Tim & Ruth's holiday in France 2019

Day 17   Wed 31.7.19 On our way to the slow return home.  Our target destination was the Gorges du Tarn. Not a long drive, just over an hour and we were at the southern end of Gorges du Tarn.  The approach was over big, rolling hills.   We passed under the Millau bridge.  A superb bit of engineering. I stopped the van to take a picture of the suspension bridge, and as I walked into a nearby field locusts started jumping all over the place as I walked!    Locust Then the scenery turned more rugged, and we found ourselves on a winding road next to the river Tarn.   Stopped off for lunch at an unknown place right next to the Tarn, before finally stopping at Camping Terrados, Les Vignes on a 3 star campsite, for 20 Euros.   Not posh, but adequate.   Our pitch was right next to the river.  By that I mean 20 metres away.  A short slide down the bank and one could be in the river, -...

Day 16   Tue 30.7.19 We left our hosts, Brian & Marianne with a tinge of sadness.  They had been such good hosts.  A steady, gentle drive through miles and miles of unspoilt countryside.  It one good thing about France, - they have back roads that run for miles without much traffic.  Drove to Plaisance in the Tarn valley and camped in the municipal site there.  Cheap as chips, but very welcoming, and easy going.  When I asked which pitch we should use, the gracious manageress (about my age) said, "ou vous voulez" - wherever you want. When I asked when she wanted paying, she wasn't worried so long as I paid before I left.You could be forgiven for believing that the Tour de France is the French national sport.  Or even rugby.  But I need to tell you that throughout France a more popular sport has poll position. It's the game of boules!  And while I waited patiently for dinner to be served, I was treated to the thrill of the loc...

Day 15  Mon 29.7.19 At the top of Superbagneres Our super-hosts Brian & Marianne recommended a drive to Luchon and then up to Superbagneres, then Into Spain, and back to their B&B.   This we did.   Luchon was pleasant town, with a cable-car that can take you up to the top of the mountains.  Skiers in winter, cyclists and walkers in summer.  Boo was busy on the phone, so we didn’t stop there.   It would have been a great place for busking, I thought, but drove to Superbagneres instead.   Hotel at the top At the top of Superbagneres one gets a commanding 360 degree view of the Pyrenees.  It was splendid.  We could see the tallest peak in the Pyrenees from Superbagneres.   Cracking view! It was just over the border in Spain. We met a couple from Skipton while we were eating our lunch.  They too, had a Mercedes Sprinter van, and so we exchanged opinions with them about van conversations and the l...

Day 14 Sun 28.7.19 We sat around after a lazy b/f, and talking to Brian & Marianne.  Spent the morning in their garden, reading and relaxing.  Then after lunch we went off to Saint Bernad de Comminges, at the recommendation of Brian & Marianne.   It was a little drive away.  There we found a fortified village up no a hill with an imposing  cathedral dominating everything else.  Something was going on, and people in medieval costume were walking around everywhere.  Parking was free, but access to the town was for residents only anyway.  So the walk to the top was a quite steep 700 metre  hike.  When we got to the walls of the town, they were charging to go in.  Not my idea of liberte, egaligte, et fraternity.   Pay up and look big! Nice town After a little debate between us, and realising that the charge to get into the imposing basilica was 5 bucks anyway, and they only wanted 8 bucks to get ...

Day 13   Sat 27.7.19 Not a great day.  It rained all day.  We waited all morning on site until midday, then left.  We took our time getting to our B&B at Loudet, in Haute Garrone region of France.   Pyrenees Bed & Breakfast . Check it out! So we made numerous stops on the way, even though we didn’t really want to!    Arrived in Loudet at 3 pm, and were greeted by Brian and Marianne, who showed us our room.  What a great place.  They showed us all the other rooms in their separate gite too.   We had a snooze, then went for dinner at La Casera.  This was on the recommendation of Brian & Marianne.  An unassuming place, that you would drive past if you saw it by the roadside.  You wouldn't bother to stop!  But, the grub was great, and they looked after us well.  The evidence that it was an "OK place" was that it was pretty well near full for the 3 nights we used it. La Casera, on the road to Mo...

Day 12   Fri 26.7.19 It was cool!   Fabulous!   We woke up to drizzle.  I never thought I liked rain so much! So we hung around the campsite all morning, chatting, and then went to Leclerc’s for dinner again.   Lasagne, fried pommes de terre, courgettes, and  a drink.  Delicious!  All for about 15 Euros for us both.  Not bad.   Today, it was so much more busy than yesterday in Leclerc’s.   We chatted to a French family in the queue.  They sort of jumped the queue a bit on us, but we forgave them, and engaged in some small talk.   They (mum & dad, and 3 kids) had climbed a 3000m peak yesterday.  No wonder they looked thin. I asked him what the French think about Brexit.  He thinks that some people in France are ok with it, but others are really worried, particularly in the northern provinces.   We stayed in Leclerc’s for about 4 hours.   This time it was for the exact opposite r...

Day 11  Thu 25.7.19 All ye who pass by, "Abandon hope of a cool day"!   We had a dip in the swimming pool then had a shower, and then went to E Leclerc for lunch and to sit out the afternoon in the aircon there!  To those unfamiliar with things Francais, Leclerc's is one of big supermarkets in France.  It was like saying that we had spent all afternoon in Tesco or Sainsburys. We know this sounds rather pathetic, but it was simply unbearable heat today.   Ruth read her book, and I blogged.   We left there at about 5.30 pm.   The temperature outside the van was 40 C, and inside was 50 C.  At nearly 6 pm in the evening!  It was all too much.   Unbelievably and unbearably HOT.  Inside temp on L, outside temp on R We were instantly sweating and couldn’t get cool even with all the windows open and the fans blowing.  Simply because the outside temperature was 40 C.  As the early evening arrived, we had a sm...

