Tuesday 21st October 2008 - Home

The rain overnight and in the morning was telling us that it was time to go home. Less than an hour’s drive got us to the Eurotunnel Terminal and we had time to visit their shop to buy some Czech and English beer. The journey through the Channel Tunnel was as smooth and efficient as ever and after 45 minutes we were driving off the Shuttle. We left France in the rain and arrived in Dover in sunshine. The journey home was accomplished in lovely weather with excellent views, although the British motorways are so much busier than the French roads! One of the highlights was driving past Stonehenge. The higher seating position in Henrietta gave an even better view of that iconic site than we normally get but I do wish that they would get on and improve the visitor facilities. Stonehenge is one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe and the visitor facilities are awful. How good it would be to have a proper visitors’ centre that explained Stonehenge and put it into the context of a landscape covered in archaeological features. End of rant!
We parked Henrietta at the home of our great friends Ann and Nick and hadn’t even walked out of their drive before we were greeted by friends. The walk to the house was interrupted by cars stopping to welcome us back. It is great to be home!
Photos: Henrietta on Le Shuttle.

Monday 20th October 2008 – Montreuil, France

We had identified a large Leclerc hypermarket on the edge of St.Valery-en-Caux and headed there to do some last minute shopping before we left for England. We loaded up with cassoulet, brie, camembert, more wine and other wonderful French goodies.
It was a lovely drive in the morning along quiet country roads with the sun shining brightly. However the sky clouded over during the afternoon as we approached Montreuil. We have used the campsite at Montreuil before and believe that it is one of the better sites close to the Channel ports. The site is surrounded by the outer walls of the town, the main part of which stands, impressively defended on the steep hill behind. We parked up beside the remains of one of the towers on the wall and admired the view over the river and the ruins of a number of watermills. After some rearrangement of the motorhome lockers to accommodate the shopping, I went for a walk along the river and then across fields, up the hill to the town. I admired the defensive walls and huge ditch for some distance before I managed to find a way through them and into the town. On a clear day there are superb views from the walls and the town itself is very pleasant. I walked through the town and out of one of the main gates, finding a route into the campsite and discovering that it actually climbs on terraces to within a few metres of the upper walls.
Photos: The river at Montreuil – the campsite is just the other side of the wood on the right; Montreuil’s defences.

Sunday 19th October 2008 - St.Valery-en-Caux, France

We had a fairly long drive today to the pretty seaside town of St.Valery-en-Caux. The camperstop here is very popular due to its location right at the harbour mouth with sea, harbour, town and cliff views. Being a Sunday and a fine day, the sea and harbour were very busy. Many yachts were milling around out at sea, only returning as the sun dipped towards the horizon. Not only were the boats returning home but so were the motorhomes. Apparently, many French motorhomers come here for the weekend, especially when the weather is good, the 48 hour camperstop limit being ideal for such a visit. This is an excellent camperstop and is another one that we will definitely visit again in the future.
We got into conversation with an English couple who live on the Welsh Borders. They are semi retired and are keen motorhomers. Being an ex second-hand car dealer with contacts in the trade, he buys a motorhome in good condition, does it up, uses it for two years and then sells it. He aims to sell the motorhome at the end of the two years for the same price that he bought it. This means that they effectively have a motorhome for free. An excellent plan but only if you have the necessary mechanical and negotiating skills!
Photos: The camperstop at St.Valery-en-Caux; The lighthouse.

