west.

The chateau at Uzerche

We stayed at the aire here. It took some finding but is worth the effort; it sits on the river opposite the Château Pontier shown on the photo above. The aire is on an old railway station and there is a walk and a cycle ride along the river (separate tracks) starting from the parking by the old station buildings. There is free water, drainage and electricity and provisions are a very short walk in to the town.

Cat guarding the bridge over La Vezere

We stopped by the tourist office and picked up a plan of the town and a guide to various places of interest close to the centre.

Looking up at one of the Châteaux

Chapelle Notre Dame de Bécharie

Rue Pierre Chalaud.

Tagged with: dordogne, france, Mavis, mont st michel, motorhome, uzerche, vezere
Posted in - France, 2013 Spring, 2014 Autumn, Bayeux, Limousin, Lower Normandy, Mont Saint Michel, Uzerche

Brighton to Bayeux

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 9 Comments

We left Brighton campsite at about 7.45 am for a short drive along the coast, past Roedean school, to pick up the Newhaven – Dieppe ferry which left at 10 am.

Leaving Newhaven

Newhaven Lifeboat

The Church at Dieppe

Fout hours later we tied up at Dieppe after a calm and sunny crossing, enlivened by a ‘Grande petit-dejeuner Anglais’….or a full English breakfast. Not very petit but very tasty.

The Pont de Normandie, crossing the Seine.

We drove south , across the Pont de Normandie, and met up with our friends Keith and Jane at Bayeux.

We stopped at a Camping des Bords de l’Aure close to the centre of Bayeux and walked in to town through a park and along a river the next morning.

Jane and Nia

Half timbered house in Bayeux.

It was a rather wet day so we moved on quickly to see the tapestry..we got there about 9.15 and there was no queue to speak of but by 10 am there was a long queue…it must be heaving in high season.

The Bayeux Tapestry

The tapestry is amazing. Well preserved and well displayed it is mounted vertically at eye level and as you walk along the audio guide tells you the story as it is literally unfolded. The tapestry was sewn (in the UK) to commemorate the battle of Hastings in 1066, the last invasion of Britain, by William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy. It was returned to Bayeux because the Bishop of Bayeux at the time was William’s brother. The Bishop accompanied his brother into battle. Being a man of God he couldn’t carry a sword and draw blood so he used his mace…it was OK to batter the opposition over the head with a blunt instrument.
The commentary was lovely. At one point the horses boarding the invasion boats are noted to be smiling ‘because they were embarking in a just cause’.

Bayeux Cathedral

The rain was well set in by late morning so we returned to the site and headed towards Mont St Michel, our next stop.

Posted in - United Kingdom, 2014 Autumn, Newhaven, Sussex

Cumbria to Brighton

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Peter and Nia

Welcome to the new look blog. We have added an index to some of the sites we have visited on the right, classified by country then region…just click on the place name to see the linked blog post.

There are three tabs on the top of each page. The middle tab takes you to the current (latest) post and the right hand tab takes you to a help page for those new to driving in France.

Many thanks to my long suffering unpaid IT expert brother-in-law Chris for help with the new blog appearance

We set off for a longish trip down the M6/M25/M23 to Brighton for the first leg on Saturday. The M25 was a tiny bit congested. Luckily there were speed camera warnings on the overhead gantries; nose to tail in the fast lane we were in danger of hitting 4 mph on the straights.

We stopped at Brighton caravan club site, just to the east of Brighton, for the night. It is a friendly and well managed site which is nestled at the foot of the southern limit of the south downs (shouldn’t they be the south ups?), just next to a sports centre and football field.

The site is a short walk from Brighton Marina which is a collection of shops, eateries, a large car park and a number of very expensive boats a short walk from the campsite. After a walk along the hill overlooking the site, keeping Colin well away from the football field (anyone who has seen him in action with a football knows that he has amazing ball control but his knowledge of the rules is a little sketchy) we walked down to the marina to meet up with our old friend Nick who lives nearby.

