Last blog in France for a while!!

24 + 25 May – Mostly swimming and relaxing although we managed to do the laundry at a laundrette and download a blog in the town of Frontignan. The bikes are really great for getting around and there seems to be good cycleways wherever we need them.

26 May – After a huge shop we set off to Millau and the famous viaduct. The drive up the A75 was impressive. The road is a feat of engineering (tunnels etc) even without the viaduct. We drove on the old road to the town and enjoyed a bike ride around the village with the viaduct in the background.
We paid the toll (9.20 euro) and drove towards the viaduct but stopped at the information centre and discovered that we could spend the night there. The views of the viaduct from the north end are spectacular. We walked up the path to the view point several times, including a visit at night.
The imagination and audacity to even try and build a viaduct across the huge valley is unbelievable. Photos do not do the viaduct credit!!

27 May – We had a long drive today zig-zagging thru the Midi Pyrenees valleys. We had lunch at the ancient’s city of Carcassone. The old city is totally surround by fortifications and walls. Inside it has restaurants and tourist shops. Still very beautiful however. We headed south and inland into the high Pyrenees gorges to end up tonight in an alpine village. We were going to drive to Andorra tomorrow but have decided another 100kms on these mountain roads is not worth it just to say that we have been to another country.
Our navigation with the GPS is improving. Val takes a lot of time and effort to make sure that we are on track. Sometimes the language, arguing and name calling is unbelievable and that is just Val talking to the GPS.

28 May – Today we walked up a narrow Gorge de Caranca and climbed up to Col and then along a path hacked out of the cliff face. A bit scary!! Did not really appreciate the drops until we looked back up the cliff. A beaut 2 hour walk. We intended to catch a narrow gauge train to the next village. We asked the locals and it all seemed OK until the train did not arrive. We walked back to “Lefty” and after consulting our phrase book realized the train was in fact a bus on Fridays. Bugger!!
As it was raining we decided to head out of the mountains and down to coast to our next camp at Collioure, near the Spanish border.
The camp is set on a headland with private coves. We have a view of the sea.

29 May – We set off on our bikes to the village of Collioure. The town is a fortified harbour. It was very picturesque, with lovely restaurants and shops set around the harbour in the beautiful old buildings. Two bands (mainly brass, woodwind and percussion) wandered around the town competing to draw the largest crowd playing, mostly jazz, and having a great time. One lot were dressed in Abba outfits.
Back to camp and down to one of our private coves for sun bathing and many swims in the warm clear water. We had a meal at the camp restaurant. The local rugby championship was being played on the TV. Perpignan, (just up the road) v Clermont-Ferrand.

30 May – A lazy day catching up with laundry and house work. Not much in a 6m motor home. Back down to our cove for sun and swimming.
You may find I keep change from the past tense to the present tense. That is because I only update the file I keep this in from time to time. I hope it all makes some sense and is not too boring!

Mediterrannee!!

19 May – Today, after some domestic duties and some light rain, the sky cleared and we caught the bus in the other direct to Cannes
The film festival was still on so we strolled around the water front where most of the broadcasters etc had their corporate areas. Did not see anyone we recognized amongst the beautiful people. Cannes is much like Nice. The yachts in the marina are unbelievable.
We sat beside the driver of the bus on the way home. The skill he showed piloting the bus down the narrow streets was remarkable.
When we got back, after a swim, we managed to book 6 days in a camp in Paris in August.

20 May – Our trip today was by train (9 euro each return) to Monte Carlo/Monaco. The Grande Prix was here last weekend to they were still dismantling the barriers and grandstands. Probably should have made more of and effort to be here for it but did not realize!
We walk some of the circuit. Can not believe the GP cars can negotiate the narrow streets. The whole country is wedged between the sea and the towering mountains with buildings on every conceivable piece of land. They reclaim some areas and increased the land area of the country by 60%!!
I know these facts because we paid for a hop on and off bus tour. Well worth the money.
We had lunch at the Café de Paris in the Casino Square. 6 club sandwiches and two bottles of Heineken for 44 euro!!!! (that’s about $80 NZ). Talk about location!! Still it had to be done.
The yachts in the marina are the biggest yet. They back right onto the public areas so you can get a good ogle.

