Baby boomers reach Paris

This will be the last blog. Thank God you all say! Paris is wonderful as always. No matter how many times you go back to the same places, they are still full of charm.

On Sunday we went to the Luxembourg gardens and it was absolutely full of people enjoying the good weather. There must have been 30 games of chess being played, tennis, families picnicing or individuals sitting under the trees reading. It was very old fashioned and very magical. There were also children sailing old fashioned sailing boats, riding on the old style swingboats, and having donkey rides. Lovely!

Then we went to watch the Eiffel Tower light up, which was good fun, especially when it sparkled

On Monday we went to a Renoir exhibition, which we enjoyed, and then had our lunch in the Tuileries, and walked by the Seine. Yesterday we went to the Marais, one of our favourite areas.

Today we are going to Montmartre, which is also a favourite place. That is after we have finished here. We have been continuing our tour of French McDonald's. This is the fourth one we have tried in Paris, and the only one with working free Wi-Fi. It's the one on the Champs Elysees. Yes! We are slumming it. It's our old stomping ground from when we used to come as a family, but then it was charming and old fashioned, but now it's just like any other. We don't think we'll bring the netbook into the centre again. So it's goodbye from us. Thanks for all the comments. We have loved them. Marie, the last pic was the actors.

We will be back in Manchester on Tuesday. So, see you all soon. Bookings are being taken for the Christmas market. B and B and bacon butties thrown in!Chris and Tony.

Last post from Orleans.

Just a quick post, as the campsite in Paris is a bit grim, and so I don't think there will be an internet connection there, so we are not sure when we will be blogging again. We are still in Orleans, enjoying our last day here. We will be on the move again tomorrow.

The weather has been good on the whole, just cold morning and evening. We have enjoyed being here. This is really what we like to do; stay somewhere with easy access to a nice town, and then spend our time wandering about, enjoying the atmosphere (although we are spending a lot of time in McDonald's these days). As well as the river festival, there has also been street theatre, music etc. One afternoon we sat and watched two actors reciting classic poetry, and we really enjoyed it, although we could hardly understand a word. It seemed such an old-fashioned thing to do, somehow. The bar we were sitting at was family run, and was the old-fashioned bar/newsagent combination. It was all rather different.

The campsite has been full every night, with people stopping on the carpark overnight. They have really packed them in. It seems to a good stopping off place for people travelling North and South. Although I paint a poor picture of the site in Paris, it absolutely great with regard to access to the city. There is a bus outside the site, which drops us off at the Metro. We are there in next to no time. We are looking forward to it.

That's all for now, folks! Love to everyone. Chris.

Orleans - a nice place to be.

We certainly had a quiet time in Vichy, but it was a bit TOO quiet for my likng, so we moved on to Orleans. Had a good journey - good job, as it was my birthday. We found the campsite quite easily. They are often in out of the way places, as this one is. However, it is very nice, and also quite cheap. It is a short walk to the tramway, and in twenty minutes we are in Orleans. Yesterday was a beautiful day, quite hot, and we had a nice time exploring the old town and cathedral. The old town is the usual interesting and pretty mix of narrow streets, old buildings, shops and cafes. Very nice.

We have arrived just in time for the Festival de Loire, which is basically a celebration of navigation on the river through the ages. There are a lot of historial replica craft, and a lot of people go for rides on them. There are also bands, and many stalls selling very tempting local dishes. It's quite fascinating and jolly.

We are in MacDonald's, which is the best place for free Wi-Fi. Tony is enjoying his first McFlurry (Kit-Kat), so I don't think we'll be eating sausages down by the river. As this is quite a diverting place, we'll probably stay until the week-end, and then head for gay Paris.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, and all the great comments on the blog. We look forward to reading them, espcially yours, Dave.

Tony here - The cathedral in Orleans is impressive; gothic, of course, and huge. It reminds us of the bit in Pillars of the Earth when he first goes into a cathedral in France and he is in awe at the height and how light it is. There is a huge statue of Joan of Arc in the main square and references to her everywhere.

Life is very quiet here and we are reading a lot. Thanks for all your emails and comments on the blog.

From our own correspondent, and friend.

Hello all,

We have had a strange day here in Vichy. The plan for the day was that we would have a walk and a picnic lunch, then split up, for Tony to go to a rugby match, and for me to watch a festival of country dancing. Our walk was shorter than expected, so we walked into town for a coffee. It was completely dead. I think Sunday lunch at home must be the tradition, as people appeared later in the afternoon, and the lovely, old-fashioned children's roundabout got going.

