22nd May – Day 45
This morning Rob made tractor barns with Callum and harvested many things including feathers, leaves and stones. They had lots of fun spending time together and it’s been so lovely watching their relationship develop.
We left after having a little picnic lunch under the trees at the campsite. A short stop down the road we stopped to clean Suzab on the outside as she was filthy! Then it was on to Montargis to the place where we had picked her up. We arrived after about an hours driving and picked up our bags for all our clothes so that I didn’t have to worry about packing on the morning of dropping her off (forward planning!)
After leaving a few things in our car and filling up some bottles of water we headed off to a France Passion farm in Sandillon (nr Orleans.)
We arrived and found we were to park right next to some huge chicken and duck pens. There was also a cockerel wandering around and a couple of yappy dogs. Rob and I were getting the feeling that this would be an earplug night. However, there were tractors and Callum was able to sit on one (which of course did not satisfy and he spent the rest of our stay asking if he could sit on the others.) we bought a few provisions from the farm shop and made dinner, which we ate outside. The weather was hot with clear blue skies. We realised that there was a place where we could plug in Suzab and have electricity for the night, so I summoned all my courage and went and asked the owner in my pigeon French if it would be all right to use it. It was and Rob seemed quite amazed, as he has had to do most of the conversing with people on our trip.
Rob and Callum played hide and seek in the huge grass field next to where we had parked. Also recall the family screaming and chasing after their dog as it tried to catch one of the cockerels.
23rd May – Day 46
It was a surprisingly peaceful night apart from the dusk and dawn choruses of all the birds in the vicinity – including ducks, chickens, cockerels and geese! We seem to be getting used to sleeping through noise or at least being able to get back to sleep quickly after being woken. We had breakfast and Callum said goodbye to the tractors and we were off….
…but we didn’t get very far as about 10 minutes away we entered a village called Marcilly-en-Villete which had an Aire and we decided to go and service Suzab. It turned out to be a beautiful spot by a river with picnic benches so we stopped for lunch and had a walk in the woods. We found a park and Callum played while Rob and I rested under a tree for a while – it didn’t last long before Callum wanted our attention and to move on. So we walked back to Suzab and drove on.
Next we decided to stop in Blois, which is a town on the Loire. It looked very pretty and it was scorching hot and we needed some time out of the van. First Rob and Callum took a walk up to the church and let me have a rest. Callum seems to enjoy visiting the churches of France. If there is one – and invariably there is – we have to go and see it and if possible go inside. They returned and this time we went in search of a drink and some ice cream. We found both before taking another walk up to the church and beyond into the gardens of the old Bishop’s Palace. There were views over the city and the Loire and a great park for Callum to play in.
Although we were stopped in an Aire we decided it was not a good place to stay for the night as we were right next to a busy road, so we ate, got Callum ready for bed and drove to another one not far away in Ouchamps. It was right next to a fishing lake, had shade and was quiet. As we were settling in for the night we saw lots of hot air balloons and one flew right overhead. We watched and waved.
24th May – Day 47
Today was hot! Our traveling had slowed down a lot and we were now trundling along the Loire and stopping wherever we fancied. We decided to do far less driving as we had done so much and Callum was starting to tire of it and we have 2 days of full-on driving at the end of our travels. So today our first port of call was a supermarket, however after trying 3 we realised that it must be a bank holiday as they’d all closed at lunch time and as usual it had taken us most of the morning to get ourselves ready to leave. Luckily our route took us through Tours and on the edge of town there was a huge Carrefour super-market, which was open all day. We shopped and Rob and I bought some new flip-flops and sandals as we had worn our others out and we also bought some for Callum as his sandals broke.
We drove on and found a picnic place to stop about 15mins away. We had lunch and just as we were getting ready to leave, realised that Rob’s new sandals had broken and they weren’t that cheap. So we decided to return to the shop and get a refund. Rob did this with little fuss and we then decided to stop for a drink and an ice cream as the temperature was now 36 degrees.
