Chauvigny is a small town of some 7,000+ people in the Vienne department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine just 70 miles or so south of Saumur. There has been a distinct improvement in the weather over the last couple of days (although we are still experiencing the occasional heavy shower) but our plan remains to keep heading south until we hit warm weather without showers. We would have driven further south than Chauvigny but England play Germany this evening for a spot in the last 16 of the European Championships and we want to be settled in good time to watch the match.
Jump forward and we have watched the football and England won 2-0 (Yaaay!!) with Raheem Sterling playing a blinder. Well done England (although others in the team are going to have to start pulling their weight if we are to progress further). By the way, well done Vanya for fixing it such that we could stream the match live xx
We didn’t stay long in Chauvigny (just the one night) but the place is worth mentioning on a few counts. Firstly, Camping De La Fontaine, which sits by a lovely little park just under Chauvigny’s old town, deserves special recognition. For a two star campsite it was excellent. Welcoming, well organised, clean, tidy and quiet are just a few of the adjectives which I would use to describe the site. Add that the shower block, toilets and washing areas were spotlessly clean and that the overnight price was the lowest we have experienced in France this year and, no two ways about it, Vanya found a gem.
That’s Chauvigny’s old town behind the Van
As for Chauvigny, we were not overly impressed with the newer lower parts of the town (it didn’t help that we couldn’t find a bar there showing the England match) but we loved the upper (medieval) town (Cite Medievale).
Photo of the Cite Medievale from the park alongside our campsite.
The ridge on which the old town sits is short and narrow and comprises five main buildings in various states of repair. Four of the five can be clearly identified in the above photo and all are open to the public to some degree or another. Left to right in the photo are the ruins of the Chateau Baronnial often known as the Chateau des Eveques de Poitiers, the Chateau de Harcourt, the Romanesque Church of Saint Pierre and the Donjon de Gouzon a Chauvigny. It is the ruins of the Chateau de Montleon that are not clearly visible.
The Church of Saint Pierre – we took dinner at a small bar just outside the church.
This view of Saint Pierre in the left hand photo was taken from the top of the Donjon of Gouzon. The statue of the boy, there were at least three of these statues dotted around the town, was at the entrance to the Donjon. Don’t ask me what they represent
Despite being in a state of considerable disrepair, the Chateau Baronnial is still being used. A fairly large selection of birds of prey, storks and other beasts are kept there.
It was getting late as we returned through the old town to the Van and one of those statues I talked about earlier frightened the life out of Beanie. He soon calmed down when Vanya got her camera out.
Photos taken from the Van just before bedtime
There was just time enough time for a few more photos from the park before we left the next morning…
Saumur is an ancient town of some 27,000 people on the Loire River in Western France in the area historically known as Anjou. It’s a pretty town, overlooked by the very prominent Chateau de Saumur, and built almost entirely of an attractive cream coloured stone (Tuffeau) which was mined here throughout the Middle Ages. The miles of caves resulting from that mining have since been converted for wine storage (the renowned Saumur wines and especially Cremant de Loire) and mushrooms (80% of France’s button mushrooms are grown in these caves).
Saumur from L’Ile d’Offard
We arrived fairly late in the day and, after parking up at the Flower Camp Site which sits on the L’Ile d’Offard in the middle of the Loire River, walked across the Pont Cessart for a quick look at the old town and something to eat. We found somewhere on the Place de Saint Pierre and spent a delightful evening eating French tapas and drinking Cremant de Loire.
We were parked up some 10 minutes walk from the centre of the old town
Enjoyed a tapas meal and some local beer and wines on Place on Place de Saint Pierre.
To be honest the local beer was not up to much and I soon switched to wine
The next day was about exploring the town and my first destination was the Chateau de Saumur fortress which dominates so much of the town. It was first built in the 9th century to deter Norman invaders and considerably developed over the next hundreds of years (particularly by the English King, Henry II) but it’s current fairytale shape and style is 15th century and down to Louis I and Louis II of Anjou who wanted rather more of a palace than a fortress. Up close the chateau is not as impressive as when seen from a distance with many of the walls crumbling and in need of repair. The good news is that it is happening. The place was crawling with stonemasons hard at work. I arrived too early in the morning to go into the chateau which is now a museum.
