Oh yes, definitely good feelings as Sadie rolled along at her leisurely pace over the wide expanse and highly agriculturised 'Marne' & 'Seine Marne' plains. Sun gleamed through the windscreen as memories of our lunchtime walk around 'Epenyar' were recalled. Lighter jacket had to be donned to accommodate warm sun upon cheeks.
Long, stretching to the horizon, and sparsly trafficked roads are such a delight and relief after the busy, stressful and badly repaired roads of the UK, the South in particular.
Not that everything is perfect. That would be too much to expect. I still have a dodgy fridge and could well at some point be changing diet to accommodate fridge being re-named as 'storage cupboard, non cool'.
The Champagne city of 'Reims' was not kind to me either. My book of 'Aires' I (overnight stopover places for Motorhomes) indicated there was one within five minutes walk of the famous 'Reims Cathederal'. Mrs Sat Nav gobbled up the destination and took us there faultlessly. Only it wer'nt there!! Or else it was so well hidden as to be beyond finding for this ancient traveler who was knackered after an early off the ferry start plus a good but longer journey than he ought to have done. Evening rush hour did not help either.
"Sod it!" I exclaimed as I dived into a side street to recuperate. Mrs Sat Nav soon had us safely ensconsed in the car park hinterland of a mega mega huge 'e le Clerc' Hypermarket courtesy of a quick Google search. A safe night where we were not bovvered by anyone was subsequently enjoyed.
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Just had a knock on the door with a very kind French gentleman saying, ''Securitie monsieur. Vous remainez ici et tres dangeroux".
Now. This is half past eight at night in the sleepy little French town of 'Pont sur-Yonne'. I am well fed, snug, warm and parked by the Yonne canal/river. Very pleasant and quiet it is too. However; and to my surprise, just behind me is a motorhome cum camping accessory store which I browsed around earlier. Seems kindly French gentleman is a friend of the owner who allows him to stay there in his motorhome. He is parked inside the store security fence. I presume he became concerned as I, a fellow motorhomer, was outside in the dark world known as, 'Dangeroux'.
He seemed very genuine so I accommodated his anxiety and allowed him to escort us inside where, after securely locking the gate behind us and wishing me "Bon nuit" he entered his little Tardis and I entered mine. A lovely gesture and concerned action from a complete stranger. How cool and kind is that!
And boy Oh boy do I feel safer now I am locked securely away behind high wire fences and well away from that dangerous outside world ....... !
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Next Morning. Turns out kindly and genuine Frenchman is manager of one of the local Hypermarkets and chooses to live, with his female partner, in their motorhome as homeowning is so expensive here in France. Now where have I heard that before?
Tonight, Sunday, another sleepy village 'Quarre les-Tombs'. We are in the 'Parc Nationale Morvan'. A hilly forested and very wet area but with a very nice Aire for motorhomes right next to the church and 'centre ville'. As usual for all of these mid sized villages, there is, right next to us, a magnificent gym, activities hall, and playing field complex. S'funny, but they seem to value them over here rather than selling them off for housing!
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The warm sunny weather did not last! Wet and cold last night but a lovely Aire at Autun right by a big lake. Unfortunately it was also opposite Macdonalds and yes: last night I cheated. Chicken and bacon wrap with large fries for supper. Yum yum but only every now and again. It was wet, cold and we had done a long walk by another lake earlier. We needed a bit of familiar comfort!!
It is such a shame as here I am, a teetotaller, travelling through some of France's most famous, and prosperous wine areas. Burgundy, Beaujolais, Champagne and they are all beautiful even in this cold and wet weather. I did however make a lunch stop today in 'Charolle' with it's 32 bridges. They are not ''Charolle's' main claim to fame. That honour belongs to the surrounding countryside which is all grassland farms proudly displaying their big chunky white Charollais beef cattle. The ones outside had distinctly muddy coloured lower halves but were still unmistakeable in confirmation of their home town.
Just East of 'St Etienne' tonight. Lovely Aire right by a huge man made lake complete with marina and beach at 'St Victor sur Loire'. We will explore it a little more tomorrow. Had to laugh when we arrived. I had not intended driving so far today but the weather was lousy so we just kept going South. Sure enough as we dropped down toward 'St Etienne' the skies started to clear and the mood lifted. We arrived here at 'St Victor' and parked overlooking the lake. 'Just the job' I thought to myself as I moved from one seat to another to alleviate trouser department grumbles.
"What the ******** !" I exclaimed from my compromised position as Sadie started to do a rock and roll while my ears were assailed by the thunder of heavy wind driven rain hammering the roof! Mischievous cheeky Gods I thought. They'd followed me, waited till I'd stopped, viewed and approved the location and got all enthusiastic about taking Tanya for a good walk. Then sneekily they had struck while I had my trousers down. I shook my head in dis-belief as I spoke out in frustration the words made famous by 'St Victors sur Loire's' namesake. 'I do not believe it!'
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