Early autumn holiday, 7 October 2023

The last full day of our holiday, sadly. Still, it's time to go home.

We bade our hosts farewell, buying some more of their utterly delicious yoghurt while doing so, and then headed into a nearby town to do a Last Shop, only they didn't have citrus tea or the extremely delicious chickpea salad that we enjoyed and I'm not sure what it contained (I think parsley, lemon and garlic, and perhaps a little olive oil, but wouldn't swear to it) . So if there is time tomorrow I want to pop in to Auchan or Carrefour or somewhere similar. Not the end of the world if there isn't time.

After this, we drove to the beginning of one of the more famous "pavé" section of the various cycle races, especially Paris-Roubaix, the Pavé d'Arenberg, where we also had lunch as we had timed it well! 

We decided the aire in Calais was too soulless, not to mention too expensive, for a Last Night, so we decided to go to this very nice aire in Esquelbecq, where we have been before. No sign of the peacock, though!  It's about 45 minutes from Calais, so we'll have to get up betimes (we can, when we have to!). 

I had been asleep on the drive over, and the Swan Whisperer wanted to "rest his eyes" (ahem!), so I went out for a short walk in the immediate area, which is indeed as nice as he said it was last year! He did similar when I came back, although I'm not sure where he went. I went to the local convenience store, but they didn't have what I wanted, alas. Also looked round the church and the brewery (its shop, not the actual brewery). Photos on Facebook, as per. 

Early autumn holiday, 6 October 2023

Chèvrerie La Bêle Fontenoise

The Swan Whisperer went for a run this morning, and then after breakfast just sat; I thought he was recovering before heading for a walk round Rouen, but he said he was waiting for me! Miscommunication rules!

Anyway, we thought we would drive down to Chamery via a village called Chigny-les-Roses, where we hoped to be able to empty the loo. We couldn't find the services, alas, but we did find a France Passion place, where I might suggest we spend the night on a future trip. It's all very well driving through Champagne, but I'd really like to get a chance to taste the eponymous wine, and this doesn't seem to happen!

However, we arrived in Chamery a few minutes later, and, for some extraordinary reason, it occurred to the Swan Whisperer that as well as putting €2 into the machine, he could press the button - and the services worked! We have only been going there for the past eight years...

Anyway, we then decided to go to Epernay, rather out of our way, but we decided we'd like to visit a museum about champagne. Unfortunately, when we got there, there was nowhere to park, so we had to come away. After which we rather thought "sod this for a game of soldiers!" and drove up here, to this goat farm near Cambrai. This is brilliant! 

We went into the shop and bought some goat's cheese - I tell you, you haven't lived until you've tasted goats' cheese stuffed with chestnut puree, it's lush! The very friendly people told us where to park up, and then said we might want to go and watch the milking, which should happen about 6:00 pm (it was actually a little later). 

It was more than just watching the milking; the goats have to be milked in shifts, and the farmer spent the first shift showing the children (there was a group of young families who had come to shop and stayed to watch) where the milk came from, and encouraging them to squirt their mothers with milk direct from the teat! And showing them how they put on the clusters and so on. Interestingly, goats are much cleaner than cows, so he can milk them in his everyday clothes and doesn't have to wear rubber aprons and boots, like you do with cows. He also didn't wash the udders, or disinfect the clusters between goats, although he pointed out that the milk went straight to the dairy from the goat without coming into the open air in the meantime, and the clusters are disinfected for at least an hour after the end of milking. 

Once the first lot had finished and been released, he rather dismissed us, so we came back to the WoMo and have been there ever since. There are two camper-vans here as well as us, one Swiss and one German. 

We had some of the goats' yoghurt with fruit for supper pudding, and it was delicious - I shall buy some more tomorrow before we head on! 

Early autumn holiday, 5 October 2023

Reims

Well, I don't know what happened last night, but we both forgot all about Compline, and I was asleep before 9 pm! Slept really well all night, too!

This morning we went  for a walk round Troyes, which was lovely, although rather longer than anticipated as the way we thought would be a clever way back to the WoMo was longer than it looked on the map. Still very enjoyable, though. We did stop for a coffee, which was delicious and a much-needed rest.

Once we had got back to the WoMo, we headed off to Reims via Chalons-en-Champagne, where we stopped for lunch and to do some shopping. At Reims, the woman at the hostel said the site was full, but I asked her to let us in anyway to use the services. Sadly, the drain for the loo is blocked so we weren't able to empty it, but we could empty the grey and take on fresh water. And there was just one space left in the aire, so we grabbed it! The SW has, of course, gone for a walk, but even he had a nap first, although he says it's because his phone needed charging! I expect it did... 

Early autumn holiday, 4 October 2023

Troyes, Champagne

A very frustrating day! The Swan Whisperer having said it wasn't worth going into Is-sur-Tille, we didn't  bother, but once we had cleared up breakfast and used the services, we headed on. Now, what we hadn't realised was that if you turned left out of the CCP, rather than right as he had done last night, it was a much better way into town, pavements all the way, 100m from a convenience store - and the town itself, from that angle, looked quite nice and I should have liked to have visited it. But too late, too late, so we drove cross country, first to the Lac d'Orient, where the SW went for a walk, and then on to the village where we had hoped to spend the night.

It really was a lovely drive, though - beautiful countryside sprinkled with pretty villages, and we both really enjoyed it. We stopped at a big and very empty Auchan for shopping and lunch.

But when we got to the France Passion place where we had planned to spend the night, nobody was home and it was totally not obvious where to park. We waited for over an hour (having a cup of tea while we waited) and then came sadly away. Probably as well for my purse, as they sell alpaca wool and so on... The Swan Whisperer found this car park in Troyes, where we are parked up next to what I think is the Seine.