Saturday 18th October 2008 – Le Vivier sur Mer, France

A typically Autumnal morning – cold and bright with mist laying on the fields. We drove on minor roads heading for the coast at Cancale but I had spotted a ‘Temple of Mars’ on the excellent Michelin map and we decided to call in there on the way. It was well worth the stop, a Roman temple site with a ‘cella’ (cult centre of the site) nearly as impressive as the Temple de Vesone in Perigueux.
Arriving at Cancale, we parked at a car park at the top of the cliffs above the town. We walked down into the town and I was immediately reminded of Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. This was due to the large area of mud stretching out to the sea at low-tide. However, that was where the similarity stopped as Cancale is definitely French. There are no amusement arcades, kiss-me-quick hats and deck chairs but there are a huge amount of huitres (oysters). We chose one of the more than twenty excellent restaurants all specialising in seafood and often also selling oysters to take away. I was determined to have mussels and we chose a restaurant with a set menu that allowed me to have ‘Moules a la Crème’ as a main course and Jane to have crepes (pancakes) for desert. It was an excellent meal and we set off for a walk whilst we digested it.
We had seen oyster beds before but not like this. It was on an industrial scale with beds stretching way out into the shallow bay. Tractors with trailers holding boats or sacks of oysters were driving down onto the beach and out into the beds. Further out the beds were still under water and these were serviced by the boats and the whole area bustled with smaller oysters being off-loaded and mature oysters harvested. Stalls above the beach sold oysters for as little as €2.50 (£2) for a dozen but as neither of us are great fans, we resisted the temptation.
We were heading for a campsite on the mainland opposite Mont Saint Michel but after passing some very pleasant-looking camperstops, we decided to stop at the one in Le Vivier-sur-Mer. The site, costing €4.50 (£3.60) per night, had wonderful views over the bay of Mont Saint Michel and even the island itself. We watched the oyster workers returning – here with a number of wheeled boats, looking most strange as they drove across the mud to the shore. Sun set over the scene as the last workers returned from the oyster beds and the sea came in behind them.
Photos: The Temple of Mars with the ‘cella’ standing in the background; “I’m sure that the sea was there when I parked it!”; The oyster beds at Cancale with Mont Saint Michel on the horizon; The oyster boat-lorries returning at Le Vivier-sur-Mer.

Friday 17th October 2008 – Brech, France

We had beautiful Autumn weather for a lovely drive to Brittany. There were lots of vines on the way to Saumur and more on the hills behind the southern banks of the Rhone where there were also large numbers of wine caves. We crossed the river to the north bank at Gennes and were rewarded with beautiful views of the Rhone and the land to the south. The Rhone was very low with most of the river bed consisting of sand banks and islands. Judging by the very high flood prevention banks and walls, the river rises much higher at other times of the year.
For some reason best known to itself, the sat nav wanted to take us via Nantes but Jane suggested a better route from Ancenis on the D164 and D16. This turned out to be excellent – fast roads, few lorries and very pretty. We joined the main N165 just south of Pontchateau and, although it was a faster road, it wasn’t nearly as interesting. We soon arrived at Auray and stopping at the Leclerc hypermarket we stocked up with some wine. Just north of Auray we stopped at a camperstop at Brech, best described as ‘adequate’. I spent some time reorganising the lockers in order to accommodate the wine before preparing dinner.
Photos: The Montreuil-Bellay camperstop with the former abbey in the foreground and the romantic chateau behind; The River Rhone near Gennes.

Thursday 16th October 2008 – Montreuil-Bellay, France

We were very lucky that we had good weather for our walks yesterday as today started with heavy rain. As we moved north through lots of forest and then more open country, the weather gradually improved. We stopped at Boudeilles, with its two chateaux perched on a hill over the river below. The village was very pretty and we discovered that it had a very pleasant camperstop next to the river with views of the chateaux. The village was obviously quite a tourist attraction and was also very arty. There was a festival of art based on recycling with signs to different sections all puns on the French for ‘exposition’ – ‘Expot’ had sculptures based on old pottery and ‘Expeau’ had sculptures in and around the river.
The next stop was Brantome where the town is surrounded by water. The town was positioned by the river and my guess is that the river was then partially diverted by the addition of weirs so that it surrounded the town. Across the river from the town is a monastery, now used as a very grand town hall.
We were now back into the area of prehistoric dolmens and mehirs and there were a number on or close to our route. We stopped briefly to view a couple of dolmens positioned next to a large spring that almost certainly had religious significance to the population.
We had picked another camperstop for tonight and this turned out to be another inspired choice. The large car park at Montreuil-Bellay was in the former priory garden, next to a meandering river and with a view up to a chateau and the town perched on the hill behind the priory. It was a lovely peaceful spot and we had time to wander up to investigate the town before night fell. Another highly recommended camperstop.
Photos: The watermill at Boudeilles; The chateau, river and weir at Brantome; The river at Montreuil-Bellay – the camperstop is a little way beyond the tower.

