18th May – Day 41
Donkmeer => free Aire next to road works (Le Cateau Cambresis, south of Valenciennes)
Callum wants one more visit to Ratty’s boat down by the lake, before we leave Belgium with the aim of getting to the Champagne region in the next couple of days. In the Netherlands and Belgium, it was not so easy to use TomTom to avoid major highways, so now that we are back in France we are able to avoid Toll roads, which has the desired effect of directing us along the many beautiful minor roads that France has to offer. It feels good being back in France and especially now that the sun has made a welcome appearance.
We decided not to drive too far today and we don’t want to pay for another campsite. It was unavoidable in the Netherlands and Belgium, so we are going to take advantage of free Aire de Service and France Passion stops for the next few days. We find a free Aire in Le Cateau Cambresis, just south of Valenciennes. It is set back from a main road into the town, with a back-drop of a small area of woodland. There is space for 5 motor homes and we are the 4th. This spot is perfect for Callum as it is right next to some road works and about 4 tractors are actively working away, so almost immediately we walk over to the road side to get a better view.
Two of the other occupants of the Aire are British and from a quick chat they aren’t enjoying themselves much, plagued by bad luck with mechanical failure and lousy weather down in Provence (where we had been two weeks earlier).
Although it sounded as though there was a motorbike race going on in the early part of the evening, it was actually quite quiet for the bulk of the night. We are now used to the dawn chorus wherever we go and surprisingly we didn’t hear any church bells here.
19th May – Day 42
Le Cateau Cambresis => Vertus / France Passion (Michel Collard)
We don’t hang around for long in the morning, just a change of water for Suzab then on the road. We have picked a France Passion place to stay for the night, the house of a champagne producer. It is south of Reims and the Montagne de Reims in a town called Vertus. On the way down we pass by Laon and see what must be the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Laon on the hill, which looks mighty impressive. We drive along some extremely straight roads on the way to Reims, surrounded by a patchwork of different coloured fields (including very bright yellows from the Oil seed crop). We stop in a lay-by in an elevated position, so we can see for miles all around, and have our lunch. There are also lots of horses in a field nearby so we go and say hello to them.
Back in Suzab, we are directed through the centre of Reims, which is interesting as they seemed to have dug the entire city road network up to make way for a tram system. Fair play to the French, they don’t do their roadworks by halves; instead of doing it piecemeal, entire stretches of road are dug up completely. TomTom isn’t aware of the roadwork’s, so we get in a bit of a muddle, but get to see some fantastic architecture on the way!
As we leave Reims, the presence of vineyards is inescapable from the eye as are signposts telling us that we are on the champagne trail. We pass by vineyards and houses/warehouses of many famous producers (Moet et Chandon, Mumm, Bollinger) and a myriad of unknowns, but all with the unmistakable champagne style logos. If I weren’t driving, I would be stopping quite a bit to try them all!
We arrive in Vertus and follow the champagne trail signs for Michel Collard. He is there to greet us and point us to an area on his grounds where we can park. The sky is perfectly clear blue and the temperature is hot. We get out our table and chairs and I go inside to taste some of his champagne. It is an interesting experience because I have taken Callum with me who was, at that moment, eating a carrot. Callum only likes the middle part of the carrot, so whilst trying to have a conversation in French with Michel I am nibbling away the outside of the carrot!! I also quickly realize that this isn’t going to be a drinking session – this guy wants me to try and then buy. I do get 2 glasses of the fizzy stuff, which isn’t bad I suppose. I make my selection and part with some hard earned.
We spend the rest of the day relaxing in the sun and eat our dinner outside. I took a bike ride into Vertus later on to see what action I could find. There was no action.
20th May – Day 43
Vertus => Geraudot, in Foret d’Orient
We start the day slowly. The sky was again clear blue, we were all in good spirits and we were in a beautiful garden which we had no need to rush out of. We had breakfast outside and then Callum found some mud and ash to brum his tractors in – yes he got very dusty! We found an Aire to head to and set off.
We had left close to lunch and as we were driving back through the village of Vertus we spotted a café serving Menu du jour and couldn’t resist – 3 course lunch for 12 Euros was just too good to miss. Again it did not disappoint and with full bellies and happy hearts we set off again.
As we were driving past the fields of vines Rob spotted a vantage point, called Mont Aime, which we figured would be a good place to take a snapshot of all the vineyards. It was a real find as there were panoramic views at the top and we could see for miles. It was also the site of a castle ruin and we had lots of fun exploring.
We drove on through quite flat countryside and some very quaint villages and towns before coming to a stop at the Aire. It wasn’t quite what we had in mind being just one parking space at the junction of 3 intersecting roads in the middle of a town. After a quick check we headed for another one 15mins away, further into Foret d’Orient. This was more like it – right across the road from a beach on the edge of a lake (just outside of Geraudot). Once parked and with the sun still high in the sky we headed straight for it.
At first Callum was a bit nervous of the water, as he has been for most of the holiday, but after Rob had a brief swim and I paddled, he soon joined us, and the next thing we knew he wanted to get his swimming trunks on and go in for a swim – the water was very cold so we were surprised. It was so lovely to watch him splash around and have fun and Rob and I were even able to get in a game of chess (very quick and Rob won!)
Later we had dinner outside again and Callum was in bed at a reasonable time after a few nights of going to bed quite late due to late naps on the road. This gave Rob and I a chance to relax a bit before bed.
21st May – Day 44
Geraudot, Foret D’Orient => Sens
Unfortunately every day cannot be as wonderful as our previous couple and today was one of them. Nothing major happened – if it had then maybe we would have felt there was a reason for it. But there were no real reasons, we just both felt out of sorts and when that happens in such close quarters the atmosphere can feel heavy and miserable. We tried our best to get on with things and each other, peaking and troughing through the day.
We left the Aire at around 11am in the direction of Sens. Our first point of call was at a supermarket. It was not like shopping in Holland (which was our last shop) and our bill was almost double. We resisted the temptation to have another Plat du Jours and decided to save money and have lunch in Suzab.
Luckily we didn’t have far to drive today as none of us was in the mood. When Rob and I are feeling low, Callum always picks up on it and it affects his behaviour too.
Our campsite was a pleasant surprise, as although cheap it was picturesque and had everything we’d usually look for in a site with the exception of wi-fi and a pool. I did some handwashing and some yoga and Rob did the budget and some reading. We ate and Callum was asleep by 7.30pm. Rob and I were able to relax and let go of the day and hope for a brighter tomorrow.
22nd May – Day 45
Sens => Montargis =>
Had a relaxed morning on the campsite, built a small farm with Callum out of branches and stones (on the bouledrome), then harvested various crops and put them in the barn (leaves, dried blossom, etc).
Drove to Montargis, Les Jarrois - to drop off some stuff at base and pick up our luggage from our car. Then westward ho!