Our trip - France and Spain (1 Viewer)

[Hel999]

oops forgot the costings again
La nautique was also 19e per night.

 

[Hel999]

From narbonne onwards i was working blind. I hadnt planned on returning via this route as our original plan was West coast france. It was at this point that i started a thread on here called Narbonne to Calais asking you fine people where to go next. With our destiny in your hands, we sat and had a cuppa and croissants whilst waiting for your suggestions.

You didnt let me down and we were soon setting off to a lovely village called la Canourgue thanks to @namwaldog . This little village has a lovely free aire a 5 min walk from the village centre. Quiet and peaceful with free water and waste. No hook up.

The free aire:

It was here that we sorted out problem number 3. The extension pipe on our exhaust has always looked very low where it comes out at the side of the van and we had scraped it a couple of times on kerbs in Spain. It was now becoming an issue going round roundabouts and scraping the floor on all the ones with a hump in the middle. So it was out with the toolbox and whip it off. We seem to be collecting bits of old scrap in our cargo box - bent legs, bits of exhaust......

The village was really pretty but shut! It was Sunday though so to be expected (little did i know!!). There was a cracking little pizza place though that was opening at 630pm so we walked back to the village in the eve and set about ordering one using my very rusty A level French skills. It was delicious.

 

[Hel999]

Not far from La Canourgue a place called Le Malzieu-Ville was suggested by @Clarky. This village also has a free aire and we parked here so we could explore the village. The aire is on the banks of the river and less than a 5 min walk from the village. This village is a medieval walled village but rather than being turned into a tourist attraction like we would do in the UK, it is actually still inhabited. What a place to live!

The free aire:

The medieval village:

We didnt stay overnight at the aire as we were ready to move on by luncthime so we headed to another suggestion from @Clarky , the beaux village Blesle. Wow, just wow!

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[Hel999]

Blesle also has a free aire (no facilities except parking) on the edge of the village. It was at this point in our journey when i realised i was falling in love with France. It was also at this point that our most common said phrase was ' I'd buy this property'. Think we might need to win the lottery as in our heads, we bought something in every village we visited!!

I loved this place!

This village was beautiful but once again was shut! Does France ever open? They were like ghost villages!

Once again we were too early to bed down for the night so we moved on after exploring.

 

[Hel999]

We decided to grab a campsite for the night and stayed at Lempdes at the Pont D'allagnon. At only 13e per night inc electric it was excellent although the grass on the pitches was a bit long. Clean showers though and on the banks of the river. Very peaceful. After walking round all the villages, i was tired and forgot to take pics here - sorry!

The following morning we decided to do the volcanoes and headed up the Puy de Dome. There is a free aire set aside for MH's in the car park at the train that takes you to the top. You can overnight here too if need be. Unfortunately the weather closed in and it started to rain and as the cloud didnt look like it would be moving anytime soon, we decided to save this experience for another day and we moved on again.

 

[Hel999]

As the weather was poor we decided to do some travelling today and knock off some of the miles between us and calais. It was now tues and our tunnel crossing was Fri. We stayed overnight at the aire St Pourcain Sur Sioule. This free aire is on the river bank and very popular. There is hook up available for a charge.

room with a view:

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[Hel999]

Our next stop was at Sully-Sur-Loire. I wanted to visit the castle and was pleasantly surprised by the free aire that is provided. At the end of the road where visitors in cars park, it opens out into a landscaped area specially for MH's. On the banks of the river loire and a 5 min walk from the castle entrance and a 7 min walk from the centre of the town. The cost of looking round inside the castle was a very reasonable price too (7e each). the aire was free and had water and waste facilities foc too. One word of warning though - the entrance into the aire is tight - very tight!

The castle:

The Aire:

The aire:

 

[Hel999]

After a peaceful night at Sully, we headed for Mailleraye-sur-seine for our final night in France. This aire is stunning also. On the banks of the river seine with large pleasure boats and barges passing by it seemed such a romantic setting. The charge is 6e per night and there is a further charge of 3e for water if needed. However, for those of you with dogs, there is a vet within walking distance who seemed to do a good trade in travellers due to return home. For this reason this aire also allows you to stay up to 72 hours.

We walked along the river bank and were surprised by the strange sound of very loud growling. We soon found out what this was - tigers!!!!! There is a tiger sanctuary, on the banks of the Seine, alongside all the residential houses. It was bizarre and after googling it that eve i decided we would pay it a visit in the morning.

 

[Hel999]

The following morning we had a leisurely breakfast and Richard asked me to dig out the booking details for the tunnel crossing. For the last 3 weeks he had maintained that we had an eve crossing. At 0830, and 3 hours from Calais, i checked the paperwork and our check in time was by 1120!! After swearing at him a few times, we set off with the sat nav set for toll roads and me chuntering about not getting to see the tigers. 20 mins later i decided to log on and see if i could change the tunnel booking for a later one. £30 later and we could calm down with an extra 5 hours to kill. Note to self - take charge of booking things next time.

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[Hel999]

So all in all its been a holiday of firsts.

• First time abroad in MH

• first time seeing more of France than just the motorway

• First time using Cadac

• First time cooking in the van

• First time using shower in the van - which didnt go well! The shower was ace, but apparently while i was showering, a curtain of water was running down under the van landing on the exhaust (probably why the exhaust brackets had corroded). I am really hoping the leak is below floor level and not above it - fingers crossed.
• First time staying on an aire

We couldnt have managed it without you guys - we knew nothing about reverse polarity, refillable gas, aires, ACSI ....... but having read every post on here religiously we knew what to do and what to get. Thank you all!

I am now at home, watching it rain, surrounded by French text books, determined to manage proper conversations next time we go.

Sorry if this post is too long. There was just so much to share.

 

[Jim+Ann]

Brilliant thread Thankyou lots noted down for our trip later in the year glad you enjoyed your trip.

 

[Lynne Steele]

Your post was brilliant thank you, I have really enjoyed it and you have given us great ideas. Hope you don't have to wait too long until the next trip.

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[Fenman]

Thanks. Lovely pics and well done.

 

[busby]

Empuriabrava looks amazing, where did you stop and was it close enough to walk in?
Thanks in advance, you look like you are having an amazing time

Nice site called Mas Nou in Empuriabrava,,,BUSBY.

 

[Anthea M]

Thank you for all your lovely photos and information about places to visit!
So glad you enjoyed your first trip I'm sure it will be one of many!
We learnt to try not to do many miles each day as we were passing so many lovely places . It's a huge country France and you will need many more trips to discover the diversity of it all!!!! YAY!!

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[mitzimad]

thank you for your input i think we have a similar view to you spain has sun and is cheap france is beautiful unspoilt in many places and often shut

 

[Just smiffy]

Not long enough for me, just love reading the exploits of others....
I know I should get a little black book of all these sites that are mentioned...

Other half likes the idea of the shed shower..!

 

[Box Boy]

Off to France middle of May for 4 weeks. Thank you for an excellent posting and we will be looking in at some of you sites on the way home.
Brian & Lorna

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