Narbonne -> L'Estartit

Saturday 31st January 2015

In Narbonne, a bright and sunny day, but a cool 6C.

Today is our 28th Wedding anniversary, quite fitting that we should be spending it in Narbonne, we have spent lots of time here on various holidays and campervan trips.

A pleasant walk into town, do the obligatory check out the church mass times, for Kathleen, a browse around the indoor market, coffee and a sandwich, whilst watching the French being their usually laid-back selves.

For a short time, it appears we are about to have downpour, with spectacular clouds, but, soon it is all blue sky again.

On the Narbonne Aire, there is a decent power supply, so, Kathleen decides to attempt hair washing, in the van.

Now, this may not seem very exciting, to anyone reading this. who does not know Kathleen, but, to those who do.........

Disaster strikes, hair is all washed, just about to begin the conditioning and rinsing operation, and, the wash basin waste pipe becomes detached, soapy water everywhere!

Fortunately, I am on-hand, and able to reconnect the pipe pretty quickly.

Calm returns, and the French National Grid just have to put another Nuclear Power Station online to allow hair drying to continue. 

Sunday 1st February 2015

A howling gale all night, gives way to a freezing cold (2C) morning, with heavy showers.

Kathleen walks to church, half a mile, bless her. I hope her efforts are appreciated!

We leave at 11:15, by which time, the sun is shining, but, the wind is still howling.

The plan had been a short drive to Coulloire, France, but, given the weather, we decide to push on into Spain, so, 108 miles later, we roll into L'Estartit, Spain, Camping Les Medes. A pleasant site. weather bright and sunny, but, only 7C!, barely warmer than at home, and we are now c1,200 miles south!

Rugles -> Uzerche -> Narbonne

Thursday 29th January 2015

First the good news, the fridge is working on gas again!

Applied the Engineer's favourite "fix", turn off the power completely, waited two minutes, turn it on again, all fixed!

Although the Aire at Rugles is "open", and we have Electric hook-up, there is no water supply, presumably it is turned off to prevent freezing.

The rain poured down all night, this morning it is drizzle, with fog, and about a chilly 4C.


Given how much rain we are having, and, last years experiences of the flooded Aire in the Landes Region, we decide to go around the Pyrenees at the East side.

So, we head for Uzerche, and Aire we have used before, where we expect to find a full complement of services.

Three hundred and four miles, alternating between pouring rain and heavy drizzle, we arrive at Uzerche.

About eight other vans there, but, no electricity working and no drinking water. Toilets and emptying point are functioning however.

Friday 30th January 2015

Overnight the temperature drops to -2C, we wake up to icy ground, with a light dusting of snow.

However, it has stopped raining!

The sky is blue and the sun is shinning.

We head for Narbonne.


Now, anyone reading this, with a view to following this as a route to Spain, particularly in winter, my advice is THINK AGAIN.

This may is a very scenic route, and would be great fun in a good car, but, in a campervan, towing a trailer, in January, not much fun.

Snow on the ground for most of the way.

Not much traffic, but, that only made me wonder, (until we reached the A75),  "has this road been gritted?"

Fortunately it stayed bright and sunny, if it had snowed, or been foggy, it would have been more than cross words.

Follow the well used route, down the N10 to Biaritz, then into Spain, heading for the coast via Zarogoza.

Arrived Narbonne, 8C, not raining, Electricity, water etc all working.

I think we may stay here until Sunday morning, thus allowing for the Church going.

Saturday 1st June 2013 - Monday 3rd June 2013

Weather is dismal, blowing a gale as we leave Trebes.

On to Salles sur L’Hers (N43 17.533' E1 47.233'). An Aire with two unmetered Electric points,

Fresh Water and usual waste disposal.

We are initially the only van there, but, we are soon joined by four  French vans. A nice quiet spot, adjacent to the Sports Stadium (how can a tiny French village support a sports stadium with floodlit Football field, Basket Ball court, Tennis Court, and a two story club house?)

There is a little plaque on the Service

Point, telling you, the facilities are free, and asking you in turn, to support the local businesses.

We did our bit, but, the only place which was open was the Village Bar/cafe.

