Dover and Deal

Monday 3rd October 2011

We had a bit of trouble hitching up in the mud but, aside from that, it was a smooth getaway and we managed to get on an earlier train. As we left the site, Monsieur le Patron waved to us from his tractor. I wonder if some other poor bugger was stuck in the mud? Au revoir, French person, au revoir for now, la belle France.

Found a super little site in Deal. It’s just a big field (a bit windy) with water and chemical disposal. Mr Solley can be found in the office of the little ice cream factory to which the field belongs.

Mr Solley
The Dairy
Ripple
Deal T14 8JL
Tel: 07836 653257
Email: sc.solley@solleysicecream.co.uk
£8 per night.

Tuesday 4th October 2011



Spent most of the day at Dover Castle. I didn’t realise it was so huge. There are tours of the secret wartime tunnels (with air raid sound effects – makes you glad we’re not at war), you can look at the gun batteries, the anti-aircraft operations room, the Admiralty lookout and, best of all, the Great Tower, which has been furnished in medieval style as it was during the reign of Henry 2nd. That was the best bit in my opinion. There’s a restaurant serving wartime food and sub-standard sandwiches. It’s not cheap to go in @ £16 per adult. Fortunately we’re members of English Heritage so it didn’t cost a bean. We’ve had our money’s worth for sure out of that.

Views of the harbour from the castle.

Wednesday 5th October 2011

We went to have a look at Deal Castle but it was shut so we had fish and chips instead.











Walmar Castle was open and we enjoyed that. It was built during the reign of Henry 8th and is the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The Duke of Wellington held this post for 23 years and there’s a lot of D of W memorabilia, including his death mask. I heard one chap remark that it would have been better if they’d put his teeth in first. True. I must remember to add to my will:no embalming and definitely no death mask, with or without teeth, thank you very much! Anyway, as well as the magnificent building, there are fabulous gardens to explore. Highly recommended.

Views from the

battlements.

The Queen

Mother's

Garden.

Thursday 6th October 2011

Packed up and set off towards home.

Stayed the night at Cannock Chase and it’s freezing! The site’s good, in the middle of Cannock Chase Forest. Toilets etc are clean and modern. We might come back some time and explore the area, which looks really interesting.

Cannock Chase Camping and Caravanning Club Site
Old Youth Hostel
Wandon
Rugeley WS15 1QW
01889 582166

So that’s all for this year. It’ll be strange to live in a house again. We’d be quite happy to mooch about for months on end but obligations and duty call. Oh well…

Monday 26th September 2011

Chalon en Champagne.

We had a reasonable journey here. Amazing landscape, all chalky and pastel fields in the style of the artist Jacques Villon.

We stopped for lunch in an aire where there was a chip van, so we supplemented our picnic with frites and good coffee. Most civilised.

We stayed at the Camping Municipal. They’re usually cheap and good. This one is 22 euros and not great. The pitches are well laid out, with hard standing and little hedges, but the sanitary block leaves a lot to be desired. In view of the price and the unappealing showers, we’ll only stay one night.

There are lots of Brits on the site so there is much gabbing and exchanging of useful information and books.

We stocked up at a huge Carrafour supermarket. Bloody nightmare, even worse than Asda.


Tuesday 27th September 2011

Camping du Port de Plaisance de Peronne
Route de Paris
80200 Peronne
contact@camping-plaisance.com
www.camping-plaisance.com
15 euros per night

There was nowhere to stop for a picnic lunch so we came straight here and arrived at 2pm. The office was closed but a notice on the door said to find a pitch and settle up later. It’s a nice site. The sanitaires need upgrading but they’re clean. One complaint – the swimming pool hasn’t been drained and is scummy.

There’s a little marina belonging to the site. Quite a few boats are stored there but only one had people on board.

The site is alongside the River Somme but there’s no towpath, which is a disappointment. But there are some lovely etangs on the edge of town, very pretty and popular with anglers.

Wednesday 28th Septmember 2011

It’s hot.

Walked into town – me with the gammy ankle and Kim with the gammy knees. Had a drink and did some shopping on the way home. Found an auberge with a nice menu so plan to go there for dinner one night.

Kim on the bridge over the River Somme,
on our way into town.

This morning I went for a shower while the woman was still cleaning. She was not pleased to see me. She jerked her head towards a shower cubicle and snarled, ‘Allez y!’ I was quite intimidated. She stayed outside the door, muttering and cursing. I think she was quite mad and made sure the door was securely locked. I had visions of her attacking my bare bottom with the mop.

