Food, drink, travel and everything in-between

Month: September 2024

A soggy week in Paris…! How was London?

Week 2. Bracieux to Paris – 259 miles

Screenshot

Saturday the 21st of September 2024

Bracieux – (Day 3. Last day)

A busy day today. Karen joins us for a very light breakfast before we set off for the city of Blois. We are going to have a look around it and have a Michelin-listed lunch at about half one. Yes, another Michelin-listed meal. A bit of background about Michelin-listed restaurants and dining. It doesn’t mean that it is expensive, lavish with finely manicured food. It means that it’s good quality food, presented well and at a good price. The average for a 3-course lunch or dinner is around 30 to 35 euros (or £28.00). You would quite easily pay that in a pub or average restaurant in the UK and leave not particularly satisfied.

It’s a 25-minute drive to Blois and it’s packed. Very busy. We have to abandon one car park as it’s full, but luckily we do find a space with a bit more of a walk to the town. No problem, what else are we doing?

Once in Blois city, we find it to be a very pleasant place indeed. The usual beautiful French shops line the streets.

We find a busy Saturday market selling local food, cakes as well as fruit and veg. Some stalls are selling clothes. Karen buys a couple of nice woollen tops.

Like all French cities and towns, it’s full of churches and of course, a cathedral. We find a nice looking church so we go in and have a good look around.

None of us are religious but we do like these places, they are so calming to walk around and sit in.

Back into the streets and to the restaurant. Called BRO’S it is situated off the beaten track in a back street. We are given a table outside which is too noisy for us so Hayley, in her best French, asks if we can go inside. We are given an inside table and have the small but comfortable restaurant to ourselves.

The food is fantastic. A fixed menu with a choice of fish or meat. We all have a small glass of white wine. The total bill is 39 euros each which was a three-course lunch and wine, so that’s £33.00 each. You cannot beat that. The standard of the food was high as was the service. Exceptional and well worth the Michelin listing.

We leave the restaurant not full or uncomfortable, but content and happy along with the memories. We now have to walk some of it off!

A short walk across town to a Chateau, Chateau De Blois. Admission is on a special offer this weekend of 7 euros.

Not as big and as grand as yesterday’s, but very interesting all the same. Great to walk around. Del has taken a shine to the paintings and the way they convey light. They are impressive to look at, especially the large ones.

We are flagging now, it’s 5 pm so it’s back to the car and home, via a carwash for Karen’s car and a supermarket to buy some bits and pieces for later on. We are dropped off at the campsite, and Karen goes back to her hotel. The sky is looking heavy now with dense black clouds, so we pack up the outside of Jess, the awning, the table and the groundsheet, we are leaving tomorrow anyway so it saves us a job. There are a few drops of rain and the air is hot and heavy. A storm will surely come. Just as we are packing away we spot a couple of hot air balloons passing over us. We are not sure about that, especially in the coming weather.

Once we are packed and settled we get some various French cheeses out on the table with honey, figs and a stick of bread. The end of a great day in France.

Tomorrow we are hoping to get to Sancerre, a famous French wine town in the Loire Valley.

See more of Del’s photos on his website and Flickr account.


Sunday the 22nd of September

Bracieux to Sancerre73 miles

Hayley AFTER her shower

The rain has finally come. Last night, just as Hayley went for her shower. She got soaked just walking 20 meters from the shower back to Jess. The rain, in heavy and light bursts, was quite noisy on the roof last night. We have woken up this morning to grey skies, it’s still quite warm and for the moment it’s not raining. Fortunately, we did all the packing up last night before the rain came, so it’s just breakfast, clear up and off we go.

We do a full service on Jess, empty the grey water, freshen the toilet and fill up with fresh water. It’s a longish drive today, 2 and a bit hours to Sancerre. It’s wet everywhere, but at least it’s not pouring with rain so far on the drive.

We spoke too soon, the rain has started again. Hayley has found a supermarket with a mini laundrette in the car park. The French are good at providing washing machines and dryers at supermarkets, some even have motorhome service points too.

The roads are long and straight here, but very long and straight and a little bit rough. Soon we get a rest from it as we pull into a supermarket which closes in 30 minutes. Hayley dashes in for a small shop while Del sorts out the laundry. For 5 euros we get a full dark wash done, and for 3 euros the drying.

We have seen these car park laundrettes before but never tried them. We like it so much we have put fresh bedding on and put a white wash on too. We know how to treat ourselves. Van life isn’t all sunsets and beaches!

All the laundry has been done but the rain is still heavy. Del is at the wheel for the next bit. It’s a challenging drive as the roads are a bit lousy in part, twisty and very wet. The drive coming into Sancerre, despite the rain, was quite nice.

Sanserre. The hill in the distance.

The views are still spectacular. It looks like the harvest has already been done as we can’t see any grapes on the vines. We arrive at the campsite, it’s all a bit sad in the rain. We are given a spot and we get settled in. We have done this before. We have plenty of food, drink, games, and Netflix downloads, so we’ll not be stuck. The only downer is that we will not be seeing Karen tonight who is in the town of Sancerre up on the hill, we are a couple of miles away at the bottom, with no bus service in between.

