A spring pootle around France. (1 Viewer)

[Robert Clark]

What’s a couple of centimetres between friends?

Richard

Let me know if you get in, cos if you can I can as I'm only 8m

 

[Clarky]

After a very blustery night at Cite Europe, thank goodness for the hydraulic jacks so no rocking, we drove south in mostly sunny weather.
A couple of showers on the way but we arrived at La Mailleraye in sunshine.
Even got the legs out for a while this afternoon until it started to get a tad nippy.
Had a mini Funster meet with @bellabee, Chris and Graham.
Think we might stay for a couple of days as we rather like it here.

 

[bellabee]

Yes, we like it here,too @Clarky . Lovely to meet you both, this afternoon.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Clarky]

Watching the ships go by.

 

[busby]

Crossed the Loire at Blois yesterday,,now half way between Clermont and Lyon,,Weather lovely today,,,forecast not good for tomorrow,,BUSBY,,

 

[Robert Clark]

Watching the ships go by.
View attachment 227560

Nice bear bottom

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Clarky]

Well, we are still at La Mailleraye.
Yesterday was a much better day than forecast but today has lived up to expectations so far. Grey and misty and as I write this it’s just starting to rain. We are staying today and going to batten down the hatches and watch the Azerbaijan GP, which should be a cracker.
Had another mini meet and a nice chat with @Hellski, Christian, yesterday. That makes 3 Funsters we’ve met here. Just shows the value of having a Fun sticker or two on the van. You get to chat with lovely people.
We plan to head south tomorrow but the forecast is continuous rain........nice.

Richard.

 

[Clarky]

What is the matter with this cranky weather?
Left La Mailleraye-sur-Seine this morning after a night of non stop rain. A couple of miles along the road and it started snowing, tomorrow is May Day Oh Please!!!!
Really heavy snow until we were well south of Rouen, then sleet and eventually rain.

We are now at SULLY-SUR-LOIRE in the very tidy free Aire. I have aspirations to become a FLT.
@Robert Clark, I didn’t have to kick Kate out to see me through the tight chicane so you should be OK with your beast. Just take it easy.

At last the rain has stopped so we will go for a walk and explore the area.

Richard.

 

[Robert Clark]

What is the matter with this cranky weather?
Left La Mailleraye-sur-Seine this morning after a night of non stop rain. A couple of miles along the road and it started snowing, tomorrow is May Day Oh Please!!!!
Really heavy snow until we were well south of Rouen, then sleet and eventually rain.

We are now at SULLY-SUR-LOIRE in the very tidy free Aire. I have aspirations to become a FLT.
@Robert Clark, I didn’t have to kick Kate out to see me through the tight chicane so you should be OK with your beast. Just take it easy.

At last the rain has stopped so we will go for a walk and explore the area.

Richard.

Is it a nice Aire Richard?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Clarky]

Is it a nice Aire Richard?

Only just arrived and had some lunch so not been out of the door yet but it looks very pleasant so far.
Will report back later.

Richard.

 

[Teuchter]

We are off to France for a month on the 19th May probably head down Bordeaux way or if no sun there head for the Med!

 

[Robert Clark]

Only just arrived and had some lunch so not been out of the door yet but it looks very pleasant so far.
Will report back later.

Richard.

Looks to be a very nice Chateau in the town

And the weather is set to improve

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[FIDGET]

Hi @Robert Clark ,
Sully is a Lovely aire nice marked out places nicely spaced apart services free , no ehu, with an over flow park with no servicesright along side , been there several times , chateau is 300yards away & town is not much more ,very good town ,wellworth a visit.

 

[FIDGET]

The entrance looks tight but OK with care . second photo of some of the smaller internal pitches the outer ones are better spaced with views. we are on the right of our friends

 

[Clarky]

Not had a walk in to town yet as it has rained until a short while ago.
Had a mooch round the Aire though and it is very pleasant. Services, water, dump etc. look a bit tired but it is a free aire so don’t ‘look a gift horse................’

There is a large overflow area behind the aire with a couple of caravans and white vans parked, looks like they have been there a while.
It’s very quiet as it’s well away from any busy roads and you can walk into town through the grounds of the chateau.
All in all, top marks I think.

Richard.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Hellski]

Lovely to meet you both and thank you for the very good recommendation of the Aire at Montreuil-Bellamy. We managed to get there and explore before the rain came and like yourselves, it then stayed with us all night; fortunately though, we didn’t experience any snow!

We are now at Mornac-sur-Seudre and also enjoying the lives of FLT’s Weather set to improve from tomorrow onwards with temperatures back in the 20’s by the weekend we plan to head around to the Bordeaux coastline on Wednesday.

Enjoy Sully and the rest of your trip. Safe travels, Christian & Nicola.

 

[Clarky]

A much better day today and the sun is valiantly trying to shine so we had a walk into town this morning.
First though, another plus point about the aire. Just as I was thinking about walking to the town to find our breakfast a very pleasant bread lady turned up with lots of tooting. Excellent croissants on board which I can highly recommend.