Anyway, after our quiet coffee, Tony went to the match and I went to the dance venue, only no-one else turned up. I waited a while then went into the town centre and had a wander. I found a row of three lovely brasseries, reminiscent of Paris, and had just settled down with a drink, when the folk dancers appeared, dancing in a procession down the street. It was a really nice moment. The children were really cute, all dressed up.

I have tasted the Spa water today, so I should be healthy for a while now. While I was doing all this, Tony was enjoying the experience of being at a French rugby match. So now I'll hand you over to our own sports correspondent in France, Tony Dolan.

Stade Louis Darragon is near the river, just a short walk form the town centre. It cost 8 euros to get in and I presume it was a second team game in progress when I entered. The main game was Racing Club de Vichy against Vienne.There were about 500 people watching and the standard was pretty good. I sat in a big stand which ran all along one side of the pitch. The atmosphere was good. Lots of friends meeting, saying hello and shaking hands. It was the first home game of the season. It was an intense match between two well matched sides. As usual the ref got loads of good natured abuse each time he penalised the home side. That abuse started at the kick off when the announcer introduced the ref and said he was from Ile de France. There was some niggle and a fight early in the first half spilled off the field around the back of the stand. There were no players or ref left on the field. A man behind asked me smiling if the match had finished! The ref handled the niggle well and showed four yellow cards during the game. Vichy scored a good try early on, but were then under pressure. Vienne's stand off kicked all their goals well and they won 11 - 12. Vichy had a chance in the last minute with a penalty kick right in front of the posts, but the poor lad missed it to the dismay of the crowd. I didn't go into the bar afterwards, but I enjoyed the experience. The rugby fraternity is the same everywhere. It was a friendly and warm atmosphere.

Thank you, Tony, for that match report. It only remains for me to sign off. One more day here, we think, and then on to Orleans. Love to all.

Inspecting Sir Norman's work

We keep changing our mind and now find ourselves heading north again. We left La Grande Motte on Thursday morning and headed for Agde as planned. The town looked very pretty as we were driving through. However, the campsite was a bit far out and there didn't seem to be any public transport. We both had the feeling of, "lets move on", so we did. We headed for the A75 and the town of Millau. That is where the famous Viaduc de Millau is designed by Sir Norman Foster. It really is a tremendous feat of engineering and so beautiful. We stayed last night on a site in Millau and today we have arrived in Vichy. The intention is to spend three nights here at least. The town is quite charming as most spa towns are; a bit like Buxton. As long as we don't mention the war and collaboration we should be ok. An added bonus is that the camp site has free wi-fi; hence this blog.

The plan is now to head towards Paris, stopping at Orleans on the way. It means that we are going to get to Paris well before we planned to; but what the heck. If you have got to kill time somewhere it might as well be Paris. There will be plenty to do.

I have just read my book of the year. If "The Book Thief" was my book of 2008, then this is definitely my book of 2009. It's called "The Sixth Lamentation" by William Brodrick. Thanks Kathy for the recommendation! It was brillant.

Some stats for Dave - 1324 miles so far, but averaging less than one bottle of wine a day. I was always noted for being abstemious. Might have more tonight as we are not moving on in the morning.

Take care everyone. See you soon.

Beach walks

Hello all,

I am using this blog as a kind of e-mail message to keep in touch with everyone, as we are still unable to send e-mails. The Wi-Fi is proving to be very unreliable. Well, our bubble has burst, and it is raining. It's a good thing that we've had some lovely weather in order to make the long journey worthwhile. Yesterday I went for a lovely long walk on the beach in the sun. I ended up at a bar and sat on a soft couch, on the beach, with my feet in the sand. It was wonderful. It wasn't as good as Greece, but it reminded me of it. Today I did the same walk in the rain. It was just like home, and had its own beauty.

Tomorrow we are moving on to Agde. We won't be by the sea, but we can walk into the town, which is supposed to be pretty. Right now, we are putting in time in a bar, with coffee and delicious ice-cream.

Signing off now. Love to everyone,

Chris.