The Chateau could be seen from the campsite swimming pool
Much of the outside of the Chateau is in need of repair but that is happening
Views from the Chateau and the official (panoramic) viewpoint were not especially interesting
A significant military presence is evident across Saumur. France lost almost all of it’s cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars and a decision was made to rebuild that arm of the military in and around Saumur with the establishment of the Ecole Nationale d’Equitation. The Cavalry Academy is now home to the Cadre Noir, an elite corps of black clad cavalry instructors who have made up the teaching staff at the school since 1828. During the Summer months the Cadre Noir put on a series of ballet like galas to showcase the skills of horses and riders and the riders have often taken gold in eventing, dressage and jumping at the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, Covid put has paid to any such gala this Summer.
With cavalry having long given way to tanks it is perhaps not surprising that Saumur is also home to the Musee des Blindes which is one of the largest tank museums in the world with 800+ armoured vehicles (200 of which are driven in a military tattoo every July). I suspect that too will be cancelled this year.
With Saumur being home to Cremant de Loire (currently Vanya’s favourite tipple) it was inevitable that Vanya and I would want to go on a local wine tour and tasting session. We were spoilt for choice here with so many producers based alongside of each other on the Rue d’Ackerman. We finally settled on the Langlois Chateau and we were not disappointed. Between us we have previously partaken of many wine tours and tasting sessions but none as enjoyable and as informative as the one at the Langlois Chateau. It was a private tour, just the two of us, and; it involved going back into a classroom to learn more about grapes, bloom & sediment and; our walking some of the their 3 kilometres of caves and; well, it was simply brilliant. We learned so much of real interest. And the wine? Vanya now has a new favourite Cremant and we have a case of it in the back of the Van.
Langlois-Chateau
When I say “classroom”, I mean “classroom”
Langlois-Chateau is a relatively small family owned wine producer but they still work 3km of caves
“Here comes the best bit”
I walked more than 15 miles of the town that first day (getting a little lost more than once) and there is so much more I could write about but we need to move on to our next destination so I will quickly write about our last night in Saumur and leave it at that.
We had the good fortune to be in Saumur during the evening that France were playing Switzerland in the first knockout stage of the European Championship Finals. That being so we found a small bar, La Verriere, showing the match out on the main square in the centre of town and ordered an early meal so as to gain the best seats. We had a fantastic evening. France lost but there were sufficient goals (3-3 after extra time and then the match went to penalties) to keep the neutral supporters well entertained and the atmosphere was electric. Oh and the food and wine was great.
The weather in Bayeux stayed fine long enough for us to take a leisurely stroll around the Saturday morning market but by noon we had started on the 90 mile drive to Mont St Michel. It was fifty-fifty as to whether or not we made the trip to MSM because the weather forecast for the north west of France was not good – thunder storms over the next four or five days. I was in Mont St Michel some two years ago and, nice as the place is, I was all for driving south for the better weather but Vanya really wanted to visit the place and so we went – and very pleased I was too. The weather wasn’t good but it wasn’t as bad as predicted and it stayed dry most of the time we were outside and, more importantly, we had the place almost to ourselves.
The bad weather held off while we walked the causeway.
During my earlier visit the weather was warm and sunny but the place was packed with people. This time, because of the bad weather and Covid restrictions, the place was almost deserted.
We didn’t stay long because the weather was closing in on us all the time but there was always going to be time for me to look in on the St Michael Chapel…
… and walk some of the outer walls..
Then it was time to head back. Thankfully, because it started pouring with rain, we had parked up inside the MSM complex (well worth the nine euros charge) and it wasn’t too far back to the Van.
Time enough for a last photo.
One final thing, I’m often asked about tide times here. Some people want to visit the island at high tide and others at low tide. Some, like me, want to do both. I reproduce below a tide table downloaded from tideschart.com. One word of warning, if you want to walk around the island, don’t wear shoes (you can easily sink up to your ankles in the sand) and do take a small cloth to wipe your feet afterwards.
