Back to the ferry via Chalons en Champagne

After a decent night’s sleep on a proper bed we had quite an early breakfast at the hotel then set off for the 615km drive to Calais for the ferry home.  Fortunately the traffic was much better so we did our first 300km in around 2.5 hours.  We stopped for shopping and lunch at Chalons en Champagne, where there seemed to be a large fair, so traffic and parking around the supermarket was heavy.  

We had lunch in a “flunch” restaurant then after stocking up on goodies we drove on to Calais, arriving around 5pm.  We were put on a slightly earlier Ferry so got back to the UK about 6.30pm local time.  After getting out of the port etc. that got us home around 9.25pm after a fantastic holiday!

A long drive to Beaune

We had breakfast and then left the campsite around noon today for the long drive to Beaune, our stop on the way home.  The traffic on the A6 and A7 autoroutes and around Lyon was awful so we took 7 hours to cover only 450km.  

We checked into to Hotel Belle Epoque in Beaune a bit after 7pm and went out for a quick (and well earned!) beer at Publican Mr Brown followed by a delicious meal at La Buissoniere.

Gorges du Regalon

We spent the morning at the campsite after a good breakfast of boudin, tomatoes, egg and French bread.  Our little one ring gas stove has done us very well this holiday.

Later we went to The Gorges de Regalon.  It was very hot but this was a fascinating walk along a river bed between very high rocks with some spectacular views.  We had our last night dinner at the campsite after a final swim. 

Salon en Provence

We got up earlier today and drove to Salon en Provence to see its market. We had a wander around the old town and looked at the outside of the chateau and a church that we couldn’t visit because there was a funeral in progress. We had a taco for lunch. We drove back to the campsite and spent some time relaxing by the pool before dinner in the restaurant again.

Le Puy Sainte Réparade, Abbaye de Silvacane, La Tour d’Aigues

We had a fairly slow start and after breakfast went to Le Puy Sainte Réparade and wandered around the town and bought some postcards.  We had lunch at Café Crème then got into the car and drove on to the Abbaye de Silvacane.  It had a good audioguide and we learned a lot about the life of the monks who lived there.  

Following that we visited La Tour d’Aigues.  We looked at a ruined chateau that looks like it’s used as a concert venue today.  We walked around the mediaeval village and picked up some food in Pertuis (including the traditional Poulet roti) which we ate back at the campsite by our tent.

Moving on to Provence

Today we breakfasted early and did the long drive to our next stop,
Camping Messidor.  We arrived around 5pm and found a pitch and put up out tent.  We popped out to get some provisions then had a nice supper at the campsite restaurant.

Foix and the Chateau

We visited Foix today.  We had a nice lunch at L’en Cas then explored the Chateau at Foix with some great views.  Then we went on to the Grottes Le Mas d’Azil where humans lived 16,000 years ago.  There were
some good rock formations and some good archaeological artefacts.  We visited the pre-history museum in the town of Le Mas d’Azil itself then we spent the evening back at La Mariette enjoying a few snacks.

L’isle-en-Dodon

Today we got up, breakfasted and got out fairly quickly so we could go to the market at L’isle-en-Dodon.  It was quite a small market but we had a good explore of it and the town.   We had some Orangina and some coffee in a small café and bought some food from a French stall selling Thai food for lunch.  We brought it back to La Mariette and spent the afternoon relaxing around the pool because the temperature was 30C.

A Roman Villa and a Gourmet Duck

We had another relaxing morning at La Mariette today.  In the afternoon we went and visited a really well preserved ruin of a Roman Villa at Montmaurin.  We were fortunate in that the person on the acceuil was English so she gave us a really informative tour, in English.  After this we drove down to Gorge de Save.  The road was closed off but we were able to see some of the river and some of the eroded river cliffs.

We came back to La Mariette for a rest and a shower and then went back into Samatan for dinner.  We ate at Le Canard Gourmet and enjoyed a delicious meal including fried Foie Gras and a nice chicken fajita.  We went into Lombez to see the end of a sports tournament between fireman and policeman but it looked like it had more or less finished so we didn’t stop.

Relaxing and Lombez

We spent the day at La Mariette enjoying the pool, the sun and the jacuzzi. We went to Lombez for an explore in the early evening including Cathédrale Sainte-Marie and then had a very delicious dinner out at a new restaurant called Le Bateau Ivre (the drunk boat).