21 May – We have decided to dodge some of the narrow roads in this area so have opted to go down a toll road to Port Grimaud, the turn off to St Tropez. Here, we off loaded the bikes and had a glorious 8km ride to St Tropez. This is a beautiful little port town with cute little buildings and the now usual huge yachts moored. We wander around the village with many of the passengers of two cruise liners anchored off shore.
Back on the road and after a slight detour over a winding mountain road (bloody GPS) we arrived at Cavaliere Sur Mer, a holiday town. The “Aires” here is on the beach and has capacity for 100 campers. (10 euro/night)
The beach is lovely, more like an NZ holiday destination.
Our GPS is now reading co-ordinates fine. We stupidly had it set to degrees and points of degrees instead of degrees, minutes, and seconds.

22 May – Had a really relaxing day. A bit like a Kaiteriteri day! Down to the beach after breakfast, back for lunch in the heat of the day, and then back to the beach.
We have had our first swims in the Med. It is still a bit chilly however.
Most of the ladies have no shame! Lots of bare breasts. All shapes and sizes - not that I have noticed!!!

23 May – Woke to a surprise. The parking area in front of us had turned into a giant Boot Sale. We had a wander around. Mostly junk but I bet there were some bargains hidden away.
Back down to the beach for a couple of swims before lunch and heading off to our next stop. We bypassed Toulon and Marseilles (second larges city in France) both thru huge tunnels under the cities. Our plan was to spend a night at an “Aires” at a lovely beach at Carro. When we arrived the place was packed. We had forgotten that Monday was a public holiday. We decided to head down the road to another “Aires” at Port Louis du Rhone. We parked by a canal on the Rhone River with other campers who were fishing. No idea what they were fishing for, as no one caught anything! A nice spot though.
We are now at a camp in the beach resort town of Frontignan-Plage about 30kms from Montpellier, to charge our batteries and do the laundry. Unfortunately there are no washing machines so it will have to be done by hand. There is also no internet so the blog will be quite long by the time we get to upload it.
The beach here is a series of small sandy beaches separated by stone groynes. The water is now nice and warm.
From Marseilles to here has been flat as it is the delta of the Rhone River and around the city very industrial. (Oil refineries and power stations) The country is all salt water lakes, channels, locks and surprisingly rice paddies.

13 May - Today we drove into the Central Mastiffe over several Cols and many alpine villages and got lost at the stunning Aubenas, a town set on the cliff tops. We got a shock when on a narrow road we reached a sign saying tunnels 3.1m. We had measured “Lefty” for just this eventuality at 3.2m! No turning back we slowly negotiated the tunnels. Fortunately the French man that measured the tunnels had been generous with his clearances.
We stopped at a camping ground at Sampzon for laundry, power, and internet. Still have not managed to connect our computer to the WiFi. It seems to be an IP address problem. Still raining so the washing is hanging under our awning.

14 May- We have decided to stay another night at this camp. The weather is slightly better. We off loaded the bikes and rode 25km return (including some tunnels) to the Pont d’Arc Natural. This is a gorge area with a spectacular natural arch across the Ardeche River. The sun eventually shone (first time in a week) and the washing dried.
We have decided to see the Millau Viaduct on our way to Spain.

15 May – Sunny at last. We drove thru beautiful Provence and had lunch at the Roman Aqueduct, Pont du Gard. It was built in 5 years around 57 AD. Awesome!
Back up into the Mountains of Provence and we are at lac de St Croix tonight. We are in an “Aires” park with about 20 other campers above the blue lake, next to a little village clinging to the hillside.
In the mountain area of Provence, they grow lavender. Acres and acres of it. Do they use it for anything other than perfume?? They must grow the world supply here!