Normandy is one of my favourite parts of France but until a couple of days ago neither Vanya nor I had visited Bayeux. That has now been put right and we both love the place. Sitting on the Aure River, Bayeux is a small compact city where just about everything of interest is within easy walking distance. We parked the Van at Camping des Bords de l’Aure in the north of the city and within 15 minutes had completed a delightful walk south along the river bank to the old town centre.
It was a delightful walk along the banks of the River Aure into Bayeux
The streets in the centre are lined with a mix of beautifully preserved half timbered houses and elegant mansions and towering over almost every part of the Bayeux is the impressive Norman-Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame. More about that later. For those wanting to know more about the city there are a series of bronze studs in the ground which if followed will lead you around the city for a mile or two to some 20 plus information panels – You can take a self guided walking tour.
The streets in the Old Town are enchanting
After a brief look around the old (medieval) part of the city we made for a small restaurant which Vanya had read about and where I had subsequently reserved a table – Le Moulin de la Galette, a Creperie on the Rue de Nesmond. The restaurant is in a beautiful setting alongside the river and it was this as much as the menu that attracted us both. There are three parts to the restaurant – inside, outside and upstairs (by an old waterwheel). We were inside. Not the best place for the views but perfect for catching the eye of a waiter whenever our glasses required filling. Vanya was on the wine but I went for the local cider (and very nice it was too). The galettes we ordered were not the best we have eaten in France but they weren’t bad. The place was packed with locals but service was good; attentive without being overbearing and; we’d eat there again.
Le Moulin de la Galette
Over the next couple of days we did all the things expected of visitors to Bayeux, such as checking out the Cathedral of Notre Dame and visiting the Musee de la Tapisserie to see and learn more about the Bayeux Tapestry (and they were well worth visiting – see below) but; equally enjoyable was our simply wandering the whole city and; perusing the local Saturday morning market on Place Saint Patrice and; people watching and drinking local beers in the city centre outside ‘Le Montmartre Bar’ on Rue Saint-Jean. Wonderful.
The Crypt
The Cathedral of Notre Dame is Norman-Gothic and dates back to the 11th century (the church was first consecrated in 1070) but only the crypt survives from that time. Much of the current building, including the 77 metre tower was constructed in the Gothic style during the 15th century. It’s most impressive from the outside.
The famous Bayeux Tapestry was first housed in the Cathedral although it is now to be found in the Musee de la Tapisserie de Bayeux on Rue de Nesmond. Part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, the Bayeux Tapestry is in fact an embroidered cloth and not a tapestry at all. It is nearly 70 metres in length (and almost 2 feet wide) and in a series of some 70 richly detailed and colourful scenes portrays events leading up to and including the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. For just a few Euros it is possible to follow the ‘tapestry’ around the museum with a hand held Auto-guide Commentary which explains each scene. Unsurprisingly the story is told from a Norman perspective but, for me, it brought the tapestry to life and is truly enthralling. It was well worth the admission fee of 9.50 euros.
Just around the corner from the Musee de la Tapisserie in the very centre of the city on the largely pedestrianised Rue Saint-Jean is ‘Le Montmartre’. A small local bar with limited outside seating Le Montmartre is invariably packed (especially late afternoon and early evening as the locals make their way home from work). This is hardly surprising given the warm and friendly service, a good range of local beers and delicious tapas style food. We spent a couple of hours there during the early evening of our second day in Bayeux, just drinking and people watching. I could repeat that again and again.
The local market is another great place to people watch and the regular Saturday morning market on the Place de Saint Patric is no exception. It is a typical (albeit fairly large) French market at which you can buy just about anything from calvados to goslings. Particularly appealing was some of the fast food (take a look at the paella in one of the photos below) and the fish stalls (which consisted of super large tanks full of live crabs, lobsters, crevettes, etc).
EUROPE TOUR 4 BEGINS – Finally, the Covid situation seems to be improving! It is June 2021 and France has re-opened it’s borders to tourists and we have begun another tour of Europe. Hurrah!
