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Seurre

OK, so after a fortnight it really is time to do some laundry. To be fair, the laundry bag is in the double floor of the van (out of sight, out of mind) and we were still OK for underwear but….the time had come. Good old Google Maps found us a 24hour “laverie” outside the Intermarche supermarket in Seurre, which coincidentally was our next stop. After finally finding a parking spot we took our IKEA bag (yes that much) of laundry and used both washing machines and the tumble dryer. A late breakfast in the van while all this was happening and soon we were freshly on our way to the Camping Car Park aire in Seurre. It costs about €11 a night, but includes electric hookup, fresh water and water dumping. Also, it has proper pitches like a campsite, so we can “legally” use the BBQ and hang the washing to air.

Ooh, look, another Hymer in the aire and it’s British! The owner, Steve, came over for a chat soon. We talked Hymers and travels. Turns out he’s been retired for 21 years…sheesh, he looked only in his early 60s…

After a walk into town, we had the promised BBQ…yummy! Late evening was spent gazing over the marina opposite. Later on we were “serenaded”, if that’s the word, by the loud screech of an owl in the tree above us…..Cripes, he certainly sounded big, though we didn’t see him. An early-ish night for us.

Next morning and we hear the distant sound of the commentator for the Seurre Triathlon which is happening today. Oh if only we’d brought our running kit, swimwear and racing bikes….oh well.

After our croissant/ pain-au-choc and strong coffee breakfast, we head out on the Voie Bleu cycle route which takes us along the riverside then into open countryside.

We both agree the landscape is reminiscent of our Dutch holiday last year, except we aren’t among hundreds of cyclists. In fact we only encounter 2 cars and no cyclists and just one canal barge.

We stop at Charnay les Chalon, where there is a beautiful church with a Bourgoyne style tiled roof. The church was not open but we could peek through the internal glass door.

Returning to Seurre, the triathlon is in full swing. We cycle along a route manned by Gendarmerie and Marshals and imagine we’re the winners. These triathlons are a doddle.

Back at camp, Andrew had wisely decided to BBQ early, and just as he finishes cooking , the rain starts, so we beat a retreat into the van. All outside furniture and the bikes are stowed away and the “welcome” rain continues into the evening. Music, reading, maybe some Rummikub- that’s the wet evening plan. Oh, and there’s a bottle of white to finish, of course!

Chalon sur Saone

Time to visit a big city. After an unpromising start with some confusion over where the Motorhome parking actually was, once we’re in the city “proper” all is forgiven.

As is becoming our custom we head for the tourist information office for a map of the town and a walking route to explore the historically important parts.

St. Vincent’s cathedral has enthralled me enough to splash out a Euro for a candle. The exterior is especially stunning and the church dominates a square filled with cafes and restaurants and numerous medieval buildings that are still in use today as shops, restaurants and for residential use.

The tourist office here also supplies a self-guided tour and to supplement that, we’re stopped by a local who gives us lots of recommendations etc, then as he goes on his way, he mentions that he’s a “greeter” So lovely to meet people who are so proud of where they live.

Our neighbour at this Aire is Jo, a German who sold up and hit the road 4 years ago. He pops round for a chat and he tells us a bit about where he’s been so far. Basically he chases the sun, so he’s now en route for Spain for Winter. Apparently he’s never been to the UK. But we do have sun there, honest…..

In the evening we discovered Pizza street, and we chose one of the many restaurants for dinner. I asked for a 50cl bottle of wine, the waiter then asked what wine Andrew wanted. Huh, do I look like a wine drinker or what?

We were also accosted in the street by a Frenchwoman who asked if we’d been to Beaune the other day..well, yes we had. It seems she had recognised us, and started the tourist info spiel on the area, especially Dijon, which we “must visit”. A lovely “extra” though slightly un-nerving..had she been stalking us since Beaune? Anyhow Chalon is certainly a city we’d highly recommend for a visit.

