Languishing in the Languedoc

The Bastille Day celebrations were a bit subdued, we had expected bands, fireworks, lots of dancing and drinking and the like but all there was was a brocante, a bit like a car boot sale, which went on for most of the day.

On Sunday evening there was a splendid fireworks display that we knew nothing about until they started going off. Lots of people had gathered on the other side of the harbour to watch and we stood outside the van with other camping-caristas (motorhomers) and we all went ooh, and ah, together.

The WWII submarine pens in Bordeaux harbour

Having checked out Laverie Automatique (launderettes) on the Internet and finding that the nearest were in Royan it was off in the car to do the laundry. When we got to the area of the first one it could not be found but we surmised that it had closed down and was now a clothes shop. After wandering round for a while and doing a bit of shopping in the indoor market Tricia asked in a dry cleaners and was told that there was one near a big supermarket a couple of miles away. There was no difficulty finding the supermarket and to our amusement the launderette was outdoors. Four washing machines and a tumble drier. We bunged in the laundry then went across the road for a burger while we were waiting.

Port Cailhau - Bordeaux riverfront

One of the reasons to revisit Mortagne was to be able to explore a bit more of the area around Bordeaux and I was hoping to get to see the submarine pens in Bordeaux harbour. So it was off to Bordeaux and after sometime spent searching for a suitable LPG service station for Harvey we found a park & ride on the outskirts of the city with a tram link that would take us to the centre and to the harbour. It was a bit of a hike from the tram-stop to where the sub pens are and by the time we got there Tricia was hot and bothered and totally underwhelmed by the whole experience. You can only enter the pens by appointment so I took a few photographs and we headed back to the tram-stop and took a ride into the city centre. The next couple of hours were spent wandering around taking photo's like a couple of Japanese tourists and stopping for a drink in a café in a little square. This was followed by a wander down to the riverside and then back back towards the centre to catch the tram back to the car park.

The Donjon overlooking the square at Pons

Tricia's brother and sister-in-law have a holiday home in Mortagne and they mentioned that a particular wine was pretty good and could be obtained for a reasonable price from a supermarket in Gemozac. The run to Gemozac was through fields of sunflowers which seems to be the main crop of the regions in the south but the town itself was a little drab and uninteresting so we carried on to Pons. Pons is a very attractive little town with a spectacular Keep dominating the town square with its modern fountains, just the place to sit in the sun with a cool drink.

We didn't think that we had gone very far east of Mortagne, down the Girronde towards Bordeaux, on any of our previous visits so when Tricia suggested we visit Blaye we thought it was going to be a new experience. Imagine the surprise then when we got into the town and found that we recognised the huge fortified citadel. The citadel has an enormous earthworks and several walls that would have had to be assaulted before getting into the town but luckily someone left the gate open and we just walked in. The town inside is quite quaint, with narrow streets, but, like a lot of these place, the buildings are no longer dwellings but are occupied by shops selling all manner of craft produce and tourist tat.

The cafe in the square at Pons

The ramparts of Blaye citadel

After spending ten days in Mortagne Port it was off to Toulouse. The town of Agen had been earmarked for the next stop over and a couple of suitable Aire's had been selected unfortunately we couldn't have got into the first one and couldn't find the second. After running out of gas and driving around for ages we found a picnic Aire and stopped for dinner and in the Aire was sign for a camping site nearby that accepted Camping-cars. So, despite it now getting late, we got the car off the trailer and went to see if we could find it. We drove around for a while and couldn't find the site that was advertised but we found another that would do so we went back to collect Harvey and went in convoy to the camp site. Camping Paradis at Montech was right on the canal bank and cost 5 euros a night in the car park outside the gate with no facilities or 10 euros a night for a space inside the gate with water and dumping (grey water only) but you could use all the other facilities. They had a toilet and shower block and a swimming pool so we decided to spend that night outside and move inside for the following night.

