Recommended Campsite – DJmotortouring

Marburg (Hesse), Germany September 2024 (Tour 10)

I’d never heard of Marburg until we started looking for a place to overnight while on our way to Quedlingburg. We came for one day, stayed 4 and forgot all about Quedlingburg. That says it all. It’s a quintessential German city, full of character and points of interest and it’s beautiful. Moreover, during our visit we didn’t see or hear a single tourist. I guess not many other people have heard of the place either.

My initial exploration of the city commenced with a walk up through the Oberstadt to the Landgrafen Palace (the Landgrafenschloss) which towers over Marburg. It was a hot walk with the promised sun, that we’ve been chasing since leaving England, raising the local temperature to at least 30 degrees centigrade. The walk up was steep, through mostly narrow cobbled streets and even narrower lanes lined with colombage houses. Given how hot it was I was content to wander the castle grounds and view the outside of what is now, for the most part, a museum.

*A painting of the Landgrafenschloss towering over Marburg*

While walking to and from the palace I was intrigued by various interesting fairy tale features which adorn the route. They are a nod to the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, who attended Philipps University in Marburg during the period 1802 to 1806. There are a number of these features dotted around the city and it is possible to obtain a map showing their whereabouts from the local tourist office. I didn’t have a copy of the map (I think it is called the Grimm Trail) but, even so, I stumbled across Cinderella’s shoe; the magic mirror from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; the Frog Prince from the fairy tale of the same name; seven flies from the Brave Little Tailor and; a series of statues representing the Wolf and the Seven Kids.

If it wasn’t so hot and if there weren’t quite so many steps in Marburg, I’m sure I would have stumbled upon more of the fairy tale features but, I needed a beer and so made my way back to the city’s Marktplatz where I’d previously noticed a bar selling Veltins, a Pilsner I had very much enjoyed at a beer festival in Mainz a couple of years ago.

The Marktplatz, with it’s red sandstone Rathaus (City Hall) and the Saint George Fountain (so named because the fountain is topped by a statue of St George killing his dragon), is one of the prettier parts of Marburg and a popular meeting place among the city’s large student population. The 450+ year old Rathaus is by far the most picturesque building on the square. It is nothing less than splendid.

In a corner close to the Rathaus is a statue of Sophie of Brabant holding her son, Henry. Sophie was the daughter of the city’s most famous personage, Elizabeth of Thuringia (more about her later), and it was in this square during the War of the Thuringian Succession that Sophie proclaimed her son Henry the Landgrave of the independent territory of Hesse.

Marburg is a long established university city with a young age profile (23,500 of the 73,000 population are students) and the Marktplatz reflects that. It is very much a meeting place with it’s numerous cafes, bars and restaurants. I sat on the square nursing a couple of beers for a thoroughly enjoyable hour just watching the world go by and listening to a couple of buskers. They were good.

Vanya and I returned to the town later in the day to take dinner on the square but the buskers I had so much enjoyed earlier in the day were gone and in their place was an absolutely atrocious soul singer. Despite the lovely setting and the okay meal, I couldn’t get off the square quick enough but; we promised ourselves we would return the following night (and we did, with our friends Craig and Julie who arrived in Marburg that same day).

A little bit about two of the city’s more remarkable churches; the Lutheran Parish Church and the Elisabethkirche. The Elisabethkirche is the most impressive of the two but it was the Lutheran Parish Church (also known as the Marienkirche – Saint Mary’s in English) which captured my attention.

The Marienkirche is the slightly older of the two churches dating back to 1222 (compared to 1235 for the Elisabethkirche) but in 1527 the then Landgrave Philip the Magnaminous declared it to be the Protestant Parish Church of Marburg. It was to be the first Protestant church in Hesse and subsequently became known as the Lutheran Parish Church. However, it is not the church’s history which charmed me during my visit nor even it’s very obvious leaning spire. It was a young string ensemble practising Bach in readiness for weekend concert in the church. They were tremendous. It seems the church is well known for it’s acoustics and I note that the Bach evening will be followed by a soprano singer (Miriam Feuersinger) and, in October, a ‘Night of the Choirs’ which will see a minimum 15 choirs performing 20 minute sets. That’s with free admission too and such events will be something I will be checking out during any future visits to Marburg.

