Notre Dame de Monts

Sunday 18^th August Notre Dame de Monts

It was a rare wet day as we drove away from the Loire towards the Atlantic coast. Whilst supermarkets are generally open on Sunday mornings in France this was not the case in the Loire region. We needed both food and fuel. Evetually we found an Intermarche that was open. We arrived at 11.45 and the store closed at midday. Jacqui rushed around to pick up a few bits for our supper but we were too late for fuel. On our route we found other petrol stations that were 24 hour but these were useless to us as we did not have cash or the right cards. We had reached our destination on fumes by the time we found a suitable station and were thankfully able to replenish our diesel.

Originally we had planned to stay in St. Jean de Monts but it looked very busy and the camper van aire looked horrid so we headed off for the slightly quieter resort of Notre Dame de Monts. Here we found space on an aire for 5 euros (although later we found free parking on an adjacent road – more details to follow). After a chicken supper we walked along the beach front to see the sunset. It has been many weeks since we were last able to do that and it was good to be by the sea again.

Monday 19^th August Notre Dame de Monts

It was a lovely sunny day so Mike went off on the bike to get bread. I stayed in the van for 3 hours doing some Keele work. Mike made lunch and then we headed off for the beach where we spent a pleasant afternoon in the sun watching the catamarans and kite boarders on the sea. I also managed to speak to Richard before he went off to Croatia next week whilst Mike eventually sorted out the electrical work that needed to be done (or not!) at the Old Stables.

We left the beach about 5pm and headed back to the van for our bikes. We then cycled the 9km into St. Jean de Monts. Here we walked over the sand dunes to the sea before heading back.

To avoid the princely sum of 5 euros for the aire we decided to leave the aire and park in the adjacent road along with some other motorhomes. This turned out to be a mistake (nearly) as around 9.30pm after we had had supper and were drinking wine a very pleasant gendarme arrived.  He spoke very good English and told us that it was forbidden to park in the road overnight. He showed us another place to go and then I remembered our wine. I told him that we had been drinking (only one glass) to which he responded by saying not to worry he would escort us to the site once he had spoken to the other motorhomers. Mike put his second glass of wine back in the bottle and we prepared to leave. By 11pm there was still no sign of our escorting gendarme so we got ready for bed and did not hear anymore about parking in the wrong place.

Tuesday 20^th August Notre Dame de Monts

Again I worked for 3 hours in the morning and then we set off to the supermarket to buy some bits to take when we visited Daxa.  Daxa and her family plus Heena’s (Daxa’s sister) family had rented a house about 8km away. We were both excited to be meeting each other again.  Mike and I had our lunch en route arriving at their house about 3pm. The house was a lovely French building. Large rooms that could comfortably accommodate 10 people. It also had a large pool and that is where the kids were when we arrived. Daxa and I spent the  next few hours talking about our trip and work gossip and then in the evening we had a large BBQ cooked by Steve and Lee.  Later on I taught Thomas how to play zilch and after a good few glasses of wine we went to bed. As the place was so large there was plenty of room for our van and we had free electricity too!

Wednesday 21^st August Ile de Noirmoutier

We had our breakfast in the van and then a cup of coffee with Daxa before we set off.  Our plan was to visit the Ile de Noirmoutier via the causeway which is only accessible 1.5 hours either side of low tide. We set off and were surprised to find ourselves in a traffic jam going into Beauvoir sur Mer that continued right out to the causeway, known locally as Le Gois.  It took nearly two hours to travel the few kilometres and we were concerned that we would miss our chance to make the crossing. When we arrived we could see the cause – it was just sheer numbers of people. Perhaps it was the fact that the tide was very low today with the full moon and flood tides or the lovely sunny weather, but there were French people streaming all over the sands in search of cockles.  I couldn’t help but think about the Morecombe Bay tragedy and I hoped they would all make it safely back to their cars and onto dry land before the waters rushed in.

We drove over to the island and continued up to the top centre of the island and parked at Noirmoutier en I’lle. We then cycled 20km or so around the top coastline.  It was a lovely day to be out on the bikes. I persuaded Mike to stop for a beer after we had been out for an hour and shortly after that I got a flat tyre.  I managed to cycle the last 6-7km back to the van with Mike pumping up my tyre every few metres. Back in the van we took the high road bridge that also links the island to the mainland. On the way back we identified a possible campsite and we had our supper adjacent to this spot. We then drove on to Daxa’s house again where we played cards with the kids until 10pm. We chatted with Daxa for another hour and a half as Lee and Steve had gone into town earlier in the evening to watch football and then we retired to our van.

