3 Weeks in France

In August we spent 3 weeks in France with our gorgeous 11 year old grandson. Jake. Yes he gets spoilt by Granny!

The object of the trip was twofold - Rex wanted to visit some WW2 sites and we were also booked in to a campsite in the Limousin for a 4 day MotorhomeFun meet.

We set off on August 7th and visited our friends, Walt and Mary, in Desborough on our way to Dover. I was driving and apart from having Ermentrude (our silly cow of a sat-nav!) shouting at me I had Rex with a map and Jake in the back of the van also with a map! I kept cool and ignored all 3 of them!

Saturday we set off again for Dover - we were booked on the ferry for Sunday morning and intended to spend Saturday night parked up on Marine Parade but this was not to be - there was a festival on and the road was closed - Yikes where to go now? We went back up the M20 to a service area we had seen for early port arrivals - that's OK if you're in a car or a lorry or a coach but in a motorhome it's a no no! So we went back to Dover, changed our ticket ( at a price!!) and caught the 7.30pm ferry to Calais!

There we were in France a day early and at 10.30pm - so off we went to the Franglais wine warehouse and parked up for the night for free! They're in the France Passion scheme for camping cars and very happy for members to camp for the night!

Sunday morning we bought a bottle of wine in the warehouse and thanked them for the free parking and headed south ish to St Valery sur Somme.
On the way we realised we were very short of diesel and being a Sunday we weren't sure of how many petrol stations we would find open! We decided to leave the Autoroute at Le Touquet and see what we could find. As luck would have it there was a fuel stop at the peage station on the slip road - it was an automatic one so we had to use our credit card - first time for everything and why not do it on a Sunday??? Luckily a Frenchman was there filling up and he showed me how to use the machine - lo and behold we were full of diesel once again - what a relief! It's not recommended to run out of fuel on a French Autoroute - it's an on the spot fine from the cops!
We got on the aire at St Valery sur Somme and stayed for 2 nights. St Valery is a lovely old fishing village with a narrow gauge steam railway to Le Crotoy - of course being with Rex AND Jake we just had to go on it! It was fun!
There was a festival of the sea (Fete de Mer) on in town too and we saw some of the very well decorated cottages and saw a band performing in the street - all adds to the atmosphere!

Tuesday we went to Arromanches - the site of one of the D-day landings in 1944. This is where the Mulberry harbour was sited. We couldn't get in the aire as it was heaving! Backtracked through the busy town centre and arrived at the Municipal camp site just behind the aire. We camped next to a British couple, Gordon and Paula with their daughter Elisabeth (otherwise known as Princess). They are members of MotorhomeFun - (thechesters). Jake got on well with them all and went into the town to see the carousel all lit up at night.

We didn't do the museum but did do the 360deg Cinema which was very well done and enjoyable. We bought a DVD of the film "The Longest Day" and watched it on the Tuesday night. Good idea to watch it while we were there - brings it all home to you more!

Wednesday, Rex and Jake went swimming in the sea - amongst the bits of Mulberry Harbour!

Thursday we headed further south and spent the night on the church car park at Laigne-en-Belin just south of Le Mans. OK apart from the church bells ringing every 15 minutes!!!!

Friday we arrived at Parc Verger, Champagnac La Riviere for the MotorhomeFun meet. We were just about the last to arrive! The campsite is owned by a British couple, Bob and Di Banks. Lovely site and very tranquil until the MotorhomeFunsters arrived!
Friday night was BBQ night with the haganaps (HarleyandGeorgeandNikkiandPaul) - the kids enjoyed themselves and a good time was had by all ( well most anyway!!)
It was lovely to meet up with old friends and new - Suzy and Bryan, Nikki and Paul, Sharon and Mark, Graham and Kay, Pammy and Geo, Ruth and Tony, Bill and Chris, Frankie and Stephanie, Angie and Keith, Mick and Denise and all the kids! Have I forgotten anyone? Too much vino obviously!!!

The weather was amazing but too hot to be bothered doing anything - all the kids enjoyed the pool and all the adults enjoyed the chillin'!

Saturday afternoon we staggered into the village to see the festival procession - but managed to miss it so we staggered back! With temperatures in the high 30's it was too hot to contemplate doing much!
Saturday night was the village meal in the village hall - excellent food put on by the local women - how they fed so many so well I don't know!
After the meal we followed the band to the edge of the village and watched a magnificent firework display then followed the band back to see the lighting up of the church. After that we retired to Dino's bar for a couple of drinks before wending our way back to the campsite.
It was decided that nightcaps were to be drunk outside Nikki and Paul's van and this duly happened until about 2.30am - don't think we were the most popular campers next morning - but hey ho - that's what Fun meets are all about - SOCIALISING!!!
Sunday was a VERY quiet day all round! Some of the locals came around for drinks at lunchtime - including the mayor - very nice to meet them. Sally and Mike arrived (ehuplad) with Marcus their Lurcher. There was a BBQ outside our van - but we retired reasonably early - midnightish!! Might have been due to our van being near the black water dump which had quite a distinctive aroma!!

