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