The drivers in France are very courteous. During our bike ride yesterday they waited behind us at the narrow sections with great patience. They follow our slow pace in the camper and seem to not get greatly annoyed. We have only been honked at two or three times!

16 May – The weather has come right! – We drove thru beautiful Provence villages built on the hills. They seem to build their villages in the hardest places – either on step hillsides, cliffs or over rivers. I suppose it’s to do with using the best land for fields. Eventually found an “Aires” park in a village called Le Motte. We are very close to the Mediterranean now.

17 May – Drove thru ever increasing urbanisation to a camping ground about 10kms from Nice. The GPS gave us grief today taking us down some hairy roads. We are starting to dread the “recalculating” message!

The camping ground is great. We had our first swim today in the camp pool. The area outside the camp seems to be a bit seedy however. We will use the train/bus to go to Nice, Monte Carlo, and Cannes from here. We have our WiFi working at last. It must have been an issue at the last camping ground.

18 May – Another sunny day. We caught the local bus to Nice. (1 Euro) and walked thru the old city. Narrow alley ways with the buildings almost touch each other above and then opening into sun filled squares. The shops are in the alleys and restaurants are in the squares. We had lunch at the beautiful Place de Rossetti with a man playing a piano accordion.
We walked up the hill to great views of the marina, port, and beaches.

Lots of people on the beaches and many swimming although we thought the water was freezing. Nice is a beautiful city!!

We have found that entering GPS coordinates into our Garmin since we have been in France is not accurate. For instance finding Patrice’s farm was an issue. The Garmin was trying to take us 70kms off course. Any clues anyone???

After a good ride and walk around Laval we eventually found the farm and Patrice’s chalet. He built the chalet himself and it faces a little lake. Sue arrived and we had a great French dinner consisting of 5 or 6 courses.

Saturday 8 May was raining and we went to our first French supermarket to shop. Much like NZ but very little meat. (France still have butcher shops!)

In the afternoon Sue took us for a walk around Ste Suzanne. This was a beautiful town with a chateau, and to a friend’s house for afternoon tea. (6pm!) The day is very long in France with most people working to at least 7pm and not dining until 9pm.

On Sunday 9 May, after Patrice had finished the milking, we hitched up Sarha (the horse) and the gig and drove for about 25kms thru the beautiful country side, along river banks and tracks. Lunch was half thru the trip in a Creperie next to a river.

What a great way to see the country!!

On Monday 10 May we said thanks and farewell to Sue and Patrice and headed up the Loire Valley, mostly following the river on a road along the levee. Unfortunately it was a grey rainy day and the view of the many Chateaux along the way was limited. We stopped for lunch at Saumur and walked around the town and Chateau, getting slightly lost on the way back to “Lefty”.

The next stop was at the Chateau de Villandry which had stunning gardens all set out in geometrical patterns.

After a rather hectic drive thru Tours at rush hour we spied some camper vans parked near a Chateau in Chaumount-sur-Loire where we spent the night.

We intended to travel west and south thru Brittany and Bordeaux and then into Spain. We have reversed this plan and now are travelling south thru France to the French Riviera and around Spain clockwise. The change was due to the cooler weather and the French school holidays.

Driving has been easier than we expected. We have travelled mainly on secondary roads which are sometimes narrow but in very good condition unlike the UK roads.

These roads go thru most villages where the streets are very narrow but well worth the effort.

We drove down a toll road from Deippe to Laval on our first day in France. When we reached the toll gate Don could not work out how to pay. There seemed to be nowhere to put the money so Don pushed the “assiste” button. A voice answered “Bon Jour”. Don yelled the name of the place where we were to leave the toll road which was Alencon which Don pronounced as per the spelling. A very short reply came over the intercom “push the ticket button.” (you pay at the other end of the road-25 euros).

When we told this story to Sue she exploded with laughter as Don had mispronounced the destination and he had called the bloke a bastard. No wonder he was short!!!