Monday we were up early for a bus trip to Oradour-sur-Glane - the Martyr village which the Germans razed to the ground on 10th June 1944 killing all the inhabitants - for no known reason!
It has been preserved just as it was left - very thought provoking place - will we ever learn from the mistakes of the past? Who knows?
After the visit we went on to Limoges - which was shut! Combination of Bank Holiday Weekend and Siesta time!!! Nice place though! Still, we managed to find a few bars and a burger bar open - wandered around the town with Kay and Graham and Chelsea and Bill and Steph.

Tuesday saw most of us leaving Parc Verger and 5 vans headed in convoy to Couhe, south of Poitiers. Nikki and Paul and Bill and Chris had stayed there last year and recommended it so we decided to follow them along with Suzy and Bryan and Graham and Kay.

It was a great site for the kids - pools with numerous slides (the men enjoyed them too!!) also the pools were open until midnight! It was so hot that no-one did much till about 8pm when it was decided we all should eat and it was BBQ time AGAIN!!! Blokes sitting around shirtless at midnight - kids in pool until 11.15pm! Bliss!! I don't think Jake wore normal clothes in the 3 nights we spent there, he just wore swim shorts all the time! He thought he was in heaven!

Suzy and Bryan had to leave us after 2 nights to return to UK and Graham and Kay also left to go chocolate hunting in Bruges - so we were down to 3 vans!
On Friday we left with Paul and Nikki to go to the Vendee and Bill and Chris left to go to Futuroscope at Poitiers.
We found an aire (free!!) next to the sand dunes at La Paree Preneau, south of St Jean de Monts. Friday night Paul and I tried to take sunset photos on the beach but we were too late! Saturday the men and boys spent the day at a Waterpark while Nikki and I relaxed by the vans and sauntered down to the shops and Crepe Bars!!
Saturday night we were successful with the sunset photos!

Sunday was our 42nd wedding anniversary and we parted company with Nikki and Paul and set off for Le Mont St Michel. The aire on the causeway was due to be underwater at the 8pm high tide so we went to the one in town - very good it was too - with electricity and toilet and waste dump - just no toilets or showers - otherwise it was like a half decent campsite and for only €8.90 a night too!
We had a meal out to celebrate our anniversary - nothing posh just a normal cafe really.

On Monday we went back towards the D-day sites - this time to Ste Mere-Eglise - the spot where the American Paras landed in the village instead of in the countryside - most were shot by the Germans as they landed. One poor guy got stuck on the church steeple as he came down and was shot in the foot - he played dead but was eventually rescued and taken prisoner by the Germans - however he managed to escape during the subsequent fighting and lived to tell the tale! There is an excellent Airborne Museum in the village and a dummy para complete with parachute hanging from the church! Well worth a visit if you're in the area! The aire is the car park next to the church and across the road from the Airborne Museum - very handy!

Tuesday we left and went to Honfleur - one of our favourite little places in Picardy - old fishing village which was, and still is, a haunt of artists and musicians ( Sate lived here)
On arrival at the aire we were greeted by . . . Nikki and Paul! They had arrived the night before and were about to set off for Calais and home. We also met a couple of motorhomers who have promised to join MotorhomeFun - they live in Telford and have a Peugeot garage so their user name will be justpugs! Hope they do join us!

Wednesday we went to Calais and stayed at the Franglais warehouse again - this time we stocked up on wine!

Thursday was time to get the shuttle (tunnel sous la manche) - Jake loved it as did we!
We were back in England by 10 am and had a short trip up to Chobham to stay with Ray, Joan and Flint for the night.

Friday was the long trek north to Glossop and the RAIN!!!

We had a great 3 weeks and have to say a big thank you to Nikki and Paul - we really enjoyed their company (even though they are so young!!) Jake got on great with Harley and George - being with them really made it a great holiday for Jake! Nikki and Paul know all the best places to go in France with kids whereas we know the old fart places!!

The 3 nights in Couhe were magic - such good company - Nikki, Paul, Harley, George, Suzy, Bryan, Steph, Bill, Chris, Steph, Graham, Kay, Chelsea - it was great!

Parc Verger was good too - thanks to Bob and Di - I don't know how you put up with us rowdy lot! Thanks to Pammy for getting it all together!

Definitely a holiday to remember!

Photos from the places we visited are on Flickr:- http://www.flickr.com/photos/16531440@N07/ and also in my Facebook albums.