Sunday morning, Kathleen goes to church, whilst I continue to support the village bar/cafe, and make use of their free wifi to attempt to contact son, Gary, on Skype, to wish him happy birthday.

 After church, we are on our way north again.

A very pleasant drive, mostly along the N113, which runs alongside the Canal di Midi for a lot of the way, past Toulouse and on to just outside Cahors.

 Arcabal (N44 27.412' E1 30.966'), approximately 5 miles outside Cahors. A pleasant spot, beside the Marie (Town Hall).

Weather has improved, it is summer again!

Plenty to do, if you feel  energetic, boules courts, tennis courts, basket ball court, children's play area, plus of course a football field.

Usual services for waste, fresh water, and electricity (2Euro for one hour, not very attractive!). There is a tap, but, we are uncertain of the waters provenance. Some French boule players drink it. Later, Kathleen points a passing German cyclist in the direction of the tap, when he is looking for water. Everyone seems to survive the experience.

Amazingly, given we are right next to the Town Hall, there is no Wifi signal, so, a trip to the McDonalds in Cahors is necessary, to make my Skype call to Gary.

Monday, north again, to Uzerche (N45 25.471' E1 33.968').

This is a real find.

Space for 20 vans, but, by evening there are 22 in there!

There are free electric hook ups, 40 according to the Aires Guide. I did not count them, but, unless you have a very long hook up cable, you may, like us, have to share. No problem however, a very kind elderly French lady (in an equally elderly van), very kindly offered

to share a hook up point with us. We will just have to hope that both she and Kathleen do not want to use their hairdryers at the same time.

The aire is on the site of the former Railway Station (long ago closed by a French version of Dr Beeching). The station building houses toilets, unisex of course, as the French do.

The former railway line, is now a gravelled footpath / cycle track, heading off in two directions, so, weather permitting that is tomorrows entertainment.

The town of Uzerche (at least the old part), is a revelation, beautifully preserved buildings, some dating back to the 1100's ! 

The only disappointment is, we had planned to have Pizza this evening (either take away or eat-in), but, there does not appear to be a Pizza shop!

There is, however, a very nice square, with a Bar-Tabac.

Unfortunately, my Orange-France SIM card lets me down, my Skype call to grandson, Gabriel, to see him on his 3rd birthday, is such a poor connection, we get no video, and precious little sound!

The other disaster of the day, is, our toilet in the van is broken.

The problem is with the Cassette. The Orange-France connection is at least

good enough to allow me to download instructions and DIY "how to fix it" tips from the Thetford website.

I learn enough to know, I am not going to be able to fix it until we get home, and I can buy spare parts.

Wednesday 29th May 2013 - Friday 31st May 2013

Just to show, a bit of sun makes all of the difference, here is a photograph of the Aire at Narbonne, from more or less the same spot as in the last post, but, without the torrential rain!

Thursday, we leave to move to Trebes, which is only 4 miles along the Canal du Midi, from Carcassonne.

It is only a short drive, and we arrive around lunch time at A l'Ombre des Microcouliers (N43 12' 24" E2 26' 31"), just in time for the rain to start.

It rains solidly from 13:00 on Thursday and is still raining as I write this, 10:00 Friday!. The campsite is right next to the River Aude, and we, are right on the river bank.

Kathleen is amusing herself by watching the debris (bits of tree etc) being swept along in the river, and wondering, how long it will be before the river is high enough to flood where we are sitting.

She is such an optimist.

The rain stops long enough for us to walk into Trebes.

Perhaps, Kathleen is right to be concerned, the river is flowing very fast through the arches of the bridge, and, there is lots of debris in it.

Once the "finding of the church" is accomplished, Kathleen's thoughts turn to having her hair cut, coloured etc.

We find a hair dresser, who is able to do the deed "toute suite", so, Kathleen entrusts herself to her, whilst I wander off to amuse myself.

I think Kathleen is very brave actually, the hairdresser speaks virtually no English. We have, with our pigeon French, managed to establish that it can be done immediately, and that it will be finished at 12:30. But, communication of hairdressing technicalities is going to be "interesting".

The hair dresser, although she probably does not know it, is even more brave, because I would not like to be in her shoes, if she messes up!