Thursday 29th September 2011

It’s really hot! So we drooped about all day in the shade. We went to two supermarkets to satisfy Kim’s quest for wine boxes. The second one had a pleasant coffee shop so I sat there and read a book while Kim trailed up and down the lengthy aisles. He actually seems to enjoy it! Strange bugger.

Friday 30th September 2011

Another scorcher. I can’t believe it’s nearly October. We walked into town for a beer. There was a big accident on the road. No bodies, just two crashed cars. All the traffic was held up and there were police and gendarmes all over the place. One of them kindly stopped the traffic to let us cross the road. He must have taken pity on our aged and limping selves.

In town there were two piggies being roasted on a giant, wood-fired barbecue outside a restaurant. I found it quite revolting to see the dead pigs rotating and scorching but it was a most impressive barbie all the same! Kim drooled, I turned my mind to vegetables.








We dined at the auberge this evening, which turned out to be Moroccan, so Kim was in his element with a hundredweight of lamb and several pounds of oily veg. I had a huge salad, which quite exhausted me. (I find eating a ton of food to be most debilitating!) We indulged in coffee and good brandy. The brandy cost almost as much as the food and we were horrified. But it was quite delicious so never mind.

Hard working housewife turns into the woman in a dressing gown.

Tomorrow we move on. Lasting impressions of Peronne: the giant barbecue, the impressive looking war museum, the fact that it’s very like Southport and the marvellous notice on a wall, forbidding people to widdle upon it!

Interdiction d’uriner.

Monday 2nd October 2011

It’s still hot, even tho we’re moving north. We’re spending the last two nights in France at Camping les Pommiers, where we got stuck in the mud on the way out. It was still quite muddy, but there was a bit of a crust on it, baked by the sun – a trap for the unwary. But we were prepared this time. We parked Dorothy without mishap and drove to the supermarket for yet more boxes of wine. We’re not alcoholics (well, not quite) but it’s to last us until the next trip to boozy civilisation. At least I found a nice looking loaf on which to spread my marmalade

In praise of Burgundy

Monday 19th September 2011

Camping les Ceriselles
Route de Vincelotte
89290 Vincelles
www.campingceriselles.com
camping@cc-payscoulangeois.fr
11 euros per night

This is the cheapest and the best site so far. It’s adjacent to the Canal du Nivernais, which is very beautiful. The pitches are a bit small and we had trouble parking Dorothy but some obliging Dutch people gave us such a mighty shove I nearly ended up flattened into the hedge like a pressed flower (who am I kidding?) They’re very hearty, the Dutch. The showers, washing up sinks etc. are blissfully clean – quite a relief after the last place. The reception staff speak better English than I speak French so it was all most relaxing. There’s even a good little supermarket close by so all in all, it looks like being a relaxing few days. Fingers crossed.

Laundry Day!

We cycled into town to find a restaurant wherein to celebrate my birthday tomorrow. Only found a mildly grotty one where we stopped for a beer. On the way back we saw a sign for an auberge so investigated that. It looked quite charming so we decided on that for my birthday lunch.


Tuesday 20th September 2011

Happy Birthday to me. We got all dressed up in clean and respectable clothes and cycled to the restaurant for lunch. But it was closed! Can you believe it? So we cycled all the way to Auxerre. Kim said it was 6 kilometres. 6 kilometres my arse. It turned out to be 8 miles, some of which were along a busy road. By the time we got there, all the restaurants had stopped serving lunch! Who do they think they are? Brits? Words were exchanged. Atmospherics! So I ended up with a supermarket tuna sandwich, eaten on a bench. It was such a revolting sandwich, I shared most of it with the ducks. As a consolation prize, Kim cooked the dinner. I should think so too.

The ride alongside the canal (aside from the bit where we had to go onto the road) was really lovely. It’s a beautiful area and very peaceful.

Friday 23rd September 2011

We cycled to Vermenton along the towpath. Unfortunately, to get into town, we had to push the bikes along a stony little path, which played hell with my gammy ankle. Much whining and moaning. We found a bar, which cheered me up a bit, and had a natter with an Australian couple, who’d bought a share in a boat with four other couples. What a long way to come for a holiday!

