Campsite behaviour on the Loire

We had such a relaxing time on the campsite in the Dordogne, the six days/nights we were there flew by and it was a wrench to leave.   But, it was time to move on and we ended up driving 265kms (166 miles), our longest journey in one day since travelling down from England to Punta Umbria, Spain in January.

The road for the first 40kms twisted and turned every 100metres until we got on the free motorway (A20) for just over 200kms.  It was then my turn to get behind the wheel, and the road became like a roller coaster as it climbs for a couple of kms and then down for a couple and back up the other side and down again – you get the picture!  The time passed quickly though as we entertained ourselves by exercising our little grey cells, testing our knowledge from our quiz book and singing along to old songs on our music App and seeing how many of the lyrics we knew – which wasn't a lot!.  Eventually, we pulled off onto an Aire in the middle of nowhere, La Pérouille next to a little lake, L’Etang de La Roche which has a picnic area, play park and table tennis table (N46.70544 E001.52284).  The Aire has free facilities to dump your grey and chemical waste and a toilet block (that was spotless) but you have to get a token for drinking water.  The trouble is there are no shops/town hall to get them from only a couple of dozen houses.  We didn’t need any water though or food/drink as we had topped up before we leaving the Dordogne.  We spent two nights here as it was so relaxing and far too hot to be travelling on the road. 

Campsite behaviour is forbidden on most Aires, ie you can’t get your chairs off, put your awning out or have a barbeque but as we parked on the grass area, rather than the Aire (which is a concrete car parking area) along with 2 Brits and a Dutch, we all carried out campsite behaviour!

The Aire by the lake at La Pérouille

From here we headed towards Blois, on the Loire and booked into a lovely campsite – Camping Ferme de Prunay (N47.55418 E1.18226).

Our massive garden-like pitch (300m² ) With all our washing hung out – with temperatures of 35°C it was all dry in about 15 minutes!

We planned to stop a few nights as the campsite was lovely and quiet with a nice pool to chill by. However, the owner failed to tell us that a large group of about 50 school children were arriving the next day and our peace and tranquillity disappeared in an instant – time to move on!

We went 30kms up the road and ended up on a campsite in Suevres (N47.68838 E1.48343) The campsite has a heated indoor and outdoor pool, mini waterpark, shop, restaurants, bar, play parks – pretty much ‘all signing, all dancing’ set in the grounds of an old chateau and caters mostly for chalets renters, rather than motorhomes.  We would normally avoid these type of campsites, but we were limited for choice and to be fair it was quiet for this time of year and only cost us €11 a night – what a bargain! 

Indoor and outdoor pools on the campsite

A short video of Mel reverting back to being a child on the flumes.  If you are wondering why he is wearing his 'Daniel Craig Speedo's' its because shorts are banned - ha! ha! 

The chateau with its moat still around it is now a campsite restaurant

The campsite is about 15kms from Blois, so it was time to take a scooter ride and a cool down as the temperature was reaching 32°.  Blois is a pretty city slap bang in the middle of the Loire Valley.  We were last here in 2012 and it was lovely to revisit it.

Jacques Gabriel Bridge to Blois - the last humpback bridge over the Loire

Les Jardins de L’Évêché - gardens and cathedral in the background

There are large plant pots around the garden, all planted up with aromatic plants and herbs

Château de Blois – as we had already been inside in 2012, we gave it a miss this time.  There is a lot of history contained within and the French architecture and the beautifully furnished rooms are stunning and definitely worth a visit.

Château de Blois

Maison de la Magie (House of Magic)– museum centered around the illusionist Jean Eugène Robert- Houdin.  Harry Houdini based his stage name on this Frenchman.

Denis Papin steps – Just over 100 steps to the top, that plays tricks with your eyes

We enjoyed a lovely ‘Plat de Jour’ in the old quarter, opposite the building below.  We had starters of goats cheese, tapenade and crusty bread, 2 beef steaks and vegetables, beers and coffee for €35 – not bad for a big city.

The medieval street of Rue de Puits-Châtel - so many of the old building have been turned into restaurants/bars.