In the meantime, the sun makes a brief appearance.

Kathleen emerges at the appointed time, lighter by 50 Euro, hair cut.

The plan was, while we were here, to cycle along the Canal du Midi to Carcassonne, given the weather, that does not seem a very likely option!

Saturday 25th May 2013 - Tuesday 28th May 2013

Collioure, Camping Les Almondiers continued.....

Saturday, and Kathleen is washing her hair. The site's "Frenchness" ie shabby chic, has been a plus point, but, there is no hot water in the hand basins, the novelty has worn off!

The recommendations of the French Lady we met in Valencia count for nothing.

I decide to walk into the town (Collioure) to buy some bread.

It is a beautiful little place, so, I assume the French Ladies recommendations were more to do with the town, than the actual campsite.

Bread bought, I fail in my second task, ie to find the church, but, I do explore enough to be pretty sure there is an easier way to get to town than walking along the road.

After lunch, we set off again, and sure enough, just to the left as you approach the town, there are a flight of steps, alongside some houses, which provide a short cut into town.

The route jiggles about a little, but, basically, is not difficult to find, if you remember you just have to keep heading down hill.

This is much shorter, prettier, and quieter, than the route I took this morning, which simply followed the main road into town.

We do our exploring, find the church, establish the time for Mass (18:00 Sunday).

By chance, we meet our Scottish neighbours, who, earlier, had set off on their first ever ride on their new Yamaha motor scooter. Obviously, they survived the experience.

We then retire to a café on the harbour, to sit in the sun, savouring a glass or two of Rose Wine.

This is what I love about France!

We return to the site, to find, there have been lots of new arrivals since we left to go to town, the place is bursting at the seams!

On our way back, I cannot resist this road sign, one especially for our

friends "The Cricks" (aka Bryan and Joan).

Third place name down, it must be their summer residence.

Church, when we find it, is right on the waters edge, so, that is Kathleen's venue for !8:00 on Sunday evening.

Usually we would have lunch out on Sunday, but, given the late time for Church on Sunday, this event is postponed to Monday, when we have an excellent lunch (marred only by Kathleen's complaints, that a litre of Rose is too much at lunch time, I thought it washed the Moules down a treat).

Tuesday, we leave Collioure, but, not before checking out the Aire nearby. The Aire (N43 46.733' E6 43.997') is excellent, 10Euro/24 hours, but, that includes Electricity, and Toilets, plus usual services, and there is a shuttle bus to the town.

Next, we check out Port Vendres, about 4 miles South, another good Aire (N42 31.063' E3 6.815'), 5.50Euro/night, no electric, but has Toilets. On edge of town, near the harbour, but, unfortunately, no view of the harbour.

Finally, we arrive an Narbonne, or, to be more precise La Narbonette, an Aire with Electric Hook up, about five minutes easy walk from the centre of Narbonne.

Very organised. Not cheap at 7Euro/24 hours, plus an extra 2Euro for Water/Chemical Toilet Emptying.

As we arrive, the heavens open, I get soaked, just opening the barrier to get in! (Kathleen cannot do it, her hair may frizz).

12th May 2010 – 16th May 2010

Just as we are about to leave San Pere Pescadore, we get a message from Bryan (Crick), to say it is raining in Narbonne, just in case we want to re-consider our departure. But it is raining here too, so we go ahead as planned.



Narbonne – La Nautique – ACSI 2010-1447


This is one of our “regular” stops, a very nice Dutch run campsite about 3km from Narbonne.


Bryan and Joan are already booked in and have reserved us a pitch next to them. Apparently Bryan has already amused the other people in our immediate vicinity, one English couple, two Dutch couples and a German couple, with his lengthy maneuvering exercise to get their van correctly positioned, avoiding the low branches of the Olive trees, now it is my turn to provide the entertainment.


After the formal handing over of the precious ASDA teabags, and a large hug from Phillippa, transported to us by Joan, we spend the evening catching up on our respective adventures since we last met. We manage to make significant inroads to a 5 litre container of Rioja and a similarly sized container of Rose.


Unfortunately although the rain has stopped, it is still cool and windy.