Moving on to La Mariette

We got up reasonably early and after breakfast we packed up camp ready to move on to our next destination.  The drive was only 2-3 hours so we stopped for a brief lunch (that we’d made) at Saint-Clar-de-Rivière and got to La Mariette guest house at about 3.15pm.  We unpacked and had a relax and then drove into Samatan for dinner of salads and pizza at Marshall d’en Face.

Gaillac

We went to Gaillac today and had lunch at Morgan’s  of a nice assiette du jour with duck sausages. We visited the church of St Pierre and the Abbey Church of St Michel.  We went to Parc Foucaud for a walk.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner back at the campsite as it was our last evening before moving on.

Exploring Albi

It was much cooler today after the overnight rain.  We went to another nearby town, Albi, for lunch and an explore.  We had lunch at a place called Le couvert des halles.  It was very tasty with entrecote and chicken skewer with vegetables. We visited the cathedral there as well as the Toulouse Lautrec museum. We had dinner back at our tent.

A vide grenier and Cordes sur Ciel

Today we got up a bit late and had breakfast at the tent.  We walked into the local village, Vieux, to see the Sunday market which was basically a huge car boot sale with a lot of tat and a few bits of food.  It’s called a vide grenier in French, meaning empty the attic.  It was an extremely hot day.  We got back to the campsite to collect the car and drove to Cordes sur Ciel, a beautiful old town on a hill.  We parked at the bottom and got a little tourist train up to the top where we had a good explore, including a church (St Michel) and eating some ice cream.  Cordes had a 7/7 Carrefour Express so we topped up on provisions before coming back to the campsite for a rest and a swim before dinner.  Dinner was served by the campsite again and was a delicious magret de canard.  We had a good evening getting to know several of the other guests.  There was intermittent rain during the evening and a thunderstorm in the night that we largely slept though.

A resting day

We had a very relaxing day today spending time around the tent and the pool and enjoying a good supper provided by the campsite, of chicken escalopes.  We love how much open space the campsite has.

Moving on to start camping

We got up for an earlier breakfast today and packed up the car for the long drive South.  We made pretty good time with only minimal stops and got to La Sesquière, our first campsite around 5.30pm.  We got the tent up and then popped out to buy some provisions including for supper.  We ate supper back at the tent then had a drink in the bar with the campsite owner, Marteen.

Chateau du Plessis-Bourré

We visited the chateau du Plessis-Bourré today.  Another chateau we visited was no longer open and we were greeted instead by a rather aggressive dog!  We cooked back at our Yurt and had beefsteak haché for supper.

More cycling and lunch at Chalonnes-sur-Loire

The weather was not so warm today so we decided to cycle again.  We picked up bikes from the same place and this time cycling East along the Loire to Chalonnes-sur-Loire where we had a nice lunch then cycled on to La Poissoniere where we had another break.  We cycled back quite gently and got back to Montjean-sur-Loire around 4.30pm.  We popped into a supermarket for petrol and food on the way back to le Saulaies and stayed in for the evening, making our own supper.

Some Loire valley cycling

We drove to Montjean-sur-Loire to pick up some hire ebikes today.  The weather was good so we cycled about 50-60km doing a round trip starting South of the Loire via St Florent le Vieil for an Orangina and then onto Ancenis for lunch where we had a delicious sandwich.  We continued on the North side of the Loire via Varades and Ingrandes then crossing back over the Loire to get back to the bike hire place around 5pm.  We again had dinner at Les Saulaies and went to be quite early being quite tired after a long cycle ride.

A relaxing day for Gordon's birthday

Gordon’s birthday started with cards then we had a good breakfast at Les Saulaies and spent the whole day relaxing in the gardens and around the pool.  We had a celebration dinner for Gordon’s birthday also at Les Saulaies with our wonderful hosts Olivier and Bruno.

The drive to the Loire Valley

Today we did the drive to the Loire Valley starting very early off the ferry. We stopped at Bernay and Alencon. Had lunch at Lion D’Angers and arrived at Les Saulaies at 2pm for a relaxing afternoon after a very early start! We had dinner at Les Saulaies, a beautiful place we stayed at last year too.

Brett Family BBQ then travel to France

We left home at 1pm to go to Brett family barbeque in Upminster (relocated from Eastbourne beach because of the wind).  We left there around 6pm to drive to Newhaven for the 11pm ferry to Dieppe.  Quite a rough crossing but slept well even if briefly (wake up call at 4.30am – 3.30am British time!)