Our now annual trip to France once again started with major health concerns. 3 days before we left Sandra was diagnosed with MS. As if this wasnt enough, the consultant left us very concerned about lesions in her neck which, combined with whiplash, could leave her paralised. So 2 concerns - the shock of the diagnosis, fear of whiplash, and ongoing health issues with regard to peeing and bowel movements - 3 concerns, oh and all the stuff to do with leaving for a month and - I'll start again.
The plan, which we didn't deviate too much from, had to be much more planned than before and comprised: a trip out, as much time as possible on 2 or 3 sites we like on the Ile de Re, and the trip home. To get the best from our efforts we decided on tunnel out and ferry back. With an abnormal number of constraints I had much more planning at home to take care of. I also wanted to look at some different bits of France as we drove by. Even though France is so big, I didn't want to go on roads I have used too much before. Troyes looked nice and there is a campsite right near the middle for a walk into town. Given Sandra's apprehension, I also wanted to include some more familiar territory, so we decided to include Brantome again. So Calais, big loop round the east of Paris, Troyes, northern Dordogne and Ile de Re. Best option for home seems to be St Malo, but looking at crossing times and how we were likely to feel, we opted for an overnight from Cherbourg to Poole. Sorted. Plus I actually worked out - for the most part - exactly which sites we were going to target, with one or two alternatives, but not many.
Off we went. Long drive to Folkestone and the CCC club site right by the sea. They weren't very welcoming and put us next to the toilets as though they knew we had special needs, but it was at the end of the field with not many other people to watch. The long journey gave rise to another oil burp. Massive this time all over the nearside of the van. In panic bought more oil and loads of cleaning materials and gave the van a good wipe down. We decided to bat on and hope, continuing with a half full oil tank rather than top up to max again. It worked as we had no more burps. The next morning saw a simple tunnel crossing, although it was signed 30 minutes delay on arrival, it ended up only 20 mins late and we slipped over to France. We are old hands know and getting very frustrated by an obvious first-timer who was very cautious at every twist and turn, but we couldn't overtake until we hit the dual carriageway leaving the Europort.
The next problem was a knocking, which started when we hit the smooth motorway south of Calais and appeared as we approached our normal cruising speed. Lots of worries and a good root around at the suspension and tyres, but nothing obvious. Carry on regardless. First campsite was near Amiens at Camping du Château - Bertangles. Beuatiful campsite in the grounds of a chateau, which was shut to the public. Situated in a very pretty village which must have been the chateau village with a more modern addition we had a wander around and a couple of beers at a bar we found. Back at the site the locals arrived with a farm tractor with a scoop on the front which was used to pick cherries from a huge cherry tree on the site. They harvested what they wanted and left a step ladder and a 'help yourselves' sign. We did.
Second day we headed for champagne country with another site next to a town - Sous Le Clocher in Dormans. Coffee stop en route, we parked on the kerb near the cathedral in Noyon, and had a good look round. We were a bit concerned on this site in that there were two large groups of extended families camping in tents covered with black plastic sheeting and driving past slowly in battered drug dealer type cars. We were enjoying hot weather but there had been much rain and thunderstorms through out France in the previous weeks. We arrived just after two English couples in caravans travelling together, who didn't have a clue how to book themselves in. I helped them find the owner and negotiated a place for all of us. We walked into town for a look round and a couple of beers and although Google was showing a number of restaurants we didn't fancy or couldn't find anything except a posh one so we went there. Chosing frugally from the menu and expressing Sandra's food preferences we were treated to a lovely meal - proper French style. I had Andouillettes with mustard sauce which is a local delicacy and quite brave because it is very course cut sausage with the contents quite obvious!
The third day took us to Troyes via a lovely short drive alongside the Seine. The municipal campsite is nicely situated close to the town but still a mile walk into the nearest bits of the centre - the cathedral and the really old bits a further on. There were once again problems on several pitches which had suffered from heavy rain and we took quite a while getting straight with solid ground around us. It was lovely and hot and there was a heated outdoor pool on the site. We planned 2 nights and immediately set off to explore Troyes. The walk was along very busy roads and not very pleasant, but we got to the cathedral and walked on towards a lovely large square where we had beer in a couple of cafes and ate in a restaurant then walked around the old town. It was Friday night and the town was buzzing. Alarmingly we saw a troop of fully armed soldiers walking through the precinct as though they were invisible, and people carried on as though they weren't there! The next day saw us knackered and we just rested. Sandra tried her bike with disappointing consequences. We had a swim. Sunbathed and watched thunder clouds go by in the distance.