 Old Medieval courtyard on the Rue de Puits-Châtel

Foundation du Doute – collection of unconventional art dedicated the Fluxus movement of artists, which include  Yoko Ono. We are not fans of obscure art and so didn’t go in but the outside of the building is interesting, with all its French sayings.

Leaving the Loire we head towards Chartres.  We took some lovely country roads, passing by sunflower and lavender fields - I love this time of year in France

Sunflowers starting to bloom

Lavender Fields

We are currently parked up on an Aire at Courville sur-Eure (N47.44600 E1.24166).  The Aire has spaces for 8 motorhomes and you all get your own little grassed plots and thank goodness campsite behaviour is allowed - the chairs, awning and barbecue come out!

It’s a pretty village, we stayed here quite a few years ago when we visited Chartres.  I fell in love with this little cottage then, and still love it!

Cottage beside the Aire 

Apart from another Brit, it is all French on the Aire.  They beat Argentina in the football this afternoon so atmosphere on the Aire is good!!  We plan to stop here a couple of nights, as temperatures are forecast to get even hotter tomorrow.  It’s 29°C at the moment and it's nearly 9pm in the evening – we are praying for rain though just to clear the air as it is very hot and sticky and too hot to sleep!

We have a few more days before we have to be in Calais. We have the Channel Tunnel booked for 5 July, to return to the UK for a wedding and had planned to have the repairs carried out for Sonny (the motorhome) – however, things haven’t gone to plan.  The Accident happened last September in Croatia and we have had to wait since January for the part from Adria, Slovenia.  The said part arrived last week into the motorhome repair centre, but looked like it had been twisted and trampled.

Corner part for Sonny that arrived all crumpled after nearly a 5-month wait from Adria!

So, another part ordered and it looks like the repairs will be getting done at the end of the year now – such is life!

Sally x

Beautiful Villages along the Dordogne

We are currently on a campsite on the Dordogne – Les Deux Vallées, in a little village called Vézac in the Perigord region (N44.83504 E1.15673).  We were last here in 2012 and it was nice meeting up with the owners again, who obviously didn’t remember us but still had our details on their computer system, although we had our other motorhome then (little Hilda).  The owners are a youngish couple, Derrick is Dutch and Caroline is French and in 2012 they'd only had the campsite a few years, so it was nice to see how they had developed it over the last 6 years.  They haven't over commercialised it and the plots are nice and big, surrounded by hedges and trees and you are not all on top of one another. With our ACSI card it is only 15 Euros a night plus tourist tax.

It is the first campsite we have been on this year, as we have been lucky enough to stay on some pretty and free Aires and vineyards.  The weather has been averaging 32°C since we arrived 5 days ago, so it’s just been nice lazing around, swimming in the pool and having plenty of barbeques.

Outdoor heated infinity pool on the campsite

Near to the campsite you can get a hot air balloon ride.  It costs €200 for an hour, okay if you have some cash to splash – we didn't!  It looks good fun but with my fear of heights I don’t think I could do it anyway.

Hot air balloons going over the campsite – looks like a mini solar system.

From the campsite it is a short walk into Beynac and up to the castle.  Beynac is classed as one of the ‘Most Beautiful Villages in France’ - as are many in this area.  The castle was built in the 12th century and is said to be one of the most authentic and well-preserved in the Perigord.  It was conquered by Richard the Lionheart and was the stage to endless battles during the Hundred Years' War.

We decided to do an evening walk up to the castle, as we thought it would be cooler but at 6.30pm it was still 30°C and it's a very steep climb to the top!

Looking over the Dordogne from the top of the castle

Watching the sunset over Beynac Castle from the campsite

Sarlat is a pretty medieval town, on the River Dordogne, about 6kms from the campsite - a short ride on the scooter and a good way to cool down in this hot weather.   It was market day and it was nice strolling around the cobblestone streets and weaving in and out of the stalls.