Accolay - where the Canal de Nivernais runs alongside the river Yonne

Cravant - where the branch to
Vermenton joins the main line
of the Canal de Nivernais.

Vermenton

Saturday 24th September 2011

We tried to buy beef in the supermarket so I could make a pan of scouse. We spied a likely looking chunk of what looked like topside so I asked the butcher to cut me a thick slice. (Une grande trenche. What a star I am.) No way! ‘This beef has to be cut into thin slices,’ he said. ‘I want one thick slice,’ I said. ‘Bugger off, you English Philistine,’ he said. (Something like that, anyway.) So I had to give in and settle for two thin slices. It was probably some special cut and if he’d known I was going to make stew with it he would have had a heart attack or something.

NB: French butchers wear the most adorable off the shoulder white pinnies and are usually most obliging. I’ve found butchers in any language to be exceedingly jovial. Why would this be, given the gruesome nature of their trade?

Sunday 25th September 2011

Very hot today so we mooched about doing not very much except tidying up and putting away for departure tomorrow. There’s a poor lady here whose husband collapsed outside the supermarket ten days ago and has been languishing in hospital ever since. She came and had a few drinks with us to cheer herself up. They’ve fitted him with a pacemaker and she hopes he’ll be discharged tomorrow. She’s been having a rotten time arguing the toss with the insurance company. She wouldn’t stay for dinner as she’d had an excellent lunch at the hospital for 8 euros. Not Nasty Health food then!

We’ll be sorry to leave here. It’s a fabulous site (and cheap!) and the area is lovely. But we need to make a move and start heading north. Perhaps we’ll come back next year.

PS: Re the above lady with the poorly husband – they let him out of hospital and she brought him back to their caravan. Green Flag sent a driver to tow them safely home but when he got there, he decided the caravan was too heavy to be covered on his insurance. The husband thought, sod this for a game of conkers, and drove them home himself, while the poor lady had a mini nervous breakdown until they got into their own front door. I’m not surprised. This information was gathered via email, which is a wonderful invention sometimes.

Wednesday 14th September 2011

Had a bit of trouble finding the campsite as it’s not on the Satnav. Drove through the town twice but the lookout (me) didn’t see the sign, which was very obvious once we’d spotted it.

Camping l’Arquebuse
Route d’Athee
21130 Auxonne
email:camping.arquebuse@wandaoo.fr
www.campingarquebuse.com
13 euros per night

First impressions good. Big flat field with trees, on the banks of the River Saone. Auxonne was a frontier town for a while, being on the border of Burgundy and Franche-Compte. There is a fortress and barracks, where Napoleon attended military school.


Thursday 15th September 2011

The showers and toilets leave a lot to be desired. Some of the toilets are of the hole in the floor variety (how are you supposed to poo in one of those? I’d topple into the hole!) and they were, quite literally, shitty. Thank goodness we have our own facilities.

There’s hardly anybody on the site so it’s mercifully quiet. I wouldn’t like to be here in high season as I really don’t think there are enough sanitary facilities for lots of tent campers. The brochure says there are 100 pitches. (They’re not marked, we were invited to park anywhere.)









We cycled across the river into Auxonne, which is nothing to write home about! Aside from the fortress, it has nothing else to recommend it. It’s a dismal little town with no charm at all. I can’t understand why it’s so grotty as there’s a splendid marina full of barges so you’d think they’d want to cater to the boaties. Perhaps it livens up a bit in mid-season.

Saturday 17th September 2011

They cleaned the toilets! But the chemique is overflowing. Oh well, can’t expect everything I suppose.

Sunday 18th September 2011




There was a car boot sale inside the fort so we wandered around there but it wasn’t inspiring. We had another look at the lovely boats in the marina and cycled a little way alongside the river. In the town, there was nothing open at all, not even a bar or a caff! What a place. Hope the next one is more cheerful. With hindsight, we shouldn’t have paid for 5 nights upfront. We won’t do that again. We’ll be glad to move on.

Monday 5th September 2011

No sleep last night because of throbbing ankle. I took pain killers and sat about like a spare part while Kim did all the putting away and making ready for the off. Through the jolly old tunnel and it was only a short drive to our first campsite in France.

If you haven’t tried the tunnel, I strongly recommend it. You don’t get seasick, it’s only about half an hour and you don’t have to get out of the car and climb many diesel smelling stairs to sit in misery on a swaying chair trying to drink a ghastly and expensive cup of tea. Also in its favour is the fact that you can pay for it with Tesco vouchers.

