france – apathtosomewhere

Heading South – Day Twenty Two

We’re back to blue skies and sunny mornings. Yesterday was just a blip.

We watched all the different birds wading on the sandbanks of the Loire -cormorants, egrets, gulls enjoying the morning sunshine before we set off south.

We were doing a big jump today, but still stuck to the smaller country roads rather than big dual carriageways or motorways. The countryside was mixed with woodlands, opening up to small fields and then big, wide industrial sized arable fields with big skies and big clouds. We were now looking out for boar as well as deer when we passed along wooded roads. The latter part of the journey became a bit monotonous – becoming flatter and with long straight roads that went on for miles. We were glad when we stopped.

We were heading to Gencay first, as apparently there was a market there – it was only about 40 minutes away which would be perfect. Gencay turned out to be a tiny hamlet, possibly even a village of scattered dwellings, in the middle of nowhere and not a soul about. It was evident that there was no market here. We concluded that we had been led up the garden path and slightly disappointed, continued on our way.

We stopped at Chatellerrault, hoping to visit a chateau, but hadn’t really looked into it properly – getting too laidback. So we just we ended up sat in the Van, googling nearby chateaus, finding them either closed, privately owned, no dogs allowed or we had driven past them. Fail. So we went to a Biocoop store instead to stock up on food and then headed south again.

https://www.tourisme-vienne.com/en/webzines/chatellerault

The roads round here were not the best. They were either breaking up along the edges or had been badly patched that the Van rattled like mad (not sure what’s worse -our potholes or these bumpy highways) and we jiggered in our seats – there were many signs marked “chaussee deforme” and they weren’t kidding. We also noticed that the villages added mini roundabouts and didn’t seem to let people be aware of it – well, at least not Apple Maps. We were informed by Apple “to go straight for the next kilometre” but three roundabouts had been surreptitiously added so you had to be one your toes a bit! Perhaps Apple was aware, but with so many roundabouts in France, had gone all French and downed tools.

We came across a little town called Chauvigny and would of just driven through it until Hubby spotted a roadside sign declaring that this French town was twinned with the very English town he was born in! So when we hit the town centre, we parked in one of the copious car parks that made up the square (which were all full of vehicles, but where was everyone?) and had a little wander in the sunshine. The temperature had dropped from the giddy heights of 28 degrees to a sobering 17 today, but out of the wind it was quite pleasant. We looked in the shop windows before heading to a nearby patisserie to get sandwiches (6 euros each!!!! Ouch, though the Pup got some form of pastry – God knows what it was – from the shop assistants which she inhaled with gusto). We strolled back to the Van with our booty and made a cuppa.

https://www.tourisme-vienne.com/en/webzines/chauvigny-incontournable

We carried on with our trip, passing through little towns and villages decorated with pink umbrellas and bunting -the whole area was behind Breast Cancer Awareness as it was October. It was fabulous to see whole communities sending out the message. We passed through Gencay, a large town and the true home of our missing morning market (it was too far from Montsoreau to get there in time). Finally we were coming up to Ruffec, our home for the night, the campsite a little way outside of the town. The satnav took us on the scenic, yet tortuous route to get there and we rocked up outside a campsite that reminded us of a Carry On film. We did hesitate outside briefly, but this was our spot. We parked up under trees in a site with more static homes than tourers – it looked like it was more residential than holiday. But it ticked a box and the sanitaire was probably the best so far – loo paper, a toilet seat and lid rather than bare porcelain, taps rather than push buttons and clean, though as usual was a bit tatty around the edges.

We had a little bit of downtime, the Pup did a few rounds of zoomies and she and I went for a waddle to check out the rest of the site. A little while later, we waddled down to the River Charente.

We walked down the hill and came across a very pretty area. On one side was a restaurant (closed today) overlooking mill ponds – we discovered an old watermill at one end of the restaurant and it all started to make sense. There were a series of bridges that allowed us to cross the mill ponds and the River Charente to a big field – a big sign declared the area as a sporting hub with bike routes, fishing, walking and other sporting activities. We strolled under the trees to the riverbank and watched fishermen casting in the river. Spotting a wooden building opposite, we retraced our steps and found the canoe/kayaking base (closed for the night) but again with a board showing where you could kayak to, the distance and the time. We wandered around a little more – it was very pretty surrounded by trees and the little waterways, all very peaceful. With our stomachs starting to rumble for tea, we headed back up the hill to the Van and settled down for the night. It was quite cool, autumn definitely now settling in.

