France April 2024
1st April
Rain, rain, rain all night. Very heavy and some thunder and lightning too. We waited for it to subside and then went out on the bikes to have a look at the Château de La Roche Courbon and the Grottes (Caves) de la Courbon.
It was a fantastic day, the Chateau was amazing. The gardens were water logged but we managed to get around them and get some great shots before heading for the Neanderthalic caves, (50,000 years old!!!) We were able to walk into the caves and experience the eerie feeling that people had actually lived in these spaces all that time ago!
The rain started properly as we got back to the café and we sheltered in the marquee with coffees and had a nice chat with an English family who had lived in France for 10 years! The rain was so heavy we had trouble hearing our own voices! Andy went to pay and discovered that it was cash only, our cash was in the van so Sue volunteered to go and get it and Andy stayed and had another coffee and chocolate cake and chatted to the owner.
We got back at the van and sat and relaxed and planned our next stop.
2nd April
We are off to another free Aire today so we left the Aire at St Porchaire and pulled into a super Marché car park to do our laundry and stock up with essentials. Two hours later we set of towards Javerdat and our home for tonight but on the way we stopped at a picnic area for a break. Andy played the guitar in the fresh air and sunshine at the picnic bench overlooking the vineyards which stretched for miles whilst Sue made the coffee and we had pain au chocolate to finish off the picnic.
We were soon pulling into the Aire at Javerdat ///cork.pristine.governing
The chairs came out, the glasses were filled and R-E-L-A-X!
We got settled and then went for a walk into the village to explore. Nothing was open but the stream was running fast!
We popped into the office where we tried to buy some jetons (Tokens) to pay for some water but the ladies explained that water is free. We told them that it was off and they seemed to agree that perhaps someone who should have turned it on had failed in their duties!!! So, no water but back at the van we had dinner and left the washing up for the morning.
3rd April
Today we opted to drive to the village of Oradour where we were able to park in the car park for the village memorial.
///losing.nodule.terribly.
Oradour was captured by the SS and all the villagers were massacred, men, women and children in retaliation for the death of an SS officer and comrades by the resistance.
We struggled to decide whether to put photos up here as we didn’t feel that it is a story that we wanted to write about on our travel website, but as this web site is a record of our travels and memories and this village was part of our travels we decided to post the media.
If you feel that you would rather not see this part of the story please browse to the next section. However, you can research the story by following the link, below if you feel that you want to know more.
It is a harrowing tale of inhumanity towards innocent men, women, children and babies, one was only two months old!
Oradour-sur-Glane massacre - Wikipedia.
We walked into the new village of Oradour and sat and had a couple of beers and got talking to an English couple and watched the torrential rain through the window.
Then it was off to the cake shop where we spoiled ourselves rotten and returned to the van to enjoy our cakes and to contemplate what we had seen over the last few hours.
We decided to stay in the car park tonight as we couldn’t see any signs to say that we couldn’t. Another free night!
4th April
It was a quiet night and we woke up refreshed and got the van back on the road. Today we were heading south towards the Dordogne area.
We pulled out of the car park and drove past the old village with heavy hearts as we tried not to think of the atrocities that took place there on the 10th of June 1944.
It was a fairly long drive so we stopped after about 100 kilometres at the Claude Bonnier picnic Aire, Claude Bonnier was a member of the resistance and his story is here.
Claude Bonnier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
We sat in the sunshine with our burger and hot dog, French style, and a cup of coffee each and then continued our journey to the Aire at Rouchebeaucourt, ///firewall.relights.tones
We drove past the turning as it came up a bit quick and had to continue for a few kilometres before finding a place to turn around. As we eventually pulled into the Aire we were pleasantly surprised to see how new and clean and well kept it looked.
We drove over the grey waste drain and we emptied and filled as necessary. 2 euros for 10 minutes of clean water which equated to a full 125 litre tank and enough drinking water. The waste dump was free.
We chose to wait until tea time to connect the 16 amp EHU as it was €4 for 4 hours of 16 amps and we would use it to cook and heat the water to save our gas. We went off to explore the village and surrounding countryside and the lovely homes in the area.
Everything was shut in the village but there was bunting up and signs for overspill car parks so we deduced that there might be something happening here over the weekend, we will Google it, or it could be that it was all left over from the Easter celebrations! With that in mind we decided to stay here until Monday to hopefully join in any party which might happen!