In contrast, the Elisabethkirche proved a total letdown as this most beautiful and historically interesting church was mostly closed for restoration purposes. This church was built to celebrate the short life of the Landgravine Elisabeth of Thuringia. She died in 1231 at the age of 24 but achieved enough in that short life to be sanctified by the Catholic Church just 4 years later. The church was built alongside a hospital (there’s little left of that now) which she created for the area’s sick and poor. Her relics are interred in a tomb in the church which is supposedly a masterpiece of intricate carving and medieval goldsmithing. Another particularly interesting feature of the church is the beautiful stained glass window depicting scenes from Elisabeth’s life. Created in 1957 it is considered to be one of the most celebrated modern stained glass windows in Germany.

Another interesting building just opposite from the front entrance of the Elisabethkirche is a small chapel, Saint Michael’s Kappelle. This chapel was commissioned by the Teutonic Order of Knights in 1270 to celebrate the lives of numerous pilgrims who, after coming to Marburg ill and hoping to be saved by Saint Elisabeth, died in the city and needed to be buried. The graveyard where these pilgrims are buried surrounds the chapel and it was used until about 1530 when Marburg turned Protestant.

Talking of hospitals, shortly after arriving in Marburg I was interested to learn that between 1943 and 1945 (during World War II), the whole city became a hospital. It was decided that all government buildings near to a hospital or doctor’s surgery were to become hospital wards for wounded German soldiers and as many as 20,000 soldiers were held in these wards at any given time. Consequently, the city wasn’t bombed by the allies.

Well, that’ll do for now except to say that (a) we will definitely return to Marburg and (b) our stay was very much enhanced through our staying at a quite excellent campsite on the banks of the River Lahn (just 20 minutes walk from the city along an excellent cycle path) – the Campsite Lahnaue.

*And there’s the Frog Prince. Which one I hear you ask.*

Loches (Centre-Val de Loire), France June 2024 (Tour 9)

Loches is one of the more picturesque towns in what was once the province of Touraine. You’ll still hear mention of Touraine but the province (along with all the other 33 provinces) was abolished during the French Revolution and incorporated into a series of ‘departments’. Loches is now one of the more picturesque towns in the Indre et Loire Department of the Centre-Val de Loire Region. Doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?

It is a small town of some 7,000 people on the banks of the River Indre just 25 miles south east of Tours and, in addition to being wholly captivating, it is steeped in history. We decided to stay in the town for two days to properly explore the place and to watch England’s last group stage game of the football (European Championships) against Slovenia. It proved to be one of the more enjoyable stopovers of this tour (but not because of the football although England did make it through to the next round and will play Slovakia next).

Loches is split into two parts; the old medieval town which sits at the top of a natural rocky spur and is full of sloping cobbled streets and imposing buildings and monuments and the modern more fashionable and dynamic lower part of the town with it’s wide open spaces.

I chose to visit the upper town first and made my way from our campsite (La Citadelle) across the Indre and up into the old town via the aptly named Rue Chateau (given that there’s a castle at the top). On the way I paused at the 16th century Maison du Centaure. This Renaissance style building was originally a private residence (named after a relief on it’s facade of Hercules killing the centaur Nesses) but it is now used to house public exhibitions. There’s a permanent exhibition recounting the story of Loches and, while I was visiting, a temporary exhibition (Loches en 1944) to mark the 80th anniversary of France’s liberation during WWII. I wasn’t very impressed with the latter production which, unless I missed something, failed to make any mention of a shocking event concerning George Dubosq who headed the French Resistance in this area at the time. I’ll not go into detail here but, he was a very unsavoury character who was eventually executed by the French government on 14 May 1946. Bit of an oversight not to mention him, don’t you think?

Reproduced below is a photo of the relief after which the Maison du Centaur is named. Nesses had been caught trying to abduct Hercules’ wife, Deianira, and Hercules had hit him with a poisoned arrow. In case you have forgotten your Greek mythology, the centaur died fom the poison but before expiring he convinced Deianira that his blood had magical properties and would serve as a potion to ensure her husband’s future fidelity. In fact, the blood was poisoned by the very venom which Hercules had tipped his arrow with. Later, when Deianira began to have doubts about her husband’s faithfulness and sought to win him back, she bought him a magnificent shirt which she sprinkled with the potion. Hercules gratefully donned the shirt… and the poison took effect. It began to boil him alive. Hercules could not endure the pain and killed himself. A distraught Deianira subsequently hung herself. Greek tragedies, eh?