St. Gengoux Le National

No, not the same place. This is The National version. En route, to here is Aze which has a Wine Co-operative offering degustations and sales…a worthwhile stop-off we reckon. Of course when we arrive it’s just closed for lunch, not opening again till 3pm. What to do? We find a restaurant in Aze itself where we enjoy a delicious 3 course Menu du Marche for 14 Euros each. Our waiter apparently knows Fareham. He’s a chatty guy from Mauritius (“oh, you’re not Swedish?” jokes his boss). Haha! Oh look, the wine place will be open again. Second attempt and this time we enjoy a degustation and they enjoy relieving us of many euros for the purchase of 5 cases. Enough to merit a “free” bottle which I spotted retailing at over 17 Euros.

Anyway, back to the St. Gengoux place. The road from Aze was stressful with many narrow, steep roads, thankfully they were fairly traffic free. St Gengoux has another of those brilliant free Motorhome aires that we’ve come to love- and again it’s adjacent to a cycle route. It’s all looking very positive, and the sign says “Tous commerces 500m” so off we pedal..ha, 500 m uphill it is! Feeling slightly cheated, I struggle up the hill in Andrew’s wake and finally we’re there after a seemingly shorter downhill bit. All this for a baguette.

We decide to return to town the following day for a better look around. The aire is filling up with fellow wanderers, including some proper behemoths with their smart cars in tow. Like in Givray, we’ve found a handy picnic bench where we enjoy our cold cuts and baguette.

Come morning, it’s back on the bikes and up that hill again. Armed with a map from Tourist Information, we set off on a self-guided tour of the town’s points of interest.

As we follow the map we discover a wealth of very old and fascinating buildings including the XII century church and numerous medieval houses and fortifications.

After all that walking, it’s back to the bikes. After a quick lunch, it’s flat-ish cycling along the Voie Verte to Buxy, from t’other direction this time. Again, miles and miles of vineyards provide our scenery. A 12km ride justified an ice cream at the Buxy cafe this time.

We spent 2 nights in St Gengoux and thoroughly enjoyed our stay there before heading off to Chalon sur Saone.

St Gengoux de Scisse

Givry, our last stop, was bustling. St. Gengoux was dead to the world. The route our Satnav chose to reach it was a bit convoluted, involving some sharp bends and inclines. Andrew negotiated them perfectly whilst uttering a few choice words. We quickly decided no others would brave the journey and sure enough there were only four vans overnight.

St Gengoux provided a lovely little free Aire (max. 8 Motorhomes) and, incredibly, unlimited free electricity as well as water. There was precious little shade so we made our own with the sun shade and awning.

We walked into the village, hoping to inject some Euros into the local economy but..the Pizzeria was shut…the wine degustations were shut, there was no boulangerie.

We ventured into the only shop, where we purchased a bottle of Bourgoyne Pinot Noir at €7.20…which turned out to be a delicious buy. Next day before we left, we did a quick bike ride round the village and beyond. A bit hilly for my liking, but it racked up a few more bike miles. What a perfect overnight stop away from it all….OK, there were a lot of tractors going past, but hey, it’s their work. There was not enough to do for a 2nd night stay, we headed off to more pastures new as we had been able to recharge our van’s batteries and our own!

Givry

Yup, we’re still in Burgundy..this region has really “grabbed” us, and not only because of the wonderful wines we’ve discovered. Givry was chosen because a) it’s another free Aire and b) it’s adjacent to the Voie Verte cycle route and oh, we do like a good cycle route and c) the aire has picnic benches, one of which we nab for use at lunchtime.

Its a surprisingly bustling little town and having found a space in the Aire we then found Tourist information open at the second attempt. The jeune homme working there supplied us with a token for the fresh water at the aire – €2.50 for 100 ltrs- and offered us free tastings of wine…..eek, don’t tempt us! In 32 degree heat, lunchtime degustations are a dodgy idea.

Yet again, we’re the only Brit van, but we exchange Bonjours where appropriate and it’s all quite amicable even when some vans try to squeeze in a tad too close to their neighbours. After dinner, again at “our” picnic bench, we sit watching bats skitting about through the air….what a treat! A second night is on the cards, as we want to try the cycle route, and next morning we head off to Buxy. It’s a beautiful route through vineyards, on totally traffic free paths- albeit we have to negotiate a few junctions and gates but we only encounter about three cars. Not bad. The edge of Buxy provides a cafe/bar where we each have a well- deserved Monaco. Purely to rehydrate of course.

