14-15/07/2014 : Italy – Lake Orta

Monday

We got up this morning with a sense of excitement. The last time Jo and I were in Italy was before we were married (25 years this year) and in fact Jo had expected me to propose to her in Venice on that occasion (I didn’t!!!). We were looking forward to today. The first hour or so was another spectacular drive  - the middle bit not so exciting and the last hour was great as we drove through rice fields towards Arborio and Lago D’Orta.

View across the town and Lake Orta

The lake is stunningly beautiful and we found the motorhome parking area in Orta San Guilio straight away. However we went for a walk and a short way up the hill we found another one which was much nicer, and was in fact the free ‘sosta’ that I had read about in the ‘Our Tour’ travel blog. We legged it back down the hill to move.

 

Alleys and jetties all around the town

A walk into the town of Orta San Guilio revealed the stunning beauty of the town. It seemed very affluent , with beautiful villas set amongst trees on the hillside, all overlooking an island. We wandered around the lake’s edge looking for somewhere to swim from. The water was very clear and full of fish. Back at the van we relaxed and had a chat with Amelia on the phone.

View from our 'Sosta'

Jo is absolutely bowled over by the smell of jasmine, which seems to be everywhere. We are running low on provisions, so we think we have identified a local shop to cycle to tomorrow. Jo has also identified where to get pastries from (the local petrol station / café!)

The Sostas in Italy don’t seem to be as well set up as they are in France – we are not yet sure where to empty waste water and fill up as there are no service points at most, but we are sure we will overcome that – all part of the adventure! We are out of our French comfort zone.

Miles today : 136

Sosta : free

Tuesday

Running low on supplies today so we cycled off to try and find a shop and located a tiny mini market where we were able to get essentials, then bought croissants from the petrol station! Actually there was really nice coffee bar and bakery attached and had a very Italian feel.

Spent the morning at the beach and swimming in the lake. Only 5 minutes walk from Frank. Once you were 100 yards from shore the views were amazing. I wished I had a waterproof camera.

Great pizza!

We returned to the van to discover it full of ants. Jo exterminated them with spray. We had a long walk along the lake path and had a call from Jack. When we got back to the van we sat outside for an hour with a cup of tea and got eaten alive by mozzies. We were both covered in bites including in places where the sun does not shine,so how the buggers got in there I do not know. We relaxed inside the van with wine having applied cream to bites and then went out for Pizza. We had a lovely walk back in the twilight, Jo remarking that nothing could be more romantic and I had to agree!!

Got back and place was alive with ants again. I crawled around in the dark with a torch and found that they were marching in via one of the rear steady legs. Lifted the legs after judicious spraying ant killer and went to bed fingers crossed we wouldn’t wake up to a total infestation.

Our swimming spot

No miles today. 

Sosta free.

12-13/07/2014 : Lets go to Italy! (via Montgenevre)

Saturday

The plan today was to go to the other side of the lake, book onto the Municipal Site and spend some time at our old holiday haunts. But it rained – so we devised plan B. We decided to head for Italy via Briancon. This was a good decision! The drive through the mountains was spectacular, even in torrential rain.

Before we hit the road, we visited the market at Riez to have a wander round and get some fresh fruit and salad. Jo got a bit emotional as it her reminded her of the market at Aups and holidays with the kids. It was a nice atmosphere, and Jo bought a bag of apricots which she loved!

A very wet drive up through the mountains

Drove, through the rain to Briancon, which according to ‘The Rough Guide’, is the highest town in Europe. It was a spectacular place looking like it was hanging off the mountains. Our overnight stop was a further nine miles of hair raising driving at Montgenevre where we parked up underneath a ski lift with wonderful views across the Alps, watching the sunset. The Italian border is only a mile or so up the road.

View across Montgenevre from the aire

We will spend tomorrow exploring here on foot and on the bikes, and give Frank a well earned rest! He coped really well with hairpin bends, heartstopping drops, and steep steep hills. You would not want to make a mistake on these roads!!

Miles today 166.

Aire at Montgenevre €10

Exploring Mongenevre
by bike

Sunday - Montgenevre - And Jo conquers her fear of heights!

