Monday 6th November 2017
Today was to be another moving on day. The planned trip was into Spain, 332km from Les Peupliers down to Campsite Vilanova Park, about 35km WSW of Barcelona. Continue reading Into Spain
All posts by Ray
Westward to Béziers
Tuesday 31st October 2017
We had enjoyed our stay at Flower Camping La Beaume near Esparron -de-Verdon for 9 nights but it was closing for the year so we had to move on. We decided to move westward to Beziers .
Our Camping Card had been given to another camper by mistake when we were at La Neptune recently, but had now been returned. We decided to return there for one night to pick up the card before heading west towards Spain. So yesterday we made the short trip back there and set up for the night.
Today we set off around 10:30 heading westward to Beziers, staying at Camping Les Peupliers in Colombiers in the Hérault region of France.
30 & 31.10.17 Route
Towing Kilometres – Today: 328 – Cumulative: 4,478
The village is on the Canal du Midi. We chose to pay a toll and used the autoroute to travel the 200km. We were delayed for about 30 minutes due to an incident, but made the campground, fortunately, in good time. We were greeted by a very pleasant receptionist. We chose our pitch and setup with the intention of staying 4 or 5 nights. Within two hours the site was almost full with arriving motorhomes who appear to use the site as a stopover.
We intend to use this site as a base to visit Béziers, Carcassonne and Canal du Midi before moving south to find warmer weather.
The Verdon Gorges
Tuesday 24th October 2017
The plan today was to drive along the south side of The Verdon Gorges, lunch at Castellane, and return to camp by the north side road, the D952. I had ridden these roads , and visited Castellane, on my motorcycle three times in the past and the area never fails to amaze me and I was sure Kim would be impressed. The added dimension of the autumnal colours would also add to the experience.
The Verdon Gorges
The plan was working well until we came across a ‘Route Barrée’ sign on the south side road, the D71. Big disappointment, as I think the views are better from south. The road is closed until mid December. I took this picture before retracing our steps to take the north side road.
Village View
Progress toward Castellane was slow as it seemed after every corner Kim was asking to stop for a picture opportunity. This was exactly how I felt when my son Paul & I visited on our motorcycles in 2008. I’ll try to let the pictures explain the magic.
Gorge Views
Gorge Views
Gorge Views
Verdon Gorges Autumnal Colours
Verdon Gorges Views
Verdon Gorges Rock Arch
Gorge – View Down
This is a place where the pictures often do not do the view justice.
We finally approached Castellane, with it’s landmark church, The Notre-Dame du Roc towering overhead.
Castellane
We had a rather late lunch, then wandered about the town square before seeking out the La Poste to send our cards.
Castellane Post Office & Hilltop Church
We drove back to camp along the north side road as the sun was going down.
Marseille addendum
Post contains a graphic image that may revolt you!
After publishing my Marseille visit post, Kim reminded me that I had forgotten something, so correcting that here in this addendum.
While researching what to see and do in Marseille we came across, on TripAdvisor, reports of an artisan glacier that created black vanilla ice-cream. We located the place via Google Maps and made our way to Glacier Vanilla Noire.
Glacier Vanilla Noire
We both had a cone of the black ice-cream, and very tasty it was too!
Kim with black vanilla cone
There is one unfortunate after effect though;
Sorry! 🙂
To The Verdon Gorges
Saturday 21st October 2017
We moved on today to Flower Camping La Beaume, near the beautiful village of Esparron-de-Verdon. The village is located in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region. This was to be our base for visiting the Verdon Gorges.
21.10.17 Route
Towing Kilometres – Today: 130 – Cumulative: 4,150
Flower Camping La Beaume reception
In an effort to make the transfer as calm as possible, I invested in a GPS app for iPhone, CoPilot. This enables you to enter the dimensions and weight of your caravan and it purports to keep you away from caravan unfriendly places. By & large, for this 115km move, it worked. No silences, no Scrabble defeat!
Wonderful Avenue
Only thing to note about the drive, apart from the mountains starting to appear on the horizon, was this amazing avenue of mature trees shot on Kim’s phone through the windscreen.
On arrival at the site, down a very steep slope, we were met by the enthusiastic and friendly owner who directed us to our pitch.
He showed us the facilities and wonderful pool and although he doesn’t speak any English he made us feel more than welcome.
The facilities on site are acceptable and clean and I think this will be a very comfortable place to stay while we investigate the Verdon Gorges. 🙂