In search of spring, 6 March 2022

Oh dear, oh dear, what a difference a day makes! Yesterday morning we wandered round the old town of Ruom in our shirt sleeves, but last night we were at altitude - about 750 metres - somewhere near Lyon (I had chosen the place, not realising it was at altitude) and, although it was lovely, it was also bitterly cold. To the point that the water in the van emptied itself to avoid freezing! And the gas valve froze, too, so we couldn't turn the heating on for ages. I flushed the loo with the contents of my hot-water-bottle, and had to have a "possible wash" from the kettle (we did have  drinking water). There were services, but when the SW checked, the tap there was frozen, but he was able to refill the kettle at the basin in the public lavatory on site.

But the sun was out, and I opened the shutters over the windscreen and the van soon warmed up, and by after breakfast the tap at the services had thawed, so we were able to refill. We decided not to go too far today and are at yet another Camping-Car park in Villefranche-sur-Saone, which  we got to just after 12, having stopped at a random Super-U en route where I got a baguette that was still warm (among other things)!

We managed to see most of our church service, and after lunch the Swan Whisperer went for a walk which turned out to be far longer than he meant as he said the maps lied and he couldn't come back the way he had hoped. 

We are on electricity tonight so hope to be able to set the heating to 7 or 8 C to avoid a recurrence. It shouldn't be quite so cold, either. 

I haver taken any photos today, so here is one of the cat from yesterday. 

In search of spring, 5 March 2022

Last night, on our way to the campsite, I saw a sign pointing to the mediaeval village in the heart of Ruom. I sent the Swan Whisperer to explore, but it was not until he went to the bakery for our breakfast croissants that he found where it was.

So after breakfast we drove a short distance into the town and had a really lovely walk round  the compact old centre,

including the Roman church of St Peter,

and this ginger monster (who tripped me up as we tried to leave the area - I hope I didn't accidentally kick it too hard!

We drove through some pretty little villages and stopped on the outskirts of a town to shop and have lunch, and then spent the afternoon driving, mostly on horribly narrow roads with hairpin bends - not pleasant. But we are now parked up near a lake which will make a nice walk in the morning. 

In search of spring, 4 March 2022

As soon as I stepped out of the motor home this morning to empty the hot-water-bottles, I grew I could be nowhere else but the South of France! I don't know if it was the light, or the air, or the rosemary hedges that marked out the camping bays... But it was glorious!

As was the rest of the morning. We visited the Pont du Gard,

first calling in at the visitor centre where there was a museum. I thought at first that it would be underwhelming, but in fact it was much bigger than it appeared with a terrific overview of Roman civilisation, especially plumbing! They had really sophisticated pipes, taps, etc. There was also a brilliant fly-over of the whole route of the aqueduct, of which the Pont de Gard is only a tiny bit.

After that, we walked down to the bridge itself, and half way across it,

taking loads of photos, before coming back and having coffee in the visitor centre. 

Our next destination, not counting a supermarket, was Orange, where the Swan Whisperer had found the ideal car park, he thought, nice and near the Arc de Triomphe there.

It would have been nice, but it was full to overflowing! Fortunately there was a Lidl a few hundred metres down the road, so we pulled in there and ate lunch in its car park (I popped in and bought some bananas, which I had a coupon for). We found we could drive  round the arch, so did so before saying a sad farewell to the South and heading north, via a very pretty town called  Bourg-Saint-Andéol,

and going via the Gorges de l'Ardèche

and the Pont d'Arc

to this town which is called Ruoms. The aire is overlooking the Ardèche.

As always, more photos on Facebook. 

In search of spring, 3 March 2022

The sun is out again, and we are still in the South of France!

A delightful drive this morning, although parts of the area are very industrialised. We saw ships (behind the groyne) ,

factories

and goods trains

before arriving in Avignon. We had hoped to go into the town, but sadly, the Park&Ride didn't allow motorhomes, and although I'm sure we could have found a paying car park nearer the historic centre, the free one we found that did take motor homes was just that much too far. But we had great views of the eponymous bridge

and the Papal Palace, shrouded in scaffolding 

and it's not as if we haven't been here before - a winter holiday that was not a success as I had flu, the hotel was horrible, the euro, at that time, was practically at parity with the pound so everything was expensive and it snowed! But the sun was out today!

After lunch we drove on to this aire near the Pont de Gard, which is very nice with electricity and services included, although a very nice woman warned us on the way in that the water pressure is very low so it takes ages to fill the tank!