The main street leading to the cathedral

House of Etienne de la Boétie, with its large arched entrance and Renaissance styled windows

We took another scooter ride out to St Cyprien, about 10kms away from Vezac.  A fellow Brit on the site had told us that along the main street and side streets there was plastic flowered bunting and a sight to see.  He wasn't wrong!  It must have taken them months to make and many days to put up.

Pretty flowered bunting arched over the streets to celebrate Summer Solstice

La Roque-Gagaac is another village classed as one of the ‘Most Beautiful Villages in France’.  It is nestled right on the River Dordogne, backed by its steep hills and cliffs – the perfect picture postcard village.  A Troglodyte Fort is set in the cliffs and with some cash from the EU they are currently carrying out a lot of repairs to it

You can get a boat ride up the Dordogne to see all the chateaus and castles along the river.  It's a flat-bottomed boat (a Gabare) that were once used to transport goods up the river.  We did it a couple of years ago when we were here and it is well worth €10 for an hour’s boat ride.

The old church on top of the rock, surrounded by some lovely tropical plants

Domme is another one of these beautiful villages of France.  It is perched high above the Dordogne River, surrounded by some of its original fortified wall.  The village is lovely and the views fantastic.

At the top of Domme

Lots of quirky shops, selling local products.

Our 6 days here have been great.  The campsite has been full most of the time with Dutch, Belgique and Brits and we have chatted to some great characters.  Last night was a boozy one, spent at the campsite bar with some fellow Brits and their dog, George sharing motorhome tales!  We move on later today towards the Loire.  Not sure where we are going to stop yet but that's the beauty of motorhoming!

Sally x

San Sebastian – foodie's paradise

Leaving Oñati we took the winding road over the mountain.  They had signs nearly all the way up giving you a speed limit of either 20kms or 30kms depending on the bends.  We were lucky if poor old Sonny, the motorhome could reach those speeds as he chugged his way up.

Sat-Nav showing the winding road going over the mountains

View over Oñati  and the mountains half-way up

We eventually joined up with the free motorway that took us into San Sebastian. The last time we were in San Sebastian was 5 years ago and it poured down with rain and we never got chance to have a good look around the city.  We have attempted to stop twice more since then, as we have driven past on our way through Spain, but again on both occasions it was pouring with rain again so we never bothered. So, this time having checked the weather before setting off it was showing part sun/cloud with no rain expected until late evening.  True to its word, when we arrived the sun was shining – result!  
The Aire (N43.30811 W2.01451) is about 4.5kms from the town and the only one with motorhome facilities.  It cost €7.60 for the night, in what is basically a car park with the usual water and dumping facilities.

The walk in to the town took us along the sea front and along the La Concha Beach – voted as one of the top best urban beach in the world for its seascape, environment and fine white sand.

Mount Urgull, seen from La Concha Beach

Time for a quick bit of history folks!   At the foot of Mount Urgull there used to be a small community of fishermen who became world-famous for whaling and cod fishing.  In 1808 Napoleon’s troops captured the city and in 1813 the Anglo-Portuguese troops raided it killing most of its inhabitants.  They then destroyed it burning all its buildings.  Those who survived decided to rebuild the city and today it has a population of approx. 190,000.  Wow, these people were so resilient in those days.  The city is known as either Donastia (Basque name) or San Sebastian (Spanish name) and both mean Saint Sebastian.

Town Hall – opened in July 1897 and was the venue of the Great Casino until it was closed in 1924 due to illegalisation of  gambling. It reopened January 1947 as the current Town Hall. 

Plaza de la Constitución –  at the top of the windows there are numbers (1-147) from its past when the square was used as a bullring and the spectators hired out the balconies. The central building used to be the City Hall.

Santa María Basilica - wedged in among the bars and high apartments of the narrow streets

Sculpture of La Piedad by Oteiza on the side of San Vicente Gothic Church.  Apparently, represents Jesus dead in the arms of his mother, Mary - you draw your own conclusions!

San Sebastian is well known for its pintxos. We have read that the best way to eat and drink in San Sebastian is to walk around the many bars/cafes that they have, sampling 2/3 different Pintxos in each one along the way and of course a few drinks with it to wash it all down!

