Four lakes, one huge gorge, and some Alps!

View July 23rd - August 3rd 2010 in a larger map

After a week in the lap of luxury in a proper house, we headed on to somewhere that Alex’s dad had recommended - the Gorges du Verdon. This area of Provence is full of colour at this time of year, with fields of lavender and sunflowers dotting the countryside and making for a stunning drive.



The Gorges du Verdon is sometimes referred to as Europe’s Grand Canyon, and the area is simply breathtaking. The river Verdon has cut a huge tear in the limestone hills which runs for 25km and is some 700m deep in places. You can drive all the way around the rim on some of the best roads we’ve seen. They’re spectacular and a little hairy in places especially if, like Alex, you suffer from vertigo!


At the end of the gorge the river flows into the Lac de Sainte-Croix, another beautiful sight with its striking turquoise-green water. It’s a popular spot, and for good reason. The warm water in the lake is great for swimming and messing about in boats. We loved it and spent a few days in the area. After driving around the gorge and taking a huge number of photos, we hired a canoe on the lake and paddled part of the way up the gorge (along with hoards of other holidaymakers in brightly coloured pedelos, canoes, and motorboats).


From here we started our journey north, heading for a rendez-vous with David’s parents in Germany. Our route skirted the French Alps and some magnificent mountain scenery. We passed through the area last summer and agreed that we had to go back to explore it properly.

The city of Grenoble is situated at the confluence of 2 rivers (the Drac and Isere) and a fortress looks out across the city from the hill above. We’d heard that you could wild camp just next to the fortress so we headed up the very steep and narrow access road. There was a bit of a panic when we thought the van wouldn’t make it up the hill, but we arrived safely and were able to get the cable car down into the city centre.


Grenoble was at the centre of the resistance movement during the Second World War, and today it houses the Museum of Resistance and Deportation. The museum tells the story of the small resistance groups in the region, and the bravery of those who risked their lives to fight the Nazis. It was only towards the end of the war that they began to receive air drops from the allied forces to help them in their missions.

While in Grenoble we made a concerted effort to expand our rather limited menu! We don’t have an oven or a microwave in the van, and we’re on a tight budget so eating out is a rare treat. So far we’ve managed quite well on a menu of light, summery, Mediterranean dishes like leak and potato soup, bangers and mash, and shepherd’s pie! So, having put the word out for new easy recipes, we tried out Simon’s Paella and Mum’s Liver and Bacon. And we still can’t work out why we’re putting on weight!


We headed north from Grenoble and past Lac de Bourget, the largest freshwater lake in France near the spa town of Aix les Bains. From here it was on to a place we visited last summer and fell in love with - the little town of Annecy and the lake with the same name.

Surrounded by mountains, the lake and town are typical picture-postcard alpine scenes, and even the large number of tourists can’t spoil the wonderful atmosphere. We drove around the lake on a hot Saturday and it seemed that anywhere big enough to lie down was good enough for a quick sunbathe, even the pavement!

The town centre is a maze of alleyways, canals and historic buildings, it’s a great place to wander or to sit and watch the world go by. We found a spot to camp next to the lake with a view across to the town. Unfortunately the road we parked next to turned out to be a little busier than we thought, and it was only at 3am we realised we were quite close to the local nightclub as well!


We seemed to leave the good weather behind us as we passed from France into Switzerland. Driving along little country roads, we didn’t even realise we were in Switzerland at first!

We headed straight to Lake Geneva and found a good place to park for the night just outside the city on the banks of the lake. It was Swiss national day so a huge fair was set up in Geneva and we had a great view of the fireworks displays taking place around the lake that evening. The only problem was the weather - it rained constantly! After a very soggy walk into the city the following day, we decided to cut our losses and move on.


If you ever drive to Switzerland it’s worth knowing about the vignette. Rather than road tolls, to drive on the main roads and motorways you have to purchase a sticker and place it in your windscreen. The only issue is that there’s only one year-long pass available costing 30 euros. So if you’re passing through and only in the country for 2 days (as we were) it’s a bit of a bugger!

From Switzerland, it was on to Germany and the lovely city of Laufenburg. A small town in reality, Laufenburg faces a similar city of the same name across the river Rhine in Switzerland. Laufenburg was in fact one city until Napolean divided it and made the Rhine the border in the 1800s. The two cities are connected by a bridge so it does feel like one town, but the national flags remind you exactly which country you’re in.

Next time –Ellis week!

