Vincelles - Thursday September 5th 2012

Thursday September 5^th 2012

What a disastrous day!

A fox had ripped open the rubbish bag I’d left outside overnight so all that had to be cleaned up.

The emergency brake cable on the tow hitch got itself wrapped around the jockey wheel while we were turning the caravan. A kind elderly Dutch man help us to push the van the other way so we could release it.
The tyre looked very mangled but was OK when we got the cable off.

The car started playing silly buggers again and was struggling to tow the caravan. The light on the dashboard said it was an electrical fault. We hobbled into Les Ceriselles on a wing and many prayers.

Neither mobile phone would allow us to ring out. @$%*#!!! So we texted the insurance people and they fortunately phoned back. Thank you, thank you, thank you! They’re sending a man in the morning. For some reason, best known to himself, Kim was determined to find a Renault dealer in Auxerre, drive there at 10 mph, explain the problem in fractured French and CYCLE back! Why, in the name of all heaven, have we got breakdown insurance, only to ignore it and do your own thing? I managed to persuade him to see reason and to let the insurance sort things out but it exhausted me. My stress level is a tad high.

Friday September 7^th 2012

A nice wee mechanic came this morning and carted off the car on his big macho truck. At least we’re stranded on a good campsite. I just need Kim to stay well and not to get gout or infected insect bites.

Camping les Ceriselles

Route de Vincelottes

89290 Vincelles

www.campingceriselles.com

Swimming pool, laundry, good showers etc, walking distance to supermarket, great towpath for cycling.  The little town isn’t much to write home about, just one street with a small bar/restaurant and a tabac where you can buy postcards and stamps. But we like it, it’s quiet and noffensive.

Walked to the supermarket and sent some postcards.

Saturday September 8^th 2012

Cycled to Champs sue Yonne along the towpath. The river and canal were glorious and lots of people were out enjoying the day. Some boys were swimming in the river. Very hot.

Sunday September 9^th 2012

Baking hot day and we just sat around. I’m edgy and bad tempered. I can’t be doing with things going wrong.

Monday September 10^th 2012

Hot and sunny again. Cycled along the towpath to a different supermarket, just for a change. Had a drink in the bar in town.

Tuesday September 11^th 2012

It rained on and off all day and is a lot cooler.

The car is mended. Deep joy. The insurance company sent a taxi to take us to the garage. They’ve replaced a gas release valve, whatever that might be. It cost a lot.

Kim loaded all the gear back into the car while I did some ironing. We’ll get going the day after tomorrow, I need a quiet day to recover my shredded wits.

Wednesday September 12^th 2012

Cold and a bit miserable this morning. Spent the day getting ready to depart in the morning. 

Ressons-le-Long - Tuesday September 3rd 2012

Tuesday September 3^rd 2012

Drove to next campsite, which is only 150 miles but it took five hours. Always double the estimated travelling time when you’re towing a caravan. It was hot. Arrived about 4pm. Last time we stayed here, the car was towed away with buggered front suspension and Kim was ill so it was not a happy time. It’s a good site and has laundry facilities and a swimming pool.

La Halte de Mainville

18 Rue de Routy

Ressons-le-Long

Picardie F-02290

lahaltedemainville@wanadoo.fr

Wednesday September 4^th 2012

Overcast and cool all morning but no rain. We sat about reading and generally relaxing. Cycled to Vic sur Aines after lunch. There were road works and traffic lights on the bridge, reducing it to one narrow lane with big lorries thundering across. I was all for leaving the bikes chained up and walking into town – there was no room to push them along the narrow pedestrian bit – but Kim was having none of it. So I wobbled across on the green light with a docking great lorry snorting its way up my bum. At least he didn’t run me over but he was bloody close!

We arrive in France - Sunday September 2nd 2012

Sunday September 2^nd 2012

We were early at the ferry terminal so they put us on an earlier boat, which was half empty. It was great, no scary steep ramp to give the car a heart attack.

Arrived in France about 4pm and drove straight to Licques. We’ve stayed here before, on the way in and out, so won’t repeat the details here. M. le Patron recognised us from last time.

Monday September 3^rd 2012

Did supermarket shopping, checked emails and had an early night.

West Hythe - Saturday 1st September 2012

An interminable journey to Hythe with lots of traffic and hold-ups. We arrived about 4.30. They’d had a power cut so there was no electricity. They didn’t offer a discount! This is another Caravan Club site and at least they accepted the voucher.