Wednesday 15th October 2008 – Perigueux, France

We had noticed that there was a market in the square in front of the cathedral and I headed there to buy some bread for breakfast. The market was large, bustling and had at least three artisan bakers. I chose one that used a wood fired oven, producing a large variety of different shaped, dark-crusted loaves. Most of these were very large and the half loaf that I chose would keep us going for at least three days. Needless to say, it was gorgeous, the wood fire producing a thick crust with a wonderful flavour.
The tourist information map provided two walks, one based on Roman Perigueux and the other on Historic Perigueux. We followed both of these, stopping for lunch back at Henrietta as we were never very far from the camperstop. The Roman trail was interesting, especially the ‘Temple de Vesone’ but the highlight was definitely the historic trail. The architecture in the old town is absolutely fascinating with a huge variety of stone buildings. These showed evidence of the changes in use and fashion over the years – timber-framed additions had been tacked on, windows changed or blocked up and new buildings shoe-horned into gaps between older ones. As always, the cathedral church was impressive but there was so much more to see.
After dinner we ventured out again as I wanted to take some night shots of the old town. The atmosphere was excellent with very few people around and some lovely lighting in the old streets.
Perigueux is a lovely place and I would highly recommend visiting it, especially with a motorhome.
Photos: I love French markets – they had taught these Merlu to do synchronised swimming!; A chandelier in the cathedral; A building in the centre of Perigueux showing many different designs of windows and the changes that have been made over the years; The River Isle at night; One of the many attractive Perigueux streets at night.

Tuesday 14th October 2008 – Perigueux, France

It was a warm but overcast morning with haze in the distance. It was time to start heading north away from the warm weather and towards the English Channel ports. The journey was through rather boring countryside until we crossed the Lot River at Villeneuve-sur-Lot. After that there were more hills and as we approached Bergerac a profusion of vineyards appeared. The vines looked very pretty in their Autumn colours, most of the grapes had been picked but there were still a few bunches on a few vines.
Our planned destination turned out to be an inspired choice – a popular camperstop on the river Isle and right next to Perigueux’s old town. We made the mistake of following some signs to the tourist information office. They turned out to be signs for vehicles (not that there was anywhere to park once you got there!) and we walked round a one-way system until we arrived back just a few metres from where we had started. However, the staff were very helpful providing us with an excellent walks map and telling us where the Internet cafes were located. There was one just a hundred yards away and we ordered drinks and settled down for over an hour of emailing and blogging. We were the only customers for the whole time and the bill came to €5.60 (£4.50). Given that recently we had been paying €5 just for the Internet connection, this was very reasonable.
We really liked what we had seen of Perigueux today and decided that we needed to investigate it further tomorrow.
Photos: A vineyard in the Bergerac region producing Monbazillac sweet wines; The camperstop at Perigueux with the old town and cathedral in the background; We never did find out why this Perigueux house was perched on the wall.

Monday 13th October 2008 – Toulouse, France

After a relaxed start we went into the centre of Toulouse and did a little more exploring before meeting up with Paul and Louisa at the Capitol. We went to the same restaurant as yesterday, the Bistro de la Daurade in the Rue Jean Suau. We had a real French lunch, all two and a half hours of it, and the food was excellent again. The conversation flowed and it was great to catch up with all of their news – it was hard to believe that it was over a year since we saw them last.
We all visited the church of Saint Sernin, this time there wasn't a service in progress, and then went on to the Toulouse Rugby shop. There was a tremendous range of clothes and other gifts – ten times that of Bath Rugby. And then we discovered that we were in the men's shop – there was a separate, admittedly smaller, shop for women! This is a rugby-mad city and the support for the club is huge as shown by the nearly full-house (perhaps 30,000?) at yesterday's match.
We said farewell to Paul and Louisa and I am sure that we will get together soon after we return to England.
Photos: We came across this shop in the morning – it sold all sorts of British food, including Marmite and we were running very low. Unfortunately the shop was closed on Mondays; The tower of St. Sernin's church.

