Home to quarantine

We had an early start today to get to Le Shuttle for the journey home.  We got a slightly earlier crossing and were back in the UK by 8.30am.  A strightforward drive got us back home by 11am ready to start 2 weeks of quarantine because the UK government had taken France off the exempt list while we were away.  We found our tomatoes had grown well.

The journey back to Calais

We had a decent breakfast at the hotel in Langres then drove about 500km back to Calais where we checked into our old friend Hotel Meurice.  We had a rest and then a wander around Calais followed by a delicious and very Covid-safe dinner at the Restaurant Histoire Ancienne.

Exploring Langres

We spent today exploring Langres. We walked all the way round the ramparts, which was interesting and gave some good views. We saw an old tram too.

We had a nice lunch at Le Foy with an andouillette and Ile Flottante. 

We visited the museum in the afternoon. Later we did a supermarket trip then had a picnic in the hotel room and beers on its terrace.

The end of the camping and on to Langres

We got up quite early today to pack everything up ready to leave our final campsite.  We drove about 400km to Langres and got to our hotel around 5pm.  We had a rest and a shower then walked into Langres for dinner at a restaurant called La Pignata, which sadly was more about quantity than quality.  Gordon had a very soggy pizza and they'd run out of andouillettes!

A regional park and a gorge

We went into the Vercors regional natural park today. We visited the Gorge d'Omblèze and had a walk then a late lunch at Le Moulin de la Pipe. It wasn't very good as we were past the 2pm full service cut-off.

We enjoyed our last night at the campsite with dinner at the tent them some drinks at the bar ready for departure tomorrow.

Dieulefit and Le poët Laval

Today we visited Dieulefit and saw pottery shops, some churches, and a castle remains.

Then we went to Le Poët Laval we explored the hill top old village and saw the museum of Protestantism. 

We had dinner again at the campsite, enjoying delicious sole. Definitely the campsite with the best food so far!

Crest and a very high Donjon

We visited Crest today, the nearest town to the campsite.  

We enjoyed a nice lunch in the Café de Paris bistro then climbed up to the very tall Tour de Crest with some amazing views.  It has the highest Donjon in France.  

We returned to the campsite for a relax and dinner of soup, bread and cheese at the tent.

A market to Die for!

Today we visited Die to see the large market that's there on Wednesdays. We saw the cathedral there then returned to the campsite for relaxation and swimming followed by a delicious Indonesian meal at the campsite bar and a wonderful sunset.  The meal was properly themed with staff in costume and copious portions.  Delicious!

Montélimar and Nougat

After breakfast at the tent we visited Montélimar including an old nougat factory and a castle.  The tour was fascinating and we also explored the town.

After a supermarket visit on the way back we had a dinner of Monkfish stew at the tent, expertly made by Gordon.

On to the final campsite

We packed up and left Gagère around noon today for the drive down to the last campsite, Camping val Drôme Soleil.  It was about a 300km drive and we got there in plenty of time to visit a supermarket first and pick up some food for dinner.  The campsite was very hilly but they had reserved us a nice flat, if stony, place for our tent. We got everything set up, had nice steak haché for dinner and then tried out the bar in the new campsite.  It was most satisfactory and fine for playing rummikub!

Lake swimming

Today we drove to Lac des Setons and had a swim in the lake.  We had dinner back at the campsite restaurant.

Washing and pancakes

We cooked breakfast at the campsite, of sausages, tomato and eggs. Today is the mid-point of the holiday so we stayed at the campsite and did some washing as it was a good warm day to dry it.  We went into Luzy to see the church and for some Crepes for lunch.  We explored some market stalls and bought some honey and then came back via a supermarket for some provisions.  A nice relaxing day.

An impressive aqueduct

Today we visited Visited Paray le Monial and Digoin where we saw an impressive aqueduct over the Loire carrying a canal, and a lock. There was also a useful museum about canals in France that we enjoyed.

We ate dinner at tent.  Definitely far less eating out this year with the pandemic around.

A relaxing day at the campsite

We didn't go anywhere today but had a relaxing day on the campsite in the sun and by the pool.  We discovered the campsite wash-ups have dishwashers!  We had a nice evening meal of at the campsite bar, a few drinks and some rummikub!

Gordon's birthday and Nevers

Today was Gordon's birthday. We had a lovely lunch at Papy's just outside Nevers. We popped in to La Charité sûr Loire after lunch and saw the amazing church that was the eldest "daughter" to the abbey in Cluny. 

Tony had a cheeky swim in the Loire. Then we went into Nevers for an explore of the cathedral, the Ducal Palace and the ramparts.

We had dinner back at tent after a Casino food shop.

Moving on to Burgundy

We packed up tent this morning and and drove to our next campsite, La Gagère. After some shopping and getting the tent up we had dinner in campsite bar and several Pelforth!

Exploring Metz

Today we visited Metz, where we had great lunch. We visited the cathedral and saw the Musée de la Cour d'Or. We had a celebratory ice cream before heading back to the campsite to relax.

A long and hot cycle ride

Today we cycled to Toul, about a 20km ride. Unfortunately the campsite hire bikes were awful but it was nice ride with great scenery. Most of it was segregated from motor vehicles or completely off road.  We saw a lock with a 3.9m water level change! We explored a church and had some lunch in Toul.  Tony swam in Moselle on the way back as there were lots of others doing the same. We had dinner at campsite restaurant.

Pompey and Pont a Mousson

Today we visited Pompey and Pont a Mousson. We did a walk along the Moselle and over a few bridgets.  This was quite an industrial area.  We saw the remains of steel works in Pompey and looked at a church, followed by a kebab for supper!

Visiting Nancy

We drove today into Nancy for a bit of an explore.  We enjoyed visiting the Musée des Beaux Arts and found its Covid precautions to be good. Places were very empty.

A wander into Liverdun

We had a wander around the campsite and into Liverdun via the river path today. We were sad to see swimming prohibited but the Moselle is very polluted and weedy and has some big sluices on it that can cause huge and sudden currents. We had some soft drinks in the bar then dinner back at the tent followed by beer and rummikub in the campsite bar.

A camping trip for a pandemic summer

We had an early start this morning, getting up around 4.30am leaving to get Le Shuttle from Folkestone at 9.20am.  We drove about 400km stright through France and to our first Campsite, Les Boucles de la Moselle.  We got our tent put up and went to a local Intermarché to get some food.  We sampled the campsite bar's beer than had some pork steaks and bread back at our tent.