La Grande Motte

We are in the La Grande Motte - arrived last Friday after visiting Le Pont du Gard. La Motte is a strange place. It was designed and built in the the 60's and early 70's as a new resort. The buildings are all very futuristic. It is like being dropped into a 60's TV set of the Avengers or the Prisoner. You expect to bump into Patrick McGoohan trying to escape round every corner. The Rough Guide is unjust. There is some tack - it is a seaside resort - but the town is very interesting and very different. We are walking on the beach each morning and evening and the weather is hot. Today we took the bus to Montpellier. It is a lovely city. We took the tramway system into the centre and had morning coffe in Place de la Comedie before wandering around the old town. We will probably move on in a couple of days to Agde further west along the coast. We are enjoying La Grande Motte more than we thought we would.

We have not had access to free wi-fi for a few days so have not checked our emails. We are writing this in a bar near the port in La Grande Motte and even here we are having difficulty with email.

Hello, Chris here.

We are staying at a very shady site, which is very nice. It's full of young people and families, which is nice. The Jet-set is nowhere to be seen, although their yachts are here, hundreds of them. It's more up market here than tourist Spain (with prices to match), but we feel quite at home. We haven't been to a Med. resort for some years. We don't choose this kind of holiday any more. But it's proving to be relaxing. As Tony said, we like the quirkiness of the place, although maybe you had to be young in the 60s in order to appreciate it.

As Tony said, we only go to the beach morning and evening. We usually chill out for the rest of the day at the campsite. But today's visit to Montpellier was good. There were some lovely small squares in the old town, and I love all the tiny cafes squashed into odd little corners. We are now sitting in the light of the sunset outside the only bar with Wi-Fi. It's nice, though, by the marina.

We love all your comments, which we have only just found. They have made us laugh. Lots of love to everyone!

Us in Uzes

Well, here we are in the South of France, near a lovely town called Uzes. We drove in today, and spent a few hours wandering around, drinking in the atmosphere. The old town is incredibly well-preserved (unlike us), and we ate our usual baguette sandwiches near the fountain in a beautiful square. The old arcades around the square were gorgeous and unusual. There were lots of trees, and I was glad of the shade. It was incredibly hot today!

The campsite here is shady, too, thank goodness. There is a nice pool, bar etc. It was a relief to get here after the long, hot 3 day journey. Tony says I have no right to complain, though, as I slept throughout much of the journey on two of the days!

Stu, it was great to see your photo pop up on the screen. There is a long story about the Speedos. I thought you might be wondering. Tony got thrown out of a pool in France for swimming in his swim-shorts. Apparently you are supposed to wear those tiny Speedo type. He was offered some from the lost property, but declined the offer.

The site is next to a famous Roman aqueduct called the Pont du Gard. I say next to it, but Tony walked there last night, and had to walk up hill and down dale. Here is his story. Handing over to the great man himself.

As, Chris said Uzes is stunning. We have a book called "101 beautiful small towns in France" and Uzes is in it. Until then, I had never heard of it. The picture at the top is of Chris in the square.

Tomorrow we set off for La Grande Motte but we are going into see Le Pont du Gard on the way. I set off on foot last night to see it. Chris refused to come. I said it was only 2k and wouldn't take long. She still refused and it was the best decision she has ever made. After 45 minutes of walking through forest paths and up and down hill, I finally made. Took 2 or 3 quick pictures and turned to hurry back before it got dark. I didn't fancy the forest in the dark - there might be wolves! So I stuck to the main road and got back in half the time.

The Lonely Planet is scathing about La Grande Motte and Chris is not keen on going. I hope there is public transport from there to Montpellier; if we don't like we can move on.

La Grande Motte is supposed to be full of the beautiful people and jet setters, so I'm sure we'll fit in! Will let you know. Chris.

Scruffs at the Chateau

Hello. Mum/Chris here. Just a short post tonight as we spent most of the day travelling. We arrived at this lovely campsite mid-afternoon, so we were able to spend a pleasant afternoon in the sun. Tony went for a swim - not in Speedos in case you're all wondering!

The site is in the grounds of an old chateau. After our walk by the river this evening, we spotted many very well-dressed people eating in the rather grand restaurant, but we didn't bring our evening clothes, and my £3.50 t-shirt did not fit the bill. We are now in the bar instead.

Hopefully we will stay at the next place for a couple of nights, and have a rest from travelling.

Marie and Dave - this is really boring compared to your friends' blog. They jump in rivers and climb impossible mountains! But maybe Tony will buy some Speedos, which will liven things up considerably!

Baby boomers in France

The drive from Manchester to Dover yesterday was incident free and we made good time. That drive is always the longest of our holiday at 275 miles - just too long!

