Saturday 23rd June and it’s a travel day. We are heading to Saint Maurice de Gourdans and the caravan site, Les Plages de L’Aine. The journey takes us 3 hours on the toll motorway. The roads are empty! So it was a very easy and straightforward journey.

 

On arrival we had a friendly reception and we were shown the site map so we could go and choose a pitch for ourselves. We decided on a sunny pitch but there was a high fir tree that would give us an area of shade most of the day. Boy! Did we need that shade? The weather was in the 30’s!!
There was access to the river from the site but for us it was the swimming pool that got our votes 😍 As with most French sites the pool area was pristine. Through the day we were often the only ones by the pool and it was only in the evening, between 5pm & 7pm that we were joined by others. It was like having a private pool 😍

 

We were the only English people on the site most of the time, with just a couple of camper vans doing overnight stopovers. We chatted to 3 German men in a motor home. They were watching every World Cup match. Funny thing is that the day after Germany were knocked out they went home! 😂😍 Then of course we had the 6-1 win for England with the match against Belgium to follow.

Andy flew to London for a meeting on the day of that match and was actually flying back to France as it was being played 🤣 Well he didn’t miss much really!🤣

We visited the Medieval city of Pérouges, it is classed as one of the “Most Beautiful Villages of France” It is a high fortified city looking over the Plain of the river Ain.

 

Filming of The Three Musketeers took place there in 1961. It was lovely to walk around and lots of shade due to the narrow streets. We stopped for a well earned beer along the way. There were school children on day trips visiting the area and as one group walked along they were happily singing “La Marseillaise” as they passed by us. 😍🇫🇷

It was about one mile into the village from the campsite so that was no trouble on my bike to the patisserie for morning croissants and baguette. Although we have had a few conversations about the plus side to having electric bikes recently and as I pedalled along quite happily people were passing me by so easily on theirs. So these thoughts now have Andy on a mission to work out how best to transport them. 😂😂

 

We enjoyed the lovely weather and being able to cook on the Cadac in an evening. There’s something about eating outdoors, it definitely tastes better 😂😍 A bottle of French red wine to go with it too. What could be better? 🇫🇷 + 🍷 = 😍

 

After a very leisurely week we set off on Saturday 30th June to Pouilly-en-Auxois, a town near Dijon. It was about a 3 hour drive. We had a good journey once again. Because we have the sat nav set to avoid toll roads I follow the map along the journey and when she tells us to turn onto very small roads we ignore her 😂 Bless her she just hasn’t worked out yet that we are towing a 7.5 metre caravan 😂😂

 

We arrived at Pouilly-en-Auxois and the caravan site “Le Vert Auxois”
This was a lovely small caravan site and we were soon settled on our pitch. We didn’t bother with the awning as we were only staying 3 nights. It was a short stroll into town and the canal was just outside the site. The swimming pool was so clean and warm, it was just what was needed after a day of travelling and setting up.

On Sunday morning we walked into town. We browsed as we usually do in the estate agents window. A couple of properties caught our eye. Both were a house with attached barns in need of renovation. The prices were €36,000 and €49,000!!
We enjoyed a beer in busy little bar, sat in the shade as it was so hot.

On Monday we decided to go and have a look at the properties we had seen in the estate agents. We stopped off at a nearby reservoir.

 

The €36,000 property was in a small village where you could see other places had already been renovated. The view from the back of the house was amazing and the amount of property was so much more than we expected. It really did set you thinking and the area was wonderful with so much to see and do. 😂😍

 

The €49,000 property was enormous!! It comprised of a house, barn, cow shed and was complete with your very own tractor 😂😍 It was in the centre of a farming village. So didn’t have the same land and views as the other.

 

Tuesday 3rd July saw us travelling again towards Varreddes near Meaux, east of Paris.
The caravan site Le Village Parisien. This was a larger caravan site with mainly mobile homes on it. It was busy but we only saw one more GB registered car. It was family friendly with a large swimming pool area, tennis court, boules court, crazy golf, play area and bouncy castle.

 

We went for a cycle ride around town and saw a sign for a military cemetery so decided to take a look. It was such a hard ride uphill most of the way and it was so hot.
The cemetery was for German soldiers from 1914 – 1918. It was downhill all the way back and a very deserved beer.

 

We drove into Meaux on Thursday, after walking around the city we visited St Etienne’s Cathedral. It was a beautiful and very light filled cathedral.

 

After a drink and sharing two gorgeous tarts, one almond and one apple, at the local patisserie we went to find a supermarket. We came across Le Clerc and Lidl side by side 😍 How good was that? I think Andy is getting the hang of our regular little shopping trips. 😂🛒😂

On Friday 6th July we wished a very happy birthday to Melissa. It was also time to move sites once again and we were heading back to Le Crotoy for a couple of nights before our return to the UK 🇬🇧 The journey was a good one. Beautiful views and empty roads.

 

Once again at the caravan site Camping Les Aubépines, we were met by friendly faces at reception and settled on our pitch in no time at all. The site was much busier than our last visit 4 weeks ago but not overcrowded in any way. Our satellite box was suddenly not working 😖😖 and with big matches looming we resorted to the French TV channels. The site was mainly French and Belgian holidaymakers and both were happy with their results. It was England’s turn next!

 

On Saturday morning after a lovely breakfast we checked out the Carrefour & Lidl supermarkets in the next small town of Rue. Followed by a couple of hours in the sun by the pool. We watched the match in the bar area with one other British couple 😂😍 England 2 – Sweden 0 😍🎉👍 WorldCup semifinal here we come.

 

Sunday 8th July was our day for travelling back to the UK on the 13:25hrs P&O ferry from Calais to Dover. After breakfast we packed the caravan and set off on our journey just before 11. The French part of Le Petit Tour was coming to an end 😍

 

Life is beautiful, enjoy the ride.

Carol & Andy