Pintxos laid out on the bar - they give you a plate and you help yourself to as much as you want and pay at the end.

We decided to pace ourselves and started off with 3 hot and 3 cold.  It's not cheap but was really tasty, this little lot cost us 21 Euros.

After that it was time for a little walk before we got some more food and drink.  From the old port it is about 1.5km to the top of Mount Urgull, where you get a great panoramic view across the city.

Panoramic view from the top of Mount Urgull

Isla Santa Clara in the middle of the sea - you can get a boat out to it from the port.

At the top there is a museum at the top but unfortunately it is all in Spanish so no good for us when we can only string a few Spanish words together!  There are stairs in the museum, where you can climb to the top of La Mota Fortress, which has been declared an Historical Artistic Monument.

Palacio Miramar – English style palace built by the Spanish Royal Family

Puente María Cristina with its 18m tall obelisks, opened in 1905

By the time we got back from San Sebastian, the Aire was full, mostly French and Brits and we were all packed in like sardines!  We had planned to stop another day but woke up to more rain, so it was time to move on into France.

The quickest and best way to get out of San Sebastian and across the Pyrénées is to take the motorway, most of which are paying ones.  It wasn't too expensive though, we ended up on 4 at a cost of €15, travelling just over 110kms.  Once into France the weather changed completely, temperatures rose and the sun came out.  Our first stop was at a little town called St Paul-les-Dax, beside a lake and well known for its thermal springs.

The Aire turned out to be a disappointment as it was in the middle of woods, very muddy and surrounded by high trees – no good when temperatures were soaring to 27°C and we needed to get some sunrays!  Luckily, we had stopped off earlier in the town to do some laundry and had spotted about 10 French motorhomes parked up.  They had created their own Aire in an open space, near to the lake and we went and joined them, chairs came out and barbeque lit!

St Paul-les-Dax  

From St Paul-les-Dax we moved further north to a little village called La Sauvetat du Dropt.  I hadn’t done much driving at all over the last 4 months, as we have only been travelling short distances.  But the roads in France are nice and wide for motorhomes, mostly straight and tree lined and the French drivers are not too erratic - so Mel let me get behind the wheel!

The Aire takes 4 motorhomes, on the side of the river (N44.64733 E000.34181).  Not much in the town but a nice place to relax for the afternoon/evening.

Old mill house just across from the Aire

BBQ time!

Moving on this morning, we have just come up the road 17 miles (27 kms) and are parked up on a vineyard, Domain de La Lande in a village called Montbazillac (N44.78818 E0.49681). It's a France Passion site but also an Aire for motorhomes.  We were France Passion members in 2013 and 2014 when we used to come to France a lot and stay on vineyards and know they are all very welcoming places to stop on.  The owner welcomed us and gave us access to all the free facilities - water, toilet, etc.  We are surrounded by vineyards and you have your own seating area and even an area for barbecuing.  What a perfect spot.

Sonny, the motorhome nestled in among the vines

Since coming into France a couple of days ago, all we have seen on the road and Aires are French motorhomes, as they are not really touristy areas that we have been travelling through/stopping at.  However, pulling up on the vineyard there is 1 Brit and 3 Irish motorhomes.  The 3 Irish are travelling around together and like us, all 4 are making their way north.  

Wine tasting starts at 6pm – looking forward to that!  Then it’s England’s first match in the World Cup, and Mel has managed to pick up English TV on our Satellite Dish so he is a happy chappy – come on England!

Quick weather check shows that the temperatures from tomorrow are going to soar to 30°C around the Dordogne and so we are going to head to a campsite we stayed on a couple of years ago, kick of our shoes and lie in the sun.

Sally x

UPDATED - photos added from wine tasting.  Jean, our host only spoke French and we were 9 English people but between us we managed to translate what he was saying!

Ready for wine tasting in the cellar with our host, Jean Camus

All smiles after wine tasting complete and bottles bought!

Sobering up the next morning with coffee and Pan Au Raisin, delivered fresh by the bread lady to our door!