We can’t walk or cycle as the rain is so heavy. Karen can’t get to us as her car has to stay in the hotel compound as the town is closed off because of a special event… In this weather? We just spend the rest of the day in the van comforting ourselves with a bottle of white from Touraine, a wine area not far from where we are, and very nice it is too. Hayley watches some Netflix, Del does a bit of homework, sorts out his photo stuff and writes this blog!

Hayley will knock up a fab dinner for us tonight and we will see Karen tomorrow morning, when hopefully the weather will have improved. Hopefully.


Monday the 23rd of September

Sancerre to Chablis75 miles

This morning we have some sunshine, it’s also a little cooler. We don’t know how long we will have it this way, but it’s a lovely morning to start the week. We are joined by Karen for morning tea and to discuss tactics for the day. It’s a bit of a drive to Chablis, so we will break the journey up a little and stop at “Les Caves Bailly Lapierre”. Here they make Cremant which is made the same way as champagne but they can’t call it that because it’s not made in the same region of France, so it has to be called “Cremant“.

On the way, we stop at a small village called Bouhy, about half an hour out from Sancerre. There is supposed to be a small Patisserie there and as we have time to kill we agree that we will stop there buy some French fancy cakes and have them in the van with another cup of tea. Karen leads the way and gets there first. Like all French villages and some towns, it’s dead. There is not a living soul to be seen anywhere, but we find the cake shop on the only corner of the village. We are served by a very nice French lady who has a total of 5 cakes for sale!

They do look amazing though, so we buy three. The biggest sale of the day. She packs them all into a nice box for us to take away.

Happy with our purchase we head back to Jess in the car park, get the kettle on and have these delicious cakes. Excellent.

After an hour so we are cleaned up and on our way to Les Caves Bailly Lapierre, which translated means The Bailly Caves of Lapierre. The drive is great. We are deep in the middle of France where the countryside is extensive and big and stretches for miles. France is a huge country made up mainly of agricultural land, and what a sight it is.

We arrive at Les Caves Bailly Lapierre and find a parking space, do the short walk to the cave. It really is a cave. You enter and the temperature drops and everywhere is wet. It’s wonderful.

The first thing you see is a huge bar area where you can try all the different cremants that they make. We go for the 8 euro tour. We are given an audio guide to listen to about how this place came about from being created in the 12th century to source stone for some of the most famous architecture in France, and then became a mushroom farm in the 70s. After the tour, we get to sample some of the wines that they make. Very nice it is too, not quite as good as champagne but very good all the same. As a thank you they let you keep the little glass flute. We purchase two bottles, a brut and an extra dry.

Back at the van we get packed up and agree to meet Karen in Chablis. The drive there is beautiful. The countryside here in the Burgundy region is stunning. Miles of hills full of grapevines, with small towns nestling in the foothills, real picture postcard stuff.

We arrive at the campsite in Chablis. This is the third time we have stopped here. There has been heavy rain here recently, it’s a mud bath. Nasty. We get one of the remaining few spaces but with no electricity. We’ll be ok.

Tonight we are all meeting in town and going to… yes, another Michelin-rated restaurant. We get showered, Del’s is cold and as he is coming back to the van it starts to rain, but heavy rain. Here we are in our evening finery going out to dine and the rain is lashing down. Fortunately, Karen says that she will pick us up. Whew! Sure enough, within 5 minutes she is waiting for us at the entrance to the campsite. She takes us to the apartment where she is staying tonight. It’s a lovely place, in the centre of town and very well-appointed.

She is acting as our sommelier tonight and offers us 3 white wines to taste. We try them all and enjoy them all.

It’s a short 5 minute walk to the restaurant. ‘Au Fil Du Zinc’, where a three-course dinner is 42 euros or £38 each! Of course, we have to add a local Chablis white to go with it. The whole thing is just excellent once again.

By the time we leave the restaurant, the rain has eased so we bid Karen farewell and take the short walk back to the campsite. On the way, Hayley has a fall. No, it was not the wine, she slipped on a double yellow line – the painted line was slippery. Really, it’s true.

Jess is waiting for us in the mud bath. We are glad to be in.

Tomorrow we are setting off for Paris…


Tuesday the 24th of September

Chablis to Paris – 118 miles

It rained for most of the night last night. Noisy on the roof. We remembered that September in France used to be good for sunny, warm weather. We did get off to a good start last week, but now we are just getting heavy showers of rain. Europe has had some bad weather over the past few weeks, especially in eastern Europe where a few people in Poland have sadly lost their lives because of flooding. We are probably getting the tail end of that here.

To tell the truth, we are pleased to be leaving Chablis this morning, which is a shame as we have always had a nice time here. We didn’t sleep well either because of the rain and at 7 this morning there was a rather ferocious argument next door. It seems that there was some disagreement amongst them, ending with someone storming off shouting and ranting. Everything is wet, everything is muddy, and we had trouble getting access to showers last night and toilets this morning, so it’s best to cut our losses and get going. We did have a very nice dinner here and the town is rather nice but no, we are off.

We are packed up quickly and away. We do a quick service first as the drive is a good two hours. Karen has already set off after having morning tea and a croissant with us. We need diesel, a small shop and a van wash. She only had one a couple of days ago but since being in Chablis, she looks like she has been in a motor rally contest with mud dripping off the wheels as we exit the campsite.

