Friday 25th April 2014 - Sunday 27th April 2014
Oh dear, Friday and it is raining!
Kathleen decides to bring forward "hair washing day", from tomorrow, to today.
I amuse myself playing on the computer, and, doing what men do best, ie "pondering" on important topics, like, "why do women live longer than men?".
I think, perhaps it is a case of natural balance. Women need to live longer than men, to make of for the time they spend "doing" their hair, and other such tasks.
For example, washing my hair takes 2 minutes maximum, and, is incorporated with taking a shower. No drying / straightening is required, a quick comb, and that is that for the day. If by chance, I have worn my cycle helmet, or motorcycle helmet in the course of the day, a further 15 seconds of hair care MAY be required.
So, in the course of a week, say 35 minutes total?
Kathleen's regime averages at least one hour PER DAY, so, something in excess of 7 hours per week.
It is not hard to see why, natural balance, dictates that women need to live longer than men, just to compensate for that alone.
Saturday, we move up to Gravelines, near Dunkirk, for our last overnight in France, or this trip.
Sunday, through the tunnel, and, off to visit brother, Brian, for a couple of days.
Showing posts with label Camping St Claire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Camping St Claire. Show all posts
Monday 5 May 2014
Thursday 24 April 2014
Nefiach, La Garenne, La Couvetoirade, Faverolles, Dry, Camping St Claire
Sunday 20th April 2014 - Thursday 24th April 2014
It is Easter Sunday, the plan is, Kathleen will attend church at 10:30 in Nefiach, I will wait for her, and we will leave at about 12:00.
The Priest is late in arriving (an hour late!), slept in again?
So, the plan almost works, we just leave a bit late!
Monday. Faverolles, Auvergne (N44 56.339’ E3 8.858’).
The Aire is located next to what used to be the Neris Les Bains, railway station.
What a magnificent building it is. But sadly, it had a very short life as a railway station. It was build 1929-1931, then enjoyed a short period of use, before the outbreak of WW2. Services were suspended until the end of WW2, and, when they restarted in 1946, they never achieved profitabilty, with the result, the French version of Dr Beeching closed the line for passenger traffic in 1957. The station is now a exhibition centre etc (I suspect that means an under used liability for the local council).
Wednesday. An Aire, just south west of Orleans, in a village called Dry (N47 47.896’ E1 42.857’). The aire has the usual services.
It is Easter Sunday, the plan is, Kathleen will attend church at 10:30 in Nefiach, I will wait for her, and we will leave at about 12:00.
The Priest is late in arriving (an hour late!), slept in again?
So, the plan almost works, we just leave a bit late!
Sunday, La Couvertoirade, Mid-Pyrenees (N43 54.766 E3 18.970).
The Aire is part of a Car park for a 12th Century Knights Templar Village.
3Euro per each time you leave (there is a barrier on exit, which costs 3Euro to open it), no facilities except toilet.
The village in an amazing state of preservation!, and is open to wander around freely.
3Euro per each time you leave (there is a barrier on exit, which costs 3Euro to open it), no facilities except toilet.
The village in an amazing state of preservation!, and is open to wander around freely.
Rather high (approximately 800 metres), so rather chilly at only 12C.
The aire is convenient as a stop over as it is only about 3 miles off
the A75.
Tip, if you use this Aire:
when you leave, if you are heading North, do not follow the signs to A75, for some reason known only to the French it takes you on a cross country route for about five or six miles, to rejoin A75 South of where you left it, with a massive hill to climb! Just go back the way you came, to the A75 services at the top of the hill!
when you leave, if you are heading North, do not follow the signs to A75, for some reason known only to the French it takes you on a cross country route for about five or six miles, to rejoin A75 South of where you left it, with a massive hill to climb! Just go back the way you came, to the A75 services at the top of the hill!
Monday. Faverolles, Auvergne (N44 56.339’ E3 8.858’).
We first checked out Ruynes en Margeride (N45 0.075’ E3
13.437’), which was just fine, village perhaps had more going for it than
Faverolles.
