Friday 31 March 2017

The last day of our winter break started warm and sunny. We're just having a lazy, time-killing, day today waiting for our Chunnel booking tomiorrow. We could have called Eurotunnel and brought it forward, we got Jamie “done” on Wednesday so it would have been okay, but it would certainly have cost us a supplement and would also have upset Mum's arrangements – can't have that!

We had sort of planned to take Jamie down to the beach but after breakfast it started to cloud over with a strong hint of precipitation so we thought we'd wait it out and did a few chores round the van. It improved quickly and suddenly after a late lunch though so we headed off into the village and down onto, as the tide had come in, a very narrow stretch of sand. However, unlike last year, it was almost deserted so we let Jamie off his lead for a good run around until the cool wind got a bit much and we headed back to Bertie for hot chocolate. It's amazing how the temperature dropped today when yesterday was almost sweltering!

The aire, from almost emptying, filled up again and was full by teatime. After tea we serviced the van to save time in the morning and are aiming for an early night – it'll be quite an early start (for us) and with the drive home will be a long day.

Thursday 30 March 2017

Le Crotoy to Wissant - 61 miles

Warm sunny morning and with no rush just took our time with breakfast and usual chores. A full service here because our intended stop for the next 2 nights has no water supply. Away by 11.15 up the D940, our usual route, heading for the Auchan hypermarket at Boulogne where we refilled the fuel tank. We also called in at Leroy-Merlin, a DIY store, for a couple of bits towards the repairs list and finally across to the main store for last minute shopping; there's always something!

Lunch on the carpark then a short trip up the motorway and across to the aire de camping cars at Wissant which is where we'll stay now until our chunnel crossing early Saturday morning. It's a pleasant town and has a nice beach for Jamie to run on if the tide's out 'cos it's not very wide.

Quite busy on the aire with a few Brits, mostly heading home. For some reason it's also popular with Belgians, no idea why, but they're a friendly enough nation.

Finally got Radio 2 on the van radio.

Wednesday 29 March 2017

Le Crotoy to Rue to Le Crotoy - 8 miles

A calm greyish morning, not particularly cold with the sun doing it's best to break through the high haze. Our plan today is to get Jamie's Pet Passport stamped ready for the return Chunnel on Saturday so after a lazy breakfast tootled off to Rue where there is a vetinerary clinic just as you enter the town. They were happy to see to us straight away and Jamie was as good as gold with Monsieur Martin, although he wouldn't take the tablet and the vet had to resort to the usual push-it-down-his-throat-and-make-him-swallow routine which he accepted without fuss. With the very important paperwork completed, 10 minutes and €35 (it's a ripoff but no alternative) later we were done.

A quick call into Lidl across the road for a baguette then return to the aire at Le Crotoy. Coffee then a nice hours walk round the town which is actually much bigger than it appears, although today it was mostly closed, just the cafes, bars and restaurants open for tourist business. A breeze off the sea kept the temperature down although in shelter it was becoming quite warm. Return to Bertie for lunch.

We decided on another night here because it is very pleasant and has all facilities. It also is a good jumping off point for the last leg of the French section up to Wissant prior to our return to the UK. So a quiet relaxation afternoon and evening, walking and playing with Jamie as well as reading, knitting, puzzles and Bren's latest occupation, colouring books. We've also made a list, currently 16 items long, of things that need fixing on Bertie before our next trip, some big some small but all require doing!

Tuesday 28 March 2017

VilleDomer to Le Crotoy - 240 miles

A light rain shower or two during the night persisted into the day as we went through our usual routine, again a little later than planned. As our stay had been free we decided to support the local commerce and bought a baguette at the nearby shop for the princely sum of 80 cents!

Then back onto the N10 and todays run took in Chartres, Dreux, Evereux, Rouen, Abbeville then onto Le Crotoy, our planned destination for tonight. Apart from short sections through smaller towns it was all on motorway-class roads so we kept up a good average speed although the fuel consumption suffers a little. We refuelled early on in the day, our first in France, and noted a wide variety of prices – we went off-route a short distance to use LeClerc, the big supermarket chain, where we've found the cheapest in the past and so it was today.

With the weather gradually improving we stopped in Lidl's carpark in Dreux for lunch then pushed on. Because of our later start and also not getting as far as we wanted yesterday, it looked like being quite late (for us) at Le Crotoy so as it was on our route anyway we called at the aire in Pont de L'Arche, where we stopped outbound, but by 4,00 pm it was already full, though not all were motorhomes and the guardian didn't seem bothered about doing anything about it. So we decided to carry on.