It was getting late so we found an Aire that was close by and stopped, in Montbazon. It wasn’t much to look at, but there was shade and an area of grass for Callum to build a barn and brum his tractors. Rob wasn’t having a good day and the cherry on top was ripping his shorts on the handbrake!
The air was completely still and the temperature inside did not start to cool until about 10.30pm when the sun had gone down. Rob and I had a game of chess, which lasted 2 hours, so I must be getting better, but he still won.
25th May – Day 48
Today it finally cooled down a little and the clouds came in (I know we’ve been chasing the sun and now we’re asking for less, but 36 degrees in what is basically a metal box isn’t that much fun!) The Aire that we were in had only basic facilities and we needed to empty the toilet (a disgusting job which Rob has the pleasure of doing!) There was another Aire 10 minutes down the road in Veigne which was a small town on the river Indre, so we went there. Callum found a playground and we were able to hook up to electricity and service Suzab whilst Callum played. We went into the town and look for somewhere to eat. We bought a ridiculously expensive loaf of bread and then ate Menu du Jour in a local brasserie, which satisfied hunger and our budget. Afterwards Callum of course wanted to look in the church, but we couldn’t go in as there was a funeral and since then he has been calling churches ‘future churches’ as he thought that’s what we said instead of funeral.
We continued to follow the Loire west and came into another small town called Langeais, which had an amazing chateau. We decided that we couldn’t come to France and not do any touristy sight seeing, so we stopped and had a look around. It was huge and beautiful, but Callum kept wanting to go up the stairs and hardly allowed Rob and I any time to look around the rooms in detail – sight seeing with toddler in tow is not easy and we were reminded of why we had done none thus far. We managed to make it around the castle in one piece (although I did have a freak out on the battlements which I decided were too high and couldn’t stand Callum running on.) Then we explored the grounds, which had amazing views over the town and the Loire and a treehouse like I’ve never seen before. There were also some things for Callum to play on including a seesaw, which he went on with a little French boy of about the same age and they enjoyed their first proper seesaw together, which I captured on film. We ate dinner in the car park opposite the chateau and then put Callum in his pyjamas again before heading for an Aire.
Callum fell asleep. We went to an Aire in Chinon which was very close to a nuclear power station and we decided it wasn’t for us and on the way to another one we drove into a village called Bourgeuil and saw it had an Aire (though not in the book) which we followed the signs to and decided to stop. Again it was nothing much to look at being pretty much a car park with no shade, but it appeared to be quiet and it was free unlike the previous one. However, once settled, we soon realised there was a church right next to us which chimed on the hour (twice for some reason!) and every half hour. Luckily this stopped at 10pm.
We transferred Callum to bed successfully, but in my haste to get up and have a sandwich I woke him up and the church bells sealed the deal – he was totally awake and didn’t go back to sleep until 10.30pm!
26th May – Day 49
The church bells resumed at 7am and had an erratic minute of chiming, which woke up Rob and I. We dozed until Callum woke at 9.30am (I know we’re very lucky!) After breakfast, Callum satisfied his curiosity of what the church looked like inside with Rob whilst I had a shower.
Today we decided to go to a campsite so we could charge the computer and hopefully Skype some people; we also wanted to have a swim. The clouds had come in so it was a good day to hang around a campsite. We found one quite near and in the park of a Chateau in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Once parked we had lunch and Callum played in the park with me and then with Rob. Then Callum and Rob went for a swim while I watched from the side. The clouds came in even thicker and we heard thunder so it was decided to return to Suzab. Before long, a huge thunderstorm erupted and it felt very cozy being inside with the rain pelting down outside.
We drove up to reception so we could Skype our parents and then drove back to our pitch to have dinner. Callum was in bed much earlier thankfully and the air cooled to a much more bearable temperature. It was very peaceful apart from the squawking peacocks in the distance somewhere and the gentle song of the cicadas.