Back to the van and Andy connected the electric only to find that the supply was NOT reversed at this Aire, (see the reversed polarity blog here). So he rewired the EHU cable back to normal polarity and plugged it in, all worked correctly now and we switched the water heater on and put everything on charge and sat in the warm sun listening to the radio until dinner time. We showered and relaxed until bedtime. A good day!
5th April
The weather seems to have improved and yesterday was mainly sunny and around 18 C. Today promised to be similar so when Andy was rudely awoken at 6am by the church bells calling the villagers to the early morning service he was hoping to see the sunshine from the bedroom window and was not disappointed.
But 6am is a bit early for a retired gentleman of leisure so he rolled over and opted for a couple of extra hours in bed.
Eventually he got up and flung all of the windows open and hooked back the habitation door to allow the warm, fresh air into the van and put the kettle on ready for his first black, decaf coffee of the day sitting outside as the sun rose over the trees in the distance.
Sue awoke and we got ready for a walk to explore the ruined Chateau. We stood at the line where the Dordogne meets Charente on the bridge over the river Nizonne and then walked around the ruins and followed the path through the gardens and discovered the Grottes and then a memorial and resting place of Pauline de Torzel.
There was a guards box up the hill from the aire and we investigated it and found that there was a demarcation line which marked where the German occupation ended at that place and the resistance were active.
We returned to the town and had a beer at Les Cluzeaux and decided to book a table for 7:30.
We got back to the van for a siesta and Sue slept like a log whilst Andy relaxed and listened to a play on radio four. Soon it was time to go and we walked up to the restaurant and enjoyed a very good meal of Asparagus in a mustard sauce followed by leg of lamb with Gratin au Pomme de terre. Sue had a flan to finish and Andy washed it down with a LARGE whiskey.
We fell into bed that night, full and ready for sleep.
6th April
The wind picked up last night. Andy woke up at 8:30 and put the kettle on. We got sorted and emptied the waste before setting off east.
We stopped after an hour and a half at a picnic spot where Sue did a soup and bread lunch before we continued to the Aire which we had decided on for tonight, The Aire D’Eden ///pronouncing.varies.phoning, Tordesillas.
We pulled into the Aire and found that it was perfect. We were welcomed by Marie, the lovely lady owner of the land and we arranged to stay for one night provisionally with EHU for €11.
We parked and plugged in, using our UK to French EHU adaptor, turned the water heater on and got the chairs out and spent the next few hours talking to the donkeys, dogs and humans and enjoyed the warm evening and wine/beers whilst listening to music on spotify.
7th April
After a very quiet night Andy got up at 8am and made coffee, sitting outside to drink and reflect. He got on the laptop and did a quick update of the blog and then some research on the area to plan for the day.
We decided to bike into town where we locked the bikes up next to the ancient bridge and climbed the many steps to the top of the town to capture the views and take in the beautiful buildings.
We stopped at the church as the bells were ringing and then heard the most beautiful sound of the congregation who were singing a hymn and the sound was reverberating around the church as if it was a Cathedral.
We continued our walk back down the hill and to the gardens of imagination, (Les Jardins De La Vergne) where we paid the €8 each for our tickets and climbed more steps which led to the gardens.
The photos and videos here will show what these gardens were like but beautiful is not an adequate description to use. They were tranquil, thought inspiring and the views from the top were amazing. The water features stood out and were everywhere.
Eventually we staggered down the hill and to the bikes to cycle back to the van where Marie, Bruno and the other French ‘vanners’ were having a ‘bring and share’ bar b q.
Andy went over to see if we could join in and Marie insisted that we did so we gathered some burgers and wine from the Mac shack and were soon being introduced to all of their friends. We spent the afternoon drinking and eating and talking and laughing together and as it started to get dark Andy was asked to sing and play the guitar so he collected his Yamaha from the van and started the party off with ‘Mr Rock and roll’ which Sue and the whole party sang along with. The music continued with Mrs Robinson, La Bamba, Twist and shout and some rock-a-billy tunes and the whole party was ‘live’ on the Eden facebook page!
