And Their Off

Wed 12^th November 2014

On The Road To Nowhere

 

 

Well after all the waiting, and a lot of farewell evenings we hit the road today. Yesterday we stopped the night at Wisborough Green unloaded the car and unpacked and sorted the motor ready for the big day. We decided to have an early night but to be honest neither of us slept to well possibly due to the anticipation factor?  In the morning we filled up the LPG bottles at the nearest station and we motored down the A24.to pick up the M23

On the way past Horsham we waved goodbye to Paddy “Probably on a Heathrow run” as he passed us nearing the A264!  So were on our way..

 

This is the Route around Europe we have planned not Including Morocco. The whole trip will be ad hoc and stop and go when and when we feel like it
First thing to go wrong was TomTom !!  Decided to give the trip a miss, and roll over and play dead. It’s been a bit temperamental for a while now and could never agree with my Chinese “Nozitec” albeit the latter being a truck satnav ? But today it wasn’t having anything ? Kept switching off and was continually looking for a satellite!! So after an hour of not being able to find a satellite and switching itself off even though fully charged we decided that enough was enough and consigned Tom to the glove box

We travelled over on the 12.50 Train and arrived in Calais 1hr and 35Mins later “France being an Hr ahead of us” we then ambled down to our first stop Bergues

I didn’t want to drive to far on the first day, so this was just right. A nice little town and it didn’t take Max long to fall out with the locals

 

It rained non-stop on our way to the Chunnel, but at  4.15pm this afternoon it was brisk but sunny  hopefully an omen of things to come

 

 

After a spin around town, and a trip to the local Coccinelle store “equivalent to our Spar” to pick up some baguettes and cheese , oh And the mandatory box of wine. It was back to the Motor for some food and a few drinks to celebrate our first day

The Aire is a 5 minute walk to the town, it is Free but basic, hard standing no services, but we are ok as we filled and emptied this morning N50°57.941´ E002°26.145´ 

 

 

 

Thurs 13^th Nov
On The Road Again

Woke up no hangover a quick bite to eat, a few cups of tea and we are on the road to Arras. It was only 60 miles down the road but we are in no rush although the lure of the Spanish and Portuguese sun is a driving force right now, but first off we want to take in the French countryside and villages

 

We stayed at Arras 18 years ago “where has all the time gone we said” it’s a pretty town and after finding the Aire, another free one but 2€ for metered electric  and water N50°17.688´ E002°47.310´  It’s situated about a 10min walk to the centre, it was another fine day so we strolled in and spent the afternoon window shopping picking up some more baguettes and patisseries on the way back

 

It has a very Dutch feel about the architecture

 

 

 

So it was back to the motor to sit back and plan the next stop for tomorrow. Steak and onion baguettes for tea tonight with a nice drop of Red “we are liking this”  

Friday 14^th Nov

Red Red Wine
We set off early’ish “for us” today after walking Max and headed south for a small village called Coucy Le Château Auffrique. The weather was fine when we left but midway the heavens opened up and it has rained steady all day so the lure of warmer sunnier climes is beckoning.  The roads here are a bless to drive on, we are not using any toll roads but even their equivalent to our B roads are better than some of our motorways also there are always plenty of rest places to pull over to let Max out! as we have come to realise since we started, his toilet timing always seems to occur when we are driving through a city or busy area or at a crucial junction to turn off, and when he wants to go he lets you know in no uncertain terms, so now we tend to stop over at a layby quite frequently but prior to any impending major cities / junctions

We arrived at Coucy Le Château Auffrique N49°31.199´ E003°18.805´, after we had stopped at the Intermarché on way and purchased some more baguettes a precooked roast chicken and some fresh salad  for our supper and more wine, at 1.30.

It’s a smashing place with castle ruins above the Aire

 

 

It’s a 5-10min walk up to the castle remains and although fenced in there are a herd of goats keeping the bracken and grass down. Max let them know he was in town !!’

The Aire is superb and again free but it cost €5 if you need services. We needed to take on water so we paid, but that included 24hr Electric so after 3 days €5 is not too shabby. We had to ask a French chap parked next to us how to use the machine?  It gives you a pin code to use when plugging into the electric and to turn on the water tap.

What a great system the French have over here with the Aires?  It brings commerce into the towns and villages which in all probability would not see to many tourists and there are literally thousands of them. This one only takes 6 and we were the second to arrive later on a few more turned up

The UK could take a leaf out of this system, they charge more to park your car in a car park just to go to the shops for Christ sake !! So we are sat in our home on wheels it has stopped raining and planning tomorrows jaunt with a nice glass of Merlot but no internet as my Huawei MiFi will not take my 3 data sim card for some unknown reason!!! At the moment we are not missing it too much, but will have to get it sorted soon to post this week’s update and to catch up with other forums and blogs

Sat 15th Nov

Strange Brew
We sat up last night watching some music vids, and tasting what France has to offer! We had some nice Pont l’Évêque cheese, bread and a drop of red. While watching the vids I happened to read something strange on the box of wine “long life after opening”

Well I don’t know if I got a dodgy box but ours has lasted no time !!  We haven’t tried the TV just haven’t been bothered, but we did miss GoggleBox last night, but oh well sacrifices have to be made! While discussing our route for the next day an executive decision was made to give Troyes a miss and head straight on down to Orleans or Blois or see how far we got till the driving got the better of us

So this morning a 9am start and we were on the road, we skirted Paris down to Evry and took all the country roads down to Orleans with numerous Tea stops for us Pee breaks for Max and into the Loire Valley fantastic scenery on route

 

And we finally arrived in Blois late afternoon shattered/stressed but glad to have made the previous night’s decision

Another fantastic Aire N47°35.19´ E001°19.591´ nice level pitches @ €5 No elect

So we wandered into town to see what’s occurring. It’s a great place to visit and one we would definitely return to and marked in our book, a maze of busy streets, clean with lots of little restaurants, bars and patisseries with quite a lot of fashionable shops

 

We stopped as we were exhausted from the drive today, and treated ourselves to a cold Grimbergen “a Trappist beer” very nice not had it before but recommended..those old monks know their home brew!!

