Showing posts with label Port Plaisance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Port Plaisance. Show all posts

Monday 2 September 2019

Camping Les Rives du Lac, (N48 18"10' E4 20" 16") at Geraudot,

Saturday, 31st August 2019

Camping Les Rives du Lac, contd...


Clear blue sky, 34C by lunch time.

Today, was planned as a "take it easy day", after yesterday's efforts, but, we went for a short cycle ride, along the VoieVelo, in the opposite direction to yesterday, and, ten miles later, at Radonvilliers, decided we should turn around and head back, so, twenty miles in total!

Sadly Kathleen's picnic organising skills are not as good as her cycling skills, and, in ten miles, we fail to spot a bar or shop, so, we have to wait until we get back to the van, for sustenance.

We have received the link for Bryan and Joans blog here, but, cannot add a comment for some reason! 




















Sunday, 1st September 2019

Camping Les Rives du Lac, contd...

After the excellent weather we have had so far, a disappointing start to the day, a cool 18C, cloudy, with occasional showers.

The plan for today was to have an easy, relaxing day, after our two consecutive "20 miles" days. But, it is Sunday, so, Kathleen is determined to go to church (in Lusigny-sur-Barse). There is a church there, and, Kathleen's enquiries at the adjacent hairdressers, suggested there was a mass at 10:30, Sunday, either that, or, she has made a hair dressing appointment for then!

Well, after pedalling 6.5 miles, there is no Mass. All is not lost, the Carrefour is open, so, we are able to stock up on some essentials, ie wine.

Monday, 2nd September 2019


Leave GĂ©raudot today, heading for Port Plaisance, Nancy48.6921, 6.19346a rather expensive Aire (25Euro/night) with reasonable reviews on Search for a Site website, roughly 125 miles.

On arrival, not impressed, scrappy appearance, some kind of trench digging in progress, alongside very busy road, all that for 17Euro/night, no thank you.



So, we pushed on to Pont-a-Mousson N48 54'4" E6 3'51", an Aire we have used before, some years ago.

Marked out bays. Divided into two sections (surprisingly, named section 1 and section 2),  water and electricity at each bay, good quality showers and toilets available 08:00-20:00 at the modern Capitainaire building, very pleasant Attendant, all for 10Euro/night.

Town approximately five minutes walk.

Once "settled in", Kathleen announces she would like to go for a short cycle ride, to
explore.

We end up doing just over 12 miles along an excellent cycle track alongside the River Moselle.

We spend the evening in the sun, drinking wine, it is a hard life. ;)

A slight puzzle, to me at least, is, why is it called "Pont-a-Mousson", true, there is a bridge (Pont), but, the River is the Moselle, so, why not "Pont-a-Moselle"?






Tuesday 6 July 2010

July 4th, 2010 - July 6th, 2010

Mersch - Camping Krounebieg - ASCI2010-410

The site is very smart.

We are now in Luxembourg, I was not sure what to expect, from childhood memories of "Radio Luxembourg", it had sort of "exotic" expectations to it.

In reality, it is very pretty, very rural, and very hilly. Not really high hills, but just sort of very up and down.

Monday, Bryan and Joan decide to take the bus into Luxembourg City.

Kathleen and I decide to investigate the cycle track, although we have no real intention of going all of the way to the city (it is 17km, 10.5 miles, from here), and we have been told it is quite up and down.

In the event it turns out to be easy going, it is fairly flat, as you can see, since it follows a river for most of the way.

The signposting is not up to the German standards we have become used to, and eventually we lose the track, and end up having to cycle along a fairly busy road. We decide to turn back, since we are not too bothered about going to the city, we are just out for the ride. We end up doing 20 miles, so we could have comfortably made it there and back, if we had not got lost.

One odd thing we have noticed, other than in the towns, there does not seem to be any shops, cafes or bars. Goodness knows where the Luxembourgers (or whatever they are called), do their shopping or have a drink.

We return to Mersch, find a cafe and have a snack and a drink, before returning to the van, so that Kathleen can indulge in her hair washing activities for the rest of the afternoon.

Tuesday, and it is time for us to begin the final leg of this trip, we have to travel across France to Dunkirk, in order to catch our ferry home.

We say goodbye to Bryan and Joan, for the second time on this trip, as they are now heading toward Brittany, to meet up with some family members, for a family camping holiday.

Our first task before leaving Mersch is to fill up with diesel, Luxembourg we have been told has the cheapest diesel in Europe, it is 1.007 Euro per litre, which is roughly equivalent to 88p /litre, I wish we had a bigger tank!

Stenay - Aire, Port Plaisance
This is the French version of the German Stellplatz we have been using, here it costs 7Euro per night, and that includes Electric hookup, toilets, showers, waste disposal etc.

Our problem now is, we are in "high season", and most of the campsites in our ACSI book do not give discounts during this period. This means that instead of typically paying 15 Euro per night, in many cases, the price increases significantly to something more in the 25 - 30 Euro per night range. As a result, we are using Aires to try and keep our costs under control.

The Aire is by the Canal de La Meuse, which is a functioning canal, with barges and pleasure boats passing, this is the view from our window.

I say the Canal de La Meuse, there is a river and a canal, it is very difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins!, but I think the bit we are beside is the canal.





The Aire is quite scenic as these things go. It is not quite as smart as we have come to expect of the German version, but everything is usable.

We arrive just after lunch time, at which point it is about one third full, but by 16:00 it is full.

It is quite a large aire, with space for about 40-50 vans, in addition to the area you can see in the picture, there are an additional six or so spaces, next to the office (where you "clock in" and pay).

It really is quite a picturesque spot, just a short distance away (about 100 metres), is this Water Mill.

Unfortunately it is no longer actually working, but it is quite an impressive sight all the same.








We are about 40 kilometres from Verdun, of World War One fame.

Stenay, must one have been quite a significant place, there is an enormous building, which is called "The Citadel" and was clearly once a military building, it has now been converted to shops and apartments.

Overall, it is a place of faded grandeur, but it still has that a certain charm and sort of "shabby chic" which the French seem to be adept at preserving.