A great day was drawing to an end and as we were saying Au revoir everyone said that it was a great party and that Andy and Sue had made it so enjoyable by playing and singing for them. We headed back to our beds where we fell into a wonderful sleep with big smiles on our faces.
8th April
In the morning we sat in the sun drinking our cuppas and were greeted by the small dogs and the donkeys who all came to see these strangers who had been making so much noise the night before.
As the other campers awoke and left their vans we were greeted by our new friends playing air guitar and gesturing how much they had enjoyed themselves the night before. Andy thought to himself, “This is exactly why I love to play in the pubs and clubs, audience appreciation”.
After breakfast of oats, banana omelette we packed away and said our goodbyes before driving around to the services to empty our waste before heading off toward Clermont – Ferrand which was recommended to us by Marie as it had volcanos, (we hoped that they were now inactive!). The scenery was supposed to be amazing so we programmed the SatNag and off we went promising Marie that we would be back one day.
The journey was stress free and the scenery changed as we climbed up and then down the tree lined hills and passed through the towns and villages.
After about and hour and a half driving Sue found an Aire, which was free to stay, next to a lake ///hunter.gecko.unclog so we pulled in and parked with a fantastic view of the lake which was idyllic.
We went for a walk down to the shore to check out the possibility of launching the paddle boards tomorrow and found some ideal spots but instead we decided to use the bikes to explore further afield.
Back to the van to sit and relax and watch the sun go down over the lake before retiring into the van for dinner and Youtube as the wind got up and was gusting quite strongly. Then the rain started as we got to bed and continued for most of the night!
9th April
Andy woke up at 9am and made his coffee and continued updating this blog. The rain last night had lowered the temperature as he sat in the lounge looking out at the lake through the rain drops on the window.
We got on the bikes and cycled around the lake, the views were amazing with the sun streaming through the trees and when we got to the far side of the lake we could see the van parked at the Aire.
We took our selfies in a fun board which we had to stick our heads through like you do at the seaside back in the UK.
Back to the van to relax again and wrap up to keep warm. Another great day!
10th April
We emptied our waste and got back on the road to the volcanic area of Clermont – Ferrand hoping that we would be able to stop overnight at an Aire which would be close enough to the Puy de Dome to be able to cycle to the scenic railway station and get a train to the top.
We pulled into the Aire jogging.clubs.from, filled the water tank for €2 and parked at the top area. We got the chairs our and relaxed in the sunshine. We decided to stay for a couple of nights and as it was still very cool we paid €2 for 4 hours of 16 amp electricity so that we could heat the water for a shower and heat the van without using up our quickly depleting gas supply.
It got cold as the evening drew in but the fan heater plugged into the 230v supply kept the temperature in the van up to a bearable 18 degrees until we hit the sack.
11th April
It was a cold night last night, the sky was clear and we sat out and watched the stars and the satellites for as long as we could manage in the cold but eventually the cold got to us.
Andy got up at 7am and put a token in the slot for another 4 hours of electricity and heated the water and the van to a bearable temperature for his shower.
Once we were sorted and fed we got on the bikes and headed to the Puy de dome railway station where we locked the bikes up and bought our tickets for the train which took us to the top of the volcano.
The views were spectacular all the way up to the summit which was about 1,450 metres above sea level. We left the train and carried on walking even higher. until we found a paraglider getting his canopy ready to fly. We videoed him and his lady passenger run off the edge of the volcano and soar around the summit, passenger screaming for her life!
We continued walking and taking snaps and marvelling at the views of the snow-covered mountains in the Clermont – Ferrand range in the distance and playing with the snow which was on the ground as we walked around the volcano. We stopped at the café and had hot chocolate and chips which we ate on the outdoor terrace with views of the other volcanos and the mountains in the distance.
After a quick walk around the exhibition we headed back to the train and were soon reunited with our bikes. It was a quick cycle ride back to the van.
Sue’s bike had been playing up over the last few weeks and was displaying a lack of power when she pedalled so once back at the Aire Andy stripped it down and cleaned all of the electrical parts before reassembling it and sealing everything with Sikaflex. A quick test ride and all seemed well, we shall see on our next bike ride.
We took a walk to the nearby shop to get some beer and wine and then sat at the village green for half an hour before returning to the van for the evening.
