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Thursday, 29th August 2019
A much cooler 18C as we leave Amiens.
Approximately 140 easy miles to our next stop, which is planned as Lac d'Orient, Mesnil-St-Pere, but, see below!
We arrive at Mesnil-St-Pere, about 20 miles East of Troyes, as we drive along the very attractive beach on the lake shore, it looks ominously busy.
We find Lac d'Orient, (N48 15'48" E4 20' 48"). As we thought, it does not look promising, there is a queue of five or six vans/caravans snaking out of the entrance. Sure enough, it is full, the first time in 12 years of roaming mainland Europe, with nothing booked, that we have been turned away!
The young lady in Reception gives us a slip of paper with several alternative sites (being full is clearly not unusual!).
We settle on Camping Les Rives du Lac, (N48 18"10' E4 20" 16") at Geraudot, about five miles along the lake shore. It is after 17:00 when we arrive there, fortunately, they have spaces available.
Friday, 30th August 2019
A glorious day, 25C, blue sky.
In our haste to find a pitch yesterday, we inadvertently chose the spot where all of the children on the site, gathered to feed the horses, in the adjacent field.
The children are no real problem, but, they can make a surprising amount of noise, plus, after a couple of falling down incidents, when Kathleen had to use her nursing skills on grazed knees, we decided it would be more restful to move!
This we duly did, this morning.
Yes, we are grumpy old gets, I agree!
Next task, since Sunday is approaching, find the Church.
We cycle along the excellent dedicated cycle route, into the vlllage (Geraudot). There is a church, but, no Mass this Sunday, but, we do find a notice board, with Masses listed at various nearby(?) villages.
We cycle on, still on an excellent tarmac dedicated cycle track (why can't we do things like this in UK?), around the Lac d'Orient. According to the signposting, the cycle track goes all the way to Troyes (30km away), at the 15km remaining point, we turn around and head back, to clock up just over 20 miles in total. We even find a sandwich shop, and, equally importantly, a bar.
After further household chores (ie clothes washing), without a single word of complaint, Kathleen relaxes with a Magnum Ice Cream.
Tuesday, 27th August 2019
A hot morning, after an equally hot and humid night.
Approximately 100 miles to Amiens.
The journey is not straight forward. There is a road closure (Route Barre), this of course sends the Sat-Nav into a cycle of "turn around when possible" and "recalculating route", as we attempt to follow the diversion signs.
What to do?
I call on my back-up navigator, but, "the voice" says "I have not got a clue where we are", not sure that one is in the Sat-Nav repetoire.
Les Parc des Cygnes (N49.921009, E2.2599) chosen after reading reviews. As always, necessary to remember everyone has different standards. This site has some good points, ie, close to Amiens Centre, with a bus (which is free on hot days, when they wish to discourage cars entering the city!), and, good cycling tracks. It's down side is, facilities are at the bottom end of the scale we consider acceptable, clean, but, basic, and, not adequate in quantity.
It is incredibly hot, 35C!
Given the heat, we lie about in the shade until late afternoon, then, we venture out on the bicycles, to Amiens and along the River Somme cycle route.
Overnight thunderstorm, very brief.
Wednesday, 28th August 2019
Last nights thunderstorm seems to have cooled thing down a little, a very pleasant morning, 22C.
We need some cash, we have been existing on the few Euro we had left over since last trip!
Cycle into Amiens, test out my Starling Bank Debit card, to make commission free withdrawals of Euros, it works, sadly, the exchange rate continues to fall (£1 = Euro1.10), it would appear the Money Markets are not as confident as Boris! Who to trust?
We do the inevitable Cathedral visit. There are many photographs in the Cathedral of the restoration works, after WW1.
We follow up with a very pleasant stroll around Amiens, with a sandwich and a beer for lunch.
How DO the French manage to make their towns/cities so pleasant?
Fortified, we cycle West along the banks of the Somme, according to Google, the excellent cycle track continues on to the Baie de Somme, but, we manage only 21 miles!
Wednesday, 21st August 2019 - Sunday 25th August 2019
Preparations begin.
To be honest, preparation did begin a little sooner, updating Maps in Sat-Nav, checking tyre pressures, checking gas bottles, converting our Tesco points to Tunnel Vouchers (£99 discount, not bad!), etc.
But, today, Wednesday, Kathleen begins "the packing". I am little or no help, since my attitude is "if we have forgotten something, we will either, do without it, or, buy one", after all, France is a civilised Country, with shops etc.
By Saturday, lawns are cut, weeding done, garden is tidy.
The "standard" before photographs of the garden are taken, ready for the judging, on our return, have the "kids" earned their inheritance?
A final cycle ride, this morning, around our regular Washington Circuit, before packing the bicycles in the Motorhome Garage. Hopefully, we are going to get many miles of pleasant cycling, in the coming weeks.
Monday, 26th August 2019
An early start, well, 09:00.
Three hundred and twenty miles, with minimal hold ups, for a sunny Bank Holiday.
A sticky 30C, not ideal for travelling.
A meal stop at Maidstone, then on to the Tunnel Terminal.
Our most slick crossing ever, we are offered an earlier crossing, for no charge (19:06 instead of 20:20), we are straight on the shuttle, in pole position, to be first off.
By 21:00 French time, we are parked in Cite Europe, N50 55' 57" E1 48'48", and drinking a cool beer!
