A light hearted and (I hope) amusing record of some of our Campervan Trips.
It is mainly intended to inform friends and family where we are, plus, to keep our children updated on what is happening to their inheritance.
I do try to include details of Camp Sites and Aires, we visit. Checkout the "labels" listed in the right margin,
Please comment if you feel inclined, at least then I know I am not talking to myself (again).
Tuesday 29th September 2015 Sunny and 20C An easy cycling outing, after yesterdays 24 miles, we cycle to Fontaines, a mere 14 miles round trip. Then, lie about in the sun. Wednesday 30th September 2015 Another beautiful sunny day, with 22C by mid afternoon. First, a shopping trip to replenish our dwindling supplies of food and, more importantly, wine. Then, we drive the short (less than 30 miles) distance to Autun. I had joked with Kathleen that Autun was close enough to cycle to, it was meant as a joke, but, when we see the hills we would have had to cross, it is definitely a joke!
Autun is not really "on our way", but, we have been told it is worth a visit, and, since it is such a short distance, there seems little point in missing it, Autun has a Roman connection, with, we are told, many Roman remains, there is certainly an impressive Roman Gate, much of which is still standing, after 2000 years. Will Mssrs Wimpy, Bellway, Barrett etc be able to say the same I wonder? I am always impressed by some of the large structures civilisations, like the Romans, managed to construct, with little or no mechanical aids, and or course, no Computer Technology. The canals, we have spent our time cycling along, although of much more recent origin, are equally impressive to me. There an enormous amount of earth moving (manually achieved, presumably) to construct them. In addition, although I understand the relatively "low tech", but accurate, Theodolite was available to them, how on earth did they survey and plan a contour hugging structure over hundreds of miles? Today, we limit ourselves to finding our way from the campsite (Camping de la Porte d’Arroux) to the town, a little explore of available shops and places to eat drink, then, refreshments in the sun.
Monday 28th September 2015 Autumn is clearly here now. A cool start to the day, but, sunny. By lunch time it is a respectable 20C, and by mid afternoon, it is sun bathing weather. After a weekend of R and R (that is Rest and Recreation for me, Rest and Religion for Kathleen), we are up for some cycling. The Canal du Centre is just under a mile from the campsite, once there, there is a traffic free cycle track to Chalon-sur-Soane and beyond in one direction, and St Leger and beyon in the other direction. We have been told by another English couple we met, that the section towards Chalon-sur-Soane is the more attraction, so, that is the direction we take. At the Halt Nautique, about 1.5 miles from the campsite, the signpost tells us, Chalon-sur-Soane is 16Km (10 miles) away. Being fresh, after our "weekend off", we go for the whole distance. It is a beautiful day for cycling, sunny, but, not too hot. It is noticeably "downhill", in the direction of Chalon-sur-Soane and we pass several locks, I carefully do not mention this to Kathleen. Soon, we are passed Fragny, and into the outskirts of Chalon-sur-Soane. A brief rest and, we set off for the return, I assume we will be stopping off for "refreshments" along the way, but, Kathleen is in full "health and fitness mode" and decides she will settle for water to fortify her, for the return trip. So, we resist the temptation to turn off into one of the many villages, signposted en-route, and settle ourselves one one of the strategically placed canal side seats to rest and refresh ourselves. For those who know Kathleen, I promise, that is water, and not gin and tonic, in the bottle!. Soon after we set off again, after our brief stop, we come upon one of the large pleasure boats we passed on the way to Chalon-sur-Soane. It is just in the process of entering a lock, so, we linger to watch the process, it is quite a large boat, and completely fills the lock.
In the afternoon, as I mentioned, it is sunbathing weather. We need at least one "essential" bit of shopping, ie, Tonic, for Kathleen's Gin and Tonic. There is no way Kathleen is going to be prised out of her seat in the sun, after a 24 mile cycle ride this morning, so, I set off, armed with a shopping list, whilst Kathleen gets herself "browned off". We have checked out where the "Commercial Centre" is, so, I head straight there, and manage to buy all of the requirements in Lidl, except, the Tonic. So, I next go to Carrefour, which is next to Lidl, and select a bottle of Schweppes Tonic, sugar free, as instructed. As I go through the checkout, the "shoplifter" alarm goes off. No problem, I am quite happy to show the checkout operator and supervisor who appears on the scene, the contents of my backpack, ie, shopping from Lidl, complete with receipt. What puzzles me is, what set the alarm off? Do they security tag Bananas, Maltesers, Pasta, Bars of Chocolate ?
Saturday 12th September 2015 We have had rain over night. The weather forecaste says today will start dry and bright (19C), with rain and, possibly, thunder by 14:00. We have not had the thunder, but, otherwise it is as predicted. We find the Lidl, so, Kathleen is made up, Church, Lidl and enough amps for unrestrained hair dryer use, what more could you want? A short (4 mile) bicycle ride along the banks of the River Soane, justifies the bacon sandwiches for lunch. I had noticed, in passing, that there seems to be a dis-proportionately high number of people with one or more German Shepard dogs on the site. Today, as we rode along the Soane, we discovered why. There is some form of "Dog Show" event going on, and it seems to be 100% German Shepard dogs. The highlight appears to be a timed walk around a marked out route (sorry if I am sounding remotely interested). I do hope they are being awarded double points for picking up their pets crap, and, triple points for actually depositing it in a bin. Sunday 13th September 2015 Cloudy start, but, not raining. Sunny with cloud by 10:00 and 20C. It stays sunny until 15:30, when it clouds over, we have few massive thunder claps, but, no rain. The sky clears again. Then at 18:00 we have a massive thunderstorm, fortunately, Kathleen is watching out of the window, and notices, the rain is coming down faster than it can run off our awning. A big bulge of water is collecting in it, and, it is beginning to sag. Someone (ie me) has to go outside, in the rain, tip the water out of the awning and adjust the slope, so the water runs off faster. Sunday of course means church for Kathleen. Sunday lunch to follow, so, my task is to choose somewhere to eat. The town is absolutely buzzing, there is a market in the square outside of the church, which spreads into the side streets leading off the square. Mostly fruit and vegetables, but a couple of stalls selling fresh fish and, a couple selling baskets. There is another large square outside of the town hall, with a couple of restaurants, quieter and more pleasant away from the crush of the market. We have a very pleasant lunch in the sunshine. By the time we have eaten our main course and drunk a bottle of Rose between us, Kathleen is up for practising her French on the young waiter who comes to take our dessert order.
Friday 11th September 2015 Not a pleasant journey. The Sat-Nav plotted a route via excellent free motorway and (mostly) dual carriageway. Kathleen plotted a route which was approximately 30 miles shorter. Kathleen's route was the middle one, in grey on the map on the left.
127 miles of map rustling complaints. Then, to cap it all, just short of Chalon-sur-Soane, on the sat-nav route, there were major road works, the road was closed and a diversion in place. In true French style, there was only one diversion sign, ie the one directing you off the main road, after that, you were on your own. Of course, there was no way (without live traffic data) to foresee this last bit of bad luck, but, definately Kathleen 1, Sat Nav 0. Eventually, we arrive, at lunch time. The good news is, the site (Camping Du Pont de Bourgogne) is excellent, The weather is superb, clear blue sky, a sunny 24C. All set up, lunch, a pleasant stroll into Chalon-sur-Soane, which appears to be an interesting and lively place. Churches found, mass times determined, it looks like we will be here until Monday at least.