All aboard and let’s go…
The original plan was that Tour 4 would commence late March or early April 2021 and last until the end of Summer, with us exploring some of France, Austria, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Georgia (and perhaps even Azerbaijan) and then finding our way home again. The new Brexit rules limit the amount of time we can spend in EEC countries to just 90 days in every 180 day period, hence we developed an outline plan that would see us divide our time evenly during the first six months of the tour between EEC (France, Austria, Italy and Greece) and non EEC countries (Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan). The delay caused by Covid lockdowns has put paid to that plan and as of now we have no fixed agenda. We are back in France with the Van and our two dogs and that is all that matters. We’ll make plans as we go.
… an early stop at a Motorway Aire while we determine where to overnight
The paperwork necessary for us to get back to France was enough to try the patience of Job. If Covid wasn’t bad enough with vaccinations and vaccination certificates, Antigen tests and associated certificates, etc; Brexit rendered our pet passports invalid and … Sod it! You don’t want to know! We’re here.
During previous tours the trip through the Chunnel went very smoothly but on this occasion there was a delay for the best part of two hours because of a train breakdown – frustrating but no real problem. We can live with two hours out of a tour that will hopefully last a number of months. In real terms it meant only that when we finally arrived in France we decided to park up sooner rather than later so as to find a decent restaurant and bar.
Brexit has well and truly arrived – French immigration insisted on stamping our passports. The last time they did that was early in the 1970’s
A little town called Wimereux delivered on all counts. It’s a fairly quiet seaside resort on the French Opal Coast just to the east of Boulogne. We found a well priced municipal camping site on the edge of the town, stocked up on essentials from a local Carrefour store (i.e. bottles of Cotes du Rhone, Picpoul de Pinet and, of course, Vanya’s favourite Cremant) and not long after were sitting on the terrace of a reasonably priced beach restaurant eating oysters and mussels with carafes of particularly good Muscadet and a not bad Chardonnay.
We were soon sitting on the terrace of a seaside restaurant (dogs settled quietly under the tables) and tucking into copious carafes of wine, fresh oysters and large bowls of mussels…
… and we stayed there until the sun went down
Wimereux was a pleasant enough place and it served our purpose but, except for the beach it offered little to warrant staying on and in the morning we elected to move on to Bayeux in Normandy.
One interesting aspect to Wimereux are the countless beach huts stretching the full length of a fairly long promenade; all of them named and many painted by local artists Beanie liked the place
It is Friday 25 June 2021 and it is only now that I discover I didn’t complete and post the last blog of Europe Tour 3 during 2020! Silly me. Here it is…
Our last night of the third tour was spent in France at a small two star campsite in the hamlet of Presles-et-Boves on the Aisne River and it was some time early in November. An increasing number of Covid lockdowns throughout mainland Europe had finally prompted us to conclude the tour and head back to the UK and we broke the journey from Colmar to Calais at the ‘Camping Le Domaine de la Nature’. No, it wasn’t a naturist campsite!
The owners of the campsite were wonderful in that they were quite happy for us to stay over in the event the Anglo-French border was closed because of Covid but, no problem, we were successfully booked on a train back to the UK early the next afternoon.
No interesting photos, unfortunately; just two snaps of the River Aisne, where we walked the dogs. The campsite sits next to the river.
We arrived late at our campsite on the edge of Colmar by the River L’Ill but the receptionist, bless her, had stayed late to check us in. I stopped there two years ago for a few nights and knew it would be open this time of the year but, because of the National Covid Lockdown starting the next day, I wasn’t sure if we would be allowed to stay the two nights we needed (we had to get the dogs seen by a local vet for tapeworm tablets before they would be allowed back into the UK) but, I needn’t have worried. The receptionist told us that whatever happened we could stay the extra night. Again, bless her.
The camp site on the River L’Ill – (Camping de L’Ill -GPS: N48. 4′ 51″ E7. 23’12”)
We were happy staying over, it gave us a chance to wander around Colmar, a small town in the Alsace Region of France not far from the German border. Vanya had never seen the place. I walked the largely pedestrian old town on my own that first morning and I had never seen it so quiet. It was the first day of the Lockdown in France and the place was virtually deserted. It was much the same in the afternoon when I showed Vanya around the town.