Daleacres Caravan Club Site

Lower Wall Road

West Hythe

CT21 4NW

01303 267679

This site is for club members only. They don’t accept tents and they don’t allow you to hang up your towels to dry on a washing line in case some brattish child trespasses on your pitch and gets garrotted. The man patrolling on his wee tractor spotted my crime and asked me politely to take down the line. Pshaw. It’s a big site and regimented. You have to line up your unit a certain way, to the left of the pitch number with the door to the right and bla de bla de bla. I couldn’t be bothered with too much of that lark. You’d think you were in Germany! It’s only one night so it doesn’t matter but I wouldn’t want to say longer. Having expressed all that dissatisfaction, I have to say the staff in Reception were very pleasant.

Harbury - Friday 31st August 2012

Off to France again but we’re having two stops in UK on the way to the ferry. Plenty of time so we didn’t get going until lunchtime. The traffic was horrendous and it took four hours to get here. It’s a nice site but they wouldn’t accept the Caravan Club vouchers I’ve been hoarding for this very occasion. We joined the Caravan Club earlier this year and were given vouchers for two free nights. Curses! I doubt we’ll get them used up now as we’re not going to renew the membership. It’s too dear and they don’t do an old farts’ discount. We prefer the Camping and Caravanning Club. Much cheaper and probably just as good.

Harbury Fields Touring Park

Middle Road

Harbury

Leamington Spa

CV33 9JN

www.harburyfields.co.uk

01926 612457

£21 per night

There was a nest full of baby swift in the washing up place. They were sitting on their shelf observing what was going on below and not a bit bothered by people.

Nether Poppleton - York

Thursday 26^th July

Hey ho, off to York on a working holiday. We stayed at this site last year and loved it. This year we’re babysitting the hens and generally looking after things while Martin and Karen are away on holiday.

Martin and Karen Reynolds

Cherry Tree Cottage

Millfield Lane

Nether Poppleton

York

YO26 6NX

0194 784306

www.cherrytreecottagecs.co.uk

cherrytreecottagecs@sky.com

It’s a fabulous little site, well kept, clean and tidy. Beautiful fresh eggs for sale. Handy for the bus into York (every half hour) and good pubs in the village within walking distance. Own sanitation essential as there’s no shower block. Only 6 pitches on a large level field. Some road noise but it’s not a nuisance. They do special offers for long stays.

I could bore for England on the joys of looking after the hens, collecting eggs and watering the garden but I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say, we had a fabulous couple of weeks: nothing went wrong, the campers were pleasant and chatty and the only deaths were two tomato plants, which were dodgy from the word go. I’d just like to mention the ancient cockerel. Martin and Karen warned us that he was on his last legs and we weren’t to worry if he pegged out. Well, I was watching him one morning as he ran after a hen and tried to have his way with her. She ran off squawking. (I would have, too, he’s well past his sell by date and decidedly tatty.) He thought about it for a couple of seconds then he sat down on the grass and gently keeled over onto his side. I watched with much anxiety and wondered what to do with the body but he recovered after a couple of minutes and rose to his feet. I wonder what would be the effect if he actually got around to having sex?

We ate out a couple of times in York (as a change from omelettes!) and would recommend:

Mr Chippy

37-39 Swinegate, York – excellent fish and chips and they have a licence if you fancy a glass of something to go with it and

Kapadokya Turkish restaurant, 24 George Hudson Street, York.

www.kapadokya-restaurants.co.uk

We had a very good lunch: 2 course and a drink for just less than a tenner.

Liques - Pas de Calais

Thursday 31^st May

To our final stop before home. We’ve stayed here before as it’s only an hour from the ferry or tunnel. It’s a nice friendly, family run site. Excellent clean facilities, small swimming pool and a bar/restaurant with a limited but adequate menu. The majority of campers are Brits, on the way out and fresh from the ferry, or stopping off on the way home. We met a couple who’d witnessed our shame last year when we got stuck in the mud and had to be towed out by the tractor! It’s relaxing to be able to converse fluently with people, but it really signifies the end of the hols.

Pommiers des Trois Pays

273 Rue du Breuil

Liques 62850

www.pommiers-3pays.com

There are lots of baby birds here: blackbirds, thrushes, chaffinches and sparrows. They’re very tame and some of them were coming into the awning after food.

Friday 1^st June

A huge motorhome moved off today. It was humungous – about the size of a double decker bus at least. It took much farting about to get it off the pitch and then they hitched up a little car to the back. I dread to think how much diesel it gobbles. Even Kim, champion of all things large, thought it was OTT! We were speculating about what they did/had done to afford such a thing. Drug runners? Porn stars? They certainly didn’t look like porn stars but you never know.