In the end it was just on 18.00 when we arrived at Le Crotoy to find a busy aire but with still plenty of room so found ourselves a nice enough pitch and settled in with the late afternoon sun keeping things pleasantly warm. Le Crotoy was once a fishing village on the Baie de Somme but is now very much tourist orientated although in a simple way. St Valerie-sur-Somme on the other side of the bay is more into it and a nice mini-train ride will take you there; we enjoyed it last year.

However our main reason for coming here is that there is a very convenient and reasonable vet in Rue, the next town about 5/10 minutes away, and we'll be taking Jamie there tomorrow for his worming tablet and his Pet Passport to be signed, ready for the Chunnel crossing on Saturday. Subject to that we may come back here or continue further north. We'll see.

Monday 27 March 2017

Bignac to Villdomer - 151 miles

Our bodyclocks haven't quite caught up with the change to summer time so we were a bit later surfacing than perhaps we'd wanted. Doesn't matter it's a bright sunny day again although quite cold overnight. Usual chores out of the way and we headed back to the N10, or D910 as it is here now, en route for Poitiers and Tours. We prefer this type of road; it's quite fast even though it passes through various small towns and villages, which makes it more interesting and really is not much slower than we would be travelling anyway.

A nice steady cruise then to Poitiers where we stopped at an Auchan at Futurescope, just north of the city, for a bit of shopping, lunch and refill with LPG. We were going to refuel but it wasn't really needed just yet and would have involved us going round the carpark again to get back into the fuel station, so we didn't bother.

Roundabout Art

Mid-afternoon, still enjoying a pleasant ride in the sunshine, we checked our progress and saw that Tours was a good point to end our travelling day so Bren found an aire just north that seemed okay. Put it into the satnav and found Villedomer just off the main road and a very nice little aire almost in the village with all facilities, including free electric if we needed it. Unusually it also had two electric vehicle recharging points.

We joined one Brit van and later a French van came in too – it's supposed to hold 15 vehicles but no chance the way some people park........... Never mind, we're tucked into a corner out of the way. An explore later discovered a small supermarket 50m away and a typical French country village, complete with chiming church clock. This'll do us nicely for one night.

Sunday 26 March 2017

The clocks went forward last night and there was a bit of confusion about what time it actually was when we got up – latish! No rush so first job was to enjoy Sunday Breakfast then phone Mum to wish her happy Mothers Day. Also got the satellite dish up for the first time this trip and tuned in so we could enjoy Radio 2 all day.

As promised a lovely clear day turning very warm so we took advantage to give the van a good airing and brush out then got the chairs out for some rays. Got a bit too much mid-afternoon so retired inside, somehow we missed lunch! A couple of Brits turned up, a caravan and a motorhome, so a bit of a chat – by early evening there were only the three of us on the site but we're not complaining.

Moving on tomorrow and it all seems to be working out quite well, if it all goes to plan of course!

Saturday 25 March 2017

San Sebastion to Bignac - 236 miles

It rained all night, so much for putting the screens on to dry, and we were up before the alarm - well Brenda was - to take Jamie out. Still raining when we were ready to leave so minimum servicing and away by 10.30. First stop for fuel before we crossed into France as it's currently significantly cheaper in Spain and we needed almost a full tank. Then onto the toll motorway.

There is a non-toll route but it follows the coast and goes through all the towns and villages and is always very busy with locals criss-crossing the border for cheaper goods. We'd decided already that it wasn't worth the saving and also as the motorway to Bordeaux is also nearly all toll now we'd use that too. In the end it cost us about £20 but it was worth it to avoid the hassle. The weather was also starting to improve and got better the further north we went.

Stopped off for a lunch break just south of Bordeaux before tackling the Rocade (ring road) which, as usual, was very busy but at least was running smoothly. It wasn't long before we turned off up the A10, crossing the Dordogne river then continuing on the N10, a fast dual carriageway with no roundabouts or junctions and just a short section of single carriageway being upgraded. It's supposed to be limited to 80 kph for us, but if you don't tell anybody we won't either........

Mid-afternoon, with the sun now shining, we gave thought to our overnight stop and Angueleme looked about right. Although there is a choice of aires we thought we might have a day off driving so looked in our shiny new ACSI book (remember January?) and found a nice sounding place a little north of the city at Bignac. TomTom to the fore again and a rather tortuous route along several minor roads brought us to Camping Marco de Bignac, a rather nice English owned and operated site next to a lake. With only a few pitches taken – their season has only just opened – we chose a good spot in full sun with a view over the lake and plenty of room for Jamie to run around.

Nice spot

Site Wardens chair!

We'll have a couple of nights break here then push on up through Normandy and find a vet for the UK regulations for Jamie, ready for our Chunnel next Saturday.