Thursday 22^nd Notre Dame de Monts

After breakfast we drove into Notre Dame. We called in at the Tourist Information office for internet info and found that we could only get half an hour free access. Still it was a good connection and we were able to deal with a few e mails in that time. We also picked up some bread and fruit and then headed to the aire near central Plage. We had our lunch on the edge of the pine forest and then walked down to the beach. Apart from a few annoying flies we had an enjoyable afternoon.
After we had left the beach we headed for the campsite we had identified the previous day. In large letters it had advertised overnight camping with electricity and water for 5 euros.  It was only a field but we thought it was a bargain but in the end this turned out not to be the case. It cost 5 euros for the overnight stay plus a further 4 for electricity and 2 for water. Feeling a little conned we  decided to stay as we needed the electricity for the fridge but we did not take the water despite being very low. The site actually turned out to be a lovely spot. It was a huge field surrounded by dykes and the open countryside. We shared it with one other van. It was a beautiful warm evening and as we sat outside eating our BBQ a huge orange harvest moon rose up. Perfect!

Friday 23^rd Notre Dame de Monts

Making the most of the electricity we spent the morning in the field. I did some more work and Mike did the useful stuff. We had our lunch outside in the lovely sunshine and then packed up. We drove back into NDdM to the aire next to the tourist info. Here we picked up free water and the internet code for the day. We used up our half hour very quickly! We then decided to cycle north up to where the road bridge crosses over to the island. It was 11km away. At the top we found a nice beach – Plage de Grande Cote and we sat there for an hour before cycling back. Adjacent to this beach we noticed a camper parking area that was free with a maximum 48 hours stay but no services.  Back at the aire Mike made use of the free facilities to service the van and then we headed back up to our beach parking spot. We found a nice space to park and Mike set up the BBQ under the pine trees. When it was too late to do much about it we wondered whether BBQs were allowed here as there was a lot of dry grassland under the pines. Anyway we sat with a bottle of water by the BBQ just in case there were any stray sparks and sat out until the coals had burned through. Another lovely evening.

Saturday 24^th August Notre Dame de Monts

For no apparent reason we were late getting up this morning. We had been expecting poorer weather and although it was very breezy the sun continued to shine. Our main  problem today was that the fridge was getting worse and had set off our carbon monoxide alarm. The only safe answer was to turn the gas supply to the fridge off. Fortunately we did not have a lot of stuff in it that needed to be kept cool although we would miss our iced water. I worked again for 1.5 hours up to lunchtime, which again we were able to eat in the sun.

After lunch we decided to cycle back to the causeway – Le Gois to watch the tide come in as we had missed this the other day. It was only a short 5km cycle but the wind was very gusty and on the high bridge over the strait I was nearly blown over. At the causeway we found a suitable place to sit along with many other people to watch the waters rush in other the flat sands.  It was an exciting experience. We were amazed at how late some people left it to choose to cross and in fact we saw a few cars having to do multi point turns on the causeway to come back as the waters were already up to the road. At one point the scene was disrupted by the sounds of a police car alarm and then a gendarme’s whistle as he ran down the causeway telling people to hurry off.  He headed up the causeway and we saw that he was heading for a car that was stuck on the sand. There was no way it could be helped off and as the minutes ticked by we saw the tide engulf the car. That must be a interesting insurance claim!

We watched the tide progress for some time and then we cycled back in the strong wind .  Back at the van we enjoyed a beer and some olives in the sun before we chose to escape the wind by going back into the van.

Sunday 25th Notre Dame de Monts

It had rained during the night but despite the forecast today turned out to be a lovely day. It was a bit overcast in the morning and Mike spent some time planning the final few days of the trip and I did some work. After lunch we went for a long walk (about 3 hours) on the beach. There was a very low tide so we were able to walk on firm sand. It was a very windy day and there were many people taking advantage with their sand yachts and kite boards. We saw a few naked people and took pity on them as they braved the beach from the safety of the sand dunes. The wind was enough to shrivel any extremities!

That evening we played boules in the sun - Mike won again but only just. We had an omelette as eggs were the only things left in our fridge (now being used as a store cupboard) and then we played a game of scrabble.

Loire Valley (part 2)

Thursday 15^th August Nouan to Amboise

Still at the campsite I again spent the morning working and Mike ‘set too’ on the inside of the van cleaning the carpets etc. It was not until 5pm that we were ready to leave. Now getting pretty desperate for gas we headed for the Super U across the river at Mer. However once we got there we realised that today was a public holiday and that all the shops were shut. No food or gas!