Leaving Camping Paradis near Montech

The next day a run out had to made to find an LPG service station and we had decided to reccy the next planned stop at Villefranche-de-Lauragais. On the way down to Villefranche there were no LPG stations and when we got there we found the Aire without any problem. It was in the back yard of Paul and Arlette Berniere and there was room for about six motorhomes comfortably although at one point he had nine or ten in. When we told him that we had an American camping-car he said he had had a Winibago and he had all the facilities we needed for a short stay. On the way back to Montech we took a run up the Autoroute, which was a toll road (peage), and found a service area with gas between two junctions and just down the road from where we were. Going through the entry toll barrier to the Autoroute we had forgotten about the bikes on the roof of the car and the ticket came out of the machine at the higher point, meant for truck drivers, so I had to jump out and reach up to grab it. Paying didn't seem to be a problem because you could do that at the upper or lower point. We then headed back to the site and a swim in the pool before dinner.

Aire de Camping-car Berniere

The following morning we headed for Montauban and the Autoroute between there and Toulouse and getting onto the Autoroute didn't pose any problems but when we arrived at the service area the LPG pump was on the far left, just before the petrol pumps, and our filler is in the right hand side of the van. We thought about for about ten seconds but the overriding criteria was that we couldn't afford to keep running on petrol so I turned around and pulled up to the pump facing the wrong way. After filling the tanks with 220 litres, and waiting till there were no cars coming in, I quickly drove round to the HGV pumps and the exit back onto the Autoroute. The next hurdle was the exit toll plaza and the toll for that section was 4.60 euros which we had in change the problem was the there was no change slot on the upper point only slots for cards (obviously truckers don't pay cash) so I had to lean out of the window to the point where I was almost falling out so that I could deposit the money. It took so long, however, that the barrier lifted before I had deposited the whole amount so we diddled them out of 60 cents. The rest of the run was fairly uneventful and we arrived at Villefranche in the mid afternoon.

Canal du Midi at Gardouch near Villefranche-de-Lauragais

The reason for us hanging about near Toulouse for a while was so that I could have a go at researching my family roots. Someone I had been in contact with had traced the family tree back to 18^th century Belpech and Belcaire so I wanted to corroborate what they had discovered. We had a trip to Belpech and a wander round the cemetery but didn't find any of my ancestors. I then decided to find the archives of the parish registers and found that this was located in Carcassonne. So we had a run down there one day and spent the afternoon in the archives looking at records of births, marriages and deaths or rather images of the microfiche of the ink splattered and moth eaten books. They were very difficult to decipher and I was going to need a day or two to do them justice so we needed to move closer to Carcassonne.

Camping la Pujade near Carcassonne

We had another Aire reccy day a couple of days later but didn't find anything suitable until we were heading back to Villefranche. We had seen the advertising signs on the way down and had earmarked Camping Le Pujade for checking out and it turned out to be a little camp site on a winery. The site is about thirty minutes from the Archives so is really convenient so we booked in by email (good old Google translate) and turned up yesterday (06/08/2012). Today I spent the day in the Archives and will be back there again tomorrow. Tricia plans to cycle along the tow path of Canal du Midi while I'm out.

Map of our progress reposted

Here is the map again as requested. I will try to find a way to keep a link to it on the home page. I am also trying to add photographs to each location but that may take a bit of time to master.



View Harveys Quest in a larger map

Finally Setting Out on the Big Adventure

We spent over a week at Ridge Farm caravan site, in Steep near Petersfield which included the Diamond Jubilee holiday weekend. We had a very busy time catching up with family and friends, some not seen for quite a number of years. We had a really good time and thank everyone one we saw for making it all so enjoyable.

Kennet & Avon Canal - Bradford on Avon

After Petersfield Harvey had to have a service and a couple of jobs done so was booked into Gold RV at Alton. We spent a couple of nights over at Poole with our friends, Kay and Kevin while this was happening and picked Harvey up again on the Wednesday lunchtime. It was then off to Marsh Farm near Trowbridge for a couple of weeks. The site was just a short distance from the Kennet & Avon canal so we cycled down the towpath into Bradford on Avon, which was about four miles away, a couple of times and had some walks along it also.