It took no time to walk from the Maison du Centaure up into the old town and my first port of call, the Collegiate Church of Saint Ursus (Saint Ours in French). This 12th century church dominates the town. All the principal buildings across Loches’ old town are built of the beautiful tufa/tuffeau rock I described in my earlier post on Turquant (Tour 9) and this white rock especially when topped with grey tiles is simply stunning. Equally striking, inside Saint Ursus, is the intricately carved alabaster and marble tomb of Agnes Sorel, a young lady who was a mistress to the French King Charles VII and who, during her all too brief lifetime (she died at just 28 years of age), used her position with such great effect to shape the political and social landscape of France.

*Collegiate Church of Saint Ursus of Loches*

Agnes Sorel joined the Court at just 20 years of age and her outstanding beauty immediately caught the eye of Charles VII. He was captivated by her ; so much so that at age 22 she was declared ‘maitresse en titre’ (the First of the King’s Mistresses). Charles was besotted with her, even going so far as to declare that he would leave his pregnant wife for this new mistress. He showered her with gifts (including the Chateau and Royal Residence at Loches) and; he was all too easily influenced by her, which aggravated many in the court (particularly the Dauphin, Charles’ son, who would became King Louis XI).

Agnes Sorel further provoked the court by introducing fashion trends which, for the time, were quite outrageous. Starting with low necklines and transparent fabrics, she graduated to going bare breasted (a style which others in the court were encouraged to follow). Worse still she wore diamonds in public which was a privilege afforded only to the king in those days.

There are various views as to how Agnes Sorel came to die at such a young age. Initially it was thought she died in childbirth but with increasing frequency it is being suggested she died from poisoning by the Dauphin who had grown to despise her.

*The Great Hall* *in the Royal Residence*

For all it’s size and grandeur (it has been described as an architectural jewel), the Royal Residence in the Chateau complex at Loches has very few rooms but, it has a high place in the history of France. It was the preferred residence of Charles Valois even before he was crowned Charles VII of France and it was in the Great Hall in the Royal Residence of Chateau Loches that Joan of Arc, after raising the siege of Orleans, urged the then Dauphin Charles to enter Reims to be crowned King Charles VII. It would be a long time after this before the 100 Years War was concluded but for many this was the beginning of the end of England’s rule in what is now France. For my part, it felt special (extraordinary even) standing in the Great Hall where Joan of Arc once stood and caused such a celebrated event.

From the Royal Logis I made my way to the most imposing of the buildings in the complex, the 11th century castle keep or donjon, which during the 12th century was occupied and strengthened by Henry II and and his son Richard I (the Lionheart). Later, during the 100 Years War, the donjon and a ‘New Tower’, were converted into a state prison. Indeed, this prison held nobles and senior members of the clergy from late in the 15th century until the 18th century when it was ransacked and partially destroyed during the French Revolution.

I spent hours wandering this part of the castle complex. A touchscreen histopad was provided with the entrance ticket and with the histopad I could visualise each room, cell, underground passage and dungeon as it may have looked when being used as a prison. This was brilliant because it proved as close an experience of being immersed in history as you can get.

It is a lengthy list of nobles who were held in the prison with, perhaps, the most famous being Ludovico Sforza Duke of Milan who died in Loches in 1508. How he died and where he is buried remains unclear but it is thought he was allowed to starve once his usefulness had lapsed and the search for his body in the castle grounds continues to this day.

From the Castle Keep I made my way back through the beautiful cobbled streets of the Medieval quarter to the new part of the town, passing the Lansyer Museum on the way. I didn’t have time to visit the museum which was once home to the 19th century landscape artist Emmanuel Lansyer but, upon his death in 1893, he bequethed the family home, his art collection and thousands of personal objects to the city of Loches and the home itself was later turned into a museum.

In the new part of the town where I hoped to find a restaurant-bar which would be showing the England v Slovenia football match that evening, I passed the Tour Saint Antoine and the Saint Antoine Church. Neither were open to visitors but that allowed me time for a beer or two and, on the corner of Mazerolles Square, I found the perfect place to both enjoy a beer and watch the football later in the day. Bless her, the proprietor agreed to reserve a table for me in front of the widescreen television.

The football match was a disaster. Slovenia are currently ranked 57th best team in the world by FIFA but once again, England failed to deliver with the match ending in a 0-0 draw. Although England have made it through to the first play-off round (the Round of 16) and will meet Slovakia next, they continue to play very poorly.

