29th April
Left Edinburgh and stayed over at a campsite at the northern end of Ulleswater in the Lake District. Don't go to Hadrian's Wall £4 to park in the middle of no where, I drove past it!
30th April
Headed to Tankerton, via Telford to get some new gas tanks fitted, to catch Mandy and Steve before they went off to Portugal on holiday and on the 0230 ferry to Calais.
1st May - St Valary, 790miles from Edinburgh with detours via Hadrian's Wall, the Lake District and Telford!
Off ferry and down to near St Valary, on the Bay of the Somme, to get some sleep before moving on through Normandy. Ended up at a small free Aire (motorhome stop over point) at St Gournay-en-Bray.
2nd May - Saumur, 218 miles today
Weather damp and grey so drove most of the day slowly heading south towards the Loire. Stopped off at Richard I's castle on the Seine, a place I have wanted to see for ages, which was built in a year. Pretty impressive.
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| Chateaux Gaillard on a grey day! |
Then headed for Saumur and pitched up at the Aire to the east of the town, large wooded site which charges 5euro a night! Visited the chateaux the next morning.
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| Saumur Chateaux with the Loire below...and sunshine! |
3rd May - Richelieu, 35 miles today
Then moved on to another free Aire at Richelieu. A walled town founded by the eponymous cardinal in the 17th century. The remains of his palace park are adjacent; but, some one pinched the palace for building stone.
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| One of the gates into Richelieu, just up the road from the Aire. |
4th May - Loches, 54miles today
Left Richelieu heading towards Loches, a medieval walled town with castle and chateaux. Parked up in a small Aire close to the old town and adjacent to a park. Free electricity too!
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| Alone at the Aire near the park in Loches |
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| View from the Chateaux at Loches, motorhome just visible above the 'x' of Chateaux |
5th May - Migne, 43 miles today
Heading generally south was passing through a strange area called La Brenne, a plateau with lakes and woods and passed a pleasant looking campsite with a dutch motorhome parked up. Stayed here for the night for 5.90 euro. Went exploring on the bike but forgot to take photographs!
6th May - Lathus-St Remy, 65miles
Following the same direction, sort of, ended up at Lathus- St Remy, another free Aire with unlimited eclectic hook-up!
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| Aire at Lathus St Remy - with free electricity at service point! |
Continuing in a circuitous southerly direction finally ended up in a large country park next to some lakes.
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| Free Aire but no water..apart from the lake. |
8th May - St Merde les Oussines, 41 miles today
Came across a quite Aire above the village completely by chance and had to stay for the view, it was not in my guide book. Wandered off a pied to look at a ruined Roman Temple in the afternoon.
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| View from the Aire above the village |
9th May Bort-les-Orgues, 54 miles today
Was intending to go to the upper Vezere and Dordogne valleys to look at some Palaeolithic cave art...but the weather was wet and chilly so plans changed the next day. However, stayed here for the night on the Dordogne.
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| Aire next to the Dordogne |
10th May - Ales, 230 miles today
Cave paintings are on the back burner until the weather improves! Decided to head south hoping for better weather and was close to the free A75 autoroute heading for Montpelier. No tolls yet and no intention of paying any! Drove through the Parc des Vulcans in the Auvergne - snow on some of the hills - and was heading down the autoroute when I saw a sign for a BIS route to Montpelier (tourist like route) through the Cevennes. Ended up in Ales by the river at another free Aire.
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| River Aude and Ales near the free Aire |
11th May - Aveze, 45 miles today
Headed off westwards towards Carcassone, through the foothills of the Cevennes and ended up at the free Aire at Aveze. Very scenic spot for the afternoon and night.
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| Another attractive free stop-over, with free dog show in adjacent fields. |
12th May - Belmont-sur-Rance, 76 miles today
On westwards, was heading for Rochefort, where the cheese comes from; but, sort of missed it and ended up in a large village with a huge collegiate church for the afternoon and night and another free Aire.
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| Aire at Belmont-sur-Rance, nice to see signs that say 'No parking except for Motorhomes' |
13th May - Grau d'Adge, 134 miles today
On towards the coast and warmer weather. Will be cautious of using the shortest route off the SATNAV in the future some terrifyingly narrow roads, steep hills and bends! Finally reached the edge of the hills to have an amazing view over the plain between the Massif Central and the Pyrenees.
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| Looking westwards from the extreme west of the Central Massif towards the Pyrenees foothills (in the far distance)across the wide valley that stretches from the Mediterranean coast towards the Atlantic. |
Then stopped at this medieval walled town, my first Cathur site - Minereve.
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| Minerve |
Undeterred and still looking forward to a few lazier days on the beach, well at least it means no driving, found a good value campsite in the ASCI guide book...ended up at this pleasant spot Camping Les Mimosas.
Initially booked for a week, then discovered even cheaper if I stayed for two weeks! About 9.60 euro a day..electric hook-up, decent pool, showers etc. Short arms favoured this.
Lidl and Hyper U about ten minutes by bike and a choice of beaches too even a naturist one. Old town of Adge is a few km inland. Tried cycling to Sete along the Canal du Midi yesterday.....but found that the canal and towpath stopped at a light house at the edge of a massive etang, so never got there! Need to buy a map!
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| Excellent value campsite Les Mimosas at Grau d'Adge |
Averaging about 33mpg.
More to follow after this beach stop!