Decided to check out Faverolles (which is less than 5 miles from
Ruynes en Margeride, both of them are just a couple of miles off the A75), on
the basis, it has a toilet. When we got there, toilet was locked. Not sure if
that is because it is Easter Monday, and the person whose job it is to unlock
it, is on holiday? Decided to stay at Faverolles anyway, perfectly pleasant,
with stunning views. Nothing open, not even the bar, presumably because it is
Easter Monday.
Tuesday Washing up disaster.
As
we are preparing to leave, and Kathleen is washing the breakfast dishes,
suddenly, (hot) water starts gushing from under the sink unit.
Quickly we turn
off the water pump and water heater, to kill the water pressure, but, not
before the contents of the food cupboard are soaked, and the kitchen floor is
awash. It turns out, the “push fit” water hose for the taps hot water supply has
come adrift. This gives us a problem, we cannot turn the water pump on, that
means no water from any of the taps, no shower, no toilet flush.
An hour of mopping up and we are on our way at last.
Neris Les Bains, Auvergne (N46 17.207’ E2 39.137’).
An excellent
aire.
Located alongside a campsite, for 7Euro / night, you get toilet, shower, usual aire services included, 10amp electricity. Maximum stay is 3 nights.
Neris Les Bains is a spa
town, a sort of French version of Harrogate.
The Aire is located next to what used to be the Neris Les Bains, railway station.
What a magnificent building it is. But sadly, it had a very short life as a railway station. It was build 1929-1931, then enjoyed a short period of use, before the outbreak of WW2. Services were suspended until the end of WW2, and, when they restarted in 1946, they never achieved profitabilty, with the result, the French version of Dr Beeching closed the line for passenger traffic in 1957. The station is now a exhibition centre etc (I suspect that means an under used liability for the local council).
Once we are “settled in”, I manage to fix the water leak, so
we have a functioning water system again. Kathleen assures me, she had every
faith in my ability to fix it, why do I not believe her?
Before leaving on Wednesday, we have a walk around the very
pretty lake, just alongside the aire.
Wednesday. An Aire, just south west of Orleans, in a village called Dry (N47 47.896’ E1 42.857’). The aire has the usual services.
The village is a
sleepy little place, but, it is most certainly not “dry”. It has a single cafe
(Cafe du la Paix), which doubles up as the bar, restaurant, newsagent,
tobacconist.
Thursday. It is back to one of our old favourites, Camping St Claire, Neufchatel-en-Bray.
Every time we come here, I suspect, I say the same things!, but, this is an excellent First or last stop after / before Calais, the site is superbly well kept by the owner, it is only 120 miles south of Calais, so, an easy drive.
There is good cycling and a town with plenty of shops to stock up on wine etc.
There is also a sort of French version of Quick-Fit, which is useful when I discover we have a puncture in a trailer tyre. Fortunately, I did buy the optional spare wheel!. The bad news is, tyre is not repairable, so, an unexpected 23 Euro to spend.
Friday 3 July 2009
Monday 29th June 2009 – Tuesday 30th June 2009
Sainte Claire, Neufchatel-en-Bray (ACSI2009-728) N49.73781 E1.42803We return to one of our old favourites. This is one of the first sites we stayed on when we began the campervan journeys, and we have returned at least once each year since I think.
Just to show anyone who is concerned about driving here, this is a shot through the windscreen as we drive along, this is typical of traffic levels even during the day.
The site is beautifully kept, and the chap who runs it always takes you to your pitch and guides you onto the hard standing so that you don’t damage his grass, which he obviously cares for very carefully. We have been here so often now that one of the French families who have a static van here, recognise us on our arrival.
The site is much busier than we have seen it before, and for once I would say the GB’ers out number the Dutch and Germans, we will have to stop recommending it to people, otherwise we will not be able to get on ourselves!
After we get settled and have our lunch, we are just about to set off along the cycle track (in preparation for eating cream cakes for afters), when the David and Carol the Welsh couple from the previous site arrive.