Day 10   Wed 24.7.19 Yet again we decided to extend our stay on the site, as we are quite happy here.  So we booked another 3 nights, until Saturday morning.   The weather is set for extreme heat until the end of Thursday.  Then it should turn wet and a lot cooler, before we move off to Loudet and a B&B that I have booked for our 3rd wedding anniversary.  Call me an old softie, eh?  It's a surprise for Ruth.  She didn't know that I've booked it!  Smart move, huh? But back to today. Another circular drive, this time round Col de Soulor and Col d’Aubisque.   At Col de Soulor, ponies, horses and sheep roamed wild.  A bit like they do in the New Forest, or on Dartmoor. Wild animals in the Pyrenees.  Who are you calling a donkey? We saw half a dozen or so people up on a ridge with tripods and cameras.  Walking over to them we found that they were observing the migration of birds to Africa.   Very patiently th...

Day 9  Tue 23.7.19  We stayed on site all day, and alternated between the pool and the shade.    We read a lot, and played Rummikub, and swam a lot.   Excessively hot yet again.   About 39 deg C all afternoon, but feeling like 42 deg C.   Sleep was a problem, and so we experimented with having the van doors partly open, to allow a through-draught.   After about an hour of sleep, the wind got strong.  People began to collect their chairs and tables from outside their vans and caravans and take them inside.   Imagine my surprise when after about an hour’s sleep I was woken by Ruth wrestling with the back door of the van, as the wind had really got up!   She was lying half-naked grappling with the door which had become more like a sail on a boat.   She said she had was doing something with the table.  I swear she said “cable”, and in my dazed state couldn’t understand what she was doing with the ca...

Day 8.    Mon 22.7.19 We decided to see if we could have another couple of nights at this campsite.  We quite like it here.  Not posh, but totally adequate, and reasonably priced.   We were successful and were able to move to a pitch that had some shade.   Handy, as the temperature was expected to be 39 deg C today.   Went for a circular drive round Col de Tourmalet, an iconic peak where the Tour de France had just been, two days ago.  The scenery was equally spectacular, and beautiful.  Different from the Alps, but still grand and majestic.  We had a cup of tea and some biscuits before descending down the other side.   Col de Tourmalet It was amazing to see the numbers of people still cycling in the wake of the Tour de France.  Presumabley, and hopefully, they weren't just the slowest of the Tour de France riders trying to catch up with the rest of the pack?!?!   At the top, there was a cafe.   If...

Day 7.  21.7.19 Again, we could have stayed on our campsite.  The temptation was very real.  But again, a look at the weather forecast showed yet higher temperatures in store for us. We were within reach of the Pyrenees by now.  Not a great distance to go.  So we pushed on. By 3 pm we were on Camping La Foret, Lourdes.  We had phoned ahead, but they didn't want to reserve spaces, as they had been very full recently.  They explained that the Tour de France had been nearby, and people were camping to watch it. After our meal, we walked into Lourdes. Lourdes We had no idea what to expect. A pleasant town with a big church set up high.  A river running through the town.  Nestling in the edge of the Pyrenees. But we weren't prepared for what we saw next. The grotto of St Bernadette, and the people there. The grotto Lourdes is one of the biggest Roman Catholic holy places, coming 3rd after St Peter's, Rome. The grotto was easy t...

Day 6. Sat 20.7.19 A check on the weather forecast again, showed that we were in for a bit of a heat wave.  Although we were very happy to stay at Camping La Grisse for another day, we pushed on.  It would be better driving in this heat, than in even hotter temperatures. A quick spin into La Rochelle for Ruth to see that place.  We didn't stay.  It was too hot. Lunch was in a Carrefour cafe/restaurant just outside La Rochelle today.  We ate our fill and went on our way. In the afternoon we stopped for a sandwich and a cup of tea.  All the camper vans were parked in the shade.  Temperatures were rising.  But we had done well. Lunchtime on the road The big drawback with our little van is that we don't have aircon.  Not much we can do about it, so we just have to make the best of it.  Driving in the morning.  Keeping an auxiliary fan going.  Drinking plenty of water.  That's about all we can do. Camping The...

Day 5.  Fri 19.7.19 We were happy enough in the campsite in Pornic, but it wasn't one where we wanted to spend too much time (if you get my drift).  No our type of place! So we went into town in good time this morning and had a busk. I'd had a look on Google street view, and seen what looked like a good spot to busk. There was free parking for the van not far from the town.  A short walk along the harbour wall and we were in town at my previously identified location. Busking in Pornic The people in the Bureau de Posted (Post Office) came out and had a look at the strange duo making music.  The guys in the ice-cream parlour next to the PO apparently were deaf, as they didn't even seem in the slightest bit interested in us. We did our usual stuff for about an hour. To say that the Frogs were slightly under-whelmed would be an accurate description! On the whole they didn't care, didn't give, and walked on by (to quote the song). We didn't ...

Day 4. Thu 18.7.19 Keeping an eye on the weather forecast, we knew that today was going to be a poor one for weather, so the plan was to drive a fair distance. A secondary consideration was, how was the weather going to pan out over the next few days?  If it had been good in Brittany, we would have had a few days there.  If not, we would head more Southerly. So, that's what we did, - the latter. The aim was to head towards St Jean de Monts on the west coast.  We did our best but, by the time we had got ourselves going, had a lunch break, and done a bit of shopping, we realised that it wasn't going to work.  We hit a traffic jam, and so changed our plan, and headed to Pornic, just south of St Nazaire. A pleasant little town with harbour and rocky beaches. Pornic It was getting very hot as we pulled over for a cup of tea, and to use the loo.  Finding a campsite now became a priority, once we knew where we were going.  That's the story of my life r...