Sunday 12th October 2008 – Toulouse, France

Today is the day of the Big Match – Toulouse v Bath, the opening match in this season's Heineken European Cup. This will be the first live rugby match that we have seen since Bath played in Albi (close to here) last December. But kick-off wasn't until 16:00 so we had to to find something to do beforehand.
Being a Sunday, the buses back to the campsite finish at 19:00 and that would make it very tight to get back from the match in time. However, Marc at the campsite told us where we could park the motorhome near to a Metro station and we followed his advice. We started at the Place St. Sernin where there was a large flea market and we also took a look in the church of the same name but, as there was a service in progress, we only stayed briefly at the back. We then moved on to the intriguing Jacobin Monastery, with its very high ceilings and the tomb of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the 13th Italian philosopher. After an excellent lunch close to the Garonne River we crossed it and walked slowly along the banks towards the stadium. That is actually on an island in the middle of the river and we needed to walk over another bridge to get to it. We then discovered that there was no easy way up the very high flood-defence walls. After informing a group of Bath supporters on hired bicycles, that they were going to have a problem, we climbed up some steep emergency steps and over the top of the wall and down onto the pavement. When we arrived we bought tickets for €15 each (very reasonable compared to England) and we entered the enormous stadium. I can't quite understand why the stadium is a football stadium when rugby is much bigger than football in Toulouse. The stadium was nearly full by the time of the kick off and although there were quite a few Bath supporters, we were hugely outnumbered by a very enthusiastic and vocal crowd. I won't go into detail about the game but just to say it was very close, tense and Bath were winning with only three minutes to go. Toulouse won, kicking a penalty with the last kick of the match but Bath scored the only two tries.
After the match we met up with our good friends Paul and Louisa and other supporters would had made the journey to Toulouse. After a chat, we had to make our way back to Henrietta but we arranged to meet up again tomorrow.
Photos: A very large mirror in the Jacobin Monastery allows people to view the ceiling without breaking their necks but also allows interesting views of the people; The monastery ceiling; These people were very calm given that these flying saucers had just landed by the river; Bath pressing on the Toulouse try line – needless to say, both Bath tries were scored in the second half, as far away from us as possible at the other end; A group of Bath supporters.

Saturday 11th October 2008 – Toulouse, France

After a late start we travelled in to take a look at the city. A bus took us to a Metro station and we took a train into the centre. The Metro was very impressive – the driver-less trains were very frequent and it was a smooth and fast journey.
It turned out to be quite an eventful day. We stumbled across a celebration of Breton and Occitanian music. People here are very proud of their Occitan heritage with the Occitan language, once spoken in parts of southern France, northern Spain and northern Italy, is undergoing a revival. Many bagpipes were in evidence often very obviously made from a goat skin complete with four legs, the chanter attached to the neck and a wooden plug in the rear end. When we stood close to the players, the smell of goat was very noticeable, however the music was great except when they played 'Yellow Submarine'. We also watched a parade of marching bands and it became apparent that the Breton music was actually being played by groups based in the Occitan area.
We walked around the square where there was a local food fayre with many stalls selling honey, duck products, pates and truffles. I was tempted by the latter but was put off by the €590 (£480) per kilo price tag! I was not tempted by the 'Dressage de Chien Truffier' (Training of the truffle dog??????) for €16 – much cheaper but what is it? Something that smells of truffles so that you can train your dog how to recognise the scent?
As we left the Capitol Square where the music was based, we came across a protest drive by a large number of motorcyclists driving their bikes slowly through the streets blasting their horns and revving their engines. We never did discover why they were protesting.
Our last stop was at the Cathedral of Saint Etienne where we admired the stone and marble alter and the lovely wooden carvings of the choir stalls.
Photos: The bagpipe players with their bagpipes clearly made from goatskins – you will have to imagine the smell; There were some real characters playing; One of the bands marching in the parade.