Camping les Pommiers des Trois Pays
253 Rue du Breuil
62850 Licques

Only 13 euros per night with the ACSI card. ACSI is a brilliant discount scheme. You pay about £10 for a year’s membership. You receive a book, a map and a membership card, which entitles you to special low season rates at hundreds of good campsites all over Europe. In 2001 the rates were 11, 13 or 15 euros (including electric hook up and showers). For 2012 they’ve gone up to 12, 14 or 16 euros. Well worth the small investment.

To save me the effort of helping to manhandle Dorothy into position, Kim chose a corner pitch so he could drive straight on, unhitch and drive off again. Well, he drove straight on all right and got firmly stuck in a foot of mud. We tried everything, wood under the wheels, forwards, backwards and lots of revving, which of course made matters worse. I was limping about screeching for him to stop (when did a man ever take advice?) and what with all the swearing and shouting and screaming engine, we soon attracted a helpful crowd. Into the midst of all this helpfulness and concern came Monsieur le Patron, who advised that the caravan should have been parked on the DRY patch of ground. ‘C’est impossible!’ he said and went away to fetch the tractor. How embarrassing! He had the situation sorted in a matter of minutes and was quite charming, if amused at the predicament of the imbecile Anglais. ‘Madame,’ he said to me, ‘are you travelling south?’ ‘Oui, monsieur,’ I simpered. ‘Per’aps I follow you with the tractor,’ he said. ‘Bon idée,’ I said, with a winning smile, and then I shook his hand.

See? First day in France and my language abilities are already in full spate! I generally manage to add a new word to my vocabulary each trip. At this rate, I’ll be able to string several sentences together by the time I peg out. Last year, on the Somme, I managed to learn the word for slice – trenche. Easy to remember because of the trenches. So I can order any number of slices of jambon, or whatever, with gay abandon.

The weather is still filthy and we’ve decided to stay here three nights to give my poorly ankle a chance to heal. Kim walked into town and bought treats: chocolate for him and Pastis for me. It will deaden the pain.


Thursday 8th September 2011

It rained again in the night and we had to have help to push Dorothy out of the mud. I was heaving and gasping on one leg at the back end and a charming French man took pity and lent us a mighty heave.

Horrible day, overcast but dry. We travelled all day and some of the lorries on the motorways had my nerves in shreds but we arrived safely at the next site about 4pm.

Camping Spineuse
Rue de Malome 7 – 6840 Neufchateau
15 euros per night.

I went to book in but had no idea what country we were in. Began in French and saw several menus and notices in something that looked like German. Impossible. I had to ask where we were and the lady in reception told me we were in Belgium but the writing I saw was Flemish. Total confusion. She advised me to speak English. Thank God for that.

The site was full of Dutch people doing an overnight stop – that explains the Flemish then. There’s a bar and restaurant, good showers and domestic rabbits and hens wandering about. They have a special speck for the overnighters so you can just drive straight in, facing the road, for an easy getaway in the morning. We noticed a lot of people hadn’t even unhitched.


Friday 9th September 2011

We found ourselves passing through Luxembourg, where the diesel was mega cheap so we filled up. All the filling stations were very busy and I’m not surprised.

Arrived Eguisheim (Alsace) about 4pm and there were only 4 pitches left so good job we didn’t leave it any later.

Camping les Trois Chateaux
10 Rue de Bassin
68420 Eguisheim
www.eguisheimcamping.fr
13 euros per night

Campsite is crowded and squashed with lots of trees. Showers are clean and it’s quiet. It’s on the edge of the town, easy walking distance (for people not suffering from Very Badly Sprained Ankles) and is charming, quaint, picturesque, medieval and an absolute delight but we couldn’t find a supermarket – is that a good or a bad thing?
There’s a tame stork that appears about tea time each day. It likes cheese.
The weather has warmed up! Hoorah.
There are lots of wineries and it’s grape harvest time. They dump the fruit into yellow wheelie bins. Mostly they’re using machines but we did see a few people hand picking them with little scissors.











































Monday 12th September 2011

Drove to Colmar and did supermarket shopping on the way. Colmar’s a bit like York but more spacious. We walked/hobbled around for a while and then stopped for a beer. I do enjoy sitting in a French street with a drink. It’s somehow never the same at home in UK. I wonder why that is?