The town is, of course, dominated by the almost fairy tale chateau. It is so photogenic sitting in its moat.

Being May Day and a holiday in France the town and the bars were busy with quite a few shops open and lots of people about. It had a really pleasant atmosphere as we strolled round.
We walked back to the aire through the chateau grounds with the woods full of birdsong.
@Robert Clark, I'm sure you will love it here. One to add to your list I think.

 

[Robert Clark]

A much better day today and the sun is valiantly trying to shine so we had a walk into town this morning.
First though, another plus point about the aire. Just as I was thinking about walking to the town to find our breakfast a very pleasant bread lady turned up with lots of tooting. Excellent croissants on board which I can highly recommend.
View attachment 228441
The town is, of course, dominated by the almost fairy tale chateau. It is so photogenic sitting in its moat.
View attachment 228442
Being May Day and a holiday in France the town and the bars were busy with quite a few shops open and lots of people about. It had a really pleasant atmosphere as we strolled round.
We walked back to the aire through the chateau grounds with the woods full of birdsong.
@Robert Clark, I'm sure you will love it here. One to add to your list I think.
View attachment 228443

Looks wonderful
Hope the sun comes out soon.

Its a gorgeous sunny day here in Sussex, which isn’t helping as I’m trying to wash the van.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Riverbankannie]

A much better day today and the sun is valiantly trying to shine so we had a walk into town this morning.
First though, another plus point about the aire. Just as I was thinking about walking to the town to find our breakfast a very pleasant bread lady turned up with lots of tooting. Excellent croissants on board which I can highly recommend.
View attachment 228441
The town is, of course, dominated by the almost fairy tale chateau. It is so photogenic sitting in its moat.
View attachment 228442
Being May Day and a holiday in France the town and the bars were busy with quite a few shops open and lots of people about. It had a really pleasant atmosphere as we strolled round.
We walked back to the aire through the chateau grounds with the woods full of birdsong.
@Robert Clark, I'm sure you will love it here. One to add to your list I think.
View attachment 228443

I’m bookmarking that one, thanks.

 

[FIDGET]

it does get busy , from june on wards

 

[Clarky]

Yesterday, Wednesday, we pootled a bit further south to an old favourite of ours, the free aire at Sancoins.
The aire is beside the disused Canal du Berry and very peaceful, apart from the rooks that are nesting in the tall trees and feeding young.
We've been coming here for several years now and it seem to get ever more popular. This time we arrived at about 2pm and all the nice spots beside the canal were full, very unusual. We parked on the grass at the end so still had a nice outlook.
The sun was shining so the chairs were out for a bit of 'relaxavue' in the warm.
Forecast for today looked even better but someone forgot to tell 'him up there' so its been cloudy all day. We thought lots would leave this morning so we could move onto a better slot but everyone seems rooted to the spot. However, we did manage to move forward a few feet and on to a firmer pitch.
Just had a nice walk along the towpath and back to the van for tea and tiffin.
Off to the hills south of Clermont-Ferrand tomorrow.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Clarky]

I was jolted out of my lazy holiday reverie today by another Funster who reminded me that I hadn’t updated my blog or my thread on here. There is quite a lot to catch up on so here is the first part………….

We had several very pleasant days beside the canal at Sancoins where, at last the weather was kind.

After we left Sancoins we went south to our next stop at Montpeyroux, a small hilltop village just off the A75 between Clermont-Ferrand and Issoire. The free aire is on the edge of the village in the car parking area and has wonderful views across the hills and mountains that still had snow on the slopes. As night fell we had dinner watching the twinkling lights in the villages below and distant lightning flashing in the clouds.

The following day we continued down the A75 before turning on to the N102 past Brioude and on to another lovely village at Lavaudieu.

After a wander around and plenty of photos we continued south to our overnight stop on the free aire beside the aerodrome at Loudes, not far from Le Puy-en-Velay. Although there is a parachute club there it was all very quiet with just two small aircraft taxying out and one of those returning to the hangar with a rough sounding engine.

To be continued………….

 

[Clarky]

Day 15 of our trundle and we were heading over the high hills towards the Ardèche.

We started in drizzle and rain and when we hit the real hills we were at over 1,300m high and in thick cloud. Last time we used the N102 to Aubenas it was a hot sunny day and we were climbing from east to west, this time it was dull and damp and the spectacular scenery just didn’t look quite the same.

We were going to Camping Beau Rivage, just outside of Vallon Pont D’arc, to meet up with our old tugger friends Jenny and John. We don’t often use sites but I have to say this was an excellent choice.

It’s not a huge site but it is one of the best cared for that we have seen. Everything was immaculate with the hedges and shrubs clipped to within an inch of their lives. The family that own the site are extremely friendly and all the pitches are a good size. Our pitch was right at the front overlooking the river and was good value for the ACSI price of €17, including 10a hook-up.

We spent five nights at Beau Rivage and very much enjoyed a couple of days with our friends in their car driving round the winding roads beside the Ardèche and up into some of the old hill villages.

More to come later........