This
year we decided to tour just
in France and
planned to visit and linger in places that we had passed through during
our previous trips. We still managed to drive exactly 4000 miles door
to door, but at least diesel was still relatively cheaper in France!
We had booked the Dover Calais crossing with P&O at Christmas
and
got
a reasonable return fare for sensible mid morning sailing times, so
after stopping overnight at our favourite CL just outside Dover we
managed to get on a crossing one hour earlier than booked (at no extra
charge) and headed for the impressive WW1 Canadian memorial at Vimy
Ridge. From there we headed south fairly quickly (for us) in three days
skirting Troyes and through the Morvan to Paray le Monial stopping just
north of the large city of St Etienne where the myth of the roads in
France being empty was disproved. We soon found quieter roads
down
to the Rhone and around Valence heading for the attractive
hilly
countryside of the Drome pre-Alps. Now that the towns had a
Provencal feel to them we slowed down and after a fruitless drive into
the Vercours where some of the high passes were still closed from the
winter, found the delightful Cirque d'Archiane near Die where the road up
the narrow valley was lined with immaculately trimmed box hedges! We
then turned south to the lavender growing areas around
Nyons although it was too early for the flowers and heady
aromas.
We yet again declined to drive up Mont Ventoux having twice
had
vehicle problems there in the past, and reached the hilltop towns of
Gordes and Roussillon with its ochre cliffs. From there we toured the
Luberon (Peter Mayle's Provence) and were caught in a
horrendous
thunder storm in Apt then drove down to Aix-en-Provence with its many
fountains and tree lined boulevards. Another detour took us on
a
circuit around Mont St Victoire, painted many times by
Cezanne,
then down to the Mediterranean coast at Cassis for the popular boat
trip to the Fjord like Calanques - very impressive in the warm sunshine.
After
a lazy day with no driving we tackled the outer suburbs of Marseille
mostly
successfully and reached the Roman town of Arles at the top
of
the Camargue. From there we turned north west to the Cévennes and
cooler wetter weather calling in at the amazing Bambouseraie de Prafrance garden near
Anduze
and St Jean du Gard where Robert Louis Stevenson's "Travels
with a
Donkey" ended. From there we drove along the Cevennes Corniche road to
Florac and the Tarn Gorge then up to the causses and across to the Lot
Valley. After visiting a few more Plus Beaux Villages and passing several
pilgrims following the Route de Compostella on the back lanes to Conques,
one of the prettiest and most visited with its fine Romanesqe abbey we
continued to the busy town of Figeac and overnighted
at the aire in Collonges-la-Rouge.
We then spent a couple of days around Lac de Vassiviere before turning
north to the Loire valley and Chaumont -s-Loire to visit the colourful
annual
garden festival in the grounds of the chateau. Driving west along the
Loire we stopped at Villandry then through Saumur and towards the coast
at St Jean de Monts where motorhomes were not welcome on the seafront,
and across to the flat Ile de Noirmoutier. The resorts north of
there were more motorhome friendly but we headed across the now
toll-free bridge bypassing St Nazaire to the pleasant walled town of
Geurande and the small resort of Piriac-s-Mer. We continued along the
coast of southern Brittany in mostly glorious sunshine stopping at
small towns up to Concarneau and explored the coast between there and
the Point du Raz. After visiting Locronan we headed for the next
headland at Camaret-s-Mer with its boat "graveyard" then drove inland
to look at the Parish closes and calvaries in the villages south west
of Morlaix before reaching the coast again at Roscoff. From there
we dawdled along the winding coast road stopping at the Rose Granite
coast before turning inland again to Dinan then to Mont St Michel
staying overnight in the parking area for camping cars and visited
the Abbey when it was floodlit. We spent the last couple of days
heading east through Normandy passing the Roche d'Oetre in the
Normandie Suisse area near Falaise which now has a large modern
visitor centre but still has the high unfenced cliffs
which we visited many years ago!
We
called in to Honfleur the busiest place for tourists we visited
during the whole two months, then headed back to Calais via Dieppe
and
inland once more to Amiens intending to visit the floodlit cathedral
but definitely not a city to drive through in the late afternoon rush hour so
after a night at the campsite where for the first time in a couple of
weeks we actually talked to some British motorhomers, we spent the last
night at one of our favourite aires at the Deux Caps near Tardinghem
before the short drive to the ferry and the horrendous journey on the
British motorways to the north.
Costs
Ferry : Dover - Calais £65 return
booked
through Camping & Caravanning Club
Fuel : £761 for 4000 miles about 28 mpg
Gas: Gaslow 11Kg (21 Litres) cylinder £12 initial fill in UK and three refills in France 45L €30
SitesCampsites 20 nights €9.70 to €20.10 (9 using ACSI discount Camping card)
Aires 37 nights: 10 paying €3 to €10; 27 nights free