We continued westward along the Loire until we spotted the Chateau Chaumont on the other side of the river. We crossed the bridge and parked on the river bank.. The chateau looked very impressive but was closed so we could not get any close up views. We also saw some signs advertising a BBQ with free folk music. We decided to investigate which meant trudging up the hill. We were a bit disappointed when we arrived as we were not interested in the food and the music was not up to much as at the time we were there it was CDs only so we turned round to get back to the van. Here there was a much more exciting sight as four hot air balloons were just taking off. Three of them were so close together that they appeared to be impeding each others uplift. We were concerned that a) they were going to end up in the river or b) not clear the trees on the opposite bank. However just in time they pulled free of each other and gently rose upwards.  It was an impressive sight. We followed the balloons for a bit in the van and then pulled off the road in a picnic area, had supper and went to bed.

Friday 16^th August Amboise

We had our breakfast in our overnight picnic area and then we headed into the commercial area of Amboise to get our LPG and food. We then spent quite a bit of time sorting out the Old Stables again with Rosemarie and the electricians so that it was 12.30pm when we were ready to head to our next chateau at Chenonceau. This is a very picturesque chateau as it spans the river Cher. We arrived to find it absolutely packed with coaches, cars, bikes and motorhomes. Fortunately there was a dedicated parking area for the latter so we were able to find somewhere to park. Our initial intention had been to walk around the grounds of the chateau but this was not possible so we paid 11 euros each to visit the chateau and gardens. It was a lovely building and most impressive were the flower arrangements that were in each room, flowers were grown for this purpose on site. We stayed for 2.5 hours and then headed back to Amboise for the night.

Once parked up in the aire here we got on our bikes and cycled to the old centre of the town to see Le Clos Luce, a chateau which has close associations with Leonardo da Vinci and Chateau Royal which stands proudly above the Loire.  It was a ‘buzzy’ little town and we enjoyed wandering around it. The highlight was entering one of the ‘caves’ for a free wine tasting. We had to purchase a glass for 3 euros and then we were free to taste any of the wines on offer for the local wine producers. We ended up buying a Touraine Amboise Sauvignon.

We then cycled back to the van where we had a salad supper and an early night.

Saturday 17^th August Villandry

Today we planned to continue westward along the Loire to view the many chateaux.  I had wanted to visit Villandry as it was famous for its beautiful gardens and so we headed there first after driving through Tours. At Villandry we found ourselves parked in an orchard from where it was a short walk to the Chateau entrance. We spent about 2.5 hours wandering through the many beautiful and different gardens, that included a knot garden, a water garden, a herb and a vegetable garden. We then headed back to the orchard where we had parked where we had our lunch before setting off westwards again.


 The next two chateaux at Usse and Montsoreau provided good photo opportunities before we moved on to the small town of Saumur. Here the Loire was very wide with sand banks. I had just sat myself down with the binoculars to watch the birds when Mike encouraged me to see the Royal Chapel Notre Dame. It was an unusual building (with odd proportions) with a huge high dome. There was also yet another chateau at the other end of the town. We continued westwards through Chenehutte and Gennes and had a last stop on a pretty stretch of river at Cunault. Here was a privately owned villa which had its own access to a chapel via anarched walkway. We then cut across country to Rochefort sur Loire and found a parking spot by the river Louret. At the local restaurant a salsa band was playing so we had latin music to accompany our supper and bedtime.

The Loire Valley

Tuesday 13th August Lailly en Val to Nouan sur Loire




We had breakfast by the lake in Lailly and wathed a large fish being landed.  I think this is the first we have seen being cuaaght suring our travelling period despite the numerous fishermen we have met.

We left the aire and drove down to a Super U where we were expecting to get some LPG as we were very low but they had none. We continued down the Loire a short way to a municipal campsite at Nouan sur Loire. our plan was to use this as a base to cycle to some of the chateau. It was a lovely campsite and only cost 11 euros a night including electricity and internet. We found a good spot with shade and parked up.

There are over 600km of cycle routes along the Loire and today we decided to cycle to one of the main chateaux in the region Chambord. It was only about 12km away. The route started along the Loire and then headed inland. Although the path was a bit rough in places it was generally very good and well sign posted.

Chamboard is a huge chateau. Its building (in its current form) was started by King Francis 1 in 1915 when he was only 25 years old. It was intended as a hunting lodge but it eventually became an extravagant chateau. We approached the chateau via a leafy vista and we chose here to sit own and have our lunch. Mike and I had already decided that we would only visit 2 or 3 chateau and this was one of them. (There are 71 in the area!).  I was pleased to get a three euro discount for being a foreign higher education teacher  thanks to my Keele card. The chateau has 426  rooms but fortunately we did not or could not visit them all. Some rooms were quite elaborate but others were empty rooms. A lovely feature was the double spiral stone staircase. It comprises two concentric spiral flights of stairs that wound themselves independently around a hollow central column. It is possible but not proven that Leonardo da Vinci helped with the design of this. From the top fourth floor there were lovely views across the french countryside.

Francis 1 reigned for 32 years but only spent 72 days at this chateau but his son Henry II and Louis XIV continued the building project.