We left Troyes on a Sunday and the traffic initially was quiet but seemed to get busy through the day, and was never in any rush. There were some very quiet roads and some very busy ones with roadworks. Coffee stop found us in a lay-by with a water problem, in that we had filled the tank and the lay-by wasn't level so water was overflowing from the tank all over the floor! We watched a couple eating their lunch from the back of their car - and extensive packed lunch which seemed to go on and on! We were headed for a small campsite next to the Canal Lateral du Loire. I had spent a lovely holiday cruising this canal in maybe 1981 or 82, with my first wife and her sister and boyfriend. The aim was to find a bar owned by Louis Reynard and the place where our boat was moored for the Mushrooms à la Grecque incident. Looking on Google maps, this appeared to be the only possible town where we might have been, but there was no sign of the bar on the map. Despite the mixed traffic conditions, we arrived promptly, but early enough in the day to make the campsite too soon to stop. There was an alternative further on. We had a walk round the village and looked for the bar but there was no sign, apart from one possible candidate which is now a house, and it was a 30 odd year memory. Driving on we had a good look down the canal in a nostalgic sort of way through some very pretty villages, arriving at the second choice campsite. The campsite was right next to a very full Loire river with lots of puddles and mud. More evidence of the thunderstorm season which we seemed to be missing so far. We went for a drink early doors and decided to book a table for a meal that night (Sunday night – popular eating out night!) and continued our stroll. The temperature and proximity of the river reminded us to start extreme mossie precautions and Sandra dug out her electronic deterrent which emits a high pitched squeal. We had a nice meal but during the course of the meal the chef came round frantically searching for something and we realised that someone had been disturbed by the squeal, which you can hardly hear with it right next to your ear, but was clearly causing trouble. He gave up and disappeared again, but it made us wonder if it was us or something else!
Onwards and heading away from the Loire, we had one last stop for coffee at La Charite du Loire where we had a stroll, we were headed for the Limousin. Small roads, spectacular French scenery and long views we ended up miraculously driving round a thunderstorm we could see coming for many miles. We stopped for lunch at a motorway aire at Magny Cours. Finally, we arrived at an idyllic little farm in the middle of nowhere and a Dutch owned campsite set up with loads of stuff for kids and very friendly. We tried a couple of pitches before we settled, but were only staying one night.
Next day was a day of numbers. Through the national park of a thousand cows and heading for a campsite of a thousand springs. Sandra wasn’t very well again and it was a day of small roads and lots of twists and turns. Couple of stops in nice locations including lunch besides the Etang de Meouze, but my route choice wasn’t popular. The campsite was a bit strange too, with very very few pitches which were anywhere near flat and almost all under trees. We got sorted eventually and enjoyed watching a family pitch their tent below us. There was a nice lake and a walk into town but we weren’t eating out which was lucky as there was nowhere to eat. We enjoyed exploring the extensive campsite which blended into the forest and never seemed to end. We also discussed going home, but we had Brantome to look forward to and set off in that direction the next day.
Following on from the windy roads of the previous day we decided to take a longer but much straighter main road route through Limoges rather than a direct cross country minor road route. We stopped for coffee just outside Limoges which meant doubling back for some distance to find a quiet lay-by. Traffic in Limoges was a challenge, but enjoyable and after lunch arrived at the campsite just exactly when reception opened. We planned to stay 2 nights and were given free choice of where to go and managed to find a nice pitch just a row away from the river beach and not under too many trees. The weather forecast was showing warm and clear now with thunder passed for a few days at least. We ended up 3 nights in Brantome enjoying 2 meals out and several trips to the bar in the centre where we made friends again with some ‘locals’ in that they had a place there. The 3rd night meant we could be there for market day, but put pressure on our next steps to Ile de Re.
We had planned 2 hops to the Ile de Re but since we had originally planned to maximise our stay on the Ile de Re, we decided to stop once in Saintes. This was a pretty rough campsite but only 15 mins walk to town. We fancied seeing the amphitheatre and more ruins but they were a longer walk and really took it out of us. We had lots of sit downs and a couple of beers on the way back. Next stop Ile de Re, which we made in time for coffee. We had decided to start in the last campsite we visited last year: Camping Campéole Les Amis de le Plage, because it was near enough to the town and right by the beach. We thought we might move on in 3 or 4 days to other familiar sites. The weather forecast was improving over the next few days.