A soggy week in Paris…! How was London?

Week 2. Bracieux to Paris – 259 miles

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 Sancerre – 73 miles

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.

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 Chablis – 75 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.

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.

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.

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.

---