Saturday 14th May 2022 – Trept, France

 

The market was not quite as extensive as we had thought but was still quite large and interesting. We bought some vegetables and some bread from one of the two bakers’ stalls that were full of a large variety of lovely-looking loaves. We had hoped to get a hot meal in the market for lunch but there were only two Thai food stalls and one selling spit-roasted chicken. We had finished our market meandering by 10:30, so we decided to set off. We had already decided where we were going to stop for the night and, as it wasn’t too long a drive, we could take it very leisurely.
We headed north on the D518 out of Die, which our Michelin Europe Motoring Atlas showed as being scenic. It was correct! We started to climb into the mountains, round hairpin bends separated by long sweeping straights. The views were fantastic – up to the intriguing rock formations on the cliffs and down to the low land that we had left. On the other side of the pass, a skiing area, the slope was much gentler but still had lovely mountain views. The steep limestone banks on the side of the road had a variety of orchids and highland cattle munched on the rich pasture. After a very long descent the scenery became less dramatic but the rolling hills was still very pleasant. We chose a large lay-by to stop for lunch having not passed a picnic spot in the previous hour and, as is always the way, passed a beautiful picnic spot with wonderful views two minutes after we set off again.
We arrived at 3 Lacs du Soleil campsite west of Lyon by mid-afternoon. This is a very large campsite with, unsurprisingly, three large lakes (fishing available in one), tennis courts, swimming pools and a water slide. It also had a restaurant on the edge of the site and, just after 7 pm, we walked around one of the lakes to it. It is a large restaurant and only three tables were occupied, so we were rather surprised to be told that there were ‘complet’, full. We hadn’t taken into account that it was a Saturday, the restaurant was open all year and used by locals, not just campers. Back to the van then for our standby meal of pasta with smoked salmon, cream and white wine. We always keep smoked salmon in our very small motorhome freezer – it takes very little space and defrosts quickly.

Photos: The wonderful selection of bread on a Die market stall; A view from the D518 above Die; The sun starts to go down over one of the campsite lakes.