 

 

We are hoping to get to La Rochelle tomorrow stopping on route in St Maixent Ľ École as it is twinned with Horsham. But we will see how it goes as we are both shattered now?

Sunday 16^th Nov

How Many Roads

We thought about staying another day at Blois and had a lie in but the heavens opened up at 8am and it kept lashing down so we got ready and set off to La Rochelle at 10.30am. Our plan was to drive to Tours and onto Poitiers! It was while we were driving through Tours I decided to ignore or NOT PAY ATTENTION to the satnav. I had a “I know where I’m going moment” after being told to turn around in 4 miles, I said this will do, where does it go to Sam ?  Saumur it’s west but we can still go south later! That’ll do for me I thought as it turned out it was a good shout as the D952 hugs the Loire River all the way and the road is built on a levée with steep drops either side but a fantastic road with stunning scenery. But it did add time to our journey, So we eventually headed south after Saumer onwards to St Maixent Ľ École . stopping on route at Ronnies place. We bought 2 cappuccino’s and logged onto his free wifi unfortunately the signal was not strong enough to update the blog with pics etc but we managed to open our emails, I still can’t get the sim to work in the Huawei and getting a bit peeved to say the least

Leaving Blois over The Loire

 

We got St Maixent late afternoon and by now a bit tired, we stopped picked up some fresh bread and thought about staying there ? we checked our Aire’s book unfortunately there was none but there was one a few miles down the road in La Creche a small town and another basic Aire all the normal facilities (no leccy) but free N46°21.621´ W000°18.389´ once again a nice spot but a fair walk into town, and it was already getting dark by then so we decided to stay put have a bite to eat, read our books and an early start in the morning to La Rochelle

Mon 17^th Nov 

On an Island

8.45am and we are on the road again arriving at 10am in Île de Ré an Island off La Rochelle. It cost €8 to cross over the toll bridge but it’s fantastic, a very Mediterranean feel, the sun is shining 

The Aire €7 and €2 leccy N46°09.571´ W001°16.285´ spot on facing the sea the only motor here. I plugged in our EHU lead ZILTCH so I get my volt stick out “nothing” walk around to all the other electrical posts nowt. There is no one here to complain to we will have to see what happens when we check out, so we ambled along the beach into the town, It’s a nice Island with nice sandy beaches it was warm out and we returned after a few hours for a cuppa, The Island has a winter population of 20,000 and a summer population of 220,000 not included holiday makers so I gather it must be bustling in the summer season. It's a popular bolthole for the well healed Parisians !!

 

 

later on we walked the other way along the beach to the bridge Max loved it off the lead running around like a banshee, bless him he’s been cooped up in the van all this way and not been off the lead yet so he ran his heart out. When we got back a French chap and his wife turned up in his Rapido, he got out took out his electric hook up lead and was trying different outlets his wife saying non, I approached him and said Non Electrique he turned around and shook his head and non was all he said, and walked away not even a merci, he then rolled up his lead and drove off out of the gates!! So we are here all on our own again.

 

Max saw some driftwood which was as heavy as him but he wasn't

going to let it go

 

We like it here and so does Max so we have decided to stay another day. I could do with a break from driving so we will check out another Aire 18 miles up the Island called St Clement des Baleines

 

Tue 18^th Nov 

Surfs Up

 

Oyster gathering at 8am this morning when the tide is out

 

Max and I surveying the Oyster beds

 So I helped myself to a few of them to eat later, when I can find the lemon juice

 

We checked out of Rivedoux Plage at 9.45 and drove up the Island and found the Aire we will stay on today. Arriving 40mins later, our Aires book says its €7 but we find its €11 we decide to stay and swallow the cost, we haven't done to bad to date with a few free Aires and it don't look to shabby, so we level up and plug in N46°13.662´ W001°32.787´

We have been on the road 7 days now and are actually one day ahead of where we had planned its been good so far and in a few days we will hit Northern Spain
We took a walk around the town, very quaint and rustic

 

A memorial to the French resistance

 

There are stacks of vineyards doted around the Island 650 hectares as a matter of fact, but it is more famous for it's Oysters 6-8000 tons per year "good old Google".

 

 

We are again close to the sea but not with the view we had yesterday.. We strolled along the sea front watching the waves break and generally beachcombing it reminds me of my younger days at Aberavon Beach the smell the sound the memories.

This is another place in our book to return to

 

 

We came across a few German Battlements that have been Graffiti'd

 

 

 

By the way I managed to get the sim working in the Huawei  !!  thank Christ for the love of a better word

So now we have Internet albeit for a few more days till we get into Spain, and will have to buy another but ill give it a hammering the next few days till then,, I've been missing catching up on different forums and especially SCFC2 !!!   Messi may be joining us in Jan for all I know

So it's Bordeaux next... I hear they know a bit about making wine ? I'll let you know

 

 

After trying 3L and 5L Boxes we have now super sized to the 10L it says on the box it will last 4 weeks after opening ? Hope we get better luck with this one