Beaune

Friday 13th brings another long drive- this time 160km. The Medieval town of Beaune provides around 70 car park spaces set aside for Motorhome parking -perfect! From the parking it was only a short walk into town, so off we set for the Tourist Information office. The Hotel de Dieu, a former hospital, was recommended for a visit as well as the Notre Dame Basilica. Following our long drive and the intense heat we were too tired for either; instead stopping for a drink and a spot of people watching before returning to the Aire.

Beaune has a real “buzz” to it even though it’s a compact town. The next day was Market Day too so we had a lot to cram into Saturday.

The Saturday market was worth a look around though prices seemed high, for example poulet roti was €17 when similar were on sale in a supermarket for €8.

While meandering through the market, we spotted the Basilica, so went in for a look especially at the tapestries dating back to the 15th Century. There was no audio guide, but Andrew helpfully provided his own, slightly cynical version of the scenes.

Hotel de Dieu did not disappoint at all, despite the hordes of tourists sharing our afternoon visit.

Hotel de Dieu is a beautiful building. The fascinating story of its foundation and subsequent use and of its self funding through farming, wine production and much more was covered by the tour audio guide.

Aires provide some brilliant examples of interesting parking; this clown parked in the roadway when there were many empty spaces. Doh! We also heard a Motorhome sideswipe another, which was inconsiderately parked in a short space- all 8m of him.

Here are a few photos of Beaune

Gurgy- heading South

A long drive for us, this one was about 255km from our last stop at Brezolles. It looked like an easy drive on wide roads, so I asked Andrew “Do you think your nerves are up to me doing a bit of driving?” His reply was accompanied by an audible “woohoo!” so I guessed I’d picked the right moment to offer. At the next suitable layby, a quick change of driver and mirror and seat positions and we were off again. Ha, only a few minutes into “my” drive, and we were in a small village with those damed chicanes and lorries coming the other way. Hold on to your seats. I should have recorded how much I drove, I suppose, but after a few similar villages and roundabouts etc, I handed back control.

Arriving at Gurgy, the temperature had become oven-like, and we parked up in the lovely setting of the motorhome Aire alongside the river. The overnight charge was 8.60 euros, including electric hook-up.

Once hooked up we were off on our bikes for a cycle along the riverside. Approaching home, my bike’s rear tyre punctured..grrr…so I did the short walk of shame back to camp.

We had booked a table at the village restaurant for 7pm so Andrew set about replacing the inner tube, interrupted only by at least three neighbours who stopped to offer advice, or just watch, then talked about our van etc.

Dinner was superb! One of those 3 courses Menus, with 3 choices per course. Andrew couldn’t resist the andouilette starter….yeeeuk. To further aggravate the vegans, his main course was lapin in a mustard sauce, with tagliatelle…sorry Benjamin Bunny!

Our overnight here was brill, with stunning scenery and we’d highly recommend it.

Brezolles

Having left Normandy and our DDay 75 tour, its time to head South East and Brezolles is chosen as our first Aire in Burgundy region. It’s right on the edge of the village, and just off a busy road with lots of trucks thundering through, but hey, it’s free and has all facilities for Motorhomes.

There are 6 other vans parked up, and we choose our space next to a picnic bench before walking into the village to see what’s on offer.

Most of the shops are closed, but a boulangerie is located for tomorrow. Back at the van, we wrestle with the “no camping behaviour” rule, (which usually means no awnings to be wound out, no tables and chairs, no BBQs) opting instead for hob-cooked sausages with baguettes. Heaven forbid we would be “The Brits who insisted on using their BBQ, against the rules”. We both slept well, despite the traffic noise and the peal of bells from the nearby church. To be fair, traffic had subsided by late evening.