From here there is a cycle track which goes in one direction to Dieppe (about 20 miles away), and in the other direction to Forges-les-Eaux (about 13 miles away). Dieppe is on the coast, so overall going there must be downhill there and uphill back, while Forges-les-Eaux is inland so it must be uphill on the way there and downhill on the way back. On previous visits here it has always been my intention to cycle both routes. But Kathleen has always wimped out after a few miles. So on the first day, we set off for Forges-les-Eaux, and (someone) wimps out after about 8 miles. To be fair we set off at about 15:00, so we had the heat of the day to deal with and it was hot (30C).
In the evening Kathleen gets out the guitar, but the singing is cut short by our French neighbour, who informs us that she has just been informed today that her nephew has committed suicide by driving his mother car into a wall. So she is understandably upset and having difficulty with being surrounded by revelry from us and our English neighbours. Kathleen stops immediately and we try our best in our inadequate French to be apologetic and sympathetic.
It turns out that two of our English neighbours Jack and Joan are from the north east, Joan from South Shields and Jack from Boldon Colliery, although they now live in South Shields, they are on their way to Costa Brava towing a caravan.
Next day we set off at 09:30 in the morning before the heat builds up, and we make it comfortably to Forges-les-Eaux. Kathleen says she is training for the Coast-to-Coast when we get home.
We decide we will go to the nearby Lidl to buy “a bottle” of Gin for the Boss. We go on our bikes. When we get there she cannot resist buying three bottles of gin, six bottles of wine, and two three litre cartons of wine, oh’ and a bottle of coke and a bottle of cheap “Bacardi”.
Try carrying that lot on a bike, it is not easy.
As if that was not bad enough the “Bacardi” was rough. I swapped a couple of large glasses of it with David & Carol for a lemon, and I think that I got the bargain, but there again, for 4Euro what do you expect!
The site is beautifully kept, and the chap who runs it always takes you to your pitch and guides you onto the hard standing so that you don’t damage his grass, which he obviously cares for very carefully. We have been here so often now that one of the French families who have a static van here, recognise us on our arrival.
The site is much busier than we have seen it before, and for once I would say the GB’ers out number the Dutch and Germans, we will have to stop recommending it to people, otherwise we will not be able to get on ourselves!
After we get settled and have our lunch, we are just about to set off along the cycle track (in preparation for eating cream cakes for afters), when the David and Carol the Welsh couple from the previous site arrive.
From here there is a cycle track which goes in one direction to Dieppe (about 20 miles away), and in the other direction to Forges-les-Eaux (about 13 miles away). Dieppe is on the coast, so overall going there must be downhill there and uphill back, while Forges-les-Eaux is inland so it must be uphill on the way there and downhill on the way back. On previous visits here it has always been my intention to cycle both routes. But Kathleen has always wimped out after a few miles. So on the first day, we set off for Forges-les-Eaux, and (someone) wimps out after about 8 miles. To be fair we set off at about 15:00, so we had the heat of the day to deal with and it was hot (30C).
In the evening Kathleen gets out the guitar, but the singing is cut short by our French neighbour, who informs us that she has just been informed today that her nephew has committed suicide by driving his mother car into a wall. So she is understandably upset and having difficulty with being surrounded by revelry from us and our English neighbours. Kathleen stops immediately and we try our best in our inadequate French to be apologetic and sympathetic.
It turns out that two of our English neighbours Jack and Joan are from the north east, Joan from South Shields and Jack from Boldon Colliery, although they now live in South Shields, they are on their way to Costa Brava towing a caravan.
Next day we set off at 09:30 in the morning before the heat builds up, and we make it comfortably to Forges-les-Eaux. Kathleen says she is training for the Coast-to-Coast when we get home.
We decide we will go to the nearby Lidl to buy “a bottle” of Gin for the Boss. We go on our bikes. When we get there she cannot resist buying three bottles of gin, six bottles of wine, and two three litre cartons of wine, oh’ and a bottle of coke and a bottle of cheap “Bacardi”.
Try carrying that lot on a bike, it is not easy.
As if that was not bad enough the “Bacardi” was rough. I swapped a couple of large glasses of it with David & Carol for a lemon, and I think that I got the bargain, but there again, for 4Euro what do you expect!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)