Tuesday 11 May - We woke to drizzly rain and freezing cold again. The cloud was low which is a shame as this is obviously very beautiful country side with Chateaux either side of the Loire River. We decided to pay and look inside the Chateau du Valencay. The original owner was the foreign minister for Napoleon. We were issued with and personal audio system that guided us thru the lavishly decorated rooms. Well worth the 11 euros each! Our overnight stop was at an “Aires” by a Channel in St-Amand-Montrond.

Wednesday 12 May – The weather has been even worse. Very low mist which got thicker as we approached the mountains. At lunchtime we stopped on the Col de Rocher where we could almost see through the fog the ruined Chateau Rocher.

After a stop at the supermarket and service station we have parked in the mist at an Aires at Tourzel-Ronzieres. Let’s hope the mist clears as there is supposed to be a spectacular view! The villages in this area are quite different from the Loire. The grey slate roofs have changed to terracotta tiles and the area looks like what you would expect in Tuscany.

We were hoping to go and cross/see the Millau Viaduct today but will change this plan as the weather is still foggy and it would be a waste. We may have to divert and see it on our way to Spain.

France at last!

The last blog was posted from a Club site in Umberleigh, in Devon. We still have not got our computer coupled to the internet via the cellphone working, so are dependent on WiFi sites for blog updates.

Our next night was spent at a Bison farm in Wiltshire. A beautiful setting and cheap!

This was just a stop over on the way back to John and Jackie’s in Petersfield via a visit to Winchester, a beautiful medieval city with the cathedral the song was written about.

We spent another great night at Petersfield. To say John and Jackie have been very kind to us would be an understatement.

An early start for the 20km drive down to Portsmouth to the ferry to Le Havre.
We crossed the Channel on a huge catamaran.
The dock workers were on strike in Le Havre so the ferry was diverted to Deippe -
a slight headspin as we had planned the road trip from Le Havre to Lassay-les-Chateaux.
Not to worry we managed the 200km trip to Sue Cameron’s with no hiccups.
Drive in “Lefty” in France seems to be easier than driving from the passenger’s seat in the UK.

We stayed with Sue (Val’s cousin) in 2004 when we were over for the All Blacks tour. She lives in a 14th Century house in the middle of the village. The chateau in the village is beautiful.

A great night with Sue. We caught up with all the family news.
Today we managed to sort out our camper gas for Europe (different from the UK) and we will have lunch at Laval before driving up to Patrice’s chalet for a couple of nights with Sue and Patrice.

South Cornwall

The weather has packed up but we still enjoyed the little English seaside towns of Lyme Regis (very cute!) and Torquay. Our next night was at Slapton Sands but on the way we were surprised when the GPS told us that in 2.3 kms to board ferry!!! Surely not France already!!

Around the corner was the ferry across the Dart River. The village of Slapton was typical of the small villages in this area - spot the man rethatching the roof!

Plymouth was our next stop before spending 3 nights (R&R but was also Bank Holiday weekend)at St Agnes on the Cornwall coast. This was is a meadow and cost 3pounds per night.

The next day we drove to a park & ride and caught the train to St Ives - the weather was sunny and St Ives is a gorgeous holiday town without the cheapness of Brighton.

Drove on to Penzance which was slightly disappointing after St Ives and back to our meadow in St Agnes.

The village was celebrating "The Bolster Festival". The Bolster was a giant who terrorised the town which was saved by a maiden called Agnes - a long story. As part of the festival we joined a parade to climb Beacon Hill where there was a bonfire.

Next day we decided to stay put and ride our bikes around the village and coastline including an old tin mine - Wheal Coates.

We arrived at Chapel Porth Beach where a pageant telling the Bolster story was performed.

We are now on our way back to Portsmouth. Today we visited Clovelly in North Devon (on Claire's suggestion).

This village is only accessible by walking down steep cobblestone streets. It is a fishing village but also set up for tourists - very cute!

By the way Genuine Cornish Pasties are great!!!