11th September 2019

After leaving Preaux-du-Perche on Wednesday the 11th we stop at Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon then at Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcourt before rolling into our house sit on Friday the 13th. 

Our camp view of Saint-Hilaire

Our first site as we turn in off the laneway is a lovely old stone farmhouse typical of this area in Brittany, then we are leapt on by Bruce the Border Collie and tentatively meet Peggy the Dachshund who is a bit worse for wear after an operation on her back. Our hosts are Anne and David who are off to Crete for a family holiday. Anne generously makes us a lovely dinner so we can discuss the aspects of our stay, plus we need to meet the 2 goats, Pierre the rooster and his 3 female companions who unfortunately don’t lay eggs any more and their garden which has plenty of fruit and veg for us. Its all good, they leave early next morning and we move in to their house and start getting to know Bruce and Peggy. Bruce is no problem and we are mates already, Peggy takes a couple of days before she also is happy to sit on our laps. 

Peggy

Bruce

 

Bruce and Vic

 We stay put for the weekend before heading to Dinan on Monday morning for a look around. Its a lovely old town with really gorgeous port and river, there is a market on Thursday so we will be back. 

View of Dinan port

Old centre of Dinan

 

Port of Dinan

Next day we head off to Jugon-les-Lacs with lovely old town and lake with a great 3k or so walk around which we do. Popular with fisherman including a few over from the UK chasing the monster carp.

Brittany architecture

 

Jugon-les-Lacs

Our afternoons are spent relaxing with Bruce and Peggy in the garden, we manage to do some gardening, restoring the rose beds, weeding the veggie patches and alround maintenance. Bruce gets a walk in the late afternoon along the deserted laneways with restored farmhouses scattered along the way. Its a peaceful existence here, except for Sunday and the hunters are out with their shotguns and dogs, Bruce is going ballistic every time he hears a shot. Next day we venture to the coast and in particular Point-du-Chavet, its situated on a narrow point of the coast with deep inlets either side. Popular with hang gliding and that makes sense as it very windy and cool today as well. Lovely spot though with small beaches and sailing spots scattered along the coast.

Peggy and I in the hammock

Its Thursday and the Dinan market is on today so we are up and away and travel the 20k to park near the port and walk up to the town. Its very busy today compared to Monday but the market is jumping, amazing foods everywhere, tempting oysters, cakes and a huge variety of veggies. We stock up on bits and pieces just enjoying the atmosphere and interaction with the locals, its a huge part of France these markets and this year we seem to have missed out on our travels so we are really glad we made it here today.

 

Lovely cauliflowers

 

Oysters about $12 a dozen

 

Great fruit and vegetables

We spend Friday gardening, relaxing and walking Bruce before heading into Saint Malo on Saturday morning. We came here 4 years ago so its great to revisit and see the place from another way. That may sound strange but Saint Malo is quite big and at first you seem lost amongst the old town but another visit helps you to look further and explore beyond the initial tourist zones. Lucky for me they have a small exposition on regarding the sailing and just happen to have oysters on sale, 5 euro for half a dozen, just perfect, should have had 12. 

Saint Malo

Saint Malo oysters

 Monday see us head over to Vilde-Guingalan and lunch at Bistro de Campagny, where we indulge in a fixed menu, 3 courses, wine and coffee for 12.80 euro. Its was packed with all sorts of locals and workers, very enjoyable and a bargain to boot. Our hosts return late Monday night and we are all set to leave Tuesday morning. We have 4 days to travel 800km so no issue, this year we are storing in Belgium and fly out Sunday, home Tuesday. The drive back through Normanby and the Somme is great with some lovely stops along the way including the Australian memorial at Pozieres. 

Stop at Gonneville-sur-Mer

At Gonneville-sur-Mer

 

Pozières

Pozières

Well thats all folks, one night left then overnight at Brussels airport before heading home. The last 6 months have flown by as they do, we travelled 16000km in our motor home over 180 nights. The last 4 years have seen us drive 55000km so we have seen a bit. Highlights this year are Sardinia, a magical island, our house sits which have given us another aspect to our travel, France as always, a very surprising Poland and the 180 nights on the road, its addictive. See you next year!

 

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27th August 2019

Our trip so far

 