It was hard to believe that only a few hours ago we were 5000 feet up an inactive volcano where we noticed the altitude affecting our breathing, walking past snow and enjoying the fantastic views.
12th April
It is not as cold this morning so we didn’t spend our tokens (Jetons) on electricity. Instead we got up and had a cuppa to warm us up and then made the van ready for the road.
We stopped off at the service point to empty waste and put rubbish in the bins provided by the village council and then set off towards Vichy without really knowing where we were going to stay tonight.
We stopped at a fuel station and filled the tank before setting off again negotiating some steep hills of up to 12% and taking in the beautiful scenery. We stopped at an Aire at Volvic for soup and bread ///doted.purest.kinder and thought about visiting the Volvic water visitor centre but it was so difficult to find a place to park anywhere near it so we opted to carry on and found a free Aire at Saint Gerand de Vaux, ///incubator.cheesecake.pixels which was next to a beautiful lake and surrounded by trees.
As we were parking there was only one other van here and the chap was fishing from the bank.
We parked on the grass and got on the bikes and went into the village to buy a token for clean water, €2, and then, as the bar was shut we went back to the van to sit and watch the clouds reflecting in the lake as the sun went down on another day.
A group of young lads turned up and set up their gazebo and got ready to fish the next day, but for them, tonight was for drinking. They were further down the lake to us and were not noisy so all was well.
As it got dark we sat watching the satellites passing over our heads. There was no light pollution at all and the stars were so bright!
A brilliant day ended with a wonderful evening.
13th April
We woke up in two minds this morning whether to stay here and enjoy the lake side free Aire or move northeast towards Dijon. It was Saturday and it would probably get busier here than we like so we decided to move on.
We didn’t usually travel with a full tank (due to the weight) and we opted not to fill up here. We packed away and gathered some dried cut grass to put in front of the wheels to give the tyres a chance on the wet, soft grass and drove the van onto the harder road surface before we loaded Andy’s bike on the tow bar and Sue’s into the van.
We set off towards Dijon with a mind to stop at a super Marché on the way to stock up we pointed the van North-eastwards and got ready for a fairly long trip but soon we were pulling into the super Marché car park after some quite bracing hills and spectacular scenery.
We filled the shopping trolley up and settled down to lunch in the car park whilst watching the tiny lizards playing around the van wheels. After lunch we got back on the road. We were aiming for a service point at Autun where we hoped to fill with fresh water before settling for the night at an Aire on the opposite side of the lake but, the services were under repair so no water and we decided to continue north to try to get water elsewhere.
After another hour or so and we rocked up to an Aire with services at Arnay de Duc ///falls.shivered.pleat only to find that the Aire was shut as the pay machine was ‘Kuput’.
Andy had been driving for too long today already and after checking the ‘Search4sites’ and ‘Park4night’ apps for alternatives we decided to rough it out here for tonight, parking just outside the barriers, and make do with our bottled fizzy water, wine and beer and look for somewhere to fill up tomorrow.
This had been a slightly more stressful day than our usual one but you need to adapt to the situation if you want to live like this, we have said before that it isn’t all sunsets and waterfalls. We were safe and it was free and we weren’t in anybody’s way and so we were legal, so let’s have a drink, get dinner on and tomorrow is another day.
Andy got the laptop out and started work when a lad and two young women turned up with pizzas and sat on the next picnic table. We struck up a short conversation with them and they were very friendly and well mannered. When they left they wished us ‘Bon voyage’ and took all of their rubbish away with them! We had a lovely meal and then sat and watched the satellites (again), finished our wine and beers and then 'snuggled' down for the night.
14th April
We had a lovely quiet night last night and woke up refreshed and ready for the day.
We got up and sat outside with a cuppa then, one after another various classic cars drove past the Aire and down to the end of the road. We were curious and got ready to investigate just as they were setting off on a ‘ride out’ and we were able to get some great videos of the cars, bikes and tractors!
We walked to the end of the road and had an expresso each and watched the convoy drive past tooting their hooters as they got to the waiting crowd.
When we got back to the van we decided to walk into town and find somewhere to have brunch. The town/village of Arnay le Duc was lovely with the old architecture mixing with the more recent. Andy got some cash from the ATM and we settled at the Café de Nord for beers and omelettes, chips and salads.
