Willows in France

Woke late today having been up in the night for bite cream application! Noticed also that we have been sold preventative spray for ‘mosquites tigres’.   I know they have been vicious but I have never heard of a Tiger Mosquito but it might explain how desperately we have needed the cream, my foot looked like a Cornish pasty it was so swollen - not pretty! Anyway we finally got going (not before we noticed one of smartie’s tie down straps had snapped and we had lost the bolt and split pin holding one of the ramps, now being held on by a bent spoon.) Hard to believe but in France the B and Q style store closes for a 2 hour lunch break and doesn’t open on Sundays. We headed towards the North coast as we were hoping to stay at a campsite right by the beach and opposite Le Mont St-Michel.  Failed miserably on that front, arrived at the barrier only to be told we needed an access code to get in, we would have to phone the hotel (what hotel?) and book a place and they would giv...

A day of highs and not so highs! Bad news - only a dribble of water from the taps this morning! Good news - Jon fixed it this evening! Better news - He has totally mastered the art of reversing the trailer! Worse news - number of Super Mosquito bites now 8! In our hunt for the best baguette of the holiday we have been left with a number of odd end bits so they got toasted this morning for breakfast and then we set off for Nantes. It was quite a long journey and we finally succumbed again to the use of a toll road to burn up a few miles and finally arrived at Le Camping de Petit Port at about 3.30. Grabbed a bite to eat and then set off to see a giant elephant! We negotiated the tram system and alighted on L’ile de Nantes and started to walk to Les Galeries des Machines, via the pharmacy for more bite cream and plasters for yet another blister!! Was not a happy bunny at this point. Then we turned a corner and walked straight into a Jules Verne meets Mad Max style exhibition full of g...

Decided a cooked breakfast was in order today as it was a bit damp and miserable but we were still going off in Smartie for a day out. Jon had checked out the map and set the sat nav as he had found an island connected by a 2mile long bridge from La Rochelle. Sounded like a plan, so that’s what we did! Gorgeous little island (or so I thought) as we decided to drive right round it . The first village had a lovely beach, little market stalls and an artisan boulangerie (that’s the bakers for the non French speaking). We walked a while, then back in the car to explore a bit more. Turned out to be quite a big island and we were getting low on petrol with no idea if there were any garages on our route round! Then we spotted one......but it was closed on Thursdays!.......argh!  But our fears were unfounded and we finally (and jubilantly) refilled the petrol tank at another which was open on Thursdays! At the furthest point on the island was a lighthouse, numerous restaurants and gift sho...

Decided to drive down to the town in Smartie this morning as it is quite a distance from the campsite and we needed our daily baguette but also wanted to have a look round the old medieval town centre.  Well, such a surprise! The whole place was absolutely transformed, full to bursting with market stalls and shops open onto the pavement, cafes and restaurants were full and everywhere you looked was the most amazing produce - fruit, vegetables, sausages, cheese, truffles, bread, pastries, meat, fish, olives, nuts, nougat! The list is endless and all taking place amongst truly stunning medieval buildings. We were bowled over and wished we could have stayed longer but our plans had been made, the new campers had already arrived to fill our space and we had to move on! We had a long drive today so opted to use the toll roads, they are really expensive but it meant we were able to get to Fouras (near La Rochelle) in good time. Le Cadoret site had been recommended by a couple we met at ...

The day has come for us to pack up and leave my cousin’s beautiful haven in France and start to make our way back up to the North on our return journey. Mike had talked me through the right way to go, and I had written it all down so we were hopeful of a fairly straight forward trip this time. We were heading off for the medieval town of Sarlat and managed to follow his instructions to the letter and arrived unscathed at Huttopia campsite. Unfortunately the very steep hill to our pitch proved too much for Harvey and the trailer so we quickly removed the smart car and travelled up separately.  Again a scorching hot day so an afternoon in the pool was a welcome treat before a bite to eat and walk into town.  We needed to find somewhere to watch the football, apparently, and this required some thought as to 1. Was there a bar showing the England match. 2. Could you see the screen. 3. Were the chairs comfier than at the campsite and 4. Did they serve lager.  Well there was an...

We were up and ready by 9am this morning, taking the smart car and driving into Aurillac for supplies. Still haven’t really managed to navigate the direct trip as still going up over the mountains and tiny villages to get anywhere! I drove and stayed on the right side of the road without any major incident and we parked up in the old town for a bit if a wander. Bad news! Nearly everything is shut on a Monday so had to go to the supermarket instead! We really are living the high life here, you know!  Back at the Mill and lunch was ready, how lovely.  It was so hot that we all felt an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing was in order, which is what we did and eventually made ourselves presentable for our last dinner with Kay and Mike. She had excelled yet again and we were thoroughly spoilt. A fabulous couple of days filled with lots of laughter and we shall be very sorry to leave but will definitely return.