Notwithstanding the above, we had a pleasant evening in the bar where I had reserved a table. The food (a shared platter) was good and the wine (a bottle of Cremant de Loire for Vanya and a bottle of Chinon Red for me) was excellent and everything was very reasonably priced. Oh, and we got to see Loches at night – and very pretty it is too.

*A shared platter and some very fine local wine.*

Of course, it didn’t end there. Yours truly left his hat at the restaurant and had to return the next day to retrieve it. It worked out very well because the farmer’s market was in full swing as I arrived back in town and the Loches market is considered one of the best in the area with it’s focus being towards a wide range of farm products from all across the old province of Touraine. The produce of bakers, butchers, cheesemakers, fishmongers, florists, market gardeners and, naturally, wine producers were all in evidence. The real discovery for me during this tour however, has been the Chinon red wines and the market provided yet another opportunity to acquire a couple more bottles.

There’s no doubt we’ll be back to this area and not just for the wine. During this visit we didn’t get to see the nearby town of Beaulieu les Loches (with it’s abbey ruins and church of Saint Laurent) nor the famous flower village of Chedigny (with it’s Michelin Guide restaurant of Clos aux Roses). Next time.

Haro (La Rioja), Spain June 2024 (Tour 9)

This was our fourth time in Haro. It is one of Vanya’s favourite places in Spain. I’ve always been rather ambivalent about the town but I thoroughly enjoyed this visit – I am definitely warming to the place. It isn’t very large (just 12,000 people) but there is a real energy about it.

After settling in at Campingred de Haro (I think Campingred may have taken this site over quite recently) we made our way up to the centro historico and the Plaza de la Paz. We thought to secure a table in one of the old town pinchos bars and watch Spain play Croatia in their opening game of the UEFA European Championship finals.

Imagine our surprise when upon arrival in the square at about 7pm we found some kind of festival in full swing. We had arrived in time for the Haro Civil War Festival with three brass bands competing to see who could play the loudest and longest and attract the most dancers. Honestly, the town was more interested in the band war than the national football team’s opening game. As the evening progressed and increasing numbers of people arrived to enjoy the festival, the town became louder and more rambunctious with everybody enjoying the revelry (or should I say rivalry?) but; for all that the place was never threatening – everybody remained in good humour as they drank, danced and followed the bands as they weaved their raucous way around the old town.

Needless to say, we had a late night. We managed to eat a little and drink a lot and we even managed to catch a few minutes of the football. Spain won 3-0 but very few of the locals in Haro seemed to care.

I was up early the next morning. It was a Sunday. I knew it was Sunday because the local Mercadona (the nearest you will get to a Waitrose in Spain) was closed but; no matter, I required only bread and milk (easily available in Haro even on a Sunday morning) and I was left with sufficient time to revisit the Basilica de Nuestra de la Vega just the other side of the Vega Gardens. I took few photos during this visit (see the blog posted during Tour 7 if it’s photos you want). It was enough just to sit for a moment and enjoy the peace and splendour of this magnificent church.

After a late breakfast we spent what remained of the day down at the Barrio de la Estacion. This part of Haro is where many of the larger Bodegas are located. It is named after it’s railway station which was built in the late 19th century to connect Haro with the Bordeaux wine trade. I should explain that in the late 18th century French vineyards were devastated by a phylloxera epidemic and looked to La Rioja to supply wine. Haro rose to the occasion with the bodegas in the barrio being built not long after.

We started at Bodega Balbainas, that’s Vanya’s favourite, because of their sparkling white wine (Lumen). Bodega Balbainas were the first to establish themselves in the Barrio de la Estacion and first to produce sparkling wine in the whole of La Rioja (that was in 1913). It came as no surprise therefore to learn they are also the biggest wine producer in Haro with 250 hectares of vineyards.

Most of our time that day, however, was spent in my favourite bodega in Haro, the Muga. They produce some good white wines (there is absolutely nothing wrong with white Rioja) but it is their reds I favour most, particularly their Seleccion Especiale. It costs a little more but it is truly excellent. We spent a great afternoon on the Muga courtyard nibbling away at the local cheeses and sampling some fine wines. Vanya might well favour Balbainas over the Muga but, going forward, she’ll be more than happy at the thought of another such afternoon at Muga.

