Saumur to Caen

I think we've never reported saying GRACE just before we leave a site - that's Gas Roof All Cupboards Electricity. Our 4-point check.

We left about 1030 this morning after a very leisurely up. It rained overnight and while L did her run at 7am, but by the time we headed to the facilities it was a lovely mild sunny morning. We have warmed to this Huttopia site with all its free games, its indoor and outdoor pools, its sink cubicles with a light you control and a tap that stays on ... although the showers and toilets are unisex with a tendency to harbour noisy children. 

We were thinking last night about how we felt, and that perhaps 3 weeks in the van is a tad too long. This is coloured certainly by N's hip problem, which hopefully is temporary, but also by the communal living which a campsite requires. Other people, and their young kids, can be lovely and they can be quite annoying.

With only a 2.5 hr tollroad run to Caen we decided to go off piste into a Parc Natural du Region north-west of Le Mans. Despite much rain it was lovely, proper 'old France' countryside and small villages,

in which the only imposing buildings were the churches.




The traffic on our first motorway heading towards Paris was very heavy, no doubt due to the end of their 4-day Ascension holiday, but mercifully with no trucks at all because it's Sunday. Once off that, we were back to empty roads. It only got busy as we approached and swung past Caen to arrive at Camping Riva Bella in Ouistreham. It's main advantage is being 6 minutes from Brittany Ferries for our early start tomorrow. 

As we idled away our last hours on the continent we were entertained by wildlife. Two cats were idly pursuing a shrew, two thrushes were pulling worms, and some goats appeared! Escapees or grass controllers?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Corking day

Image
Up at 0630, chatted to Kevin over breakfast after he'd returned from his spin class at the gym, said our goodbyes with heartfelt thanks and headed off by 0830. 2 hr drive to Cork slightly marred by mistake at bottom of M8 - it does not become the N8! Googlemaps got us back on route and we went to the Park & Ride - L's bright idea to avoid city centre parking stress. €5 for parking and return bus for 2 of us, pleased with that. We hit the English Market first, and have never seen such displays of meat and fish, we think it even beat Bury market. We had a coffee and resisted the cakes, strolled in the city centre, Saint Patrick's street, and climbed onto the City Tour bus. After a cold, damp start the sun came out v hot. We ate sandwiches kindly provided by Noel as we toured the city. The pre-recorded commentary was leavened by acerbic comments from the lady driver - she was very funny. We jumped off at the Cork City Gaol and spent an interesting hour learning about the p...
Read more

Kerry Ring part 2

Image
The pizza last night from the Watch House was excellent, not too big so all crusts were eaten. Boston's Bar, the only pub in town, was a 5 min stroll. A pint and a half of Guinness was consumed. The bar was busy until the gaelic football match finished. There was talk of music later but it didn't seem certain and again we were tired so we didn't stay. The weather cleared, blue sky and distant hills were seen, and it was a lovely evening. The assessment of the Valentia campsite was not so sunny; the showers were fierce with no controls and no seat, and the WiFi was flakey then broken. This morning the cloud was back down with a vengeance, can hardly see beyond the campsite. We exited Valentia via the small ferry and continued along the Ring which frankly isn't that scenic on the sea side; maybe the hills/mountains are good but we can't see them. We diverted to Killarney to find a pharmacy open on a Sunday, to get insect repellent- we are starting to get bitten. Killa...
Read more

Heligan & Mevagissey

Image
After a quiet night post the storm, and a light breakfast, we hit Heligan again. Free this time as got weekly pass free yday. Did the Jungle (spectacular & tropical) and the Hidden Valley (hot and birdy - heard lots and saw 2 buzzards). There was even a rope bridge Lunch in van then the 7 minute drive to Mevagissey. Never been. Pretty, touristy, excellent museum, busy harbour. Had ice cream and cheese straw, both shared natch. Saw a turnstone on the quayside. Headed home at 1600, before the school holiday onslaught.  
Read more