Gîte Week

On 16th July our friends Neil and Simon flew out to join us for a week in Russan, about 20 minutes from Nimes in southern France.


The house we rented was fantastic and only cost £250 for the week – a bargain considering its location and the standard of the accommodation (click here for further details). ‘La Forge’ is right on the village square and has a balcony perfect for sitting in the evening sun and watching the world go by.


It was great to see our friends again after 6 months on the road, and a fair bit of drinking was done! During the week we actually had to make a couple of trips to the bottle bank to make space in the kitchen and avoid any embarrassment when we left!!

After a day relaxing at the house we set out to see some of the sights in the area. Now, when we say ‘in the area’ we actually mean ‘in France’ as our first trip turned out to be a bit of an epic which showed our route planning skills to be... well... completely useless! 8 hours travelling in the van is a long time! Hats off to our guests for not jumping ship by lunchtime (especially with the hangovers we’d collected from the previous evening!) The map below shows the route we took.


View A rather long day out in a larger map

Our first stop was the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon which is rather famous for its cheese. We visited one of the famous cheese houses and learnt all about how roquefort is made on the free tour. One of the strange facts we discovered is where the blue mould comes from. Each year a special batch of rye bread is made. It’s baked at a high temperature for a short time and then left for mould to develop inside. The bread is then broken open and a tiny amount of this mould, Penicillium roquefort, is used to develop the blue veins in each cheese.

From Roquefort it was a short drive to see the fantastic viaduct at Millau. Designed by the British architect Norman Foster, this bridge is the tallest in the world (343 metres at its highest point) and it carries the main motorway from Paris to Montpellier for 2.5km across the Tarn valley. It’s an amazing sight and has become quite a tourist attraction in its own right.


We then planned to follow the route of the river Tarn along the famous gorges, but after half an hour of bumpy, twisty roads we decided to head for home. Unfortunately home turned out to be 3 and a half hours away! So a very long day, but we were pleased with the things we’d seen in the end.

The next day was spent relaxing by the river Gard at nearby Collias, where we went down the ‘rapids’ on Neil’s company lilo (which has travelled further than we have all told!). The following day we returned to hire canoes for the day. We spent a few hours gently paddling downstream – hardly difficult when the water in the rapids is only a few inches deep! There were some great spots of deeper water for swimming and jumping off the rocks though.

Near the end of the trip we passed under the Pont du Gard, one of France’s most famous landmarks. Built by the Romans in the first century AD, the bridge was part of an aqueduct that carried fresh water for 50km from Uzes to Nimes. To say its 2000 years old, it’s survived rather well.


Our last day in Russan marked the start of the 4 day village fete, which included various events. The most interesting was the Bull Run, still a big tradition in the area around the Carmague in southern France. The route through the village went directly under our balcony so we had great front row seats! It certainly wasn’t what you might expect from a bull run. During the afternoon a number of bulls were escorted along the route by men on horseback.


Nobody risked their lives by running in front of the bulls, although a few of the village lads did try unsuccessfully to jump on the back of a bull and ride it. The bulls didn’t seem stressed or ill treated and the whole thing appeared to be an act, with the animals quite used to the show and knowing what was expected of them.

Once the bull run was over, the party started. A fair had been set up in the village square, along with a stage for the band and dancing which went on until the early hours. It was a lovely day, very interesting, and it was great to see so many people, particularly the young ones, taking part in and supporting the fete in such a small village.

Our week in Russan passed all too quickly and we’d highly recommend the house and area to anyone. We made good use of the facilities– especially the washing machine and wifi – and were ready to face another few weeks on the road when we left. Next time, the Verdon gorges, the Alps, Switzerland and Germany!

Planes, sprains and a carnival

View July 1st - 16th 2010 in a larger map

The dog’s put her back out chasing sticks! Honestly -kids! One moment she’s bounding about like a mad thing, the next she’s hobbling along like she’s broken her back! And that’s what we were afraid she’d done until the doggie doctor put us straight, right before he robbed us blind of nearly €60 for his diagnosis – murder!

Apparently she’s twisted or sprained something and needs complete rest for 2 weeks. She has to be lifted into and out of the van and is only allowed out for quick toilet breaks. So, as you can imagine, we have one very bored pooch indeed. She’s climbing the walls and dying to tear about outside!