Tomorrow we are heading to Bergerac.

Heading South – Day Ten

Slept well last night and woke about 8. We wondered why we have been “sleeping in” since we started this trip and then it dawned on us. Firstly, we’re a hour ahead so really it’s 7.00am GMT which is our normal time to wake up and secondly, the large hound who sleeps with us has stopped setting her alarm to ungodly hour and booping us for breakfast.

Today, we have a plan. First on the agenda is to do some laundry so I lugged our bag for the far side of the site (of course it would be), got some tokens, bunged the whole lot in the washer (coloured and whites so hope nothing runs) and pressed start. The washer whirred into life and flashed 45 mins on its little display. I waddled back to The Van where hubby was giving it a bit of a deep clean and put a timer on. Another waddle back to the laundry to put it in the dryer (the whites were still white, but now hoping nothing shrunk) and headed back for another 45 minutes. Basically it took all morning, I think I nearly did my daily quota of 10,000 steps, but at least we had clean clothes for another week and mission accomplished.

We decided to walk to the Intra-Muros, or the Old Town of St Malo, some 20 minutes away. We walked through the marina, skirted the little beach, negotiated the port entrance and finally ended up in front of the walled city. There was an archway that led into the streets, but we turned and took the steps up, so we could wander along the top of the walls and appreciate the splendid views across the bay. Various ships were crossing the estuary of the River Rance – catamarans, small sailing boats, a huge cruise ship, schooners, a DFDS ferry followed by a Brittany Ferry car ferry – it was very busy and they all had to negotiate the many outcrops of rocks and islands scattered around in the bay. We peered over the ramparts and watched people on the beach below – there didn’t seem to be any dogs, so The Pup was denied again. We wandered most of the way round, before we had to go down steps and back to the street level. Here it was very busy with restaurants and bars – their tables and chairs spilling out on the wide street. We stopped at one and ordered two beers which came with some peanuts and little biscuits and a pot of fish paste, relaxed in the sunshine and did a spot of people watching. The architecture was beautiful – it dates back to the 17th century, so there’s a lot of history. We carried on through the ancient streets, full of high end clothes shops, gift shops, patisseries, restaurants and much more. After a wander we came across a creperie and asked for a table for two. We ended up with a lemon and sugar crepe and a banana and chocolate washed down with coffee – again we sat outside and watched people. It was another fine day, weatherwise and quite warm. We had another little wander around and decided to head back to the campsite, but needed to visit a supermarket for food for The Pup. So we walked down the road into a small neighbourhood with a lovely little High Street, where we found a Carrefour City mini supermarket and bobbed in there. Then we wandered through the back streets back to the seafront -it was nice to see a local area rather than a tourist area – and sauntered back to the site. We checked out a couple of restaurants for a possible evening meal too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Malo

Once back at the Van, we plopped into our chairs and enjoyed the late afternoon sun – so much that some of us had a little nap. Our little plan of walking back down the road and eating out didn’t seem so exciting now we were comfy, so we decided to cook in the Van – very glamourous: fish fingers, homegrown potatoes and a tin of baked beans. We know how to live it up!

A cat tried its chances and one of its nine lives, by sauntering past our Van’s side door, not realising there was 25kg of canine lying inside. The cat jumped and The Pup went to chase – heck! We shouted at Pup to stop and bless her, she did and I grabbed her collar, though I felt her pull a couple of times. A little bit of excitement! Thank goodness, The Pup is so obedient!

After tea and a cuppa, and the night closing in at 8:30, we shut up shop. We’re binge watching a TV series at the moment, so it’s nice to curl up. Tomorrow we plan to catch the ferry over to Dinard, across the River Rance, and spend the day over there.