Friday 10th October 2008 – Toulouse, France

In the campsite reception I had noticed a poster showing a town surrounded by a river running in a deep gorge. The town was Bozouls and I really wanted to see it. The receptionist saw that I was looking at it and explained that it was only a short distance away and we realised that it was on our route.
Fifteen minutes after setting off from Espalion we were turning off the main road into the town of Bozouls. I had identified a point on the edge of the gorge and we soon found a car park. This also had motorhome services and could have been used for an overnight stay. A couple of minutes walk brought us to the promenade with its wonderful view. The gorge, 4km long and 100m deep snakes its way through the limestone leaving a promontory on which the 12th century church of St. Fauste sits. It is a fantastic and dramatic sight, especially with the Autumn colours in the gorge. We walked along the promenade in both directions until we came across the tourist information office and the 'Terra Memoria' museum. We decided to visit the museum that is dedicated to geology. It started with the creation of the Earth and went on to explain the formation of the volcanic landscape and the Gorge of Dourdou at Bozouls. It was very well presented and the English audio guide was very good. We even got to experiment with trays of water and sand, trying to create a meandering river – we failed miserably!
Onwards then and soon we were descending on a series of long gradual slopes, leaving the volcanic area and the Massif Central behind us. We arrived in Toulouse and heading for the northern outskirts of the city, we found the Le Rupe campsite. Following the signs to the site, we past a very scruffy gypsy site but the campsite itself was very pleasant and we settled in to one of the large pitches. The temperature was about 22°C, the sun was strong and we chose to sit in the shade – the first time we have done that for a long time.
Photos: Two views of Bozouls and its deep gorge.

Thursday 9th October 2008 – Espalion, France

A grey morning but it wasn't raining and it hadn't rained much during the night. We were somewhat delayed in leaving as an Australian arrived at the van and asked us if we could change two one Euro coins for a two Euro coin – he was staying in a tent and needed to use the campsite tumble dryer. It turned out that he was a very keen cyclist and was on a journey from the south coast of France to the Ardeche before returning to Australia. However, this was the second part of his trip – he had just returned from America having cycled from Vancouver to New York! Apparently it took him 31 days and he only had one day of rain. It had been different in France! I asked how he had been able to take so much time off work and he explained that it is enshrined in Australian law that if you have worked for the same company for ten years, you are entitled to three months leave on full pay or up to six months leave on half pay. What an excellent idea! We were just finishing that long and interesting chat when a Swiss guy joined us and explained that, in his youth, he had cycled from Switzerland to Czechoslovakia and toured that country when it still under communist rule. Apparently the Czechs couldn't understand why he wanted to come to their 'Godforsaken country' from the free and beautiful Switzerland.
Eventually, we got on the road, passing the Rocher d'Aiguilhe and heading out of town. We climbed again to well over 1,000m and east towards St. Flour (patron saint of millers and bakers?????). Evidence of volcanic activity was everywhere and our first target was an interesting volcanic feature in the village of Chilhac. We had seen a picture of it in an exhibition at the Rocher d'Aiguilhe and found that it only required a short diversion from our intended route. We parked in a car park just below the village that was perched on a volcanic outcrop. It was clear that the village used to be walled and some 15th century towers were still visible. All of the buildings were built of dark volcanic rock and we had seen this often over the last two days whenever we passed an area where extinct volcanoes were located. This gave the village a rather ominous look and the gloomy feel was enhanced by the dull weather and the fact that the village seemed to be deserted. Of course it wasn't, but everyone seemed to be indoors. We investigated the town and eventually found a sign to the 'Orgues Basaltiques' (The Basalt Organ) leading down below the village. Here was a cliff formed of basalt that had cooled into tall hexagonal tessellated columns, in a similar way to the formation of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. The stone had obviously been quarried and it was easy to spot hexagonal stones incorporated into the village buildings. The quarrying probably only stopped when it was likely to endanger the defensive walls above.
Our lunch consisted of very large and very tasty cakes bought at the Chilhac bakery and then we continued on our journey. The sat nav took us on a road that rose sharply into the low cloud and I was soon driving very slowly through thick fog on narrow roads. Fortunately, there was virtually no other traffic on the road and after about 15km we descended back under the cloud. We drove through St. Flour (lots of bakers but no millers) and headed south to Espalion through a varied landscape and evidence of more volcanic activity.
We found the very pleasant campsite in Espalion next to the river and set off to investigate the town. Espalion is a very pretty town with a small château and old bridge both in the centre of the town just five minutes walk from the campsite. We hadn't had Internet access for a week and this was top of our agenda. The tourist office was able to tell us of two cafe's with WiFi Internet and we headed to the closest. At €5 per hour, it wasn't cheap and we had to rush to achieve everything within the hour.
Photos: Chilhac sitting upon the volcanic basalt outcrop; The Orgues Basaltiques at Chilhac; Part of the Chilhac defensive walls and towers; A view of Espalion from near the campsite, showing the château and the old bridge.