Knowing we were going to be in Trowbridge for a while we had arranged to meet up with an old colleague of mine and his wife in the local pub. Pub was a bit of a dive but it was great to see Norman and Carole again.

When we left Marsh Farm it was to go to an RAF reunion in Weston-super-Mare for ex-members (and one serving member) of 12 Signals Unit in Cyprus. This was celebrated by having a Meze in a Greek restaurant. It was good to meet up with people I had known well and not seen for years and I'm looking forward to next years bash. Hope it will be in Cyprus.

From Weston it was back to Alton to get a job done that had had to be postponed and an overnight stop in the car park of Gold RV, then on to Deal in Kent. The day of the ferry was fast approaching.

In the queue at Dover

A few nights were spent at Deal, about forty minutes from Dover, to say cheerio to Emma, Charlie and Jon and also Dave and Debbie. Then on Monday at 10:00 it was off to join the queues waiting to board the ferry. Watching the artic's going up the ramp and dragging their rear ends gave us a bit of trepidation but when our turn came we were directed to the lowest deck so it was a fairly flat run in. The crossing was very uneventful as was the disembarkation and I remembered to drive on the left leaving the docks. Tricia managed not to be seasick!

Tricia on the Ferry

Aire de Service - Le Crotoy

The next step was a short run down the coast to an Aire at Le Crotoy which was right on the estuary and very spacious. As we were out of LPG we decided to stay two nights here and spend Tuesday searching for a service station. One was found quite quickly on the A28 just south of Abbeville which would do the job. so we returned to Le Crotoy and spent the afternoon looking round the town. It has a nice beach and a quaint steam railway link to Noyelles sur Mer and Ault.

Steam Train at Le Crotoy

We liked Le Crotoy even though it was a bit touristy.

Relaxing with a beer at Le Crotoy

Thankfully our LPG adapter worked and we managed to fill the gas tanks and then make good time down the A28 as far as Rouen. Circumnavigating Rouen had been thought to be a bit of a nightmare but, despite not heeding Tricia's instructions, we managed to get onto the A13 and turn onto the N138 without any bother. The Aire for the night was at St Pierre-Des-Nids, south west of Alencon, and it was full of road mending materials and plant. However, we managed to unhitch the trailer and park the van, and headed into the town for a beer/wine. After chatting to one of the elderly locals, who recounted her war experiences and told us how happy everyone had been to see the English liberators, we popped into a little bar for a drink. Tricia managed to practice her French on the lady tending the bar and another of the locals.

Aire de Service - Saint-Pierre Des Nids

The following morning, awakened by the road crew arriving, the car was hitched up and we headed for Poitiers via Le Mans and Tours, arriving at where the Aire should have been at Jaunay Clan only to find it blocked off. A place to park was found in an out-of-town shopping centre's unused overspill car park. Luckily the 2.2m height barrier had been left open, and we walked over to the bar in the centre to get directions. The young chap tending bar explained how to get to the Aire de Futurscope, which would have been our next choice and we found this with no problem. The Aire was inside the Furturscope theme park and the ticket barrier was a bit of a tight squeeze both in width and height but once inside there was plenty of space for us to turn round and park with the trailer still hitched up. The tariff was only 2 Euros but the down side was that we had to be out by 08:00.We returned to the bar and thanked the bartender for his help.

The port from the Aire de Service - Mortagne-sur-Gironde

Up at 06:30 and ready to roll by 07:30, back onto the N10 and onwards to Angouleme, Cognac and Pons before striking out on the D6, a yellow road, for Mortagne-sur-Gironde. I had decided to approach the port from the east to avoid having to negotiate the town and the steep winding road down to the harbour so we turned onto the D730 for a short way and then onto the D245, which turned out to be a single track road. Luckily we only met one other vehicle coming the other way and managed to pass without any trouble. Unfortunately, after following the winding road for some two or three kilometers I took a wrong turn in Mageloup and ended up heading into Mortagne from possibly an even worse direction than the one I was trying to avoid. There were a few heart stopping moments as we drove up a very narrow street with cars parked partly on the pavement and partly on the road. Having negotiated that, though, it was a fairly easy run down the hill to the port.