It doesn’t help matters that it’s 36 degrees in the van - quite uncomfortable for her and for us, and making it very difficult for us to leave her and actually do anything. So quite a frustrating fortnight all in all, but we’ve still been on a tour of an aeroplane factory, cycled along part of the Canal du Midi, and seen quite an amusing procession of French floats.

But we start with Andorra, which has been described as a dual carriageway with shopping centres along it. That’s not a bad description actually when you first pass into Andorra from Spain and travel to the capital, Andorra la Vella. But as soon as you leave the main road it’s a different story. The scenery is magnificent. We spent a day walking around a lake near the capital and wild camped in a beautiful deserted valley.


We did stop briefly for a quick booze shop – a little more quality Italian gin than customs would officially allow! A good job we weren’t searched when passing into France.


Our first stop in France was the interesting little town of Ax les Thermes. Famous as a spa town, there are 13 hot springs in the town centre that spurt water out at 70 degrees. There’s a pool in the town square where you can dip your feet in the healing waters and it’s really quite relaxing. You may think twice when you realise it’s called the leper pool, but don’t let that put you off!!

After another night camped in amazing scenery, we drove across the foothills of the Pyrennes - lady Tom Tom taking us the scenic route via miles of single track roads with hairpin bends! We eventually emerged near Foix, where the dog overdid it with sticks! The next day, once the vet had delivered his prognosis and Charlie was sat with all four feet up, we had a wander around Foix. It’s a lovely little town with some great views and a curious castle that has three very different towers.


The next day we were in Toulouse early for a very special visit... a guided tour of the Airbus 380 factory. If you’re ever in this area you must go! It’s a high security area, so we’ve got no photos unfortunately. The tour began in a mock up of the flight control centre used during the planes’ test flights. You’re shown video of the flight and are told all about the plane’s history, development, instruments, and test flights. We were then bussed out to the production line and watched 3 of the planes being built from an observation platform 40 metres above. Each plane already had the logo of the airline buying the plane on the tail fin – Air France, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. Another 6 were parked outside which were undergoing final checks and test flights.

A couple of facts – The Airbus 380 is a new double decker plane that’s able to carry over 600 people. Pieces of the plane are made in France, Germany, Spain and the UK and then shipped to Toulouse to be assembled. And they have quite a journey! For example, the wings are made in the UK and shipped via Airbus ferry to France where they are unloaded and moved by barge up a river. They’re then transferred to a road convoy which travels through the night to the factory on roads adapted for it. It was good to see that the most important parts - the wings and the Rolls Royce engines - are built in the UK! It was an amazing and awe inspiring visit and great to see a world leading European collaboration – the EU isn’t just about straight bananas you know!

From Toulouse we followed the path of the Canal du Midi towards the Mediterranean. The canal was the brain child of Pierre Paul Riquet. It opened in 1681, tragically 6 months after his death, and links the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The canal is lined with trees on either side at 2 metre intervals to provide shade and thus minimise water evaporation. We found a couple of lovely overnight spots right next to the canal and the shade was very welcome! You may remember seeing Rick Stein cooking his way along the Canal du Midi a few years ago!


Whilst in this area we also visited Carcassone, the largest fortress in Europe. There have been fortifications on the site since the 13thcentury but in the 1800s it was deserted and in ruins. The architect Viollet le Duc fought to restore the site to its former glory, and rebuilt it as it was under Louis IX. It looks like the typical fairytale castle - like the one in Shrek! It’s an amazing place and we really enjoyed wandering around for a couple of days.


Unfortunately, we also had a bit of a bump in Carcassonne when David reversed into a rock and a bit of trim came off! It’s fair to say we were both a little annoyed. We’d only had the front bumper looked at the day before following our knock with the diddy-van in Spain!

After visiting Narbonne and Bezier, both very nice small cities, we arrived in Agde on what turned out to be the day of their summer carnival. The parade was supposed to pass through the town at 9pm so people lined the street excitedly to watch it. A lot of people, and disappointed children, had drifted away when the procession finally arrived... at 11.30pm! Perhaps someone had underestimated its average speed, which was around 0.01 miles per hour!

There were some great floats, each pulled by a little tractor, and some fantastic little brass bands playing. The local farmers’ wives were obviously in competition to win the prize for the best float. Some of them were sat at the front of their creations, not looking proud, wearing fancy dress, or waving or smiling - just sucking furiously on a tab! Obviously an important and nerve wracking occasion!