Managed to swap some books at Reception and picked up a couple I’d been after for a while. Great relief as I was running out of reading material.

Saturday 2^nd June

Last night in France. We spent the day sorting out the caravan and getting ready for departure. We had dinner in the little restaurant on site. It was fine and not expensive.

Sunday 3^rd June

Arrived early for the ferry so we had to sit around for a bit but it was OK, we had books to read. They lowered a ramp from an upper level – I couldn’t believe how steep it was and felt sure it would be for cars only, but no, they were sending caravans up. Shit a brick! Kim put his foot down and went but the car hated it and started flashing red lights. I don’t want to do that again. It was the ferry from Zeebrugge to Hull in case you want to avoid it. The one from Hull to Rotterdam was OK.

Monday 4^th June

Home with a car full of wine and dirty laundry.

Baie de Somme

Thursday 24^th May

Gloomy, humid and overcast this morning. M le Patron stood at the door of his office to wave us off with much smiling. He was probably glad to see the back of our tortured French but I bet he missed the amusement value.

There was patchy fog for a long way. It was hot in the car and the traffic was heavy near to Paris so it wasn’t a pleasant journey to Dourdan. The site was OK and clean but nothing special. Fine for an overnight stop and there’s a supermarket round the corner within walking distance. We bought strawberries and cream to compensate for the crappy journey.

Les Petits Pres

11 Avenue Mendes France

F-91410

camping@mairie-dourdan.fr

Friday 25^th May

We didn’t bother to unhitch last night so we had an easy getaway this morning. We were aiming for Le Crotoy on the Baie de Somme. It was a nasty long drive with one picnic stop. We arrived about 3pm and there were only 2 pitches left, so that was lucky. It’s a nice site. Pitches are not large but are cosy and private. We passed a glorious lake on the way here, full of swans and all sorts of water birds. There were  ponies roaming about on the far side of the lake. They
seem to be half wild, like Dartmoor ponies.

Camping les trois Sablieres

1850 Rue de la Maye

80550 St Firmin les Crotoy

www.camping-les-trois-sablieres.com

(Sabliere = sand quarry.)

Friday 26^th May

Woke up to clear blue sky and glorious sunshine. Cycled to Rue for the market, where we bought cheese, fruit and veg, including a wonderful bunch of fat asparagus, which was only 2 euros.

It’s very hot (at last!)

Staurday 27^th May

We walked to the beach. It was mad down there, with cars and campers all over the place. No fun at all. The beach is like Southport, with no sight of the sea whatsoever, but we saw some people miles out so it must be there somewhere. There was a girl trying to load a nervous horse into a trailer. She was making a right pig’s arse out of it, with much shouting and shoving. I was tempted to intervene but thought better of it as I wasn’t sure if the horse would understand English commands and decided I’d probably get a kick from the horse and French verbal abuse from the bad-tempered girl.

Monday 28^th May

Cycled to Crotoy. The cycle track runs alongside the lake/nature reserve and it was all very interesting. We saw an abandoned swan’s nest with 6 eggs on it so that was a shame. There were coots with chicks, hundreds of terns nesting on strips of land, ducks, pewits and a solitary black swan. The horses were there but too far away to be photographed. We saw a flying stork. Nerdy bird-watchers’ paradise!

Crotoy town was busy and there was a market on. We watched to tide come in at a rate of knots. Very dangerous looking, but they send out a loudspeaker warning when it’s due. We had a beer and cycled back.

A heavy sea mist came down in the evening.

Tuesday 29^th May

We walked to the beach to have a proper look without the bank holiday crowds. There was still no sign of any water but we could see a horse and cart a long way out – probably cockling. There were a few people camping in the dunes and there was a ladies’ art group with their folding chairs and sketch books.

More sea mist about 4.30pm.

Wednesday 20^th May

We drove to the supermarket at Rue. We came out of there into baking heat. It felt like the last day of the hols, although we still have a few days left. 

Lézinnes - Bourgogne

Saturday May 19^th

Farewell to Beaune and a very interesting journey to the next place, with many chateaux and charming villages to be admired. We saw a huge bird of prey, which might have been an owl, and a big wild cat creature ran across the road in front of us. It was bigger than a fox and had a striped tail.

