We are now on camping/caravan site in the South of France, a little place called Frejus (mid way between St Tropez and Cannes) and the site has (very unreliable!) wifi. This is our first real stop at a proper site, so far we have mostly stopped at motorhome service areas throughout France (most of which are free with drinking water, and some even have free electric), and it’s nice to be ‘settled’ for a few days before heading off for Italy on Monday.
France is a wonderful country, and the French arrogance we English think of is a myth, they are genuinely friendly and welcoming and they are (rightly) fiercely proud of their language. We wish we had made the effort to learn more of it, but we are getting by.
We seem to have fitted so much into the last 5 weeks that’s it hard to know where to start. Here’s a list of places we’ve been to/stayed at so far (it’s pretty close to our original route):
France:
04/04/08 Cleres
05/04/08 Amboise
05/04/08 Chaumont sur Loire
06/04/08 Chenonceaux
07/04/08 Azay-le-Rideau
08/04/08 Candes-St-Martin
08/04/08 Chinon
09/04/08 Sadroc (Hello to Graham and Pat)
10/04/08 Rocamadour
12/04/08 Albas
12/04/08 Cahors
12/04/08 Puy-l'Eveque
13/04/08 Saint Cirq-Lapopie
15/04/08 Lourdes (what a strange place!)
19/04/08 Arreau
20/04/08 Gavarnie
Spain:
22/04/08 Terragona
24/04/08 Barcelona (F1 Grand Prix)
France (again):
28/04/08 Argeles sur-mer
28/04/08 Cap Cerbere
29/04/08 Colliour
30/04/08 Leucate
02/05/08 Lac du Salagou
04/05/08 Ispagnac (Gorges du Tarn)
04/05/08 La Malene (Gorges du Tarn)
05/05/08 Pont du Gard (Remoulins)
07/05/08 Grand Canyon du Verdon
09/05/08 Frejus
10/05/08 Cannes
Our favourite free stop over place has to be on the shore of Lac du Salagou, which we found almost by accident. Here are a couple of photos of us parked up over looking the lake, and yes, that is red wine Judy is drinking! I now have to share it, oh well, at least it is cheap over here.
I decided to cycle around the lake the second day we were there. After about 2 hours I was seriously beginning to regret it. It’s a lot bigger than it looks. I ran out of water and it was very hot and sunny. Luckily I found a natural spring half way round a filled up my water bottles and managed to make it round, where upon I drank ice cold lager and lay in the sun for a while. This photo should give you some idea of the size of the lake.
Home sweet home (for another 15 weeks), relaxing inside the van…
France is a wonderful country, and the French arrogance we English think of is a myth, they are genuinely friendly and welcoming and they are (rightly) fiercely proud of their language. We wish we had made the effort to learn more of it, but we are getting by.
We seem to have fitted so much into the last 5 weeks that’s it hard to know where to start. Here’s a list of places we’ve been to/stayed at so far (it’s pretty close to our original route):
France:
04/04/08 Cleres
05/04/08 Amboise
05/04/08 Chaumont sur Loire
06/04/08 Chenonceaux
07/04/08 Azay-le-Rideau
08/04/08 Candes-St-Martin
08/04/08 Chinon
09/04/08 Sadroc (Hello to Graham and Pat)
10/04/08 Rocamadour
12/04/08 Albas
12/04/08 Cahors
12/04/08 Puy-l'Eveque
13/04/08 Saint Cirq-Lapopie
15/04/08 Lourdes (what a strange place!)
19/04/08 Arreau
20/04/08 Gavarnie
Spain:
22/04/08 Terragona
24/04/08 Barcelona (F1 Grand Prix)
France (again):
28/04/08 Argeles sur-mer
28/04/08 Cap Cerbere
29/04/08 Colliour
30/04/08 Leucate
02/05/08 Lac du Salagou
04/05/08 Ispagnac (Gorges du Tarn)
04/05/08 La Malene (Gorges du Tarn)
05/05/08 Pont du Gard (Remoulins)
07/05/08 Grand Canyon du Verdon
09/05/08 Frejus
10/05/08 Cannes
Our favourite free stop over place has to be on the shore of Lac du Salagou, which we found almost by accident. Here are a couple of photos of us parked up over looking the lake, and yes, that is red wine Judy is drinking! I now have to share it, oh well, at least it is cheap over here.
I decided to cycle around the lake the second day we were there. After about 2 hours I was seriously beginning to regret it. It’s a lot bigger than it looks. I ran out of water and it was very hot and sunny. Luckily I found a natural spring half way round a filled up my water bottles and managed to make it round, where upon I drank ice cold lager and lay in the sun for a while. This photo should give you some idea of the size of the lake.
Home sweet home (for another 15 weeks), relaxing inside the van…
And outside drying some washing at another free stop over (when we were at Saint Cirq-Lapopie):
Here is a shot of the Pyrenees – just to prove how much snow there really was when we drove over them going into Spain, even I was scared, well a bit anyway!
This is the lake that the Grand Canyon du Verdon flows into (just east of Avignon), the water really is this colour.
We spent a morning in a sort of Canadian style canoe, going up the river of the canyon. Apart from the first 5 or 10 minutes that is, as these were spent going in circles hilariously trying to get to grips with synchronized paddling – Jude at the front, me at the rear trying to both paddle and steer. We eventually got the hang of it and made it up the canyon until we reached a gravel bank that narrowed the river flow. Every time we tried to go on, the fast flowing current sent us further back down the river so we gave up and went back to the lake. Here is Jude adjusting her life jacket:
And yesterday, we got the scooter out of the van and went to visit our yacht which is moored in Cannes. It’s still here, look…
And this is where we stay when we nip down for long weekends (we wish)!
The only problem we have encountered so far is gas. No, not too much of the natural kind, too little LPG! We used up our first 6kg bottle of propane in 3 weeks and we only brought 2 of them so there is no way we would have enough for all of our 17.5 week trip, and they can’t be exchanged over here either. Luckily we found some French gas (Frangaz) that can be bought in 10kg bottles and one will just about fit in the gas locker so we have enough for a couple of months.
We are looking forward to going into Italy next week, but more than a bit unsure about speaking the lingo. Neither of us knows Italian so it will be interesting to say the least. From what I’ve heard, the Italians think of speaking English as a sign of prestige and so are more than happy to do so if they can. Let’s hope the ones we meet can and do! We are planning on going to a small island off the Tuscany coast called Elba and the rough guide to Italy says it has crystal clear water and white sandy beaches. If it’s that nice we may never leave!
We are looking forward to going into Italy next week, but more than a bit unsure about speaking the lingo. Neither of us knows Italian so it will be interesting to say the least. From what I’ve heard, the Italians think of speaking English as a sign of prestige and so are more than happy to do so if they can. Let’s hope the ones we meet can and do! We are planning on going to a small island off the Tuscany coast called Elba and the rough guide to Italy says it has crystal clear water and white sandy beaches. If it’s that nice we may never leave!
More to follow soon...