Once again we stayed at Black Horse Farm which leaves just a 10 mile drive to the ferry. Even though it is September and everyone is back at work the site was full. We were booked on the 6 o'clock ferry this morning so we left the campsite at 4.30am! As we drove along the cliffs approaching Dover it was crystal clear and you could see the lights in France across the channel. It looked incredibly near.

We are now in Chalons-en-Champagne at the municipal campsite and the wi-fi is free! The weather is warm and sunny and we are in shorts and sandals already. We hadn't expected the weather to be this good in northern France. Last week the weather at home, as you know, was really rotten. Not just autumnal but wintry. As a result, only on Friday, we decided not to go to Germany and Alsace. We were dying for some sunshine and we thought we were taking a chance on the weather in northern Europe at this time of year. The new plan is to head for southern France and wander along the mediterranean coast from just south of Montpellier to Perpignan. We still intend to spend the last week in Paris. Now that we find that weather is this good we think we should have stuck to our original plan. We used to be decisive, now we are not so sure.

Although the weather today is lovely and warm, there are signs of of autumn about. The colours of the trees are changing and the swallows are gathering on the telephone wires in great throngs - discussing plans for the long flight south.

The campsite is busy- lots of grey haired baby boomers in their motorhomes and caravans. A huge group of Dutch teenagers on bikes have just arrived. They have a support van and a few teachers are directing them as they set up their tents. There must be fifty of them! I think the sanitaires will be busy in the morning.

Our plan tomorrow is to drive another 200 miles to Gigny-sur-Saone. The camping at Chateau L'Eperviere was one we stayed at on our very first trip to France in the van. We haven't been there for a couple of years now. We will spend one night there and have our obligatory evening walk by the River Saone hoping to see some black kites - Milan Noir. From there we are heading to see the Pont du Gard near Nimes and then we are going to the Med at the La Grande Motte.

Hello, Mum here. Dad wants me to add something but he hasn't left a lot to say. When I saw the weather was good here, I wanted to go to Germany again. However, Dad said he'd left the maps of Germany at home. Very clever. So - no funny photos of me wobbling along on a bike by the Mosel. Never mind. We had real French fries for tea tonight, so all is well with the world. Remember when I bought enough for 20 people in the Vendee that time?

Next blog when we get a site with free Wi-Fi. Bye for now!

September's trip

I know this is pretentious, but I thought you could keep in touch with where we are and what we are doing through this site. It probably won't last, but here goes.

August is a bad month because mum has no courses and so finds it hard to fill the days. This year is worse because we are without trams for the whole of August. She is going down to London next week to look after Harry and that will keep her busy. She is really looking forward to it. I will take the opportunity of going to Barrow to see everyone and hopefully have a walk with Catherine, a game of golf with Bernard and a pint with Pat.

For me, there is lots to do. Not just the golf. I have a long list of things to do to get ready for September. The van needs cleaning inside and out. I have it booked into Spinney next week to get the bed fixed! Then there are directions, routes, campsite details, reading material etc. etc. By the way, do you like the picture at the top. It was taken on our first trip away in the van five years ago!

We set off for Dover on Sunday 6th. September and as usual we are stopping overnight at Blackhorse farm near Folkestone. We are on the ferry early Monday morning and then will head for the municipal campsite in Chalons-en-Champagne for just one night. We usually stop there. It is about 200 miles from Calais and handy from the autoroute.

From there we will set off for Germany and go straight to Cochem on the Mosel. The campsite is next to the river and we can walk in to the town. It is a picture post card town with a castle up on the hill. We hope to hire bikes for a day as there is a great cycle path along the Mosel. Kaffe und kuchen might be the order of the day!

I don't know how long we will stay in Cochem, or perhaps also in Mesenich, which is close by; but from the Mosel we will head for Freiburg. Again the campsite is within walking distance of the town.

We will then cross the Rhine and into France. We are going to explore some towns in Alsace on the Route de Vins; Colmar, Riquewihr and Ribeauville. Alsace is an area we don't know and it sounds really interesting. After that we are heading for Strasbourg.

The final week we will spend in Paris on the Bois de Boulogne campsite. We love Paris and keep going back!

Finally, we will spend Saturday night 3rd October on Calais Plage before a very early morning ferry on Sunday. Then Marie, we have two nights in London and should see you on Monday 5th October.

Well that is it. The intention is to post updates while we are away using mum's new netbook. We will see!