That night, still very tipsy, we made our way back to a bar on the Plaza de la Paz to watch another football match. This time it was England’s first game in the finals of the European Championships and they were drawn to play Serbia. Thank goodness for the wine because it was an awful game which England only narrowly won (1-0). Still, with the other two teams in their group drawing, they are currently top the group.

We would have liked to stay on in Haro not least because on June 29 the town holds it’s annual wine fight against the neighbouring town of Miranda de Ebro but, sadly, we have to be back in the UK by 1 July. I posted some detail of the wine battle on this website during an earlier visit to Haro (see Tour 6) but, in a nutshell, all those wishing to participate in the event dress completely in white except for a red sash and then throw buckets of red wine at the opposition (although you can also drink the wine). The wine is provided free by the local bodegas in a number of lorries which each contain as much as 20,000 litres of wine. As the song by Hot Chocolate goes – Everyone is a winner, baby!

Not sure where our next stop will be. We’ll find out tomorrow.

A Guarda & Oia (Galicia), Spain June 2024 (Tour 9)

We had missed the daily ferry across to A Guarda and so drove alongside the River Minho and crossed into Spain using the bridge at Vila Nova de Cerveira. It took a little over half an hour to reach A Guarda using this route.

Initially, we planned on staying in A Guarda for a couple of days (with a view to catching up on some chores) but the campsite proved a disappointment and so, after just the one night, we moved a few miles further up the coast to a superb campsite at Oia – Camping O Muino. It was just as good a base from which to visit the Galician towns of Baiona and Tui and the campsite had all the facilities we needed and more.

There was time enough for me to explore A Guarda (also known as La Guardia) before we moved on to Oia.

A Guarda has a strong fishing heritage but, as is the case with so many coastal towns in Spain, fishing is gradually giving way to tourism. The town’s once large deep sea fishing fleet is considerably reduced in size and it includes more coastal vessels where the focus is towards shellfish. That’s not so bad, with A Guarda having become very famous for it’s lobsters. Please don’t get me wrong; I’m not suggesting tourism is a problem in A Guarda. It strikes me as a very unspoiled authentic Spanish coastal town. Except for walkers and cyclists travelling the Portuguese Coastal Caminho to Santiago (the route takes these ‘pilgrims’ across the River Minho by ferry from Caminha in Portugal to A Guarda in Galicia and then on to Santiago) we saw nothing to suggest tourism will become a problem. Of course things might be different during the July-August holiday season.

Guided by Rachel Lugo’s travel blog ‘nuncasinviaje.com‘ (which I stumbled upon while browsing the internet) I was able to make the most of my short time in A Guarda. I didn’t see everything but I spent an enjoyable 2-3 hours wandering the town using her post as an impromptu travel guide. It is the ruins on the nearby hill of Monte De Santa Tecla (or Mount Santa Trega in Galician Spanish) which most excite me. The hill is just 341 metres high but it boasts some of the best views in the area and was once topped by an ancient (pre-Roman) hilltop settlement. The site has not been fully excavated but a section of circular stone houses on the way up suggests that the settlement once housed anything up to 5,000 people. At the very top of the hill is a restored hermitage and a network of paths and viewing points.

The remainder of my time in A Guarda began with a wander around the harbour area. Thereafter I sought out a couple of the better known churches in the town (the Igrexa Convento de San Bieito and the Igrexa Parroquail de Santa Maria) before walking north along the coast towards the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Oia.

*Looking across the harbour to A Guarda*

Built between 1558 and 1561, the Igrexa Convento de San Bieito on Saint Benedict’s Square was a Benedictine convent until 1984. Part of it has since been converted into a 2 star hotel and restaurant. I was able to gain access to the church but elected to give the hotel a miss…

I was unable to gain access to the Church of Santa Maria da Guarda…

And neither was I able to enter the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Oia.

We were able to get into Camping O Muino. and what a result that proved to be. We stayed for three days, using it as a base to explore the area and for chilling. Outstanding campsite.

*The view from the front window of the Van*

Penafiel (Castile y Leon), Spain June 2024 (Tour 9)

This will be the easiest (and laziest) of posts. Just as well because I am about a week behind with the blog.