After a really nice brunch we headed back to the van and left the Aire and headed for our next stop, 'Huttopia' campsite.
We only had to drive around half a kilometre to the campsite, Huttopia ///garbled.tops.goggled where we decided to stay for two nights for €19 per night (£16) including EHU, water, waste, showers, washing up stations and a lake! There was also a laundry room which cost €4 per wash and €2 per dry.
We pitched up at number 81 which was lovely and spacious and got the canopy out, set the chairs and table in place and went for a wander down to the lake to checkout the paddle boarding possibilities. The lake was brilliant for paddle boarding so we returned to the van and collected the boards, borrowed a trolley and wheeled them down to the shore, pumped them up and launched them into the calm waters.
The sun was shining, the breeze was warm and all was well.
After about an hour or so of paddling around the lake and just floating around we returned to the bank and loaded the boards onto two trolleys as we had left them inflated and pushed them up the hill and back to the van where we sat for a while before having a nice, hot shower in the facilities block.
That was a great day and we finished it off with a great dinner cooked outside on the induction hob and Cadac and, guess what, watched the sky for satellites and the stars.
15th April
In the early hours we heard a splash of rain but when we got out of bed it was dry, (and the bed).
We wanted to walk around the lake today (2.2km) so boots on and off we went. It was windy and cloudy today so no paddle boarding. After our brisk walk we popped into the bar for a small local beer each which was nice, slightly citris and oat flavoured and then back to the van where Sue got set to take the washing to the laundry room. We spent the afternoon relaxing and listening to music whilst the washing and drying was on the go.
Andy decided to slope off to the bar to get connected to the wifi and catch up with the blog. A small beer or two helped with the work and later Sue joined him.
We got back to the van and put the clean clothes away and settled down for the evening. We had decided to move on tomorrow and head towards and past Dijon, we were enjoying the rest at this campsite but we agreed that we were both feeling the need to get back on the road and see what’s around the corner.
16th April
Morning has broken and we got ready to go. We moved the van to the service point and emptied our waste etc. We had found an Aire in a village called Velesmes next to a church and it was free to stay and it had service too!
We pulled into the reception area of Huttopia and Andy went in to say au revoir where the young lady asked for the website address as she was interested in reading about our travels!
Fame at last…
We took the rubbish to the bins and programmed the SatNag. Heading North east, through some lovely villages and a mixture of lanes and motorways we eventually arrived at Velesmes-Echevanne village Aire and parked next to the church. ///resistant.lizards.ferment
The tarmac pitch was level and the services included grey and black waste, clean water and toilets. It also looked like there was an EHU point but we didn’t need electricity so we didn’t investigate but supposed that you would have to pay for it from somewhere close by.
The church bells struck every half hour and we wondered if they would keep us awake? As we sat in the van and relaxed, listening to the rain and catching up on Youtube and Netflix two or three other vans turned up and parked nearby.
17th April
It was raining when we woke up but it was on and off through the morning and the dark clouds in the distance looked menacing. We decided to chance it in between showers and walked around the village but couldn’t find a shop so we ended up at the pizza machine (Just Queen). You can register and order a pizza, (and other food) via an app or at the machine direct and it cooks it for you and delivers it boxed up from a slot just like any other vending machine!
Andy downloaded the app but it started raining so we gave up and returned to the van.
We set off North towards Nancy thinking that we would find a place to sleep when we got tired and see how far we got.
We found a place in Mirecourt ///wittiest.lyric.affably which was a camping car club site which we have a card for.
You can top your card up online or at the entry barrier and it charges the card when you leave.
We parked and got the EHU connected and settled down for the evening, planning to explore the town tomorrow.
18th April
A quick walk around the town was the plan for today so we wrapped up as it was surprisingly cold and headed for the shop where our brother in law, (Mil Mougenout’s) ancestor, (Leon Mougenout) made violins. Sarah, our sister in law, is now playing one of his violins in her band, ‘Reload’ so we were really interested to see this piece of history. Unfortunately the shop had obviously changed hands recently and although the signage was still over the shop it was closed down and looked like it was in the process of changing it’s use to a residential home. We took some photos anyway for our records and carried on down the street.
Andy found a Luthier workshop and popped in to chat to the young guy who was working on various instruments including a beautiful Takamine guitar which he told Andy all about.