Finally, we are on our way. Mostly motorway today, the campsite is in the south of Paris and a 30-minute train journey into the centre, so it’s a very good location to be in for the next 4 days, as Del is off to London on Wednesday for some work. We need to keep the “van tokens” up.

An uneventful drive. On the outskirts of Paris, the traffic starts to thicken up a bit and it becomes more erratic and sometimes dangerous. We almost get sideswiped by a local who thinks it might be a good idea to speed up and cut in front of us. A truck almost, but almost, slams into the back of another, other than that all good. Del is at the wheel today, he does like a driving challenge, but even he is getting a bit fed up with it. We do a shop, fill up with diesel and find a wash for Jess. She is all clean again, we are full of fuel and food, just 20 more minutes to the campsite.

The campsite is a welcome oasis, considering where it is. It’s clean, and tidy with polite staff and hard standing, so no more trudging through wet grass and muddy walkways. Bliss. We open up the van and give her a good clean on the inside. Such a relief to get rid of all the mud and grit from Chablis. Hayley has a hot shower and comes back to Jess feeling fully renewed.

Karen is staying in a small chalet on the campsite. It’s small,has everything inside that you might need, but isn’t quite the same as the apartment she had last night. She pops by to say ‘hello‘.

Tonight we are having dinner in a complete stranger’s house in the centre of Paris. There is a website called ‘Eatwith’ where dinner hosts advertise what they offer. We, as guests, choose a good-rated host and book an evening with them where they cook you dinner in their home. What a great idea, for many reasons.

We have chosen a lady called Catherine who has great reviews. We take the train into town and it’s only a short walk to her apartment.

She greets us downstairs and takes us to her apartment which is beautiful. The conversation is free-flowing and varied with some nibbles and a glass of white wine to help it along. The food is tremendous, consisting of:

Starter: Aubergine and lentils with feta cheese. Main: Baked Mackerel fillets with potatoes and a tomoto and olive sauce. A selection of cheeses with figs. Dessert: Mirabelle tart (a small seasonal plum)

It was a fabulous 2-hour dinner. We give our thanks to Cathrine and congratulate her on the fine dinner and we leave for the station and back to the campsite. The trains here are efficient, regular and cheap and about 40 minutes later we are back home. We say good night to Karen and we are back in the van just in time for bed! A great experience, going to someone’s house and having them cook good local food for you, something that we will definitely do again.


Wednesday the 25th of September

Paris (Day 2) London Day 1

We had a good night’s sleep last night, both of us. Rain is forecast in Paris for the next few days, we shall see. Karen joins us for breakfast and we all leave at 10:45 for Del to get on the train to Charles De Gaulle Airport for a 2hr 25min flight to London. We get off at Notre Dame and Del carries on to another train to the airport leaving Karen and Hayley to wreak havoc on Paris.

>>> Del. Paris to London Day 1<<<

It has been a long time since I was last at Charles De Gaule airport, I remember it being not a great airport, but this time it has been a much more pleasant experience.

It’s quick to move through the airport and there are plenty of cafes and shops to hang around in. The gate has been changed three times already and we are now leaving 30 minutes later than advertised. No matter, I have plenty to do.

Maybe…

We are finally called to the gate and boarded onto a half-full flight, which is a bit of a surprise, usually, these flights are just rammed full, but no today there is plenty of room.

UK immigration. Welcome

An uneventful flight, which is always the best way to have a flight, and within an hour we land at Luton Airport. The Immigration lounge is packed and takes just as long to get through that as did the flight. It’s mad.

I’m on my way to a hotel in Camden Town, where I hope to have a relaxing night, and early night and be ready for my 7 am start tomorrow.

>>> Hayley. Paris Day 2<<<

Once Karen and I leave Del at Notre Dame we head out onto the streets near Notre Dame, the cathedral is due to re-open in December after the terrible fire that it had 5 years ago.

It’s still quite a building site and the roof looks like it needs finishing off, but this being France I’m sure they have it in hand. We walk over to Ile St. Louis and admire the lovely shop displays of cakes, cheese and art, such pride is taken in making everything look just right.

After a good wander around the Marais district, we are becoming hungry so we find a restaurant. We end up in one specialising in Burgundy cooking and their speciality is beef bourguignon.

Of course, we have to have this with a glass of red and it is delicious! We sit under the canopy outside watching Parisian street life and the rain starting to fall.

The weather is only going to get worse so we hop on a metro and have a look around Galeries Lafayette.

It’s a fantastic department store with a very impressive glass dome and a whole separate building devoted to kitchen goods and selling food including fragrant spice shops and a full gourmet supermarket in the basement.

There are some beautiful cakes here, which are works of art, but it’s so busy we opt to get cake and tea elsewhere.

After our cakes, the rain starts to come down hard and is predicted for the rest of the night. We jump on a train back to the campsite. After a shop at the local supermarket, we retire to our accommodations and get an early night. We have walked a lot today!


Thursday the 26th of September

>>> Del. London Day 2<<<

I’m up bright and early today to start a small but intense job at the Roundhouse in Camden Town. The Roundhouse is a famous train shed from yesteryear which has been converted into a concert venue as well as a place for large corporate events which is what I’m up to today, it’s a long day which is expected to end at 1am.