We have popped in on Penafiel en route to Portugal, where the weather is looking even better (for a day or two anyway). The weather across western Europe is absolutely crazy this year and very hard to predict. Most of France, as we have already described, has been wet for the last 6 months (very much like Brighton). There is currently massive flooding across both Germany (again) and northern Italy (where 3 people recently drowned in flash floods) and, now, the southern part of Castile y Leon in Spain is set to get wet weather. Portugal here we come.

I’ll not be writing anything about Penafiel town here. I covered it in a blog last year. We came this year for just two days (a) to catch up on our chores (cleaning the Van and our laundry) at one of the better campsites in Castile y Leon and (b) to visit La Granja de San Ildefenso (some 60-70 miles away) and (c) because it is en route to the north of Portugal. So, just a few photos of Camping Riberduero before I post the blog about La Granja and it’s Royal Palace.

Oh! There is one other thing I should mention about Penafiel. Last year we discovered a particularly fine wine here – a white Rueda made from the Verdejo grape variety. This year, Vanya found a fizzy version which she claims is far superior to any Cava she has had. Methinks we will be back here.

On to La Granja de San Ildefenso…

Sunbilla (Navarra), Spain June 2024 (Tour 9)

With the weather in France showing no sign of improvement, we crossed into Spain and headed for a small campsite (Camping Ariztigain) just 15 miles or so over the border near Sunbilla. At 36 Euros for the night during low season, the campsite isn’t cheap by Spanish standards but, it proved value for money. The welcome was friendly; the facilities were all we required (bar/restaurant and copious hot water in the showers); Sunbilla is within easy walking distance; and the weather was warm and sunny.

I took a walk into Sunbilla before we took dinner at the restaurant. It’s a small mountain village and there isn’t much to see; especially with the local church, Iglesia de San Juan Batista, being locked up during my visit but I very much enjoyed my walk up the hills at the back of the village.

I didn’t get up above the tree line (I’m not sure these particular foothills of the Pyrenees are sufficiently high for that anyway) but there was plenty to keep me interested on the animal front including, a wild boar, a herd of wild goats, two Pyrenean Mountain dogs, a herd of Shetland ponies (or something similar) and numerous donkeys (including 3 quite adorable foals).

Despite the fact that there is not a great deal to do in this particular area, I would consider using the campsite again as a stopover. The best news is that the fine weather appears to be holding in Spain .

Bazas (Nouvelle Aquitaine), France June 2024 (Tour 9)

Worsening weather (I cannot recall France ever being so wet) forced us further south to the small town of Bazas, some 60 kilometres south east of Bordeaux, in the Gironde Department of Nouvelle Aquitaine. The weather forecast was more promising and we decided to stay in Bazas for a couple of days and then move on to Spain. The campsite we chose, Capfun, has a rather impressive Water Park and; it was almost totally empty of people (this being a weekend out of season). We had to give the Water Park a go before moving on but, more of that later.

Bazas and the surrounding area is famous for it’s white wines and Bazadais Cattle (well, the resulting cooked beef anyway). In addition, the town was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1998 because of it’s Cathedral and it’s association with the Saint-Jacques Compostelle pilgrimage route. There’s certainly nothing wrong with the local white wine although being so close to Bordeaux I am inclined more towards red wines. I’ll not comment as to the Bazadais Cattle except to say that I saw plenty of them during our drive south but not yet had any opportunity to taste the beef. I did, however, get into Bazas and the Cathedral is beautiful.

Axtually, I made a couple of trips into the town; an exploratory trip on my own shortly after we arrived and a second with Vanya and the dogs on the following day which also happened to be market day (and our wedding anniversary). The exploratory trip was on foot by a back route from the campsite across the fields. Nala couldn’t follow that route with her wheels and Vanya wouldn’t want to but it suited me that first day because within 15 muddy minutes of leaving Capfun I arrived in the town’s main square, the Place de la Cathedrale.

In Bazas, most things worth seeing are to be found on or near the fair sized arcaded Place de la Cathedrale and that includes the very majestic Saint John the Baptist Cathedral, the Hotel de Ville (this latter building having a most excellent entrance) and a range of 16th, 17th and 18th century mansions.

*Private mansions from the 16th, 17th & 18th centuries*

*The impressive entrance to the Town Hall*…

*Nala in protective mode (light artillery?)*

The ‘Belles Vendanges’ (or, in English, the Beautiful Harvest) is a work by the Parisien sculptor Lucien Pallez. Most of his known works seem to have been created between the 1870’s and the 1890’s but many have disappeared. All I know about this particular work is that it was donated to the town in 1911.