Heading South – Day Two

We all slept well in the new campervan, despite The Pup pinching the duvet.

We awoke to a chilly September morning, but the sun was starting to shine. After tea in bed, we waddled down with The Pup to the village Patisserie/Boulangerie for croissants and a French stick which we brought back to the Van for a leisurely breakfast. Out in the sun, it was quite warm, but everything dripped with dew.

We started to pack everything away, ready for our day. Doing my family history over the years, I discovered that two of my grandparent’s brothers lost their lives during World War One and knew where they were buried. Today, I was going to visit my grand uncle Ernest’s grave in Delville Wood Cemetery in the Somme.

We had a choice of zipping down there by motorway in an hour and a half or taking the more scenic route. We decided to drive on the country roads and enjoyed some fabulous scenery. It was more undulating countryside, with vast fields and far ranging views with pretty little villages. It then became more rolling with little communities huddled in the valleys – their red pantiles and red brick walls bright against the green fields and woodlands.

As we approached the Somme Department, the countryside returned to the vast fields and big skies before we arrived at the little village of Longueval and parked at the Delville Wood Cemetery. On one side of the road is the South African National Memorial to the fallen South Africans – a huge commemorative memorial housing the museum and on the opposite side, the Delville Wood Cemetery, with lines of regimented headstones of mainly British soldiers. We soon found Ernest’s headstone and spent a long time there, thinking about him, his family, the futility of war and what this area looked like 110 years ago. It must of been horrific. We wandered back, saddened to see headstones for unknown soldiers and wondered how many still laid out in the fields, lost forever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delville_Wood_Cemetery

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delville_Wood_South_African_National_Memorial

The actual Delville Wood that surrounds the South African Memorial was devastated as the Germans fought hard to hold onto this strategic stronghold, the trees hiding their position. The tall trees now were no more than a hundred years old, as the whole wood was replanted. We had a quick walk through these woods, comtemplating the life of a soldier during these barbaric times. It sent shivers down our spines.

We walked back and decided to visit the bar/cafe we had seen on the way in for lunch. Sadly, our timing was bad – they had just shut. So we wandered back to The Van and made ourselves a brew and finished off the breakfast baguette while we researched more about the war in this area. We discovered that Ernest’s regiment, the Kings Royal Rifle Corps actually attacked a nearby wood, called High Wood which again the Germans occupied, so we drove over there to find out more. We couldn’t enter the wood as it was privately owned, but stood outside and see its value to any army that seized it. It commanded long distance views across vast open fields with little way of cover for almost 360 degrees so the Germans could see any advancing regiment quite easily. The Allies were sitting ducks really which resulted in high casualty numbers. But the powers above continued to send in troops and in the September of 1916, the Germans finally surrendered the woodland. It was here, quite likely, where Ernest was killed in action in July 1916 aged 21.

The day had left us deep in thought, emotional and thinking how futile wars were and yet a hundred years on, the human race is still fighting each other. We headed off, passing numerous little brick walled cemeteries filled with headstones, neatly in rows and standing to attention, often in the middle of fields. It made you realise how many men died during the Battle of the Somme and how many just in this area alone. Just awful.

Our campsite wasn’t too far away in the small village of Feuilleres. Luckily we had pre-booked before we had left the UK and thank goodness we had as the place was full. We checked in and found our pitch – a private corner surrounded by hedges, which didn’t make it easy to get The Van in. After a lot of backwards and forwards, we parked it sideways and put the kettle on, sunning ourselves. After our cuppa, we checked out the facilities and went for a walk along the adjacent canal to stretch our legs including The Pup’s. It was a very pleasant sunny evening. On the way back, we called in on the campsite’s bar and ordered a couple of beers and a bag of crisps – the beer went straight to our heads, so we headed back to The Van and raided our limited larder and mustered up a sandwich. (We had basically emptied our rundown fridge and larder from home when we left yesterday with a vague plan to stock up with a supermarket visit…………..it hasn’t happened yet). It worked, but a supermarket is defintely on the agenda for tomorrow.

The night closed in as we began to research Franklin, another grand uncle lost in WW1 which we plan to visit tomorrow.