Dinner with Nick in an Indian restaurant.

Tagged with: Brighton, Brighton Marina
Posted in - United Kingdom, 2014 Autumn, Sussex

C’est Cosmique

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 3 Comments

The sun came out for our second day at La Mailleraye sur Seine.

View from the Aire

English words ending in ic translate to ique in french, as I understand it. So economic becomes economique, politic becomes politique, etc..

So I felt reasonably comfortable in telling the waitress in La Presqu Ile restaurant in La Mailleraye sur Seine, when we first ate there, that the food was ‘cosmique’. She was pleased, if a little surprised.

We ate there again a couple of days ago and the food was again cosmic.

Starter..Salmon paté with prawns and gazpacho

Starter…Coarse pork paté salad served with a warm cheese sauce, normandy apple and a white sausage.

Main course… Chicken in a fennel and citron creme sauce and frites.

Pudding…Dame Blanche

Final Stop before the Channel.

We have now moved on to the final campsite of the trip…..Château Ganspette at St Omer. ( N 50.81912 E 2.17453) This is about 20 miles from Calais and Dunkerque so handy for ferries and the tunnel.

This afternoon we visited the Epercleques blockhouse, the site of a V2 rocket building facility in the second world war. It is a dramatic exhibition, and has been well done, with explanations and diagrams in French and English.

Epercleques Blockhouse

This is the south wing of the blockhouse, intended for liquid oxygen production to fuel the V2 rockets.

The north wing, intended for V2 storage, destroyed by bombing in August 1943.

V1 Flying Bomb

The V2 rocket. Designed to come down almost vertically at Mach 2; a much deadlier beast than its predecessor the V1. The facility was designed to launch 36 of these each day.

The blockhouse was solidly built; this notch in the top of the south wall was the result of a direct hit with a 6 ton tallboy bomb.

This is the crater left when the bomb bounced off the roof. It caused a mini earthquake which damaged the foundations sufficiently to put the blockhouse permanently out of action.

This is the last blog of the current trip; we are heading for the channel tunnel first thing tomorrow morning, then up towards Yorkshire.

Tagged with: chateau ganspette, erercleques, france, la mailleraye sur seine, Mavis, motorhome, photography, V1, V2
Posted in - France, 2014 Spring, La Mailleraye-sur-Seine, Nord-Pas de Calais, St Omer, Upper Normandy

Eels for Tea

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Peter and Nia — 1 Comment

Route North

We drove 80 miles north to an aire (N 48.77259 E 1.19214 ) at Nonancourt which is a small town about 40 miles north of Chartres. We often listen to audiobooks on the longer drives. At the moment we have Paula McLain’s ‘The Paris Wife’ on the go. It’s about Ernest Hemingway’s life in Paris with his first wife in the 1920s. Its a great book ( great listen?).
The aire at Nonancourt is small and was busy the night we stayed.

Sardines

But good for a night halt…water, drainage etc and no charge.

The next day we drove through the rain north 60 miles or so to the aire at La Mailleraye sur Seine, which is one of our favourites. (N 49.48451 E 0.77321 )

Police Escort

We’re trying not to take this personally but we seem to have been sent a motorbike gendarme, flashing blue lights and all, to escort us up to Calais and off the premises.

Aire at La Mailleraye

A bit wet on the aire today..it looks better in the sun.

Tea

We saw this Shag gobbling a very active eel for its tea. It must be like having butterflies in your stomach. Just wrigglier.

View through the Front Window

Tankers and other seagoing craft chug up and down the Seine all the time. One of them hit a bridge at Rouen last year.

There is a good restaurant here at La Mailleraye. We are heading there for a blowout shortly.

Tagged with: france, la mailleraye sur seine, Mavis, motorhome, Normandy, photography
Posted in - France, 2014 Spring, La Mailleraye-sur-Seine, Nonancourt, Upper Normandy