We spent a couple of hours on the beach near Cap D’Agde, where motorhomes lined the coast road next to the beach for several miles – a popular spot. We then headed inland for a couple of relaxing days by Lac de Salagou before travelling on towards Nimes to meet up with a couple of friends for a week. Next time – Gîte Week!

Episode VII, in which not a lot happens... apart from Spain

View March 9th - 13th 2010 in a larger map

Greetings reader! Have you still not had that baby? / Don’t you usually have a gin around this time? / Here’s your beef tea Derrick! (please delete as appropriate).

So when we last spoke we’d just arrived in Biarritz, one of France’s many style capitals - cue photo of us looking stylish on the beach in Biarritz...

This was just four days ago and the main thing that’s happened since then is about 1000 kilometres. Oh and Spain! We passed through it so quickly, we barely had time to find a wicker donkey for Dan! (maybe later Dan, sorry!)

On Tuesday (or was it Monday? – it’s amazing how quickly you lose track) we passed into Spain and on Thursday, into Portugal. The first thing that struck us on both occasions was the lack of, well a border really.

Now we’ve not done this sort of European trip before. We suspected we probably wouldn’t have to flash our passports as we were waved across the border. But we at least expected something vaguely resembling a border, with a little hut and barrier manned by a couple of armed policemen perhaps. And to drive passed with that ever so slight feeling of guilt, like you get when going through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel at the airport, even when you genuinely have nothing to declare – half expecting/dreading/hoping to be pulled from the queue and strip searched!

Not a sausage! Not even a sign reading ‘Welcome to Spain’ and telling us that it’s twinned with Wales, or was awarded the Country in Bloom award in 1987. Disappointing.

The second thing that struck us was the language. The only clue to us having changed countries was the shopfronts being in a different language. Now we’re obviously aware that different languages are spoken in different parts of the world, but we felt we were quite well prepared, what with David being an MFL teacher and all (that’s Modern Foreign Languages for those who don’t parlay the teaching lingo!). Sadly David’s MFL’s don’t extend to Portugese, which is quite, quite different to Spanish... we’ve discovered.

This only really presented a problem when the third thing struck us. Unfortunately, this was a stone kicked up by the car in front which shattered our windscreen when we were in the middle of nowhere! We can laugh about it now... nearly. International Rescue was very good. We were soon directed to the nearest autoglass that had the right screen in stock by the lovely Anna who was ‘somewhere in Portugal’. And with David’s other MFLs, we (or rather, he) managed to get it all sorted quite quickly.

So we arrived rather later than planned at our first stopover point in Portugal, a Baragem or reservoir near Nisa. It was dark when we stopped, but we woke the next day to temperatures of 15 degrees and a crackin’ view!!



We’d had snow the day before in Spain, so we decided to stay another night and spent Thursday relaxing (apart from Charlie who spent most of it swimming).



On Friday we drove on to Lisbon, and it’s there that we leave you again dear reader. Our plan is to hit the town tonight (Saturday), apart from Charlie who’s having an early night with a Dick Francis. We’ll then go further south at a more leisurely pace and (hopefully) enjoy some of the warmer weather.

Do keep your messages and comments coming. We love hearing your news and gossip. What news from Corrie? Has the Apprentice started again yet? Who will replace Margaret we wonder!

A couple of quick responses. Juliet wins a prize for knowing that Corsica is France’s largest island. I’m afraid your only prize is the knowledge that the sewing kit you gave us has saved us from certain drafts – in other words, a couple of the safety pins are holding together a troublesome zip on our sleeping bag! Thank you!

Adeus

Au Revoir France!

View March 5th - 8th in a larger map

Well, that’s the Bisto put away for the night; a taste of home! We’ve spent the last few days heading further south. We particularly enjoyed the Charente area; Cognac and Angouleme.

We spent a night in luxury at a campsite on the Ile d’Oléron, France’s 2nd largest island (a prize for those who know the biggest!) This area supplies 60% of all the oysters eaten in France. It was great to have the pool to ourselves and relax.



The day spent in Cognac was really interesting, especially seeing a bottle of Cognac on sale for €7000! If ever you find yourself in the area it’s worth knowing that all the museums are free on the first weekend of the month – lucky for us! This meant our trip to the international comic book museum in the beautiful town of Angouleme the next day was also free; all very nicely done in a really cool building which looked very sci-fi. Sadly there wasn’t much in English, so we read a few comics and Alex bought a Tintin book! Then we had a quick stop at the paper museum. This seemed to focus on the production of cigarette papers and how babies and children were shown smoking in adverts for them – all very politically correct!