The general consensus seems to be that the abnormal weather pattern we are experiencing is all down to the volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Typical of them, first we have the cod wars, next their Banks lose all of our money and refuse to pay it back, now they are disrupting our weather.

Kathleen and I cycle to the lock at Mandirac, about 5 miles away, on the Canal Robin.

There is an old wine barge being restored by the side of the canal, nothing seems to have changed in the 12 months or so since we last cycled past it, not one more plank appears to have been added.

Joan (a known domestic goddess and cake maker of renown), spent the morning washing clothes, and making a date and walnut cake in her newly acquired Remorska cooking device. Kathleen, whose nearest encounter with making a date and walnut cake, is visiting the cake counter in ASDA, lends helpful advice. Kathleen, then tells me she may have a try at making a cake when we get home. I am not holding my breath.


In the afternoon the all important hair washing, drying, and straightening activities take place.


This is followed by doing the crossword and then taking of the blood pressure, and checking pulse, just to check there is still life present.


Poor Bryan is falling victim to a cold, but he struggles on manfully and plays a full part in an evening of drinking red wine. He insists on apologizing to us all for being a miserable, grumpy old b*****d, what with his cold and all, but we three reassure him that we never think of him as old.

Friday, the weather is a little better, still windy, but no rain, and even some blue sky and sunshine. We decide to cycle to Narbonne, Bryan and Joan take the short route (about 3 miles one way), in deference to Bryan’s cold, Kathleen and I take the scenic route (10 miles), via the lock at Mandirac, then along the cycle / footpath beside the Canal Robin, returning via the short route.

Given the amount of alcohol we consumed last night, we have coffee in the square at Narbonne, possibly one of our favourite places in the whole of France. It is so typically French, a selection of pavement cafes to eat and drink, with superb cakes at the patisserie, and great opportunities for just sitting and watching the world go by.


As a nation I would say the French are more or less on a par with the British, for having a sizable minority of the population who are so ignorant they allow their dog to foul public places.


So it was no surprise when we saw just such an incident outside of the Marie (Town Hall) in Narbonne, with an ignorant dog owner allowing his dog to crap on the pavement. But within a few minutes an operative rode up on a motor scooter, equipped with a sort of vacuum device, and promptly hovered up the offending mess, and then rode off again. It was all so quick I did not have time to take a photograph of what is, in my opinion, a good use of council tax payers money.


We are invited to eat with Bryan and Joan, in the evening (Friday).


They have invited Julie and Hannah (their friend who lives nearby and her daughter), for a meal and drinks.


Julie arrives with a couple of dozen eggs each for us, courtesy of her free range chickens.


Kathleen provides some entertainment in the form of a few songs.


Joan and Bryan whip up one of their culinary masterpieces (as usual). How they manage to cook such a meal for six people with the limited facilities available is a mystery to me.


Joan in particular excels herself with two sweets, both cooked in her wonder Remoska device. We have a choice of Date and Walnut cake or German Apple Cake. For those of us with who find making a choice difficult, you can have both! An excellent evening is had by all.

Saturday, and the weather appears to be slowly improving, blue sky and sunshine, but still a very strong wind blowing.


We spend the day in Narbonne, there is a parade taking place, not sure what it is in aid of, but something to do with the war, they certainly continue to celebrate wartime anniversaries much more than we do, a factor of having been invaded I suppose.


My task is to attempt to buy a Daily Mail (for the crossword, not the inane political comment). It gives me an opportunity to practice my schoolboy French, asking the Newsagent if he sells English Newspapers, being told, no, but they sell them at the railway station. Then asking (and understanding) directions to the railway station. The end result is dismal failure, would you believe at a main railways station, the Newspaper / Magazine shop closes for lunch for one and threequarter hours, the French still know how to relax!


Sunday, we all cycle into Narbonne together, it is more windy than even yesterday! Kathleen and Joan go to mass, whilst Bryan and I amuse ourselves wandering around and drinking coffee.


In the afternoon, we go to Carnet to visit Julie and Hannah, and have a conducted tour of Julie and Khaled’s renovation project. It is an amazing house, you need a map to find your way around it is so huge.


Monday, we leave, heading toward the South of France, to see if we can get some better weather.