Wednesday 8th October 2008 – Le-Puy-en-Velay, France

The major feature of today was rain. It started last evening at about 19:00 and continued all night, often heavy and with very few breaks. It was raining when we left La Bastide Puylaurent and it continued for the whole of our journey. We were continuing across the Massif Central and we hardly dropped lower than 800m reaching over 1,400m at one point. The scenery was pretty but it was rather spoiled by the rain and we felt no desire to stop and explore.
We were heading for Le-Puy-en-Velay and had found a camperstop in our 2007 edition of Camperstop Europe. I had entered the GPS coordinates into the sat nav and it showed the location near the centre of the town. However the GPS coordinates in the book have been unreliable, in fact they issued an addendum to correct many of those in France but this was not one of them. Following the coordinates, we arrived at a car park in the centre of the town with no indication of a camperstop nor was it near a campsite as the text suggested. We stopped and used the address rather than the GPS coordinates and this took us to the correct place. The camperstop was however heaving with very large RV motorhomes associated, we think, with the very large roadworks on the ring road. We decided to go to the Camping Le-Puy-en-Velay site next door. Unfortunately, the site was close not open until 13:00 so, with 45 minutes to wait, we camped in their drive and had an early lunch. Soon after 13:00 we were let in and were soon walking into the town ..... in the rain!
Le-Puy-en-Velay is in an intriguing area of the Massif Central as it is a large volcanic area with many thermal springs and large volcanic rock outcrops. Two such outcrops dominate the town, one Rocher Corneille standing 130m above the town is topped by a massive statue of the Virgin and Child. It was made from 213 guns captured at Sebastopol and is, rather surprisingly, painted red. The other volcanic pinnacle, Rocher d'Aiguilhe 82m above the town, was once the home to a Roman temple, probably to Mercury, but in the 10th century a church was built to St. Michael and this was extended in the 12th century. We walked up the 265 steps to the chapel and we were incredibly lucky – it wasn't raining. We admired the views of the city in the dry before going into the chapel. Needless to say, it was raining when we emerged again and walked down the 265 steps to the exhibition in a house at the bottom of the hill.
We walked on to the cathedral, a few hundred metres away and were impressed with the statue of a black Mary and Jesus, a replica of the original that was destroyed during the French Revolution. There is a connection here to our visit to Spain in January as the cathedral is a starting point for French pilgrims on their way to Santiago (or Saint Jacques, as the French call it) de Compostela. We continued our walk though the narrow alleys of the old town and around the Rocher Corneille hill but decided not to climb it given that the rain was now heavier.
As I write this at 20:30 it is still raining – over 24 hours with hardly a break and Jane has been told by the campsite staff that rain is forecast for tomorrow.
Photos: The view of Rocher d'Aiguilhe from the campsite; The statue of the Virgin and Child on Rocher Corneille; An example of fitting a house into the available space – a very thin dwelling in the Le-Puy-en-Velay old town; A close-up view of Saint Michael's church on Rocher d'Aiguilhe.