Oh, and what did Brezolles have to offer? The usual- a church, no doubt at least one hair salon and a couple of takeaways, but the fishing lake had dried up due to lack of rain so far this year as can be seen in the photo below.

Andrew did spot what was probably a coypu, and a kingfisher, on his walk to the boulangerie, but they had gone into hiding by the time we both walked into the village later, so we will have to take his word for it.

Courseulles sur mer and Caen

Onwards….to Courseulles sur mer, another of the DDay landing beaches – this time by Canadian forces-and we just need daytime parking. It’s free, and very near the beach- that’ll do nicely. It appears there used to be a 2m height barrier, which has been dismantled and discarded, so we park up with the other Mohos and wander into town.

All we need is a Boulangerie for some bread, but it looks like the fish market is the only shopping available. All the shops on the port seem to be closed. Still, it’s a nice enough walk along looking at the many fishing boats and pleasure craft.

Even the bridge across the river is closed, thus involving a walking detour to the next one. It’s getting hot, we’re getting frustrated, when suddenly we see a sign, and soon there’s a slightly more bustling town centre. Woohoo, a boulangerie, ah but there’s also a creperie. Plan B- lunch out, so no need for a baguette. Here we had delicious galettes, though everything was garnished with a strawberry or raspberry..maybe chef’s had a glut this year? Finally returning to the aire, there’s another Hymer parked next to us and the excited owner approaches us to tell us our van is from the same village in Germany where she lives…small world, eh? We have a quick natter, mainly in English but I also try a smattering of schoolgirl German, which she seemed to appreciate.

Next stop is Caen, where we visit the Memorial, the museum for peace. We’ve both visited before but feel it’s time a for a re-visit. Managing to avoid the centre of Caen, it’s relatively easy to locate, and there’s Motorhome parking at the venue. Squeezing into a space it’s time for a wander to the museum though our visit won’t be till tomorrow. Not only is this free overnight parking, but we’ve had a discount on the entry tickets, win win!

The memorial is full of interesting exhibits, including this Hawker Typhoon, and tells the history of WWI leading to WWII and subsequent war crimes trials. Very thought-provoking.

The atmosphere was very different to the DDay museums, as it encompasses so much more than “Overlord”. There was a group of teenage schoolkids, three of whom thought it was OK to take over a small cinema area during a film; feet on seats etc, whilst talking loudly. Grrr….after a few minutes of tutting, direct action was needed, so we (with another French man who was similarly annoyed) stood in front of the “yoofs” as they clearly weren’t watching the film, and when they continued talking loudly, Andrew turned to them, saying “Pardon, j’ecoute”..Bravo, that man! Our visit continued, having sorted the younger generation.

Arromanches les Bains

Having finally located someone on the farm to take our euros for the overnight stay, we hit the road again, this time heading for Arromanches but we were distracted en route by the sight of military vehicles outside the Overlord Museum at Colleville-sur-mer. This turned out to be an excellent detour. It is a private collection of military vehicles and more, often in the form of mock-ups based accurately on original photographs from WWII. A lot of these vehicles had been in use until the 1970s and beyond. A background of the sound of battle in the air and on the ground, created an immersive experience. There was also a photo collage of war veterans, accompanied by excerpts of their stories in their own words. A humbling exhibition. All in all, a museum not to be missed, though we nearly did.

Onward, along more narrow, meandering roads towards our destination of Arromanches. We had expected to find a Motorhome Aire in town, but the nearest we found had a 2m height barrier. Gee, Thanks. Instead we followed some dubious signs for “Camping Car Parking- Payant” which seemed to take us miles out of town. Once at the parking, however, it would cost us just €6 for 24 hours. And we got a seafront spot overlooking the Mulberry Harbours. As for being miles out of town, nope, it was a 10 minute (albeit very steep) walk into town.

The view from our room. Arromanches Mulberry Harbours, put in place to support the D Day landings.

A walk around Arromanches and along the beach was enjoyed till the rain started. A bit “museumed out” we just took in the scenery, and some fresh air (and fresh rain). Chicken curry with rice on the menu tonight, with lashings of cider. One of our 5 a day, n’est-ce pas?