The sunshine is back!!!!!
We woke to blue skies and beautiful autumnal colours which made us feel so much better after the last couple of days. We got the Van ready as we were heading up to a little town called Saint Pierre le Moutier for our next stop, some 220 kilometres up the road so we planned to hit the motorways today.
Our first job of the day was to hit a supermarket for provisions and headed to a Carrefour in Massiac. I went in armed with a list, but seemed to spend ages hunting stuff down – I was very proud of myself as I asked (in French) for bits I couldn’t find and briefly was engaged by an aged local asking me about something!
Flushed with success, we jumped onto the A75 motorway northwards across pretty countryside which was interspersed with towns and industrial parks. We hit an unexpected fog bank (or was it just low cloud?) and lost the brightness of the day and the views until about five minutes later, the sun fought back and started punching holes into the gloom. We were gradually dropping down, leaving the Massif Central behind us and coming upon to vistas that only the eye can appreciate and the camera fails to capture. We whizzed through Clermont Ferrand where the A75 turned into the A71 and I needed to lean out of the window for a toll ticket.
The Van needed topping up with fuel and I researched the little town of Gannat as we cruised up the motorway. It had a TotalEnergies garage which were still proving to be the cheapest diesel around and we could stop for lunch too. However, much to our surprise, a Total Energies at the motorway service station was the same price so we pulled in there to fill up – usually motorway garages are much more expensive. We still headed to Gannat, pulling off the A71 at the toll booths, paying our toll and went to find somewhere to park. We ended up parking on the street, a couple of minutes walk out of town and went to find a suitable watering hole. There didn’t seem to be any cafes on the main street, so we headed back towards the Van, coming across some charming little side roads and found a little patisserie with a sunny outside seating area – I went inside to get food and coffees and came out to find Hubby in conversation with a man and a woman. They were teachers and we ended up talking about education systems, getting grants and basically sorting the world out – you think your country is the only one with certain issues, but it transpires that every European country has the same problems. We’ve met so many people on this trip and had these same conversations which are so interesting and affirming – we just love it!
We waddled back to the Van and headed out of Gannat on the D2009, a very straight road across flat farmland, but still very pretty. At Moulins, the sky clouded over and we lost the sun again. The temperature had hit the giddy heights of 13 degrees, but now was sliding back into single figures. We picked up the faster N7 dual carriageway which took us to St Pierre le Moutier, though we did come in via the scenic route courtesy of the satnav.
We found our little camping car aire on the outskirts of the town and after punching in our code to raise the barrier, we were in. There were three other campers and we parked in between them in a little hedge lined bay. It had a big grassy area, so we let Pup have a run around and chase her ball – she hadn’t had much exercise these last couple of days. We had a cuppa and with the gloom lifting we then wandered into town which was very handsome with a tidy High Street and a magnificent church in a pretty square. The Pup got made a fuss of by two passing ladies who cooed in French at her, while we stood grinning, not understanding a word. Our Pup didn’t care – she just lapped up the attention.
https://www.burgundy-tourism.com/sit/ville-de-saint-pierre-le-moutier
With the light waning, we walked back to the campsite and settled in. We decided to use the Van’s onboard shower – which we hadn’t yet used – as we didn’t fancy the campsite’s utilitarian showers in the dark and we had an early start tomorrow (morning market at Nevers!) Also, it gave us a chance to check that it all worked. The Pup gave us a few odd looks, but soon we were clean and fresh and ready for tea. We figured out a possible car park for Nevers, close to the market hopefully and relaxed for the evening.
Walking into town tonight, wrapped in thick coats, scarves and gloves, the air distinctly November, we’ve spent the last six weeks in warm weather, wandering around in light clothing and enjoying daily sunshine. Now abruptly, instead of sliding into the colder months, we are thrust into colder climes like someone flicking a switch and it’s a bit of a shock. Like we’ve missed a chunk of our lives – up to this point, we hadn’t really noticed it was autumntime, just an extended summer, so we are little bit startled when we realise we’re in November and we’re missing those annual points of time and traditions of Halloween, Bonfire Night and Remembrance Sunday back home. Just a little surreal.