The Bastille Day Brocante (Car Boot Sale) - Mortagne-sur-Gironde

One of our neighbours, the Storks

Saturday was Bastille Day and there is a fair on the approach to the Aire and there were stalls all along the road where we are parked so it was fortunate we arrived when we did and won't be leaving for a while.

Gosford Park

Harvey is currently on the Gosford Park CL site just outside Ottery St Mary in Devon. We arrived here last Thursday after a short and uneventful journey from Dorchester. On turning off the A30, though, the road narrowed considerably which made us a bit apprehensive  but when we reached the lane down which we had to go we gasped as it was barely wider than Harvey. Nothing daunted, however, I turned in and set off down it yanking a large amount of foliage out of the hedgerow on either side. On arriving at the entrance to the site the layout had changed from what we had seen on Streetview and I wasn't able to make the turn in without unhitching the trailer and reversing up a bit. Once on the site, though we set up camp in the sunshine.
 




The reason for being here was Jan and Ian's wedding in Exeter on Saturday, which went off very well with glorious sunshine for the photo's in the grounds of Larkbeare House. Later there was food and drink at Mazzard Farm near Ottery St Mary and this involved the imbibing of a small quantity of Otter beer (which was pretty good).






 Yesterday we travelled to Barnstaple to spend a couple of hours with Dave and Debbie, our friends from Bexhill, and returning via Tiverton we stopped at Bickliegh Mill for a cream tea.

Tomorrow it is off to Petersfield for about ten days so that Tricia can attend a work reunion and to catch up with friends and relatives in the Hampshire area. The distance is about 130 miles and it will take us around 3 hours.

Wallowing in the mire at Peterborough

By eleven o'clock on Wednesday 25th the waste tanks had been emptied and all was in readiness to move onto the car park, hitch up the trailer, drive the car onto it and strap it down. The best laid plans and all that, when the van started to move off the pitch it was quickly bogged down and no amount of to-ing and fro-ing was going to budge it. In the end a local farmer helped out with a tractor but the grass of the pitch was pretty ripped up by the time Harvey was off of it. By the time the trailer was hitched and the car was on it it was about 15:00 but we set off regardless.

Our arrival at Greetham in Rutland was going to be a bit later than intended so they were rung to explain and we were told that there was no entry after 20:00. Needless to say we were only as far as St Neots by that time so couldn't get into the camp site. Stopping for gas at Wyboston, the attendant said that if we were stuck we could stop the night on the forecourt but we decided to carry on and look for lay-bys to stop in on the way. At the time we didn't know that some sites had been flooded out so we weren't the only motor-home looking for a parking place. On the road between Wyboston and Peterborough the lay-bys were full of them in both directions so we turned round and headed back to the petrol station forecourt. It being 22:00 by this time we had a MacDonald's for dinner and went to bed.

In the morning it was up at 07:30, a cup of tea from the garage and then on the road to find a lay-by to hang around in until the show-ground opened it's gates at 10:00. One was quickly found with a snack van so we breakfasted on bacon rolls and passed a couple of hours reading. Then it was off to the show-ground, arriving at about 10:30 and joining a fairly short and moving queue we were soon allocated a huge pitch on firm ground near the metalled road. Our friends with the Four Winds Five Thousand weren't so lucky and ended up on a very soggy general area. After sorting the van out and having some lunch we headed into the show in the pouring rain. The exhibitors were still setting up and already it was starting to get muddy. Straw was being spread around in the tents but it did little to stop the conditions worsening. We had a shopping list so it was a case of tracking down the items and comparing prices from one stand to the next. In the main arena there was a display of static caravans and a van selling teas and coffees so we managed to grab a couple of seats at a table occupied by another couple and have a cuppa. Getting talking to the couple that we were sat beside we explained that, because we missed getting into our camp site the previous night we hadn't been able to fill up the fresh water tank. The chap, Malcolm, offered me the use of their 30l water carrier and a 12V submersible pump which I accepted gladly and after four trips to the tap we had a full tank of water. In the evening we headed to the entertainment venue and had a few drinks whilst listening to Keep It Cash, a Johnny Cash tribute band.

