All posts by Ray

France

Trip to Marseille

2 Comments

Thursday 19th October 2017

Armed with the tickets we sourced the previous day we set off to Istres station to get the train down to Marseille, the second largest city in France. On arrival at the station, the door was firmly locked and notices posted that it was due to the strike. Luckily we noticed a local gent squeezing through a side gate onto the platform and we followed with minutes to spare for our train arrival. The train ride was smooth and, in places, had some excellent views over small towns next to the Mediterranean Sea. We arrived at Marseille-Saint-Charles station and made our way down to the Old Port, one of the things we had decided to see on our short visit.

Marseille Old Port

Within minutes of leaving the station we witnessed a fist fight between a shop worker and an irate chap outside a phone shop. Making our way to the port we passed piles of rubbish in the streets. Very soon after about four or five police vehicles streamed past and surrounded another store. Not a good start to our big city visit. On reaching the Old Port the atmosphere changed and we stopped for a lovely lunch and a beer before wandering past the Town Hall to find the Petit Train.

The Town Hall

We boarded the Petit Train to travel up to the Notre-Dame de la Garde, the city’s best-known symbol.

Petit Train
Notre-Dame de la Garde

Notre-Dame de la Garde is a Roman Catholic basilica, completed in 1864. It towers over the city and can be seen for miles at around. The interior is stunning.

Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica Interior
Impressive Ceiling

There are views of all the city from outside the basilica including the old & new ports.

New Port
Old Port

After a brief 25 minute tour we hurried back to join the fun train back down to the city.

Le Petit Train

We made our way back to the station for the return rail trip to Istres. As the ride progressed it grew steadily darker and we watched a large cruise liner slowly drift off into the Mediterranean as night fell.

Marseille brought home to us that we are not really big city fans. You can only ever brush the surface of what there is to see, and quite often you get to see and feel the darker side of the city in the surrounding streets. I don’t think we’ll be rushing back.

France

A Simple Moving Day – Not!

1 Comment

Tuesday 17th October 2017

Today the plan was simple, to move on from the Campsite Lou Vincen in Vallabrègues to Campsite Le Neptune in Saint-Mitres-Les-Ramparts. This is another Camping Card Site and is  €15 a night and was chosen as a base to visit Marseille. It is a trip of 61km, easy.

Campsite Lou Vincen

We had really enjoyed our stay at Lou Vincen. We intended staying four nights, to visit Avignon & Nimes, and stayed eleven nights. The welcome we got from the owners, Hélène & Myriam, and the friendliness of everyone we met there and in the nearby village made it an easy place not to move on from.

Hélène & Myriam

We had taken down the awning the previous night so preparation for the move was rapid and we were ready , after saying our goodbye to the girls, to move by 10:30. The route was put into the Ford GPS and as usual Kim monitors the route on Google Maps. All went well for about 7km until we entered the town of Tarascon. Ford said right, Kim said left. Doh! It was too late to take the left so over the bridge to Beaucaire we went. I turned right into a street with the idea of turning around but this was impossible in the narrow street. Then we faced a very narrow bridge with a sharp left turn after to get back to the main road. Not fun.

We managed to weave our way through this then came up behind a truck unloading outside a bar. No way to get by, we watch him unload for 15 minutes before being able to proceed. This is the point where the drivers sense of humour failure occurred.

Another 15 minutes meandering through the tight roundabouts of the town brought us onto wider roads and progress was being made, albeit in silence.

17.10.17 Route

Towing Kilometres – Today: 61 – Cumulative: 4,020

After 30 or so kilometres, we stopped for a coffee break. Kim, sensing my stress, and the chance of a win, set up a game of Scrabble in the van. Her plan worked a charm. She won, and the silence was broken 🙂

After the break we made good progress without navigation problems to Campsite Le Neptune. Job done, I thought.

The reception was closed until 17:30 and it was only 15:00 so I wandered around the site while Kim waited with the van. I have to admit I wasn’t much impressed with the location of the site and went back to Kim to break the news. Kim noticed there was another site just down the road. With time to spare we went to investigate this.

We travelled down the very narrow road to the site gate, only to find that the site closed for the year 2 days previously. I now had the prospect of a half kilometre reverse with the caravan back down the street.

Just before sense of humour failure could occur again, a lovely lady opened her large garden gate enabling us to separate the caravan and motormove it out of the way and turn the car around. Very kind, and very lucky.

We went back to Campsite Le Neptune and reception had opened early and we were greeted by a very friendly chap who directed us to a pitch and returned later to check all was well

Campsite Le Neptune, Saint-Mitres-Les-Ramparts
France

The Daily Bombardier 415 show

Leave a comment

Saturday 14th October 2017

Everyday, at totally random times, since we have been at Camping Lou Vincen, we have had the chance to watch the firefighting water bombers refill their tanks by skimming down the Rhône river running alongside camp, The Daily Bombardier 415 show. 🙂

Bombardier 415 banking to start fill run
Filling from the river
Almost Full!
Climbing Away

The aircraft are Bombardier 415s. It is quite an impressive sight as the aircraft have to do some quite steep turns to position themselves for their run as there are a lot of power cables in the area.