I have worked here many times in the past so it’s good to see old faces as well as meeting new people. The production company that I’m working with is a regular client, so the day is expected to be a bit of a giggle.

There is quite a lot to get through, the day goes by quickly, however. It is a little sobering though when I look at my watch and it’s 5pm and I think to myself that I am only halfway through the shift…!!!!

We go live at 7:30pm and it’s not long before it’s passing midnight and we are on the home run.

By 1:00 am everyone is booted out. There’s peace and quiet as we load out the small amount of kit that we brought in with us.

Finished…

Time at last for bed… Back in Paris tomorrow.

>>> Hayley. Paris Day 3<<<

It rained a lot last night, but it’s dry now so after breakfast Karen and I head into Paris again.

We catch the train to the Eiffel Tower, which never fails to impress me. It’s a shame that you can’t get near it now without a ticket as it has a perspex wall surrounding it.

The whole area looks a bit of a building site with cranes and concrete blocks everywhere, maybe this is a hangover from the recent Olympic Games. After a stroll to the Champs Élysée, we jump on a metro and head far south into the city to the Chinese district. Karen spent many years living in Hong Kong so is keen to see what the Chinese quarter is like. We have also found a Michelin recommended Chinese restaurant here.

The district doesn’t look too different from the rest of Paris but has lovely aromas of Asian food. We’re hungry by now, so we go to our restaurant. I ask Karen to choose all the dishes and she does so in Cantonese (it’s always quite funny seeing the reaction of people when a blond haired English lady starts talking in Cantonese).

We have a feast of duck, char sui pork, dim sum, a delicious tofu and pork dish and chicken feet, this is my second time trying chicken feet and I’m still not mad about them but everything else is delicious. It’s great that Karen knows exactly what the best things are to order. We wash this down with a pot of Chinese tea.

Very satisfied with our very reasonably priced lunch we emerge from the restaurant to find the torrential rain is back. We hop on a metro and decide to sit it out with a glass of wine in a pavement cafe next to the Seine watching the people hurrying by, huddled up, and the traffic chaos.

Eventually, the rain stops and we head back but it seems the rail system is in chaos and the journey back is harder than it should be. Back at the campsite most pitches and roadways are flooded,

luckily Jess’s pitch isn’t. Karen and I have a drink and a light dinner on her terrace, my shoes are now completely soaked having walked through the 2 inches of standing water that is now everywhere on the campsite.

When will this rain stop?


Friday the 27th of September

>>> Del. London to Paris Day 3<<<

I’m flying back to Paris today on a 2:30pm flight so there’s no rush to get up, which is a good thing as I am feeling a bit drowsy having had only a couple of hours of sleep. After the longest shower in the world, I get my small amount of stuff together and head off for Luton Airport. There is train trouble today and there is a mass of people at the station blocking the entrances to the platforms. Security are on hand in case tempers start to fray.

Finally, I get on my train to the airport which is now leaving 20 minutes late and goes so slow to get there that I’m 45 minutes late arriving. Good job I decided to hang around Luton Airport this morning rather than London. If you had the choice which would you choose? London or Luton…? Not much in it…

The flight leaves on time, and I sleep for most of it. A plan has been hatched to meet the ‘girls‘ in Paris for a last dinner together. Karen is going south, we are going…? We don’t know yet. The skies in Paris are angry. Very heavy black clouds surround the airport. While I’ve been away they have had some heavy rain here, it looks like there is now a pause, but for how long?

The immigration hall is packed. It takes me an hour to get out and on the train to Paris.

Paris (Day 4. Last day) London day 3

>>> Hayley. Paris Day 4<<<

Del comes home today! After a light breakfast, Karen and I have some chores to do. I have some van chores (the yucky ones that Del normally does.) We then both set off to a laundrette where we both do some washing and then shopping.

Exhausted after all this activity we find a Lebanese restaurant in a nearby town that we’ve never heard of and have a delicious lunch of a Lebanese platter.

We have seen sunshine today, amazing! It’s so sunny that we have to have the blind pulled down to shade us however as soon as we leave the restaurant the heavens open and soak us as we run to the nearby car.

I’m fed up with this rain now, this has been one of the worst runs of consistent rain that I’ve had on the van. It even makes Todtnau, in Germany, look dry! 

Del is on his way from the airport so we have arranged to meet at a restaurant in Pigalle in the Montmatre district. Del arrives, and Karen and Hayley are already waiting. Restaurant Ose is a Michelin rated restaurant serving a three course dinner for 44 euros. It was all very nice, but not as memorable as others that we have been to.

We have decided that, as it’s our last night to jump on the metro and go and see the hourly glittering light show on the Eiffel Tower.

Sadly the event didn’t have the memorable end that we hoped for. At the station for the tower, there is a random ticket inspection and for some reason, Karen’s ticket, which we just purchased, is not valid. Despite contesting it with proof of purchase she receives an on-the-spot 50 euro fine which puts a bit of a dampener on the evening. The inspector is being a bit of a ‘jobs worth’. We were able to prove that three tickets were bought at the same station at the same time through our bank account, he agrees but says if the ticket can’t be scanned through his little gizmo then it’s a fine! Very disappointing.