On Friday morning it was up with the Lark (09:00 for us) and then into the show to see properly what was on offer. It was a bit disappointing that, although there were more exhibitors than in previous years, there was very little in the way of motor-home parts so our list was not going to be reduced by much and in fact we saw some other things that we decided were bargains and should be purchased. Such things as two new 120Ah leisure batteries at £85 each. We bumped into Malcolm and June, the couple we had met yesterday, and arranged to meet them in the evening at the entertainment venue, which we did at 19:30. The entertainment was the Joe Loss Orchestra with Todd Millar performing hits from the '40's through to the '90's which was very good. Again a few drinks were had and we eventually got to bed about midnight. On Saturday a quick belt round the show in the morning was followed by a run to North Luffenham in the afternoon to visit friends. We went to the pub with them for dinner and had a very nice time, good company, lovely steaks and great beer. Thanks guys, see you again soon.

On Sunday, after days of continual rain, many of the exhibitors and several of the campers, including our friends with the Four Winds 5000, decided they had had enough and were heading home. Our friends had to wait an hour for a tractor to tow them out of the mud and there were hazard lights flashing all over the site indicating that people were stuck and needed a tow. In the afternoon the rain stopped and the sun came out for a while. We decided to stay on until Monday as did Malcolm and June so we met them again at the entertainment venue for another night of revelry this time accompanied by tributes to Gene Pitney (rubbish), Engelbert Humperdink (very good), Elvis Presley (quite good) and finally Buddy Holly (The Counterfeit Crickets, excellent!) Monday morning dawned nice and sunny and we brought in the slide-out, raised the legs and gingerly moved off the grass and onto the road. Once the trailer was hooked up and the car put on it we were off back to sunny Dorset.

Another Motorhome Show

Tricia and I are off to Peterborough in Harvey tomorrow, spending one night at the Rutland Camping and Caravanning Park near Greetham, then four nights at the Motorhome Show at the East of England Show-ground. It is about 223 miles so will take about five hours altogether (I only do between 50 and 60 mph). It will be the first time we have towed the car on the trailer so that will be interesting. I just hope I don't have to do any reversing. The couple that we are friendly with, who own the B & B near Dorchester, have headed up there already in their Fourwinds 5000 and we will meet up with them tomorrow. We have a shopping list as long as my arm and will be hunting down some bargains ready for our departure in July. We are also planning to meet up with some friends who live in the area and we haven't seen for a couple of years. There is no electric on the site so we will be relying on batteries and genny which will be good practice for wild camping in France. It will be back to Dorset next Monday.

Passed my driving test again!

On the 7th of March I took the C1+E driving test for vehicles over 3.5tonnes towing a trailer and passed it with only two minors. As you can imagine I am pretty pleased with myself not least because this now means we can head for France with our car in tow. We have a couple of engagements before we can leave however. A friend of ours is getting married in May, and we have been invited to the wedding, then there is a reunion of Tricia's old work colleagues in early June followed by a reunion of my ex-RAF colleagues at the end of June. We have been making plans about the route we will take and will probably stay in France for a while. I have recently discovered that my ancestors came from Belpech near Toulouse, so I intend to do some searching of the church yards to see if any can be found. Then we will move further east and south to try and rendezvous with friends from Germany who have a holiday home on the Mediterranean coast. After that it will be south into Spain and a leisurely tour around the coast. If we get bored there then it will be back through France and on into Italy as we still have a date with a 10km zip wire (). We intend being back in the UK in March 2013 to get the vehicles MOT'd and serviced and after a few weeks of visiting friends and relatives will be off again for another trip. That is the tentative plan. It will be interesting to look back and see if we we achieved any of it.