The most striking building in the square is the Cathedrale of Saint Jean Baptiste. Construction of this majestic building was started during the 13th century and it was sufficiently complete in time for Pope Urban II to urge the First Christian Crusade to the Holy Land from there. The structure was improved over the following years with the current finished product dating back to 1635. It is as good an example of Gothic architecture as I have seen.

Unusually, the town’s war memorial to it’s fallen in WWI is inside the cathedral. This monument stopped me in my tracks. To see so many killed from such a small town and, perhaps more tragic still, to see so many with the same family name – eight men with the surname ‘St Marc’ are listed on this memorial. Think too of the others who were physically and/or mentally wounded but get no mention. I’ll not describe their sacrifice as a waste because a great many of those killed or injured, died doing what they felt was right at the time and I would never demean their actions but, I will say that it was unforgiveable they should have been called upon to make such a sacrifice. Sorry. Rant over. Moving on…

I drove Vanya and the dogs into Bazas fairly early on the Saturday morning to ensure we could get the Van parked up before the crowds arrived. It is never easy finding a parking spot on market days. Farmer’s Markets in France are almost an institution and invariably well attended. Bazas does not have a huge market (how large does it need to be to serve a town of less than 5,000 people) but it has the most incredible fish stall we have ever seen – such a selection of fresh fish! I’ll let some of my photos do the talking…

*I used a filter here and I like the result*

Unbelievable! We had a great morning sitting in the Place de la Cathedrale watching the world go by over coffee and pastries and listening to a fairly accomplished busker – he had a great voice. We must have walked the market two or three times and, towards the end of the morning, bought some fish, fruit, cheese and wine for supper that evening. Probably the quietest start to a wedding anniversary we have ever had but it must rank among the most pleasant and memorable and the shellfish we ate that evening was outstanding.

I mentioned that the campsite had it’s own Water Park. We did try it out. Well, I went into one of the pools while Vanya went in up to her ankles but not all of the slides were working. No surprise there because we were the only people on the admittedly quiet site (we are out of season) interested in using the facilities. If only it had been warmer.

Oh, and we missed out on the Bardelaise Cattle and Steak au Poivre. Next time.

A last two pictures of Bazas. We’re off to Spain.

Saint Jory de Chalais (Nouvelle Aquitaine), France May 2024 (Tour 9)

I cannot tell you much about the village of Saint Jory de Chalais in the Dordogne Department of Nouvelle Aquitaine. It is tiny and the River Cole flows through it and it is kept very, very tidy by it’s 600+ inhabitants but; that’s about it, except for the fact it is on our route to Perigueux (south of which is, supposedly, better weather) and it has a campsite that Vanya wanted us to overnight at.

Camping Le Lieu is a small campsite at the edge of Saint Jory de Chalais which until recently was known as Camping Maisonneuve. The campsite is run now by a most welcoming and friendly couple (Charline and Julien) and if the village doesn’t have enough about it to warrant a longer stay, the campsite does. We stayed two nights despite the continuing poor weather simply because we were made to feel so welcome.

There’s a barn adjoining the owner’s residence which has been transformed into a very sociable cafe/bar where most if not all of those staying at the site congregated in the evenings together with a few villagers. Food is currently limited to snacks and pizzas but the pizzas were fresh and tasty and the bar had no fixed closing time; which is always a plus when the company is good and the local red wine so pleasant.

The campsite has a swimming pool and a fishing lake but with the weather deteriorating so markedly, they were of no particular interest to us. On a warm, sunny day it would be different.

And the village of Saint Jory de Chalais…

As has been mentioned, there is not a great deal to the village. There is a shop and an inn, the Auberge St George’s, but both seemed to operate very limited opening hours. Had we been staying longer, we’d have made enquiries in that regard but; this is the Dordogne and there are plenty of other busier towns and villages in the area to visit, if that is what you want. We needed to visit a hardware store in Thiviers and Charline had recommended we visit the nearby ‘plus beau village de France’ of Saint Jean de Cole. There was all the reason we needed to stay on the second night.

Montsoreau Olympic Flame (Pays de La Loire), France May 2024 (Tour 9)

We were up early today to witness the Olympic Flame being run through Montsoreau on it’s way to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The owner of Camping L’Isle Verte had provided his regular guests (and us) with Montsoreau T-shirts & caps that we could participate in a one off Flash mob as part of the village celebrations. Sadly, I was out on a walkabouts (wholly unaware of what he intended) and so missed the event but he insisted we keep the ‘outfits’ anyway and so it was that we set off to watch the arrival of the flame and enjoy the party atmosphere bedecked in the local colours.