Early autumn holiday, 3 October 2023

Is-sur-Tille

This morning I overslept, which didn't really matter as we were in no hurry; all the same, it meant we didn't get away until after 10:30. We went for a lovely walk around the old town centre of Chalon-sur-Saône, which was rather beautiful. The Swan Whisperer, who had explored the previous evening, said one of the streets was very Euro-high-street, but when we explored it together, we realised it was mostly French chains, and very few international. So it was a typical French high street, but not necessarily European! 

We came back through the public park next to the aire, and hoped to cut through the botanical gardens, but when we got to the exit, it was locked, so we had to go back to the gate we had come in by and walk round it back to the WoMo. Not impressed! 

We then set off to a big Carrefour on the way out of town, mostly so the Swan Whisperer could get diesel. I did a bit of shopping, but was very restrained and didn't buy 6 sheep's yoghurts for the price of four, as I bought some rhubarb compote for him, which he loves (and some chestnut mousse for me to have while he's having them, as I dislike rhubarb). And I resisted (with difficulty) buying a box of two cream buns reduced for quick sale. 

Anyway, after that we basically drove up the "Route des grands crus" north to, and past, Dijon; we drove through Nuits Saint-George, where we have often spent the night, either at the motorhome aire or in a hotel in pre-motorhome days; past Marsonnay-la-Côte, and the hotel where, twenty years ago, my mother spilt tonic water on the cushions on the window-seat! 

And it rained! We have had clear blue skies most of this holiday, and it has been really warm, but today it was cloudy and then at one stage the heavens opened. This, of course, was because the Swan Whisperer had just washed the windscreen, which was converted in dead insects. 

Anyway, we arrived here at Is-sur-Tille and after a cup of tea, the Swan Whisperer went for a walk which he then said had not been worth going on, as pedestrian access to the town was rubbish, and the town wasn't worth seeing when you did get there! Oh well, I expect we can find something to do en route tomorrow. I hope so, anyway. 

Photospam on Facebook, as per usual. 

Early autumn holiday, 2 October 2023

Chalon-sur-Saône

Today was a massively better day! The Swan Whisperer went for a run, although sadly he is still not fully fit and had to walk some of the way, especially uphill. But I am so very pleased he is feeling like running again - two weeks ago, even a week ago, he really didn't want to even try. Of course, it will take him some time to get fully fit again, you have to expect that, but I'm pleased the Alpine air did the trick, as we both hoped it would. 

Once he came back and we had had breakfast, we said farewell to our delightful hosts (who did not offer to sell us anything, which was a relief - you don't have to buy, but you do have to look if they want you to, and the Swan Whisperer always feels we ought to buy something). 

Our first port of call was the nearby village of Crémieu, which was said to have a mediaeval centre. It most certainly did, and we had an utterly delightful walk around it. There will be photospam galore on Facebook! Just the kind of walk I love, although there were some fairly steep slopes, and I bottled out of the steps up to the 12th-century chateau!

There was a convenience store, so we did the day's shopping, and as the SW was with me, he paid! Win all round! 

The Swan Whisperer decided he didn't want to spend the night in the place I had carefully chosen, but then faffed about deciding where he did want to go, eventually deciding on a Camping-Car Park in Chalon-sur-Saône. We set sail, but when we got here found there was a free municipal aire in a much better location than the Camping-Car Park, with free services! So we parked up here, and he went for a walk; it looks as though we are seriously not far from the town centre, so I am looking forward to exploring it tomorrow morning. 

Early autumn holiday, 1 October 2023

Saint-Hilaire-de=Brens

Not a good day today; I woke up with a splitting headache and feeling slightly feverish, which I hoped would go away if I ignored it. Alas, that was not to be, and although I should have loved to have gone to the local market, I simply couldn't find the energy!

So we used the services and set off. I hadn't realised that we would be retracing our steps a lot of today, something I always hate doing and would not have done had I realised. Which I didn't until the Swan Whisperer said he had marked the sports ground where we had spent the night as a good place to listen to our Church service and have lunch. 

Which also didn't work out as planned. The Satnav kept telling us to come off the N95, and we kept saying "No!" Unfortunately, the Satnav knew best as all of a sudden there was a height limit of 2m6, which is fine for a car but not for a motor home. We discovered later we could possibly have been let through - it is mainly to stop too many lorries going down a very steep slope - but as we didn't know that at the time, we thought better not. So we turned round and then were directed up the most horribly narrow road, all hairpin bends with steep drop-offs, just the kind I hate, and when we finally got down to the main road again we discovered that I had misprogrammed the stop (we had reset the Satnav when we turned round as it was having conniption fits by then), and I'd only been and gone and sent us to the launderette instead of the sports ground! Anyway, the SW sorted that and at one stage we had his phone and the Satnav telling us which way to go. 

We had been trying to listen to our church service, but it was impossible to hear against the road noise, and by the time we got parked up it was practically over. I thought I'd go for a leg-stretch around the playing-fields as I didn't really want any lunch, but couldn't remember the way I'd been the other day, and didn't really want a long walk, anyway. 

I did manage a scrap of cheese for lunch, and two big glasses of the German iced tea I like really helped. It's white tea, flavoured with elderflower, and not too sweet the way, for instance, Liptonice or Fuze Tea is. 

After which, I dozed while we drove back on the main road and up the motorway, and felt a lot better when I woke up. We are at a France Passion farm not that far from Lyon, and the people are so nice. They have been celebrating Monsieur's mother's 95th birthday, with 76 people in the village hall, 22 of which were her great-grandchildren! 

It is a duck farm, which also has lamb and chickens and stuff. And a cat!

And I am feeling a lot better and hoping to get a good walk round the village of Cremieu tomorrow, where there is a mediaeval centre.