We cycled back along the same route arriving at the campsite about 6pm where we then enjoyed a BBQ in the evening sun.

Wednesday 14th August Blois

We had decided to stay for two nights at this campsite. I worked in the morning whilst Mike washed clothes and the van. We had our lunch and then prepared ourselves for a longer cycle to the chateau at Blois about 20km away.

It was another hot day with a very blue cloudless sky. The cycle route ran along the Loire right up to Blois. The river is quite wild here: wide, brown, fast flowing. There is no commercial activity - just a few kayaks on the water. No one appears to swim in it here. it was a long cycle and it was nice to reach some shade by the Chateau when we arrived. We had already decided we would not go inside this chateau but we admired it from outside and then walked around the medieval town. One of the interesting sights was the House of Magic. Whilst we were looking at the front of the building 4 giant serpents suddenly appeared! Further up near the twon hall there was a rather bizarre display of brightly coloured metal animals.

We spent a couple of hours here and started on the return cycle. Mike got a puncture but fortunately we were less than 1km from home. I cycled on to put the kettle on and by the time Mike was back tea was made. That evening he mended his puncture whilst I cooked supper, which once again we ate outside in the lovely warm evening air.

Orleans

Monday 12th August: Orleans

We had a long journey today to finish off our journey to
Orleans and the beginning of our tour of the Loire Valley. We arrived in Orleans about 2pm and were able to park by the riverside. The Loire was looking very full and flowing freely. We didn't think we would be able to put our canoe on the river here.

We had admired the city as we drove in: lots of elegant buildings in wide roads adorned with beautiful flower arrangements.

Mike was especially keen to find out about Joan of Arc - the Maid of Orleans. Our first visit was to the Cathedral Saint Croix where there were many lovely stained glass windows telling her story. From there we went to the 16th century Hotel de Ville also known as Hotel Groslot. here was one of the many scuptures of Joan of Arc and the Hotel contained some sumptious rooms which now seem to be largely used for civil weddings.

We followed the Joan of Arc town route which took us to other statues, her house when she lived here (rebuilt after the WW2 bombings) which is now a museum and the Church where she prayed before going into battle. It made a good focus to visit the city. Jacqui made a rare purchase en route and bought herself a black dress which may or may not be worn for Lou's graduation.

It was quite late in the day when we left and we went back to another McDs to catch up with this blog and then we travelled further west down the Loire to a lovely free aire at Lailly en Val.  The only down side was that the aire was adjacent to a churchyard and the hourly clock bells could be heard loudly.

On our way to Dijon (including the Onion Festival)

Saturday 10th August

Today we left the Vosges region and entered the haut Saone. We had a pleasant drive
arriving at our chosen destination Pontailler sur Soane in the afternoon. This small town was a convenient stop for us on our way to Dijon. It sits on the banks of the River Soane and when we arrived the Fete d' Oignon was in full swing. It looked like any ordinary summer village fete except in the centre ring men were competing in the 'faster peeler of onions' competition.
As we caught this part way through we were not sure how much time was allowed but the fastest two men had both filled a washing up bowl of onions by the time the end was called and the bowls were taken away for weighing.  We cant say that it made spectacular viewing but there was some entertainment value. We left the fete and walked down the main street which made up the town and decided to go for a cycle.  We took the cycle route along the river and headed for a chateau at Talmay. It was a nice focus for our ride and it turned out to be a lovely building but as it was privately owned we were not able to visit it.

After our cycle back we ate our supper and then headed back to the fete. The onion ring had now been transformed into a dance floor. People were dancing to old British pop CDs but nothing was going to induce me to dance to YMCA so we returned to the van and bed.

Sunday 11th August



This morning we had a short drive to the grand city of Dijon. Entering a city on a Sunday has worked well for us. We found free parking easily in the centre so only had a short walk to see the main sights. Armed with a map we walked for 2.5 hours taking in all the lovely buildings including the Palais des Ducs, Musee des Beaux Arts and Notre dame with its good luck owl stuck in a corner wall. Most of the shops were shut but I was able to buy some 'cassis moutarde'.  After our tour of the centre we headed out for Lac Kir which lies on the western side of the City.  It was another lovely hot day and we enjoyed eating our lunch by the lakeside and watching some people rather chaotically train three dogs how to rescue people from water (and how to tow a dog marooned on his surf board home too!


Mike also spent some time trying to fix the water pump which had suddenly stopped working until he realised that he had pulled a wire loose when trying to fix something else!

Later in the afternoon we set offotwards Orleans. We called in at McDs to catch up on some e mails and to skype Millie. it was after 10pm by the time we finished and we still had not found anywhere for the night. So in the dark we drove for another 20K until we found a suitable picnic area to stop for the night.