*Some of the flash-mob, including Vanya and Beanie on the left, setting off*

The village was packed. Locals from all the surrounding villages seemed to want to celebrate the event; the local schools had announced a day off and; complete families lined the south bank of the Loire (because the flame would arrive by boat) and both sides of the Quai Alexandre Dumas (along which the flame would be run to the chateau to be blessed by the Maire). It looked for a while as though we would not be able to see very much of the proceedings but a very considerate gendarme, seeing Nala in her wheels, ushered us to a VIP spot where we would see everything. Bless him. We had the best possible view of the flame arriving by boat and of it being run from where the boat docked on the quay to the chateau. Vanya took some amazing video footage which I will try and include in the Tour 9 Video. For now, you will have to be make do with a couple of my stills.

*… and there’s the flame arriving by boat…*

*… and there, escorted by two rows of athletes, is our first sight of the Olympic Flame*…

*… and the athletes stepped back to allow a better view…*

*… which we saw repeated on tv in a local bar later in the day.*

Montsoreau and Camping L’Isle Verte proved a real find but to be there when the Olympic Flame was being run through the village was particularly special. The local people were amazing and many went out of their way to make us feel welcome, not just during the celebrations but at all times throughout our stay. We’ll definitely be back. Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with a few more of our memories…

*The wonderful creperie with the best ever Galettes…*

Enough already! We have to move on.

Montsoreau (Pays de La Loire), France May 2024 (Tour 9)

This was not my best ever day travelling through France. I’ll not go into detail here but last night (after I had passed out from a surfeit of much needed beer and wine) Vanya wrote to our children about the events of the drive from Neufchatel en Bray and she may reproduce it in this blog later. It will suffice for me to say here that I will never again travel the A18 to Tours and/but we made it to our destination, the small village of Montsoreau in the Pays de La Loire, and our initial impression of the village is most favourable.

We are parked up on the banks of the Loire River, in Camping L’Isle Verte, just 100 metres from the village centre.

It was raining cats and dogs as we arrived and any thoughts of a wander around the village vanished as quickly as the rain was running down the back of my neck. After parking up we made directly for the campsite bar; Vanya for a couple of glasses of the Cremant de Loire and me for a couple of pints of the local beer. The blonde beer served in the restaurant was fine, Vanya really liked the wine (an Ackerman ‘Blanc de Noir’) and the food was tasty – a trio of mixed, stuffed mushrooms together with a sizeable puff pastry crammed full of snails in a creamy mushroom sauce.

Eventually, an hour or so before sunset, it stopped raining and we had time for a short tour of the village. In addition to being listed as a ‘plus beau village de France’, Montsoreau is a recognised ‘village fleuri’ and this is evidenced by an abundance of colourful flowers throughout the village. It is a very pretty place with nearly all the buildings, built of white truffeau stone and with grey slate tile roofs, providing an elegant contrast to the climbing roses which adorn so many of them.

For a small village of less than 500 inhabitants the village is surprisingly well served with bars (3) and restaurants (we counted 8 during this brief tour) and there seems to be plenty of things to see and do. For my part, I could sit for ages outside one of the riverfront bars, just enjoying the river, sipping wine and watching the world go by but; there’s considerably more… a 15th century renaissance castle (around which the Dumas book ‘La Dame de Montsoreau’ was written, although the castle is now home to a contemporary art museum); the Church of Saint Pierre de Rest (the floor of which over the centuries has been raised by a couple of metres because it kept getting flooded by the Loire); a modern Cultural Centre showcasing the Loire-Anjou-Touraine National Park; a series of troglodyte dwellings and mushroom caves (I’m advised that one of the mushroom caves even contains a restaurant); vineyards, wine caves and an old mill. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the Sunday Farmer’s Market which once a month is enlarged to include a popular flea market.

Another thing working in Montsoreau’s favour is it’s location. It sits in the heart of the Loire Valley, where there are numerous other interesting and beautiful towns and villages to visit – Angers, Saumur, Chinon and, yes, even Tours. I suspect we’ll be staying here a few days. It should prove a great base from which we can explore the area further…