We watch the glittering tower, but we are now not in the mood. We get on a very packed train back to the campsite and call it a day.

Tomorrow we are promised an end to the rain. We shall see.


Autumn 2024 in France

Week 1. Calais to Bracieux – 539 miles

Saturday the 14th of September

We had a fantastic night’s sleep for our first night away. So peaceful, so quiet, add in the fact that we were both exhausted, and it all helped. It’s a bright, clean, fresh morning this morning. Over our first coffee of the day, we talk about our options. Do we stay, do we leave, do some shopping, have a look around Calais and come back here or do we move on? After deciding on an option we change our minds, we then talk our way out of the next option by choosing the last only to arrive back at the first option. You get the idea. We decide to stay another day.

After a short simple breakfast, we set off for a good long walk. The other reason that we decide to stay is that they have our favourite dragon here, if there can be such a thing. Calais has had a lot of money spent on it over the past few years and one of the attractions that they have is a 72-tonne motorised, fully animated dragon. We looked in on it the last time we were here, but this time we are going to pay some money and go for a ride on the Calais Dragon.

The beach walk before is amazing.

Calais has long sandy beaches.

The beaches here are long, flat, clean and white. The visibility today is so good we can see the white cliffs of Dover very clearly.

Dover is just 23 miles away.

It’s a beautiful day. We walk along the beach for quite a while before heading back for our 2 pm dragon ride. This thing is quite something. 72 tonnes of steel, wood, leather, and other stuff and cost the town 27 million euros. It takes 6 people to operate it and quite a bit of the seafront has been laid out to accommodate its journey. Very impressive.

To get onto her back you climb up the steps which make up her tail. 50 people can ride on her back. Once we are all loaded, we’re off.

It’s very slow but very good. Her whole body moves, she spits and snorts water and steam as well as breaths fire. Great fun. Watching everyone below getting squirted with water as the dragon’s head twists, turns, falls and rises is a giggle for those below and us on the back of the beast.

“Chips of the Nations”

After 30 minutes it’s all over and we disembark. There is a friterie here, or chip shop to us, that has been going since 1974. We quite fancied having some of those before our dragon ride but it’s so popular with the French that the line to get served extended out of the shop.

However, after our dragon rides the shop is now empty of people so we take our chance and buy a small portion of chips. Wow…!! They are certainly worth the wait.

Del with the best chips ever!

Best chips ever. They are double-cooked and fabulous with an unlimited supply of different sauces to choose from. The portions are very generous and unbelievably cheap. Now we know why it’s so popular. Excellent.

Time for a walk along the pier to walk off the chips and back to Jess for a quick rest before dinner, which tonight is in the town.

Le Coq d’Or or Golden Cock is where we are dining tonight. We are the first in. Del goes for a duck version of shepherd pie called Parmentier du Canard while Hayley goes for a Blanquette du Veau, or Veal in a white wine sauce. It was nice, but not the best French meal we have had, a little bit on the bland side, but Hayley has said that she will have a go at doing these dishes when she gets back home. She has done a few recipes from around the world which have always been an absolute success. So something to look forward to.

A nice walk back along the seafront to finish off the day just as the sun sets. It has been a great day here in Calais, our second visit here. There has been some bad press about this place in the past, but take it from us, it really is worth a visit, and we will be coming back.


Sunday the 15th of September

Calais to Neufchatel-en-Bray – 107 miles

Today we are moving on. Definitely, for sure. We have made our mind up. After a non-existent breakfast, we set off to fill up with diesel and do a shop. An expensive day today but it has to be done, and it will see us through for the next few days.

We are heading southeast towards the town of Neufchatel-en-Bray. We have been here before a couple of years ago on our way down to Spain. Back then it was a freezing cold winter night, we arrived at 8 pm, and it was cold and frosty. We stayed in an aire but this time we are going to stop at the campsite which is called Camping Saint Claire.

It’s a very beautiful and peaceful place. The town is just a short bike ride and today we have arrived on the day that they are having a Viking cheese festival. A little random we think but still we give it a go. It was a bustling place, very busy. There are chickens, rabbits and ducks for sale. Horses, goats and pigs to stroke. A mock fight with real swords and armour. Lots of stalls selling local cheese and honey.

It’s all rather pleasant and nice to walk around. There is a small stage set up in the town square where someone is going on about how wonderful the region’s produce is. Which is true, it is all rather good.

There are lots of people dressed up in colourful cloaks and hats who are either cider makers, cheese makers or both.

We buy a small local cheese and a small glass jar of honey before collecting the bikes and setting off for a longer bike ride.

The weather is beautiful and the temperature is just perfect. Blue skies, birds singing. We love it.

Del waiting for his dinner.

Tonight we dine at the campsite. They have a reputation for providing good quality local food as well as dishes from around Europe. Del goes for a fantastic beef bourguignon, while Hayley tackles a chicken Normandie. It is all delicious. Top marks. We finish with Pain Perdu (a French version of bread and butter pudding).