La Graviere du Moulin

7 Route de Frangey

89160 Lezinnes

www.lagravieredumoulin.lezines.fr

This is a Camping Municipal, allied to the Acsi scheme and costs a mere 10 euros per night. What a bargain! There’s even a new shower block and an excellent laundry room.

We arrived at lunchtime so Reception was closed but no matter, we could see plenty of spaces. We parked the caravan round the corner in the big car park and had lunch. We were just settling down for a snooze when M le Patron turned up and invited us to check in. He was another jolly man with no English. He escorted us on foot to help us chose a pitch. We decided the river bank would be pleasant so that’s where we settled. The site is actually a small island, with the river on one side, the mill race on the other. The two join up into rocky shallows at the far end of the field.

We sat in the sunshine by the river, watching the dragonflies and thinking all was right with the world. 

Sunday 20^th May

We had torrential rain in the night. So much for the sunny idyll! We walked to the village for a look around but there’s not much there. The river’s interesting, very fierce further up and picking up a great deal of speed over the weir. The mill race is pretty impressive too.

We got caught in a thunderstorm while we were out, which carried on with great gusto for at least three hours, chucking down buckets of rain and huge hailstones. We then realised why there were flood escape notices all around the site. Oh ****! Trust us to be parked six inches from the edge of the river, which by this time had turned into a raging torrent. Why didn’t we choose the middle bit, like the three sensible Dutch couples?

My anxiety was not helped when M le Patron came banging on the caravans to make sure everyone was OK. He kept trudging up and down the river bank, looking at the water level. He needn’t have bothered, I was keeping a pretty close eye on it myself.

The first thing to flood was the road out. Yikes! But we were reassured by a notice in the laundry, which said there’d be a loudspeaker warning when we had to evacuate. It also warned us to gardez notre sang froid. We’re British, dammit. Stiff upper lip and all that. I think the Dutch have stiff upper lips as well.

There was a poor sod camping in a tiny tent. We were wondering if we should ask him in for dinner and shelter but couldn’t decide how to ask him to leave at bedtime! (I’m not that charitable.) Anyway, he had the sense to remove himself to the shelter of the nice warm laundry, where he spent the night. He was a bit sullen. I’d said bonjour to him earlier in the day and he wasn’t at all smiley or pleasant I’m sad to say. Perhaps he had a premonition of discomfort to come.

Monday 21^st May

We survived the night and were not swept away but the skies are miserable and grey. More rain but not the torrential sort.

The man with the tent packed up his sodden gear and cycled away. If he had any sense, he’d have got on the next train home.

Tuesday 22^nd May

More rain and the river’s up. We keep watching the weather forecast because we’re really keen to cycle some of the Canal de Borgogne but we’re fair weather cyclists and see no joy in doing it in the wet.

The innards of the kettle glowed bright red and then it exploded. Good job we’ve got a sit-on-the-stove back up one.

Wednesday 23^rd May

Today the computer died.

We viewed the ancient laundry. (Huge key from reception on request.) We had another look at the fierce weir, exuberant river and tumultuous mill race and decided enough was enough and we’ll sadly leave tomorrow. After the decision was made, the sun came out! But we’ve made up our minds now.

I’m getting desperately short of reading material. Books running out and computer broken. At this rate we’ll have to talk to each other!

Beautiful Beaune

 Wednesday 16^th May

More rain in the night and freezing cold this morning. It was a bit grim taking down the wet awning. The Dutch couple watched from the cosy innards of their little camper. I hope they were entertained. I think they thought I was smiling at them but in actual fact I was snarling.

We got going about 11am and arrived Beaune at lunch time. Quite a nice site with a good pitch. Hardstanding.

Les Cent Vignes

Camping Municipal

10 Rue Auguste Dubois

21200 Beaune

campinglescentvignes@mairie-beaune.fr

 Thursday 17^th May

We walked into the town, which is quite charming but very expensive. If you ask for a glass of house wine, they bring you a wine list! The back streets are more interesting than the touristy bits – cobbles, courtyards and shabby little old houses.

We went for a drink and Kim engaged a retired fireman in conversation. He didn’t speak a word of English so we struggled a bit and it was hard work. We had his life story, which took about two hours to relate. He was all set to follow us back to the camp site but we said we couldn’t remember what number pitch we were on. Anti-social, I know, but I suspect he would have been there all night swigging wine, gabbing faster French and giving me brain ache.  

Saturday 19^th May

We were glad to see the sun this morning, after a day of rain yesterday. We left here about 11am. We’ve seen Beaune, done that. Wouldn’t be bothered coming back except maybe for a stopover. Next!