Onwards we went and walked into the main square where the obligatory memorial to the fallen was displayed. We found a sports bar and popped in to warm up and have a beer.
When we got back to the van and we got the electric heating on and sat in font of the TV for a few hours before falling into bed.
19th April
After a good night’s sleep we awoke refreshed and decided to explore further and this time we walked along the area behind the Aire and noticed some tree carvings and then we walked along the river and took some more photos. It was another cold day and we decided to continue north to try to find a place to sleep for tonight. We were aiming for the Nancy / Metz area which would take us closer to the Luxemburg border so we pulled over the service drain and emptied grey waste but discovered that the water supply was off so we couldn’t take on clean water. We thought that this was unacceptable as we had paid the full fee which included ALL services. We will reflect this in our review on Search4sites and Camping car web site.
We set off north and enjoyed the journey through the lush green fields and undulating roads and found a free Aire at Richardmenil slightly south of Nancy. ///identify.shout.shared.
This was a smallish car park for 5 motorhomes and vans and the services included 16 amp EHU, grey and black waste and clean water although there was a noticed advising that filling with water was not allowed! We filled with 50 litres anyway as there was no explanation as to why this was!
We found that the electricity supply was reversed polarity so Andy rewired the EHU cable again.
We turned the electric heating on and settled down for relaxing couple of hours.
Later we decided to walk up the hill to the super Marché to pick up some beers and Sue chose vodka and tonic then back to the van to relax.
It had been raining quite hard for the last few days and eventually the main skylight started to leak, a small drip from the corner was landing on the driver’s side sofa so we put an old towel over the sofa to protect it and put the job on the very long list of to do jobs for when we got back to the UK.
Through the evening more vans arrived and the Aire filled up by late evening. A van parked next to us which had a sliding door which are notoriously noisy and so was this one, however after about an hour of opening and closing the door they eventually settled down and it went quiet.
20th April
It felt slightly warmer this morning but we put the electric fan heater anyway as the electricity was free! Andy updated the blog and we listened to the radio for a while before setting off towards Luxembourg border!
We stopped at an Esso fuel station and filled up, 1€75 (£1.51) and carried on through the rain showers and soon arrived at Amneville and the camping car Aire.
We topped up our membership card at the barrier and picked a dry pitch and then drove over to the service point where we filled up with clean water, (the pressure of the water was so strong that it blew the hose pipe fittings apart, ridiculous!) We will report this to the relevant people as this made it very difficult to fill the van’s tank. We put the front of the van on chocks as the pitch wasn’t quite level enough for Sue and then Andy plugged in the EHU remembering that he had rewired the socket due to the previous Aire having reversed polarity. We soon found out that this Aire was normal polarity so Andy rewired the socket again to correct the polarity. (We must remember to buy an adaptor for our next European trip!)
We had a quick walk to explore the area and discovered loads of restaurants, bars and just down the road a zoo, swimming pool, Bowling alley, ice skating rink and an area where there were skateboard and BMX training ramps for all ages. There was some pumping music too and the atmosphere was brilliant!
We popped into the bowling bar and had a beer before returning to the van to watch the F.A. cup semi-final, (Man U v Chelsea).
In the evening, we got our ‘big boys and girls’ clothes on and headed for the ‘Buffalo grill’ where we enjoyed ribs and fries. The evening was noisy as the place filled up with revellers and the noise continued through into the early hours. Andy slept like a baby and heard nothing, as usual but Sue didn’t sleep well as she can hear a butterfly sneeze and it was too noisy for her but it was Saturday night!
21st April
After a noisy night due to the late-night comings and goings of the cars full of people who had been at the restaurants etc. we woke and discussed whether to stay another night or move on. We decided to stay as today was Sunday and we hoped that it would be quieter.
After the usual three cups of tea/coffee we got togged up and went for a walk and found a lake and a ‘Galleon’ café (which was shut) and then popped into McDonalds for lunch.
Once back at the van we watched the 2nd F.A. cup semi final (Man U v Coventry) which went to penalties which Man U won, against the run of play because Coventry were the better team on the day.
Tomorrow we are heading towards Germany and Luxemburgh so you can read about this final part of the France trip HERE or just find the page in the TIME LINE in the side bar menu.