Mood:
chillin'14th April - Day 7
Set off from Blas and headed South towards Montpelier. A wrong instruction from TomTom on an autoroute junction sent us heading back towards Paris for a bit (arghhh!), but, with a bit of re-routing we were soon on track again. Lorraine has got to be a bit of a dab hand at using the various camping guide books and found an Aire de Service in a town called Montmarault, not far from Montlucon. TomTom took us to the centre of the town, but we did not see the camp site. We pulled over and checked a map next to the town hall and it seemed to point to a site just outside of the town. We drove to try and find it, which took us out of town in the opposite direction. Again, no joy. We turned around and headed back in to Montmarault, 1 last try! This time, there were sign posts directing us to the Aire de Service and we followed them to nearly exactly the same spot that TomTom had taken us! This time, we spotted the camping spot, literally 6 gravelled spaces for camping-cars, each with an electricity and water point. Callum and I went for a walk into the town centre, whilst Lorraine got dinner ready. We looked into the church, which had a beautiful, round stained glass window on one side. We are impressed with the way that all villages and towns have such well maintained churches and chapels and have found that wherever we have stayed, we are in ear shot of a bell. This particular church reminded us of the time, on the hour AND the half-hour, all through the night!
We had dinner on our chairs and table sat outsde Suzab, then had a walk round town together before bed. We also picked up some goodies from the chocalatier.
We went to bed with us being the only motor-home on the site but by morning all 6 spaces were filled. We were first in and last out on this occasion.
15th April - Day 8
It was another beautiful morning and we continued our journey south, making our way onto the A75. The road was clear, so we flew along. Lorraine had found a free campsite located on the grounds of a chateau, so we headed for it. At some point, Lor realised that it was not open until May. We found another, and were taken off the auto-route onto the D roads (and more minor) through the mountains in the Lozere region. We climbed up to about 1800 metres, driving through past some amazing scenery, in some places reminiscent of the Peak District, in others very much like Dartmoor. We found our destination, just on the shores of lake, just outside of Langogne. This site was supposed to open that day, according to our guidebook, but they had postponed the opening date until 17th because bad weather had hampered progress of works that they were doing (new swimming pool, tennis courts and chalets). Speaking to the owner, I realised that he was quite frustrated that the workers would not come and finish the job because it was too cold! Despite the site being closed, they agreed to open up for us and we found a lovely spot for Suzab (we had the pick of the whole site!) overlooking the lake. We hadn’t experienced the last of our boiler problems and the heating started playing up. The electricity supply on the site was also inconsistent and I had to pay a few visits to the main site building to seek assistance; fortunately, they were really friendly and came to help straight away, giving me lifts back up to Suzab each time (more chances to practice my French).
16th April - Day 9
In the morning, I looked out of the window and got a bit of a surprise; it had snowed overnight and everywhere was completely white). We both had showers, using the on-site facilities, nearly freezing in the process! Another nice surprise was to follow; because of the problems with electricity, we were not charged for staying on the site – a very kind gesture.
The roads were all clear, so we were able to continue our journey. As we came down from the mountains the temperature increased (from -0.4c right up to 20c) and the snow completely disappeared. The A75 took us over the spectacular Millau viaduct (designed by a fellow Bristolian, no less!), then not much further until we reached the coast. We checked in to a campsite near Agde and headed straight for the beach. Hard to believe that we woke up in the snow and finished the day paddling in the sea. It is off-season so the site is quiet, which is nice, as we can imagine it being a bit noisy, touristy and hot in the summer.
17th April - Day 10
We stay for another day, making use of the beach and swimming pool. We also skype Andy, Nour, Ziya and Mum & Dad in Cambodia. They tell us about the volcano erupting in Iceland and that they are forced to stay in Cambodia for another 10 days, because that is the next available flight.
Lorraine and I make time for some meditation, me doing some Tai-Chi, Lorraine some Yoga.
We are attacked by Mosquitoes and exercise great will power by avoiding the urge to scratch the bites.
18th April - Day 11
Nice breakfast together in Suzab, then a jaunt to the beach-bar to use wi-fi and drink coffee.
We will leave this camp-site today and head east-wards. There is a chance that we will need to travel inland today/tomorrow as we may be taking Suzab to a dealer to get her heating fixed.