Today we hit the road again and leave Gys, heading back through Switzerland, around lake Geneva and over the hills into France. The weather has warmed up again, hitting 30 odd degrees right through central France. After about 200km we reach Dole, a lovely village set on the river Le Doubs. Our stop for the night is a large car park next to the river with a number of motorhomes already parked up. Its a slightly uncomfortable night in the oven we call home but its quiet which is good. Bit of an issue with the fridge though, its not working on gas and is defrosting, luckily we managed to fill our insulated bag with ice and store the food so hopefully not much to throw out. Although we need to move on and have the fridge on 12v we decide to have a look around Dole first. Its a very lovely village, its also peaceful and quiet which is always an attraction for us and seems to be well looked after by the council. We watch a horse drawn water tank slowly meander around the village as all the flowers and trees are watered by hand, such an easy way to keep things simple. Along the river we see a large converted barge moored alongside the path, and then spy an Aussie flag on its stern, after a walk by and not seeing anyone we decided we might as well call out. And its here we meet Graham and Nina from NSW who have been travelling the canals and rivers of France and Holland for the last 8 years, doing it 6 months at a time like ourselves. They have been parked here at Dole for 6 weeks and obviously love the place, we have a look around inside the 100 year old converted barge and enjoy a coffee and chat for a while on their rear deck looking out over the water and across to the church. Its fun, we have a lot of laughs, also find that they lived in Williamstown for 5 years with the Australian navy which is hilarious, its a small world. Anyway time to move on and sort out the fridge, we need power hook up so we make our way to Epinal and park up on the canal. The fridge is hooked up to power so thats good, its pretty hot but we some nice shade under the canal side trees. Big problem though, we have no ice as its all melted. I have one of those encounters that only problems seem to give you, and its at the bar across the road where I go to ask for ice, bag in hand and phone with translator on. The guy is super nice, speaks english and fills my bag with ice, wont accept any money and asks where we are from, where we have been, its just a great interaction on the road. In the meantime I have put out the question on the internet to try and solve the gas issue, its weird as the fridge is not showing any fault on gas but its not cooling. I receive some answers and are directed to youtube to find a solution. Apparently its more than likely the gas jet is blocked so that needs cleaning. Anyway after a bit of a look I realise that I don’t have the hand size if a 6 year old, and its going to be a hell of a job to get to the required bits. As to why they put the gas jets and supply in a nearly impossible position has me confused and not too happy. I need a stubby phillips head to attempt to remove the screws so that will be the first job tomorrow.

View from the canal to Dole church

Dole, a mini Venice

Horse drawn watering system in Dole

Dole flower arrangements everywhere

 I awake next morning and remember we have an allen key set with one key being a phillips head. Its small enough to fit inside but the screw is really tight and needs some loosening with WD40 and some gentle hammering. So far no luck so I leave it and we take a walk around the lovely town of Epinal where we stopped last night before heading on and arriving at a small aire on the canal at Le Haut Du Lac with free facilities. Its here that i eventually manage to get the parts off and clean the jet and gas feed, at the moment it looks like I’ve fixed it but we leave it on electric for the day. A walk along the canal for the afternoon and picking wild raspberries as we go is a great way to spend the time.

Lovely spot in Epinal

 On checking the fridge on gas it looks like i haven’t actually fixed it and its a fast job this time to take it apart and redo the jet clean as per the video I watched on youtube. This seems to have done the job and fingers crossed we are all good now. Next morning we make our way south and stop at a large aire in Trier, must be 30 or 40 motor homes here, not really our thing but still nervous on the fridge so we agree to stop and hook up on the power to be sure. We are not far from Dusseldorf now and next day we head about half way and stop at Blankenheim in a small aire for motorhomes. Its quiet and peaceful, the river runs alongside and a seems to be a passing point for the hikers as we see plenty entering from the forest paths during the afternoon. Its a lovely walk around the village next morning with a very old town centre and large Chateau on the hill.

Blankenheim

Blankenheim

 Its an easy drive to the motor home show near Dusseldorf and we arrive about 3pm only to be stunned by the number of motor homes and their sizes. We are talking massive bus sized models on nearly every spot, I’m certainly glad I didn’t have to drive one of these around Sicily and Sardinia. We are also under the flight path for Dusseldorf airport and a jet flies overhead about every 10 minutes, its bloody noisy.

Really! I don’t even want to know how much

 And the planes start at 6am as we find out next morning, so no sleeping in today. The show opens at 10 and we make our way there by shuttle bus. So for 2 days we make up our minds then change our minds on what we want, we know the layout that will work but in a heavy duty 4 wheel drive the cost is horrendous, I’m talking 200k euro new so thats ridiculous, I can buy a house with land in France for that, so we will have to some research on this once we get home and maybe find a compromise on line for sale. At least we have some firm thoughts on what we want now so it was worth the trip. 

Our choice

 

Surrounded by monsters

Over the top

 We have about 10 days before we start our next house sit in Brittany so its back on the road heading south, and a stop at a dedicated motorhome stop with free power at Gileppe Dam in Belgium. Next day we are into Luxemburg and fill up with cheaper fuel and another free stop at Redange with all facilities. Its popular, by evening we are over full with about 12 motor homes parked up. It was a quiet and peaceful night, the weather has cooled a lot with some rain on and off as we head back into France and wind our way south along quiet country roads and farmland. We manage to find a lovely spot right on the canal for the evening, its very quiet with a few walkers and runners and for a while some canoes training along the canal. I think the picture tells the story…

Belleville-sur-Meuse

For the next few days we wind our way south into France, stopping at L’Epine to view the massive cathedral and onto champagne at Mareuil-Sur-Ay where we have stopped a number of times before, its a lovely spot on the canal. Heading further south we stop at Fontainebleau in the morning and take a walk around the huge palaces and gardens, certainly not as busy as Versailles. Next stop is Chartres and their famous cathedral and then into a lovely stop at Preaux-Du-Perche next to a small lake and amongst the fields of France. Its only another couple of days till we reach our destination and we just meander along the country roads finding lovely spots to stop and stay the night.

L’Epine cathedral

The aftermath of Champagne pressing

Fontainebleau

 

Chartres cathedral

 

Our view for the night

 

 

 

 

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