We got the bikes out today and went off to explore, the bonus being clear blue skies and sunshine – and what views we had woken up to! We mooched around town and stopped for coffee in a café on the main street. I ordered what we wanted in my best French, but my best is clearly not good enough, as the waiter responded with heavily Northern accented English ‘No problem.’

On the Ski Lift
Is that a smile - or a grimace?

Later in the day Jo conquered her terror of heights by jumping on the ski lift to the top of the mountain. It was great. We had a fantastic walk back down what would, in the winter, be ski runs.

The view from the top

Italy tomorrow!!

No miles today.

Aire : €9

10-11/07/2014 : Le Lac Du Sainte Croix

Today (Thursday) was a good day. Not a great night’s sleep as we were so close to the road and it was noisy, so we were up and on the road by 8.00am. We stopped in a McDonald’s car park to try and hook up to their free wi-fi with limited success. We got a message from Jack in America via Facebook Messenger, which was nice.

We drove through the lavender fields to get to Sainte Croix De Verdon. In the years we have been coming here Jo has always missed the lavender in full bloom, so this was really special for her. It did look amazing! 

We arrived at the aire, more in hope than expectation, at about midday. There were a few spaces left at the back so we counted ourselves lucky – and then as we manoeuvred, the occupants of a German van waved us into the space that they were vacating, with pole position, nose onto the lake, AMAZING VIEW!! We couldn’t believe our luck.

Lac Du Sainte Croix - As seen through Frank's windscreen!

After we had settled in and had a bite to eat we walked down to the lake and around the town. Later we went for a swim in the lake – cold at first but great when you got used to it. It brought back so many happy memories of holidays with Amelia and Jack. We had supper overlooking the lake congratulating ourselves on our decision to buy Frank and take the plunge. Three weeks will not be long enough – it will have to be longer next year!!

Gordes to Sainte Croix De Verdon : 63 miles

Aire : €6.50

Friday – We were disturbed in the middle of the night by a car arriving and squeezing into the gap next to us – much slamming of doors and pitching a tent in front of us on the path. We got up to find two adults asleep in the car and two teenagers in the tent. The rest of the tribe were in a motorhome abandoned in the middle of the aire. No matter – nothing can spoil our good mood!

Jo went for a run and I went for a cycle followed aby a leisurely morning reading and drinking coffee. After lunch we both cycled along the side of the lake as far as we could looking for our Robinson Crusoe beach. We found a really quiet spot which was beautiful – just spoiled every now and then by other humans walking past. We swam in the lake looking up at the mountains – glorious.

Back at the van we watched locals playing Boules, but decided not to embarrass ourselves by getting our set out!

Dinner was planned for the evening but in the event we ended up joining John and Sarah who were parked just along from us in ‘Hector’ their iconic old Hymer. It was a great looking van and lovely inside, and with a Vespa on the back which got me thinking. Anyway we sat drinking wine and chatting until it got dark. They were really nice people who seemed to be doing exactly the same as us, and for all the same reasons. We were having such a lovely time that we missed dinner altogether!

No miles travelled (Nice)

Aire : €6.50   

09/07/2014 : Provence and sunshine – here we come.

Wednesday

The plan was to reach Provence today – just not sure by which route. Jo went for a run whilst I made use of the shower facilities at the aire. This was a great stopover and we both had a good night’s sleep.

In the end we decided to head via Lyon, Valence and Orange along the N7 which runs parallel to the A7 ‘Autoroute Du Soleil’ and the Rhone. My aversion to paying tolls remains! It was a leisurely drive, but slow and as a result we didn’t reach Sainte Croix. We had identified what looked like a lovely aire at Fontaine De Vaucluse (No. 141 – Mediterranean in the ‘All The Aires France’) only to find a 2.2m height barrier and no sign of any facilities – motorhomes obviously no longer welcome.

Plan B took us to Gordes. I thought the town sounded familiar even though I was sure we hadn’t been there, and when we got there the views that greeted us were ones that adorn thousands of Provencale postcards. We parked up in glorious sunshine and cracked open a bottle of wine to celebrate our first night in Provence with Frank!