Once in position the aircraft skims down the river and it is possible to hear the water rushing in.

At the end of the run the now very heavy aircraft slowly climbs as the excess water is ejected.
It is quite a show, and the sound of the aircraft coming overhead has campers rushing for their cameras every time.

Apparently, it does not always go to plan though!

France

Mont Ventoux

Leave a comment

Tuesday 10th October 2017

Today the plan was to drive over to Mont Ventoux, the famous mountain in Provence, topping out at 1912 metres above sea level. The mountain has been climbed many times by the riders of the Tour De France, with stage finishes there numbering ten. The wind at the top has been measured at over 200mph at times but we were lucky as the wind was relatively calm, and the temperature was a balmy 8 degrees as we reached the top. The temperature as we started the climb was 22! On the way up we enjoyed some excellent autumnal colours of the trees.

Autumnal Colours of Mont Ventoux
Autumnal Colours of Mont Ventoux

As we continued to climb we passed a number of cyclists pursuing their dream of climbing this mountain. How they endure the stress of the continual 21.8km climb at an average gradient of 7.43% is beyond me. This must be an extremely welcoming sight to them all.

The Summit

As you climb, the trees start to thin out and the terrain starts to resemble the surface of the moon.

Virtual Moonscape

At the peak there is a weather station, constructed in 1882, but it is no longer in use.

Weather Station

We wandered around the peak taking in the superb views for a while, then rewarded ourselves with a coffee & madeleines as we watched more & more cyclists complete the climb. On the way down, whilst using engine braking to save our brakes, we were overtaken by one keen descender, he must have been doing 50mph! Chapeau!

On the way home, because we are huge fans of the regions work, we detoured to pass through Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the famous wine growing village & region. The whole of the surrounding area is dedicated to growing grapevines, an amazing sight.

Super Sunset by The Rhone

Back at the caravan we enjoyed a marvellous sunset with a cheeky G&T while watching the bats overhead.

England, France

A Catch Up Post

2 Comments

Friday 29th September to Saturday 7th October

On our return from the drink fest that was the Devon holiday, interspersed with National Trust visits, steam train rides and longish walks, we camped on Kims’ folks lawn for two nights. I took advantage of the time to properly fit the 240v inverter & rewire the solar panel so that it charges without the caravan power having to be switched on.

On Sunday we moved on to Apple Acres Caravan & Camping Farm, near Tunbridge Wells for three nights to meet up with my folks & my brothers, Steve & Geoff.

01.10.2017 Route

Towing Kilometres – Today: 95 – Cumulative: 2,796

We have used this site before and received a warm welcome from the owners. On Monday Kim & I visited NT Sissinghurst Castle Gardens, the former home of Vita Sackville-West, poet & writer, & Sir Harold Nicolson. They had a rather interesting marriage described in her book Portrait Of A Marriage.

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens
Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

On Wednesday we packed up ready to leave at 9am for our ferry crossing from Dover to Calais.

04.09.17 Route

Towing Kilometres – Today: 331 – Cumulative: 3,127

The plan was to get to the South of France as soon as possible as the weather was good & forecasted to stay like that for at least two weeks. I suggested making a base around Avignon, as I had been there a few years earlier and knew The Pont du Gard was nearby. A stunning place to visit.

The ferry crossing courtesy of P&O was smooth & on time and we made good progress on the autoroute system down to Camping du Viviers aux Carpes, near Saint Quentin. This is a Camping Card site and cost €17 plus local taxes for the one night we stayed. We wandered around the town and found a bar then returned to the van as darkness fell.

Thursday dawned dry & a reasonable temperature and we packed up and got on the autoroute again making our way to our target that day of Macon.

05.10.17 Route

Towing Kilometres – Today: 510 – Cumulative: 3,637

We arrived in reasonable time at Macon Municipal Camping, a large site that suited us for a stopover but not sure I’d want to stay there for long. It was very noisy from very early on Friday morning.

We packed up ready to move on after breakfast to our target for a few days, Campsite Lou Vincen in Vallabrèques.

06.10.17 Route

Towing Kilometres – Today: 322 – Cumulative: 3,959

Good progress was made on the autoroute. Then, within 15 miles of the site, my sat nav guided me down the most unsuitable of roads on which to tow a caravan. A few hairy miles followed with a suitable amount of cursing on my part. On arrival we were given a warm welcome by Hèlène & Myriam. In glorious weather, we set up with the caravan windows open for a change & put up the awning without the prospect of it getting wet. As I write we have been here 6 days and the temperature in the afternoon has been above 22 degrees every day, and no rain at all. What a change from Wales & Ireland!

All set up at Lou Vincen

Saturday dawned bright and it happened to be Kims’ 60th birthday! We ventured into Avignon to try and locate a restaurant that I had visited in 2008, but couldn’t find it. The search concluded when we were ‘attacked’ from all sides by a medieval re-enactment of some sort and a fleet of noisy, horn blowing, wedding cars. At this point we headed back to the van to change for a birthday dinner at Le Vintage in Avignon. Happy Birthday Kim x