The old part of Colmar is a labyrinth of cobbled streets and timber framed chalk box coloured houses with steep pitched rooves and wooden shutters and it is truly beautiful. When I last stayed there, in 2017, it was packed (not least because it was the day of the town’s annual 10 km run) and I arrived as the runners were finishing. Not so this time.
What is particularly sad is that prior to our arriving the local authority had been putting up the town’s Christmas decorations. Ordinarily, Colmar has 5 weeks of Christmas Markets which are supposedly amongst the best in France – I suspect that will not happen this year.
The Little Venice area of ColmarTwo more photos of Little VeniceI sat and had a pint of beer on this little square in 2017. Nobody drinking today because no bars were openThere were very few people about. I didn’t see more than two dozen people during the whole morning in the town and during that time I twice entered the covered market.
I probably mentioned this in my earlier blog on the town in 2017 but, amongst other things, Colmar was the birthplace of Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi who created the Statue of Liberty. The house he lived in is now a museum dedicated to his work and there’s a statue of Bartholdi in the Parc du Chateau d’Eau with him holding a small replica of the statue of “Liberty Enlightening The World”.
The statue of Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi in the Parc du Chateau d’Eau in Colmar and a photo (not mine) of his masterpiece
Oh, and we made it to the vet. Would you believe it, he charged a staggering 91 Euros for administering two tapeworm tablets?!? Robbery!
We had two almost contradictory objectives today. One was to make some headway towards Italy (mine) and the other was to find a decent sized Lidl, Leclerc or Carrefour and stock up on Cremont Limoux (Vanya’s). In the end we managed neither. Had we travelled the southern route past St Tropez, Cannes, Nice and the like we could perhaps have achieved both objectives but that is such a tedious route.
Instead we googled Lidl to find a decent sized store and then, armed with the necessary information, made our way north through the Alpes Haute de Provence to the small town of Digne-les-Baines. A little further research and we may have discovered that Lidl had only 4 bottles of Crement left. No matter, Vanya bought them all and then we set off to a campsite she liked the sound of at a place called Baratier.
Baratier is just 40 miles from the Italian border with Italy so while neither of us had fulfilled our respective objectives we both made progress. Best of all we were each blown away by the scenery on the way across to Baratier. We took the route through Le Vernet, Seyne, Saint Vincent les Fortes and Savines le Lac (which I believe the Tour de France follows). The road winds through and over some quite spectacular mountain scenery and for a while it follows the beautiful La Durance River and along the south bank of it’s reservoir, Lake Serre-Poncon.
Lake Serre-Poncon from the south as we came over the mountains
Lake Serre-Poncon
La Sauze du Lac
One remarkable site we stumbled upon en route to Baratier (on the D954 in the Durance Valley near La Sauze du Lac) is a series of natural columns of earth and stone known as Des Demoiselles Coiffees; meaning, Young Ladies with Fancy Hair or a Nice Hat. Not hard to see why they were so named as each column is topped with a large rock.
The campsite? At first glance, it was very quiet and had everything we needed but it really is in the middle of nowhere and that evening we walked miles in the dark looking for a restaurant that would tolerate dogs. The only open restaurant we could find was a hotel restaurant and they wouldn’t admit dogs. It was back to the Van for cheese & biscuits because we hadn’t defrosted anything in the freezer.
The Campsite Pool looked good but we decided to move on
Talk about being blessed. If La Vogue was an amazing experience, the next stop at Moustiers Sainte Marie was out of this world.
We took our time over the 85 mile journey, avoiding all toll roads and driving across the Valensole Plateau. For miles in every direction there was little else but large fields of Lavender interspersed with the occasional olive orchard. Unfortunately the Lavender was not in bloom (we’d missed it by a month) but it wasn’t difficult to imagine how magnificent these fields would have looked just a few weeks ago. Beautiful.
Rows of Lavender stretched for miles in every direction
Moustiers Ste Marie is a small village of some 700 people in the Natural Parc Regional du Verdon. Dating back to the 5th century it is perched in a semi circle of rocky cliff at the entrance to the Gorges du Verdon (the largest canyon in Europe) and it’s setting is as attractive as the place itself with spectacular views as much from the foot of the village looking up as from it’s heights looking down over the rooftops and across the Maire Valley.