Tuesday 7th October 2008 – La Bastide Puylaurent, France

The morning was not cold but a thick mist lay all around us and we could only see a few metres over the lake. By the time that we had left, the mist was clearing and we could see the bank on the other side. We descended from the lake and were soon in the wide Isere Valley with a very high cliff on our left. We followed this cliff, the boundary of the mountains, and the river for many miles. Thousands of walnut trees lined both sides of the road and there were many signs advertising direct sales of 'Noix' (walnuts) and 'Huille de Noix' (walnut oil) from the farms. The weather was getting warmed and warmer and soon it was up to 20°C, a temperature we hadn't encountered for some while. We were heading for the south and the weather was getting better!
As we approached Valance, where the Isere joins the huge Rhone, we joined a dual carriageway that joined two sections of motorway. Here we passed a nuclear convoy with the nuclear material carried in a container on a small lorry accompanied by three police minibuses and two police motorbikes. The minibuses each had a number of armed police in them ready for any incident. France produces over three quarters of its electricity from nuclear reactors and there must be many such convoys on French roads. It was good to see them taken security so seriously.
We followed the Rhone south briefly before heading up a valley to Privas. We climbed quickly up into the park of the 'Ardeche Mountains'. We had lunch overlooking this valley before driving on to Lablachere close to the campsite, Le Ch'Ti Franoi, of our friends Steve and Audrey. We had hoped to pop on to see them but their season had just finished and they were enjoying a well-deserved holiday in England. We picked up some excellent Cotes de l'Ardeche wine from the cooperative in Lablachere before continuing on the D4 past Steve and Audrey's campsite. Steve had told us that the scenery on this road was worth seeing but we hadn't taken that route last time. We weren't prepared for what we found we drove up through chestnut woods and kept going up and up. We thought that we would start our descent soon but it went on and on. The scenery was stunning - although it was hazy we could see for a long way. We had in fact climbed on to the Massif Central and we were soon at over 1,000m. The scenery was now bleak with rock outcrops everywhere, some looking for all the world like Greek Cyclopean Walls, and farmhouses and hamlets built of stone that blended into the landscape. After many miles we did start to descend – 10km of 8% slope, the signs warned. We arrived, after many hair-pin bends, at the small spa resort of Saint-Laurent-Les-Bains and a lovely municipal campsite in the valley bottom. Driving through the resort and out the other side, we found ourselves climbing once again to well over 1,100m. Shortly afterwards we descended to La Bastide Puylaurent, still at 980m where we found the camperstop behind the office of tourism. We had taken the D4 all the way from Lablachere to La Bastide and it was one of the most dramatic and beautiful journeys that we had made on the Odyssey. With the caveat that the road is steep, narrow, twisty and is not good for the fuel consumption, I would highly recommend this trip particularly in good weather when the views are clear.
Photos: Mist lays over the lake d'Aiguebelette; A rocky hillside with those natural Cyclopean Walls; The valley near Saint-Laurent-Les-Bains – the campsite is at the bottom of the valley.

Monday 6th October 2008 – Lac d'Aiguebelette, France

It was much warmer when we woke up and that suggested cloud. Sure enough, it was very cloudy and it was soon raining. After a minimal breakfast, we set off down the open pretty valley but as we approached Thonon-Les-Bains, the valley closed into a very steep, extremely pretty gorge.
After negotiating Thonon-Les-Bains we headed south, once again keeping off the motorways. All the way to Chambery we had views of the snow-covered Alps on our left. At Chambery we joined the motorway briefly in order to use a 3km tunnel that saved us a long diversion on steep, windy roads. We left the motorway immediately after the tunnel and headed round the small lake of d'Aiguebelette. Here we found our destination of the Les Peupliers campsite, right on the edge of the lake. Jane wanted to use the washing machine and dryer and was told to get the washing in quickly as the machines were being removed that afternoon. Within 10 minutes of starting the washing, the van arrived to collect them. We were able to complete the washing but weren't able to use the dryer. Fortunately the sun had come out and it turned into a beautiful day. The washing was hung on an improvised washing line in the sunshine and dried quite well before we had to take it in.
Our pitch, right on the shoreline, gave us a wonderful view over the lake and it is a really peaceful location.
Photos: A view over Lake d'Aiguebelette from our campsite pitch.