Gordes - Beautiful but a bit soul-less

We had a really pleasant walk into the town, took the obligatory photos of what is a heart wrenchingly beautiful town – but it was hellish expensive – and a bit soulless. It felt like it exists purely for tourist photo opportunites and reminded us a bit of places like Collioure and Tourtour, pretty, but not really France. Shame !

Gordes 2 Aire 

Louhans to Gordes : 252 miles

Aire : No cost

08/07/2014 : Bruyeres et Montberault to Louhans (via Decathlon - As usual!)

Tuesday

I wandered into town looking for milk whilst Jo got herself sorted out. UHT only so made do without! We had a leisurely breakfast before hitting the road.

We decided that today, instead of heading for a specific overnight stop, we would plan the route to Sainte Croix and decide on our overnighter depending on how far we got. This was a much better plan as it made for a more relaxing drive. 

We wanted to find a Decathlon somewhere to buy some walking shoes and bits, so we stopped in St. Dizier, got what we needed, had coffee and moved on.

Decathlon always gets a visit - now for some walking!

We drove through some pretty shocking weather as it poured with rain, but by late afternoon it was much brighter. We stopped for a break and put the kettle on at about 5.30pm and identified an aire for the night at Louhans, about half an hour south of Dijon. Got there at about 7.30pm and found a lovely spot by the river. We got settled and went for a walk discovering a nice town. Dinner back at the van, chilled, bed. 

Really nice Aire at Louhans

Bruyeres et Montberault to Louhans : 280 miles

Aire €6.40

07/07/2014 : Off we go!

Monday

We had our breakfast sat in the pub garden and then went for a nice walk. There were some lovely houses, but were all pretty much backing onto the M20. The noise from traffic was unbelievable, and as nice as the houses were they must be pretty much unsellable.

We had a 15 minute drive to Dover via Tesco at Cheriton for fuel, and checked in for the ferry nice and early. DFDS again, £49.00 out, £59.00 return.

Goodbye Dover

Hello Calais

We arrived at Calais 2.45pm local time and then had a very tiring drive to put some distance between us and the Channel. It was like Whacky Races surrounded by articulated lorries, but once an hour or so away from Calais it calmed down. We had planned a first overnight stop in France at Laon. We found the aire in the shadow of a very impressive cathedral / castle but it was full. Five minutes further on at a small town called Bruyeres at Montberault we bagged the last space on a very pleasant little aire. We chatted with a guy who was on his way home, having been in France since the last week in May on a Rally with his Rotary Club. Nice supper of cold meat and tomato, courtesy of Lidl of all places, but we did also pick up some wine, which was really cheap. I managed to down half a bottle of Motagne St. Emilion, which was really rather good – but at €1.95 a bottle I wouldn’t have minded what it tasted like!

Chilled in the van for the evening planning tomorrow’s route.

Drum Inn, Stanford, Kent to Bruyeres et Montberault : 185 miles

Aire : No cost

06/07/2014 : Preparations for the big trip 2014

Here at last. It has only been five weeks since we got back from the last trip to France, but we have been counting down the days to this one.

Three weeks abroad with a very loose plan to head to Le Lac De Sainte Croix for a week and then across to the Italian Lakes Maggiore and Orta. However, checked the weather forecast yesterday and it seems there is the potential for a week of thunderstorms. The itinerary may therefore be as flexible as the weather and we may decide to follow the sun.

First few days we will be running a day ahead of Le Tour De France. Tempting to hang about to catch some of it, but after Mark Cavendish's disastrous day yesterday my interest has waned somewhat. Haven't seen the news today but I can't believe he will be involved any more this year!

Frank is prepped and just about packed. We are heading to a stop at a pub called The Drum tonight, about fifteen minutes from Dover so that we can have a stress free and easy morning tomorrow and get some decent miles under the wheels in France tomorrow.

Will update the blog as and when we can access wi-fi (as my EuropaSim hasn't arrived!).

Excited? Oh Yeah!!!!!

Departed home to our overnight stop at The Drum Inn near Dover. This proved to be a good stop for ferries out of Dover, only 20 minutes away from the port. Far less stress than a 5am start and doing battle with the M40 and M25 on a Monday morning to get to a ferry. We will definitely use this stopover again. It was a good site and a decent pub if you want a meal.

Drum Inn £15.00