Back at Jess for some gentle jazz, low lights and a cup of tea. Smashing. A great day today, we are tired…


Monday the 16th of September

Neufchatel-en-Bray to Rouen – 31 miles

We had rain overnight, not a lot but enough for us to be woken up. We still had a good night in this lovely place though. We have woken up to grey skies, with a threat of rain. We shall see.

Today we are going to Rouen, a place that we have always wanted to go to. It’s the capital of Normandy and it’s also where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake at the age of 19 in 1431 for “…blasphemy by the wearing of men’s clothes, acting upon visions that were demonic, and refusing to submit her words and deeds to the judgement of the church“. She is the patron saint of France and it was the English that burnt her. Whoops!

Hayley is at the wheel today on a route which takes us through the city, and after a diversion and some ducking and diving avoiding height restrictions, we arrive at the only place that’s close to the city where we can stay for the night. It’s at the marina, in the port on the river Seine. A friendly chap takes our 14 euros for which we get all the facilities that we need.

There we are, in the middle.

Once parked up we have a cup of tea before starting the 45-minute walk to the town.

We wait for a shower of rain to pass before setting off. It’s a nice walk along the river into the town. Most of the riverside warehouses have been renovated into trendy restaurants, bars and cafes along a very wide riverside walkway.

The town is beautiful.

It’s chock full of old buildings, some are bulging and leaning like they could fall over or collapse at any minute, but back in the day despite the look of impending danger, they built them to last. We weave our way through the town admiring the many shops, bars and restaurants. We are looking for the spot where Joan of Arc was executed by fire.

Her church looks a little run down considering she is the patron saint here. It’s a Monday so it’s closed. Shame really as it is supposed to have beautiful stained glass windows inside.

We walk some more and finally arrive at the main square.

The first thing that catches your eye is the huge cathedral, famously painted by Monet multiple times. It’s massive and is being renovated. It was here that the spire caught fire in July, it was almost a Paris Notre Dame moment. Inside is spectacular with its high stone archways and stained glass windows. How these places were built is still a mystery.

Eaten before the photo was taken!

We stop at a small bar for a drink and a crepe with lemon and butter.

A fabulous Normandy cheese

Delicious. We walk some more before deciding to do the 45-minute walk back. 16,164 steps, which equates roughly to 6.5 miles, we arrive back at the marina where Jess is waiting.

We take turns having a shower and Hayley makes up fabulous fajitas which is

followed by some of the fabulous cheese that we bought yesterday in Neufchatel with a little drop of honey and a small glass of red wine. What a feed!! Very satisfying. These French know how to do cheese and wine.

Del loves Normandy, he has already said that we should move here. Oh dear, trouble brewing. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Le Mans to meet up with our good friend from the Isle of Wight.


Tuesday the 17th of September

Rouen to Le Mans – 130 miles

Up and away early today, if you call a 10 am departure early. It’s a long drive today – another 130 miles. It took ages to get into Rouen because of roadworks and diversions, and getting out is just as bad, but we are finally free and away. We liked Rouen, a very pleasant stay in a very pleasant town.

The next stop is Le Mans, home of the 24-hour Le Mans car race. We hope to get there at a reasonable time to go and see some “stuff“. It’s a long drive. We are the only ones on the motorway for some long stretches. The countryside is very nice to look at, all green and hilly in parts but the motorway is just long, with few service stations and sometimes it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere, which you are.

We decide it’s time to have a quick leg stretch. It feels like we have been on the road for hours. We pull into a new service station that has LPG which we need for heating and cooking. We head to fill up, but find that it’s out of service.

In all the service stations in all the world…!

Brilliant. Another bit of manoeuvring into a parking space so we can get a leg stretch and a drink when all of a sudden Hayley yells out, “There’s Karen…!” Sure enough our friend from the island has stopped at the same place on her way to her hotel in Le Mans. You couldn’t make that happen if you tried…! What a fabulous and unexpected surprise.

The three of us go into the services which is superb. So clean. So tidy and with a massive food selection and patisserie. Nothing like the dull, dirty and overcrowded services back home that stink of KFC and Burger King with the usual chains of WH Smiths, M&S and Waitrose. How dull! It really is dull…

After some refreshment, Karen speeds off and we slowly set off agreeing to meet later on this afternoon or evening. Not long to go now, thankfully. We manage to find a service station that had a working LPG pump so we will now have enough heating and cooking gas to last us until the end of the trip.

We arrive at our campsite, Camping Pont Romain about 8 km from Le Mans.

We get a nice cosy spot tucked up in a corner and get settled in quite quickly.

We have made contact with Karen who is only a two-minute drive from us here at the campsite. She is kindly going to collect us and we will all go together into Le Mans. It’s a 15-minute drive into the town and we park just below the imposing cathedral. France is just full of cathedrals and this one here in Le Mans is quite a spectacular one.

The building of it started in the 6th and took a staggering 9 centuries to build! The stained glass windows are the biggest we have seen. It’s a huge place and very very old.

The walk through the town is wonderful.

Street after street of old stone buildings all lovingly restored or taken care of over the years. We look at a few places to eat and settle on a very charming place with lots of outside space with a tree and umbrella canopy. La Baraque A Boeuf has an excellent and varied menu and the beauty of it is that the price for a 3-course dinner less than 30 euros. The portion sizes are generous and the food and service are excellent. The best meal on the trip so far.