No photo can do this place justice – It is breathtaking
See the star?
That’s the Chapel
It is another plus beau village du France (that’s two in one day); full of charm, narrow streets, little squares, faience workshops, cafes and restaurants; all dominated by the 12th century four storey bell tower of the Notre Dame de l’Assumption Church (which sits in a pretty square in the centre of the village with an unmissable fountain). It’s very much a tourist town now and busy.
Typical lane
Notre Dame de l’Assumption
Waterfall in town centre
Fountain outside the Notre Dame de l’Assumption
The whole town looks a bit like a nativity scene with a 1.25 metre gilded gold star suspended by a chain high in the sky above another religious monument sitting in the cliffs at the back of the village. This is the Chapel of Notre Dame du Beauvoir. There is a legend concerning the star which was related by the poet Mistral. He tells of a knight of Blacas who after being captured by the Saracens in a 12th century crusade swore that if ever he managed to return home he would hang a star up over the chapel in honour of Saint Mary. So it came about.
The high spot of the village for me (and please forgive the pun) is this small chapel. It’s a beautiful little chapel in its own right but the views over the Maire Valley and down on to the village are equally special. It takes only 15 minutes or so to reach the chapel from the village below and it is well worth the effort. I took the left hand path up, passing the Grotte Saint Madeleine on the way and came down by the right hand path. If you’re nervous about heights you will probably prefer to use the right hand path for the ascent and descent but there is no real exposure on either route.
View over the town and the Maire Valley
The left hand path…
… not so difficult
First sight of the Chapel
It was first built in the 9th century but the oldest part remaining today is the nave which was built in the 13th century. It was a popular pilgrimage centre in the Middle Ages and in the 17th century was known as a chapel where still born children would return to life for the time it took for them to be baptised and their souls could go to heaven.
Approach,
Entrance,
Inside
Before tourism, Moustiers was largely about pottery. It is famous for it’s Faience Earthenware. There’s an earthenware museum in the village holding a collection of this fine glazed earthenware some of which dates back to the 17th century. Faience Pottery is made to this day with the village operating 14 workshops and 22 sales outlets. Vanya gave the museum a miss, preferring to visit a workshop and buy some new Faience Pottery rather than just look at the old stuff. And what did she buy? A glazed wine cooler. What else?
Faience Earthenware (Dragonflies)
Faience Pottery (My Favourite)
We returned to the village early that evening so as to be certain to get a table in a restaurant (like I said, the place is busy) and thereafter enjoyed a lovely meal on a packed restaurant terrace – the wine was cheap and the food was good; mine was a Wild Boar Stew cooked in Lavender Honey. We were pretty much the last people to leave. Nothing wrong with that.
Just 15 minutes drive south of Aubenas and sitting on the banks of the Ardeche is the small village of Vogue. It’s another Plus Beau Village de France (voted into the top five) and a very popular tourist resort and we were not surprised to see the place quite busy even at 10 o’clock in the morning. Ordinarily I try to steer clear of busy villages but this is one that you just have to make allowances for. It is stunning.
It sits up against a small cliff and it’s labyrinth of narrow winding lanes, of which Rue des Puces has to be amongst the narrowest I have ever come across, is truly wonderful.
This is a place the French love to visit (we didn’t see or hear anyone who is not French during our time there) and, leaving aside “Francethisway.com” and “France-voyage.com” it is difficult to find much in writing about the place that is in English. It is as if the French want to keep it a secret all of their own.
To discover anything about Vogue you need to google in French and if, as is the case with me, your knowledge of the language is insufficient to understand anything about the castle and it’s inhabitants or how the village was built up around it, you should just revel in the place, take your photos and let the views themselves do the talking… Une atmosphere unique; Vogue c’est vraiment chouette; C’est une vrai paysage de carte postale.
The view from where we shared a coffee
We walked around for a couple of hours, sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee in the sunshine and finished with a photo-shoot of Vanya “a la Vogue” before moving on to our next destination of Moustiers Sainte Marie in the Alpes de Haute Provence.