Sunday 5th October 2008 - La Chapelle d'Abondnce, France

We woke to a gloriously sunny, cold and crystal-clear Autumn day. The outside temperature was a chilly 1°C but the frost-covered view from Henrietta was even prettier than yesterday. I walked to the typically French Boulangerie (I had to remind myself that we were still in Switzerland) that was open from 06:30 to 17:30 even though it was a Sunday but decided to do a quick tour of the town before I bought the bread. The views from the hill were magnificent, even clearer than yesterday. From the panorama point near the castle, I was able to see Mont Blanc that had been obscured by cloud yesterday. On the way I had passed a man sketching the château and I met him again at the panorama. He observed that we were on the same mission – he was sketching the same views that I was photographing. We had quite a long chat and he told me that a famous artist had said that the view from Romont was the finest in the world. Although that might have been an exaggeration, it was a fantastic view and with the snow on the mountains, we saw it at its best. I returned to the bakery and bought bread and two croissant.
The journey into France was sensational. The views of the Fribourgeois Prealps and the Alps were spectacular – snow-covered peaks with green grass and trees in the foreground. Where I could, I stopped to admire the views and take pictures. Fortunately, we were travelling on the byroads and we would have missed so much if we had used the motorway.
We descended to Montreux on Lake Geneva with lovely views of the lake and the surrounding mountains and then had a brief brief stop at the very picturesque Chillon Castle. We then climbed up to the Morgin pass (1370m) between Switzerland and France and stopped on the Swiss side for a picnic lunch with views of the mountains and the sunshine warm enough to sit outside. It was only a short distance to our destination, La Chapelle d'Abondnce but we had to climb to the snow line and then down into the Abondance valley. We found the car park by the church, parked up and plugged into the free electricity. The car park also has a toilet and there are a number of water taps, although they weren't working, perhaps because Winter was approaching.
We took a walk down to the river and one of the ski-lifts where we found more parking places that would have been suitable for an overnight stay – quieter than the church car park, which is close to the road, but without electricity and the WC. We decided to stay where we were..
We went for another walk to the other end of the town and found ourselves at the bar and micro brewery. From 18:00 to 19:00 is their 'happy hour' when you get two for the price of one. We sampled their wares, trying the bitter (not very good) and the blanche (wheat beer – very good). Walking back into the centre of the village we stopped at the Les Cornettes restaurant. Two years ago, we rented a chalet from our friends Alan and Inga and spent a week in La Chapelle with more friends - Ann and Nick. Alan had recommended this restaurant to us and we had a few meals there during our holiday. The meal tonight was as good as our previous experiences. I had the cold cured meats as a starter and the only problem with it was its size. There was a selection of six different meats served with a salad, a huge dish of pickled vegetables and a small dish of special pickles including tiny mushrooms and cherries. I have only ever seen pickled cherries at this restaurant and, although they sound rather peculiar, they are delicious. Bread was also provided complete with about half a pound of butter. I couldn't possibly eat all of the meat, even though Jane helped me out by eating a few slices and it was a struggle to get through the rest of the meal. Next came sliced duck breast with a green pepper sauce, beautifully cooked and served with lovely vegetables. This was followed by a huge selection of cheeses of which I had very small pieces of three local cheeses – Abondance (famous throughout France), Thom and a chevre (goats cheese). There was a choice of 26 deserts and I wasn't able to finish the sorbet, ice cream and cream with cassis, even though it was delicious.
After that, I waddled slowly back to Henrietta.
Photos: This view of Chatel St. Denis was typical of our journey to La Chapelle d'Abondance; The lovely Cillon Castle on Lake Geneva; The view from our picnic site in the Morgin Pass; The camperstop in La Chapelle d'Abondance with the backdrop of the snow-sprinkled mountains; The micro brewery in La Chapelle.