We struggle to walk back to the car, full of excellent French fare.

Karen drives us back to the campsite, it has been a very nice day and evening.


Wednesday the 18th of September

Le Mans to Tours – 63 miles

We are heading southeast today towards Tours for one night. It’s a very beautiful city and one that we have always wanted to visit in the past. We are all packed up and ready to go. Karen has arrived to meet with us as we are going to pop into the Le Mans Car Museum. The annual Le Mans race is the famous 24-hour endurance race around the track, and nearby roads.

Ten minutes later and we have arrived. For 16 euros each, we get to walk alongside the famous track, which is a bit of a disappointment as there is a huge chain fence between us and the track, for obvious safety reasons, but it does hinder the view a bit.

Today the track is open to what looks like people who have their own race motorbikes, who can pay a fee and ride their bikes as fast as they like. It’s incredibly noisy as up to 100 bikes are zipping around the track. It’s one way of spending your money.

The museum is very good. With cars starting from the very first French Bollee Family car to the latest Alpine A424. It’s well worth a look.

There is also a huge collection of model cars in glass cases from the 1920s to the present day, which is quite an interesting collection that shows all the cars that have taken part and how they have evolved.

The latest race winners! Hmmm.

Once we are done with the museum and the circuit, the three of us make our way back to Jess at the car park, where Del knocks everyone up a small lunch of bread, cheese, local Jam and duck rillettes. Smashing. We discuss tactics for the rest of the day and it’s agreed that we will all meet at the campsite in Tours and Karen will drive us into the city for a look around. We arrive at our campsite after filling up with diesel here in Tours (we arrived here on fumes). We reckon we had about 20 miles left, but you never really know. We get settled in and Karen joins us having gone around the houses a few times getting lost in the endless roundabouts and service roads that just jump out on you. It’s all a bit messy. She has arrived with goodies: cheese, prawns, wine and our favourite dessert for later. We freshen up and make our way back out into the complicated road system towards the centre of town.

The 10-minute drive to the centre is complicated and busy, but eventually, we arrive at the centre of the town of Tours. It’s very smart, we just meander down any old street and they are all the same. Full of lovely shops, bars and restaurants.

We eventually stop in the main square, which is lined with bars. It also seems to be full of students, some doing homework, some just chatting away. It’s very peaceful, friendly and safe. We stop at a bar and order some Kir Royals, all very civilised.

We’re being conned with this bread.

Back to Karen’s car, she kindly drops us off at the campsite and makes her way to her hotel, or rather her chateau. This is her chateaux holiday. She is staying in them and visiting them. We will be visiting a few with her in the coming days. We say goodbye. Back at Jess, it’s a simple dinner of prawns and salad.

It has been a lovely day, the evening is still and the sun is about to set so we decide to have a quick evening walk before turning in.

We finish the night with tea and a French pastry called a ‘Paris Brest’, one of our favourites. Again, thanks to Karen.


Thursday the 19th of September

Tours to Bracieux (Day 1) – 50 miles

Del slept for 11 hours straight, a record. Hayley is not so good, so she’s a late riser this morning, poor thing. Today we are moving east to a place called Bracieux which will be the start of a small tour of Chateaux. It’s a bright warm day, we have a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast and coffee. It’s a short drive today so we take our time this morning. We stop to do a small shop and wash Jess, she’s starting to look a bit grubby. After 8 euros and 20 minutes, she looks like new again.

We are in the Loire Valley which so far is very picturesque. The road that we are on follows the Loire River almost all the way to the campsite in Bracieux.

We are staying for three days at Camping Les Chateaux part of a chain of campsites run by Huttopia. It’s based in some woodlands and is fabulous. There are a few water-filled potholes so Jess’s clean wheels are no longer!

We get into our rather large pitch and get set up.

We get a lot of stuff in that little van!

Everything is out for the stay here… Jess gets a good weekly clean inside. Everything, shower, toilet, kitchen everywhere gets cleaned. In a small space, it’s frightening how much dust and grime can gather, and by 3 pm we are sitting in the sun with a cold beer and some nibbles, brilliant. It’s nice here. Quiet and peaceful with lots of birdsong. The weather is warm and sunny so we are off to a good start.

Our friend Karen has been sightseeing all day and we have agreed to meet up with her for dinner at a Michelin listed restaurant in town. We spend the rest of the afternoon in the tranquillity of our French wood enjoying the sunshine.

6 pm and we have to get showered and ready to walk into the small town of Bracieux to meet Karen at her hotel. She is staying in a nice place less than a 5-minute walk from the campsite.

She takes us into the courtyard at the back of the hotel for a glass of fizz. It’s very nice, again peaceful and well appointed with friendly staff. Our table is booked at the Le Rendez-vous des Gourmets for 7:15 so off we trot.

The restaurant is lovely inside. It’s a Bib Gourmand rersturant. The menu is small but with a good choice.

The dinner is excellent, everything about it from the restaurant decor, the excellent service and the food, all helped along with a bottle of Sancerre. One of the best dinners in France so far.