The Swan Whisperer has been for a long walk, and I have had a quiet afternoon, mostly snoozing. Tomorrow we hope to be able to visit the aqueduct and the associated museum. 

In search of spring, 2 March 2022

Carro, Martigues

Today is Ash Wednesday. It didn't start very well, although the Swan Whisperer bought croissants and the most heavenly warm-from-the-oven baguette for breakfast, but when we tried to get to the nearest Super U for today's shopping, we went the wrong way and it took about three times as long to get there as it should have done. 

However, we got there in the end, and I shopped while the SW got diesel and had his coffee. He has now taken over the route planning for the rest of this trip and is, I think, beginning to realise quite what a job it is! However, neither of us wants to go north just yet, so we are rethinking our plans. 

It has been overcast and cloudy all day, and a bit of rain this morning, so we basically just drove around the Camargue, crossing the Rhone on the Bac du Barcarin

(which we have done before) and heading down to this aire at Carro, where we stayed a few years ago.

There is the local fish market in the morning, which I shall definitely look at, but probably not buy anything as fish guts and a motorhome really don't mix, especially as we don't have any newspaper to wrap them in. 

For tonight's supper I have bought something called tielles Sétoises;

I think they are octopus and/or squid in a tomato and garlic sauce, encased in some sort of pastry. They sound nice, but who knows? 

In search of spring, 1 March 2022

Murviel-lès-Béziers, Shrove Tuesday and St David's day. 

Not such a lovely day today, as it has been cloudy and windy all day. No rain, though. 

We had a nice lazy morning as the wine merchants doesn't open until 10, so there was no rush. We bought quite a lot of wine - not more than our allowance, though. It is horrible having to think about the amount one can buy to bring home. Apparently there is a strike at - I'm not sure whether she meant the bottling plant or the bottle factory, so we had to buy a 3 litre wine box of the rosé I love. But the Swan Whisperer bought two bottles of red for himself, and four of white for me (two dry and two sweet) as well as the 3 litres of rosé and a bottle of red wine vinegar, as I wanted to make a vinaigrette for our leeks tonight. 

First port of call was Lidl, and then we drove up here, to this village north of Béziers, which is a fortified village with quite a steep walk up to the church, Mairie and chateau (now a guest house) at the top of the hill. We enjoyed it, although it was not just as glorious as we had hoped. 

We are parked up in another Camping-Car Park; the Swan Whisperer loves them, but I have serious reservations. They are talking over a great many municipal campsites, as well as formerly free aires, and although yo are guaranteed water and services all year round, and there is electricity, caravans and tents are no longer allowed, any sanitary facilities that used to be provided (showers, loos, etc) are no longer in use, there is no reception and no little shop. Okay, so they are cheaper than a campsite, but quite dear if they have taken over a formerly free aire. 

Anyway, we are here now, and may well use others, especially when we need services. But there are alternatives - they haven't yet taken over quite all of France! 

In search of spring, 28 February 2022

Mas Alart, Saleilles, France.

Well, you knew we would end up here didn't you? Got to buy some of the nicest wine in France! 

However, we started off by needing services, so we drove to what we thought was the Intermarche in Latour-bas-Elne, which had them. However, although it had all the other things it was supposed to have, no services. On enquiry, we discovered we were, in fact, at the Intermarché in Elne, not in Latour-bas-Elne. 

So a few minutes drive rectified that problem, and I shopped while the Swan Whisperer did the necessary, and then we headed on to St-Cyprien-Plage for lunch, and a look at the Med - as wonderful as ever, and as blue as ever!

After which, the SW suggested going to a "Village des Pecheurs" on the Etang du Canet Saint-Nazaire

that he had seen on the map, and which intrigued him. I wasn't too sure, when we arrived, that it wasn't a holiday let, but quite the reverse, as it turned out to be a collection of former fishermen's cottages built of reeds, and a nature reserve. 

We didn't see many birds except seagulls, which were beginning to pair off and courting rituals going full blast. There was a tiny museum, but it was obviously closed on a Monday. 

After a short walk, we realised the rather small car park was getting very full indeed, so we decided to head on more-or-less straight to Mas Alart, where we are parked up with windows and skylights open and enjoying not having to be wrapped up warm. As last time, the place is crowded, but we will be able to buy wine in the morning when the shop opens at 10.