On the way from Charente to Spain we decided to go to the Dune du Pyla; the biggest sand dune in Europe just next to the biggest forest in Europe – a bizarre sight that very much confused the dog who couldn’t work out where the sea was! Over 100 metres high fact fans, and plonked in the middle of nowhere. We think they had the sand shipped in to create a feature!




Things have all been going great in the van but the cold weather has meant that we’ve decided to head to Portugal, and Lisbon by the end of this week. It’s not just Britain that has balmy weather. We had snow this afternoon, bright blue skies this morning and icicles on the beach!

So, upon leaving France, a few observations:
- France is massive; huge areas with absolutely nothing in them.
- The French, as a rule, don’t believe in indicating!
- Wine’s cheap – and, at times, nasty! But you get what you pay for.
- There are a lot of motorhomes around, but many places close for the winter.

And finally... Monday morning; you were at work, and we were doing this...



...it's not all glamour!

Cognac anyone?

We have travelled inland slightly to Cognac today. Think you can guess what we'll be doing tonight!

Hope all's well - bright blue skies here. What's the weather like at home?

Journey South (remember them?!)

View February 28th - March 5th in a larger map

Two disasters this week. You may have seen that a severe storm hit the west coast of France in the early hours of Sunday morning. We’ve seen some of the aftermath on our travels this week and it looks just awful.

We left Chris and Helene’s in Normandy on Sunday lunchtime and headed south. The storm clouds cleared just as we approached Mont Saint Michel 2 hours later. We had a wander around the cobbled streets before driving on to our overnight spot.




On Monday we headed to Dinan, a beautiful medieval hilltop town. The river in the valley below was inches from bursting its banks and some of the shops there were already pumping out their cellars. We continued our mission to get to some warmer weather in the south, stopping a night in Nort sur Erdre where we found 3 bottles of Merlot for €4.50... bargain!





On Tuesday we arrived in the area known as Marais Poitevin, or Green Venice. It reminded us of the Norfolk Broads – an area of fens, criss crossed by canals and dykes. Apparently, many of the farmers use punts to get around as their land can’t be reached by road. We had a long healthy walk here – followed by an unhealthy three course lunch with wine! Whoops! Then we saw a beaver in a dyke!!





On Wednesday we arrived in La Rochelle. The towers were closed due to storm damage and some of the shops were being pumped out, but we loved the place and would definitely like to come back at some point. We stayed in a car park close to the town centre! The hospital and the station were quite close by, which made for an interesting night of sirens, trains and platform announcements!



On Thursday we headed on to Rochefort for a quick look at their rope factory (as interesting as it sounds, and also closed due to storm damage!) Finally we arrived at our base for the next day or so – Ile d’Oléron.

Everywhere we’ve been to so far has been so quiet, we have to keep reminding ourselves that it’s only March. There are very few people on the beaches, in the restaurants and campsites that have remained open for the low season. We almost feel we have places to ourselves. This suits us just fine, especially as our last campsite on Ile d’Oléron had a health spa and pool complex attached..... but you had to wear Speedos! Don’t expect any photos of that!

Thanks for your comments. Tom Tom got us around La Rochelle just fine Dad; I’m afraid the jousting outfit only came in kids sizes Mum; and Daxa – keep us posted! It’s time that hairdo was locked up!!

The second disaster? Oh yes, we’ve run out of Hob Nobs!

Raining chats et chiens!

View February 22nd - 27th in a larger map

Well after a week abroad we’ve seen our fair share of rain!

We crossed the channel on Monday morning and then drove in torrential rain down the coast of Northern France to stay the night at Fort Mahon-Plage; a deserted holiday resort.


To be fair the first few days consisted of eating cheese, drinking wine and sleeping, although we did stop briefly to consider buying a nearly new Citroen!




After this we headed to St Jacques de Néhou to visit Alex’s brother Chris, Hélène and family. They enjoyed such luxury foreign gifts as Marmite, Bombay mix and Yorkshire tea; and we enjoyed their fabulous hospitality as ever. The kids also enjoyed the inflatable jousting set we gave them, we give it a week before the dog has a go at them!




We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the forth member of our team; Grandad. Grandad Ellis is pushing forward through France, much as he did in 1944, only this time he’s made of wool and hanging from our rear view mirror!


So what' going on in Blighty? And most importantly, has Gail been arrested for Joe's murder yet?! - bound to happen - can see it coming a mile off!