We leave just after 9 and bid Karen goodnight. We walk back to the campsite in the pitch black of night, but real black with only 10% left on our phones for light. We take a few bad turns in the woods but we eventually make it

We are here now for the next three nights.

Tomorrow we are going to visit our first chateau.


Friday the 20th of September

Bracieux – (Day 2)

We have now been out for a full week today, two more to go. This is our second day here camped in the woods at Bracieux. The town of Bracieux is the heart of the chateaux country. The place is teaming with them. Every 20 to 50 km there is another impressive chateau. Today we are going to the biggest of them all, Chateau Chambord, but first, we have breakfast at Jess. We are joined by Karen. Del does a fabulous scrambled egg with smoked salmon, tea, coffee, and some toast with cherry jam. Quite a feed.

After the clean-up, again done by Del, we set off in Karen’s car towards Chambord. It’s a short drive and in the distance, we can see the chateau and what a sight it is. It is huge, ornate and very impressive. Quite a sight. We get parked up and make the short walk to the ticket office and the chateau itself. Hayley and Karen take an iPad or HistoPad to walk around with to get a full interactive history and description of the place.

The chateau took 28 years to build and was the home visiting place for up to 2000 courtiers, royalty and politicians, their families and their friends. It has quite a history, one fact that stands out is that in 1939 the Louvre in Paris was emptied and all the artwork, over 5300 cases of it was transferred and stored here to protect it during the second world war.

After a couple of hours, we walk out and attempt to walk the perimeter and see some of the gardens, but it appears that some of the walkways are closed off and it looked more complicated than it appears. No matter we have seen enough and head back to the car.

We drive to our local town to find a patisserie for the purchase of fine French fancies but find that it’s shut. What a shame. Del and Hayley head back to the van, leaving Karen to enjoy some cheese and wine on her terrace.

Back at the van we get the bikes off the back of Jess and go for a short cycle. Del’s bike is on its last legs, a bit like him, but we manage 10km on cycle tracks in the forest.

The tracks just stretch for miles and miles, joining at a junction that has more long stretches of cycleway that go for miles, in all directions.

Back at Jess we shower, clean up Jess and put the bikes back on the back of Jess and cover them up as rain is forecast. Dinner tonight is pasta with a salad and we are looking forward to Karen’s arrival.

She doesn’t disappoint as she cycles to us appearing at the side of the van on her bike with a bag with a baguette sticking out the top. There are more surprises in the bag. Three French cakes from a patisserie that she eventually found.

Dinner is very pleasant. The evening is warm and bright, hard to believe that rain is forecast. We shall see.

An early night tonight. After dinner Karen sets off on her bike before it gets dark, Del does all of the cleaning up, Hayley put on a fine dinner together after all.

All in all a very nice day and evening. What shall we do tomorrow?

See more of Del’s photos on his website and Flickr account.


Bye-bye Summer 2024 – Hello autumn!

Well, that’s the summer of 2024 been and gone, and what a disappointment it was. Saying that we did have some days of warm weather, but it was never a “real” summer, not the kind of summer that we remember from previous years. It was a busy summer for us this year. Plenty of work with lots of friends and family coming to visit us on the Island. You all know who you are. It was lovely to see you all and we hope to see you again soon. Many thanks for making the effort to come and see us, it’s a long way and not the easiest place to get to, so thank you very much.

Now autumn is with us, on Thursday the temperature dropped to single figures, and you can smell the change in the air.

We have three weeks spare in September and thought that we would get away to France, now that all the families and kids have finished their holidays, the weather can still be warm and beautiful so why not? Hayley has done some prep and even booked a few sites for us to stay in advance. During our trip, we will be joined again by our good friend from the Island who spent some time with us on our last trip in May. She is going to be in France touring some of the finest chateaux, so we hope to be joining her soon.


13th September 2024 – Home to Calais. 182 miles

We are up early, ferries are booked, Jess is prepared so off we go. The Wightlink Ferry leaves on time, for a change.

Next the long drive from Portsmouth to Dover, which is uneventful until we get to Cobham services on the M25 going east. Del fancies a coffee from Greggs, which is nice, however, the car park is in gridlock. No one can get out due to the only road out of the service station being blocked as most people want to go west toward Heathrow into roadworks and a huge traffic jam. All the traffic is backed up to the service station, brilliant. We are trapped there for 45 minutes.

Finally, we are free from Cobham services and on our way. We make good progress and can get on an earlier ferry. Fabulous.

The weather is stunning. It’s bright, sunny, warm and calm as we slip away from Dover and into the English Channel, we can see France clearly in the distance. The boat is empty but very empty. It is a fabulous afternoon crossing.

Tonight we will stop at an aire in Calais, a massive aire capable of holding over 100 vans. It’s still quite full even though the holidays are over. It would appear that a lot of people have the same idea as us… We get parked up, plugged up and cleaned up and set off for a walk after hours of sitting.

It’s a lovely evening in Calais. We visited here in May and it took us by surprise. It gets a lot of bad press about immigrants, hoards of men roaming the streets etc, but the beachfront is very smart and tidy. We have a good long walk before turning back towards our mobile home, stopping to take in the sunset.

A very calm, relaxing and pleasant start to our trip.

© 2024 vantours.co.uk

Theme by Anders NorénUp ↑